This paper investigates modular combinations of temporal logic systems. Four combination methods are described and studied with respect to the transfer of logical properties from the component one-dimensional temporal logics to the resulting combined two-dimensional temporal logic. Three basic logical properties are analyzed, namely soundness, completeness, and decidability. Each combination method comprises three submethods that combine the languages, the inference systems, and the semantics of two one-dimensional temporal logic systems, generating families of two-dimensional temporal languages with varying expressivity and varying (...) degrees of transfer of logical properties. The temporalization method and the independent combination method are shown to transfer all three basic logical properties. The method of full join of logic systems generates a considerably more expressive language but fails to transfer completeness and decidability in several cases. So a weaker method of restricted join is proposed and shown to transfer all three basic logical properties. (shrink)

We introduce a methodology whereby an arbitrary logic system L can be enriched with temporal features to create a new system T(L). The new system is constructed by combining L with a pure propositional temporal logic T (such as linear temporal logic with Since and Until) in a special way. We refer to this method as adding a temporal dimension to L or just temporalising L. We show that the logic system T(L) preserves several properties of the original temporal logic (...) like soundness, completeness, decidability, conservativeness and separation over linear flows of time. We then focus on the temporalisation of first-order logic, and a comparison is make with other first-order approaches to the handling of time. (shrink)

In this paper we study families of resource aware logics that explore resource restriction on rules; in particular, we study the use of controlled cut-rule and introduce three families of parameterised logics that arise from different ways of controlling the use of cut. We start with a formulation of classical logic in which cut is non-eliminable and then impose restrictions on the use of cut. Three Cut-and-Pay families of logics are presented, and it is shown that each family provides an (...) approximation process for full propositional classical logic when the control over the use of cut is progressively weakened. A sound and complete semantics is given for each component of each of the three families of approximated logics. One of these families is shown to possess the uniform substitution property, a new result for approximated reasoning. A tableau based decision procedure is presented for each element of the approximation families and the complexity of each decision procedure is studied. We show that there are families in which every component logic can be decided polynomially. (shrink)

This paper generalises and complements the work on combining temporal logics started by Finger and Gabbay [11, 10]. We present proofs of transference of soundness, completeness and decidability for the temporalisation of logics T for any flow of time, eliminating the original restriction that required linear time for the transference of those properties through logic combination. We also generalise such results to the external application of a multi-modal system containing any number of connectives with arbitrary arity, that respect normality.This (...) generalisation over generic flows of time propagates to other combinations of logics that can be interpreted in terms of temporalisations. In this way, the independent combination of temporal logics is studied over generic flows of time. We show the transfer of soundness, completeness and decidability for independent combination of temporal logics. Finally, we also discuss the independent combination of any finite number of normal multi-modal logics. (shrink)

We introduce a methodology whereby an arbitrary logic system L can be enriched with temporal features to create a new system T(L). The new system is constructed by combining L with a pure propositional temporal logic T (such as linear temporal logic with “Since” and “Until”) in a special way. We refer to this method as “adding a temporal dimension to L” or just “temporalising L”. We show that the logic system T(L) preserves several properties of the original temporal logic (...) like soundness, completeness, decidability, conservativeness and separation over linear flows of time. We then focus on the temporalisation of first-order logic, and a comparison is make with other first-order approaches to the handling of time. (shrink)

ABSTRACT We introduce a two-dimensional temporal logic as a formalism which enables the description of both the history of a world and the evolution of an observer's views about the history. We apply such formalism to the description of certain problems that occur in historical database systems due to updates. The historical dimension describes the history of a world according to an observer's view at a certain moment in time. The transaction dimension describes the evolution of an observer's view; changes (...) can occur in the observer's view of the present and future as well as in his views of the past. The database is seens as an observer of the history of the world. Besides describing the history of the world, the database system can also execute temporal specifications in the form of temporal actions. The two-dimensional formalism is used to describe the effects of updates in the execution of temporal actions. The detection of some problematic effects and its implementation are discussed. (shrink)

This work studies the structure of proofs containing non-analytic cuts in the cut-based system, a sequent inference system in which the cut rule is not eliminable and the only branching rule is the cut. Such sequent system is invertible, leading to the KE-tableau decision method. We study the structure of such proofs, proving the existence of a normal form for them in the form of a comb-tree proof. We then concentrate on the problem of efficiently computing non-analytic cuts. For that, (...) we study the generalisation of techniques present in many modern theorem provers, namely the techniques of conflict-driven formula learning. (shrink)

Neural networks are widely used in systems of artificial intelligence, but due to their black box nature, they have so far evaded formal analysis to certify that they satisfy desirable properties, mainly when they perform critical tasks. In this work, we introduce methods for the formal analysis of reachability and robustness of neural networks that are modeled as rational McNaughton functions by, first, stating such properties in the language of Łukasiewicz infinitely-valued logic and, then, using the reasoning techniques of such (...) logical system. We also present a case study where we employ the proposed techniques in an actual neural network that we trained to predict whether it will rain tomorrow in Australia. (shrink)

Inspired by the recent work on approximations of classical logic, we present a method that approximates several modal logics in a modular way. Our starting point is the limitation of the n-degree of introspection that is allowed, thus generating modaln-logics. The semantics for n-logics is presented, in which formulas are evaluated with respect to paths, and not possible worlds. A tableau-based proof system is presented, n-SST, and soundness and completeness is shown for the approximation of modal logics image and image.

In this paper we explore a generalization of traditional abduction which can simultaneously perform two different tasks: given an unprovable sequent Γ ⊢ G, find a sentence H such that Γ, H ⊢ G is provable ; given a provable sequent Γ ⊢ G, find a sentence H such that Γ ⊢ H and the proof of Γ, H ⊢ G is simpler than the proof of Γ ⊢ G . We argue that the two tasks should not be distinguished, (...) and present a general procedure for finding suitable hypotheses or lemmas. When the original sequent is provable, the abduced formula can be seen as a cut formula with respect to Gentzen's sequent calculus, so the abduction method is cut-based. Our method is based on the tableau-like system KE and we argue for its advantages over existing abduction methods based on traditional Smullyan-style Tableaux. (shrink)

The Yoga Sutras are Patanjali's classic on how to experience oneness (Samadhi) within yoga practice. Many serious yoga students want to bring the wisdom of the Sutras to their practice, but often find the text impenetrable and difficult to relate to. The Tantra of the Yoga Sutras remedies this by offering an interpretation that is uniquely relatable, teachable, and accessible. Yogi and tantric master Alan Finger shows contemporary practitioners and students that Samadhi is not something that we strive for (...) in the future, but something that we can experience now. Many interpreters of the Yoga Sutras describe Samadhi as an unreachable goal for the ordinary yogi. Finger's interpretation delivers yoga practices that are doable, with attainable and transformative results. (shrink)

Derk Pereboom and Gregg Caruso argue that humans are never morally responsible for their actions and take that thesis as a starting point for a project whose ultimate goal is the reform of responsibility practices, which include expressions of praise, blame, and the institution of legal punishment. This paper shares the skeptical concern that current responsibility practices can be suboptimal and in need of change, but argues that a non-skeptical pursuit of those changes is viable and more promising. The main (...) lines of the argument are developed by assessing the prospects of implementing one of the changes favored within the skeptical project (namely, the reduction of punishment severity) in light of how human moral psychology works. An original vignette experiment (N = 180; participants from Facebook groups related to Brazilian universities) asked participants to recommend sentences for a fictitious criminal after considering alternatives to regular punishment that varied in their effectiveness to prevent reoffending. The results suggest that people can become less punitive even if they continue to believe in moral responsibility and free will. The paper further argues that reforming responsibility practices is more likely to occur without the endorsement of skepticism. (shrink)

Do all questions have answers? How much can we know about the world? Is there such a thing as an ultimate truth? To be human is to want to know, to understand our origins and the meaning of our lives. In The Island of Knowledge, physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence, the origin of the universe, the nature of reality, and the limits of knowledge. In so doing, he reaches a (...) provocative conclusion: science, the main tool we use to find answers, is fundamentally limited. As science and its philosophical interpretations advance, we are often faced with the unsettling recognition of how much we don't know. Limits to our knowledge of the world arise both from our tools of exploration and from the nature of physical reality: the speed of light, the uncertainty principle, the second law of thermodynamics, the incompleteness theorem, and our own limitations as an intelligent species. Our view of physical reality depends fundamentally on who we are and on how we interact with the cosmos. (shrink)

Novo livro do autor do best-seller A simples beleza do inesperado, vencedor do Jabuti. O caldeirão é onde se misturam ingredientes visando sua transmutação. É o laboratório onde buscamos alguma forma de transcendência, o portal que nos transporta a uma nova realidade. Em O caldeirão azul, Marcelo Gleiser reúne ensaios provenientes de sua reflexão sobre as questões que considera mais relevantes para o momento atual: nossa relação com o planeta e suas criaturas, com os membros da sociedade em que (...) vivemos, e com a tecnologia, que está transformando quem somos e como nos relacionamos. O tema que conecta todos os textos é a visão da ciência como produto da nossa capacidade de nos maravilhar com o mundo toda vez que nos engajamos com o mistério da criação. Na sua essência, encontramos o mesmo ímpeto que move o espírito religioso: como lidar com nossas questões existenciais mais profundas, nossa origem, nossa vida, nossa morte. Nesta obra, Gleiser nos lembra que a ciência, aliada à nossa busca por respostas e nosso fascínio pelo mistério que nos cerca, pode ser usada tanto como ponte para um mundo melhor, como para construir a pior distopia imaginável. E nos convida a refletir – e decidir – sobre o futuro que queremos para nós, respeitando as diferenças de cada um e estando abertos para aprender com os que pensam de outras formas. (shrink)

Gianni Vattimo associates “mystic” and metaphysics. The “forgetting of the being” would be coextensive to the abandonment (Gelassenheit) or to the mystic “losing oneself” (Versenkung) in the absolute. Based on this, the article analyzes the relevance and the possibility of the vattimiana hermeneutics referring to (Verwindung) “the mystic” to surpass it. The perspective of the hermeneutic ethics of Vattimo defends that the history of modernity, in its nihilism and secularization, keeps traces of the history of the salvation inaugurated by the (...) Jewish-Christian perspective. The “mystical losing oneself” contradicts the Pauline experience of the preparation of parusía. Based on Heidegger, the Italian philosopher defends that, considering the imminent parusía, the authenticity of the temporal experience to the Pauline Christian, meant going through, with faith, the present tribulation in the caducity of the historical contingency, hindering the mystical Versenkung and its respective evasion in the daily efforts. In favor of this persistence/effort, it is glimpsed cáritas, inaugurated by the kénosis in the East, as the optimum authenticity criterion for a contemporary spirituality; because cáritas would imply, in its opposition to the implicit violence of the absolute fundamentals, the recognition of the bond between the spiritual and the nihilist and secularized East. (shrink)

O artigo preconiza a relevância pedagógica da filosofia da não-significação de Albert Camus, especialmente em O Mito de Sísifo. O eixo argumentativo segue a última frase deste livro: “É preciso imaginar Sísifo feliz”. A certeza da existência e a estranheza de se inserir num cenário de catástrofe, sem esperança, suscita em estudantes, especialmente da rede pública, um “sentimento da absurdidade”, mas esse estado não há de ser visto como maldição. A liberdade paradoxalmente advém quando se assume o absurdo como meio (...) de se afirmar a vida, contra os suicídios físico e filosófico, tornando Sísifo o “herói absurdo”. Camus atribui ao pensamento de Søren Kierkegaard a proposta do suicídio filosófico como sacrifício do intelecto pelo salto kiekegaardiano da fé porque ele entende a felicidade encontrada na vida eterna como uma superação e cura da doença mortal do desespero. O esforço dialético de autorreflexão da consciência entre o finito e o infinito faz da resignação infinita uma preparação para o salto da fé. Para nosso autor, porém, o pior mal é não ter sofrido desespero, pois é a partir dele que imaginativamente o absurdo, como potência existencial, transfigura-se numa “revolta metafísica” — uma posição a ser desenvolvida no processo de ensino-aprendizagem em Filosofia. Palavras-chave: Albert Camus. Absurdo. Imaginação. Ensino de Filosofia. (shrink)

O livro almeja ser representativo nos principais debates contemporâneos, oferecendo uma visão panorâmica sobre o campo na atualidade e permitindo-se aprofundar em algumas discussões selecionadas.O ambiente não pode ser reduzido ao “meio ambiente”, à natureza não humana. Ele não é meramente algo que “nos envolve”, um envoltório: o ambiente somos também nós, seres humanos, histórica e culturalmente situados. Quanto aos territórios, eles se estabelecem em íntima conexão com os ambientes em suas dimensões paisagística e material, quer sejam os processos geoecológicos, (...) quer sejam as formas e as dinâmicas socialmente produzidas. Analisar os territórios significa examinar como, a cada momento, os ambientes, seus recursos e significados são disputados e viram objeto de conflitos.O público-alvo principal são os estudantes dos últimos anos da graduação, além daqueles em nível de pós-graduação, de todas as áreas que lidam com problemas e conflitos ambientais. Afora os pesquisadores iniciantes e os jovens universitários em geral, porém, podemos presumir que profissionais experientes também poderão tirar proveito do material de diversos capítulos. É razoável, por fim, nutrir a expectativa de que muito do que este livro contém possa (retro)alimentar o ativismo ambiental crítico e a prática de combater as iniquidades e as distorções que se acumulam em nossas sociedades, principalmente as muitas situações de flagrante injustiça ambiental. (shrink)

This paper is an attempt to implement Gilles Deleuze's theory of the series and the event, and the related function of the empty square (as formulated primarily in The Logic of Sense), in relation to the geopolitical regime comprising ‘Israel proper’ and the system of occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The purpose of this exercise is to help establish a practical access to Deleuze's philosophies, and to offer a clinical account of the Israeli occupation of the (...) Palestinian territories. (shrink)

Michel Foucault is one of the most preeminent theorists of power, yet the relationship between his militant activities and his analysis of power remains unclear. The book explores this relationship to explain the development of Foucault's thinking about power. Using newly translated and unpublished materials, it examines what led Foucault to take on the question of power in the early 1970s and subsequently refine his thinking, working through different models (war and government) and modalities (sovereign, disciplinary, biopolitical, pastoral and governmental). (...) Looking at Foucault's political trajectory, from his involvement with the prisoner support movement and Solidarity to his controversial engagement with the Iranian revolution, the book shows the militant underpinning of his interest in the question of power and its various shifts and mutations. This thorough account, which includes the first translation of a report edited by Foucault on prison conditions, will provide students in contemporary political theory with a better understanding of Foucault's thinking about power and of the interplay between political activities and theoretical productions. (shrink)

From Fall 2016 to Fall 2019 Marcelo Gleiser conducted a series of nine public dialogues between eminent scientists and humanists on challenging topics and ideas whose very definitions and meanings are disputed. Sponsored by the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth College, founded by Gleiser, these events were held in theaters and universities across the US and immediately followed by workshops, open to the public, at which attendees could converse directly with participants. Great Minds Don't Think Alike collects edited (...) versions of these discussions, which set an example, in a time when public discourse is seriously threatened, of how people can engage in a fruitful exchange of ideas even when they strongly disagree. The cast of characters is stellar: David Chalmers and Antonio Damasio on consciousness, Sean Carroll and Alan Wallace on reality, Patricia Churchland and Jill Tarter on the future of intelligence, Rebecca Goldstein and Alan Lightman on faith, Jimena Canales and Paul Davies on time, Ed Boyden and Mark O'Connell on transhumanism, Elizabeth Kolbert and Siddhartha Mukherjee on immortality, and Jeremy DeSilva, David Grinspoon, and Tasneem Zehra Husain on being human. (shrink)

From Fall 2016 to Fall 2019 Marcelo Gleiser conducted a series of nine public dialogues between eminent scientists and humanists on challenging topics and ideas whose very definitions and meanings are disputed. Sponsored by the Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Engagement at Dartmouth College, founded by Gleiser, these events were held in theaters and universities across the US and immediately followed by workshops, open to the public, at which attendees could converse directly with participants. Great Minds Don't Think Alike collects edited (...) versions of these discussions, which set an example, in a time when public discourse is seriously threatened, of how people can engage in a fruitful exchange of ideas even when they strongly disagree. The cast of characters is stellar: David Chalmers and Antonio Damasio on consciousness, Sean Carroll and Alan Wallace on reality, Patricia Churchland and Jill Tarter on the future of intelligence, Rebecca Goldstein and Alan Lightman on faith, Jimena Canales and Paul Davies on time, Ed Boyden and Mark O'Connell on transhumanism, Elizabeth Kolbert and Siddhartha Mukherjee on immortality, and Jeremy DeSilva, David Grinspoon, and Tasneem Zehra Husain on being human. (shrink)

L'œuvre de Michel Foucault est inclassable car elle traverse des domaines très variés (philosophie, sociologie, histoire, anthropologie, criminologie, médecine, psychologie, linguistique, droit, etc.). Foucault n'est pas un sociologue au sens classique du terme. Il existe une sociologie puissante et novatrice chez lui. Mais laquelle? À quoi peut-elle servir aujourd'hui? En quoi est-elle utile pour théoriser les problèmes sociaux? Quels sont ses avantages et ses inconvénients? Quel type de « raisonnement sociologique » se dégage de son œuvre et quelles sont ses (...) limites? Voilà les interrogations qui guident l'analyse de l'ensemble des travaux de Foucault dans cet ouvrage. En suivant l'évolution historique de ses recherches ainsi que les retournements stimulants de sa pensée, Foucault Sociologue s'organise en neuf chapitres qui suivent l'évolution théorique, méthodologique et chronologique des thématiques foucaldiennes. Marcelo Otero est professeur titulaire au Département de sociologie de l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), chercheur au Centre de recherche de Montréal sur les inégalités sociales, les discriminations et les pratiques alternatives de citoyenneté (CREMIS), au groupe sur le médicament comme objet social (MÉOS) et à l'Institut Santé et Société (ISS). Ses recherches portent sur les nouveaux problèmes de santé mentale et les problèmes sociaux complexes."--Quatrième de couverture. (shrink)

Yoga practitioners have been using meditation practices for millennia. These practices have evolved as tools for improving health, healing emotional imbalance, and connecting with one's purpose and direction in life. Meditation provides a transcendence of ordinary mental activity into the realm of what is spiritually described as connecting you with pure consciousness. In colloquial terms it could be called finding your "genius," the aspect of yourself that is full of intuition and creativity, insight and purpose, an innate brilliance. Yogis consider (...) it finding the whole of who you are. (shrink)

The subject of this book is the social and political meaning of constitutional texts to the detriment of their legal concretization. Focusing on the discrepancy between the hypertrophically symbolic function of constitutions and their insufficient legal concretization, it offers a critical counterpoint to constitutional theory that treats constitutional texts as a panacea to solving political, legal, and social problems. In contrast to the premises of Niklas Luhmann's systems theory regarding law and constitution in world's society, symbolic constitutionalization is approached here (...) in both a comprehensive and far-reaching perspective. Chapter 1 sets out the debate about symbolic legislation. Chapter 2 explains the notion of symbolic constitutionalization as a problem embracing the whole legal system. Chapter 3 approaches the issue in terms of allopoiesis of law, characterizing it primarily as a problem in peripheral modernity and referring to the Brazilian experience. The final chapter discusses the tendency to a symbolic constitutionalization of world society in the scope of a paradoxical peripheralization of the centre. (shrink)

No cinema brasileiro recente, o diálogo entre o documentário e a ficção tem merecido destaque, com produções de baixo orçamento e ideias originais. É o caso de Santiago (João Moreira Salles, 2007) e Viajo Porque Preciso, Volto Porque Te Amo (Marcelo Gomes, Karim Aïnouz, 2009), filmes que trabalham esse diálogo de forma sutil e diegética, ressignificando imagens de um arquivo próprio, pessoal.

Whilst he was writing De principatibus, was Machiavelli really as out of touch with the Florentine politico-institutional world as his letter of December 1513 claims? Who read Il principe prior to its publication, and how? Why did the philosopher Agostino Nifo, one of the major proponents of Renaissance Averroism, plagiarize it? To what extent is the Machiavellian "principato civile" comprehensible only by way of its Medicean and Florentine affiliation? Did the young Lorenzo de' Medici's political programme seek to eliminate the (...) Roman church? What politicocultural stance is hidden behind certain political terms from the humanist tradition that Machiavelli revisited in Il principe? To what extent was the Machiavellian relationship between animality and humanity, simulation and dissimulation, influenced by Leonardo da Vinci's ceuvre? And, finally, what are the questions that remain open in Il principe? This compilation offers some possible answers to these questions, thus providing new critical tools for the study of Niccolo Machiavelli's Il principe -- Back cover. (shrink)