Philosophy, Misc

I note the ambivalence of contemporary attitudes towards pessimism, then offer a way of thinking about philosophical forms of pessimism, intended to encourage us to take pessimism seriously as a stance on the human condition.

While there is increasing moral consideration for terrestrial vertebrate non-human animals (mammals and birds), little to no consideration is granted to aquatic animals (fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans). These animals are even often overlooked by the animal rights movement, despite constituting the majority of victims in animal production and consumption, with estimates ranging from 94 to 98%. Every year, between 1 and 3 trillion aquatic animals are killed worldwide. This article aims to highlight, based on recent neuroscientific and ethological advances, that (...) aquatic animals are capable of feeling pain and are sentient, thus capable of experiencing conscious negative mental states. This relatively recent knowledge allows us to examine critically the ethical implications of practices such as fishing and fish farming, as well as the cultural representations that underpin them. (shrink)

This brief elucidation of two quotes from the Genealogy will be apt for more accessible interpretation following the completion of my next paper. Stay tuned for some hard-fought philosophy.

The aim of this thesis is to show the relevance that Aquinas's theory of natural inclinations can play in the contemporary debate for the inquiry on human flourishing, which consists in the realisation of the proper end that human beings have as human beings. We will engage in dialogue with several authors, belonging to the analytic tradition (Elizabeth Anscombe, John Finnis, Ralph McInerny, Anthony Lisska) or, nevertheless, culturally close to it (Alasdair MacIntyre), who have reconsidered the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas (...) in the contemporary debate in order to inquire what enables human flourishing. We will argue that the proper consideration of natural inclinations leads, on the one hand, to overcome the problems posed by Hume's law by identifying human nature as a normative criterion common to all human beings, and, on the other hand, to recognise the role of the first-person perspective in identifying what enables the human flourishing of each agent. Natural inclinations do not express agents' psychological preferences, but consist in the fact that human beings naturally tend towards the realisation of their nature as a good to be realised. In order to flourish, human beings are required to act in accordance with their natural inclinations, since natural inclinations are tendencies that human beings have towards a set of goods that are grounded in human nature. Revisiting a recent proposal put forward by Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum in the field of analytic metaphysics, we will argue that agents develop a virtuous conduct if and only if they act in accordance with their natural inclinations; in doing so, they flourish as human beings, that is, they actualise the powers they have by virtue of their nature. However, human beings are not strictly necessitated to act in accordance with their natural inclinations. Indeed, in order to flourish, agents should also recognise, by virtue of their rational capacities, that acting in accordance with their natural inclinations is a reason for acting for them and they should act in accordance with these reasons. Furthermore, we will argue that there is no single way to flourish for all human beings, because, although flourishing requires that human beings act in accordance with their nature, nevertheless, the way in which agents can flourish varies according to their individual characteristics and according to the circumstances and contexts in which they act, that is, according to the practices in which they participate in their lived experience. In the last part of this thesis, we will test the theoretical proposal developed in the previous parts through a critical analysis of Alasdair MacIntyre's thought. (shrink)

Seni berfilsafat di ruang akademik memuat pengalaman penulis dalam berfilsafat dari UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta sebagai mahasiswa Pascasarjana Filsafat ke IAIN Manado sebagai Dosen Filsafat.

I revisit the ape and the child experiment and try to interpret it through the lens of Mindsponge Theory.

I counter a tendency in critical phenomenology to read Frantz Fanon as derivative upon, indeed reducible to, other (European) phenomenologies, eliding the originality and contemporaneity of his method. I propose it is time to read phenomenology through Fanon, instead of centering analysis on his assumed debt to Maurice Merleau‐Ponty's body schema. Fanon reconfigures and ungrounds phenomenology in Peau noire, masques blancs (Black Skin, White Masks). I show how he creates his own method through an anticolonial phenomenology of touch and affect (...) that breaks with the perceptual spectacle at the center of most phenomenologies before him. I read Fanon's “toucher du doigt”—in contrastive relation to Edmund Husserl's touch‐sensings—to define a phenomenology that dwells with colonial wounding and holds the memory of a “burning” colonial duration. This is to say that Fanon's phenomenology is not mere description; rather, Fanon invents a critical, distinctly temporal, and anticolonial method from the affective territory in which he has had to dwell. This method addresses the conditions of possibility for doing (critical) phenomenology. Fanonian phenomenology makes tangible the (de)structuring violence through which colonialism ontologizes itself, while providing tools to dwell with the wounding and critically mine it—to create possibilities for living otherwise than what colonialism makes of us. (shrink)

LA LUMIÈRE ET LA LIBERTÉ; Traduit de The Kingfisher Story Collection.

L’HÉRITAGE FAMILIAL...; Traduit de The Kingfisher Story Collection.

LE PLAN PARFAIT; Traduit de The Kingfisher Story Collection.

Many of the concepts analysed by philosophers have their origin in ordinary – or at least extra-philosophical – language. Perception, knowledge, causation, and mind are examples. But the concept of substance is a philosophical term of art. Its uses in ordinary language tend to derive, often in a rather distorted way, from the philosophical senses. There is an ordinary concept in play when philosophers discuss “substance”, and this, as we shall see, is the concept of object, or thing when this (...) is contrasted with properties or events. But such “individual substances” are never termed “substances” outside philosophy. -/- There exist two rather different ways of characterising the philosophical concept of substance. The first is the more generic. The philosophical term “substance” comes from an early Latin translation of the Greek ousia. Ousia is a noun derived from the verb “einai” (to be) and is naturally translated “being”. According to the generic sense, substances are those things that best merit the title “beings”. This is usually interpreted to mean those things that are the foundational or fundamental entities of a given philosophical system. Thus, for an atomist, atoms are the substances, for they are the basic things from which everything is constructed. In David Hume’s system, impressions and ideas are the substances, for the same reason. In a slightly different way, Forms are Plato’s substances, for everything derives its existence from Forms. -/- The second use of the concept is more specific. According to this usage, substances are a particular kind of entity, and some philosophical theories acknowledge them and others do not. This conception of substance derives from the intuitive notion of individual thing or object, which contrasts mainly with properties and events. According to this usage, it is a live issue whether the fundamental entities are substances or something else, such as events, or properties located at space-times. The issue is how we are to understand the notion of an object, and whether, in the light of the correct understanding, it remains a basic notion, or one that must be characterised in more fundamental terms. Whether, for example, an object can be thought of as nothing more than a bundle of properties, or a series of events. -/- The reason “substance” has acquired these two usages is that the work that introduced the term to philosophy, Aristotle’s Categories, claims that the things that most merit the title “beings” (substances in the generic sense) are individual objects as opposed to properties or events (substances in the specific sense). (shrink)

Picture a simple scenario: a worm, in its modest way, traces a trail of paint as it moves across a sheet of paper. Now shift your imagination to a more complex scene, where a chimpanzee paints on another sheet of paper. A simple question arises: Do you perceive an identical creative process in these two animals? Can both of these animals be designated as authors of their creation? If only one, which one? This paper delves into the complexities of authorship, (...) consciousness, and agency, unpacking the nuanced distinctions between such scenarios and exploring the underlying principles that define creative authorship across different forms of life. It becomes evident that attributing authorship to an animal hinges on its intention to create, an aspect intertwined with its agency and awareness of the creative act. These concepts are far from straightforward, as they traverse the complex landscapes of animal ethics and law. But our exploration does not stop there. Now imagine a robot, endowed with artificial intelligence, producing music. This prompts us to question how we should evaluate and perceive such creations. Is the creative process of a machine fundamentally different from that of an animal or a human? As we venture further into this realm of human-made intelligence, we confront an array of ethical, philosophical, and legal quandaries. This paper provides a platform for a reflective discussion: ethologists, neuroscientists, philosophers, and bioinformaticians converge in a multidisciplinary dialogue. Their insights provide valuable perspectives for establishing a foundation upon which to discuss the intricate concepts of authorship and appropriation concerning artistic works generated by non-human entities. (shrink)

This monograph focuses on two major themes of current interest---those of complexity and emergence. Neither of the two concepts is, in the very nature of things, precisely defined or easily comprehended. Complexity is all around us while the sciences often analyze entities and events by making simplifications. But the fault lines in the latter get exposed over larger spans of space and time. Complexity entails emergence that involves discontinuity and novelty in the evolution of complex systems, based on the appearance (...) of distinctive spatial and temporal structures. Underlying an occurrence of emergence is an instability involving the transition from one stable regime to another, where distinct space-time scales acquire relevance across the transition. The structures on the two sides of the transition are characterized by distinct sets of state variables where, on one side of the transition, collective variables make their appearance. -/- Complexity and emergence are viewed in this book in the context of the Kantian noumenal-phenomenal divide. The noumenal reality is the repository of all the complexity that there is, while the phenomenal reality emerges from the noumenal in the process of our perception, interpretation, and inference. The noumenal exists in itself as a self-determined whole, and reveals itself to us in fragmentary patches as skewed projections that we assemble to form our phenomenal world that keeps on emerging ceaselessly. Our own biological evolution and the evolution of our phenomenal world occurs in a mutually consistent process, that can be referred to as co-evolution. -/- We seek regularities in the phenomenal world by means of our scientific theories which are often successful, but that success is fragile as, over larger spans of space and time, anomalies make their appearance, giving a lie to the simplicity and regularity previously presumed to have been unearthed. Simplicity, regularity, and harmony are only fleetingly located in the phenomenal world by means of our theories as these keep on being revised endlessly and often radically, thereby generating a mosaic of theories that becomes ever more complex, indicating a pervasive complexity of the noumenal world from which the phenomenal emerges by way of strictly limited projections. The foundational metaphysics on which this book is based tells us that reality is fundamentally complex, while tiny islands of simplicity, regularity, and harmony are embedded in it in isolated space-time domains. (shrink)

This essay examines the different positions between non-dualism and existentialism when it comes to the self-negation of absolute void and its ontological validity.

Albert Camus, a French-Algerian writer and philosopher, is renowned for his unique contribution to the philosophical realm, particularly through his exploration of the Absurd. His philosophy is often associated with existentialism, despite his own rejection of the label. Camus’ works delve into the human condition and the search for meaning in a seemingly indifferent universe. The Absurd and the Search for Meaning At the heart of Camus’ philosophy is the concept of the Absurd, which arises from the conflict between the (...) human desire for significance, order, and clarity on one hand, and the silent, irrational, and indifferent world on the other1. This tension is a fundamental aspect of the human experience, as individuals continually seek purpose in life despite the universe’s lack of inherent meaning. Revolt as a Response to the Absurd Camus argues that the appropriate response to the Absurd is not suicide or despair, but rather revolt. This revolt is a persistent and courageous confrontation with the Absurd, and it involves a refusal to succumb to nihilism, a rejection of false hopes, and the continuous quest for meaning1. It is through this act of revolt that individuals affirm their own existence and derive a sense of personal freedom and identity. Camus’ Literary Expression of Philosophy Camus’ philosophical ideas are intricately woven into his literary works. Novels such as “The Stranger” (L’Étranger), “The Plague” (La Peste), and “The Fall” (La Chute) not only tell compelling stories but also serve as vehicles for his philosophical thought. In “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Camus uses the Greek mythological figure Sisyphus, condemned to eternally roll a boulder up a hill only for it to roll back down, as a metaphor for the human condition. Sisyphus, aware of his futile task, chooses to embrace his labor, thus embodying the spirit of revolt and finding happiness in the struggle itself. -/- . (shrink)

Sikhism, a vibrant and inclusive religion, provides a rich tapestry of teachings and traditions. Introducing children to Sikhi through interactive learning and play not only enhances their understanding but also fosters a deep connection with the values and principles of Sikhism. This holistic approach engages children actively, making the learning journey enjoyable, memorable, and impactful. Given the dire need to engage in such a holistic approach, various such activities and their specific examples are described here.

The linguistic structure «being», which philosophy handles as an alleged noun, derives from archaic and polysemous verbal forms, which determines the semantic emptiness of the alleged noun «being». This is neither a noun nor a concept, nor a principle: it is a flatus vocis. Ontology and metaphysics, in order to fill the conceptual gaps in their respective systems, have been forced to hypostatise or ontologise what is a simple verbal structure: «being».

This chapter consists of two main sections; the first comprises the epistemological analysis regarding the source of knowledge used in clinics, knowledge representation and management, inference capacity and decision-making, and the second section discusses the ethical problems caused by the epistemological differences between CDSS-integrated clinics, and conventional clinics, and normative concepts such as moral responsibility, attribution of responsibility and distribution of responsibility are briefly examined. It has been argued that to understand and evaluate the ethical problems that arise in CDSS-integrated (...) clinics, it is necessary to understand and clearly reveal the epistemological features and differences between the two types of clinical services. (shrink)

Yapay zekâ, 1950’lerden itibaren gelişen bir disiplin olmasına rağmen özellikle son yıllarda daha çok gündemimizde yer almaya başlamıştır. Bugün akıllı asistanlar, yüz tanıma sistemleri, çeviri programları, bilgisayar oyunları, robotik sistemler gibi teknolojilerle yapay zekâ, günlük hayatlarımıza dâhil olmuş durumdadır. Bu teknolojiler yaşamlarımızı, yaşamı algılayış biçimlerimizi ve dolayısıyla bizleri radikal bir şekilde dönüştürmektedir. Bu baş döndürücü dönüşüm ise dikkatli bir incelemeyi gerektirmektedir. Ne var ki yapay zekâ teknolojilerinin geleceğine yönelik ahlaki çıkarımlarda bulunmanın, spekülasyona oldukça açık bir alan olduğu için bizi hataya (...) sürükleyebileceğini dürüstçe kabul etmemiz gerekir. Ancak, geçmişteki gibi felaketlerin yaşanmaması için ahlaki bir farkındalık içinde olmamız da elzem görünmektedir. Kaldı ki günümüzde var olan yapay zekâ sistemleri de ahlaki sorunlardan azade değildir. Örneğin, yapay zekâ sistemleri ile dijital verilerimiz kullanılarak kararlarımızı etkileyebilecek manipülasyonlara her an maruz kalabilmekteyiz. Çin gibi ülkelerde yüz tanıma teknolojilerinin sosyal kontrol ve insanları ‘damgalama’ amaçlı kullanıldığı bilinmektedir. Veya sürücüsüz (otonom) araçlar konusunda yaşamı tehdit edebilecek etik ikilemlere henüz net bir cevap bulunabilmiş değildir. -/- Bütün bu sorunlardan hareketle, Türkçe literatürde yapay zekâ etiği ile ilgili münferit çalışmalar mevcut olsa da, yapay zekânın etiğine disiplinlerarası bir bakışla, farklı perspektiflerden yaklaşan ve bir bütün olarak ele alan pek az eserin olması bizi bu konuda bir çalışma yapmaya yönlendirmiştir. Elinizdeki kitap ile siz değerli okuyucularımıza bizleri ve yaşamlarımızı dönüştürmekte olan yapay zekâ teknolojilerinin etik boyutu hakkında birlikte düşünmeyi ve geleceğin tasarlanmasında söz sahibi olabilmek için de bu konudaki tartışmalarda aktif bir şekilde yer almayı teklif ediyoruz. (shrink)

Scientists in anthropology, geography, and other fields within social sciences and humanities have long suggested that the environments in which people live deeply influence their cultural value systems and practices. Shota Shibasaki, Ryosuke Nakadai, and Yo Nakawake have built on this idea, demonstrating that local ecological characteristics shape the appearance of trickster animals in folklore. Based on their finding and the SM3D (Serendipity-Mindsponge-3D) knowledge management framework, we discuss how the individuals’ or groups’ ability to create cultural products depends on the (...) availability and accessibility of information from the surrounding environment. Due to biodiversity loss and climate change, such valuable resources for cultural creativity have been diminished. Thus, it is crucial to adopt biodiversity preservation and climate action as fundamental values of a progressive and humane culture. Only then can we continue to preserve and enhance the creative cultural capacity of society. (shrink)

Quem ou que instituição pode definir o que é filosofia? Em perspectiva descolonial ainda é necessária a filosofia ou ela é apenas mecanismo da tradição ocidental e por trazer consigo as totalidades desta cultura devemos desprezá-la e buscar outros nomes e jeitos pelos quais algo semelhante a isso que a cultura ocidental chama de filosofia foi realizada em outras culturas em perspectivas libertadoras? O que significa hoje, começo de séc. XXI, fazer filosofia no Brasil? Estas e outras questões perpassam este (...) texto que poderá ser considerado ou não acadêmico ou filosófico dependendo da sensibilidade e razão de quem o lê e com ele dialoga. Um caminhar sobre uma corda – sempre bamba - perpassando nós que se relacionam complexamente alimentando fluxos que nutrem complexas redes de comunidades. O Tu aparece sempre evidentemente como obstáculo. Os nós, são sempre o que percebemos? Eis um necessário confrontar à ontologia desde uma ética áltera, de libertação. (shrink)

Título: Como os deuses chegaram até nós: por outras historiografias, sociologias, filosofias e antropologias Tema: Magia, Rituais, Mitos, Religião e Capitalismo: consonâncias, dissonâncias e relações com a Morte, um Ensaio -/- O trabalho em tela é um esforço de expor e contextualizar, as possíveis expressões das primeiras formas, modos e tipos de manifestações místicas, ritualísticas, mágicas, sacrificiais, de crenças e míticas nos processos sociais, culturais, econômicos, políticos e históricos das sociedades. Verificando assim, os primeiros fundamentos, processos e construções biopsicossociais, bem (...) como suas produções e reproduções místicas e de crenças. Isso sendo verificado através e por meio dos povos considerados primitivos, antigos e arcaicos. Dessa forma, iremos realizar uma tentativa de reconstrução cronológica da formação e manifestação das primeiras práticas místicas, mágicas, ritualísticas e sacrificiais ao longo da história, e que vão culminar na formação das ‘religiões.’ Uma vez que, é justamente através e por meio das relações entre os povos, sociedades, culturas, civilizações e seus antropofagismos culturais, místicos, míticos, ritualísticos e de crenças, que se produzem outras manifestações e possíveis ‘religiões.’ Com isso, são nas relações e interações sociais entre as mesmas, integrando certos elementos, conteúdos, crenças etc., umas das outras, que as manifestações tidas como religiosas foram surgindo e se disseminando por inúmeros lugares. Logo, tais processos e manifestações não permaneceram estáticos, mas foram mudando e se transformando ao longo da história até a atualidade. E assim, a Magia, os Rituais, Mitos, sacrifícios e relações com a morte também foram se transformando e sendo ressignificados. Produzindo nos processos, diferenciações e transformações, certas dissonâncias, mas também mantendo certas consonâncias ou semelhanças. Entretanto, após a criação das religiões e suas relações com o Estado, sobretudo com o sistema capitalista, tais dissonâncias são bem mais evidentes. Também podemos dizer que o trabalho em tela, talvez seja uma exposição sumária dos desdobramentos dos processos ‘evolutivos,’ de desenvolvimentos, progressos e multiprodutos das inúmeras manifestações místicas, religiosas, culturais e de seus ‘deuses.’ ‘Evolutivos, progressos e desenvolvimentos aqui, diz apenas nos sentidos e aspectos das criações, produções, reelaborações e organizações criativas dos povos, sociedades e ou civilizações, suas culturas, misticismos e crenças. Sobretudo de suas divindades, magias, rituais e deuses. Porém, não sendo superiores ou inferiores entre nenhuma. Esta produção está sob óticas, análises e reflexões das áreas, campos e disciplinas da filosofia da história, filosofia das religiões, sociologia, psicologia e história das religiões, da antropologia cultural social e das religiões, da ciência das religiões, literatura e dentre outras. (shrink)

Актуальність дослідження. Станом насьогодні, дослідження стандартів озеленення урбанізованих територій у країнах ЄС та Україні є актуальним, оскільки європейські країни мають багатий досвід в розробці та впровадженні стандартів озеленення, який може бути корисним для України. В ході роботи було досліджено і проаналізовано типи та критерії стандартів озеленення, які використовуються в ЄС та Україні. Метою дослідження є зробити порівняльний аналіз стандартів озеленення урбанізованих територій в країнах ЄС та України з метою виявлення схожостей та відмінностей між ними .Крім того, моє дослідження спрямоване на (...) визначення найбільш ефективних практик озеленення та розробку рекомендацій щодо впровадження стандартів озеленення в Україні. Порівняння стандартів озеленення міських територій в країнах ЄС та України показало, як і у Європейських країна, так і в Україні передбачено ряд стандартів озеленення міських територій. Затверджені стандарти озеленення міських територій в Україні. Стандарти озеленення міських територій в Україні не належать до найбільш розвинених у світі. Україна зазвичай використовує стандарти, розроблені в радянські часи, які, на жаль, не завжди відповідають сучасним вимогам до збереження біорізноманіття та екології міст. Аналіз впроваджених стандартів озеленення в країнах ЄС показав, що багато країн, які встановили та дотримуються стандартів озеленення, є зразковими та лідерами у слідування політики Європейського зеленого курсу. Прикладом, однією зі зразкових європейських країн є Швеція. Однак, не дивлячись на впровадження стандартів озеленення, у деяких містах країн ЄС та України виникають проблеми з недостатнім кількісним та якісним рівнем зелених насаджень. Не завжди дотримуються вимог щодо розташування зелених зон та їх влаштування, а також не забезпечується належний догляд та обслуговування за зеленими насадженнями. Отже, важливо не тільки визначати стандарти озеленення, але і забезпечувати їх виконання та контролювати якість озеленення. Це дозволить досягти більшого ефекту від озеленення міських територій та покращити якість життя міського населення. (shrink)

Serendipity is defined as an ability to notice, evaluate, and take advantage of unexpected information for survival purposes (both natural and social). The concept has been discussed for centuries. Still, it has only caught the attention of academia quite recently due to its strategic advantage in all aspects of life, such as daily life activities, science and technology, business and entrepreneurship, politics and economics, education administration, career choice and development, etc.

¿Cómo vivimos, pues, para que toda la naturaleza se doblegue y estemos en la desazón? "Queríamos cambiar el mundo y el mundo nos cambió a nosotros”, dice Nino Manfredi en la película de Ettore Scola, C'eravamo tanto amati, algo tan expresivo de este modo vital que nos domina. Pero aspirar a que no nos transforme lo que vivimos parece imposible, incluso desafortunado, ya que un hombre vive siempre en su presente, y al hacerlo habita con sus semejantes. Sólo así es (...) posible vivir en una sociedad política, hacer una esfera pública. La política nace de compartir juntos, palabras y actos, nos recuerda Hannah Arendt (3). (shrink)