One of the fundamental problems in the philosophy of psychology is to determine the relation between personal and subpersonal explanations of human behavior. The problem of determining the relation between the personal and subpersonal levels is called the “interface problem”. This paper has two goals. The first is to introduce the domestic reader to the interface problem from the perspective of the philosophy of psychology. The second goal is to show that insufficient focus on the interface problem and its potential (...) solutions can lead to uncritical and fallacious reasoning that can have significant consequences for particular debates in philosophy of medicine and philosophy of law. (shrink)

The purpose of this essay is to examine some of the ethical concerns raised regarding the use of neuroenhancers. Authors such as Fukuyama and Sandel argue that medical intervention should be limited to treatment of disease, and that enhancement should be outside of the scope of medicine. This commentary will examine the distinction between treatment and enhancement. I shall conclude that it is not a well-drawn distinction and should not be used to provide guidance with regards to the use (...) of psychopharmacological agents for the purpose of cognitive enhancement. I shall further examine whether concepts such as disability and normality could provide a criterion for determining whether enhancement is a permissible use of medical intervention. I conclude that as those concepts are contextually defined, they cannot be used to make principled arguments against enhancement. Finally, I shall review the charge that medicalization of cognitive performance enhancers is not morally permissible. I shall argue that medicalization might have both negative and positive consequences, and decisions about the moral permissibility of medicalization should be made on a case-by-case basis. (shrink)

Society has historically not taken a benign view of genetic disease. The laws permitting sterilization of the mentally re tarded~ and those proscribing consanguineous marriages are but two examples. Indeed as far back as the 5th-10th centuries, B.C.E., consanguineous unions were outlawed (Leviticus XVIII, 6). Case law has traditionally tended toward the conservative. It is reactive rather than directive, exerting its influence only after an individual or group has sustained injury and brought suit. In contrast, state legislatures have not been (...) inhibited in enacting statutes. Many of their products can be characterized as hasty, unnecessary, ill-conceived, and based on the heart rather than the head. Moreover the lack of expert consultation sought has also been remarkable. One state legislature, for example, has advocated immunization for sickle cell anemia! Many others have enacted laws for the screening of inborn errors of metabolism, e.g., phenylketon uria, but have poorly defined the lines of responsibility to secure compliance. A spate of specific disease-related bills has emerged in the u.S. Congress, each seeking recognition and appropriations. Sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, Cooley's anemia and Tay-Sachs disease have been among the front-runners for support. Finally, in 1975, Congress has begun to examine an omnibus bill concerning all forms of genetic disease. The bill, termed the National Genetic Diseases Act is, however, still far from being enacted. (shrink)

Filozofija umjetnosti u mišljenju Anande Kentisha Coomaraswamyja povezana je tradicionalnom filozofijom. Estetika, u modernom smislu, nema veze s tradicionalnom filozofijom umjetnosti, čiji temeljni princip nije »umjetnik je posebna vrsta čovjeka«, nego »svaki je čovjek posebna vrsta umjetnika«. Coomaraswamy nastoji redefinirati suvremeni pristup umjetnosti. Suvremeni umjetnici ne stvaraju svoja djela u skladu s Vječnim Istinama. Apstraktna umjetnost nije ikonografija transcendentalnih formi nego stvarna slika razjedinjenog uma. U cilju redefiniranja pristupa umjetnosti, temeljni se jezik umjetnosti mora promijeniti; edukatori i kustosi moraju (...) biti odgovorni za poučavanje o istinskoj prirodi umjetnosti; umjetnost ne može biti jednaka estetskom iskustvu; društvo se mora reorganizirati u društvo bazirano na vokaciji, što je analogno Platonovu mišljenju.Philosophy of Art in the thinking of Anande Kentish Coomaraswamy is connected with traditional philosophy. Aesthetics in modern sense has nothing to do with traditional philosophy of art which basic principle is “The artist is not special kind of man” but “Every man is special kind of artist”. Coomaraswamy wants to redefine contemporary approach to art. Contemporary artist does not create in accordance with Eternal Truth.art is not iconography of transcendental forms but real picture of disoriented mentality. In order to redefine approach to art basic language of art must be changed; educators and curators must have responsibility to teach about true nature of art; art can not be equal with esthetic experience; society must be reorganized into one that is based on vocation in analogy with Plato’s thought. (shrink)

The topic of professionalism has dominated the content of major academic medicine publications during the past decade and continues to do so. The message of this current wave of professionalism is that medical educators need to be more attentive to the moral sensibilities of trainees, to their interpersonal and affective dimensions, and to their social conscience, all to the end of skilled, humanistic physicians. Urgent calls to address professionalism from such groups as the Association of American Medical Colleges, the (...) American Board of Internal Medicine, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, among others. In fact, at the 2004 annual meeting of the AAMC six separate presentations addressed professionalism with such titles as "Evaluating Humanism and Professionalism," Professionalism: Expectation, Education, Evaluation," or "Toward Assessing Professional Behaviors of Medical Students through Peer Observations". Professionalism, then, has become part of the current academic medicine parlance, used by administrators, clinical faculty, residency programs, and professional organizations with an expectation of shared meanings and goals. All of these stakeholders focus on what has become a consistent list of attributes deemed to be the essence of professionalism, which usually include variations on altruism, duty, excellence, honor and integrity, accountability, and respect. In fact, most of the scholarly work to date has been listing, describing, decrying, and measuring/evaluating it. In this collection of essays, we don’t argue with these attributes. Instead, we ask questions of the discourse from which they arise, how the specialized language of academic medicine disciplines has defined, organized, contained, and made seemingly immutable a group of attitudes, values, and behaviors subsumed under the label "professional" or "professionalism." This collection aims to be a critical text, one that questions the profession’s beliefs about the nature of its work and how such beliefs are enacted in medical education, particularly as they fuel the professionalism discourse. In addition, we will scrutinize how the discourse is enacted in both the formal and hidden curriculum, and in the larger medical environment. (shrink)

Pogosto se govori o »krizi« na humanističnih oddelkih ameriških univerz. Vendar imajo ljudje, ki to govorijo, v mislih prekomerno politično korektnost, ki jo še lahko zasledimo na ameriških oddelkih za književnost. Oddelki za filozofijo v Združenih državah so imeli svojo zadnjo krizo v štiridesetih in petdesetih – v obdobju, ko je analitična filozofija dovršila svoj prevzem. Od takrat se ni zgodil noben dramatičen generacijski preobrat, razen nenadnega vznika feministične filozofije kot novega področja specilizacije v sedemdesetih letih. Posledice radikalizma so (...) sicer imele velik vpliv na matrice številnih drugih disciplin na univerzi, toda ameriško filozofijo so pustile večinoma nedotaknjeno. Veliko analitičnih filozofov je bilo politično aktivnih, toda zaradi te aktivnosti niso spreminjali svoje profesionalne samopodobe ali svojih bralnih navad.There is often said to be a “crisis” in the humanities departments of American universities. But people who say this usually have in mind the excessive political correctness which is still sometimes found in US departments of literature. American philosophy departments had their last crisis back in the 1940’s and 1950’s—the period during which analytic philosophy accomplished its takeover. There has been no dramatic generational shift since then, except for the sudden emergence, in the 70’s, of feminist philosophy as a new area of specialization. Whereas the aftermath of the radicalism of the 60’s had a profound impact on several disciplinary matrices elsewhere in the university, it left American philosophy largely unaffected. Many analytic philosophers were politically active, but this activity usually did not lead them to change either their professional self-images or their reading habits. (shrink)

Polazeći od situacije u kojoj se sve više uviđa da bismo morali mijenjati naš odnos prema prirodi, može biti značajno postaviti pitanje – može li Whiteheadova filozofija prirode, koja predstavlja jedan izuzetan i izniman misaoni sustav, cjelovitu teoriju prirode, pomoći u nastojanju da se ponovno zadobije pojam prirode u mišljenju? U tome smislu, ovdje se u najopćenitijim naznakama razmatraju neki temeljni pojmovi i karakteristike Whiteheadove filozofije prirode.Ključni pojmovi Whiteheadove filozofije prirode su: ‘proces’, ‘organizam’ i ‘aktualni entitet’. Stvarnost je proces (...) koji istovremeno predstavlja i subjekt kao koordinirajući princip jedinstva. Proces se sastoji od događaja koji se nalaze u dinamičkom međuodnosu. U prvom planu ove teorije prirode koja, drugačije i od Aristotela ali i od Descartesa, ‘prirodno’ misli u njegovoj organizmičkoj kvaliteti, nalazi se vrijeme a ne supstancija. Whiteheadova filozofija prirode, kao empirijsko-pragmatična metafizika, polazi od kauzaliteta i teleologije kao dva različita aspekta jedinstvenog procesa. U prirodi je na djelu komplementarni odnos kauzaliteta i teleologije, determinizma i slobode. Aktualni entiteti posjeduju svoju unutarnju, teleološku dinamiku koja je ograničena kroz njihovu relaciju s ukupnim Univerzumom.U kategorijalnom pojmu ‘aktualni entitet’ Whiteheadova filozofija nudi koncept za formuliranje jedinstva između fizičkih i psihičkih fenomena stvarnosti. Priroda i duh, tijelo i svijest, fizičko i psihičko, ne nalaze se u odnosu dihotomije. Ljudski i ne-ljudski život ne dijeli nikakva apsolutna granica. U metafizičkom i kozmološkom pogledu, Whiteheadova filozofija prirode, u svom nastojanju da se osigura kozmičko jedinstvo prostorne i vremenske dimenzije svijeta, prirode i povijesti, duha i materije, koncipirana je panteistički.In the situation in which necessity of changing our attitude towards the nature is becoming increasingly obvious, it could be important to ask the following question – is Whitehead’s natural philosophy, which represents one remarkable and outstanding system of thought, one integral natural philosophy, capable of giving assistance in our attempt of regaining the notion of nature in thought? Thereby, some grounding terms and characteristics of Whitehead’s natural philosophy are discussed here in a manner of a broad sketch.Grounding terms of Whitehead’s natural philosophy are: ‘process’, ‘organism’, and ‘actual entity’. Reality is the process which at the same time represents a subject as a coordinative principle of unity. Process is compiled out of the events which are in a dynamic interrelationship. In a focus of this theory of nature, which in contrast to Aristotle and Descartes thinks of ‘nature’ in its organismic quality, is time not the substance. Whitehead’s natural philosophy, being the empirical-pragmatical metaphysics, starts from causality and teleology as two different aspects of the unique process. Complementary process of causality and teleology, determinism and freedom, have an effect on nature. Actual entities posses their inner, teleological dynamics which is limited through their relation with the Universe in total.In categorial term ‘actual entity’ Whitehead’s philosophy offers the concept for formulating the unity between physical and psychical phenomena of the reality. Nature and spirit, body and conscience, physical and psychical, are not in the relation of dichotomy. Human and non-human life are not divided by any absolute boundary. In metaphysical and cosmological outlook, Whitehead’s natural philosophy in its attempt of providing the cosmic space–time unity of the world, nature and history, spirit and matter, is outlined as pantheistic. (shrink)

knj. 1. Ideologija i trezvenost -- knj. 2. Destruktivne ideologije 20. stoljeća -- knj. 3. Izazovi novog milenija.

Mišljenje koje ukazuje na značenje posrednika u procesu spoznaje jednim svojim dijelom ulazi u područje gnoseologije. Probijajući se do biti promišljanoga, te odstranjujući ono što pripada posrednicima u procesu spoznaje, ovo je mišljenje dijelom i svojevrsna »proširena hermeneutika «. Proučavajući napredovanje spoznaje o posredovanosti same spoznaje, te napredovanje iskustva u kontekstu medija posredovanja, ovo je mišljenje i svojevrsna fenomenologija. Sabirući u sebi teorijsko, praktičko i poetičko, filozofija medija želi biti mišljenje koje nije određeno slikom, gramatikom, pojmom, kontekstom, performanceom, psihologijom (...) nastupa, tehnologijom – ali sve to želi imati u sebi sačuvano i nadvladano. Transmisija znanja više nije samo stvar riječi. Nakon lingvističkog obrata i ikoničkog obrata, sve smo bliže shvaćanju da je i jednom i drugom obratu u osnovi bio medijski obrat. (shrink)

Pregledujem sedanje slepe ulice zahodne filozofije in predlagam nov začetek. V sedanjem trenutku prevladujejo tri najmočnejše pojmovne opcije; skepticizem, kognitivni privilegij in historicizem. Prvi je škandal, drugega zavračajo vse strani, tretji pa je trenutno dokaj zanemarjen. Historicizem ali zgodovinskost - pojem, daje mišljenje notranje historizirano, da je mišljenje zgodovina - je edini velik nov prispevek moderne filozofije k glavnim pojmovnim virom zahodne tradicije. Sodobna filozofija, posebno angloameriška analitična filozofija, je v bistvu nadaljevanje filozofije 17. stoletja in predkantovske filozofije (...) 18. stoletja, ki ju begajo »nepomembnosti« 19. stoletja; kontinentalna filozofija, v glavnem francoska in nemška, pa se je zdaj pripravljena prilagoditi ahistoricizmu analitične filozofije. Predlagam ponovno odkritje historicizma in prepoznam številne različne strategije, ki dajejo prednost taki politiki, za katero napovedujem, da bo še enkrat prišla na vrsto v naslednjem stoletju. Še posebej skrbno raziskujem vidike prve filozofije, zaprtih sistemov, rešitev problemov reference in predikacije, odnos med naravo in kulturo, odnos med realizmom in idealizmom in naravo ter funkcijo osebe ali sebstva. Ugotavljam, da se sodobna filozofija mora spoprijeti s prispevki Kantovega konstruktivizma in Heglove simbioze in iti preko obeh. Med dokazovanjem orišem splošno krivuljo zahodne filozofije vse do današnjih časov. (shrink)

The pluralistic philosophy of religion of Abdolkarim Soroush, whose neo-rationalist thought represents a genuine epistemological turn within Muslim reform discourse, is the central issue in this paper. Abdolkarim Soroush, as a contemporary Muslim thinker, brings a completely new understanding of the issue of religious pluralism and by incorporating analytical philosophy, contemporary hermeneutic tradition and Sufi metaphysics, contributes to the creation of a characteristically distinct philosophy of religion within the Muslim intellectual circle. Issues of expansion and contraction of religious knowledge, as (...) well as the expansion of prophetic experience, are inseparable elements of his philosophy of religion. (shrink)

Osnovna su pitanja ovog teksta sljedeća: Koliko je filozofija prakse sama podlegla okvirima u kojima je misaono djelovala? Suprotstavljajući se snažnoj hijerarhiji politike, je li i sama posezala za prokušanim metodama hijerarhijske samoodrživosti? Koliko je njezin poziv na revoluciju bio tek odjekom vremena revolucija? Koliko je insistiranje na pojmu revolucije stvaralo novu nesretnu svijest generacija njihovih studenata, spremnih na promjene, a zaustavljenih na razini revolucionarnih interpretacija teorija svojih profesora? Konačno, koliko je u pravu McLuhan kad zamjera Marxu da nije (...) vidio promjene koje su se zbivale upravo u njegovo vrijeme, odnosno da je industrijski hardware kreirao okoliš totalne informacije? Tekst istražuje koliko je tehnološki okvir određivao hijerarhičnost, ideologičnost mišljenja i oblik kritike te ideologičnosti.The crucial questions of this text are the following: How much has the praxis philosophy itself succumbed to the frames around its act of reflection, thinking and contemplation? Opposing the strong hierarchy of politics, has it used the well known methods of hierarchical self-preservation? How much was its call for revolution just an echo of times of revolutions? How much did the insisting on the concept of revolution influenced the creation of unhappy consciousness of their student’s generations, ready for changes, and stopped on the level of revolutionary interpretations of their professors’ theories? Finally, how much is McLuhan right when criticising Marx not seeing the changes that were happening right in the time he lived, not seeing that the industrial hardware created the environment of the global information? The text explores how the technological frame determined the hierarchy, ideology of thinking and the form of criticism of this ideology. (shrink)

Slijedeći Fichteovu misao da »svatko izabire onakvu filozofiju kakav je tko čovjek«, u članku se ocrtavaju misaoni sklopovi stvaralačkoga opusa Ante Pažanina, u nastojanju da se na taj način osvijetle stožerne sastavnice njegove životne filozofije. Pažaninova istraživanja o filozofiji kao strogoj znanosti, fenomenologiji, praktičnoj filozofiji, etici i politici imaju znatan odjek i utjecaj ne samo u Hrvatskoj nego su zapažena i u svijetu. Na međunarodnoj pozornici privukla je zanimanje njegova osebujna koncepcija normativne političke filozofije u kojoj kritički rasvjetljuje i ukazuje (...) na posljetke suvremene znanstveno-tehničke civilizacije. Nasuprot novovjekovnom odvajanju etike od prava i politike, Pažanin se oslonio na aristotelovsku tradiciju praktične filozofije koja polazi od jedinstva etike i politike. Praktičnu filozofiju promatra kao samostalno i neovisno područje o poietičnoj techne i teoretskoj episteme. Takav pristup praktičnoj filozofiji nadilazi poteškoće aprirornoga univerzalizma teoretskoga utemeljenja etičkih normi te bolje odgovara suvremenoj raznovrsnosti svijeta života i njegovoj složenosti. Pažaninovu životnu filozofsku misiju može se prispodobiti Gadamerovu opisu »nasljedovanja« Aristotela u nastojanju filozofa da se pomoću filozofske teorije stavi u službu ljudske prakse. Njegova je praktična životna filozofija svojevrsno misaono nastojanje oko razumijevanja i posuvremenjenja odnosa između refleksivnih oblika teorije i praktične umnosti povijesnoga svijeta života. Filozofska refleksija za njega ima zadaću ne samo primjereno razumjeti praktični svijet nego ga time i odgovorno mijenjati u nastojanju za ozbiljenjem najvišega ljudskog dobra kao bitne svrhe čovjekova življenja. (shrink)

Even in the increasingly individualized American medical system, advocates of 'personalized medicine' claim that healthcare isn't individualized enough. With the additional glamour of new biotechnologies such as genetic testing and pharmacogenetics behind it, 'Me Medicine'-- personalized or stratified medicine-- appears to its advocates as the inevitable and desirable way of the future. Drawing on an extensive evidence base, this book examines whether these claims are justified. It goes on to examine an alternative tradition rooted in communitarian ideals, (...) that of the common good as a goal in medicine. (shrink)