HANDBOOK OF DEFEASIBLE REASONING AND UNCERTAINTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS EDITORS: DOV M. ... and A. Hunter Volume 3: Belief Change Edited by D. Dubois and H. Prade HANDBOOK OF DEFEASIBLE REASONING AND ...

If climate change represents a severe threat to humankind, why then is response to it characterized by inaction at all levels? The authors argue there are two complementary explanations for the lack of motivation. First, our moral judgment system appears to be unable to identify climate change as an important moral problem and there are pervasive doubts about the agency of individuals. This explanation, however, is incomplete: Individual emitters can effectively be held morally responsible for their luxury emissions. Second, doubts (...) about individual agency have become overly emphasized and fail to convincingly exonerate individuals from responsibility. This book extends the second explanation for the motivational gap, namely that the arguments for the lack of individual agency do in fact correspond to mechanisms of moral disengagement. The use of these mechanisms enables consumption elites to maintain their consumptive lifestyles without having to accept moral responsibility for their luxury emissions. (shrink)

Background: Discussing treatment risks has become increasingly important in medical communication. Still, despite regulations, physicians must decide how much and what kind of information to present. Objective: To investigate patients’ preference for information about a small risk of a complication of colonoscopy, and whether medical and personal factors contribute to such preference. To propose a disclosure policy related to our results. Design: Vignettes study. Setting: Department of Gastroenterology, Academic Medical Centre, the Netherlands. Patients: 810 consecutive colonoscopy patients. Intervention: A home-sent (...) questionnaire containing three vignettes. Vignettes varied in the indication for colonoscopy, complication severity and level of risk. Patients were invited to indicate their wish to be informed and the importance of such information. In addition, sociodemograhic, illness-related and psychological characteristics were assessed. Main outcome measurements: Wish to be informed and importance of information. Results: Of 810 questionnaires, 68% were returned. Patients generally wished to be informed about low-risk complications, regardless of the indication for colonoscopy or the severity of the complication. The level of risk did matter, though (OR = 2.48, SE = 0.28, p = 0.001). The information was considered less important if done for population screening purposes or diagnosis of colon cancer, if the complication was less severe (bleeding) and if the risk was smaller (0.01% and 0.1%). Patients’ information preference was also related to age, mood and coping style. Limitations: Difficulty of vignettes. Conclusions: Patients generally wish to be informed about all possible risks. However, this might become uninformative. A stepwise approach is suggested. (shrink)

Jules Janssens a construit une œuvre importante, qui, pour de nombreux chercheurs, a ouvert des perspectives de recherches nouvelles et fécondes. Ses travaux ont fait date. Ils portent principalement sur la philosophie d'Avicenne, ses sources, ses rapports avec la pensée musulmane, son influence sur la théologie ash'arite (al-Ghazālī, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī) et sa réception dans le monde latin. Pour lui rendre hommage, quatorze collègues et amis de renommée internationale se sont réunis pour poursuivre ses réflexions sur ces thèmes. L'ouvrage qui (...) en est issu offre un état des lieux de la recherche contemporaine sur Avicenne et sa postérité arabo-latine. (shrink)

La Jaiminiyasamhita, en partie inédite, est une œuvre puranique de nature "encyclopédique". Dans une section de six chapitres intitulée "La question de Janaka" ('Janakaprasna'), le roi Kartaviryarjuna rend visite à Dattatreya, afin de recevoir un enseignement sur l''advaita', la "non-dualité". Ce dernier lui rapporte l'enseignement que le sage Asita transmit autrefois au roi mythique Janaka. Cette "question de Janaka", à l'instar des Upanisad, se présente sous la forme d'un dialogue entre un maître et un disciple. La thématique au cœur de (...) ce dialogue concerne la nature du 'brahman' et son rapport au corps. Elle permet à l'auteur de faire montre de l'étendue de son savoir dans des domaines aussi riches que variés: le développement embryonnaire et les théories physiologiques, les conceptions cosmogoniques, les paradoxes de la non-dualité et les disciplines de salut, en particulier le yoga, influencé par des conceptions tantriques. (shrink)

Nombreux sont les versets coraniques qui insistent sur la toute‑puissance de Dieu : en maître absolu du Bien et du Mal, il fait ce que bon lui semble, égarant et sauvant qui Il veut. Pris au pied de la lettre, ces versets ont inspiré une vision déterministe et fataliste de l’homme et du monde qui exclut toute possibilité de fonder une éthique rationnelle : le bien et le mal sont entièrement déterminés par la seule volonté de Dieu et l’islam se (...) résume alors à une soumission aveugle aux décrets divins. Tenue pour responsable de l’ankylose de la pensée musulmane, voire des dérives obscurantistes de l’islamisme radical, cette position, qui résulte du triomphe de l’as’arisme dans le sunnisme postclassique, est de nos jours sévèrement critiquée par des théologiens soucieux de promouvoir un islam éclairé. Ceux‑ci renouent souvent avec des doctrines mu’tazilites visant à atténuer, d’une façon ou d’une autre, la puissance divine et à reconnaître en Dieu une certaine « impuissance », afin de créer un espace pour l’homme. L’article retrace l’historique de ce débat, qui remonte aux origines mêmes de la théologie musulmane.Many verses in the Koran insist on God’s omnipotence: as the absolute Master of Good and Evil, He does whatever he likes, condemning or saving whomever He decides. Understood literally, those verses have inspired a deterministic and fatalistic vision of man and the world, one which excludes any possibility of grounding a rational ethics. Both Good and Evil are totally determined by the will of God alone, and Islam may be summed up as a blind submission to divine decrees. This position, which results from the triumph of as’arism in post‑classical sunnism, has been held responsible for the stagnation of Muslim thought, indeed for the obscurantist excesses of radical Islamism and is today severely criticized by some theologians concerned to promote an enlightened Islam. These scholars have often revived mu’tazilist doctrines whose aim is to weaken one way or another, notions of divine power and, by recognizing in God a certain « powerlessness », create a space for human action. This paper retraces the history of this debate which dates back to the very origins of the Muslim theology. (shrink)

En cet article nous analysons les notions de taqiyya et kitmān telles qu’elles ont été élaborées par des auteurs ismaéliens des 10e et 11e siècles. Tout au long du présent « cycle d’occultation », la « science véritable » est voilée sous la lettre des textes révélés et des lois qui en découlent. Seuls les imāms et leurs disciples ont accès à cette science, mais ils n’ont pas le droit de la divulguer au tout venant. Cette obligation de garder le (...) secret fait partie du sermon d’allégeance que chaque Ismaélien doit prêter avant le début de son initiation. Mais même les imams ont été forcés d’agir avec prudence et en secret. À certains moments, ils ont été obligés d’entrer en occultation , en cachant leur véritable identité et leur lieu de résidence. Cette pratique de taqiyya et kitmān est présentée comme le sens caché des prescriptions coraniques relatives au jeûne du Ramadan. La rupture illicite du jeûne signifie la transgression des règles de la taqiyya, tandis que le ‘Id al-fiṭr symbolise l’abolition finale de l’obligation de la taqiyya. Les auteurs fatimides interprètent l’avènement de ‘Abd Allāh al-Mahdi et la fondation de l’état fatimide en Ifrīqiya comme un signe annoncant le ‘Id al-fiṭr, qui aura lieu avec l’apparition du Qā’im lors de la Grande Résurrection. En ouvrant un nouveau « cycle de manifestation », il abrogera toutes les eligions et les lois exotériques. La science sera alors directement accessible, sans zāhir ni bāṭin. Par conséquent, il ne sera plus nécessaire d’observer la taqiyya et le kitmān. L’ismaélisme étant un mouvement messianique avec des objectifs éminemment politiques, il n’y a pas lieu de dissocier l’aspect sécuritaire de l’aspect ésotérique dans sa théorie de la taqiyya. (shrink)

About the Book: - Brahman and Person is a collection of essays by the late Richard De Smet (1916-1997) on the topic of person in Indian thought. Overturning the current interpretation, De Smet proposes that the nirguna Brahman can be regarded as properly personal, provided person is understood in the original and classical sense that emerged in the Christian effort to speak abut the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. The Rendering of saguna and nirguna Brahman as (...) personal and impersonal, instead originated with the Western translators of Sanskrit works, who were influenced by an individualistic idea of the person and the consequent restriction of its application to the human being. De Smet also dedicated attention to the question of the human person in Indian and Western thought over a number of essays, proposing that a properly holistic and organic notion of the human person can be found especially n the thought of sankara. This collection of essays by an eminent Indologist constitutes and important contribution not only to Indological studies but also to cross cultural and interreligious dialogue. About the Author:- Richard De Smet taught Indian Philosophy at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. Born in Belgium in 1916, he joined the Jesuits in 1934 and came to India in 1946. He earned a Ph.D. in 1953 from the Gregorian University, Rome, for his thesis on the theological method of Sankara, proposing both that sankara was srutivanadin, and that he used the method of analogy in his interpretation of the Upanisadic mahavakyas. De Smet was a life member of the Indian Philosophical Congress and the Indian Philosophical Association and Founder-President of the Association of Christian Philosophers of India and in these capacities carried out an ongoing dialogue with Indian philosophers and religious personalities. He died in 1997. Ivo Coelho is Reader in Gnoseology and Metaphysics at Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik, and editor of Dvyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education Born in 1958 at Mumbai, he studied under De Smet at Pune, and went on to specialize in the hermeneutical thought of the Canadian Philosopher theologian and economist Bernard Lonergan. He is interested in issues of cross-cultural and interreligious understanding, dialogue and collaboration. He is the author of Hermeneutics and Method: The Universal Viewpoint in Bernard Lonergan (Toronto, 2001). (shrink)

Nombreux sont les versets coraniques qui insistent sur la toute-puissance de Dieu : en maître absolu du Bien et du Mal, il fait ce que bon lui semble, égarant et sauvant qui II veut. Pris au pied de la lettre, ces versets ont inspiré une vision déterministe et fataliste dé l'homme et du monde qui exclut toute possibilité de fonder une éthique rationnelle : le bien et le mal sont entièrement déterminés par la seule volonté de Dieu et l'islam se (...) résume alors à une soumission aveugle aux décrets divins. Tenue pour responsable de l'ankylose de la pensée musulmane, voire des dérives obscurantistes de l'islamisme radical, cette position, qui résulte du triomphe de l'as'arisme dans le sunnisme postclassique, est de nos jours sévèrement critiquée par des théologiens soucieux de promouvoir un islam éclairé. Ceux-ci renouent souvent avec des doctrines mu'tazilites visant à atténuer, d'une façon ou d'une autre, la puissance divine et à reconnaître en Dieu une certaine « impuissance », afin de créer un espace pour l'homme. L'article retrace l'historique de ce débat, qui remonte aux origines mêmes de la théologie musulmane. Many verses in the Koran insist on God's omnipotence: as the absolute Master of Good and Evil, He does whatever he likes, condemning or saving whomever He decides. Understood literally, those verses have inspired a deterministic and fatalistic vision of man and the world, one which excludes any possibility of grounding a rational ethics. Both Good and Evil are totally determined by the will of God alone, and Islam may be summed up as a blind submission to divine decrees. This position, which results from the triumph of as'arism in post-classical sunnism, has been held responsible for the stagnation of Muslim thought, indeed for the obscurantist excesses of radical Islamism and is today severely criticized by some theologians concerned to promote an enlightened Islam. These scholars have often revived mu'tazilist doctrines whose aim is to weaken one way or another, notions of divine power and, by recognizing in God a certain « powerlessness », create a space for human action. This paper retraces the history of this debate which dates back to the very origins of the Muslim theology. (shrink)

Pourquoi donc sommes-nous si accrochés à notre maigre « je »? Pourquoi refusons-nous d'accepter les leçons les plus radicales de la neuroscience ou de la psychologie cognitive à propos de notre « identité » ou de ce que nous aimons à considérer comme notre « libre arbitre »? Quel mal y aurait-il à accepter que nous soyons le résultat de déterminations qui nous dépassent – et que nos choix ne soient que des colifichets ayant pour seule fonction de nous rassurer? (...) Dans Lost Ego, François De Smet répond à toutes ces questions de la meilleure manière qui soit : en mettant le doigt sur les peurs qui continuent à nous voir nous accrocher à des reliques de notre « moi » en miettes et que nous refusons de regarder en face. Non, nous n'existons pas – mais c'est précisément parce que nous n'existons pas que nous pouvons trouver le moyen de vivre. Seuls, et surtout ensemble. (shrink)

The article presents the results of research activities which were undertaken in Volgograd Medical University to celebrate the World Bioethics Day. The theme of scientific events organized on the basis of the Department of Bioethics, Philosophy and Medical Law with a course of the sociology of medicine with the participation of the Department of Ethical, Legal and Sociological Expertise in Medicine of Volgograd Medical Scientific Center is “Benefit and Harm”. The article presents the Program of holding a scientific online conference (...) with international participation and the results of the essay competition among students and young scientists. (shrink)

The formalism of abstracted quantum mechanics is applied in a model of the generalized Liar Paradox. Here, the Liar Paradox, a consistently testable configuration of logical truth properties, is considered a dynamic conceptual entity in the cognitive sphere (Aerts, Broekaert, & Smets, [Foundations of Science 1999, 4, 115–132; International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 2000, 38, 3231–3239]; Aerts and colleagues[Dialogue in Psychology, 1999, 10; Proceedings of Fundamental Approachs to Consciousness, Tokyo ’99; Mind in Interaction]. Basically, the intrinsic contextuality of the truth-value (...) of the Liar Paradox is appropriately covered by the abstracted quantum mechanical approach. The formal details of the model are explicited here for the generalized case. We prove the possibility of constructing a quantum model of the m-sentence generalizations of the Liar Paradox. This includes (i) the truth–falsehood state of the m-Liar Paradox can be represented by an embedded 2m-dimensional quantum vector in a (2m) m -dimensional complex Hilbert space, with cognitive interactions corresponding to projections, (ii) the construction of a continuous ‘time’ dynamics is possible: typical truth and falsehood value oscillations are described by Schrödinger evolution, (iii) Kirchoff and von Neumann axioms are satisfied by introduction of ‘truth-value by inference’ projectors, (iv) time invariance of unmeasured state. (shrink)

L’Ésotérisme shi‘ite: Ses racines et ses prolongements / Shi‘i Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments. Edited by M. A. Amir-Moezzi, M. de Cillis, D. de Smet, and O. Mir-Kasimov. Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Etudes, sciences religieuses, vol. 177. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2016. Pp. v + 870. €95.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell. Volume I: Separate Publications, 1896–1990 by Kenneth Blackwell, Harry RujaG. A. Wedeking and A. D. IrvineKenneth Blackwell and Harry Ruja. A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell. Volume I: Separate Publications, 1896–1990. Pp. lvi + 611. Volume II: Serial Publications, 1890–1990. Pp. xiv + 575. Volume III: Indexes. Pp. xi + 305. London: Routledge, 1994. Cloth, $455.00 the set.As Russell remarked: “It is a curious (...) fact that the most indubitably useful books are those most devoid of literary merit; for example, railway timetables and the telephone [End Page 146] book” (Vol. I, p. xlviii). Even so, since it will be agreed immediately that, for anyone interested in learning more about Russell’s writings, this beautifully crafted bibliography will be extremely useful, it would be a disservice to the authors to imply that it has no more literary merit than a railway timetable. The entire project simply has too much style.When Russell’s bibliographers began their task, fewer than 600 publications by Russell were known. By the time of publication they were able to record 181 of Russell’s books, pamphlets and leaflets, 629 contributions to books, pamphlets, and leaflets primarily authored by others, and approximately 3,550 serial publications of various types. Not being content merely to record the details of these publications, the authors follow each publication through its various editions, impressions, reprints, and translations. This is no mean task, given that Russell’s work has been translated into some 47 languages. In addition, the authors cite related pre-publication materials, give sources for rare and difficult-to-find books and documents, and include a comprehensive index. In short, they do nothing less than provide an authoritative, detailed record of Russell’s published work from 1890 to 1990.As the authors also point out, this is “a bibliography not only of Russell’s writings submitted and actually published, but also of certain other texts. Together they can be regarded as his published thoughts” (I: xix). Thus the bibliography mentions not only Russell’s books, articles, and published letters, but published accounts of his speeches, addresses, press conferences, and interviews; book reviews and recommendations (what Russell called “puffs”) for other people’s books; multiple-signatory letters to the editor and other similar documents; published extracts from Russell’s private correspondence and originally unpublished manuscripts; and audio recordings and films. A mark of the bibliography’s completeness is its catalogue of works that have been spuriously attributed to Russell, including two posthumous “spirit communications” (II: 573–74).The authors candidly describe Russell’s reaction when in 1966 he was shown slips of accumulated new entries: “ ‘I am impressed’, he said, ‘but I don’t think it’s worth it’ “ (I: li). Now, after several decades, we are finally in a position to evaluate Russell’s opinion. To do so, users of the bibliography will want to know the answer to three questions: Is the bibliography complete? Is it accurate? Is it easy to use?With regard to the first two of these three questions, the authors have made a commendable effort to balance comprehensiveness with accuracy (see their discussion of some problem cases, “Introduction,” I: xxvi ff.), rightly preferring accuracy to other desiderata. Concerning ease of use, one issue which comes to mind is whether the inclusion of such minor items as political pamphlets, letters to the editor, and statements made at news conferences, are always worth recording, or whether these items simply make the project so large as to be unmanageable. Once again, upon seeing the completed work, the reader will have little doubt that the correct decision has been made. Researchers interested in Russell’s political involvements and their relation to his more theoretical works, for example, will find this an invaluable resource. All in all, we believe that the bibliography will surpass the requirements of even the most demanding of users. It was, pace Russell, definitely worth it. [End Page 147]As with other volumes associated with the Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell project, these three volumes are beautifully typeset and bound. They will be a pleasure to use for both students and scholars alike for generations to... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell. Volume I: Separate Publications, 1896–1990 by Kenneth Blackwell, Harry RujaG. A. Wedeking and A. D. IrvineKenneth Blackwell and Harry Ruja. A Bibliography of Bertrand Russell. Volume I: Separate Publications, 1896–1990. Pp. lvi + 611. Volume II: Serial Publications, 1890–1990. Pp. xiv + 575. Volume III: Indexes. Pp. xi + 305. London: Routledge, 1994. Cloth, $455.00 the set.As Russell remarked: “It is a curious (...) fact that the most indubitably useful books are those most devoid of literary merit; for example, railway timetables and the telephone [End Page 146] book” (Vol. I, p. xlviii). Even so, since it will be agreed immediately that, for anyone interested in learning more about Russell’s writings, this beautifully crafted bibliography will be extremely useful, it would be a disservice to the authors to imply that it has no more literary merit than a railway timetable. The entire project simply has too much style.When Russell’s bibliographers began their task, fewer than 600 publications by Russell were known. By the time of publication they were able to record 181 of Russell’s books, pamphlets and leaflets, 629 contributions to books, pamphlets, and leaflets primarily authored by others, and approximately 3,550 serial publications of various types. Not being content merely to record the details of these publications, the authors follow each publication through its various editions, impressions, reprints, and translations. This is no mean task, given that Russell’s work has been translated into some 47 languages. In addition, the authors cite related pre-publication materials, give sources for rare and difficult-to-find books and documents, and include a comprehensive index. In short, they do nothing less than provide an authoritative, detailed record of Russell’s published work from 1890 to 1990.As the authors also point out, this is “a bibliography not only of Russell’s writings submitted and actually published, but also of certain other texts. Together they can be regarded as his published thoughts” (I: xix). Thus the bibliography mentions not only Russell’s books, articles, and published letters, but published accounts of his speeches, addresses, press conferences, and interviews; book reviews and recommendations (what Russell called “puffs”) for other people’s books; multiple-signatory letters to the editor and other similar documents; published extracts from Russell’s private correspondence and originally unpublished manuscripts; and audio recordings and films. A mark of the bibliography’s completeness is its catalogue of works that have been spuriously attributed to Russell, including two posthumous “spirit communications” (II: 573–74).The authors candidly describe Russell’s reaction when in 1966 he was shown slips of accumulated new entries: “ ‘I am impressed’, he said, ‘but I don’t think it’s worth it’ “ (I: li). Now, after several decades, we are finally in a position to evaluate Russell’s opinion. To do so, users of the bibliography will want to know the answer to three questions: Is the bibliography complete? Is it accurate? Is it easy to use?With regard to the first two of these three questions, the authors have made a commendable effort to balance comprehensiveness with accuracy (see their discussion of some problem cases, “Introduction,” I: xxvi ff.), rightly preferring accuracy to other desiderata. Concerning ease of use, one issue which comes to mind is whether the inclusion of such minor items as political pamphlets, letters to the editor, and statements made at news conferences, are always worth recording, or whether these items simply make the project so large as to be unmanageable. Once again, upon seeing the completed work, the reader will have little doubt that the correct decision has been made. Researchers interested in Russell’s political involvements and their relation to his more theoretical works, for example, will find this an invaluable resource. All in all, we believe that the bibliography will surpass the requirements of even the most demanding of users. It was, pace Russell, definitely worth it. [End Page 147]As with other volumes associated with the Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell project, these three volumes are beautifully typeset and bound. They will be a pleasure to use for both students and scholars alike for generations to... (shrink)

A. D. M. Walker; III*—Gratefulness and Gratitude, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 81, Issue 1, 1 June 1981, Pages 39–56, https://doi.org/10.1093.

At the risk of proving myself such a caviller, I want to ask a question which I have seldom heard raised, and which I have never seen discussed in anything that I have read about Berkeley. If I am right, it poses a problem for his immaterialism, not only different, but coming from a different direction, from those objections that are commonly levelled against him. If I am wrong, it will show how right Berkeley was to stress the difficulty of (...) using for one purpose our language which has become fashioned for another. At least, I hope that I shall not fail to be the ‘fair and ingenuous reader’for whom he asked. (shrink)

One of Hume's most well-known works and a masterpiece of philosophy, A Treatise of Human Nature is indubitably worth taking the time to read.