Open peer commentary on the article “The Autopoiesis of Social Systems and its Criticisms” by Hugo Cadenas & Marcelo Arnold. Upshot: Autopoiesis based on meaning is a rich conceptual tool. It would be a pity to reduce it to a few general statements on self-reference in social systems.

Open peer commentary on the article “Social Autopoiesis?” by Hugo Urrestarazu. Upshot: Urrestarazu’s presentation of social autopoiesis is compromised because he fails to take into account that social systems are meaning-constituting systems. The paper briefly comments on Luhmann’s theory of autopoiesis in communication systems, but does not refer extensively to Luhmann’s work. The possibility to establish bridges is thus impaired.

Cet article analyse la plainte en grossesse de Catherine Lespinasse contre Jean Gaudens dit Capdeville déposée aux greffes de la justice des capitouls de Toulouse le 16 juin 1742 dans laquelle la plaignante dénonce un viol commis par l’homme qu’elle fréquentait en vue d’un prochain mariage. Cette contribution expose plusieurs des obstacles légaux empêchant une femme victime de viol de porter formellement plainte pour ce crime au xviiie siècle. L’étude de ce cas démontre cependant que, comme Catherine Lespinasse, plusieurs femmes (...) usèrent consciemment de leurs capacités d’agir en justice pour dénoncer indirectement leur agresseur en utilisant le mécanisme de la plainte en grossesse qui se voulait, à la base, une procédure judiciaire paternaliste et coercitive les forçant à déclarer en justice leur grossesse illégitime. (shrink)

This concise, accessible text provides a thorough introduction to quantum computing - an exciting emergent field at the interface of the computer, engineering, mathematical and physical sciences. Aimed at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in these disciplines, the text is technically detailed and is clearly illustrated throughout with diagrams and exercises. Some prior knowledge of linear algebra is assumed, including vector spaces and inner products. However, prior familiarity with topics such as quantum mechanics and computational complexity is not required.

We study ultrafilters produced by forcing, obtaining different combinatorics and related Rudin-Keisler ordering; in particular we answer a question of Baumgartner and Taylor regarding tensor products of ultrafilters. Adapting a method of Blass and Mathias, we show that in most cases the combinatorics satisfied by the ultrafilters recapture the forcing notion in the Lévy model.

Artificial intelligence plays an important role in current discussions on information and communication technologies and new modes of algorithmic governance. It is an unavoidable dimension of what social mediations and modes of reproduction of our information societies will be in the future. While several works in artificial intelligence ethics address ethical issues specific to certain areas of expertise, these ethical reflections often remain confined to narrow areas of application, without considering the global ethical issues in which they are embedded. We, (...) therefore, propose to clarify the main approaches to AIE, their philosophical assumptions and the specific characteristics of each one of them, to identify the most promising approach to develop an ethical reflection on the deployment of AI in our societies, which is the one based on information ethics as proposed by Luciano Floridi. We will identify the most important features of that approach to highlight areas that need further investigation. (shrink)

Shelah, S., C. Laflamme and B. Hart, Models with second order properties V: A general principle, Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 64 169–194. We present a general framework for carrying out the construction in [2-10] and others of the same type. The unifying factor is a combinatorial principle which we present in terms of a game in which the first player challenges the second player to carry out constructions which would be much easier in a generic extension of (...) the universe, and the second player cheats with the aid of ♦. Section 1 contains an axiomatic framework suitable for the description of a number of related constructions, and the statement of the main theorem 1.9 in terms of this framework. In Section 2 we illustrate the use of our combinatorial principle. The proof of the main result is then carried out in Sections 3–5. (shrink)

We discuss the finite-to-one Rudin-Keisler ordering of ultrafilters on the natural numbers, which we baptize the Rudin-Blass ordering in honour of Professor Andreas Blass who worked extensively in the area. We develop and summarize many of its properties in relation to its bounding and dominating numbers, directedness, and provide applications to continuum theory. In particular, we prove in ZFC alone that there exists an ultrafilter with no Q-point below in the Rudin-Blass ordering.

In this important study D. M. Armstrong offers a comprehensive system of analytical metaphysics that synthesises but also develops his thinking over the last twenty years. Armstrong's analysis, which acknowledges the 'logical atomism' of Russell and Wittgenstein, makes facts the fundamental constituents of the world, examining properties, relations, numbers, classes, possibility and necessity, dispositions, causes and laws. All these, it is argued, find their place and can be understood inside a scheme of states of affairs. This is a comprehensive and (...) rigorously this-worldly account of the most general features of reality, argued from a distinctive philosophical perspective, and it will appeal to a wide readership in analytical philosophy. (shrink)

The integration of issues related to sustainability in management curricula is a subject of growing interest, especially as organizations – businesses and universities alike – are urged to take their share of responsibilities in the face of crises and need to deeply transform our lifestyles towards a more sustainable world. This article’s purpose is to explore the challenges and opportunities of integrating sustainability issues in business schools’ curricula. The conceptual argument developed in the article leads us to suggest that the (...) integration of sustainability in management schools could be conceptualized as a trajectory of continuous improvement over time. (shrink)

We prove various results on the notion of ordinal ultrafilters introduced by J. Baumgartner. In particular, we show that this notion of ultrafilter complexity is independent of the more familiar Rudin-Keisler ordering.

Two structures are said to be equimorphic if each embeds in the other. Such structures cannot be expected to be isomorphic, and in this paper we investigate the special case of linear orders, here also called chains. In particular we provide structure results for chains having less than continuum many isomorphism classes of equimorphic chains. We deduce as a corollary that any chain has either a single isomorphism class of equimorphic chains or infinitely many.

The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Sherbrooke has observed year after year, that certain students have not started and or completed their immunizations for common infectious diseases, which in effect makes them inadmissible for their clinical internships in healthcare establishments. The program administrators have posed a series of questions on the best way to proceed with these students as, a certain number remain reluctant to vaccination. They are often confronted with ethical dilemmas, are not necessarily (...) comfortable with their rights and responsibilities and wish to be guided throughout the process. This article aims to put forth a procedure that would be put in place to support the administrators in a way for them to obtain a more favorable vaccination level for all of their students in the most reasonable amount of time possible. The interest of the procedure is to move forward in a few simple and well defined steps that are supported by a rigorous legal framework, while respecting the rights and freedoms of the students. It is also designed so that it could be replicated in other faculties of medicine. (shrink)

We pursue the study of families of functions on the natural numbers, with emphasis here on the bounded families. The situation being more complicated than the unbounded case, we attack the problem by classifying the families according to their bounding and dominating numbers, the traditional scheme for gaps. Many open questions remain.

We analyze combinatorial properties of open covers of sets of real numbers by using filters on the natural numbers. In fact, the goal of this paper is to characterize known properties related to ω-covers of the space in terms of combinatorial properties of filters associated with these ω-covers. As an example, we show that all finite powers of a set R of real numbers have the covering property of Menger if, and only if, each filter on ω associated with its (...) countable ω-cover is a P + filter. (shrink)

Les théories éthiques contiennent des contradictions et sont tissées de typologies parce qu'elles sont soumises à la double contrainte de la rationalisation et de la « pertinence ». Parce qu'elles doivent être rationnelles et « pertinentes »; toujours comprises dans des existences individuelles et sociales, variées et variables, elles sont semblables et différentes.Ethical theories include contradictions and are weaved with typologies because they are subjected to the double constraint of rationalization and "relevancy". Because they must be rational and "relevant", always (...) understood in varied and variable, individual and social existences, they are similar and dissimilar. (shrink)

" -- Africa Today "The excellence of this book lies in the wealth of perspectives that it brings to the discussion on what constitutes philosophy, rationality, ...

Authors philosophical notes on life, conduct of life from the perspective of a life.

A comprehensive introduction to the ways in which meaning is conveyed in language. Alan Cruse covers semantic matters, but also deals with topics that are usually considered to fall under pragmatics. A major aim is to highlight the richness and subtlety of meaning phenomena, rather than to expound any particular theory. Rich in examples and exercises, Meaning in Language provides an invaluable descriptive approach to this area of linguistics for undergraduates and postgraduates alike.

This book: * assumes no mathematical background and keeps the technicalities to a minimum * explains the most important applications of probability theory to ...

In this entry we provide a critical review of recent work on the nature and ethics of blame, including issues of moral standing.

A record of the words and teachings of Confucius, _The Analects_ is considered the most reliable expression of Confucian thought. However, the original meaning of Confucius's teachings have been filtered and interpreted by the commentaries of Confucianists of later ages, particularly the Neo-Confucianists of the Song dynasty, not altogether without distortion.In this monumental translation by Professor D. C. Lau, an attempt has been made to interpret the sayings as they stand. The corpus of the sayings is taken as an organic (...) whole and the final test of the interpretation rests on the internal consistency it exhibits. In other words, _The Analects_ is read in the light of _The Analects._This results in a truer understanding of Confucius' thought than the traditional interpretation and paves the way for a re-assessment of its importance in the history of Chinese thought and its relevance to the present day world.This volume also contains an introduction to the life and teachings of Confucius, and three appendices on the events in the life of Confucius, on his disciples, and on the composition of _The Analects._. (shrink)

The Greeks have long been regarded as innovators across a wide range of fields in literature, culture, philosophy, politics and science. However, little attention has been paid to how they thought and felt about novelty and innovation itself, and to relating this to the forces of traditionalism and conservatism which were also present across all the various societies within ancient Greece. What inspired the Greeks to embark on their unique and enduring innovations? How did they think and feel about the (...) new? This book represents the first serious attempt to address these issues, and deals with the phenomenon across all periods and areas of classical Greek history and thought. Each chapter concentrates on a different area of culture or thought, while the book as a whole argues that much of the impulse towards innovation came from the life of the polis which provided its setting. (shrink)

Abstract:Contemporary common sense holds that authenticity is an ethical ideal: that there is something bad about inauthenticity, and something good about authenticity. Here we criticize the view that authenticity is bad because it detracts from the wellbeing of the inauthentic person, and propose an alternative moral account of the badness of inauthenticity, based on the idea that inauthentic behaviour is potentially misleading.