This paper investigates the responses of GPT-4, a state-of-the-art AI language model, to ten prominent philosophical paradoxes, and evaluates its capacity to reason and make decisions in complex and uncertain situations. In addition to analyzing GPT-4's solutions to the paradoxes, this paper assesses the model's Theory of Mind (ToM) capabilities by testing its understanding of mental states, intentions, and beliefs in scenarios ranging from classic ToM tests to complex, real-world simulations. Through these tests, we gain insight into AI's potential for (...) social reasoning and its capacity for more sophisticated forms of human-AI interaction. The paper also explores the limitations and biases of AI-generated reasoning and its implications for our comprehension of complex philosophical problems. (shrink)

This paper explores the intersection of René Girard's mimetic theory and the algorithmic society, particularly in the context of the potential advent of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Girard's theory, which elucidates the dynamics of desire, rivalry, scapegoating, and the sacrificial crisis, provides a unique lens through which to examine the complexities of our relationship with AI and its role in the creation of the sacred. As individuals increasingly rely on AI recommendations, the distinction between personal choice and algorithmic manipulation becomes (...) less clear, raising concerns about the authenticity of cultural expressions and the role of algorithms in shaping cultural narratives. The triangular structure of desire, with AI as the model and individuals as the imitators, underscores the power of algorithms in this process. The sacrificial crisis, a key concept in Girard's theory, becomes a critical point of reflection in the algorithmic society. The exposure of the scapegoating mechanism reveals the destructive potential of algorithmic manipulation and calls for new forms of understanding, empathy, and non-violent solutions. This paper argues that recognizing the sacrificial crisis can prompt individuals and society to critically examine the impact of AI's influence, challenge the narratives it perpetuates, and reclaim agency in the face of algorithmic dominance. This paper further discusses the potential implications of the emergence of AGI, which could intensify the influence of algorithms on the creation of the sacred due to its advanced cognitive capabilities and deep understanding of human desires and behaviors. This could fuel a rapid evolution of the mimetic ecosystem, with profound implications for personal freedom, independent decision-making, and the formation and preservation of individual identity. This paper concludes by emphasizing the need for responsible algorithmic practices and ethical considerations to ensure that the creation of the sacred serves the common good in the algorithmic society. (shrink)

Michael Rathjen and the present author have shown that ‐bar induction is equivalent to (a suitable formalization of) the statement that every normal function has a derivative, provably in. In this note we show that the base theory can be weakened to. Our argument makes crucial use of a normal function f with and. We shall also exhibit a normal function g with and.

"À son décès, Julien Freund laissait parmi ses papiers un recueil de textes inédits, sous forme épistolaire, adressés à ses amis et collègues : les Lettres de la vallée. Dans ces méditations, rédigées en sa retraite vosgienne - qui n'est pas sans évoquer la Hütte de Heidegger, de l'autre côté du Rhin - et loin des servitudes propres aux écrits universitaires, l'auteur de L'Essence du politique s'exprime en toute liberté, à bâtons rompus, sur ses sujets de prédilection (le politique, (...) l'idéologie, la guerre, les totalitarismes, l'utopie, la décadence), mais également l'enseignement, le journalisme, la connaissance, le droit, la morale, la métaphysique, les limites... Ce livre forme la clef de voûte où se rejoignent les grands thèmes de sa pensée."--Page 4 de la couverture. (shrink)

In previous work, the author has shown that $\Pi ^1_1$ -induction along $\mathbb N$ is equivalent to a suitable formalization of the statement that every normal function on the ordinals has a fixed point. More precisely, this was proved for a representation of normal functions in terms of Girard’s dilators, which are particularly uniform transformations of well orders. The present paper works on the next type level and considers uniform transformations of dilators, which are called 2-ptykes. We show that $\Pi (...) ^1_2$ -induction along $\mathbb N$ is equivalent to the existence of fixed points for all 2-ptykes that satisfy a certain normality condition. Beyond this specific result, the paper paves the way for the analysis of further $\Pi ^1_4$ -statements in terms of well ordering principles. (shrink)

In a recent paper by M. Rathjen and the present author it has been shown that the statement “every normal function has a derivative” is equivalent to $\Pi ^1_1$ -bar induction. The equivalence was proved over $\mathbf {ACA_0}$, for a suitable representation of normal functions in terms of dilators. In the present paper, we show that the statement “every normal function has at least one fixed point” is equivalent to $\Pi ^1_1$ -induction along the natural numbers.

Lange Zeit hat die Idee eines musikalischen Fortschritts gleichermassen fasziniert und polarisiert. Als zentraler Bestandteil der Diskurse um die Neue Musik verlangt sie nach einer differenzierten historischen Betrachtung. Anhand von reichhaltigem Textmaterial analysiert Julia Freund die zentralen Konzepte und Argumentationslinien und entwirft ein vielfältiges Panorama der Debatten der 1950er Jahre. Ausgangspunkt ist ein close reading der Schriften und Vorlesungen Theodor W. Adornos, dessen Fortschrittsbegriff im Rahmen seines philosophischen Projekts der Aufklärungskritik greifbar wird. In einem zweiten und dritten Schritt nimmt (...) die Autorin die Denkfiguren und Narrative der seriellen Komponisten (darunter K. Stockhausen und P. Boulez) sowie die Gegenentwürfe ihrer Kritiker (wie P. Hindemith oder Fr. Blume) in den Blick"--Back cover. (shrink)

This paper explores the perversion of reality in the context of advanced technologies, such as AI, VR, and AR, through the lens of Jean Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality and the precession of simulacra. By examining the transformative effects of these technologies on our perception of reality, with a particular focus on the usage of digital avatars, the paper highlights the blurred distinction between the real and the simulated, where the copy becomes more ‘real’ than the original. Drawing on Baudrillard’s concept (...) of hyperreality, the paper delves into the perversion of reality as individuals seek refuge in virtual pleasure paradises and embrace artificial pleasures through their digital avatars, disconnecting from genuine human experiences. The convergence of AI, VR, and AR technologies amplifies this hyperreal condition, where digital avatars mimic or surpass the depth of human relationships, challenging our understanding of what is real. In line with Baudrillard’s theory, the paper explores the objectification and commodification of reality within digital spaces, specifically examining the digital avatars’ role in the erosion of genuine human connections. It explores the implications of these avatars in terms of consent, exploitation, and loss of authenticity, echoing Baudrillard’s concerns about the distortion of reality in contemporary society. Recognizing the implications of these technologies, the paper calls for a critical reflection on their transformative power. It emphasizes the need for a nuanced understanding of the hyperreal condition and ethical responsibility in engaging with AI, VR, and AR, particularly in relation to the usage of digital avatars. By resisting the seductive allure of digital escapism and preserving genuine human connections, we can navigate the perversion of reality and cultivate empathy, compassion, and meaningful interactions that transcend the simulated experiences offered by technology. (shrink)

In the context of reverse mathematics, effective transfinite recursion refers to a principle that allows us to construct sequences of sets by recursion along arbitrary well orders, provided that each set is ‐definable relative to the previous stages of the recursion. It is known that this principle is provable in. In the present note, we argue that a common formulation of effective transfinite recursion is too restrictive. We then propose a more liberal formulation, which appears very natural and is still (...) provable in. (shrink)

We shall distinguish between sortal predication and standard predication. The former kind of predication necessarily involves sortal concepts but the latter, as it is customarily viewed, does not. It is generally thought that the only essential occurrence of a concept in a standard predication is the concept being predicated. In this paper, we shall put forward an alternative view. We shall propose to understand standard predication as a cognitive act essentially requiring sortal concepts. We shall call this view conceptual predication (...) sortalism and ground it on the basis of epistemic-semantic reasons. Concepts are understood as intersubjectively realizable capacities or abilities that fulfill particular cognitive roles, such as those of classification, categorization, individuation, and referring. (shrink)

There is widespread and growing concern among U.S. consumers about the treatment of farmed animals, and consumers are consequently paying attention to food product labels that indicate humane production practices. However, labels vary in their standards for animal welfare, and prior research suggests that consumers are confused by welfare-related labels: many shoppers cannot differentiate between labels that indicate changes in the way animals are raised and those that do not. We administered a survey to 1,000 American grocery shoppers to better (...) understand the extent to which consumers purchase and pay more for food with certain labels based on an assumption of welfare improvement. Results showed that 86% of shoppers reported purchasing at least one product with the following labels in the last year: “cage or crate-free”, “free-range”, “pasture-raised”, “natural”, “organic”, “no hormone”, “no antibiotic”, “no rBST”, “humane”, “vegetarian-fed”, “grass-fed”, “farm-raised”. Of those who purchased one of the aforementioned labels, 89% did so because they thought the label indicated higher-welfare production practices, and 79% consciously paid more for the product with the label because they thought that the label indicated better-than-standard animal welfare. However, many of these labels lack uniform standards for the production practices they represent, and some labels represent production practices that do not influence animal welfare, thus the degree of the animal welfare impact of a given label is highly variable. These results indicate that labels need to clearly and accurately specify their animal welfare benefits to improve the consumers’ ability to purchase products that align with their expectations. (shrink)

Professors Hildt (2023), Shepherd (2023), and Zilio and Lavazza (2023) jointly considered the ethical and philosophical implications of acknowledging non-human (e.g., machine) consciousness. Althou...

We develop a set-theoretic semantics for Cocchiarella's second-order logical system . Such a semantics is a modification of the nonstandard sort of second-order semantics described, firstly, by Simms and later extended by Cocchiarella. We formulate a new second order logical system and prove its relative consistency. We call such a system and construct its set-theoretic semantics. Finally, we prove completeness theorems for proper normal extensions of the two systems with respect to certain notions of validity provided by the semantics.

Logic and philosophy of logic have increasingly become areas of research and great interest in Latin America and Spain, where significant work has been done and continues to be done in both of these fields. The goal of this volume is to draw attention to this work through a collection of original and unpublished papers by specialists from Latin America and Spain. Some of the papers are of importance for set-theory and model theory. They cover topics such as the foundations (...) of paraconsistency, the use of paraconsistent logic as a basis for set-theory, and the methodological aspects in both the justification of new axioms in set theory and the formalization of pre-theoretic notions. Other papers are related to epistemic logic. They deal with the issues of abduction and the choice of the simplest hypothesis, the definition of group probability, and the nature of explanation and understanding in such logic. There are also papers on logical paradoxes, the semantics of names, and the nature of relations. Max A. Freund is Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the University of Costa Rica and the National University of Costa Rica. He is co-author of the book Modal Logic its syntax and semantics, as well as the author of Judicial Logic, and of a forthcoming book The Logic of Sortals. Max Fernandez de Castro is Professor of Logic and Philosophy at the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico. He is the author of the book Quine y la Ontologíaa and co-author of the books Lógica Matemática I: lógica proposicional, intuicionista y modal, Lógica Matemática II: clásica, intuicionista y modal, Teoría de Conjuntos, Lógica y Temas Afines I. Marco Ruffino is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Campinas and the editor of Manuscrito, the Brazilian international journal for Analytic Philosophy. He has many publications, in important philosophical journals, in the philosophy of language, of logic, and of mathematics; in the history of analytic philosophy, and on Frege and Wittgenstein. (shrink)

We introduce a distinct type of choice that has yet to be addressed by self-control research: Choosing between activities that offer both delayed and immediate rewards. We describe when and why such mixed-reward choices pose challenges to self-control, and suggest that self-control in mixed-reward choices may be supported by delay discounting.

Grandiose narcissistic traits refer to exploitative and arrogant attitudes, while vulnerable narcissistic traits entail hypersensitivity to judgment and low self-esteem. Little is known about how individuals with narcissistic traits can improve their attitudes toward themselves and others. The current research puts self- and other compassion forward as possible targets to alleviate some of destructive patterns of narcissism. Generally, self-compassion has previously been associated with beneficial effects on psychological wellbeing, while other compassion is advantageous for interpersonal relationships. This study explored the (...) relationship between narcissistic traits and the efficacy of experimental compassion inductions. Student and community participants completed grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic trait, SC and OC state questionnaires, and either an SC or OC induction. It was expected that individuals with higher narcissistic traits would benefit from the inductions and show higher SC after but would have greater difficulty showing meaningful increases in OC. The results indicated that individual differences in grandiose and vulnerable narcissistic traits are related to the magnitude of improvements following the inductions: the theorized lack of SC in individuals with vulnerable oversensitivity to judgment traits seems possible to be counteracted through different types of compassion exercises. Moreover, higher grandiose exploitativeness–entitlement and global vulnerable narcissistic traits related to less increases than others. However, directly inducing OC in individuals with these traits was linked to greater OC improvements than improvements after inducing SC. Overall, the present findings suggest that self-compassionate behavior can be improved in individuals with high oversensitivity and that other compassionate behavior could potentially be increased if, specifically, other compassion exercises are utilized when higher levels of certain narcissistic traits are present. (shrink)

The notion of countable well order admits an alternative definition in terms of embeddings between initial segments. We use the framework of reverse mathematics to investigate the logical strength of this definition and its connection with Fraïssé’s conjecture, which has been proved by Laver. We also fill a small gap in Shore’s proof that Fraïssé’s conjecture implies arithmetic transfinite recursion over $\mathbf {RCA}_0$, by giving a new proof of $\Sigma ^0_2$ -induction.

It is generally accepted that H. Friedman’s gap condition is closely related to iterated collapsing functions from ordinal analysis. But what precisely is the connection? We offer the following answer: In a previous paper we have shown that the gap condition arises from an iterative construction on transformations of partial orders. Here we show that the parallel construction for linear orders yields familiar collapsing functions. The iteration step in the linear case is an instance of a general construction that we (...) call ‘Bachmann–Howard derivative’. In the present paper, we focus on the unary case, i.e., on the gap condition for sequences rather than trees and, correspondingly, on addition-free ordinal notation systems. This is partly for convenience, but it also allows us to clarify a phenomenon that is specific to the unary setting: As shown by van der Meeren, Rathjen and Weiermann, the gap condition on sequences admits two linearizations with rather different properties. We will see that these correspond to different recursive constructions of sequences. (shrink)

Pareto isn't interested in the nature of politics but in the political society and in its equilibrium. The method he finally adopted, after some hesitations, is the one he tested in his economical and sociological research work. Analysing the changing of the elites, he stresses the importance of the minority that is in power. However the decline of an oligarchy is always concomitant with the coming up of another one. As far as Pareto's personal political stand is concerned he was (...) neither a fascist nor a democrat but a liberal. This is revealed by a careful analysis of his works, from the first to the last of his writings. (shrink)

The paper aims to further concretise our previously proposed normative-functional concept of the criminal offense. It is rooted in a liberal paradigm and guides not only the criminal offense doctrine, which provides for specific criteria to warrant a legitimate verdict and the determination of legal consequences (in the sense of an adequate additional hardship imposed in the context of the sentencing itself). Furthermore, it offers a much-needed refinement in cases where the same act violates more than one criminal statute (Konkurrenzen), (...) and for the concept of the criminal offense within the criminal proceedings. Our concept characterizes the offense by a sufficiently substantial breach of a legally required conduct norm (along with specific consequences thereof, in some cases). Such a legal rule of conduct – determined for the respective individual according to the specific circumstances they find themselves in – affects at the least their personal autonomy, and thus requires legitimisation. This legitimisation must heed the constitutional standard of proportionality – the benchmark of which establishes the individual opportunity for self-expression that is compatible with the legitimate interests of others. At its core lies a broad understanding of freedom that appropriately explains the trade-off between conflicting interests necessary for the justification of legally required standards of behaviour, at the same time. This offers a solution to the issue of trying to identify the minimum level of applicable criminal sanctions. Thus, this concept is preferable to competing concepts. (shrink)

We present a new manifestation of Gödel’s second incompleteness theorem and discuss its foundational significance, in particular with respect to Hilbert’s program. Specifically, we consider a proper extension of Peano arithmetic ( $\mathbf {PA}$ ) by a mathematically meaningful axiom scheme that consists of $\Sigma ^0_2$ -sentences. These sentences assert that each computably enumerable ( $\Sigma ^0_1$ -definable without parameters) property of finite binary trees has a finite basis. Since this fact entails the existence of polynomial time algorithms, it is (...) relevant for computer science. On a technical level, our axiom scheme is a variant of an independence result due to Harvey Friedman. At the same time, the meta-mathematical properties of our axiom scheme distinguish it from most known independence results: Due to its logical complexity, our axiom scheme does not add computational strength. The only known method to establish its independence relies on Gödel’s second incompleteness theorem. In contrast, Gödel’s theorem is not needed for typical examples of $\Pi ^0_2$ -independence (such as the Paris–Harrington principle), since computational strength provides an extensional invariant on the level of $\Pi ^0_2$ -sentences. (shrink)

Having a serious illness like breast cancer is a calamity for individuals and families. Along with the pain, discomfort, and dislocation comes the issue of how to pay the medical expenses for the care and treatment of the disease. If the seriously ill person has inadequate or no insurance, these problems are aggravated.Stories abound about seriously ill people losing private health insurance following diagnosis with a catastrophic disease, remaining in jobs just to maintain health insurance, or facing financial hardship because (...) of gaps in coverage. Yet surprisingly little research has focused on the problems that people with serious illness face with health coverage and, in particular, how concerns about access to health insurance coverage shape their lives.Further, despite profoundly moving anecdotes of cancer victims and other seriously ill people about their problems with health insurance and despite recent federal and state efforts to reform the private health insurance market in ways discussed below, neither the federal government, states, nor the private sector has crafted comprehensive strategies to enhance health coverage for the seriously ill. (shrink)