Discussions of global ethics—about the types of ethical claim made on individuals and groups, not only states, by individuals and groups around the world—have had to move beyond the categories inherited in the International Relations discipline. Many important positions are not captured by a framework developed for discussion of inter-state relations. The blindspots seem to reflect an outmoded expectation that (i) giving low normative weight to national boundaries correlates strongly with (ii) giving more normative weight to people beyond one's national (...) boundaries, and vice versa; in other words that these two dimensions in practice reduce to one. The paper develops an enriched categorisation. We need to recognise the separate importance of the two dimensions, and thus distinguish various types of ‘cosmopolitan’ position, including many varieties of libertarian position which give neither national boundaries nor pan-human obligations much (if any) importance. (shrink)

The object of this paper is to supplement Dr. Zielinski's admirable articles on Hermes und die Hermetik by calling attention to a passage in Aristotle where the triad–Hermes, Pan, Logos –appears, and by showing that there is some probability that the passage refers to a lost work of the rhetorician Alkidamas, the pupil of Gorgias.

The object of this paper is to supplement Dr. Zielinski's admirable articles on Hermes und die Hermetik by calling attention to a passage in Aristotle where the triad–Hermes, Pan, Logos –appears, and by showing that there is some probability that the passage refers to a lost work of the rhetorician Alkidamas, the pupil of Gorgias.

Articles on sentence in Sanskrit grammar according to Mimamsa philosophy.

Bioethics and Global Bioethics are currently among the most visible programs in ethics in the global academic community. It was my good fortune to have met Dr. Van Rensselaer Potter in 1963, long before he coined the term “Bioethics” and emerged as America's first Bioethicist, maintaining “The Wisconsin Tradition” established by John Muir and Aldo Leopold. Van believed that all ethics are properly based on a pan-cultural scientific knowledge base. How it is that ethics are related to knowledge, and to (...) values and morals, is the subject of this discussion. (shrink)

Contemporary debates on decolonising knowledge production, inclusive of research on Africa, are crucial and challenge researchers to reflect on the legacies of colonial power relations that continue to permeate the production of knowledge about the continent, its peoples, and societies. Yet these are not new debates. Sixty years ago, Ghana’s first president and pan-Africanist leader, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, highlighted the importance of Africa-centred knowledge. Similarly, in the 1980s, Claude Ake advocated for endogenous knowledge production on Africa. But progress has been (...) slow at best, indicated by the enduring predominance of non-African writers on African issues within leading scholarly journals. Thus, we examine why decolonisation of knowledge production remains so necessary and what can be done within the context of scholarly research in the humanities and social sciences. These questions are addressed at two levels, one more practical and one more reflective . At both levels, issues of power inequalities and injustice are critical. At the practical level, the asymmetrical power relations between scholars in the Global North and South are highlighted. At a deeper level, the critiques of contemporary African authors are outlined, all contesting the ongoing coloniality and epistemic injustices that affect knowledge production on Africa, and calling for a more fundamental reorientation of ontological, epistemological, and methodological approaches in order to decolonise knowledge production. (shrink)

This is a book about the bond between sentient beings. It explores the non-verbal space between two entities, and asks questions like; What is a healthy human being? Is it nature? Nurture? Nature via nurture? How are we born with personality traits, emotion, mood, language abilities, and intelligence? What do we know about attachment, family structure and genetic inheritance? Robert Ingersoll and Dr Anna Scarnà use the life history of the chimpanzee, Nim Chimpsky and his family: parents Carolyn and Pan, (...) companion Lilly, their daughter, Sheba, and an assortment of human carers, to explain the hallmarks of healthy human psychological development. What makes humans 'human', and chimpanzees, 'chimpanzees'? Do chimpanzees have a personality, or should we consider them to have a "chimpanality?" Robert, close friend and carer of Nim, gives the facts about Nim's upbringing and first degree relatives, and Anna reports with reference to theories of brain, personality, self, and language. Together they explain what can be drawn from psychological research and reanalyse the chimpanzee work from the 1960s and 1970s in order to honour and respect the memory of those animals. (shrink)

1980’li yıllarda uygulanan neo-liberal politikalar nedeniyle Sivil Toplum Kuruluşlarının yapmış oldukları faaliyetler önem kazanmış Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları sosyal dayanışma, sosyal yardım ve yoksulluk yardımları gibi pek çok önemli faaliyette bulunmuşlardır. Kocaeli bölgesinde faaliyet gösteren bir Sivil Toplum Kuruluşu olan Değirmendere Sualtı Topluluğu (DESSAT) sosyal sorumluluk kapsamında dezavantajlı kesim olarak nitelendirilen engellilere yönelik 2011-2013 yılları arasında SCUBA dalış eğitimi faaliyetinde bulunmuştur. Bu çalışmada; DESSAT’ın yapmış olduğu SCUBA dalış eğitimlerinin engellilerin kapasite yoksunluğuna etkileri, eğitmenlerin ve dalış faaliyetine katılan engellilerin deneyimleri ve gözlemleri (...) incelenerek belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Çalışmanın amacı engellilerin kapasite yoksunluğunu azaltma faaliyetlerinde Sivil Toplum Kuruluşlarının rolleri konusuna dikkat çekerek farkındalık yaratmak, SUCUBA dalış eğitimi faaliyetinin engellilerin kapasiteleri yoksunlukları üzerindeki etkilerini araştırmak ve görüş/önerilerde bulunmaktır. Çalışma nitel bir çalışma olup tematik analiz tekniği kullanılarak yapılmıştır. SCUBA dalış eğitimi faaliyetinin engellilerin kapasite yoksunluklarına etkisinin belirlenmesi maksadıyla dalış eğitmenleri ve sualtı dalışı yapan engellilerle derinlemesine görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda engelliler ve eğitmenlerle yapılan derinlemesine görüşmelerden elde edilen bilgiler değerlendirilmiş değerlendirme sonucunda SCUBA dalış faaliyetinin engellilerin sosyalleşmesine, toplum içerisindeki diğer faaliyetlere katılmasında, kendilerini mutlu ve huzurlu hissetmelerine, özgüvenlerinin artırılmasına, yapabilirlik olarak engellerinin ortadan kaldırılmasına önemli oranda katkısı sağladığı tespit edilmiştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Engelli, Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları, Kapasite Yoksunluğu, Yoksulluk, SCUBA. (shrink)

The aerial manipulator is a complex system with high coupling and instability. The motion of the robotic arm will affect the self-stabilizing accuracy of the unmanned aerial vehicles. To enhance the stability of the aerial manipulator, a composite controller combining conventional proportion integration differentiation control, fuzzy theory, and neural network algorithm is proposed. By blurring the attitude error signal of UAV as the input of the neural network, the anti-interference ability and stability of UAV is improved. At the same time, (...) a neural network model identifier based on Maxout activation function is built to realize accurate recognition of the controlled model. The simulation results show that, compared with the conventional PID controller, the composite controller combined with fuzzy neural network can improve the anti-interference ability and stability of UAV greatly. (shrink)

This research scrutinises the correlation between state ownership and the attributes of green innovation, specifically underscoring generality as a primary trait of innovation favoured by governments. Green innovation with generality, due to its applicability across diverse contexts at reduced expense, becomes an appealing strategy for states to address environmental concerns. Consequently, we suggest that state ownership encourages the prevalence of green innovation characterised by generality. Furthermore, we delve into two contingencies related to ascribed and achieved political connections, positing that they, (...) respectively, impose negative and positive moderating influences. Support for our propositions comes from data gathered from Chinese listed firms during the period 2004–2019. By emphasising the importance of green innovation characteristics over their quantity, our research offers a significant contribution to the literature on green innovation in the context of state ownership. (shrink)

Profound sensorineural hearing loss is an auditory disability associated with auditory and cognitive dysfunction. Due to distinct pathogenesis, some associated structural and functional changes within the brain have been investigated in previous studies, but whole-brain structural alterations are incompletely understood. We extended the exploration of neuroanatomic differences in whole-brain structure in children with profound SNHL who are primarily users of Chinese sign language. We employed surface-based morphometry and subcortical analyses. T1-weighted magnetic resonance images of 26 children with profound SNHL and (...) 27 age- and sex-matched children with normal hearing were analyzed. Compared with the normal control group, children with profound SNHL showed diverse structural changes in surface-based and subcortical analyses, including decreased cortical thickness in the left postcentral gyrus, superior parietal lobule, paracentral lobule, precuneus, the right transverse temporal gyri, and the middle temporal gyrus; a noticeable increase in the Local Gyrification Index in the left precuneus and superior parietal lobule; and diverse changes in gray-matter volume in different brain regions. Surface-based vertex analyses revealed regional contractions in the right thalamus, putamen, pallidum, and the brainstem of children with profound SNHL when compared with those in the NC group. Volumetric analyses showed decreased volumes of the right thalamus and pallidum in children with profound SNHL. Our data suggest that children with profound SNHL are associated with diffuse cerebral dysfunction to cortical and subcortical nuclei, and revealed neuroplastic reorganization in the precuneus, superior parietal lobule, and temporal gyrus. Our study provides robust evidence for changes in connectivity and structure in the brain associated with hearing loss. (shrink)

Międzynarodowe konferencje naukowe Komisji Historii Czech i Stosunków Polsko-Czeskich PAN mają długą, sięgającą 1996 r. tradycję, a w r. 2023 odbyło się już trzynaste naukowe spotkanie tego gremium. Współorganizatorem konferencji było Muzeum Okręgowe w Lesznie. Z jego ramienia sprawami organizacyjnymi kierowała dr Kamila Szymańska, dyrektor placówki, a nad sprawnym przebiegiem obrad czuwał Jakub Piwoński. Patronat honorowy nad konferencją objął Prezydent Miasta Leszna, Łukasz Borowiak.

Die allogene Transplantation von Blutstammzellen aus dem Körper von Kindern, die der Spende nicht selbst zustimmen können, in den Körper eines kranken Geschwisterkindes wirft schwierige ethische Fragen auf. Wie kann ein risikobehafteter, fremdnütziger medizinischer Eingriff ethisch gerechtfertigt werden? In dieser Arbeit werden Argumente kritisch untersucht, nach denen das Spenderkind eine Pflicht habe, bei der Transplantation mitzumachen. Die Idee der Pflicht ist nachvollziehbar aus der Perspektive der Eltern, die zwar in einem Fürsorgekonflikt sind (ein Kind zu Gunsten der Rettung des anderen (...) verletzen zu müssen), aber selbst eine Pflicht haben, für das Leben des kranken Kindes zu kämpfen. Eine Analyse des Pflichtbegriffs zeigt jedoch, dass die Erfüllung einer Pflicht daran gebunden ist, entscheidungskompetent zu sein. Drei Wege werden untersucht, eine solche Pflicht dennochzuzuschreiben: i) die Eltern übertragenihre Pflicht auf das Kind; ii) die Interessen des Spenderkindes implizieren eine Pflicht; iii) Geschwisterkinder haben aufgrund ihrer vertrauten Familienbeziehungen Pflichten untereinander, die auch die Pflicht zu spenden beinhalten. Alle drei Zuschreibungsstrategien werden als unhaltbar kritisiert. Das Ergebnis lautet, dass die Pflicht, einem Geschwisterkind Körpergewebe zu spenden, einem nicht-einwilligungsfähigen Kind nicht zugeschrieben werden kann. Andere philosophische Ansätze zur Stammzellspende von Kindern an Familienangehörige müssten entwickelt und geprüft werden. (shrink)

Patientenmobilität und grenzüberschreitende Gesundheitsversorgung sind alltägliche Phänomene in der Europäischen Union (EU). Im Jahr 2011 hat die EU eine Richtlinie erlassen, um in diesem Kontext Rechtssicherheit herzustellen. Bisher gibt es keine umfassenden systematischen Studien über ethische Aspekte grenzübergreifender Gesundheitsversorgung. In dieser Arbeit werden die rechtlichen Entwicklungen der grenzübergreifenden Gesundheitsversorgung dargestellt und die in der Literatur vereinzelt erwähnten ethisch relevanten Aspekte heuristisch und auf Patiententypologien aufbauend systematisch inventarisiert und diskutiert. Es zeigt sich, dass die Möglichkeit der Patientenmobilität und die damit vor (...) allem verbundenen Finanzierungsregelungen die Autonomie einiger Patienten sicherlich verbessern kann. Allerdings können wohl nicht alle Patienten Versorgungsverbesserungen erwarten. Im Gegenteil können sogar negative Konsequenzen für einige Patienten folgen, was vor allem aus gerechtigkeitstheoretischen Überlegungen kritisch zu sehen ist. (shrink)

Die enorme Bedeutung, die Patientenverfügungen in der aktuellen ethisch-rechtlichen Diskussion zukommt, steht in gewissem Widerspruch zur geringen öffentlichen Bereitschaft, eine solche abzufassen. Dies wirft die ethische Frage auf, welche Argumente für das Abfassen von Patientenverfügungen sprechen. Zentral sind hierbei strebensethische Aspekte, die auf das Wünschenswerte und Lebenskluge einer solchen Entscheidung abheben. Mit einem um die soziokulturelle Perspektive erweiterten Identitätskonzept lässt sich für die Patientenverfügung als sinnvolles Instrument der Selbst-Deutung und Lebensplanung argumentieren. Zugleich verweist die soziokulturelle Dimension auf neue ethische Probleme (...) der Interpretation durch Dritte und der Stellvertreterrolle. Dabei wird ein Defizit in der sozial-empirischen und ethischen Auseinandersetzung um die Bedeutung von Interpretation, Beratung und Verantwortung von Stellvertretern offenkundig. (shrink)

Over the last years several European patents were opposed for protecting technology violating the morality requirement under Article 53(a) EPC. Attempts have been made by the Appeal Boards of the European Patent Office (EPO), as well as by amendments introduced into the Implementing Regulations of the European Patent Convention (EPC), to address this sensitive patentability requirement more precisely. The most recent hot topic coming up in this context is the patentability of stem cells. It is to be expected that this (...) discussion will still go on in the field of biotechnological inventions for the next several years. (shrink)

Die wachsende Nachfrage nach Anti-Aging-Medizin wirft die Frage auf, welche medizinischen Leistungen ein solidarisches Gesundheitssystem tragen sollte. Die deutsche Entscheidungspraxis beruft sich auf den Begriff der Krankheit. Im Blick auf Anti-Aging wäre demnach 1) zu klären, was der Krankheitsbegriff bedeutet, 2) zu prüfen, ob das Altern sich unter diesen Begriff subsumieren lässt, um 3) abzuleiten, inwieweit Anti-Aging-Maßnahmen zur Verfügung zu stellen sind. Dieses Prozedere führt jedoch zu keinem brauchbaren Ergebnis. Unter Berufung auf den Krankheitsbegriff allein ist der Umfang solidarischer Gesundheitsversorgung (...) nicht zu bestimmen. Allerdings lässt sich durch Reflexion auftretender Probleme ein gangbarer Entscheidungsweg aufzeigen. Er sieht eine faire Verständigung über die Frage vor, wie wir alt werden wollen. (shrink)

The place for the placebo in human clinical research is addressed in this paper. The World Medical Association which is comprised of some 80 National Medical Associations uses much of its resources to address medical ethics and human rights issues. It adopted the Declaration of Helsinki in June 1964 which addressed the protection of individuals in clinical trials. The use of placebos assumes an important role in this document. Five Revisions of the Declaration of Helsinki have occurred and the most (...) recent was adopted in October 2000. The provisions on placebo are now in Paragraph 29 which reads as follows:“The benefit, risks, burdens and effectiveness of a new method should be tested against those of the best current prophylactic, diagnostic and therapeutic methods. This does not exclude the use of placebo, or no treatment, in studies where no proven prophylactic, diagnostic or therapeutic methods exists.”The reactions to the newly revised version of the Declaration of Helsinki were numerous and rapid, not the least of which was the paragraph I quoted above.At the direction of the WMA Council, a small group of experts together with the WMA workgroup studied the Paragraph 29 to ensure that no ethically sound research was being restricted by the revision. The outcome was approved by the Council and later the WMA General Assembly in October 2000. This gives a note of clarification as to the appropriate use of placebos. Numerous papers and statements over the last several years have described positions very much in line with the Note of Clarification cited above. (shrink)

Driven by the theory of sustainable development, Chinese firms have gradually realized the importance of ESG disclosure. Executives play a core role in ESG decision-making, but whether and how top management team (TMT) faultlines affect ESG disclosure has yet to be systematically discussed. Based on the attention-based view and faultline theory, we select 6456 observations of 910 Chinese A-share listed firms from 2012 to 2021 as the research object to empirically test the above critical practical issues that have not been (...) fully answered. We find that TMT information-based faultlines improve firms' ESG disclosure, but TMT social category faultlines reduce firms' ESG disclosure. In addition, the internal mechanism test showed that the TMT's future-oriented attention plays a mediating role in the above relationship. Finally, we also find that institutional shareholding enhances the positive impact of the TMT's future-oriented attention on ESG disclosure. This study enriches the literature on TMT faultlines and ESG disclosure, demonstrating that the composition of the TMT and its attention allocation are important factors for promoting firms' ESG disclosure. The conclusions of this study can help firms strengthen their ESG disclosure by building efficient TMTs and provide important implications for firms to better fulfill their ESG responsibilities. (shrink)

We contribute to the literature on intentions to report wrongdoing by examining whether Chinese internal auditors make consistent judgments when an ethical dilemma is presented in English and when the same dilemma is presented in Chinese. We invoke cultural frame switching theory, and our findings, which are based on a randomized experiment using between-subjects and within-subject mixed design, support the hypothesis that Chinese internal auditors are more likely to report wrongdoing when the ethical dilemma is presented in English than when (...) it is presented in Chinese. Our results, which demonstrate that internal auditors make inconsistent ethical judgments in English and Chinese, point to language-triggered cognitive bias resulting from cultural mindsets. We suggest practical interventions and language strategies to improve audit quality. (shrink)

ExcerptOne of the most challenging aspects of the wars in Ukraine and Israel is the way in which the conflicts have been constantly shifting in form. In the first place, there is a conventional ground war between Russia and Ukraine, in which the identity and will of the two peoples are at stake. Yet Russia has used weapons supplied by Iran and North Korea, and Ukraine relies on NATO for its own supplies, indicating that this war depends on the maintenance (...) and expansion of alliances. The stability of these alliances in turn depends on a combination of Realpolitik and shared values as the glue that holds them together. This logic of alliances motivates the energy war that Russia is waging with Europe, revealing that, unbeknownst to Europe, Russian energy policy over the last decade was an early form of the war. Similarly, the threat of nuclear war also tests the resolve of NATO, forcing it to consider the values at stake in the conflict. Is the war about Ukraine’s sovereignty or the principle of nation-state sovereignty itself? Is it about human rights for Ukrainians or the entire human rights project? For Russia, is it about self-defense or a pan-Slavic identity? Is it about the protection of Russian minorities in Ukraine or the threat of Western secularization? The answers to these questions will determine the will to fight on each side and thus the length and ferocity of the war. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:NEWMAN'S PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCOVERY: THE ILLATIVE SENSE (V. Continued) 15. The Universals. A long and vehement dispute once raged about the reality of universals. Are they only mental creations, forged by the human brain, without any reality outside them, or have they some independent existence apart from their mental reality? Anyhow, there was an apparent contradiction between die universal character of our ideas and the individual character of concrete things. (...) The Scholastics solved this problem by drawing clear distinctions. An idea is an abstraction; as soon as it becomes applicable to a number of objects or things in the same sense, it is a universal idea. The "direct universal" (universale directum seu metaphysicum) as such has no existence apart from our minds, because an existing thing is always bound up with concrete, determining, individualizing notes, and it is these very circumstances or accidents which are ignored by the mind as it strips the thing of its individual characteristics. When the mind reflects on this "direct universal," i.e., on the abstract essence of the thing, it sees that this is to be found in many more things and that it is identical in all those things, and in this way the "reflex or logical universal" is formed (universale reflexum seu logicum). This same essence or quiddity is not really different from the thing itself, but the mind makes abstraction of all accidents, and this foundation makes it possible to apply this idea in die same sense to all other beings of the same kind, whether they are actually existing or not. In other words the universal as a universal has only reality in the mind but it has a foundation or a ground in the thing itself. Newman was not so well acquainted with Scholasticism that he knew and mastered the solution of the problem. As a matter of fact he approached it from quite another angle. Hence when scholastically trained minds read some of his statements on universals, they may feel shocked. They sound very curious, they seem incon418 DR. ZENO, O.F.M. CAP.419 sistent with each other, they apparenüy imply a negation of the objective reality of universals. This makes it necessary to compare the texts and to explain his meaning. a. Newman Inconsistent. We should never lose sight of the fact that Newman had no intention at all to enter the province of philosophy in the restricted sense of the word. "I am only contemplating the mind as it moves in fact, by whatever hidden mechanism,"1 that is what could be put as a heading to every page of the Grammar of Assent. And when he virtually deals with metaphysics, he wants us to consider his statements as hypotheses, or as propositions stated only by the way, and in this department he always wishes "to speak under correction." This explains how he could refer to the universale metaphy sicum and the universale directum in a very correct way without realizing he was teaching Scholastic doctrine. As far as I know, it is Professor Walgrave who has first drawn attention to this fact,2 when he dealt with Newman's alleged conceptualism. Newman states that "even one act of cruelty, ingratitude, generosity or justice reveals to us at once intensive the immutable distinction between those qualities and their contraries; that is, in that particular instance and pro bac vice."3 The same holds for the opposites: right and wrong, true and false, just and unjust, beautiful and deformed.4 In one experience, therefore, he sees a thing as an immutable, absolute quiddity, which objectively and in the same sense belongs to all possible things of the same kind, although the mind does not yet explicidy confirm this universal applicability. The contemplated quality remains limited to the particular case; but in its absoluteness it is stripped of all individual, changeable and concrete characteristics. This is the metaphysical universal of the Scholastics. But Newman also mentions the logical universal when he says: "As we form our notion of whiteness from the actual sight of snow, a lily or a cloud, so, after experiencing the sentiment of approbation which arises in us on the sight of certain... (shrink)

ExcerptWe often have the experience of intuiting something without being able to precisely define what that intuition is. Sometimes this intuition leads to a more well-defined insight, and sometimes it might lead to some kind of action, even in the absence of clear conceptual definitions. Yet it is difficult to ascertain what kind of knowledge or awareness such intuitions consist of. What is an intuition as opposed to a defined concept of something? How seriously should we take such intuitions? Are (...) they something separate and qualitatively different than concepts? Are they just fuzzy concepts? Do they really exist at all? These are crucial questions because they lead to conclusions about the status of concepts themselves. If the alternative to clear concepts is nothing at all, then the sociopolitical corollary would be that the alternative to conceptual knowledge and the holders of such knowledge would also be nothing at all. By contrast, if intuitions are separate from concepts and real, then expert knowledge might possibly have some deficiencies in comparison with intuitions. The essays in this issue of Telos explore in one way or another this question of the status of conceptual knowledge as opposed to intuitive awareness. (shrink)

The subject of the study is the works of contemporary St. Petersburg artists of different generations and creative trends, as well as the forms and features of their communication with each other and with the general as well as professional public. The trends of artistic communication in the city are determined by the activities of such institutions as art and non-art museums, art galleries and exhibition centers, which are a classic form of presentation of contemporary art; alternative venues such as (...) creative spaces and art clusters. The field of attention also includes the attraction of St. Petersburg authors to the organization of small artistic associations, mainly art groups, for example, "Unconquered", "North-7", "Parasites", etc. In addition to works of art, theoretical works and reflections by researchers of contemporary art in St. Petersburg and the spaces of its public presentation are involved. The methodological basis is the analysis of the works of St. Petersburg masters of the beginning of the XXI century in the context of the development of urban institutions of artistic communication. The research is based on theoretical works devoted to the problem of artistic communication and trends in the current art process. Comparative-interpretative and typological methods are used to compare the works of artists and forms of artistic communication. The problem of artistic communication in the field of fine art in St. Petersburg is becoming the subject of a separate study. This area of city life is currently developing quite dynamically, as new art associations, curatorial practices and alternative classical platforms for the presentation of the work of authors belonging to different generations and art movements are emerging. Traditional museums and galleries, as well as creative spaces, art clusters and other often non-core institutions, such as libraries and cafes, are involved in this process. Against this background, the features of St. Petersburg artistic communication crystallize, which is characterized by a desire to organize communities, to fuse realistic traditions and current trends, to escapism and symbolism, as well as an interest in oriental themes and stylistics. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:NEWMAN'S PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCOVERY: THE ILLATIVE SENSE (Continued) VI THE FACULTIES OF COGNITION AND APPETITION Since the Grammar of Assent gives us a phenorhenological analysis of the art of thinking and often refers to the influence of other faculties in our reasoning processes, it will be very instructive to examine what the author holds about our faculties of cognition and appetition. This will make us better acquainted with the nature (...) of the illative sense. I. THE SENSES 1. The External Senses and their Objects. We had already arrived at the conclusion that Newman rejects the mere subjectivity of our knowledge. When he writes about this matter he explicitly deals with sensation or sensuous cognition. Although he takes exception to the word "immediate perception," 1 we may nevertheless call him an adherent of direct or immediate realism according to Scholastic terminology, because he emphatically excludes the intervention of a reasoning process from sense perception and uses the term "mediate perception" only to express the instrumentality of experience. In this meaning our perception of external objects is mediate or indirect indeed.2 The fact is that as early as 1839 he wrote in his University Sermons: "Of the material we have direct knowledge through the senses"3 and in 1843: "The senses are direct, immediate, and ordinary informants, and act spontaneously without any will or effort on our part."4 On the importance of sense perception for our mental activities he writes in a series of hitherto unpublished notes, entitled Elements of Thought:6 "I grant or I assume that the soul would not think without some external stimulus; that if it were cut off from all communication from the external world, it would pass this life in a sort of torpor... But then, as soon as it is roused, it reflects upon itself, and thereby gains a number of ideas..." 1. See supra V, 14.2. Supra V, 14.3. P. 205. 4.P. 303 ; cf. Gramm., p. 260. 5.See the unpublished Philosophical Papers, note Fcbr. 24, 1859. 40 DR. ZENO, OJM. CAP.41 Apart from the passages already referred to, Newman nowhere enlarges on the doctrine about the senses. He does not speak about the distinctions between sensible objects; he does not explain the difference between sensation and perception, and uses those terms promiscuously.6 There are no statements on the subject which contradict current Scholastic notions, although sometimes his vague terminology may be an occasion for misunderstandings. For instance, some passages in connection with "images" and "impressions," when read apart from the context, would appear to imply that he identifies them with the Scholastic species a sensibili accepta. However, we shall show further on that. Newman means something quite different. He deals with these species and the so-called sensibilia per acci· dens by the way when describing our knowledge of God7 and teaching that we have evidence of the presence of individuals or substances in the phenomena which occur to our senses. We picture those things to ourselves in those phenomena. They are like pictures, he says, but at the same time "they give us no exact measure or character of the unknown things beyond them." "Therefore when we speak of our having a picture of the things which are perceived through the senses, we mean a certain representation, true as far as it goes, but not adequate." 2. The Internal Senses and their Objects. Newman nowhere gives a distinction between external and internal senses, but nevertheless he speaks about those faculties of the mind which by the Scholastics are called the internal senses. These philosophers distinguish a common sense or rather a central sense (sensus communis), which unites the impressions of the external senses into one whole, makes us conscious of the conditions of our body and notifies to us the sensations of our external as well as internal senses; — the imagination or the faculty which preserves and reproduces things perceived; — the sensuous memory, i. e., the power to retain and to reproduce sense images; — and the vis aestimativa or the instinctive faculty, which discovers without any intellectual means, what is good and what is bad for our welfare. 6.It would seem that he generally... (shrink)