Appellate Court Modifications Extraction consists of, given an Appellate Court decision, identifying the proposed modifications by the upper Court of the lower Court judge’s decision. In this work, we propose a system to extract Appellate Court Modifications for Portuguese. Information extraction for legal texts has been previously addressed using different techniques and for several languages. Our proposal differs from previous work in two ways: our corpus is composed of Brazilian Appellate Court decisions, in which we look for a set of (...) modifications provided by the Court; and to automatically extract the modifications, we use a traditional Machine Learning approach and a Deep Learning approach, both as alternative solutions and as a combined solution. We tackle the Appellate Court Modifications Extraction task, experimenting with a wide variety of methods. In order to train and evaluate the system, we have built the KauaneJunior corpus, using public data disclosed by the Appellate State Court of Rio de Janeiro jurisprudence database. Our best method, which is a Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory network combined with Conditional Random Fields, obtained an \ score of 94.79%. (shrink)

Toma-se como objetivo tecer considerações acerca do conceito de autorreflexão e emancipação, entrelaçando-o à pesquisa-ação, por meio do diálogo entre Jürgen Habermas, Theodor W. Adorno, Wilfred Carr e Stephen Kemmis. Os conceitos de autorreflexão e emancipação surgem na Escola de Frankfurt através de Adorno e são incorporados por Habermas, que dá outro sentido a eles. Carr e Kemmis, ao refletirem sobre a pesquisa-ação emancipatória na educação, tomam Habermas como alicerce e constituem o conceito de autorreflexão crítica. A partir das considerações (...) dos autores, o artigo reflete acerca da autorreflexão incorporada na metodologia da pesquisa-ação, principalmente no tocante à formação continuada de profissionais da educação. À luz dos pressupostos habermasianos, defendem-se os conceitos de autorreflexão e emancipação pela via da ação comunicativa, na qual o paradigma da consciência é transposto para o paradigma da linguagem. Compreende-se que para Adorno a autorreflexão está atrelada diretamente à liberdade, ao pensamento crítico e à autonomia, que guiam o indivíduo para a emancipação. Enquanto para Habermas, a autorreflexão vincula-se à linguagem e à comunicação, entre dois ou mais sujeitos, que os guiam para a emancipação. Carr e Kemmis inspirados na espiral cíclica proposta por Lewin e na autorreflexão de Habermas, vão defender a espiral autorreflexiva na pesquisa-ação. Diante disso, entende-se que os problemas da educação têm na racionalidade comunicativa perspectivas de mudanças sólidas, especialmente pela via de processos formativos. (shrink)

O conhecimento tem sido objeto de reflexão e estudo em várias áreas do saber, bem como elemento-chave nas grandes transformações enfrentadas pela humanidade. Assim, a autorreflexão, conforme aponta Jürgen Habermas refere-se a um processo de análise crítica e autorreflexiva realizado por indivíduos e pela sociedade como um todo. A autorreflexão também está associada ao desenvolvimento do entendimento crítico, o que permite que os sujeitos, de modo coletivo avaliem constantemente suas próprias ações e instituições em relação aos padrões de justiça, igualdade (...) e compensação. Em termos mais amplos, a autorreflexão em Habermas está relacionada ao conceito de “espaço público” e à ideia de que uma sociedade saudável e democrática requer um diálogo público aberto e crítico, o que fundamenta a pesquisa-ação. Encontramos na pesquisa-ação uma abordagem que combina a investigação acadêmica com a ação prática para promover mudanças sociais, envolvendo a colaboração entre pesquisadores e membros da comunidade, visando gerar conhecimento relevante e aplicável às questões enfrentadas por estas. Perante o exposto, toma-se como objetivo principal tecer considerações acerca do conceito de autorreflexão para estratégia de produção de dados numa pesquisa-ação crítica. Trata-se de um relato de pesquisa que visa refletir acerca da autorreflexão incorporada na metodologia da pesquisa-ação, principalmente no tocante à formação continuada de profissionais da educação. Nesse contexto, acredita-se que, a partir da autorreflexão crítica tais profissionais possam constituir-se em uma comunidade autocrítica de pesquisadores que investigam suas concepções e ações, possibilitando outros/novos modos de conceber e produzir conhecimentos. (shrink)

We aimed to characterize the age of onset of training, age at menarche, menstrual periodicity, and performance perception during the menstrual cycle and examined the impact of these reproductive variables on body composition, morphology, and body weight satisfaction in Brazilian elite futsal players. The study consisted of 115 female Brazilian elite futsal players from the top national teams. Data were collected during the twentieth Women’s Brazil Futsal Cup. Players were interviewed and self-reported their age of onset of training, age at (...) menarche, menstrual periodicity, and the menstrual period, where they performed best. We also asked for what they considered to be their ideal body weight as well as information related to their training. Subsequently, anthropometric measurements were performed to estimate the body composition and determine morphological characteristics. Fifty-nine players were postmenarche-trained and 52 were premenarche-trained. Eighteen, 65, and 28 were classified as early, normal, and late menarche, respectively. Only 11 and 1 had irregular menstrual cycles and were amenorrheic, respectively. Seventy-three, 23, and 9 reported that their game performance was the best at the follicular phase, menses, and luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, respectively. No associations between the four reproductive-related variables were found. Postmenarche-trained players had significant lower age at menarche and higher percentage body fat. The somatotype profile registered lower ectomorphy rate for the postmenarche-trained participants after controlling for covariates. Early menarche group presented higher sum of six skinfold thickness and endomorphy rate compared to normal and late menarche groups. No differences were found when menstrual periodicity groups and best performance groups were compared, except for higher femur width in the regular menstrual cycle group compared to the irregular one. The association between body weight satisfaction and the four reproductive-related variables were not observed. Premenarche-trained Brazilian elite futsal players had the menarche later than the postmenarche-trained athletes. Most of the participants had menarche age classified as “normal,” presented “regular” menstrual cycles and perceived to perform better during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. (shrink)

O escopo deste artigo consiste em analisar o problema da punição e como podemos justificar o dano intencional causado pelo Estado a um agente infrator no pensamento de Jeremy Bentham e na teoria utilitarista clássica. Para tal fim analisaremos a obra “Uma introdução aos princípios da moral e da legislação”, além de artigos de comentadores. O presente texto divide-se em cinco etapas, a saber, uma breve introdução, seguida de uma análise da proposta benthaniana e de sua concepção de Estado. Após, (...) destacaremos os aspectos positivos de assumir uma posição utilitarista de justificação da punição e, consequentemente, quais são as implicações negativas dessa proposta. Por fim, a título de considerações finais, parece-nos importante considerar alguns aspectos dessa proposta para o pensamento contemporâneo dos sistemas penais e sua legitimidade. (shrink)

The present article is the third part of a trilogy of papers, devoted to analysing the influence of semantic Platonism on contemporary philosophy of language. In Part I (Picazo 2021), the discussion was set out by examining a number of typical traces of Platonism in semantic theory since Frege. In Part II (Picazo 2021a), additional illustrations of such traces were provided, taken from a collection of recent commissioned essays on the philosophy of language (Schantz 2012). The present part is devoted (...) to providing yet additional illustrations of such traces, taken from a collection of classic essays on the subject: the book Modern Philosophy of Language, edited by Maria Baghramian in 1998. We shall, thus, describe a number of examples in which the influence of semantic Platonism on these essays can be felt. Prominent among these examples are the confusion between sentences and propositions (and related confusions), the avoidant attitude with respect to basic aspects of linguistic meaning, the overuse of analytic methodology for semantic research, the adoption of a background Platonic metaphysics of meanings and the overreaction against semantic Platonism and germane views, witnessing an inverse influence (‘by opposition’) from these views. (shrink)

Previously, the author tried to show that some arguments in one of the two versions of Nicholas of Autrecourt’s Quaestio de intensione visionis are taken almost verbatim from the anonymous Tractatus de sex inconvenientibus. This paper concentrates on the arguments themselves in order to consider two main issues: the ‘translatability’ of limit decision problems, manifest in Autrecourt’s juxtaposition of questions de maximo et minimo, de primo et ultimo instanti, and the intension and remission of forms; the importance of Parisian discussions (...) of limit decision problems prior to the adoption of the new analytical languages developed at Oxford. Thus, the paper is divided in two sections, the first concerning some arguments of Autrecourt’s question, the second focusing on the link between one of Autrecourt’s arguments and the medieval tradition of commentaries on Aristotle’s De caelo, in which it is possible to find some antecedents of the analytical approach that later Parisian scholars would apply to these problems. (shrink)

The present article is the first of a trilogy of papers, devoted to analysing the influence of semantic Platonism on contemporary philosophy of language. In the present article, I lay out the discussion by contrasting semantic Platonism with two other views of linguistic meaning: the socio-environmental conception of meaning and semantic anti-representationalism. Then, I identify six points in which the impregnation of semantic theory with Platonism can be particularly felt, resulting in shortcomings and inaccuracies of various kinds. These points are (...) the following: the limitations of regarding logico-philosophical analysis as the only working methodology; the tendency to avoid investigating a number of aspects of linguistic meaning; the recurring confusion between sentences, statements, and propositions; the weakness of transcendent assumptions about meaning; the weakness of meaning assumptions adopted on the basis of pure intuition; and inconsistencies caused by some over-eager attempts to escape semantic Platonism. (shrink)

The present article is the second part of a trilogy of papers, devoted to analysing the influence of semantic Platonism on contemporary philosophy of language. In Part I (Picazo 2021), the discussion was set out by examining a number of typical traces of Platonism in semantic theory since Frege. In a subsequent paper that shall be published elsewere, additional illustrations of such traces will be provided, taken from a collection of classic texts in the philosophy of language, also from Frege (...) onwards (Baghramian 1998). Then, the present paper is devoted to providing yet additional illustrations of those traces, but this time taken from a collection of recent commissioned essays on the subject: the book Prospects for Meaning, edited by Richard Schantz in 2012. We shall, thus, describe a considerable number of examples in which the influence of semantic Platonism on these essays can be felt. Prominent among these examples are the adhesion to pseudo-Platonism in the form of semantic mentalism; the typical limitations of avoidant and trivializing semantic accounts; the confinement to logico-philosophical analysis as the only methodology for semantic research; the excesses committed by some radical semantic anti-representationalists and some radical semantic biologists; and the adhesion to hardcore semantic Platonism itself. (shrink)

As reflexões de Michel Foucault em torno da problemática do poder constituem uma proposta de abordagem inovadora, estando consubstanciadas, principalmente, nas obras Surveiller et punir e La volonté de savoir, surgidas na década de setenta; trata-se, em sua opinião, de "decapitar o rei" ao nivel da teoria politica, substituindo uma abordagem negativa do poder por uma abordagem mais positiva e concreta, onde o poder é encarado em termos de tecnologia, de táctica e de estratégia. A abordagem desenvolvida nestas obras foi (...) determinada, em parte, pela situação vivida em França após Maio de 68 e pela leitura, na mesma época, da obra de Nietzsche; o seu contacto com as prisões, entre os anos de 1971-72, terà sido igualmente importante na apreensào do funcionamento das engrenagens do poder /// Michel Foucault's treatment of the problematics of power in Surveiller et punir and La volonte de savoir involves a kind of "beheading of the king" in the context of political theory. In lieu of a negative analysis of power and influenced by the events of May of 1968 in France, by his reading of Nietzsche, and by his contact with prison life in 1971-72, he proposes one that is positive and concrete in which power is considered in terms of technology, tactics, and strategies. (shrink)

Nos deteremos aqui sobre a crítica de Matthew Kramer em relação à interpretação de Quentin Skinner sobre o conceito de “liberdade” em Hobbes contida em seu artigo “On the Unavoidability of Actions: Quentin Skinner, Thomas Hobbes, and the Modern Doctrine of Negative Liberty” (2001). Nele, Kramer trata do então crescente interesse do projeto intelectual de Skinner pelo pensamento hobbesiano, algo já evidenciado desde a publicação de seu livro Liberdade Antes do Liberalismo (1998). Kramer toma como referência central de sua resposta (...) o artigo de Skinner intitulado “Thomas Hobbes on the Proper Signification of Liberty”, criticando a sua posição e contrastando com algumas de suas próprias ideias sobre “liberdade” e “não-liberdade”. Através dessas considerações, Kramer reavalia a noção da liberdade em Hobbes, tomando-a como o protótipo liberal da liberdade negativa por excelência, demonstrando assim os supostos equívocos contidos na interpretação de Skinner sobre ela. Buscamos defender aqui, contudo, que a proposta interpretativa de Kramer carece da devida fundamentação metodológica que correlaciona o neorrepublicanismo de Skinner no campo da filosofia política com certos princípios oriundos de sua historiografia que não são devidamente considerados pelo primeiro. A sua crítica estaria, assim, comprometida por uma abordagem desconectada do pensamento e das intenções de Hobbes enquanto um agente político inserido em um determinado contexto linguístico e social, quadro que seria posteriormente resgatado de maneira primorosa por Skinner em seu estudo Hobbes and Republican Liberty (2008). (shrink)

In this article, I explore the consequences of two commonsensical premises in semantics and epistemology: (1) natural language is a complex system rooted in the communal life of human beings within a given environment; and (2) linguistic knowledge is essentially dependent on natural language. These premises lead me to emphasize the process-socio-environmental character of linguistic meaning and knowledge, from which I proceed to analyse a number of long-standing philosophical problems, attempting to throw new light upon them on these grounds. In (...) particular, I criticize the use of expressions such as ‘absolute truth’, ‘absolute existence’ and ‘the thing in itself’, arguing that they lead to what I call ‘the ultralinguistic paradox’ (a fatal antinomy). In the same way, I review a number of mainstream topics in philosophical semantics, epistemology and metaphysics, reformulating them in terms much more naturalistic – and less mysterious – than usual. (shrink)

Conceptual engineering is commonly characterized as the method for assessing and improving our representational devices. Little has been said, however, on how best to construe these representational devices—in other words, on what conceptual engineering should be all about. This paper tackles this problem with a basic strategy: First, by presenting a taxonomy of the different possible subject matters for conceptual engineering; then, by comparatively assessing them and selecting the most conducive one with a view to making conceptual engineering an actionable (...) method, that is, a method that can be applied effectively and consistently to specific case studies. The outcome is that conceptual engineering should be all about concepts on pain of pragmatic inconsistencies otherwise. (shrink)

Desde _O nascimento da tragédia_ Nietzsche esboça o tema da redenção numa perspectiva afirmativa, de modo especial pelo viés da arte. Dionísio aparece como a primeira figura capaz de redimir o homem do sofrimento, pois liberaria a vontade para novas configurações no interior do Devir. Mas é nos últimos escritos que uma filosofia da redenção ganha mais consistência em Nietzsche, na medida em que se articula com o tema da Transvaloração dos valores. Nosso propósito nesse artigo é destacar essa articulação (...) entre transvaloração e redenção buscando argumentar acerca da implicação que nos parece ser a mais fundamental, que é a contínua necessidade de pensar a superação do homem em chave afirmativa, para além do projeto cristão de melhoramento da humanidade. (shrink)

In a famous study of expert problem solving, de Groot (1946/1978) examined how chess players found the best move. He reported that there was little difference in the way that the best players (Grand Masters) and very good players (Candidate Masters) searched the board. Although this result has been regularly cited in studies of expertise, it is frequently misquoted. It is often claimed that de Groot found no difference in the way that experts and novices investigate a problem. Comparison of (...) expert and novice chess players on de Groot's problem shows that there are clear differences in their search patterns. We discuss the troublesome theoretical and practical consequences of incorrectly reporting de Groot's findings. (shrink)

O presente artigo faz uma breve apreciação do texto La réalité et son ombre, de E. Levinas, especificamente acerca de sua consideração em torno do valor da arte como possibilidade de transcendência. Se, em obras posteriores, Levinas ainda permanece de certo modo econômico, e às vezes ambíguo, sobre a questão, neste texto sua crítica permanece dura e direta. Aqui se discute a relação entre imagem, exterioridade e o real. A obra de arte fala? Exigiria uma resposta e seria ética? Neste (...) texto de 1948, encontramos uma série de argumentos, no seu diálogo com a arte, que já pre-param, ou anunciam, o que posteriormente virá como a transcedência do Rosto “que vai além da forma que o delimita”. Palavras-chave: Arte, transcendência, exterioridade, imagem, realidade. (shrink)

This textbook presents the basics of philosophy that are necessary for the student and researcher in science in order to better understand scientific work. The approach is not historical but formative: tools for semantical analysis, ontology of science, epistemology, and scientific ethics are presented in a formal and direct way. The book has two parts: one with the general theory and a second part with application to some problems such as the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the nature of mathematics, and (...) the ontology of spacetime. The book addresses questions such as "What is meaning?", "What is truth?", "What are truth criteria in science?", "What is a theory?", "What is a model?" "What is a datum?", "What is information?", "What does it mean to understand something?", "What is space?", "What is time?", "How are these concepts articulated in science?" "What are values?" "What are the limits of science?", and many more. The philosophical views presented are "scientific" in the sense that they are informed by current science, they are relevant for scientific research, and the method adopted uses the hypothetical-deductive approach that is characteristic of science. The results and conclusions, as any scientific conclusion, are open to revision in the light of future advances. Hence, this philosophical approach opposes to dogmatic philosophy. Supported by end-of-chapter summaries and a list of special symbols used, the material will be of interest for students and researchers in both science and philosophy. The second part will appeal to physicists and mathematicians. (shrink)

Este estudo de natureza teórico-bibliográfico tem por objetivo refletir sobre o conceito de espiritualidade natural e sua possível contribuição para saúde, em especial no contexto pandêmico da COVID 19. O aporte teórico utilizado centra-se no neuropsiquiatra vienense Viktor Frankl, além de outros autores, tais como Tillich, Zubiri, Kovács e Dittrich. Os resultados apontam que dentro de um conceito multidimensional de saúde, a dimensão espiritual exerce grande importância e contribuições para pensar o bem estar físico, emocional e social do ser humano. (...) Além do fato de que a espiritualidade natural está relacionada à uma visão de ser humano, complexa, na sua dimensão de profundeza espiritual que é o centro da estruturação e organização da dinâmica de sua maneira de ser no mundo e que aponta para um fenômeno intrínseco à sua existência – a espiritualidade como a conduta da vontade de busca por sentido de vida e que implica em deixar nascer o humano no ser do humano – o humanescer. (shrink)

In recent years, Cesar Chavez’s life and legacy have been subjected to increased scrutiny. The ensuing reevaluations of Chavez, wittingly or not, are matters of ethical, as well as historical and biographical, concern. This article has two aims. First, it reconstructs Chavez’s account of exemplarity and uses it to assess his legacy. Second, it provides an account of exemplarity situated within social practices. As I argue, exemplarity operates through social practices, rather than mystically as posited by a contagion model. The (...) end result is an ethically nuanced reassessment of Chavez and an account of exemplarity that includes its social dimension. (shrink)

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) raise important questions about whether people view moral evaluations by AI systems similarly to human-generated moral evaluations. We conducted a modified Moral Turing Test (m-MTT), inspired by Allen et al. (Exp Theor Artif Intell 352:24–28, 2004) proposal, by asking people to distinguish real human moral evaluations from those made by a popular advanced AI language model: GPT-4. A representative sample of 299 U.S. adults first rated the quality of moral evaluations when blinded to their source. (...) Remarkably, they rated the AI’s moral reasoning as superior in quality to humans’ along almost all dimensions, including virtuousness, intelligence, and trustworthiness, consistent with passing what Allen and colleagues call the comparative MTT. Next, when tasked with identifying the source of each evaluation (human or computer), people performed significantly above chance levels. Although the AI did not pass this test, this was not because of its inferior moral reasoning but, potentially, its perceived superiority, among other possible explanations. The emergence of language models capable of producing moral responses perceived as superior in quality to humans’ raises concerns that people may uncritically accept potentially harmful moral guidance from AI. This possibility highlights the need for safeguards around generative language models in matters of morality. (shrink)

Esta tese, de caráter epistemológico, tem como objetivo demonstrar como a relação entre filosofia e psicoterapia contribui com o empreendimento da Análise Existencial frankliana, permitindo vislumbrar uma concepção de ser humano desde uma dimensão existencial. A relação com a filosofia se deu principalmente a partir das obras de Martin Heidegger, em especial Os fundamentos metafísicos da lógica e Seminários de Zollikon. No tocante à bibliografia de Frankl, destaca-se Logoterapia e Análise Existencial. Esta pesquisa teórico-bibliográfica está dividida em três momentos. No (...) primeiro, buscou-se tematizar a relação entre filosofia e psicoterapia, a fim de compreender a Análise Existencial. O segundo capítulo, partindo de uma crítica à epistemologia psiquiátrica moderna, buscou perscrutar a antropologia filosófica proposta por Frankl com vistas ao itinerário de reabilitação da dimensão espiritual. Por fim, buscou-se explicitar o fenômeno da transcendência como constituição essencial do ser humano. (shrink)

This paper discusses the logical space of alternative conceptual engineering projects, with a specific focus on (1) the processes, (2) the targets and goals, and (3) the methods of such projects. We present an overview of how these three aspects interact in the contemporary literature and discuss those alternative projects that have yet to be explored based on our suggested typology. We show how choices about each element in a conceptual engineering project constrain the possibilities for the others, thereby giving (...) rise to distinct groupings of possible projects under the banner of conceptual engineering. We conclude with a critical reflection on the potential ethical issues that arise as a result of effectively putting conceptual engineering into practice. (shrink)

It is well known that the modern atomists assumed the ancient thesis that things are composed of simple entities. It is also known that Leibniz went beyond atomism, since he affirmed that the true substances on which things are founded, the so-called monads, cannot be divisible or extended, for they are souls. For Christian Wolff, the elements of bodies are not extended; these elements have no figure and no magnitude whatsoever, they fill no space and are indivisible. In the Monadologia (...) physica, published in 1756, Kant also argues that the ultimate principles of bodies are the monads or simple substances. The goal of this work is to reconcile the confronted positions of “metaphysics” and “geometry”. (shrink)

For many years, the game of chess has provided an invaluable task environment for research on cognition, in particular on the differences between novices and experts and the learning that removes these differences, and upon the structure of human memory and its paramaters. The template theory presented by Gobet and Simon based on the EPAM theory offers precise predictions on cognitive processes during the presentation and recall of chess positions. This article describes the behavior of CHREST, a computer implementation of (...) the template theory, in a memory task when the presentation time is varied from one second to sixty, on the recall of game and random positions, and compares the model to human data. Strong players are better than weak players in both types of positions, especially with long presentation times, but even after brief presentations. CHREST predicts the data, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Strong players' superiority with random positions is explained by the large number of chunks they hold in LTM. Their excellent recall with short presentation times is explained by templates, a special class of chunks. CHREST is compared to other theories of chess skill, which either cannot account for the superiority of Masters in random positions or predict too strong a performance of Masters in such positions. (shrink)

There are communities in which disadvantaged groups experience severe inequality. For instance, poor and indigent families face many difficulties accessing their social rights. Their condition is largely the consequence of the wrong choices of those in power, either historical or more recent choices. The lack of opportunities of these deprived citizens is due to state omissions. In such communities, it is not unusual for homeless members of these particular groups to occupy abandoned lands and build their shelters there. However, almost (...) everywhere, these actions constitute a crime. The typical response to this situation is prosecution and punishment. In this paper, I will defend the occupation of public places as a consequence of the failure of governments to solve the problem of housing, and I will argue that we must distinguish a social claim from a crime and avoid the use of criminal law in these “occupation cases”. I will also argue that our right—as a community—to blame and punish these “squatters” is eroded by the fact that we perpetrated their situation of injustice. (shrink)

I present a discussion of some issues in the ontology of spacetime. After a characterisation of the controversies among relationists, substantivalists, eternalists, and presentists, I offer a new argument for rejecting presentism, the doctrine that only present objects exist. Then, I outline and defend a form of spacetime realism that I call event substantivalism. I propose an ontological theory for the emergence of spacetime from more basic entities. Finally, I argue that a relational theory of pre-geometric entities can give rise (...) to substantival spacetime in such a way that relationism and substantivalism are not necessarily opposed positions, but rather complementary. In an appendix I give axiomatic formulations of my ontological views. (shrink)

The aim of this research is to ascertain whether a firm’s environmental motivations may help to predict how complete or incomplete its environmental management will be, understanding incomplete management to be that which neglects one or more of the three keys aspects of such management, namely, monitoring, action and results. We specifically posit that while motivations based on the search for legitimation lead to more incomplete styles of environmental management, competitive motivations entail a more complete management. The analyses conducted with (...) a sample of 1,902 plants provide empirical evidence in favour of such reasoning. The contribution this research makes, therefore, is not restricted solely to showing the effect motivations have on the environmental performance of organisations, as it also introduces a new dimension of environmental management—the degree of completeness, which needs to be considered when understanding and evaluating this effect. (shrink)

I present a formal ontological theory where the basic building blocks of the world can be either things or events. In any case, the result is a Parmenidean worldview where change is not a global property. What we understand by change manifests as asymmetries in the pattern of the world-lines that constitute 4-dimensional existents. I maintain that such a view is in accord with current scientific knowledge.

The content of a mental act- a pivotal element of a theory of intentionality- has a threefold meaning: as a logical concept, is the ideal signification, as a psychological concept, is the core of a noema (i.e., the instantiation of an ideal and as an ontological concept, is the object (real or unreal) intented by the nucleus. We can make a parallel between this Husserlian threefold distinction and the Fregean sense/”reference” distinction, reducing it to the sense/object distinction. This paralleism is (...) not to force the Husserl’s thought to Frege’s, but, on the contrary, to show the structure of the triple meaning of content: Husserl mtroduces the difference between ideal signification and instantiated signification, so the pure and Simple signification and the noematic sense are species of the genus sense. Husserl’s theory of intentionality and his philosophy of language does not go Frege, but beyond. The recognition of that allows us to see the error of Føesdal’s mterpretation, as while as those of Sartre and Gurwitsch. The Fregean sense/”reference” distinction is subsumed by the Husserlian conceptual trio ideal signification/noematic sense/object. This triad of concepts houses not only a semantic theory (as Frege’s pair), but also a theory of a theory of perception. Husserl integrates its semantics in a theory of of consciousness that overcomes the intentio doctrines ofBrentano, Twardowsk1 and the medievals. (shrink)

The idea of a moving present or ‘now’ seems to form part of our most basic beliefs about reality. Such a present, however, is not reflected in any of our theories of the physical world. I show in this article that presentism, the doctrine that only what is present exists, is in conflict with modern relativistic cosmology and recent advances in neurosciences. I argue for a tenseless view of time, where what we call ‘the present’ is just an emergent secondary (...) quality arising from the interaction of perceiving self-conscious individuals with their environment. I maintain that there is no flow of time, but just an ordered system of events. (shrink)