In this paper we propose a new approach to address the ramification problem in common-sense reasoning about action and change. We contrast the methods of McCain and Turner, Thielscher and Sandewall and, based on some of the limitations they encounter, we introduce a trajectory-based approach which keeps a history of the states through which a system evolves to characterise its dynamical state. We furnish an underlying state-transition semantics and a logic that admits an expressive, dynamical account of some typical scenarios (...) which encounter modelling difficulties in the other approaches mentioned. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Notes.

v. 1. Music and the external world.--v. 2. Man the musician.

Verdejo, Víctor_A Puzzle about Disagreement.

Our attitudes to wrongdoers, and what social and institutional practices we apply to them or engage them in, depend on whether (in our eyes) they are responsible for their wrongdoing. They also depend on whether we see them as fully or partially responsible agents more generally. Very crudely, we hold to account agents who are responsible for their conduct to account, where we treat the non-responsible. This chapter explores the relationship between treatment and accountability by critically engaging with P F (...) Strawson’s influential views on the issue. It argues that the appropriate distinction between treatment and accountability is based primarily on the content of interpersonal exploration of wrongdoing rather than the attitudes and practices that are involved in these practices. (shrink)

According to a family of metasemantics for demonstratives called intentionalism, the intentions of speakers determine the reference of demonstratives. And according to a sub-family I call proximal intentions (PI) intentionalism, the intention that determines reference is one that occupies a certain place—the proximal one—in a structure of intentions. PI intentionalism is thought to make correct predictions about reference where less sophisticated forms of intentionalism make the wrong predictions. In this article I argue that this is an illusion: PI intentionalism also (...) suffers from predictive inadequacy. In Sect. 1, I present the problem of predictive inadequacy for intentionalism and an ad hoc response to it. In Sect. 2, I sketch a version of PI intentionalism that aims to provide the most principled response to this problem. In Sect. 3, I explain why PI intentionalism cannot solve the problem after all. In Sect. 4, I indicate where I think metasemanticists should go next. (shrink)

Ever since John Perry's developments in the late 70s, it is customary among philosophers to take de se contents as essentially tied to the explanation of action. The target explanation appeals to a subject-specific notion of de se content capable of capturing behavioural differences in central cases. But a subject-specific de se content leads us, I argue, to a subject-specific notion of intentional action that prevents basic forms of generalisation. Although this might be seen as a welcome revision of our (...) pre-theoretical conceptions, I propose, instead, a strategy to circumvent this rather unexpected result: to reject subject-specific de se contents in favour of subject-specific ways of thinking that do not enter into the content of one's attitudes. (shrink)

This chapter is a response to Derek Baker’s careful and subtle reading of, and critical engagement with, both my paper, and P F Strawson’s ‘Freedom and Resentment’.

Presents a comprehensive history of multiverse theory, reviewing the discoveries that shaped astrophysicists' current consensus view while showing that the multiverse is able to be explained entirely in naturalistic terms.

Evolutionary stasis is discussed in light of the idea that the common output of every successful evolution is the creation of the entities that are increasingly resistant to further change. The moving force of evolution is entropy. This general aspiration for chaos is a cause of the mortality of organisms and extinction of species. However, being a prerequisite for any motion, entropy generates (by chance) novelties, which may happen to be (by chance) more resistant to further decay and thus survive. (...) The entities that change rapidly disappear. All existing entities are endowed with an ability to resist further change. In simple organisms, the stasis is primarily achieved by means of the high fidelity of DNA reproduction. In organisms with a large genome and complex development, the achievable fidelity of genome reproduction fails to guarantee homeorhetic reproduction: there is more mutation than reproduction. Such species must be capable of surviving and remain phenotypically unchanged at continuous changes of their genes. This capability (canalization or robustness) reflects a global degeneracy of the link structure-function: there are more genotypes than phenotypes. Hence, function (i.e. meaning), not structure, is selected. The selection for successful ontogenesis in a varying environment creates developmental robustness to mutational and environmental perturbations and, consequently, to the halt of evolution. Evolution is resistance to entropy, the adaptation to environment being only one of the means of this resistance. Everything essential in biology is determined not by physical causality but by semantic rules and goal-directed programs. This principal operates on various levels of biological organization. (shrink)

The story of a triumphant idea from Democritus to the Higgs boson, one of the most successful scientific hypotheses ever devised is chronicled in this history of atomism. Stenger makes the case that in the final analysis atoms and the void are all that exists.

A pioneer in the field of behavioral science delivers a groundbreaking work that shows how finding your purpose in life leads to better health and overall happiness.Your life is a boat. You need a rudder. But it doesn't matter how much wind is in your sails if you're not steering toward a harbor--an ultimate purpose in your life.While the greatest philosophers have pondered purpose for centuries, today it has been shown to have a concrete impact on our health. Recent studies (...) into Alzheimer's, heart disease, stroke, depression, functional brain imaging, and measurement of DNA repair are shedding new light on how and why purpose benefits our lives.Going beyond the fads, opinions, and false hopes of "expert" self-help books, The Science of Purpose explores the incredible connection between purposeful living and the latest scientific evidence on quality of life and longevity. Drawing on ancient and modern philosophy, literature, psychology, evolutionary biology, genetics, and neuroscience, as well as his experience in public health research, Dr. Vic Strecher reveals the elements necessary for a purposeful life and how to acquire them, and outlines an elegant strategy for improving energy, willpower, and long-term happiness, and well-being. He integrates these core themes into his own personal story--a tragedy that led him to reconsider his own life--and how a deeper understanding of purposeful living helped him not only survive, but thrive.Illuminating, accessible, and authentically grounded in real people's experiences, The Science of Purpose is essential reading for everyone seeking lasting improvement in their lives. (shrink)

This book is an interdisciplinary study of the cultural representations of Jesus in the context of contemporary religious theory and continental philosophy. It looks at Jesus in view of an updated Derridean hauntology and spectrality, with an emphasis on the inherent plasticity of the Christian heritage. While the work engages with the recent Jesus-centered writings of Slavoj Žižek, François Laruelle, and Giorgio Agamben, it places a greater and much needed emphasis on the philosophical, theological, and cultural links between a plastic, (...) hauntological Christian heritage and Jesus's historically evolving plural subjectivity, with the latter explored in texts of popular culture. It is a multidisciplinary study of Jesus, as well as a dynamic Christian heritage that simultaneously constructs and deconstructs Jesus's philosophical, political, and cultural centrality. (shrink)

In multiple essays, CLR James lays out what a theory of subjectivity must account for to resolve issues stemming from reducing subjectivity to a singular identity. Most proposals for a theory of subjectivity do so by making the subject the object of another’s propositions or claims about the world. I argue that this is an identity claim. The converse of this process is also true, that the subject who claims another as the object of their proposition must also be the (...) object of a proposition themselves, leaving the capacity to form these expressions untouched. In Black Cultural studies, there has been a lot of attention paid to the capacity for one to become the object of their own propositions due to the conception that Black identity overdetermines Black subjects’ expressions prior to their articulation. Our reorientation to the study of subjectivity posits an entity whose operation functions to mobilise as well as implement identity claims. Subjectivity is a capacity while identity becomes the object of that capacity, an object shared between subjects that are known by becoming the object of propositions regarding the world, including their own. This essay attempts to resolve the conflicts that arise once the mistake of conflating subjectivity with identity claims is made and proposes a model whereby the concept of Black subjectivity can be explained. (shrink)

This book examines leadership strategies that allow administrators to be proactive, visionary, and flexible while increasing collaboration, open communication, and closely integrating theory and practice to ensure successful administration in higher education settings.

Many recent discoveries have confirmed the importance of Orphism for ancient Greek religion, philosophy, and literature. However, its nature and role are still very controversial. The key problem of its relationship to Christianity has been discussed by ancient and modern authors from many different viewpoints, albeit too often tainted with apologetic interests and unconscious projections. This free and thorough study of the ancient sources sheds light on these questions and illuminates the complexity of the encounter between Classical culture and Jewish-Christian (...) tradition. New perspectives on the relationship between Classical and Jewish-Christian culture On the avowed subject of Orphism Author is specialist within the field. (shrink)

Seit Platons "Politeia" prägen Utopieentwürfe die europäische Ideengeschichte und spätestens seit Thomas Morus' "Utopia" ist der Terminus 'Utopie' fester Bestandteil der Geisteswissenschaften. Der interdisziplinäre Sammelband offenbart das breite Spektrum europäischer Utopiediskurse in geistes-, kultur- und ideengeschichtlichen Disziplinen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen Idealvorstellungen und Visionen sowie Fragen nach kultureller Identität und Projektionen einer möglichen Wertegemeinschaft. Die historische Schwerpunktsetzung untersucht dabei die Konstitution und Transformation utopischer Konzepte in Europa von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart.

Ausgehend von der Disparatheit diverser systematischer Definitions- und Konturierungsversuche zur Existenzphilosophie rekonstruiert die vorliegende Studie die philosophiehistorischen Prämissen dieser Strömung, um im Anschluss daran einheitsstiftende Momente herauszuarbeiten. Zentrale These der Untersuchung ist, dass Søren Kierkegaard und Friedrich Nietzsche die beiden ebenbürtigen Initialfiguren der Existenzphilosophie sind. Mittels der systematischen Schwerpunkte Metaphysik, Anthropologie, Ethik und Darstellungsformen von Philosophie werden die inhaltlichen Umbrüche, die Kierkegaard und Nietzsche im Denken des 19. Jahrhunderts vollzogen und die somit die Voraussetzungen für die Existenzphilosophie bilden, im Detail (...) analysiert. Waren Kierkegaard und Nietzsche zu ihren Lebzeiten noch „Unzeitgemäße“, so entfaltet ihr Denken im 20. Jahrhundert sein ganzes wirkungsgeschichtliches Potenzial, das in der Existenzphilosophie seinesgleichen sucht – beide werden zu „Zeitgemäßen“. Im Anschluss an diese philosophiehistorischen Analysen und unter Berücksichtigung des wirkungsgeschichtlichen Kontextes beider Initialfiguren erfolgt der Entwurf eines Katalogs sowohl historischer als auch systematischer Merkmale der Existenzphilosophie. (shrink)

De 1904 à 1918, l'écrivain et voyageur Victor Segalen (1878-1919) travaille à la rédaction d'un traité systématique qu'il aurait appelé Essai sur l'Exotisme. Une Esthétique du Divers, mais qui ne sera pas publié de son vivant. Seule demeure aujourd'hui, de ce projet, une série complexe de notes prises au jour le jour, puis conservées à la Bibliothèque nationale de France : c'est sur le dossier manuscrit qu'a été établie ici, sur nouveaux frais, cette édition originale des brouillons de l'ouvrage (...) en devenir. Loin de toute réalisation définitive, et avec sa forme actuelle qui le rapproche d'un journal de travail, ce document apparaît comme capital pour comprendre la pensée et l'oeuvre de Segalen. À l'heure où les sciences humaines et sociales interrogent l'identité et l'altérité, et où la question de la "diversité" agite les cultural studies, l'Essai sur l'Exotisme nous renseigne sur les élargissements que la notion classique d'interculturalité est susceptible de connaître. Il dessine ainsi une éthique particulière qui peut nous aider à considérer les questionnements de notre époque et à les réinscrire dans leur histoire conceptuelle."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This book explores three worlds shared by the humans in their collective experiences. It identifies and explores the world of commonsense, the world of religion, and the world of science as three essential dimensions of human experience. The book helps understand that humans can gain comfort and pleasure in commonsense, achieve meaning and purpose from religion, and attain truth and rationality through science. It actively applies theories to and develops theoretical explanations from different domains or situations of human existence. This (...) book is of interest to theorists, researchers, instructors, and students across major academic disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. (shrink)

This book examines leadership strategies that allow administrators to be proactive, visionary, and flexible while increasing collaboration, open communication, and closely integrating theory and practice to ensure successful administration in higher education settings.

The aim of this exploratory study was to examine client demographics and expectations, reasons for use, sensations during treatment, and perceived outcomes of Pranic Healing, an energy healing system lacking in scientific documentation but whose use in the general population is becoming more widespread internationally. This study consisted of a cross-sectional survey of adults (18+ years of age) receiving care from 12 Pranic Healing practices in four different states in the U.S. (N = 179) completing online questionnaires. Closed-ended response sets (...) were analyzed descriptively, while qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Reasons to use the therapy included physical, mental/emotional, and metaphysical issues, dissatisfaction with conventional care, and overall well-being. Expectations of care included enhanced abilities, cure or relief, or unsure. Respondents were more likely to cite a specific problem from which they needed alleviation than to cite overall health or wellness as their goal. Sensations experienced were reported to be of a relaxing nature and not, as was hypothesized, of an energizing nature. Results show that those who use Pranic Healing fit the sociodemographic profile of CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) users in the United States, that their reasons for use are not homogeneous, and that preliminary descriptive data from a selective subsample of respondents indicated that some respondents are experiencing positive outcomes attributed to this modality. (shrink)

En la Crítica de la facultad de juzgar, Kant atribuye al principio mecanicista un carácter meramente regulativo. Esto podría dar lugar a pensar que, en esta obra, se opera una transformación del modo en que el autor concibe la causalidad general, ya que, en las primeras dos Críticas, existe una tendencia a identificar el principio mecanicista con el principio de la segunda analogía de la experiencia. En este trabajo, intentaré mostrar que la presentación del principio que Kant hace en la (...) tercera Crítica es totalmente coherente con las tesis que desarrolla en sus otras obras, y que no supone otra modificación de su teoría más que aquella que surge de dirigir la atención sobre el operar de la facultad de juzgar reflexionante y sobre los problemas con los que este operar se relaciona. (shrink)

This paper presents a detailed analysis of a previous work that described the dynamic behavior of an antique stamp mill. The stamp mill application was for breaking ore stones as part of silver production. The dynamic analysis was established from a modern description of the kinematic chain. Since there is no technical data or archeological reports, the model was reconstructed using the dimensions described in original documents and assuming the operation conditions from different technical references. The model was validated using (...) the typical production rates from the pre-industrial revolution period (XVI to XVIII centuries). The results show a proper method for reconstructing the engineering data of antique mechanisms and provide the basis for reproducing these types of mechanisms with modern engineering concepts. The data can be extrapolated to other similar mills that were developed based on this functional principle. (shrink)

Marie Cardinal's novel Les Grands Desordres explores the power of biography and fictional writing to reveal the human world in ways that elude the grasp of an abstract and academic psychology. This essay examines Cardinal's narrative treatment of a Parisian psychologist who, at the beginning of her career, is convinced that natural science will contribute to human knowledge and will reduce suffering. However, a personal crisis makes her question her basic assumptions and leads her to discover the spiritual wealth and (...) revealing powers of narrative writing. The bond between reader and writer is interpreted as an alliance between a host and a guest that conquers narcissism and isolation by building and inhabiting a neighborly world. (shrink)