A key issue in social intelligence design is the realization of artifacts that can fluently communicate with people. Thus, we proposed a two-layered approach to enhance a robot’s capacity of involvement and engagement. The upper layer flexibly controls social interaction by dynamic Bayesian networks (DBN) representing social interaction patterns. The lower layer improves the robustness of the system by detecting rhythmic and repetitive gestures. We designed a listener robot that can follow and record humans’ explanation on how to assemble and/or (...) disassemble a bicycle. The implementation of this system is described by assembling the key algorithms presented in this paper. (shrink)

In this article we present a parameterized model for generating multimodal behavior based on cultural heuristics. To this end, a multimodal corpus analysis of human interactions in two cultures serves as the empirical basis for the modeling endeavor. Integrating the results from this empirical study with a well-established theory of cultural dimensions, it becomes feasible to generate culture-specific multimodal behavior in embodied agents by giving evidence for the cultural background of the agent. Two sample applications are presented that make use (...) of the model and are designed to be applied in the area of coaching intercultural communication. (shrink)

The core aims of the Global Health Impact Project include incentivizing pharmaceutical companies for socially conscious production and promoting socially conscious consumption among consumers. Its backbone is a metric that computes the amount of illness burden alleviated by a pharmaceutical drug. This essay aims to assess the connection between values and numbers in the Global Health Impact Project. Specifically, I concentrate on two issues, the anonymity of illness burden and the distribution of health benefits. The former issue asks whether we (...) should treat the illness burden of every person the same. The latter issue asks among whom health benefits should be fairly distributed. Examination of these issues begs for clarification of some of the key concepts of the Global Health Impact Project, such as the definition of essential medicines and the significance of national borders. Although this essay focuses on the two particular metric issues in the Global Health Impact Project, its core argument is applicable to other metrics for ethically motivated initiatives—to construct a metric for an ethically motivated initiative, it is not only important to articulate underlying concepts and values, but it is also important to operationalize them, so they are consistently reflected in the metric. (shrink)

The history of the documentation of health inequality is long. The way in which health inequality has customarily been documented is by comparing differences in the average health across groups, for example, by sex or gender, income, education, occupation, or geographic region. In the controversial World Health Report 2000, researchers at the World Health Organization criticized this traditional practice and proposed to measure health inequality across individuals irrespective of individuals’ group affiliation. They defended its proposal on the moral grounds without (...) clear explanation. In this paper I ask: is health inequality across individuals of moral concern, and, if so, why? Clarification of these questions is crucial for meaningful interpretation of health inequality measured across individuals. Only if there was something morally problematic in health inequality across individuals, its reduction would be good news. Specifically, in this paper I provide three arguments for the moral significance of health inequality across individuals: (a) health is special, (b) health equity plays an important and unique role in the general pursuit of justice, and (c) health inequality is an indicator of general injustice in society. I then discuss three key questions to examine the validity of these arguments: (i) how special is health?, (ii) how good is health as an indicator?, and (iii) what do we mean by injustice? I conclude that health inequality across individuals is of moral interest with the arguments (b) and (c). (shrink)

The promised open space of cyber-interaction has its dark side hidden behind its brilliant rhetoric. The danger emerges within the very center of developing this technology (cyber-evolution). That is a more fundamental danger than this dark side seems to have. The possible replacement of our primary reality with virtual reality might erode the significance of our existential reality. This means also that the virtual reality might lose its own ground to be constructed. In order to clarify this fundamental problem at (...) issue I show some results from a questionnaire done on younger generation. The results seem to suggest possible way of facing this problem. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to examine the theory of “self-affection” in the Transcendental Deduction of the Categories in the second edition of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. I propose that the self-affection, identified with transcendental synthesis of imagination, should be considered as a condition of all reception of the manifold of intuition in the spatio-temporal order. In other words, spontaneity of the subject is required for the reception of materials for cognition. Analyzing some interpretations on Kant's notions such (...) as temporality, inner sense and synthesis, I try to show the necessity to avoid supposing materials that would be given independently of spontaneity and regarded as antecedent conditions of self-affection. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In a recent essay, Sören Stenlund tries to align Wittgenstein’s approach to the foundations and nature of mathematics with the tradition of symbolic mathematics. The characterization of symbolic mathematics made by Stenlund, according to which mathematics is logically separated from its external applications, brings it closer to the formalist position. This raises naturally the question whether Wittgenstein holds a formalist position in philosophy of mathematics. The aim of this paper is to give a negative answer to this question, defending (...) the view that Wittgenstein always thought that there is no logical separation between mathematics and its applications. I will focus on Wittgenstein’s remarks about arithmetic during his middle period, because it is in this period that a formalist reading of his writings is most tempting. I will show how his idea of autonomy of arithmetic is not to be compared with the formalist idea of autonomy, according to which a calculus is “cut off” from its applications. The autonomy of arithmetic, according to Wittgenstein, guarantees its own applicability, thus providing its own raison d’être. RESUMO Em um recente artigo, Sören Stenlund procura alinhar a abordagem de Wittgenstein em relação aos fundamentos e à natureza da matemática com a tradição da matemática simbólica. A caracterização da matemática simbólica feita por Stenlund, de acordo com a qual a matemática é logicamente separada de suas aplicações externas, a aproxima da posição formalista. Isto naturalmente levanta a questão de se Wittgenstein defende uma posição formalista em filosofia da matemática. O objetivo deste artigo é dar uma resposta negativa a esta questão, ao defender que Wittgenstein sempre pensou não haver separação lógica entre a matemática e suas aplicações. Atenção especial será dada às observações de Wittgenstein sobre a aritmética pertencentes ao seu período intermediário, pois é neste período que uma leitura formalista de seus escritos é mais sedutora. Mostrarei como sua ideia de autonomia da aritmética não deve ser comparada à ideia formalista de autonomia, segundo a qual um cálculo é “cortado” de suas aplicações. A autonomia da aritmética, para Wittgenstein, garante ela própria sua aplicabilidade, provendo, assim, sua própria raison d’être. (shrink)

In a seminal essay, Hidé Ishiguro argued that names in the Tractatus are ‘like dummy names’ and that a simple object is to be conceived of as ‘an instantiation of an irreducible predicate’. In this paper, I argue that Ishiguro’s view is incompatible with other claims made in the Tractatus and should be abandoned for this reason. To this end, I adopt a two-step strategy. First, I show that Ishiguro’s view implies the adoption of an anti-haecceitistic position. Then I show (...) that the Tractatus allows for the possibility of there being haecceitistic differences between two complete descriptions of the world. Since anti-haecceitism will be characterized as the doctrine that haecceitistic differences are meaningless, this provides a refutation of Ishiguro’s view. In the final section, I make a few remarks on the relation between anti-haecceitism and the context principle. (shrink)

It is often held that Wittgenstein had to introduce numbers in elementary propositions due to problems related to the so-called colour-exclusion problem. I argue in this paper that he had other reasons for introducing them, reasons that arise from an investigation of the continuity of visual space and what Wittgenstein refers to as ‘intensional infinity’. In addition, I argue that the introduction of numbers by this route was prior to introducing them _via_ the colour-exclusion problem. To conclude, I discuss two (...) problems that Wittgenstein faced in the writings before _Some Remarks on Logical Form _, problems that are independent of the colour-exclusion problem but dependent on the introduction of numbers in elementary propositions. (shrink)

Em seu livro recente, Engelmann (2021) avançou uma leitura do Tractatus que, a seu ver, removeria as dificuldades presentes em outras leituras (em particular, nas leituras “metafísica” e “resoluta”). Neste artigo, ocupar-me-ei da crítica de Engelmann às leituras metafísicas do Tractatus. Tal crítica baseia-se na ideia de que essas leituras estão comprometidas com algumas necessidades de re, o que violaria a autonomia da lógica e a ideia Tractariana segundo a qual só há necessidade lógica. Analisarei o caso particular de uma (...) suposta necessidade de re, a saber, a do número de objetos no mundo. Depois de descrever alguns aspectos positivos e alguns obstáculos à interpretação de Engelmann desse caso, sugerirei que Engelmann está inconscientemente atribuindo ao Tractatus uma concepção de lógica que Wittgenstein, por sua vez, criticamente atribuiu a Russell e a Ramsey e que, portanto, não pode ser a sua. Por fim, retornarei à motivação original para a interpretação de Engelmann, que é a de salvar a autonomia da lógica, mostrando de maneira breve como conciliar a autonomia da lógica com um número fixo de objetos.AbstractIn a recent book, Engelmann (2021) has put forward a reading of the Tractatus which he maintains would remove the difficulties presented in other readings, particularly the “metaphysical” and the “resolute” readings. In this paper, my concern will be with Engelmann’s criticism of the metaphysical readings of the Tractatus. This criticism is centered on the idea that such readings are committed to some de re necessities,which violates the autonomy of logic and the Tractarian idea that there is only logical necessity. I analyze the particular case of a supposed de re necessity, namely, the number of objects in the world. After describing some positive aspects and drawbacks of Engelmann’s interpretation of this case, I suggest that Engelmann is unconsciously attributing to the Tractatus a conception of logic that Wittgenstein in turncritically attributed to Russell and Ramsey; thus, this conception cannot be his own. Finally, I return to the original motivation for Engelmann’s interpretation, which is to save the autonomy of logic, and briefly show how to conciliate the autonomy of logic with a fixed number of objects. (shrink)

After the publication of Strawson’s “The Bounds of Sense”, the Transcendental Deduction in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason has been widely regarded as a proof of the objectivity of knowledge as a condition of unity of self-consciousness. Nevertheless, many interpreters accept that there are passages which cannot be easily integrated into such a strategy. In this article, through an analysis of the first half of the Transcendental Deduction (B), I try to point out the need to adopt a different interpretation (...) according to which Kant does not consider objectivity as a condition of self-consciousness, but rather self-consciousness as a necessary condition of objectivity. (shrink)

How should we measure medicines’ global health impact to set targets, monitor performance and improve health around the world? Can such a metric provide a philosophically well-grounded basis for an ethical consumption campaign that will create incentives for pharmaceutical companies and other agents to expand (equitable) access to essential medicines? And if such metrics exist, how should we think about our individual obligations to support ethical consumption campaigns on this basis? This paper reflects on these questions in light of Tim (...) Campbell’s, Yukiko Asada’s, and Andreas Albertsen’s worries about the answers I provide in Global Health Impact: Extending Access on Essential Medicines. I explain how reflecting on treatments consequences for individuals’ ability to live minimally well supports the creation of the Global Health Impact (GHI) index (https://global-health-impact.org/). I also consider how the index might be modified to better support efforts to promote everyone’s human rights. Finally, I argue that individuals should often promote positive change through GHI and other ethical consumption campaigns. (shrink)

In our papers on the rationality of magic, we distinghuished, for purposes of analysis, three levels of rationality. First and lowest (rationalitYl) the goal directed action of an agent with given aims and circumstances, where among his circumstances we included his knowledge and opinions. On this level the magician's treatment of illness by incantation is as rational as any traditional doctor's blood-letting or any modern one's use of anti-biotics. At the second level (rationalitY2) we add the element of rational thinking (...) or thinking which obeys some set of explicit rules, a level which is not found in magic in general, though it is sometimes given to specific details of magical thinking within the magical thought-system. It was the late Sir Edward E. Evans-Pritchard who observed that when considering magic in detail the magician may be as consistent or critical as anyone else; but when considering magic in general, or any system of thought in general, the magician could not be critical or even comprehend the criticism. Evans-Pritchard went even further: he was sceptical as to whether it could be done in a truly consistent manner: one cannot be critical of one's own system, he thought. On this level (rationalitY2) of discussion we have explained (earlier) why we prefer to wed Evans Pritchard's view of the magician's capacity for piece-meal rationality to Sir James Frazer's view that magic in general is pseudo-rational because it lacks standards of rational thinking. (shrink)

Analysis of various Buddhist philosophical views.

Introduction : La philosophie en Égypte -- La philosophie chretienne arabe contemporaine : Kanawati et Youssef Karam -- Le discours éthique en Égypte -- Naguib Mahfouz et la philosophie -- La philosophie et la revolution en Égypte.

Verse work, with autocommentary, on Jain metaphysics and onthology.

This article utilises Gadamerian hermeneutics method and Freirean theory of the purpose of Religious Education to explore how Religious Education can contribute to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, emphasising education for sustainable development. The study contends that Religious Education in Lesotho occupies a distinctive position in the education system, surpassing other countries in its extensive integration. Due to historical factors, Religious Education is taught in nearly all religiously affiliated schools, comprising about 90% of all educational institutions in (...) Lesotho, and even in certain public schools. The curriculum of Religious Education in Lesotho aligns directly with the educational objectives of SDG 4. Additionally, Lesotho’s Religious Education corresponds to three levels of school education for sustainable development: whole school approach, classroom approach, and community approach. Nevertheless, the study asserts that for Religious Education in Lesotho to better align with education for sustainable development, various enhancements are required. Firstly, inclusivity across all religious traditions is essential, moving beyond a sole focus on Christianity. Secondly, there is a need for wider dissemination and implementation of Religious Education in all schools, irrespective of their affiliation. Lastly, a shift from traditional pedagogies to transformative approaches is recommended to boost the effectiveness of Religious Education in advancing sustainable development.Contribution: This article contributes by analysing Lesotho’s case and its implications for enhancing Religious Education teaching to effectively address SDGs. It broadens existing knowledge on Religious Education’s potential as a platform for sustainable development and provides recommendations for its improved implementation in a specific context. (shrink)

Ser modern és ser racionalista. Aquest llibre repassa amb detall les tesis de Descartes, la seva relació amb els contemporanis i les conseqüències de les seves teories.

L'utilitarisme té com a criteri bàsic aconseguir el màxim bé per al màxim nombre possible de persones. L'utilitarisme dóna molta importància a la recerca de la felicitat personal. Aquest llibre en descriu les tesis bàsiques i respon a les principals acusacions que ha rebut.

The sciences of kalam and fiqh, which have a special importance in the history of Islamic thought and science, became prominent with their interactions with other sciences in their formation processes and their contributions to the evolution of religious thought. In the literature, the field representing the linguistic, religious, mental and practical aspects of fiqh has become widespread with the concepts of usūl-i fiqh and fürū-i fiqh, and the part about creed as usūlü'd-dīn or fiqhu'l-akbar. It has drawn our attention (...) that Imam Abū Ḥanīfa and Imam Shāfiʿī's ijtihads, fatwas and thoughts have remained up to date in every century without exception in the vortex of overdoing and understatement in these two disciplines. However, there are some narrations stating that although these imams were interested in kalam, they kept a distance from it. Their, famous students also indicated that they gave them advice in this sense. Therefore, this study has been prepared in order to examine the background of the aforementioned issues. For this purpose, the reasons why two imams preferred the science of fiqh in the main axis of the subject were subjected to a general criticism. Consequently, it has been seen that both imams had similar concerns and their ideas have been overlapping in the face of the creed developments of the period. (shrink)

Lysosomal positioning is an important factor in regulating cellular responses, including autophagy. Because proteins encoded by disease‐responsible genes are involved in lysosomal trafficking, proper intracellular lysosomal trafficking is thought to be essential for cellular homeostasis. In the past few years, the mechanisms of lysosomal trafficking have been elucidated with a focus on adapter proteins linking motor proteins to lysosomes. Here, we outline recent findings on the mechanisms of lysosomal trafficking by focusing on adapter protein c‐Jun NH2‐terminal kinase‐interacting protein (JIP) 4, (...) which plays a central role in this process, and other JIP4 functions and JIP family proteins. Additionally, we discuss neuronal diseases associated with aberrance in the JIP family protein. Accumulating evidence suggests that chemical manipulation of lysosomal positioning may be a therapeutic approach for these neuronal diseases. (shrink)