A thorough interpretation of the ideological structure of the recently unearthed Daoist text Hengxian 恒先 has not yet been achieved, and a few doubtful and difficult points still remain to be discussed. Based on the concepts of “ hengxian ”, “ Qi ”, “the Field”, “beginning”, “movement”, “spontaneity”, and “name”, this paper comprehensively discusses the text of Hengxian with respect to the primordial state of the cosmos, the evolution of the cosmos, the production and existence of Heaven, Earth, (...) and the myriad things, and the measure of human behaviors in a society. It further addresses why the word “Dao” does not appear in Hengxian , why it contains a theory of production instead of an ontology, and what is meant by a series of special concepts including “the Field” and “ wuxian 物先 (the state before the myriad things)”. (shrink)

In the fall semester of 1772/73 at the Albertus University of Königsberg, Immanuel Kant, metaphysician and professor of logic and metaphysics, began lectures on anthropology, which he continued until 1776, shortly before his retirement from public life. His lecture notes and papers were first published in 1798, eight years after the publication of the _Critique of Judgment, _the third of his famous _Critiques. _The present edition of the _Anthropology _is a translation of the text found in volume 7 of _Kants (...) gesammelte Schriften, _edited by Oswald Külpe. Kant describes the _Anthropology _as a systematic doctrine of the knowledge of humankind. Kant’s lectures stressed the "pragmatic" approach to the subject because he intended to establish pragmatic anthropology as a regular academic discipline. He differentiates the physiological knowledge of the human race—the investigation of "what Nature makes of man"—from the pragmatic—"what man as a free being makes of himself, what he can make of himself, and what he ought to make of himself." Kant believed that anthropology teaches the knowledge of humankind and makes us familiar with what is pragmatic, not speculative, in relation to humanity. He shows us as world citizens within the context of the cosmos. Summarizing the cloth edition of the _Anthropology_,_ Library Journal_ concludes: "Kant’s allusions to such issues as sensation, imagination, judgment, taste, emotion, passion, moral character, and the character of the human species in regard to the ideal of a cosmopolitan society make this work an important resource for English readers who seek to grasp the connections among Kant’s metaphysics of nature, metaphysics of morals, and political theory. The notes of the editor and translator, which incorporate material from Ernst Cassirer’s edition and from Kant’s _marginalia _in the original manuscript, shed considerable light on the text.". (shrink)

What does the idea of taking 'the point of view of the universe' tell us about ethics? Lazari-Radek and Singer defend objectivism in ethics, and hedonistic utilitarianism, following Henry Sidgwick's lead. They explore how to justify an ethical theory; conflicts of self-interest and universal benevolence; and whether we should discount the future.

Islamic Intellectualism is dead: or so argues William Chittick in this new book. Whilst many may say that Islamic studies thrives as a subject, Chittick points to the words of one of his former Professors when describing young colleagues: they know everything one can possibly know about a text, except what it says. Indeed, Chittick states that it is impossible to understand ancient Islamic texts without the years of contemplative study that are anathema to the modern education system. While modern (...) intellectuals with faith often treat their studies and faith in two separate spheres, Chittick argues that it is essential to return to the ways of the ancient Sufis, who viewed knowledge of the soul, the world, and God as an extension of the same thing. (shrink)

The Stoics appeal to human nature in their theory of virtue and ‘preferred indifferents’, showing in a developmental account how grasping virtue is the culmination of a natural progression. They also appeal to the nature of the cosmos to support ethics as a whole, but this does not, as issometimes claimed, provide premises from which specific ethical conclusions are inferred.

According to Kant, the division of the categories “is not the result of a search after pure concepts undertaken at haphazard,” but is derived from the “complete” classification of judgments developed by traditional logic. However, the sorts of judgments that he enumerates in his table of judgments are not all ones that traditional logic has dealt with; consequently, we must say that he chose the sorts of judgments in question with a certain intention. Besides, we know that his choice of (...) judgments and categories is strongly influenced by certain views of natural science that he fully accepts. For this reason, his argumentations are sometimes seriously inconsistent. As to Kant’s argumentations of categories, many problems have already been pointed out, but in this paper, I take up the categories of quantity and quality once more, and make clear his argumentations’ hidden logic and its distortion from the point of view of the history of logic and natural science. First, I confirm that there are non-negligible problems in his explanation to the effect that his derivation of the categories of quantity and quality is based on the quantity and quality of judgments. Next, I reconsider the meaning of his treating the categories of quantity and quality as pure concepts of the understanding. Finally, I conclude that by having recourse to the categories of quantity and quality Kant tried unjustly to apriorize the distinction between the “extensive magnitude” and “intensive magnitude” that has a long formational history since Aristotle. (shrink)

This article takes a further step towards recovering the Stoic dimension of Shaftesbury's philosophical project and contributes to recent scholarly work uncovering the Stoic elements that specifically shape his poetics and aesthetics. I propose that Shaftesbury's famous rehabilitation of enthusiasm may be further reconsidered in light of his strong reliance on late Roman Stoic philosophical exercises for managing impressions and training the imagination. I begin by surveying the main imaginative exercises exemplified in Shaftesbury's writings and foreground his specific understanding of (...) affective harmony, with the purpose of highlighting his hospitable views around imagination and extravagant passion. My main argument is that, in light of these features, enthusiasm becomes an essential ingredient in various practical exercises that Shaftesbury proposes towards the ethical transformation of the self, particularly the well-known Stoic exercise seeking alignment with the point of view of the cosmos. Not only is reasonable enthusiasm a sign of the inner harmony needed to grasp the perfect and orderly design of the cosmos, but it allows the contemplative mind to redirect attention from partial beauty to the beauty of nature as a whole, thus exercising the right Stoic perspective required in order to accept the will of the universe. (shrink)

Tests the views and metaphor of 19th-century utilitarian philosopher Henry Sidgwick against a variety of contemporary views on ethics, determining that they are defensible and thus providing a defense of objectivism in ethics and of hedonistic utilitarianism.

This article considers Kierkegaard's contribution to our understanding of the political. Building on previous scholarship exploring the social dimensions of Kierkegaard's thought, I argue that for Kierkegaard the modern understanding and practice of politics should be understood as ?despair?. Thus, whilst Kierkegaard's criticisms of politics might have been produced in an ad hoc fashion, this article argues that there is an underlying principle which guides these criticisms: that politics is subordinate to, and must be grounded in, spiritual or religious selfhood. (...) In this way the modern phenomena of democracy, liberalism, the press, and the crowd can all be seen as representative of a form of community which falls far short of the potential that human beings can and should achieve. Such a community would see individuals recognising themselves and each other as spiritual beings, and taking responsibility for themselves and others. That modern politics fails to understand the human being as an essentially spiritual entity related to others through God can only lead us to conclude that, from Kierkegaard's point of view, modern politics suffers from the sickness of despair. Whilst Kierkegaard might be criticised for failing to provide us with a more detailed picture of a polity shaped by the religious contours he promotes, he clearly offers an intriguing and suggestive contribution to our understanding not only of the limitations of politics, but also the relationship between a normative human and political ontology, with the former providing the basis for the latter. (shrink)

A subject’s relationship with work is by no means “neutral” as regards selfdevelopment. What becomes of the psychical relationship with work does not depend solely on the individual’s particular characteristics as a person, in particular their gender; it depends also on the nature and organization of work. In order to analyse the importance of work in the development of the psychic erotic economics, I refer to the psychotherapy of a young woman that took place towards the end of her adolescence. (...) This will enable me to show how work can have a positive impact on mental development. Then, in order to illustrate how work may destroy mental functioning, I briefly analyse examples taken from investigations I undertook in France in companies where several workplace suicides had taken place. (shrink)

The author proposes a method of verification for moral statements. (staff).

Kant and Sidgwick agree that genuine ethical principles must be sourced in reason rather than divine commands. Yet, despite sharing this secular starting point, both philosophers ultimately conclude that the assumption of God’s existence is necessary for the complete viability of practical reason (including principles of morality) within human beings. This mutual reintroduction of God is especially surprising given that Kant and Sidgwick advocate divergent moral theories. The central claim of this chapter is that, despite their philosophical differences, Kant’s (...) and Sidgwick’s respective appeals to the moral necessity of God have a common cause. Both philosophers perceive a deep human need to believe in cosmic justice (i.e., universal harmony between duty and happiness), and their shared hedonic account of well-being colors their conception of what such justice must involve. After explaining how these ideas give rise to the ostensible moral need for faith, I provide a brief defense of an alternative view based on the Stoic belief that the universe is ultimately just, despite the lack of a reliable connection between moral virtue and hedonic well-being. (shrink)

. The author analyses the concept of legal security from its historical evolution to its main structural aspects. In the first part he argues that legal security is a historical and cultural concept of the modern world. He considers a series of factors which lead from the general concept of security generated by an ideological monism and the social rigidity characterizing the Middle Ages to the concept of legal security protected by the legal monism of the modern state, where legal (...) security, understood as formal or procedural justice, has become a principle inspiring the entire legal system. Then he considers legal security in the social state as the expression of the relationship between man and his social needs. In the second part the author makes a structural analysis of the concept of legal security in a modern legal order, identifying the different spheres in which it can be found: state,—focusing on procedural guarantees as limits to power—, law—considering the internal functioning of the legal system—, society—stressing the effects of the action of the social state on the idea of legal security. (shrink)

This paper introduces the special issue 'The point of view of shared agency', a collection of papers that develops, and critically assesses, a striking development in recent philosophy of mind, epistemology, and developmental psychology, that is, the fundamental reappraisal of the time-honoured distinction between a ‘first-person' and a ‘third-person perspective' on our mental lives. In recent years, the nature of the ‘second-person standpoint' has become a major focus of work across a range of disciplines. More recently, the idea (...) of ‘first-person plural knowledge', has received some attention, for example in considering knowledge of what ‘we are doing’ when we are doing things together. This collection explores collective agency, self-knowledge, and knowledge of other minds, from this plural and relational point of view. (shrink)

What are the laws of physics? -- The stuff that kicks back -- Point-of-view invariance -- Gauging the laws of physics -- Forces and broken symmetries -- Playing dice -- After the bang -- Out of the void -- The comprehensible cosmos -- Models of reality.

Immanuel Kant and Henry Sidgwick are towering figures in the history of moral philosophy. Kant's views on ethics continue to be discussed and studied in detail not only in philosophy, but also theology, political science, and legal theory. Meanwhile, Sidgwick is emerging as the philosopher within the utilitarian tradition who merits the same meticulous treatment that Kant receives. As champions of deontology and consequentialism respectively, Kant and Sidgwick disagree on many important issues. However, close examination reveals a surprising amount of (...) consensus on various topics including moral psychology, moral epistemology, and moral theology. This book presents points of agreement and disagreement in the writings of these two giants of philosophical ethics. The chapters will stimulate discussions among moral theorists and historians of philosophy by applying cutting-edge scholarship on each philosopher to shed light on some of the more perplexing arguments and views of the other, and by uncovering and examining points of agreement between Sidgwick and Kant as possible grounds for greater convergence in contemporary moral philosophy. This is the first full-length volume to investigate Sidgwick and Kant side by side. It will be of major interest to researchers and advanced students working in moral philosophy and its history. (shrink)

소크라테스는 당시 그리스 사회에 통용하고 있던 다양한 정의개념을 논박하면서 자신의 정의관을 말하고 있다. 그가 비판하고 있는 정의 개념들은 정직함과 빌린 것을 제때에 갚는 것이라는 ‘형식적 정의개념’, 친구에게는 좋은 것을 주고 적에게는 나쁜 것을 준다는 ‘이기적 정의개념’, 착한 사람에게는 좋은 것을 주고 나쁜 사람에게는 나쁜 것을 준다는 ‘복수법의 정의개념’ 그리고 보다 강한 자들의 자기이익을 추구하는 것이라는 ‘정글의 정의개념’ 등이다. 소크라테스가 제시하는 정의 개념은 한 개인의 사회적 자기 동일성에 적합한 ‘탁월한 내적인 상태(aretē)’를 갖추는 것으로 본 논문에서는 이를 ‘개인적 정의’ 혹은 ‘존재론적인 정의’ (...) 개념으로 규정하고 있다. 이러한 개인적 정의 개념은 ‘행위는 존재를 따른다’는 형이상학적 원리에 따라서 모든 행위에 있어서 정의로운 행위를 할 필요조건처럼 고려된다. 하지만 복잡한 상황윤리와 수많은 사회적 갈등상황이 발생하는 거대국가에서 이러한 존재론적인 정의만으로는 사회적 정의를 실현하는데 한계가 있다. 이에 소크라테스는 대안 책으로 법률에 대한 철저한 준수와 철인왕 정치를 제시하고 있는데, 이 역시 ‘존재론적인 정의’개념에 기초한 것이다. 하지만 철인왕 정치가 오늘날의 현대사회에서 가능하지 않다는 것은 누구나 수긍할 수 있고, 또한 ‘철저하게 합법적인 행위’가 사회적 정의를 보장해주지는 않는다는 것도 경험적으로 알 수 있다. 그럼에도 소크라테스의 존재론적인 정의 개념은 오늘날 여전히 시사하는 바가 크다. 그것은 최선책이 없을 때, 차선책을 구한다는 것이며, 사회 구성원들과 정치지도자가 스스로 정의롭게 된다는 것이 사회정의를 실현하는 가장 근원적이고 빠른 길이기 때문이다. (shrink)

Several deconstructive readings of Kierkegaard from the early 1980’s and 1990’s begin with a critique of the role the aesthetic plays in The Point of View for My Work as an Author in order to trouble the entire (ostensive) hierarchy of religious-ethical-aesthetic. These readings suggest that there is no way to discern with certainty whether the signature “Kierkegaard” (here and elsewhere) indeed refers to the factical author, or is just another playful aesthetic pose. From this point, they (...) go on to challenge the received view that the first authorship as a whole should be understood as fundamentally religious rather than aesthetic. I argue that this is a largely unsuccessful move, because these readers do not do full justice to Kierkegaard’s understanding of the transfiguration (or appropriation) of the lower stages of existence into the higher, in the balancing of the self. Re-reading the autobiographical texts with this in mind shows that the authorship is indeed a religious enterprise, even granting the questionable status of The Point of View. I conclude by arguing that On My Work as an Author represents a more successful autobiographical transfiguration of the aesthetic within the ethical-religious stages – and hence a more complete balancing of his own self – and that this work should also be understood as an act of witnessing. Indeed, for Kierkegaard to witness in a way other than through his writing would be a kind of despair, insofar as he would be willing to be someone other than himself. (shrink)

玄庵 李乙浩(1910∼1988)는 東武 李濟馬(1937∼1900)의 제자 海初 崔承達(1888∼1967)에게 사상의학을 사사받았으며, 처음에는(1935년 동아일보에 기사 연재) 사상의학을 오행론으로 해명한다. 하지만 바로 이듬 해 오행설은 對待原理가 아니라 상생상극의 循環原理이기 때문에 동무가 오행설에 대해 한 마디 언급도 하지 않은 것으로 보았다. 무엇보다도 사상의학의 오행론 부정설의 가장 큰 근거는 동무의 『東醫壽世保元』에 일절 오행설이 나오지 않는다는 사실이다. 그리고 이 견해는 후학들의 사상의학의 오행관 설정에 결정적인 지침 역할을 한다.BR 하지만 동무의 저작으로 인정받고 있는 『東醫壽世保元四象草本卷』에는 오행과 장부의 관계가 직접 언급되어 있다. 또한 동무 자신이 직접 주해한 저술로 알려진 「東武自註」 (...) 역시 철저하게 오행의 논리로 사상의학을 설명하고 있다. 더구나 사상의학의 형성에 결정적인 영향을 주었다는 운암 한석지의 『明善錄』[「溫故贊圖」] 역시 철두철미 오행원리를 바탕으로 한 것이다. 그리고 사상의학설의 형성과정에서 나왔다는 『濟命眞篇』과 『普濟演說』 또한 동무의 생전 제자 혹은 주변인물이 쓴 것으로 추정되는데, 兩者 모두 五運六氣와 사상육경설 등을 기초로 삼고 있다.BR 사상의학은 곧 ‘體質醫學’으로서 기존의 한의학과는 차별화된 새로운 의학으로 인식되고 있다. 물론 ‘體質’이라는 용어는 기존의 의서에서는 찾아 볼 수 없다. 하지만 그 이전부터 ‘素’, ‘質’, ‘稟質’, ‘氣質’, ‘賦稟’, ‘稟賦’, ‘氣稟’, ‘氣體’ 등으로 쓰이다가 청나라 말기부터 ‘체질’이라는 개념을 본격적으로 사용했다는 사실에 비춰 보면 사상의학은 기존의 한의학과 차별화된 새로운 의학이론이라기보다는 기존 한의학의 계승 · 발전이라고 할 수 있다. (shrink)

Several contemporary interpretations of quantum mechanics use the concept of information as a tool for addressing and explaining the quantum world. In the article, I focus on Zeilinger-Brukner's informational foundations of quantum theory. I propose that with a phenomenological approach—which, unlike most of the contemporary interpretations of quantum mechanics, exceeds the mere dichotomy between realism and anti-realism—we can address the epistemological questions re-opened by IFQT and the parts of the interpretation that are recognized as problematic by its critics. After the (...) phenomenological supplementation IFQT can provide both, ontic and epistemic answer to the question "Why quantum?" As we apply Husserl's concept of the world as our common objective ground to the IFQT explanation, we can make a justifiable step away from the solipsism/subjectivism, which is, according to the critics, the main problem of IFQT. Thus, I propose in conclusion, a phenomenological approach to quantum physics can offer a background for the much needed dialog between realists and anti-realists as well as for a comprehensive contemporary interpretation of the quantum world. (shrink)

A hyperfinitely long coin flipping game between the Gambler and the Casino, associated with a given set A, is considered. It turns out that the Gambler has a winning strategy if and only if A has Loeb measure 0. The Casino has a winning strategy if and only if A contains an internal subset of positive Loeb measure.

This is a short review of Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer's book The Point of View of the Universe: Sidgwick and Contemporary Ethics.

The theory of weak measurements developed by Aharonov and coworkers has been applied by them and others to several interesting problems in which the system of interest is both pre- and post-selected. When the probability of successful post-selection is very small the prediction for the weak value of the measured quantity is often “bizarre” and sometimes controversial, lying outside the range of possibility for a classical system or for a quantum system in the absence of post-selection (e.g. negative kinetic energies (...) associated with particles found immediately after the weak measurement deep inside a classically forbidden region). In Bohmian mechanics a quantum particle is postulated to be a point-like particle which is always accompanied by a wave which probes its environment and guides its motion accordingly. Hence, from the point of view of this theory, it is natural to ask whether the measured weak value under consideration is a property of the point-like particle or of the wave (or of both) and what, if anything, it is that is actually being measured. In this paper, weak measurements of position, momentum and kinetic energy are considered for very simple case studies with these questions in mind. (shrink)

This article discusses the arguments of chang tsai (1020-1077) against buddhism on the one hand and for reassertion of the confucian ethics on the other, With quotations translated from the chinese texts relevant to the following points: i) chang's criticism of buddhism, Ii) "the western inscription" or hsi ming, Iii) the dual concept of nature or hsing, Iv) man by nature a moral being, V) the problem of evil, Vi) the problem of moral knowledge, And vii) the religious significance of (...) li or rituals. (shrink)

In the Essay Locke argues abstract ideas within the framework of the descriptivist theory of reference. For him, abstract ideas are, in many cases, conceptual ideas that play the role of “descriptions” or “descriptive contents,” determining general terms’ referents. In contrast, in the introduction of the Principles, Berkeley denies Lockean abstract ideas adamantly from an imagistic point of view, and he offers his own theory of reference seemingly consisting of referring expressions and their referents alone. However, interestingly, he (...) mentions a general term’s “definition” and suggests that it determines the scope of the term’s referents. For example, he takes up the definition of a triangle as “a plain Surface comprehended by three right Lines” and suggests that just as Locke’s general idea of a triangle does, the definition determines the referents of the general term “triangle.” His definition reminds us of the fact that as Descartes grasps the content of the general idea of a triangle as “a figure enclosed by three lines,” so Locke grasps the abstract idea of a triangle as “a Figure including a Space between three Lines,” and so on. That is, since Berkeley is an imagist, he does not acknowledge Locke’s conceptual abstract ideas as “ideas,” but although he verbally denies “abstract ideas,” his theory of reference also actually has the same descriptivist framework consisting of referring expressions, their descriptive contents, and their referents. Thus, we understand the real reason why Berkeley’s criticism of Locke seems beside the point. (shrink)

Several of these essays have been printed whole in journals; others are in varying degrees new. Two main themes run through them. One is the problem of meaning, particularly as involved in the notion of an analytic statement. The other is the notion of ontological, commitment, particularly as involved in the problem of universals.

In 1985 Alchourrón, Gärdenfors and Makinson presented their now classic theory of theory change . In 1988 Adam Grove, generalizing David Lewis's theory of counterfactuals, presented a model theory suitable for the AGM theory. Although AGM and Grove mentioned object languages, neither used them. But recently, Maarten de Rijke has shown how object languages can be brought into the picture. In the present paper we take de Rijke's idea further, addressing the question whether there is a particular doxastic or epistemic (...) logic implicit in AGM. (shrink)

This essay introduces Jessie Taft's pragmatist feminist dissertation, which was written under the guidance of George Herbert Mead at the University of Chicago in 1913 and published in 1915. It gives a brief biography of Taft and summarizes the four chapters of her dissertation, the second of which is reprinted below.

The following logics are the most noteworthy from the perspective of the calculus of combinators: the Hilbert’s positive implicational logic , the Church’s weak theory of implication , the BCK-logic, and the BCI-logic. Their significance is due to a certain correspondence between combinators and implicational formulas . The first three logics mentioned have been immensely investigated but it was not so in case of the remaining one. The BCI-logics was mentioned by A. N. Prior in the second edition of his (...) Formal Logic of 1962 where it was credited to C. A. Meredith and dated in 1956 . A. (shrink)

In diesem Aufsatz untersuchen wir Leibniz' Ansicht uber die "Ars Analytica". Gelegenheit dazu bietet die Diskussion uber die Losung der sogenannten "Probleme eines Hollanders". Es geht dabei um 12 Probleme uber das Dreieck. Gegeben sind in diesen Problemen: einer der Basiswinkel, die Differenz von Basissegmenten und ein Verhaltnis,das bei den einzelnen Problemen variiert zwischen den Seiten des Dreiecks. "Die Probleme des Hollanders" sind aus mehreren Grunden wichtig. Sie liefern einen aufschllussreichen Test, den Stand der Mathematik in Italien in der zweiten (...) Halfte des 17. Jahrhunderts zu prufen. Sie lassen das Nebeneinanderbestehen unterschiedlicher mathematischer Methoden erkennen, und zwar klassischer und moderner Methoden. Schliessich sind die Probleme sehr interessant fur den Stand der Gedanken, die Leibniz zu ihrer Behandlung aussert. (shrink)