In this essay I set out to problematize the concepts of intersubjectivity and interaction in the theories of Germany's two foremost social philosophers: Jiirgen Habermas and Niklas Luhmann. To do so, I shall briefly reconstruct Husserl's phenomenological concept of intersubjectivity and its relationship with rational horizons and lifeworlds. I shall then demonstrate the importance of Husserl's thought in the theory of (rational) communicative action in Habermas. The third section deals with the radical rethinking of the subject (and hence intersubjectivity) in (...) the theory of Niklas Luhmann. My principal question will then be: is it possible to reconcile critical theory with systems theory? Or, alternatively: is intersubjectivity a reality or a useful fiction? (shrink)

O presente artigo toma como diretriz uma pergunta fundamental: o que significa ver a filosofia do ponto de vista de uma vida afirmável e sustentável? Com base nessa pergunta, examina-se a natureza da alternativa filosófica proposta por Nietzsche ao ascetismo entranhado no âmago da filosofia ocidental, a autoridade com que esta alternativa é enunciada, bem como a relação existente entre a referida alternativa e o ascetismo por ela radicalmente criticado.

Este artigo analisa importantes elementos na recepção da filosofia de Hegel na atualidade. Com a finalidade de alcançar tal meta discute-se como a filosofia analítica acolhe a filosofia de Hegel. Para tanto se reconstrói a recepção da filosofia analítica em face de Hegel, notadamente a partir daqueles autores que foram centrais neste movimento de recepção e distanciamento de sua filosofia, a saber, Bertrand Russell, Frege e Wittgenstein. Outro ponto central do presente texto é a análise do livro de Paul Redding, (...) Analytic Philosophy and the Return of Hegelian Thought, em cotejo com a recepção de Hegel, desenvolvida aqui pela filosofia analítica. Ao final, mostra-se como é possível um diálogo produtivo destas correntes aparentemente contrapostas. (shrink)

Resumo: O estudo das ideias de Ibn Taymiyyah sobre o haram e o halal, no Islã, continua a ser relevante para a compreensão da jurisprudência islâmica, da ética, da identidade cultural e das questões contemporâneas. O objetivo do artigo é analisar as obras de Ibn Taymiyyah e identificar seus conceitos mais importantes para a comunidade muçulmana. Os métodos de análise das fatwas escritas por Ibn Taymiyyah e os métodos de interpretação e comparação dos conceitos de proibido e permitido, no Islã, (...) foram usados para atingir o objetivo do estudo. A principal conclusão da pesquisa é que Ibn Taymiyyah era conhecido por suas pesquisas em lei islâmica, teologia e moralidade. Ele tinha visões conservadoras e, devido às suas próprias ideias reformistas, foi repetidamente condenado. Apesar disso, ele criticou os ensinamentos tradicionais sobre o Islã e apoiou a necessidade de reformar alguns aspectos da prática islâmica. Ibn Taymiyyah atribuiu grande importância ao exame do Alcorão e da Sunnah do Profeta Muhammad, a fim de entender o que é proibido e permitido, em várias áreas da vida muçulmana. Ele enfatizou a importância de uma dieta saudável, a necessidade de seguir os princípios islâmicos em questões financeiras e a preservação da dignidade e do comportamento respeitoso, em todos os aspectos da vida. (shrink)

Nestes nossos tempos gerundistas e de valores-isopores o apelo ao eufemismo e à grandiloquência torna-se palavra de ordem e progresso. Oficinas mecânicas passam a ser chamadas de centros automotivos, açougues transmutam-se em butiques de carnes e sapatarias em recuperadoras de calçados.Daí a gente olha em volta e começa igualmente a não achar mais nem barbearias nem barbeiros.Quedê, perguntamos, a Tesoura de Ouro do Carlão? Pois seu salão ganhou a neomodernosa indicação de Cabeleireiro Masculino e virou ele esteticista capilar. Bate daí (...) saudade danada – possivelmente, diria. (shrink)

Conheci Raduan num sábado entre junho ou julho de 1996. Estimo os meses e garanto o dia e o ano em razão de Menina a caminho. Amizades comuns nos levaram então a participar de festa familiar no paulistano bairro do Pacaembu. Situado em rua tranquila, o restaurado sobrado compunha-se das variadas dependências requeridas em outros tempos por famílias de classes em fase de ascensão. No piso térreo, destacava-se o espaço destinado aos convidados: a ampla sala, integrada à copa e a (...) um ajardinado terraço. Sobretudo ali as crianças da casa e de vários convidados comiam, corriam e algazarreavam. (shrink)

Procura-se mostrar como aquilo a que chamam a “teoria da leitura” merleau-pontiana, calcada na meditação do impensado de outros filósofos, surge apenas no interior de seu projeto ontológico e, mais precisamente, no âmbito das conseqüências que ele traz para a compreensão da idealidade. É assim que a “história da filosofia” só ganha sentido na filosofia de Merleau-Ponty uma vez assumidas decisões filosóficas prévias como a de, para inscrever a significação no domínio do sensível, sublinhar as dimensões passivas da experiência anteriores (...) e fundantes face aos atos expressos da consciência. Tal débito da “teoria da leitura” à problemática estritamente merleaupontiana da significação assinala, por sua vez, certos limites para o reaproveitamento aparentemente neutro desse modo de leitura em outras paragens filosóficas. (shrink)

As a reply to the questions raised by Roberto Schwarz in "O lugar da arquitetura", the author shows that because it is interested art by definition, architecture cannot be confined to the private domain of esthetic contemplation. Besides, one cannot lose sight of its mass character, to which the ideological destiny of the Modern Movement is not indifferent, not because architecture has been neutralized by changes in the times, but because it has fulfilled its promise.Em resposta às questões levantadas por (...) Roberto Schwarz em "O lugar da arquitetura", a autora mostra que por ser arte interessada por definição, a arquitetura não pode ser confinada ao domínio privado do recolhimento estético. Além disso, não se pode perder de vista o seu caráter de massa, ao qual não é indiferente o destino ideológico do Movimento Moderno, não porque tenha sido neutralizada pela mudança dos tempos, mas por ter cumprido o que prometera. (shrink)

A obra do filósofo romeno Emil Cioran oferece importantes desafios aos seus investigadores, graças, entre outras coisas, ao seu modelo assistemático de expressão e sua recusa em definir horizontes teóricos claros. Este fato contribui para a dificuldade de associá-lo seguramente a uma tradição de pensamento. O presente artigo pretende fomentar a discussão de como, mesmo com significativas interdições, Cioran contribuiu para o pensamento antidogmático. Para alcançar esse objetivo exordial, o trabalho propõe-se a (a) investigar as mudanças sofridas pelo filósofo entre (...) as obras de juventude e maturidade; (b) apresentar paulatinamente as características antidogmáticas do pensamento cioraniano; além de (c) identificar as idiossincrasias deste suposto antidogmatismo. A hipótese que subjaz à perscrutação é a de que Cioran teria, através de seu peculiar antidogmatismo, aperfeiçoado um “método” que lhe permitia discutir filosoficamente, ainda que persistindo na “tarefa” assumida de nada propor. A partir deste escopo, considera-se possível esclarecer suficientemente pontos obscuros ou ainda não recepcionados daquela obra. (shrink)

Este artigo constitui-se num exercício de refiguração de uma noção filosófica e literária clássica no âmbito da estética contemporânea, cuja referência é a tragédia Persas, de Ésquilo, a saber, o conceito de hýbris. Este, na figura de Xerxes, manifesta-se em sua soberba ao tentar derrotar os gregos, comandando numeroso exército na batalha de Salamina. Punido pelos deuses por tal desmedida, no êxodo da obra, surge como um imperador derrotado, trajando esfarrapadas vestes reais. Num diálogo com a arte na contemporaneidade, a (...) discussão empreendida pelo artigo é a de refigurar o mencionado conceito como presença potente na manifestação performática criada por Hélio Oiticica: os parangolés. Com esse intuito, este texto está dividido em três movimentos fundamentais: a) a apresentação dos fundamentos clássicos da hýbris, b) a problematização da presença deste conceito na tragédia Persas, de Ésquilo e, finalmente, c) a transmutação por que passa o conceito de hýbris, da perspectiva negativa clássica, presente na tragédia grega, para a estética positiva contemporânea, ostentada nos parangolés de Oiticica. (shrink)

In Ai Ssu-ch'i is exemplified and substantiated the Soviet influence on the official definition of philosophy in the history of Communist Party of China, i.e., the assertion about and the method for knowledge of the world. Such a philosophical knowledge has as its formal object the most fundamental laws of the universe.In order to acquire such a genuine philosophical knowledge, one needs a desire to change the world and a proletarian point of view. For only by aiming at changing the (...) world is inevitability reflected; only in the proletarian viewpoint are the objective laws reflected. In order to substantiate these assertions, one has to point out that, first, man's thinking is determined by his social relations and, secondly, social relations are determined by practice. Since the proletariat is in the right kind of practice, it is both in the proper locus of social relations and, therefore, it perceives both inevitability and objectivity. Yet, due to man's subjective dynamism, it is possible for other classes to adopt the standpoint of the proletariat. (shrink)

Ai Ssu-ch'i is a little known but very important figure in the introduction of Marxism-Leninism into China. This first article provides a brief biography of Ai Ssu-ch'i as well as a detailed account of his activities as teacher, author and propagandist. Among his other services to the cause of Marxism-Leninism in China, one has to stress Ai Ssu-ch'i's systematic opposition to Yeh Ch'ing and to the non-Communist interpretation of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People. (cf.SST 10 (1970), 138–166.).

This article situates the movement for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis within the bigger picture of the impetus toward recreational cannabis legalisation. It describes the role played by children with epileptic syndromes in the medicinal cannabis law reform campaigns in the United Kingdom, and Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. Noting the ‘rule of rescue’ and the prominence in media campaigns of children in Australian and English cases of parental disputation with clinicians about treatment for their children, it (...) reviews whether paediatric epilepsy is a suitable test case for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis. Taking into account the vested commercial interests of Big Cannabis, the current medico-scientific knowledge of the efficacy of medicinal cannabis in controlling paediatric epileptic seizures, and issues of dignity, health privacy, and the enduring digital footprints of media coverage, the article commences discussion about the ethics of the media, parents, politicians and entrepreneurial doctors utilising parents’ testimonials about the effects of medicinal cannabis as part of the cannabis law reform movement. (shrink)

The acquisition of a new skill usually proceeds through five stages, from novice to expert, with a sixth stage of mastery available for highly motivated performers. In this chapter, we re-state the six stages of the Dreyfus Skill Model, paying new attention to the transitions and interrelations between them. While discussing the fifth stage, expertise, we unpack the claim that, “when things are proceeding normally, experts don’t solve problems and don’t make decisions; they do what normally works” (Dreyfus & Dreyfus, (...) 1988, pp. 30 – 31). This leads us to offer an account of the “perspectival deliberation” that arises for experts and masters and that is distinct from the calculative deliberation characteristic of the lower stages of skillfulness. (shrink)

The original target tracking algorithm based on a single model has long been unable to meet the complex and changeable characteristics of the target, and then there are problems such as poor tracking accuracy, target loss, and model mismatch. The interactive multimodel algorithm uses multiple motion models to track the target, obtains the degree of adaptation between the actual motion state of the target and each model according to the calculated likelihood function, and then combines the updated weight values of (...) each filter to obtain a weighted sum. Therefore, the interactive multimodel algorithm can achieve better performance. This paper proposes an improved interactive multimodel algorithm that can achieve player tracking and trajectory feature matching. First, this paper proposes an improved Kalman filtering algorithm. This method is developed from the unbiased conversion measurement Kalman filter, which can obtain more accurate target state and covariance estimation. Secondly, using the parallel processing mode of the IMM algorithm to efficiently solve the data association between multiple filters, the IMM-IKF model is proposed. Finally, in order to solve the problem of low computational efficiency and high mismatch rate in image feature point matching, a method of introducing a minimum spanning tree in two-view matching is proposed. Experimental results show that the improved IMM-IKF algorithm can quickly respond to changes in the target state and can find the matching path with the lowest matching cost. In the case of ensuring the matching accuracy, the real-time performance of image matching is ensured. (shrink)

Research shows that social welfare crowdfunding is in the rising stage of development in China, showing a vigorous development trend. Social welfare crowdfunding owns advantages such as accuracy and efficiency that traditional social welfare forms do not have, but problems including imperfect relevant policies and regulations, lack of supervision of social welfare crowdfunding platform, and low process transparency still exist. From the perspective of PEST-SWOT model, this paper sums up the research trends and development status of social welfare crowdfunding, deconstructs (...) the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by social welfare crowdfunding from the aspects of politics, economy, society, and technology, and puts forward a feasible analysis of relevant development strategies to provide a reference for its future sustainable development. (shrink)

Media has paid more attention recently on environmental issues caused by construction companies which imposes public opinion pressure on construction companies and could potentially impact their decision-making processes for green innovations. However, research on the relationship between public opinions pressure and construction company green innovation behavior is still limited. To understand how such public opinions pressure can impact construction companies' green transition and formulate advice accordingly, it is necessary to use empirical data to find the correlations. Therefore, this research has (...) gathered questionnaire data of the construction companies in Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle of China to study the influencing mechanism of environmental public opinion pressure on enterprise green innovation behavior, analyzes the realization path of leaders' environmental intention as a mediating variable in the impact of environmental public opinion pressure on enterprise green innovation behavior, and reveals the role boundary of environmental regulation as a moderating variable in the impact of environmental public opinion pressure on enterprise green innovation behavior. The results show that environmental public opinion pressure has a significant positive impact on enterprise green innovation behavior. More specifically, enterprise green innovation behavior is affected by leaders' environmental intention and the latter plays a partial mediating role between environmental public opinion pressure and enterprise green innovation behavior. Environmental regulation also enhances the sensitivity of companies to environmental public opinion pressure, and therefore can significantly strengthen the relationship between environmental public opinion pressure and enterprise green innovation behavior. Further research find that, compared with incentive-based environmental regulations, mandatory environmental regulations make companies more sensitive to environmental public opinion pressure and has a more significant positive moderating effect. The research conclusions could be used to provide theoretical reference with empirical data for accelerating the green innovation transformation and promoting the high-quality development in the construction industry. (shrink)

Early Heidegger argues that a “homogenous space of nature” can be revealed by stripping away the intelligibility of Dasein's everyday world, a process he calls “deworlding.” Given this, some interpreters have suggested that Heidegger, despite not having worked out the details himself, is also committed to a notion of deworlded time. Such a “natural time” would amount to an endogenous sequentiality in which events are ordered independently of Dasein and the stand it takes on its being. I show that Heidegger (...) was indeed committed to such a temporal realism even though his treatment of these issues is somewhat scattered and pulled in different directions. In the course of my reconstruction, I renew an interpretation of Heidegger that stresses Dasein's thrownness into nature and I answer William Blattner's powerful interpretation of Heidegger as a failed temporal idealist who was unable to derive the sequentiality of ordinary time from Dasein's non-sequential originary temporality. Heidegger did not attempt to derive sequentiality; instead, he understood it as a built-in feature of the natural universe by which Dasein's activities are constrained. World-time turns out to be a co-production of Dasein's non-sequential originary temporality and the endogenous sequentiality of events in nature. (shrink)

This paper investigates a well-known case of simultaneous discovery in twentieth-century chemistry, the origins of the concept of hybridisation, in the light of Kuhn's insights. There has been no ambiguity as to who discovered this concept, when it was "rst in print, and how important it was. The full-#edged form of the concept was published in 1931 independently by two American scientists John C. Slater (1900}1976) and Linus Pauling (1901}1994), although both of them had made their ideas public earlier: Slater (...) at the American Physical Society meetings in 1930, and Pauling in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 1928. Slater and Pauling both argued for the necessity of using an s orbital as well as three p orbitals in the carbon atom in order to explain carbon's four valences and the tetrahedral structure of methane. The metaphor &hybridisation' for denoting this mix of s and p orbitals was "rst used by Robert S. Mulliken and J. H. Van Vleck before gaining currency with the scienti"c community around 1935.2 The concept of hybridisation was indeed indispensable for extending the quantum-mechanical interpretation of the chemical bond as an electron pairing from diatomic molecules to polyatomic ones. To be sure, the emergence of hybridisation attests to scientists' growing interest in exploring the borderland between physics and chemistry, a trend that led to the creation of physical chemistry in the late nineteenth century and of chemical physics and quantum chemistry in the 1920s and 30s. Slater and Pauling themselves experienced and on many occasions talked about the fruitfulness of interdisciplinary research; and historians have legitimately illuminated their works by examining them in this broad context.3 Yet the careful analysis of their research notes and published papers reveals that Slater and Pauling were working in quite disparate disciplinary traditions, with di!erent approaches, for di!erent audiences, and towards di!erent goals. The aim of this paper is to explore their di!erent routes to a common destination*hybridisation*and thereby to explicate tensions existing between physics and chemistry amidst the institutional and conceptual overlapping of the two disciplines. (shrink)

Chaos theory is a rapidly growing field. As a technical term, chaos refers to deterministic but unpredictable processes being sensitively dependent upon initial conditions. Neurobiological models and experimental results are very complicated and some research groups have tried to pursue the neuronal chaos. Babloyantz's group has studied the fractal dimension (d) of electroencephalograms (EEG) in various physiological and pathological states. From deep sleep (d=4) to full awakening (d>8), a hierarchy of strange attractors paralles the hierarchy of states of consciousness. In (...) epilepsy (petit mal), despite the turbulent aspect of a seizure, the attractor dimension was near to 2. In Creutzfeld-Jacob disease, the regular EEG activity corresponded to an attractor dimension less than the one measured in deep sleep. Is it healthy to be chaotic? An active desynchronisation could be favourable to a physiological system. Rapp's group reported variations of fractal dimension according to particular tasks. During a mental arithmetic task, this dimension increased. In another task, a P300 fractal index decreased when a target was identified. It is clear that the EEG is not representing noise. Its underlying dynamics depends on only a few degrees of freedom despite yet it is difficult to compute accurately the relevant parameters.What is the cognitive role of such a chaotic dynamics? Freeman has studied the olfactory bulb in rabbits and rats for 15 years. Multi-electrode recordings of a few mm2 showed a chaotic hierarchy from deep anaesthesia to alert state. When an animal identified a previously learned odour, the fractal dimension of the dynamics dropped off (near limit cycles). The chaotic activity corresponding to an alert-and-waiting state seems to be a field of all possibilities and a focused activity corresponds to a reduction of the attractor in state space. For a couple of years, Freeman has developed a model of the olfactory bulb-cortex system. The behaviour of the simple model without learning was quite similar to the real behaviour and a model with learning is developed. (shrink)

The year 1927 is a landmark in the evolution of physics—the year which saw the obsequies of the notion of causality. To avoid misconceptions, it should not be thought that the concept fell a victim to the unbridled antipathy of certain physicists or their indulgence in fancies. The truth is that men of science came, very reluctantly and almost against their will, to recognize the impossibility of giving a coherent causal description of the happenings on the atomic scale, though some (...) of them—curiously enough, amongst them Planck, Einstein, de Broglie, Schrödinger—could never bring themselves to accept wholeheartedly so drastic a renunciation of classical ideals. (shrink)

There is a need to bring ethics and medical practice closer together, despite the risk and problems this may involve. Deontological ethics may promote sanctity of life considerations against the quality of life considerations favoured by consequentialists or utilitarians; while talk of respect for life and the value of life may point to more qualified ethical positions. This paper argues for a respect-for-life position, dismissing a utilitarian cost-benefit outlook as too simplistic; but an unqualified fixed principles approach is also ruled (...) out, both because of its unacceptable consequences in individual cases and also because of its reliance on the slippery slope argument which, it is argued, is logically and psychologically deficient. The case of genetic engineering provides an example in which the notion of respect may operate, but in which broad general principles also apply. A cautious conservatism towards accepted principles is recommended in the development of medical technologies. (shrink)

David Hume , a member of the well-known Border family of Home, was born on April 26, 1711. After a period of preparatory training he matriculated at Edinburgh College in 1723, although he may have entered earlier. His course during this period is obscure; according to his own statement the curriculum was mainly literary; on leaving College he records that his interests lay predominantly in this direction, and, being left to his own choice, he was able to indulge his inclinations. (...) An attempt to train him for a legal career ended in failure; and he continued to live at his ancestral home of Ninewells, to the west of Berwick, for some years, devoting himself. (shrink)

This is a collection of 15 papers from “philosophers, social scientists, and academic lawyers” concerned with “the field of bioethics itself”, “bioethics’s role in contemporary society”, and “specific issues”, including some—such as the role of the pharmaceuticals—not often addressed in such collections. They have all been commissioned for the volume either by or through the Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation, located in the USA, on whose behalf Cambridge University Press has published it in the UK. Perhaps, then, it is not (...) surprising that it …. (shrink)

'Stress' is a widely used word in clinical practice, the biological sciences and everyday life; but one which has little real value, serving mainly to confuse and confound rational thought. Whether it is described in terms of stimulus, response, or a combination of the two the definitions of stress are invariably found to be circular. We should stop using the word 'stress' and instead discuss specific stimuli or responses as appropriate. The author suggests that 'pressure' and 'tension' might provide suitable (...) substitutes for everyday clinical practice. (shrink)

Attention is drawn to a clear statement of the concept of an absolute zero of temperature by John Locke some time between 1698 and 1704. From the writings of Boyle and Newton it seems unlikely that either of them was responsible for providing their friend with this insight.

This chapter contains sections titled: I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X.

Nietzsche’s translation of phycisist Roger Joseph Boscovich’s theory of matter to the language of a sensorial atomism evokes the emergence of several moral prejudices. For Boscovich, material points are the symptoms of an action that itself does not belong to those points, but is produced from a distance by other points, as the result of an operation from point A to point B and vice versa. By appropriating aspects of Boscovich’s physics, Nietzsche equates this dynamism to a theory of sensation. (...) In this sense, sensorial points receive actions from afar and every action is a sensory action from a distance, as the result of the points acting one on another. To neglect this sensorial diversity would be to mistake the physical constitution of organisms. Is not this lack of recognition at the origin of our moral prejudices? (shrink)

Segundo Alasdair MacIntyre, existem três características problemáticas que perpassam grande parte das contendas morais e políticas contemporâneas e às quais não se têm dado atenção suficiente: a) existe uma incomensurabilidade conceitual dos argumentos adversários nos debates travados; b) as argumentações em curso se fazem passar por argumentações racionais impessoais; c) as premissas conceitualmente distintas dos argumentos usados têm uma grande diversidade de origens históricas. A partir dessas três colocações e das consequências delas advindas, vamos aplicar o raciocínio crítico de MacIntyre (...) a um conjunto específico de argumentos em conflito no terreno do multiculturalismo. Nosso intuito com isso é explorar as diferentes concepções e princípios que estão na base das posições vistas e também realizar um pequeno balanço acerca da justificação comunitarista para um modelo político multicultural. (shrink)

The paper illustrates how organic chemists dramatically altered their practices in the middle part of the twentieth century through the adoption of analytical instrumentation - such as ultraviolet and infrared absorption spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy - through which the difficult process of structure determination for small molecules became routine. Changes in practice were manifested in two ways: in the use of these instruments in the development of 'rule-based' theories; and in an increased focus on synthesis, at the expense (...) of chemical analysis. These rule-based theories took the form of generalizations relating structure to chemical and physical properties, as measured by instrumentation. This 'Instrumental Revolution' in organic chemistry was two-fold: encompassing an embrace of new tools that provided unprecedented access to structures, and a new way of thinking about molecules and their reactivity in terms of shape and structure. These practices suggest the possibility of a change in the ontological status of chemical structures, brought about by the regular use of instruments. The career of Robert Burns Woodward (1917-1979) provides the central historical examples for the paper. Woodward was an organic chemist at Harvard from 1937 until the time of his death. In 1965, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. (shrink)

In his account of probable reasoning, Poincaré used the concept, or at least the language, of conventions. In particular, he claimed that the prior probabilities essential for inverse probable reasoning are determined conventionally. This paper investigates, in the light of Poincaré's well known claim about the conventionality of metric geometry, what this could mean, and how it is related to other views about the determination of prior probabilities. Particular attention is paid to the similarities and differences between Poincaré's conventionalism as (...) it applies to probabilities and de Finetti's subjectivism. The aim of the paper is to suggest that in accounts of the development of ideas about probable reasoning, particularly those customarily described as Bayesian, Poincaré's discussion deserves more attention than it has so far received. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Logic and epistemology The eternity of the world Human happiness.

In his account of probable reasoning, Poincare used the concept, or at least the language, of conventions. In particular, he claimed that the prior probabilities essential for inverse probable reasoning are determined conventionally. This paper investigates, in the light of Poincare's well known claim about the conventionality of metric geometry, what this could mean, and how it is related to other views about the determination of prior probabilities. Particular attention is paid to the similarities and differences between Poincare's conventionalism as (...) it applies to probabilities and de Finetti's subjectivism. The aim of the paper is to suggest that in accounts of the development of ideas about probable reasoning, particularly those customarily described as Bayesian, Poincare's discussion deserves more attention than it has so far received. (shrink)