This is the first comprehensive overview of the influence of Platonism on the English literary tradition, showing how English writers, including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Blake, Wordsworth, Yeats, Pound and Iris Murdoch, used Platonic themes and images within their own imaginative work.

As the title of the article suggests, “The Burqa Ban”: Legal Precursors for Denmark, American Experiences and Experiments, and Philosophical and Critical Examinations, the authors embark on a factually investigative as well as a reflective response. More precisely, they use The 2018 Danish “Burqa Ban”: Joining a European Trend and Sending a National Message (published as a concurrent but separate article in this issue of INTERNATIONAL STUDIES JOURNAL) as a platform for further analysis and discussion of different perspectives. These include (...) case-law at the international level while focusing attention on recent rulings and judicial reasoning by the ECtHR and the ECJ; critical thought-experiments in religion, morality, human rights, and the democratic public space; a contextualized account of burqa-wearing interventions by federal and state governments and, moreover, various courts in the United States; and philosophical commentary and, in some instances, criticism of the Danish and/or European (French, etc.) approach. The different contributions have different aims. The section on case-law at the international level reports on those central judgments that, in effect, helped to pave the path for the Kingdom of Denmark’s burqa ban. Concerning the concurring judges at the ECtHR, the opinions served to uphold a preexisting ban and to grant a wide margin of appreciation to the national authorities, thereby limiting the Court’s own review. -/- As regards to the ECJ, the legality of company rules that contain a policy of neutrality for the workplace was examined, with a similar outcome. The authors who discuss religion, morality, human rights and the democratic public space are endeavoring to, respectively, appeal to ethics as a testing stone for law and to both challenge and address several forms of “expressivist worry” in connection with face veils. In doing so, the authors ask a number of thought-provoking questions that hopefully will inspire public policymakers to careful analysis. While the section that is devoted to American perspectives highlights a comprehensive survey of political and legal responses to, in particular, full-face veils like the burqa, the relevant author also incorporates public perceptions and, in the course of examining these, draws a parallel to “the fate” of the hoodie. The constitutionality of burqa-wearing in America, so it also appears, is partially an open question, but differentiating between religious, political, or personal reasons is a de jure premise. Given that the Danish legislators who drafted law L 219 to ban burqa-wearing in public places rely on a reference to political Islam, they relegate religious and personal reasons to the private domain, thereby also adopting secularism as a premise. This is explored in the last author response of the article, more precisely, in an account of the underlying materialism that, in turn, is applied to Muslim women. If policymakers and legislators engaged in Thinking Things Through exercises, they could, as a minimum, avoid law-making strategies that are not in the spirit of the theory they themselves invoke, albeit tacitly. While the aim of, as it were, arresting culturally self-contradicting legislators is unique for the section in question, all the authors who contribute to the joint research project have one end-goal in common, namely to inform about important perspectives while at the same time opening up for parameters for (more) fruitful, constructive and (if need be) critical debate in the future. With this in mind, four recommendations are presented by the research director for the project. Legally, politically, socially and culturally, conflict-resolution should not translate the relationship between rulers and the ruled into a separation ideology, an instance of controllers versus the controlled. All things being equal, that is the objective limit for a democratic society. (shrink)

The number of legal and nonlegal ethical regulations in the biomedical field has increased tremendously, leaving present-day practitioners and researchers in a virtual crossfire of legislations and guidelines. Judging by the production and by the way these regulations are motivated and presented, they are held to be of great importance to ethical practice. This view is shared by many commentators. For instance, Commons and Baldwin write that, within the nursing profession, patient care can be performed unethically or ethically depending (...) on the professional standards the nurses have set for themselves. They also hold that such standards are set when nurses become aware of the ethical codes available. As nurses are often not familiar with the codes, they do not all conform to them. Commons and Baldwin argue that nurses' ability to deal with ethical dilemmas is effectively secured with education on guidelines, creating a “barrier” between personal and professional values. (shrink)

Revisiting James Baldwin's under-engaged contribution to heated debates over Black (Christian)-(white) Jewish relations in New York City in the late 1960s, “Blacks Are Anti-Semitic Because They Are Anti-White,” in what follows I explore the surprising ways in which two European Jewish women political theorists, Emma Goldman and Hannah Arendt, otherwise celebrated for their rigorous sobriety, enacted the very blindness that framed their Jewishness as a form of whiteness worthy of Baldwin's criticism. I close by considering the ways of (...) envisioning being Jewish that we might build from Baldwin's reflections, ones that would, in enlarging the distance of Jewishness from whiteness, invite transformative brands of solidarity rather than specifically black forms of anti-Semitism. Ironically, this path would have entailed American Jews' becoming more fully themselves rather than indexing their advancement or flourishing through a white, Christian index. Put slightly differently, this essay turns backward to look forward, aiming to understand what I consider missed opportunities worth lamenting so we might proceed differently. (shrink)

As early-career neuroethicists, we come to the field of neuroethics at a unique moment: we are well-situated to consider nearly two decades of neuroethics scholarship and identify challenges that have persisted across time. But we are also looking squarely ahead, embarking on the next generation of exciting and productive neuroethics scholarship. In this article, we both reflect backwards and turn our gaze forward. First, we highlight criticisms of neuroethics, both from scholars within the field and outside it, that have focused (...) on speculation and lack of skepticism; the dearth of consideration of broader social issues such as justice and equality, both with regard to who speaks for neuroethics as a field and who benefits from its recommendations and findings; and the insufficient focus on the practical impact of our ethical work. Second, we embrace the concept of “translational neuroethics” to outline a vision for neuroethics that is integrated, inclusive, and impactful. Integration can help us identify more pertinent, real-world issues, and move away from speculation; inclusivity can help ensure that the questions we attend to are not merely relevant to a single subgroup but aim toward just distribution of benefits; and impact can help us think beyond guidelines and recommendations to focus on implementation. Our goal is for this call to action to help shape neuroethics into a discipline that develops rigorous research agendas through relationships with interdisciplinary partners, that is broadly inclusive and attends to issues beyond novel neurotechnologies, and that is devoted to the translation of scholarship into practice. (shrink)

First-person reports are central to the study of subjective well-being in contemporary psychology, but there is much disagreement about exactly what sort of first-person reports should be used. This paper examines an influential proposal to replace all first-person reports of life satisfaction with introspective reports of affect. I argue against the reasoning behind this proposal, and propose instead a new strategy for deciding what measure is appropriate.

Adults who stutter (AWS) have demonstrated atypical coordination of motor and sensory regions during speech production. Yet little is known of the speech-motor network in AWS in the brief time window preceding audible speech onset. The purpose of the current study was to characterize neural oscillations in the speech-motor network during preparation for and execution of overt speech production in AWS using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Twelve AWS and twelve age-matched controls were presented with 220 words, each word embedded in a carrier (...) phrase. Controls were presented with the same word list as their matched AWS participant. Neural oscillatory activity was localized using minimum-variance beamforming during two time periods of interest: speech preparation (prior to speech onset) and speech execution (following speech onset). Compared to controls, AWS showed stronger beta (15-25Hz) suppression in the speech preparation stage, followed by stronger beta synchronization in the bilateral mouth motor cortex. AWS also recruited the right mouth motor cortex significantly earlier in the speech preparation stage compared to controls. Exaggerated motor preparation is discussed in the context of reduced coordination in the speech-motor network of AWS. It is further proposed that exaggerated beta synchronization may reflect a more strongly inhibited motor system that requires a stronger beta suppression to disengage prior to speech initiation. These novel findings highlight critical differences in the speech-motor network of AWS that occur prior to speech onset and emphasize the need to investigate further the speech-motor assembly in the stuttering population. (shrink)

Recent research has demonstrated an asymmetry between the origins and endpoints of motion events, with preferential attention given to endpoints rather than beginnings of motion in both language and memory. Two experiments explore this asymmetry further and test its implications for language production and comprehension. Experiment 1 shows that both adults and 4-year-old children detect fewer within-category changes in source than goal objects when tested for memory of motion events; furthermore, these groups produce fewer references to source than goal objects (...) when describing the same motion events. Experiment 2 asks whether the specificity of encoding source/goal relations differs in both spatial memory and the comprehension of novel spatial vocabulary. Results show that endpoint configuration changes are detected more accurately than source configuration changes by both adults and young children. Furthermore, when interpreting novel motion verbs, both age groups expect more fine-grained lexical distinctions in the domain of endpoint configurations compared to that of source configurations. These studies demonstrate that a cognitive-attentional bias in spatial representation and memory affects both the detail of linguistic encoding during the use of spatial language and the specificity of hypotheses about spatial referents that learners build during the acquisition of the spatial lexicon. (shrink)

Insight problem solving was investigated with the matchstick algebra problems developed by Knoblich, Ohlsson, Haider, and Rhenius (1999). These problems are false equations expressed with Roman numerals that can be made true bymoving one matchstick. In a first group participants examined a static two-dimensional representation of the false algebraic expression and told the experimenter which matchstick should be moved. In a second group, participants interacted with a three-dimensional representation of the false equation. Success rates in the static group for different (...) problem types replicated the pattern of data reported in Knoblich et al. (1999). However, participants in the interactive group were significantly more likely to achieve insight. Problem-solving success in the static group was best predicted by performance on a test of numeracy, whereas in the interactive group it was best predicted by performance on a test of visuo-spatial reasoning. Implications for process models of problem solving are discussed. (shrink)

Theoretical and empirical reasons suggest that children build their language not only out of individual words but also out of multiunit strings. These are the basis for the development of schemas containing slots. The slots are putative categories that build in abstraction while the schemas eventually connect to other schemas in terms of both meaning and form. Evidence comes from the nature of the input, the ways in which children construct novel utterances, the systematic errors that children make, and the (...) computational modeling of children's grammars. However, much of this research is on English, which is unusual in its rigid word order and impoverished inflectional morphology. We summarize these results and explore their implications for languages with more flexible word order and/or much richer inflectional morphology. (shrink)

Editorial Board: Karl P. Ameriks, Margaret Atherton, Frederick Beiser, Fabien Capeillères, Faustino Fabbianelli, Daniel Garber, Rudolf A. Makkreel, Steven Nadler, Alan Nelson, Christof Rapp, Ursula Renz, Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann, Denis Thouard, Paul Ziche, Günter Zöller The series publishes monographs and essay collections devoted to the history of philosophy as well as studies in the theory of writing the history of philosophy. A special emphasis is placed on the contextualization of philosophical historiography into the areas of the history of science, culture, and (...) the wider scope of intellectual history. (shrink)

The debate on animal rights has been influenced by changes in science, philosophy, nature, and social life over the last 40 years. These include (1) increased moral sensibility that gradually embraces creatures which are more and more distant from those closest to us; (2) environmental threats and their connection with people’s attitude towards animals; (3) scientific discoveries in the field of ethology and animal emotionality, which indicate evolutionary roots of morality; (4) new philosophical concepts (embodied, embedded, enactive and extended mind, (...) and posthumanism) and revision of the concept of subjectivity; (5) exposing the vagueness of the notion of rights and how it is related to the concepts of duty and need. These changes suggest that the point of departure in discussions of the relations between humans and non-human animals has shifted from the traditional human perspective to a more inclusive approach that relies on the developments in science and the inclusion of environmental concerns. (shrink)

We generalise the properties$\mathsf {OP}$,$\mathsf {IP}$,k-$\mathsf {TP}$,$\mathsf {TP}_{1}$,k-$\mathsf {TP}_{2}$,$\mathsf {SOP}_{1}$,$\mathsf {SOP}_{2}$, and$\mathsf {SOP}_{3}$to positive logic, and prove various implications and equivalences between them. We also provide a characterisation of stability in positive logic in analogy with the one in full first-order logic, both on the level of formulas and on the level of theories. For simple theories there are the classically equivalent definitions of not having$\mathsf {TP}$and dividing having local character, which we prove to be equivalent in positive logic as (...) well. Finally, we show that a thick theoryThas$\mathsf {OP}$iff it has$\mathsf {IP}$or$\mathsf {SOP}_{1}$and thatThas$\mathsf {TP}$iff it has$\mathsf {SOP}_{1}$or$\mathsf {TP}_{2}$, analogous to the well-known results in full first-order logic where$\mathsf {SOP}_{1}$is replaced by$\mathsf {SOP}$in the former and by$\mathsf {TP}_{1}$in the latter. Our proofs of these final two theorems are new and make use of Kim-independence. (shrink)

The idea of ‘committing oneself’ or ‘being committed’ by the use of language, or ‘linguistic commitment’, occurs in Wittgenstein’s notebooks and lectures from the end of 1930 together with remarks characteristic of this period, such as those on language as a system, and early reflections on other themes that would assume more importance in later years, such as rule-following and meaning as use. This paper examines the nature and contours of the concept of linguistic commitment (as well as some cognate (...) concepts),with a focus on the question why Wittgenstein temporarily insisted on the concept, but rapidly abandoned it. In doing so, I aim to shed light on some features of Wittgenstein’s middle period, both in their own right and in their relationship to later reflections. One aspect that will emerge is that, contrary to what is normally believed, pragmatic and even pragmatist themes began to play a role in his thought as early as 1930. (shrink)

In late 2003, the Canadian media reported that the Islamic Institute of Civil Justice would start offering arbitration in family disputes in accordance with both Islamic legal principles and Ontario's Arbitration Act of 1991. A vociferous two-year debate ensued on the introduction of “Sharia law” in Ontario. This article analyzes representations of Muslim women's agency that came to the fore in this debate by examining reports in three Canadian newspapers. The debate demonstrated two notions of agency. The predominant perspective conceptualized (...) Muslim women's agency as their ability to resist domination, tying secularization to agency. A second strain of the debate portrayed agency as embedded in intersecting social forces of domination and subordination. The first perspective homogenized diverse Muslim communities, fostering the gendered racialization of these communities. Understanding agency as embedded, by contrast, enabled conceptualizations of Muslim women as agentic religious subjects. (shrink)

Can discussion with members of the public show philosophers where they have gone wrong? Leslie Cannold argues that it can in her 1995 paper ‘Women, Ectogenesis and Ethical Theory’, which investigates the ways in which women reason about abortion and ectogenesis. In her study, Cannold interviewed female non-philosophers. She divided her participants into separate ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice’ groups and asked them to consider whether the availability of ectogenesis would change their views about the morality of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. (...) The women in Cannold’s study gave responses that did not map onto the dominant tropes in the philosophical literature. Yet Cannold did not attempt to reason with her participants, and her engagement with the philosophical literature is oddly limited, focussing only on the pro-choice perspective. In this paper, I explore the question of whether Cannold is correct that philosophers’ reasoning about abortion is lacking in some way. I suggest that there are alternative conclusions to be drawn from the data she gathered and that a critical approach is necessary when attempting to undertake philosophy informed by empirical data. (shrink)

How do people respond to others' accidental behaviors? Reward and punishment for accidents might be depend on the actor's intentions, or instead on the unintended outcomes she brings about. Yet, existing paradigms in experimental economics do not include the possibility of accidental monetary allocations. We explore the balance of outcomes and intentions in a two-player economic game where monetary allocations are made with a "trembling hand": that is, intentions and outcomes are sometimes mismatched. Player 1 allocates $10 between herself and (...) Player 2 by rolling one of three dice. One die has a high probability of a selfish outcome, another has a high probability of a fair outcome, and the third has a high probability of a generous outcome. Based on Player 1's choice of die, Player 2 can infer her intentions. However, any of the three die can yield any of the three possible outcomes. Player 2 is given the opportunity to respond to Player 1's allocation by adding to or subtracting from Player 1's payoff. We find that Player 2's responses are influenced substantially by the accidental outcome of Player 1's roll of the die. Comparison to control conditions suggests that in contexts where the allocation is at least partially under the control of Player 1, Player 2 will punish Player 1 accountable for unintentional negative outcomes. In addition, Player 2's responses are influenced by Player 1's intention. However, Player 2 tends to modulate his responses substantially more for selfish intentions than for generous intentions. This novel economic game provides new insight into the psychological mechanisms underlying social preferences for fairness and retribution. (shrink)

The article is devoted to the historical-philosophical analysis of the problem of ambivalence as a fundamental principle of Derrida’s philosophical thinking. It shows how such primordial philosophical questions as ones of limits of philosophies and of limits of philosophy define the basic problem dimensions of Derridean conception. It consideres the correlation of the theme of marginality with both the problem of Derrida’s cultural self-identification and the idea of the metaphoricity of language as the initial premise of différance logic. Also the (...) article examines the role of transcendentalistic implications in Derridean thought that determine a his-torical and philosophical context of Derrida’s philosophy. The analogy between quasi-transcendental and metaphorical aspects of deconstructive thinking is drawn. The identifica-tion of Jewish and metaphorical in Derrida’s conception is demonstrated. The author introduces the concept of "literal metaphor" as the quintessence of Derrida’s philosophical thought which structures its basic forms, namely: aporia, hyperbole, question, commentary. (shrink)

In her paper, ‘Sharing online clinical notes with patients: implications for nocebo effects and health equity’, Blease bridges findings from two research fields to describe possible unintended consequences of providing patients access to clinical notes. 1 She explains how nocebo effects, genuine psychological and physiological reactions following negative expectations, may arise after patients read such notes. Blease emphasises that the likelihood of nocebo may be greater for those patient groups who experience stigmatisation in healthcare. We argue that this is the (...) case for patients with so-called medically unexplained symptoms (MUSs) and that clinicians who work with them should consider nocebo but not for the reasons they may think. MUS is a term used to refer to persistent physical symptoms which cannot be fully or reliably attributed to a structural pathology. They include common symptoms such as chronic or recurrent pain in joints and muscles, fatigue, paresthesia or digestive... (shrink)

ZUSAMMENFASSUNGIm religionsphilosophischen Kontext wurde die Quantenmechanik vielfach bemht, das Argument der Willensfreiheit als naturwissenschaftliche Theorie zu sttzen. Der probabilistische Charakter der Theorie schien eine natrliche Basis fr den Indeterminismus und somit fr sittlich relevante Willensfreiheit zu bieten. Dieser Position wurde jedoch des fteren entgegen gehalten, dass erstens nur bestimmte Interpretationen der Quantenmechanik indeterministisch sind. Zweitens sollen mikroskopische Quanten-Effekte die makroskopische Hirndynamik nicht beeinflussen. Inzwischen mutet die Diskussion immer undurchschaubarer und themenspezifischer an, so dass eine sachgerechte Beurteilung geradezu als undurchfhrbar erscheint. (...) Die vorliegende Untersuchung zielt darauf, durch Klrung der Begrifflichkeit bestehende Konfusionen zu entwirren und konzeptionelle Konturen zu zeichnen, die es ermglichen, bisherige Debatten zu systematisieren sowie fr zuknftige Untersuchungen als methodisch-strukturelle Grundlage zu dienen.SUMMARYIt is often claimed that the probabilistic character of quantum mechanics supports ontological indeterminism and in consequence free will. Theologians especially believe that they have found an empirical argument for the free will defense. Critics argue, however, that there is no evidence that microscopic quantum phenomena could affect macroscopic brain dynamics, nor does the probabilistic character of quantum formalism necessarily imply ontological indeterminism. In the present paper I shall examine whether the critique holds, and point out the relevance of quantum mechanics for theological investigations. (shrink)

В статті аналізується значення концепту чистоти в трансцендентальному дискурсі філософської думки і розкриваються його основні характеристики. Розглядається відношення між поняттями чистоти та пустоти в опозиції «форма–зміст», котра зазнає суттєвого перегляду в рамках трансцендентальної традиції. Деталізується аспект функціювання ідеї та поняття чистоти у трьох панівних концепціях трансценденталізму: філософських проектах Канта, Гуссерля та Дерріда, в кожному з яких чистота характеризує фундаментальні царини філософської проблематизації – відповідно, розуму, свідомості та мови. Показується, яку роль відіграє поняття чистоти як принципово предикативний концепт (і як синонім (...) поняття трансцендентального) в реалізації парадигмального «зсуву», пов’язаного з антисубстантивістською орієнтацією трансцендентального мислення. Це призводить до зміни акцентів у філософському запитуванні з догматико-метафізичного «Що» на критично-трансцендентальне «Як». У статті визначаються різні способи тлумачення чистоти в трансцендентальному дискурсі: ейдетична чистота, чистота сингулярності, чистота структури та інтенційна чистота. (shrink)

Le but de ce volume, véritable prisme de questionnements et d’études de cas, est d’essayer de tracer, à travers les écritures de soi, les conditions d’émergence d’un moi, d’un ego, de la notion même d’individu. Nécessairement, ceux qui l’ont conçu ont dû ratisser large. Les différentes contributions analysent des cas dispersés sur plusieurs siècles, en tenant compte de plusieurs genres de récits de soi : livres de raison, journaux plus ou moins intimes, chroniques… Les présupposés sous-jacent...

The article introduces theories of epistemic justification to the problems of understanding in communication. Two dominant approaches in contemporary epistemology — foundationalism and coherentism — are applied in intercultural discourse. Since the intended meaning of utterances in communication is reached through inference, beliefs about the intended meaning are justified with respect to the evidence of communicative behaviour and context. Tracing the difficulties of intercultural dialogue, the article argues that the coherentist method of justification is more useful than foundationalist one. Coherentism (...) is consistent with the open-mindedness and unprejudiced reasoning, both of which are crucial parts of intercultural competency. (shrink)

The volume aims to show the variety of research currents of the Lvov-Warsaw School and the ways in which these currents are developed today. The content of the book is divided into three parts: “Logic and Semiotics”, “Metaphysics and Ontology”, and “Psychology and Sociology”.

To answer the question of whether artificial systems may count as agents in a collective action, I will argue that a collective action is a special kind of an action and show that the sufficient conditions for playing an active part in a collective action differ from those required for being an individual intentional agent.

This article addresses Schmitt’s concept of sovereign dictatorship—a departure from the normal legal order aiming to bring about a new mode of legality—as applied to the Marxist, and then Soviet, “dictatorship of the proletariat.” Unlike Schmitt, Marx and Engels, as well as Soviet legal theorists, saw the space for law even while aiming to dispense with the legal form on the road to communism. This is best explained by Schmitt’s failure to recognize the importance of legal systems not only for (...) controlling social conflict, but also for coordination, the need for which does not disappear in extraordinary circumstances. (shrink)

Interprofessionelles Lernen von Auszubildenden der Pflegeberufe sowie Medizinstudierenden bietet vielfältige Chancen für die zukünftige Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ziel einer qualitativ hochwertigen Versorgung von Patient*innen. Expert*innengremien fordern daher eine frühzeitige Integration von interprofessionellen Lehr- und Lernformaten, um effektive und nachhaltige Verbesserungen in der Praxis erreichen zu können. In Deutschland wird interprofessionelle Lehre in der grundständigen Ausbildung der zwei Professionen in wachsendem Umfang in ausgewählten Fächern – obligat oder fakultativ – eingesetzt. Der Bereich der Ethik im Gesundheitswesen wird dabei bislang jedoch kaum (...) berücksichtigt. Der Beitrag untersucht die Situation interprofessioneller Ethiklehre in Deutschland und beleuchtet deren Möglichkeiten und Grenzen vor dem Hintergrund eines Pilotprojektes. (shrink)

Binz et al. argue that meta-learned models offer a new paradigm to study human cognition. Meta-learned models are proposed as alternatives to Bayesian models based on their capability to learn identical posterior predictive distributions. In our commentary, we highlight several arguments that reach beyond a predictive distribution-based comparison, offering new perspectives to evaluate the advantages of these modeling paradigms.

We analyze three interesting arguments from the literature, where ascribing a probability of 1 to a certain right-nested conditional A→(B→C) leads to strong theses concerning conditionals: they serve as counterexamples to important general claims. The first is the classic and much discussed McGee’s counterexample to Modus Ponens from McGee [“A Counterexample to Modus Ponens.” The Journal of Philosophy 82 (9): 462–471]. The second example was given by Santorio [“Trivializing Informational Consequence.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 104:297–320] and is intended to undermine (...) the probabilistic version of Modus Ponens. The third example was presented in Cantwell [“Revisiting McGee’s Probabilistic Analysis of Conditionals.” Journal of Philosophical Logic 51 (5): 973–1017] in order to reject the general version of the Ramsey Test (i.e. PCCP) and Modus Ponens. These examples are based on a specific interpretation of right-nested conditional which is not the only possible one. We provide examples demonstrating that alternative interpretations are feasible. As a result, the arguments presented in the three cited works possess limited efficacy, as they are confined solely to the particular interpretation of the conditional. (shrink)

In this paper, inspired by methods of Bigard, Keimel, and Wolfenstein , we develop an approach to sheaf representations of MV-algebras which combines two techniques for the representation of MV-algebras devised by Filipoiu and Georgescu and by Dubuc and Poveda . Following Davey approach , we use a subdirect representation of MV-algebras that is based on local MV-algebras. This allowed us to obtain: a representation of any MV-algebras as MV-algebra of all global sections of a sheaf of local MV-algebras on (...) the spectruum of its prime ideals; a representation of MV-algebras, having the space of minimal prime ideals compact, as MV-algebra of all global sections of a Hausdorff sheaf of MV-chains on the space of minimal prime ideals, which is a Stone space; an adjunction between the category of all MV-algebras and the category of MV-algebraic spaces, where an MV-algebraic space is a pair , where X is a compact topological space and F is a sheaf of MV-algebras with stalks that are local. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to present a comparative analysis and reconstruction of the approach to social, moral, and institutional change in the theories of Adam Smith and Sophie de Grouchy. In their theories moral philosophy is inextricably linked with social thought. I also discuss the role of education and institutions in such a process. I argue that Smith's and de Grouchy's understanding of the roles of sympathy and institutions are strictly connected to the way they perceive the process (...) of social change. Both philosophers considered people as equals and equally capable of sympathizing with others. For both of them, sympathy is a key element in reconstructing how societies change. In my opinion, both these philosophers believe that such a change can be induced: in the case of de Grouchy, this would be done primarily by legislators. In the case of Smith, respected people are capable of initiating change and are subsequently followed by others. (shrink)

The idea that the soul has a guardian daemon was a common topic among Platonists, informed by different readings of Plato, especially Symp. 202e and Resp. 620e. In his philosophically dense interpretation, Plotinus describes the daemon as the ‘pole of attraction’ or the erotic disposition that keeps the core of one’s personality directed towards the Good. In this way, the daemon promotes the soul’s ascent to higher levels of reality through a transition from unconsciousness into consciousness that, across different incarnations, (...) will eventually flow into the disembodied self. In order to unpack this view, this article brings together Enn. III.4 and III.5 with Enn. VI.7, where Plotinus discusses the difference between soul (ψυχή) and the expressed principle (λόγος) belonging to soul. This difference if fundamental to fully understand the role of the guardian daemon in the soul’s πρόοδος and ἐπιστροφή. (shrink)