Boethius’ “Consolation of Philosophy” combines a philosophical dialogue with the use of prosimetrum. This mixture of prose and poetry in several meters originally served a satirical criticism of high culture literature and/or philosophy. With regard to the “Consolation”, however, the interpretation of the prosimetrum is a matter of controversy. This article uses insights from modern genre theory to understand the processes of genre transformation active in the “Consolation”, and highlights Martianus Capella as an important mediator between earlier prosimetric satires and (...) Boethius’ “Consolation”. Then, the article analyses how philosophical dialogue and prosimetric satire are evoked throughout the “Consolation” to create a generic hybrid in which both genres are assigned a proper function in relation to the aim of the “Consolation”: to assure the reader of the existence of a cosmic moral order. (shrink)

Clinical ethics support for health care professionals and patients is increasingly seen as part of good health care. However, there is a key drawback to the way CES services are currently offered. They are often performed as isolated and one-off services whose ownership and impact are unclear. This paper describes the development of an integrative approach to CES at the Center of Expertise and Care for Gender Dysphoria at Amsterdam University Medical Center. We specifically aimed to integrate CES into daily (...) work processes at the CEGD. In this paper, we describe the CES services offered there in detail and elaborate on the 16 lessons we learned from the process of developing an integrative approach to CES. These learning points can inform and inspire CES professionals, who wish to bring about greater integration of CES services into clinical practice. (shrink)

Clinical ethics support (CES) for health care professionals and patients is increasingly seen as part of good health care. However, there is a key drawback to the way CES services are currently offered. They are often performed as isolated and one-off services whose ownership and impact are unclear. This paper describes the development of an integrative approach to CES at the Center of Expertise and Care for Gender Dysphoria (CEGD) at Amsterdam University Medical Center. We specifically aimed to integrate CES (...) into daily work processes at the CEGD. In this paper, we describe the CES services offered there in detail and elaborate on the 16 lessons we learned from the process of developing an integrative approach to CES. These learning points can inform and inspire CES professionals, who wish to bring about greater integration of CES services into clinical practice. (shrink)

This article addresses the question raised by the Anthropocene of rethinking the concept of autonomy which, in the conditions of the new geological epoch, is subject to a crisis of legitimation. It explores the ‘strong hypothesis’ according to which nature is a necessary condition of our qualitative experience of the world and a constitutive relation of autonomy defined as the self-realisation of individual identity. With this aim in mind, the article attempts to rethink the concept of recognition in order to (...) conceive a recognising attitude of nature in the form of love of nature as a form of adequate recognition. Rethinking recognition can serve as foundation of an ‘objective’ theory of autonomy, that is, a theory that explains how nature can be defined as a condition and constitutive relation of autonomy. The article, therefore, proposes to reformulate the concept of autonomy as the self-realisation of an ecological or environmental identity in the form of the self-realisation of an ecological ethos, that is, an attitude of respect and care for nature. This enquiry, ultimately, is a contribution to the task of rethinking the basis of our conceptions of autonomy and freedom in the Anthropocene, so that the idea of autonomy can legitimately constitute the central value of the social transformation that is needed to face the ecological crisis. (shrink)

Extending the growing literature on the role of grit in different life domains, this research explores the relationship between grit and involvement in entrepreneurship. The research highlights the role of personal income and satisfaction with one’s current financial situation as moderators of the relationship between grit and entrepreneurial behavior. Using a large representative sample of Spanish young adults and controlling for a number of potential confounding variables, we find that grit is modestly negatively related to the probability of involvement in (...) entrepreneurship. As predicted, however, this relationship is qualified by both income and satisfaction with current financial situation, though in opposite directions and more weakly for satisfaction with financial status. Gritty individuals with higher levels of income are more prone to become entrepreneurs than gritty individuals with lower levels of income. Gritty individuals with lower levels of satisfaction with their financial situation are more likely to set up a business or become self-employed. (shrink)

Starting from the observation that there is a gap between knowledge of the environmental sciences and practical engagement, for example, in climate change or biodiversity loss, this article explores one possible explanation for this situation—namely, the process of objectification inherent in science. It then proposes to remedy the situation by defending the idea of a ‘first-person ecology’. This term refers to a field of research and practice that looks at the relationship between humans and nature from the point of view (...) of the embodied and situated nature of lived experience. The lived experience of nature at the heart of a first-person ecology is first studied from an epistemic perspective using the concept of recognition, inspired by the Frankfurt School philosopher and sociologist Axel Honneth. It is then approached from a phenomenological perspective, using the emerging field of ecospirituality to describe the characteristics of this experience. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

Ethical dilemmas affect several essential elements of humanitarian aid, such as the adequate selection of crises to which to provide aid and a selection of beneficiaries based on needs and not political or geostrategic criteria. Other challenges encompass maintaining neutrality against aggressors, deciding whether to collaborate with governments that violate human rights, and managing the allocation and prioritization of limited resources. Additionally, issues arise concerning the safety and protection of aid recipients, the need for cultural and political sensitivity, and recognition (...) of the importance of local knowledge, skills, and capacity. The appropriateness, sustainability, and long-term impact of actions; security risks for aid personnel; and the need for transparency and accountability are also crucial. Furthermore, humanitarian workers face the duty to report and engage in civil activism in response to human rights violations and the erosion of respect for international humanitarian law. Lastly, the rights of affected groups and local communities in the decision-making and implementation of humanitarian aid are vital. The traditional foundations and approaches of humanitarian aid appear insufficient in today’s landscape of disasters and crises, which are increasingly complex and divergent, marked by a diminished capacity and shifting roles of various actors in alleviating suffering. This article reviews the historical evolution of the conceptualization of humanitarian aid and addresses some of its ethical challenges and dilemmas. (shrink)

Environmental virtue ethics is about how things (nature) matter, and this is explicated through the virtues (character and dispositions of the agent). It has been suggested that human virtue should be informed by what constitutes our flourishing and by what constitutes nonhuman entities flourishing. Our flourishing, in other words, involves recognising their flourishing and autonomy. My purpose in this paper is to elucidate the notion of mutual flourishing through a study on the relational space that a recognising attitude or disposition (...) of a loving and caring subject creates in its interactions with ‘earth others’. (shrink)

A história da linguagem adquire ao longo do Ensaio sobre a origem das línguas o andamento de uma queda acelerada na corrupção. Há uma língua primitiva que se degenera e se altera: um processo de formação e uma deformação. À medida que Rousseau identifica em suas reflexões – seja na origem seja na estrutura – música e linguagem, a perda de força expressiva que se verifica nas línguas acomete também a música e estas duas corrupções caminham juntas, de modo que (...) ambas se afastam da língua musicada ou da palavra cantada do início. A corrupção da música e das línguas corresponde ao apagamento de sua potência expressiva e refere-se a uma autonomização da harmonia artificial, ao aumento das consoantes, das articulações, da racionalidade, da prática da escrita, bem como ao desenvolvimento histórico, político, econômico e social. Todos estes processos devem ser levados em consideração numa análise sobre as línguas e a linguagem. Todavia, é possível isolar metodologicamente cada um deles. Dito isto, propomos neste artigo investigar o papel da escrita no processo de corrupção e degeneração das línguas. (shrink)

Em muitos textos, Buffon mostra-se partidário da ideia da existência de um laço conjugal natural entre homem e mulher, retomando, assim, as concepções de Locke sobre o assunto. Por sua vez, Rousseau surge como um grande crítico desta ideia. Ele imagina um estado no qual homens e mulheres viveriam em determinadas condições que não os colocariam em relação uns com os outros e, por conseguinte, não os coagiriam a obrigações e deveres recíprocos, um estado de dispersão e de isolamento absolutos (...) do homem. Buffon precisa, para fundar sua teoria, romper com Rousseau. Assim, elaborar e discutir o conteúdo desta ruptura tornam-se os objetos principais deste artigo. (shrink)

Resumen: El presente artículo tiene como objetivo considerar las oportunidades para la didáctica de la filosofía que se nos ofrecen desde la educación patrimonial. Para ello, se valorará la viabilidad de desarrollar propuestas educativas relacionadas con la filosofía a través del discurso expositivo, tradicionalmente utilizado por disciplinas como el arte o la historia en museos y centros de interpretación, pero infrautilizado por la filosofía. Así, a partir de la noción de museografía didáctica se reflexionará sobre la presentación de la filosofía (...) en el contexto museográfico para bosquejar cómo innovar satisfactoriamente en su didáctica a través del medio expositivo.Palabras clave: didáctica de la filosofía, educación patrimonial, museografía didáctica. English title: Exploring the possibilities of the didactics of philosophy in the field of heritage educationAbstract: This paper considers the opportunities that the field of heritage education opens to teaching philosophy. I explore the viability of developing educative proposals for teaching philosophy through the exhibition discourse, traditionally used by disciplines such as the arts or history in museums or interpretation centres, but underused in philosophy. The concept of didactic museography will be the basis for reflecting on the presentation of philosophical content in a museographic context with the aim of outlining how to innovate satisfactorily in its didactics through the exhibition media. Keywords: didactics of philosophy, didactic museography, heritage education. (shrink)

Millones de personas en el mundo no disponen de otra alternativa para huir de la pobreza más extrema que trabajar en condiciones de explotación en una sweatshop. A través de la non worseness-claim y el argumento de la elección, Powell y Zwolinski sostienen que, aunque dicha explotación sea moralmente problemática, proporciona beneficios a dichas personas que impediría considerarla gravemente injusta y justificar así la prohibición o regulación de las sweatshops. En este trabajo se analizan las claves de este discurso, así (...) como los principales intentos de rebatirlo basados en la idea de que dichas fábricas se aprovechan de injusticias de trasfondo de las que los empresarios son, de algún modo, responsables. El éxito de este argumento exige asignar a los empresarios responsabilidades distributivas adicionales a las generales que resulta, sin embargo, cuestionable. De ahí que, en la parte final del trabajo, ofrezca algunas razones alternativas para considerar que la explotación en las sweatshops es una injusticia grave que justifica su regulación. (shrink)

En las últimas décadas un sector de la Iglesia católica latinoamericana ha impulsado la idea de conformar una Iglesia con rostro indígena, en la cual los indígenas se incorporen a la estructura eclesiástica a través de algunos cargos como catequista o diácono. Algunos incluso han propuesto la ordenación de sacerdotes indígenas que, de acuerdo a la cosmovisión de los indígenas, deben ser casados. El presente artículo tiene el objetivo revisar, desde la perspectiva de la historización de los conceptos propuesta por (...) Ellacuría, el aporte teóricopráctico realizados por la Compañía de Jesús, en particular tres religiosos ignacianos —Xavier Albó, Manuel Marzal y Bartomeu Melià— a dicho proceso. Como se verá a lo largo del texto, ha sido un camino lleno de avances y retrocesos. En el ámbito teórico, los jesuitas han defendido la idea de que la inculturación es el mejor camino para que la Iglesia logre una verdadera inserción en la realidad de las comunidades indígenas. En el terreno práctico se explora la experiencia de los diáconos indígenas en dos regiones: en la zona aymara de los Andes —especialmente en Bolivia— y en la Misión de Bachajón, Chiapas. Ambas experiencias con resultados disimiles, pero que enriquecen el caminar de la Iglesia con rostro indígena. (shrink)

O homem-máquina de La Mettrie aparece constantemente ligado ao animal-máquina cartesiano. A partir desta relação, é possível indagar se existe verdadeiramente alguma continuidade entre a proposta cartesiana e a defendida por La Mettrie ou, ao contrário, se esta última representa de modo efetivo uma crítica e uma ruptura em relação à primeira. Nossa interpretação defende que o germe do materialismo – e La Mettrie não escapa disso – só pode desenvolver-se na condição de romper totalmente com a doutrina cartesiana. Assim, (...) longe de haver apenas um passo entre uma e outra teoria filosófica, o que existe é uma diferença radical e gigante. Não há uma continuidade teórica entre o animal-máquina cartesiano e o homem-máquina lamettriano. Diferentemente do que se passa na teoria de Descartes, particularmente, em sua concepção dualista que implica em uma descontinuidade, o Homem-máquina estabelece uma tese continuísta entre homens e animais. Para La Mettrie, a passagem da animalidade à humanidade não é uma passagem violenta, mas sim gradual. (shrink)

A exortação de Rousseau, feita dois séculos antes de Lévi-Strauss, de levar a vista ao longe, observar as diferenças entre os homens para conhecer o homem em sua especificidade e propriedade dá o tom do que se poderia chamar de antropologia rousseauísta. O conhecimento sobre o homem não é obtido ao olhar para o lado e tomar como referência um tipo qualquer imediatamente disponível. Ao contrário, é preciso de viagens bem regradas, de uma educação do olhar e da organização dos (...) dados colhidos pela observação. (shrink)

En la atención médica y en la investigación en salud resulta indispensable favorecer la toma de decisiones de los pacientes y/o participantes bajo el principio de autonomía. En particular, esta capacidad, consignada en la Convención de los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad, se concreta mediante la detección de necesidades de asistencia, ajustes y apoyos que dan paso a una plena y efectiva capacidad de ejercicio. Las reflexiones bioéticas hechas desde la perspectiva principialista, personalista y de los Derechos Humanos ofrecen (...) elementos para potenciar la autonomía de las personas con discapacidad, promoviendo la figura de asistencia personal y enfatizando el interés superior, la gradualidad y la revisión judicial permanente como principios de figuras sustitutivas. (shrink)

RESUMO Na flosofa de Rousseau expõe-se a paulatina construção de uma ideia ocidental de humanidade: a história de como o ser humano assim denominou-se ser, bem como a história do abuso dessa denominação. Trata-se, sobretudo, da crítica sobre a construção de um mito da dignidade exclusiva da natureza humana, tema que percorre as obras de diferentes flósofos, dos modernos aos contemporâneos, dos ocidentais aos não ocidentais. O presente artigo aborda, a partir de Rousseau e em diálogo com outros autores, o (...) “ciclo maldito” característico da modernidade, uma ideia que separa os humanos dos animais e segrega os humanos entre si. Começa-se por apartar o ser humano da natureza e constituí-lo como um ser à parte em um processo de monopolização progressiva do valor da existência: aparece em um primeiro momento o especismo, subsequentemente a desigualdade sociopolítica, o etnocentrismo e outras formas derivadas de exclusão. ABSTRACT In Rousseau’s philosophy, the gradual construction of a western idea of humanity is exposed: the history of how the human being naming himself being, as well as the history of the abuse of that denomination. It is, above all, a critique of the construction of the myth of the exclusive dignity of human nature, a theme that permeates the works of diferent philosophers, from the modern to contemporary ones, from western to non-western. This article discusses, based on Rousseau and in dialogue with other authors, the “cursed cycle” characteristic of modernity, an idea that separates humans from animals and segregates humans from each other. It starts with separating human being from nature and constituting him as a distinct part in a process of progressive monopolization of the value of existence: speciesism appears at frst, then sociopolitical inequality, ethnocentrism and other forms derived from exclusion. (shrink)

This paper addresses two of the objections that can be raised against the presence of a project of social philosophy in Negative Dialectics. First, I argue that the continuity of Adorno’s social diagnosis with Lukács’ theory of reification should be nuanced by interpreting the core of his social theory as an analysis of the process of subsumption that occurs with the autonomization of social objectivity. Secondly, I present the notion of constellation as the core of Adorno’s epistemological argument in Negative (...) Dialectics and I challenge the idea of an incompatibility between the negative dialectic and social sciences. This is pursued through a discussion of the relation with Max Weber’s ideal types and the affinity between Adorno’s epistemological program and the theoretical models of Edward P. Thompson and David Harvey. (shrink)

By considering the irreducible representations of the Lorentz group, an analysis of the different spin-2 waves is presented. In particular, the question of the helicity is discussed. It is concluded that, although from the point of view of representation theory there are no compelling reasons to choose between spin-2 waves with helicity σ=±1 or σ=±2, consistency arguments of the ensuing field theories favor waves with helicity σ=±1.

Lo que caracteriza esencialmente a la escuela de Kyoto es que constituye una contribución sostenida y original del oriente lejano —Japón— a la filosofía occidental desde una perspectiva característicamente oriental. La primera vez que se utilizó la denominación escuela de Kyoto fue en el Japón, en el año 1932; se trata pues de un pensamiento moderno que se genera en la Universidad Imperial de Kyoto a partir de las reflexiones y escritos de Kitaro Nishida (1870-1945), catedrático de filosofía en dicha (...) universidad.…. (shrink)

Large language models (LLMs) reflect societal norms and biases, especially about gender. While societal biases and stereotypes have been extensively researched in various NLP applications, there is a surprising gap for emotion analysis. However, emotion and gender are closely linked in societal discourse. E.g., women are often thought of as more empathetic, while men's anger is more socially accepted. To fill this gap, we present the first comprehensive study of gendered emotion attribution in five state-of-the-art LLMs (open- and closed-source). We (...) investigate whether emotions are gendered, and whether these variations are based on societal stereotypes. We prompt the models to adopt a gendered persona and attribute emotions to an event like 'When I had a serious argument with a dear person'. We then analyze the emotions generated by the models in relation to the gender-event pairs. We find that all models consistently exhibit gendered emotions, influenced by gender stereotypes. These findings are in line with established research in psychology and gender studies. Our study sheds light on the complex societal interplay between language, gender, and emotion. The reproduction of emotion stereotypes in LLMs allows us to use those models to study the topic in detail, but raises questions about the predictive use of those same LLMs for emotion applications. (shrink)

Emotions are a central aspect of communication. Consequently, emotion analysis (EA) is a rapidly growing field in natural language processing (NLP). However, there is no consensus on scope, direction, or methods. In this paper, we conduct a thorough review of 154 relevant NLP publications from the last decade. Based on this review, we address four different questions: (1) How are EA tasks defined in NLP? (2) What are the most prominent emotion frameworks and which emotions are modeled? (3) Is the (...) subjectivity of emotions considered in terms of demographics and cultural factors? and (4) What are the primary NLP applications for EA? We take stock of trends in EA and tasks, emotion frameworks used, existing datasets, methods, and applications. We then discuss four lacunae: (1) the absence of demographic and cultural aspects does not account for the variation in how emotions are perceived, but instead assumes they are universally experienced in the same manner; (2) the poor fit of emotion categories from the two main emotion theories to the task; (3) the lack of standardized EA terminology hinders gap identification, comparison, and future goals; and (4) the absence of interdisciplinary research isolates EA from insights in other fields. Our work will enable more focused research into EA and a more holistic approach to modeling emotions in NLP. (shrink)

Resumen: Este trabajo examina uno de los argumentos más relevantes empleado para justificar que los integrantes de una misma comunidad política se deban mutuamente deberes de justicia distributiva más exigentes y fuertes que lo que tienen respecto al resto de seres humanos, hasta el punto de justificar un sistema de fronteras cerradas similar al actual. Se trata del que cabría denominar como “argumento de la singularidad de la coacción estatal”. El mismo asume como premisa empírica que dicha coacción es estructural (...) y funcionalmente diferente a la que podamos encontrar en el ámbito internacional, incluida la que se ejerce a través de la prevención y represión directa de la entrada de personas a una determinada comunidad política por medio de los controles fronterizos. Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine one of the most relevant arguments among those used to justify that the members of the same political community owe each other more demanding and strong distribu- tive justice duties than they have with respect to other human beings, to the point of justify a system of closed borders similar to the current one. It is the one that could be denominated like "argument of the singularity of the state coercion". It assumes as an empirical premise that such coercion is structurally and functionally different from what we can find in the international arena, including that which is exercised through the direct prevention and repression of the entry of persons into a given political community by means of border controls. (shrink)

El presente artículo estudia el modo en que la comunidad hacker ha desarrollado un código propio de valores estéticos y éticos. La historia del «hackerismo » supone un paso previo para la comprensión de cómo la escritura de código se ha bifurcado en dos líneas: el software libre y el código abierto. El estudio de las dimensiones estéticas de estos movimientos puede resultar muy provechoso para correlacionar el trabajo creativo de los hackers y la manera en que éste es considerado (...) por los movimientos de vanguardia. Desde un punto de vista ético, es difícil definir un proyecto común a todos los grupos implicados. Sin embargo, este movimiento representa, en su conjunto, la emergencia de una nueva perspectiva ética que retoma viejas ideas como la del procomún. (shrink)

E l conflict o entr e l a democraci a a g r e gat iva (basad a e n e l v alo r igualitari o d e l a r e gla d e l a m a y oría ) y l a deliberat iva (centrad a e n l a fuerz a epistémic a de l mejo r a r gumento) constitu ye un a d e la s principale s tensione s d e l a (...) teorí a contemporáne a d e l a democracia. Est e trabaj o sostien e qu e quiene s dibuja n dich o conflict o l o hace n a pa r ti r d e un a visión e xces iv ament e optimist a de l v alo r mora l d e l a primer a y demasiad o pesimist a de l carácte r no igualitari o d e l a s e gunda . N i l a con e xió n d e l a r e gl a d e l a m a y orí a co n l a igualda d política sería n ta n fue r t e y e xclus iv a , n i l a deliberació n u n proces o controla b l e únicament e po r la búsqued a objet iva d e solucione s política s co r recta s y n o tambié n po r e xigencia s d e justicia procedimental . N o obstante , aunqu e co n una s proporcione s mucho s meno s e xagerada s a la sugeridas , e xistirí a entr e ambo s procedimiento s u n cie r t o g rad o d e incompatibilida d que podría , s i n o superars e po r completo , s í relajars e d e admiti r qu e cualquie r justi f icació n de u n procedimient o d e tom a d e decisione s n o pued e desa r rollars e d e fo r m a completamente abstracta , sin o qu e h a d e ajustars e a l cont e xto. (shrink)

Trust constitutes a fundamental strategy to deal with risks and uncertainty in complex societies. In line with the vast literature stressing the importance of trust in doctor–patient relationships, trust is therefore regularly suggested as a way of dealing with the risks of medical artificial intelligence (AI). Yet, this approach has come under charge from different angles. At least two lines of thought can be distinguished: (1) that trusting AI is conceptually confused, that is, that we cannot trust AI; and (2) (...) that it is also dangerous, that is, that we should not trust AI—particularly if the stakes are as high as they routinely are in medicine. In this paper, we aim to defend a notion of trust in the context of medical AI against both charges. To do so, we highlight the technically mediated intentions manifest in AI systems, rendering trust a conceptually plausible stance for dealing with them. Based on literature from human–robot interactions, psychology and sociology, we then propose a novel model to analyse notions of trust, distinguishing between three aspects: reliability, competence, and intentions. We discuss each aspect and make suggestions regarding how medical AI may become worthy of our trust. (shrink)

Most research on ethical leadership to date investigates the consequences of ethical leadership rather than its antecedents. Here, we aim to contribute to this field by studying leader personality as a potential antecedent of ethical leader behavior. In two multisource studies, we investigated the relationships between personality traits and ethical leader behavior. Leader personality was measured through self-ratings using the five-factor personality framework. Two subordinates rated their leaders' ethical behavior. Study 1 used a unidimensional Ethical Leadership Scale (ELS). In study (...) 2 we used this scale as well as an instrument distinguishing three different ethical leader behaviors, namely, fairness, role clarification, and power sharing. Further, in study 2 we controlled for the influence of the relationship between leader and followers (LMX). As expected, conscientiousness and agreeableness were most consistently related to ethical leadership. In study 1, after controlling for the other personality traits, conscientiousness related positively with ethical leadership. In study 2, after controlling for other traits and LMX, conscientiousness related positively with ethical leadership and the behavior role clarification, and agreeableness with power sharing and fairness. Also, emotional stability related positively with ethical leadership and role clarification after controlling for LMX. As expected, openness to experience and extraversion were unrelated to ethical leader behaviors. (shrink)

It has been argued that the Internet and social media increase the number of available viewpoints, perspectives, ideas and opinions available, leading to a very diverse pool of information. However, critics have argued that algorithms used by search engines, social networking platforms and other large online intermediaries actually decrease information diversity by forming so-called “filter bubbles”. This may form a serious threat to our democracies. In response to this threat others have developed algorithms and digital tools to combat filter bubbles. (...) This paper first provides examples of different software designs that try to break filter bubbles. Secondly, we show how norms required by two democracy models dominate the tools that are developed to fight the filter bubbles, while norms of other models are completely missing in the tools. The paper in conclusion argues that democracy itself is a contested concept and points to a variety of norms. Designers of diversity enhancing tools must thus be exposed to diverse conceptions of democracy. (shrink)

This paper analyzes the historical context and systematic importance of Kant's hypothetical use of reason. It does so by investigating the role of hypotheses in Kant's philosophy of science. We first situate Kant’s account of hypotheses in the context of eighteenth-century German philosophy of science, focusing on the works of Wolff, Meier, and Crusius. We contrast different conceptions of hypotheses of these authors and elucidate the different theories of probability informing them. We then adopt a more systematic perspective to discuss (...) Kant's idea that scientific hypotheses must articulate real possibilities. We argue that Kant's views on the intelligibility of scientific hypotheses constitute a valuable perspective on scientific understanding and the constraints it imposes on scientific rationality. (shrink)