It’s not clear what supervaluationists should say about propositional content. Does a vague sentence, e.g., ‘Harry is bald’, express one proposition, or a barrage of propositions, or none at all? Or is the matter indeterminate? The supervaluationist canon is not decisive on the issue; authoritative passages can be cited in favor of each of the proposals just mentioned. Furthermore, some detractors have argued that supervaluationism is incapable of providing any coherent account of propositional content. This paper considers each of the (...) proposals for how many propositions are expressed by a vague sentence: none, some, all, or it’s indeterminate. Most of these proposals turn out to be unworkable in the metalanguage. I conclude that orthodox supervaluationists—those who identify truth with supertruth—must either relax the standard requirement that propositions be bivalent, or else alter the standard relation between sentences and propositions in which a sentence inherits its truth-conditions from the proposition it expresses. The best option going forward for the orthodox supervaluationist is perhaps the most surprising—amend the requirement that propositions be bivalent. I argue that propositions having supervaluational truth-conditions are best suited to fill the propositional roles in the semantic theory of a vague language. These propositions admit of truth-value gaps, and gappy propositions are controversial, but I argue that they earn their keep. (shrink)

Die Welt liegt in Scherben, so heisst es. Und sich mit einer Welt anzufreunden, die sich der Anfreundung entzieht, scheint paradox. Christina Thürmer-Rohr kreist in ihren Essays zu Feminismus, Pluralität, Dialog, Aussenseitertum, Vergänglichkeit und zum politischen Denken Hannah Arendts um den Widerstreit zwischen dem Heimatlichen und dem Unheimlichen - und um die Fiktionen vom »heilen« Geschlecht. Sie widerspricht dabei der Annahme, Fremdheit sei das Andere der Freundschaft, Freundschaft das Andere der Fremdheit. So entsteht eine Karte, auf der man sich hin- (...) und herbewegen kann, denn die Nachbarschaft der einzelnen Texte eröffnet Türen zu Lesarten, die nicht in den gewohnten Spuren bleiben, und führt zu unerledigten Fragen, die keine Ruhe lassen." --Back cover. (shrink)

C.S. Peirce's "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God" [NA] has always baffled its readers. Its publishing editor needed to ask, "[W]hat, then, precisely, is your neglected argument?", and EP 2's editors observe that "[t]his is one of Peirce's most enigmatic writings". First-time readers will likely concur with the underwhelmed theologian who told Michael Raposa that NA "ought to remain neglected". Early Peirce scholars did neglect the essay, regarding it as an "anomalous sideshow to Peirce's more important concern with (...) the logic and methodology of science". No longer ignored, NA continues to bewilder: "N.... (shrink)

Moral behaviour, based on social norms, is commonly regarded as a hallmark of humans. Hitherto, humans are perceived to be the only species possessing social norms and to engage in moral behaviour. There is anecdotal evidence suggesting their presence in chimpanzees, but systematic studies are lacking. Here, we examine the evolution of human social norms and their underlying psychological mechanisms. For this, we distinguish between conventions, cultural social norms and universal social norms. We aim at exploring whether chimpanzees possess evolutionary (...) precursors of universal social norms seen in humans. Chimpanzees exhibit important preconditions for their presence and enforcement: tolerant societies, well-developed social-cognitive skills and empathetic competence. Here, we develop a theoretical framework for recognizing different functional levels of social norms and distinguish them from mere statistical behavioural regularities. Quasi social norms are found where animals behave functionally moral without having moral emotions. In proto social norms, moral emotions might be present but cannot be collectivized due to the absence of a uniquely human psychological trait, i.e. shared intentionality. Human social norms, whether they are universal or cultural, involve moral emotions and are collectivized. We will discuss behaviours in chimpanzees that represent potential evolutionary precursors of human universal social norms, with special focus on social interactions involving infants. We argue that chimpanzee infants occupy a special status within their communities and propose that tolerance towards them might represent a proto social norm. Finally, we discuss possible ways to test this theoretical framework. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Frühmittelalterliche Studien Jahrgang: 36 Heft: 2 Seiten: 392-402.

David Hume and Simone de Beauvoir agree that human beings have a great deal of control over their moral and political lives, which is well captured in Hume's assertion that "mankind is an inventive species". But Hume argues that the most important thing needed to settle our social lives and determine justice is the agreement on rules of property, while Beauvoir thinks that the rules of property will never be enough to establish the best life, but rather that we should (...) be focusing on freedom. In this article we reconstruct Hume's argument for property, then develop a Beauvoirian critique of Hume that brings out the weakness of any theory of property that does not prevent inequalities of property from interfering with freedom. And then we give the last word to a Humean response to Beauvoir that would insist that there can be no freedom but only violence without rules of property, which she ignores. Both thinkers appeal to humanity as an overriding goal, and perhaps that is the way to reconcile the two: we need both property and freedom to achieve our humanity. (shrink)

Objectives:Social isolation is increasing in aging societies and several studies have shown a relation with worse cognition in old age. However, less is known about the association in the oldest-old (85+); the group that is at highest risk for both social isolation and dementia. Methods:Analyses were based on follow-up 5 to 9 of the longitudinal German study on aging, cognition, and dementia in primary care patients (AgeCoDe) and the study on needs, health service use, costs, and health-related quality of life (...) in a large sample of oldest-old primary care patients (AgeQualiDe), a multi-center population-based prospective cohort study. Measurements included the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6), with a score below 12 indicating social isolation, as well as the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) as an indicator of cognitive function. Results:Dementia-free study participants (n = 942) were M = 86.4 (SD = 3.0) years old at observation onset, 68.2% were women. One third (32.3%) of them were socially isolated. Adjusted linear hybrid mixed effects models revealed significantly lower cognitive function in individuals with smaller social networks (β = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.7, p <.001). Moreover, changes in an individual's social network size were significantly associated with cognitive changes over time (β = 0.2, 95% CI = 0.1-0.4, p =.003), indicating worse cognitive function with shrinking social networks. Conclusion:Social isolation is highly prevalent among oldest-old individuals, being a risk factor for decreases in cognitive function. Consequently, it is important to maintain a socially active lifestyle into very old age. Likewise, this calls for effective ways to prevent social isolation. (shrink)

This article aims to think about politics and religion as expressions of man-in-the-world and to understand that such expressions contain numerous ways of presenting themselves, which can be modified based on human experiences and the relationships that man establishes throughout your life. It is within this atmosphere of understanding about politics and religion, seen in a broader and more relational way, that we bring the Austrian philosopher, Martin Buber, to subsidize us on this path of reflection on other ways of (...) facing these themes. It is worth mentioning that we do not intend to present Buber as a model or a hero, but as a person who, despite having been educated within an orthodox religious perspective ; that, even though he had lived through three great wars, he did not succumb to the atrocities and did not close himself within the rituals and dogmas of the religion to which he was inserted since he was a child. On the contrary, he faced reality based on its authenticity, opposed the contents of faith transmitted by the religion in which he was raised and did not bow to the adversities imposed by those who thought differently from him. For Buber, human responsibility is linked to the concrete world that surrounds it. And it is here that the notion of religiosity of that philosopher bequeaths us an important learning: we live immersed in contexts that speak to us and that demand an answer; and we have the opportunity, all the time, to dedicate our attention to these contexts and respond to them in the most unique way possible, driven by an ethics of responsibility. From the reflections presented, we can also say that politics and religion, understood as an expression of man-in-the-world, must be seen as the responsibilities of this singular man. With this, we do not want to say that external conditioning does not influence man in the response he gives to the world, but we want to emphasize that the duality of human existence allows man to respond from all your being or just with fragments of it. Keywords: Religion. Politics. Ethic. Responsibility. Martin Buber. (shrink)

In what follows, the difference between Frege’s and Schröder’s understanding of logical connectives will be investigated. It will be argued that Frege thought of logical connectives as concepts, whereas Schröder thought of them as operations. For Frege, logical connectives can themselves be connected. There is no substantial difference between the connectives and the concepts they connect. Frege’s distinction between concepts and objects is central to this conception, because it allows a method of concept formation which enables us to form concepts (...) from the logical connectives alone. Schröder in contrast unifies the distinction between concepts and objects, but keeps the distinction between logical connectives and what they connect. It will be argued that Frege’s particular way of perceiving logical connectives is crucial for his foundational project. (shrink)

Frege ist bekannt für seinen Versuch, die Arithmetik aus der Logik herzuleiten. Doch welcher Begriff von Logik liegt diesem Projekt zugrunde? Wenn Logik die Grundlage der Arithmetik ist und die Arithmetik über Inhalte verfestigt, so muss die Logik selbst eine Wissenschaft mit eigenen Inhalten sein. Die Autorin zeigt, wie Frege logische Zeichen zu eigenständigen Begriffen aufwertet und dadurch eine inhaltliche Logikkonzeption überhaupt erst ermöglicht. In einem weiteren Schritt wird ein Kriterium vorgestellt, mit dessen Hilfe Frege logische Inhalte von den Inhalten (...) anderer Wissenschaften abgrenzt. Dabei wird jedoch deutlich, dass Frege bis in die 1890er Jahre braucht, um sich vollständig vom Kantischen Diktum zu lösen, die Logik sei nur ein negativer Probierstein der Wahrheit. Die Suche nach dem Grund, der Frege zu einer inhaltlichen Konzeption von Logik zwang, führt in die Geometriegeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Vor ihrem Hintergrund werden schließlich die Anfangsparagraphen der Grundlagen der Arithmetik in einem neuen Licht interpretiert. (shrink)

A teoria pedagógica comporta muitos fenômenos que o educador deve compreender e levar em consideração, dentre eles, a crise. Alguns educadores exercem dignamente o seu ofício. Mesmo diante das situações mais adversas, eles podem ser considerados resilientes. Resiliência é o nome dado à capacidade concreta das pessoas de não só superarem situações críticas, mas também de utilizá-las em seus processos de desenvolvimento pessoal. Os estudos sobre o tema se propõem a enfatizar a promoção de processos educativos que facilitem ou tornem (...) as pessoas mais resistentes e maduras para enfrentar as dificuldades que ocorrem em sua vida. A inclusão da espiritualidade como um fator de favorecimento da resiliência parece ser o de desafiar o futuro numa perspectiva de superação, considerando as adversidades como obstáculos que poderão favorecer o amadurecimento pessoal, através da ampliação da visão de mundo e do estabelecimento de novas formas de equilíbrio. Acredita-se que um professor resiliente poderá mais facilmente manter-se firme em sua tarefa de educar, transcendendo as questões meramente pedagógicas, buscando desenvolver a integralidade na prática formativa, sobretudo porque possui mais possibilidades de vivenciar a sua própria multidimensionalidade. Este texto tem como finalidade estudar a importância da espiritualidade no favorecimento de uma postura resiliente no educador. (shrink)

This paper aims to show that Frege’s and Hilbert’s mutual disagreement results from different notions of Anschauung and their relation to axioms. In the first section of the paper, evidence is provided to support that Frege and Hilbert were influenced by the same developments of 19th-century geometry, in particular the work of Gauss, Plücker, and von Staudt. The second section of the paper shows that Frege and Hilbert take different approaches to deal with the problems that the developments in 19th-century (...) geometry posed for the traditional Kantian philosophy of mathematics. Frege maintains that Anschauung is a source of knowledge by which we acknowledge geometrical axioms as true. For Hilbert, in contrast, axioms provide one of several correct “pictures” of reality. Hilbert’s position is thereby deeply influenced by epistemological ideas from Hertz and Helmholtz, and, in turn, influenced the neo-Kantian Cassirer. (shrink)

This essay employs Charles Peirce’s triadic semiotics in order to develop a biosemiotic theory of life that is capable of illuminating the function of information in living systems. Specifically, I argue that the relationship between biological information structures , selecting environments, and the adapted bodily processes of living organisms is aptly modelled by the irreducibly triadic relationship between Peirce’s sign, object, and interpretant, respectively. In each instance of information-based semiosis, the information structure is a complex informational sign that represents the (...) informational object ; and the bodily, behavioral, mental, or intellectual processes that are organized by the informational sign to more or less accurately interpret the present environment constitute a complex informational interpretant—a living, interpreting organism. The essay begins by discussing the precise sense in which this biosemiotic theory is based upon Charles Peirce’s semiotic theory. Next, the theory is developed at length in relation to genetic information structures. Finally, I present a brief outline of how the theory applies to neural and linguistic information structures. The essay concludes with a reflection upon the anti-reductionist implications of the theory. (shrink)

This two-step argument first establishes that the majority of recent American films dealing with mental illness draw on a traditional iconography of madness as it has been established over the centuries in Western culture. In this vocabulary of images, the mad are typically seen as wise fools, as dangerous villains or as gifted geniuses. The author then argues that some of these new films add a fourth category in which the mad are defined as normal and the person with autism (...) as the embodiment of this normalcy. A close examination of the films then suggests that high functioning autism has become the embodiment of America’s current cultural condition. (shrink)