Studies in experimental philosophy claim to document intuition variation. Some studies focus on demographic group-variation; Colaçoet al., for example, claim that age generates intuition variation regarding knowledge attribution in a fake-barn scenario. Other studies claim to show intuition variation when comparing the intuition of philosophers to that of non-philosophers. The main focus has been on documenting intuition variation rather than uncovering what underlying factor(s) may prompt such a phenomenon. We explore a number of suggested explanatory hypotheses put forth by Colaçoet (...) al., as well as an attempt to test Sosa's claim that intuition variance is a result of people ‘filling in the details’ of a thought experiment differently from one another. We show (i) that people respond consistently across conditions aimed at ‘filling in the details’ of thought experiments, (ii) that risk attitude does not seem relevant to knowledge ascription, (iii) that people's knowledge ascriptions do not vary due to views about defeasibility of knowledge. Yet, (iv) we find no grounds to reject that a large proportion of people appear to adhere to so-called subjectivism about knowledge, which may explain why they generally have intuitions about the fake-barn scenario that vary from those of philosophers. (shrink)

In Kelsen's formalist and reductionist theory of law, the concepts of `authority' and `competence' may be explained exclusively in terms of those norms on which the validity of other legal norms or of legal acts is dependent. Kelsen describes the nature of these norms in different ways; at least three different conceptions can be distinguished. A rational reconstruction of the most plausible of these conceptions will understand sentences expressing such `norms of competence' either to state truth conditions for normative sentences (...) of a lower level or to state criteria for an act to be a legal act. In both functions, norms of competence regulate the creation of normative facts. (shrink)

Totalitarismespørgsmålet kan synes marginalt idag, nar Vestens politiske kultur analyseres: her er det kun ubetydelige partidannelser, der påkalder sig den fascistiske korporatlvisme eller den tvangskollektivistiske statskapitalisme.

1. The Search Engine operators inform the users about the way in which the Search Engine works; particularly the basic criteria of ranking are explained. Also, the Search Engine operators describe which ways of manipulating websites lead to exclusion from the result lists in case of doubt.2. The Search Engine operators design their sites in the most transparent way. Contents whose position on the result list is due to a commercial arrangement are clearly marked.3. It is the intention of the (...) Search Engine opera-tors to protect children and youths from morally damaging contents. To this purpose, the opera-tors provide family filters and point out to the fact that filters do not guarantee absolute pro-tection for youths and that children should not use the internet without their parents´ supervision.4. Those sites which are regarded illegal according to national legislation will be excluded from the result lists as soon as the operators know about them and have access to the illegal sites on the index.5. For handling the users´ data there is the princi-ple of data-thriftiness.This “Code of Conduct” was developed by Carsten Welp. It was first published in: Marcel Machill and Carsten Welp : Wegweiser im Netz. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung 2003. Republished and trans-lated by kind permission of Marcel Machill. (shrink)

By bringing feminist science studies scholar Donna J. Haraway’s A manifesto for cyborgs (1985) and Situated knowledges (1988) in line with contemporary critical new materialist thought (see Colman & Van der Tuin, 2024; Dolphijn & Van der Tuin, 2012; Geerts, 2022), this critical pedagogical and philosophical think piece tackles the problematic of Anthropocenic disruptions of the planetary biosphere for critical pedagogies and higher education (also see Carstens, 2016). It additionally encourages its readers to think through their own pedagogical conceptions and (...) praxes by means of irruptive (Geerts & Carstens, 2024; Koro-Ljungberg, 2015) selfreflection- stimulating questions. Our situated – and thus limited and open-ended – response to this all-encompassing Anthropocenic crisis is rooted in a rethinking of Harawayan cyborgian and situated knowledges and the critical pedagogical lessons drawn from the latter. Rereading Haraway’s work through contemporary critical new materialist and related scholarship reveals that it already contained an ecofeminist onto-epistemological shift toward more-than-human agency and relationality. This shift has major consequences for all things critical pedagogical and educational, as our pedagogical thinking-doings are deeply embedded in today’s crisis-ridden lifeworld. This rereading exercise furthermore underlines the necessity of an updated critical new materialist pedagogical praxis for learning and teaching, inspired by Harawayan ecofeminism, that takes the entanglements between human, dehumanised, and more-than-human actors seriously. (shrink)

Self-fulfillment of theories is argued to be a threat to social science in at least two ways. First, a realist might worry that self-fulfillment constitutes a threat to the idea that social science is a proper science consistent with a realist approach that develops true and successful statements about the world. Second, one might argue that the potential self-fulfilling nature of social science theories potentially undermines the ethical integrity of social scientists. We argue that if one accepts that social science (...) theories are not based on laws akin to those that govern natural reality or acknowledges that if one can predict self-fulfillment via a meta-theory that explains the underlying regularities of the self-fulfilling change, the threat to realism is dismantled. Furthermore, on the basis of these arguments, we show that if one is unable to predict the consequences of a theory, it is difficult to ascribe moral responsibility at the individual level. It is, therefore, not the potential self-fulfillment of theories per se that poses an ethical challenge, in contrast to claims in the literature. (shrink)

In this paper we study the logic $\mathcal{L}^\lambda_{\omega\omega}$, which is first-order logic extended by quantification over functions . We give the syntax of the logic as well as the semantics in Heyting categories with exponentials. Embedding the generic model of a theory into a Grothendieck topos yields completeness of $\mathcal{L}^\lambda_{\omega\omega}$ with respect to models in Grothendieck toposes, which can be sharpened to completeness with respect to Heyting-valued models. The logic $\mathcal{L}^\lambda_{\omega\omega}$ is the strongest for which Heyting-valued completeness is known. Finally, (...) we relate the logic to locally connected geometric morphisms between toposes. (shrink)

The notion of testifying (or testimony) is the central notion of Bolzano's theory of communication. In his Wissenschaftslehre (Theory of Science) Bolzano gives an analysis of this notion. It shows surprising parallels to Paul Grice's attempt to define "A meantNN something by x". I will begin with an explanation of some parts of the analysis and continue with an investigation of the relationship between Bolzano's analysis and that of Grice. In conclusion I would like to present some evidence supporting the (...) hypothesis that several of the virtues of Grice's theory had already been developed by Bolzano, whose approach even has the advantage of a better definition than Grice's, as Bolzano's analysis provides a better basis for defining a notion of successful communication of information. (shrink)

Seit geraumer Zeit versteht die Wissenschaftssoziologie die Erzeugung und Verbreitung von Wissen als ein Kontinuum, an dem Experten und Laien gleichermaßen teilhaben, wobei sich die Erforschung dieses Kontinuums vorrangig auf die "Wissenschaftspopularisierung" des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts konzentriert. Indem der Sammelband die Popularisierung auch des nicht-naturwissenschaftlichen Wissens thematisiert, treten Phänomene in den Blick, die mehr sind als eine bloße Vorgeschichte moderner Wissenschaftspopularisierung. Die Beiträge, die unterschiedlichen Disziplinen entstammen, fragen nach Strukturen, Motiven und Bedingungen von Popularisierungsprozessen in spezifischen historischen Konstellationen - (...) von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, wobei erstmals konsequent die Vormoderne berücksichtigt und bewusst die Popularisierung kulturgeschichtlichern, religiösen und identitätsstiftenden Wissens einbezogen wird. Die besondere Aufmerksamkeit aller Beiträge gilt dabei immer wieder dem grundlegenden Zusammenhang von gesellschaftlichen Krisen und der Nachfrage nach popularisiertem Wissen. (shrink)

The power of imagination fulfills a special function with respect to particular intuition and to the forms of intuition of space and time a function that exceeds Kant’s deliberations on imagination. Not just the forms themselves, but also their manifold are orignally generated by that capability. While Kant’s theory of experience starts with a given mannifold and shows how the rule-making role of reason provides productive imagination with a way of assimilating that manifold into a unified perspective, Fichte’s philosophy has (...) the productivity of the imagination reaching further as a novel, revealing inheritance. As a fully autonomously proceeding entity, it further devises not only space and time and their constituent diversity, but also simultaneously generates categories without being dependent on the reason that in the B-version of the Critique is necessary for understanding the composition of time and space. When Kant speaks for example in the Opus Postumum under the heading cogitabile ut dabile about the constitution of the manifold, that form of constitutive act is not to be interpreted as an original genesis. Hence the act of constitutive and determinative synthesis has a different meaning in the two systems.Die Einbildungskraft erfullt bei Fichte eine ganz besondere Funktion in Hinblick auf die einzelne Anschauung und die Anschauungsformen von Raum und Zeit, die über die Kantischen Ausführungen zur Einbildungskraft hinausgehen. So werden nicht nur letztere, sondern auch das in Raum und Zeit enthaltene Mannigfaltige ursprünglich durch die Einbildungskraft generiert. Wahrend die Kantische Theorie der Erfahrung ihren Ausgang vom gegebenen Mannigfaltigen nimmt und zeigt, wie der regelgebende Verstand vermittelst der produktiven Einbildungskraft dieses Mannigfaltige zur – stets begriffenen – Einheit der Anschauung konstituiert, reicht die Produktivität der Einbildungskraft in der Philosophie Fichtes als originar welteroffnendes Vermögen also wesentlich weiter. Vollkommen autonom verfahrend entwirft sie ferner nicht nur Raum, Zeit und das darin enthaltene Mannigfaltige, sondern generiert zugleich die Kategorien, ohne – wie speziell in der B–Auflage der Kritik – auf die Regel eines für die Zeit- und Raumkonstitution notwendig vorauszusetzenden Verstandes angewiesen zu sein. Spricht Kant, wie etwa im Opus Postumum vor dem Hintergrund des Gedankens eines cogitabile ut dabile, von der Bestimmung des Mannigfaltigen, dann ist diese Art der Intellektion nicht im Sinne einer ursprüngliche Erzeugung zu verstehen. Der Akt der anschauungserzeugenden und bestimmenden Synthesis hat in beiden Systemen also eine unterschiedliche Bedeutung. (shrink)

Farming of fish and other aquatic species has increased in recent decades and never before have there been more controversial debates on animal welfare in fish husbandry. The practices used and associated welfare issues are becoming increasingly focused on by scientists, consumers and policy makers. International and national organisations have issued recommendations and guidelines concerning fish welfare but there is still a lot of information lacking. Due to § 2 of the German animal protection law, animals must be adequately nourished, (...) cared for and behaved in a proper manner, and pain or avoidable suffering or damage must be avoided. Keeping fish in accordance with the animal protection laws should be part of a good professional aquaculture practice and is indispensable for ethical, legal and economic reasons. As other vertebrates fish have the right of a healthy life with physical and mental integrity, under which they can perform adequately.The paper provides and discusses legal aspects of animal protection applied to fish taking the German welfare act and EU regulations as example. First possible indicators for the assessment of well-being will be mentioned. The assessment of fish welfare indicators should be carried out within the frame of daily and regular working routines, e. g. feeding, harvesting, grading or slaughtering. Further customer’s perception and human interpretation of welfare in fish are discussed and set into the context of human sentiments, projected on fish and the debate on consciousness in fish. (shrink)

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to provide a response to Christiansen's paper, Ellen Christiansen “From ‘ethics of the eye’ to ‘ethics of the hand’ by collaborative prototyping”,Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, Vol. 12 No. 1.Design/methodology/approach– Reflection and critique of Christiansen's position.Findings– The paper raises questions about the conceptual basis, the realisation of participation and the conditions required for participative practice to be more broadly employed.Originality/value– It is an original response.

While early optimists have seen online discussions as potential spaces for deliberation, the reality of many online spaces is characterized by incivility and irrationality. Increasingly, AI tools are considered as a solution to foster deliberative discourse. Against the backdrop of previous research, we show that AI tools for online discussions heavily focus on the deliberative norms of rationality and civility. In the operationalization of those norms for AI tools, the complex deliberative dimensions are simplified, and the focus lies on the (...) detection of argumentative structures in argument mining or verbal markers of supposedly uncivil comments. If the fairness of such tools is considered, the focus lies on data bias and an input–output frame of the problem. We argue that looking beyond bias and analyzing such applications through a sociotechnical frame reveals how they interact with social hierarchies and inequalities, reproducing patterns of exclusion. The current focus on verbal markers of incivility and argument mining risks excluding minority voices and privileges those who have more access to education. Finally, we present a normative argument why examining AI tools for online discourses through a sociotechnical frame is ethically preferable, as ignoring the predicable negative effects we describe would present a form of objectionable indifference. (shrink)

This essay is about the significance of the body for dwelling. Considering the body implies considering a concrete body, i.e. asking for the experiences embedded in it. Consequently, the body in consideration is, for example, gendered. The topic of dwelling takes Martin Heidegger’s work on the hand as the point of departure and uses philosophical anthropology and Jacques Derrida’s comments on Heidegger as inspiration to suggest that the relationship between the hand and thinking implies asking whose hands build places of (...) dwelling. When dwelling is related to the body, we must also consider what concrete body is involved in building and dwelling. (shrink)

Gibt es ein einzelnes Problem, das mit Recht als das Grundproblem der Semantik bezeichnet werden kann? Der Titel dieses Buches behauptet es und unterstellt zugleich, Frege habe sich mit diesem Grundproblem auseinandergesetzt. Die Aufgabe der Semantik besteht darin, die unterschiedlichen semantischen Funktionen verschiedener Ausdrücke darzustellen; sie wird zum Problem, weil unklar ist, wie sie begonnen werden soll. Einerseits sind die selbständigen Ausdrücke (meistens syntaktisch und immer semantisch) komplex, so dass scheinbar auch ihre Funktionen aus denen der einfacheren, die sie aufbauen, (...) erklärt werden müssen; andererseits ist gerade dies unmöglich, weil die letzteren Funktionen sicher nicht von den ersteren abhängen. Freges Beitrag zur philosophischen Semantik besteht zunächst einmal in gegensätzlichen Vorschlägen - kompositionaler Charakter der Sätze bei gleichzeitiger Kontextualität der Aufbaustücke - die sich jedoch verständlich vereinbaren lassen, und eine Aufklärung jener Funktionen von den komplexen her, beispielsweise der des Behauptungssatzes, ermöglichen. Nun können auch Freges Überlegungen zur semantischen Funktion des Behauptungssatzes selbst fruchtbar gemacht werden, und von dorther wird schließlich auch seine Theorie der unterschiedlichen Funktionen der einfacheren Ausdrücke, insbesondere der Eigennamen und Prädikate, verständlich. (shrink)

For an indicative conditional to be true it is not generally sufficient that its antecedent be false or its consequent true. I propose to analyse such a conditional as strong, i.e. as containing a tacit quantification over a domain of possible situations, with the if-clause specifying that domain such that the conditional gets assigned the appropriate truth conditions. Now, one definition of logical consequence proceeds in terms of a natural-language conditional. Interpreting it as strong leads to a paraconsistent consequence relation, (...) though the motivation behind it is not to reason coherently about contradictions but to reason entirely without them. (shrink)