This is an introduction to Michael Dummett’s philosophy. Unlike other books on Dummett, this work considers the historical development of his philosophical thought: 1) Dummett in Oxford in the Fifties; 2) the discovery of Frege and the context principle; 3) a critique of realism in 1959; 4) theories of meaning; 5) truth-conditional, realist theories of meaning; 6) justificationist theories of meaning; 7) philosophy of time; 8) philosophy, science and religion; 9) Chronology of life and work; 10) History of the reception (...) of Dummett’s philosophy; 11) Bibliography. (shrink)

In the present paper we present a short review of some recent neuro- physiological and neuropsychological findings which suggest that self-generated actions and actions of others are mapped on the same neural substratum. Since this substratum is neutral with respect to the agent, correctly attributing an action to its proper author requires the co-activation of areas specific to the self and the other. A conceptual analysis of the empirical data will lead us to conclude that from a neurobiological point of (...) view the problem is not 'how is it possible to share the intentions of others', but rather 'how one can distinguish one's own action/intention from those of other people'. (shrink)

Cet article se donne pour tâche d’étudier la manière dont l’exposition à l’art d’oblitération du sculpteur Sacha Sosno conduit Levinas à décrire les portées ontologique et éthique de la pratique de la rature appliquée à des sculptures archétypales de l’art classique : oblitération par le vide (découpe, percée, trouée) et oblitération par le plein (obtusion, enserrement). Quarante-deux ans après avoir considéré – dans « La réalité et son ombre » (1948) – que seule l’exégèse philosophique de l’art peut réintégrer l’œuvre (...) dans le monde humain, Levinas reconnaît une prise de position éthique au sein même de la technique d’oblitération. En effet, dans De l’oblitération (1990), le philosophe affirme que les blessures infligées par la défaite des belles formes interrompent notre obstination inter-essée de persévérer dans l’être, révèlent la finitude et l’ambiguïté d’un visage à la fois visible et invisible, dénoncent les abus de la vie sociale, et suscitent la compassion et la responsabilité du spectateur. (shrink)

What is an inference? Logicians and philosophers have proposed various conceptions of inference. I shall first highlight seven features that contribute to distinguish these conceptions. I shall then compare three conceptions to see which of them best explains the special force that compels us to accept the conclusion of an inference, if we accept its premises.

Is a rational dispute over the validity of a fundamental logical law possible? In his lecture ‘Logics and Metalogics’, Timothy Williamson criticizes Dummett’s approach to this problem and maintains that a semantic theory does not provide a way of settling disputes over the validity of fundamental logical laws. I argue that Dummett’s view is different from the view criticized by Williamson. Dummett does not think that a semantic theory alone can settle a dispute over the validity of a fundamental logical (...) law. Such disputes, according to Dummett, should be settled by the theory of meaning. A semantic theory in the sense that is usual among logicians is a theory of logical consequence . A meaning theory is a theory of understanding . (shrink)

As shown by neuroscientific evidence, neglect may occur without elementary sensorimotor impairments. The deficit is to be found at a higher, more abstract level of representation, which prevents the patient not only from seeing, but from conceiving the contralesional space. By analysing a series of neuropsychological results, in this paper we suggest a crucial role of time for the construction of a world: on this basis, we try to explain how it is possible that half the ontology gets lost. The (...) analysis of the ontological implication of neglect will allow us to shed light on manifestations of the pathology apparently disconnected. (shrink)

Plagiarism is increasingly evident in business and academia. Though links between demographic, personality, and situational factors have been found, previous research has not used actual plagiarism behavior as a criterion variable. Previous research on academic dishonesty has consistently used self-report measures to establish prevalence of dishonest behavior. In this study we use actual plagiarism behavior to establish its prevalence, as well as relationships between integrity-related personal selection and workplace deviance measures. This research covers new ground in two respects: (a) That (...) the academic dishonesty literature is subject to revision using criterion variables to avoid self bias and social desirability issues and (b) we establish the relationship between actual academic dishonesty and potential workplace deviance/white-collar crime. (shrink)

The traditional opposition between mathematical proof and rhetorical argument is based on a non-contextual picture of proof, against which historical and theoretical objections have been raised. The author advocates a different opposition, between epistemic rhetoric and instrumental rhetoric. Instrumental rhetoric aims at persuasion without caring for truth. Epistemic rhetoric is a practice aimed at both persuasion and truth. Aiming at truth is a way of acting, which can be characterized in terms of epistemically virtuous behavioural traits. In this sense epistemic (...) rhetoric aims at truth, even though it is contextual and addressed to a particular audience. Real life mathematical proofs are instances of epistemic rhetoric and contextual rigour. But it is right to contrast proofs with instrumentally rhetoric arguments. (shrink)

In this Introduction to the Chinese translation of Pico Della Mirandola's Oratio on the Dignity of Man, Pier Cesare Bori traces the origin of this fundamental text of modern humanist thought and discusses its present value in the contemporary intercultural and inter religious dialogue. The Chinese translation will enhance this dialogue and contribute to its actualization.

The DAPRECO knowledge base is the main outcome of the interdisciplinary project bearing the same name. It is a repository of rules written in LegalRuleML, an XML formalism designed to be a standard for representing the semantic and logical content of legal documents. The rules represent the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, the new Regulation that is significantly affecting the digital market in the European Union and beyond. The DAPRECO knowledge base builds upon the Privacy Ontology, which provides (...) a model for the legal concepts involved in the GDPR, by adding a further layer of constraints in the form of if-then rules, referring either to standard first order logic implications or to deontic statements. If-then rules are formalized in reified Input/Output logic and then codified in LegalRuleML. Reified Input/Output logic is an application of standard Input/Output logic for legal reasoning, in which Input/Output logic is combined with the reification-based approach in Hobbs and Gordon. The DAPRECO knowledge base is then a case study for reified Input/Output logic, and it shows that the formalism indeed appears to be a good candidate to effectively formalize, via uniform and simple representations, complex linguistic/deontic phenomena that may be found in legal texts. To date, the DAPRECO knowledge base is the biggest knowledge base in LegalRuleML and Input/Output logic freely available online. (shrink)

This paper surveys preliminary results from the Interdisciplinary Prostate Ontology Project (IPOP), in which ontologies from the OBO Foundry have been used to annotate clinical reports about prosta...

Plagiarism is increasingly evident in business and academia. Though links between demographic, personality, and situational factors have been found, previous research has not used actual plagiarism behavior as a criterion variable. Previous research on academic dishonesty has consistently used self-report measures to establish prevalence of dishonest behavior. In this study we use actual plagiarism behavior to establish its prevalence, as well as relationships between integrity-related personal selection and workplace deviance measures. This research covers new ground in two respects: (a) That (...) the academic dishonesty literature is subject to revision using criterion variables to avoid self bias and social desirability issues and (b) we establish the relationship between actual academic dishonesty and potential workplace deviance/white-collar crime. (shrink)

In this paper we present the results of two experiments. The first is on the categorization of texture words in the English language. The goal was to determine whether there is a common basis for subjects' groupings of words related to visual texture, and if so, to identify the underlying dimensions used to categorize those words.Eleven major clusters were identified through hierarchical cluster analysis, ranging from “random” to “repetitive”. These clusters remained intact in a multidimensional scaling solution. The stress for (...) a three‐dimensional solution obtained through multidimensional scaling was 0.18, meaning that 82% of the variance in the data is explained through the use of three dimensions. It appears that the major dimensions of texture descriptors are repetitive versus nonrepetitive; linearly oriented versus circularly oriented; and simple versus complex.In the second experiment we measured the strength of association between texture words and texture images. The goal was to determine whether there is any systematic correspondence between the domains of texture words and texture images. Pearson's coefficient of contingency, a measure of the strength of association, was found to be 0.63 for words corresponding to given images and 0.56 for images corresponding to given words. Thus the texture categories in the verbal space and those in the visual space are strongly tied.In sum, our two experiments show (a) that despite the tremendous variety in the words we have to describe textures, there is an underlying structure to the lexical space which can be derived from the experimental data; and (b) that the association between a category of words and a category of images was strongest when both categories represent the same underlying property. This suggests that subjects' organizations of texture terms are systematically tied to their organization of texture images. (shrink)

Despite society’s increasing sensitivity toward green production, companies often struggle to find effective communication strategies that induce consumers to buy green products or engage in other environmentally friendly behaviors. To add clarity to this situation, we investigated the effectiveness of negative versus positive message framing in promoting green products, whereby companies highlight the detrimental versus beneficial environmental consequences of choosing less versus more green options, respectively. Across four experiments, we show that negatively framed messages are more effective than positively framed (...) ones in prompting consumers to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. More importantly, we find that anticipated shame is the emotion responsible for this effect. Furthermore, both environmental concern and the type of product promoted serve as moderators; thus, the mediating role of anticipated shame is attenuated when environmental concern is low and the product is a luxury one. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our work, along with its limitations and some directions for future research. (shrink)

The little we know with certainty about Eupolis' Marikas can be summarised in a few lines. The play was produced at the Lenaea of 421 b.c. The demagogue Hyperbolus was satirised under the name of Marikas, and was represented as a man of little or no culture . Marikas/Hyperbolus was a slave. This has been denied in the past, but is now made clear by the commentary on the Marikas in P. Oxy. 2741 πρς [ν] δεσπότην Ὑπέρβολος. Aristophanes complained in (...) the Clouds we possess that Eupolis had availed himself of the Knights for his Marikas , and it is in fact possible that the idea of Marikas as a slave was borrowed from the Knights, because some of his traits seem to correspond to those of the Aristophanic Sausage-seller. The play apparently had two semi-choruses, one of rich and one of poor people. The point of the name Marikas has long been debated. Ancient sources are at least agreed that it is ‘barbarian’. Herodianus 1.50,12 Lentz does not go beyond stating that Marikas is an νομα βάρβαρον παρ τ κωμικ . Hesych. μ 283 Latte has more to offer: Μαρικν· κίναιδον. ο δ ποκόρισμα παιδίου ρρενος βαρβαρικόν. (shrink)