Proportionality—the idea that causes are neither too general nor too specific for their effects—seems to recommend implausibly disjunctive causes (McGrath, 1998 ; Shapiro & Sober, 2012 ; Franklin-Hall, 2016 ). I argue that this problem should be avoided by appeal to the notion of cohesion. I propose an account of cohesion in terms of the similarity structure of property-spaces, argue that it is not objectionably mysterious, and that alternative approaches—based on naturalness, interventionism, and contrastivism—are inadequate without appeal to it. In (...) an appendix, I show how my proposal can be perspicuously formalized by adapting structural equation models. (shrink)

The authors discuss sonic decay as a compositional, performative and installation practice. Building off of the recording of a six hour performance, Andrew Stanford and Ezra Teboul assembled a short eight minute audio response which comes in two separate files. In addition to online links to the pieces, this paper provides a description of the compositional process along with an analysis of the response’s content and format. It then relates those to the greater concepts of sonic materialism, sound objects, (...) and the parallax view, and places the piece in the context of relevant and contemporary sound-based art works. Sonic Decay was installed and performed at the 2014 International Žižek Studies Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. (shrink)

Explanatory metaphysics aspires to explain the less fundamental in terms of the more fundamental. But we should recognize two importantly different approaches to this task. According to the generation approach, more basic features of reality generate (or give rise to) less basic features. According to the reduction approach, less perspicuous ways of representing reality reduce to (or collapse into) more perspicuous ways of representing reality. The main goals of this paper are to present the core differences between the two approaches (...) (§2), to demonstrate the distinction's significance (§3), to provide some resources for adjudicating between the approaches (§4), and to argue that the project of explanatory metaphysics needs both (§5). (shrink)

Background The scrutiny surrounding gender-affirming medical treatment (GAMT) for youth has increased, particularly concerning the limited evidence on long-term treatment outcomes. The Standards of Care 8 by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health addresses this by outlining research evidence suggesting “effective” outcomes of GAMT for adolescents. However, claims concerning what are considered “effective” outcomes of GAMT for adolescents remain implicit, requiring further reflection. Methods Using trans negativity as a theoretical lens, we conducted a theory-informed reflexive thematic analysis of the (...) literature cited in the “Research Evidence” section of the SOC8 Adolescents chapter. We selected 16 articles that used quantitative measures to assess GAMT outcomes for youth, examining how “effective” outcomes were framed and interpreted to uncover implicit and explicit normative assumptions within the evidence base. Results A total of 44 different measures were used to assess GAMT outcomes for youth, covering physical, psychological, and psychosocial constructs. We identified four main themes regarding the normative assumptions of “effective” treatment outcomes: (1) doing bad: experiencing distress before GAMT, (2) moving toward a static gender identity and binary presentation, (3) doing better: overall improvement after GAMT, and (4) the absence of regret. These themes reveal implicit norms about what GAMT for youth should achieve, with improvement being the benchmark for “effectiveness.” Discussion We critically reflect on these themes through the lens of trans negativity to challenge what constitutes “effective” GAMT outcomes for youth. We explore how improvement justifies GAMT for youth and address the limitations of this notion. Conclusions We emphasize the need for an explicit discussion on the objectives of GAMT for adolescents. The linear narrative of improvement in GAMT for adolescents is limited and fails to capture the complexity of GAMT experiences. With currently no consensus on how the “effectiveness” of GAMT for adolescents is assessed, this article calls for participatory action research that centers the voices of young TGD individuals. (shrink)

The traditional scope theory of intensionality (STI) (see Russell 1905; Montague 1973; Ladusaw 1977; Ogihara 1992, 1996; Stowell 1993) is simple, elegant, and, for the most part, empirically adequate. However, a few quite troubling counterexamples to this theory have lead researchers to propose alternatives, such as positing null situation pronouns (Percus 2000) or actuality operators (Kamp 1971; Cresswell 1990) in the syntax of natural language. These innovative theories do correct the undergeneration of the original scope theory, but at a cost: (...) the situation pronoun and operator theories overgenerate, as argued extensively by Percus (2000) and Keshet (2008). This paper presents new data that supports the STI over other analyses, such as structures where DPs lose their de re readings in positions where syntactic movement is blocked. These data point the way to a new theory of intensionality. This new theory, called split intensionality, is a modification of the STI which aims to solve the problems raised for the original scope theory without overgenerating. The proposal calls for an additional intensional abstraction operator that creates an expression denoting an intension from an expression denoting an extension. When a DP moves to a position above this operator, it is interpreted de re; otherwise it is de dicto. The crucial part of the new proposal is that a DP may move above this operator and yet remain, for instance, below an intentional verb or inside an if-clause. Therefore, a DP within an island for syntactic movement may be de re and yet not move out of the island when the intensional abstraction operator is also within the island. (shrink)

In ‘Proportionality in Causation, Part I: Theories’, I presented various ways of understanding the idea that causes which are ‘proportional’ to their effects are in some sense preferable. In this companion article, I discuss the principal applications of the resulting theories of proportionality, and the challenges they face.

What grounds the facts about what is identical to/distinct from what? A natural answer is: the facts about what exists. Despite its prima facie appeal, this view has received surprisingly little attention in the literature. Moreover, those who have discussed it have been inclined to reject it because of the following important challenge: why should the existence of some individuals ground their identity in some cases and their distinctness in others? (Burgess 2012, Shumener 2020b). This paper offers a sustained defense (...) of the view. The first half provides some positive motivations in terms of other natural principles involving ground. The second half considers various ways of distilling the challenge into a precise objection to the view, and argues that none of the resulting objections proves persuasive. (shrink)

This response engages critically with Harzheim’s review of Thomas Fuchs’ In Defense of the Human Being: Foundational Questions of an Embodied Anthropology. Fuchs’ work offers a profound exploration of embodied cognition, arguing that human cognition and existence are deeply shaped by our physical interactions. Harzheim’s critique highlights significant aspects of Fuchs’ framework, including his critique of functionalist models, the impact of transhumanist technologies, and ethical concerns in healthcare technology. This paper extends Harzheim’s review by proposing an integration of functionalist and (...) embodied cognitive models, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive evaluation of technological impacts, and advocating for a more robust ethical framework that considers social equity. Additionally, it addresses the is-ought distinction and explores the implications of technological advancements on human identity and mental health. Doede’s critique is also discussed, underscoring the importance of integrating diverse cognitive models and addressing technological determinism. Overall, this response calls for a more nuanced and inclusive approach to the discourse on embodied cognition, aiming to enrich the scholarly conversation and address the complexities and implications of Fuchs’ analysis. (shrink)

A much-discussed idea in the causation literature is that it is preferable to invoke causes which are proportional to—neither too general nor too specific for—the effect. This article presents various ways of understanding this idea. In what sense are such causal claims ‘preferable’? And what is it for one event to be ‘proportional’ to another? In a companion article, ‘Proportionality in Causation, Part II: Applications and Challenges’, I discuss the principal applications of the resulting theories of proportionality, and the challenges (...) they face. (shrink)

Resumen: El examen de la visión moral del mundo que Hegel realiza en la Fenomenología del Espíritu VI C es polémico y hostil en sus acentos. Sin embargo, las objeciones puntuales a los planteamientos comunes a la ética kantiana y fichteana son justas y deben ser tenidas en cuenta cuando tratamos de ..

Suggests that the form of violence, its direction and purpose, and the conditions that start and end it, are determined mainly by the degree of hope or hopelessness giving rise to it. Violence is defined as an action whose intent is to harm another person. "Emotional violence" is an effort to reduce anxiety, which if successful arouses hope. "Instrumental violence" is directed at a specific goal in a more dispassionate manner. Societies should find moral equivalents to these 2 forms of (...) violence; social changes that decrease the effectiveness of instrumental violence may reduce emotional violence. (shrink)

The aim of this book is to lay bare the logical flaws in the arguments of those moral philosophers who believe they could make a positive contribution to moral thinking by means of linguistic analysis. By examining three contributions of Urmson, Hare and Toulmin the author shows that meta-ethics or ethics as a second-order activity is an ideal which is very difficult to attain, and if attainable at all would mean the end of ethics as a branch of philosophy.

Mind and Political Concepts offers a descriptive account of the conceptual mind as applied to political philosophy. In an attempt to find the common feature characterizing the conceptual method in political philosophy, this book examines three classical works: Plato's Republic, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract. It argues that political philosophy can also contribute something to philosophical psychology. This book is comprised of six chapters and begins by tracing the origins of the conceptual method to Plato's general philosophical (...) method. In particular, Plato's views on concepts such as justice, human behavior, and political order in Republic are discussed. The reader is then introduced to Hobbes' Leviathan and his role in the advent of the scientific conceptual method; Rousseau's Social Contract and his analysis of human nature and the state; the structure of a political theory; and the link between the philosophy of mind and psychology. The last chapter considers some modern political theories and shows that, however different their methods and their programs, their notion of the philosopher's participation in political life was dependent on their concept of reason. This monograph will appeal to students and practitioners of philosophy, politics, and psychology. (shrink)

Introduction: cinema, globalization and the posthuman object -- Consuming objects -- Exotic objects -- Part objects: war, disavowal, and the logic of substitution -- Objects of desire -- Posthuman objects.

Researchers often assume that possible worlds and times are represented in the syntax of natural languages. However, it has been noted that such a system can overgenerate. This paper proposes a constraint on systems where worlds and times are represented as situation pronouns. The Intersective Predicate Generalization, based on and extending work by R. Musan, states that two items composed via Predicate Modification, such as a noun and an intersective modifier, must be evaluated in the same world and time. To (...) explain this generalization, a rule of Situation Economy is advanced, which holds that structures must have the fewest number of situation pronouns possible. Since strong DPs require a situation pronoun to receive a de re reading, a restriction on the type of strong determiners is proposed, which supersedes Situation Economy in this case. Finally, the paper shows how the Situation Economy approach explains an unrelated phenomenon involving bare plurals and examines the connection between this new rule and the grammar of natural language in general. (shrink)

This paper deals with the policy of affirmative action as an additional means for achieving equality of opportunity in society. It assumes that in modem society-at least in principle-the superior positions are distributed according to merit, and on the basis of fair competition. I argue that formal equality of opportunity injects apparently neutral requirements, such as experience, into the selection procedure for top positions, that, in fact, act particularly against women, since they allow the past employment situation to affect the (...) new selection. I use a statistical argument to show that without preferential treatment towards women, they will not overcome structural obstacles that prevent them from getting top positions. I also use the same argument to show that affirmative action at present contributes to equality of opportunity in the future. (shrink)

Resumen Desde sus comienzos la concepción fenomenológica de la intencionalidad se ha caracterizado por una tensión fecunda entre el símil de una dirección a un objeto, y la imagen de una red de referencias, extendida en el tiempo, que versan acerca del objeto y en sus remisiones mutuas determinan los significados que el objeto adquiere en nuestro pensamiento y en nuestras prácticas. Con la predominancia de este segundo aspecto nos alejamos de una teoría de los objetos para conectar la presencia (...) temática de objetos de toda clase con la historia de los actos que les confiere significado. La (inter) subjetividad histórica constituida por actos en los cuales el pensamiento se refiere a lo ya pensado, y el renovado despliegue de los objetos del mundo en el presente forman juntos la trama de la vida consciente. No obstante , en el estudio de la conciencia interior del tiempo que Husserl emprende repetidas veces se pierde de vista la coordinación de los actos perceptivos con lo que ocurre en el mundo, sin la cual la noción del tiempo, y en particular la de un ahora, se vacía de su sentido. Este vuelco hacia el interior es motivado por la idea de una reducción transcendental. Sin embargo, el temario iniciado con el estudio del sentido subjetivo de las objetivaciones no lleva necesariamente a conferir una prioridad ontológica a la interioridad. Husserl mismo oscila entre una comprensión ontológica de la reducción transcendental y una en términos de una elucidación de sentidos. La ilegítima prioridad dada a la conciencia interior del tiempo encuentra su paralela en la consideración por parte de Heidegger del tiempo intramundano como impropio y derivado. Ambos son en ello víctimas del espejismo agustiniano del Noli foras ire: No salgas. Palabras clave: intencionalidad longitudinal y transversal; historicidad del pensamiento; referencia exterior de la conciencia; vía cartesiana de la reducción;vía psicológico-transcendental. Internal and External References of Consciousness in Phenomenological DiscussionFrom its beginnings the phenomenological conception of intentionality has been marked by a fecund tension between the simile of directedness to an object and the image of a network of time-extended references, which are about the object and in their mutual remissions determine the significance the object acquires in our thought and practices. With the predominance of this second aspect we drift apart from a purely object-theoretical stance, in order to connect the presence of objects of all kinds to a history of meaning-giving acts. Historical (inter)subjectivity, made by acts in which thought refers to what was already thought, and the renewed display of the world of objects in the present are thus seen as constituting the weave of conscious life. Nonetheless, when it comes to the study of inner time-consciousness which Husserl repeatedly undertakes, the essential coordination of perceptive acts and what happens in the world remains out of sight; without the latter the notion of time, and particularly that of now, are emptied of sense. This inner turn is motivated by the idea of a transcendental reduction. However, the study of subjective meaning of objectivations does not necessarily lead to conferring an ontological priority to interiority. Husserl himself wavers between an ontological and a sense-elucidating understanding of what he calls phenomenological reduction. The illegitimate priority given to inner time-consciousness is paralleled by Heidegger’s considering of intra-mundane time as improper and derivative. Both are pray to the lure of the Augustinian Noli foras ire: Don’t go out Keywords: Longitudinal And Transversal Intentionality; Historicity Of Thought;External Reference Of Consciousness; Cartesian And Psychological-Transcendental Route of Reduction. (shrink)

Some theories are alleged to be implausible because they are committed to systematic ‘overdetermination’. In response, some authors defend ‘compatibilism’: the view that the putative overdetermination is benign, like other unproblematic cases of a single effect having many sufficient causes. The literature has tended to focus on the following question: which relations between sufficient causes of a single effect ensure that problematic overdetermination is avoided? This paper argues that several widely endorsed answers to this question are subject to counterexample. It (...) then proposes a diagnosis of this failure: the standard answers neglect what really matters––how the causes are connected to their shared effect. In particular, overdetermination is avoided when there are no independent causal connections. (shrink)

Provision of adequate nutrition to elderly patients who develop dysphagia after a stroke can be quite challenging, often leading to the placement of a percutaneous entero‐gastrostomy (PEG) tube for nutritional support. This hypothetical case describes the additional challenge of cross‐cultural belief that leads a daughter to provide oral feeding to her mother, an act that the medical team believes is dangerous and the daughter sees as salubrious. In this case, what is the proper balance between patient safety and deference to (...) cultural traditions and norms? Where are the limits? Two commentaries offer insights for conflict resolution, including recommending that the medical team seek to understand the cultural motivations of the family, balancing safety and respect for cultural norms. The second commentary also disagrees with the team's presumption that the daughter's feeding of her mother is a greater threat to the patient than the PEG tube feeding is. (shrink)

According to a radical account of quantum metaphysics that I label ‘high-dimensionalism’, ordinary objects are the ‘shadows’ of high-dimensional fundamental ontology. Critics—especially Maudlin —allege that high-dimensionalism cannot provide a satisfactory explanation of the manifest image. In this paper, I examine the two main ideas behind these criticisms: that high-dimensionalist connections between fundamental and non-fundamental are 1) inscrutable, and 2) arbitrary. In response to the first, I argue that there is no metaphysically significant contrast regarding the scrutability of low- and high-dimensionalist (...) connections. In response to the second, I argue that the arbitrariness of high-dimensionalist connections has been overstated, and what arbitrariness there is afflicts low-dimensionalist connections too. Thus, the debate should not be focused on whether high-dimensionalism can provide a satisfactory explanation of the manifest image—as it has been in recent literature—but rather on the broader question of whether there is good all-things-considered reason to prefer low-dimensionalist theories. (shrink)

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

US foreign policy became one of the most popular issues in public and academic discussions, particularly since George W. Bush was elected president. A lot has been said about the negative effects that the Bush administration had on the world's international relations and peace, mainly with regard to the restraints which are required by jus ad bellum. However, not much has been said about the damage that the Bush administration caused to the norms of jus in bello, by ignoring them (...) or turning a blind eye toward their violations. In this paper, I want to recall a few military and civil reasons which have been neglected for following the requirements of jus in bello by the fighting soldiers and the fighting unit, as well as by the belligerent state. (shrink)

This paper considers some questions related to the determination of epistemic modal domains. Specifically, given situations in which groups of agents have epistemic states that bear on a modal domain, how is the domain best restricted? This is a metasemantic project, in which I combine a standard semantics for epistemic modals, as developed by Kratzer, with a standard story about conversational dynamics, as developed by Stalnaker. I show how a standard framework for epistemic logic can model their interaction. I contend (...) that if groups have epistemic states that bear on the modal domain, as the data suggests, then careful attention must be paid to the method of combination selected for the epistemic states of the individuals within the group. Specifically, there should be some explanation of the flow of information in a group-deliberative setting. Through this study we find a novel explanation of modal disagreement and uptake. (shrink)