The difference in formulation of the question of heredity on a different level of knowledge in Brno in the 1830s and after 1850 is discussed in this article. In order to solve the problem the most important source is forshown in the new philosophy of plant physiology and in physics. Mendel was pleased to have met excellent teachers of both these fields. This explanation is an example of Mirko Grmek's thesis: 'l'histoire des sciences est le laboratoire de l'épistomologie'.

This article suggests a ‘best alternative' justification of induction (in the sense of Reichenbach) which is based on meta-induction . The meta-inductivist applies the principle of induction to all competing prediction methods which are accessible to her. It is demonstrated, and illustrated by computer simulations, that there exist meta-inductivistic prediction strategies whose success is approximately optimal among all accessible prediction methods in arbitrary possible worlds, and which dominate the success of every noninductive prediction strategy. The proposed justification of meta-induction is (...) mathematically analytical. It implies, however, an a posteriori justification of object-induction based on the experiences in our world. *Received November 2005; revised March 2008. †To contact the author, please write to: Department of Philosophy, University of Duesseldorf, Universitaetsstrasse 1, Geb. 23.21, Duesseldorf, Germany D-40225; e-mail: gerhard[email protected]. (shrink)

The notions of common knowledge or common belief play an important role in several areas of computer science , in philosophy, game theory, artificial intelligence, psychology and many other fields which deal with the interaction within a group of “agents”, agreement or coordinated actions. In the following we will present several deductive systems for common knowledge above epistemic logics –such as K, T, S4 and S5 –with a fixed number of agents. We focus on structural and proof-theoretic properties of these (...) calculi. (shrink)

In this paper, we discuss some formal properties of the model ofbidirectional Optimality Theory that was developed inBlutner (2000). We investigate the conditions under whichbidirectional optimization is a well-defined notion, and we give aconceptually simpler reformulation of Blutner's definition. In thesecond part of the paper, we show that bidirectional optimization can bemodeled by means of finite state techniques. There we rely heavily onthe related work of Frank and Satta (1998) about unidirectionaloptimization.

By “the” modal fallacy one commonly means the following argument pattern.

This paper is intended as a contribution to a recent vigorous debate inThe Times, between the distinguished journalist Bernard Levin, the eminent Oxford economist Wilfred Beckerman and the Archbishop of York, John Habgood, among others. The debate concerns morality, ‘free will’ and determinism. As a former German Jew, who lost close relatives at Auschwitz and who suffered personally severely in my youth under daily virulent Nazi persecution, I obviously cannot remain strictly detached and neutral. Yet, I shall attempt to retain (...) as much neutrality as possible, since I think that the main rivals in this debate have all some very relevant, interesting and valid things to say. Let me also state other, probably very relevant, biases. I am an ardent Zionist. In addition, I am a diehard mechanistic materialist as regards basic philosophy, although I am tolerant of other people's religious feelings, because I realize that my materialism is as metaphysical as their religious views. With this as background let me return to the technical issues. Obviously, in a philosophical journal one can write at a level above that ofThe Times, where there is, perhaps, insufficient room to debate philosophical, biological, physical and other niceties in some depth. (shrink)

Im Zentrum der Hauptform des metaethischen Relativismus steht eine kontextualistische Analyse der Bedeutung moralischer Aussagen. Gegen diese Analyse lassen sich jedoch bestimmte sprachliche Beobachtungen anführen, die der Relativist erklären muss, wenn er an seiner Theorie festhalten möchte. In diesem Aufsatz argumentiere ich für die These, dass keiner dieser Erklärungsversuche gelingt. Wir betrachten, wie sich zeigt, moralische Aussagen als weder in offensichtlicher noch in versteckter Weise kontextsensitiv. Damit gerät aber der Relativismus als metaethische Position überhaupt in ernsthafte Bedrängnis.

To celebrate the 270th anniversary of the De Gruyter publishing house, the company is providing permanent open access to 270 selected treasures from the De Gruyter Book Archive. Titles will be made available to anyone, anywhere at any time that might be interested. The DGBA project seeks to digitize the entire backlist of titles published since 1749 to ensure that future generations have digital access to the high-quality primary sources that De Gruyter has published over the centuries.

The reception of the rational sciences, scientific practice, discourse and methodology into Arabic Islamic society proceeded in several stages of exchange with the transmitters of Iranian, Christian-Aramaic and Byzantine-Greek learning. Translation and the acquisition of knowledge from the Hellenistic heritage went hand in hand with a continuous refinement of the methods of linguistic transposition and the creation of a standardized technical language in Arabic: terminology, rhetoric, and the genres of instruction. Demonstration more geometrico, first introduced by the paradigmatic sciences-mathematics, astronomy, (...) mechanics-and adopted by philosophers embracing the cosmology of Neoplatonism, was complemented and superseded by the methods of syllogistic demonstration. Faced with the establishment of philosophy as a demonstrative science, which claimed absolute and universal knowledge, even the hermeneuti. (shrink)

Welche Bücher sollte man lesen, wenn man sich für die Idee der Freiheit interessiert? Welchen Beitrag haben etwa Aristoteles, Konfuzius, Mises, Ortega y Gasset, Röpke oder Schumpeter geleistet? 111 Beiträge sollen helfen, Antworten auf diese Fragen zu geben.

ZusammenfassungAls Folge der voranschreitenden Digitalisierung und der COVID-19 Pandemie steigt die Nachfrage nach Indoor-Cycling Plattformen wie ‘Peloton’ exponentiell. Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es zu untersuchen, welche Faktoren die Nutzung von Indoor-Cycling Plattformen nachhaltig beeinflussen. Dafür wurde auf Basis der ‚Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology‘ ein kontextspezifisches Forschungsmodell abgeleitet, das auf Grundlage einer Befragung von 313 Nutzer/innen und des über die Plattform gemessenen Nutzungsverhaltes, überprüft wurde. Die extrinsische Motivation wird insbesondere durch die Trainingsmöglichkeiten getrieben, während Unterstützung durch (...) Trainer/innen der Haupttreiber der intrinsischen Motivation ist. Soziale Interaktion beeinflusst beide Motivationsformen gleichermaßen. Intrinsische und extrinsische Motivation stellen starke Prädiktoren der Nutzungsintention dar, die wiederum nur mäßig die tatsächliche Nutzung beeinflusst, sodass sich Folgestudien stärker auf Barrieren der Nutzung fokussieren sollten. Die Multigruppenanalyse zeigt, dass der Zusammenhang zwischen Unterstützung durch Trainer/innen und extrinsischer sowie intrinsischer Motivation bei Männern signifikant höher ausgeprägt ist, als bei Frauen. Bei Frauen ist hingegen der Zusammenhang zwischen sozialer Interaktion und intrinsischer Motivation stärker ausgeprägt. (shrink)