This study investigates the intricate process of visualizing the concept of paradise through the lens of Artificial Intelligence (AI), employing neural networks to craft intricate visual depictions of utopian realms. The project scrutinizes the prevalent themes associated with paradisiacal imagery, dissecting the intricate weave of religious doctrines, mythologies, and the intrinsic nature of paradise – be it a tangible realm or a metaphysical state. This inquiry critically assesses the role of AI-generated art, derived from complex algebraic formulations, in mirroring conventional (...) iconography and exposing inherent biases. Such revelations underscore the cultural resonance of diverse traditions and the potential presence of subconscious prejudices. Employing AI algorithms capable of transforming textual prompts into vivid illustrations, this research unveils insights into the nexus of AI and cultural portrayals of utopia, thereby provoking profound philosophical deliberations. Central to these contemplations is the extent of human dominion over conceptualized ideals and the prospect of AI-crafted art inadvertently molding our paradisiacal perceptions, with implications ranging from reinforcement of stereotypes to shaping intrinsic cognitive schemas. (shrink)

In 1999, da Silva, D'Ottaviano and Sette proposed a general definition for the term translation between logics and presented an initial segment of its theory. Logics are characterized, in the most general sense, as sets with consequence relations and translations between logics as consequence-relation preserving maps. In a previous paper the authors introduced the concept of conservative translation between logics and studied some general properties of the co-complete category constituted by logics and conservative translations between them. In this paper we (...) present some conservative translations involving classical logic, Lukasiewicz three-valued system L3, the intuitionistic system I1 and several paraconsistent logics, as for instance Sette's system P1, the D'Ottaviano and da Costa system J3 and da Costa's systems Cn, 1≤ n≤ω. (shrink)

This work presents some basic results on a theory of translations between logics and a short revision about Łukasiewicz's logics. Then, it is shown, using facts about algebraic semantics, that there is a conservative translation from every finite Łukasiewicz's logic into classical logic. However, this is not a constructive result.

In this paper, I draw a parallel between aspects of René Thom’s topological program understood as semiophysics, and Jakob von Uexküll’s theory of meaning. Through the use of Thom’s semiophysics, I believe that it is possible to interpret Uexküll’s intuition that meaning unfolds a kind of transformation in an organism’s transactions with the environment: that is, meaning incorporates topological spaces. The central idea in question is that beyond the semantic, syntactical and pragmatic human use of language, meaning incorporates specific topologies (...) by expressing the spatial interaction between organism and environment. This is what I mean by René Thom’s reading of Jakob von Uexküll. (shrink)

This article discusses possible dialogues between medical history and the history of concepts, suggesting that a “socio-conceptual-moral” history of medicine offers insightful elements for the historical analysis of conceptual change. Drawing mainly from Reinhart Koselleck’s Begriffsgeschichte and Ludwik Fleck’s theory of knowledge, I focus on three points of the “socio-conceptual-moral” perspective: the approach to medical statements as part of a semantic field, the interaction between a formulated concept and its practice, and negotiations about the meanings of medical concepts between different (...) social arenas. I take the history of cancer prevention in Brazil as a case study to discuss these three aspects and emphasize the situated character of conceptual change. The article analyzes the period between the 1960s and the 1990s when substantial changes in the conceptual framework of cancer prevention confronted continuities in public health and medicine practices, policies, and institutions. (shrink)

Minha intenção é mostrar, contra o realismo em relações internacionais, que, ao abordarmos os conceitos de justiça internacional e de direitos humanos, a partir de uma perspectiva contratualista, o denominado conflito entre o interesse nacional e as exigências da moralidade se mostra bem menos problemático. Apresento os principais argumentos em favor do contratualismo através de uma reconstrução da teoria moral de David Gauthier. Em seguida, procuro mostrar que o tipo de contratualismo defendido por Rawls e seus seguidores não é capaz (...) de evitar as críticas feitas pelo realismo à tentativa de defendermos uma concepção de justiça e de direitos humanos no âmbito das relações internacionais. PALAVRAS-CHAVE – Contratualismo. Realismo. Direitos humanos. David Gauthier. John Rawls. ABSTRACT In this paper I argue against realism in international relations by showing that a contractarian approach to the concepts of international justice and human rights renders the socalled conflict between national interest and morality far less pressing than it seems to be. I discuss the thrust of the contractarian approach by means of a presentation of David Gauthier’s moral theory. Then, I show that the kind of contractarian approach advanced by Rawls and his followers is not able to counter the realist contention against the ideas of justice and human rights in the context of international relations. KEY WORDS – Contractarianism. Realism. Human rights. David Gauthier. John Rawls. (shrink)

The following essay argues that Marx’s method of critique, conception of science, and mode of presentation in Capital are all phenomenological in the sense first articulated by Enzo Paci in The Function of the Sciences and the Meaning of Man. In Capital, Marx places the phenomenological problem of appearances at the centre of his criticism of political economy. His analysis begins with the way in which things typically present themselves in a capitalist society, but this is merely the starting point (...) for a systematic critique which tries to reveal the innerconnections and exploitative social relations hidden beneath those estranged outward appearances. Marx presumed that this phenomenological approach was the most appropriate method for demystifying the ‘naturalized’ semblance of the capitalist economy. According to Paci’s reading of Capital, the task of Marxian critique is to show these superficial appearances for what they really are: i.e., reflections of the reified reality of modern life. (shrink)

In the first part of this paper I point out the reasons in virtue of which human rights discourse was seen with scepticism, in the first half of twentieth century, in its capacity to compel states to act morally in the context of international relations. Then, in the second part, I examine the reasons in virtue of which this kind of scepticism lessened at the end of the Cold War. I argue that an ever growing interaction among actors in international (...) relations – including non-state actors – has contributed to the emergence of a decentralised system of norms in the context of which the discourse on the concept of human rights may be justified without one’s commitment to such metaphysical ideas as natural laws and natural rights. (shrink)

Moral beliefs and attitudes may vary to great extent across different societies. Even within the same society, the prevailing moral beliefs and attitudes may vary throughout the history of this society. The moral beliefs and attitudes that prevail in a given society, at a given time, constitute the “positive morality” of this society. But can we morally assess the “positive morality”? In this paper I present reasons so as to give this question an affirmative answer. I argue that the moral (...) assessment of the “positive morality” must resort to the general principles of “critical morality”. The conception of “critical morality” that I defend in this paper resumes some aspects of David Hume’s moral philosophy. In the last section of this paper I also argue that formative works of art, such as novels, feature films, and documentary films may participate in the process of rational deliberation required by “critical morality”. (shrink)

Searle’s theory on the ontology of the social world affords reasons to explain the existence of such things as “laws” and “rights” without the assumption that there are any “natural” rights. In this article, I intend to point out some consequences Searle’s theory has in the field of philosophy of law. As I intend to show, it is possible to describe Searle’s theory as a version of legal positivism. Key words: Searle, law, legal positivism, social ontology, human rights.

Langton’s (1998) and Allais’ (2015) metaphysical interpretations of Kant’s idealism have given special relevance to Kant’s analysis of the inner/outer dichotomy in the Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection, for they agree that this dichotomy is key to correctly grasping Kant’s distinction between appearances and things in themselves. In this article I argue that Langton’s and Allais’ accounts of Kant’s analysis of the inner/outer dichotomy have major limitations, and therefore that the text should not be read in the way they (...) propose. In order to show these limitations, I examine the overall structure of Kant’s argument in the Amphiboly. Furthermore, I aim to establish the contribution brought by the Amphiboly to the issue of noumenal knowledge and the nature of things in themselves. Langton’s and Allais’ accounts of the relation between appearances and things in themselves as the inner nature of things not only prove to be unwarranted, but indeed to some extent opposite to what I claim to be Kant’s actual stance on things in themselves in the Amphiboly. (shrink)

The genesis of this decolonial study begins with an essay that discussed Exu and black diasporic culture. Its developments were responsible for the emergence of two other studies: one on Candomblé in Bahia and religious syncretism, and another on the decolonial concept of language-language as a crossroads. The article on Exu, written in English, was also responsible for the invitation to write a book chapter, also in English, on human rights, religious freedom and anti-racist struggles in black diasporic Latin America. (...) In turn, this text made possible the emergence of much of the discussion that took place in a chapter on the frontline of Jorge Amado's political struggles in the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of Brazil, when the theme of Bahianness gained momentum. Now, in this new study, which I now present, the discussion seeks to answer the questions: “What is Bahianity?” and “How does literature decode it throughout history?” To this end, I use pragmatic discourse analysis as a methodology, which is a tributary of discursive-deconstructive analysis, taking literary discourse as an observable object, since, in this approach, all discourse is the result of the historical conditions of production (cf. ARAÚJO, 2020). In other words, I resort to poetic works by Bahian authors (texts, songs), taken as discourse to answer such questions about Bahianity. (shrink)

Cambridge University Press presents its new series of scholarly guides dedicated to specific philosophical works and the Republic is the first work of Plato to receive a volume. The 273 pages constitute a remarkable piece of contemporary scholarship, both when it comes to the valuable (although unevenly distributed) contribution to the present state of Platonic studies, and when it comes to the (poor) cooperative and dialogical work this scholarship is able to produce. As is now customary (…) - 12. Plato (...) 12 (2012). (shrink)

O trabalho tem o objetivo de evidenciar a ética da experimentação animal em John Dewey, observando se é possível propor uma deliberação moral antiespecista. Assim, analisaremos o modo deweyano de aliar uma ética voltada ao progresso humano, mesmo que dela resultem condutas que desencadeiem na exploração de animais não humanos, verificando paulatinamente se é possível propor uma deliberação moral de maneira criativa por meio da experiência humana e que beneficie os animais não humanos. No primeiro momento, será exposto o conceito (...) de especismo, tal como sua derivação, o especismo antropocêntrico, o qual será esmiuçado, para mostrar como os animais humanos incorrem em certas argumentações que viabilizem a exploração de animais não humanos, principalmente na discussão do pragmatismo deweyano. Segundo, iremos aprofundar a questão do especismo por meio de uma atitude pragmática, que, além de evidenciar o entrave moral a partir do pragmatismo clássico de Dewey, mostrará argumentações favoráveis a deliberações morais que propiciem o bem-estar dos animais não humanos, de acordo com o pragmatismo contemporâneo, já que esse debate sobre o bem-estar animal no contexto da moral pragmatista é recente. Nosso trabalho conta com o aporte teórico de Dewey (2020), Fesmire (2004) e Singer (2010), entre outros. A pesquisa indica que, ao manifestar uma possibilidade expansiva da experiência, através da natureza humana, criada por uma rede de relações sociais mútuas que está em constante movimento, e que precisa se adequar a novos entendimentos éticos, é possível alinhar tanto as emoções quanto a simpatia humana para permitir novas experiências sociais criativas que despertem deliberações morais que favorecem diversos seres sencientes. (shrink)

A presente tradução pretende contribuir para o debate em torno da filosofia da mente em Aristóteles e, para tal, buscou-se enriquecer a discussão trazendo para a língua portuguesa o texto de Terence Irwin, autor referência na área, “Aristotle’s theory of mind”. Aristóteles em seu livro Sobre a Alma, traça importantes considerações sobre a mente, já que defende todos os seres vivos têm alma e dentre eles, há um subgrupo que apresenta mente. Mas até que ponto podemos traças paralelos entre os (...) debates da filosofia da mente contemporâneos e as reflexões do assunto feitas por Aristóteles? Nesse sentido, Irwin pretende defender que as visões de Aristóteles sobre alma e corpo podem ser proveitosamente comparadas com as opções familiares dos debates sobre mente e corpo, e que uma comparação cuidadosa permite a conclusão bastante definitiva de que ele aceita uma posição reconhecidamente funcionalista. (shrink)

... all probability, Plato's own statement; made indeed to be read by friends in Syracuse in explanation of the role he had played ...

Habermas pensa a questão da individuação e da socialização a partir dos estudos de George Hebert Mead, que, na sua concepção, foi o primeiro a refletir substancialmente sobre um modelo de eu produzido socialmente. Mead oferece todo subsídio teórico para o desenvolvimento de uma teoria da evolução humana que envolve o processo de individuação e de socialização. Pelo paradigma de intercompreensão, ou seja, da relação intersubjetiva de indivíduos que se socializam por meio da comunicação e se reconhecem mutuamente, Mead permite (...) a mudança de paradigma da consciência de si, da autorreferência de um sujeito que age isoladamente para o indivíduo que processa trocas sociais mediante a linguagem. Portanto, um dos principais componentes da teoria de Mead, em que Habermas busca contribuição para sua Teoria da Ação Comunicativa, é o processo de constituição do "eu", sua identidade. Mead acredita ser a individuação representada como um processo que é linguisticamente mediador da socialização e da construção de uma história de vida, na qual os sujeitos são conscientes de si. É esse meio linguístico estabelecido entre os sujeitos e o meio do entendimento intrassubjetivo e histórico vital que possibilita a formação de uma identidade de sujeitos socializados. É o reconhecimento intersubjetivo e autoentendimento mediado intersubjetivamente que propicia a formação da identidade. Esse quadro conceitual será fundamental a Habermas, na sua acepção de eu pós-convencional. Habermas discusses the question of individualization and socialization on the basis of the studies of George Herbert Mead, who, in Habermas' view, was the first to reflect substantially on a model of the socially produced "I". Mead offers a theoretical basis for the development of a theory of human evolution that involves the process of individualization and socialization. Through the paradigm of mutual understanding, that is, the intersubjective relationship of individuals who are socialized through communication and mutual recognition, Mead allows for a change in the paradigm of self-consciousness, from the self-reference of a subject who acts in isolation to the individual who processes social exchanges through the language. Therefore, one of the major components of Mead's theory in which Habermas seeks a contribution for his theory of communicative action, is the process of constitution of the "I," the subject's identity. Mead believes that individualization is represented as a process that is linguistically the mediator of socialization and of the construction of a life story in which subjects are aware of themselves. It is this linguistic means, established between the subjects and their means of intra-subjective understanding and their life histories, that allows the formation of an identity of socialized subjects. It is the intersubjective recognition and intersubjectively mediated self-understanding that enables identity formation. This conceptual framework will be central to Habermas in his concept of the self post-conventional "I". (shrink)

BackgroundThe ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines are widely endorsed but compliance is limited. We sought to determine whether journal-requested completion of an ARRIVE checklist improves full compliance with the guidelines.MethodsIn a randomised controlled trial, manuscripts reporting in vivo animal research submitted to PLOS ONE (March–June 2015) were randomly allocated to either requested completion of an ARRIVE checklist or current standard practice. Authors, academic editors, and peer reviewers were blinded to group allocation. Trained reviewers performed outcome adjudication (...) in duplicate by assessing manuscripts against an operationalised version of the ARRIVE guidelines that consists 108 items. Our primary outcome was the between-group differences in the proportion of manuscripts meeting all ARRIVE guideline checklist subitems.ResultsWe randomised 1689 manuscripts (control: n = 844, intervention: n = 845), of which 1269 were sent for peer review and 762 (control: n = 340; intervention: n = 332) accepted for publication. No manuscript in either group achieved full compliance with the ARRIVE checklist. Details of animal husbandry (ARRIVE subitem 9b) was the only subitem to show improvements in reporting, with the proportion of compliant manuscripts rising from 52.1 to 74.1% (X2 = 34.0, df = 1, p = 2.1 × 10−7) in the control and intervention groups, respectively.ConclusionsThese results suggest that altering the editorial process to include requests for a completed ARRIVE checklist is not enough to improve compliance with the ARRIVE guidelines. Other approaches, such as more stringent editorial policies or a targeted approach on key quality items, may promote improvements in reporting. (shrink)

Purpose. The study seeks to clarify the preconditions for moral and legal decision-making based on the identification of axiological foundations that correlate with the moral perceptions of good and evil and psychological phenomena such as emotions. Theoretical basis of the study is to apply comparative, axiological, systemic methods. This methodological approach allows us to analyze and disclose the essence of the process of moral and legal decision-making on the basis of certain axiological prerequisites and enables to substantiate the connection between (...) the axiological and psychological aspects of taking moral and legal decisions. Originality of the work is to broaden the perceptions of the processes and mechanisms for making moral and legal decisions, which are based on the axiological dimension, in particular on the system of reference individual and social values. The study shows that every necessary moral and legal decision taken by a person is futurologically balanced in the emotional sense, rationally reasoned and morally perceptible in the context of man’s beliefs about good and evil, and realized with necessity in the personal system of reference values that determines the style and manner of individual and social behaviour in the context of material and spiritual values and is an axiological foundation for making all types of moral and legal decisions. Conclusions. Moral and legal decision-making is a social process that is connected with such a social essence of a person as rationality, which gives an opportunity to act axiologically. A person makes moral and legal decisions in a complex way, based on the unity of the moral, axiological and psychological aspects of his worldview, which are grounded on the system of reference values. (shrink)

Galen in a celebrated passage remarks that there were three ‘choirs’, in early Greek medicine: the choirs of Cos, of Cnidus, and of Sicily. The word is vague and suggestive, and we do well to keep it so. If we look in the Hippocratic Corpus for schools of medical theory, with distinct sets of doctrine marked off clearly from the doctrines of rival schools, we shall be lucky indeed if we can find them, and, having found them, succeed in convincing (...) others of their existence. But we shall find, now and again, an individual voice proclaiming itself from among its impersonal surroundings with clarity and vigour: some treatises in the collection have their author's personality stamped on them as distinctly as on a work of art. (shrink)

The other night I had a very strange, and strangely coherent, dream. Socrates and Meno appeared to be arguing with each other in my presence. They talked English, I suppose, since I clearly thought I followed them; but I seem to remember that Greek words occurred from time to time. When I woke it seemed to me that the dream had some bearing on disputed matters of Platonic interpretation, so I shall try to reconstruct it here. Meno speaks first:Tell me, (...) Socrates, do you think that the just and the admirable are the same thing?I should hardly think so; for we call many things admirable—for example a young lad's cheek—which we would hardly call just; and perhaps vice versa. But I am only guessing, of course, because I cannot know whether A is the same as B unless I know what A is and what B is. (shrink)

In a recent paper, it was argued forcefully by Thomas Szasz that it is crucial to the scientific credibility of psychiatry that it abandon talk of the behaviour of the mentally “ill” in terms of causes: such behaviour is not caused by their condition—it simply has reasons, which are discounted by the medical model. It is argued in this paper that Szasz's theory is incomplete for two reasons: first, in assuming that reasons are radically different from causes, it cannot account (...) for the possibility that “sane” behaviour might be just as much caused as “insane”; and second, it tacitly assumes that the origin of behaviour always lies with the agent—a view that arguably is an accident of grammar. Hence while there is no mental illness, this is because there is nothing that could be ill—and this means that there is no such thing as mental “health” either. (shrink)

The term "spirituality" now has several interpretations, and the part acquires an excellent, even opposite, meaning in both religious and philosophical doctrines. At the same time, each under the indicated phenomenon understands something of its own. Some authors have in mind historical consciousness, others - the integrity of mental activity, others relate spirituality, first of all with the world of emotions. Undoubtedly, every interpretation of spirituality covers a certain part of the truth. It is worth noting that speaking about spiritual, (...) spirituality and its significance in human being can only be achieved by overcoming the existing bias in the scientific circles and ideological distrust of the very concept of "spirit" and "spiritual." It is not a secret that the spirituality problem was underestimated in the domestic science for a long period, which negatively affected, in particular, the understanding of its content and essence, the treatment of this phenomenon only from the point of view of materialism. From this perspective, the study of S.Prolev, who states that the spiritual exists and manifests itself in various subject forms, whose range is wide - from processes and phenomena of the human psyche to social institutions that provide spiritual production, worthy of attention. Spiritual is understood as a special reality, the "spiritual sphere" of human life. (shrink)

Ian Crombie’s impressive volumes provide a comprehensive interpretation of Plato’s doctrines. Volume 2 deals with more technical philosophical topics, including the theory of knowledge, philosophy of nature, and the methodology of science and philosophy. Each volume is self-contained.

In Plato’s Theaetetus , Socrates is portrayed as a midwife to the intellect, a metaphor for his task as a dialectician as he seeks to help give birth to wisdom. Thus it is that the author refers to Plato as the midwife’s apprentice. This volume represents an attempt to provide a more manageable account of the author’s two volume magnum opus, An Examination of Plato’s Doctrines . An accessible and lucid introduction to Plato’s ideas is provided which nonetheless challenges traditional (...) interpretations. In particular the author is concerned to offer an interpretation of the significance of what Plato said. The chapters are arranged by topic, for ease of comprehension. (shrink)