The past decade has seen notable development of conceptual engineering – a field of analytical philosophy that focuses on the critical evaluation of concepts. Most authors engaged with this area identify Rudolf Carnap’s ideas as its methodological framework and theoretical origin, placing particular emphasis on the philosopher’s method of explication. This article highlights the unquestionable influence Carnap’s thought had on conceptual engineering whilst by no means reducing it to the utilisation and advancement of explication within this field of analytical philosophy: (...) indeed, conceptual engineering has incorporated – and brought to the forefront – much broader tenets of Carnap’s concept. This study draws on a series of the philosopher’s works, as well as his ‘Intellectual Autobiography’, to trace the evolution of his ideas about language and describe the fundamental elements revealing the ‘engineering perspective’ in his reflection. Most clearly, this perspective is evident in his interpretation of logic as a conceptual tool for acquiring and processing knowledge, ‘assembling’ it into a structure and refining the procedures of logic itself. It is shown that the origins of the engineering perspective trace back, on the one hand, to Carnap’s interest in the methodological framework of physics, particularly the measurement problem and its epistemological analysis, and, on the other, his fascination with interpretations of the nature of mathematical theory and the idea of unifying logicism and formalism by introducing the principle of tolerance, which adds a pragmatic dimension to methodology. The article examines in detail the idea of explication and its theoretical origins, which lie, in particular, in Carnap’s intention to exactify the notions expressing the degree of validity and probability. His idea of a link between the results of explication and its goal became the central principle of conceptual engineering, distinguishing it from mere conceptual analysis. It is concluded that, when considered together, Carnap’s two major ideas – explication and the principle of tolerance – can be placed in a broader context of a project seeking a rational reconstruction of the life of society and providing it with knowledge-based underpinnings. (shrink)

The article discusses the philosophical underpinnings of Mikhail Yu. Lermontov's poetry as chiefly expressed in the antithesis of heaven and earth. It is argued that in Russian spiritual culture, Lermontov was the first to bring together the opposed poles of God and man in the sphere of the God-man.

Stephen Jay Gould argued that the shape of animal life as we know it is a radically contingent accident of history determined more by fortune than comparative functional merit. Acknowledging the formative role of contingency in macroevolution is crucial, Gould believed, to vanquishing the lingering vestiges of progressivism that continue to buttress anthropocentric views of life. Gould’s contingency thesis has come under fire in recent years by proponents of convergent evolution who argue that not only is replication ubiquitous in evolution, (...) but also that it indicates an evolutionary process charging inexorably toward ever more complex and human-like outcomes. We argue here that although convergentist approaches are widely seen as inimical to the Gouldian view of life, in fact the two are indispensable allies in the anti-progressivist crusade, particularly in relation to the evolution of mind. We illustrate this by examining the progressivist foundations of comparative cognition science and the ongoing resistance to attributions of convergent minds. (shrink)

Last year, the anniversary of all Christianity, witnessed a number of significant events caused by a new interest in understanding the problem of the unity of the Christian Church on the turn of the millennium. Due to the confidentiality of Ukraine, some of these events have or will have an immediate impact on Christianity in Ukraine and on the whole Ukrainian society as a whole. Undoubtedly, the main event, or more enlightened in the press, is a new impetus to the (...) unification of the UOC-KP and the UAOC. But we would like to focus on two documents relating to the problem of Christian unity, the emergence of which was almost unnoticed by the wider public. But at the same time, these documents are too important as they outline the future policy of other Christian denominations by two influential Ukrainian christian churches - the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. These are the "Basic Principles of the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to the" I ", adopted by the Anniversary Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Concept of the Ecumenical Position of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, adopted by the Synod of the Bishops of the UGCC. It is clear that the theme of the second document is wider, but at the same time, ecumenism, unification is impossible without solving the problem of relations with others, which makes it possible to compare the approaches laid down in the mentioned documents to the building of relations with other Christian confessions. (shrink)

The historical development of debates about reduction testifies to us that reductionism in biology must proceed by providing a precise and complete causal explanation for every biological phenomenon at the level of molecules. An intertheoretical reduction model was proposed in biology but proved unsuccessful due to its inability to accommodate and explain the success of molecular biology. Ever since the molecular structure of the gene was discovered, actual biological research has successfully generated explanations for complex biological facts in terms of (...) the predicates of molecular biology. Biological phenomena, which classical functional biology explains only with limited powers, are more accurately described and comprehensively explained as the reduction processes advance with molecular biology. It is clear that the reductionist research program of molecular biology is the best account of success and progress in biology. (shrink)

Due to the arrival of positive psychology in the development of teaching, the construct of engagement has been thrived and got a notable function in the educational arena. Alternatively, numerous individual differences, containing ambiguity of tolerance, have been taken into consideration as a result of the key role they can play in the process of learning, and thus, on different facets of the learners’ engagement. Furthermore, resilience is recommended to be an alternate and effective way of engaging English as a (...) foreign language learners. Also, it is a significant feature of the human adaptation system in which students can efficaciously manage and tackle stressful involvements despite their troubles and disasters. Given the eminence of both ambiguity tolerance and resilience in educational settings and the fact that little attention has been given to these constructs in foreign language learning, the present review makes an effort to scrutinize the impact of ambiguity of tolerance and resilience on EFL learners’ engagement. Succinctly, the fundamental roles of ambiguity tolerance and resilience in learners’ engagement were confirmed, and consistent with the conclusions drawn from the present review, some suggestions are set forth concerning the implications of this paper. (shrink)

In the United States, health disparities have been framed by categories of race. Racial health disparities have been documented for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and numerous other diseases and measures of health status. Although such disparities can be read as symptoms of disparities in healthcare access, pervasive social and economic inequities, and discrimination, some have suggested that the disparities might be due, at least in part, to biological differences based on race. Or, to be more precise, if race itself (...) has no determined biological meaning, race may nonetheless be a proxy that collects a group of individuals who share certain physiological or genotypic features that affect health. (shrink)

In “Extending Research Protections to Tribal Communities,” Saunkeah et. al. argue that sovereignty and solidarity are necessary to extend research protections under the Belmont principles and deriv...

The archive of Gustav Shpet contains scattered preparatory materials for his “Lectures on the Theory of Cognition” and his major philosophical work History as a Problem of Logic. Some of these handwritten rough notes are devoted to Kant, indeed some of them have already seen the light of day in the “Kant­ian Journal” (2022, № 3). The notes published below continue to acquaint the reader with Shpet’s creative laboratory. His method of work with the concepts and ideas is instructive in (...) that it enables us to raise questions about the meaning of “positive critique”, its difference from Kant’s own “critical method” and why contemporary historical-philosophical attempts to actualise Kant’s concept of critique have more to do with Shpet’s rather than Kant’s methodology. Of particular relevance today is the authors’ attempt to immerse the Kantian understanding of critique in the context of Shpet’s phenomenologically oriented hermeneutic methodology. (shrink)

Background Participants' understanding of clinical trials is important in informed consent. However, little is known about what information participants really want to know. Aims To demonstrate the existence of a discrepancy between participants' understanding and their desire to know. Methods The participants in clinical trials at Seoul National University Hospital were surveyed. The survey consisted of 11 statements based on the essential elements of informed consent. The participants gave two responses to each statement on a five-point Likert scale to rate (...) their subjective understanding and desire to know, respectively. Information discrepancy was defined as the difference between these two ratings: if understanding exceeded desire to know for a particular item, it was defined as ‘over-informed’; if desire to know exceeded understanding for a particular item, it was defined as ‘under-informed’. Results Participants reported good understanding of ‘voluntariness’, ‘duration’, ‘study involves research’ and poor understanding of ‘confidentiality’, ‘compensation’, ‘benefits’, ‘procedures’ and ‘risks or discomforts’. For ‘risks or discomforts’, ‘who to contact’, ‘voluntariness’, ‘duration’ and ‘procedures’, participants reported high desire to know compared with ‘confidentiality’, ‘purpose’, ‘study involves research’ and ‘benefits’. The elements ‘study involves research’, ‘voluntariness’, ‘duration’, ‘purpose’ and ‘who to contact’ were over-informed, while ‘compensation’, ‘risks or discomforts’, ‘procedures’, ‘confidentiality’ and ‘benefits’ were under-informed. Participants over 50 years of age, those without a college education and those whose participation was less voluntary were relatively less informed about the clinical trials. Conclusions An information discrepancy was observed between the participants' understanding and their desire to know. By putting more emphasis on under-informed elements, the quality of informed consent could be improved. (shrink)

Note: This is an article I wrote in 1953. In recent years there have been new developments in the "debate between man and machines." Machines can "understand" what man says and do things according to human commands, facts that I did not know possible at the time. However, I believe that the ideas contained in this article concerning the views that only physical or material forces can effect changes in the state of matter and that there are two kinds of (...) matter do not need to be revised because of these developments. — Author. (shrink)

The debate between Classicism and Connectionism can be properly characterized as a debate concerning the appropriate levels of analysis for psychological theorizing. Classicists maintain that the level of analysis defined by the Classical architecture is the level of analysis at which psychological theorizing should reside. This level is called the symbolic level. On the other hand, Connectionists claim that the proper level of analysis for cognitive modeling is at the subsymbolic level which is considered a level lower than the symbolic (...) level. This thesis argues that both Classicism and Connectionism characterized in the above way are single-level approaches. It is argued in this thesis that Classicism is wrong in denying the cognitive relevancy of the lower-level theorizing; and some forms of Connectionism should be rejected because they underestimate the theoretical significance of the higher-level modeling. ;The concept of level is widely employed by philosophers and cognitive scientists, but has not received sufficient analysis. This thesis offers a general theory of levels, and evaluates Classicism and Connectionism on the basis of this general theory of levels. Basically this thesis argues that a cognitive system should be regarded as a system organized into a hierarchy of levels of organization. Different levels of organization may demand different levels of analysis. This thesis argues that each level of analysis enjoys a degree of autonomy, i.e., it is not totally reducible to the lower-level analysis. The traditional dichotomy of the cognitive and the implementational levels is too simplistic and overlooks the complexity of a cognitive system. Not all levels of organization of a system are cognitively relevant. But much empirical evidence has shown that many levels of organization are either strongly relevant or at least weakly relevant to cognitive modeling. It would be theoretically more plausible and fruitful to adopt a multi-level approach which takes many levels of analysis seriously in cognitive modeling. A very general picture of a multi-level approach to the mind is depicted in this thesis. (shrink)

독일 철학자의 사회사상과 역사철학, 인식론을 두루 살피며 그의 미학이론을 중심으로 문학, 예술론의 중 요 국면을 면밀히 검토한 현직 교수의 논저. 연구가 일천했던 아도르노의 사상을 칸트, 헤겔, 마르크스 등기존의 사상들과 대비하여 논하였다.

Despite extensive research and a multitude of computer systems, there is no viable computerized system that is even remotely capable of approaching the skill of an expert human physician. Minor obstacles in the design of a practical system include imprecise medical terminology, the use of nonindependent clinical parameters, incorrect or inaccurate information supplied to the computer, and static representation of a patient's medical history. Major problems that go beyond computer manipulation of data include the requirement for a massive data base, (...) representation of medical knowledge in general rather than specific terms, and physician fallibility in the design of a computer system. CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)

Public value facilitates the democratization of public policy making, it should be the common-sense and bottom-line for policymakers. However, it has not been paid enough attention by the practical and theoretical circles. How to realize the transformation from individual value to public value and make public policies be in line with citizens’ preferences, is vital for the democratic politics. How individual value becomes public value in the agenda-setting stage during the policy-making process? What are the key influencing factors? Using the (...) case of Yangzhou Chemical Co. Youjia Program and interview data, this paper studies the mechanisms that could make individual value be transformed to public value through deeply observing and measuring individuals’ attitudes, demands, motivations, beliefs, and preferences. We argue that (1) public value is an essential foundation for agenda setting and guidance to policy making, whereas individual value cannot naturally substitute value orientation in the public sphere. (2) Transferring individual value to public value can reduce divergence appearing in the subsequent stage in policy activities. (3) Factors that can influence this transformation are policy subjects, relations, rule and expression channels with various determinants and conditions. (4) Public value can terminate irrational and unreasonable policies or drag the policy issues back into the agenda-setting stage. This paper provides unique insights into why individual citizens enter the public sphere to take public actions so that the Chinese government can recognize additional public opinions, which makes cooperative governance be realized. (shrink)

The intertemporal stability of research and development investment is a key issue in successfully promoting the continuation of innovation activities under high uncertainty in entrepreneurship. R&D smoothing helps firms to navigate the uncertainties of the external environment and maintain the stability of their investments in innovation. Chief executive officers are the most important decision-makers in firms' strategic planning. However, overconfident CEOs may overlook the importance of their firms' strategic actions on innovative activities. Drawing on upper echelons theory, this paper examines (...) how CEO overconfidence affects firms' R&D smoothing. Using a sample of firms listed in China's Growth Enterprises Market between 2013 and 2020, this study finds that CEO overconfidence has a significant negative impact on R&D smoothing. Furthermore, our findings reveal that firms' internal control quality and institutional investor monitoring can mitigate the negative association between CEO overconfidence and R&D smoothing. Our findings provide new insights into the micro-level theoretical explanations for R&D smoothing and offer practical implications for technology-based entrepreneurial firms. (shrink)

We prove that for any locally countable $\Sigma _{1}^{1}$ partial order P = 〈2ω,≤P〉, there exists a nonmeasurable antichain in P. Some applications of the result are also presented.

We prove that there is no maximal low d.c.e degree.

The transmitted Xunzi consists of thirty-two chapters. The book criticizes all philosophers of the pre-Qin era, but thereby it also assimilates their thought. The Xunzi is eclectic, to the extent that there was no school of thought that it does not include. In scholarly circles, it is generally believed that Xunzi was the most prominent Confucian scholar of the final years of the Warring States period. At the same time, it is commonly acknowledged that the Confucianism of Xunzi was different (...) from that of Confucius or Mencius. What brought about this change in Confucianism? When we analyze Xunzi from the viewpoint of the Daoist philosophy of Huang-Lao, it is not difficult to notice that a large part of Xunzi's thought originates in Huang-Lao—that is, in the philosophy of the silk manuscript Four Canons of the Yellow Emperor. The discovery of this manuscript thus helped to find the sequence of ideas leading to the change in Confucianism. (shrink)

The academic confusion caused by the "gang of four" was prominently manifested in the history of Chinese philosophy. The history of Chinese logic was also affected by the confusion. Now the "gang of four" has been smashed after a merciless trial by history. Under the leadership of Chairman Hua and the Party Central Committee, scientific research has begun to make a long stride ahead. Therefore, it is possible to conduct scientific investigations and thorough discussions on a series of issues in (...) the history of Chinese philosophy and logic. Appraisal of the book entitled the Kung-sun Lung Tzu [The Works of Kung-sun Lung] is one of the issues. (shrink)

The article shows that Kuhn's concept of incommensurability emphasizes mainly the objective dimension of communication. To the thesis about the incommensurability of the meanings of scientific concepts in competing paradigms, we oppose the idea of a three-dimensional space of communicative dimensions. We supplement the objective dimension of communication, within which the environmental evolutionary selection of the best knowledge is carried out, with equal social and temporal horizons.

AimPatients with high myopia reportedly exhibit changes in functional brain activity, but the mechanism underlying such changes is unclear. This study was conducted to observe differences in dynamic spontaneous brain activity between patients with HM and healthy controls via dynamic regional homogeneity analysis.MethodsResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed on 82 patients with HM and 59 HCs who were closely matched for age, sex, and weight. The dReHo approach was used to assess local dynamic activity in the human brain. (...) The association between mean dReHo signal values and clinical symptoms in distinct brain areas in patients with HM was determined via correlation analysis.ResultsIn the left fusiform gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, right Rolandic operculum, right postcentral gyrus, and right precentral gyrus, dReHo values were significantly greater in patients with HM than in HCs.ConclusionPatients with HM have distinct functional changes in various brain regions that mainly include the L-FG, R-ITG, R-ROL, R-PoCG, and R-PreCG. These findings constitute important evidence for the roles of brain networks in the pathophysiological mechanisms of HM and may aid in the diagnosis of HM. (shrink)

This paper introduces and studies a declarative framework for updating views over indefinite databases. An indefinite database is a database with null values that are represented, following the standard database approach, by a single null constant. Typically a database is represented by a single set of facts |$D$| that model what is known to be true. This paper proposes a model of an indefinite extensional database that is more expressive with respect to the closed-world assumption (CWA) adapted for the setting (...) of indefinite databases (Libkin, 1995, A semantics-based approach to design of query languages for partial information. In Semantics in Databases, vol. 1358 of LNCS, pp. 170–208. Springer; der Meyden, 1998, Logical approaches to incomplete information: a survey. In Logics for Databases and Information Systems, pp. 307–356. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA, USA). More specifically, in our model, databases are determined by two sets of facts: |$D$| representing, as usual, all facts that are true in the database, and |$E$| that is meant to represent exceptions to the ‘unknown range’, i.e. facts that cannot be unknown. Intuitively, unless they are explicitly implied to be true by the first set, the facts specified as exceptions are assumed false. The semantics is given by means of a two-level CWA tailored to the case of indefinite information. The paper characterizes the semantics of indefinite databases in terms of their possible worlds that are obtained by instantiating occurrences of null values by concrete constants and defines several classes of database repairs that realize view-update requests. Most notable is the class of constrained repairs. Constrained repairs change the database ‘minimally’and avoid making arbitrary commitments. They narrow down the space of alternative ways to fulfill the view-update request to those that are grounded, in a certain strong sense, in the database, the view and the view-update request. (shrink)

This study is aimed at exploring how teacher preparation programs in Taiwan—both traditional and alternative— prepare teachers for teaching controversial public issues specific to Taiwan (e. g., national identity, sovereignty, and ethnic issues). Using a case study design, this study documents six social studies teachers’ readiness and attitudes about whether to teach controversial public issues or not. Findings illuminate that 1) teachers’ attitudes and readiness have been influenced by their teacher preparation programs (both traditional and alternative); 2) teachers from different (...) teacher education programs contribute to their curricular-instructional decision making for teaching controversial public issues differently. (shrink)