Is property-awareness constituted by representation or not? If it were, merely being aware of the qualities of physical objects would involve being in a representational state. This would have considerable implications for a prominent view of the nature of successful perceptual experiences. According to naïve realism, any such experience—or more specifically its character—is fundamentally a relation of awareness to concrete items in the environment. Naïve realists take their view to be a genuine alternative to representationalism, the view on which the (...) character of such experiences is constituted by representation. But naïve realists must admit qualities or property instances as items of awareness if they are to remain wedded to common sense, and the nature of property-awareness may smuggle constitutive representation into the naïve realist account of character. I argue that whether property-awareness involves representation, and consequently whether naïve realism is distinct from representationalism or not, depends on what qualities are fundamentally. On universalist and nominalist accounts, property-awareness turns out to involve representation. Not so under tropism. (shrink)

The paper offers a semantic and pragmatic analysis of statements of the form ‘x is beautiful’ as involving a double speech act: first, a report that x is beautiful relative to the speaker’s aesthetic standard, along the lines of naive contextualism; second, the speaker’s recommendation that her audience comes to share her appraisal of x as beautiful. We suggest that attributions of beauty tend to convey such a recommendation due to the role that aesthetic practices play in fostering and enhancing (...) interpersonal coordination. Aesthetic practices are driven by a disposition towards the attunement of attitudes and aesthetic recommendations contribute to forwarding such attunement. Our view is motivated by an attempt to satisfy the following set of desiderata: to account for the experiential nature of aesthetic judgments, disagreements in aesthetic debates, and the normative aspirations of aesthetic discourse, as well as to avoid appealing to error theory and realist ontological commitments. (shrink)

As Classical Propositional Logic finds its algebraic counterpart in Boolean algebras, the logic of Quantum Mechanics, as outlined within G. Birkhoff and J. von Neumann’s approach to Quantum Theory (Birkhoff and von Neumann in Ann Math 37:823–843, 1936) [see also (Husimi in I Proc Phys-Math Soc Japan 19:766–789, 1937)] finds its algebraic alter ego in orthomodular lattices. However, this logic does not incorporate time dimension although it is apparent that the propositions occurring in the logic of Quantum Mechanics are depending (...) on time. The aim of the present paper is to show that tense operators can be introduced in every logic based on a complete lattice, in particular in the logic of quantum mechanics based on a complete orthomodular lattice. If the time set is given together with a preference relation, we introduce tense operators in a purely algebraic way. We derive several important properties of such operators, in particular we show that they form dynamic pairs and, altogether, a dynamic algebra. We investigate connections of these operators with logical connectives conjunction and implication derived from Sasaki projections in an orthomodular lattice. Then we solve the converse problem, namely to find for given time set and given tense operators a time preference relation in order that the resulting time frame induces the given operators. We show that the given operators can be obtained as restrictions of operators induced by a suitable extended time frame. (shrink)

I argue that an analogy between pains and sounds suggests a way to give an objective account of pain which fits well with a naïve perceptualist account of feeling pain. According to the proposed metaphysical account, pains are relational physical events with shared qualitative nature, each of which is constituted by tissue damage and the activation of nociceptors. I proceed to show that the metaphysical proposal is compatible with platitudes about pains being animate, private, and self-intimating states.

Jan Patočka (1907-1977), Czech philosopher of world importance, wrote his habilitation script with Edmund Husserl in Freiburg, where he also became acquainted with the work of Martin Heidegger. In his own work, Patocka tried to resolve the philosophical conflict between their various concepts of phenomenology. The attempt to add a historical dimension to the notion of Lebenswelt and to the concept of phenomenon as such led him ultimately to formulate a phenomenological philosophy of history. In his last essay, which is (...) the main subject of my lecture, Patočka sketches out a “history of the philosophy of the meaning of human life, beginning with Kant” and sets forth his own concept of the meaning of history, influenced by Heideggerian motifs. I present a concise interpretation of his idea and take a critical position towards it. (shrink)

Some chapters revisions of works previously issued 2004-2016.

The volume contains 37 invited papers presented at the Congress, covering the areas of Logic, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences and the ...

Nesta obra de fôlego, Ivan Domingues compõe uma profunda e abrangente análise da filosofia no Brasil. O autor propõe oferecer um livro de metafilosofia, na extensão da natureza essencialmente reflexiva da filosofia, que a autoriza a tomar a si mesma como objeto e fazer uma reflexão filosófica sobre a filosofia, uma "filosofia da filosofia.

The notion of vulnerability is one of the most original theoretical underpinnings of Martha Nussbaum’s philosophical project. Inspired by Aristotle and by a reappraisal of Greek tragedy, the American philosopher recovers an important perspective for contemporary ethical and political reflection: our continuous exposure to unexpected, changing or contingent situations of fortune that can considerably affect our search for a good life, and altruistic emotions as a response to that essential fragility that shapes us. This article offers a reconstruction of the (...) idea of ​​a vulnerable moral agent as a key insight that allows Nussbaum to articulate a more pregnant conception of social justice, human dignity, and quality of life, incorporating intuitions about the nurturing and refinement of certain moral emotions which are relevant to counteract our all too frequent failure to see the “other different” as fully human. (shrink)

Spinoza avait un trou à son manteau. On avait tenté de le poignarder et son manteau en portrait la trace. La haine dont Spinoza fut l'objet est originaire. Dès la parution du Traité théologico-politique, une sainte alliance est scellée, garante d'un ordre moral menacé par la philosophie d'un homme libre. Dans ce livre, Ivan Segré s'intéresse aux derniers avatars de la réaction idéologique qui a pris Spinoza pour cible, et singulièrement aux penseurs juifs qui ont reconnu en lui un (...) "traître". Est-ce à dire qu'une vie sous la conduite de la raison est une trahison de la cause des Juifs? Philosophe et talmudiste, Segré examine l'acte d'accusation qu'on a dressé contre le philosophe d'Amsterdam et il conclut que la fidélité à l'antique tradition hébraïque exige, aujourd'hui, d'arborer le manteau troué de Spinoza. A ceux qu'il appelle les théoriciens bourgeois du nom "juif", il oppose l'intelligence des textes hébraïques, dont il nous dit qu'ils sont solidaires du nom "ouvrier", solidaires de son devenir révolutionnaire. (shrink)

We find here a translation for the first time of the sanskrit philosophical work entitled Pancaprakriya which belongs to the relatively early Advaita Vedanta thinker Sarvajnatman and a thematic analysis of the contents of that work. The Pancaprakriya is a menual of Advaita Vedanta philosophy of language which for Sarcajnatman is reduced to the discernment of the proper meaning of certain great Upanisadic statements or mahavakyss such as Iam Brahman and That thou art. Through the approprition of such a proper (...) understanding which resorts to the secondary of implied usafe of language the qualifies striver after enlghtenment obtains release from bondage int he world. (shrink)

The article is devoted to the problem of interpreting of the several consequences that derive from multi-world concepts of modern physics. The inflation scenario and the associated string landscape model are the objects of analysis. The reviewed multi-world concepts are exposed to presume the existence of a plenitude of various fundamental principles that govern the physics of one or another possible reality. The research is based on the hermeneutical method, comparative method, dialectical method, formal translation method, and scientific modeling method. (...) The author represents specifics of physical theories that claim to describe all possible worlds in the conclusions. In this regard, the issues of the status of “possible” and “impossible” worlds and practicable ways to determine them are discussed. The main result of the study is the justification that each type of world must correspond to a certain structure of consciousness defined by its basic physical principles. This possibly means that a unified “theory of everything” that includes all possible mathematical and physical fundamental structures cannot exist since every one of them determines a specific type of consciousness. (shrink)

Clearly a Late Antiquity’s phenomenon, the Neoplatonism represented to the ancient men the last bastion of its old traditions, the religion of their ancestors and classical culture. Especially the neoplatonic philosophy of Plotinus, that had engendred precepts which, by its meanings, resounded through the last voices of paganism and survived the Middle Ages into the scholastic philosopy. Although the ideas of Plotinus achieved such later importance, it were the main problem conceiving the conflicts between the philosophers Porphyry and Iamblichus. That (...) will be the starting point of this paper, which analyzes the layers of Neoplatonism throught its historical context. (shrink)

In the study of human cognitive activity using electroencephalogram (EEG), the brain dynamics parameters and characteristics play a crucial role. They allow to investigate the changes in functionality depending on the environment and task performance process, and also to access the intensity of the brain activity in various locations of the cortex and its dependencies. Usually, the dynamics of activation of different brain areas during the cognitive tasks are being studied by spectral analysis based on power spectral density (PSD) estimation, (...) and coherence analysis, which are de facto standard tools in quantitative characterization of brain activity. PSD and coherence reflect the strength of oscillations and similarity of the emergence of these oscillations in the brain, respectively, while the concept of stability of brain activity over time is not well defined and less formalized. We propose to employ the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) as a measure of the EEG persistence over time, and use the DFA scaling exponent as its quantitative characteristics. We applied DFA to the study of the changes in activation in brain dynamics during mental calculations and united it with PSD and coherence estimation. In the experiment, EEGs during resting state and mental serial subtraction from 36 subjects were recorded and analyzed in four frequency ranges: θ1 (4.1–5.8 Hz), θ2 (5.9–7.4 Hz), β1 (13–19.9 Hz), and β2 (20–25 Hz). PSD maps to access the intensity of cortex activation and coherence to quantify the connections between different brain areas were calculated, the distribution of DFA scaling exponent over the head surface was exploited to measure the time characteristics of the dynamics of brain activity. Obtained arrangements of DFA scaling exponent suggest that normal functioning of the brain is characterized by long-term temporal correlations in the cortex. Topographical distribution of the DFA scaling exponent was comparable for θ and β frequency bands, demonstrating the largest values of DFA scaling exponent during cognitive activation. The study shows that the long-term temporal correlations evaluated by DFA can be of great interest for diagnosis of the variety of brain dysfunctions of different etiology in the future. (shrink)

We call philosophers seekers or lovers of wisdom. Each philosopher has his or her own personal ways of seeking the truth-truth, that is, the ways of understanding and their beliefs. Such ways and beliefs may be similar to the same beliefs or understandings and statements of others. Then we call it a school of philosophy or direction.

Provides lessons on the art of cartooning along with information on terminology, tools, techniques, and theory.

The oldest preserved commentary on the Br̥hadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad was composed by Śaṅkara. Sureśvara composed a sub-commentary on this commentary, while Ānandagiri composed commentaries both on Śaṅkara’s commentary and on Sureśvara’s sub-commentary. All these four books contain a number of passages from earlier works which are not preserved. Sureśvara and Ānandagiri attributed some of these passages to a commentator named Bhartr̥prapañca. The aim of this article is to present a philological method which will establish which of the passages might be paraphrases and (...) which might be quotations from Bhartr̥prapañca’s lost commentary composed in the scope of the bhedābheda theory. This article will argue that Śaṅkara paraphrases Bhartr̥prapañca’s text, while Ānandagiri quotes most probably Bhartr̥prapañca’s text literally. This text was metrically adjusted by Sureśvara who paraphrases Bhartr̥prapañca by shortening and adjusting the original text in order to fit into the pattern of the śloka meter. If this is true, it is possible to establish a methodology which may help us to reconstruct portions of the oldest known commentary on the Br̥hadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad. (shrink)

Ovaj članak istražuje neke usporednice novoplatonističke tradicije filozofskih komentara uz Platōna i Aristotela. Uz to istražuje egzegetske metode usuglašivanja tih dvaju velikih antičkih mislilaca. Ako prihvatimo Sorabjijevu tvrdnju da je cilj novoplatonističkoga usuglašivanja obrana poganskih filozofa od kritike kršćanskih mislilaca možemo vidjeti jasnu usporednicu s vedāntom koja je branila koherenciju svetoga upanišadskog kanona od buddhističke kritike. Ovaj se članak usredotočuje na novoplatonističkoga komentatora Amonija koji je pokušao usuglasiti Aristotelov nauk o Nepokrenutom pokretaču s Platonovim naukom o Demijurgu i Ideji dobra. (...) S druge strane u Indiji možemo vidjeti sličan pokušaj usuglašivanja različitih upanišadskih učenja o najvišem biću.This article explores some parallels between neoplatonist tradition of philosophical commentaries on Plato and Aristotle and explores some exegetical techniques of harmonisation of these great ancient thinkers. If we accept Sorabji’s claim that the aim of this reconciliation is neoplatonist defence of pagan thinkers from the attack of Christian philosophers than we can see a clear parallel with Vedānta which was defending the coherence of upanishadic sacred canon against Buddhist attack. The paper is focusing on neoplatonist commentator Ammonius who is trying to reconcile Aristotle’s Unmoved mover with Plato’s Demiurge and the Idea of good. On the other side, in India we can see very similar project of harmonisation of the different upanishadic teachings of the highest being. (shrink)

Heidegger, first of all, perceives modern thinking to be a source of technology in its partly threatening dimension, though this source was inherited fromGreek thinkers. However, technology and threat, which arises from it, are not some kind of inevitable fate, but are the destiny of Being, which should be calmly awaited in its mysteriousness. For where there are threat and danger, there also is a prospect of salvation – in this way Heidegger adopts Hölderlin’s restrained optimism. Furthermore, salvation presupposes constant (...) inquiry as an expression of the piety of thought. If it does not fall to its proper place, then the forgotness of Being, the abandonment of Being, war and triumph of different modern technologies, which have created a lot of trouble in the technological age, can take root. Therefore, it seems that only enlightened thinking, which is revealed in its inquisitive piety, can offer some way out. (shrink)

RESUMEN Para analizar la gubernamentalidad neoliberal, se asume como problema la caracterización de las formas contemporáneas de ejercicio del poder bajo una nueva modalidad de soberanía política localizada en el mercado. Se proponen las nociones de inmunidad y excepción como claves hermenéuticas, y se establece un diálogo entre las derivas foucaultianas de los trabajos de R. Esposito y G. Agamben. Se muestra cómo la relación entre poder y vida asume una forma estratificada y diferenciada, siguiendo una racionalidad de gobierno que (...) encuentra en el cálculo del riesgo el operador funcional de sus intervenciones estratégicas sobre la población. ABSTRACT In order to analyze neoliberal governmentality, the article addresses the issue of the characterization of contemporary forms of exercise of power under a new modality of political sovereignty located in the market. It suggests the notions of immunity and exception as hermeneutical keys and establishes a dialogue between the Foucauldian drift of the work of R. Esposito and G. Agamben. The article also shows how the relation between power and life takes on a stratified and differentiated form when it follows a rationality for government that makes risk calculation the functional operator of its strategic interventions in the population. (shrink)