O presente artigo pretende elucidar questões relacionadas ao pensamento ecológico contemporâneo, antropológico e social relacionado à Ecologia Política e a Justiça Ambiental, assim como, o caso das comunidades de Oriximiná/PA que trazem para o bojo das discussões uma profunda crítica aos paradigmas dominantes do conhecimento ambiental contemporâneo e da própria Educação Ambiental. O estudo confere a importância da investigação sobre o tema já que a ecologia política se estabelece no espaço que é do conflito, da disputa pela reapropriação da natureza (...) e da cultura, onde natureza e cultura resistem frente à imposição de valores e processos - simbólicos, ecológicos, epistemológicos, políticos - ao se transformarem em termos de valores de mercado. Palavras-chave: Justiça Ambiental. Ecologia Política. Educação Ambiental. (shrink)

Presentation to the translation "The Social Question" in French-German cultural exchange: Gans, Marx and the reception of Saint-Simon, by Myriam Bienenstock. Translated by Hernandez Vivan Eichenberger.

This paper compares Nietzsche ́s views on the relationship between philosophical reflection and empirical sciences against the background of some of the debates in the so-called transcendental tradition, in order to characterize his position in terms of a liberal kind of methodological naturalism. Initially, it will be shown that there are some similarities between the debates in the German academic philosophy of the second half of the nineteenth century and the Postquinean contemporary debates on naturalism. I discuss subsequently F. A. (...) Lange ́s historical views concerning the emergence of methodical discipline within the materialistic tradition, as well as Nietzsche ́s reception of them. Next, I present Spir ́s arguments against the naturalizing programs of his time, as well as Nietzsche ́s response to him. In the last section, I discuss the meaning of Nietzsche ́s orientation to a speculative philosophy of the will to power in his late works and whether it is compatible or not with his more liberal conception of naturalism mainly supported in his middle period works. (shrink)

This article considers two alternative responses to the question of the motivation behind the suspensive argumentation developed by the Pyrrhonic version of the ancient scepticism and also shows their respective difficulties: a) the therapeutic motivation, that takes the suspension of assent for the condition to reach not only a state of mental tranquillity concerning matters of opinion but also a moderate attitude towards passions; b) the epistemic motivation, which states that the suspension corresponds to the unique possibility to preserve philosophical (...) life in the absence of rational criteria to decide among competing philosophical theories. The latter kind of motivation, which consists in creating propitious conditions for the search for the truth, has nothing to do with the methodic motivation characterizing the modern reception of ancient scepticism. Although this motivation was not present in the Pyrrhonic scepticism, it could not be unknown to the academic sceptics because of their Socratic origins. (shrink)

The aim of the present article is to display and debate the main interpretive and philosophical claims defended by Simon Robertson in his Nietzsche and Contemporary Ethics. Robertson presents innovative and stimulating arguments that might interest primarily readers willing to better understand the Nietzschean moral theory and researchers interested in broader issues of contemporary moral theory, particularly in the analytic tradition. The author covers the main debates in the area, taking sides in disputes going on in normative theory, metaethics, moral (...) psychology and Nietzschean studies. Robertson mobilizes a set of interpretive and (purely) philosophical arguments, which deliver to the reader a final picture of Nietzsche’s perfectionist ideal. It is a theoretically consistent ideal that can be endorsed as a relevant alternative in the contemporary landscape of ethical theories. This alternative involves a powerful critique of the normative authority of morality, a sentimentalist moral psychology, a conception of the good life that combines the goods of excellence and flourishing, a modest conception of normativity that brings together internalist and externalist elements, and, finally, an irrealist metaethics that differs both from realism (which presupposes ontologically robust normative properties)and from reformist views (such as fictionalism and non-cognitivism). The article reconstructs Robertson's main arguments in favour of this set of claims, seeking to assess (1) to what extent they are convincing, both in their philosophical and interpretive ambitions and (2) how capable his methodological choices are to address critical challenges. (shrink)

The first part of my paper offers a brief characterization of what I call the non-hegemonic tradition of interpretation of Nietzsche's metaphilosophical program. In the second part, I suggest some small adjustments in the main argument of this tradition of interpretation. In general terms, the non-hegemonic tradition can be characterised by the claim that Nietzsche is a legitimate heir of the metaphilosophical programme first formulated by Friedrich Albert Lange in his ˜History of Materialism and Critique of its Significance for the (...) Present". None of the main interpreters of Nietzsche that I affiliate with this tradition of interpretation has formulated this claim quite explicitly, but I do not think that this characterization is inappropriate and I submit they could all accept it in the terms put forward in the present article. The main thesis states that Lange provides Nietzsche not so much with substantive theses as with the formal aspects of a philosophical programme whose content is drawn from other sources. This is the case, for example, in the attempt (in his early works) to mobilise Schopenhauer's metaphysics without committing himself to his epistemic claims. The attempt to execute this programme is surrounded by tensions that result not so much from Lange's sceptical theses as from what ultimately motivates them: the imperative of intellectual consciousness. This conflict remains unresolved as long as Nietzsche remains committed to the thesis of practical idealism according to which it is up to philosophy to satisfy certain metaphysical needs that are anthropologically unavoidable. The commitment to this anthropological thesis is what effectively places the young Nietzsche in the company of Kant, Schopenhauer and Lange. As soon as Nietzsche has abandoned this youthful commitment, he is prepared to revise his metaphilosophical convictions. (shrink)

Embora não o desenvolva na exposição que se segue, o argumento subjacente à minha contribuição para este volume é bastante simples: há duas vias pelas quais a filosofia de Nietzsche pode contribuir positivamente para uma revisão do modo como os seres humanos no ocidente definiram sua relação com o não humano: (1) a primeira via é a agonística – a tese agonística pode ser mobilizada para combater o viés especista que caracteriza boa parte da reflexão normativa do ocidente sem que (...) isso nos comprometa com a suposição de que é possível abandonar o perspectivismo em sua versão forte (a tese segundo a qual nossos esquemas conceituais e perceptuais, ou o fato de pertencermos a uma mesma história natural, nos aprisionam na perspectiva da espécie humana). O agonismo é uma posição filosófica que recusa a supremacia absoluta de uma formação de domínio como um arranjo prejudicial à própria formação de domínio; (2) a segunda via é a da filosofia da afirmação incondicional do acaso ou da necessidade, como Nietzsche se expressa alternativamente. Esta via comporta uma dimensão religiosa, por mais chocante que isso possa parecer a ouvidos nietzschianos. Nesta perspectiva da afirmação incondicional, todas as forças atuantes são igualmente afirmadas e a perspectiva normativa preservada minimamente na abordagem agonística é como que suprimida e toda tensão dissolvida. Segundo minha interpretação, a filosofia afirmativa defendida por Nietzsche exige uma política da reconciliação que vai além da perspectiva agonística. Ela representa a superação da visão moral de mundo na sua forma mais drástica: com um dizer sim até mesmo à perspectiva do último homem. Mas é justamente aí que as coisas começam a assumir ares dramáticos, pois Nietzsche reconhece que esta perspectiva não pode ser facilmente aceita em suas diversas implicações. Embora as duas vias que acabamos de mencionar possam inspirar legitimamente o projeto de uma revisão do antropocentrismo que caracterizou a reflexão normativa no ocidente, é necessário reconhecer que alguns traços do pensamento nietzschiano tornam esta tarefa de revisão altamente improvável. Uma vez assumida, a segunda via exigiria, por exemplo, a supressão de um dos traços centrais da personalidade filosófica de Nietzsche. Refiro-me a seu incansável ativismo em prol da autossuperação dos tipos mais elevados da humanidade. Esta dificuldade revela uma das facetas mais importantes da filosofia de Nietzsche, que consiste em seu compromisso com uma forma depurada de humanismo; um compromisso radical, que não pode ser ignorado por seus leitores. Esta forma depurada de humanismo fornece a autorização teórica para o lado sombrio da utopia nietzschiana: seu flerte com a noção de uma história planificada e de uma administração global da terra, como forma de promover o cultivo dos homens de exceção. Este lado sombrio da utopia nietzschiana pode ser descrito como um desdobramento consequencialista de sua ética perfeccionista, e está na origem das derivações políticas que o filósofo alemão extrai deste compromisso ético. Penso que isso justifique a expressão hiperbólica utilizada no título de minha contribuição: “A catástrofe do humanismo”. Sempre que esta modalidade de humanismo depurado prevalece na reflexão de Nietzsche, a única voz perceptível nesta que é a mais polifônica das escritas filosóficas é a voz do ativista militando em prol dos homens de exceção. Quando esse tipo de engajamento prevalece, não é possível discernir nenhuma contribuição especificamente nietzschiana ao tema em torno do qual nos propusemos a refletir nesta coletânea: nestas ocasiões Nietzsche permanece indubitavelmente no interior de uma tradição que confere exclusividade ao humano em sua reflexão normativa. (shrink)

Resumo: Este artigo é uma homenagem à trajetória de André Itaparica na pesquisa Nietzsche brasileira. Feita de um ponto de vista sobretudo pessoal, esta homenagem não poderia deixar de mencionar algumas das virtudes que se sobressaem em seu trabalho e que no meu entendimento conferem exemplaridade às suas contribuições para os estudos Nietzsche no Brasil. Entre essas virtudes destaco por fim a gentileza, que curiosamente não costuma figurar no catálogo das virtudes intelectuais. O trabalho de André Itaparica é um convite (...) para que essa negligência seja revista.: This paper pays tribute to André Itaparica’s career in the Brazilian Nietzsche research. Written mostly from a personal point of view, this homage couldn’t fail to mention the many virtues embodied by his scholarly work, which in my view place it in an outstanding position in the Brazilian Nietzsche studies. Among his many virtues I finally emphasize courtesy, which remains largely unnoticed as an intellectual virtue. Itaparica’s work invites us, I submit, to compensate this undeserved neglect. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis paper examines John M. Keynes’s relationship with Gustav Cassel and Eli Hecksher and puts together the events related to his being awarded the 1939 Söderström Gold Medal by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The correspondence between these economists during the interwar years is detailed, with emphasis on their personal approaches to economic theory and history. Cassel’s and Heckscher’s critical reviews of Keynes’s General Theory are outlined as well. Lastly, an account is provided of the grounds for conferring the (...) award on Keynes while also drawing attention to the conflict-laden proceedings within the Academy when the issue was under consideration by the institution. The final remarks ponder why Keynes received the prize despite the controversy among Swedish economists over the General Theory at the time. (shrink)

Texto originalmente publicado em HORSTMANN, R-P. “Hegels Theorie der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft”. In: SIEP, Ludwig, G. W. F. Hegel: Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts. De Gruyter. pp. 189-208 (2016).

The aim of this paper is to show that the way in which Pascal reacts to Montaigne’s attempt of recovering the ancient conception of philosophy as a way of life by reworking certain elements he borrowed from the sceptical tradition will have a considerable impact on the similar philosophical project Nietzsche tries to develop in his so-called middle period works (section III of this paper). Nietzsche’s starting point is the diagnosis that the crisis of Christianity in Early Modern Europe did (...) not make room for the development of a contemplative life emancipated from religious illusions. Instead of that, it was followed by the degradation, not to say the complete suppression of contemplative life and the immersion in modern activism (see CS 359, BGE 58). The trilogy Nietzsche dedicated to the Free Spirits is an attempt to directly counteract this tendency and regain a non-religious sense of contemplative life in the most unlikely context of the bourgeois society of the second half of the Nineteenth Century. I intend to show that by the time of publishing Daybreak, Pascal becomes his most stimulating opponent. Before doing it, I reconstruct the way Montaigne receives and transforms the heritage of ancient scepticism (section I) and, thereafter, I proceed to investigate how Pascal reacts to the revival of ancient scepticism, putting special emphasis on the way he tries to undermine the ideal of a contemplative life freed from the tutelage of Christianity, a philosophical project which had in Montagne its most consequent representative (section II). (shrink)

This paper is divided into three sections. The purpose of the first section is to show how the search for an alternative conception of practical normativity by contemporary moral philosophers keeps affinities with Nietzsche's attempt to overcome morality in the nineteenth century. In the second section, I assess the merits and limitations of Brobjer's attempt to affiliate Nietzsche with the ancient Greek tradition of virtue ethics. In the third section, I present the different motivations behind Nietzsche's critique of the moral (...) conception of practical normativity. I claim that this diversity of motivations makes his position unstable and helps us to explain why he oscillates between the consequentialist and the non-consequentialist view of perfectionism. Although I do not discuss it exhaustively in this paper, I point out some reasons why Nietzsche should have advocated a non-consequentialist view of perfectionism. (shrink)

Ziel meines Aufsatzes ist es, die Frage zu stellen, ob die Art und Weise, wie Nietzsche sich auf das Verhältnis zwischen Philosophie und Wissenschaft bezieht, mithilfe des zeitgenössischen methodologischen Naturalismus beschrieben werden kann. Leiter (2009) hat diese Frage mit einem entschiedenen Ja beantwortet, ohne jedoch die Spannungen, die eine solche Antwort mit sich bringen, ausführlich zu diskutieren. Zumindest aus zwei Gründen scheint die Philosophie Nietzsches sich mit der stärkeren Version des methodologischen Naturalismus nicht so leicht in Einklang bringen zu lassen: (...) Erstens aufgrund des Prinzips des Willens zur Macht, das die These impliziert, dass das Intentionalitätsvokabular primitiver bzw. gründlicher als das physikalistische Vokabular sei, als einer Konsequenz aus der Verwendung des pragmatischen Prinzips der Sparsamkeit auf die ontologische Debatte (JGB 36, KSA 5, 54 f.); zweitens aufgrund Nietzsches Auffassung der spezifischen Aufgabe der Philosophie als einer normativen Aufgabe (JGB 211, KSA 5, 144 f.; GM I Anmerkung, KSA 5, 289). Gegen die starke Interpretation Leiters werden hier die folgenden Thesen vertreten: Nietzsche kann nur insofern als ein Vertreter des methodologischen Naturalismus betrachtet werden, als er der Auffassung ist, dass der Philosoph epistemische Tugenden erst dann gewinnt, wenn er sich mit einer wissenschaftlichen Methode vertraut macht (MA I 256, KSA 2, 212). Das bedeutet, dass er sich zumindest vorläufig den Regeln unterwirft, die innerhalb einer bestimmten wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft gelten (MA I 635, KSA 2, 360 f.; JGB 188, KSA 5, 108 ff.). Der Philosoph soll dies tun, um die epistemischen Tugenden zu erlangen, die für die normative Aufgabe der Philosophie unentbehrlich sind. Diese epistemischen Tugenden sind wesentlich skeptischer Natur. Sie zu kultivieren, bedeutet sicherlich, epistemische Werte zu fördern, nicht aber unbedingt für sie (AC 54, KSA 6, 236 f.), geschweige denn für ein kausales, bzw. monokausales Erklärungsmodell Exklusivität beanspruchen zu müssen (JGB 21, KSA 5, 35 f.). (shrink)

In this paper I intend to identify the kind of Amoralism Nietzsche is arguing for in his writings of the middle period. In the first part of the paper, I focus on the presuppositions as well as on the motivation underlying this version of the amoralist position. Nietzsche diagnoses a normative conflict between intellectual integrity and the metaphysical presuppositions of our moral vocabulary and practices. This diagnosis leads him to the conclusion that we should reform a substantive part of our (...) moral intuitions. However, this first critique of morality, one that we could label an internal critique, is not all that Nietzsche has to say about normativity, even if we consider only the works of the middle period. According to my interpretation, Nietzsche is committed to a position that could be described as normative Minimalism. By developing this position, Nietzsche was clearly influenced by Montaigne´s reception of both Epicureanism and Pyrrhonism. The kind of human life Nietzsche associated with this position is identified by him with the life of the free spirits, conceived as both a genuine heir and an emulator of the ascetic types made possible by the Christian culture, paradigmatically exemplified by Pascal and the French Jansenists. In the second part of this paper, I contrast this kind of normative Minimalism with Nietzsche´s defence of Perfectionism in his later works. I conclude my paper by calling attention to some argumentative advantages of normative Minimalism and to some argumentative difficulties that Perfectionism cannot preclude (from a genuine Nietzschean perspective). (shrink)

Este ensaio busca analisar a representação conceitual do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) para além do senso comum. Assim, o nosso objetivo geral é discutir a interface da avaliação educacional e as políticas públicas. _Para tanto, busca se _compreender os determinantes impostos na representação conceitual do Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (ENEM) como modelo de gestão do espaço escolar. _Isso se apresenta como forma de romper com a hegemonia que se encontra presente no senso comum do ENEM apenas como (...) avaliação de ingresso no ensino superior. _A metodologia utilizada encontra-se no campo da teoria crítica, no sentido de apropriação do conceito de avaliação educacional. O estudo se justifica ao constituir aspectos interpretativos referentes aos sistemas de avaliação educacional que possam, efetivamente, direcionar para proposições de melhoria da qualidade da educação. Concluímos que se torna importante que os educadores, em sua atividade educativa, tenham a compreensão política do papel que desempenham em democratizar o acesso à cultura escolar e rejeitem a compreensão tecnicista de curso preparatório para o vestibular quando o ENEM ficar associado, exclusivamente, a um mecanismo de ingresso ao ensino superior. Isso implica compreender que a educação básica, como um todo, é um lugar de formação e o ingresso no ensino superior é decorrência desse processo formativo. _Nesse contexto, a formação profissional do sujeito, numa sociedade democrática em todas as instâncias, seria a posição do saber fazer como elemento de acesso a todos que participam e usufruem da ciência e tecnologia como instrumento do pensamento crítico e efetiva melhoria da qualidade de vida de toda a população._. (shrink)

Estas reflexões têm como finalidade mostrar as aporias e dificuldades que afetaram, de maneira essencial, as diferentes tentativas de se erigir uma “ciência da religião” e, mais especificamente, de se lerem “cientificamente” os dados da fé, ou da revelação. Esta é a razão pela qual damos uma atenção especial ao século XIII e, principalmente, ao papel de Tomás de Aquino, quando se intensificaram de maneira mais explícita as relações, e os conflitos, entre a ciência, a filosofia e a teologia. Certo, (...) a ciência de que aqui tratamos é aquela oriunda de Platão – sob a forma da episteme – que marcou toda a tradição do pensamento cristão e culminou no século XIII com a filosofia de Aristóteles. Assim, fez-se necessário percorrer as vicissitudes que, a partir de Platão, pontilharam a história deste conceito e que se acirram a partir do século XII e, principalmente, ao longo do século XIII. A questão, pois, que permanece em suspenso é a de saber se é possível fundar científica e filosoficamente a religião em geral e a teologia em particular. (shrink)

Cooperative discourse procedures produce consensual siting proposals for NIMBY-projects-but only if these proposals do not affect the final siting decision. Then, the members of the discourse commissions stay independent and face few incentives to pursue consequentialist interests. However, the more influential discourse procedures become, the stronger the interest groups’ incentives are to take advantage of them. Thus, cooperative discourses turn into competitive, interest-centred procedures whose outcome is rejected by the less influential groups. The evolution of discourse procedures into functionally specialized (...) parliaments or even into FOCJ (Functional, Overlapping, Competing Jurisdictions) seems worth pursuing. (shrink)

ZusammenfassungDie moderne Religionsgeschichte hat Mazdak, Anführer einer sozioreligiösen Reformbewegung im Sasanidenreich, auf divergierende Weise konzeptualisiert. Insbesondere die diskrepanten Quellenhinweise auf angeblich von Mazdak geforderte Frauen- und Gütergemeinschaften eröffneten Spielraum, eigene, zumeist anachronistische und somit problematische Vorannahmen in Bezug auf das Verhältnis von sogenannten ‚sozialen‘ und ‚religiösen‘ Faktoren der Reformbewegung zu projizieren. Die in Bezug auf Mazdak besonders deutlich hervortretende Problematik nachträglicher Zuschreibungen und narrativer Überlagerungen unterstreicht die grundsätzliche Notwendigkeit, Forschungsgeschichte und Begrifflichkeiten konsequent zu historisieren, und schliesst damit an die übergeordnete (...) Fragestellung an, wie historische Gegenstände (re-)konstruiert werden können. (shrink)

This article aims to reconstruct the concept of “race” in Nietzsche's work, particularly in his late writings. We seek to test the hypothesis that Nietzsche attempted to reform the concept of race to overcome the descriptive and normative shortcomings of classical racialist theories, by making the notion (a) descriptively more accurate and (b) better suited to his normative agenda. Tosituate Nietzsche's views within a purely abstract space of conceptual possibilities, the first section outlines two contemporary approaches in the philosophy of (...) race, Kwame Appiah's naturalist-eliminativist approach and Sally Haslanger's constructivist approach, both in their original formulations. The subsequent sections examine Nietzsche's treatment of the problem of race, aiming to extract a definition of the concept and assess the extent to which it retains elements of the classical conception while proposing a reformed version of it. Nietzsche employs the term “race” in various ways, sometimes referring to nations and ethnic groups, sometimes to classes and social stratifications. While he rejects key presuppositions of the racialist view – denying that races are biologically discrete units – he replaces it with a proto-constructivist, culturalist and historicist notion in which races are made rather than innate. Nonetheless, he draws on Lamarck’s thesis of the inheritance of acquired characters as a means of preserving the concept’s explanatory ambitions without relying on essentialist assumptions. The final part of the article evaluates the strengths and limitations of this reformed concept of race from both an explanatory and normative perspective, using criteria internal and external to Nietzsche’s philosophical commitments. Although Nietzsche resolutely opposes antisemitism and intrinsic racism, he nonetheless makes racist generalizations and advocates a eugenic project aimed at breeding a“purified” European race, often with strong imperialist overtones. However, when disentangled from the more problematic aspects of his normative agenda, his approach may still offer valuable insights for both political and explanatory purposes. (shrink)

Este texto trata de um clássico da filosofia platônica, o Crátilo. Redigido em forma de diálogo, característico do estilo platônico de escrita, nele está distinta a supervenção de uma das grandes temáticas da filosofia contemporânea, isto é, a linguagem, em que se traz à tona a discussão sobre a adequação de um nome a um objeto, também conhecido coma a justeza do nome à coisa. Figuram-se como questões centrais as teses do naturalismo e convencionalismo, que estruturam o que se entende (...) como instrumentalização da linguagem, e que, hodierno, arremete, enquanto desconstrução desta instrumentalização, a uma epistemologia da linguagem, que fora, de forma capitular no Século V, primada na ideia de essência. Expõe-se na conjuntura textual a importância da linguagem para a filosofia desde a antiguidade, e que, por sua vez, consubstancia-se, em relevo, numa discussão sobre a verdade. (shrink)

O presente artigo tem o objetivo de apresentar e analisar as críticas e deturpações promovidas pelos Padres Apologistas acerca da Filosofia de Epicuro, mais especificamente a parte dessa Filosofia relativa à fruição dos prazeres. Para tanto, elegemos aqui quatro dos vários Padres Apologistas que criticaram e deturparam a Filosofia de Epicuro, a saber: Tito Flávio Clemente, mais conhecido como Clemente de Alexandria; Justino de Nablus ; Ambrósio Aurélio e Jerônimo de Estridão.

O artigo objetiva demonstrar que a Semântica formal, enquanto campo de articulação entre Lógica e Ontologia, exige sua fundamentação em uma Antropologia. Para isso, será necessário demonstrar que Tugendhat conduz a Semântica formal ao modo de fundamentação da Fenomenologia de Heidegger, por meio dos estados-de-ânimo. Para tanto, partiremos da distinção entre fundamento relativo e absoluto, introduzida nos primeiros capítulos das Lições Introdutórias à Filosofia Analítica da Linguagem, com a finalidade de demonstrar que a dimensão semântica da filosofia de Tugendhat somente (...) pode fundamentar relativamente seu conceito de Filosofia. Pelo contrário, a dimensão fenomenológica, enquanto oferece uma motivação para a atividade de filosofar, pode fornecer também o ponto de apoio para uma fundamentação absoluta deste conceito. Com isto, entretanto, o que Tugendhat parece não ter percebido é que, por meio desse movimento, ele inverte a relação de implicação entre ambos os métodos, de tal modo a tornar o método fenomenológico fundamento do método analítico. Assim, sendo absoluta, devemos considerar a dimensão motivadora, no caso os estados-deânimo, fundamento da fenomenologia de Ser e Tempo, como originária frente à dimensão relativa oferecida pela Semântica formal. Será com base nesta relação, portanto, que tomaremos a circularidade entre o fundamento nos estados-de-ânimo e o fundamento nas regras semânticoformais para enunciados assertóricos com a finalidade de demonstrar que o campo de articulação entre Lógica e Ontologia exige sua fundamentação em uma Antropologia. (shrink)

What can contemporary machine learning (ML) models do? Given the proliferation of ML models in society, answering this question matters to a variety of stakeholders, both public and private. The evaluation of models' capabilities is rapidly emerging as a key subfield of modern ML, buoyed by regulatory attention and government grants. Despite this, the notion of an ML model possessing a capability has not been interrogated: what are we saying when we say that a model is able to do something? (...) And what sorts of evidence bear upon this question? -/- In this paper, we aim to answer these questions, using the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) as a running example. Drawing on the large philosophical literature on abilities, we develop an account of ML models' capabilities which can be usefully applied to the nascent science of model evaluation. Our core proposal is a conditional analysis of model abilities (CAMA): crudely, a machine learning model has a capability to X just when it would reliably succeed at doing X if it 'tried'. The main contribution of the paper is making this proposal precise in the context of ML, resulting in an operationalisation of CAMA applicable to LLMs. We then put CAMA to work, showing that it can help make sense of various features of ML model evaluation practice, as well as suggest procedures for performing fair inter-model comparisons. (shrink)

In her Remarks Upon Some Writers (1743), Catharine Trotter Cockburn takes a seemingly radical stance by asserting that it is possible for atheists to be virtuous. In this paper, I examine whether or not Cockburn’s views concerning atheism commit her to a naturalistic ethics and a so-called radical enlightenment position on the independence of morality and religion. First, I examine her response to William Warburton’s critique of Pierre Bayle’s arguments concerning the possibility of a society of virtuous atheists. I argue (...) that this response shows Cockburn vacillating between a moral naturalism, on the one hand, and a theistic morality, on the other. Second, I draw on Cockburn’s letters to her niece Ann Arbuthnot, and her opinions concerning mystical ideas about “the will of God” in north-east Scotland in the mid-eighteenth century. I maintain that these letters give us a fuller appreciation of Cockburn’s naturalistic position. My conclusion is that Cockburn’s ideas concerning atheism prompt us to consider the close interplay between secular and religious principles in so-called radical ideas of the period. (shrink)

This anthology offers a comprehensive introduction to Pliny the Younger's Epistulae for intermediate and advanced Latin students, with the grammatical, lexical, and historical support to enable them to read quickly and fluidly. As the only selection of the letters with extensive commentary, it provides instructors with a unique and complete resource for students.ABOUT THE SERIESThe Oxford Greek and Latin College Commentaries is designed for students in intermediate or advanced Greek or Latin. Each volume includes a comprehensive introduction. The placement, on (...) the same page, of the ancient text, a running vocabulary, and succinct notes focusing on grammar, syntax, and distinctive features of style provides students with essential learning aids.Series Editors: Barbara Weiden Boyd, Bowdoin College, Stephen Esposito, Boston University, and Mary Lefkowitz, Wellesley CollegeAlso Available Ovid: Ars Amatoria, Book 3, Christopher M. Brunelle, St. Olaf CollegeForthcoming Latin VolumesSuetonius's Life of AugustusDarryl Phillips, Connecticut CollegeLucan's De Bello Civile, Book 5Jonathan Tracy, Massey University, New Zealand. (shrink)

Today political competition and thus the politicians’ incentives to cater for the citizens’ preferences are weakened by protectionist regulations aiming at the politicians’ origin, their incomes and the ‘production process of politics’. This paper suggests abolishing these regulations and institutionalizing an open, international market for politics. Foreign as well as profit-seeking ‘policy producers’ should be allowed to run directly for office without nominating specific individuals. This enables a policy supplier to become active in several countries and jurisdictions and thus to (...) build up an international reputation for being credible, i.e. of sticking to his promises and not exploiting the voters after election. The deregulation programme strengthens the influence of the weakly organized social groups and the governments' incentives to pursue what is of general interest. (shrink)

O presente texto analisa o conceito de “keynesianismo” elaborado por Geoff Mann e investiga a sua pertinência no que diz respeito a Hegel. São oferecidos alguns aprofundamentos que corroboram a adequação do conceito a partir das preocupações de Hegel em torno da pobreza, da plebe e de suas concepções econômicas mais gerais. Por fim, é discutido o quanto a abordagem de Mann contribui para se compreender a especificidade do pensamento político de Hegel e como a noção de Estado de Bem-Estar (...) Social se segue de seu pensamento. (shrink)

The field of AI safety seeks to prevent or reduce the harms caused by AI systems. A simple and appealing account of what is distinctive of AI safety as a field holds that this feature is constitutive: a research project falls within the purview of AI safety just in case it aims to prevent or reduce the harms caused by AI systems. Call this appealingly simple account The Safety Conception of AI safety. Despite its simplicity and appeal, we argue that (...) The Safety Conception is in tension with at least two trends in the ways AI safety researchers and organizations think and talk about AI safety: first, a tendency to characterize the goal of AI safety research in terms of catastrophic risks from future systems; second, the increasingly popular idea that AI safety can be thought of as a branch of safety engineering. Adopting the methodology of conceptual engineering, we argue that these trends are unfortunate: when we consider what concept of AI safety it would be best to have, there are compelling reasons to think that The Safety Conception is the answer. Descriptively, The Safety Conception allows us to see how work on topics that have historically been treated as central to the field of AI safety is continuous with work on topics that have historically been treated as more marginal, like bias, misinformation, and privacy. Normatively, taking The Safety Conception seriously means approaching all efforts to prevent or mitigate harms from AI systems based on their merits rather than drawing arbitrary distinctions between them. (shrink)

Despite its centrality in the philosophy of cognitive science, there has been little prior philosophical work engaging with the notion of representation in contemporary NLP practice. This paper attempts to fill that lacuna: drawing on ideas from cognitive science, I introduce a framework for evaluating the representational claims made about components of neural NLP models, proposing three criteria with which to evaluate whether a component of a model represents a property and operationalising these criteria using probing classifiers, a popular analysis (...) technique in NLP (and deep learning more broadly). The project of operationalising a philosophically-informed notion of representation should be of interest to both philosophers of science and NLP practitioners. It affords philosophers a novel testing-ground for claims about the nature of representation, and helps NLPers organise the large literature on probing experiments, suggesting novel avenues for empirical research. (shrink)

Jacqueline Rose argues for an expansion of the new boundaries of `English', and for the importance of psychoanalysis to the understanding of our literary and historical lives.

The group Féminin Masculin Avenir was founded in autumn 1967. It took part in the events of May 68, and subsequently became Féminisme Marxisme Action. It then dissolved into the women¹s liberation movement (MLF) when the latter started in 1970. Le groupe Féminin Masculin Avenir s’est constitué dès l’automne 1967. Il a participé aux événements de mai 68, devenant alors Féminisme Marxisme Action. Il s’est ensuite dissous dans le Mouvement de libération des femmes lorsque celui-ci a éclaté en 1970.

This Special Issue of Philosophies, entitled “Communicative Philosophies”, intends to push our philosophical reflections into the direction of the embodied realities lived and enacted as we engage in the communicative processes of thinking, feeling, and acting [...].

This article refutes Barth's criticisms of Schleiermacher's Christology/.

In a recent letter, Dillion et. al (2023) make various suggestions regarding the idea of artificially intelligent systems, such as large language models, replacing human subjects in empirical moral psychology. We argue that human subjects are in various ways indispensable.

As reproductive genetic technologies advance, families have more options to choose what sort of child they want to have. Using preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), for example, allows parents to evaluate several existing embryos before selecting which to implant via in vitro fertilization (IVF). One of the traits PGD can identify is genetic deafness, and hearing embryos are now preferentially selected around the globe using this method. Importantly, some Deaf families desire a deaf child, and PGD–IVF is also an option for (...) them. Selection for genetic deafness, however, encounters widespread disapproval in the hearing community, including mainstream philosophy and bioethics. In this paper I apply Elizabeth Barnes’ value-neutral model of disability as mere-difference to the case of selecting for deafness. I draw on evidence from Deaf Studies and Disability Studies to build an understanding of deafness, the Deaf community, and the circumstances relevant to reproductive choices that may obtain for some Deaf families. Selection for deafness, with deafness understood as mere-difference and valued for its cultural identity, need not necessitate impermissible moral harms. I thus advocate that it is sometimes morally permissible to select for deafness in one’s child. (shrink)

Jacqueline Taylor presents an original reconstruction of Hume's social theory, which examines the passions and imagination in relation to institutions such as government and the economy. She goes on to examine Hume's system of ethics, and argues that the principle of humanity is the central concept of Hume's Enlightenment philosophy.

Mostraremos como o Fedro de Platão é um terreno atípico, cujo léxico e alguns conceitos são flutuantes dentro do próprio diálogo, dificultando comparações lexicais com outros diálogos. Nosso ensaio mostrará a flutuação e a inversão de valores desse léxico-conceitual no próprio Fedro, tomando como exemplo quatro termos chave: doxa, razão, Eros e retórica. Consideraremos o caráter metodológico e epistemológico que a comparação lexical entre diálogos implica, tomando o Fedro como exemplo cujo bordado, comparado aos demais diálogos, sempre parece às avessas. (...) Assim, como as experientes bordadeiras, realizaremos avaliação desses termos não apenas pela figura manifesta, mas especialmente pelo seu avesso, cujo entrelaço deve ser tão ou mais belo que o lado externo. Palavras-chave: Fedro; Doxa; Razão; Eros e Retórica. The reverse side of embroidery: doxa, reason, Eros, and rhetoric in the Phaedrus Abstract: We will show how Plato's Phaedrus is an atypical terrain, whose lexicon and some concepts are floating within the dialogue itself, making lexical comparisons with other dialogues difficult. Our essay will show the fluctuation and inversion of values of this lexical-conceptual in Phaedrus himself, taking as an example four key terms: doxa, reason, Eros and rhetoric. We will consider the methodological and epistemological character that the lexical comparison between dialogues implies, taking the Phaedrus as an example whose embroidery, compared to the other dialogues, always seems to be in reverse. Thus, like the experienced embroiderers, we will evaluate these terms not only by the manifest figure, but especially by its reverse side, whose interlacing must be as or more beautiful than the external side. Keywords: Phaedrus; Doxa; Reason; Eros and Rhetoric. El reverso del bordado: doxa, razón, Eros y retórica en el Fedro Resumen: Mostraremos cómo el Fedro de Platón es un terreno atípico, cuyo léxico y algunos conceptos flotan dentro del propio diálogo, dificultando las comparaciones léxicas con otros diálogos. Nuestro ensayo mostrará la fluctuación e inversión de valores de este léxico-conceptual en el propio Fedro, tomando como ejemplo cuatro términos clave: doxa, razón, Eros y retórica. Consideraremos el carácter metodológico y epistemológico que implica la comparación léxica entre diálogos, tomando como ejemplo el Fedro cuyo bordado, frente a los demás diálogos, parece siempre invertido. Así, como los bordadores experimentados, evaluaremos estos términos no sólo por la figura manifiesta, sino especialmente por su reverso, cuyo entrelazamiento debe ser tanto o más bello que el exterior. Palabras clave: Fedro; Doxa; Razón; Eros y Retórica. Data de registro: 02/08/2023 Data de aceite: 20/09/2023. (shrink)