"Livre publié à l'occasion de la série d'expositions, Affinités Sélectives, au Paleis voor Schone Kunsten à Bruxelle, organisées par Bernard Marcadé.

O presente artigo relata a estética de classe de um grupo social que foi chamado de pirangueiro. A partir de uma pesquisa observacional, com amparo referencial nas teorias do habitus e do campo, em Bourdieu, baseada na técnica de flanagem, reconstruiu-se a ideia do subcampo da moda de resistência, que se apresenta como contraposição ao campo da moda dominante. Com essa moda de resistência, o jovem pirangueiro traz um elemento de auto-distinção e, ao mesmo tempo, um critério de preconceito.

O artigo trata da ideia de paz política desde a mecânica dos corpos no Leviatã de Thomas Hobbes. Buscou-se compreender como um pressuposto egoísta pode chegar a uma ideia de consenso pela linguagem.

O presente trabalho constrói uma ponte teórica entre Hegel e Marcuse, com intento de demonstrar a possibilidade de transformações históricas concretas, oferecida pela experiência estética. Tendo como paradigma a sociedade administrada, procurou-se estabelecer, a partir de Marcuse e Hegel, um caminho que demonstra como o indivíduo plasma a razão na história, o que pressupõe uma ação libertadora consciente. Todavia, em uma sociedade unidimensional, não há abertura para outras dimensões e, portanto, a razão unidimensional se torna totalitária, paralisando a história. Nesse (...) sentido, buscou-se demonstrar a saída para a dimensão estética, que propicia uma negação da unidimensionalidade da razão moderna. O indivíduo bidimensional, ie, que está aberto para a realidade e para a dimensão estética, pode plasmar a razão na história e, portanto, transformar o mundo. (shrink)

The Hebbian view of word representation is challenged by findings of task (level of processing)-dependent, event-related potential patterns that do not support the notion of a fixed set of neurons representing a given word. With cross-language phonological reliability encoding more asymmetrical left hemisphere activity is evoked than with word comprehension. This suggests a dynamical view of the brain as a self-organizing, connectivity-adjusting system.

This paper reports about our investigation on action understanding in the brain. We review recent results of the neurophysiology of the mirror system in the monkey. Based on these observations we propose a model of this brain system which is responsible for action recognition. The link between object affordances and action understanding is considered. To support our hypothesis we describe two experiments where some aspects of the model have been implemented. In the first experiment an action recognition system is trained (...) by using data recorded from human movements. In the second experiment, the model is partially implemented on a humanoid robot which learns to mimic simple actions performed by a human subject on different objects. These experiments show that motor information can have a significant role in action interpretation and that a mirror-like representation can be developed autonomously as a result of the interaction between an individual and the environment. (shrink)

Philosophy and Computing explores each of the following areas of technology: the digital revolution; the computer; the Internet and the Web; CD-ROMs and Mulitmedia; databases, textbases, and hypertexts; Artificial Intelligence; the future of computing. Luciano Floridi shows us how the relationship between philosophy and computing provokes a wide range of philosophical questions: is there a philosophy of information? What can be achieved by a classic computer? How can we define complexity? What are the limits of quantam computers? Is the (...) Internet an intellectual space or a polluted environment? What is the paradox in the Strong Artificial Intelligence program? Philosophy and Computing is essential reading for anyone wishing to fully understand both the development and history of information and communication technology as well as the philosophical issues it ultimately raises. (shrink)

IN THE PLATONIC TRADITION, the term "participation" signifies the fundamental relationship of both structure and dependence in the dialectic of the many in relation to the One and of the different in relation to the Identical, whereas in Christian philosophy it signifies the total dependence of the creature on its Creator. The term participation has played an extensive role in Patristic and medieval speculation.

Luciano Floridi presents an innovative approach to philosophy, conceived as conceptual design. His starting-point is that reality provides the data which we transform into information. He explores how we make, transform, refine, and improve the objects of our knowledge, and defends the radical idea that knowledge is design.

Toleration is one of the fundamental principles that inform the design of a democratic and liberal society. Unfortunately, its adoption seems inconsistent with the adoption of paternalistically benevolent policies, which represent a valuable mechanism to improve individuals’ well-being. In this paper, I refer to this tension as the dilemma of toleration. The dilemma is not new. It arises when an agent A would like to be tolerant and respectful towards another agent B’s choices but, at the same time, A is (...) altruistically concerned that a particular course of action would harm, or at least not improve, B’s well-being, so A would also like to be helpful and seeks to ensure that B does not pursue such course of action, for B’s sake and even against B’s consent. In the article, I clarify the specific nature of the dilemma and show that several forms of paternalism, including those based on ethics by design and structural nudging, may not be suitable to resolve it. I then argue that one form of paternalism, based on pro-ethical design, can be compatible with toleration and hence with the respect for B’s choices, by operating only at the informational and not at the structural level of a choice architecture. This provides a successful resolution of the dilemma, showing that tolerant paternalism is not an oxymoron but a viable approach to the design of a democratic and liberal society. (shrink)

The digital is deeply transforming reality. Through discussion of concepts such as identity, location, presence, law and territoriality, this article explores why and how these transformations are occurring, and highlights the importance of having a design and a plan for our new digital world.

Can knowledge provide its own justification? This sceptical challenge - known as the problem of the criterion - is one of the major issues in the history of epistemology, and this volume provides its first comprehensive study, in a span of time that goes from Sextus Empiricus to Quine. After an essential introduction to the notions of knowledge and of philosophy of knowledge, the book provides a detailed reconstruction of the history of the problem. There follows a conceptual analysis of (...) its logical features, and a comparative examination of a phenomenology of solutions that have been suggested in the course of the history of philosophy in order to overcome it, from Descartes to Popper. In this context, an indirect approach to the problem of the criterion is defended as the most successful strategy against the sceptical challenge. (shrink)

New developments in the field of communication and information technology will profoundly reshape the answers to questions of deep interest for humanity and philosophy. Who are we and what kind of relationship we establish among us? The boundaries between real life and virtual life tend to evanish. We are progressively becoming part of a global “infosphere”. This candid interview with professor Floridi try to shed some light on these issues, by considering the philosophical framework developed by the “infosphere philosopher”.

The paper introduces a new model of telepresence. First, it criticises the standard model of presence as epistemic failure, showing it to be inadequate. It then replaces it with a new model of presence as successful observability. It further provides reasons to distinguish between two types of presence, backward and forward. The new model is then tested against two ethical issues whose nature has been modified by the development of digital information and communication technologies, namely pornography and privacy, and shown (...) to be effective. (shrink)

One of the open problems in the philosophy of information is whether there is an information logic (IL), different from epistemic (EL) and doxastic logic (DL), which formalises the relation “a is informed that p” (Iap) satisfactorily. In this paper, the problem is solved by arguing that the axiom schemata of the normal modal logic (NML) KTB (also known as B or Br or Brouwer’s system) are well suited to formalise the relation of “being informed”. After having shown that IL (...) can be constructed as an informational reading of KTB, four consequences of a KTB-based IL are explored: information overload; the veridicality thesis (Iap → p); the relation between IL and EL; and the Kp → Bp principle or entailment property, according to which knowledge implies belief. Although these issues are discussed later in the article, they are the motivations behind the development of IL. (shrink)

The philosophy of information (PI) is a new area of research with its own field of investigation and methodology. This article, based on the Herbert A. Simon Lecture of Computing and Philosophy I gave at Carnegie Mellon University in 2001, analyses the eighteen principal open problems in PI. Section 1 introduces the analysis by outlining Herbert Simon's approach to PI. Section 2 discusses some methodological considerations about what counts as a good philosophical problem. The discussion centers on Hilbert's famous analysis (...) of the central problems in mathematics. The rest of the article is devoted to the eighteen problems. These are organized into five sections: problems in the analysis of the concept of information, in semantics, in the study of intelligence, in the relation between information and nature, and in the investigation of values. (shrink)

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) place a crucial emphasis on accountability, intellectual property rights, neutrality, openness, privacy, transparency, and trust; they provide a platform or infrastructure of social norms and expectations. Developing the concept of infraethics, this paper argues that all societies need rules for effective co-ordination and collaboration of their infrastructures, and that their design and maintenance is one of the crucial challenges for our own world today. -/- .

The subject is Sextus Empiricus, one the chief sources of information on ancient philosophy and one of the most influential authors in the history of skepticism. Sextus' works have had an extraordinary influence on western philosophy, and this book provides the first exhaustive and detailed study of their recovery, transmission, and intellectual influence through Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. This study deals with Sextus' biography, as well as the history of the availability and reception of his works. (...) It also contains an extensive bibliographical section, including editions, translations, and commentaries. (shrink)

The idea of artificial intelligence for social good is gaining traction within information societies in general and the AI community in particular. It has the potential to tackle social problems through the development of AI-based solutions. Yet, to date, there is only limited understanding of what makes AI socially good in theory, what counts as AI4SG in practice, and how to reproduce its initial successes in terms of policies. This article addresses this gap by identifying seven ethical factors that are (...) essential for future AI4SG initiatives. The analysis is supported by 27 case examples of AI4SG projects. Some of these factors are almost entirely novel to AI, while the significance of other factors is heightened by the use of AI. From each of these factors, corresponding best practices are formulated which, subject to context and balance, may serve as preliminary guidelines to ensure that well-designed AI is more likely to serve the social good. (shrink)

2017 saw the occurrence of two major IT disasters: the meltdown that plunged into chaos British Airways’ flights at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and the WannaCry malware hit on Microsoft Windows systems. Incidents like these exemplify how fragile the digital is and how systemic the problems caused by digital failures can be. This paper explores some possible solutions to ensure that any damage caused by such failures is limited. These include redundancy, reflexivity and insurance, accountability, and collaboration.

La idea de que el cuerpo (σῶμα) es una tumba (σῆμα) donde el alma permanece encerrada cumpliendo un castigo por una antigua culpa es transmitida por Platón, quien la atribuye a los órficos. Filón de Alejandría utilizó en diversos pasajes de su obra esta metáfora de procedencia órfica. Nuestro interés consiste en analizar el sentido que Filón le asigna y el modo en que reelabora el significado que le fue asignado en la tradición órfica y en la interpretación platónica. Intentaremos (...) mostrar que Filón utiliza la metáfora de dos maneras distintas que manifiestan la fuerte ambivalencia existente en su pensamiento respecto de la valoración del cuerpo humano. The idea that the body (σῶμα) is a tomb (σῆμα) where the soul remains confined as a punishment for an ancient fault is transmitted by Plato, who attributes it to the orphics. Philo of Alexandria made use of this metaphor of orphic origin in various passages of his work. Our interest is to analyze the sense that Philo assigns to it and the way in which he reelaborates the meaning that was ascribed to it in orphic tradition and in the platonic interpretation. We will try to demonstrate that Philo uses the metaphor in two different ways that show the strong ambivalence existing in his thought with respect to the value of the human body. (shrink)

Tomassini, formerly of ECLA and the Inter-American Development Bank, and now Executive Secretary of the Univ. of Chile's Center for the Analysis of Public Policy, argues that Latin American countries need leaner, more dynamic, and more responsive state structures to match their more open, competitive, and productive economies. He links durable economic growth and efficiency to both social equity and political stability, and argues that structures and processes that facilitate access to capital and technology for all can make decisive contributions (...) in these areas"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57. (shrink)