In this study, we propose a new approach based on fuzzy TODIM (Portuguese acronym for interactive and multicriteria decision-making) for decision-making problems in uncertain environments. Our method incorporates group utility and individual regret, which are often ignored in traditional multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. To enhance the analysis and application of fuzzy sets in decision-making processes, we introduce novel entropy and distance measures for q-rung picture fuzzy sets. These measures include an entropy measure based on the sine function and a distance (...) measure derived from the Jensen-Shannon divergence. In our methodology, incorporating the sine function into the entropy measure stands out as a distinctive decision, grounded in a profound understanding of the inherent characteristics of fuzzy sets. Utilizing the sine function proves especially advantageous when handling fuzzy sets that exhibit cyclical variations or fluctuations in their membership degrees. We effectively weight the criteria for an improved evaluation by using this new entropy measure. The introduced distance measure finds application in the TODIM approach, allowing the execution of TODIM method steps within a fuzzy environment until the determination of one alternative’s dominance over another—an advancement beyond traditional approaches. We apply our enhanced fuzzy TODIM method to a real-life construction project management problem from the literature and compare the results with those in the literature and obtained from other MCDM methods. Our proposed measures are robust, as demonstrated by the sensitivity analysis that varied the weights of group utility and individual regret, with the results visualized in a 3D sensitivity plot. The findings demonstrate the superiority of our method in providing a more comprehensive evaluation of alternatives, making it a useful tool for decision-makers facing complex and uncertain decision-making problems. (shrink)

In this paper, we introduce the concepts of Pythagorean fuzzy valued neutrosophic set (PFVNS) and Pythagorean fuzzy valued neutrosophic (PFVNV) constructed by considering Pythagorean fuzzy values (PFVs) instead of numbers for the degrees of the truth, the indeterminacy and the falsity, which is a new extension of intuitionistic fuzzy valued neutrosophic set (IFVNS). By means of PFVNSs, the degrees of the truth, the indeterminacy and the falsity can be given in Pythagorean fuzzy environment and more sensitive evaluations are made by (...) a decision maker in decision making problems compared to IFVNSs. In other words, such sets enable a decision maker to evaluate the degrees of the truth, the indeterminacy and the falsity as PFVs to model the uncertainty in the evaluations. (shrink)

In this eleventh book of scilogs – called in-turns and out-turns –, one may find new and old questions and solutions, referring mostly to topics on Neutrosophy, but also Multispace, with miscellaneous addition of topics on Physics, Mathematics, or Sociology – email messages to research colleagues, or replies, notes about authors, articles, or books, spontaneous ideas, and so on. -/- Exchanging ideas with Prem Kumar Singh, Feng Liu, Nicolae Bălașa, Jimmy Quellet, Minodora Rușchița, Frank Gelli, A. R. Vătuiu, Victor Christianto, (...) Vladimir I. Rogozhin, Robert Neil Boyd, Akira Kanda, Stefan Spaarmann, Oliver Consa, Yabin Shao, Junle Zhuo, Nivetha Martin, Said Broumi, Jean Dezert, Erick González, Tomasz Witczak, B. De Baets, I. Couso, D. Dubois, L. Good, Mihaela Colhon, Atiqe Ur Rahman, Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Ihsan, Edeline Nancy, Shawkat Alkhazaleh, Shazia Rana, Vasantha Kandasamy, Santanu Acharjee, Mohamed Al-Shmrani, Parimala Manie, Mehmet Unver, Murat Olgun, Adel Aleidhri, Akira Kanda, Ilanthenral Kandasamy, Mircea Zărnescu, R. Tayebi Khorami, Arsham Borumand Saeid, Maisam Jdid, M. Abobala, Riad Hamido, Rafael Rojas, Esmaeil Zarei, Faisal Khan, Rouzbeh Abbassi, Adel Al-Odhari, Henry Garrett, Ackbar Rezaei, Saeid Jafari, Karthika Muthusamy, Harish Garg, Huda E. Khalid, Gonca D. Güngör, Muslim A. Noah Zainal, Fakhry Asad Agusfrianto, Madeleine Al-Tahan, Mariam Hariri, Yudi Mahatma, Masoud Ghods, Marco Brigliadori, Luis Enrique Aponte Pérez, Amr Mohammed, M. Aslam (in order of reference in the book). (shrink)

Some prominent figures in both sociology and the field of sociology of religion, such as Auguste Comte, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Emile Durkheim, discussed the changes brought about by cultural, political, and economic revolutions in Continental Europe, considering the institution of religion. The issues they explored and the concepts they developed have also had an impact on the Turkish sociologists engaged in academic research outside of Continental Europe. In fact, Turkish intellectuals who experienced the Ottoman Empire transformation into the (...) Republic of Turkey found a rich area of study in the sociological outcomes of the revolution, particularly in relation to the interplay of religion and society. The accumulation of the sociology of religion discipline and methodological studies from Continental Europe to Turkey can be examined by categorizing the symbolic ideas of sociologists into three distinct periods within this framework. The purpose of this study is to address the process of institutionalization of the discipline of sociology of religion in three key phases, elucidating the conceptual frameworks and contributions made by symbolic representatives. Indeed, the examination of the institutionalization process of the discipline of sociology of religion during the Republican era holds historical significance for the field. This study is based on the views of the sociology of religion theorists in three primary phases, focusing on the preparation during the Republican era, institutionalization, and the formation of local literature. It also delves into the contributions of figures like Prens Sabahattin, Ziya Gökalp, Mümtaz Turhan, Erol Güngör, Şerif Mardin, Mehmet Taplamacıoğlu, and Ünver Günay during this process and examine the emergence of new literature in the third phase. Despite the presence of numerous sociology of religion scholars, these specific names were chosen to represent different sociological schools. The data used in this study were obtained through the documentation technique. (shrink)

Rigveda, Hint alt kıtasının en eski metinlerinden biri olarak, antik Vedik dönemin dini, felsefi ve kültürel yaşamına dair paha biçilmez bilgiler sunar. Bu kutsal kitap, karmaşık ilahiler, ritüeller ve mitolojik anlatılar yoluyla Hindistan’ın manevi ve düşünsel mirasının temellerini şekillendirir. Bu çalışma, Hint kültürünün köklerini ve gelişimini anlamada kritik bir rol oynayarak, yüzyıllar boyunca süregelen dini ritüeller, sosyal yapılar ve kozmolojik anlayışların şekillenmesine dair önemli veriler sunar. Makale, Rigveda’da yer alan Vedik yacña (kurban) ritüelini mercek altına alır; özellikle Soma kurbanının detaylı (...) ritüellerine ve rahiplerin bu törenlerdeki kritik rollerine dikkat çeker. Bu inceleme, eski Hint toplumunda rahiplerin dini ve sosyo-ekonomik etkilerini vurgulayarak, onların toplumdaki yerini ve önemini tartışır. Seçilen ilahilerin niteliksel tematik analizi, karmaşık ritüelistik çerçeveyi çözerek rahiplerin çok yönlü işlevlerine ve Vedik toplumunun toplumsal ve ruhani dengesini korumak için çok önemli bir rahip ücretlendirme biçimi olan ‘dakşiṇā’ sisteminin etkilerine ışık tutmaktadır. Araştırma, ritüelistik performanslar ile doğal dünya arasında simbiyotik bir ilişki olduğunu ileri sürerek, bu ritüellerin etkili bir şekilde uygulanmasının başta yağış olmak üzere çevresel olayları etkilediğine inanıldığını ve böylece insan dini pratiklerinin kozmik düzenle iç içe geçtiğini öne sürmektedir. Metinsel incelemeyi bilimsel yorumlarla bütünleştiren bu çalışma, Vedik kurban uygulamalarına dair kavrayışımızı geliştirmekte ve bunları Vedik dünya görüşünün şekillenmesinde merkezi bir rol oynayan manevi niyetler, maddi sonuçlar ve kozmolojik ilkelerin sofistike bir sentezi olarak tasvir etmektedir. Çalışma, bu eski ritüellerin ruhban sınıfı ile halk arasında nasıl karşılıklı bir dinamik oluşturduğunu, sosyal hiyerarşileri güçlendirirken aynı zamanda topluluğun manevi ve maddi refahını nasıl sağladığını incelemektedir. Bulgular, Vedik ritüellerin yalnızca dini törenler olarak değil, eski Hindistan’ın kültürel ethosunu, toplumsal yapılarını ve dini doktrinlerini şekillendiren temel unsurlar olarak kalıcı etkisinin altını çizmektedir. Rigveda’da ifade edildiği şekliyle kurban uygulamaları, toplumsal uyum için kritik bir araç olarak ortaya çıkmakta, ruhani ve zamansal olanın birbirine bağlılığına dair köklü bir inancı yerleştirmekte ve böylece Vedik dinin aşkın ve pragmatik boyutlarına dair incelikli bir bakış açısı sunmaktadır. Bu çalışma, Vedik kurban ritüelleri, sosyal düzenin oluşumu ve kadim Hint düşüncesinde tanrısalın nasıl algılandığı arasındaki kompleks bağlantıyı açıklamakta, böylece bu eski törenlerin Hinduizm’deki sonraki dini ve kültürel pratikler üzerindeki kalıcı etkisini ve mirasını detaylı bir şekilde ortaya koymaktadır. (shrink)

Tanrı’nın varlığı kanıtlama (isbât-ı vâcib) kelâm ilminin diğer tüm meselelerin kendisine dayandığı en başta gelen gayesidir. Kelâmcıların özelliği inşa ettikleri bir bilgi teorisi ekseninde bunu ortaya koymaya çalışmalarıdır. Kelâmda mevcut, ma’dum, kadîm, muhdes, cevher, araz gibi ontolojik kavramların daha genelde bilinenler (malumat) kümesinin unsurları olmasından da anlaşılacağı üzere kelamcılar Tanrı’nın varlığı konusunu bilgiye konu olmak bakımından ele almaktadırlar. Bu durum kelâmcılara göre Allah’ın varlığının bilgisine (marifetgullah) ulaşmanın bir epistemoloji meselesi olduğunu ortaya koyar. Bu makalede Mu’tezile kelamında önemli bir yeri olan (...) Kādî Abdülcebbâr’ın (ö. 415/1025) Tanrı’nın varlığını benimsediği bilgi teorisi ekseninde nasıl ispat etmeye çalıştığı ortaya konulacaktır. Bu doğrultuda makalede öncelikle Kādî’nin bilgiyi nasıl tanımladığı ve bu tanımında kendisinden önceki kelâmcılardan benzeşip farklılaştığı yerler ele alınacaktır. Ardından Kādî’nin bilgi edinme kaynaklarını “zorunlu” ve “iktisabi” bilgi türleri kapsamında nasıl tasnif ettiği ele alınacaktır. Son olarak Kādî’nin Tanrı’nın varlığını ortaya koyduğu bilgi teorisini ekseninde akli delilere dayalı olarak nasıl ispat etmeye çalıştığı ele alınacaktır. (shrink)

Research suggests that organizational justice has important impacts on work-related attitudes and behaviors, such as organizational citizenship behavior. In this article, we explore the extent to which individualism moderates the relationship between organizational justice and OCB among citizens in Kyrgyzstan. We make additional contributions to the literature because we know very little about these constructs in this former Soviet Union country, Kyrgyzstan, an under-researched and under-represented region of the world. Results of our data collected from 402 managers and employees in (...) Kyrgyzstan offer the following new discoveries. All three justice constructs are related to OCB. Individualism moderates only the distributive and interactive justice to OCB relationships. We develop an intricate theory with provocative implications: Procedural justice produces obedience. For “individualists,” interactional justice inspires loyalty and, interestingly, distributive justice “can only buy” participation, but “can’t buy” loyalty. Therefore, for individualists, interactional justice outweighs distributive justice for organizational loyalty. Based on Kyrgyz citizens’ justice, OCB, and individualism, our theory reveals novel insights regarding culture, money attitude, and intrinsic motivation and provides critical and practical implications to the field of business ethics. (shrink)

BackgroundIn terms of ethical decision making, every clinical case, when seen as an ethical problem, may be analyzed by means of four topics: medical indications, patient preferences, quality of life, contextual features. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of 4th year dental students on Ethical Decision Making before and after a course on ethics.MethodsFourth year dental students from academic year 2013–2014 participated in the study. A 3-h lecture, which was about four topics approach to clinical ethical (...) case analysis, was given to the students. The lecture was based on case scenarios related with dental ethics. After the completion of lectures,a case scenario was presented to the students to assess their ethical decision making abilities. At the end of the exam, four topics and ethical judgment were evaluated. Their performances on this examination were evaluated before and after lectures. Statistical evaluation was performed with the significance level set at p 0.05). The mean total score of the students after the course was significantly higher than before course.ConclusionMore lectures should be implemented to the curriculum to increase the student awareness of ethical issues and to reach the ultimate goals of dental education. (shrink)

This book focuses on the crucial relationship between Hegel's career and politics. It situates this relationship within the broader political and historical context of his time. More specifically, Tabak explores the unlikely story of how an ambitious, incoherent, and academically untalented person had managed to become the most famous and powerful philosopher in Germany during the last decade of his life. In this context, and contrary to the contemporary "consensus view," Tabak documents conclusively that Hegel was a servile apologist for (...) the repressive Prussian state, and that this was the main reason why he became the most famous philosopher in Germany. In this meticulously-researched book, the author skillfully combines biographical, historical, and philosophical analyses and information to offer a compelling and rich account.Mehmet Tabak teaches at New York University. He is the author of multiple books on Plato, Marx, and Hegel. (shrink)

Erken dönemlerden itibaren fıkhî meseleler üzerindeki tartışmalar, bir yönteme bağlı kalınarak icra edilmiştir. Tartışmalarda belirli soru ve cevap türlerine başvurulmuş, soruların tertibine özen gösterilmiştir. Bu sayede taraflar kendi görüşlerinin doğruluğunu, karşıt görüşün yanlışlığını çelişkiye düşmeden ortaya koymaya çalışmıştır. Bu çalışmada ilk olarak cedelden ve cedelin fıkha tatbikinden bahsedilmiş, sonrasında münâzaracı kimlikleriyle meşhur olan Hanefî fakihi Kudûrî ile Şâfiî fakihi Ebu’t-Tayyib et-Taberî arasında geçtiği rivayet edilen talâka dair bir münâzara inceleme konusu edilmiştir. Bu münâzarada, muhâlea ile boşanılan kadına, kadının iddeti esnasında (...) tekrardan ricî talâk yapılabileceğini savunan Kudûrî ile bu durumda talâkın geçersiz olacağını söyleyen Taberî’nin karşılıklı istidlal ve itirazları yer almaktadır. Bu tartışmanın temelini Kudûrî’nin muhâlea yapılan kadını ricî talâkla boşanan kadına kıyas etmesi oluşturmaktadır. Taberî bu kıyasın illetine yönelik mutâlebe, itirâz ve muâraza türü sorulara başvurmuş, Kudûrî ise kendi illetinin sıhhatini savunmaya çalışmıştır. Yer yer tartışma kurallarına atıfların yapılması yönüyle de önemli olan bu münâzara incelenirken, cedelin fıkha tatbikine dair kısımda zikredilen bilgilerin pratikte nasıl uygulandığına işaret edilmiştir. (shrink)

Hristiyan teolog William Lane Crag'a ait din ve bilim arasındaki ilişkiyi ele lan bir çeviri...

Plato's Parmenides is very commonly read as a turning-point in Plato's philosophical development. Most contemporary scholars agree with the view that Plato seriously criticizes his theory of Forms in this dialogue. According to some proponents of this view, Plato deemed these criticisms too damaging to his theory of Forms, and subsequently abandoned this theory. Other proponents of the serious-self-criticism view argue that, instead of abandoning his theory of Forms, Plato lays the foundations of a new and improved theory of Forms (...) in Parmenides--there is little agreement on what this new theory entails. Against this prevailing scholarly wisdom, Mehmet Tabak illustrates that Parmenides is exclusively a satirical dialogue in which Plato attempts to expose the absurd nature of the doctrines and method of his philosophical opponents. Tabak's accessible, historically-sensitive, detailed, and comprehensive account is the first decisive illustration of this view, which has been sporadically defended for many centuries. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Modernity as Apocalypse: Sacred Nihilism and the Counterfeits of Logos by Thaddeus J. KozinskiMehmet CiftciModernity as Apocalypse: Sacred Nihilism and the Counterfeits of Logos by Thaddeus J. Kozinski (Brooklyn, NY: Angelico, 2019), 231 pp.Whether the names Adrian Vermeule, Fr. Edmund Waldstein, and Sohrab Ahmari provoke anxiety or glee in readers' minds will depend on where they stand on integralism, the brand of Catholic traditionalism that all three have (...) sought to promote through various websites and publications. Presenting themselves as the authentic interpreters of magisterial teachings on church–state relations, the integralists have challenged the long-standing attempt (especially in North America) to combine the Catholic faith with a commitment to political liberalism, natural rights, religious liberty, and state neutrality toward religion. For the integralists, attempting such a combination succeeds only in distorting the Catholic faith and causes us to forget what the Church taught before the Second Vatican Council, which still obliges the assent of Catholics, they claim, and is desperately needed to stand against the onward march of secularism. [End Page 966]Although Thaddeus Kozinski, former professor at Wyoming Catholic College, may not be one of the more well-known integralists, his latest book presents an interesting iteration of Catholic traditionalism that displays both what is valuable and what is most worrying about contemporary traditionalism. Kozinski's previous book was a closely argued critique of John Rawls and Jacques Maritain using the thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. It built up a cumulative case for the impossibility of resolving the political problem of religious pluralism without moving beyond philosophy by making a decision to reject or accept the political importance of the Catholic Church and its teachings.1 Although the author's preference for some sort of confessional state was already clear in that book, he preferred not to defend it, but rather to argue that it is impossible to be agnostic or neutral toward the ideal of church–state union. Now he goes on the offensive, presenting in the twenty brief chapters of Modernity as Apocalypse his "sundry attempts over the past decade to grapple with the question of modernity" (14). More precisely, he is grappling with the questions of what defines modernity, how we arrived at where we are, and what Christians should do while living in it, particularly in the fields of education and politics.The two chapters that form the first part (entitled "Modernity") use Charles Taylor's A Secular Age to argue that modernity's increasingly pluralistic and secular culture creates "an entirely new incapacity to experience the reality of a particular worldview in a naïve way, that is, without the consciousness of there being other viable options" (37). Yet the problem also reveals a blessing. "Encountering reality through the lens of other perennial traditions can serve to expose that false dichotomy in our minds that leads us to interpret other views as nothing more than full-fledged errors and our own personal lenses as nothing less than the whole truth" (21). Anyone who has read what passes for commentary on websites such as Church Militant or Rorate Caeli will find that statement surprising and refreshing.The second part ("Logos") contains four chapters that lucidly discuss contemporary disagreements in ethics between Kantians and virtue-ethicists, between new natural lawyers and MacIntyreans. Chapter 4 makes an effective and moving argument to read Plato "as a precursor to Faith, and a guide along the way home" (50). There are some brief but suggestive remarks drawing on Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate in [End Page 967] chapter 6 to argue that an ethics of gift can enable us to express the moral teachings of the New Testament in terms that are potentially convincing to a broader audience. "Metanoia" is the title of the third part, dedicated to education. Chapters 7–8 and 10 give not very original and yet timely arguments for the importance of the liberal arts, the need for Catholic universities to be institutions that can foster, rather than deform, the practice of philosophy, and the need for pedagogy to be rooted in the transmission of a community's tradition.2However, one cannot help but be startled when... (shrink)

Üç bölümden oluşan bu çalışmanın birinci bölümünde İslam dini ile Hint kıtası dinleri arasında Tanrı, evren, insan tasavvurları ve ölümsüzlük doktrinleri ekseninde genel bir karşılaştırma yapılacak, böylelikle tenâsüh ve âhiret inancının ait olduğu dinî gelenek içindeki yeri gösterilmeye çalışılacaktır. İkinci bölümde İslam düşünce tarihinde tenâsüh inancıyla ilişkilendirilen gruplar ve bunlara gösterilen tepkiler ortaya koyulacaktır. Üçüncü bölümde ise kadîm tenâsüh inancının günümüzdeki şekli olan reenkarnasyon düşüncesi ele alınacak; bu bağlamda ülkemizde çeşitli dernek ve vakıflar vasıtasıyla faaliyetlerini yürüten ruhçu akımların, reenkarnasyonun bilimsel (...) olarak kanıtlandığı, kötülük problemine çözüm getirdiği ve başta Kur’ân olmak üzere ilâhî dinlerin kutsal kitaplarının da bu inancı desteklediği gibi iddiaları değerlendirilecektir. Makalenin genel amacı ise din ve düşünce sistemlerinin ölümsüzlük doktrinlerini varlık anlayışları, dünya görüşleri ve bilgi nazariyeleriyle bütünleşik bir sistem dâhilinde ortaya koydukları, bu doğrultuda reenkarnasyon inancının da İslam dininin en temelde Tanrı, evren ve insan tasavvuruyla uyuşmadığını ortaya koymaktır. (shrink)

Uluslararası hukuk sistemin, internet, sivil toplum kuruluşlarının (STK) etkisinin artışı, bununla beraber tartışmalı da olsa Vestfalya devlet merkezli sistemin zayıflaması ve uluslar ötesi demokrasinin gelişmesi ile çok önemli değişimlere maruz kaldığı kabul edilen bir gerçektir. Bu çalışma, öncelikle sivil toplum kuruluşlarının uluslararası alanda artan etkisine vurgu yaparak uluslararası hukuk sisteminin tecrübe ettiği bu değişimi inceliyor. Bu gelişme ile zayıflayan devlet merkezli sistem ve uluslararası hukukta gelişen bir olgu olan demokrasi konusu arasındaki ilişkileri değerlendiriyor. Uluslararası hukuk sisteminin şahit olduğu gelişmelerin aslında (...) birbirlerine bağlı oldukları sonucuna varılıyor öyle ki sivil toplum kuruluşlarının artan etkisi demokrasinin ulusal sınırları aşması ve devlet merkezli sistem üzerinde baskı oluşması gibi sonuçlara yol açmıştır. (shrink)

Along with the legal opinions, the juristic proofs presented to underpin these legal opinions also occupy an important place in uṣūl al-fiqh. Thus, scholars of uṣūl al-fiqh strived to propound the proofs indicating the relevant theoretical principles in an apparent and definite way. As a result, the disputed and undisputed proofs ranked among al-adilla al-shar‘iyya have been abundantly addressed in the classical uṣūl al-fiqh works. However, although it is not mentioned as a part of legal sources in the uṣul literature, (...) there has been another proof subjected to legal reasoning (istidlāl): the practice of the companions. In this study, “the practices of the companions” is used in the contextual meaing of the verbal and practical positions of the entire companions or some of them on a specific topic of uṣūl al-fiqh. By this definition, the concept of the practice of the companions is separated from the concepts of qawl al-ṣaḥābī, ʿamal ahl al-Madīnah and the ijmāʿ al-ṣaḥābah. As a matter of fact, the concept of qawl al-ṣaḥābī signifies an opinion narrated from a single companion and neither supported nor opposed by other companions, and subjected to use of legal inference for obtaining practical legal rulings. In return, the concept of the practice of the companions signifies the position that the companions hold on a topic of uṣūl al-fiqh and does not stipulate the conditions that it must be an opinion of a single companion and be neither supported nor opposed by other companions. In addition, as being related to the legal theoretical issues and not restricted to a certain region, the concept of the practice of the companions is distinct from the ‘amal ahl al-Madīnah. Likewise, it also differed from the ijmāʿ al-ṣaḥābah because the latter concept indicates the consensus of all companions on a practical legal ruling whereas the practice of the companions amounts to both the consensus of the companions and their individual opinions on the matters of uṣūl al-fiqh. Having said that, the concept of the practice of the companions has some overlaps with the qawl al-ṣaḥābī and ijmāʿ al-ṣaḥābah. It is observed in the Hanafi tradition of uṣūl al-fiqh that the practices of the companions are presented as a proof of many principles of uṣūl al-fiqh. This is because of the fact that the companions have a significant role as being the first practitioners of the revelation and the leading figures of the tradition of fiqh. Due to these significant roles of the companions, a central position is given to their interpretation method of the divine text and the technique of issuing legal opinions in determination of theoretical principles. In this study, I examine the impact of the practices of the companions on the Hanafi legal theory focusing on the work of al-Sarakhsī (d. 483/1090), al-Uṣūl, and try to identify how Hanafi legal theory was grounded, departing from, overall or particular, companions’ practices. This study consists of two main parts. First, I provide the conceptual framework by analyzing the concepts of the companion and the companions’ practice. Second, I discussed the theoretical issues rested evidentially on the companions’ practice. Hence, this study excludes the instances of qawl al-ṣaḥābī, ijmāʿ al-ṣaḥābah and the companions’ practice if they are not resorted in proving the uṣūl al-fiqh principles. This work deals with issues on which theoretical principles grounded in reference to the practice of the companions under the headings; Kitāb, Sunnah, qıyās, naskh and alfāz. When instances of the companions’ practice are in abundance in a case, I just focus on the highly representative ones and shortly refer to the others. In the conclusion part, I provide the consequences achieved by this research and some final remarks on the topic. (shrink)

Jacobus Erasmus. The Kalām Cosmological Argument: A Reassessment. Cham: Springer, 2018. xiii+186 sayfa. ISBN: 9783319734378.

Intergenerational altruism is an important area of research to understand the impact of culture on economic outcomes. We hypothesize based on recent research about intergenerational altruism and tough love model that worldviews, religious beliefs, and people’s confidence about their worldviews affect intergenerational altruistic economic behaviour. We extend the research on the impact of worldviews on intergenerational altruism by focusing on Turkey. In the empirical analysis, we run probit regressions using data from a large national survey. We find that worldviews, religiosity, (...) and confidence of individuals about their worldviews impact on intergenerational altruistic economic behaviour in Turkey. (shrink)

PREFACE WORD -/- Hilmi Ziya Ülken was born and educated in Istanbul during the last period of the Ottoman Empire and worked in many fields of the intellectual life of the newly established Republic. Although he was interested in many fields of social sciences, he gained fame in the fields of Turkish thought and Islamic philosophy, and undertook important tasks in revealing and introducing medieval Islamic thinkers and post-Tanzimat Turkish thought. Again, due to his deep knowledge of Eastern and Western (...) philosophies, he was a thinker who made comparative studies and revealed the similarities and differences in both cultures. Apart from philosophy, which is his main field of interest, he also wrote works in the fields of sociology, anthropology, logic, history, novels, poetry, painting, miniature painting and even calligraphy. Ülken served as a bridge to the disconnect in our culture due to the Alphabet Revolution through the works he wrote and the students he trained. He made great contributions to Turkish-Islamic thought with his maturity period works, especially when he was a faculty member in the field of systematic philosophy at Ankara University Faculty of Theology. The philosophy of being, which constitutes the main axis of our study, is intertwined with metaphysics and ontology. Metaphysics, which deals with the question of "what being is", and ontology, which seeks to answer the question of "what kind of the same things exist in essence", are closely related; in fact, it is almost impossible to separate these two fields. Metaphysics, or the philosophy of being, is the most important and yet the most problematic field of philosophy. This is because throughout the history of philosophy there are many philosophers who do not see metaphysics as a field of philosophy. Especially in the Enlightenment period, metaphysics was seen as unobservable and incapable of meaningful discourse because it included topics such as God, the soul and universals. Some positivist thinkers even saw metaphysics as a continuation of animist discourse, the biggest obstacle to progress and Enlightenment, and criticized it severely. As a continuation of this understanding, metaphysics has been viewed negatively in our country since the early years of the Republic, and some philosophers have ignored an important field of philosophy by saying, "Metaphysics is not philosophy; philosophy is not metaphysics." In fact, in contemporary Western philosophy, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger, Heidegger. In fact, in contemporary Western philosophy, philosophers such as Heidegger (1889-1976), Sartre (1905-1980) and Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) attempted to demolish metaphysics in order to solve the problem of existence, but in doing so they themselves had to do metaphysics. When we ignore metaphysics, we ignore an important field of philosophy and an important function of the philosopher. Because in the pithy words of Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), "Man is a being who does metaphysics." Again, according to the Andalusian philosopher Ibn Bâjce (1077-1139), a virtuous society is one that emphasizes the metaphysical dimension of human beings. Although Ülken grew up in a period when metaphysics was viewed negatively, he wrote many works in this field and attached great importance to metaphysics. In fact, one of his first works was Metaphysics (1928), which is important in this respect. In addition, one of his mature works, Being and Becoming (1968), which is a summary of his philosophy, also shows the importance he attached to metaphysics. Ülken attached great importance to the philosophy of being (ontology) in his philosophical studies. He even wrote on this subject in his Felsefe Dersleri: Bilgi ve Vücûd Nazariyeleri (Metafizik) (Philosophy Lectures: Knowledge and Body Theory -Metaphysics) (1928), Aşk Ahlâkı (Love Ethics) (1931), İnsanî Vatanperverlik (Humanitarian Patriotism) (1933), and Varlık ve Oluş (Being and Becoming) (1968). These works on ontology are among the first publications in his field in Turkish. According to him, the basic subject of philosophy is existence. Other fields should be built on this philosophy. During our study, the most important problem was the change in Ülken's thought between his works. We also encountered difficulties such as the scattered nature of his works, the lack of a systematic system, the lack of methodological sensitivity in footnotes and citations, and the use of some terms in their original form instead of their Turkish equivalents. (shrink)

Nancy Cartwright (1983, 1999) argues that (1) the fundamental laws of physics are true when and only when appropriate ceteris paribus modifiers are attached and that (2) ceteris paribus modifiers describe conditions that are almost never satisfied. She concludes that when the fundamental laws of physics are true, they don't apply in the real world, but only in highly idealized counterfactual situations. In this paper, we argue that (1) and (2) together with an assumption about contraposition entail the opposite conclusion (...) — that the fundamental laws of physics do apply in the real world. Cartwright extracts from her thesis about the inapplicability of fundamental laws the conclusion that they cannot figure in covering-law explanations. We construct a different argument for a related conclusion — that forward-directed idealized dynamical laws cannot provide covering-law explanations that are causal. This argument is neutral on whether the assumption about contraposition is true. We then discuss Cartwright's simulacrum account of explanation, which seeks to describe how idealized laws can be explanatory. (shrink)

Buryats are a community that is a tribe of Mongols and lives in the Altay geography, has encountered various religions throughout history. Although Lake Baikal is located within the borders of the Irkutsk Autonomous Region, it has a very important place for the Buryat community. For the Buryat community, which adheres to their traditional beliefs, Olkhon Island, located in Lake Baikal, is seen as a legacy and sacred place left by their ancestors. According to the belief, Olkhon Island is considered (...) one of the most important global poles of shamanic energy for the Buryat community, thought to provide a connection with the metaphysical realm through the special areas it contains. Olkhon Island, including various mythological elements and legends, has been home to Altay communities. Some of beliefs about Olkhon Island are considered valuable in terms of showing the common elements of the Mongolian and Turkish communities that have lived together throughout history and being able to reveal their interaction with each other. In this article, the relationship of Olkhon Island with the sacred and its importance in terms of world cultural heritage is evaluated by using descriptive and comparative methods. Olkhon Island will provide valuable data on the basis of the beliefs of the mentioned communities when evaluated in the context of their interaction and connection with the outside world being quite limited, the preservation and maintenance of the traditional beliefs of the Turkish and Mongolian communities. (shrink)

In this paper, I investigate the nature of a priori biological laws in connection with the idea that laws must be empirical. I argue that the epistemic functions of a priori biological laws in biology are the same as those of empirical laws in physics. Thus, the requirement that laws be empirical is idle in connection with how laws operate in science. This result presents a choice between sticking with an unmotivated philosophical requirement and taking the functional equivalence of laws (...) seriously and modifying our philosophical account. I favor the latter. (shrink)

Māturīdism is an Ottoman identity and this identity was not limited, as is commonly believed, to the last period of the Empire. It maintained its formal existence throughout the Ottoman history. Nevertheless, the context in which the Māturīdism was located or with which it was associated changed in the course of time. In the early period when the eclectic way of thinking was dominant, Māturīdism as a creed was apparent mainly in the jurists whose ascetic identity was prominent and partly (...) in the mystical currents that were essentially continuations of Yasawiyya. At this point, the Bukhara-centered Ḥanafī legal literature played a distinctive role. At the time of Meḥmed II and in the following period during which the philosophical kalām dominated the scene, the Māturīdism was relatively passive and was in search of a position against the Ash‘arism. The new Rāzian paradigm of thought that began to be felt strongly in the Ottoman lands with Meḥmed II as an attempt of integration into the global circulation of knowledge prevented to a certain extent the visibility of Māturīdism. However, even in this period, Māturīdism was remarkably reflected in the muqaddimāt-i arba‘a literature which was directly sponsored by Meḥmed II. The tradition of philosophical kalām in the Ottoman scholarship, just when it was about to yield significant results, was interrupted due to the struggle against the Ṣafawids. Transformation of this political tension, at the same time, into a fight against Shiism also brought about a constriction in the religious thought of the Ottomans. Shiism and its all other variants were bitterly attacked under the main heading of Rāfiḍa. Unfortunately such a refutational approach proved a boomerang and returned in time striking the Ottoman Ṣūfīs who stood near the line of the Ardabil Shrine before its Shiitization. Ḥanafī fatwā literature was used extensively in the refutation texts against Ṣafawids. This brought to the fore at first the Ḥanafite and then the Māturīdite identity. This paper attempts to analyze this changing emphasis on Māturīdism in the Ottoman period and the political and intellectual factors that supported and nourished it. -/- SUMMARY It can be argued that the debates around Ash‘arism and Māturīdism in the Ottoman period and the resulting meant more than attempts of the members of the two sides to understand each other and that Māturīdism, particularly from the 16th century onwards, was gradually brought fore as the identity of Ottomans. In fact, this identity was not limited, as is commonly believed, to the last period of the Empire; it maintained, in form, its existence throughout the Ottoman history. Nevertheless, the context in which the Māturīdism was located or with which it was associated changed in the course of time. In the early period when the eclectic way of thinking was dominant, Māturīdism as a creed was apparent mainly in the jurists whose ascetic identity was prominent and partly in the mystical currents that were essentially continuations of Yasawiyya. At this point, the Bukhara-centered Ḥanafī legal literature played a distinctive role. At the time of Meḥmed II and in the following period during which the philosophical kalām dominated the scene, the Māturīdism was relatively passive and was in search of a position against the Ash‘arism. In this period, Ottoman scholars still embraced the Māturīdī-Ḥanafī line in their theological views. Ḫiḍir Beg’s al-Qaṣīda al-Nūniyya, and al-Khayālī’s commentary upon it, and the commentary written by Aḥmad b. Oġuz Dānishmand al-Aḳshahrī on al-I‘timād of Abū al-Barakāt al-Nasafī were the most noticeable Māturīdite texts from that time. Besides, al-Khayālī’s supercommentary (ḥāshiya) upon the commentary of al-Taftāzānī written on al-‘Aqā’id of Najm al-Dīn ‘Umar al-Nasafī was also of central importance. However, the new Rāzian paradigm of thought that began to be felt strongly in the Ottoman lands with Meḥmed II as an attempt of integration into the global circulation of knowledge prevented to a certain extent the visibility of Māturīdism. But, this should not be taken to mean that Māturīdism lost its ground of existence. That the Ash‘arite works produced in this new paradigm were transferred to and fully integrated in the madrasa curriculum was not because they were Ash‘arite texts but because they were the most original and highest achievements of the philosophical theology. These texts that aimed at combining all fields of knowledge on a single platform, despite the Ash‘arism they included, constituted the peak of the Islamic thought of the time. In the preference of these texts, the fact that the Māturīdī tradition generally stood, in course of time, distant to the philosophy and chose to continue the kalām in the classical line also played a role. Māturīdī theologians Muḥammad b. Ashraf al-Samarqandī, partly, but Ṣadr al-Sharī‘a al-Maḥbūbī, to a greater extent, were notable exceptions to this general Māturīdī tendency. These figures were theologically Māturīdite, but their framework of producing discourse was the combination of philosophy and kalām as with their Ash‘arī counterparts. Therefore, Ṣadr al-Sharī‘a’s criticism of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, and through him, of against the Ash‘arism in the context of muqaddimāt arba‘a was wholeheartedly supported by the Ottoman ulama. Even it was Meḥmed II who sponsored the debates regarding muqaddimāt arba‘a. The works written by such scholars as Muṣliḥ al-Dīn al-Kastallī, al-Ṣamṣūnī, ‘Alā’ al-Dīn al-‘Arabī, Mollā ‘Arab al-Anṭākī, Khaṭībzāde, Sa‘dī Chalabī during his and his son Bāyazid II’s reigns were the supercommentaries written upon the related chapter of al-Talwīḥ, al-Taftāzānī’s commentary on Ṣadr al-Sharī‘a’s al-Tawḍīḥ where the former responded to the criticism of the latter from an Ash‘arī point of view. The Ottoman ulama, in their workswere forced to choose between the two scholars and they mostly supported Ṣadr al-Sharī‘a and Māturīdism. The tradition of philosophical kalām in the Ottoman scholarship, just when it was about to yield significant results, was interrupted due to the struggle against the Ṣafawids. Transformation of this political tension, at the same time, into a fight against Shiism also brought about a constriction in the religious thought of the Ottomans. The reflex of of identifying oneself through ‘the other’ made, to a certain extent, the theological and philosophical debates regarding faith meaningless, and gradually gave the Ottoman Sunnism a doctrinal and political tone. In such a context, the Ottomans’ paradigm of producing thought in line with the philosophical kalām began to lose its function, and, the focus of scholarhsip shifted; Shiism with its all variants were began to be bitterly attacked under the main heading of Rāfiḍa. When the refutation texts composed from the reign of Bāyazid II onward to criticize the Ṣafawids are chronologically analyzed, it is seen that the contents of the texts evolved from criticism of Rāfiḍa to criticism of Sūfism. Ḥanafī fatwā literature was used extensively in these refutations. So the fatwās issued against Rāfiḍa and Ṣūfīs in malāmatī line in earlier centuries in different contexts for different reasons were employed to criticize the new opponents. This caused two important results: First, such an approach proved a boomerang and returned in time striking the Ottoman Ṣūfīs who stood near the line of the Ardabil Shrine before its Shiitization. Ḫalwatīs, Bayrāmīs, Gulshanīs, Baktāshīs and Mawlawīs were the sufi groups influenced by this situation in varying degrees. Second, Sunnism was exposed to the narrowization and centered around the fiqh, particularly Ḥanafī fiqh, in the context of Ḳāḍīzādelīs who were the main adversaries of above mentioned groups. The culture of catechism (‘ilm-i ḥāl) that came to the fore through the efforts of Ḳāḍīzādelīs was a crystallization and was mainly fuelled from this tension. Such a crystallization led the Ṣūfīs, the opponents of Ḳāḍīzādelīs, to a higher level of discourse deemphasizing the Ḥanafī aspect: They underscored the discourse of Ahl al-Sunna and four madhhabs, and mostly turned towards the Shāfiʿī and Ash‘arī traditions to look for support fortheir views. This process during which the emphasis of sharī‘a and tradition began to come to the fore once again paved the way for the zuhd and fiqh-centered religious thought that was maintained from the time of the Seljukids in Anatolia and was influential until Meḥmed II’ reign. Therefore in the Ottomans, particularly starting with the reign of Suleymān I, an intensive emphasis on Abū Ḥanīfa was witnessed. Abū Ḥanīfa was at the very center of the debates revolving around zuhd and fiqh which came about in the same period and in which the sharī‘a sensitivity was a determining factor. Al-Māturīdī, whose name was overshadowed for a long time by the name of Abū Ḥanīfa, but who became prominent in the tradition with Abū al-Mu‘īn al-Nasafī, had to transfer his gains for a period of time to Abū Ḥanīfa. Emphasis on Abū Ḥanīfa looks like a rope that when pulled, all the tradition comes with it. When the topics began to be discussed in a manner that would also include the theological context, the contribution of the works ascribed to Abū Ḥanīfa, namely al-Fiqh al-Akbar, al-Waṣiyya and al-‘Ālim wa al-Muta‘allim to the discussions would be limited. For this reason, the need to refer to al-Māturīdī or to the theological formation bearing his name was inevitable. So, the literature on the points of disagreements between the Ash‘arism and the Māturīdism developed both vertically and horizontally in the 18th century and, corollary to that, the debates of free will as a corolloary to that, once again brought Māturīdism to the fore. (shrink)

Sober [2011] argues that some causal statements are a priori true and that a priori causal truths are central to explanations in the theory of natural selection. Lange and Rosenberg [2011] criticize Sober's argument. They concede that there are a priori causal truths, but maintain that those truths are only ‘minimally causal’. They also argue that explanations that are built around a priori causal truths are not causal explanations, properly speaking. Here we criticize both of Lange and Rosenberg's claims.

This paper consists of four parts. Part 1 is an introduction. Part 2 evaluates arguments for the claim that there are no strict empirical laws in biology. I argue that there are two types of arguments for this claim and they are as follows: (1) Biological properties are multiply realized and they require complex processes. For this reason, it is almost impossible to formulate strict empirical laws in biology. (2) Generalizations in biology hold contingently but laws go beyond describing contingencies, (...) so there cannot be strict laws in biology. I argue that both types of arguments fail. Part 3 considers some examples of biological laws in recent biological research and argues that they exemplify strict laws in biology. Part 4 considers the objection that the examples in part 3 may be strict laws but they are not distinctively biological laws. I argue that given a plausible account of what distinctively biological means, such laws are distinctively biological. (shrink)

In Nicomachean Ethics VII, Aristotle offers an account of akrasia that purports to salvage the kernel of truth in the Socratic paradox that people act against what is best only through ignorance. Despite Aristotle’s apparent confidence in having identified the sense in which Socrates was right about akrasia, we are left puzzling over Aristotle’s own account, and the extent to which he agrees with Socrates. The most fundamental interpretive question concerns the sense in which Aristotle takes the akratic to be (...) ignorant. The received view in the literature has been the intellectualist interpretation, which takes akratic agents to be so ignorant of the wrongness of what they do as to be unaware of it. In recent decades, many scholars have identified serious problems in this interpretation and have moved towards the non-intellectualist reading, the strong version of which takes clearheaded akrasia to be possible. There is, however, a glaring shortage of discussion of the difficulties facing the strong... (shrink)

We provide experimental evidence that subjects blame others based on events they are not responsible for. In our experiment an agent chooses between a lottery and a safe asset; payment from the chosen option goes to a principal who then decides how much to allocate between the agent and a third party. We observe widespread blame: regardless of their choice, agents are blamed by principals for the outcome of the lottery, an event they are not responsible for. We provide an (...) explanation of this apparently irrational behavior with a delegated-expertise principal-agent model, the subjects’ salient perturbation of the environment. (shrink)

Tarihi süreçte Avusturya gibi Kutsal Roma Germen İmparatorluğu ve Alman Konfederasyonu bünyesinde yer alan Prusya, Bismarck önderliğinde 1871’de Alman İmparatorluğu’nu ilan etmiştir. Alman siyasi birliğinin de sağlandığı bu aşamaya ise kolay gelinmemiştir. Bu aşamaya nasıl gelindiğine dair sorudan yola çıkan bu çalışmada, Alman siyasi birliğinin sağlanmasında Prusya’nın, Zollverein’ın ve Bismarck’ın rolü araştırılmıştır. Prusya perspektifinden 18 ve 19. yüzyıl Avrupa tarihindeki temel kritik dönemeçlere temas eden araştırma aynı zamanda siyasi birlik sürecinin nasıl işlediğine ve bunun nasıl başarıldığına cevap aramaktadır. Güç dengesi (...) ve güvenlik toplulukları yaklaşımlarının katkılarıyla yürütülen araştırma, tarihsel kurumsalcılıktan da izler taşımaktadır. Güç dengesi yaklaşımı, 18. ve 19. yüzyıllardaki Avrupa ve Alman coğrafyasındaki güç ilişkilerini göstermeye yönelik alt zemin oluşturmada, güvenlik toplulukları yaklaşımı ise fonksiyonelden genel amalgama (birliğe) dönüşümü açıklamada tercih edilmiştir. Yapılan araştırma neticesinde, Alman siyasi birliğinin sağlanmasında, Prusya’nın, Zollverein’ın ve Bismarck’ın oldukça önemli rol oynadıkları görülmüştür. Siyasi birliği sağlama yönünde Prusya bir taraftan Avrupa güç dengesi koşullarında Fransa ile diğer taraftan da Alman devletleri arasında Avusturya ile uzun süre mücadele etmek durumunda kalmıştır. Hatta Bismarck liderliğinde izlenen strateji doğrultusunda bu devletlerle savaşılmış ve galip gelinmiştir. Bunların yanı sıra Alman siyasi birliğin sağlanması yönünde atılan stratejik bir bütünleşme hamlesi de Zollverein adı verilen Alman Gümrük Birliği’nin inşası olmuştur. (shrink)

Hz. Peygamber’den nakledilen “Kim âşık olur da aşkını gizler, iffetli davranır ve bu sebepten ölürse, şehit olarak ölür” hadisinin sıhhati, hadis âlimleri arasında tartışma konusu olmuştur. İlk dönem hadis münekkitlerinin tamamı “âşık hadisi” hakkında olumsuz bir kanaat arz etmişlerken, sonraki dönem bazı hadis âlimleri birtakım deliller öne sürerek mezkûr rivayetin sahih olduğunu savunmuşlardır. Ancak yapılan araştırmalar sonucu sonraki dönem hadis âlimleri tarafından “âşık hadisinin” sahih olduğunu ispatlamak için ileri sürülen delillerin, hadisi sahih derecesine çıkartacak kadar kuvvetli olmadığı tespit edilmiştir. Bununla (...) birlikte mezkûr hadis araştırılırken müteahhir ulemadan bazı isimlerin mütekaddim münekkitlerin ittifakla ortaya koydukları bir hükme neden karşı çıktığı merak konusu olmuştur. Öte yandan makale bu sorunun cevabını ararken, müteahhir ulemâ arasından “âşık hadisine” sahih diyenlerin hadisin tenkidinde farklı bir yaklaşım ortaya koyduklarını tespit etmiştir. Onlar ilk dönem münekkitlerinin aksine hadisin ravisi Süveyd’i sika kabul etmişlerdir. Ayrıca getirdikleri farklı tarikler ile hadisin mevkûf rivayetlerini de “âşık hadisinin” sıhhatini ispatlamak için kullanmışlardır. (shrink)

“Dil politik bir zorunluluk olmanın yanı sıra, iletişim boyutunda bir oluş biçimi olarak estetik bir tutum da varlığa getirir. Bir şeye, dışarıda duran bir şeye gönderme yapma, gönderenin o şeyle olan tutum alışını gösterir. Ağaç ormanda bir anlama bürünürken, bir park alanında ya da yol kenarında başka bir anlama bürünür. Ağaç her zaman bir ağaç değildir; çünkü o ağaç olmaklığını benden bağımsız olarak almış olmasına rağmen, orada bir varlık olarak benim ifade etme biçimime bağlı olarak farklı anlamlara açıktır. Yine de (...) benim olan ağaç ile benim varlığıma gereksinim duymayan aynı ağaç, benim ağaç dediğim şeyle aynı değildir. “ağaç hakkında konuşuyorum,” bir betimleme sunmaz, dahası olmayan ağaç üzerinden bir ağaç var eder. Bu bir anlamada “o bir balık değil, balık resmidir,” türü bir yargıya doğru ilerler.” Bu örnek aslında felsefenin dilsel bir etkinlik olan nitel ya da nicel belirleniminin bize sunduğu ontolojiden bağımsız bir düşünüm olamayacağını açıklar mahiyettedir. (shrink)

The question of whether biology contains laws has important implications about the nature of science. Some philosophers believe that the legitimacy of the special sciences depends on whether they contain laws. In this dissertation, I defend the thesis that biology contains laws. In Chapter I, I discuss the importance of this problem and set the stage for my inquiry. In Chapter V, I summarize the results of Chapters II, III, and IV and I offer reasons why the position I advance (...) should be preferred over the alternatives. ;In Chapter II, I argue that the epistemic functions of a priori biological laws in biology are the same as those of empirical laws in physics. I establish this claim by showing that zero force laws and singleton force laws in these sciences function in the same way. I conclude that the requirement that laws must be empirical is idle in connection with how laws operate in science. ;In Chapter III, I argue that even if there are ceteris paribus sentences, it is unlikely that there are ceteris paribus laws. If there are genuine ceteris paribus laws, then 'ceteris paribus' should be a proper part of a law statement in which it occurs. I argue that if we interpret 'ceteris paribus' in this way, the containing sentence cannot be a law because it does not satisfy a minimal condition for laws---i.e., "ceteris paribus A 's are B's" and "ceteris paribus A's are not B's" should not both be true. ;In Chapter IV, I argue that the reasons offered for the non-existence of empirical biological laws don't establish the intended conclusion. I, then, argue that the kinds of law we should expect to find in biology are biophysical laws. I defend this claim by providing a priori and a posteriori arguments. The a priori argument states that the complexity of a system is no reason to think that there are no laws about that system. The a posteriori argument states that current research in evolutionary ecology indicates the existence of biophysical laws. (shrink)