The paper focuses on the nature and moral status of manipulation. I analyse a popular account of manipulation by Robert Noggle and assess a challenge that has been posed by Moti Gorin. I argue that Noggle’s theory can fend off the challenge. The analysis is instructive in that it enables one to look more closely at the nature of manipulation. I argue, contrary to some proposed accounts, that manipulation essentially involves deception about the manipulator’s intentions. Secondly, since manipulation contains an (...) element of deception, it is, I maintain, prima facie immoral. Finally, I analyse and explain away several examples of allegedly morally non-problematic manipulation. (shrink)

This paper focuses on three theories of personal identity that incorporate the idea that personal identity is the result of a person’s adopting certain attitudes towards certain mental states and actions. I call these theories subjective theories of personal identity. I argue that it is not clear what the proponents of these theories mean by “personal identity”. On standard theories, such as animalism or psychological theories, the term “personal identity” refers to the numerical identity of persons and its analysis provides (...) the persistence conditions for persons. I argue that if the subjective theories purport to provide a criterion of numerical personal identity, they fail. A different interpretation may suggest that they purport to provide a non-numerical type of identity for the purpose of providing plausible analyses of certain identity-related practical concerns. I argue that the criteria the subjective theories provide fail to capture several of the identity-related concerns. As a result, this interpretation must be rejected as well. (shrink)

In this paper, I defend the idea that we need a metaphysical theory to justify identity-related practical concerns, such as self-concern. I outline D. Parfit’s theory, in which the concerns receive a metaphysical justification. Then, I focus on two objections: C. Korsgaard’s claim that the concerns are justified by the unity of agency, and M. Johnston’s contention that the concerns are prima facie justified independently of a metaphysical theory. I argue that even if these theories have a point, they do (...) not cover a range of situations in which justification may be sought. It is in these situations that a metaphysical theory may find its place. (shrink)

In this paper, I assess the analysis of vagueness of objects in terms of the theory of constitution with respect to the notion of vague identity. Some proponents of the constitution theory see it as an advantage of their account that analysing the spatial and temporal vagueness of objects in terms of the relation of vague constitution avoids commitment to vague identity, which is seen as a controversial notion. I argue that even though the constitution theory may plausibly be applied (...) to the phenomenon of vague boundaries, it fails to account fully for other cases of spatial and temporal vagueness. There are what I call ‘mid-extension’ vagueness cases, in which the tools of the constitution theory applied in the analysis of boundary vagueness are insufficient to avoid commitment to vague identity. (shrink)

Lockean theories of personal identity maintain that we persist by virtue of psychological continuity, and most Lockeans say that we are material things coinciding with animals. Some animalists argue that if persons and animals coincide, they must have the same intrinsic properties, including thinking, and, as a result, there are ‘too many thinkers’ associated with each human being. Further, Lockeans have trouble explaining how animals and persons can be numerically different and have different persistence conditions. For these reasons, the idea (...) of a person being numerically distinct but coincident with an animal is rejected and animalists conclude that we simply are animals. However, animalists face a similar problem when confronted with the vagueness of composition. Animals are entities with vague boundaries. According to the linguistic account of vagueness, the vagueness of a term consists in there being a number of candidates for the denotatum of the vague term. It seems to imply that where we see an animal, there are, in fact, a lot of distinct but overlapping entities with basically the same intrinsic properties, including thinking. As a result, the animalist must also posit ‘too many thinkers’ where we thought there was only one. This seems to imply that the animalist cannot accept the linguistic account of vagueness. In this paper the author argues that the animalist can accept the linguistic account of vagueness and retain her argument against Lockeanism. (shrink)

In this paper, I provide an analysis of Marya Schechtman's theory of personal identity defended in her book Staying Alive: Personal Identity, Practical Concerns, and the Unity of a Life.

The article focuses on one of the identity-related practical concerns discussed in contemporary debate on personal identity, namely self-concern. The dominant view seems to be that people’s concern for their future selves is preconditioned by their ability to anticipate the experiences of their future selves and that, as a result, a psychological theory of personal identity is required to justify self-concern. I argue that self-concern in its most general form is not preconditioned by the possibility of anticipation. I provide examples (...) showing that people may legitimately be concerned for their future selves even if those selves are unconscious or dead, that is, in states that the people cannot anticipate. I contend that self-concern is not rooted in our desire to have positive experiences, but in our desire to live meaningful lives. Since the value of our lives can be influenced by events that only take place after we cease to exist, I further argue that certain posthumous states of affairs relevant to our lives can also be the legitimate target of an indirect sort of self-concern. Inspired by Marya Schechtman’s theories, I develop a form of the narrative theory of personal identity in the sense of characterization and show that narrative continuity can be both a source of meaning in a person’s life and a ground for the person’s self-concern. It turns out that the sort of identity that justifies non-anticipatory self-concern cannot be numerical identity, because it does not provide the persistence conditions of people. (shrink)

The paper focuses on the question of whether it is morally permissible to use reproductive technologies to select children with congenital deafness. I review the arguments that have been presented to support the claims that the lack of hearing is not overall bad, that disability is caused by social discrimination rather than impairment, that the community of deaf people gives its members plenty of opportunities to lead a happy life, and that procreative decisions need not improve the world. I argue (...) that although the claims are, to a certain extent, reasonable, they fail to establish the conclusion that selecting for deafness is morally permissible. I further argue that the decision to select a deaf child is morally wrong because it results in imposed and needless dependency, that the happiness of a deaf child is conditioned by their confinement to a relatively small community, and that the deaf parents who reject their child’s potential biculturalism are motivated by questionably self-regarding reasons. (shrink)

This paper focuses on Jessica Wilson’s determinable-based account of metaphysical indeterminacy and its relationship to the concept of vague identity. The determinable-based account comprises a distinction between meta-level and object-level accounts of metaphysical indeterminacy. I first argue that the distinction cannot be clearly applied to some theories. In particular, I argue that even though Wilson categorizes the constitution account of metaphysical indeterminacy as a meta-level account, from one perspective it can be defensibly regarded as an object-level account, because it is (...) bound to posit genuinely indeterminate states of affairs and provides an explanation of boundary indeterminacy that is structurally analogous to the explanation provided by Wilson’s object-level account. This interim conclusion is important, because it has been argued that the constitution account, when applied to some more complex types of boundary indeterminacy, cannot avoid commitment to vague identity, in spite of the declarations of some of its proponents. The ultimate goal of this paper is to argue that, contrary to Wilson’s claims, the determinable-based account must embrace vague identity too. (shrink)

V minulém čísle časopisu Pro-Fil uveřejnil Tomáš Sobek zajímavou stať (Sobek 2015) mapující různé odpovědi na otázku, co konstituuje lidský blahobyt neboli co je pro člověka dobré. Zatímco většina kapitol má spíše deskriptivní povahu – autor představuje jednotlivé konkurenční teorie blahobytu a zdržuje se jejich hodnocení – v poslední části předkládá tezi, podle níž existuje úzký vztah mezi lidským blahobytem a autenticitou. Mým cílem v tomto krátkém příspěvku je tuto domněnku podrobněji interpretovat a poněkud zproblematizovat. Nechci tím naznačovat, že spojení (...) blahobytu a autenticity není plodné. Spíš mne zajímá, jaký je přesně vztah mezi těmito pojmy. Sobek totiž na obecné rovině říká jen tolik, že se jednotlivé teorie blahobytu musí potýkat se stejnou otázkou, totiž s otázkou autenticity, že teorie blahobytu ztělesňují různé koncepce autenticity a že diskuze mezi teoriemi blahobytu jsou zároveň spory o to, co je to autentický život. (shrink)

The work analyzes two competing arguments in the issue of abortion and shows that each requires a different theory of personal identity. Further, I analyze those theories and show what moral premises they are compatible with and what implications there are for the abortion debate.

Morální intuice hrají důležitou roli v normativních teoriích. Velmi často bývají posledním arbitrem při rozhodování o přijetí či odmítnutí teorie, obecného mravního principu nebo konkrétního přesvědčení. Co jsou morální intuice? Jak vznikají? Jakou mají povahu? A mohou skutečně hrát tu úlohu, kterou jim normativní koncepce přisuzují? Cílem přednášky je vyjádřit skepticismus v této otázce a obavy, že to, co se dozvídáme od současných empirických věd o povaze intuic a možných zkreslujících vlivech, které na ně působí, ukazuje, že není možné jejich (...) zdůvodňující úlohu akceptovat. Moral intuitions play an important role in normative theories. They frequently serve as the ultimate arbiter in deciding whether to accept or reject a theory, a general moral principle or a particular belief. What are moral intuitions? How do they arise? What is their nature? And are they capable of playing the role that normative theories ascribe to them? The objective of the lecture is to express skepticism in that question and concern that what we learn about the nature of intuition and possible influences that distort them from current empirical science shows that it is not possible to accept the justificatory role of intuitions.klíčová slova: intuice, efekt popisu, emoce, experimentální filozofie, kognitivní a afektivní systém, morální psychologie, zdůvodnění.keywords: intuition, framing effect, emotion, experimental philosophy, cognitive and affective systems, moral psychology, justification. (shrink)

[The neo-Meinongian conception of existence].

The goal of this paper is to assess three arguments that have been proposed to rebut the idea that the notion of indeterminate identity is incoherent. In the first part, the author presents Gareth Evans’ argument purporting to show the incoherence of indeterminate identity. Next, the author assesses a rebuttal proposed by E. J. Lowe. Although the rebuttal seems sound, Harold Noonan has shown that its scope is limited. After that, a rebuttal by Peter van Inwagen is analysed. The author (...) compares it with Lowe’s and shows that consistent application of the principles van Inwagen uses leads to objects having inconsistent properties. In the final part, it is shown that although the answer proposed by Terence Parsons seems superior to both van Inwagen’s and Lowe’s, its scope is also limited. As a result, Evans’ argument seems to stand unrefuted by these three counterarguments. (shrink)

The article deals with a recent attack by Sam Harris on two famous arguments that purport to establish a gap between factual and evaluative statements—Hume’s Is-Ought Problem and Moore’s Open Question Argument. I present the arguments, analyze the relationship between them and critically assess Harris’ attempt to refute them. I conclude that Harris’ attempt fails.

This essay presents a comparison of modal theories with flexible and constant domain of individuals. Whatś called the simplest quantified modal logic represents the latter type. However, it has some controversial consequences: the fact that all objects of discourse exist necessarily, and the fact that to every merely possible object there corresponds an actual one. These drawbacks are eliminated by the Kripke models, which postulate possible worlds with a flexible domain of objects. Proponents of TIL return to the theory with (...) the constant domain and attempt to elucidate what mistakes lead Kripkeś followers to endorsement of models with the flexible domain, and explain-away the alleged problems of the constant domain. This work aims at clarifying the character of the attitude of TIL proponents and showing that the arguments for accepting the constant domain they provide are not completely satisfactory due to the role proper names play in their theory. (shrink)

Recenze knihy:Fukuyama, Francis: Identity. The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018.

The paper attempts to interpret P. van Inwagen’s refutation of Evans’ argument that there cannot be vague objects and defend it against the charge of inconsistency raised by Radim Bělohrad. However, such an interpretation is not without a cost. Therefore another interpretation of van Inwagen’s example of the Cabinet is offered which evades Evans’ charge of inconsistency against indeterminate identity as it does not need the notion at all.

Although the theory of memetics appeared highly promising at the beginning, it is no longer considered a scientific theory among contemporary evolutionary scholars. This study aims to compare the genealogy of memetics with the historically more successful gene-culture coevolution theory. This comparison is made in order to determine the constraints that emerged during the internal development of the memetics theory that could bias memeticists to work on the ontology of meme units as opposed to hypotheses testing, which was adopted by (...) the gene-culture scholars. I trace this problem back to the diachronic development of memetics to its origin in the gene-centered anti-group-selectionist argument of George C. Williams and Richard Dawkins. The strict adoption of this argument predisposed memeticists with the a priori idea that there is no evolution without discrete units of selection, which in turn, made them dependent on the principal separation of biological and memetic fitness. This separation thus prevented memeticists from accepting an adaptationist view of culture which, on the contrary, allowed gene-culture theorists to attract more scientists to test the hypotheses, creating the historical success of the gene-culture coevolution theory. (shrink)

Diogenes Laertius ascribes the first concept of spherical Earth to both Pythagoras and Parmenides. Indeed, a major shift in cosmologies—emergence of the spherical conception of the Earth and the surrounding heaven—took place between the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. Given the poor state of preservation of early Pythagorean tradition, it is argued that primacy in formulating the notion of spherical Earth should be ascribed to Parmenides.

The concept of Galois connection between power sets is generalized from the point of view of fuzzy logic. Studied is the case where the structure of truth values forms a complete residuated lattice. It is proved that fuzzy Galois connections are in one-to-one correspondence with binary fuzzy relations. A representation of fuzzy Galois connections by Galois connections is provided.

The term "fuzzy logic," as it is understood in this book, stands for all aspects of representing and manipulating knowledge based on the rejection of the most fundamental principle of classical logic---the principle of bivalence. According to this principle, each declarative sentence is required to be either true or false. In fuzzy logic, these classical truth values are not abandoned. However, additional, intermediate truth values between true and false are allowed, which are interpreted as degrees of truth. This opens a (...) new way of thinking---thinking in terms of degrees rather than absolutes. For example, it leads to the definition of a new kind of sets, referred to as fuzzy sets, in which membership is a matter of degree. The book examines the genesis and development of fuzzy logic. It surveys the prehistory of fuzzy logic and inspects circumstances that eventually lead to the emergence of fuzzy logic. The book explores in detail the development of propositional, predicate, and other calculi that admit degrees of truth, which are known as fuzzy logic in the narrow sense. Fuzzy logic in the broad sense, whose primary aim is to utilize degrees of truth for emulating common-sense human reasoning in natural language, is scrutinized as well. The book also examines principles for developing mathematics based on fuzzy logic and provides overviews of areas in which this has been done most effectively. It also presents a detailed survey of established and prospective applications of fuzzy logic in various areas of human affairs, and provides an assessment of the significance of fuzzy logic as a new paradigm. (shrink)

The theory of concept lattices is approached from the point of view of fuzzy logic. The notions of partial order, lattice order, and formal concept are generalized for fuzzy setting. Presented is a theorem characterizing the hierarchical structure of formal fuzzy concepts arising in a given formal fuzzy context. Also, as an application of the present approach, Dedekind–MacNeille completion of a partial fuzzy order is described. The approach and results provide foundations for formal concept analysis of vague data—the propositions “object (...) x has attribute y”, which form the input data to formal concept analysis, are now allowed to have also intermediate truth values, meeting reality better. (shrink)

Journal Name: Apeiron Issue: Ahead of print.

In this work - both psychologists working on concepts and mathematicians working on fuzzy logic - reassess the usefulness of fuzzy logic for the psychology of concepts.

Presented is a completeness theorem for fuzzy equational logic with truth values in a complete residuated lattice: Given a fuzzy set Σ of identities and an identity p≈q, the degree to which p≈q syntactically follows (is provable) from Σ equals the degree to which p≈q semantically follows from Σ. Pavelka style generalization of well-known Birkhoff's theorem is therefore established.

Humans have evolved various social behaviors such as interpersonal motor synchrony, play and sport or religious ritual that bolster group cohesion and facilitate cooperation. While important for small communities, the face-to-face nature of such technologies makes them infeasible in large-scale societies where risky cooperation between anonymous individuals must be enforced through moral judgment and, ultimately, altruistic punishment. However, the unbiased applicability of group norms is often jeopardized by moral hypocrisy, i.e., the application of moral norms in favor of closer subgroup (...) members such as key socioeconomic partners and kin. We investigated whether social behaviors that facilitate close ties between people also promote moral hypocrisy that may hamper large-scale group functioning. We recruited 129 student subjects that either interacted with a confederate in the high synchrony or low synchrony conditions or performed movements alone. Subsequently, participants judged a moral transgression committed by the confederate toward another anonymous student. The results showed that highly synchronized participants judged the confederate’s transgression less harshly than the participants in the other two conditions and that this effect was mediated by the perception of group unity with the confederate. We argue that for synchrony to amplify group identity in large-scale societies, it needs to be properly integrated with morally compelling group symbols that accentuate the group’s overarching identity. Without such contextualization, synchrony may create bonded subgroups that amplify local preferences rather than impartial and wide application of moral norms. (shrink)

This study focuses on the origin of life as presented in the thought of Anaximander of Miletus but also points to some parallel motifs found in much later conceptions of both the pre-Darwinian German romantic science and post-Darwinian biology. According to Anaximander, life originated in the moisture associated with earth (mud). This moist environment hosted the first living creatures that later populated the dry land. In these descriptions, one can trace the earliest hints of the notion of environmental adaptation. The (...) origin of humans was seen as connected in some way with fish: ancient humans were supposed to have developed inside fish-like animals. Anaximander took into account changes in the development of living creatures (adaptations) and speculated on the origins of humans. Similar ideas are found also in the writings of much later, eighteenth and nineteenth century authors who were close to the tradition of German romantic science. We do not argue that these later concepts are in any way directly linked with those of the pre-Socratics, but they show surprising parallels in, e.g., the hypothesis that life originated in a moist environment or the supposition that human developed from fish-like ancestors. These transformations are seen as a consequence of timeless logic rather than as evolution in historical terms. Despite the accent on the origin of living things, both Anaximander and the later Naturphilosophen lack in their notions the element most characteristic of Darwin’s thought, that is, the emphasis on historicity and uniqueness of all that comes into being. (shrink)

Some classical authors ascribe to Anaximander of Miletus a belief in the existence of infinite worlds. Their testimonies have provoked an extensive discussion on the question of whether Anaximander spoke of successive or coexistent worlds, or perhaps only one world that undergoes changes. Of course, this subject is related to important aspects of archaic cosmologies. First, we need to investigate whether one can even speak of a notion of coexistent worlds prior to atomist theories. Second, the issue of infinite worlds (...) is closely linked to the nature of Anaximander's scheme of the universe and Ionian cosmologies in general. Finally, this matter has a bearing on the subject of the duration or perishing of the world. (shrink)

A number of aspects of the cosmology of Anaximenes of Miletus have not yet been convincingly explained, but we can assume that a starting point was the notion of a universe stretching only between a flat earth and heaven. This gave the cosmology its “meteorological” character: heavenly bodies were viewed as ignited evaporations of moisture. They were thought of as moving only above the earth’s surface, and their rising and setting were explained as an optical illusion. Similar approaches appear not (...) only in the Greek epic tradition but even in the writings of Xenophanes. It can therefore be assumed that Anaximenes’s conception is representative of contemporary Ionian explanations of cosmological events. (shrink)

We give a characterization of the fixed points and of the lattices of fixed points of fuzzy Galois connections. It is shown that fixed points are naturally interpreted as concepts in the sense of traditional logic.

An algebra with fuzzy equality is a set with operations on it that is equipped with similarity ≈, i.e. a fuzzy equivalence relation, such that each operation f is compatible with ≈. Described verbally, compatibility says that each f yields similar results if applied to pairwise similar arguments. On the one hand, algebras with fuzzy equalities are structures for the equational fragment of fuzzy logic. On the other hand, they are the formal counterpart to the intuitive idea of having functions (...) that are not allowed to map similar objects to dissimilar ones. In this paper, we present a generalization of the well-known Birkhoff’s variety theorem: a class of algebras with fuzzy equality is the class of all models of a fuzzy set of identities iff it is closed under suitably defined morphisms, substructures, and direct products. (shrink)

This essay examines theoretical arguments surrounding the use of post-colonial theory as a way to fill in the epistemological lacuna in the studies of post-socialism. It reviews the various streams of this theoretical development and employs Edward Said’s notion of “traveling theory” to demonstrate that theoretical claims made by proponents and opponents of this particular comparative perspective are historically, socially, and geographically situated, although not fixed. Disciplinary, national, and institutional affiliations, instead of theoretical justifications, are identified as important factors in (...) the propensity to accept or resist the introduction of post-colonial perspective on Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The essay concludes by acknowledging the potential usefulness as well as the limits of post-colonialism in the conceptualization of the post- socialist space. (shrink)

Aristotle ascribes to Thales of Miletus the notion of the Earth resting on water. However, in archaic Ionian cosmologies the Earth was not viewed as a cosmic body resting on physical support. The very motif is likely to have originated in the Near East. If Aristotle claims that this was the oldest conception of stability of the Earth it is possible that Thales may have been associated with it anachronistically.

Vzrůstající využívání digitálních technologií ve vědecké práci a komunikaci vyvolává otázku, jaká je epistemologická povaha takto vytvořeného vědění. V tomto eseji využívám pojmový aparát, který vyvinuli Steven Shapin a Simon Schaffer k analýze historického sporu mezi Robertem Boylem a Thomasem Hobbesem o způsob vytváření vědění v přírodní filosofii, a aplikuji jej na problematiku digitálního výzkumu. Jejich koncepty tří technologií vytvářejících vědění – materiální, literární a sociální – se ukazují jako heuristicky užitečné koncepty i pro reflexi digitálních technologií. Ty jsou v (...) eseji představeny nikoliv jako samostatné technologie vytváření faktů, nýbrž jako prvky, kolem nichž se dosavadní vědecké technologie radikálně rekonfigurují. Zvláštní pozornost esej věnuje představě kódu jako literární technologie a roli digitálních technologií v humanitních vědách. (shrink)

Studie recenzuje následující díla: Maurice HALBWACHS, Kolektivní paměť. Praha: SLON 2009, 289 s. ; Françoise MAYER, Češi a jejich komunismus: paměť a politická identita. Praha: Argo 2009, 273 s. ; Zdeněk VAŠÍČEK – Françoise MAYER, Minulost a současnost, paměť a dějiny. Brno – Praha: CDK – Triáda 2008, 199 s. Studie konstatuje, že v češtině začíná být k dispozici dostatečné množství publikací o sociální paměti, aby teoreticky zabezpečily širší pojetí výzkumů paměti. Zároveň by však tyto výzkumy neměly být podřizovány historiografii, (...) a především je v nich zapotřebí pracovat nejen s koncepty identity a sociálních svazků, ale i moci a konfliktu. (shrink)

The article introduces a special themed issue of Theory of Science on epistemologies of spaces and places. It provides a disciplinary context of the theme and reviews some of the key arguments that led to the so-called spatial turn in social sciences and the humanities. Science studies in the broad sense have also been affected by this shift of research interest to spatial aspects of science at both micro- and macro-levels. Scientific knowledge has been subject to analyses that stress its (...) local contingencies, mobility and dependencies on spatial arrangements. The ensuing new epistemologies require novel concepts or reconsideration of the older terms, such as universality or objectivity. (shrink)

Recenzní studie vychází z kolektivní monografie editorů Charlese Bazermana, Adairy Bo- nini a Débory Figueiredo, Genre in a Changing World a věnuje se tématům souvisejícím s významem žánrů ve vědecké a akademické praxi. Identifikuje zejména dvě oblasti, na něž se ve zvýšené míře soustředí badatelské aktivity pra- cující s žánrem jako analytickým nástrojem: žánrovou pedagogiku na univerzitní úrovni a oborovou enkulturaci. Zatímco první oblast ohraničuje akademické texty vůči jiným textovým formám, druhá se zabývá jejich vnitřní rozrůzněností. Studie zdůrazňuje demonstro- vaný (...) přínos přístupů založených na žánrech pro výzkumy vědecké praxe, avšak dochází k závěru, že je zapotřebí důsledněji promýšlet jejich epistemologické implikace. (shrink)

The paper presents generalizations of results on so-called Horn logic, well-known in universal algebra, to the setting of fuzzy logic. The theories we consider consist of formulas which are implications between identities (equations) with premises weighted by truth degrees. We adopt Pavelka style: theories are fuzzy sets of formulas and we consider degrees of provability of formulas from theories. Our basic structure of truth degrees is a complete residuated lattice. We derive a Pavelka-style completeness theorem (degree of provability equals degree (...) of truth) from which we get some particular cases by imposing restrictions on the formulas under consideration. As a particular case, we obtain completeness of fuzzy equational logic. (shrink)