This unique textbook states and proves all the major theorems of many-valued propositional logic and provides the reader with the most recent developments and trends, including applications to adaptive error-correcting binary search. The book is suitable for self-study, making the basic tools of many-valued logic accessible to students and scientists with a basic mathematical knowledge who are interested in the mathematical treatment of uncertain information. Stressing the interplay between algebra and logic, the book contains material never before published, such as (...) a simple proof of the completeness theorem and of the equivalence between Chang's MV algebras and Abelian lattice-ordered groups with unit - a necessary prerequisite for the incorporation of a genuine addition operation into fuzzy logic. Readers interested in fuzzy control are provided with a rich deductive system in which one can define fuzzy partitions, just as Boolean partitions can be defined and computed in classical logic. Detailed bibliographic remarks at the end of each chapter and an extensive bibliography lead the reader on to further specialised topics. (shrink)

Proper n-valued ukasiewicz algebras are obtained by adding some binary operators, fulfilling some simple equations, to the fundamental operations of n-valued ukasiewicz algebras. They are the s-algebras corresponding to an axiomatization of ukasiewicz n-valued propositional calculus that is an extention of the intuitionistic calculus.

This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called 'poisoning the well' (PTW). There are some forms of ad hominem varieties that are usually a response to an interlocutor's claims. Unlike them, PTW occurs when we illegitimately prime our audience with a pre‐emptive strike against, or with adverse information about, an argumentative opponent before the latter has had a chance to say anything in her own defense, or in defense of her point of view. This has (...) the insidious effect of creating a conceptual framework according to which the audience – and maybe even the interlocutor herself – will interpret her claims as 'fulfilling' and 'confirming' the presumptions buried inside this conceptual trap. Most of the time Karl Popper's criterion of falsifiability is still quite a useful tool and one that can help us gain a firmer understanding of PTW. (shrink)

La question de l'articulation du général et du particulier n'a pas qu'une dimension épistémologique, elle commande aussi la résolution du problème du rapport entre théorie et pratique éclairée, et ceci dans la mesure où la pratique s'exerce toujours sur des processus ou des phénomènes individués. Après avoir réalisé un examen critique de trois tentatives de réponse à cette question — l'approche positiviste traditionnelle, celle fondée sur la notion de « modèle » et celle, weberienne, qui fait appel aux « types (...) idéaux » —, nous envisageons cette articulation comme rapport particulier entre concepts théoriques — portant sur des déterminations ou objets abstraits-formels —, et concepts empiriques — portant sur celles de la singularité des objets concrets —. Cette solution méthodologique est présentée via la construction d'un concept exemplaire, celui de « formation sociale », et l'analyse de son fonctionnement dans l'étude d'un cas concret, à savoir les sociétés latino-américaines.The articulation of the general and the particular is not a question merely of epistemology. It also comprises a relation between theory and enlightened practice to the extent that processes and individualized phenomena always take place in practice. In this paper we examine critically three approaches to this question of articulation: that of traditional positivism, that based on the notion of "model" and that of Weberian "ideal types". We propose that this articulation is a particular relation between theoretical concepts relating to formal abstract objects or determinations and empirical concepts relating to particular determinations of concrete objects. We illustrate this methodological solution with the concept of "social formation" examining the sense in which it applies to the concrete case of Latin American societies. (shrink)

Over the past four decades, the question of the relationship between divine omniscience and human freedom has led analytic philosophy of religion to analyze medieval thought on foreknowledge. To avoid fatalism, many of them have been inspired by Luis de Molina’s doctrine of middle knowledge. Created to provide a libertarian account of how God knows future contingents, the Molinist solution has divided contemporary interpreters into two camps: those who argue that Molinism implies determinism and those who have developed new analytical (...) strategies to support Molina’s thesis. This study provides a map for moving through the debate. (shrink)

Introduction to Kant's Anthropology From a Pragmatic Point of View Michel Foucaulttranslated and with an introduction by Arianna BoveThis introduction and commentary to Kant's least discussed work, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, is the dissertation that Michel Foucault presented in 1961 as his doctoral thesis. It has remained unpublished, in any language, until now. In his exegesis and critical interpretation of Kant's Anthropology, Foucault raises the question of the relation between psychology and anthropology, and how they are affected (...) by time. Though a Kantian "critique of the anthropological slumber," Foucault warns against the dangers of treating psychology as a new metaphysics, explores the possibilities of studying man empirically, and reflects on the nature of time, art and technique, self-perception, and language. Extending Kant's suggestion that any empirical knowledge of man is inextricably tied up with language, Foucault asserts that man is a world citizen insofar as he speaks. For both Kant and Foucault, anthropology concerns not the human animal or self-consciousness but, rather, involves the questioning of the limits of human knowledge and concrete existence. This long-unknown text is a valuable contribution not only to a scholarly appreciation of Kant's work but as the first outline of what would later become Foucault's own frame of reference within the history of philosophy. It is thus a definitive statement of Foucault's relation to Kant as well as Foucault's relation to the critical tradition of philosophy. By going to the heart of the debate on structuralist anthropology and the status of the human sciences in relation to finitude, Foucault also creates something of a prologue to his foundational The Order of Things.Michel Foucault is widely considered to be one of the most important academic voices of the twentieth century and has proven influential across disciplines. (shrink)

O texto delineia a relação entre aprodução teórica sobre a estética de M. Dufrennee a herança fenomenológica husserliana, a partirde um estudo da estrutura da Phénoménologie deJ'expérience esthétique.

O presente artigo analisa a herança heideggeriana do pensamento de Hans Jonas. Para tanto, utiliza-se do conceito de gnosticismo e do trabalho inicial de Jonas que tentou estabelecer um “princípio gnóstico” presente tanto nas mitologias quanto nas filosofias místicas dos primeiros séculos da era cristã. Para tanto, analisa-se a apropriação feita por Jonas do método da analítica existencial heideggeriana e, por outro lado, da crítica do conteúdo filosófico desenvolvido por Heidegger. Evidencia-se, afinal, como o “princípio responsabilidade” pode ser reconhecido como (...) uma alternativa ao princípio da hostilidade e da indiferença, presentes na filosofia gnóstica e na filosofia heideggeriana. (shrink)

El trabajo considera la fundamentación de un deber en relación con una situación moral vivida por Ramón Rodriguez, y destaca la interpretación husserliana de un caso análogo. El análisis presentado en la Segunda Parte de Fenómeno e interpretación sobre el “ser por mor de sí” del Dasein como condición de posibilidad de una personalidad moral tiene el gran mérito de ofrecer una sólida base y una fuerte motivación para esclarecer la relación entre Heidegger y Husserl. Esta posibilidad se presenta en (...) razón de que se ha destacado con mucha claridad la diferencia entre la pregunta por el modo de ser de un ente que es fin por sí mismo y la cuestión del comportamiento moral en que ese modo de ser se manifiesta. La distinción establecida entre los dos problemas ofrece la oportunidad para mostrar una semejanza y una diferencia entre ambos pensadores porque convergen en el primer punto y se separan en el segundo. (shrink)

La relación entre la filosofía y la mística pareciese complicada y que no tendría lugar en las discusiones académicas, especialmente en pleno siglo xxi. Lo anterior es, sin duda, un error, porque han existido importantes filósofos que han incursionado y hablado sobre los misterios de la mística. En este artículo se verá que, a pesar de las diferencias, hay similitudes entre la experiencia mística y la filosofía, puntos de unión y de retroalimentación, especialmente haciendo referencia a la importancia del silencio (...) como un elemento inherente a la experiencia de lo sagrado. El Maestro Eckhart, filósofo y teólogo de la Baja Edad Media, y Martin Heidegger, exponente de la filosofía contemporánea, serán quienes nos hagan ver que la filosofía tiene atisbos de mística, y esta última no está tan alejada de la primera como se ha querido pronunciar axiomáticamente en la modernidad. (shrink)

Sir John Hicks was a leading economic theorist of the twentieth century, and along with Kenneth Arrow was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1972. His work addressed central topics in economic theory, such as value, money, capital and growth. An important unifying theme was the attention for economic rationality 'in time' and his acknowledgement that apparent rigidities and frictions might exert a positive role as a buffer against excessive fluctuations in output, prices and employment. This emphasis on the virtue of (...) imperfection significantly distances Hicksian economics from both the Keynesian and Monetarist approaches. Containing contributions from distinguished theorists in their own right, this volume examines Hicks's intellectual heritage and discusses how his ideas suggest a distinct approach to economic theory and policy making. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of economic theory and the history of economic thought. (shrink)

He then shows how we can rebuild our political, economic, and social institutions, making them more faithful to the experimental nature of democracy. The consequence is to redefine the focus for ideological debate and institutional innovation throughout the world, in developed and developing countries alike.