We introduce proof nets and sequent calculus for the multiplicative fragment of non-commutative logic, which is an extension of both linear logic and cyclic linear logic. The two main technical novelties are a third switching position for the non-commutative disjunction, and the structure of order variety.

In this book, the extend to which we can equip artificial agents with moral reasoning capacity is investigated. Attempting to create artificial agents with moral reasoning capabilities challenges our understanding of morality and moral reasoning to its utmost. It also helps philosophers dealing with the inherent complexity of modern organizations. Modern society with large multi-national organizations and extensive information infrastructures provides a backdrop for moral theories that is hard to encompass through mere theorising. Computerized support for theorising is needed to (...) be able to fully grasp and address the inherent complexity. Using moral reasoning capacity will help us addressing the challenges that technological artefacts pose. They do not only contain information about us, they start to act on our behalves.With the increasing autonomy comes an increased need to ensure that their behaviour is in line with what we expect from them. To investigate and address these issues a laboratoy for philosophy is outlined: SophoLab. It consists of a methodology; a framework of modal logic, DEAL; and multi-agent software systems. SophoLab provides the basis for an experimental, computational philosophy. Its viability and usefulness are demonstrated through several experiments. (shrink)

In this paper, I argue that scholars such as John Braithwaite and Lode Walgrave rely on fictions when presenting their utopian vision of restorative justice. Three claims in particular are shown to be fictitious. Proponents of restorative justice maintain, first, that the offender and the victim voluntarily attend the restorative conference. Second, that the restorative conference enables the offender and the victim to take on active responsibility. Third, that the reparatory tasks on which the parties agree should not be understood (...) in terms of the intentional infliction of harm. These fictions, so I argue, are not merely a mistake, but instead serve an important function: the various parties need to believe that they adequately capture the reality of the restorative conference as they are more likely to acquiesce if they believe the fictions to be true. I conclude that the fictions are the driving force within the restorative endeavour. (shrink)

The association of Berdiaev's name with the phenomenon of perestroika seems strange at first glance and even illogical. But perestroika, which is proceeding—or, more precisely, is trying to proceed—under the sign of an intellectual renaissance, has naturally aroused interest in the names of Russian philosophers who have undeservedly been forgotten. One of these is N.A. Berdiaev . He was a Russian patriot and was profoundly concerned with Russia's fate. Living in a critical period, Berdiaev reflected a great deal over the (...) past, present, and future of his Motherland, advanced the idea of its transformation, and even used the term "perestroika" in doing so. His thoughts concerning Russia's political renewal are profound, and some of them are applicable to the present life of our society. (shrink)

To base oneself upon a scientific philosophy is often of great importance in framing and solving major problems in natural science, including the science of the universe at large. Moreover, one's approach to the solution of specific problems arising in natural science depends to an extent upon one's philosophy. This situation points the way to the elimination of certain preconceived notions and erroneous convictions of researchers, that is, those due to an inadequate knowledge of philosophy or to the influence of (...) a weak philosophy. (shrink)

It is suggested that wittgenstein's picture theory of meaning is, In part a synthesis and resolution of the early metaphysics of moore and the theory of judgment held by russell about 1910. Moore's theory of the objective existence of concepts and their propositional role is considered. Russell's unsuccessful attempt at the problem of the false proposition is discussed. The ptm offers a more successful solution, Through the concept of logical form, Akin to the russellian concept of order. But this solution (...) still fails because it does not hold for ordinary language. (shrink)

This book translates into English ten influential articles and extracts from books about Homer written in German over the past fifty years. The work of prestigious scholars such as Wolfgang Schadenwaldt, Karl Reinhardt, and Hermann Fraenkel are represented. These key works, which cover such topics as similes, the end of the Odyssey, the adventures of Odysseus, the meeting of Hector and Andromache, ring-composition, the Telemachy, and Homeric social life will now become easily accessible for the first time to teachers and (...) scholars in the English-speaking world. An accompanying introduction develops the arguments in the light of contemporary scholarly concerns. (shrink)

Neurosteroid 17 beta-estradiol (E2) is a steroid synthesized de novo in the nervous system that might influence neuronal activity and behavior. Nevertheless, the impact of E2 on the functioning of those neural systems in which it is slightly synthesized is less questioned. The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) adaptation, may provide an ideal arena for investigating this issue. Indeed, E2 modulates cerebellar parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synaptic plasticity that underlies encoding of VOR adaptation. Moreover, aromatase expression in the cerebellum of adult rodents is (...) maintained at very low levels and localized to Purkinje cells. The significance of age-related maintenance of low levels of aromatase expression in the cerebellum on behavior, however, has yet to be explored. Our aim in this study was to determine whether E2 synthesis exerts an effective and persistent modulation of VOR adaptation in adult male rats. To answer this question, we investigated the acute effect of blocking E2 synthesis on gain increases and decreases in VOR adaptation using an oral dose (2.5 mg/kg) of the aromatase inhibitor Letrozole in peri-pubertal and post-pubertal male rats. We found that Letrozole acutely impaired gain increases and decreases in VOR adaptation without altering basal ocular-motor performance and that these effects were similar in peri-pubertal and post-pubertal rats. Thus, in adult male rats neurosteroid E2 effectively modulates VOR adaptation in both of the periods studied. These findings imply that the adult cerebellum uses E2 synthesis for modulating motor memory formation and suggest that low and extremely localized E2 production may play a role in adaptive phenomena. (shrink)

In Ukraine, historically, there have been various religions, both national religions of peoples and world. In the Ukrainian territory, such a striking phenomenon of the Jewish religious tradition as Hasidism is emerging. This stage of Hasidism is conventionally called the second to separate it from German Hasidism of the Middle Ages. Ukrainian-Polish Hasidism gave birth to its numerous directions. Among them there is good Hasidism, as well as Uman, Chernobyl, Karlin-Stolin directions. Chabad, in its modern form with the adoration of (...) the lover's rebbe, originated in the teachings of Schneur Zalman, who brought Hasidism as close as possible to the traditional tenets of Judaism and insisted on an intellectual service to God, restraining excessive religious emotionality. The Ukrainian roots of Hasidism in general and Chabad in particular, as well as the Ukrainian origin of the Seventh Lubavitch Rebbe, contribute to the return of this movement to the territory of Ukraine after the atheistic period of the Soviet Union. (shrink)

This article presents a novel full-reference image quality assessment algorithm by depicting the sub-band characteristics in the wavelet domain. The proposed image quality assessment method is based on energy estimation in the wavelet-transformed image. Image QA is achieved by applying a multilevel wavelet decomposition on both the original and the enhanced image. Next, the wavelet energy and vector are computed to obtain the percentage of the energy that corresponds to the approximation and the details, respectively. Further, the approximate and detailed (...) energy levels of both the original and the enhanced images are compared to formulate an image quality assessment. Numerous experiments are conducted on a dozen of image enhancement algorithms. The results presented show that the image with poor contrast in the foreground than the background has continuous regular coefficient values. The probability density function for such an image has a relatively lower WE and skewness compared with the background. The proposed scheme not only evaluates the global information of an image but also estimates the fine, detailed changes in an enhanced image. Thus, the proposed metric serves as an objective and effective FR criterion for color image QA. The experimental results presented confirm that the proposed WE metric is an efficient and useful metric for evaluating the quality of the color image enhancement. (shrink)