This paper presents the main topics, arguments, and positions in the philosophy of AI at present (excluding ethics). Apart from the basic concepts of intelligence and computation, the main topics of ar-tificial cognition are perception, action, meaning, rational choice, free will, consciousness, and normativity. Through a better understanding of these topics, the philosophy of AI contributes to our understand-ing of the nature, prospects, and value of AI. Furthermore, these topics can be understood more deeply through the discussion of AI; so (...) we suggest that “AI Philosophy” provides a new method for philosophy. (shrink)

Adopting a broadly compatibilist approach, this volume's authors argue that the behavioral and mind sciences do not threaten the moral foundations of legal responsibility. Rather, these sciences provide fresh insight into human agency and updated criteria as well as powerful diagnostic and intervention tools for assessing and altering minds.

Résumé Lors d’un procès, les questions introductives en début d’interrogatoire peuvent aider non seulement à mettre le témoin à l’aise, mais également à le personnaliser, c’est-à-dire de le présenter sous un jour particulier, ce qui peut jouer sur sa crédibilité et l’empathie du décideur à son endroit. Cet article vise à mettre en évidence les mécanismes discursifs sous-jacents à ce processus et à illustrer empiriquement comment les réponses aux questions introductives y participent. À l’aide de l’approche ventriloque de la communication, (...) un extrait du témoignage d’un ex-maire de la ville de Montréal à la Commission Charbonneau est analysé en profondeur. L’analyse que nous proposons contribue à mieux comprendre ce qui se joue lors d’un témoignage, celui-ci devenant, selon notre perspective, ce lieu constamment disloqué dans lequel plusieurs figures se mettent à littéralement faire des choses et dire des choses afin qu’un témoin gagne ou perde la faveur du décideur. (shrink)

L’article entend montrer qu’à partir d’une conceptualité classique, héritée de Descartes, Spinoza parvient à contrer l’argument cartésien de liberté et l’argument aristotélicien du finalisme par une structure théorique impossible à classifier à son époque, faisant penser à une tentative de formaliser l’auto-organisation comme le fondement de l’intentionnalité. À partir d’une analyse du texte spinoziste et sa compréhension de la _contrainte_, l’article entend montrer que la reprise d’un certain nombre de notions et de termes entourant ce thème ont été redisposés par (...) Spinoza afin de solutionner un problème nouveau, invisible avant lui. (shrink)

The unexpected passing of United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia left a vacancy on the Court in the midst of a presidential election year. As a result, the appointment process did not proceed in the same fashion as previous appointments. Instead, the Senate declared shortly after Justice Scalia’s death that it would not consider any candidate to fill the vacancy until the next president is elected. The Senate remained steadfast in this decision throughout the remainder of President Obama’s term. (...) -/- This Article analyzes the constitutional questions surrounding the Senate’s refusal to consider any nominee and argues the Senate has a duty to advise and consent in a timely manner. Additionally, it demonstrates how a politically-motivated delay threatens the integrity of the constitutional process for selecting judges, violates separation of powers concerns by politicizing the Court, and contradicts the express intent of the Framers of the Constitution. (shrink)

In de filosofische traditie is de materiële aarde als thema altijd onderbelicht gebleven. Van Aristoteles en Descartes tot Nietzsche en Heidegger blijkt de aarde altijd te zijn gedacht vanuit de vorm, vanuit het denken of vanuit de wereld. Hierdoor is de aarde als passief, inert of zelfs niet-bestaand beschouwd, maar niet vanuit zichzelf. In tijden van ecologische crisis en klimaatverandering is deze manier van denken niet langer toereikend. We moeten toe naar een nieuwe omgang met de aarde. Van wereld naar (...) aarde biedt hiertoe een eerste aanzet. -/- Ecologische ontologie Vincent Blok ontwikkelt een ecologische ontologie van de aarde in tijden van klimaatverandering. Hij gaat in tegen de filosofische traditie door zijn ontologie niet antropocentrisch, maar eco-centrisch te oriënteren. Vervolgens presenteert hij een speculatieve ecologie van de aarde als mogelijkheidsvoorwaarde voor de menselijke bewoning van de wereld. Zijn nieuwe perspectief op onze zorg voor de aarde biedt relevante inzichten voor de milieu- en techniekfilosofie. (shrink)

This book examines the work of Ernst Jünger and its effect on the development of Martin Heidegger’s influential philosophy of technology. Vincent Blok offers a unique treatment of Jünger’s philosophy and his conception of the age of technology, in which both world and man appear in terms of their functionality and efficiency. The primary objective of Jünger’s novels and essays is to make the transition from the totally mobilized world of the 20 th century toward a world in which (...) a new type of man represents the gestalt of the worker and is responsive to this new age. Blok proceeds to demonstrate Jünger’s influence on Heidegger’s analysis of the technological age in his later work, as well as Heidegger’s conceptions of will, work and gestalt at the beginning of the 1930s. At the same time, Blok evaluates Heidegger’s criticism of Jünger and provides a novel interpretation of the Jünger-Heidegger connection: that Jünger’s work in fact testifies to a transformation of our relationship to language and conceptualizes the future in terms of the Anthropocene. This book, which arrives alongside several new English-language translations of Jünger’s work, will interest scholars of 20 th -century continental philosophy, Heidegger, and the history of philosophy of technology. (shrink)

The Politics of Human Rights provides an engaging and systematic introductory overview of the nature and development of human rights.

This book identifies the criteria for successful constitutions in both theory and practice using the research and methodology of Vincent Ostrom.

In this article I offer a critical analysis and evaluation of Thomas Fuchs' concept of corporealization, as well as the Leib/Körper distinction (i.e. the distinction between the lived and corporeal body) that it is founded upon. First, I show that the foundational concepts -- Leib and Körper -- are problematically heterogeneous, each including a diverse set of phenomena requiring further delineation and clarification. Second, I consider the historical origins of this heterogeneity and ambiguity within Fuchs' work. I show that Fuchs' (...) Leib/Korper distinction, while owing more to Plessner than Merleau-Ponty, is to a great extent his own development. Third, I delineate five senses of the body, or of embodiment. These senses of the body are meant to (1) clarify the diverse phenomena included under Fuchs' label of corporealization and (2) offer examples of features of embodiment that challenge Fuchs' Leib/Körper polarity. Fourth, I argue that the concepts of Leib, Körper, and corporealization will need to be more rigorously defined before they can adequately illuminate the phenomena to which they are applied. (shrink)

Juist in tijden van dreigende catastrofes wijzen romans ons de weg. Ze slaan ons uit onze groef en zetten ons aan tot denken en handelen. Zo helpen ze ons op weg naar een nieuwe zin van het leven. 00In dit essayistische boek bespreekt filosoof Vincent Blok meer dan tachtig moderne en hedendaagse romans. Hij recenseert ze niet, maar laat zien hoe ze ons aanzetten om ons wereldbeeld te kantelen. De romans tonen ons het einde van de wereld waarvan we (...) afscheid moeten nemen, en wijzen ons de weg naar nieuwe werelden.0. (shrink)

An Irish Government directive to close colleges amid the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a switch to emergency remote teaching. Many lecturers unused to practicing online began teaching students who were unfamiliar with online learning. Completion of the semester does not necessarily indicate that it is practicable for a more extended period. This paper queries four aspects of the sustainability of emergency remote teaching: its acceptance by stakeholders; its impact upon student motivation and faculty workload; and its effect upon learning outputs. (...) Questionnaires administered to undergraduate design students and faculty captured their respective experiences of emergency remote teaching. Acceptance of an extended pivot to online learning is not guaranteed, but will surely form a central facet of academic continuity. Increased working hours associated with online teaching endangers the work-life balance of lecturers, yet the same staff must find ways to support student motivation. Faculty’s reduced expectations of student output places strain upon the sustainability of online education founded upon an unplanned pivot. The experience of emergency remote teaching has created an opportunity for all parties to leverage the affordances of online learning – the challenge will be to ensure that all aspects of any extended switch to online are sustainable. (shrink)

In Please Unsubscribe, Thanks!, Gambuto gives us a radical blueprint for the ways we can take a deep breath, renew, and commit to a life that we really want, individually and collectively, from unsubscribing to emails and automated subscriptions to reevaluating the presence of people and ideas and habits that no longer serve us or make us happy. Infused with the practical advice in James Clear's Atomic Habits and the humor of Sarah Knight's The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a (...) F**k, Please Unsubscribe, Thanks! helps us focus on where we find joy in our lives and encourages us to toss out what doesn't bring us joy in this modern world. (shrink)

This book is designed to acquaint the reader with C.I. Lewis' ethics by providing critical commentary on Lewis' work in addition to reprinting some of Lewis' writings in ethics. The commentary is not meant to be a substitute for the complete work in ethics that Lewis was preparing before his death but merely a systematic study of some central aspects of his thought in ethics.