Feminist literature on care has extensively addressed inequalities that cut across the social categories of gender, class and ethnicity in relation to care work. One category that has received less attention in theories of caregiving so far is age. Built on the feminist literature of care and taking young (female) carers as its subject matter, this article tackles age as a third social category of intersectional inequalities along with class and gender. Firstly, through dealing with Nancy Fraser’s justice framework of (...) participatory parity, it is argued that addressing the intersectional inequalities that young (female) carers face necessitates a justice framework that contemplates both the distributional and recognitional aspects of care. In this respect a dual conceptualisation of care is presented – both as a social good and a social process. Secondly, a critical analysis will be presented of the elements of the justice framework of Fraser, where the notion of subordinated status will be related to the identities of young carers. Lastly, the normative framework participatory parity will be discussed in relation to the politics of need, as care practices define the needs of young carers that are contextualised in the care processes, but also in a childhood space. (shrink)

It can be said that the roots of the studies on the argumentation theory go back to rhetorical and dialectical studies. One of the sub-fields of the argumentation theory is argument schemes, used in everyday language and various fields within certain rules. Today, with the studies in the field of informal logic, argumentation schemes have aslo become an important field to study. The argumentation schemes approach also plays an important role in the study of artificial language at the intersection of (...) the computer science area. In this article, we discussed Douglas Walton’s argumentation schemes approach. Douglas Walton's aim is to determine the natural language arguments used in various fields and make as a list of them and propose a classification for argumentation schemes. Douglas Walton, presents a model for the argumentation schemes. This model also emphasized the structure suitable for use in computer systems. Determination, analysis and evaluation of arguments are important topics for the arguments applying to computer systems. In this article, we discuss one of these systems, Thomas Gordon’s project, the Carneades Argumentation System. The Carneades Argumentation System is a system which can handle Douglas Walton's argumentation schemes. With the Carneades Argumentation System, it is possible to visualize arguments as an argument map. The visualization of an argumentation provides a concrete basis for philosophical discussions. It makes it easy for the user to determine the scheme of the current argument when applying the argument formats to mapping and evaluation systems such as Carneades Argumentation Systems. Determining the argument scheme allows the argument to be handled within a particular model. The aim of this article is to discuss the argumentation schemes which is one of the topics of study at the intersection of philosophical logic and computer sciences in which informal logic studies are developing today. (shrink)

Law’s claim of mastery over past political violence is frequently undermined by reversals of that relationship of mastery, so that the violence of the law, and especially its symbolic violence, becomes easily incorporated into longues durées of political violence, rather than mastering them, settling them, or providing closure. Doing justice to the past, therefore, requires a political and theoretical attunement to the ways in which law, in purportedly attempting to address past political violence, inscribes itself into contemporary contexts of violence. (...) While this may be limited to an analysis of how law is an effect of and affects the political, theoretically this attunement can be further refined by means of a critique of dynamics that are internal to law itself and that have to do with how law understands its own historicity, as well as its relationship to history and historiography. This article aims to pursue such a critique, taking as its immediate focus the ECHR case of Perinçek v Switzerland, with occasional forays into debates around the criminalisation of Armenian genocide denialism in France. The Perinçek case concerned Switzerland’s criminalisation of the denial of the Armenian genocide, and concluded in 2015 after producing two judgments, first by the Second Chamber, and then by the Grand Chamber of the ECHR. However, although they both found for the applicant, the two benches had very different lines of reasoning, and notably different conceptions regarding the relationship between law and history. I proceed by tracing the shifting status of ‘history’ and ‘historians’ in these two judgments, and paying attention to the deferrals, disclaimers and ellipses that structure law’s relation to history. This close reading offers the opportunity for a critical reappraisal of the relationship between law, denial and violence: I propose that the symbolic violence of the law operative in memory laws is a product of that which remains unresolved in law’s understanding of historicity (including its own), its self-understanding vis-à-vis the task of historiography, and its inability to respond to historical violence without inscribing itself into a history of violence, a process regarding which it remains in denial. (shrink)

Previous research in the visual domain suggests that exogenous attention in form of peripheral cueing increases spatial but lowers temporal resolution. It is unclear whether this effect transfers to other sensory modalities. Here, we tested the effects of exogenous attention on temporal and spectral resolution in the auditory domain. Eighteen young, normal-hearing adults were tested in both gap and frequency change detection tasks with exogenous cuing. Benefits of valid cuing were only present in the gap detection task while costs of (...) invalid cuing were observed in both tasks. Our results suggest that exogenous attention in the auditory system improves temporal resolution without compromising spectral resolution. (shrink)

ABSTRACTTo some extent, the early twentieth century revival of universal languages was the work of logicians and mathematicians. Pioneers of modern logic such as Frege, Russell and Peano wanted to overcome the diversity and deficiencies of natural languages. Through the rigour of formal logic, they aimed at providing scientific thinking with a reliable medium free from the ambiguity and inconsistencies of ordinary language. This article shows some interconnections between modern logic and the search for a common tongue that would unite (...) scientists and people of all nations. The French mathematician and philosopher Louis Couturat is a key figure in understanding the interplay between these two movements. Through his work in composing the Ido language as an alternative to Esperanto, Couturat gave a new life to the Leibnizian idea of a universal characteristics. In addition, his multifaceted work provides a valuable insight into some political implications of early analytic philosophy. (shrink)

Kültürleri ve inanışları farklı insanların etkileşimi üzerinde gelişen turizm, özellikle ekonomik getirileri nedeniyle pek çok yerel ve ulusal yönetici tarafından öncelikli sektörler arasında değerlendirilmektedir. Ancak, turizm gelişimi ekonomik unsurların ötesinde çevresel ve sosyo-kültürel pek çok etki de oluşturmaktadır. Söz konusu etkilerin yerel halk tarafından algılanışında etkin olan pek çok unsur incelenmiş olmakla birlikte dindarlığın etkisi çok az araştırılmıştır. Bu kapsamda, toplumsal ve bireysel düşünce ve davranışlar üzerinde önemli bir etken olan dindarlık hususunun turizmin sosyo-kültürel etkilerinin algılanışında etkin olup olmadığının incelendiği (...) bu çalışma, alanyazına katkı sunabilecek boyuttadır. Çalışma kapsamında nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden anket tekniği benimsenmiş olup veri, Muğla Menteşe ilçesinde ikamet eden 528 bireyden elde edilmiştir. Çok değişkenli istatistik analiz yöntemlerinden yararlanılarak açıklayıcı ve doğrulayıcı faktör analizleri ile yol analizi uygulanmıştır. Sonuçlar, dindarlık algısı arttıkça olumsuz sosyo-kültürel etkilerin daha kuvvetli algılandığını ancak dindarlık ile olumlu sosyo-kültürel etkilerin algılanışı arasında bağlantı bulunmadığını vurgulamaktadır. Bu sonuçlar, turizm planlaması ve gelişimini sürecinde yerel halkın inançlarının da göz önünde bulundurulmasının gerekliliğini işaret etmektedir. Özet: İnsanların aynı değerler etrafında toplanmalarını ve grup halinde hareket etmelerini sağlayan inanç sistemi veya toplumda birlikte yaşayan bireylerin ilişki ve sorumluluklarını belirlemek için düzenlenmiş inanç, uygulama, ritüel ve semboller sistemi olarak tanımlanabilecek olan din, en yaygın ve etkili sosyal kurumlardan olmasının ötesinde hem birey hem de toplumların tutumlarını, değerlerini ve davranışlarını etkilemesi nedeniyle, özellikle son yıllarda, sıklıkla incelenmektedir. Bireylerin dini bir gruba veya kurallara bağlılık dereceleri olarak tanımlanabilecek dindarlık ise dinsel öğelerin bir kişinin yaşamı üzerindeki etkinliğini ifade etmek için kullanılmaktadır. Tıp, antropoloji, psikoloji, sosyoloji gibi bilim dallarında yapılan çalışmalarda dindarlık ile mutluluk ve bedensel / ruhsal sağlık arasında genellikle olumlu bir ilişki olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Turizm alanında yapılan çalışmalarda ise, din, yoğunlukla inanç turizmi veya turistlerin tercihleri üzerindeki etkisi kapsamında ele alınmış ve dini turizmin planlanması ve kutsal alanların yönetimi, turizmin dini bölgelerdeki etkileri, hacıların seyahat motivasyonu ve seyahat şekilleri ile turistlerin dini ihtiyaçları gibi konulara odaklanılmıştır. Kültürleri ve inanışları farklı insanların etkileşimi üzerinde gelişen turizm, özellikle ekonomik getirileri nedeniyle pek çok yerel ve ulusal yönetici tarafından öncelikli sektörler arasında değerlendirilmektedir. Turizm gelişimi ekonomik unsurların ötesinde çevresel ve sosyo-kültürel pek çok etki de oluşturmaktadır. Yerel halk, turizmin gelişmesi ve sürdürülebilirliği açısından önem arz etmekte olup yerel halkın turizmin etkilerine yönelik algıları sıklıkla araştırılan konular arasında yer almaktadır. Topluma ve/veya mekâna aidiyet duygusu, destinasyonun ve/veya turizm sektörünün gelişim düzeyi, turizmin ekonomi içindeki önemi, destinasyonun turizme ekonomik bağımlılığı, turizm sektöründe istihdam edilmek gibi ekonomik unsurlar veya sosyo-demografik özellikler gibi pek çok değişkenin yerel halkın turizm algısındaki etkileri incelenmiş olmakla birlikte dindarlığın etkisi çok az araştırılmıştır. Yapılan çalışmalarda, özellikle dini bölgelerde yaşayan yerel halk ve çoğunlukla din adamlarının algıları araştırılmıştır. Sonuçlar, yerel halkın bölgeye dini amaçlarla gelen ziyaretçiler (hacılar) ile turistleri ayırdığını ve hacıların turistlere oranla daha fazla kabul gördüğünü vurgulamaktadır. Ayrıca, turistlerin alanın ve yapıların kutsallığını, güvenliğini, dekorunu tehdit ettiği ve turistlerin taleplerinin dini uygulamalara zarar verdiği algısının yaygın olduğu, hatta turizmin kendi kültürleri ve dinleri için tehdit olarak görüldüğü tespit edilmiştir. Kutsal alanlar dışında kalan turizm destinasyonlarında ikamet eden yerel halkın görüşlerinin araştırıldığı çalışma ise çok daha azdır. Alanyazın taraması ile bu kapsamda sadece bir çalışma bulunulabilmiştir. İran’daki iki turizm destinasyonunda yerel halkın turizmin sosyo-kültürel sonuçlarına yönelik algılarında dindarlığın etkisinin incelendiği çalışma ile sosyo-kültürel etkilerin algılanışı ile dindarlık arasında pozitif bir ilişki bulunduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu kapsamda, dindarlık hususunun turizmin sosyo-kültürel etkilerinin algılanışında etkin olup olmadığının incelendiği bu çalışma, alanyazına katkı sunabilecek boyuttadır. Çalışma kapsamında nicel araştırma yöntemlerinden anket tekniği benimsenmiştir. Ekonomik kaygıların katılımcıların görüşlerini etkilemesinin önüne geçilmesi amacıyla, Bodrum, Fethiye ve Marmaris gibi Türkiye’nin önemli turizm destinasyonlarına coğrafi olarak uzak olmamakla birlikte turizm gelişiminin sınırlı olduğu için tercih edilen Menteşe (Muğla) ilçesinde ikamet eden 528 bireyden elde edilen veriler iki aşamada analiz edilmiştir. İlk aşamada, kullanılan soru formu değişik çalışmalardan yararlanarak oluşturulduğu için ölçeklerin güvenirliğini test etmek üzere Güvenirlik Analizi ve yapısal geçerliliğini sınamak üzere Açıklayıcı Faktör Analizi (AFA) uygulanmıştır. Cronbach Alpha (α) değeri, sosyo-kültürel etkilere yönelik 22 ifade bütününde 0,907; her bir faktöre yönelik sırasıyla 0,941; 0,813 ve 0,772; Dindarlık ölçeğine yönelik ise 0,728 olarak hesaplanmış olup araştırmada kullanılan ölçeklerin güvenilir olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Sosyo-kültürel etkilere yönelik ifadelerin varyansın %64,413’ini açıklayacak şekilde 3 faktörlü bir yapı altında birleştiği, üç ifadeden oluşan dindarlık ölçeğinin ise tek faktöre yüklendiği ve varyansın %64,845’ini açıkladığı tespit edilmiştir. Dolayısıyla analiz için kullanılan yapının iyi derecede geçerli olduğu anlaşılmıştır. İkinci aşamada, AFA ile belirlenen faktörlerin çalışma kapsamında oluşturulan modele uygunluğunu test edebilmek için Doğrulayıcı Faktör Analizi (DFA) ve ölçüm modeli ile gizli değişkenler arasındaki ilişkiyi belirlemek ve kavramsal model ile verilerin uyup uymadığını değerlendirmek için Yapısal Eşitlik Model gerçekleştirilmiştir. DFA analizi sonucunda, bütün faktör yüklerinin 0,4’ün üzerinde olduğu ve uyum indekslerinin (x 2 /df, RMSEA, CFI, NFI ve GFI) hem DFA hem de yapısal eşitlik modelinde eşik değerleri aştığı görülmüştür. Dolayısıyla, faktör yapılarının ve çalışmada sınanan modelin uygun olduğu ve sosyo-kültürel etkilerin algılanması ile dindarlık arasında ilişki olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Çalışma sonuçları dindarlık ile turizmin olumsuz sosyo-kültürel etkilerinin algılanışı arasında bir ilişki bulunduğunu ancak turizmin olumlu kültürel etkilerinin algılanışında dindarlığın bir etkisinin bulunmadığını ortaya koymuştur. Dindarlık ile muhafazakârlık arasında kuvvetli bir ilişki bulunduğu göz önüne alındığında öngörülebilecek bir sonuç olduğu belirtilebilir. Ancak, Zamani-Farahani – Musa (2012) çalışmasında dindarlık ile sosyo-kültürel etkilerin algılanışı arasında olumlu etki bulunduğu sonucuna ulaşılmış olmasının destinasyonları ziyaret eden turistlerin profillerindeki ve sayılarındaki farklılıktan kaynaklandığı öngörülmektedir. İlk çalışmada ziyaretçilerin çoğu aynı din ve kültüre mensup kişilerden oluşuyorken, çalışma alanında turistlerin yarısına yakın kısmını farklı din ve kültüre sahip olanlar oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma sonuçları doğrultusunda turizm planlama ve uygulama süreçlerinde, yerel halkın dini inanışlarının, dikkate alınması ve dini inanışlara uygun adımların atılmasının veya yapılacak uygulamaların dini inanışlarına aykırı olmadığının anlatılmasının gerekli olduğu söylenebilir. Ayrıca, turizmin yerel dini inanışlara aykırı sonuçlar doğurmayacak (ya da bu tür sonuçları en aza indirgeyecek) şekilde gelişimine yönelik kararlar alınması gerekmektedir. Kitle turizminin (özellikle deniz–kum–güneş) geliştiği popüler destinasyonlara yakın olmakla birlikte ekonomik olarak turizm ile yoğun bir bağlantının bulunmadığı bir alanda gerçekleştirilen bu çalışmanın sonuçları kesitseldir. Diğer bir ifadeyle sonuçlar çalışma alanı ve hatta katılımcılar ile sınırlıdır. Gelecek çalışmalarda farklı turizm türü ve turist profiline sahip yerleşimlere odaklanabilir. Ayrıca, sonuçların ekonomik olarak turizme bağımlı destinasyonlarda da sınanması gereklidir. (shrink)

This contribution examines the scientific background of Latino sine Flexione (LSF), an international auxiliary language constructed by Peano. LSF is part of a larger linguistic movement resulting from new technologies that accelerated globalisation. Science is a major driving force behind the international auxiliary language movement, both for creating an increased need for international contacts and for lending its data and methods to language construction. With LSF, Peano attempted to realize part of Leibniz’s dream of a universal language, of which a (...) temporary simplified form of Latin would become the first step. LSF was designed following Leibniz’s fragments compiled by Couturat. By eliminating conventional features from standard Latin, Peano attempted to reduce it to its logical expression. Inspired by the same concerns that motivated the symbolism of Formulario, he aimed for a simple language that owed its fit for international use to its being stripped down to the logical core shared by all languages. To achieve this, Peano proceeded by eliminating inflections from all words and establishing an “algebra of grammar” that governed the rules of word-formation. Simplicity, non-redundancy and computability are key values of LSF inspired from Peano’s mathematical practice. (shrink)

This essay examines the impact of Baconian utilitarianism on Lancelot Thomas Hogben (1895–1975), a biologist whose view of science was heavily intertwined with his support of socialist planning. Like Bacon and Marx, Hogben considered science to be a collective tool of utmost importance for empowering people and improving life conditions through a conscious and methodical intervention on our surroundings. Convinced by the fundamentally applied nature of science, Hogben successfully used the principles of the emerging Marxist historiography of science in his (...) popular science books to teach abstract ideas through their origins in practical life. Furthermore, he extended the view of science as planning from biology and economics to linguistics by designing the international language Interglossa that would also serve to enhance scientific literacy in the lay public. (shrink)

Error related potentials, which are elicited in the EEG in response to a perceived error, have been used for error correction and adaption in the event related potential -based brain computer interfaces designed for typing. In these typing interfaces, ERP evidence is collected in response to a sequence of stimuli presented usually in the visual form and the intended user stimulus is probabilistically inferred and presented to the user as the decision. If the inferred stimulus is incorrect, ErrP is expected (...) to be elicited in the EEG. Early approaches to use ErrP in the design of typing interfaces attempt to make hard decisions on the perceived error such that the perceived error is corrected and either the sequence of stimuli are repeated to obtain further ERP evidence, or without further repetition the stimulus with the second highest probability is presented to the user as the decision of the system. Moreover, none of the existing approaches use a language model to increase the performance of typing. In this work, unlike the existing approaches, we study the potential benefits of fusing feedback related potentials, a form of ErrP, with ERP and context information in a Bayesian fashion to detect the user intent. We present experimental results based on data from 12 healthy participants using RSVP Keyboard™ to complete a copy-phrase-task. Three paradigms are compared: [P1] uses only ERP/LM Bayesian fusion; [P2] each RSVP sequence is appended with the top candidate in the alphabet according to posterior after ERP evidence fusion; corresponding FRP is then incorporated; and [P3] the top candidate is shown as a prospect to generate FRP evidence only if its posterior exceeds a threshold. Analyses indicate that ERP/LM/FRP evidence fusion during decision making yields significant speed-accuracy benefits for the user. (shrink)

This article examines popular cinema’s interactions with digital culture, focusing on cinema and social structure. A product of technological and social developments, digital culture has introduced the creation of cyberspace, the emergence and spread of social media, and the formation of virtual communities. This article focuses on a specific period (1980 – 2010) to examine the evolution in cinema of portrayals of digital culture. The analysis includes four influential films: WarGames (1983, by John Badham), Perfect Blue (1997, by Satoshi Kon), (...) Pulse (2001, by Kiroshi Kurosawa), and Life in a Day (2011, by Kevin Macdonald, Loressa Clisby, and Tegan Bukowski). The article provides a guide to popular cinema's interaction with and use of the possibilities offered by digital culture, revealing how the four selected films reflect digital culture themes. Each film demonstrates different aspects and dynamics of digital culture at a particular time, offering a unique look at that period's social and technological landscape through its portrayal of technological developments, human relations, cultural values, and social norms. Each film evaluates the impact of the digitization process on cinema from different perspectives, depicting how cinema adapts and responds to technological changes. (shrink)

Asia’s pharmaceutical sector has experienced remarkable growth over the last two decades, with companies in the region producing bulk of the world’s specialty generics, biologicals, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The Asian pharma growth story has had several pillars for a strong and sustainable foundation that provided non-linear growth. This report introduces three models showing how Asian countries at different development stages — India, South Korea, and Singapore — have nurtured their own, self-sustaining pharmaceutical sectors.

Human civilization, in its continuous evolution, remoulded itself from a biological organism to a biological and technological mixed being. Intensely developed technologies help human beings to make their bodily existence more powerful. Through body enhancement technology, human beings transform themselves into a transhuman and then to a posthuman, in an evolutionary manner. Whereas transhumanism depicts cultural, social, and mainly technological movements, posthumanism is popularized as a philosophical interpretation. Posthuman researchers make a new form of life through the amalgamation of human (...) biology and mechanical technology and portrayed it by the name ‘cyborg’. However, through such inventions, there arise some questions regarding the morality of cyborgs and its effects in the domain of human moral life. The main question addressed towards the enhancement of technology is, ‘Do cyborgs downgrade human values?’. Thus, the article focuses on how posthumanism creates its place in the recent world among other philosophical views. It is crucially important to give proper attention to posthumanism now, not only because of its recent and ongoing rise as a political and cultural force but because of the major breakthroughs that posthumanism emphasizes. Morality always stands as a firm discussion in the field of philosophy. Technological enhancements in human life bring a lot of moral questions about human life and sociocultural activity. In doing so, this article tries to light up on some ethical issues regarding posthumanism and at the same time tries to show how and why posthumanism and its morality are different from the modern or humanist approach and its ethical concepts. (shrink)

As the number of infections and mortalities from the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic continues to rise, the development of an effective therapy against COVID‐19 becomes ever more urgent. A few reports showing a positive correlation between BCG vaccination and reduced COVID‐19 mortality have ushered in some hope. BCG has been suggested to confer a broad level of nonspecific protection against several pathogens, mainly via eliciting “trained immunity” in innate immune cells. Secondly, BCG has also been proven to provide benefits in autoimmune diseases (...) by inducing tolerogenicity. Being an acute inflammatory disease, COVID‐19 requires a therapy that induces early priming of anti‐viral immune responses and regulates aberrant hyperactivity of innate‐immune cells. Here, we hypothesize that BCG can offer reliable spatiotemporal protection from COVID‐19 by triggering trained immunity and tolerogenesis, through multiple cellular pathways. We propose further research on BCG‐mediated immunoprotection, especially in vulnerable individuals, as a strategy to halt the progress of the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic. Also see the video abstract here https://youtu.be/P2D2RXfq6Vg. (shrink)

The present paper aims to validate our research on human–humanoid interaction (HHI) using the minimalist humanoid robot Telenoid. We conducted the human–robot interaction test with 142 young people who had no prior interaction experience with this robot. The main goal is the analysis of the two social dimensions (‘‘Perception’’ and ‘‘Believability’’) useful for increasing the natural behaviour between users and Telenoid.Weadministered our custom questionnaire to human subjects in association with a well defined experimental setting (‘‘ordinary and goal-guided task’’). A thorough (...) analysis of the questionnaires has been carried out and reliability and internal consistency in correlation between the multiple items has been calculated. Our experimental results show that the perceptual behaviour and believability, as implicit social competences, could improve the meaningfulness and the natural-like sense of human–humanoid interaction in everyday life task-driven activities. Telenoid is perceived as an autonomous cooperative agent for a shared environment by human beings. (shrink)

_Phenomenology of Perception: Theories and Experimental Evidence_ presents an interpretation of phenomenology as a set of commitments to discover the immanent grammar of perception by reviewing arguments and experimental results that are still important today for psychology and the cognitive sciences.

The Fukushima accident was a crisis in Japan, and a crisis elsewhere. In Europe, the aftermath of Fukushima was a period of intense questioning, about how to ensure the safety of nuclear reactors, and how, at the same time, ensure the ability of the European Union to act as a consistent political actor in the face of potentially catastrophic risks. Using empirical material related to the post-Fukushima stress tests and the subsequent discussions about the European regulatory framework for nuclear safety, (...) this paper shows that stress tests have provided a peculiar form of European intervention, restabilizing regulatory boundaries while extending the European gaze. It describes the overall operation thereby performed as the “normalization of the crisis” whereby the exceptional situation enters the realm of the normal functioning of the public administrations, and where the actions undertaken take the form of the legal norm. (shrink)

The study of the social implications of human enhancement is an interdisciplinary work that draws from the fields of political science, sociology, philosophy, and bioethics, among others. It is also a complex and rapidly evolving subject that raises important questions about the potential benefits and risks of these technologies, as well as how society should govern and regulate their development and use. -/- An in-depth exploration of current and future human enhancement technologies,this book delves into the specifics of current and (...) emerging human enhancement technologies, such as cognitive enhancers, brain-computer interfaces, and genetic engineering, discussing the state of the art, the limitations and also the technological developments that one can expect in the future and how they can be regulated and used responsibly. -/- A comprehensive examination of the political and ethical implications of human enhancement An interdisciplinary work, bringing together leading scholars in the field An in-depth exploration of current and future human enhancement technologies. (shrink)

Attempts to introduce Gestalt theory into the realm of visual neuroscience are discussed on both theoretical and experimental grounds. To define the framework in which these proposals can be defended, this paper outlines the characteristics of a standard model, which qualifies as a received view in the visual neurosciences, and of the research into natural images statistics. The objections to the standard model and the main questions of the natural images research are presented. On these grounds, this paper defends the (...) view that Gestalt psychology and experimental phenomenology provide a contribution to the research into perception by the construction of phenomenological models for an ecologically meaningful interpretation of the empirical evidence and the hypothetical constructs of the natural image research within the visual neuroscience. A formal framework for the phenomenological models is proposed, wherein Gestalt theoretical principles and empirical evidence are represented in terms of topological properties and relationships, which account for the order and structures that make the environment accessible to observers at a relevant behavioural level. It is finally argued that these models allow us to evaluate the principles and the empirical evidence of various natures which are integrated from different fields into the research into perception, and in particular into visual neurosciences. (shrink)

This paper deals with two theories Husserl worked out on imagery in order to see if the properties a phenomenological description ascribes to imagery are fit to give meaningful constraints upon theoretical models that guide empirical research. Husserlian descriptions and Kosslyn and colleagues models are hence compared as to their explanatory strategy and implications.

Some issues heavily debated in perception sciences are presented: the explanatory gap and the experience measurement problem. The experimental phenomenology is said to provide substantive contribution to settle controversy over the phenome- nological adequacy of perception theory and models. An interpretation of experi- mental phenomenology as explanation of the perceptual manifold, and definition of relation varieties to eventually map onto other perception sciences’ domains is sketched.

In this paper the relationship between phenomenology of perception and synthetic phenomenology is discussed. Synthetic phenomenology is presented on the basis of the issues in A.I. and Robotics that required to address the question of what enables artificial agents to have phenomenal access to the environment. Phenomenology of perception is construed as a theory with autonomous structure and domain, which can be embedded in a philosophical as well as a scientific theory. Two attempts at specifying the phenomenal content of artificial (...) agents are discussed. Concepts and experimental evidence on the independence of perception and the coordination of motion and appearances are set out to submit that phenomenology of perception makes a contribution to synthetic phenomenology. (shrink)

This paper tries to sketch what phenomenological constraints for Neurosciences would be looking like. It maintains that such an adequate phenomenological description as that provided by Gestalt psychology is a condition for the Neurosciences to account for every-day experience opf the world. The explanatory gap in Cognitive sciences is discussed with reference to Jackendoff, Prinz, and Köhler.

In this theoretical paper, the claim is defended that phenomenology of perception can be integrated into vision science. Different versions of theoretical and experimental phenomenology are presented to specify a minimal set of commitments. It is claimed that the phenomenological research into perception, be it delivered in the form of conceptual analysis or of experimental research, satisfies the epistemological and methodological substantive features of these commitments. As an empirical case for the contribution that the integration of phenomenology into vision science (...) could bring about, the paper presents a received view in the visual neurosciences and the objections against its elementarwise and reductionist stance. The relationships among models and mechanisms are discussed. It is argued that models endowed with linking propositions with phenomenological contents can provide the conceptual case for the integration of phenomenology into vision science to be carried out. (shrink)

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, journalism in the United States changed. Journalistic norms of objectivity and distance opened to a participatory mode of reporting. A communitarian journalism emerged in which journalists became "at one" with their subjects as they lived the story they were reporting. Chiara Lubich of Italy presents a philosophical foundation for this journalistic approach, proposing "unity" as the ethic that should guide mass media communicators. In this essay I review Lubich's moral perspective and consider (...) its implications for media ethics. (shrink)