The relationship between being and goodness is one of the most engaging philosophical questions, particularly in light of the new science, which pointsto the interconnectedness of the physical world. The relationship between being and goodness is examined here in the thought of Bonaventure, who maintainsa primacy of the good. Bonaventure’s integration of philosophy and theology provides an understanding of being as goodness and hence an understandingof being as relational and generative. Because being is good, created reality is intrinsically good and (...) bears within it an inner dynamic toward the pleroma oflove. The implications of Bonaventure’s metaphysics of the good for ecology and epistemology are explored. (shrink)

Hay que entender que los cambios súbitos de todo tipo que nos están afectando globalmente, demuestran claramente que los modelos puramente racionales resultan ser insuficientes para dar respuesta a las complejidades de este mundo. Pero también, hay que entender que los modelos no puramente racionales han sido de difícil lectura y de poca aceptación. Pienso que este es el caso de la Crítica del Juicio. La falta de sensibilidad respecto de la apreciación de esta obra puede deberse a que la (...) misma ha sido calificada en nuestros días como el trabajo arquetípico del postmodernismo, revelando las contradicciones inherentes a toda idea de conocimiento, racionalidad, cultura y arte... “Ya no es el paradigma del clasicismo, ni del formalismo, la última del trio de las tres grandes Críticas se ha convertido de pronto, en el símbolo del deconstruccionismo”. También consideraremos a esta obra, como centro del sistema kantiano, un modelo para los sistemas complejos. Así que luego de señalar I- las discrepancias de Bauman con la Crítica del Juicio, veremos II- las correspondencias de esta obra con los axiomas del postmodernismo, y III- con los sistemas complejos. Luego IV- presentaremos un proyecto de rehabilitación de esta obra, y en V- ‘proyecciones sobre el presente’, expondremos el pensamiento de Bauman y Jonas señalando que no es el futuro, sino el presente de las condiciones globales de la vida humana y la existencia misma de la especie lo que está en peligro inminente. La metafísica de la moral de Jonas, aplicada a una ‘Moralidad sin Concepto,’ cierra el circulo de la nueva moralidad propuesta. Incluímos al final un apéndice sobre el supremo bien. (shrink)

La interioridad de lo viviente ha sido ignorada en una descripción científica del comportamiento humano. Hoy en día, sin embargo, la autopoiesis como paradigma de auto-organización, ha continuado incorpo- rando esos primeros atisbos de la interioridad de lo viviente que Kant desarrolló en la tercera Crítica. No hay organismo sin teleología y no hay teleología sin interioridad, nos dice, y sin un segmento teleológico el proyecto total de la moral se vuelve ininteligible. Hay un cambio de una ética basada en (...) el imperativo categórico a una moralidad sin concepto basada en otro aspecto del imperativo categórico presente en la estética kantiana. Con F.Varela surge la convicción de la inminencia de un cambio de paradigma que se trasluce como la primacía de lo concreto y la oposición a todo análisis deliberado e intencional. Estas características ya se habían manifestado en Kant y en Husserl como el cambio de lo exterior a lo interior, donde prima el abandono de toda regla o principio y la contundencia de la evidencia intuitiva. Se han de reconocer la importancia de los impulsos pre-conscientes y los instintos, por lo cual he incluido un Apéndice. Este camino dio lugar a las experiencias límite de lo sublime y de la epojé ética universal, la cual, según N. Depraz, filósofa francesa especializada en Husserl, no tienenada de misterioso o esotérico aunque está lejos de ser autoevidente. (shrink)

Pensamiento atrevido y nuevo, visión abierta, donde el lector hallará cuestiones clave del conocimiento, pero también del confundir y fundir, metafísica, física, antropología, sociedad. Desde la psicología a la reunión de los hombres en ciudades, la política, todo penetrado de la mirada estética, como si el saber fuera una de las bellas artes. Cuestiones como la Orden del Temple, la francmasonería, el ciber-arte, la clonación de obras artísticas o las bibliotecas digitales se convierten en ejemplos para una filosofía alternativa. Ilia (...) Galán, Titular de Estética y Teoría del Arte en la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid y profesor invitado en las universidades de Oxford, Harvard, la Sorbona, New Tork University, etc. Columnista habitual en El País, y otros periódicos. Entre sus libros, editados en varios idiomas, destacan: El Dios de los dioses (Ciencia del Arte) 1993, El romanticismo: Schelling o el arte divino Madrid, 1999, Actualidad del pensamiento de Sem Tob (filosofía hispano-hebrea del siglo XIV), 2003, 2004. Teorías del arte desde el siglo XXI, 2005, Sabiduría oculta en el Camino de Santiago, 2011. (shrink)

E n e s t e e n s a y o a r g u me n t o q u e l ametafilosofía de los pragmatistas es lacontribución más importante de estosf i l ós of os a l a hi s t or i a de l a f i l os of í ay es t ambi én l o que l os di st i ngue deot ros f i l ósof os. Los f i (...) l ósof os cl ási cosamericanos y losfilósofos pragmatistas hispanos, Ortegay Gasset y Risieri Frondizi, propusieronque l a f i l osof í a debe de part i r desdel a experi enci a, es deci r, un punt o departida práctico. Despues de explicar quésignifica sostener que la experiencia es elpunto de partida, examino las razonesque tienen estos filósofos para sostenerque la experiencia es el punto de partidaapropiado si se quiere que la filosofía seaempírica y relevante. In this paper the metaphilosophy of pragmatists is the most important contribution of these philosophers to the history of philosophyand is also what distinguishes them fromother philosophers. The classic Americanphilosophers and the Hispanic philosophers, Ortega yGasset and Risieri Frondizi, proposed thatphilosophy must start from experience.After explaining what it means to takeexperience as the starting point, I examinethe reasons that pragmatists philosophershave for holding the view that experienceshould be the starting point if philosophyis to be empirical and relevant. (shrink)

New essays by leading philosophers explore topics in epistemology, offering both contemporary philosophical analysis and historical perspectives. There are two main questions in epistemology: What is knowledge? And: Do we have any of it? The first question asks after the nature of a concept; the second involves grappling with the skeptic, who believes that no one knows anything. This collection of original essays addresses the themes of knowledge and skepticism, offering both contemporary epistemological analysis and historical perspectives from leading philosophers (...) and rising scholars. Contributors first consider knowledge: the intrinsic nature of knowledge—in particular, aspects of what distinguishes knowledge from true belief; the extrinsic examination of knowledge, focusing on contextualist accounts; and types of knowledge, specifically perceptual, introspective, and rational knowledge. The final chapters offer various perspectives on skepticism. Knowledge and Skepticism provides an eclectic yet coherent set of essays by distinguished scholars and important new voices. The cutting-edge nature of its contributions and its interdisciplinary character make it a valuable resource for a wide audience—for philosophers of language as well as for epistemologists, and for psychologists, decision theorists, historians, and students at both the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels. Contributors Kent Bach, Joseph Keim Campbell, Joseph Cruz, Fred Dretske, Catherine Z. Elgin, Peter S. Fosl, Peter J. Graham, David Hemp, Michael O'Rourke, George Pappas, John L. Pollock, Duncan Pritchard, Joseph Salerno, Robert J. Stainton, Harry S. Silverstein, Joseph Thomas Tolliver, Leora Weitzman. (shrink)

Il secondo volume della serie Commentaria in Aristotelem Byzantina, pubblicata sotto gli auspici dell'Accademia di Atene, presenta l'editio princeps, per le cure di Eleni Pappa, del decimo libro della Φιλοσοφία del poligrafo bizantino Giorgio Pachymeres (1242–dopo il 1307). La Φιλοσοφία conta dodici libri ciascuno dei quali contiene un breve riassunto di un'opera di Aristotele, o a lui attribuita. I dodici libri sono preceduti da un proemio e da un indice dettagliato del contenuto. Lo scritto resta ancora purtroppo in larga misura (...) inedito. (shrink)

Deep Learning has been widely used for tackling challenging natural language processing tasks over the recent years. Similarly, the application of Deep Neural Networks in legal analytics has increased significantly. In this survey, we study the early adaptation of Deep Learning in legal analytics focusing on three main fields; text classification, information extraction, and information retrieval. We focus on the semantic feature representations, a key instrument for the successful application of deep learning in natural language processing. Additionally, we share pre-trained (...) legal word embeddings using the word2vec model over large corpora, comprised legislations from UK, EU, Canada, Australia, USA, and Japan among others. (shrink)

Deep Learning has been widely used for tackling challenging natural language processing tasks over the recent years. Similarly, the application of Deep Neural Networks in legal analytics has increased significantly. In this survey, we study the early adaptation of Deep Learning in legal analytics focusing on three main fields; text classification, information extraction, and information retrieval. We focus on the semantic feature representations, a key instrument for the successful application of deep learning in natural language processing. Additionally, we share pre-trained (...) legal word embeddings using the word2vec model over large corpora, comprised legislations from UK, EU, Canada, Australia, USA, and Japan among others. (shrink)

Explainable artificial intelligence has become a vitally important research field aiming, among other tasks, to justify predictions made by intelligent classifiers automatically learned from data. Importantly, efficiency of automated explanations may be undermined if the end user does not have sufficient domain knowledge or lacks information about the data used for training. To address the issue of effective explanation communication, we propose a novel information-seeking explanatory dialogue game following the most recent requirements to automatically generated explanations. Further, we generalise our (...) dialogue model in form of an explanatory dialogue grammar which makes it applicable to interpretable rule-based classifiers that are enhanced with the capability to provide textual explanations. Finally, we carry out an exploratory user study to validate the corresponding dialogue protocol and analyse the experimental results using insights from process mining and argument analytics. A high number of requests for alternative explanations testifies the need for ensuring diversity in the context of automated explanations. (shrink)

While most business ethics texts focus exclusively on individual decision making--what should an individual do--this resource presents the whole business ethics story. Highly realistic, readable, and down-to-earth, it moves from the individual to the managerial to the organizational level, focusing on business ethics in an organizational context to promote an understanding of complex influences on behavior. The new Fifth Edition is the perfect text for students entering the workplace, those seeking to become professionals in training, communications, compliance, in addition to (...) chief ethics officers, corporate counsel, heads of human resources, and senior executives. (shrink)

To my Oxford Classical Text of Cicero's De Officiis, published in 1994, I add two footnotes. The first is an important citation of Cicero in Augustine, which I missed thanks to my own incompetence. Maurice Testard, in his Saint Augustin et Ciceron remarks in Augustine's Contra Iulianum opus imperfectum not only the passage I note at Off. 1.7, but also 4.43 . Migne's text reads as follows: Sequitur ergo ut uerecundiam deponas, ac manente amicitia cum magistro Cynicis foedereris: quos tamen (...) aliquorum, ut Cicero in Officiis refert, etiam Stoicorum argumenta comitantur. Arguunt quippe communem honestatem, ‘quod ea quae re turpia non sint, uerbo 5 flagitiosa ducamus; ilia autem quae re turpia sint, nominibus appellemus suis. Latrocinium perpetrare, fraudem facere, adulterium committere, re turpe est, sed dicitur non obscene: liberis operam dare honestum est re, nomine obscenum. Pluraque in earn sententiam ab eisdem’ inquit ‘contra uerecundiam disputantur. Nos autem 10 naturam sequamur, et omne quod abhorret ab oculorum auriumque approbatione fugiamus.’. (shrink)

The paper is devoted to the problem of the linguistic grounds of the semiotic model of history, according to which history is described as a communication process circulating within a society. An analogy of principle between language and culture is the theoretical premise of that semiotic approach. Proceeding on this assumption semiotics (B. Uspensky’s case for instance) regards historical process as the process of text outcome and reading, while at the same time control over communication is provided through the cultural (...) code or in other words — through the grammar of history. But the description of history as just the functioning of a single and unified grammatical code doesn’t make it possible to explain the appearance of new meanings or history par excellence. J. Lotman interpreted the rhetorical mechanism of text outcome as the working of two (at a minimum) interplaying semiotic systems. It is the principle of its working that he takes as abasis of his semiotic version of cultural diachrony. And at the very point semiotics finds itself in front of the choice: either to stop at the decomposition the rhetorical machine on separate cultural codes and at the description their separate grammars, or to conceptualize a historical event as un-grammatism, grammatical error, “wrong text”. The analytical way leads to an extremely reduced theoretical construction; the synthetic way undermines status of the semiotic model of history as a positivistic scientific project. (shrink)

We motivate the desire for self-driving and explain its potential and limitations, and explore the need for—and potential implementation of—morals, ethics, and other value systems as complementary “capabilities” to the Deep Technologies behind self-driving. We consider how the incorporation of such systems may drive or slow adoption of high automation within vehicles. First, we explore the role for morals, ethics, and other value systems in self-driving through a representative hypothetical dilemma faced by a self-driving car. Through the lens of engineering, (...) we explain in simple terms common moral and ethical frameworks including utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics before characterizing their relationship to the fundamental algorithms enabling self-driving. The concepts of behavior cloning, state-based modeling, and reinforcement learning are introduced, with some algorithms being more suitable for the implementation of value systems than others. We touch upon the contemporary cross-disciplinary landscape of morals and ethics in self-driving systems from a joint philosophical and technical perspective, and close with considerations for practitioners and the public, particularly as individuals may not appreciate the nuance and complexity of using imperfect information to navigate diverse scenarios and tough-to-quantify value systems, while “typical” software development reduces complex problems to black and white decision-making. (shrink)

The purpose of this article is to present an educative experience carried out in a university context, in order to discuss of the ways that peer tutoring could contribute to the development of the pedagogical skills of future and novice teachers of French as a Foreign Language. The aforementioned case study lasted throughout an academic semester and involved undergraduate and graduate students.

The paper is devoted to the problem of the linguistic grounds of the semiotic model of history, according to which history is described as a communication process circulating within a society. An analogy of principle between language and culture is the theoretical premise of that semiotic approach. Proceeding on this assumption semiotics (B. Uspensky’s case for instance) regards historical process as the process of text outcome and reading, while at the same time control over communication is provided through the cultural (...) code or in other words — through the grammar of history. But the description of history as just the functioning of a single and unified grammatical code doesn’t make it possible to explain the appearance of new meanings or history par excellence. J. Lotman interpreted the rhetorical mechanism of text outcome as the working of two (at a minimum) interplaying semiotic systems. It is the principle of its working that he takes as abasis of his semiotic version of cultural diachrony. And at the very point semiotics finds itself in front of the choice: either to stop at the decomposition the rhetorical machine on separate cultural codes and at the description their separate grammars, or to conceptualize a historical event as un-grammatism, grammatical error, “wrong text”. The analytical way leads to an extremely reduced theoretical construction; the synthetic way undermines status of the semiotic model of history as a positivistic scientific project. (shrink)

Supervaluational accounts of vagueness have come under assault from Timothy Williamson for failing to provide either a sufficiently classical logic or a disquotational notion of truth, and from Crispin Wright and others for incorporating a notion of higher-order vagueness, via the determinacy operator, which leads to contradiction when combined with intuitively appealing ‘gap principles’. We argue that these criticisms of supervaluation theory depend on giving supertruth an unnecessarily central role in that theory as the sole notion of truth, rather than (...) as one mode of truth. Allowing for the co-existence of supertruth and local truth, we define a notion of local entailment in supervaluation theory, and show that the resulting logic is fully classical and allows for the truth of the gap principles. Finally, we argue that both supertruth and local truth are disquotational, when disquotational principles are properly understood. (shrink)

In 19651 Richard Rorty defended a theory of mind which has since come to be called' eliminative materialism'. The theory has attained some status as a distinct, autonomous brand of materialism; and it has been criticized at length in the literature, ... \n.

Human-robot collaboration, whereby the human and the robot join their forces to achieve a task, opens new application opportunities in manufacturing. Robots can perform precise and repetitive operations while humans can execute tasks that require dexterity and problem-solving abilities. Moreover, collaborative robots can take over heavy-duty tasks. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a serious health concern and the primary cause of absenteeism at work. While the role of the human is still essential in flexible production environment, the robot can help decreasing (...) the workload of workers. This paper describes a novel framework for task allocation of human-robot assembly applications based on capabilities and ergonomics considerations. Capable agents are determined on the basis of agent characteristics and task requirements. Ergonomics is integrated by measuring the human body posture and the related workload. The developed framework was validated on a gearbox assembly use case using the collaborative robot Baxter. (shrink)

The notion of a constitutive lack, which formed the ambivalent initial framework of Western metaphysics, marks the contemporary attempt to think anew the social and the subject. While metaphysics had difficulties to justify ontologically the event of sociality and was tempted to construct a closed subjectivity, post-metaphysical thought by contrast justifies often the sociality of a non-identity. The presuppositions of Orthodox-Christian theology allow us to think of subjectivity and sociality in terms of a different ontology, elaborating a new synthesis between (...) anthropology and eschatology, within which the subject can emerge as radical sociality and natal receptivity, as free and true in its very relationality. The most profound and acute intellectual demands of our present time could then meet central notions of the Orthodox-Christian heritage and point at the perspective of a new historical encounter, which enriches both traditions by mutually engaging to each others fundamental experiences. (shrink)

The notion of a constitutive lack, which formed the ambivalent initial framework of Western metaphysics, marks the contemporary attempt to think anew the social and the subject. While metaphysics had difficulties to justify ontologically the event of sociality and was tempted to construct a closed subjectivity, post-metaphysical thought by contrast justifies often the sociality of a non-identity. The presuppositions of Orthodox-Christian theology allow us to think of subjectivity and sociality in terms of a different ontology, elaborating a new synthesis between (...) anthropology and eschatology, within which the subject can emerge as radical sociality and natal receptivity, as free and true in its very relationality. The most profound and acute intellectual demands of our present time could then meet central notions of the Orthodox-Christian heritage and point at the perspective of a new historical encounter, which enriches both traditions by mutually engaging to each others fundamental experiences. (shrink)

Background End-of-life decisions for neonates with adverse prognosis are controversial and raise ethical and legal issues. In Greece, data on physicians’ profiles, motivation, values and attitudes underlying such decisions and the correlation with their background are scarce. The aim was to investigate neonatologists' attitudes in Neonatal Intensive Care Units and correlate them with self-reported practices of end-of-life decisions and with their background data. Methods A structured questionnaire was distributed to all 28 Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Greece. One hundred and (...) sixty two out of 260 eligible physicians answered anonymously the questionnaire. Demographic and professional characteristics, self-reported practices and opinions were included in the questionnaire, along with a questionnaire of 12 items measuring physicians’ attitude and views ranging from value of life to quality of life approach. Results Continuation of treatment in neonates with adverse prognosis without adding further therapeutic interventions was the most commonly reported EoL practice, when compared to withdrawal of mechanical ventilation. Physicians with a high attitude score were more likely to limit, while those with a low score were more likely for continuation of intensive care. Physicians’ educational level, involvement in research, religion and position on the existing legal framework were factors that affected the attitude score. Conclusions Physicians presented with varying end-of-life practices. Limiting interventions in neonates with poor prognosis was strongly related to their attitudes. The most important predictors for physicians' attitudes were religiousness and belief for Greek legal system reform. (shrink)

Contemporary African philosophy in indigenous African languages and English translation.

Attention is necessary for the conscious perception of any object. Objects not attended to are not seen. What is it that captures attention when we are engaged in some attention-absorbing task? Earlier research has shown that there are only a very few stimuli which have this power and therefore are reliably detected under these conditions . The two most reliable are the observer’s own name and a happy face icon which seem to capture attention by virtue of their meaning. Three (...) experiments are described which explore whether these stimuli are detected under conditions, heretofore unexamined, which either cause inattentional blindness or are associated with a perceptual failure associated with the limits of attention. The evidence obtained indicates that these stimuli have a unique capacity to capture and extend the limits of attention under conditions in which this has been deemed highly unlikely. (shrink)

The UK’s Cancer Drugs Fund was introduced in 2010 following the Conservative Party’s promise to address the fact that numerous efficacious cancer drugs were not available because of their cost ineffectiveness, as deduced by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence. While, at face value, this policy appears only to promote the UK’s public welfare, a deeper analysis reveals the ethically unjustifiable inconsistencies that the CDF introduces; where is the analogous fund for other equally severe diseases? Have the patients (...) without cancer been neglected simply due to the fear-inducing advertising and particularly ferocious speech which surrounds cancer? The CDF is unjustifiable when challenged by such questions. However, it is troubling to think that the CDF might be repealed in order to abolish these ethical concerns. Intuitively, one feels uncomfortable stripping the cancer patient of their benefits just so that they might be on an equally pessimistic footing with others. In the present essay, I argue that, although there are no ethically justifiable grounds for the CDF’s introduction, its removal would be inappropriate. Following this realisation, I investigate whether the procedural steps of the CDF itself—theoretically removed from the context of resource distribution for all disease types—represent an ethically justifiable system. I believe that the answer is yes, given the CDF’s conformity to accountability for reasonableness, a robust framework of procedural justice, which continuously improves the ethical and epistemological standards of the policies to which it is applied. (shrink)

At Plato’s Phaedrus 270c, Socrates asks whether one can know souls without knowing ‘the whole.’ Phaedrus answers that ‘according to Hippocrates’ the same demand on knowing the whole applies to bodies. What parallel is intended between soul-knowledge and body-knowledge and which medical passages illustrate the analogy have been much debated. Three dominant interpretations read ‘the whole’ as respectively (1) environment, (2) kosmos, and (3) individual soul or body; and adduce supporting Hippocratic passages. But none of these interpretations accounts for the (...) Phaedrus’ rhetorical method. A better reading sees the whole as the genos ‘soul,’ as the Phaedrus’ taxonomies divide that genus. (shrink)

This paper explores two opposed paradigmatic approaches to heroic power: Thomas Carlyle's versus Leo Tolstoy's. In On Heroes, Hero Worship and the Heroic in History (1840), Carlyle argues for its crucial importance, whereas in War and Peace (1869), Tolstoy denies its very possibility. Carlyle's heroic model attributes to the hero (the leader) a high degree of mastery and control over social and political circumstances, whereas Tolstoy's a-heroic model implies a small degree of personal mastery and much greater constraints on the (...) individual leader. Both models achieved prominence in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, which brought the role of the individual (hero) in history to the forefront of intellectual and political debate throughout Europe. The two models are shown as parts of and important links in long-established traditions; they are internally coherent yet totally contradictory of each other. The comparison of these opposed perceptions of heroic figures in history suggests that they might originate in an ambivalent, polarized perception of power and mastery, and in the sense of individual insecurity in the face of historical upheavals. (shrink)

This article examines the passing of the Palamedes episode, a matter from the subtexts of the Epic Cycle, into Byzantine rhetoric. This scene forms the center of a topic in the Progymnasmata of three Byzantine writers, Nikolaos Sophistes, Nikephoros Basilakes and George Pachymeres, while at the same time this matter is used (with a different function) also by Constantine Manasses, in his Synopsis Chronike. The way of use and the evaluation of the episode in these texts are examined in detail. (...) In particular, Basilakes' and Pachymeres' Progymnasmata (διηγήματα), in which the Palamedes episode is used in an autonomous way, are compared with each other, and the differences of style, syntax, grammar and vocabulary between the texts of these wo writers are determined. (shrink)

F. 1v-9v of the codex Vat. gr. 1020, which is dated to the first half of the 14th century, contains seven unknown and anonymous letters, the last one mutilated. In this study, at first, the ascription of the letters to Maximus Neamonites as proposed by the database of the PINAKES is rejected, and a number of assumptions are made concerning the name of their writer in the light of the little prosopographical information offered. The content is studied, as well as (...) the style of the letters and their place in the literary context of the Palaiologan Rennaisance of the 13th-14th centuries. A critical edition of the letters completes the article. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2016 Heft: 213 Seiten: 91-122.

Journal Name: Semiotica - Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies / Revue de l'Association Internationale de Sémiotique Volume: 2013 Issue: 195 Pages: 1-44.