Social Indeterminacy and Quine’s Indeterminacy Thesis

Author(s): Samal H. R. Manee / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2017

This article examines whether Willard Van Orman Quine’s indeterminacy thesis can be sustained. The argument from above, Quine argues, can derive indeterminacy as its conclusion. I will argue that the indeterminacy claim cannot be sustained. I further argue that Quine changed the formulation of the underdetermination of theory by evidence (UTE) argument from what Duhem said to the Quine/Pierce meaning verification view, in order use the new formulation of UTE to imply indeterminacy. Given all that, we see when we apply the old UTE argument we only arrive at underdetermination of theory by evidence, and that applies to all sciences, philosophy and knowledge, including philosophy of language. Quine’s argument of indeterminacy is one where the premises alone do not make the conclusion obvious, and further difficulty arises because he has not given enough examples of the indeterminacy in his writings. Given that, I will look at how can we draw the particular conclusion Quine maintains on the basis of the single fundamental premise he puts forward, bearing in mind Quine’s other philosophical views and background beliefs. I will look at further ways of approaching the indeterminacy argument, through which I shall try to examine whether Quine’s premise can derive the conclusion of indeterminacy, examining the role of the underdetermination of theories by evidence in the argument from above, and its relation to the indeterminacy thesis.

Nowa Humanistyka: w poszukiwaniu granic

Author(s): Agata Bielik-Robson / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2017

Bielik-Robson proposes a critical analysis of the New Humanities. Despite the seeming continuity of emancipatory approaches, she argues, the New Humanities are not founded on enlightenment philosophy but on Heidegger and his unconditional critique of modern subjectivity and its Machenschaft, i.e. its calculating attitude to the world, to which it does not feel connected. The lack of connection also signifies a lack of ties: the unbridled subject of calculating rationality turns out to be the source of unlimited violence towards being. The New Humanities oppose the hubris of such a notion of subjective freedom by trying to identify its limits: to link it with existence once again, and in this way to tie it up, to entrap and tether it. The goal is to experience the ‘blessing of limits’: not to make a progressive or transgressive move towards the exit, but to make a regressive move, somewhat like the prodigal son – a manoeuvre that the tragic Greeks described as nostos or ‘return home’.

Uloga individualiteta u kontekstu dijaloga moderne

Author(s): Đuldina Kurtović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 3/2016

Philosophical thinking and understanding of individuality and its role in the context of the crisis of modernity is necessary so we could objectively and critically perceive the picture of modernity, but also to perceive its crisis. Many philosophers, among which is impossible not to mention philosophical thought of Hegel and Kierkegaard, were thinking about self return, the importance of individuality and the birth of subjective freedom. Both of them agreed in the case of turning point in the history of human spirit, the turning point which was marked as the path of self return. That turning point they saw in Sokrates, and it was decisive for the birth of consciousness of freedom. Although Hegel and Kierkegaard differed in many ways, this turning point was place where two of them had met and agreed. On this fundament where self –determined and self-consciousness individual is established, it is possible to expect overcoming the crisis of modernity. This overcoming requires special kind of dialogue that will be full of tolerance and mutual respect.

Socijalistički karakter obrazovanja

Author(s): Đuldina Kurtović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 2/2015

As an universal value education is one of the most fundamental expession of society. It also appears as one of the fundamental human rights. Through education an individual not only gain knowledge about itself, but also meets and learn about Others. As the one of crucial fundaments of socialization, education is also important for its own characteristics such as creation and implementation of spiritual and material possibilities. In every sphere we can find human drive for bringing eduaction closer to the life and existential needs. Possible solutions for existential situations can be found almost in every period of human history, especially in the philosophical and sociological orientations. Those solutions have been given in the socialism also. The term socialism has its specific meaning, especially in the context of social relations and as an specific social order. In this article it will be presented specific understanding of the concept of education within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, especially in the framewoek of the Marxist's orientation. Freedom of individual meant also that academic freedom should be enabled. Within socialist character of education, academic freedom meant free discussions, but also presentation of new ideas and free opinions. However, in reality, realization of mentioned freedom had only formal character. Because, most educational institutions dependent economically and politically of the state authorities. It will also be shown what impact had this socialistic character of education on education in the society of 21st century in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Онтологично обосноваване на „съществуването“

Author(s): Georgi Donev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2018

The goal of this article is to ground the ontologization of the logical subjectivity of philosophical thinking. The arguments for the thesis that “existence” is equivalent to the logical subjectivity of thinking in phenomenological form, defined by transcendental logical language, are shown. Ontology is a system of transcendental languages. The principle of every transcendental language is an introduction of the a priori logical relativity in the construction of possible phenomenological models of “existence”. The logical relativity does not allow the thinking of logical subjectivity, which has ontic genesis. The transcendental language constructs in ontological form the logical subjectivity, as well as eliminates a priori the logical contradiction, from which follows the destruction of language. Ontology understood as transcendental language is relative topology which determines a priori the logical topos of the possible logical subjectivity of consciousness.

Co to znaczy być krytycznym realistą? Dwie różne odpowiedzi: Nicolai Hartmann i Richard Hönigswald

Author(s): Iwona Alechnowicz-Skrzypek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 48/2022

Iwona Alechnowicz-Skrzypek’s aim in this paper is to compare the two nonspecific Neo Kantians, admittedly both representing critical realism. Nicolai Hartmann, a follower of the Marburg School, was an idealist before becoming a critical realist, while Richard Hönigswald, a student of Alois Riehl, held on to the position of critical realism from the beginning of his philosophical career. There are many similarities between Hartmann and Hӧnigswald in terms of their understanding of the concept of realism. There are also several differences, which mostly relate to how they addressed the question of the thingin-itself. The most important difference concerns their solution of the problem of empirical data as a basis for the mental representation of objects. A comparison of Hartmann’s and Hönigswald’s approaches to this problem helps us to understand why both are considered non-specific neo-Kantians.

Ciało cierpiące i ontologiczne strzępy człowieczew Śnie srebrnym Salomei Juliusza Słowackiego

Author(s): Magdalena Ciechańska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 20/2020

The article relates to the issue of the suffering body in Juliusz Słowacki’s drama 'Sen srebrny Salomei'. The first and the second part of the article are dedicated to the description of the main drama characters who are media of supernatural reality, and the analysis of the co-existing worlds of human beings and spirits. The third part includes the interpretation of the ‘poetics of macabre’ and ‘theater of pain’, the phenomenon of vivisection and the ontology of ‘human remains’. The author reads Słowacki’s drama through the prism of Michel Henry’s philosophy of existence.

ASPEKTI ONTOLOGIJE ISLAMA: FERID MUHIĆ

Author(s): Orhan Bajraktarević / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 94/2023

Muhić in his work Ontology in Islam analyses the phenomenon of Islam in a conjunction between philosophy and religion. Herein he discusses the culture and the history of religions, particularly Islam and Muslims in Europe, but also anti-Islamic conceptual tendencies and habits which have been systematically generated and bred in centres of political power in Europe and the United States. Discrimination against Muslims today, marking them as “defective Muslims” is an ideologically motivated trend and it is part of an organized project which in the Balkans instigated genocide committed against Bosniaks as well as a large-scale genocidal crime that was committed against Albanians. Thus Muslims in Europe are terminally disqualified whereas non-Muslims are permanently privileged. It is essential that the perpetrators of these crimes, whosoever they are as well as “the collective perpetrators”, are brought to justice. The radicalisation of Islam, and the Islamisation of radicalism, is an evident fact in Europe today. On the other hand, Muhić here stresses that speculation and philosophy are left out of the history of Islamic studies and tradition since the third century of Islam. Thus, he places before us the significant but forgotten questions of the general history of philosophy and religion, questions of the general history of Islam, and the Islamic revelation as a timeless and transcendent phenomenon. He offers some brave answers highlighting the fact that the God of Revelation and the God of religion is also the God of the intellect, the God of Science. This work demonstrates one exceptional new tendency in great religions as well as in philosophy, and that is the notion of secular thought taking the place of the old, traditional decayed theology and theological thought in religion.

Spojrzenie „bez podmiotu”. [Recenzja książki Aleksandry Ubertowskiej „Historie biotyczne. Pomiędzy estetyką a geotraumą”. Warszawa: Instytut Badań Literackich PAN, 2020]

Author(s): Katarzyna Koza / Language(s): Polish Issue: 11/2023

The text is a review of Aleksandra Ubertowska’s book, Historie biotyczne. Pomiędzy estetyką a geotraumą [Biotic histories. Between aesthetics and geotrauma]. The starting point becomes the biocentric lens applied by the researcher and the geo-story behind it. Equally interesting and important are the possibilities of ecocritical theories in interpretation and their application in the Polish ground.

EFFECTS OF DIGITAL MEDIA ON PEOPLE AND SPIRITUAL LIFE

Author(s): Iustinian Florentin JIPA / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 34/2023

This article aims to highlight the influence that digital media have on human life, but especially on his spiritual life. It is an interdisciplinary work, which treats this subject from both a scientific and a theological point of view. One of the great challenges of the times we live in is to properly understand the relationship between man and technology. People have suddenly found themselves in a new, more complicated and complex universe, increasingly dominated by technology. Technology has made its way into every aspect of people's lives and most of the activities they do, in a subtle and rapid way. Looking at how fast this is happening, we can tell that it is becoming difficult to adapt. It is very easy to forget the balance between what is really useful for life and its sanctity, and what is produced exclusively for pleasure, entertainment, strong experiences, etc. which can lead to addiction.

Боговете в нас: отношението на съзнанието към тялото

Author(s): Vladimir Nikitin / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2024

The article is about the analysis of the results of the empirical research in which effect of images on mind’s condition of the recipients is in the focus. All of them are the participants of the prolonged study course of arts-therapeutical and transpersonal methods in the field of adjustment of stress conditions. In the article the indicators of encephalograms, which are fixed in the trans condition, and the content of the projective pictures are considered in respect to idiographiс issue. The interpretation of their meanings makes it possible to speak about integration of consciousness and body. The target of the research is that psychological and physical issues present the holistic field of a person that cannot be limited with the frame of assessment of psycho-somatic characteristics. In conclusion, to define relationship of consciousness to body in a right way is necessary to examine both objective and metaphysical forms of individual’s manifestations.

Socrates at Work: Philosophical Counselling for Leadership Development and Employee Well-Being

Author(s): İhsan Çitli,Ramazan Çarkı / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

In the modern world, the understanding of philosophy as an abstract, speculative and impractical pursuit has led to its dismissal by many people as a useless field of knowledge. However, throughout history, philosophy has consistently addressed fundamental concerns related to human existence and to the world of living. On the other hand, today’s organizations grapple with concerns similar to fundamental philosophical issues. They involve ethical conduct, ethical leadership, and well-being. Thus, philosophizing may pave the way for the solution of problems related to these topics within modern organizations. In this context, philosophical counselling may be a useful perspective that organizations should benefit from. It may be integrated into many management and human resource practices to harness the power of philosophy for dealing with ethical and ontological problems of employees. For this purpose, this study aims to review the literature on philosophical counselling and to explore how leadership development and employee well-being programmes increase the power of philosophical counselling. Based on the review, propositions for integrating philosophical counselling into organizations as an employee assistance service is discussed.

NIGHT, COSMIC AND ANTHROPOMORPHIC ELEMENT IN GRECO-ROMAN AND ROMANIAN MYTHOLOGY

Author(s): Liviu Olteanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 37/2024

Among the most significant cosmic elements, Night brings into its mystical essence a multitude of myths and legends encountered since antiquity. If we refer to Greek mythology, Night is personified by the goddess Nyx, one of the most emblematic deities, also having the greatest cosmic forces in the Universe. It had the power to direct the shadows over the whole world, creating with their help, the Night. Goddess Nyx is presented as an enigmatic captivating entity, guiding the whole world to restful and healing hours. In Roman mythology, Night is associated with Nyx and Nox, respectively. The Roman goddess of night is presented to us as a woman with large black wings, wandering the sky throughout the night. She is the twin sister of the goddess Dia (day), also bearing the name Ceres. In Greco-Roman mythology, the time of night is considered the time when deities meet, a time dedicated to completing tasks. Even in mythological accounts, night is remembered in stories of Eurydice or Orpheus, Selene or Endymion. Romanian mythology brings to the fore a multitude of legends and mythological figures associated with the night. Its occurrence is associated with various mystical events. This connection between night and sacred space is marked by an inexhaustible source of rituals implemented in the consciousness of the person from the rural environment.

Kant a problematický pojem věci o sobě

Author(s): Jiří Chotaš / Language(s): Czech Issue: 66-67/2024

The paper discusses Kant’s distinction between appearances and things in themselves, phenomena and noumena, and the problem of affection. The difference between appearances and things in themselves is understood as a methodological difference between two manners in which an object can be viewed: either as an appearance, or as a thing in itself. The author claims that this double-aspect view is a consequence of Kant’s conception of space and time as a priori forms of sensibility. The difference between phenomena and noumena, on the other hand, cannot be explained only by the double-aspect view; Kant understands it also as an ontological difference between two different kinds of objects. The paper concludes with a discussion of the problem of affection. The author claims that this problem is a pseudo-problem if we understand the difference between appearances and things in themselves as double-aspect view. Kant had maintained only an empirical affection. Passages in which Kant seems to advocate a transcendental affection can be brought in line with Kant’s critical philosophy.

Stvoření a Setkání. Vybrané luriánské motivy v myšlení Emmanuela Lévinase

Author(s): Jakub Luksch / Language(s): Czech Issue: 66-67/2024

The paper presents some common motifs of two thinkers who, despite a historical gap of several hundred years, had common roots in the tradition of Judaism. The notion of the Encounter, as analysed by Emmanuel Levinas, and the cosmogonic process of Creation in Isaac Luria’s system of thought have a common motif in the phenomenon of the socalled “contraction” (Hebrew: tzimtzum). Despite the fact that for the first thinker it is the domain of ethics and for the second the domain of ontology, the act of a certain “self-limitation” or “withdrawal” plays in both cases a foundational role.

Пътеводител във философската грамотност

Author(s): Liliya Sazonova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5/2024

MOVING THE SOUL THROUGH THE BODY IN JAPANESE PILGRIMAGE

Author(s): Mihaela-Lacramioara Ivan / Language(s): English Issue: 38/2024

Research on pilgrimages in Japan is dominated by approaches from fields such as history, geography and sociology, but there are few studies that squarely address the significance of pilgrimages to the West from a religious studies perspective. Furthermore, there is almost no research on pilgrimage texts specific to the Edo period, such as sacred place records. On the other hand, research in Europe and the US has often focused on the religious significance of pilgrimages, and overwhelmingly, Shikoku pilgrimage with a typical circular structure has been taken up in terms of contrast with linear pilgrimages in Christian and other regions. Recent research in the Christian world has tended to clarify the relationship between travel (pilgrimage) and tourism, but the role of the body in the religious and spiritual tradition of pilgrimage has not been sufficiently examined. Furthermore, in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a growing awareness that visits, pilgrimage journeys and tours were by bus, and the number of people making pilgrimages on foot declined rapidly. Pilgrimage journeys are designed to benefit the present world by visiting Kannon Bosatsu (Boddhisattva) enshrined in various places, but they are also intended as a practice to benefit the afterlife, to move the body and to satisfy the mind. In other words, it may have been thought since ancient times that if one embarked on a pilgrimage journey to express daily gratitude, he or she would finally be saved after death. This paper considers how the role of the body has changed since the days of buses and other forms of transport. In doing so, it will be seen that the role of the body still carries sacred objects and plays an important role in reaching Buddhahood.

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE COMPILATION PROCESS OF SAIKOKU SANJŪSANSHO KANNON REIJŌKI AND SAIKOKU JUNREI UTAGENCHŪ – ON TSUJIMOTO MOTOSADA’S SAIKOKU SANJŪSANSHO KANNON REIJŌKI ZUE

Author(s): Mihaela-Lacramioara Ivan / Language(s): English Issue: 38/2024

In the Edo period an extensive road system is created, and thus average people get engaged in walking the paths of Saikoku pilgrimage. While Saikoku pilgrimage becomes widespread within the whole country, it also gets tainted with strong entertainment features. This infiltration into society and people’s lives leads to a great number of pilgrimage texts. Among them, the texts written by Buddhist priests, to serve them when preaching the way in which Kannon’s salvific powers work on people who entrust their faith in the bodhisattva, are of important interest. Especially, a set of pilgrimage texts written by the Jōdo (Pure Land) priest Kōyo Shunō in 1726, Saikoku Sanjūsansho Kannon Reijōki (hereafter cited as Kannon Reijōki) (Record of the Thirty-three Holy Locales of Saikoku), and Saikoku Junrei Utagenchū (the interpretation of goeika, poem-prayers for each of the 33 temples), that take a double layer structure, guide the pilgrim from the surface layer of this worldly benefits into the deep layer of the after world salvation. Kōyo’s texts were targeted at priests who taught the Buddhist law to laymen, but in 1803 Tsujimoto Motosada edits the original work and rearranges it so as to be available for commoners’ level of understanding. Saikoku Sanjūsansho Kannon Reijōki Zue (hereafter cited as Kannon Reijōki Zue) (The Collected Pictorial Guide of the Thirty-Three Kannon Holy Locales of Saikoku) becomes very popular and is republished in 1833 and 1845. In this article, I will focus on the way Tsujimoto rearranged Kōyo’s texts and I will consider the religious nature of Saikoku pilgrimage in the late Edo period.

The Courage to Be and Types of Anxiety in the Theological Metaphysics of Paul Tillich

Author(s): Marius Cucu,Oana Lența / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2024

The metaphysical theology proposed by Paul Tillich offers the perspective of a constant connection between the human existential journey and the problem of Non-Being. Centered on the idea of Being, both metaphysics and theology seem to place the issue of Nothingness, of Emptiness, in the background. In reality, the dialectic between Being and Non-Being constitutes the central dynamic for the entire evolution of existence and, likewise, of human thought. Confrontation with Non-Being becomes one of the most important sources of reflection and fundamental ontic experiences. From Non-Being arises anxiety, manifesting in multiple forms that appear equally devastating to our consciousness. A natural question would be: how did those in the past overcome anxiety, and how can we do so today? Paul Tillich believes we are mistaken. Anxiety cannot truly be overcome; instead, it can and must be assimilated—otherwise, convulsive despair could overwhelm the consciousness.

Descartes’ Order of Discovery and AI

Author(s): Fu-Shoun Mao / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

The Cartesian order of discovery, as a rubric for a system of human understanding, was an early realization of Enlightenment principles in epistemology. It remains influential to this day and can be recognized in the development of AI technologies, most visibly in machine learning and the model of the knowledge-based agent. Descartes’ calcul géométrique, a forerunner to analytic geometry, is foundational to the machine learning algorithms that power autonomous learning agents. And, in a manner after the Cartesian deduction, the knowledge-based agent constructs its worldview from the axioms of its knowledge base via logical and discursive operations. Beyond methodology, the logic of Cartesian order obtains a distinctive ontology, as in the belief in artificial general intelligence. This rationale for AGI veers toward the kind of ontological argument that would be familiar to Descartes, with the human subject replaced by the computer and the supremely perfect being personified in AGI.