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For centuries, the problem regarding the origin of human morality and human values was considered to be a field reserved for philosophy, anthropology, religion and the other humanities. Three or four decades ago, neuroscience made certain discoveries that challenge normative moral theories. This article aims to present some of the best known examples of research indicating the empirical origin of morality and human values. I propose the idea that the basis of human morality and values can be traced successfully to their neurobiological origins. The evolution of morality and human values has a long history, and their nature is not easy to explain.They originated as primary emotions and developed into higher brain functions, ultimately resulting in our capacity for moral abstractions. The nature of morality and human values can be successfully investigated in the perspective of neuroscience without postulating a new normative ethics or relying on extreme reductionism.
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The leading idea in this essay concerns knowledge-seeking through questioning. Asking a question and receiving an answer (an interrogative move) is radically different from a logical deduction (a logical inference move). However, from a strategic viewpoint, the two steps are parallel, in the sense that the principles guiding the choice of the best questions to ask are analogous with the strategic principles guiding the choice of the best logical inferences that can be drawn from given premises. Another main insight that the interrogative approach yields is the possibility of a rational, and even logical, theory of discovery. In that case, the problem of justification becomes redundant; nevertheless, we can develop an interesting and rich theory of discovery, of which the centerpiece is the problem of optimal question selection.
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The present papers attempts to summarize Jaakko Hintikka's contributions to the development of logic, semantics and philosophy of mathematics.
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The article offers an overview of the 15th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, held on 3-8 August 2015 in Helsinki. It includes a brief outline of the history of these congresses, with special attention to its trends of development and comparisons between the last five of them. These trends are indicative of the changes taking place in the development of philosophy of science over the last 16 years. A special focus is put on the main topics of the congresses as well as on some of the most significant presentations. Finally, the paper provides information about the Bulgarian participation in the latest congress, which reveals a significant increase compared with the previous ones, which inspires hope that the ascending development of philosophy of science in Bulgaria will continue and its presence at international forums will become increasingly visible.
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This paper aims to argue the idea that, by analyzing the relationship between thought and language, Aristotle decisively contributed to the foundation of the philosophy of language. Researching language in its relations with thinking and existence, the Stagirite demonstrated that the language is not just a communication tool, but a method of knowledge or of “deciphering” the world. The word reflects the reality thought and, in this situation, is not a slave of ideas or concepts. On the contrary, it even represents a decisive factor in their elaboration. Despite its authority, Aristotelian thinking about language, along with the whole tradition that it generated, met with a strong critical reaction among contemporary philosophers, especially among those of the analytic school. My conclusion is that even if some Aristotelian theses about language are criticized by modern thinkers, this falls under the normal evolution of science. It seems excessive to hold Aristotle responsible for not providing solutions to contemporary problems. As for the rest, the Stagirite continues to be present among us and teach us extremely difficult and enlightening lessons.
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This note describes Saunders Mac Lane as a philosopher, and indeed as a paragon naturalist philosopher. He approaches philosophy as a mathematician. But, more than that, he learned philosophy from David Hilbert’s lectures on it, and by discussing it with Hermann Weyl, as much as he did by studying it with the mathematically informed Göttingen Philosophy professor Moritz Geiger.
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In the paper we discuss the problem of limitations of freedom in mathematics and search for criteria which would differentiate the new concepts stemming from the historical ones from the new concepts that have opened unexpected ways of thinking and reasoning.We also investigate the emergence of category theory (CT) and its origins. In particular we explore the origins of the term functor and present the strong evidence that Eilenberg and Carnap could have learned the term from Kotarbiński and Tarski.
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Structuralism has recently moved center stage in philosophy of mathematics. One of the issues discussed is the underlying logic of mathematical structuralism. In this paper, I want to look at the dual question, namely the underlying structures of logic. Indeed, from a mathematical structuralist standpoint, it makes perfect sense to try to identify the abstract structures underlying logic. We claim that one answer to this question is provided by categorical logic. In fact, we claim that the latter can be seen—and probably should be seen—as being a structuralist approach to logic and it is from this angle that categorical logic is best understood.
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Starting from logical structures of classical and quantum mechanics we reconstruct the logic of so-called no-signaling theories, where the correlations among subsystems of a composite system are restricted only by a simplest form of causality forbidding an instantaneous communication. Although such theories are, as it seems, irrelevant for the description of physical reality, they are helpful in understanding the relevance of quantum mechanics. The logical structure of each theory has an epistemological flavor, as it is based on analysis of possible results of experiments. In this note we emphasize that not only logical structures of classical, quantum and no-signaling theory may be treated on the same ground but it is also possible to give to all of them a common ontological basis by constructing a “phase space” in all cases. In non-classical cases the phase space is not a set, as in classical theory, but a more general object obtained by means of category theory, but conceptually it plays the same role as the phase space in classical physics.
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Quantum geometry on a discrete set means a directed graph with a weight associated to each arrow defining the quantum metric. However, these ‘lattice spacing’ weights do not have to be independent of the direction of the arrow. We use this greater freedom to give a quantum geometric interpretation of discrete Markov processes with transition probabilities as arrow weights, namely taking the diffusion form ∂+f = (−Δθ + q − p)f for the graph Laplacian Δθ, potential functions q, p built from the probabilities, and finite difference ∂+ in the time direction. Motivated by this new point of view, we introduce a ‘discrete Schrödinger process’ as ∂+ψ = ı(−Δ + V )ψ for the Laplacian associated to a bimodule connection such that the discrete evolution is unitary. We solve this explicitly for the 2-state graph, finding a 1-parameter family of such connections and an induced ‘generalised Markov process’ for f = |ψ|2 in which there is an additional source current built from ψ. We also mention our recent work on the quantum geometry of logic in ‘digital’ form over the field F2 = {0, 1}, including de Morgan duality and its possible generalisations.
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This is an overview article that contains the discussion of the connection between information and physics at the elementary level. We present a derivation of Lindauer’s bound for heat emission during irreversible logical operation. In this computation the Szilard’s version of Maxwell’s demon paradox is used as a model to design thermodynamic implementation of a single bit of computer memory. Lindauer’s principle also motivates the discussion on the practical and emergent nature of the information. Apart from physics, the principle has implications in philosophy.
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The interaction between syntax (formal language) and its semantics (meanings of language) is one which has been well studied in categorical logic. The results of this particular study are employed to understand how the brain is able to create meanings. To emphasize the toy character of the proposed model, we prefer to speak of the homunculus brain rather than the brain per se. The homunculus brain consists of neurons, each of which is modeled by a category, and axons between neurons, which are modeled by functors between the corresponding neuron-categories. Each neuron (category) has its own program enabling its working, i.e. a theory of this neuron. In analogy to what is known from categorical logic, we postulate the existence of a pair of adjoint functors, called Lang and Syn, from a category, now called BRAIN, of categories, to a category, now called MIND, of theories. Our homunculus is a kind of “mathematical robot”, the neuronal architecture of which is not important. Its only aim is to provide us with the opportunity to study how such a simple brain-like structure could “create meanings” and perform abstraction operations out of its purely syntactic program. The pair of adjoint functors Lang and Syn model the mutual dependencies between the syntactical structure of a given theory of MIND and the internal logic of its semantics given by a category of BRAIN. In this way, a formal language (syntax) and its meanings (semantics) are interwoven with each other in a manner corresponding to the adjointness of the functors Lang and Syn. Higher cognitive functions of abstraction and realization of concepts are also modelled by a corresponding pair of adjoint functors. The categories BRAIN and MIND interact with each other with their entire structures and, at the same time, these very structures are shaped by this interaction.
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“Is logic a physical variable?” This thought-provoking question was put forward by Michael Heller during the public lecture “Category Theory and Mathematical Structures of the Universe” delivered on 30th March 2017 at the National Quantum Information Center in Sopot. It touches upon the intimate relationship between the foundations of physics, mathematics and philosophy. To address this question one needs a conceptual framework, which is on the one hand rigorous and, on the other hand capacious enough to grasp the diversity of modern theoretical physics. Category theory is here a natural choice. It is not only an independent, well-developed and very advanced mathematical theory, but also a holistic, process-oriented way of thinking.
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The paper answers in a systematic way the question of the existence and specificity of the concepts of philosophy in the culture of thought of the Eastern Roman Empire. It discusses the ambiguity of the term, the faces of theoretical philosophy, the competencies of philosophy, the philosophical-theological discourse, the relationship between philosophy and wisdom, as well as the definitions of philosophy.
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The present text outlines one possible interpretation of the Augustinian concepts of freedom and free will. What at first glance seems paradoxically incompatible within Augustine’s position, could be viewed as a result of his attempt to bring into line in the most consistent way the teachings of Scripture, especially of the New Testament, with the inherited powerful substantial-naturalist philosophical tradition of the Ancient thought. It is this specific hybridity of Augustine’s context that allows him to create a solid bridge between the classical Platonic-Aristotelian onto-realist philosophy of man and the Late Medieval philosophy of man as an ens morale.
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The goal of this paper is primarily to pinpoint some substantial analytical and conceptual difficulties with the account of knowledge how proposed by (Stanley & Williamson, Knowing How, 2001) [henceforth S&W] and (Stanley, Knowing (How), 2011), (Stanley, Know How, 2011) based on (Groenendijk & Stokhof, 1984) [henceforth G&S] semantic analysis of embedded questions. In light of such difficulties, (1) we propose supplementing their account with an integrated approach of knowledge how, and suggest adding a mereological layer to the semantic framework of embedded questions (2) we argue that the characteristics of what we call ‘hybrid ways’ and ‘hybrid knowledge’ strongly indicate reopening the issue of the proper account of questions towards the complementary relevant account of interrogation in communicative interactions, and the role of the context (in)forming knowledge-how. As a methodological principle, we remain neutral on the intellectualist vs anti-intellectualist debate. We also remain silent on the nature and explanation of the modes of presentations or ways of thinking that should be developed in order to adequately account for hybrid ways and hybrid knowledge.
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The language of history, more than any other systematic approach to knowledge, is subject to diverse, often contradictory interpretations. Lacking a rigorous scientific conceptual apparatus, it operates within the rather loose and changeable, albeit imaginative and often beautiful, conceptual pool of everyday speech. Although most historians are quite aware of this problem, hardly one in a hundred risks spoiling a nicely outlined presentation with a pedantic introduction on definitions. Taking the risk, I should like to begin with a definition of the key notion I use throughout this analysis answering the question: What is a myth? [...]
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This paper investigates the involvement of the flesh in the contemplation of depictive images. Against the apparent disincarnation of the gaze in front of such images, we argue that the phenomenalisation of the depicted world implies not only the empirical body but that diving into an image awakens a bodily dimension proper to phantasy. Our point of departure is the contrast between the functioning of the body in the experience of the objective world and its role in the constitution of the place of the image in the empirical space. The image opens up on a different space, a space of unreality in the space of reality that modifies the way I inhabit my body. In a second step, we show, in a Husserlian context, that the spatialising function of my body is maintained – to some extent – even in the world of the image. This matter of fact calls for the thematisation of kinestheses in phantasy. In the third part, we show that kinestheses related to the contemplative gaze, besides being related to possible positions, also have a tempo and a rhythm that reveal a dimension of kinestheses that transcends the apparent cleavage between the real and the imaginary.
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