DOCSLIB.ORG

On the Relationship of Metaphysics to Transdisciplinarity 79

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
On the Relationship of Metaphysics to Transdisciplinarity 79 Eric L. Weislogel On the Relationship of Metaphysics to Transdisciplinarity 79 On the Relationship of Metaphysics to Transdisciplinarity Eric L. Weislogel, Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, USA, Email: [email protected] doi: 10.22545/2013/00040 his essay shows the parallels between meta- to. For who could possibly be \educated in every physics and transdisciplinarity, both in terms area"? It is no longer possible{if indeed it ever really Tof their aims and methods and in terms of were{to be a Renaissance person, engaged in the their place or role in academic institutions. It widest possible array of scientific, philosophical, and attempts to define metaphysics, addresses criticisms cultural pursuits. In our age of analysis and spe- of metaphysics, and indicates the necessary relation- cialization, one who posed as such could be seen as ship of metaphysics to transdisciplinary endeavors. no more than a dabbler. Perhaps only an Aristotle, who wrote on physics, logic, rhetoric, ethics, zoology, Keywords: metaphysics, philosophy, method, meteorology, poetics, politics, and so on, could make transdisciplinarity, hermeneutics, deconstruction. such a claim, but it seems far too late in the scientific and cultural evolution of humanity for us to expect another Aristotle to arrive on the scene. 1 Introduction But just exactly what did Aristotle mean by this insight that Terrence Irwin translates as being \ed- In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle recognizes that ucated in every area"? Did Aristotle mean by this \each person judges rightly what he knows, and is a that one would need to have developed \expertise" good judge about that; hence the good judge in a in every area, that (in today's terms) one would have given area is the person educated in that area." No to major in every subject, earn PhD's in every field, more succinct statement can be given as the basis in order to be the “unqualifiedly good judge"? And for our traditional disciplinary way of thinking, re- what does that latter phrase really signify? The searching, and educating. This insight is no more word translated by “unqualifiedly” means \as such," than common sense. But Aristotle follows this rea- a good judge as such, without regard to any partic- sonable thought by claiming that \the unqualifiedly ular field or fields of expertise. It would not intend good judge is the person educated in every area,"[1]. one who is qualified (certified) as a competent judge If the requirement for being an “unqualifiedly good in some specific field rather than another, but one judge" is that one be \educated in every area," then who is competent to judge per se. the most reasonable conclusion to be drawn from this is that there are no unqualifiedly good judges. Let me note that if there were no such persons, the If this is so, then disciplinary thinking{its meth- prospects for transdisciplinarity are dim. But could ods and procedures, its practices, authorizations, there be such persons? The key to answering this and certifications–are all we are reasonably entitled question lies in our interpretation of the requirement Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science Vol. 4, pp. 79-93, (December, 2013) ISSN: 1949-0569 online Eric L. Weislogel On the Relationship of Metaphysics to Transdisciplinarity 80 to be \educated in every area." The Greek words do edge. This fragmentation of knowledge not reference \areas" (or fields or disciplines). They leads to the fragmentation of the university, say that one must be educated \about all" The all which has a significant impact on its mis- is not qualified, not referred to as the all insofar as sion to educate the next generation. The it is considered as this rather than that. Is there a fragmented university leads{consciously or way of approaching the all, of grasping the all in this unconsciously{to training students (and unqualified sense, of coming to the all as such? In faculty, too) to compartmentalize their other words, how can we know the all as the whole thinking, their reality, and hence their lives. as such in addition to knowing the parts? Our situation demands we respond to the \transdisciplinary imperative," an approach to research and teaching that would serve 2 What is Transdisciplinarity? to mitigate the consequences of this frag- mentation [3]. Basarab Nicolescu has provided us with a brief and useful history of the application of the term \trans- What I call the \transdisciplinary imperative" disciplinarity," [2]. He traces its earliest appearances stems from our concrete reality, our present situ- in the work of Jean Piaget, Erich Jantsch, and Andr´e ation in which the traditional policing of knowledge Lichnerowicz. In a critical synthesis of their various and education hamstring us in our struggle to solve understanding of transdisciplinarity, Nicolescu sum- pressing real-world problems. We have found that marizes the intent of transdisciplinarity by keeping a generalized fragmentation in ourselves, our com- close to the meanings of the Latin prefix, trans-: munities, our institutional practices, and our world across, between, and beyond. The transdisciplinary at large{a fragmentation resulting in a significant way of understanding rests on the traditional and way from philosophical commitments{is no longer newly developing disciplines or regions of research acceptable, that the gains we have made via our and knowledge generation. It cannot mean simply to analytic prowess have come at a cost of debilitat- overcome or leave behind the power and productivity ing fragmentation that needs to be addressed with of disciplinary practices. Further, transdisciplinarity alternative concepts and practices. Our sense of recognizes the fecund interplay between disciplines, the root of the problems points to the fact that we which often-times leads to the conception and devel- will need \more" than our disciplinary practices and opment of new disciplines with new research projects. the institutions that support them if we are to have But transdisciplinarity envisions more. What is hope for a better future. We must not only continue this \more"? What does \beyond" mean in terms our discipline-based research and not only look for of transdisciplinarity? Before attempting to answer fruitful cross-disciplinary initiatives; we must also this question, let us first note the motive for this look beyond disciplinary ways of encountering and desire for something \more." In an earlier essay, I appropriating reality, which may include moving be- wrote: yond the institutional embodiments of disciplinary practices in order to cope with complex problems. The economic, moral, political, environ- But Nicolescu is right, in distinguishing his views mental, technical, intellectual, scientific, from those of, for instance, Michael Gibbons and and even spiritual challenges we face de- Helga Nowotny, to say that transdisciplinarity and mand approaches that are suitably rich in the \beyond" that it seeks are not solely about solv- resources for tackling them. We need to ing the problems that confront us{as important as learn how to take the full measure of our those efforts are [4]. There is more to the \more" knowledge, to find out what it is we really than that; the transdisciplinary imperative goes be- know, now that we know so many disci- yond that, important as that is. plinarily distinct things. We need to find It is in this that I would like to tie transdisci- a way of recapturing a vision of the \for- plinarity to metaphysics. I will not argue (in this est" and not just the \trees." The negative essay, anyway) that those working in a transdisci- consequences for failing to do so are obvi- plinary mode need be committed to any particular ous. Our disciplinary practices inevitably metaphysical position or system. Rather I want to give rise to the fragmentation of knowl- argue against any attempt to avoid metaphysics or Transdisciplinary Journal of Engineering & Science Vol. 4, pp. 79-93, (December, 2013) ISSN: 1949-0569 online Eric L. Weislogel On the Relationship of Metaphysics to Transdisciplinarity 81 downplay its ultimate importance for getting to the things, the unmoved mover and uncaused causer, etc. more, for getting at the all. In short, I want to tie This book has come down to us through the ages the transdisciplinary imperative to a metaphysical bearing the title, Metaphysics. Aristotle did not, imperative (an imperative to metaphysics). Meta- himself, name this book this way, nor does the book physics pursues the \more" that transdisciplinarity contain the term \metaphysics." Were Aristotle to demands, and it is in this that they are allied. describe what he was doing in that work, he would say that he was pursuing either “first philosophy" or \theology." It was “first” philosophy not in the 3 What is Metaphysics? sense that one needs to know about this particular subject matter prior to exploring, say, physics or What is metaphysics? The answer depends on who biology (i.e., natural philosophy), but only that it is doing the defining. The term metaphysics has had was an exploration of the first things (arch´e) that many meanings over the course of the history of West- were operative whether anyone recognized them or ern philosophy, and any two philosophers can run not. As John Stuart Mill (no metaphysician himself) into all sorts of insoluble problems if they happen would put it much later, to start with two different notions of what meta- physics is. Blackwell's A Companion to Metaphysics, The truths which are ultimately accepted edited by the eminent philosophers Jaegwon Kim as the first principles of a science, are re- and Ernest Sosa, begins its entry on \metaphysics: ally the last results of metaphysical anal- definitions and divisions" (which you'd think would ysis, practised on the elementary notions be pivotal) as follows: \There is no clear and gener- with which the science is conversant; and ally accepted definition of metaphysics, no agreement their relation to the science is not that of on its tasks, scope or divisions" [5].
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Belief in Psyontology Cumstances (Ross & Schroeder, 2014; Schwitzgebel, 2015)
    Philosophers’ volume 20, no. 11 ow are full and partial belief related in psychology’s ontology? Imprint april 2020 H Credence-first philosophers think partial belief is more funda- mental. For example, Lockeans say that to believe P is just to have high credence in P. Whereas categorical-first philosophers make full beliefs fundamental instead. Having credence x in P might just amount to having a categorical belief that P’s probability is x, for example. Work in cognitive psychology supports a different view, however. In humans, beliefs come in both coarse and fine kinds, with neither BELIEF IN more fundamental than the other. Epistemologists who focus on one kind to the exclusion of the other, or who treat one as central and the other as an afterthought, risk toiling at a fiction. This conclusion is necessarily tentative. For one thing, the empir- PSYONTOLOGY ical work is nascent and ongoing, its results subject to revision. But more than that, it’s sometimes unclear what the present results tell us about the ontological and epistemological questions of interest to philosophers. Still, a prima facie case can be made. And making it is an essential step in bringing our best science to bear on what is, at least in part, an empirical question. 1. Background Jonathan Weisberg 1.1 Why Monism? Why think one kind of belief is more fundamental than the other? It’s not just that Anglophone philosophers use ‘belief’ for both kinds, so University of Toronto they must really be the same thing deep down.1 It’s rather what causes us to use ‘belief’ for both attitudes.
    [Show full text]
  • 3. Overview of Core Technical Areas of AI Research Roadmap Research
    A 20-YEAR COMMUNITY ROADMAP FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH IN THE US of actions.22 Future approaches to cybersecurity and defense will benefit from the powerful capabilities provided by AI systems. This report envisions how future AI systems can aid in responses to other types of threats as well, including natural disasters. 3. Overview of Core Technical Areas of AI Research Roadmap As discussed in section 1.2 the CCC, with the support of AAAI, held three community workshops in order to catalyze discussion and generate this research Roadmap. The three workshops were: ◗ Integrated Intelligence ◗ Meaningful Interactions ◗ Self-Aware Learning The research priorities from the three areas are summarized in Figure 3 below and expanded upon in the following three sections of the report. Research Priorities Integrated Intelligence Meaningful Interaction Self-Aware Learning • Science of integrated intelligence • Collaboration • Robust and trustworthy learning • Contextualized AI • Trust and responsibility • Deeper learning for challenging tasks • Open knowledge repositories • Diversity of interaction channels • Integrating symbolic and numeric representations • Understanding human intelligence • Improving online interaction • Learning in integrated AI/robotic systems Figure 3. Research Priorities. 3.1 A Research Roadmap for Integrated Intelligence 3.1.1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW The development of integrated intelligent systems will require major research efforts, which we group into three major areas: 1. Integration: Science of Integrated Intelligence will explore how to create intelligent systems that have much broader capabilities than today’s systems. Approaches include finding small sets of primitives out of which a broad range of capabilities can be constructed (like many of today’s cognitive architectures) and composing independently developed AI capabilities (like 22 ibid 16 many of today’s deployed intelligent systems).
    [Show full text]
  • Naturalistic Cognition: a Research Paradigm for Human-Centered Design
    Published by AU Press, Canada Journal of Research Practice Journal of Research Practice Volume 6, Issue 2, Article M12, 2010 Main Article: Naturalistic Cognition: A Research Paradigm for Human-Centered Design Peter Storkerson Human Factors Program, College of Engineering University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, USA pks@illinois edu Abstract Naturalistic thinking and knowing, the tacit, experiential, and intuitive reasoning of everyday interaction, have long been regarded as inferior to formal reason and labeled primitive, fallible, subjective, superstitious, and in some cases ineffable. But, naturalistic thinking is more rational and definable than it appears. It is also relevant to design. Inquiry into the mechanisms of naturalistic thinking and knowledge can bring its resources into focus and enable designers to create better, human-centered designs for use in real-world settings. This article makes a case for the explicit, formal study of implicit, naturalistic thinking within the fields of design. It develops a framework for defining and studying naturalistic thinking and knowledge, for integrating them into design research and practice, and for developing a more integrated, consistent theory of knowledge in design. It will (a) outline historical definitions of knowledge, attitudes toward formal and naturalistic thinking, and the difficulties presented by the co-presence of formal and naturalistic thinking in design, (b) define and contrast formal and naturalistic thinking as two distinct human cognitive systems, (c) demonstrate the importance of naturalistic cognition in formal thinking and real-world judgment, (d) demonstrate methods for researching naturalistic thinking that can be of use in design, and (e) briefly discuss the impact on design theory of admitting naturalistic thinking as valid, systematic, and knowable.
    [Show full text]
  • A Structurationist View on Knowledge and Strategic Management
    Going Beyond the Resources Given: A Structurationist View on Knowledge and Strategic Management ALBRECHT BECKER STEPHAN DUSCHEK Department of Business Administration Free University, Berlin Garystr. 21 D- 14195 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49 30 838 54069 Fax: +49 30 838 53307 [email protected] ELISABETH BRAUNER Institute for Psychology Humboldt-University in Berlin Oranienburger Str. 18 D-10178 Berlin, Germany Tel.: +49 30 285 165 349 Fax: +49 30 285 165-329 [email protected] Paper prepared for The Third European Conference on Organizational Knowledge, Learning, and Capabilities - OKLC - Athens, Greece April 5-6, 2002 Please do not cite without permission 2 Abstract Current knowledge-based theories explain firms' competitive advantages through the use of dynamic resources. They cannot, however, explicate how knowledge-based resources are created and why they are reproducible and inimitable at the same time. We present a model of resource usage and creation, which is based on structuration theory, phenomenology and the concept of transactive knowledge systems. The recursive process of the simultaneous creation and use of knowledge-based resources is conceptualized as a process of structuration. We argue that the concept of transactive knowledge systems may account for firm-specific usages of unshared expertise as the basis for competitive advantages as well as for the inimitability of resources. 3 1 Introduction Within the resource-based view of the firm it is widely acknowledged that knowledge is the main source of competitive advantages (Conner & Prahalad, 1996; Krogh & Roos, 1996). Correspondingly, the so-called knowledge-based view of the firm is gaining more and more acceptance within the overall framework of resource-based theorizing (cf.
    [Show full text]
  • Qualified Hope
    Qualified hope 2nd Huehls.indb 1 3/10/2009 10:58:49 PM 2nd Huehls.indb 2 3/10/2009 10:58:49 PM Q u a l i f i e d H o p e a postmodern politics of time mitchum huehls The ohio State university press Columbus 2nd Huehls.indb 3 3/10/2009 10:58:49 PM Copyright © 2009 by The Ohio State University. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Huehls, Mitchum, 1976– Qualified hope : a postmodern politics of time / Mitchum Huehls. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8142-0617-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. American literature—20th century—History and criticism. 2. American literature—21st century—History and criticism. 3. Politics and literature—United States—History—20th century. 4. Politics and literature—United States—History—21st century. 5. Time in litera- ture. 6. Time—Political aspects. 7. Postmodernism (Literature)—United States. I. Title. PS228.P6H84 2009 810.9'3581—dc22 2008050627 This book is available in the following editions: Cloth (ISBN 978-0-8142-0617-1) CD-ROM (ISBN 978-0-8142-9184-9) Cover design by Mia Risberg Text design by Jennifer Shoffey Forsythe Type set in Adobe Minion Pro Printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48–1992. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2nd Huehls.indb 4 3/10/2009 10:58:49 PM for marissa 2nd Huehls.indb 5 3/10/2009 10:58:49 PM 2nd Huehls.indb 6 3/10/2009 10:58:49 PM C o n T e n ts acknowledgments
    [Show full text]
  • Epistemology.Pdf
    Epistemology An overview Contents 1 Main article 1 1.1 Epistemology ............................................. 1 1.1.1 Background and meaning ................................... 1 1.1.2 Knowledge .......................................... 1 1.1.3 Acquiring knowledge ..................................... 5 1.1.4 Skepticism .......................................... 7 1.1.5 See also ............................................ 7 1.1.6 References .......................................... 8 1.1.7 Works cited .......................................... 9 1.1.8 External links ......................................... 10 2 Knowledge 11 2.1 Knowledge ............................................... 11 2.1.1 Theories of knowledge .................................... 11 2.1.2 Communicating knowledge ................................. 12 2.1.3 Situated knowledge ...................................... 13 2.1.4 Partial knowledge ...................................... 13 2.1.5 Scientific knowledge ..................................... 13 2.1.6 Religious meaning of knowledge ............................... 14 2.1.7 See also ............................................ 15 2.1.8 References .......................................... 15 2.1.9 External links ......................................... 16 2.2 Belief ................................................. 16 2.2.1 Knowledge and epistemology ................................. 17 2.2.2 As a psychological phenomenon ............................... 17 2.2.3 Epistemological belief compared to religious belief
    [Show full text]
  • Metaknowledge Management in Inquiring Organizations: Towards a Knowledge Ecology Alice Kienholz, Ph.D
    Association for Information Systems AIS Electronic Library (AISeL) Americas Conference on Information Systems AMCIS 2000 Proceedings (AMCIS) 2000 Metaknowledge Management in Inquiring Organizations: Towards a Knowledge Ecology Alice Kienholz, Ph.D. Alice Kienholz Associates, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2000 Recommended Citation Kienholz, Ph.D., Alice, "Metaknowledge Management in Inquiring Organizations: Towards a Knowledge Ecology" (2000). AMCIS 2000 Proceedings. 312. http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2000/312 This material is brought to you by the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been accepted for inclusion in AMCIS 2000 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contact [email protected]. Metaknowledge Management in Inquiring Organizations: Towards a Knowledge Ecology Alice Kienholz, Ph.D., Alice Kienholz Associates, [email protected] Abstract those various approaches to a situation, in the most appropriate way, that is important. This is metaknowledge Metaknowledge management is the judicious or management. strategic management or leveraging of the different ways in which we come “to know,” based on Churchman’s Inquiring Organizations (1971) classic work, “The Design of Inquiring Systems” so that we respond to situations in the most appropriate Building on Churchman’s insights, Courtney, way. It differs from knowledge management in that it is Croasdell and Paradice (1998) have recast Churchman’s concerned more with how we know what we know than (1971) models of inquiring systems in the language of a with what we know per se (information and knowledge). learning organization, to form the basis for effective By helping individuals and organizations to understand learning organizations which they refer to as inquiring and be aware of their preferred ways of thinking and organizations.
    [Show full text]
  • Domain Metatheories: Enabling User-Centric Planning
    Domain Metatheories: Enabling User-Centric Planning Karen L. Myers Artificial Intelligence Center SRI International 333 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025 [email protected] Abstract planning knowledge base could completely capture the sub- tleties of a particular domain, users often want to participate Substantial improvements must be made in the usabil- in the plan development process to some extent, in order to ity of AI planning technology in order for it to achieve ensure that they understand both the structure of a plan and widespread adoption. In particular, approaches are re- quired that better serve the needs of users, who gen- the process by which planning decisions were made. erally want to play a central role in the plan develop- For these reasons, the future of automated planning lies in ment process. This user-centric perspective introduces the development of user-centric planning tools that can as- new requirements for the design of planning systems. sist human decision-makers rather than replace them. These In this paper, we argue that increased usability requires tools should enable a user to understand the complexity of a new representational layer that captures metatheo- the underlying problem, as well as providing guidance in retic properties of the planning application. A domain the determination of a solution that is well-suited to their metatheory would provide an abstracted characteriza- specific needs. tion of the planning domain that highlights key seman- tic differences among planning elements. This paper The main thesis of this paper is that effective interaction presents a candidate model for a domain metatheory, between users and planning technology requires an augmen- as well as an instantiation of that model for a simple tation of standard planning models to include an explicit travel domain.
    [Show full text]
  • Hegel's Philosophy of Science in Light of the Question of Naturalism
    Metascience as Self-Knowledge: Hegel’s Philosophy of Science in Light of the Question of Naturalism von der Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften und Philosophie der Universität Leipzig genehmigte D I S S E R T A T I O N zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor der Philosophie Dr. phil. vorgelegt von M.A. Roi Bar geboren am 28.05.1978 in Aschkelon, Israel Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Neuser Tag der Verleihung: 21.07.2017 Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 7 1. IS THERE A PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE IN HEGEL’S ‘SYSTEM’? .............. 18 1.1 The formal hermeneutical problem ......................................................................... 19 1.1.1 The absence of an explicit ‘philosophy of science’ .......................................... 19 1.1.2 Two meanings of philosophy of science ........................................................... 21 1.2 The conceptual-historical problem .......................................................................... 26 1.2.1 The pseudoproblem of anachronism ................................................................. 26 1.2.2 The anti-Hegelian philosophy of science .......................................................... 29 1.3 The concrete research problem ..............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Hierarchical Representation of Legal Knowledge with Metaprogramming in Logic
    J. LOGIC PROGRAMMING 1994:18:55-80 5.5 HIERARCHICAL REPRESENTATION OF LEGAL KNOWLEDGE WITH METAPROGRAMMING IN LOGIC JONAS BARKLUND AND ANDREAS HAMFELT D We present an application of metaprogramming in logic that, unlike most metaprogramming applications, is not primarily concerned with controlling the execution of logic programs. Metalevel computation is used to define theories from schemata that were either given explicitly or obtained by abstraction from other theories. Our main application is a representation of legal knowledge in a metalogic programming language. We argue that legal knowledge is multilayered and therefore a single level representation language lacks the needed expressiveness. We show that legal rules can be partitioned into primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and higher level rules. Our classification enables us to define a multilevel model of legal knowledge and a one-to-one correspondence with levels of metaprogram- ming in logic. We show that this framework has a potential for capturing important legal interpretation principles such as analogia legis, lex specialis Zegigeneruli derogut, etc. We have a running example from commercial law that utilizes rules up to the tertiary level, emphasizing unulogiu legis. The example is expressed in a multilevel metalogic programming language that provides a naming convention and employs reflection between levels. a 1. INTRODUCTION Metalogic programming provides an expressive power that facilitates an intelligible representation of complex knowledge. We exploit a framework based on that proposed by Bowen and Kowalski [4, 291 for representing multilayered legal knowledge and, in particular, show how the reflection principles naturally mirror Address correspondence IO Jonas Barklund and Andreas Hamfelt, Computing Science Department, Uppsala University, Box 311, S-751 05 Uppsala, Sweden.
    [Show full text]
  • Metatheory and Reflection in Theorem Proving: a Survey and Critique
    Metatheory and Reflection in Theorem Proving: A Survey and Critique John Harrison University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory New Museums Site Pembroke Street Cambridge CB2 3QG England [email protected] 15th February 1995 Abstract One way to ensure correctness of the inference performed by computer theorem provers is to force all proofs to be done step by step in a simple, more or less traditional, deductive system. Using techniques pioneered in Edinburgh LCF, this can be made palatable. However, some believe such an approach will never be efficient enough for large, complex proofs. One alternative, commonly called reflection, is to analyze proofs using a second layer of logic, a metalogic, and so justify abbreviating or simplifying proofs, making the kinds of shortcuts humans often do or appealing to specialized decision algorithms. In this paper we contrast the fully-expansive LCF approach with the use of reflection. We put forward arguments to suggest that the inadequacy of the LCF approach has not been adequately demonstrated, and neither has the practical utility of reflection (notwithstanding its undoubted intellectual interest). The LCF system with which we are most concerned is the HOL proof assistant. The plan of the paper is as follows. We examine ways of providing user ex- tensibility for theorem provers, which naturally places the LCF and reflective approaches in opposition. A detailed introduction to LCF is provided, em- phasizing ways in which it can be made efficient. Next, we present a short in- troduction to metatheory and its usefulness, and, starting from G¨odel'sproofs and Feferman's transfinite progressions of theories, look at logical ‘reflection principles'.
    [Show full text]
  • APA Newsletters NEWSLETTER on PHILOSOPHY and COMPUTERS
    APA Newsletters NEWSLETTER ON PHILOSOPHY AND COMPUTERS Volume 07, Number 1 Fall 2007 FROM THE EDITOR, PETER BOLTUC FROM THE OUTGOING CHAIR, MARVIN CROY FROM THE INCOMING CHAIR, MICHAEL BYRON ARTICLES LUCIANO FLORIDI “Understanding Information Ethics” RICCARDO MANZOTTI “Towards Artificial Consciousness” COMMENTARIES ON HARMAN YUJIN NAGASAWA “Formulating the Explanatory Gap” MARION LEDWIG “To Understand the Understanding—das Verstehen zu Verstehen: A Discussion of Harman’s ‘Explaining an Explanatory Gap’” DISCUSSION PAPERS GAETANO A. LANZARONE “Computing and Philosophy: In Search for a New Agenda” BERTIL ROLF “Testing Tools of Reasoning: Mechanisms and Procedures” © 2007 by The American Philosophical Association BOOK REVIEW Amy White: Virtually Obscene: The Case for an Uncensored Internet REVIEWED BY MELISSA WINKEL AMY WHITE “Reponse to Melissa Winkel” NOTES CAMERON BUCKNER, MATHIAS NIEPERT, AND COLIN ALLEN “InPhO: The Indiana Philosophy Ontology” GEOFFREY KLEMPNER “The Pathways School of Philosophy” MATT BUTCHER “NA-CAP@Loyola 2007” APA NEWSLETTER ON Philosophy and Computers Piotr Bołtuć, Editor Fall 2007 Volume 07, Number 1 Manzotti’s paper also serves as an excellent link to the second FROM THE EDITOR part of the Newsletter. The next two papers comment on the keynote article from the last issue of this Newsletter, Gilbert Harman’s “Explaining an Explanatory Gap.” In his contribution, Yujin Nagasawa Piotr Bołtuć presents a critical analysis of the way Harman formulates the University of Illinois–Springfield explanatory gap. He refers to Nagel’s what it is like to be a bat example to show that the explanatory gap may emerge from The previous issue of this Newsletter, the first one I edited, one of two reasons: either we have to be bat-type creatures to was devoted to making conspicuous the fact that philosophy know what it is like to have sonar, or objective characteristics and computers is no longer a new, controversial, or unproven of a bat do not tell us what it is like to have sonar.
    [Show full text]