Ways of Knowing: Realism, Non‐
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The Coherence of Stoic Ontology
The Coherence of Stoic Ontology by Vanessa de Harven A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Prof. Dorothea Frede, Co-chair Prof. Klaus Corcilius, Co-chair Prof. A.A. Long Spring 2012 Abstract The Coherence of Stoic Ontology by Vanessa de Harven Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy University of California, Berkeley Professors Dorothea Frede and Klaus Corcilius, Co-chairs Any thoroughgoing physicalist is challenged to give an account of immaterial entities such as thoughts and mathematical objects. The Stoics, who eagerly affirmed that only bodies exist, crafted an elegant solution to this challenge: not everything that is Something (ti) exists. Rather, some things have a derivative mode of reality they call subsistence: these entities are non-existent in that they are not themselves solid bodies, but they are nonetheless Something physical because they depend on bodies for their subsistence. My dissertation uncovers the unifying principles of Stoic subsistence, and shows how they can account for thoughts and other immaterial entities without running afoul of their physicalist commitments. While all commentators agree that the Stoics posited Something as the highest category of being, they have failed to find a coherent physicalist account of Stoic ontology. For instance, (1) a canonical set of incorporeals (time, place, void, and what is sayable (lekton)) is well attested, but there is little agreement as to what these entities have in common as incorporeals, which makes the category look like an ad hoc collection of left-over entities. -
Librarianship and the Philosophy of Information
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln July 2005 Librarianship and the Philosophy of Information Ken R. Herold Hamilton College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Herold, Ken R., "Librarianship and the Philosophy of Information" (2005). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 27. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/27 Library Philosophy and Practice Vol. 3, No. 2 (Spring 2001) (www.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/lppv3n2.htm) ISSN 1522-0222 Librarianship and the Philosophy of Information Ken R. Herold Systems Manager Burke Library Hamilton College Clinton, NY 13323 “My purpose is to tell of bodies which have been transformed into shapes of a different kind.” Ovid, Metamorphoses Part I. Library Philosophy Provocation Information seems to be ubiquitous, diaphanous, a-categorical, discrete, a- dimensional, and knowing. · Ubiquitous. Information is ever-present and pervasive in our technology and beyond in our thinking about the world, appearing to be a generic ‘thing’ arising from all of our contacts with each other and our environment, whether thought of in terms of communication or cognition. For librarians information is a universal concept, at its greatest extent total in content and comprehensive in scope, even though we may not agree that all information is library information. · Diaphanous. Due to its virtuality, the manner in which information has the capacity to make an effect, information is freedom. In many aspects it exhibits a transparent quality, a window-like clarity as between source and patron in an ideal interface or a perfect exchange without bias. -
A Humean Analysis of Scientific Realism 1
Published in Ensaios sobre Hume, Lívia Guimarães (org.), Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Segrac Editora, 2005b. Pp. 89-108. ____________________________________________________________________ A Humean analysis of scientific realism 1 SILVIO SENO CHIBENI Departamento de Filosofia, IFCH Universidade Estadual de Campinas Caixa Postal 6110 – 13083050, Campinas, SP, Brazil web-site: www.unicamp.br/~chibeni – e-mail: [email protected] Abstract: In their criticism of scientific realism, contemporary philosophers of science often assume that this position is incompatible with empiricism, the epistemological thesis according to which all factual knowledge is grounded on experience. Little attention is paid, however, to the roots of empiricism in modern philosophy. The present article aims to contribute to filling this gap, by examining the implications of Hume’s version of empiricism to the issue of scientific realism. It is shown, first, how scientific realism is negatively affected by Hume’s theories of ideas and causality. Secondly, the prospects of overcoming these difficulties by appealing to the method of hypotheses are examined, first through a survey of Hume’s own stand concerning hypotheses, and then by direct philosophical analysis. 1. Introduction In contemporary philosophy of science, scientific realism is commonly thought of as being challenged either by “constructivism” or by “empiricism” (see e.g. Boyd 1984). However, the use of the word ‘empiricism’ in this context is somewhat misleading. The term has originally been coined to designate an epistemological thesis concerning the problem of the sources of knowledge, paradigmatically defended by philosophers such as Locke and Hume. In this 1 Parts of this work were first presented in a conference given in the 3rd Encontro de Filosofia Analítica, held in Florianópolis, Brazil, in October 1997. -
Quantum Logical Causality, Category Theory, and the Metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead
Quantum Logical Causality, Category Theory, and the Metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead Connecting Zafiris’ Category Theoretic Models of Quantum Spacetime and the Logical-Causal Formalism of Quantum Relational Realism Workshop Venue: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Chair for Philosophy (building RAC) Raemistrasse 36, 8001 Zurich Switzerland January 29 – 30, 2010 I. Aims and Motivation Recent work in the natural sciences—most notably in the areas of theoretical physics and evolutionary biology—has demonstrated that the lines separating philosophy and science have all but vanished with respect to current explorations of ‘fundamental’ questions (e.g., string theory, multiverse cosmologies, complexity-emergence theories, the nature of mind, etc.). The centuries-old breakdown of ‘natural philosophy’ into the divorced partners ‘philosophy’ and ‘science,’ therefore, must be rigorously re- examined. To that end, much of today’s most groundbreaking scholarship in the natural sciences has begun to include explicit appeals to interdisciplinary collaboration among the fields of applied natural sciences, mathematics and philosophy. This workshop will be dedicated to the question of how a philosophical-metaphysical theory can be fruitfully applied to basic conceptualizations in the natural sciences. More narrowly, we will explore the process oriented metaphysical scheme developed by philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) and Michael Epperson’s application of this scheme to recent work in quantum mechanics, and the relation of these to Elias Zafiris’s category theoretic model of quantum event structures. Our aim is to give participants from various fields of expertise (see list below) the opportunity to exchange their specialized knowledge in the context of a collaborative exploration of the fundamental questions raised by recent scholarship in physics and mathematics. -
Philosophy 125 — Day 9: Overview Nominalism XVII: Metalinguistic
Branden Fitelson Philosophy 125 Lecture 1 Branden Fitelson Philosophy 125 Lecture 2 ' $ ' Philosophy 125 — Day 9: Overview $ Nominalism XVII: Metalinguistic Nominalism 2 • Administrative Stuff • Metalinguistic nominalists think that realists and austere nominalists make the same kind of mistake: thinking that there must be some non-lingusitic entities – Guest Lecture Thursday: Ed Zalta on Abstract Objects to which terms like “courage” (in, e.g., “Courage is a virtue”) refer. ∗ Introducing Ed — via iChatAV – First Paper Topics and S.Q.s announced last week (see website) • For realists, these entities are universals, for austere nominalists, the entities are concrete particulars (e.g., courageous persons). The metalingustic – Lectures should be up to date (sometimes I fiddle before lecture) nominalist thinks both the realist and the austere nominalist are incorrect. • Agenda: Nominalism • Carnap sketches how a systematic and precise metalinguistic nominalistic – Metalingusitc Nominalism theory might be worked out. Carnap proposes (roughly) that claims like ∗ Carnap’s Naive Proposal “Courage is a virtue” get unpacked as claims about predicates in languages: ∗ Sellars’ Refinement ∗ Residual Problems “Courage is a virtue” 7→ “ ‘Courageous’ is a virtue predicate”. “Trangularity is a shape” 7→ “ ‘Triangular’ is a shape predicate”. – Trope Theory ∗ The best of both worlds? • Problems: (1) Linguistic types vs linguistic tokens (trading new universals for ∗ Plus set theory? old ones?), (2) Language relativity (abs. claims don’t seem language relative). & Nominalism (Cont’d) 09/23%/03 & Nominalism (Cont’d) 09/23/03 % Y¿yellow[0pt]c Branden Fitelson Philosophy 125 Lecture 3 Branden Fitelson Philosophy 125 Lecture 4 ' Nominalism XIX: Metalinguistic Nominalism 4 $' Nominalism XX: Metalinguistic Nominalism 5 $ • Sellars addresses this first problem (for nominalism) of linguistic types/tokens • To address problem (2), Sellars introduces what he calls dot-quotation. -
The Problem of Universals in Contemporary Philosophy∗ Scuola Normale Superiore [Pisa - July 5, 2010]
93 Reportage 7 novembre 2010 International conference on Ontology The problem of universals in contemporary philosophy∗ Scuola Normale Superiore [Pisa - July 5, 2010] Gianmarco Brunialti Masera Overview The three-day conference opened in the afternoon of July, 5 and, after taking a quick look at the programme and the names of the important thinkers standing out on it, one could have expected to find a crowded audience room. Actually that was not quite the case. What I could afford to follow and am going to write about here is only the first day of the conference. The debate started right on time, after a short introduction given by Gabriele Galluzzo, both organizer of the conference and member of the scientific board. I would ac- tually like to underline the word debate: each speech (about 40 minutes) was immediately followed by a short discussion of the issues introduced by the proponent. Unfortunately, de- spite of the accurate and punctual speeches, the little time dedicated to each is what most penalized the conference, in my opinion: this inevitably obliged both the speakers and the audience to be plunged in medias res, without standing too much on ceremonies. I take this to be ‘penalizing’, considering the debate on universals is a very wide one and composed by an incredibly great number of positions which can sometimes start from oppo- site sides and some other times depart at some specific middle point of one single theory of properties and relations. Moreover, most (if not all) of them entail a certain number of other metaphysical themes from which the specific problematics of universals cannot be cut off. -
Contextualizing Systems Biology Presuppositions and Implications of a New Approach in Biology Contextualizing Systems Biology
Martin Döring Imme Petersen Anne Brüninghaus Regine Kollek Contextualizing Systems Biology Presuppositions and Implications of a New Approach in Biology Contextualizing Systems Biology Martin Döring • Imme Petersen Anne Brüninghaus • Regine Kollek Contextualizing Systems Biology Presuppositions and Implications of a New Approach in Biology Martin Döring Imme Petersen University of Hamburg University of Hamburg Hamburg , Germany Hamburg , Germany Anne Brüninghaus Regine Kollek University of Hamburg University of Hamburg Hamburg , Germany Hamburg , Germany ISBN 978-3-319-17105-0 ISBN 978-3-319-17106-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-17106-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015944085 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. -
Getting Realistic About Nominalism
Getting Realistic about Nominalism Mark F. Sharlow URL: http://www.eskimo.com/~msharlow ABSTRACT In this paper I examine critically the relationship between the realist and nominalist views of abstract objects. I begin by pointing out some differences between the usage of existential statements in metaphysics and the usage of such statements in disciplines outside of philosophy. Then I propose an account of existence that captures the characteristic intuitions underlying the latter kind of usage. This account implies that abstract object existence claims are not as ontologically extravagant as they seem, and that such claims are immune to certain standard nominalistic criticisms. Copyright © 2003 Mark F. Sharlow. Updated 2009. 1 I. What Do People Really Mean by "Exist"? There appears to be a marked difference between the way in which philosophers use the word "exist" and the way in which many other people use that word. This difference often shows itself when beginners in philosophy encounter philosophical positions that deny the existence of seemingly familiar things. Take, for example, nominalism — a view according to which multiply exemplifiable entities, such as properties and relations, really do not exist. (This definition may not do justice to all versions of nominalism, but it is close enough for our present purpose.) A strict nominalist has to deny, for example, that there are such things as colors. He can admit that there are colored objects; he even can admit that we usefully speak as though there were colors. But he must deny that there actually are colors, conceived of as multiply exemplifiable entities. A newcomer to philosophy might hear about the nominalist view of colors, and say in amazement, "How can anyone claim that there are no such things as colors? Look around the room — there they are!" To lessen this incredulity, a nominalist might explain that he is not denying that we experience a colorful world, or that we can usefully talk as if there are colors. -
Contemporary Issues Concerning Scientific Realism
The Future of the Scientific Realism Debate: Contemporary Issues Concerning Scientific Realism Author(s): Curtis Forbes Source: Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science, Vol. 9, No. 1 (2018) 1-11. Published by: The University of Toronto DOI: 10.4245/sponge.v9i1. EDITORIALOFFICES Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Room 316 Victoria College, 91 Charles Street West Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1K7 [email protected] Published online at jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/SpontaneousGenerations ISSN 1913 0465 Founded in 2006, Spontaneous Generations is an online academic journal published by graduate students at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto. There is no subscription or membership fee. Spontaneous Generations provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. The Future of the Scientific Realism Debate: Contemporary Issues Concerning Scientific Realism Curtis Forbes* I. Introduction “Philosophy,” Plato’s Socrates said, “begins in wonder” (Theaetetus, 155d). Two and a half millennia later, Alfred North Whitehead saw fit to add: “And, at the end, when philosophical thought has done its best, the wonder remains” (1938, 168). Nevertheless, we tend to no longer wonder about many questions that would have stumped (if not vexed) the ancients: “Why does water expand when it freezes?” “How can one substance change into another?” “What allows the sun to continue to shine so brightly, day after day, while all other sources of light and warmth exhaust their fuel sources at a rate in proportion to their brilliance?” Whitehead’s addendum to Plato was not wrong, however, in the sense that we derive our answers to such questions from the theories, models, and methods of modern science, not the systems, speculations, and arguments of modern philosophy. -
What Is Philosophy.Pdf
I N T R O D U C T I O N What Is Philosophy? CHAPTER 1 The Task of Philosophy CHAPTER OBJECTIVES Reflection—thinking things over—. [is] the beginning of philosophy.1 In this chapter we will address the following questions: N What Does “Philosophy” Mean? N Why Do We Need Philosophy? N What Are the Traditional Branches of Philosophy? N Is There a Basic Method of Philo- sophical Thinking? N How May Philosophy Be Used? N Is Philosophy of Education Useful? N What Is Happening in Philosophy Today? The Meanings Each of us has a philos- “having” and “doing”—cannot be treated en- ophy, even though we tirely independent of each other, for if we did of Philosophy may not be aware of not have a philosophy in the formal, personal it. We all have some sense, then we could not do a philosophy in the ideas concerning physical objects, our fellow critical, reflective sense. persons, the meaning of life, death, God, right Having a philosophy, however, is not suffi- and wrong, beauty and ugliness, and the like. Of cient for doing philosophy. A genuine philo- course, these ideas are acquired in a variety sophical attitude is searching and critical; it is of ways, and they may be vague and confused. open-minded and tolerant—willing to look at all We are continuously engaged, especially during sides of an issue without prejudice. To philoso- the early years of our lives, in acquiring views phize is not merely to read and know philoso- and attitudes from our family, from friends, and phy; there are skills of argumentation to be mas- from various other individuals and groups. -
Spelman K. Ecological Pharmacology
C H A P T E R 27 Ecological Pharmacy: Molecular Biology to Systems Theory KEVIN SPELMAN First, the world of life, taken as a whole, forms a single system tional aspect of a system’s components gives us little bound to the surface of the earth; a system whose elements, in whatever indication of the behavior of the corresponding networks order of association they may be considered, are not simply thrown (Buehler, 2003a,b). The properties of a system cannot be together and molded upon one another like grains of sand, but are understood by accounting only for the properties of its organically interdependent like . molecules caught in a capillary components. surface. The medical sciences, and especially pharmacology, —TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, 1943 have fully embraced the reductionist construct, implying that human health can be reduced to the modulation of In the middle of the last century, some years before the specific genes and proteins. The laboratory modeling has, discovery of DNA, Erwin Schrödinger, in his classic 1944 until recently, limited observations to the interaction book What is Life?, inspired a generation of scientists with between one gene or protein with a single chemical. Such his timeless philosophical question: “How can the events simplistic modeling has led to some life-saving drugs, but in space and time which take place within the spatial has also lead to pharmaceutical drugs (even when properly boundary of a living organism be accounted for by physics prescribed) being an embarrassing and unfortunate lead- and chemistry?” (Schrödinger, 1944). To start at the micro- ing cause of death in the United States. -
Misunderstanding Davidson by Martin Clifford Rule
MISUNDERSTANDING DAVIDSON BY MARTIN CLIFFORD RULE Submitted to the graduate degree program in Philosophy and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _________________________________ Chairperson Dr. John Bricke, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus. _________________________________ Ben Eggleston, Professor. _________________________________ Eileen Nutting, Assistant Professor. _________________________________ Clifton L. Pye, Associate Professor. _________________________________ John Symons, Professor. Date Defended: 07/12/2016 ii The Dissertation Committee for Martin Clifford Rule Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: MISUNDERSTANDING DAVIDSON ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. John Bricke, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus. Date approved: 07/12/2016 iii ABSTRACT The main aim of this dissertation is to offer, and to defend, an interpretation of Donald Davidson’s classic paper “Mental Events” which interpretation I take to be identical to Davidson’s intended interpretation. My contention is that many readers misunderstand this paper. My method for showing this will be, first, to give a brief summary of the surface structure, and the core concepts, of “Mental Events”. I will then begin to canvas exemplars of the main lines of (alleged) objection to what “Mental Events” has been supposed to contend. I intend to argue that these objections misunderstand either Davidson’s conclusions, or his arguments, or they require material additional to the position that Davidson actually lays out and argues for in “Mental Events” in order to follow. In the latter case I shall attempt to show that these additions are not contentions which Davidson shares by referencing further materials from Davidson’s work.