Beyond black dots and nutritious things: A solution to the indeterminacy problem

Obvietats (o quasi). Filosofia necessària, per Tobies Grimaltos

Es pot naturalitzar la intencionalitat?

Resum: La intencionalitat és un element central en la nostra comprensió del món. Diàriament atribuïm estats intencionals (com ara creences, desitjos o percepcions) per a poder explicar el comportament d’altres agents, i moltes teories filosòfiques hi apel·len per a entendre altres nocions més complexes. Tanmateix, els estats intencionals són entitats enigmàtiques. Aquest article explica què és la intencionalitat i per què és tan important i problemàtica alhora. En segon lloc, examina diverses teories naturalistes que intenten mostrar que la intencionalitat és compatible amb una visió científica del món. Finalment, com que totes les propostes existents s’enfronten a dificultats significative…

Models, information and meaning

Abstract There has recently been an explosion of formal models of signaling, which have been developed in order to learn about different aspects of meaning. This paper discusses whether that success can also be used to provide an original naturalistic theory of meaning in terms of information or some related notion. In particular, it argues that, although these models can teach us a lot about different aspects of content, at the moment they fail to support the idea that meaning just is some kind of information. As an alternative, I suggest a more modest approach to the relationship between the informational notions used in models and semantic properties in the natural world.

The meaning of biological signals.

We introduce the virtual special issue on content in signalling systems. The issue explores the uses and limits of ideas from evolutionary game theory and information theory for explaining the content of biological signals. We explain the basic idea of the Lewis-Skyrms sender-receiver framework, and we highlight three key themes of the issue: (i) the challenge of accounting for deception, misinformation and false content, (ii) the relevance of partial or total common interest to the evolution of meaningful signals, and (iii) how the sender-receiver framework relates to teleosemantics.

A defense of the moral and legal right to secede

We defend the moral and legal right to secede in accordance with plebiscitary theory. Our paper has three main goals. First, by offering a schematic characterization of plebiscitary theory, the main arguments in its favour (and the main objections to them), we contribute to clarify the structure of this complex debate. Second, we stress the point that, if the moral right to secede is established, the resistance for its inclusion into positive law is unjustified. Finally, by addressing old and new objections to plebiscitary theory, we hope to make a compelling case for a wider recognition of secessionist rights.