Search results for "060302 philosophy"

Assessing the role of evidence of mechanisms in causal extrapolation

2020

Extrapolation of causal claims from study populations to other populations of interest is a problematic issue. The standard approach in experimental research, which prioritises randomized controlled trials and statistical evidence, is not devoid of difficulties. Granted that, it has been defended that evidence of mechanisms is indispensable for causal extrapolation. We argue, contrarily, that this sort of evidence is not indispensable. Nonetheless, we also think that occasionally it may be helpful. In order to clarify its relevance, we introduce a distinction between a positive and a negative role of evidence of mechanisms. Our conclusion is that the former is highly questionable, but the l…

The Active Nature of the Soul in Sense Perception: Robert Kilwardby and Peter Olivi

2010

AbstractThis article discusses the theories of perception of Robert Kilwardby and Peter of John Olivi. Our aim is to show how in challenging certain assumptions of medieval Aristotelian theories of perception they drew on Augustine and argued for the active nature of the soul in sense perception. For both Kilwardby and Olivi, the soul is not passive with respect to perceived objects; rather, it causes its own cognitive acts with respect to external objects and thus allows the subject to perceive them. We also show that Kilwardby and Olivi differ substantially regarding where the activity of the soul is directed to and the role of the sensible species in the process, and we demonstrate that …

PASSIONATE DESCARTES: A REINTERPRETATION OF THE BODY'S ROLE IN CARTESIAN THOUGHT

2020

Abstract The usual reading of Descartes' “anthropological” perspective classifies it as a radical dualism with a distinction between two substances, mind and body, which experience major interaction difficulties. Through a contextualization of Descartes' physiological and psychological thought as well as through a less fragmented reading of his work, we intend to review this traditional interpretation, thereby showing its distorted character. When we pay attention to passion, a new Descartes’ image as a sort of phenomenal monism appears, which is markedly different from the legendary image typically associated with him, even today.

Normativity all the way down: from normative realism to pannormism

2017

In this paper, I will give an argument for what I call pannormism, the view according to which if x instantiates a metaphysically basic normative property F, then whatever grounds the being of x also instantiates F. In slogan form: if there is normativity, there is normativity all the way down. Such pannormism is in many ways analogous to panpsychism, and my discussion also contains an important lesson for panpsychism, a way to avoid its so-called combination problem. In Sect. 1, I present the argument; in Sect. 2, I discuss its conclusion.

Rule-governed Practices in the Natural World

2020

Abstract I address the question of whether naturalism can provide adequate means for the scientific study of rules and rule-following behavior. As the term “naturalism” is used in many different ways in the contemporary debate, I will first spell out which version of naturalism I am targeting. Then I will recall a classical argument against naturalism in a version presented by Husserl. In the main part of the paper, I will sketch a conception of rule-following behavior that is influenced by Sellars and Haugeland. I will argue that rule-following is an essential part of human nature and insist in the social dimension of rules. Moreover, I will focus on the often overlooked fact that genuine …

Une objectivité kaléidoscopique : construire l'image scientifique du monde

2011

article accepté par la revue Philosophie, en cours de publication, date de publication provisoire; National audience

Without Reason?

2015

Reformuler des prémisses fausses comme des propositions vraies dans un certain domaine?

1988

Crossmodal Aesthetics: How Music and Dance Can Match

2020

Abstract The relationship between music and dance can sometimes be a ‘match’, a remarkable fit between the audible manifestation that music is and the visual or kinaesthetic manifestation that dance is. A match between two things seems to require a common measure with respect to which the match obtains. What can this be for two so different phenomena as music and dance? I argue that the most promising answer is: movement. This answer will not be satisfactory unless the movement of music and the movement of dance are the same on some level. I suggest that they are: there are qualities of movement that guide both dancers and musicians when producing dance and music as perceptible phenomena. B…

Edusemiotics, Existential Semiotics, and Existential Pedagogy

2016

This chapter examines how the edusemiotic understanding of education can be developed by utilizing certain notions arising from existential pedagogy and existential semiotics. The chapter begins by the authors’ interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s semiotically useful concept of unconcealment in terms of a pedagogical theory compatible with the concept of Bildung. The chapter proceeds to demonstrate how it has been implemented in philosophy of education so as to articulate an existentially discontinuous form of education. Education viewed as the most important task of/for humanity entails a fundamental disruption of continuity: we do not know what kind of humanity we want or need as a way of…