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Articles 1 - 30 of 34
Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Cinema In The Digital Age: A Rebuttal To Lev Manovich, Barbara Cail
Cinema In The Digital Age: A Rebuttal To Lev Manovich, Barbara Cail
Philosophy
In his book The Language of New Media, Lev Manovich claims the index is an ontological condition of cinema. Manovich asserts digital cinema can never be indexical and therefore has fundamentally altered the very nature of cinema, reducing it to a form of animation. This paper offers a refutation of Manovich’s redefinition of cinema, showing that digital cinema can be indexical, but indexicality is not an ontological condition of cinema.
Bell's Spaceships Problem And The Foundations Of Special Relativity, Francisco Fernflores
Bell's Spaceships Problem And The Foundations Of Special Relativity, Francisco Fernflores
Philosophy
Recent ‘dynamical’ approaches to relativity by Harvey Brown and his colleagues have used John Bell’s own solution to a problem in relativity which has in the past sometimes been called ‘Bell’s spaceships paradox’, in a central way. This paper examines solutions to this problem in greater detail and from a broader philosophical perspective than Brown et al. offer. It also analyses the well-known analogy between special relativity and classical thermodynamics. This analysis leads to the sceptical conclusion that Bell’s solution yields neither new philosophical insights concerning the foundations of relativity nor differential support for a specific view concerning the existence …
Arguments By Analogy, Matt Donner
Arguments By Analogy, Matt Donner
Philosophy
This paper is an inquiry into the largely unexamined analysis of arguments by analogy (ABA). By exposing the degree of philosophical complexity, which ultimately renders evaluation of ABA subjective, we shall see that the most appropriate doxastic attitude to adopt, with respect to the conclusions drawn from these arguments, is often suspension of judgment. A critical examination of Copi’s criteria for evaluating ABA shows that while these criteria work well for simple arguments, they fail when considering more philosophically profound ABA. This paper supports these claims by using Cleanthes’ teleological argument for the existence of God from Hume’s Dialogues Concerning …
Robot Ethics: Mapping The Issues For A Mechanized World, Patrick Lin, Keith Abney, George Bekey
Robot Ethics: Mapping The Issues For A Mechanized World, Patrick Lin, Keith Abney, George Bekey
Philosophy
As with other emerging technologies, advanced robotics brings with it new ethical and policy challenges. This paper will describe the flourishing role of robots in society—from security to sex—and survey the numerous ethical and social issues, which we locate in three broad categories: safety & errors, law & ethics, and social impact. We discuss many of these issues in greater detail in our forthcoming edited volume on robot ethics from MIT Press.
Mentalist Evidentialism Vindicated (And A Super-Blooper Epistemic Design Problem For Proper Function Justification), Todd R. Long
Mentalist Evidentialism Vindicated (And A Super-Blooper Epistemic Design Problem For Proper Function Justification), Todd R. Long
Philosophy
Michael Bergmann seeks to motivate his externalist, proper function theory of epistemic justification by providing three objections to the mentalism and mentalist evidentialism characteristic of nonexternalists such as Richard Feldman and Earl Conee. Bergmann argues that (i) mentalism is committed to the false thesis that justification depends on mental states; (ii) mentalism is committed to the false thesis that the epistemic fittingness of an epistemic input to a belief-forming process must be due to an essential feature of that input, and, relatedly, that mentalist evidentialism is committed to the false thesis that the epistemic fittingness of doxastic response B to …
A Proper De Jure Objection To The Epistemic Rationality Of Religious Belief, Todd R. Long
A Proper De Jure Objection To The Epistemic Rationality Of Religious Belief, Todd R. Long
Philosophy
I answer Alvin Plantinga’s challenge to provide a ‘proper’ de jure objection to religious belief. What I call the ‘sophisticates’ evidential objection’ (SEO) concludes that sophisticated Christians lack epistemic justification for believing central Christian propositions. The SEO utilizes a theory of epistemic justification in the spirit of the evidentialism of Richard Feldman and Earl Conee. I defend philosophical interest in the SEO (and its underlying evidentialism) against objections from Reformed epistemology, by addressing Plantinga’s criteria for a proper de jure objection, his anti-evidentialist arguments, and the relevance of ‘impulsional evidence’. I argue that no result from Plantinga-style Reformed epistemology precludes …
Proper Function Justification And Epistemic Rationality, Todd R. Long
Proper Function Justification And Epistemic Rationality, Todd R. Long
Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Ethics Of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions & Answers, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor, John Weckert
Ethics Of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions & Answers, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor, John Weckert
Philosophy
This paper presents the principal findings from a three-year research project funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) on ethics of human enhancement technologies. To help untangle this ongoing debate, we have organized the discussion as a list of questions and answers, starting with background issues and moving to specific concerns, including: freedom & autonomy, health & safety, fairness & equity, societal disruption, and human dignity. Each question-and answer pair is largely self-contained, allowing the reader to skip to those issues of interest without affecting continuity.
Quantum Mechanics And Ethical Antirealism: A Counter-Analogy To Boyd, Justin Lawson
Quantum Mechanics And Ethical Antirealism: A Counter-Analogy To Boyd, Justin Lawson
Philosophy
In his paper How to Be a Moral Realist Boyd attempts to show how cases of ethical indeterminacy can be accounted for from an ethical realist’s standpoint. Boyd describes cases of extensional vagueness in the life-sciences which arise from knowable and definite underlying structures and draws an analogy to ethics to argue his case. This paper argues that an equally compelling analogy can be drawn between another type of scientific indeterminacy – that in quantum mechanics – and the related ethical cases. Because quantum mechanical uncertainty (on the Copenhagen interpretation) is a real and not merely epistemic limitation on physical …
Ethics Of Human Enhancement: An Executive Summary, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, Jesse Steinberg
Ethics Of Human Enhancement: An Executive Summary, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, Jesse Steinberg
Philosophy
With multi-year funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), a team of researchers has just released a comprehensive report detailing ethical issues arising from human enhancement (Allhoff et al. 2009). While we direct the interested reader to that (much longer) report, we also thank the editors of this journal for the invitation to provide an executive summary thereof. This summary highlights key results from each section of that report and does so in a self-standing way; in other words, this summary presupposes no familiarity with the report and offers the opportunity to gain quick familiarity with its most central …
Ethics Of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions & Answers, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor, John Weckert
Ethics Of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions & Answers, Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor, John Weckert
Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Robots In War: Issues Of Risk And Ethics, Patrick Lin, George A. Bekey, Keith Abney
Robots In War: Issues Of Risk And Ethics, Patrick Lin, George A. Bekey, Keith Abney
Philosophy
War robots clearly hold tremendous advantages-from saving the lives of our own soldiers, to safely defusing roadside bombs, to operating in inaccessible and dangerous environments such as mountainside caves and underwater. Without emotions and other liabilities on the battlefield, they could conduct warfare more ethically and effectively than human soldiers who are susceptible to overreactions, anger, vengeance, fatigue, low morale, and so on. But the use of robots, especially autonomous ones, raises a a host of ethical and risk issues. This paper offers a a survey of such emerging issues in this new but rapidly advancing area of technology.
Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, And Design, Patrick Lin, George Bekey, Keith Abney
Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, And Design, Patrick Lin, George Bekey, Keith Abney
Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Untangling The Debate: The Ethics Of Human Enhancement, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Untangling The Debate: The Ethics Of Human Enhancement, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Philosophy
Human enhancement, in which nanotechnology is expected to play a major role, continues to be a highly contentious ethical debate, with experts on both sides calling it the single most important issue facing science and society in this brave, new century. This paper is a broad introduction to the symposium herein that explores a range of perspectives related to that debate. We will discuss what human enhancement is and its apparent contrast to therapy; and we will begin to tease apart the myriad intertwined issues that arise in the debate: (1) freedom & autonomy, (2) health & safety, (3) fairness …
Against Unrestricted Human Enhancement, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Against Unrestricted Human Enhancement, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Philosophy
The defining debate in this new century will be about technology and human enhancement, according to many across the political spectrum. Our ability to use science to enhance our bodies and minds – as opposed to its application for therapeutic purposes – is one of the most personal and therefore passionate issues in an era where emerging technologies seduce us with new and fantastic possibilities for our future. But in the process, we are forced to rethink what it means to be human or, essentially, our own identity. For some, technology holds the promise of making us superhuman; for others, …
Language And Responsibility: The Possibilities And Problems Of Poetic Thinking For Environmental Philosophy, Eleanor D. Helms
Language And Responsibility: The Possibilities And Problems Of Poetic Thinking For Environmental Philosophy, Eleanor D. Helms
Philosophy
There is a sense in which poetry can re-inscribe humans in their natural surroundings, but language—even poetic language—is also always problematic. In conversation with and in response to recent works by David Abram, I will delineate at least two ways in which poetic language separates and distinguishes humans from nature. I also argue for the importance of what is implicit or invisible (as opposed to tangible and sensuous). Language is a mode of human responsibility for the world, not just a sign or result of being part of it.
Introduction: Nanotechnology, Society, And Ethics, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Introduction: Nanotechnology, Society, And Ethics, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Communicating With Accelerated Observers In Minkowski Spacetime, Francisco Flores
Communicating With Accelerated Observers In Minkowski Spacetime, Francisco Flores
Philosophy
Our goal here is to determine the spatial and temporal constraints on communication between two observers at least one of which moves with constant proper acceleration in two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. We take as a simplified model of communication one observer bouncing a light signal off another observer. Our derivations use only elementary mathematics and spacetime diagrams, and hence are accessible to students taking their first course in special relativity. Furthermore, the qualitative features of our results can be easily explained to non-physics students in courses that discuss special relativity at a ‘conceptual’ level.
Nanotechnology Bound: Evaluating The Case For More Regulation, Patrick Lin
Nanotechnology Bound: Evaluating The Case For More Regulation, Patrick Lin
Philosophy
In continuing news, there is a growing debate on whether current laws and regulations, both in the US and abroad, need to be strengthened as they relate to nanotechnology. On one side, experts argue that nanomaterials, which are making their way into the marketplace today, are possibly harmful to consumers and the environment, so stronger and new laws are needed to ensure they are safe. On the other side, different experts argue that more regulation will slow down the pace of business and innovation in nanotechnology, or that self-regulation is the answer, or other opposing positions. This paper will draw …
Is It True That ‘Evolution Is A Theory, Not A Fact’?, Todd R. Long
Is It True That ‘Evolution Is A Theory, Not A Fact’?, Todd R. Long
Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Nanoethics And Human Enhancement: A Critical Evaluation Of Recent Arguments, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Nanoethics And Human Enhancement: A Critical Evaluation Of Recent Arguments, Patrick Lin, Fritz Allhoff
Philosophy
Human enhancement – our ability to use technology to enhance our bodies and minds, as opposed to its application for therapeutic purposes – is a critical issue facing nanotechnology. It will be involved in some of the near-term applications of nanotechnology, with such research labs as MIT’s Institute for Soldier Technologies working on exoskeletons and other innovations that increase human strength and capabilities. It is also a core issue related to far-term predictions in nanotechnology, such as longevity, nanomedicine, artificial intelligence and other issues.
Viewpoint: Look Before Taking Another Leap For Mankind- Ethical And Social Considerationa In Rebuilding Society In Space, Patrick Lin
Philosophy
Commercial space travel is looking more like a real possibility than science fiction, but tied to that ambition we may be held back by the gravity of emerging ethical dilemmas. This viewpoint article surveys a range of social, economic, and political questions, and critically evaluates reasons why we should explore space. The usual ethical issues related to environmental and safety concerns are just the beginning, as there are other interesting questions, such as: what would be a fair process for commercializing or claiming property in space; how likely would a separatist movement be among space settlements who want to be …
On The Interpretation Of The Equation E = Mc2: Response To Krajewski, Francisco Flores
On The Interpretation Of The Equation E = Mc2: Response To Krajewski, Francisco Flores
Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Bell's Spaceships: A Useful Relativistic Paradox, Francisco J. Flores
Bell's Spaceships: A Useful Relativistic Paradox, Francisco J. Flores
Philosophy
Bell’s spaceship ‘paradox’ [1] in special relativity is a particularly good one to examine with students, because although it deals with accelerated motions, it can be dissolved with elementary space–time diagrams. Furthermore, it forces us to be very clear about the relativity of simultaneity, proper length, and the ‘reality’ of the Lorentz contraction.
Interpretations Of Einstein's Equation E = Mc2, Francisco Flores
Interpretations Of Einstein's Equation E = Mc2, Francisco Flores
Philosophy
Interpretations of Einstein’s equation differ primarily concerning whether E = mc2 entails that mass and energy are the same property of physical systems, and hence whether there is any sense in which mass is ever “converted” into energy (or vice versa). In this paper, I examine six interpretations of Einstein’s equation and argue that all but one fail to satisfy a minimal set of conditions that all interpretations of physical theories ought to satisfy. I argue that we should prefer the interpretation of Einstein’s equation that holds that mass and energy are distinct properties of physical systems. This interpretation …
Moderate Reasons-Responsiveness, Moral Responsibility, And Manipulation, Todd R. Long
Moderate Reasons-Responsiveness, Moral Responsibility, And Manipulation, Todd R. Long
Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Belief Or 'Belief': Rush Rhees On Religious Belief Language, Todd R. Long
Belief Or 'Belief': Rush Rhees On Religious Belief Language, Todd R. Long
Philosophy
The recent book Rush Rhees on Religion and Philosophy contains a stimulating collection of writin~s by Rush Rhees on a variety of topics in the philosophy of religion. Comprising accounts of personal, religious and moral struggles, these essays provide a refreshing change from the often dry, overly technical approach to philosophy writing. Despite spanning more than thirty years, Rhees' s essays disclose a fairly consistent philosophy .of religion with a clear emphasis. Since he was Wittgenstein's student and long-time friend as well as a literary executor ofWittgenstein's writings, it is not surprising that Rhees's comments on the philosophy of religion …
Einstein's Theory Of Theories And Types Of Theoretical Explanation, Francisco Flores
Einstein's Theory Of Theories And Types Of Theoretical Explanation, Francisco Flores
Philosophy
In this paper I draw on Einstein's distinction between “principle” and “constructive” theories to isolate two levels of physical theory that can be found in both classical and (special) relativistic physics. I then argue that when we focus on theoretical explanations in physics, i.e. explanations of physical laws, the two leading views on explanation, Salmon's “bottom-up” view and Kitcher's “top-down” view, accurately describe theoretical explanations for a given level of theory. I arrive at this conclusion through an analysis of explanations of mass—energy equivalence in special relativity.
Einstein’S 1935 Derivation Of E=Mc2, Francisco Flores
Einstein’S 1935 Derivation Of E=Mc2, Francisco Flores
Philosophy
Einstein’s 1935 derivation of mass—energy equivalence is philosophically important because it contains both a criticism of purported demonstrations that proceed by analogy and strong motivations for the definitions of the ‘new’ dynamical quantities (viz relativistic momentum, relativistic kinetic energy and relativistic energy). In this paper, I argue that Einstein’s criticism and insights are still relevant today by showing how his derivation goes beyond Friedman’s demonstration of this result in his Foundations of Spacetime ¹heories. Along the way, I isolate three distinct physical claims associated with Einstein’s famous equation that are sometimes not clearly distinguished in philosophical discussions of spacetime theory.
A Selective Defence Of Tolstoy's What Is Art?, Todd R. Long
A Selective Defence Of Tolstoy's What Is Art?, Todd R. Long
Philosophy
No abstract provided.