Other Philosophy Commons^™

Beyond Rigidity: The Unfinished Semantic Agenda Of Naming And Necessity, By Scott Soames, Heimir Geirsson

Heimir Geirsson

n Naming and Necessity Saul Kripke criticized descriptivist theories of proper names and suggested a ‘better picture’ as a replacement. But while the ‘better picture’ that Kripke provided was very interesting and stimulating, it was little more than a sketch of a theory that needed much work and refinement. While Kripke argued that proper names are not synonymous with definite descriptions or clusters of definite descriptions, he was silent on what the semantic contents of names might be. Further, he even speculated in the introduction to his book that the apparatus of propositions might break down given his arguments, thus …

Justification And Ways Of Believing, Heimir Geirsson

Heimir Geirsson

One of the issues that has been hotly discussed in connection with the direct designation theory is whether or not coreferential names can be substituted salva veritate in epistemic contexts. Some direct designation theorists believe that they can be so substituted. Some direct designation theorists and all Fregeans and neo-Fregeans believe that they cannot be so substituted. Fregeans of various stripes have used their intuition against free substitution to argue against the direct designation theory. Some direct designation theorists have used the same intuitions to argue against the view that belief reports of simple declarative sentences can be accounted for …

London (Ontario) Area Treaties: An Introductory Guide, Stephen D'Arcy

Stephen D'Arcy

God And Eternal Boredom, Attila Tanyi, Vuko Andric

Attila Tanyi

Intellectual Property, Asian Philosophy And The Yin-Yang School, Peter K. Yu

Peter K. Yu

As an introduction to a special issue on intellectual property philosophy, this article focuses on insights from Asian thought. Such a focus is needed not only to provide balance within this special issue, which includes articles focusing primarily on Western philosophy, but also to highlight the compatibility between Asian philosophy and the notion of intellectual property rights. More importantly, this article aims to demonstrate that Asian philosophy may suggest new ways to address the ongoing and highly complex intellectual property challenges confronting emerging economies and the digital environment.

This article begins by providing a brief discussion of the many different …

Contemporary Confucian And Islamic Approaches To Democracy And Human Rights, Stephen Angle

Stephen C. Angle

Both Confucian and Islamic traditions stand in fraught and internally contested relationships with democracy and human rights. It can easily appear that the two traditions are in analogous positions with respect to the values associated with modernity, but a central contention of this essay is that Islam and Confucianism are not analogous in this way. Positions taken by advocates of the traditions are often similar, but the reasoning used to justify these positions differs in crucial ways. Whether one approaches these questions from an intra-traditional, cross-traditional, or multi-traditional perspective, the essay shows that there is great value in getting clear …

Against Totalitarianism: Agamben, Foucault, And The Politics Of Critique, C. Heike Schotten

C. Heike Schotten

Università Di Parma – “La Società Degli Individui” – Fondazione Per La Critica Sociale, Conference: “Della Critica. Filosofia E Teoria Sociale In Luc Boltanski”, Parma, Paper: “Sui Limiti Della Sociologia Pragmatica Della Critica”, March 5th, 2015., Marco Solinas

Marco Solinas

No abstract provided.

“Psicoterapia E Scienze Umane” Seminari Internazionali, Bologna, Lecture: “Sulla Teoria Del Riconoscimento Di Axel Honneth. Forme E Usi Filosofico-Sociali Della Psicoanalisi”, February 21th, 2015., Marco Solinas

Marco Solinas

No abstract provided.

Review Of Ziporyn, Ironies And Beyond Oneness, Stephen C. Angle

Stephen C. Angle

Explanation In Information Systems, Dirk S. Hovorka, Matt Germonprez, Kai R.T. Larsen

Kai R.T. Larsen

Developing explanations of observed phenomenon is one of the major functions of research in Information Systems (IS). But what is an explanation? What types of explanation can IS research provide and what do they mean? The objectives of this research are to develop a shared language, to increase understanding of the meaning of research results and to stimulate discussion of explanation in Information Systems research. Four years of articles published in two top-ranked IS journals over a period of ten years were sampled based on four explanation types defined in modern philosophy: covering-law, statistical-relevance, pragmatic and functional. Explanation types, sub …

Engaging Reading, Clair Morrissey, Kelsey Palghat

Clair Morrissey

This paper describes a novel approach to teaching introductory-level students how to engage with philosophical texts, developed in the context of a philosophy of art course. We aimed to enhance students’ motivation to read philosophy well by cultivating habits of active reading. To this end we created a structured set of three assignments: (1) instructor created digitally annotated reading assignments, (2) a student digital annotation assignment, and (3) required student participation in a collective GoogleDoc “repository of artworks, examples, ideas, and questions.” Student feedback suggests that this set of teaching tools enhanced their sense of agency in approaching philosophical texts.

Review Of Li, The Confucian Philosophy Of Harmony, Stephen C. Angle

Stephen C. Angle

Urban Desertification.2014.Pdf, Jules Simon

Jules Simon

Review Of Li, The Confucian Philosophy Of Harmony, Stephen C. Angle

Stephen C. Angle

Overdemanding Consequentialism? An Experimental Approach, Attila Tanyi, Martin Bruder

Attila Tanyi

According to act-consequentialism the right action is the one that produces the best results as judged from an impersonal perspective. Some claim that this requirement is unreasonably demanding and therefore consequentialism is unacceptable as a moral theory. The article breaks with dominant trends in discussing this so-called Overdemandingness Objection. Instead of focusing on theoretical responses, it empirically investigates whether there exists a widely shared intuition that consequentialist demands are unreasonable. This discussion takes the form of examining what people think about the normative significance of consequentialist requirements. In two experiments, the article finds that although people are sensitive to consequentialist …

Consequentialism And Its Demands: A Representative Study, Attila Tanyi, Martin Bruder

Attila Tanyi

An influential objection to act-consequentialism holds that the theory is unduly demanding. This paper is an attempt to approach this critique of act-consequentialism – the Overdemandingness Objection – from a different, so far undiscussed, angle. First, the paper argues that the most convincing form of the Objection claims that consequentialism is overdemanding because it requires us, with decisive force, to do things that, intuitively, we do not have decisive reason to perform. Second, in order to investigate the existence of the intuition, the paper reports empirical evidence of how people see the normative significance of consequentialist requirements.. In a scenario …

Truth, Rhetoric, And Critical Thinking, Lajos L. Brons

Lajos Brons

Despite the extraordinary amount of attention critical thinking has received in the last few decades, the teaching and fostering of critical thinking in higher education is largely failing, and critical thinking has become an empty buzzword. However, given its importance as an aim of education, it needs to be “refilled”, but that is possible only after identifying the causes of the current failure, i.e. the obstacles to fostering critical thinking. Three such obstacles are identified in this paper, two actual and one hypothetical: (1) the lack of clarity and agreement about what critical thinking is, (2) current teaching practice, and …

A Response To On Being An Atheist, David C. Taylor Jr

David C Taylor Jr

Cultural Contradictions Of The Anytime, Anywhere Economy: Reframing Communication Technology, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Detlev Zwick

Nikhilesh Dholakia

Technology-aided ubiquity and instantaneity have emerged as major goals of most information technology providers and of certain classes of users such as “road warriors”. New mobile technologies promise genie-in-a-bottle type near-magical qualities with anytime, anywhere access to information and services. While the complex science, systems, and economics of such technologies receive considerable attention from industry executives and researchers, the social and cultural aspects of these technologies attract less attention. This paper explores the oft-contradictory promises and pitfalls of anytime, anywhere technologies from a cultural standpoint. It makes suggestions for reinterpreting these technologies for greater human good.

Consumer Subjectivity In The Age Of Internet: The Radical Concept Of Marketing Control Through Customer Relationship Management, Detlev Zwick, Nikhilesh Dholakia

Nikhilesh Dholakia

In this paper, we present a poststructuralist analysis of customer database technology. This approach allows us to regard customer databases as configurations of language that produce new and significant discursive effects. In particular, we focus on the role of databases and related technologies such as customer relationship management (CRM) in the discursive construction of both customers and customer relationships. First, we argue that organizations become the authors of customer identities, using the language of the database to configure customer representation. From this perspective, we can see the radical innovation that the customer database brings to the organizational construction of its …

Patrick Henry’S “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death,” A National Call To Arms, David C. Taylor Jr

David C Taylor Jr

On March 23 1775, Patrick Henry gave a speech that resounded through the American Colonies as a call to arms against the oppressive British. His cry to Virginians was to no longer let the tyranny of the British Monarchy reign over them. He did not wish to have war, but war seemed to be the only viable option to get the results he so desperately desired.

My Skin, My Self: Samcro’S Ink And Personal Identity, Charlene Elsby

Charlene Elsby

No abstract provided.

Fry's Brain Thing, Charlene Elsby

Charlene Elsby

No abstract provided.

Review Of Jiang: A Confucian Constitutional Order - How China’S Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future, Stephen C. Angle

Stephen C. Angle

Review Of Makeham: Learning To Emulate The Wise, Stephen C. Angle

Stephen C. Angle

Nietzschean Narratives Of Hero And Herd In Walt Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles, C. Heike Schotten

C. Heike Schotten

A critical reading of the Nietzschean politics of the Walt Disney/Pixar film The Incredibles.

Review Of Jiang: A Confucian Constitutional Order - How China’S Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future, Stephen C. Angle

Stephen C. Angle

I Am The Light Of The World: An “I Am” Statement Of Jesus, David C. Taylor Jr

David C Taylor Jr

The Gospel of John contains eight “I AM” statements of Jesus. “I AM” is the term God first used of Himself when speaking to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). By using this statement, Jesus was aligning Himself with God. One specific use of the statement in John comes in chapter 8 verse 12. Jesus states that He is the light of the world. His claim showed and declared that He has come to take away darkness from the world and give them the light of life. The statement showed His power, and His Deity and His relationship with …

Counting The Gaza Dead: False Equivalences, Distorted Dichotomies, C. Heike Schotten

C. Heike Schotten

A critique of disaggregating casualty counts by gender.