|
|
- Reism, Concretism and Schopenhauer Diagrams
Abstract: Reism or concretism are the labels for a position in ontology and semantics that is represented by various philosophers. As Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz and Jan Woleński have shown, there are two dimensions with which the abstract expression of reism can be made concrete: The ontological dimension of reism says that only things exist; the semantic dimension of reism says that all concepts must be reduced to concrete terms in order to be meaningful. In this paper we argue for the following two theses: (1) Arthur Schopenhauer has advocated a reistic philosophy of language which says that all concepts must ultimately be based on concrete intuition in order to be meaningful. (2) In his semantics, Schopenhauer developed a theory of logic diagrams that can be interpreted by modern means in order to concretize the abstract position of reism. Thus we are not only enhancing Jan Woleński’s list of well-known reists, but we are also adding a diagrammatic dimension to concretism, represented by Schopenhauer.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- A Judgmental Reconstruction of Some of Professor Woleński’s Logical and
Philosophical Writings
Abstract: Roman Suszko said that “Obviously, any multiplication of logical values is a mad idea and, in fact, Łukasiewicz did not actualize it.” The aim of the present paper is to qualify this ‘obvious’ statement through a number of logical and philosophical writings by Professor Jan Woleński, all focusing on the nature of truth-values and their multiple uses in philosophy. It results in a reconstruction of such an abstract object, doing justice to what Suszko held a ‘mad’ project within a generalized logic of judgments. Four main issues raised by Woleński will be considered to test the insightfulness of such generalized truth-values, namely: the principle of bivalence, the logic of scepticism, the coherence theory of truth, and nothingness.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Judgments and Truth: Essays in Honour of Jan Woleński
Abstract: It is a Preface to Volume 9:3/4 that has brought a renewed focus to the role of truth conceptions in frameworks of semantics and logic. Jan Woleński is known due to his works on epistemological aspects of logic and his systematization of semantic truth theory. He became the successor and the worthy continuer of prominent Polish logicians: Alfred Tarski and Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz. This volume is collected on the 80th anniversary of Woleński’s birth and draws together new research papers devoted to judgments and truth. These papers take measure of the scope and impact of Woleński’s views on truth conceptions, and present new contributions to the field of philosophy and logic.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- A Note on Intended and Standard Models
Abstract: This note discusses some problems concerning intended, standard, and nonstandard models of mathematical theories. We pay attention to the role of extremal axioms in attempts at a unique characterization of the intended models. We recall also Jan Woleński’s views on these issues.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- The Mystery of the Fifth Logical Notion (Alice in the Wonderful Land of
Logical Notions)
Abstract: We discuss a theory presented in a posthumous paper by Alfred Tarski entitled “What are logical notions'”. Although the theory of these logical notions is something outside of the main stream of logic, not presented in logic textbooks, it is a very interesting theory and can easily be understood by anybody, especially studying the simplest case of the four basic logical notions. This is what we are doing here, as well as introducing a challenging fifth logical notion. We first recall the context and origin of what are here called Tarski-Lindenbaum logical notions. In the second part, we present these notions in the simple case of a binary relation. In the third part, we examine in which sense these are considered as logical notions contrasting them with an example of a nonlogical relation. In the fourth part, we discuss the formulations of the four logical notions in natural language and in first-order logic without equality, emphasizing the fact that two of the four logical notions cannot be expressed in this formal language. In the fifth part, we discuss the relations between these notions using the theory of the square of opposition. In the sixth part, we introduce the notion of variety corresponding to all non-logical notions and we argue that it can be considered as a logical notion because it is invariant, always referring to the same class of structures. In the seventh part, we present an enigma: is variety formalizable in first-order logic without equality' There follow recollections concerning Jan Woleński. This paper is dedicated to his 80th birthday. We end with the bibliography, giving some precise references for those wanting to know more about the topic.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- The Normative Permission and Legal Utterances
Abstract: The author proves that rejecting the existence of permissive norms and limitation of norms to prohibitions and commands alone is possible only with reducing the idea of a function. The essence of the function is then the ability of the expression to generate independently the universal norm formation. Such manipulation is easy on the level of logical analysis, but proves risky from other points of view. If we want the deontic logic, which we construct, to consider the fact that permission is pragmatically necessary for the law-maker to convey his normative preferences, we must solve the consequences of the adopted structure of the function of norms, which originate on the socio-linguistic level. It appears, however, that due to a lack of a pragmatic theory useful for lawyers, there is no proof that the pragmatically strong permission can be expressed by means of a lot of prohibitions and commands (dos and don’ts). Besides, reducing permissions only to the language of legal rules is an obligation to accept the structure of an act of communication, which can find its full motivation in the Husserl’s structure of the direct cognition.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Anti-foundationalist Philosophy of Mathematics and Mathematical Proofs
Abstract: The Euclidean ideal of mathematics as well as all the foundational schools in the philosophy of mathematics have been contested by the new approach, called the “maverick” trend in the philosophy of mathematics. Several points made by its main representatives are mentioned – from the revisability of actual proofs to the stress on real mathematical practice as opposed to its idealized reconstruction. Main features of real proofs are then mentioned; for example, whether they are convincing, understandable, and/or explanatory. Therefore, the new approach questions Hilbert’s Thesis, according to which a correct mathematical proof is in principle reducible to a formal proof, based on explicit axioms and logic.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Logical Consequence Operators and Etatism
Abstract: In the paper, there is presented the theory of logical consequence operators indexed with taboo functions. It describes the mechanisms of logical inference in the environment of forbidden sentences. This kind of processes take place in ideological discourses within which their participants create various narrative worlds (mental worlds). A peculiar feature of ideological discourses is their association with taboo structures of deduction which penalize speech acts. The development of discourse involves, among others, transforming its deduction structure towards the proliferation of consequence operators and modifying penalty functions. The presented theory enables to define various processes of these transformations in the precise way. It may be used in analyses of conflicts between competing elm experts acting within a discourse.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- About Some New Methods of Analytical Philosophy. Formalization,
De-formalization and Topological Hermeneutics
Abstract: In this article I want to continue the characteristics of philosophical methods specific to analytical philosophy, which were and are important for Professor Jan Woleński. So I refer to his work on the methods of analytical philosophy, but I also point out a few new methods that have grown up in the climate of studies of philosophers, especially analytical ontologists. I will therefore describe the following methods: generalization, specialization, formalization, de-formalization and topological hermeneutics. Instead of the term “method” I use interchangeably the terms “operation” or “procedure”. I will show that each of these operations makes an important contribution to ontological investigations, and, in particular, to formal ontology.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Proof Truth in Mathematics
Abstract: Two crucial concepts of the methodology and philosophy of mathematics are considered: proof and truth. We distinguish between informal proofs constructed by mathematicians in their research practice and formal proofs as defined in the foundations of mathematics (in metamathematics). Their role, features and interconnections are discussed. They are confronted with the concept of truth in mathematics. Relations between proofs and truth are analysed.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Idea of Artificial Intelligence
Abstract: Artificial Intelligence, both as a hope of making substantial progress, and a fear of the unknown and unimaginable, has its roots in human dreams. These dreams are materialized by means of rational intellectual efforts. We see the beginnings of such a process in Lullus’s fancies. Many scholars and enthusiasts participated in the development of Lullus’s art, ars combinatoria. Amongst them, Athanasius Kircher distinguished himself. Gottfried Leibniz ended the period in which the idea of artificial intelligence was shaped, and started the new period, in which artificial intelligence could be considered part of science, by today’s standards.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Necessity and Determinism in Robert Grosseteste’s
Abstract: In this paper, the theory of necessity proposed by Robert Grosseteste is presented. After showing the wide range of various kinds of determination discussed by him (connected with: (1) one’s knowledge about the future, (2) predestination, (3) fate, (4) grace, (5) sin and temptation), a different context of Grosseteste’s use of the notion of necessity is analyzed (within logical and metaphysical approaches). At the heart of his theory lie: the definition of necessity, which is that something lacks the capacity (posse) for its opposite, and the distinction between two perspectives within which we can consider necessity: (1) the one according to which the truthfulness of a dictum determines that it cannot be the opposite, (2) a pre- or atemporal one, as if something had not yet begun. On these grounds, Robert explains that God’s omniscience is compatible with contingency, including human free decisions. Robert’s theory is still relevant and useful in contemporary debates, as it can provide strong arguments and enrich discussions, thanks to the twoperspectives approach, which generates nine kinds of positions on the spectrum of determinism and indeterminism.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Deontic Relationship in the Context of Jan Woleński’s
Metaethical Naturalism
Abstract: In this paper, we indicate how Jan Woleński’s non-linguistic concept of the norm allows us to clarify the deontic relationship between sentences and the given normative system. A relationship of this kind constitutes a component of the metalogic of relating deontic logic, which subjects the logical value of the deontic sentence to the logical value of the constituent sentence and its relationship with a given normative system in the accessible possible worlds.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Conjunctive and Disjunctive Limits: Abstract Logics and Modal Operators
Abstract: Departing from basic concepts in abstract logics, this paper introduces two concepts: conjunctive and disjunctive limits. These notions are used to formalize levels of modal operators.
PubDate: Wed, 11 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Preface. Libertarianism from the Philosophical Perspective
Abstract: This special issue of Studia Humana is devoted, and dedicated, to libertarianism; its promotion and its study. I am very grateful to the editors of this journal for inviting me to put together such a compilation. There are 16 contributions in all, covering most of the social science disciplines.
PubDate: Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Libertarianism: A Fifty-Year Personal Retrospective
Abstract: This retrospective, covering half a century, is a personal history of modern libertarianism. It provides some historical perspective on the growth of libertarianism and its impact on society, especially for those who were born into an existing libertarian movement, including political and academic paths. As outsiders, Austrians and libertarians can expect more than their share of difficult times and roadblocks, although that situation has improved over time. It also shows the limitations of the political path to liberty and the importance of the Austrian view that society changes via emphasis on sound economic science, its practicality, and its subsequent impact on ideology. Finally, it conveys the importance of solving practical problems and puzzles via the thin, radical version of libertarianism.
PubDate: Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Nulla Libertarian Poena Sine NAP: Reexamination of Libertarian Theories of
Punishment
Abstract: Libertarianism deals with what the law should be. In this article, we focus on what the appropriate law to punish criminals should be in a libertarian society; that is, one that respects the Non-Aggression Principle and property rights. We examine various theories of punishment and explain why some are incompatible with libertarianism. We contribute to the latest libertarian theory of punishment suggesting the necessity to take time preference into consideration. We conclude stating a limit and a limitation to libertarian punishment theories.
PubDate: Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Medical Mask Resellers Punished in Canada
Abstract: In times of pandemics or natural catastrophes, prices of commodities, such as water, food and medicines, tend to shoot up, in response to a surge in demand and depleting supplies. The government, in its misguided efforts to maintain “price affordability”, imposes price controls and anti-price-gouging legislation and bans the reselling of food and medical supplies. These interventions in the free market are the exact opposite of what the government should do, if it wants to ensure that enough commodities go to people who need them, that people do not hoard all available goods on grocery shelves, and most importantly, that suppliers have the incentive to produce more goods to meet current and future demand at market prices.
PubDate: Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Is Statism an Amoral Philosophy'
Abstract: Thick moral terms – such as theft, fraud, and counterfeiting – are terms whose very use implies a definitionally necessary moral evaluation of their content. In this paper, I shall argue that the philosophy of statism – that is, a philosophy grounded in the belief in the normative justifiability and desirability of monopolistic apparatuses of initiatory violence – is necessarily amoral insofar as it cannot apply thick moral terms in a logically consistent manner. By the same token, I shall argue that libertarianism – i.e., the view that only consensual social relations are morally acceptable – is the only general sociopolitical doctrine capable of accomplishing this task, thus, in contrast to statism, making its prescriptions susceptible to genuine moral evaluation.
PubDate: Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT
- Problems With the Notion of Freedom and Voluntariness in Right
Libertarianism
Abstract: In this short paper, we investigate the problems with the employment of the notion of freedom and voluntariness in libertarianism. We pretend to demonstrate that these two, as conceived of by libertarians, figure in as the main issue when it comes to justifying its major institutions, say: bequeathing, gifts, transactions (or what they label as “voluntary transfer”). The difficulty here boils down to the fact that a purely rights-based idea of freedom and voluntariness, the pretentions of Nozick notwithstanding, cannot do alone, since it is the consideration whether we do something (e.g. bequeath, donate etc.) voluntarily (or freely) (in a non-moralized sense) that could account for the rights redistribution. Therefore, it seems that – at least sometimes – the notion of voluntariness (or freedom) is prior to the notion of rights.
PubDate: Thu, 27 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT
|
Open Access journal
