Inference without Regress

2021 ◽  
pp. 104-122
Author(s):  
Eric Marcus

A central obstacle for an account of inference is to show how it is possible to satisfy the Taking Condition without engendering a vicious regress. This is the lesson of Carroll’s Paradox. The basic difficulty is this: whatever knowledge one employs in judging that the premises support the conclusion would seem itself to be part of what supports the conclusion, thus requiring a further piece of knowledge. I argue that inferring is a matter of understanding the relevant propositions well enough to recognize that it is impossible for premises that one accepts to be true and the conclusion to be false, so that one sees the conclusion as what must be true, thereby believing it. Nothing more is required for inference than the proper understanding of premises and conclusion.

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4172-4177
Author(s):  
Abdul Malek

The denial of the existence of contradiction is at the root of all idealism in epistemology and the cause for alienations.  This alienation has become a hindrance for the understanding of the nature and the historical evolution mathematics itself and its role as an instrument in the enquiry of the physical universe (1). A dialectical materialist approach incorporating  the role of the contradiction of the unity of the opposites, chance and necessity etc., can provide a proper understanding of the historical evolution of mathematics and  may ameliorate  the negative effect of the alienation in modern theoretical physics and cosmology. The dialectical view also offers a more plausible materialist interpretation of the bewildering wave-particle duality in quantum dynamics (2).


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Zoran Ivić ◽  
Željko Pržulj

Adiabatic large polarons in anisotropic molecular crystals We study the large polaron whose motion is confined to a single chain in a system composed of the collection of parallel molecular chains embedded in threedimensional lattice. It is found that the interchain coupling has a significant impact on the large polaron characteristics. In particular, its radius is quite larger while its effective mass is considerably lighter than that estimated within the one-dimensional models. We believe that our findings should be taken into account for the proper understanding of the possible role of large polarons in the charge and energy transfer in quasi-one-dimensional substances.


Author(s):  
Dr. Sachin S. Bagali ◽  
Umapati C. Baragi

Ayurveda has a unique specialty of holistic approach and includes all the factors which are necessary for maintenance of health. Trigunas are essential drives of the mind which differentiate individuals on the basisof their psychological constitution. Genetically determined, these psychological characteristics are dependent on the relative dominance of the three Gunas. Manasa Prakruti features pertain to the mind and mental activities of the person. Due to their resemblance in qualities to that of almighty god, names were designated accordingly. Totally 16 types of Manasika Prakruti are described in Charaka Samhita. After proper understanding of Satwa Prakruti one should initiate appropriate therapy. Maha Prakruti’s are those which manifests due to influence of Satva, Raja and Tama and knowledge of the constitution is very much essential. Three types of psyche are described to be born from virtue, anger and delusion these are said to be superior, medium and inferior respectively. Seven, Six and three respectively are said to be the types of these psyche. To prescribe medicines, knowledge of this is essential.


Author(s):  
Thomas H. McCall ◽  
Keith D. Stanglin

“Arminianism” was the subject of important theological controversies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and it maintains an important position within Protestant thought. What became known as “Arminian” theology was held by people across a swath of geographical and ecclesial positions; it developed in European, British, and American contexts, and it engaged with a wide range of intellectual challenges. While standing together in their common rejection of several key planks of Reformed theology, proponents of Arminianism took various positions on other matters. Some were broadly committed to catholic and creedal theology; others were more open to theological revision. Some were concerned primarily with practical concerns; others were engaged in system building as they sought to articulate and defend an overarching vision of God and the world. The story of this development is both complex and important for a proper understanding of the history of Protestant theology. However, this historical development of Arminian theology is not well known. In this book, Thomas H. McCall and Keith D. Stanglin offer a historical introduction to Arminian theology as it developed in modern thought, providing an account that is based upon important primary sources and recent secondary research that will be helpful to scholars of ecclesial history and modern thought as well as comprehensible and relevant for students.


Author(s):  
Saladin Meckled-Garcia

This chapter presents a distinct account of neutrality in which the acceptability or justice of policies or public actions can only be established ‘holistically’, requiring an all-things-considered assessment in which the neutrality of those policies is never by itself definitive. Instead, neutrality is a definitive constraint only on the justification of principles/theories of justice. The chapter sets out a proper understanding of the value behind neutrality, defending this value from autonomy-based objections to neutrality. It then uses that account to show how the value engages with policies and public actions. The chapter also responds critically to views that see neutrality as a standard to be established separately to theories of justice. Finally, it argues that the value of neutrality with its proper scope and object in place can explain how to address cases of claimed exemption on the basis of burdens of conscience by people with ‘deeply’ held convictions.


Author(s):  
Mitchell Green

We first correct some errors in Lepore and Stone’s discussion of speaker meaning and its relation to linguistic meaning. With a proper understanding of those notions and their relation, we may then motivate a liberalization of speaker meaning that includes overtly showing one’s psychological state. I then distinguish this notion from that of expression, which, although communicative, is less cognitively demanding than speaker meaning since it need not be overt. This perspective in turn enables us to address Lepore and Stone’s broadly Davidsonian view of figurative language, which rightly emphasizes the role of imagination and perspective-taking associated with such language, but mistakenly suggests it is sui generis relative to other types of pragmatic process, and beyond the realm of communication. Figurative utterances may influence conversational common ground, and may be assessed for their aptness; they also have a characteristically expressive role that a Davidsonian view lacks the resources to explain.


Author(s):  
Mark Textor
Keyword(s):  

Brentano’s metaphysics of consciousness faces several questions: Can a relation be self-relating without leading to counter-intuitive consequences? Has the vicious regress of conscious-making acts really been stopped by Brentano’s theory or is there a revenge regress? In this chapter I answer these questions on Brentano’s behalf. I will assess Gurwitsch’s argument against Brentano and argue that it shows that one of Gurwitsch’s premises is wrong, not that there is a new regress for Brentano. Pothast also does not show that there is a regress threat for Brentano because Brentano does not, as Pothast claims, hold that the secondary presentation presents itself as a presentation of itself. A similar criticism applies to Frank’s attempt to show that Brentano is open to a regress threat. The chapter concludes by investigating what distinguishes conscious and unconscious mental acts, and why and how self-referentiality makes for consciousness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 274-291
Author(s):  
Andrea Polaschegg

Abstract Tracing the transformations phenomenological thought underwent in the sphere of literary studies after the 1930s, the paper outlines the epistemological potential of this tradition in regards to a proper understanding of the phenomenon ›text‹. Proceeding from reflections on the agonal relation between structuralistic and phenomenological traditions within contemporary literary theory, the article focuses on Husserl’s apprehension of texts as being »objects in procedure« by exploring the impact of this idea on the literary theories of Ingarden, Wellek, and Iser. In light of the - largely forgotten - fact that Karl Bühler’s pioneering Language Theory (1934) is mainly based on phenomenological thinking, the paper finally discusses to what extend Bühler’s idea of verbal expressions figuring as effective events could open a new space for the development of a literary theory of texts within recent debates on the »media of literature«.


Author(s):  
Adam Buben

AbstractUnamuno believes that longing for immortality is what motivates nearly all of human behavior. Unfortunately, in a world in which many people despair of ever achieving true personal immortality, we increasingly turn to what he calls mere “shadows of immortality” for comforting ideas about how our names, energy, or basic material substance will carry on in our absence. Unamuno advocates fighting against such despair, staying out of the shadows, and longing for personal immortality even when it seems impossible. Unamuno’s approach to this issue resembles, in a few significant ways, Kierkegaard’s struggle for the cultivation of subjective selfhood. At the same time, it also runs afoul of Nietzsche’s derisive claims about immortality-seekers. Whereas Nietzsche sees longing for immortality as a sign of being too weak to make the most of mortal life, the more Kierkegaardian Unamuno counters that it is a sign of strong appreciation for life to demand, without surrender, that there be more of it. Given the proper understanding of Nietzsche’s claims about the eternal recurrence, I think he and Unamuno might not be quite as far apart as it initially seems. However, exploring the latter’s critique of the former suggests an intriguing way of seeing the contemporary analytic debate about the desirability of immortality. Building on Unamuno’s position, one could argue that pessimism about the value of immortality is actually indicative of a flawed character and an impoverished relationship with life.


Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 106385122110167
Author(s):  
Scott R. Swain

In chapter 4 of his book, God in Himself, Steven Duby grounds theology’s use of metaphysical language and concepts in Scripture’s prior usage of such language and concepts. The following article seeks to fortify Duby’s argument by showing how the discourse of the gospel subversively fulfills the quest of Greco-Roman philosophy and religion to ground divine worship in a proper understanding of the divine nature.


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