Atomism, Concepts, and Polysemy

The aim of this paper is to examine the theoretical architecture of semantic atomism and its consequences with respect to natural language. In particular, it looks to explore the notion of possible concepts using the fundamental distinction between simple and complex concepts and expressions in Jerry Fodor’s atomism. The distinction is exploited to produce an unusual type of concept referred to as a correlate, which effectively mirrors complex concepts while maintaining a distinct underlying structure. Though harmless in and of themselves, their presence in the context of polymorphemic expressions suggests that atomism harbors a tacit and unintuitive form of polysemy that is problematic in its own right and that leads to other complications, some of which may be demonstrated on the example of communication. These issues are tied to the way atomism is structured, and although they seem to have gone largely unnoticed, they appear to bear negatively on the adequacy of atomism where natural language is concerned.

The Origins of Temporal Legitimacy

Historical analyses of the relations between political theory and time often hinge on two claims. The first is that political theorists have until recently put less emphasis on the future than the past when debating political legitimacy and obligation. The second is that the history of political theory draws a fundamental distinction between theories that invoke time to legitimate political structures and theories that reject temporal considerations in favor of timeless principles. This chapter disputes these two claims by maintaining that competing languages of legitimacy harbor different and interrelated conceptions of temporality. A survey of time conceptions in the history of political philosophy shows that normative political theory is inherently multitemporal, involving double regard for the past and the future. And, since even tenseless principles of legitimacy often depend on temporally related forms of formulation and application, considerations about time seem inescapable in normative political theory.

Demonstratives can train spatial perspective taking: The case of Spanish

Demonstratives are used in all the world’s languages to establish joint attention between interlocutors. I have recently proposed that demonstratives further train speakers of different languages in spatial perspective taking by automatizing the computation of different relational values (e.g., the distance, familiarity or altitude of a referent) from different perspectives (the speaker’s, the listener’s or both) depending on the language. The present study starts by pointing out a common mis-analysis of the form ‘este’ in Spanish as a proximal demonstrative, when it is in fact used as a filler. I then report an online study (N=51) testing two alternative views of the Spanish demonstrative system: the distance-oriented view (according to which all Spanish demonstratives indicate relative distance from the speaker) vs the person-oriented view (according to which the proximal forms indicate proximity to the speaker, the medial forms indicate proximity to the listener and the distal forms indicate distance from both speaker and listener). The results of the study confirmed the person- oriented account, supporting the view that there is a fundamental distinction between near and far space in demonstrative use, with interactive factors (such as listener position) playing a role in far space.

Image in the Making

Human beings have always made images, and to do so they have developed and refined an enormous range of artistic tools and materials. With the development of digital technology, the ways of making images—whether they are still or moving, 2D or 3D—have evolved at an unprecedented rate. At every stage of image making, artists now face a choice between using analog and using digital tools. Yet a digital image need not look digital; and likewise, a handmade image or traditional photograph need not look analog. If we do not see the artist’s choice between the analog and the digital, what difference can this choice make for our appreciation of images in the digital age? Image in the Making answers this question by accounting for the fundamental distinction between the analog and the digital; by explicating the technological realization of this distinction in image-making practice; and by exploring the creative possibilities that are distinctive of the digital. The case is made for a new kind of appreciation in the digital age. In appreciating the images involved in every digital art form—from digital video installation to net art to digital cinema—there is a basic truth that we cannot ignore: the nature and technology of the digital expands both what an image can be as an image and what an image can be for us.

MI, NAROD FEDERACIJE! USTAVOTVORNA VLAST U KLASIČNIM I SUVREMENIM FEDERACIJAMA

Regardless of the earlier assumptions about the obsolescence of the classic federal theory, the paper emphasizes the contemporary significance and relevance of federalism. Europe is the epicentre of modern federalization processes, not only when it comes to the European Union, but also a number of European countries such as Belgium, Spain and the United Kingdom. The paper points out the fundamental distinction between the classic and modern federalism, which has its origin in the fact that federal systems 'arise' differently as a result of opposite processes of federalization and that in this sense we can distinguish between classic “integrative” and modern “devolutive” federalism. The basic assumptions of the paper are that 1) these two federalism patterns originally differ in the character of the basic constitutive act of the federal union with regard to the subject of creating a federation, and 2) because contemporary federations are “federal states without a federal foundation” this difference is not noticeable today. On the contrary, it has largely disappeared, and in this way, the difference between classic and modern federalism is actually bridged.

Contract Law Theory and The Concept of ‘Ownership’

Contract law and property law are traditionally viewed to be two separate fields of private law shaped by different principles. Over the past years a theory of contract law thoroughly drawing on the concept of “ownership” has been promoted by common law scholars. It leads at its core to the conclusion that the distinction between absolute and relative rights is irrelevant inter partes and that, therefore, a theoretical division between contract and property cannot be strictly maintained. This touches upon the fundamental distinction between absolute and relative rights raising the question why a contract does not automatically lead to an absolute right with regard to the substance of the promised performance.

Jewish Law, Roman Law, and the Accordance of Hospitality to Refugees and Climate-Change Migrants

This article examines Jewish law’s approach to forced migration. It explains the difference under Jewish law between forced migration brought about by disasters and the state of being a refugee—which is directly associated with war and armed conflict. It continues by demonstrating how these distinctions influenced the religious Jewish authors of the 1951 Refugee Convention. It concludes with the fundamental distinction between Jewish law and Roman law, concerning the latter’s application of a strong differentiation between citizens and migrant foreigners, which under Jewish law was entirely proscribed as per the religious duty to accord hospitality to forced migrants irrespective of their background.

Introduction

“There’s nowhere like Mexico”—como México no hay dos—is a nationalist catchphrase: sometimes jingoistic, sometimes ironic, always accurate.1 In the first place Mexico enjoys the fundamental distinction of housing one of the few great social and political revolutions; in the Americas only Cuba compares....

On a Kantian Form of Respect

In this essay, Stephen Darwall first develops a rich set of distinctions of different forms of respect that supplement the fundamental distinction of recognition and appraisal respect. He then applies it to Kant’s dictum from The Critique of Practical Reason that “before a common humble man … my spirit bows.” Darwall is particularly interested in what Kant says about the phenomenology of respect: how it occurs, how it feels, and the like. The framework Darwall developed earlier, allows him to show how respect as a moral feeling is not only a form of appraisal but also recognition respect, and how the moral feeling of respect relates to other forms, such as “social respect” and “honor respect.”