O pojęciu kultury oraz jego socjologizacji: ratio versus vis

On the concept of culture and its sociologization. Ratio versus vis: The author argues against an absolutization of the sociological perspective and its anti‐cultural character. He criticizes the inadequacy of the sociological perspective in relation to the essence of culture, the purest form of which is art. The ideal of art, and its classic conceptualization in European culture, is based on a distinction of two opposite orders: the order of ratio, i.e. the idea, and the order of vis, i.e. force. The sociological approach to culture tends to reduce it to its competence, that is the order of social forces. The author’s critical remarks are provoked by the representative theory of culture, as it is exposed by Piotr Sztompka, the prominent Polish sociologist.

Quality as Subjectively Measured Value

The paper identifies the problem of ensuring the reliability of measurement results of quality characteristics as subjective values and their correct application in logical and mathematical models of making decisions. The purpose of this study is to increase the reliability of expert evaluation of individual characteristics of the quality of processes, products, systems.The article describes basic methodological approaches to subjective measurements represented by the classical, operational and representational theories of measurement. The most acceptable for the purposes of ensuring the reliability of the expert evaluation of the single quality characteristics a representative theory, suggesting that the subjective value can be measured only in nominal or ordinal scales was determined. The contradiction is established: the possibility of measuring of single quality characteristics in the ordinal scale does not meet the needs of specialists in the field of quality, whouse subjective measurements to solve problems of analysis and decision-making, requiring the use of logical and mathematical models; in that way estimates should be expressed at least in the interval scale. The article substantiates the best solution of this problem by use of the rating scale which has properties of both ordinal and interval scales.Within the framework of the expert methods of quality measurements development two fundamental elements of the methodology of subjective measurements of subjective values from the standpoint of representative theory are formulated: 1) the rating scale as a modified scale of ranks, 2) the method of organization of the measurement process as a method of alternative assessment of expert preferences.Much attention is given to axiomatic of the rating scale having properties of both ordinal and interval scales. The algorithm of implementation of alternative assessment's of expert preferences method which is based on a special two-stage plan of alternative expert survey and statistical criterion of preferences' stability was suggested. In conjunction, the methodologies of subjective measurements of subjective values ensure the correctness of the rating scale's formation and conversion of the values of quality characteristics in the form of ratings in the corresponding values expressed at least in the scale of intervals.

Replies to Coliva, Leite, and Stroud

Here I cast some doubt on Professor Coliva’s interpretive claim that Moore’s “Proof of an external world” is addressed to idealism, not skepticism, and explore the consequences for our understanding of the final paragraphs of the paper. In response to Professor Leite, I examine the disagreement between us on whether the global skeptical hypotheses can be refuted by ordinary evidence. Finally, after analyzing the logic of the skeptical argumentation, I attempt an answer to Professor Stroud’s question about the staying power of the representative theory of perception.

Broad, Charlie Dunbar (1887–1971)

A Cambridge contemporary of Russell, Moore and Wittgenstein, C.D. Broad wrote on an exceptional range of topics, including causation, perception, the philosophy of space and time, probability and induction, mind and body, ethics and the history of philosophy. He typically set out a number of received positions on a topic, explored their consequences with great clarity, and then came to a cautious estimate of where the truth probably lay. However, Broad made some notable contributions of his own, especially on perception (he defended a representative theory), induction (he argued that our inductive practices require the existence of natural kinds), and time (he argued that tensed facts cannot be analysed away). Although his talents lay in very careful analysis, Broad insisted that there was a proper place in philosophy for metaphysical speculation; he particularly admired McTaggart, and his monumental Examination of McTaggart’s Philosophy (1933, 1938) contains some of Broad’s best work.

Sensible Qualities and Secondary Qualities in the First Dialogue

By focusing on the First Dialogue’s use of ‘sensible quality’ rather than ‘idea’, we can draw out some important morals that allow us to better appreciate its actual accomplishments. Whereas the Principles is an attack on materialist mechanism primarily via its representative theory of perception, the First Dialogue is an attack on materialist mechanism primarily via its primary/secondary-quality distinction. Viewing the First Dialogue in this light allows us to see it as more effective and insightful than we otherwise might, although it also requires us to acknowledge that Hylas is never as philosophically naïve as Berkeley sometimes seems to suggest.