Philosophers on drugs

Synthese - There are some philosophical questions that can be answered without attention to the social context in which evidence is produced and distributed. Abstracting away from social context is...     

Philosophers on the "Art-of-Living"

Art-of-living is a classical notion in philosophy that is currently receiving renewed interest. Art-of-living refers to a kind of self-direction with a view to the good life. This paper surveys modern philosophical thought on this subject. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Superselection Rules for Philosophers

The overaraching goal of this paper is to elucidate the nature of superselection rules in a manner that is accessible to philosophers of science and that brings out the connections between superselection and some of the most fundamental interpretational issues in quantum physics. The formalism of von Neumann algebras is used to characterize three different senses of superselection rules (dubbed, weak, strong, and very strong) and to provide useful necessary and sufficient conditions for each sense. It is then shown how the Haag–Kastler algebraic approach to quantum physics holds the promise of a uniform and comprehensive account of the origin of superselection rules. Some of the challenges that must be met before this promise can be kept are discussed. The focus then turns to the role of superselection rules in solutions to the measurement problem and the emergence of classical properties. It is claimed that the role for “hard” superselection rules is limited, but “soft” (a.k.a. environmental) superselection rules or N. P. Landsman’s situational superselection rules may have a major role to play. Finally, an assessment is given of the recently revived attempts to deconstruct superselection rules.

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Ramus and Other Renaissance Philosophers on Subjectivity

This paper considers philosophical approaches that are relevant to the intertwinement of logic, metaphysics, and psychology proposed by the Aquinas commentator Tommaso de Vio Cardinal Cajetan, the humanist Petrus Ramus, the pure Aristotelian Cornelius Martini, the Semi-Ramist Bartholomaeus Keckermann, and the lexicographer Rudolf Goclenius. Mostly, however, it is about Ramus and his followers, the Ramists, because of the role they played in exacerbating a discussion on the constitution of objectivity during the Renaissance that was to have an impact on Cartesian andpost-Cartesian theories of subjectivity. Finally, keeping in mind that Kant was familiar with the secunda Petri, i.e., with the second part of Ramus's logic, namely the theory of judgment, some common ground is recognizable between Ramus and Kant as well. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

一所培养哲学家的学校——牛津的哲学教育

本文把牛津等英国大学做哲学的方式与德国所谓的哲学研究进行比较,并论证:由于英国现存的一系列特殊的教育体制,使得德国所流行的那些做法不可能在英国得到鼓励.譬如,牛津大学实行导学制,对学生做每周至少一次耳提面命式的指导;校方对教学很重视,把教学而不是写作作为教师的主要职责;教师的职位很有保障,只要完成教学任务,对发表作品不做什么要求;写作和发表作品是研究兴趣、自我激励和思想成熟的自然后果;如此等等.总之,在英国大学,哲学师生之间、同事之间共享的不是一组哲学信条,而是一套学术标准.与其说牛津大学是一所传播哲学知识的学校,不如说是一所培养哲学家的学校.     

Philosophers should prefer simpler theories

Recent years have seen considerable attention paid to the methodology of philosophy. The puzzle is simple—if philosophy is not an empirical discipline, how can one philosophical theory be rationally preferred over another? One answer to this question is that we should apply the theoretical virtues. Foremost among these theoretical virtues is simplicity—so perhaps we should prefer simpler philosophical theories to more complex ones. Huemer (Philos Q 59:216–236, 2009) objects that the reasons to prefer simpler theories in science do not apply in philosophy. I will argue that Huemer is mistaken—the arguments he marshals for preferring simpler theories in science can also be applied in philosophy. Like Huemer, I will focus on the philosophy of mind and the nominalism/Platonism debate. But I want to engage with the broader issue of whether simplicity is relevant to philosophy.     

汉代诸子学与汉代学术--兼评《汉代诸子与经学》

“合”是汉代诸子学的一个重要特点,但是“合”不是“大杂烩”,而是指各家彼此渗透、相互吸收和融合。正是这种思想的整合以及在整合基础上的发展,才形成了汉代诸子学“多元一体”的特征。两汉时期的政治社会因素不仅为诸子之学的发展提供了社会土壤。还直接影响诸子学的发展方向,使汉代诸子与先秦诸子有截然不同的表象,在两汉历史发展过程中明显表现出阶段性特征。     

Dumb Beasts and Dead Philosophers

Tharae history of argument and explanation especially in the mathematical and biomedical sciences and arts. 3 vols. 2456 pp., ills. Duckworth, London, 1994, £180 ISBN 0–7156–2439–3     

古希腊哲学家与奥运会

中国哲学界对2008年北京奥运会不著一字,似乎哲学与体育有天遥地远的隔阂。其实古希腊许多著名哲学家都参加奥运会,甚至还是奥运会的冠军;包括奥运会在内的各种赛会的公开、公正、公平的传统,尼采认为是优良政制的一种政治伦理;而且,奥运会曾是巴门尼德和芝诺宣示自身哲学的一个影响深远的舞台。另外学园与浴池实际上都可以在赛会的竞技馆中得到统一的解释。对于奥运会,哲学家作为参加者而不仅仅是旁观者的地位,“看”到了许多超越时代超越民族的普世价值,使之升华,也许正因为如此,才有了现代奥运的今天。     

Mary and the Vocation of Philosophers

Pope John Paul II, in Fides et ratio #108, states that there is a deep harmony between the vocation of true philosophy and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This intriguing claim, so different from the usual link of Mary with faith, is developed in this article. Drawing analogical implications from selected events in Mary's life, two questions will be asked: How do philosophers "philosophize in Mary?;" and how could this way of philosophizing help us today to renew the vocation to be a philosopher? The following authors are considered: Thomas Aquinas, Edith Stein, Jacques and Raïssa Maritain, Bernard Lonergan, Josef Ratzinger, Mary Daly, Robert Sokolowski, Norris Clarke, Søren Kierkegaard, Karol Wojtyla, John Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Judy Chicago, and John Henry Newman.