The fundamentality of existence or quiddity: a confusion between epistemology and ontology

Regarding the exhaustive discussions of the fundamentality of existence versus the fundamentality of quiddity, it is a necessary preliminary to examine and analyze the first documented statement of the fundamentality of existence. Following this, we must inquire how the concept is obtained on the basis of which such a judgment could be formed. Then we must illuminate the meaning of propositions that state only that an object is or exists (ontological propositions). Finally, by explaining the meaning of the words “quiddity” and “existence” and comparing them, indications are found of confusion between epistemological and ontological issues.

Dorr on the language of ontology

Philosophical Studies - In the ‘ordinary business of life’, everyone makes claims about what there is. For instance, we say things like: ‘There are some beautiful chairs in my...     

On not knowing what or who one is: Reflections on the intelligibility of dualism

Beginning with Descartes' caution not imprudently to take some other object in place of myself, I consider first the problems of self-identification confronted by variousamnesiacs, both ordinary and Cartesian. Noting thatcogitationes as such do not individuate, I proceed to examine conclusions drawn from certain sorts of body-switching thought experiments. This, in turn, gives rise to a general critique of psychological connectedness or unity of consciousness as a candidate criterion of personal identity. I conclude that our ability to apply any notion of personal identity is parasitic upon the existence of a conceptual apparatus for individuating, identifying, and reidentifying objects. Finally, I argue that, if person is a proper sortal predicate to begin with, Descartes'res cogitans cannot be understood as a species of the (metaphysical) genusres, distinct fromres extensa and only problematically in interaction with it. Cartesian dualism is a multiply untenable doctrine.     

To pray or not to pray: Reflections on the intersection of prayer and medicine

Recent medical studies documenting the influence of prayer in our physical lives challenge mainstream Christians to rethink their ideas and practice of prayer. A new model of prayer questions dysfunctional images of prayer based on 1) the doctrine of divine omnipotence, 2) the rewards-punishments notion of health and illness, and 3) linear notions of the power of prayer. Relational, holistic, and multidimensional images of God, human existence, and the effects of prayer provide the basis for a constructive theology of prayer. Ironically, the fact that prayer is not omnipotent makes it possible to practice prayer in a technological context.     

Reflections on the Reflections

Pastoral Psychology -     

Keeping quiet on the ontology of models

Stein once urged us not to confuse the means of representation with that which is being represented. Yet that is precisely what philosophers of science appear to have done at the meta-level when it comes to representing the practice of science. Proponents of the so-called ‘syntactic’ view identify theories as logically closed sets of sentences or propositions and models as idealised interpretations, or ‘theoruncula, as Braithwaite called them. Adherents of the ‘semantic’ approach, on the other hand, are typically characterised as taking them to be families of models that are set-theoretic, according to Suppes and others, or abstract, as Giere has argued. da Costa and French (Science and Partial Truth. OUP, Oxford, 2003) suggested that we should refrain from ontological speculation as to the nature of scientific theories and models and focus on their appropriate representation for various purposes within the philosophy of science. Such an approach allows both linguistic and non-linguistic resources to play their appropriate role (see also French and Saatsi, Philosophy of Science, Proceedings of the 2004 PSA Meeting, 78:548–559, 2006) and can be supported by recent case studies illustrating the heterogeneity of scientific practice. My aim in this paper is to further develop this ‘quietist’ view, and to indicate how it offers a fruitful way forward for the philosophy of science.     

Motivational effects of success or failure feedback on the perception of affective pictures

A study of perception of affective pictures from the International Affective Photo System, using the Self Assessment Manikin scale, was conducted. It was hypothesized that participants' affective ratings could be moderated by a subjective experience of success or failure. Analysis, based on a sample of 36 university students, showed an approach tendency for women when they were exposed to positive pictures in the success condition. This approach tendency was associated with relatively shorter processing times and high affective ratings. Men showed relatively shorter processing times and high affective ratings when exposed to negative pictures. For memory-related measures, the highest scores were observed in the success condition for exposure to pleasant pictures. The results are discussed in terms of affective-related self-regulatory tendencies moderated by sex.     

The ontology of intentionality II: dependence ontology as prolegomenon to noetic modal semantics

This is the second in a sequence of three essays which axiomatize and apply Edmund Husserl's dependence ontology of parts and wholes as a non-Diodorean, non-Kantian temporal semantics for first-order predicate modal languages. The Ontology of Intentionality I introduced enough of Husserl's dependence-ontology of parts and wholes to formulate his account of order as effected by relating moments of unity, and The Ontology of Intentionality II extends that axiomatic dependence-ontology far enough to enable its semantic application. Formalizing the compatibility [Vereinbarkeit] relation implicated in Husserl's notorious doctrine of impossible meanings, the essay introduces a compatibility restriction on relations to formulate Husserl's distinction between singular [einheitliche] and plural [mehrheitliche] objects, using plural relating moments to define first-order versions of Husserl's notions of relation complexes (i.e. Sachverhalte), abstracta of n-ary relation complexes, categorial relations, abstract eide as unifications of categorial relations, semantic domains as completions of abstract eide, and material regions as semantic domains which are compatibility upper bounds of categorial relations. These concepts will enable the formal dependence-ontological noetic semantics for two-valued, first-order modal languages introduced in the sequel Two-Valued Logics of Intentionality, the third essay in the sequence.     

The effect of discrimination training on speech perception: Noncategorical perception

Three subjects were given extensive practice in discriminating syllables which differed in voice onset time. For these subjects, there were two major findings. First, discrimination of speech follows normal psychophysical laws: long-onset-time stimuli require larger differences than shorter ones for comparable discrimination. Second, the shape of the discrimination function for experienced subjects is more like a leaning W than an inverted V, the usual shape for naive subjects. The data support a model of speech perception with both an acoustic and a phonetic component. The phonetic component is best characterized as a prototype matching process, with the prototype including information on the simultaneity of formant onset.     

Temporal ontology: tenselessness and quantification

Synthese - Temporal ontology is concerned with the ontological status of the past, the present and the future, with presentism and eternalism as main contenders since the second half of the last...