Philosophers ought to develop,theorize about,and use philosophically relevant AI

The transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) is coming to philosophy—the only question is the degree to which philosophers will harness it. This paper argues that the application of AI tools to philosophy could have an impact on the field comparable to the advent of writing, and that it is likely that philosophical progress will significantly increase as a consequence of AI. The role of philosophers in this story is not merely to use AI but also to help develop it and theorize about it. In fact, the paper argues that philosophers have a prima facie obligation to spend significant effort in doing so, at least insofar as they should spend effort philosophizing.     

Comparing language and religion in normative arguments about linguistic justice

Many of the most influential theorists of linguistic justice make arguments on the basis of comparisons between language and religion. They claim either that (1) language, by contrast with religion, cannot be separated from the state or that (2) unequal official linguistic recognition, just like unequal official religious recognition, is morally problematic. This article argues that careful attention to debates about liberalism and the place of religion in public life invites us to question the two above-mentioned liberal assumptions about religion underlying many arguments concerning linguistic justice based on (dis)analogies between language and religion. The hope is that such critical scrutiny is likely to shed some light on normative questions of linguistic justice, more precisely on questions about the legitimacy of granting more recognition to certain languages, usually those of national native groups (as opposed to groups resulting from more or less recent immigration).     

Immigrant linguistic justice: The lay of the land

Linguistic justice is concerned with the just way of politically regulating linguistic diversity. Today, the linguistic-justice debate may be differentiated into three different domains: interlinguistic justice, intralinguistic justice, and global linguistic justice. Each of these domains has, to a significant extent, attracted different authors and debates, although the normative system underlying them is structurally similar. This introductory piece aims to provide context for our symposium dedicated to linguistic justice and migration by, first, giving an overview of linguistic justice, second, linking linguistic justice to migration, and, finally, providing an overview of the various papers in the symposium, situating them against the background developed in the first two sections.     

Structural linguistic injustice

This paper develops a concept of structural linguistic injustice. By employing the so-called structural-injustice approach, it argues that individuals' seemingly harmless language attitudes and language choices might enable serious harms on a collective level, constituting what one could call a structural linguistic injustice. Section 1 introduces the linguistic-justice debate. By doing so, it establishes linguistic diversity as the context in which phenomena such as individuals' language attitudes, language choice, and language loss occur. Moreover, the paper illustrates why employing the structural-injustice approach might be beneficial for the linguistic-justice debate. Section 2 conceptualizes individuals' (certain types of) language attitudes and language choice as (objectionable) social structures. Section 3 provides a concept of structural linguistic injustice. Section 4 suggests one possible remedy for structural linguistic injustice. Section 5 concludes the paper.     

COMPUTERIZED SYSTEMS FOR COLLECTING REAL-TIME OBSERVATIONAL DATA

Advances in computer technology have led to the development of a number of semiautomated systems for collecting real-time observational data. We conducted a survey of 15 developers of computerized systems and summarized the features of each system. Many of these systems have incorporated laptop or handheld computers as well as bar-code scanners. Most systems used IBM-compatible (DOS or Windows) software, although a few were designed for either the MacOS or some other operating system. The range in prices started from free to more complete systems costing over $1,500. Data analysis programs were included with most programs; however, only about a third of the systems included a program to compute interobserver agreement.     

EFFECTS OF DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT ON THE GENERALIZATION OF A REPLACEMENT MAND IN THREE CHILDREN WITH SEVERE LANGUAGE DELAYS

We investigated variables that may influence the generalization of a replacement mand in 3 young children with severe language delays. A multiple baseline design consisting of one stimulus class of manding opportunities that we arbitrarily divided into three categories (i.e., food, toys, and events) was used for each child. During baseline probes, all children manded mainly by reaching, grabbing, or leading. We then taught each child a replacement mand using a single member of the stimulus class. Acquisition of the replacement mand occurred under highly restricted conditions in a setting that was completely isolated from the generalization settings. Postacquisition probes revealed almost exclusive use of old manding forms. Subsequently, extinction of the old forms and reinforcement of the replacement mand were introduced in a sequential fashion. Two children manifested a substantial increase, and 1 child displayed a moderate increase in the occurrence of the replacement mand (i.e., generalization occurred). These results suggest that a differential reinforcement procedure can alter the probability of the occurrence of response class members across a variety of stimulus conditions.     

Just How Correct is Political Correctness? A Critique of the Opposition's Arguments

I begin by examining three factors which enable the term political correctness (hereafter PC) itself to feed into the hands of its opponents: namely, the trivialization of the actual issues which are attributed to PC, the villainization of those involved in the PC movement, and the conferring of a sense of legitimacy on the opposition movement.The bulk of the paper provides a detailed summary and critique of every single articulated Canadian position I encountered against such PC measures as fair language policies. I have distinguished between arguments directed at the ideological content and the methodology of PC. Arguments directed at the ideological content are divided into the threat to freedom of expression argument, the threat to academic freedom argument, and the degeneration into triviality argument; arguments directed at the methdology are divided into the argument that PC commits the very evils that it addresses and the argument that PC uses unjust means to get its way.The paper ends by claiming that if PC means minimizing sexual and racial harrassment, discourgaing homophobic, racist, and sexist discourse within educational settings, and curtailing policies which victimize oppressed groups, then political correctness is not merely correct, but morally obligatory as well.     

Niklas Luhmann's Systems Theory as a Challenge for Ethics

The author discusses Niklas Luhmann's concept of ethics and morals. Therefore he sketches the main traits of Luhmann's theory of systems (e.g. the terms autopoiesis, system and environment, code and programme). From the system-theoretical point of view, ethics are characterized as the reflexive theory of morals. Morals are described as the communication of regard or disregard. The author shows which consequences follow from this concept by discussing problems concerning several subsystems at the same time. The problems of Luhmann's theory of morals and ethics are demonstrated by analyzing the concepts of risk and responsibility. Finally, the author demands that ethics should be understood even more as social ethics which reflect upon their social foundation in a more consequent way.