Habilitationsschrift-Hamburg. / Bibliography: p. [336]-382.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1920. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-182).

No description available.

Only with a comprehensive detailed theory of the practical processes which agents engage in prior to successful action can one get a picture of all those junctures at which the mechanism of rationality may be applied, and at which irrationality may therefore occur. Rationality, I argue, is the exercise of normatives, such as believable and desirable, whose function is to control the formation of the stages in practical processes by determining what content and which functions of practical states are allowed into the process. Believable is a functional concept, and for an agent to wield it requires that he possess beliefs or a theory he can justify about which states are goal-functional. Desirable is likewise a functional concept, and its exercise requires that agents possess justifiable beliefs or a theory about which goals are to be functional. When the desirability belief functions, it does so according to ideals of the theory. For example, it functions saliently where desires become intentions. So long as the normatives function in these ways the agent is rational. To so function is to satisfy the ideal for agency itself. Chapter 2 presents a fine-grained model of the fundamental terms and relations necessary for practical reasoning and agency. In this model, the functions of belief, desire and intention are described in naturalized terms. On the basis of this account of the terms of agency, a taxonomy of the possible failures of rationally controlled practicality is presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 presents a comprehensive and detailed account of intention formation comprised of the functions of belief, desire and intention. Wherever one of those functions occurs in the process is a juncture at which rationality may be exercised, and therefore a point at which irrationality may occur. In chapter 5 I describe some of the main ways that dysfunctional states may disrupt agency, creating irrationality. The measures agents may take to ameliorate or otherwise control such failures are discussed and distinguished according to the ideal of agency. Finally, and in these terms, I address the problem of akrasia, in particular the views of Davidson and Mele, and show that the room they make for strict akratic action involves a significant compromise of the ideals of agency, and therefore is not as "strict" as they and others have claimed. / Arts, Faculty of / Philosophy, Department of / Graduate

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Throughout history magic has been an art that has instilled awe and wonder in its spectators. The magician used to be held in high esteem, as teacher, as scientist, as priest and even as philosopher. This being the case, throughout the history of philosophy, philosophers have deemed magic to be deception, to be a mode of misleading people into believing what is not true. Through the modern philosophical era, philosophers have been seeking a purely scientific method for questioning reality. It seems that, today, even the magician views his or her art as mere entertainment. The purpose of my thesis is to dispel the belief that magic is purely a hobby with no artistic value and that, like other artworks, magic too can cause one to question existence. / by Mark J. Gobeo. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Orientador: Kleber Cecon / Co-orientador: Marcos Antonio Alves / Banca: Max Rogério Vicentini / Banca: Lúcio Lourenço Prado / Resumo: No século XVIII, o filósofo napolitano Giambattista Vico faz uma crítica ao racionalismo cartesiano, refutando a tese de que as ciências naturais pudessem alcançar a verdade. Seu pensamento reivindica, para a imaginação, a linguagem e a história - dimensões negligenciadas pela corrente racionalista - um status prioritário para a obtenção de conhecimento verossímil. A atenção exacerbada para atividades puramente racionais, como a matemática e a lógica, para a obtenção de conhecimento, segundo Vico, conduziria o homem a uma espécie de "barbárie", levando-o à desumanização. De acordo com Vico, fazer é conhecer e vice-versa. Somente se pode conhecer aquilo que se faz. Ao homem, não é possível o conhecimento da natureza em sua essência, pelo fato de não ser o seu criador. No entanto, o homem cria a história e, por isso, pode conhecê-la. Os vestígios históricos trazidos pela filologia, somados à reflexão filosófica, poderão conduzir o homem ao conhecimento. Com a sua máxima verum et factum convertuntur ("conheço porque faço, faço porque conheço"), Vico coloca o homem como um produtor de modelos representativos do mundo, o qual lança mão da imaginação e do engenho (criação), para conceber a realidade. Partindo dessa máxima viquiana, visamos, neste trabalho, analisar a relevância das faculdades da imaginação e do engenho nos processos de elaboração de modelos científicos. No primeiro capítulo, buscamos compreender os principais conceitos do pensamento viquiano; em seguida, no segundo... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In the 17th century, Neapolitan philosopher Giambattista Vico criticizes Cartesianism, refuting the thesis that the Natural Sciences could reach the truth. His thought reclaims, to imagination, language and history - dimensions neglected by rationalist thinking - a priority status for the acquisition of credible knowledge. The exacerbated attention to purely rational activities such as mathematics and logic for knowledge acquisition, according to Vico, would lead mankind to a sort of "barbarism" taking it to dehumanization. For Vico, to do is to know and vice-versa. We can only know what we do. To men, it is not possible to know nature in its essence, for they are not its creator. However, man creates history and, therefore, may know it. The historical traces brought by philology, added to the philosophical reflection, may lead man to knowledge. With his maxim verum et factum convertuntur, (I know because I do, I do because I know), Vico places man as a producer of depictive models of the world, who makes use of imagination and ingeniousness (creation) to conceive the reality. From this Vichian maxim, we aim, in this study, to analyze the relevance of imagination and ingeniousness faculties in the processes of scientific models development. In the first chapter, we try to understand the main concepts of the Vichian thinking; after that, in the second chapter, we define the concepts aggregated with the imaginative faculty, like the memory, the ingeniousness and the fantasy. Vico suggests expand the validation of knowledge beyond the scrutiny of logic reasoning. Thus, in the third chapter, we investigate the exercise of imagination as a preponderant factor for the hypotheses elaboration and for the generation of new models in science. / Mestre

Thesis (M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies: Social and Political Thought)--Vanderbilt University, May 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-222).

Antropogena aktiviteter har på ett avgörande sätt bidragit till den klimatförändring som idag anses vara vår tids största utmaning. Oroväckande sociala, ekonomiska och ekologiska konsekvenser kommer att följa om inte åtgärder på ett effektivt sätt reglerar utsläppen av växthusgaser. Då internationella förhandlingar på senare tid inte har lyckats få till stånd verkningsfulla bindande avtal, har uppmärksamhet riktats mot geoingenjörskonst. Geoingenjörskonst definieras som ”avsiktlig storskalig manipulering av jordens klimatsystem” och erbjuder således möjligheten att via olika tekniker nå snabba temporära lösningar för att kyla ner planeten. Geoingenjörskonst väcker dock fundamentala miljöetiska frågor om huruvida implementering bör ske eller inte. Syftet med studien är således att identifiera hur geoingenjörskonst framställs i den miljöetiska litteraturen, vilka argument som lyfts fram och dess potential att motverka klimatförändringen. Studiens metod utgörs av en pro et contraanalys, där sju utvalda artiklar analyseras och deras pro respektive contraargument gentemot spetsformuleringen ”geoingenjörskonst bör implementeras” lyfts fram. Argumenten diskuteras i förhållande till varandra och utifrån två valda teorier, konstruktivism och rationalism. Slutsatsen visar att geoingenjörskonst har stor potential att motverka klimatförändringen med ett stort spann av möjliga tekniker. Dock råder stor oenighet mellan miljöetikerna huruvida implementering bör ske, då starka argument både för och mot återfinns av etisk och samhällspolitisk karaktär. / Anthropogenic activities have made a decisive contribution to the climate change that today is considered to be our greatest challenge. Disturbingly social, economic and ecological consequences will follow unless steps effectively regulate greenhouse gas emissions. As the international negotiations in recent time have not managed to achieve effective binding agreements, attention has been directed towards geoengineering. Geoengineering is defined as the “deliberate large-scale manipulation of the Earth´s climate system”, and thus offers the possibility of using various techniques to achieve quick temporary solutions to cool the planet. Geoengineering does raise foundational environmental ethical questions about whether implementation should take place or not. The purpose of this study is therefore to identify how geoengineering is produced in the environmental ethical literature, the arguments that are highlighted and its potential to mitigate climate change. The study´s methodology consists of a pro et contra analysis, where seven selected articles were analyzed and their pro respective contra arguments against the lace formulation “geoengineering should be implemented” was highlighted. Arguments discussed in relation to each other and by the two selected theories, constructivism and rationalism. The conclusion shows that geoengineering has great potential to mitigate climate change with a wide range of possible techniques. However, considerable disagreements between environmental ethics are whether the implementation should take place, when strong arguments both for and against were found of ethical and socio-political character.