Hasil untuk "Metaphysics"

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This article examines the ontological and ethical foundations of ecosufism through the views articulated by Muḥyiddīn Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638 AH/1240 CE) and Mawlānā Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (d. 672 AH/1273 CE) in their major works. Its central argument is that these two foundational figures of Sufi metaphysics offer a coherent, theocentric account of the human–nature relationship grounded in the principles of <i>waḥdat</i> (unity) and <i>tajallī</i> (self-disclosure). Conceiving the cosmos as a living and conscious reality, Ibn ʿArabī and Rūmī further deepen this ontological vision through the Qurʾānic notions of <i>khilāfah</i> (vicegerency) and <i>amānah</i> (trust). These concepts are explained in Ibn ʿArabī’s teaching of <i>al-insān al-kāmil</i> (the Perfect Man) and in Rūmī’s teachings on humility and mercy, as both an ontological and ethical responsibility. This responsibility is expressed through the practical and ethical virtue of <i>iʿtidāl</i> (moderation), which limits the use of natural resources by humans. In this sense, ecosufism stands in clear opposition to anthropocentric approaches, rejecting the reduction of nature to a mere means to human ends. The study also shows that, without claiming any historical origin or conceptual identity, there are notable parallels between the foundations of ecosufism and modern ecological approaches. In this respect, meaningful points of convergence can be identified between ecosufism’s ontological and ethical framework and contemporary perspectives such as deep ecology, the intrinsic value of nature, the idea of a living cosmos, panpsychism, environmental stewardship, and environmental virtue ethics. The article argues that ecosufism, as an understanding that explains human–nature relationships both in a metaphysical sense and how this relationship should be reflected in concrete practices, has the potential to contribute to today’s ecological problems at both the theoretical and practical levels.

Jan-Harm De Villiers

In this article I illustrate the challenges accompanying the utilisation of law in the service of animal liberation and simultaneously investigate the capacity of literature as a counterweight. I illustrate that the subject centred model of the law and specifically the construct of (animal) rights, which currently constitutes the most progressive use of the law for the advancement of animals’ interests, is grounded in an anthropocentric metaphysics of subjectivity that solidifies the human as patriarchal centre of beings. I subsequently identify the law and discourse of (animal) rights as sites of anthropocentric oppression and call for a critical approach that identifies anthropocentrism as its target. I draw on the work of Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin to illustrate how the polyphonic novel can destabilise the (authority of the) law and accommodate the voice(lessness) of the animal in a way that exposes and circumvents the fundamental anthropocentric limitations of the law. I furthermore analyse the way in which JM Coetzee utilises the Holocaust metaphor in his novella The Lives of Animals and argue that he not only foregrounds the critical importance of anthropocentrism for animal ethics, but also allows us to understand and approach intersectionality in a way that transcends the boundaries of inter-human injustices because he emphasizes that there are important links between the violence directed at both animals and humans.

Hans Halvorson, JB Manchak, James Owen Weatherall

Determinism is (roughly) the thesis that the past determines the future. But efforts to define it precisely have exposed deep methodological disagreements. Standard possible-worlds formulations of determinism presuppose an "agreement" relation between worlds,but this relation can be understood in multiple ways, none of which is particularly clear. We critically examine the proliferation of definitions of determinism in the recent literature, arguing that these definitions fail to deliver clear verdicts about actual scientific theories. We advocate a return to a formal approach, in the logical tradition of Carnap, that treats determinism as a property of scientific theories, rather than an elusive metaphysical doctrine. We highlight two key distinctions: (1) the difference between qualitative and "full" determinism, as emphasized in recent discussions of physics and metaphysics, and (2) the distinction between weak and strong formal conditions on the uniqueness of world extensions. We argue that defining determinism in terms of metaphysical notions such as haecceities is unhelpful, whereas rigorous formal criteria such as Belot's D1 and D3 offer a tractable and scientifically relevant account. By clarifying what it means for a theory to be deterministic, we set the stage for a fruitful interaction between physics and metaphysics.

Klaus Gärtner, Klaus Gärtner, João L. Cordovil et al.

In the metaphysics of science, it is often held that higher-level properties are grounded in micro-physical properties. According to many philosophers, however, phenomenal consciousness resists this view. Many famous arguments in Philosophy of Mind have been given to reject this notion. In this paper, we argue that there is something odd about the idea that phenomenal consciousness is a special case in science and give a constructive proposal on how consciousness can fit in the natural world. To do so, we will first introduce a general notion of what grounding is. Then, we will briefly explain how the arguments for the specialness of phenomenal consciousness work by considering two famous examples, namely the zombie and the knowledge argument. In a further step, we will briefly discuss two cases from other areas in science, i.e., in particle physics and chemistry. We will demonstrate that the standard view about the reductive relation does not hold, even in these paradigm cases of the natural sciences. If what we argue is true, we think that most arguments from phenomenal consciousness cannot defeat physicalism per se. Finally, we will introduce an alternative way to naturalize phenomenal consciousness.

Abeba Birhane, Jelle van Dijk, Frank Pasquale

In this work we challenge arguments for robot rights on metaphysical, ethical and legal grounds. Metaphysically, we argue that machines are not the kinds of things that may be denied or granted rights. Building on theories of phenomenology and post-Cartesian approaches to cognitive science, we ground our position in the lived reality of actual humans in an increasingly ubiquitously connected, controlled, digitized, and surveilled society. Ethically, we argue that, given machines current and potential harms to the most marginalized in society, limits on (rather than rights for) machines should be at the centre of current AI ethics debate. From a legal perspective, the best analogy to robot rights is not human rights but corporate rights, a highly controversial concept whose most important effect has been the undermining of worker, consumer, and voter rights by advancing the power of capital to exercise outsized influence on politics and law. The idea of robot rights, we conclude, acts as a smoke screen, allowing theorists and futurists to fantasize about benevolently sentient machines with unalterable needs and desires protected by law. While such fantasies have motivated fascinating fiction and art, once they influence legal theory and practice articulating the scope of rights claims, they threaten to immunize from legal accountability the current AI and robotics that is fuelling surveillance capitalism, accelerating environmental destruction, and entrenching injustice and human suffering.

Marek Żukowski, Marcin Markiewicz

In June 1925 Heisenberg arrived at Helgoland/Heligoland island to escape a fit of hay fever. He returned with a sketch of a strange theory of the micro-world, which we now call quantum mechanics. This essay attempts to present a look at this theory, which tries to return to the original insight of Heisenberg on what should be the essence of a theory of atomic realm: it must be a theory of the observable events, in which fundamentally unobservable quantities have no place. No ontological status is given to elements of the mathematical formulation of the theory. The theory is about our description of events in laboratories, probabilities of which are given by the Born rule. Following Bohr, these events involve macroscopic measuring apparatuses, and the accessible final events are classically describable. Information about the events is cloneable, as it is of a classical nature. The modern quantum theory of classicality is the decoherence theory. It treats "the pointer variable" of measuring apparatus as an open system interacting with an environment consisting of all other "zillions" of degrees of freedom of the device, and anything coupled to it. Because such environment is uncontrollable we have no possibility to reverse measurements. The quantum mechanical measurement theory based on decoherence theory is reproducing the predictions of Born rule. Notwithstanding, possibility of reversing measurements and of application of Born rule in situations other than these which lead to macroscopically observable events are features of a modification of quantum mechanics which is called by its adherents "unitary quantum mechanics". As its predictions, which go beyond quantum mechanics, are not testable - we claim that unitary quantum mechanics in an interpretation of quantum mechanics. As such it is metaphysics.

Weiqi Wang, Yangqiu Song

To enable Large Language Models (LLMs) to function as conscious agents with generalizable reasoning capabilities, it is crucial that they possess the reasoning ability to comprehend situational changes (transitions) in distribution triggered by environmental factors or actions from other agents. Despite its fundamental significance, this ability remains underexplored due to the complexity of modeling infinite possible changes in an event and their associated distributions, coupled with the lack of benchmark data with situational transitions. Addressing these gaps, we propose a novel formulation of reasoning with distributional changes as a three-step discriminative process, termed as MetAphysical ReaSoning. We then introduce the first-ever benchmark, MARS, comprising three tasks corresponding to each step. These tasks systematically assess LLMs' capabilities in reasoning the plausibility of (i) changes in actions, (ii) states caused by changed actions, and (iii) situational transitions driven by changes in action. Extensive evaluations with 20 (L)LMs of varying sizes and methods indicate that all three tasks in this process pose significant challenges, even for state-of-the-art LLMs and LMs after fine-tuning. Further analyses reveal potential causes for the underperformance of LLMs and demonstrate that pre-training them on large-scale conceptualization taxonomies can potentially enhance their metaphysical reasoning capabilities. Our data and models are publicly accessible at https://github.com/HKUST-KnowComp/MARS.

Auwais Rafudeen

This article employs an internal logics approach, developed in a recent work by Sher Ali Tareen, to the study of the Barelwi school in South Africa. This approach ties metaphysics to practice. Specifically, the article addresses some works of the school’s founder, Ahmad Raza Khan, as translated by South African Islamic scholar Abdul Hadi Qadiri, in the light of this approach. It then extrapolates the insights of this approach to a recent article by Sepetla Molapo, which highlights the importance of appreciating the metaphysical role of ancestors in any academic approach to understanding traditional African worldviews and African self-concept. Taken together, the article suggests that the internal logics approach is helpful in bringing to the surface the crucial, but often obscured, metaphysical presuppositions concerning the nature of time-presuppositions that inform not only the worldview of the object being studied, but, equally, the often different ones that shape the perspective of the researcher. Contribution: This article wishes to underscore the importance of metaphysical considerations in the study of religion, advocating an approach that highlights such considerations and examining some of its broader academic implications. While it specifically focuses on a theological contestation in Islam, it extends the implications of this contestation to the academic study of traditional African worldviews and to world religions more generally.

Konrad Schlichtholz

The purpose of this comment is to show that a reinterpretation of the results from the Letter: "Physics and Metaphysics of Wigner's Friends: Even performed pre-measurements have no results" allows for reaching the conclusion "pre-measurements have no resul" [arXiv:2003.07464] based only on postulates of quantum mechanics without additional assumptions on irreversibility. Additionally, with supplementary reasoning based on Bell's theorem, one can show that unitary decoherence cannot be solely responsible for the quantum-to-classical transition, and an additional irreversibility model is required for its full description. Consequently, the black hole information paradox has no physical basis.

Jonas R. B. Arenhart, Raoni W. Arroyo

Ever since its beginnings, standard quantum mechanics has been associated with a metaphysical view according to which the theory deals with non-individual objects, i.e., objects deprived of individuality in some sense of the term. We shall examine the grounds of the claim according to which quantum mechanics is so closely connected with a metaphysics of non-individuals. In particular, we discuss the attempts to learn the required `metaphysical lessons' required by quantum mechanics coming from four distinct roads: from the formalism of the theory, treating separately the case of the physics and the underlying logic; from the ontology of the theory, understood as the furniture of the world according to the theory; and, at last, we analyze whether a metaphysics of non-individuals is indispensable from a purely metaphysical point of view. We argue that neither non-individuality nor individuality is not to be found imposed on us in any of these levels so that it should be seen as a metaphysical addition to the theory, rather than as a lesson from it.

Alain Connes, Caterina Consani

In the present paper, dedicated to Yuri Manin, we investigate the general notion of rings of $\mathbb S[μ_{n,+}]$-polynomials and relate this concept to the known notion of number systems. The Riemann-Roch theorem for the ring $\mathbb Z$ of the integers that we obtained recently uses the understanding of $\mathbb Z$ as a ring of polynomials $\mathbb S[X]$ in one variable over the absolute base $\mathbb S$, where $1+1=X+X^2$. The absolute base $\mathbb S$ (the categorical version of the sphere spectrum) thus turns out to be a strong candidate for the incarnation of the mysterious $\mathbb F_1$.

Michał Heller

In the two-volume work Theism and the Analytical Philosophy (1985; 1988a) Joseph Życiński took up the challenge of renewing Christian metaphysics so that it could appear as a full-fledged partner in the dialogue with other streams of contemporary philosophy. This renewal should use two sources: the methodological principles of analytic philosophy, especially its philosophy of language, and certain elements of Whitehead’s process philosophy. This study presents a critical reconstruction of Życiński’s arguments contained in the first two chapters of (1985), which are devoted to the problem of language. Main results of this part of Życiński’s work are negative, that is, they refute the arguments and interpretations of those analytical philosophers who show the meaninglessness of the theistic language or try to assimilate it to other standard languages, depriving it of a reference to the transcendent reality. How can a positive part of the Życiński program be developed? It seems that only by formulating specific problems in the field of philosophy of God, or even theology, and choosing the right linguistic tools to drill down on a given problem and seek its solution. This is in line with Wittgenstein’s concept of language games. Życiński tries to do this in (1988a). Życiński turned out to be a precursor of nowadays increasingly developing analytical theology.

Piotr Jaroszyński, Lindael Rolstone

This study examines the concepts of rhetoric used in ancient times, using a process of research based upon “Interpretivist Research Philosophy”. Common thinking among rhetoricians and philosophers in general argues that one concept of rhetoric was utilized. This paper argues that there were at least three concepts of rhetoric known in Antiquity. Each was unique in its own right and contributed to what was to be a new body of knowledge. Research conclusions stem from a study of the works of ancient authors, including Plato and Aristotle, and from schools of philosophies, including the writings of Stoics and Sophists. The reviewed literature supports the thesis presented in this paper that at least three concepts of rhetoric were known and used.

Hadi Salari, Ali Salmani

We argue in this paper on art as the fine art in architectonic of system of Kant's philosophy. Here be shown that Kant had unitary image from his architectonic of system of philosophy as unitary statue. He thought the unitary statue as a whole. Therefore, his critical thought is metaphysics. Kant passed traditional metaphysics and he disclosed subjectivity that is ground of critical metaphysics and it rises from critical reason. All of elements of his philosophy is based on the ground. on the other hand, in modern time art be realized as fine art; Since art before modern time includes sense of more general it. Thus, it had functional, educative, cognitive role and for understanding this attitude from philosophical view we need to back to Kant. Therefore, be shown that fine art as product of genius in modern time and in Kant's thought is based on subjectivity as its condition of possibility.

Jim Madsen, Laurent Mulot, Christian Spiering

We present an overview of the art project Aganta Kairos (To Fish the Metaphysical Time). This project celebrates the neutrino, the ghost particle, which scientists consider a cosmic messenger and the artist regards as a link between people who care about their relationship to the cosmos and question their origins. The artwork is based on a performance of celebration and seeks to build a human community that encompasses different knowledge domains and interpretations of the universe. This intersection of knowledge is realized during the performance of placing a plaque, held with witnesses, and during subsequent exhibitions. Images, sounds, videos, and sculpture testify to the diversity of approaches to questioning our origins, ranging from traditional western science to ancient shamanism. The sites were selected for their global coverage and, for the South Pole, Mediterranean, and Lake Baikal, their connection to ongoing neutrino experiments. In December 2020, a plaque was installed at the South Pole IceCube Laboratory, the seventh and final site. We provide examples of images and links to additional images and videos.

Antonio Vassallo, Davide Romano

The paper investigates the type of realism that best suits the framework of decoherence taken at face value without postulating a plurality of worlds, or additional hidden variables, or non-unitary dynamical mechanisms. It is argued that this reading of decoherence leads to an extremely radical type of perspectival realism, especially when cosmological decoherence is considered.

Christian de Ronde

Quantum Mechanics (QM) has faced deep controversies and debates since its origin when Werner Heisenberg proposed the first mathematical formalism capable to operationally account for what had been recently discovered as the new field of quantum phenomena. Today, even though we have reached a standardized version of QM which is taught in Universities all around the world, there is still no consensus regarding the conceptual reference of the theory and, if or if not, it can refer to something beyond measurement outcomes. In this work we will argue that the reason behind the impossibility to reach a meaningful answer to this question is strictly related to the 20th Century Bohrian-positivist re-foundation of physics which is responsible for having introduced within the theory of quanta a harmful combination of metaphysical dogmatism and naive empiricism. We will also argue that the possibility of understanding QM is at plain sight, given we return to the original framework of physics in which the meaning of understanding has always been clear.

Michael E. Cuffaro

I argue that Immanuel Kant's critical philosophy -- in particular the doctrine of transcendental idealism which grounds it -- is best understood as an `epistemic' or `metaphilosophical' doctrine. As such it aims to show how one may engage in the natural sciences and in metaphysics under the restriction that certain conditions are imposed on our cognition of objects. Underlying Kant's doctrine, however, is an ontological posit, of a sort, regarding the fundamental nature of our cognition. This posit, sometimes called the `discursivity thesis', while considered to be completely obvious and uncontroversial by some, has nevertheless been denied by thinkers both before and after Kant. One such thinker is Jakob Friedrich Fries, an early neo-Kantian who, despite his rejection of discursivity, also advocated for a metaphilosophical understanding of critical philosophy. As I will explain, a consequence for Fries of the denial of discursivity is a radical reconceptualisation of the method of critical philosophy; whereas this method is a priori for Kant, for Fries it is in general empirical. I discuss these issues in the context of quantum theory, and I focus in particular on the views of the physicist Niels Bohr and the Neo-Friesian philosopher Grete Hermann. I argue that Bohr's understanding of quantum mechanics can be seen as a natural extension of an orthodox Kantian viewpoint in the face of the challenges posed by quantum theory, and I compare this with the extension of Friesian philosophy that is represented by Hermann's view.

Odilio Alves Aguiar

O ensaio pretende realizar uma leitura da obra Política (Πολιτικών), de Aristóteles, a partir de uma chave interpretativa que está sugerida na obra de Hannah Arendt. A ideia é compreender a proposta de Aristóteles sobre a fundamentação da cidade (Πόλις), baseada na categoria cidadão (πολίτης). Para iluminar esse caminho, seguindo a trilha de Arendt, explanaremos o interesse comum (κοινή σύμφερον), em Aristóteles, significando convivência, vida em conjunto. Essa direção nos conduziu à mudança no entendimento a respeito do melhor regime (Τῆν ὰρίστην πολιτέιας) para a cidade. A preocupação aristotélica passa do regime perfeito e excelente (τελείαν πολιτέιαν) para estabilidade (ασφαλέια) da cidade. Essa mudança realizou-se na medida em que o pensador percebeu a vida comum como essencialmente plural. A assimilação das várias partes da cidade no regime, isto é, na distribuição do poder, é um dos principais requisitos para se alcançar a estabilidade. O regime identificado por Aristóteles, que melhor representa essa perspectiva, é o regime misto, assunto a ser abordado na última parte deste ensaio.

Brian Treanor

Continental philosophy has long been concerned with the question of transcendence, a fact attributable in part to the historical significance of phenomenology and the legacy of debates surrounding transcendental idealism, the epoche, the status of the world and of other people, and, at least for some philosophers, the question of God. The question takes different forms in Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, Levinas, Derrida, Marion, and others working in this tradition, but it remains an abiding concern for each of them. Over time the persistence of this issue has formed a body of work that constitutes a kind of center of gravity—one among several—that characterizes continental thinking. Keywords:  Immanence, transcendence, wilderness, abstraction, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Bugbee, Annie Dillard