“Knowing Things in Common”: Sheila Jasanoff and Helen Longino on the Social Nature of Knowledge

Author(s): Jaana Eigi / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2013

In her analysis of the politics of biotechnology, Sheila Jasanoff argued that modern democracy cannot be understood without an analysis of the ways knowledge is created and used in society. She suggested calling these ways to “know things in common” civic epistemologies. Jasanoff thus approached knowledge as fundamentally social. The focus on the social nature of knowledge allows drawing parallels with some developments in philosophy of science. In the first part of the paper, I juxtapose Jasanoff’s account with the philosopher Helen Longino’s approach. Longino argued that objectivity of scientific knowledge is made possible by the social nature of knowledge production. In the process of community-wide discussion, claims that are not intersubjectively acceptable are rejected and communally acceptable knowledge emerges. Longino called this knowledge-creating critical dialogue transformative. I suggest that Longino’s account can be seen as providing epistemological support for the civic epistemologies Jasanoff described. They are capable of producing knowledge in the normative philosophical sense of the word to the degree that they are able to support this transformative critical dialogue. In the second part of the paper, I explore in the light of Longino’s criteria for effective knowledge-productive dialogue one of the controversies in biotechnology policy that Jasanoff analysed. I suggest that Longino’s criteria allow identifying some fundamental obstacles for initiating and maintaining this kind of responsive critical dialogue and that the controversy can be seen as caused by inability to overcome these obstacles. In such a case, the controversy signals an epistemic failure as well as a failure of democratic policy.

„Bardzo nieliczni czują, że ich życie nie jest życiem, lecz śmiercią”. F. Dostojewski i L. Szestow wobec idei szczęścia i egzystencjalnej satysfakcji

Author(s): Michal Kruszelnicki / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 33/2016

In my paper I set the existential interpretation of Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Underground proposed by Lev Shestov against the religious and psychological interpretations of this novel in order to excavate a vital problem in Dostoevsky, which is the inversion of hierarchy in pairs of oppositional categories such as normality-pathology, happiness-unhappiness, harmony- dissonance, omnitude-lack, certainty-uncertainty, joy-despair, faith-doubt. Following Shestov I argue that Dostoevsky embraces those categories that are traditionally mistrusted and negatively valorized and by so doing he rehabilitates the “underground”, accursed and unhappy existence at the expense of regular, “normal” life, easily founding spiritual certainty and every day satisfaction. Such an un-problematic life Dostoevsky’s man from the underground regards as a false, smug and eventually – “dead”. In further part of my study I focus on the religious aspect of Shestov’s later philosophy and try to prove that the perspective of faith gradually introduced to his reading of Dostoevsky in no way cancels Shestov’s early philosophy of the underground, despair and tragedy. On the contrary: if faith “obtained” is likely to become yet another mask of “evidence” and “certainty” and in this way might put stop to existential doubts and spiritual dissatisfaction, then neither Dostoevsky, nor Shestov himself, can easily trust it. In this situation despair and tragedy cannot but hold in Dostoevsky’s and Shestov’s thought and the circle of searching and suffering must remain vicious. I demonstrate the consistency in Shestov’s philosophical thought on Dostoevsky and its constant adequacy for understanding one of the crucial existential dilemmas in the works of the Russian writer.

„Bezstronny obserwator” Adama Smitha a neutralne kryteria oceny w etyce społecznej

Author(s): Cezary Kalita / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 36/2016

Ethical theory for Adam Smith is first of all the basic mechanism of social controls. Going out from decisions of the matter of the moral feelings, which the ‘sympathy’ states the foundation; it tries to work out the neutral criteria of ethical opinions introducing the ‘impartial spectator’ figure. Superiority of this category in relation to John Rawls ‘veil of ignorance’ depends on this, that the Smith places his philosophical theory in the strong empirical context (the kind of sociological philosophy). Social ethicist is the base to build more folded regulators of community life, or social, such as economy and politics. The neutral criteria of ethical opinions are the foundation of different derivative social workings (economy, politics).

„Социално-робустната наука” като нов изследователски концепт

Author(s): Ludmila Ivancheva / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2017

Using an analytical and synthetic approach, the article presents a summary of the changes that have taken place in the social context of science in the modern knowledge society as compared with the earlier industrial society. The author identifies the intense dynamic changes in the role, status and social functions of science occurring during the formation of knowledge-based societies. The article also identifies various concepts, models and political theses that, while focusing on one or another of the important aspect of these processes, fail to adequately articulate or explain the whole range of changes taking place in the exo-systemic social context of modern science. This proliferation of theoretical concepts and the diversity of their main focuses calls for a reconceptualization of the social dimensions of modern science, which would allow a sharper delineation of the new elements in the positioning of science as a factor of social development and in the interaction between science and society. It would also enable a more adequate and detailed interpretation of the respective processes. In this connection, a new concept of “socially robust science” is introduced.

Јонасова идеја макроетике за планетарну цивилизацију

Author(s): Radivoje Kerovic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 5-6/2006

In dieser Arbeit verweist der Autor auf die Bedeutung Jonases Projekt der Makroethik für die technologische Zivilisation. In diesem Sinne betrachtet er dass sind die Fragen und die Problemen, die Jonas stellt, legitime und unabwendbare Probleme für das zeitgenössische philosophische Denken, auf. Deswegen sind auch die Imperative der Ethik der Verantwortung legitim, die Jonas gründet.

Философия классификации и археологическая практика в книге Адамсов

Author(s): Leo S. Klejn / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 2/1999

Review: Adams W. Y. and Adams E. W. 1991. Archaeological typology and practical reality: A dialectical approach to artifact classification and sorting. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Философия на медицината: върху някои аспекти на понятието „болест“

Author(s): Yulia Vasseva-Dikova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 6/2018

One of the central problems in the field of contemporary philosophy of medicine is the analysis of the concepts of health and disease. The article focuses on the discussions between normativists and naturalists regarding the role of values in the semantical analysis of the concepts of disease and health. The role of norm and anomaly is emphasized. The article specifically devotes attention to the different epistemological roles ascribed to norms and anomalies in contemporary medical science and theories. The article highlights the importance of nonclassical logic (fuzzy logic) for the philosophical analysis of “health” and “disease”.

Философията на науката и нейното значение за света, в който живеем: разговор с Щефан Хартман, Статис Псилос и Роман Фриг

Author(s): Lilia Gurova,Anton Donchev / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2017

Философская проблема «существования»

Author(s): Leonid Djakhaia / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 16/2016

Historically known for three major types of philosophy, that developed in parallel in every human civilization, and therefore do not exclude each other, and in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity only complement each other in many different respects: scientific philosophy, anthropology and religious philosophy. The more we come to know and deeply immense world around us, the more clearly and insistently arises the main philosophical question: why something exists? After all, it would be easier if there was nothing at all, including the people asking this tricky question. Nevertheless, the world still exists (according to the “anthropic principle”), but, I ask, why? It does not matter, the existence of which there is a speech: the “matter”, “God”, “absolute spirit” or something completely different. That search for an answer to this question (why should something there?) Is the true purpose of philosophy if at all, the problem is solvable (in the sense of Kant’s “metaphysics”). And then there is a special philosophical category “existence”, which requires a special study.

Философски поглед върху психиатрията

Author(s): Roman Harizanov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 2/2019

In the Sun-Earth system, the second thermodynamic principle is manifested in a specific way. The sun exerts a potent protective effect on the most energy-intensive chemical reaction: the synthesis of proteins through nucleic acids. A buildable-degradable matter is accumulated. This process passes through several phases: growth of the individual, maturation, reproduction, saturation of the ecological niche of the population, formation of the species, increasing complexity of the environment, a progressive course of evolution, a transition from living beings’ adaptation to their environment to the environment’s adaptation to living beings. This happens as follows: a “conditioned stimulus”, designated here as “love of the future” is presented. The latter creates an un-conditioned stimulus. The consumption of the latter is designated as “love of the present”, which comprises satisfaction of instincts and the use of “free play”. “Free play” is fragmented by the rationality of the actions; and it has different forms of manifestation. Schizophrenia is a failure to build the neural connection between love of the future and love of the present. The author supports Bleuler’s view that the essential feature of schizophrenia is deficits in the higher functions. The article also discusses certain features of other psychoses, affective disorders, personality disorders, the role of transmitters, etc. A life strategy for better health is presented.

Формирование представления о шарообразности Солнца в греческой философии и науке

Author(s): Dmitri Panchenko / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 1/2019

According to a standard idea of Greek science and philosophy, the shape of the sun is spherical. Such an idea appears already in Aristotle who offers, however, no good account for it, and only Stobaeus cites an authority, or rather collective authority, the Pythagoreans, for an early recognition of the idea in question. The ancient tradition left no direct evidence of how the sphericity of the sun was recognized, and the issue attracted very little attention in modern scholarship. I propose that in the late sixth century new empirical knowledge about the sun reached the Aegean and Italy. Some people who crossed the northern tropic repeatedly observed the sun from its ‘other’ side, for in the height of the summer an observer located south of the northern tropic saw the midday sun in the north. This made impossible Anaximander’s idea of the sun as a body containing fire and having one aperture and triggered a search for a better version. Since the sun invariably displayed a circular outline at any time, at any place and on all sides of the horizon, one had to consider the possibility that its shape was either spherical or ‘bowllike’. The study of lunar light that led to the discovery of the sphericity of the moon was also helpful. The doctrine of a spherical sun was firmly established by the consensus of professional astronomers rather than due to an initiative by an outstanding thinker; however, one may think that Parmenides contributed to it. A spherical sun cannot be a sphere of fire – without a container, fire would have dispersed. This problem brought about a number of theories that treated the sun as a kind of mirror, etc. Further, a spherical sun that issues a reflected light was recognized to have been a solid and hence a heavy body, which contributed to approaching the spheres of the Sun, Moon and Earth in a similar way and making the Earth a planet.

Функции археологической теории

Author(s): Leo S. Klejn / Language(s): Russian / Issue: 3/1999

Is archaeological theory necessary? The answer is expected from the theoretical archaeology. Strange as it is, works devoted to this issue are nearly absent in archaeological literature. In this article various stages of full empirical archaeological inquiry are considered in order to detect whether in each of them archaeological theory plays any role, and if it does, which namely. There are the following functions analysed: 1) identificative; 2) integrative; 3) selective; 4) descriptive; 5) systematising; 6) explanative; 7) predictive; 8) instrumental; 9) heuristic; 10) controlling; 11) synthesising; 12) enlightening. Every of them is connected with difficulties, especially the explanative and predictive functions. So the sections devoted to these two functions are entitled not simply with the designation of the function but as «The problem of explanative function» or «The problem of predictive function». Properly speaking the explanative functions is expressed in archaeology as interpretative one (not in the sense which this word has in hermeneutics but rather which it has in translation practice). The predictive function (some theorists speak on retrodiction instead of prediction in archaeology) is expressed as reconstructive one.

Функционален модел на социалните въздействия на науката

Author(s): Ludmila Ivancheva / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 6/2016

The paper presents the author’s functional model of the exo-systemic social context of science in the form of a typology, and builds a classification scheme of the model’s social functions, decomposed into target (external and internal) and instrumental functions; the latter group is divided into relational and performative functions. Through application of the principles of functional and structural analysis, indicators are proposed for determining the level of development of a social function. A summary of the types and directions of functional transformations of modern science in the context of their social impact is presented. The article concludes that both the target and instrumental social functions of science undergo significant development in the modern knowledge society.

ХV международен конгрес по логика, методология и философия на науката

Author(s): Anton Donchev,Mila Marinova,Lilia Gurova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 2/2016

The article offers an overview of the 15th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, held on 3-8 August 2015 in Helsinki. It includes a brief outline of the history of these congresses, with special attention to its trends of development and comparisons between the last five of them. These trends are indicative of the changes taking place in the development of philosophy of science over the last 16 years. A special focus is put on the main topics of the congresses as well as on some of the most significant presentations. Finally, the paper provides information about the Bulgarian participation in the latest congress, which reveals a significant increase compared with the previous ones, which inspires hope that the ascending development of philosophy of science in Bulgaria will continue and its presence at international forums will become increasingly visible.

Харизматичната култура на ХII век и формите на монашеска образованост

Author(s): Oleg Georgiev / Language(s): Bulgarian,Latin / Issue: 20/2014

The purpose of this paper is to explore this intriguing chapter in the history of ideas and higher learning and opens a new view of intellectual and social life in eleventh- and early twelfth-century Europe. The paper is concerned with the shaping of the monastic scholarly tradition in the West; as such it is a exposition of the charismatic ideals and the intellectual aspirations of the masters and scholars who brought it into being, and whose influence was to linger on almost down to our own time and place. Monastic schools educated students in a course of studies aimed at perfecting their physical presence, their manners, and their eloquence. The formula of schools was “letters and manners” (litterae et mores), which asserts a pedagogic program as broad as the modern „letters and science.“ The main instrument of what we may calls “charismatic pedagogy” was the master’s personality, his physical presence radiating a transforming force to his students.

Циклите на Кребс

Author(s): Ivelin Kuleff / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 4/2019

In the present paper the idea about the cycles discovered by Dr. Hans Krebs is given. The career of Dr Krebs in Germany and England is outlined and his cycles are described in details. It is given also the evaluation of his discovery both about life and development of the biology as well.

Чему још образовање?

Author(s): Predrag Krstic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 149/2014

This paper focuses on a few simple questions that fundamentally challenge the idea of education, as well as its modern realization. The suggestion is that, within the undividedly accepted educational strategy of the West, there are still uninspected costs and smuggled dilemmas. They then burden the contemporary disputes over education at a lower level of generality: general or vocational, culturally determined or universal, standardized or deregulated, uniform or plural, privileged or available to all, elite or “open” education, and so on. We believe that such thorough clearing up of conceptual field would point to those presumed purposes, functions, and outcomes of education which make its investments seem constantly unsatisfactory, and education itself appears chronically in crisis.

Човешкото съзнание като когнитивно-афективна цялост

Author(s): Rosen Stapov / Language(s): Bulgarian / Issue: 1/2016

Човјек као жртва и талац технике – мали прилог једној великој теми

Author(s): Ana Galic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 2/2018

The phenomenon of technique and technology applied to human life brings with itself many different perspectives from which we can look at the technique as the future salvation of mankind or, if we observe without prophetic vision, as currently advancing and facilitating the present life circumstances. In this paper, the author will try to clarify how the technique has influenced and influences the development of man and whether there is a real danger of catastrophic proportions if we allow the technique to go along step by step with man. When analyzing the above, we will use the relevant works of authors who have been researching the subject for the research: Nick Bostrom, Rebecca Roache, Wolfgang Velsch and Lewis Mumford.

Шест вариации върху холизма на Куайн

Author(s): Konstantin Yanakiev / Language(s): English,Bulgarian / Issue: 6/2018

1) The adaptation of our system of knowledge to “recalcitrant experience” can be postponed, even indefinitely. 2) This also holds true for the elimination of contradictions internal to the system. 3) Hence, the system does not automatically obey the laws of logic and the logical relations between statements are never definite. 4) There is not only one system of knowledge comprising all sentences, ranging “from the most casual matters of geography and history to the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure mathematics and logic”; there are numerous such systems. 5) Since logic is no less answerable to the “tribunal of sense experience” than are the natural sciences, their laws can also be regarded as rules of inference. 6) The system’s function (and the stimulus to its continuous reconstruction) is not merely to predict future sense perceptions, but also to actively create phenomena.