Pragmatic Arguments Research Articles

Qui capite ipse sua in statuit uestigia sese. Lucrezio e lo scetticismo nel libro IV delDe rerum natura

AbstractIn his refutation of skepticism in book IV ofDe rerum natura(469–521), Lucretius uses argumentative methods typical of Epicurus: the περιτροπή is in many ways similar to that used by the philosopher in book XXV of Περὶ φύσεως, the same book where, in a passage dedicated to the criticism against determinists, can be found a reference to the criterion of the πρόληψις, that Lucretius exploits in his refutation. Moreover, Lucretius develops a strong demonstration concerning the irrefutability of αἴσθησις as a criterion of truth, which finds significant points of contact with a large fragment, transmitted by Diogenes Laertius (X 31–32) and generally traced back to theCanonof Epicurus. The last argument used by the poet is a pragmatic one: for the skeptic it would be impossible to live. The argument is similar to the praxis-based argument used by Epicurus in the Περὶ φύσεως against the partisans of determinism. But the pragmatic argument goes back to a very ancient layer of anti-skeptical polemics, even prior to Epicurus and already present in book Γ of Aristotle’sMetaphysics. Although later influences cannot be excluded, Lucretius appears to be a faithful witness of Epicurus. Probably in a lost section of the Περὶ φύσεως, the philosopher of Samos showed positions going against skeptical or proto-skeptical attitude, contemporary or earlier to the time of the philosopher, probably developed in a Democritean or a Socratic context. Epicurus’ad hominemstrategy is very close to that of the philosopher in thePrincipal DoctrinesXXIII–XXV, and certainly follows Aristotle’ strategy in book Γ ofMetaphysicsagainst those who deny the principle of non-contradiction. In a similar way, Epicurus does not have one figure as the objective of his refutation but constructs a hypothetical dialectical opponent capable of embodying a series of philosophical tendencies judged by the founder ofKeposto be extremely dangerous not only for the correct exercise of thought but for the human being’s life itself.

The transformative power of accepting God's love

AbstractThis article develops an account of some of the central features involved on the human side in adopting a richly accepting orientation towards God's love. It then builds a conceptual and empirical argument for the conclusion that accepting God's love can enhance a person's mental health and can indirectly enable a person to cultivate or maintain moral virtues – whether or not God exists. Importantly, the article contends that these transformative benefits are available to both believers and agnostics, and an original secondary data analysis is offered to support this conclusion in the case of agnostics. The article explains how this transformative value of accepting God's love may serve as the basis for a novel pragmatic argument for theistic religious commitment.

Should the Coercion Thesis really be defended as a conceptual claim?

Kenneth Himma’s Coercion and the Nature of Law offers a forceful response to the claim that coercion is an ancillary, rather than a conceptually necessary, property of law. It matters for Himma that the Coercion Thesis is defended as a conceptual claim, although his metaphysics purports to be a “modest” conceptual analysis in Frank Jackson’s sense. In this comment I have no argument against the Coercion Thesis, and I grant that Himma provides a successful reply to the skepticism about coercion that permeates the jurisprudence of H.L.A. Hart and Joseph Raz. Nonetheless, I believe that this thesis cannot be defended with the methodology that Himma suggests. I challenge Himma’s interpretation of Jackson (which claims that it requires one to start with lexical meanings and “canons” of ordinary language) and argue that his argument for the coercive character of international law only works because it is based on a pragmatic argument about empirical features of social practices. After explaining this objection, I hold that other methodologies, like Dworkin’s interpretivism (if interpreted as endorsing an inferentialist theory of meaning), can provide a more plausible account of the coercive character of law.

THE ‘IRON CAGE’ OF EDUCATIONAL BUREAUCRACY

ABSTRACT Teachers in many countries complain that their pedagogic work is impeded by unreasonable bureaucratic demands by government agencies. This paper suggests that historical, institutional and cultural perspectives are needed to understand the processes at work. It draws on Weber’s classic study of bureaucracy, but also makes reference to claims that traditional bureaucracies have been modified in ways that ameliorate their authoritarian character. The central part of the paper examines the attempts of one country (Scotland) to address complaints about excessive bureaucracy: it is argued that they show a limited understanding of the nature of institutional power. In the discussion that follows, a number of critical interpretations are considered: that bureaucracies are, by their very nature, anti-educational; that they undermine ethical consciousness and cause psychological damage; and that enhanced professionalism can serve as a counterweight to bureaucratic tendencies. The paper ends by suggesting that the powerful pragmatic argument that mass, state-run educational systems cannot function without complex administrative structures, should not be used to disguise the fact that they have unintended consequences, some of which tend to subvert their stated aims.

Bad Apples and Broken Ladders: A Pragmatic Defence of Causal Decision Theory

ABSTRACT While pragmatic arguments are traditionally seen as supporting decision theory, recent discussions suggest the possibility of pragmatic arguments against this theory. I respond to two such arguments, and clarify what it would take for arguments of this sort to succeed.

Benacerraf and Set-Theoretic Reductionist Realism

The paper is devoted to analysis of P. Benacerraf’s argument against set-theoretic reductionist realism which is a fragment of a broader argument, know as the “identification problem”. The analyzed fragment of P. Benacerraf’s argument concerns the possibility of reducing of mathematical notions to set-theoretic notions. The paper presents a reconstruction of P. Benacerraf’s original argumentation, its analysis and also several possible objections proposed by P. Benacerraf himself about 30 years later after the original publication. Namely, he claimed (1) that a set-theoretic definition of natural numbers in G. Frege’s fashion can serve as a proper and unique set-theoretic definition, (2) that his argument doesn’t undermine eliminative reductionsts’ position, (3) that even if there are no argument possible in favor of some particular set-theoretic definition of natural numbers one may take set-theoretic realism for granted. An analysis of the mentioned possible objections shows their dependence on a number of additional premises. The paper demonstrates that P. Benacerraf’s objections on his own argument against set-theoretic realism either have a pragmatic character themselves or essentially rely on additional arguments that are justified pragmatically or require additional argumentation. For example, his possible objections require that set theory is considered as the only true foundational theory in mathematics, and that it has several important pragmatic virtues, like convenience of use to formalize other mathematical theories. In some cases, P. Benacerraf’s objections on their own, or the indicated additional principles may well be called into question, which demonstrates the insufficiency of P. Benacerraf’s objections against his original argument. Without the mentioned pragmatic arguments P. Benacerraf’s objections become a kind of belief in mysticism. Accordingly, his doubts about his own argument against set-theoretical realism seem insufficient to reject the problem of identification and save the position of set-theoretical realism from collapse.

The potential use of artificial intelligence in the therapy of borderline personality disorder.

This paper explores the possibility of AI-based addendum therapy for borderline personality disorder, its potential advantages and limitations. Identity disturbance in this condition is strongly connected to self-narratives, which manifest excessive incoherence, causal gaps, dysfunctional beliefs, and diminished self-attributions of agency. Different types of therapy aim at boosting self-knowledge through self-narratives in BPD. The suggestion of this paper is that human-to-human therapy could be complemented by AI assistance holding out the promise of making patients' self-narratives more coherent through improving the accuracy of their self-assessments, reflection on their emotions, and understanding their relationships with others. Theoretical and pragmatic arguments are presented in favour of this idea, and certain technical solutions are suggested to implement it.

When will individuals meet their personalized probabilities? A philosophical note on risk prediction.

Risk prediction is one of the central goals of medicine. However, ultimate prediction-perfectly predicting whether individuals will actually get a disease-is still out of reach for virtually all conditions. One crucial assumption of ultimate personalized prediction is that individual risks in the relevant sense exist. In the present paper we argue that perfect prediction at the individual level will fail-and we will do so by providing pragmatic, epistemic, conceptual, and ontological arguments.

Argumentación y contraargumentación en algunos artículos científicos y cartas al editor

Se presenta un estudio documental cualitativo sobre la argumentacion y contraargumentacion en articulos cientificos y cartas al editor publicados en revistas pertenecientes al campo medico. El procesamiento de los datos se realizo mediante el programa ATLAS.ti. El analisis de los manuscritos seleccionados se fundamenta en la argumentacion pragmadialectica, que propone una secuencia o proceso de discusion critica. Los contraargumentos, que se han especificado en los lineamientos de las cartas al editor de las revistas, discuten diversos aspectos: metodologicos, teoricos, enfoques o tratamientos. Los autores presentan discrepancias respecto a los tratamientos metodologicos, tematicos y, en algunos casos, terminan en ciertos consensos.

الترغیب والترهیب فی سورة البقرة (دراسةٌ تداولیة)

القرآن کتاب عربي مبين يقرأ صوته بلسان عربي ويبين معناه باللغة العربية، ولکي يفسر کلم القرآن بلوغا إلى معانيه لابد من تعرف جذور الکلمات لتبين أصول المعاني، وتفقه تصريفها ترکيبا لتقاس عليه دلالات التصريف بحرکاتها وحروفها، وتجويد نطقها وتقدير مکانها نحوا وإعرابا ووقعها معنى وبلاغة في سياق الجمل لتنضبط دلالاتها بيانا وتتسق بداعتها جمالا. والناظر لبعض مناهج التفسير للقرآن الکريم، يجدها تذهب ماسحة سطح المعاني الکلية لا تنزل بيانها إلى وجوه الحياة وحقائقها التي يجليها موقع التنزيل والخطاب، وأحيانا ترکز على بيان بعض الفروع مبتعدة عن أصولها العامة، ومنها ما يرکز على الظاهري في هدى المعاني، ومنها ما تصوب إلى بيان هديه لباطن الوجدان. ولذلک سأوضح کيف تجمع الدراسة التداولية الحديثة بين خير کل المناهج من حيث ما اقتربت من بيان القرآن، بعد تطور العلوم والحياة لعلنا نکسب جديدا من هدي القرآن، وبنشره للناس ترقيا مداوما إلى الأنسب والأوفق والأتم في سيرة التفسير وقد وقع اختياري لسورة البقرة لأطبق عليها المنهج التداولي متناولا قضية الترغيب والترهيب، والدراسة ذات بعدين (نظري وتطبيقي) فالدراسة النظرية ترکز الحديث عن التداولية والتعريف بسورة البقرة والدراسة التطبيقية اختار فيها القصص القرآني في سورة البقرة أطبق عليها المنهج التداولي، والمنهج المتبع في هذه الدراسة هو المنهج الوصفي، وبطريقة تناول تداولية، وجاء البحث من ثلاث مباحث ومستخلص ومقدمة وخاتمة. وقد توصلت الدراسة إلى العديد من النتائج أهمها: الخطاب القرآني فبعامة وفي هذه القضية في سورة البقرة خطاب کوني يخاطب الإنسان في أي زمان ومکان، مع أننا نجد أن هذه القضية قد نزلت في واقع معين وخاطبت شخصيات معينة في زمن معين. الکلمات المفتاحية: القرآن الکريم، سورة البقرة، الترغيب والترهيب، دراسة، تداولية. Encouragement and intimidation in Surat Al-Baqarah (A deliberative study) Sheikh Muhammad Khaled Al-Sadiq Professor of rhetoric and co-criticism Department of Arabic Language - College of Science and Arts in Mahayel-King Khalid University Email: eelssdig@kku.edu.sa Abstract: Quran is the Arabic Perspicuous Book recited and interpreted in the plain Arabic language. To interpret the Quran in order to reach its elevated meaning, it is necessary to trace the epistemology of words and understand the derivations to make it a measurement in its derivations, intonations, sounds and pronunciation. It is also important to give it its proper place in grammar, syntax, semantics, rhetoric and aesthetics. Looking at the available approaches of Quran interpretations, it is noticed that some interpretations are artificial, not digging up the true meanings and comprehensive message of life as meant in the revelation. It is also true that some other interpretations are to some extent deeper, but either focusing on the branches or on the surface meanings and a few tried to reach the internal psyche. This paper is an attempt to clarify how to pragmatic studies embrace the advantages of many approaches that address the interpretation of Quran. This is due to advancements in knowledge that helped a lot in selecting what is the best in the interpretation of Quran. This study focuses on intrusion and intimidation in Surat Albakara. Surat Albakara has been selected as it is Madania revealed at the establishment of the civil society in Madinah when there was a crisis between the believers and disbelievers in a moment of observation from the Jews and hypocrites at a time of expanding of the number of subjects, discourses, places and times. There can be found a variety of phrasing, linguistic units, pragmatic arguments, narrations, stories, news and reports. This makes Surat Albaqara a prope topic for a pragmatic study.The problem of this research is how to explore the pragmatic dimension in the Quranic discourse through the Speech Act Theory? The study tries also to explore the sufficiency of the pragmatic approach to study the style of Quran. The study consists of two parts one is theoretical and the other is practical. The theoretical study focuses on introducing Surat Albaqara and the pragmatic approach as well. The practical part discusses intrusion and intimidation in Suarat Albaqara and examines them against the pragmatic approach. The study followed the descriptive methodology drawing on the pragmatic approach. This paper consisted of three sections, abstract, introduction, and conclusion. The study reached several conclusions of which the following is the most important: The Quranic discourse in general and in Surat Albaqara in particular is universal appealing to human beings beyond the limits of time and space though the context was addressing a certain issue addressing certain figures in a certain time. Keywords: Holly Quran, Surat Albaqara, Intrusion and Intimidation, Pragmatic Study.

Rationale for universal face masks in public against COVID-19.

Rationale for universal face masks in public against COVID-19.

A note on deterministic updating and van Fraassen\u2019s symmetry argument for conditionalization

In a recent paper, Pettigrew (Philos Stud, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-019-01377-y) argues that the pragmatic and epistemic arguments for Bayesian updating are based on an unwarranted assumption, which he calls deterministic updating, and which says that your updating plan should be deterministic. In that paper, Pettigrew did not consider whether the symmetry arguments due to Hughes and van Fraassen make the same assumption (Hughes and van Fraassen in: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. pp. 851–869, 1984; van Fraassen in: Rescher N (ed) Scientific inquiry in philosophical perspective. University Press of America, Lanham, pp. 183–223, 1987). In this note, I show that they do.

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW AND THE RIGHT TO HEALTH

This article reflects on the hurdles of the right to health within international investment dispute settlement. Its main purpose is to analyze the way in which both, the right to health and property rights should fit there. In doing so, relevant jurisprudence, normative and pragmatic arguments are provided. Some of the measures and strategies proposed so far to foster cohabitation between both branches of international law are challenged in an attempt to demonstrate that none of them will effectively contribute to better protect the right to health. Likewise, it offers less explored solutions, such as engaging the World Health Organization and the International Court of Justice, and a shift in the onus of proof through the application of the Precautionary Principle.

A general approach to compensation for losses incurred due to public health interventions in the infectious disease context

This paper develops a general approach to how society should compensate for losses that individuals incur due to public health interventions aimed at controlling the spread of infectious diseases. The paper falls in three parts. The first part provides an initial introduction to the issues and briefly outlines five different kinds of public health interventions that will be used as test cases. They are all directed at individuals and aimed at controlling the spread of infectious diseases (1) isolation, (2) quarantine, (3) recommended voluntary social distancing, (4) changes in health care provision for asymptomatic carriers of multi-resistant microorganisms, and (5) vaccination. The interventions will be briefly described including the various risks, burdens and harms individuals who are subject to these interventions may incur. The second part briefly surveys current compensation mechanisms as far as any exist and argue that even where they exist they are clearly insufficient and do not provide adequate compensation. The third part will then develop a general framework for compensation for losses incurred due to public health interventions in the infectious disease context. This is the major analytical and constructive part of the paper. It first analyses pragmatic and ethical arguments supporting the existence of an obligation on the part of the state to compensate for such losses, and then considers whether this obligation can be defeated by (1) resource considerations, or (2) issues relating to personal responsibility.

Second-Order Arguments, or Do We Still Need Tolerance in the Public Sphere?

A number of widely discussed court decisions on cases of insults against religious feelings in Russia, such as the relatively recent “Pokemon Go” case of blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky or the lawsuit filed against an Orthodox priest by Nikolai Ryabchevsky in Yekaterinburg for comparing Lenin with Hitler, make pertinent the question of why toleration becomes so difficult in matters concerning religion. In this paper, I revise the classical liberal concept of toleration (David Heyd, Peter Nicholson, and John Horton), arguing that it is challenged by contemporary philosophers, who see no room for applying this concept in the “domain of identities”. The most prominent case of “primordial” identity, that is, the notion of identity as a given, is the claim of devoted believers for recognition. Should we replace the principle of toleration by the principle of recognition since the latter better corresponds to identity claims? To address this question, in the first part of the article I describe the mechanism of tolerant attitude (Nicholson, Heyd) and in the second part, I analyze the debates about the possibility or impossibility of inner religious toleration (Avishai Margalit, Cary Nederman, and Maxim Khomyakov) and further compare toleration and recognition as normative principles. In the light of the debates I took part in the conference hosted by the University of Southern Denmark in October 2019 as part of the project “Religious Majority/Minority in Public Space in Russia and Northern Europe: Historical-Cultural Analysis”, I come to the conclusion that the principle of toleration is preferable to the principle of recognition because the “second-order” arguments for toleration in a secular state will be universally acceptable (pragmatic argument) and, therefore, the principle of toleration is more logical (analytical argument). Following Peter John’s thesis about minimal recognition embedded in toleration, it may also be concluded that we need a normatively charged idea of citizenship, which could provide us with universal “second-order” foundation.

The ecologization of the Chinese Civil Code

Although the emergence of sustainability development in civil law has triggered substantial discussion, scarce literature is available in English on the introduction of ecological norms to the newly promulgated Chinese Civil Code, which came into force at the beginning of 2021. This article intends to fill the gap by providing an overview of the structure and significance of the principles and rules designed to render the Civil Code more adaptable to the global urgency of sustainable development. The ecological principle added to the Civil Code is designed to promote public interests rather than individual liberty. Unlike other civil law principles, the ecological principle needs to be scientifically justified, which no longer depends only on judicial discretion. Regarded as a continuation of the movement for socialization, the ecological principle contributes to the global trend of questioning anthropocentrism in law and manifests itself in a new understanding of human activity. Ecologizing the Civil Code entails a methodological agenda that incorporates more pragmatic, coherent, and policy-oriented argumentation in judicial practice. Moreover, it entails an ontological agenda, still in formation, that urges us to recognize the inevitable connections between human and nonhuman worlds on the ontological side. Within the scope of this principle, the section of the Civil Code on property law imposes the duty to act in accordance with the necessity of resource conservation and environmental protection. It is also predictable that stricter limitations will be imposed on property rights, in the name of good neighborliness. State intervention by courts due to ecological considerations will become more frequent in contractual disputes. Finally, the Code introduces the notions of punitive liability and pure environmental harm, which diverge from the classical continental tradition of understanding civil liability. Despite the theoretical novelties, the question of to what extent civil adjudication can achieve a comprehensive ecological transformation still needs to be scrutinized.

«Malleus Maleficarum» сучасного суспільства: передумови і поширеність тортур у ХХІ столітті та політика протидії тортурам

«Malleus Maleficarum» сучасного суспільства: передумови і поширеність тортур у ХХІ столітті та політика протидії тортурам

Un nuevo operador del desacuerdo: ¿hola?

Se analiza la evolución de un marcador fático, la interjección hola, hacia un operador argumentativo del desacuerdo en el registro coloquial. A partir de la Lingüística Pragmática y la teoría de la argumentación se analizan ejemplos reales tomados del corpus oral y digital del grupo Argumentación y Persuasión en Lingüística. La novedad es que un operador cohesivo e interactivo como hola, cuya función prototípica es la apertura del discurso, puede evolucionar a un operador modal y argumentativo. En el plano modal expresa sorpresa y en el argumentativo desacuerdo y posible descortesía.

Kuyper and vaccinations a case study in Kuyper’s approach to an ethical issue

The 2019 translation of the second volume of Abraham Kuyper’s Pro Rege contains chapters on his approach to vaccinations. This article examines his arguments in favour of vaccinations as a case study on Kuyper’s approach to an ethical issue. Kuyper utilizes both sphere sovereignty and common grace as the key philosophical tools as well as using scriptural, rhetorical and pragmatic arguments to make his case.

Principled or Pragmatic? Morality Politics in Direct Democracy

AbstractPolitical scientists often distinguish between two types of issues: moral versus non-moral issues or social-cultural versus economic issues. The implication is that these types of issues trigger different types of reasoning: while economic issues rely on pragmatic, consequentialist reasoning, social-cultural issues are said to be dependent on principles and deontological reasoning. However, it is not known whether this distinction is as clear-cut from a citizen's perspective. Scholars agree that understanding the morality of voters’ political attitudes has implications for their political behaviour, such as their willingness to compromise and openness to deliberation. However, few studies have analysed whether citizens reason in principled or pragmatic ways on different issues. This study takes an exploratory approach and analyses the determinants of principled versus pragmatic reasoning in direct democracy, in which citizens make direct policy decisions at the ballot box. Using a unique dataset based on thirty-four ballot decisions in Switzerland, it explores the justifications voters give for their ballot decisions in open-ended survey answers. It distinguishes between pragmatic (or consequentialist) arguments and principled (or value-based) arguments. The analysis shows that principled justifications are not tied to particular issues. Voters use both types of justifications almost equally frequently. Moral justifications are more likely when an issue is personally relevant, as well as when a proposition is accepted, while pragmatic justifications prevail when a proposition is rejected. Furthermore, right-wing voters more often argue in pragmatic terms. Finally, the framing of the issue during the campaign significantly affects moral versus pragmatic justifications.