Semantic Realism Research Articles

Why Social (Political, Economic, Cultural, Ecological) Determinants of Health? Part 1: Background of a Contested Construct.

This article is the first half of a 2-part essay on the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) as a field of scientific inquiry and theoretical framework, exploring its historical roots, current applications, and the controversies that surround it. Part 1 (this article) discusses the background and rationale of the SDOH framework, whilst part 2 (forthcoming) will analyze the current alternatives to this framework. The authors analyze the debate surrounding the contested term "social" in the field of health equity, through a clarification of the terms "social" and "social systems" and providing an alternative model through realist semantics and ethics. Despite the misunderstandings of the term "social," the authors argue that SDOH remains a useful umbrella term to capture the political, economic, cultural, and ecological determinants of health. Through this essay, the authors outline the reasons behind our decision to change this journal's title from International Journal of Health Services to International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services.

CN: Verifying Systems C Code with Separation-Logic Refinement Types

Despite significant progress in the verification of hypervisors, operating systems, and compilers, and in verification tooling, there exists a wide gap between the approaches used in verification projects and conventional development of systems software. We see two main challenges in bringing these closer together: verification handling the complexity of code and semantics of conventional systems software, and verification usability. We describe an experiment in verification tool design aimed at addressing some aspects of both: we design and implement CN, a separation-logic refinement type system for C systems software, aimed at predictable proof automation, based on a realistic semantics of ISO C. CN reduces refinement typing to decidable propositional logic reasoning, uses first-class resources to support pointer aliasing and pointer arithmetic, features resource inference for iterated separating conjunction, and uses a novel syntactic restriction of ghost variables in specifications to guarantee their successful inference. We implement CN and formalise key aspects of the type system, including a soundness proof of type checking. To demonstrate the usability of CN we use it to verify a substantial component of Google's pKVM hypervisor for Android.

Semantic Anti-Realism in Kant’s Antinomy Chapter

AbstractBy considering the semantic footings of the so-called antinomies of pure reason, this article contributes to the debate about whether Kant was committed tosemantic realismoranti-realism. That is, whether verification-transcendent judgements are truth-apt (realism) or not (anti-realism). Against the (empiricist) semantic principle that Strawson, and others, have ascribed to Kant as the “principle of significance,” the bedrock of my article is what I call Kant’sReal Principle of Significance: an extension-based and normative principle stating that a judgement can have no “significance” or “objective validity” (truth-value) without a universally recognizable norm for verifying it. This principle entails semantic anti-realism. I argue that we can extract the principle from the antinomy chapter ofKrV, since in there Kant concludes that judgements of the form “the world as such is x” are without “significance” (lack a truth-value) in virtue of being unverifiable as a matter of principle. I propose that Kant’s reference to some of the antinomical judgements as “false” is not incompatible with this anti-realist reading because he operates with two distinct world-concepts: an illegitimate transcendental realist one and a legitimate transcendental idealist one. In contrast to most anti-realist Kant-interpretations, it is furthermore argued that any satisfactory anti-realist construal of Kant’s view must be compatible with his assertion that the thesis in the third antinomy about freedom “can be true.” That requires a thicker conception of “significance” or “objective validity” than what is often ascribed to Kant, which is encapsulated by theReal Principle of Significance.

THE CYRILLIC ALPHABET AND CODE

The article is devoted to the analytical review of scientific terms «alphabet», «code», «cipher». The research, which was based on lexicological, lexical, semiotic analysis, showed the essential difference between the terms «letter» and «sign of cipher», «sign of code». The letter (the writing sign) and its characteristics are formed on the analogy basis. The sign of cipher and code (the digital characters) are formed on the discrete, digital basis. Their bond (link) between the material form and the meaning is different too. The link between the material form of the writing sign (the letter) and its meaning is arbitrary (it is determined by cultural tradition and written legends). The link between the material form of the cipher sign (or code) and its meaning is secret (agreed as a secret sign), temporary, absolutely conventional. The results of the review are mainly based on the corpus comparative study of semantic realism methodology, which reflects the general state of formation (making) of these terms in Russian literary scientific style (language) of XX-XXI centuries. The article also presents the comparative and evidential basis which isbased on the materials of scientific texts and dictionaries of XX and XXI centuries. It is unfounded and illegitimate to use the terms «code» and «cipher» in the research of history and special features of natural-historical alphabets writing signs, for example, such as the Cyrillic alphabet.

Edge‐aware image outpainting with attentional generative adversarial networks

Image outpainting aims at extending the field of view of an existing image. While image inpainting has achieved great success with the deep learning technology, image outpainting still receive less attention. The main challenge is how to generate high-quality extended images with clear texture and highly consistent semantic information. In order to solve the problem of the effect of invalid pixels on the generated image and the distance of effective pixels is too far. This paper proposes a two-stage image outpainting method (the EA method), which consists of an edge generation stage and an edge transformation stage. In this paper, the convolutional block attention module (CBAM) is introduced into the generation network to focus on spatial and channel feature and the improved VAE-GAN structure is used to generate the extended image for more realistic semantics. The EA method is evaluated on the CelebA, Pairs-streetview and homemade landscapes dataset, and show that the results contain high-quality textures as well as faithfully extend the semantics. The average PSNR, SSIM, FID index of the EA method on the three datasets is 22.7961, 0.7061, 6.8553 and show that it outperforms existing algorithms in both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Introduction: Measurement at the Crossroads

Introduction: Measurement at the Crossroads

Realist and antirealist interpretations of Wittgenstein’s rule-following considerations

The sceptical paradox which Kripke found in Wittgenstein?s rule-following considerations threatens the very notion of meaning. However, Kripke also offered a sceptical solution to it, according to which semantic sentences have no truth conditions, but their meaning is determined by assertability conditions instead. He presented Wittgenstein?s development as the abandoning of semantic realism of the Tractatus in favour of semantic antirealism, characteristic of Philosophical Investigations. Crispin Wright, although at points critical of Kripke?s interpretation, also understood the rule-following considerations as containing a crucial argument for antirealism. Contrary to Wright, John McDowell maintained that they offer a transcendental argument for realism. In this paper, I will argue that neither the realist nor the antirealist reading is faithfull to Wittgenstein, as his important conceptual distinction between criteria and symptoms is not adequately recoverable in any of them. Hence the upshot of rulefollowing considerations is that the distinction between realism and antirealism should not be articulated in terms of truth/assertability conditions.

On the Modeling of Sequential Reactive Systems by Means of Real Time Automata

Sequential reactive systems include hardware devices and software programs which operate in continuous interaction with the external environment, from which they receive streams of input signals (data, commands) and in response to them form streams of output signals. Systems of this type include controllers, network switches, program interpreters, system drivers. The behavior of some reactive systems is determined not only by the sequence of values of input signals, but also by the time of their arrival at the inputs of the system and the delays in computing the output signals. These aspects of reactive system computations are taken into account by real-time models of computation which include, in particular, realtime finite state machines (TFSMs). However, in most works where this class of real-time automata is studied a simple variant of TFSM semantics is used: the transduction relation computed by a TFSM is defined so that the elements of an output stream, regardless oftheir timestamps, follow in the same order as the corresponding elements ofthe input stream. This straightforward approach makes the model easier to analyze and manipulate, but it misses many important features of real-time computation. In this paper we study a more realistic semantics of TFSMs and show how to represent it by means of Labeled Transition Systems. The use of the new TFSM model also requires new approaches to the solution of verification problems in the framework of this model. For this purpose, we propose an alternative definition of TFSM computations by means of Labeled Transition Systems and show that the two definitions of semantics for the considered class of real-time finite state machines are in good agreement with each other. The use of TFSM semantics based on Labeled Transition Systems opens up the possibility of adapting well known real-time model checking techniques to the verification ofsequential reactive systems.

Quine's Scientific Realism Revisited

AbstractIn order to reconnect Quine's views to the current debate on scientific realism, I reframe Quine's scientific realism into a semantic, a metaphysical, and an epistemological dimension. With this conceptual background, I review the historical development of Quine's scientific realism from the late 1940s until his death in 2000. I challenge Soames's view that Quine is a phenomenalist at the time of “Two Dogmas of Empiricism” (1951) and show that he remains agnostic between a realist and an anti‐realist conceptual scheme instead. I also argue that Quine's early views on regimentation are incompatible with a strong formulation of semantic realism. I proceed in reconstructing how he becomes a metaphysical and epistemological realist in the mid‐1950s and argue against the view of Keskinen and Fogelin that interprets Quine as being a metaphysical anti‐realist. Contrary to Davidson, I defend the view that he never gave up normative epistemology and really is a proper epistemological realist. Finally, I discuss how he tries to reconcile his realism with his thesis of ontological relativity and how this necessitates the switch to a stronger form of semantic realism.

Semantic Realism, Actually

Abstract Michael Dummett offered a semantic characterisation of a variety of realism-antirealism debates. This approach has fallen out of fashion. This has been to the detriment of metaphysics. This paper offers an accurate characterisation of Dummett’s view, often lacking in the literature, and then defends it against a range of attacks (from Devitt, Miller and Williamson). This understanding of realism debates is resilient, and if we take it seriously the philosophical terrain looks importantly different. In particular, the philosophy of language has a foundational role with respect to metaphysics.

Semantic realism in the semantic conception of theories

Semantic realism can be characterised as the idea that scientific theories are truth-bearers, and that they are true or false in virtue of the world. This notion is often assumed, but rarely discussed in the literature. I examine how it fares in the context of the semantic view of theories and in connection with the literature on scientific representation. Making sense of semantic realism requires specifying the conditions of application of theoretical models, even for models that are not actually used, which leads to several difficulties. My conclusion is that semantic realism is far more demanding than one would expect. Finally, I briefly examine some pragmatist alternatives.

Monoidal-closed categories of tree automata

AbstractThis paper surveys a new perspective on tree automata and Monadic second-order logic (MSO) on infinite trees. We show that the operations on tree automata used in the translations of MSO-formulae to automata underlying Rabin’s Tree Theorem (the decidability of MSO) correspond to the connectives of Intuitionistic Multiplicative Exponential Linear Logic (IMELL). Namely, we equip a variant of usual alternating tree automata (that we call uniform tree automata) with a fibered monoidal-closed structure which in particular handles a linear complementation of alternating automata. Moreover, this monoidal structure is actually Cartesian on non-deterministic automata, and an adaptation of a usual construction for the simulation of alternating automata by non-deterministic ones satisfies the deduction rules of the !(–) exponential modality of IMELL. (But this operation is unfortunately not a functor because it does not preserve composition.) Our model of IMLL consists in categories of games which are based on usual categories of two-player linear sequential games called simple games, and which generalize usual acceptance games of tree automata. This model provides a realizability semantics, along the lines of Curry–Howard proofs-as-programs correspondence, of a linear constructive deduction system for tree automata. This realizability semantics, which can be summarized with the slogan “automata as objects, strategies as morphisms,” satisfies an expected property of witness extraction from proofs of existential statements. Moreover, it makes it possible to combine realizers produced as interpretations of proofs with strategies witnessing (non-)emptiness of tree automata.

SEMANTIC DIRECT REALISM

AbstractThe most common form of direct realism is Phenomenological Direct Realism (PDR). PDR is the theory that direct realism consists in unmediated awareness of the external object in the form of unmediated awareness of its relevant properties. I contrast this with Semantic Direct Realism (SDR), the theory that perceptual experience puts you in direct cognitive contact with external objects but does so without the unmediated awareness of the objects’ intrinsic properties invoked by PDR. PDR is what most understand by direct realism. My argument is that, under pressure from the arguments from illusion and hallucination, defenders of intentionalist theories, and even of relational theories, in fact retreat to SDR. I also argue briefly that the sense-datum theory is compatible with SDR and so nothing is gained by adopting either of the more fashionable theories.

Consistency of the intensional level of the Minimalist Foundation with Church’s thesis and axiom of choice

Consistency with the formal Church’s thesis, for short CT, and the axiom of choice, for short AC, was one of the requirements asked to be satisfied by the intensional level of a two-level foundation for constructive mathematics as proposed by Maietti and Sambin (in Crosilla, Schuster (eds) From sets and types to topology and analysis: practicable foundations for constructive mathematics, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005). Here we show that this is the case for the intensional level of the two-level Minimalist Foundation, for short MF, completed in 2009 by the second author. The intensional level of MF consists of an intensional type theory a la Martin-Lof, called mTT. The consistency of mTT with CT and AC is obtained by showing the consistency with the formal Church’s thesis of a fragment of intensional Martin-Lof’s type theory, called $$\mathbf{MLtt}_1$$ , where mTT can be easily interpreted. Then to show the consistency of $$\mathbf{MLtt}_1$$ with CT we interpret it within Feferman’s predicative theory of non-iterative fixpoints $$\widehat{ID_1}$$ by extending the well known Kleene’s realizability semantics of intuitionistic arithmetics so that CT is trivially validated. More in detail the fragment $$\mathbf{MLtt}_1$$ we interpret consists of first order intensional Martin-Lof’s type theory with one universe and with explicit substitution rules in place of usual equality rules preserving type constructors (hence without the so called $$\xi $$ -rule which is not valid in our realizability semantics). A key difficulty encountered in our interpretation was to use the right interpretation of lambda abstraction in the applicative structure of natural numbers in order to model all the equality rules of $$\mathbf{MLtt}_1$$ correctly. In particular the universe of $$\mathbf{MLtt}_1$$ is modelled by means of $$\widehat{ID_1}$$ -fixpoints following a technique due first to Aczel and used by Feferman and Beeson.

Antirealism/realism of Hintikka’s game-theoretical semantics

Hintikka’s game-theoretical semantics (GTS) is presented as an anti-Tarskian semantical approach to the context-dependent fragments of Englisch, which overcomes the usual notion of semantical realism. Analysing Hintikka’s critique of Tarski’s interpretation of the truth-conditional theory of meaning, its recursive fashion and the narrow notion of realism, Hintikka’s basic conception is presented in the following manner:1. the Context-Principle vs. the Frege Principle,2.First-order logic together with higher-order logic vs. the primacy of first-order logic,3.verificationist/falsificationist theory vs. Taraski’s narrow truth- conditional theory.Comparing some reviews of Hintikka’s GTS (M. Dummett, E. Itkonen, E. Saarinen, M. Hand) with a short examination of the antirealistic/realistic controversis by C. Wright and M. Dummett, the following was reached:Hintikka’s GTS introduces a new, more extended notion of realism, which embraces Taraski-type realistic semantics, Hintikka’s GTS and with this the question of the possibility to also include Dummett’s neoverificationism or other orientations, remains open.

Crucified and Resurrected: Restructuring the Grammar of Christology by Ingolf U. Dalferth

Reviewed by: Crucified and Resurrected: Restructuring the Grammar of Christology by Ingolf U. Dalferth Mark Mattes Crucified and Resurrected: Restructuring the Grammar of Christology. By Ingolf U. Dalferth. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011. xix + 325 pp. Originally published in German in 1994, this book, a foray into Christology by an internationally recognized scholar, merits widespread attention. Dalferth shares many affinities with the rich theological thinking of the Tübingen systematician, Eberhard Jüngel, with whom he had studied and whose own complex theology interweaves a Barthian approach to God, where God is self-revealing as the triune life, a Bultmannian approach to anthropology, where human authenticity is established through a decision for or against God in the face of existential awareness, and a Lutheran highlighting of cross and resurrection as the primary paradigm for understanding Christian existence. The major shift in Dalferth’s Christology [End Page 243] in contrast to traditional two-nature Chalcedonian Christology is to center Christology in Jesus’ resurrection and not the incarnation. For Dalferth, this stance is more faithful both to Scripture and a contemporary outlook as opposed to the substance metaphysics assumed in the Chalcedonian creedal formation. The book begins with the critique of the incarnation postulated by the 1970’s “Myth of God Incarnate” theologians, such as John Hick, and then moves to the motif of “cross and resurrection” as the proper basis for outlining Christology, the trinity, and the nature of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Dalferth appreciates Hick’s conviction that belief in the saving efficacy of Jesus Christ is not reducible to belief in the incarnation (3), but he discredits Hick’s overall approach to Christ because it is “Pelagianizing” (21). In contrast to “substance metaphysics,” Jesus is best understood in his role of disclosing the “nearness of God”; God’s “imminent advent” is the field on which to recognize the meaning of Jesus (25). Jesus’ entire ministry was for the sake of this mission and for it he sacrificed his life. Even so, his resurrection shows that God’s love is stronger than death. God, not death, has the last word in Jesus’ story (26). Indeed, because Jesus has been raised to eternal life, the compassionate reign of God has dawned (26). The saving significance of Jesus for believers is that faith in Jesus as the “mediator of God’s life-giving presence” will allow them “to participate in Jesus’ resurrection to continuous fellowship with God” (28). Theologically, Jesus’ resurrection discloses God’s nature to be “inexhaustible creative love” (33). In the cross the “Son of God” makes himself like us mortals and in so doing makes us mortals like him (42). Hence, God’s divinity is disclosed not as “omnipotent self-preservation” (as the normative Christian tradition would have us believe) but as gratuitous self-abasement (46) for humanity’s welfare. Jesus’ behavior in his earthly ministry, such as his placing himself above God’s law, his exercising eschatological functions, his controlling demons, and his forgiving sinners, exercises rights that belong to God alone (103). Jesus is not only human but divine in that in all he says and does he defines the “reign of God” (126). Dalferth finds the substance ontology and the realist semantics of traditional two-natures Christology problematic for the modern world (142). As an alternative, he posits God as in a process of “self-definition” [End Page 244] (as love for the world) (158) in which the cross itself is most definitive of God’s life because it indicates the “risk” which God will take to reach out to rebellious, self-deifying humans (160). Dalferth is wary of “penal substitution” language as the way to describe Jesus’ atoning death. He notes that we must be careful not to confuse four models of atonement (which grow out of different and not always commensurable contexts): (1) cultic, centered on the language of sacrifice, (2) juristic, centered on covenant, (3) political, centered on freedom from captivity, and (4) personal, centered on fellowship. In a word, Jesus’ death enacts our own unavoidable death (275). Jesus death is “for us” in that his entire life was one of “surrender” on behalf of sinners (252). Those for whom Christology must come...

Principios fundamentales e inteligibilidad del derecho: entre el realismo semántico y una teoría objetiva del bien y de la acción

This paper argues that a realistic semantic theory, as proposed by Hilary Putnam and Saul Kripke, offers an adequate explanation of the significant role of the stated fundamentals. More specifically, it attempts to demonstrate that the priority of the referent over meaning in the semantic order and the priority of understanding over judgment or opinion in the cognitive order are a logical necessity of four generally agreed characteristics of the stated fundamentals: their universal projection, their categorical nature, their pretension of intelligibility, and their pretense of reasonableness. It also argues the assumption of a realistic semantics does not imply linking the stated fundamentals with a theoretical description of human nature, but with basic or rigid types of intentional actions and objects.

A Survey of the ESR Model for an Objective Reinterpretation of Quantum Mechanics

Most scholars concerned with the foundations of quantum mechanics (QM) think that contextuality and nonlocality (hence nonobjectivity of physical properties) are unavoidable features of QM which follow from the mathematical apparatus of QM. Moreover these features are usually considered as basic in quantum information processing. Nevertheless they raise still unsolved problems, as the objectification problem in the quantum theory of measurement. The extended semantic realism (ESR) model offers a possible way out from these difficulties by embedding the mathematical formalism of QM into a broader mathematical formalism and reinterpreting quantum probabilities as conditional on detection rather than absolute. The embedding allows to recover the formal apparatus of QM within the ESR model, and the reinterpretation of QM allows to construct a noncontextual hidden variables theory which justifies the assumptions introduced in the ESR model and proves its objectivity. According to the ESR model both linear and nonlinear time evolution occur, depending on the physical environment, as in QM. In addition, the ESR model, though objective, implies modified Bell's inequalities that do not conflict with QM, supplies different mathematical representations of proper and improper mixtures, provides a general framework in which the local interpretations of the GHZ experiment obtained by other authors are recovered and explained, and supports an interpretation of quantum logic which avoids the introduction of the problematic notion of quantum truth.

Embedding Quantum Mechanics into a Broader Noncontextual Theory

Scholars concerned with the foundations of quantum mechanics (QM) usually think that contextuality (hence nonobjectivity of physical properties, which implies numerous problems and paradoxes) is an unavoidable feature of QM which directly follows from the mathematical apparatus of QM. Based on some previous papers on this issue, we criticize this view and supply a new informal presentation of the extended semantic realism (ESR) model which embodies the formalism of QM into a broader mathematical formalism and reinterprets quantum probabilities as conditional on detection rather than absolute. Because of this reinterpretation a hidden variables theory can be constructed which justifies the assumptions introduced in the ESR model and proves its objectivity. When applied to special cases the ESR model settles long-standing conflicts (it reconciles Bell’s inequalities with QM), provides a general framework in which previous results obtained by other authors (as local interpretations of the GHZ experiment) are recovered and explained, and supports an interpretation of quantum logic which avoids the introduction of the problematic notion of quantum truth.

Interactive Realizability for second-order Heyting arithmetic with EM1 and SK1

We introduce a realizability semantics based on interactive learning for full second-order Heyting arithmetic with excluded middle and Skolem axioms over Σ10-formulas. Realizers are written in a classical version of Girard's System$\mathsf{F}$and can be viewed as programs that learn by interacting with the environment. We show that the realizers of any Π20-formula represent terminating learning processes whose outcomes are numerical witnesses for the existential quantifier of the formula.