Principle Of Reason Research Articles

A tool for merging extensions of abstract argumentation frameworks

We describe a tool that allows the merging of extensions of argumentation frameworks, following the approach defined by (In Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (KR’16) (2016) 33–42). The tool is implemented in Java, and is highly modular thanks to Object Oriented Programming (OOP) principles. We describe a short experimental study that assesses the scalability of the approach, as well as the impact on runtime of using an integrity constraint.

Localizing Violations of the Principle of Sufficient Reason—Leibniz on the Modal Status of the PSR

The Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR)—the principle that everything has a reason—plays a central role in Leibniz’s philosophical system. It is rather difficult, however, to determine what Leibniz’s attitude towards the modal status of the PSR is. The prevailing view is that Leibniz takes the PSR to be true necessarily. This paper develops a novel interpretation and argues that Leibniz’s PSR is a contingent principle. It also discusses whether a merely contingent PSR can do the metaphysical heavy lifting that Leibniz aims for. The paper shows that, despite appearance to the contrary, this is possible. In a nutshell, the argument is that the only possible PSR violation Leibniz allows for is God’s creation of a suboptimal world; there is no Leibnizian possible world, though, which intrinsically violates the PSR. Despite its contingency, then, Leibniz’s PSR is modally robust enough to serve as a foundational principle of his metaphysics.

Derrida on responsibility in the university

In this essay I examine Derrida’s proposal for a new understanding of responsibility in the university, as it is articulated in “Mochlos, or The Confl ict of the Faculties,” together with remarks made in “The Principle of Reason: The University in the Eyes of its Pupils” and “The University Without Condition”. I argue that this account of responsibility, while sharing some characteristics with Derrida’s later theorizations, enacts an inheritance of Kant and places an emphasis on community that is unique in Derrida’s oeuvre.

The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought: Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics

<i>The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought: Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics</i>

Образование как несущая структура общества знания

The article analyzes the role of educational system in reproduction of the intellectual life of a modern society, which, according to certain scientists, is striving for a state referred to by them as the Knowledge Society. It is pointed out that among various interpretations of this concept the authors are closest to understanding it as the social ideal, since it is too early to talk about any noticeable and even more so final transition to a fundamentally new type of the social reality. Another interpretation is also proposed, which means that any knowledge society as a social attractor appears to be a possible and desirable new quasi-stable state of the society based on systematic production of the rational knowledge in the course of widely held theoretical (aimed at finding propositional truth), moral and practical (aimed at finding normative correctness) discussions. The simulated attractor will make it possible to avoid catastrophic scenarios for the development of Civilization associated with unpreparedness of the human mind to cope with the growing instrumental power and other challenges of the history. Relevance of the problem under discussion is due to unprecedented acceleration of the evolutionary processes in the 21st century noted by many researchers of the Universal History (Big History). An original procedural concept of rational knowledge is presented, which basic component is the widely understood principle of sufficient reason serving as the universal mechanism for accumulating the cultural capital. It is noted that the introduced principle is not any law of logic, but is represented by a five-step scheme for formation and selection of knowledge and could be substantiated by the transcendental-pragmatic method proposed by Karl-Otto Apel and Jürgen Habermas. To analyze the functions of education, fundamental theory of the intellectual networks by R. Collins is introduced, which includes theory of interactive rituals, social concept of creativity and model of the intellectual attention space dynamics.

Kant’s Account of Epistemic Normativity

Abstract According to a common interpretation, most explicitly defended by Onora O’Neill and Patricia Kitcher, Kant held that epistemic obligations normatively depend on moral obligations. That is, were a rational agent not bound by any moral obligation, then she would not be bound by any epistemic obligation either. By contrast, in this paper, I argue that, according to Kant, some epistemic obligations are normatively independent from moral obligations, and are indeed normatively absolute. This view, which I call epistemicism, has two parts. First, it claims that in the absence of other kinds of obligations, rational agents would still be bound by these epistemic obligations, i. e., that the latter are normatively independent. Second, it claims that, no matter what other obligations are at stake, rational agents are bound by these epistemic obligations, i. e., the normativity of these epistemic obligations is absolute in that it cannot be undercut by any moral or other sort of obligation. The argument turns on an exploratory reading of Kant’s remarks in “What Is Orientation in Thinking?” (1786) about the maxim of “thinking for oneself” as the “supreme touchstone of truth”. In contrast to O’Neill and Kitcher, I argue that if we interpret this maxim as stating the unifying principle of theoretical and practical reason, then we must interpret it as stating an epistemic, and not merely practical imperative. This result, I argue, vindicates epistemicism and illuminates interesting lessons about Kant’s conception of the category of “epistemic” norms. Further, it helps us make headway with Kant’s enigmatic remarks about the unity of practical and theoretical reason in the Groundwork, the first and second Critiques, and the Lectures on Logic. On my proposal, principles of the practical and theoretical uses of reason are unified through a formal epistemic principle.

The Doctrine of Fiduciary Obligations in Corporate Law Through the Prism of Fiduciary Legal Relations and the Principles of Justice, Conscience, Reasonableness and Loyalty

Topicality. The relevance of the study is due to the lack of a single approach to understanding fiduciary legal relations in civil studies, which prevents the disclosure of the essence of the doctrine of fiduciary duties; insufficient analysis of the concept of "fiduciary duties", which makes it impossible to determine the content of duties arising from the subject of fiduciary legal relations; the lack of clarification of the essence of the doctrine of fiduciary duties, which prevents its full application to the regulation of civil legal relations, the prosecution of persons who have fiduciary duties. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essence of the doctrine of fiduciary duties through the prism of fiduciary legal relations and the principles of civil law, in particular, justice, good faith, reasonableness and loyalty, using the example of corporate law. Research methods. A complex of methods was used in the study of the problem. The theoretical and methodological basis is dialectical, historical and comparative methods, with the help of which the processes of formation, development and application of the doctrine of fiduciary duties in Ukraine and foreign countries were investigated and a complex conceptual and categorical apparatus of this doctrine was developed. Methods of analysis, synthesis, logical generalization, scientific abstraction, and formal-logical methods were used. Using the classification method, groups of fiduciary duties were identified. The method of theoretical generalization made it possible to establish subjects that have fiduciary duties. Results. An analysis of fiduciary legal relations, their relationship with the doctrine of fiduciary duties, the mechanism of functioning of the latter in the Romano-Germanic and Anglo-American legal systems was carried out; special legal methods of interpretation of legal norms, with the help of which the conceptual principles of the functioning and development of the doctrine of fiduciary legal relations, as well as the directions of its practical implementation in judicial practice, are defined; the norms of the current legislation relating to fiduciary duty in corporate law, the application of the doctrine of fiduciary duty in the practice of the Supreme Court were investigated; the components of the doctrine of fiduciary duties are defined: fiduciary legal relations, fiduciary powers, fiduciary duties, principles of justice, good faith, reasonableness and loyalty; the essence of the doctrine of fiduciary duties in corporate law is revealed.

Crossing the Rubicon in archival sciences. Redefining the scope of state archivists in the 21st century Poland (with Ukrainian reflection)

The archivist’s profession has been shaped by its relations with historic sciences. In the 19th century, where first archival institutions were founded, they attracted numerous historians. It was them who primarily joined the ranks of archives’ personnel and contributed to their development. It constitutes a foundation for the traditional archival methodology, the perception of archives themselves and the self-identification of their employees. Nowadays, the world is changing more rapidly than ever before affecting the archives. Polish state archives influenced by both techno-logical and cultural revolutions are faced with a difficult choice for further advancement of their scope and activities. This article outlines the principle reasons behind the discernible changes in the Polish archival realism. The authors try to answer the question of what these changes are, in which spheres of archival work take place and on what levels. They also prepare a portrait of an employee of the modern state archive in Poland and describe the transformations in the consciousness, self-esteem and intellectual and professional condition of archivists. They confront this picture with the situation in Ukrainian archives operating in a similar geographical area, although with the experience of the realities of the Soviet Union and a different systemic path after 1991. This comparative study was based on an analysis of the scientific literature on Polish and Ukrainian archivists and the results of research conducted by the authors among employees state archives.

Leibniz on the Grounds of the Principle of Sufficient Reason

Abstract I examine several alleged grounds of the principle of sufficient reason in Leibniz’s philosophy. These include the nature of a requisite and a sufficient condition, the nature of truth, and the nature of harmony. I argue that Leibniz does not ground the PSR in any of these ways. Instead, he is committed to a value-based grounds of the PSR: God creates the best possible world, and the fact that the PSR obtains in this world contributes to it being the best. I conclude by considering some objections to this way of grounding the PSR.

Constitutional and legal aspects of institutional and legislatives upport for territorial governance reform

The current stage of transformation of the territorial organization of power, territorial governance requires a study of constitutional and legal issues of institutional and legislative support for structural and functional changes in the system of local public authority. In view of this, it is important to study the processes of renewal, innovative mechanisms of legal resource provision of reform, to identify problematic aspects of the legislative and executive bodies, ways to improve institutional and legislative support for territorial governance. Institutional and legislative support of the territorial organization of public authority, territorial governance are essential elements of the implementation of good governance in the country. Therefore, their study in the constitutional and legal discourse is of great doctrinal interest. The purpose and objectives of the study are constitutional and legal intelligence of the formation of eff ective mechanisms for institutional and legislative support of territorial governance. Institutional support consists in creating the organizational basis of the transformation process, building its organizational structure and includes bodies that directly direct and coordinate the reform process. With the help of legislative support, a legal mechanism for the transformation of territorial governance is being formed. Legislative support is designed to legally regulate relations in the fi eld of transformation of territorial governance: reforming the territorial organization of public authority, the administrative-territorial structure of the country. It is carried out by various actors in the legislative process. It is expedient to think not only about the «municipal» legislative provision, ie the provision of local self-government, but also about the legislative support of the entire system of territorial government. The formation of adequate legal and legislative support for territorial governance depends primarily on the eff ective work of parliament as a leader in constitutional and legal regulation of governance and territorial governance, inventory of current problems of constitutional and legal regulation of public authority and outlining the transformation of constitutional and legal regulation. in Ukraine. The work on internal reform and increasing the institutional capacity of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine should be used in relation to the development and improvement of lawmaking in the fi eld of legislative support for the transformation of territorial governance. Renewal of territorial governance has recently faced a number of challenges. It is worth listening to the warnings of experts on current problems of decentralization related to the subregional level of territorial government, lack of representation in rural self-government bodies due to politicization of the electoral system and devaluation of the old age, and attempts to introduce a new system of local government legislation. in the form of a draft of a new version of the law on local self-government, which may destroy the competence of the own and delegated powers of local selfgovernment bodies and the entire system of government in the state. Further development legislative support of territorial governance is also associated with the adoption and implementation of the Law «On Lawmaking», enshrined in the principles of expediency and reasonableness; systematicity and complexity; scientific support – when the results of law-making activities should take into account the achievements of science in the fi eld in which legal regulation is carried out, including by involving representatives of scientifi c institutions and recognized specialists in relevant fi elds of science. In this sense, it is advisable to review traditional approaches to the legal provision of the municipal sphere, based on the postulates of good governance, to consider conceptual approaches to the development of new legislation on the principles of territorial governance of Ukraine. Key words: constitution, institutional, legislative support of territorial governance, public authorities

Delictual liability for injuries suffered at childcare centres

The Constitutional Court has recently given an important judgment about the delictual liability of the state for injuries sustained by a child at an early childhood development (ECD) centre: BE obo JE v MEC for Social Development, Western Cape. The Court substantially confirmed the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment in the same matter. Both judgments built upon the preceding SCA judgment in Government of the Western Cape: Department of Social Development v CB, which, like BE, involved a tragic accident at an ECD centre. With the appearance of these judgments, it is a good time to assess our courts’ willingness to provide delictual remedies for injuries suffered at childcare centres, and to consider the status of South African public authority liability in general. I explain that the omissions liability of public authorities for negligently caused bodily injury has expanded significantly since 2002. The High Court judgments in BE and CB, which imposed liability on the Department of Social Development, were consistent with this. But the appellate judgments may suggest a retreat from our law’s expansionary approach. I discuss the reasons of policy and principle why such a retreat might be welcome, both for organs of state and the legal system as a whole. I also consider the potential delictual liability of the ECD centres themselves, as well as local authorities, for incidents of the kind in BE and CB. Finally, I consider two hypothetical cases that help to illustrate potential future developments for public authority liability in South Africa.

Can Non-Causal Explanations Answer the Leibniz Question?

Abstract Leibniz is often cited as an authority when it comes to the formulation and answer strategy of the question “Why is there something rather than nothing?” Yet much current research assumes that Leibniz advocates an unambiguous question and strategy for the answer. In this respect, one repeatedly finds the argument in the literature that alternative explanatory approaches to this question violate Leibniz’s intention, since he derives the question from the principle of sufficient reason and also demands a causal explanation to the question. In particular, the new research on non-causal explanatory strategies to the Leibniz question seems to concern this counter-argument. In this paper, however, I will argue that while Leibniz raises the question by means of the principle of sufficient reason, he even favours a non-causal explanatory strategy to the question. Thus, a more accurate Leibniz interpretation seems not only to legitimise but also to support non-causal explanations to the Leibniz question.

Later credits: resourceful reasoning for the later modality

In the past two decades, step-indexed logical relations and separation logics have both come to play a major role in semantics and verification research. More recently, they have been married together in the form of step-indexed separation logics like VST, iCAP, and Iris, which provide powerful tools for (among other things) building semantic models of richly typed languages like Rust. In these logics, propositions are given semantics using a step-indexed model, and step-indexed reasoning is reflected into the logic through the so-called “later” modality. On the one hand, this modality provides an elegant, high-level account of step-indexed reasoning; on the other hand, when used in sufficiently sophisticated ways, it can become a nuisance, turning perfectly natural proof strategies into dead ends. In this work, we introduce later credits , a new technique for escaping later-modality quagmires. By leveraging the second ancestor of these logics—separation logic—later credits turn “the right to eliminate a later” into an ownable resource, which is subject to all the traditional modular reasoning principles of separation logic. We develop the theory of later credits in the context of Iris, and present several challenging examples of proofs and proof patterns which were previously not possible in Iris but are now possible due to later credits.

The content, concept and procedural aspects of the institution of reorganization as a legal category

This article analyzes the methods of reorganization and the improvement of legislation governing the relationship with their application, the substantive problems in the application and implementation of the principles, methods and forms of reorganization. As well as the fact that the judicial (compulsory) liquidation of legal entities is carried out on the grounds directly provided by law, the peculiarity of the compulsory liquidation of legal entities, which is not the will of the legal entity, but in accordance with or in accordance with the legislation non – compliance is analyzed. It also takes into account the compliance of the activities of the legal entity with the principles of honesty, reasonableness and fairness.

Assessing clinical reasoning ability in fourth-year medical students via an integrative group history-taking with an individual reasoning activity

BackgroundThe most important factor in evaluating a physician’s competence is strong clinical reasoning ability, leading to correct principal diagnoses. The process of clinical reasoning includes history taking, physical examinations, validating medical records, and determining a final diagnosis. In this study, we designed a teaching activity to evaluate the clinical reasoning competence of fourth-year medical students.MethodsWe created five patient scenarios for our standardized patients, including hemoptysis, abdominal pain, fever, anemia, and chest pain. A group history-taking with individual reasoning principles was implemented to teach and evaluate students’ abilities to take histories, document key information, and arrive at the most likely diagnosis. Residents were trained to act as teachers, and a post-study questionnaire was employed to evaluate the students’ satisfaction with the training activity.ResultsA total of 76 students, five teachers, and five standardized patients participated in this clinical reasoning training activity. The average history-taking score was 64%, the average key information number was 7, the average diagnosis number was 1.1, and the average correct diagnosis rate was 38%. Standardized patients presenting with abdominal pain (8.3%) and anemia (18.2%) had the lowest diagnosis rates. The scenario of anemia presented the most difficult challenge for students in history taking (3.5/5) and clinical reasoning (3.5/5). The abdominal pain scenario yielded even worse results (history taking: 2.9/5 and clinical reasoning 2.7/5). We found a correlation in the clinical reasoning process between the correct and incorrect most likely diagnosis groups (group history-taking score, p = 0.045; key information number, p = 0.009 and diagnosis number, p = 0.004). The post-study questionnaire results indicated significant satisfaction with the teaching program (4.7/5) and the quality of teacher feedback (4.9/5).ConclusionsWe concluded that the clinical reasoning skills of fourth-year medical students benefited from this training course, and the lower correction of the most likely diagnosis rate found with abdominal pain, anemia, and fever might be due to a system-based teaching modules in fourth-year medical students; cross-system remedial reasoning auxiliary training is recommended for fourth-year medical students in the future.

Adoption, adaptation or chance? Inter-organisational diffusion of the protection of civilians norm from the UN to the African Union

Norms can be adopted without modifications or adapted to regional contexts for strategic or principled reasons. Norm adoption and adaptation can also happen by chance. When adoption takes place without consideration of the norm’s effectiveness or appropriateness, we speak about imitation. When adaptation takes place in such a manner, we lack conceptual tools to analyse it. We propose a novel concept of incidental adaptation – divergence between promoted and adopted norms due to fortuitous events. This completes the typology of scenarios leading to norm adoption and adaptation. We apply the typology to the transmission of the protection of civilians norm in peace operations from the United Nations (UN) to the African Union (AU). The AU adopted the UN’s approaches in pursuit of interoperability and resources, and out of recognition of the UN’s normative authority. It also happened incidentally when the AU temporarily followed the UN’s approaches. The AU engaged in adaptation to reflect the nature of its operations and normative orientations of AU member states. Incidental adaptation accounted for the presence of the rights-based tier in the AU’s protection of civilians concept. These findings nuance our understanding of norm diffusion, inter-organisational relations and the role of chance in international affairs.

Epistemic Separability and Everettian Branches: A Critique of Sebens and Carroll

Abstract We discuss the proposal by Sebens and Carroll to derive the Born rule in Everettian quantum mechanics from a principle they call ‘ESP-QM’. We argue that the proposal fails: ESP-QM is not, as Sebens and Carroll argue, a ‘less general version’ of an independently plausible principle, ESP, and can only be motivated by the empirical success of quantum mechanics, including use of the Born rule. Therefore, ESP-QM cannot have the status of a meta-theoretical principle of reasoning and provides no viable basis for deriving the Born rule.

Research on the Vague Excessive Attachment of Compulsory Enforcement Act: In relation to the Regulations of German Compulsory Enforcement Act

我國原則上禁止私力救濟，惟強制執行作為私權實現之合法管道，亦應有所限制，避免過度侵害他人權利。超額查封禁止之立法目的即在保護債務人之財產免受過度侵害，惟按實務通說，查封縱有超額情事，倘非屬極端超額者，即無違背超額查封禁止規定。又謂我國採平等主義，以執行人員尚應考量是否仍有其他債權人參與分配為由，認該原則難以遵循而應放寬解釋。對此，本文整理我國近20年來有關超額查封之最高法院裁判，欲釐清法院對於「超額」之認定標準。此外，以採取優先主義之德國法為比較對象，除簡介德國法之查封制度外，並說明優先原則與超額查封禁止原則之規定與相關爭議。最後，重新檢討現行實務有待商榷之處，並提出若干淺見作結。In principle, private remedies are prohibited in Taiwan. Therefore, compulsory enforcement is the only way to apply for implementation. But it doesn't have to be a means of sacrificing the debtor's basic rights. In accordance with Article 1 Item 2 of the Compulsory Enforcement Act, which has been in force since 2014: ＂Compulsory enforcement shall be carried out in accordance with the principles of fairness and reasonableness, balancing the interests of creditors, debtors, and other interested parties, in an appropriate manner, and to the degree no more than necessary to achieve the enforcement purpose.＂ In other words, compulsory enforcement should be based on the principle of fairness and reasonableness, and not exceeding the necessary limits, which has been recognized by legislators. This research focuses on the protection of debtor's rights in the compulsory enforcement Law as the core topic and paying particular attention to the excessive Attachment in Compulsory Enforcement Act of Taiwan, which was stipulated by Article 50: ＂The attachment of the movable property is limited to the property whose price is sufficient to repay the claim amount under the compulsory enforcement and the costs to be borne by the debtor.＂ Due to shortage of studies in the field of compulsory enforcement in Taiwan, this study try to sort out systematically the relevant judgments of the Supreme Court in the past 20 years, and to clarify the court's judgment standards for the excessive Attachment and the considerations behind them. Especially, the practice has always focused on whether the creditor can obtain the satisfaction of the creditor's rights through compulsory execution. It is easy to ignore the protection of the debtor's rights and interests, leading to the occurrence of illegal compulsory enforcement. This article examines also from a comparative law perspective to introduce the German compulsory enforcement law.

In Leibniz’s Wake: Rationalist Paradise Lost

AbstractThe eighteenth-century German rationalist tradition is, broadly speaking, committed to (what I call) ‘the principle of rational cognition’: the grounded must be rationally cognizable from its sufficient ground. Whereas the prevailing view takes the fundamental challenge to rationalist paradise to stem from the principle of sufficient reason, I argue that it instead stems from this principle: How is it possible to rationally cognize anything at all from its ground? By investigating the opposing responses of two of Leibniz’s most influential immediate successors, Christian Wolff and Christian Crusius, we find no easy way to remain in rationalist paradise.

Between Rationalism and Romanticism: Blanckenburg'sVersuch über den Romanand the Transformation of Rationalist Metaphysics

This essay examines Blanckenburg's theory of the novel in relation to Leibniz's metaphysics. It argues that Blanckenburg theorizes the novel as uniquely suited to respond to the problem in Leibniz's metaphysics of how to bridge the gap between the apparent contingency of first‐person experience and the promise that the world is actually a well‐ordered whole. Whereas Leibniz must appeal to the Principle of Sufficient Reason to bridge this gap, Blanckenburg suggests that the novel can aid philosophical cognition by doing what philosophical thought cannot: create a world depicting the development of a human life in its totality. However, freed from its ontological basis, Blanckenburg's theory provides an important starting point for early Romantic aesthetic theory. Following Blanckenburg, the novel becomes a privileged medium not for copying life, but for offering a model for it, thereby providing an important impulse in Romanticism's reversal of rationalist hierarchies of philosophy and aesthetics.