Hassan Amiriara
Abstract
One aspect of naturalists' critique of contemporary analytic metaphysics is its reliance on philosophical and metaphysical intuitions. Many naturalists argue that, first, analytic metaphysics appeals to intuition as evidence, and second, there are many reasons why intuition cannot be a reliable source ...
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One aspect of naturalists' critique of contemporary analytic metaphysics is its reliance on philosophical and metaphysical intuitions. Many naturalists argue that, first, analytic metaphysics appeals to intuition as evidence, and second, there are many reasons why intuition cannot be a reliable source of knowledge. Defenders of analytic metaphysics have attempted to address this objection raised by naturalists in some ways. One response is to show that intuitions have a similar evidential role in physical sciences, just as they do in metaphysics. Jonathan Tallant has followed this approach. In this article, we will first outline the naturalist critique of metaphysics through an attack on intuition. Then we will look at some of the related responses to these critiques, with a specific focus on Tallant's approach. Finally, we will offer a critique of his argument. It is contended that Tallant's approach fails to provide a decisive answer to the objections of radical naturalists.
Hamed Bikaraan-Behesht
Abstract
It has been several decades since the center of excellence (CoE) schemes, which are policy instruments for achieving specific goals, have been developed, and several CoEs with different functions have been established. These centers provide suitable environments for research collaborations, especially ...
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It has been several decades since the center of excellence (CoE) schemes, which are policy instruments for achieving specific goals, have been developed, and several CoEs with different functions have been established. These centers provide suitable environments for research collaborations, especially interdisciplinary collaborations, which are essential for mission-oriented innovations for addressing the grand societal challenges. However, CoEs are faced with serious problems. One problem is that, although these centers aimed to create a critical mass of top researchers, which is essential to tackle the grand challenges, there are barriers to doing so. Besides, it seems that CoEs are in opposition to the value of equity that are important in scientific activities. In this paper, after discussing the concept of excellence and the classification, ways of establishing, funding, and the rationale for centers of excellence, I will discuss the two issues of critical mass and equity. Then, inspired by the structure of networks of excellence, I will propose a CoE scheme that can address both issues by establishing a collaborative network of researchers from different institutes to work in a research area or to tackle a societal challenge.
Mesbah Khandan; Morteza Nouri
Abstract
Husserl presents a scheme of his philosophy of physics in paragraphs 40 to 52 of treatise Ideas1, relying on the foundations of the idea of transcendental phenomenology. The main pillar of his theory is the discussion of the nature and existence of unobservable and theoretical entities in mathematical ...
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Husserl presents a scheme of his philosophy of physics in paragraphs 40 to 52 of treatise Ideas1, relying on the foundations of the idea of transcendental phenomenology. The main pillar of his theory is the discussion of the nature and existence of unobservable and theoretical entities in mathematical physics. He expands his opinion while rejecting and violating two theories of primary-secondary qualities and critical realism and tries to propose an alternative model. In this article, I will first reread the clear and explicit aspect of Husserl's theory about unobservable entities by referring to the text of Ideas1, then by proposing an epistemological framework based on transcendental phenomenology, I will try to complete and reconstruct the ambiguous and controversial aspects of Husserl's theory. In this regard, I will argue that theoretical entities in physics have a "Universal" status, and therefore the discussion of what they are should be done using the doctrine of categorial intuition. In the following, while paying attention to the two ways of realizing universals in Husserl's view (Platonic and Kantian) and emphasizing the role of a ‘primary imaginary given’ in the constitution of universals, I will consider theoretical entities as universals in the Kantian sense and I will give evaluate the advantages and limitations of this interpretation.
Ali seyedi
Abstract
The wide application of mathematics in science raises the challenge of why and how mathematics is so effective and applicable in natural sciences. The explanation of this problem, especially after Wigner's famous article entitled "Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics", has fascinated many scientists ...
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The wide application of mathematics in science raises the challenge of why and how mathematics is so effective and applicable in natural sciences. The explanation of this problem, especially after Wigner's famous article entitled "Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics", has fascinated many scientists and philosophers of science. In this article, we examine different recent approaches to this issue. In addition, we show how metaphysical assumptions and different understandings of mathematics and physics have been involved in the formulation of this problem and the answers given to it. This review can help to a deeper understanding of the problem.
Ali Fathi
Abstract
Derrida wrote an extensive and detailed introduction to Husserl's treatise "The Origin of Geometry" and while interpreting this treatise, he briefly explained all the key concepts of his thought in it. This important introduction has been overlooked by some of Derrida's commentators and they have made ...
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Derrida wrote an extensive and detailed introduction to Husserl's treatise "The Origin of Geometry" and while interpreting this treatise, he briefly explained all the key concepts of his thought in it. This important introduction has been overlooked by some of Derrida's commentators and they have made accusations against his reading of Husserl. This article has tried to find its way to Derrida's philosophy by emphasizing the concept of "relation" (which is one of the most key concepts of Husserl's philosophy in particular and phenomenology in general) with the analytical-descriptive method. Together with Husserl, in the question of the "origin of geometry" and through the distinction between "empirical thing" and "transcendental thing" as well as "necessary conflict and tension between structure and genesis" and "experimental reality" and "geometrical entities" as " The "ideal" has tried to think about the "relation" or the "interval" that is never filled and never resolved, and what is important is to understand this difficult, highly contradictory and tense situation that Derrida in another expression of It is mentioned under the title "Strange Presence".
Alireza Kazemi
Abstract
According to the principle of indifference, we have to attribute equal probabilities to the alternatives that are equally possible. Beyond being intuitive on its own, the principle of indifference plays a significant role in various interpretations of probability. Nonetheless, a group of paradoxes has ...
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According to the principle of indifference, we have to attribute equal probabilities to the alternatives that are equally possible. Beyond being intuitive on its own, the principle of indifference plays a significant role in various interpretations of probability. Nonetheless, a group of paradoxes has been found against this principle which seriously challenges its consistency. In this paper, I argue that the rules that M. Baqer Sadr has developed in his “Brief Knowledge” interpretation of probability, particularly the governance principle, provide distinctive resources for offering a novel, coherent, and plausible answer to all of these paradoxes. Consequently, it not only vindicates the principle of indifference from the charge of inconsistency but also lends credence to Sadr’s theory of probability.
Amir Ehsan Karbasizadeh; Iman Forootan
Abstract
Gaston Bachelard introduced the concept of epistemological obstacles, which he believed hindered the progress of modern science. Georges Canguilhem, his successor, agreed on their negative impact but also attributed epistemological value to them. This paper explores why Canguilhem included these obstacles ...
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Gaston Bachelard introduced the concept of epistemological obstacles, which he believed hindered the progress of modern science. Georges Canguilhem, his successor, agreed on their negative impact but also attributed epistemological value to them. This paper explores why Canguilhem included these obstacles in his historiography and assigned them value. Focusing on medicine and biology, the paper reveals that Canguilhem saw epistemological obstacles as central to his epistemology. They are not just impediments but can also foster scientific development by providing conditions for new scientific frameworks. The paper argues that these obstacles play a dual role: critically challenging pre-scientific mindsets and creatively integrating past concepts into modern science, thus facilitating continuous scientific progress.
Mahmoud Mokhtari
Abstract
The main idea of this article is based on the comparison of "social innovation" with "technological innovation". In innovation studies, based on Schumpeter's view, innovation is "any invention in ideas, methods, products, services, etc. that are connected to the market and customers" (commercialized ...
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The main idea of this article is based on the comparison of "social innovation" with "technological innovation". In innovation studies, based on Schumpeter's view, innovation is "any invention in ideas, methods, products, services, etc. that are connected to the market and customers" (commercialized invention). According to this definition, until an "invention" has reached the market, it cannot be considered an (Schumpeterian) innovation. Most invented technological artifacts can be commercialized with definite mechanisms, but in the case of social innovations, such a thing is not necessarily desirable even if it is possible. Therefore, the main issue of the article is whether "social innovation" can/should be considered Schumpeterian innovation in principle? To answer this question, "ends" and "means" in social innovation are examined and claim that social innovation is not a Schumpeterian innovation. In a social innovation, the "ends" cannot be "purely non-social" although it may fulfill "in addition to" the social ends, other (economic, technological, ...) ends. If the goal of an innovation is only the economic profit of the company, but the method of achieving the goal is social changes, it is still outside the circle of social innovation. In terms of "means", social innovation depends on the "active role" of individuals and social groups, and is a bottom-up process (active social innovation versus passive social innovation). It is shown that the best "means" for an “active social innovation” is “designing” the social objects (rather than using pre-existing social objects).
Seyyed Esmaeil Masoudi; Alireza Raanaei; Seyyed Aqil Hoseiny
Abstract
Methodenstreit constituted a pivotal force in shaping the trajectory of the humanities during the 19th century, profoundly influencing the development of various social science and humanities disciplines, including sociology and economics. This research endeavor delves into the transformative impact ...
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Methodenstreit constituted a pivotal force in shaping the trajectory of the humanities during the 19th century, profoundly influencing the development of various social science and humanities disciplines, including sociology and economics. This research endeavor delves into the transformative impact of Max Weber's response to these methodological contentions, specifically his groundbreaking establishment of "social economics," in shaping the essence of the humanities. Weber's pivotal innovation lay in creating "economic sociology" as an intermediary layer bridging economic theory and history. The present study demonstrates that the Austrian School exhibited the most significant engagement with Weber's ideas, which persisted through the generations of von Hayek and his successors. The paper aims to illuminate the influence of Methodenstreit on Hayek's intellectual framework, positioning him as the inheritor of a distinct Austrian brand of social economics that simultaneously aligns with and diverges from Weber's social economics. Hayek's political economy upholds the spontaneous order of the free market as the sole path to social organization and, consequently, societal well-being. In contrast, Weber's social economics views this order as merely a normative choice. Building upon this insight, the present study offers implications for economic issues in Iran, proposing that Weber's social economics, due to its inherent flexibility in accommodating the spontaneous market order as a normative choice, holds greater precedence over Hayek's political economy in designing an appropriate economic and social system for Iran.
Gholamhossein Moghaddam Heidari
Abstract
Hysteria is one of the diseases that have been known for more than two thousand years, and the research about it led to the emergence of psychoanalysis in the late 19th century. But in the 80s of the 20th century, this disease was removed from the list of mental diseases. The change of the etiology of ...
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Hysteria is one of the diseases that have been known for more than two thousand years, and the research about it led to the emergence of psychoanalysis in the late 19th century. But in the 80s of the 20th century, this disease was removed from the list of mental diseases. The change of the etiology of hysteria should be examined in two parts: pre-modern medicine and clinical medicine. In this article, we examine the etiology of hysteria in pre-modern medicine. The article has three parts: In the first part, the etiology of hysteria - the wandering uterus - in humoral medicine is examined. In the second part, the controversies related to the influence of magic factors in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance in the investigation of the etiology of hysteria are examined. In the final part, the impact of the mechanical attitude ruling the 17th century on the etiology of hysteria will be described by the theory of spirits.
Mohammad Ebrahim Maqsudi; Seyed Ali Taheri Khorram Abadi
Abstract
Lee Smolin sees modern cosmology in crisis in explaining phenomena as the result of using a special methodology called "the Newtonian schema". According to the Newtonian schema, the world is like a computer that receives its initial conditions as inputs, and then the governing rules, in terms of differential ...
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Lee Smolin sees modern cosmology in crisis in explaining phenomena as the result of using a special methodology called "the Newtonian schema". According to the Newtonian schema, the world is like a computer that receives its initial conditions as inputs, and then the governing rules, in terms of differential equations with respect to time, produce its subsequent states as outputs. He considers it necessary to abandon this schema to overcome the crisis. However, he has not proposed an alternative. As far as I know, the only available alternative is provided by Ken Wharton. He considers the "Lagrangian schema" to be an appropriate alternative to the Newtonian schema. The Lagrangian schema is a holistic approach that denies the mentioned algorithmic understanding of the world. This article aims to examine Smolin's criticisms and Wharton's proposal. We will argue that although it has advantages over the Newtonian schema, the Lagrangian schema cannot be favorable to Smolin.
Bahar Manbachi; Hadi Samadi
Abstract
While the significance of beauty and symmetry in science has been a recurring theme in the discourse of many eminent scientists, the philosophical contemplation of aesthetics within the philosophy of science has garnered attention only in recent years. This paper examines the perspectives of renowned ...
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While the significance of beauty and symmetry in science has been a recurring theme in the discourse of many eminent scientists, the philosophical contemplation of aesthetics within the philosophy of science has garnered attention only in recent years. This paper examines the perspectives of renowned scientists on the role of beauty and symmetry, revealing a spectrum of views where beauty is variously seen as a hallmark of truth or regarded with skepticism. We propose a psychological explanation for the scientific preoccupation with beauty and symmetry, suggesting that the human ability to recognize facial symmetry is an evolutionary adaptation. This adaptation's byproduct, we argue, is the inclination to appreciate symmetry in domains beyond the original adaptive purpose. Furthermore, the paper explores how portraiture often deviates from biological standards of beauty, indicating a potential to transcend biological predispositions. The final assertion posits that while the pursuit of beauty and symmetry can drive scientific inquiry, it may also impede the attainment of truth. Drawing parallels with artists who have transcended their biological inclinations, we suggest that scientists, too, might overcome these aesthetic biases.