Pub Date : 2023-10-18DOI: 10.1177/00483931231208512
Martina Valković
Recently there has been a rise in the application of concepts and methods from biological evolutionary theory to human cultures and societies where the aim is to explain these by describing them as population-level phenomena reducible to individual-level processes. I argue against this type of view by using Mesoudi's Cultural Evolution as a case study. I claim that Mesoudi’s ontological assumptions about cultures and societies are dubious and his methodological assumptions inadequate when it comes to addressing cultural and social phenomena. A consequence is that this approach to studying culture is, at the very least, incomplete and of limited application.
{"title":"Ontological and Methodological Limitations of Certain Cultural Evolution Approaches","authors":"Martina Valković","doi":"10.1177/00483931231208512","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231208512","url":null,"abstract":"Recently there has been a rise in the application of concepts and methods from biological evolutionary theory to human cultures and societies where the aim is to explain these by describing them as population-level phenomena reducible to individual-level processes. I argue against this type of view by using Mesoudi's Cultural Evolution as a case study. I claim that Mesoudi’s ontological assumptions about cultures and societies are dubious and his methodological assumptions inadequate when it comes to addressing cultural and social phenomena. A consequence is that this approach to studying culture is, at the very least, incomplete and of limited application.","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135884143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-09DOI: 10.1177/00483931231200700
Chen Yehezkely
According to Agassi, philosophy is nothing if not rationalist and rationalism is nothing if not honest. Honesty starts with the acknowledgement of human fallibility, which is a logical equivalent of the idea of the siblinghood of humanity. The demand for honesty in general and regarding human fallibility in particular, follows from the principle of minimal standards, or demands: excessive demands are not merely redundant but also impede the endeavor to meet those that are perceivably minimal and necessary. From this it further follows that the question of minimal demands and standards must always be allowed access to the agenda.
{"title":"Between Fallibilism and the Siblinghood of Humanity: A Review of Joseph Agassi, <i>The Philosophy of Practical Affairs: An Introduction</i>","authors":"Chen Yehezkely","doi":"10.1177/00483931231200700","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231200700","url":null,"abstract":"According to Agassi, philosophy is nothing if not rationalist and rationalism is nothing if not honest. Honesty starts with the acknowledgement of human fallibility, which is a logical equivalent of the idea of the siblinghood of humanity. The demand for honesty in general and regarding human fallibility in particular, follows from the principle of minimal standards, or demands: excessive demands are not merely redundant but also impede the endeavor to meet those that are perceivably minimal and necessary. From this it further follows that the question of minimal demands and standards must always be allowed access to the agenda.","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"50 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135095807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-03DOI: 10.1177/00483931231198126
William Zhengdong Hu
{"title":"Book Review: China's Social Credit System's Would-Be Machiavelli","authors":"William Zhengdong Hu","doi":"10.1177/00483931231198126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231198126","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135743890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-25DOI: 10.1177/00483931231200688
Ora Gruengard
Is Agassi’s philosophy of practical affairs applicable in philosophical practice? Is it recommendable to philosophical practitioners, counselors, or counselees? A critical rational approach like his demands a prior awareness, which participants in practical philosophy programs often miss. That approach is necessary for counseling that is really philosophical, and some of his ideas are inspiring. Yet the problems that interested him and his way of solving or dissolving them on meta-levels, are not always relevant to the counselees’ concerns. His attitude to the opinions, background, and concerns of others, though tolerant, is not recommendable to practitioners who have to take into account the perspectives of participants with other backgrounds, understand their “problem situations” and their “logic.”
{"title":"Philosophical Practice and Agassi’s Approach to Practical Affairs","authors":"Ora Gruengard","doi":"10.1177/00483931231200688","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231200688","url":null,"abstract":"Is Agassi’s philosophy of practical affairs applicable in philosophical practice? Is it recommendable to philosophical practitioners, counselors, or counselees? A critical rational approach like his demands a prior awareness, which participants in practical philosophy programs often miss. That approach is necessary for counseling that is really philosophical, and some of his ideas are inspiring. Yet the problems that interested him and his way of solving or dissolving them on meta-levels, are not always relevant to the counselees’ concerns. His attitude to the opinions, background, and concerns of others, though tolerant, is not recommendable to practitioners who have to take into account the perspectives of participants with other backgrounds, understand their “problem situations” and their “logic.”","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135815411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-25DOI: 10.1177/00483931231200696
Abraham Meidan
Agassi’s radical skepticism leads to the following practical suggestion: When investors consider the likelihood that a suggested innovation will materialize, they should refer to the question: does this idea (that this innovation materializes) raise or reduce the strangeness of the world? And to answer this question, they should examine if the suggested technology is consistent with accepted scientific theories, and if it explains unexpected phenomena. This recommended method is not based on Bayesian epistemology but on a psychological theory of beliefs consistent with skepticism.
{"title":"How Can Skeptics Help Venture Capitalists?","authors":"Abraham Meidan","doi":"10.1177/00483931231200696","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231200696","url":null,"abstract":"Agassi’s radical skepticism leads to the following practical suggestion: When investors consider the likelihood that a suggested innovation will materialize, they should refer to the question: does this idea (that this innovation materializes) raise or reduce the strangeness of the world? And to answer this question, they should examine if the suggested technology is consistent with accepted scientific theories, and if it explains unexpected phenomena. This recommended method is not based on Bayesian epistemology but on a psychological theory of beliefs consistent with skepticism.","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"128 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135814644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-20DOI: 10.1177/00483931231200687
Lydia Amir
As an introduction to the six essays written in honor of Joseph Agassi’s last book, I explain the book structure and Agassi’s purpose in writing it. To the contrary of what I had in mind when I invited Agassi to pen this manuscript—his Cynic- and Zen-like educational practices, on which I have elaborated elsewhere and which required further clarification—Agassi chose to write on the intersection of the philosophy of life with academic philosophy. Following Socrates, he called for an active collaboration of both. By explaining why “philosophy is nothing … if it is not the advocacy of reason,” Agassi summed up his entire philosophy in what turned out to be his clearest and most insightful work, his testament.
{"title":"Introduction: “Bringing Philosophy to New Levels”<i>––</i>The Intersection of Philosophy of Life With Philosophy Proper","authors":"Lydia Amir","doi":"10.1177/00483931231200687","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231200687","url":null,"abstract":"As an introduction to the six essays written in honor of Joseph Agassi’s last book, I explain the book structure and Agassi’s purpose in writing it. To the contrary of what I had in mind when I invited Agassi to pen this manuscript—his Cynic- and Zen-like educational practices, on which I have elaborated elsewhere and which required further clarification—Agassi chose to write on the intersection of the philosophy of life with academic philosophy. Following Socrates, he called for an active collaboration of both. By explaining why “philosophy is nothing … if it is not the advocacy of reason,” Agassi summed up his entire philosophy in what turned out to be his clearest and most insightful work, his testament.","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"162 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136374482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-20DOI: 10.1177/00483931231200698
Sheldon Richmond
Joseph Agassi develops a humanist world view in his last single-authored book through confronting the challenges facing the humanist world view. The three challenges that Agassi confronts are: 1. how do we rationally choose ways of life, including the life of rationality? 2. is humanity worthwhile? 3. how can we improve liberal democracy in our fractured societies where extremists seek to gain control?
{"title":"Challenges to Humanism","authors":"Sheldon Richmond","doi":"10.1177/00483931231200698","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231200698","url":null,"abstract":"Joseph Agassi develops a humanist world view in his last single-authored book through confronting the challenges facing the humanist world view. The three challenges that Agassi confronts are: 1. how do we rationally choose ways of life, including the life of rationality? 2. is humanity worthwhile? 3. how can we improve liberal democracy in our fractured societies where extremists seek to gain control?","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136307337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-20DOI: 10.1177/00483931231200689
Nimrod Bar-Am
In his last book, Agassi reiterates Critical Rationalism as a full-fledged philosophy of life. He criticizes Paternalism and Relativism as degenerative, and even pathological, attempts to grant life a meaning, and suggests, in their place, that fallibilism is the minimal condition for a meaningful life.
{"title":"Can Critical Rationalism Become a Philosophy of Life?","authors":"Nimrod Bar-Am","doi":"10.1177/00483931231200689","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231200689","url":null,"abstract":"In his last book, Agassi reiterates Critical Rationalism as a full-fledged philosophy of life. He criticizes Paternalism and Relativism as degenerative, and even pathological, attempts to grant life a meaning, and suggests, in their place, that fallibilism is the minimal condition for a meaningful life.","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136314077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-18DOI: 10.1177/00483931231200697
Aleksandar Fatić
Joseph Agassi’s last book, The Philosophy of Practical Affairs, offers a comprehensive look at key philosophical topics and doctrines with a common focus on the role of rationality, the evolution of rationality and the relationship between rationality and akin phenomena. A key topic he addresses is the relationship between rationality and magic. This dichotomy reverberates on a number of areas of applied philosophy, including philosophical practice and philosophically informed psychotherapy. Agassi’s views on magic offer a fundamentally rationalist view of the phenomenon of magic, however they open up significant inroads into nuanced insights of how magic can be seen as a cognitively significant complement to rationality in the strict sense.
约瑟夫·阿加西(Joseph Agassi)的最后一本书《实践事务哲学》(The Philosophy of Practical Affairs)对关键的哲学主题和学说进行了全面的探讨,重点关注理性的作用、理性的演变以及理性与类似现象之间的关系。他谈到的一个关键话题是理性与魔法之间的关系。这种二分法在应用哲学的许多领域产生了反响,包括哲学实践和哲学知情的心理治疗。阿加西对魔术的看法提供了一个基本的理性主义的观点,魔术的现象,然而,他们打开了重要的细致入微的见解,如何魔术可以被视为一个重要的认知补充,在严格意义上的理性。
{"title":"Joseph Agassi and the Various Guises of Magic","authors":"Aleksandar Fatić","doi":"10.1177/00483931231200697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231200697","url":null,"abstract":"Joseph Agassi’s last book, The Philosophy of Practical Affairs, offers a comprehensive look at key philosophical topics and doctrines with a common focus on the role of rationality, the evolution of rationality and the relationship between rationality and akin phenomena. A key topic he addresses is the relationship between rationality and magic. This dichotomy reverberates on a number of areas of applied philosophy, including philosophical practice and philosophically informed psychotherapy. Agassi’s views on magic offer a fundamentally rationalist view of the phenomenon of magic, however they open up significant inroads into nuanced insights of how magic can be seen as a cognitively significant complement to rationality in the strict sense.","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135206228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-23DOI: 10.1177/00483931231195114
Jing Jiang, Chengjian Li
{"title":"Book Review:","authors":"Jing Jiang, Chengjian Li","doi":"10.1177/00483931231195114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00483931231195114","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46776,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy of the Social Sciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2023-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44240343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}