There is a type of metaphysical picture that surfaces in a range of philosophical discussions, is of intrinsic interest and yet remains ill-understood. According to this picture, the world contains... Show moreThere is a type of metaphysical picture that surfaces in a range of philosophical discussions, is of intrinsic interest and yet remains ill-understood. According to this picture, the world contains a range of standpoints relative to which different facts obtain. Any true representation of the world cannot but adopt a particular standpoint. The aim of this paper is to propose a regimentation of a metaphysics that underwrites this picture. Key components are a factive notion of metaphysical relativity, a deflationary notion of adopting standpoints and two kinds of valid inference, one that allows one to abandon standpoints and one that doesn’t. To better understand how theories formulated in terms of this framework are situated in dialectical space, I sketch a theory in the philosophy of time that admits both temporal and atemporal standpoints. Show less
The notions of category and type are here studied through the lens of logical syntax: Aristotle's as well as Kant's categories through the traditional form of proposition `S is P', and modern... Show moreThe notions of category and type are here studied through the lens of logical syntax: Aristotle's as well as Kant's categories through the traditional form of proposition `S is P', and modern doctrines of type through the Fregean form of proposition `F(a)', function applied to argument. Topics covered include the conception of categories as highest genera; the parts of speech and their relation to categories; the attempt to derive categories from more fundamental notions; the notion of a range of significance; the notion of a type assignment; sortal concepts and the notions of identity and generality; and the distinction between formal and material categories. Show less
The dialogical paradigm provides a theory of meaning alternative to the model-theoretical and proof-theoretical ones which are more widespread. From the dialogical point of view, meaning is given... Show moreThe dialogical paradigm provides a theory of meaning alternative to the model-theoretical and proof-theoretical ones which are more widespread. From the dialogical point of view, meaning is given by use within argumentative debates which are designed as two-player games. In this work we present the fundamental notions of the paradigm through the study of various dialogical semantics. We also make some incursions in the metatheory of dialogical games, with among other things a stress on the connection between dialogues and tableaux.Three specificities of our account are: the homogeneous way to ensure finiteness of dialogues with the device of repetition ranks, an explicit formulation of game rules with emphasis on speech acts, and the significant role given to the perspective of extended forms (tree representations) in our analysis.As for results, we propose a new demonstration of soundness and completeness of the tableau method with respect to dialogical games. We also give the first analysis of the dialogical manifestation of the decidability (or not) of a logic as intimately related to the handling with repetition ranks of repetitive behaviours in games. Show less
This critical edition covers the first two parts of De secundis intentionibus by Hervaeus Natalis (14th century). The introduction provides background information about the chronological and... Show moreThis critical edition covers the first two parts of De secundis intentionibus by Hervaeus Natalis (14th century). The introduction provides background information about the chronological and philosophical context of this work. At the beginning of the 14th century, the exact meaning and use of the intentio and the species intelligibilis formed an important theme in ontology, epistemology and logic. Compared to existing theories of, for instance, Thomas Aquinas, Hervaeus offers a new approach to the subject. Show less
This study tries to answer the question of what we can learn from four works by the Egyptian polymath, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505) about the history of Islamic condemnation of logic and... Show moreThis study tries to answer the question of what we can learn from four works by the Egyptian polymath, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505) about the history of Islamic condemnation of logic and theology, in addition to the light shed on this subject by modern scholarship. Al-Suyuti's works used in this study are (1) al-Qawl al-Mushriq (QM) (2) Jahd al-Qariha, (3) Sawn al-Mantiq (SM), and (4) his Fatwa against logic. In these works, al-Suyuti invites us to take a fresh look at the much debated issues of the origins and status of theology and logic in Islam. As a staunch defender of the prophetic sunna, he discussed these issues at several stages of his intellectual development. The result was a rich documentation of the history of the opposition to theology and logic in Islam, which deserves to be taken into account fully by modern scholars studying these issues. In his four works, al-Suyuti endeavors to persuade his readers that logic was opposed by 68 prominent scholars. An analysis of the contents of these four works indicates that hostility to logic did become a predominant feature of Sunni traditionalism, especially during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. A prosopographical study of the opponents of logic mentioned by al-Suyuti shows that logic was condemned by distinguished Sunni scholars in Valencia, Fez, Aleppo, Iraq, and Mecca, and especially also in Egypt and Syria. Thus, the study of a newly-discovered QM manuscript and of al-Suyuti's fatwa confirms the veracity of al-Nashshar's reference, in 1947, to one of al-Suyuti's works discussed here, SM, explaining that al-Suyuti's SM constitutes the most complete encyclopaedia dealing with the (Islamic) criticism of Greek logic. Show less
