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Croatian Journal of Philosophy

Volume 20, Issue 1, 2020
Philosophy of Science

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Displaying: 1-9 of 9 documents


philosophy of science
1. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
James Robert Brown Legitimate Mathematical Methods
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A thought experiment involving an omniscient being and quantum mechanics is used to justify non-deductive methods in mathematics. The twin prime conjecture is used to illustrate what can be achieved.
2. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Jessica Carter The Effectiveness of Representations in Mathematics
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This article focuses on particular ways in which visual representations contribute to the development of mathematical knowledge. I give examples of diagrammatic representations that enable one to observe new properties and cases where representations contribute to classification. I propose that fruitful representations in mathematics are iconic representations that involve conventional or symbolic elements, that is, iconic metaphors. In the last part of the article, I explain what these are and how they apply in the considered examples.
3. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Marko Grba, Majda Trobok Mathematics and Physics within the Context of Justification: Induction vs. Universal Generalization
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Motivated by the analogy which holds within the context of discovery between mathematics and physics, we aim to show that there is a connection between two fields within the context of justification too. Based on the careful analysis of examples from science (especially within the domain of physics) we suggest that the logic of scientific research, which might appear as enumerative induction, is deduction, and we propose it to be universal generalization inference rule. Our main argument closely follows the analysis of the structure of physical theory proposed by theoretical physicist Eugene P. Wigner.
4. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Sahotra Sarkar Structural Realism in Biology: A (Sympathetic) Critique
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Structural realism holds that ontological commitments induced by successful scientific theories should focus on the structures rather than the objects posited by the theories. Thus structural realism goes beyond the empirical adequacy criterion of traditional (or constructive) empiricism. It also attempts to avoid the problems scientific realism faces in contexts of radical theory change accompanied by discordant shifts in posited theoretical objects. Structural realism emerged in the context of attempts to interpret developments in twentieth-century physics. In a biological context, Stanford (2006) provided pre-emptive criticism. French (2011, 2012) has since attempted to answer those criticisms and extend structural realism to the biological realm. This paper argues that, though Stanford’s criticism may be misplaced, and structural realism fares much better than traditional scientific realism in biological contexts, it remains a promissory note. The promise is based on shifting the focus of the debate from the status of biological laws to that of biological organization, an issue that remains a live debate within biology.
articles
5. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Richard Vallée Does Sherlock Holmes Exist?
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Fictional names have specific, cognitively relevant features, putting them in a category apart from the category of ordinary names. I argue that we should focus on the name or name form itself and refrain from looking for an assignment procedure and an assigned referent. I also argue that we should reject the idea that sentences containing fictional names express singular propositions. These suggestions have important consequences for the intuition that ‘Sherlock Holmes exists’ is either true or false, and they put our intuitions concerning fictional names into perspective. If Millianism is the view that names only have a referent only as their semantic value, then my proposal on fictional names is not Millian in nature.
6. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Erhan Demircioğlu Epistemic Infinitism, the Reason-Giving Game, and the Regress Skeptic
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Epistemic infinitism is one of the logically possible responses to the epistemic regress problem, claiming that the justification of a given proposition requires an infinite and non-circular structure of reasons. In this paper, I will examine the dialectic between the epistemic infinitist and the regress skeptic, the sort of skeptic that bases his attack to the possibility of justification on the regress of reasons. I aim to show that what makes epistemic infinitism appear as well-equipped to silence the regress skeptic is the very same thing that renders it susceptible to a powerful skeptical assault by the regress skeptic.
7. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Phil Maguire, Philippe Moser, Rebecca Maguire Are people smarter than machines?
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Recent progress in artificial intelligence has led some to speculate that machine intelligence may soon match or surpass human intelligence. We argue that this understanding of intelligence is flawed. While physical machines are designed by humans to simulate human rule-following behaviour, the issue of whether human abilities can be emulated is not well-defined. We outline a series of obstacles that stand in the way of formalizing emulation, and show that even a simple, well-defined function cannot be decided in practice. In light of this, we suggest that the debate on intelligence should be shifted from emulation to simulation, addressing, for example, how useful machines can be at particular tasks, rather than deliberating over the nebulous concept of general intelligence.
book reviews
8. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Tamara Crnko Leif Wenar, Blood Oil: Tyrants, Violence, and the Rules that Run the World
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9. Croatian Journal of Philosophy: Volume > 20 > Issue: 1
Vito Balorda Justin Garson, A Critical Overview of Biological Functions
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