Home – Home – Jornals – Philosophy of Sciences 2015 number 2

The paper deals with Richard Rorty's objections against philosophical method which he exposed in several theses. Rorty's arguments directed primarily against analytic philosophy are compared to his anti-representialist views on European philosophy. The author criticizes Rorty for his statements that research programs and disciplinary matrices are insignificant for philosophy, as well as for his global aim at understanding philosophy as a "conversation of mankind."

The paper discusses the relationship between the concept of logical constants and that of analytical statements. It specifies the origin of the concept of the analytical program in connection with G. Frege's and B. Russell's program of foundations of mathematics. It traces the emergence of the concept of logical constant and its relationship with the concept of tautology introduced by Wittgenstein. It is shown that Russell and Wittgenstein defined the ontological status of logical constants differently since they had different ideas about the role of logic in the description of the world.

The paper discusses the so called Quine’s empirical underdetermination thesis for scientific theories in the context of elimination procedures for theoretical terms. The so called Craig’s (interpolation) theorem presupposes that the set of all relevant observation conditionals should be recursively enumerable. For Quine’s philosophical attitudes, it is doubtful that this condition is satisfiable. So, the arguments from interpolation cannot be used against underdetermination thesis.

Roles of experimental background related to the systematic (ignorance) error in experiment are considered within philosophy of scientific experimentation approaches. Based on an analysis of contemporary literature and taking high-energy and particle physics as examples, the roles of background in determining experimentalists’ practice, introducing instrumental and phenomenal theories in data analysis, requiring new theoretical models, and challenging closedness of experimental systems are studied. It is shown that in certain cases the background determination can introduce a theory of the phenomenon under scrutiny in data analysis.

The paper considers the main types of symmetry breaking through which from the initial symmetric state there arose the Universe we observe today. It is shown that the study of early stages of the formation of the Universe is carried out with the help of a set of various physical theories which realizes the unification principle. Extrapolation of known laws into new areas becomes possible due to ideas of symmetry.

The paper considers correlation between the conceptions of fraud, lie and epistemic lie. The conclusion is made that in the genetic aspect theoretical and cognitive conception of truth originates in the conception of fraud. It is shown that the conception of fraud may be ontologized through naturalization in the communicative aspect. Attempts to reduce truth to fraud are doomed to failure. Nevertheless, epistemic lie may be ontologized if we accept the premise that truth is an attribute of a reasonable person at the level of his or her computing structure. Epistemic truth and epistemic lie may be detected by technical means (for example by polygraph) as specific inner conditions of computing (psychophysical) system.

The paper considers the phenomenalist interpretation of the conception of conviction and its consequences for epistemology. Conviction and acceptance of assumption are distinguished. Also, the problem of the role of conviction in science is dealt with and possible explanation of the self-deception phenomenon is outlined

Rhythmical phenomena are very widespread: «rhythm is applied to bodies that do not move, as when we speak of a statue having “good rhythm”, to anything that moves, as when we speak of someone walking with “good rhythm”… in general rhythm is perceived by three senses, which are these: sight, as in dancing; hearing, as in melody; and touch, by which we perceive, for instance, the pulsations of the arteries» (Aristides Quintilianus, De Musica 1.13, Barker’s translation). In his Elementa Rhythmica, the Peripatetic philosopher Aristoxenus (the 4^th century BCE) builds a general and quite abstract theory of rhythm, treating it as a phenomenon, quite distinct from metre and musical intervals. Indeed, the latter are perceived as quantifiers, inherent characteristics of verse and melody. On the contrary, rhythm does not inhere in a poem or musical composition and must be imposed on them: in order to perform a piece of poetry or music, especially if they involve a bodily movement, dance, one has to apply quite an empirical art of rhythmical composition (rhythmopoiia), which allows to structure fluid and unstable temporal events. In the paper, the author offers a translation of the Elementa Rhythmica into Russian and, commenting on it, adduces contemporary evidence for the psychological aspects of time perception and structuring of spatial and temporal patterns.

The paper studies the concept of "homoeomeries" in Galen's natural philosophy system. The analysis of some historical and philosophical reconstructions shows that the term "homoeomeries" ("seeds") was proposed by Anaxagoras of Clazomenae; then it was used by Aristotle to describe a primary (elementary) start containing absolute "macro" and "micro" sizes. Thus, Anaxagoras's term "homoeomeries" in Aristotle’s interpretation refers to first elements of life, but at the same time "homoeomeries" (seeds) are seen as its limit; it is a set of homogenous qualities which make a thing what it is. In the aspect of the history and philosophy of medicine, the author analyzes Galen's works ("In Hippocratis de natura hominis librum commentarii iii", "Ars medica", "De constitutione artis medicae ad Patrophilum") where the doctrine of homoeomeries which is fundamental for the whole system of Galen's natural philosophy is presented. He raises a question if Galen's views correspond to ideas about homoeomeries which are well-established in the history of philosophy. The author points out a significant difference between interpretations of the term by various philosophers of antiquity and its treatment by Galen who shared Aristotle's view on the matter. Galen needed the natural philosophy system to comprehend fully what is the structure of the human body and how its vital functions realize, as well as how diseases spring up and develop and how to treat them. Galen believed that all these facts should be explained within a certain philosophical (i.e. general scientific) system. Reasonable character of function which underlies the understanding of predestination which the Creator laid in the structure of various organs and tissues just determines Galen's approach to the idea of homoeomeries as the smallest parts which form these organs and tissues.