The Internet as Idea:For a Transcendental Philosophy of Technology

This article attempts to render the Internet an object of philosophical consideration. It does so by referring to Kant’s transcendental approach. The argument is that Kant’s “transcendental idealism” is one example of an approach focused on conditions that much contemporary philosophy of technology misunderstands or ignores. Diverse contemporary thinkers are engaged, including Verbeek, Brey, Stiegler, Clark and Chalmers, Feenberg, and Fuchs. The article considers how these thinkers stand in relation to tendencies towards determinism, subjectivism and excessive forms of optimism and pessimism in relation to the Internet. In terms of Kant’s transcendental idealism, I argue that contemporary philosophy of technology does not go far enough in considering the Internet as a “regulative idea.” In terms of broader transcendental approaches, I argue that openness to the transcendental calls into question presuppositions regarding what constitutes an “empirical” object of enquiry, opening philosophy of technology to important new areas of research

Psychosomatic Plasticity: An "Emergent Property" of Personality Research?

Psychosomatic plasticity, defined as an extreme capacity to turn suggestions into bodily realities, is as phenomenon well worth investigating, as it challenges mainstream conceptions about the relationship between mind and body in health as well as illness. The field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) offers a framework within which to understand this phenomenon, as PNI makes a compelling case for the biological unity of self. Hartmann’s Boundaries concept is particularly applicable, as it suggests that the minds of ‘thin-boundary’ persons are relatively fluid and able to make numerous connections. Wilson and Barber’s identification of the fantasy prone person, and Thalbourne’s transliminality concept, are similarly relevant. Taking these explorations a step further, the author proposes that the flow of feeling within individuals represents the key to psychosomatic plasticity. Blushing, psoriasis, and immune reactions are offered as examples, as are more anomalous reports such as those provided by heart transplant recipients and cases said to be indicative of reincarnation. In each instance, persons who are highly sensitive (i.e., have a speedier and more direct flow of feeling) are more likely to evidence physical reactions. Psychosomatic plasticity represents an emerging area of interest in personality research, one that clearly merits further investigation

On the wings of imagination”: Agnes Giberne and women as the storytellers of victorian astronomy

Agnes Giberne was a “pioneer” of easy to understand astronomy books for children and beginners. She merged fact with fiction to educate her readers about the wonders of the heavens and the religious significance she believed resided there. Employing the dialogue form and the theme of the cosmic journey she encouraged her readers to learn about the sun, moon and planets on “the wings of imagination”. Victorian astronomy was predominantly a male science and astronomical writing operated as chiefly a male genre. Yet, Giberne carved out a place as one of the most popular writers on astronomy in the late nineteenth century, her works appealing across generational, gender and class lines. Giberne’s astronomical writing was shaped by contemporary critical responses to women’s place in astronomical science and the genres acceptable for female authorship. Writing for children, using analogies from botany and being “mindful” of her “catechism”, Giberne stayed within the bounds of Victorian femininity. However, Giberne used her writing on astronomy, not only as an acceptable feminine vehicle for transmitting the facts of astronomical science, but also to show how women, as well as men, could be the storytellers of astronomy

"It may or may not be true. It does not matter": (Magic) Realism and Jeanette Winterson’s The Passion

Zadanie pt. „Digitalizacja i udostępnienie w Cyfrowym Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego kolekcji czasopism naukowych wydawanych przez Uniwersytet Łódzki” nr 885/P-DUN/2014 dofinansowane zostało ze środków MNiSW w ramach działalności upowszechniającej nauk

Coming Out of the Dungeon: Mathematics and Role-Playing Games

After hiding it for many years, I have a confession to make. Throughout middle school and high school my friends and I would gather almost every weekend, spending hours using numbers, probability, and optimization to build models that we could use to simulate almost anything. That’s right. My big secret is simple. I was a high school mathematical modeler. Of course, our weekend mathematical models didn’t bear any direct relationship to the models we explored in our mathematics and science classes. You would probably not even recognize our regular gatherings as mathematical exercises. If you looked into the room, you’d see a group of us gathered around a table, scribbling on sheets of paper, rolling dice, eating pizza, and talking about dragons, magical spells, and sword fighting. So while I claim we were engaged in mathematical modeling, I suspect that very few math classes built models like ours. After all, how many math teachers have constructed or had their students construct a mathematical representation of a dragon, a magical spell, or a swordfight? And yet, our role-playing games (RPGs) were very much mathematical models of reality — certainly not the reality of our everyday experience, but a reality nonetheless, one intended to simulate a particular kind of world. Most often for us this was the medieval, high-fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), but we also played games with science fiction or modern-day espionage settings. We learned a lot about math, mythology, medieval history, teamwork, storytelling, and imagination in the process. And, when existing games were inadequate vehicles for our imagination, we modified them or created new ones. In doing so, we learned even more about math. Now that I am a mathematics professor, I find myself reflecting on those days as a “fantasy modeler” and considering various questions. What is the relationship between my two interests of fantasy games and mathematics? Does having been a gamer make me a better mathematician or modeler? Does my mathematical experience make me a better gamer? These different aspects of my life may seem mostly unconnected; indeed, the “nerd” stereotype is associated with both activities, but despite public perception, the community of role-players includes many people who are not scientifically-minded. So we cannot say that role-players like math, or math-lovers role-play, because “that is simply what nerds do.” To get at the deeper question of how mathematics and role-playing are related, we first need to look at the processes of gaming, game designing, and modeling

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Complicated Identity of the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films

The Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films (BIFFF) is a genre festival specializing in thriller, horror, science fiction and fantasy films. Started in 1983, with an initial audience of 32,650 for a festival of 60 films, by its most recent run in April 2015, 64,400 tickets were sold for a showing of 108 films (BIFFF Presentation 4-5; “Festival 2015” 2015). The almost doubling in audience attendance over the course of the BIFFF’s 33 year run emphasizes the manner in which the festival’s identity has become oriented towards a specific and passionate audience. Interestingly, as the festival’s audience engagement has increased, so too has its international identity, creating a unique place for the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film in the global festival sphere. On a local level Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film can be seen as a cult event, differentiated from major festivals through its film selection and fandom focus; however, the festival’s proliferation of prizes and international networking demonstrates that even a genre festival is subject to the logic of proliferation described in James English’s landmark work The Economy of Prestige

Finitary and Infinitary Mathematics, the Possibility of Possibilities and the Definition of Probabilities

Some relations between physics and finitary and infinitary mathematics are explored in the context of a many-minds interpretation of quantum theory. The analogy between mathematical ``existence'' and physical ``existence'' is considered from the point of view of philosophical idealism. Some of the ways in which infinitary mathematics arises in modern mathematical physics are discussed. Empirical science has led to the mathematics of quantum theory. This in turn can be taken to suggest a picture of reality involving possible minds and the physical laws which determine their probabilities. In this picture, finitary and infinitary mathematics play separate roles. It is argued that mind, language, and finitary mathematics have similar prerequisites, in that each depends on the possibility of possibilities. The infinite, on the other hand, can be described but never experienced, and yet it seems that sets of possibilities and the physical laws which define their probabilities can be described most simply in terms of infinitary mathematics.Comment: 21 pages, plain TeX, related papers from http://www.poco.phy.cam.ac.uk/~mjd101

Fair Use and First Amendment: Without Fair Use, What Would You Freely Speak About?

The question this paper tries to answer is: Without fair use, what would you freely speak about? This paper will seek to demonstrate that the Copyright Clause’s Fair Use doctrine, and the First Amendment are cousins who help each other, rather than enemies sworn to destroy each other as some believe. First I will give a brief overview and history of each doctrine. Next I will speak about three areas where I believe fair use and the First Amendment cross paths extensively. These areas are: (1) school/education; (2) social media and news; and (3) sports images/broadcasting. Finally, I will demonstrate how fair use is as important if not more important than the First Amendment for these categories that I have listed

The EVF Model: A Novel Framework for Understanding Gambling and, by Extension, Poker

There are several senses in which the term gambling is used. All have liabilities, problems that have muddied the waters in scientific research, generated conflicting legal decisions, compromised debates over ethical and moral issues, and have led to uneven legislation. Here, a novel framework for the term is offered, based on two continuous variables: a) the Expected Value (EV) of any arbitrary game and, b) the inherent Flexibility (F) of that game. This EVF model produces a classification system for all the enterprises that can or have been called gambling. It is one that allows for more measured decisions to be made and provides a more coherent platform on which to deliberate the many significant issues that have been raised over the years. It also permits a sensible answer to the question of the nature of games like the stock market, opening a small business, and especially, poker