Legal Fictions and the Essence of Robots: Thoughts on Essentialism and Pragmatism in the Regulation of Robotics

The purpose of this paper is to offer some critical remarks on the so-called pragmatist approach to the regulation of robotics. To this end, the article mainly reviews the work of Jack Balkin and Joanna Bryson, who have taken up such ap- proach with interestingly similar outcomes. Moreover, special attention will be paid to the discussion concerning the legal fiction of ‘electronic personality’. This will help shed light on the opposition between essentialist and pragmatist methodologies. After a brief introduction (1.), in 2. I introduce the main points of the methodological debate which opposes pragmatism and essentialism in the regulation of robotics and I examine how legal fictions are framed from a pragmatist, functional perspective. Since this approach entails a neat separation of ontological analysis and legal rea- soning, in 3. I discuss whether considerations on robots’ essence are actually put into brackets when the pragmatist approach is endorsed. Finally, in 4. I address the problem of the social valence of legal fictions in order to suggest a possible limit of the pragmatist approach. My conclusion (5.) is that in the specific case of regulating robotics it may be very difficult to separate ontological considerations from legal reasoning—and vice versa—both on an epistemological and social level. This calls for great caution in the recourse to anthropomorphic legal fictions

What is Moral Application? Towards a Philosophical Theory of Applied Ethics

The aim of this paper is to offer some philosophical remarks concerning the concept of moral application in applied ethics. In doing so, I argue in favour of a philosophical approach towards applied ethics as a unitary form of moral experience. In fact every form of applied ethics, no matter how specific, moves from a problem of application and tries to fill a gap between moral theory and practice. This essential unity of applied ethics as a moral phenomenon is of great philosophical interest, since it belongs to the core problem from which moral thinking itself originates. For this reason, what applied ethics may reveal to a philosophical inquiry could provide valuable insight into the nature of moral experience itself. This is why it is important to reflect on what applied ethics is and whether the way in which application is usually framed be ts the properties of moral experience or not. In the first section I submit some preliminary remarks concerning the theoretical requirements to any philosophical approach to applied ethics. In the second section I present how application is commonly understood in the applied ethics debate by discussing the deductive and the procedural models of application. Both models, however, draw upon a technological conception of application which fails to t the structure of moral experience. Finally, I brie y sketch out the main features and the future tasks of what seems to me to be the most promising approach to the issue, i.e., the hermeneutic concept of application

Ancient Wisdom and the Modern Temper. On the Role of Greek Philosophy and the Jewish Tradition in Hans Jonas’s Philosophical Anthropology

The question on the essence of man and his relationship to nature is certainly one of the most important themes in the philosophy of Hans Jonas. One of the ways by which Jonas approaches the issue consists in a comparison between the contemporary interpretation of man and forms of wisdom such as those conveyed by ancient Greek philosophy and the Jewish tradition. The reconstruction and discussion of these frameworks play a fundamental role in Jonas’s critique of the modern mind. In the first section I introduce the anthropological problem in Hans Jonas’s oeuvre. Moreover, I clarify why it becomes essential for Jonas to resort to different forms of traditional wisdom. In the second and third sections I try to give an account (as complete as possible) of the two generalisations which Jonas shapes in order to criticise the modern concepts of man and nature. In the last section I show how Jonas links these generalisations to his own philosophical assessment of modernity. Finally, I focus on his methodology, which exemplifies how critical thinking may arise from a reconsideration of traditional contents

Trawling damage to Northeast Atlantic ancient coral reefs

10.1098/rspb.2001.191

The Inkas as Tyrants: The Construction of a Twisted Representation

The chronicler Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote a history of the Inkas in 1571 proving that they had been tyrants. This was necessary to convince the King that he had every right to appropriate their lands, riches, and peoples. It is an excellent example of how a representation does not necessarily have to match what actually happened when political issues are at stake. My article analyzes that twisted representation and explores the motives Sarmiento had for kuraka to authenticate his version.Le chroniqueur Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa écrivit en 1571 une histoire des Incas pour prouver leur tyrannie. La chose était nécessaire pour convaincre le Roi qu’il avait tous les droits sur leurs terres, leurs biens et leur peuple. Cette chronique constitue un bon exemple du travail de représentation: celle-ci, en effet, lorsque les questions politiques priment, ne doit pas nécessairement refléter la réalité. Mon article analyse cette représentation trompeuse et explore les motifs pour lesquels Sarmiento dut faire authentifier sa version des faits par les kuraka

Juan de Betanzos, the Man Who Boasted Being A Translator

This article draws the linguistic profile of a sixteenth century Colonial translator in the Andes, Juan Díez de Betanzos. This profile covers his linguistic background, and the knowledge of the languages he was in contact with when overseas. The identification and analysis of his translation techniques and strategies form the core of the article. What appears then is the image of the cultural translator of the times, a translator who was also a colonizer, and thus, a linguistic agent of colonization.Cet article offre le profil linguistique d’un traducteur du xvie siècle dans les Andes, Juan Díez de Betanzos. Le profil comprend sa formation linguistique ainsi que sa connaissance des langues parlées dans les nouveaux territoires américains. L’analyse de sa technique et de ses stratégies de traduction constitue l’essentiel de cette étude. Ce qui en ressort est l’image du traducteur culturel de l’époque, un traducteur qui a aussi été un colonisateur et, par conséquent, un agent linguistique de la colonisation

Il taglio di sbieco. Su realtà, finzione e invenzione ne I falsari di Gide

Il problema della rappresentazione, connaturato ad ogni mediazione linguistica del rapporto di mente e mondo, è nelle sue molteplici forme un tema antico della riflessione filosofica. La rappresentazione letteraria appartiene alla stessa categoria e pone problemi analoghi al pensiero. Che cosa significa rappresentare poeticamente? Il concetto di finzione letteraria può avere solo un senso peggiorativo o limitante nei confronti della comunicazione dell’universale, o ne può essere una modalità? Il tema del saggio è il rapporto tra realtà e finzione letteraria che pare emergere da I falsari di André Gide. Seguendo le intuizioni e i suggerimenti dello scrittore, si proverà a tracciare le linee principali di un’interpretazione positiva della finzione letteraria, che ne riconosca la potenza espressiva senza soffocarne i caratteri distintivi. Non è detto, poi, che ciò che vale per la rappresentazione poetica non possa avere un senso anche sotto punti di vista più generali

Il concetto di Dio dopo Auschwitz. Hans Jonas e la Gnosi.

Il pensiero di Hans Jonas è comunemente inteso nel segno di una netta reazione all’interpretazione gnostica del sé e del mondo. Egli si dedicò allo studio della gnosi dalla metà degli anni venti fino al secondo dopoguerra, e il frutto delle sue ricerche è raccolto nei due volumi di Gnosi e spirito tardoantico (1934, 1964). Questa lettura polemica della sua filosofia è davvero in grado di rendere conto dei rapporti che la proposta jonasiana, come filosofia della biologia e etica della responsabilità, intrattiene con le strutture caratteristiche del mito gnostico? Attraverso una approfondita analisi de Il concetto di Dio dopo Auschwitz, momento nel quale l’approccio unitario della filosofia jonasiana è più evidente, possono essere ritrovati i segni di un confronto positivo con la gnosi. Anche i caratteri del pensiero gnostico, dunque, concorrono a guidare la ricerca di Hans Jonas verso i temi propri della sua riflessione matura

Una fillade ritenuta aurifera della Serrania costanera del Venezuela

Fil: Fossa Mancini, Enrique. Museo de La Plata, UNL