Artificial morality: Making of the artificial moral agents

Abstract: Artificial Morality is a new, emerging interdisciplinary field that centres around the idea of creating artificial moral agents, or AMAs, by implementing moral competence in artificial systems. AMAs are ought to be autonomous agents capable of socially correct judgements and ethically functional behaviour. This request for moral machines comes from the changes in everyday practice, where artificial systems are being frequently used in a variety of situations from home help and elderly care purposes to banking and court algorithms. It is therefore important to create reliable and responsible machines based on the same ethical principles that society demands from people. New challenges in creating such agents appear. There are philosophical questions about a machine’s potential to be an agent, or mora l agent, in the first place. Then comes the problem of social acceptance of such machines, regardless of their theoretic agency status. As a result of efforts to resolve this problem, there are insinuations of needed additional psychological (emotional and cogn itive) competence in cold moral machines. What makes this endeavour of developing AMAs even harder is the complexity of the technical, engineering aspect of their creation. Implementation approaches such as top- down, bottom-up and hybrid approach aim to find the best way of developing fully moral agents, but they encounter their own problems throughout this effort

Retorika državne nestabilnosti

We can define state instability as a situation in which a system\u27s previously established norms and rules no longer function properly. Under the circumstances of changed institutional functioning, the main actors of the given environment resort to new strategies to preserve their authority and maintain their positions. In this paper, we aim to present rhetorical strategies as a response of political actors to the environment of state instability. We will use a qualitative content analysis method to present the three political crises in the United States, Serbia, and Croatia. The paper aims to compare international rhetorical strategies as an attempt by political actors to avoid state instability.Stanje nestabilnosti možemo definirati kao situaciju u kojoj prethodno uspostavljene norme i pravila sustava više ne funkcioniraju kako treba. U okolnostima promijenjenog institucionalnog funkcioniranja, glavni akteri datog okruženja pribjegavaju novim strategijama kako bi sačuvali svoj autoritet i zadržali svoje pozicije. U ovom radu nastojimo predstaviti retoričke strategije kao odgovor političkih aktera na okruženje državne nestabilnosti. Kvalitativnom metodom analize sadržaja predstavit ćemo tri političke krize u Sjedinjenim Državama, Srbiji i Hrvatskoj. Ovaj rad ima za cilj usporedbu međunarodnih retoričkih strategija kao pokušaja političkih aktera da izbjegnu nestabilnost države

Sceptical Chymist in Search for Thales Principle

Tales važi za prvog filozofa koji je postavio pitanje o osnovnim principima na kojima se sve zasniva. Njegov kandidat za ἀρχή bila je voda, jer je smatrao da iz vode sve ostalo nastaje i da se iz vode mogu stvoriti preostala tri elementa. Alhemičari, ili prvi hemičari, su se nastavljali na antičku tradiciju, naročito Aristotela i teoriju o četri elementa. Tako su dospeli i do Aristotelovih svedočanstava o Talesu, nakon čega su alhemičari poput Helmonta prihvatili Talesovu ideju da se voda nalazi u osnovu svega postojećeg. Za alhemičare je bila karakteristična sklonost ka eksperimentima, ne samo zbog toga što su pokušavali da pretvore ostale metale u zlato, već i zbog toga što su pokušavali da osmisle medicinske rastvore kojima bi predupredili pojavu raznih bolesti. Zbog bogatog eksperimentalnog iskustva, alhemičari su bili zgodna meta za „nove filozofe“, sa početka sedamnaestog veka. Robert Bojl je pripadao tom krugu jer je bio pristalica korpuskularne teorije. U ovom radu predstaviću Bojlov pokušaj replikacije alhemijskih eksperimenata, naročito Helmontovog eksperimenta sa vrbovim drvetom i Bekonovog eksperimenta sa vodom. Nakon toga, pokazaću da li je Bojlov interes za alhemijske eksperimentalne procedure u većoj meri doprineo razvoju moderne nauke nego njegova mehanicistička filozofija.Thales is considered to be the first philosopher to pose a question about fundamental principles on which everything else is relied. His candidate for ἀρχή was water, because he believed that everything comes from water, and that the remaining three elements can also be created from water. Alchemists, or the first chemists, relied on the ancient tradition, especially Aristotle and the theory of the four elements. That is how they came to Aristotle’s testimonies about Thales, after which alchemists, like Helmont, accepted Thales’ idea that water is the basis of everything that exists. Alchemists were characterized by a tendency to experiment, not only because they tried to turn other metals into gold, but also because they tried to devise medical solutions that would prevent the appearance of various diseases. Due to their rich experimental experience, alchemists have been a convenient target for “new philosophers” since the early seventeenth century. Robert Boyle belonged to that circle because he was a supporter of corpuscular theory. In this paper, I will present Boyle ‘s attempt to replicate alchemical experiments, especially Helmont’ s experiment with willow tree and Bacon ‘s experiment with water. After that, I will show whether Boyle’s interest in the experimental procedures of alchemists contributed more to the development of modern science than his mechanistic philosophy

Culture on the Social Ladder-from the Greek Tradition to the Christian Paideia

In the culture of ancient Greece, the term Paideia (Greek: παιδεία) referred to the upbringing and education of an ideal member of the polis. However, the period from Homer's epic poetry (9th or 8th century BCE) to the Peloponnesian War (5th century BCE) differs notably, concerning the forms of Hellenistic culture after the emergence of Christianity (especially from 2nd to 9th century AD). For that reason, it is necessary to consider what significance Paideia had in different historical periods of Greek culture. In addition, the discussion of Paideia cannot exist in the abstract form of conceptual analysis without taking into account the real historical figures who contributed to the survival of Greek culture in the Roman and early Christian periods. This paper aims to examine the role of Greek culture in the social life of the early Christian Romans. We will try to achieve this through a detailed analysis of the panegyrics (Greek: πανήγυρις). Panegyrics are eulogies that educated pagan thinkers addressed to Roman emperors. Following the panegyrics, we will examine the influence of the Greek tradition on the distribution of the social roles in the upper classes in the Roman Empire. At the same time, by analyzing panegyric, the socio-cultural context of early Rome, and the demands that social betterment placed on pagan thinkers, we will introduce new elements of Christian Paideia concerning her classical predecessor, thus showing what such a transformation essentially entailed

La culture sur l’échelle sociale depuis la tradition grecque jusqu’à la Paideia chrétienne

In the culture of ancient Greece, the term Paideia (Greek: παιδεία) referred to the upbringing and education of an ideal member of the polis. However, the period from Homer’s epic poetry (9th or 8th century BCE) to the Peloponnesian War (5th century BCE) differs notably, concerning the forms of Hellenistic culture after the emergence of Christianity (especially from 2nd to 9th century AD). For that reason, it is necessary to consider what significance Paideia had in different historical periods of Greek culture. In addition, the discussion of Paideia cannot exist in the abstract form of conceptual analysis without taking into account the real historical figures who contributed to the survival of Greek culture in the Roman and early Christian periods. This paper aims to examine the role of Greek culture in the social life of the early Christian Romans. We will try to achieve this through a detailed analysis of the panegyrics (Greek: πανήγυρις). Panegyrics are eulogies that educated pagan thinkers addressed to Roman emperors. Following the panegyrics, we will examine the influence of the Greek tradition on the distribution of the social roles in the upper classes in the Roman Empire. At the same time, by analyzing panegyric, the socio-cultural context of early Rome, and the demands that social betterment placed on pagan thinkers, we will introduce new elements of Christian Paideia concerning her classical predecessor, thus showing what such a transformation essentially entailed.U kulturi antičke Grčke pojam Paideia (grč. παιδεία) označavao je odgoj i obrazovanje idealnog člana polisa. Međutim, razdoblje od Homerove epske poezije (9. ili 8. st. pr. Kr.) do Peloponeskog rata (5. st. pr. Kr.) značajno se razlikuje u pogledu oblika helenističke kulture nakon pojave kršćanstva (osobito od 2. do 9. st.). Zbog toga je potrebno razmotriti kakvo je značenje Paideia imala u različitim povijesnim razdobljima grčke kulture. Osim toga, rasprava o Paideji ne može postojati u apstraktnom obliku konceptualne analize bez uzimanja u obzir stvarnih povijesnih osoba koje su pridonijele opstanku grčke kulture u rimskom i ranokršćanskom razdoblju. Ovaj rad ima za cilj ispitati ulogu grčke kulture u društvenom životu ranokršćanskih Rimljana. Pokušat ćemo to postići detaljnom analizom panegirika (grč. πανήγυρις). Panegirici su hvalospjevi koji su obrazovani poganski mislioci upućivali rimskim carevima. Nakon panegirika, ispitat ćemo utjecaj grčke tradicije na raspodjelu društvenih uloga u višim klasama u Rimskom Carstvu. Istodobno, analizom panegirika, društveno-kulturnog konteksta ranog Rima i zahtjeva koje je društveni boljitak postavljao pred poganske mislioce, uvest ćemo nove elemente kršćanske Paideje u odnosu na njezinu klasičnu prethodnicu, pokazujući tako što je takva transformacija u biti podrazumijevala.In der Kultur des antiken Griechenlands bezeichnete der Begriff Paideia (Griechisch: παιδεία) die Erziehung und Bildung eines idealen Mitglieds der Polis. Der Zeitraum von Homers epischer Dichtung (9. oder 8. Jahrhundert v. Chr.) bis zum Peloponnesischen Krieg (5. Jahrhundert v. Chr.) weist indessen erhebliche Unterschiede auf, was die Formen der hellenistischen Kultur nach dem Auftauchen des Christentums (speziell vom 2. bis 9. Jahrhundert n. Chr.) betrifft. Aus diesem Grund ist es geboten zu erwägen, welche Bedeutung der Paideia in verschiedenen historischen Perioden der griechischen Kultur zukam. Zudem kann die Diskussion um Paideia nicht in der abstrakten Form einer konzeptuellen Analyse existieren, ohne die realen historischen Persönlichkeiten zu berücksichtigen, die zum Fortbestand der griechischen Kultur in der römischen und frühchristlichen Epoche beigesteuert haben. Dieser Aufsatz setzt sich zum Ziel, die Rolle der griechischen Kultur im gesellschaftlichen Leben der frühchristlichen Römer zu beleuchten. Wir werden versuchen, dies durch eine eingehende Analyse der Panegyriken (Griechisch: πανήγυρις) zu erreichen. Panegyriken sind Lobreden, die gebildete heidnische Denker an römische Kaiser richteten. Im Anschluss an die Lobreden untersuchen wir den Einfluss der griechischen Tradition auf die Verteilung der sozialen Rollen in den Oberschichten im Römischen Reich. Zugleich werden wir durch die Analyse der Panegyriken, des soziokulturellen Kontexts des frühen Roms wie auch der Anforderungen, die soziale Verbesserung an heidnische Denker stellte, neue Elemente der christlichen Paideia in Hinsicht auf ihre klassische Vorgängerin einführen und dadurch zeigen, was eine solche Transformation im Wesentlichen einbezog.Dans la culture de la Grèce Antique le concept de Paideia (gr. : παιδεία) se rapportait à l’éducation et la formation du membre idéal de la polis. Toutefois, la période qui s’étend de la poésie épique de Homère (9ème ou 8ème s. av. J.-C.) à la guerre du Péloponnèse (5ème s. ap. J.-C.) se différencie significativement sur la question des formes de la culture hellénistique. Pour cette raison, il est nécessaire de considérer la signification que la Paideia avait à différentes périodes historiques de la culture grecque. Par ailleurs, le débat sur la Paideia ne peut pas exister de manière abstraite dans l’analyse conceptuelle si l’on ne prend pas en compte les personnalités historiques réelles ayant contribué à la survie de la culture grecque à l’époque romaine et du christianisme primitif. Le présent travail a pour objectif d’interroger le rôle de la culture grecque dans la vie sociale des Romains du christianisme primitif. Nous nous attacherons à atteindre notre objectif à l’aide d’une analyse détaillée du panégyrique (gr. : πανήγυρις). Les panégyriques sont des éloges que les penseurs païens instruits adressaient aux empereurs romains. Après les panégyriques, nous examinerons l’influence de la tradition grecque sur la division des rôles sociaux dans les classes supérieures de l’Empire Romain. Dans le même temps, grâce à l’analyse du panégyrique, du contexte socio-culturel de la Rome antique et des contraintes amenées par le progrès social auxquelles les penseurs païens devaient faire face, nous introduirons de nouveaux éléments de la Paideia chrétienne par rapport à sa théorie classique antérieure, et montrerons ainsi ce qu’une transformation de la sorte a réellement entrainé

Artificial morality: Making of the artificial moral agents

Artificial Morality is a new, emerging interdisciplinary field that centres around the idea of creating artificial moral agents, or AMAs, by implementing moral competence in artificial systems. AMAs are ought to be autonomous agents capable of socially correct judgements and ethically functional behaviour. This request for moral machines comes from the changes in everyday practice, where artificial systems are being frequently used in a variety of situations from home help and elderly care purposes to banking and court algorithms. It is therefore important to create reliable and responsible machines based on the same ethical principles that society demands from people. New challenges in creating such agents appear. There are philosophical questions about a machine's potential to be an agent, or moral agent, in the first place. Then comes the problem of social acceptance of such machines, regardless of their theoretic agency status. As a result of efforts to resolve this problem, there are insinuations of needed additional psychological (emotional and cognitive) competence in cold moral machines. What makes this endeavour of developing AMAs even harder is the complexity of the technical, engineering aspect of their creation. Implementation approaches such as top-down, bottom-up and hybrid approach aim to find the best way of developing fully moral agents, but they encounter their own problems throughout this effort

Hjumovo I Kantovo shvatanje epistemičke normativnosti

Pitanje (d) kako formiramo verovanja?, podrazumeva deskriptivne odgovore. Sa druge strane, pitanje (n) kako bi trebalo da formiramo verovanja?, podrazumeva normativne odgovore. Da li možemo da pružimo odgovore na (n) pitanja bez odgovora na (d) pitanja? Ova (n)-(d) relacija može da se okarakteriše kao epistemička normativnost. Hjum i Kant pružaju odgovore na oba pitanja. Hjum je skloniji psihologizaciji ovih odgovora kroz empirijski pristup pitanjima koja se odnose na verovanja. Dok je Kant skloniji razmatranju a priori uslova našeg rasuđivanja. Kroz opšta pravila i epistemičke maksime, Hjum i Kant pružaju normativna uputstva u skladu sa kojima bi trebalo da formiramo verovanja. Međutim, da bismo uopšte mogli da govorimo o normativnosti, moramo da odgovorimo na pitanja koja se odnose na doksastički voluntarizam. Kod Kanta je pitanje slobode, donekle, očigledan preduslov njegovih kritika (naročito praktičkog uma). Dok je kod Hjuma, upravo zbog njegovog empirijskog pristupa verovanjima i željama, stvar nejasnija, i deluje kao da Hjum zastupa doksastički involuntarizam. U ovom radu pokušaću da predstavim sličnosti između Hjuma i Kanta u pogledu epistemičke normativnosti. Tamo gde izgleda kao da su njihova stanovišta nespojiva, pokušaću da ispitam zašto je to slučaj. Usredsrediću se na Hjumovu Raspravu o ljudskoj prirodi i Kantovu Drugu analogiju. Na kraju ću da ponudim par misaonih eksperimena kroz koje ću pokušati da „testiram“ Hjuma i Kanta. Ukoliko uspem da potvrdim početne hipoteze onda će ovaj rad prestavljati uspešan epistemički poduhvat. Međutim, ako ne uspem da pronađem očekivane sličnosti, između Hjumovog i Kantovog shvatanja epistemičke normativnosti, onda se ovaj rad može okarakterisati kao istorijski pristup normativnom okviru „dogmatskog dremeža“.Question (d) how do we form beliefs?, implies descriptive answers. On the other hand, the question (n) how should we form beliefs?, implies normative answers. Can we provide answers to (n) questions without answering (d) questions? This (n) - (d) relation can be characterized as epistemic normativity. Hume and Kant provide answers to both questions. Hume is more inclined to psychologize these answers through an empirical approach to questions related to beliefs. While Kant is more inclined to consider a priori conditions of our reasoning. Through general rules and epistemic maxims, Hume and Kant provide normative guidelines in accordance which we should form beliefs. However, in order to be able to talk about normativity, at all, we need to answer questions related to doxastic voluntarism. For Kant, the question of freedom is, to some extent, an obvious precondition for his critiques (especially of the practical mind). While with Hume, precisely because of his empirical approach to beliefs and desires, the matter is more obscure, and it seems as if Hume advocates doxastic involuntarism. In this paper, I will try to present the similarities between Hume and Kant in terms of epistemic normativity. Where it seems as if their views are incompatible, I will try to examine why this is the case. I will focus on Hume’s Treatise of Human Nature and Kant’s Second Analogy. In the end, I will present a couple of thought experiments and try to “test” Hume and Kant. If I manage to confirm the initial hypotheses, then this paper will be a successful epistemic endeavor. However, if I fail to find the expected similarities between Hume’s and Kant’s understanding of epistemic normativity, then this work can be characterized as a historical approach to the normative framework of “dogmatic slumber”

Darwin meets dr. Frankenstein: Using the Drake equation to calculate the probability of volcanic lightning's impact on chemical evolution

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has been a paramount mechanism of interest in recent literature addressing the origins of biological evolution. However, research on lightning-triggered electroporation represents the innovative and still insufficiently grasped approach to HGT (Kotnik, 2013). On the other hand, prebiotic synthesis is a fundamental process for chemical evolution. Recently, the effects of volcanic lightning on nitrogen fixation and phosphate reduction have also been considered (Navarro-González and Segura, 2004). This paper aims to present a top-down approach to the question of the origin of life on early Earth. By considering the conditions necessary for the emergence of biological and chemical evolution, emphasizing electrostatic discharges, we will attempt to link previous theoretical and experimental research. Furthermore, we will present a recent endeavor at applying the Drake equation to calculating the probability of volcanic lightning impact on the prebiotic synthesis and derive a similar use in estimating the contribution of lightning to HGT (Weaver, 2013). We will also display that choosing a type of probability appropriate for the context of life sciences is not necessarily a quantitative issue. Finally, we will show that significant conceptual constraints, like determining the relevant factors and sources of uncertainty when considering the origin of life on early Earth, are fundamentally philosophical issues. We hope that the results of our research – deriving Drake’s equation in the domain of chemical evolution and considering Bayesian and counterfactual types as potentially more suitable candidates for calculating probabilities in the evolutionary framework – will contribute to developing new discussions in life sciences

What Does a Bee Know? A Teleosemantic Framework for Cognitive Ethologist

Naturalistic epistemology is usually associated with Quine’s turn from an a priori and traditional to a descriptive understanding of knowledge. In this paper, however, we will look at theories developed from Quine’s ideas - Millikan’s teleosemantics and Kornblith’s cognitive ethology. We will answer three questions: (i) Can a bee know?; (ii) What can a bee know?; and (iii) Does the bee know? First, we will answer the question of animal cognitive capacities using Kornblith’s understanding of the epistemic environment and the basic features of cognitive ethology. We will then set up teleosemantics as a framework in which Millikan attempts to naturalize intentional states and answer the question of the knowledge content in animals. By understanding natural signs and considering the non-propositional content of mental representations in animals, we will answer the third question and show how Kornblith and cognitive ethologists attempt to track the processes of forming reliable true beliefs in different kinds of organisms. We will answer each of the three questions above by drawing on the research of apiologists and cognitive ethologists to provide empirical support for the theses of our work and so that we do not remain only on attempts, possible introductions, and anecdotes of naturalistic conceptions of knowledge, but provide concrete descriptions of the world and the place of knowledge in it