Skeptical Fideism in Cicero’s De Natura Deorum

The work of Richard H. Popkin both introduced the concept of skeptical fideism and served to impressively document its importance in the philosophies of a diverse range of thinkers, including Montaigne, Pascal, Huet, and Bayle. Popkin’s landmark History of Scepticism, however, begins its coverage with the Renaissance. In this paper I explore the roots of skeptical fideism in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, with special attention to Cicero’s De Natura Deorum, the oldest surviving text to clearly develop a skeptical fideist perspective

The Theistic Argument from Beauty: A Philonian Critique

In this paper I consider an understudied form of the design argument which focuses on the beauty of the natural world and which argues, on that basis, that the world requires a divine Artist in order to explain its beauty. Against this view, one might raise a question concerning the beauty of, and in, this divine Artist. What explains the divine beauty? This kind of explanatory regress objection is exactly like that used by Philo in Hume’s Dialogues to undercut standard versions of the design argument focused on the orderliness of the world. Here I argue that Philo’s explanatory regress objection likewise significantly undercuts versions of the design argument focusing on the beauty of the world

Is Pyrrhonism Psychologically Possible?

How could there have been a group of philosophers who said they really were skeptics? How could they have claimed to suspend judgment about all non-evident matters which were presented to them and to have gone their way adoxastös (without belief) by (as they said) “following the appearances” (PH 1.23)? That is the question I would like to answer

Optimal Robust Multihop Routing for Wireless Networks of Mobile Micro Autonomous Systems

This paper develops algorithms to ensure that agents of a mobile micro autonomous system (MMAS) maintain integrity of communication flows as they move to accomplish their task. Due to inherent uncertainties in estimation of wireless channels, we advocate a stochastic approach whereby achievable communication rates of point-to-point links are regarded as random variables with known means and variances. To achieve reliable end-to-end communication flows, terminals route their traffic through various alternative paths to reduce the effect of uncertainty in individual link rates. The proposed algorithms are optimal and robust in that routes are obtained as solutions of optimization problems subject to constraints on minimum required rates and maximum acceptable variances. Algorithms are tested in an event-based simulator that uses an accurate data-driven model of radio communications to model both the structure of code running independently on multiple robots as well as the transmission of messages via a real radio. Simulation results corroborate that rates of end-to-end flows are maintained at target levels despite variations in the rates of individual links

Children’s play profiles: Contributions from child’s temperament and father’s parenting styles in a portuguese sample

Using a sample of Portuguese preschool-age children, we aimed to identify different play profiles based on teachers' descriptions of social and non-social behaviors, as well as characterize them in terms of children's characteristics (sex and temperament) and fathers' parenting styles (e.g., warmth and involvement or punitive strategies). The 243 children were distributed across four profiles (identified through a two-stage cluster analysis): Solitary/Reticent, Social Rough, Social, and Social Solitary. A univariate effect was found between play profiles and children's effortful control, as well as fathers' punitive strategies. In addition, a significant multivariate interaction was found between child's sex and the Solitary/Reticent and Social Rough profiles for father's punitive strategies. In this sample, children with social play profiles seem to use diverse types of behaviors during their interactions with peers and in being adjusted within the group. As children's early experiences with peers are a central context for healthy development, a better understating of the diversity of play profiles and its predictors is important for early interventions.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Loneliness, social support, and adjustment to aging in older portuguese gay men

Background Older LGBT adults are growing in visibility throughout the Western world. An emerging body of research reveals that this population is at greater risk for a variety of negative physical and mental health problems compared to the general population. One such problem is loneliness, which is emerging as a major public health issue around the world. Unfortunately, loneliness has not been studied in a diverse range of older LGBT people. The purpose of this study was to assess levels of loneliness, as well as possible demographic and psychosocial predictors, in a population of older Portuguese gay men. Methods Using online surveys, 110 older Portuguese gay men (mean age = 63.5) completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale for Portuguese Older Adults, Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale and Adjustment to Aging Scale, as well as measures of support from family and friends. Results Overall, high levels of loneliness were found, particularly among those with lower education levels. Low levels of family support, friends support and connectedness to the LGBT community were all significant predictors of loneliness in the regression analyses, but adjustment to aging was not. Conclusions These findings add to the international literature on the correlates of loneliness among older sexual minorities. Such findings may inform the development of psychosocial interventions and promote healthcare engagement among older sexual minorities, which are important steps toward reducing health disparities that affect this population.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio