Sense and Reference of Pictures

John Hyman insists that Frege-style cases for depiction show that any sound theory of depiction must distinguish between the ‘sense’ and the ‘reference’ of a picture. I argue that this rests on a mistake. Making sense of the cases does not require the distinction

From Nested-Loop to Join Queries in OODB

Most declarative SQL-like query languages for object-oriented database systems are orthogonal languages allowing for arbitrary nesting of expressions in the select-, from-, and where-clause. Expressions in the from-clause may be base tables as well as set-valued attributes. In this paper, we propose a general strategy for the optimization of nested OOSQL queries. As in the relational model, the translation/optimization goal is to move from tuple- to set-oriented query processing. Therefore, OOSQL is translated into the algebraic language ADL, and by means of algebraic rewriting nested queries are transformed into join queries as far as possible. Three different optimization options are described, and a strategy to assign priorities to options is proposed

Fictional Creations

Many people assume that fictional entities are encapsulated in the world of fiction. I show that this cannot be right. Some works of fiction tell us about pieces of poetry, music, or theatre written by fictional characters. Such creations are fictional creations, as I will call them. Their authors do not exist. But that does not take away that we can perform, recite, or otherwise generate actual instances of such works. This means we can bring such individuals actually into existence, as the works they are. I conclude that the assumption about encapsulation is untenable, unless an exception is made for types

Explaining the Ugly: Disharmony and Unrestrained Cognition in Kant

In arguing for his theory of pure reflective judgments of taste Kant extensively analyses beauty, but almost wholly disregards ugliness. We commonly take ugliness as paradigmatic when we reflect on our negative aesthetic judgments, and so does Kant. Consequently, there ought to be a more explicit story explaining how Kantian judgments of ugliness are possible. In this paper I argue that a disharmony is the key to understanding Kantian ugliness. This way, an answer to the question of ugliness in Kant can be given in terms of a disharmonious free play of the faculties of imagination and understanding

Against Adversarial Discussion

Why did R.G. Collingwood come to reject the adversarial style of philosophical discussion so popular among his Oxford peers? The main aim of this paper is to explain that Collingwood came to reject his colleagues’ specific style of philosophical dialogue on methodological grounds, and to show how the argument against adversarial philosophical discussion is integrated with Collingwood’s overall criticism of realist philosophy. His argument exploits a connection between method and practice that should be taken seriously even today

Narrativas políticas na pandemia e o recrudescimento do preconceito com a China

Na língua chinesa, mais especificamente no mandarim, 欧美 (Ōu Měi) pode ter dois significados principais. O primeiro é bastante objetivo, “Europa e Estados Unidos”, porém o segundo carrega certo grau de subjetividade, podendo denotar a ideia de “Ocidente” ou de “mundo ocidental” em um sentido próximo a “mundo desenvolvido”. Afinal, em termos de localização geográfica, “Ocidente” é representado pelo ideograma 西 (Xī). Trata-se de uma perspetiva bastante interessante e, por vezes, desconhecida pelas pessoas no plano ocidental, até pela questão da barreira linguística; contudo, a desinformação pode gerar certos ruídos no diálogo com chineses, bem como resultar em preconceito para com a República Popular da China. O Brasil, por exemplo, tendo recebido grande influência europeia e norte-americana ao longo de sua história, considera-se, certamente, parte do mundo ocidental – inclusive, o atual Ministro das Relações Exteriores do país, Ernesto Araújo, já deixou clara essa perceção em seus discursos e textos com viés conservador. Imagina-se, assim, como essa informação pode soar estranha para uma pessoa chinesa, ou mesmo como um brasileiro poderia ficar desconfortável com a diferente perceção do distante povo do País do Meio

False reflections

Philosophers and psychologists often assume that mirror reflections are optical illusions. According to many authors, what we see in a mirror appears to be behind it. I discuss two strategies to resist this piece of dogma. As I will show, the conviction that mirror reflections are illusions is rooted in a confused conception of the relations between location, direction, and visibility. This conception is unacceptable to those who take seriously the way in which mirrors contribute to our experience of the world. My argument may be read as an advertisement of the neglected field of philosophical catoptrics, the philosophical study of the optical properties of mirrors. It enables us to recast familiar issues in the philosophy of perception

Beautiful traits do not yet make beautiful people

People can come to seem to us more beautiful the better we get to know their personalities. Some have taken this to show there is a moral kind of beauty. According to the moral beauty view, moral personality traits realise moral beauty in people. Here I present a problem for the standard articulation of the moral beauty view, namely that it is not a logical truth that people inherit the beauty of their virtues. I call this the ‘inheritance problem’. I present an alternative articulation of the moral beauty view that does not give rise to the problem. On this alternative articulation, the moral beauty view is not as revisionary as it is standardly taken to be