How to solve the knowability paradox with transcendental epistemology

A novel solution to the knowability paradox is proposed based on Kant’s transcendental epistemology. The ‘paradox’ refers to a simple argument from the moderate claim that all truths are knowable to the extreme claim that all truths are known. It is significant because anti-realists have wanted to maintain knowability but reject omniscience. The core of the proposed solution is to concede realism about epistemic statements while maintaining anti-realism about non-epistemic statements. Transcendental epistemology supports such a view by providing for a sharp distinction between how we come to understand and apply epistemic versus non-epistemic concepts, the former through our capacity for a special kind of reflective self-knowledge Kant calls ‘transcendental apperception’. The proposal is a version of restriction strategy: it solves the paradox by restricting the anti-realist’s knowability principle. Restriction strategies have been a common response to the paradox but previous versions face serious difficulties: either they result in a knowability principle too weak to do the work anti-realists want it to, or they succumb to modified forms of the paradox, or they are ad hoc. It is argued that restricting knowability to non-epistemic statements by conceding realism about epistemic statements avoids all versions of the paradox, leaves enough for the anti-realist attack on classical logic, and, with the help of transcendental epistemology, is principled in a way that remains compatible with a thoroughly anti-realist outlook

Logicism, Possibilism, and the Logic of Kantian Actualism

In this extended critical discussion of 'Kant's Modal Metaphysics' by Nicholas Stang (OUP 2016), I focus on one central issue from the first chapter of the book: Stang’s account of Kant’s doctrine that existence is not a real predicate. In §2 I outline some background. In §§3-4 I present and then elaborate on Stang’s interpretation of Kant’s view that existence is not a real predicate. For Stang, the question of whether existence is a real predicate amounts to the question: ‘could there be non-actual possibilia?’ (p.35). Kant’s view, according to Stang, is that there could not, and that the very notion of non-actual or ‘mere’ possibilia is incoherent. In §5 I take a close look at Stang’s master argument that Kant’s Leibnizian predecessors are committed to the claim that existence is a real predicate, and thus to mere possibilia. I argue that it involves substantial logical commitments that the Leibnizian could reject. I also suggest that it is danger of proving too much. In §6 I explore two closely related logical commitments that Stang’s reading implicitly imposes on Kant, namely a negative universal free logic and a quantified modal logic that invalidates the Converse Barcan Formula. I suggest that each can seem to involve Kant himself in commitment to mere possibilia

Georgia's Individual Income Tax: Options for Reform

This report analyzes the current structure of Georgia's individual income tax and provides analysis of a variety of reform options

Perceptual thresholds for the effects of room modes as a function of modal decay

Room modes cause audible artefacts in listening environments. Modal control approaches have emerged in scientific literature over the years and, often, their performance is measured by criteria that may be perceptually unfounded. Previous research has shown modal decay as a key perceptual factor in detecting modal effects. In this work, perceptual thresholds for the effects of modes as a function of modal decay have been measured in the region between 32Hz and 250Hz. A test methodology has been developed to include modal interaction and temporal masking from musical events, which are important aspects in recreating an ecologically valid test regime. This method has been deployed in addition to artificial test stimuli traditionally used in psychometric studies, which provide unmasked, absolute thresholds. For artificial stimuli, thresholds decrease monotonically from 0.9 seconds at 32 Hz to 0.17 seconds at 200 Hz, with a knee at 63 Hz. For music stimuli, thresholds decrease monotonically from 0.51 seconds at 63 Hz to 0.12 seconds at 250 Hz. Perceptual thresholds are shown to be dependent on frequency and to a much lesser extent on level. Results presented here define absolute and practical thresholds, which are useful as perceptually relevant optimization targets for modal control methods

Imagination and Inner Intuition

In this paper I return to the question of whether intuition is object-dependent. Kant’s account of the imagination appears to suggest that intuition is not object-dependent. On a recent proposal, however, the imagination is a faculty of merely inner intuition, the inner objects of which exist and are present in the way demanded by object-dependence views, such as Lucy Allais’s relational account. I argue against this proposal on both textual and philosophical grounds. It is inconsistent with what Kant says about how the imagination functions and is ultimately incompatible with the relational account it is supposed to support. Kant’s account of the imagination remains a serious obstacle for the view that intuition is object-dependent

An Investigation Into The Use Of E-Learning Resources Within An Environmental Context For Schools

The premise of this study was to take a game-based learning and investigate whether pupil engagement was enhanced through an environmental context and a competitive environment. Despite game-based learning being an active research area, there appears to be a relatively slow uptake by teachers (Axe & Routledge, 2011) which perhaps gives light to a certain pragmatism amongst teachers to adopt games in education. However, credibility is given to this body of research by a number of prominent authors (Becta, 2001; Kirriemuir & McFarlane, 2003; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson & Gee, 2004). Research has shown the most effective way of integrating game-based learning is to firstly identify the pedagogy for the learning tool and then wrap this with gamified elements (Gee 2003; Gee 2004). What this study aimed to do was provide a system where pupils could learn about environmental topics through a series of educational activities during a prescribed set of trials in school but also have the opportunity to use the system as much or as little as they liked outside of school hours. In addition, this study introduced a contextualised scenario which challenged participants to make decisions based on both moral and competitive judgement in order to determine whether there was an underlying pattern of competitive behaviour or whether users were motivated by more than just winning, a suggestion made by Deen & Schouten 2011). As a concept, gaming strategies are ways that participants utilise an educational tool to win or succeed at the game-based element without explicitly fulfilling the pedagogical purpose. Literature suggests mixed results with previous studies as to the demographic profiles of participants who employ gaming strategies and also their motivations behind those strategies (Baker et al, 2004; Baker et al, 2005). This study aimed to identify basic demographic information for participants who used gaming strategies throughout the usage of this contextual e-learning system as well as the ways in which various strategies were used. One of the fundamental parts of this study was a feature designed to test whether participants were more likely to exhibit selfish or morally responsible behaviour when posed with a number of environmental disaster scenarios. The questions took the form of Environmental Decision Points and provided users with an environmental disaster scenario and three options carrying different points values. The decision participants had to make was whether they chose the more selfish option (and progressed further up their class league table) or whether they took the socially responsible option (where they could perhaps feel better inside but had nothing tangible to show). Overall, this study was designed to further learning in the areas of game-based learning, contextualised learning and gaming strategies within a cohort of Primary and Secondary school pupils

Understanding Recidivism: A Phenomenological Study of Repeat Offenders\u27 Lived Experiences Under Placer County, California Probation Supervision

This transcendental phenomenological study aimed to explore the lived experiences of repeat offenders under probation supervision within Placer County, California. The hierarchy of needs theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The central research question was: What are the lived experiences of the repeat offenders under Placer County, California probation supervision? The three guiding questions asked the following: 1) How do offenders describe their lived experiences as a repeat offender? 2) How do offenders describe the support or lack of support from correctional intervention? 3) How do participants perceive the challenges experienced after being released back to the community? Criterion sampling was used to recruit ten repeat offenders within Placer County for this study. The data was collected through semistructured interviews and reflexive memos. The data was coded utilizing NVivo 12 Plus to complete a thematic analysis. Three primary themes emerged from the data: 1) correctional environment, 2) reintegration into society, and 3) follow-up when released. The findings revealed that the repeat offenders struggled to provide for their basic needs when released from custody. The implications of the study’s findings, delimitations and limitations, and recommendations for future research will also be discussed

The Effects of Outside Income on Household Behavior: The Case of Remittances in Jamaica

Remittances significantly affect recipient households’ behavior. Using data from the Jamaican Survey of Living Conditions and the Jamaican Labor Force Survey ( 2001-2007), this dissertation explores the effects of remittances on labor market participation and household expenditures. Jamaica’s proximity to the United States and its diaspora of educated individuals shapes an economy largely dependent on remittances, thus providing an interesting case study. First, we investigate whether remittances alter labor market behavior of married women in remittance-receiving households located in Jamaica. Remittances, the wife’s education, and wages are all treated as endogenous when estimating labor market participation and hours worked. Unlike other studies, we find that after instrumenting for remittances, the outside income has no significant effect on the supply of labor. Second, we assess the extent that remittances alter the consumption pattern of recipient households in Jamaica. Classical theory predicts that total income affects household consumption decisions, but developments in behavioral economics suggest otherwise. The disaggregation of income streams and consumption expenditures provide us with unique insight into household behavior and in particular, spending on items such as food, schooling, and vices. Using Engel curve estimation and the two-part fractional response models, we find that the source of income significantly affects the shares of income spent in specific consumption categories. Recipients, for example, generally spend more of their income on schooling and home production and less at the grocery store. These findings suggest important implications should government look to tax or restrict the flow of remittances