Evidence, Judgment, and Belief at Will

Mind ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (511) ◽  
pp. 837-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blake Roeber
Keyword(s):  
Doxastic Voluntarism ◽  
Norms Of Assertion ◽  
Insufficient Attention ◽  
Norms Of Belief ◽  
Contemporary Epistemology ◽  
At Will

Abstract Doxastic involuntarists have paid insufficient attention to two debates in contemporary epistemology: the permissivism debate and the debate over norms of assertion and belief. In combination, these debates highlight a conception of belief on which, if you find yourself in what I will call an ‘equipollent case’ with respect to some proposition p, there will be no reason why you can’t believe p at will. While doxastic involuntarism is virtually epistemological orthodoxy, nothing in the entire stock of objections to belief at will blocks this route to doxastic voluntarism. Against the backdrop of the permissivism debate and the literature on norms of belief and assertion, doxastic involuntarism emerges as an article of faith, not the obvious truth it’s usually purported to be.

Does Scepticism Presuppose Voluntarism?

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-50
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hill
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Doxastic Voluntarism ◽  
Conversion Narrative ◽  
At Will ◽  
Philosophical Scepticism

Philosophical scepticism is sometimes thought to presuppose doxastic voluntarism, the claim that we are able to believe or disbelieve propositions at will. This is problematic given that doxastic voluntarism itself is a controversial position. I examine two arguments for the view that scepticism presupposes voluntarism. I show that they rely on different versions of a depiction of scepticism as a conversion narrative. I argue that one version of this narrative does presuppose voluntarism, but the other does not. Moreover, alternative versions of the narrative are available. I conclude that scepticism does not presuppose voluntarism.

Use of the Magnetostatic Analogue In Electromagnetic Lens Engineering

1970 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 360-361
Author(s):  
John W. Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Force Fields ◽  
Optical Design ◽  
Direct Conversion ◽  
Design Engineering ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Scalar Potentials ◽  
Geometric Elements ◽  
At Will

In the design engineering of high performance electromagnetic lenses, the direct conversion of electron optical design data into drawings for reliable hardware is oftentimes difficult, especially in terms of how to mount parts to each other, how to tolerance dimensions, and how to specify finishes. An answer to this is in the use of magnetostatic analytics, corresponding to boundary conditions for the optical design. With such models, the magnetostatic force on a test pole along the axis may be examined, and in this way one may obtain priority listings for holding dimensions, relieving stresses, etc..The development of magnetostatic models most easily proceeds from the derivation of scalar potentials of separate geometric elements. These potentials can then be conbined at will because of the superposition characteristic of conservative force fields.

Resistance Monitor and Control for Vacuum Evaporation of Metals and Carbon

1976 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 572-573
Author(s):  
Russell L. Steere ◽  
Eric F. Erbe ◽  
J. Michael Moseley
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Device ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Variable Resistor ◽  
Quality Of Results ◽  
Low Contrast ◽  
Evaporation Source ◽  
And Control ◽  
At Will

We have designed and built an electronic device which compares the resistance of a defined area of vacuum evaporated material with a variable resistor. When the two resistances are matched, the device automatically disconnects the primary side of the substrate transformer and stops further evaporation.This approach to controlled evaporation in conjunction with the modified guns and evaporation source permits reliably reproducible multiple Pt shadow films from a single Pt wrapped carbon point source. The reproducibility from consecutive C point sources is also reliable. Furthermore, the device we have developed permits us to select a predetermined resistance so that low contrast high-resolution shadows, heavy high contrast shadows, or any grade in between can be selected at will. The reproducibility and quality of results are demonstrated in Figures 1-4 which represent evaporations at various settings of the variable resistor.

Morphological Freedom and Medicine: Constructing the Posthuman Body

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luna Dolezal
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Cosmetic Surgery ◽  
The Body ◽  
Popular Imagination ◽  
Gender Reassignment ◽  
Common Parlance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Body Practices ◽  
Health Function ◽  
At Will

The notion that the body can be changed at will in order to meet the desires and designs of its ‘owner’ is one that has captured the popular imagination and underpins contemporary medical practices such as cosmetic surgery and gender reassignment. In fact, describing the body as ‘malleable’ or ‘plastic’ has entered common parlance and dictates common-sense ideas of how we understand the human body in late-capitalist consumer societies in the wake of commercial biotechnologies that work to modify the body aesthetically and otherwise. If we are not satisfied with some aspect of our physicality – in terms of health, function or aesthetics – we can engage with a whole variety of self-care body practices – fashion, diet, exercise, cosmetics, medicine, surgery, laser – in order to ‘correct’, reshape or restyle the body. In addition, as technology has advanced and elective cosmetic surgery has unapologetically entered the mainstream, the notion of the malleable body has become intrinsically linked to the practices and discourses of biomedicine and, furthermore, has become a significant means to assert and affirm identity.

Mafias on the Move

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Varese
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Market Expansion ◽  
The North ◽  
Economic Transformations ◽  
At Will

Organized crime is spreading like a global virus as mobs take advantage of open borders to establish local franchises at will. That at least is the fear, inspired by stories of Russian mobsters in New York, Chinese triads in London, and Italian mafias throughout the West. As this book explains, the truth is more complicated. The author has spent years researching mafia groups in Italy, Russia, the United States, and China, and argues that mafiosi often find themselves abroad against their will, rather than through a strategic plan to colonize new territories. Once there, they do not always succeed in establishing themselves. The book spells out the conditions that lead to their long-term success, namely sudden market expansion that is neither exploited by local rivals nor blocked by authorities. Ultimately the inability of the state to govern economic transformations gives mafias their opportunity. In a series of matched comparisons, the book charts the attempts of the Calabrese 'Ndrangheta to move to the north of Italy, and shows how the Sicilian mafia expanded to early twentieth-century New York, but failed around the same time to find a niche in Argentina. The book explains why the Russian mafia failed to penetrate Rome but succeeded in Hungary. A pioneering chapter on China examines the challenges that triads from Taiwan and Hong Kong find in branching out to the mainland. This book is both a compelling read and a sober assessment of the risks posed by globalization and immigration for the spread of mafias.

When Is True Belief Knowledge?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Foley
Keyword(s):  
True Belief ◽  
Theory Of Knowledge ◽  
Central Problem ◽  
Significant Aspect ◽  
Coming To Know ◽  
Contemporary Epistemology ◽  
What Matters

A woman glances at a broken clock and comes to believe it is a quarter past seven. Yet, despite the broken clock, it really does happen to be a quarter past seven. Her belief is true, but it isn't knowledge. This is a classic illustration of a central problem in epistemology: determining what knowledge requires in addition to true belief. This book finds a new solution to the problem in the observation that whenever someone has a true belief but not knowledge, there is some significant aspect of the situation about which she lacks true beliefs—something important that she doesn't quite “get.” This may seem a modest point but, as the book shows, it has the potential to reorient the theory of knowledge. Whether a true belief counts as knowledge depends on the importance of the information one does or doesn't have. This means that questions of knowledge cannot be separated from questions about human concerns and values. It also means that, contrary to what is often thought, there is no privileged way of coming to know. Knowledge is a mutt. Proper pedigree is not required. What matters is that one doesn't lack important nearby information. Challenging some of the central assumptions of contemporary epistemology, this is an original and important account of knowledge.

Effect of Fluoride Mouthwash in Iranian Schools: Treatment or Exacerbation of the Disease

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Karimi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Oral Health ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Oral Hygiene ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Tooth Decay ◽  
Insufficient Attention ◽  
The World

Dental and oral health is an important part that plays a significant role in the quality of life of people in our society, especially children, but due to insufficient attention, tooth decay in the world is increasing every year. Promoting oral hygiene requires the people's easy access to primary oral health care and the use of these services should be classified.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document