Topoi-an International Review of Philosophy 

About: Topoi-an International Review of Philosophy is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Philosophy of science & Philosophy of technology. It has an ISSN identifier of 0167-7411. Over the lifetime, 1421 publications have been published receiving 13894 citations.

Making sense of sense-making: Reflections on enactive and extended mind theories

Abstract: This paper explores some of the differences between the enactive approach in cognitive science and the extended mind thesis. We review the key enactive concepts of autonomy and sense-making. We then focus on the following issues: (1) the debate between internalism and externalism about cognitive processes; (2) the relation between cognition and emotion; (3) the status of the body; and (4) the difference between ‘incorporation’ and mere ‘extension’ in the body-mind-environment relation.

Three Measurement Problems

Abstract: The aim of this essay is to distinguish and analyze several difficulties confronting attempts to reconcile the fundamental quantum mechanical dynamics with Born's rule. It is shown that many of the proposed accounts of measurement fail at least one of the problems. In particular, only collapse theories and hidden variables theories have a chance of succeeding, and, of the latter, the modal interpretations fail. Any real solution demands new physics.

The Principle of Semantic Compositionality

Abstract: The Principle of Semantic Compositionality (sometimes called ‘Frege's Principle’) is the principle that the meaning of a (syntactically complex) whole is a function only of the meanings of its (syntactic) parts together with the manner in which these parts were combined. This principle has been extremely influential throughout the history of formal semantics; it has had a tremendous impact upon modern linguistics ever since Montague Grammars became known; and it has more recently shown up as a guiding principle for a certain direction in cognitive science. Despite the fact that The Principle is vague or underspecified at a number of points — such as what meaning is, what counts as a part, what counts as a syntactic complex, what counts as combination — this has not stopped some people from viewing The Principle as obviously true, true almost by definition. And it has not stopped other people from viewing The Principle as false, almost pernicious in its effect. And some of these latter theorists think that it is an empirically false principle while others think of it as a methodologically wrong-headed way to proceed. In fact, there are approximately 318 arguments against The Principle which can be found in the literature, whereas there are only three (or maybe four) arguments proposed in favor of The Principle. This paper will adjudicate among these arguments. And at the end it will suggest some other way to look at what proponents of compositionality really want.

Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: A Vision

Abstract: This essay offers a comprehensive vision for a higher education program incorporating critical thinking across the curriculum (CTAC) at hypothetical Alpha College, employing a rigorous detailed conception of critical thinking called “The Alpha Conception of Critical Thinking”. The program starts with a 1-year, required, freshman course, two-thirds of which focuses on a set of general critical thinking dispositions and abilities. The final third uses subject-matter issues to reinforce general critical thinking dispositions and abilities, teach samples of subject matter, and introduce subject-specific critical thinking. Subject-matter departmental and other units will make long-range plans for incorporating critical thinking in varying amounts in subject-matter courses, culminating in a written Senior Thesis/Project involving investigating, taking, and defending a position, which reinforce critical thinking abilities and dispositions and increase subject-matter knowledge. Teaching approaches used in the program are involving and based on the principle, “We learn what we use.” Both summative and formative assessment are employed as appropriate. Coordination and support are extensive. Objections and concerns are discussed, and alternatives, including possible transitions, are considered. An extended review of research supports moving toward CTAC.

A Thousand Tiny Sexes: Feminism and Rhizomatics

Abstract: This chapter deals with critical feminist judgment in order to "enter into" the project articulated in Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari's A Thousand Plateaus. It explores how this text might possibly be used by and for feminist theoretical projects, which involves some commitment to their overarching framework, basic presuppositions, and central concepts. Deleuze and Guattari's work raises a number of crucial questions about the political investments of specific positions within feminism—liberal, Marxist, and socialist forms—which can be seen to participate in a molarization, a process of reterritorialization, a sedimentation of women's possibilities of becoming. The chapter focuses on a relatively small cluster of concepts that may overlap with feminist interests: the notions of rhizome, assemblage, machine, desire, multiplicity, becoming, and the Body without Organs (BwO). Deleuze and Guattari's notion of the BwO constitutes their attempt both to denaturalize the human body and to place it in direct relations with the flows or particles of other bodies or entities.