8:2:
Preface: Philosophical Basis for Making Decisions
(on the 140th Anniversary of the Birth of Jan Łukasiewicz)
It is a Preface to Volume 8:2 (2019) consisting of articles presented at the International Interdisciplinary Conference anniversary of the birth of Jan Łukasiewicz, Rzeszów, Poland.
Logical Ideas of Jan Łukasiewicz
This paper discusses the main logical ideas put forward by Jan Łukasiewicz within their historical context and further development.
Logical Determinacy versus Logical Contingency.
The Case of Łukasiewicz’s Three-valued Logic
In constructing the three-valued logic, Jan Łukasiewicz was highly inspirited
by the Aristotelian idea of logical contingency. Nevertheless, we can construct
a four-valued logic for explicating the Stoic idea of logical determinacy. In this
system, we have the following truth values: 0 (‘possibly false), 1 (‘necessarily
false’), 2 (‘possibly true’), 3 (‘necessarily true’), where the designated truth
value is represented by the two values: 2 and 3.
Dispute Over Logistic Between Jan Łukasiewicz
and Augustyn Jakubisiak. Why Was it Important?
Augustyn Jakubisiak (1884-1945), Polish priest, philosopher and theologian,
undertook polemics with Jan Łukasiewicz, whom he knew personally. A
dispute concerning the so-called logistics (mathematical logic) and its
relationship with philosophy developed between the two. The most important
arguments were laid out, primarily in the following works: in the case of
Jakubisiak, in the book From Scope to Content and in the case of Łukasiewicz,
in the texts Logistics and Philosophy and In the Defense of Logistics.
Jakubisiak criticized logistics for its anti-metaphysical, anti-theological and
anti-religious attitude, which was based on neo-positivist philosophy, and led,
in consequence to atheism. He also claimed that one should focus on what is
concrete, avoiding idealization and abstraction (meaning the content of
concepts, not their scope). Łukasiewicz defended logistics claiming that it
possesses its own methods based on intellect, and is also an area of
independent knowledge (but not completely detached) from philosophy, due to
the fact it can consider the most important philosophical problems such as
finiteness and infinity. This dispute, as the researchers identified, basically
concerned the reduction of philosophy to the study of language (analytic
philosophy) and initiated one of the most important discussions concerning the
relationship between philosophy and logic. This debate was crucial because it
also concerned questions related to fundamental metaphysical issues
(naturalism – supranaturalism, rationalism – irrationalism) and epistemological
issues (realism – idealism, boundaries and structure of cognition).
The Analogy in Decision-Making
and the Implicit Association Bias Effect
The author stands that thinking by analogy is a natural instrument human have
because of the mirror neurons in our brain. However, is it that infallible to rely
on? How can we be sure that our hidden biases will not harm our reflections?
Implicit Association Bias (IAB), for instance, is a powerful intruder that affects
our understanding, actions, and decisions on the unconscious level by
cherishing the stereotypes based on specific characteristics such as ethnicity,
sex, race, and so on. To check if there is a correlation between the IAB effect
and the people’s capacity to reason logically, the author had created an onlinesurvey.
The focus was on analogical reasoning and IAB tests concerning the
question of gender equality in science and everyday life and age prejudices.
About Possible Benefits
from Irrational Thinking in Everyday Life
In this work, no denying the role, or even more so, the value of rational
thinking, it is assumed that it is not the only effective tool for man to achieve
his valuable goals. It is conjectured here that sometimes irrational thinking is
an equally good (and sometimes even better than rational thinking) means of
achieving them. In the light of these assumptions, the goal of my work is to
indicate the benefits that may be the result of irrational thinking in the
colloquial (i.e. unscientific) domain of everyday human practice. The given
examples of irrational thinking come from research in the field of cognitive and
social psychology and behavioural economics. Their results prove that
irrational behaviours (including thinking) are neither accidental nor senseless,
and on the contrary systematic and easy to predict, they constitute important
arguments for considering the phenomenon of irrational thinking. I also discuss
this issue although only to a limited extent.
Moral Considerability and Decision-Making
The paper revisits metaphysical and deontological stances on moral considerability and offers a new criterion for it – “affectability”, that is a capacity of an agent to affect a considered entity. Such an approach results in significant changes in the scope of moral considerability and is relevant for discussing the human position in the Anthropocene. This concept, given especially the assumption of the directness of moral considerability, is also substantial for the decision making process on the ethical, as well as the political plane.
Practical Rationality – its Nature and Operation
The article presents a proposal of explanation what practical rationality is, how it works and what are its criteria. In order to define practical rationality, the author starts from the general characteristics of reason, and then in the realm or reason activity distinguishes practical rationality from theoretical rationality. The necessary conditions of practical rationality are presented, as well as its standing between freedom and values. Next, the sources and nature of practical reasons are characterized, as well as their relation to values and desires. The problem of practical syllogism is briefly commented on. In the final part of the article the author proposes five criteria of practical rationality.
Can the Sense of Agency Be a Marker of Free Will?
In this paper, I will analyse the relation between a sense of agency and free will. It is often proposed that by investigating the former, we can find a way of judging when an action is voluntary. Haggard seems to be one of the authors believing so. To answer if this assumption is correct, I will: 1) analyse the categories of free will and agency; 2) define the sense of agency; 3) describe ways of investigating the sense of agency; 4) describe models of emergence of the sense of agency; 5) analyse the relation between agency and responsibility. I will end by discussing the actual possibility of using the sense of agency measurements (as described in experimental sciences) as markers of free will.
On Computers and Men
The title of the article was inspired by the novel by John Steinbeck “Of Mice and Men” (1937) and the poem by Robet Burns about the deception of human plans. Even the best of them often lead astray, or their far-reaching negative effects are revealed. As it seems, nowadays nature (“mice”) and men (people) are in a breakthrough period – in the geological sense between the old and the new era, the Holocene and the Anthropocene, in the cultural sense – between the analogue and digital era that can be – and it should actually be called a digit. Levi-Strauss in his essay “Raw and cooked” points to the groundbreaking for the emergence of human culture the use of fire in the preparation of food, and therefore the transition from nature to culture, and its foundation – the kitchen [12]. At present, this new phase of transition can be seen in the digitization of interpersonal communication and its current correlation – cross-linking. It was announced by the famous Turing machine (1936), a computer design and layout, which was realized in the 1940s and 1950s, and enter in mass production at its end, networked on a global scale in the 1990s and make mobile in the second decade of the 21st century in the form of a smartphone.
