Philosophical Alternatives 1/2025

Fu-Shoun Mao (PhD Graduate Student at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”)
Descartes’ Order of Discovery and AI
https://doi.org/10.58945/FQCP6479
Abstract: The Cartesian order of discovery, as a rubric for a system of human understanding, was an early realization of Enlightenment principles in epistemology. It remains influential to this day and can be recognized in the development of AI technologies, most visibly in machine learning and the model of the knowledge-based agent. Descartes’ calcul géométrique, a forerunner to analytic geometry, is foundational to the machine learning algorithms that power autonomous learning agents. And, in a manner after the Cartesian deduction, the knowledge-based agent constructs its worldview from the axioms of its knowledge base via logical and discursive operations. Beyond methodology, the logic of Cartesian order obtains a distinctive ontology, as in the belief in artificial general intelligence. This rationale for AGI veers toward the kind of ontological argument that would be familiar to Descartes, with the human subject replaced by the computer and the supremely perfect being personified in AGI.
Keywords: Descartes; AI; order of discovery; ontological argument; machine learning; knowledgebased agent

Martin Smith (PhD Graduate Student at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”)
Certainty in Uncertainty: The Value of Stoic Virtue Ethics
https://doi.org/10.58945/WQLB1491
Abstract: As part of a dissertation that proposes a virtue ethics, this chapter questions Aristotle’s thought concerning reality’s metaphysical grounds. Where rather than reason as the universal organising principle, an irational order is suggested in its place. One that necessarily situates wisdom as the subject’s preeminent faculty. Considering Machiavelli in this frame, and addressing the consequences of intellectual overreach, the significance of moral realism is emphasised. In response, Stoic virtue is proposed as the most suitable approach, particularly amidst societal moral decline. Thereafter, practical wisdom is highlighted as the means to temper extremes, towards an accord with the principles about which reality is organised.
Keywords: Stoicism; Aristotle; Machiavelli; practical wisdom; moral realism; virtue ethics

Galin Penev (Assistant professor at Institute of philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Nietzsche as Gnostic
https://doi.org/10.58945/UWND8499
Abstract: The article raises a point concerning the rehabilitation of some gnostic motives in the works of Nietzsche, especially in the latest ones: Daybreak, Ecce Homo, and Antichrist. What makes sense of this point is the statement that the Creator is a Usurper who does not care about the human fate, sorrows, and desires. In fact, the gnostic “cruel daddy,” announced by Nietzsche, is the other side of his Dionysian religion, a hidden steam engine of the modern times self-actualization. Nietzsche turned out to be the most influential gnostic of the XIX century due to his devotion of thought and heart to preaching a new gospel of the modern man.
Keywords: gnosis; Dionysian; absolutism; Nietzsche; Übermensch

Myumyun Tahirov (Professor, Dr. at University of Library Studies and Information Technologies – ULSIT)
The End Justifies the Means. Does This Phrase Belong to Niccolò Machiavelli?
https://doi.org/10.58945/JXWT8559
Abstract: This article presents a new reading of Niccolò Machiavelli's masterpiece, The Ruler. The author examines it in depth and concludes that the political philosophy of N. Machiavelli's political philosophy is not inherently evil; it is extremely realistic. This treatise is not simply a political philosophy of the time in which its author lived and worked. It reveals the core of the political philosophy of all times, including today. The treatise is addressed to whoever rules the country and offers advice on how to hold on to power. The ability to do this is the political science of H. Machiavelli.
The phrase “The end justifies the means” does not belong to Niccolò Machiavelli; it does not appear in his book The Ruler. The phrase is attributed to him, but it was actually uttered by the founder of the Jesuit Order, Ignazio Loyola, who was canonized a saint on 12 March 1622. The whole expression is in fact, If the end is the salvation of the soul, then the end justifies the means.
Keywords: ruler; politics; philosophy; purpose; means

Denitsa Zhelyazkova (Assistant Professor, Dr. at University of Plovdiv “Paisii Hilendarski”)
On the (Im)possibility to Reduce the Semantic to the Psychological – Stephen Schiffer’s Project
https://doi.org/10.58945/YKJN5821
Abstract: Stephen Schiffer is a professor of philosophy at New York University. His field of study includes Philosophy of language, Epistemology and Philosophy of consciousness. He wrote several important works: Meaning (1972), Intention-Based Semantics (1982), Remnants of Meaning (1987), and The Things We Mean (2003). Schiffer established himself in philosophical circles as a direct follower of Paul Grice, who developed and largely radicalized his philosophical work.
In this paper, I focus on the starting premises of Schiffer's theory, on the so-called "intention-based semantics", whose main motive is to reduce the semantic to the psychological. Since the main motive of Schiffer's theory is implicit in Grice's works, I first undertake to make it apparent through an analysis of Grice's primary texts. Then, quite generally, I derive some important consequences for analytic philosophy from Grice's assumptions. Finally, I discuss the possibility of reducing the semantic to the psychological, by revising Schiffer's theory.
Keywords: analytic philosophy; semantics; meaning; intention; belief; convention; speech act

Elina Galanis (PhD Graduate Student at Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
On Some Central Problems in Philosophy of Psychology
https://doi.org/10.58945/PVJM5261
Abstract: This article makes an informative overview of a number of current problems in the philosophy of psychology. One of the aims here is to frame the problem area which characterizes the philosophy of psychology. To achieve this, the domain is compared with those of the philosophy of mind and cognitive psychology while also differentiating from them. The interface problem is in focus in the article, both as part of a bigger discussion concerning the four pictures of the mind entwined in its analysis, which influences the clarification of psychological constructs, as well as in terms of philosophy of psychology debates.
Keywords: philosophy of psychology; philosophy of mind; cognitive psychology; interface problem;
pictures of the mind; levels of psychological explanation

Nikolay Mihaylov, Soterios Theocharides (Associate Professor of Philosophy of Law at Frederick University, Cyprus)
Religion, Morality and Belief. A Brief Ethical View
https://doi.org/10.58945/AXUA4099
Abstract: The article is devoted to the content and the dynamics of the concept of "religion". The authors trace its formation and its relationship with other concepts that have described this social and cultural phenomenon of attitude towards the supernatural. Also they defend the thesis about the moral basis of religious beliefs and analyse the difference between the Greek and Latin concepts of religion and its impact on culture of toleration.
Keywords: religion; morality; ethics; piety; toleration; Christianity

Madelaine Angelova-Elchinova (Assistant Professor, Dr. at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”)
Can We Learn How to Think Right? A Commentary on “Handbook of Critical Thinking” (2024) by Rosen Lutskanov
https://doi.org/10.58945/FMDR7206
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to answer the question: „If to think rationally is to think right, then can we learn how to think rationally?“. I attempt to find an answer by providing a commentary on Rosen Lutskanov’s recent book – „A Handbook of Critical Thinking“ (2024). My central claim is that Lutskanov’s exposition clearly shows that thinking right is a matter of skill which can be exercised, educated, and expertized (EEE) and that it is subjected to rigorous logical rules, epistemic norms and pragmatic norms. In my analysis, I will presume that Lutskanov’s understanding of critical thinking allows us to use the conceptual apparatus of social epistemology and to examine critical thinking as closely related to peer disagreement. At the end of my paper, I propose some critical comments on the examined concept of critical thinking that concern the role of perceptual knowledge, the right order of reasons in an argument, and the wisdom of crowds.
Keywords: critical thinking; skill; rationality; epistemic norms; epistemology of disagreement

Đorđe Stojanović (Senior research fellow at Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade, Serbia)
Coronocracy as the Post-covid-19 Paradigm of Immuno-State: Theoretical and Conceptual Insights
https://doi.org/10.58945/OOEK8103
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in profound cultural and political metamorphoses of the imagination, interpretation, and organization of the immunization complex of state and society. Starting from the premise that these immunitary transformations tend to become the disciplining norms/standards, this paper seeks to profile their general attributes. First, it detects the discrepancy between the metanarratives of the pandemic’s universal biomedical natural course and symbolically heterogeneous vernacular narratives of the pandemic’s cultural courses. The semiurgic production of the pandemic, i.e. authentic COVID-19 cultures, is one of its most important characteristics. Second, it detects the discrepancy between the “pathogenization of politics” and the “politicization of pathogens”. While the technocratic “pathogenization of politics” involves the engagement of default state platforms, the “politicization of pathogens” is the process of designing new political platforms of biopower. Finally, COVID-19 leads to the perpetuation of the pandemic extra-legitimacy of ruling
structures and the recomposition of biological identity from individual protection toward collective protocols. A general attempt to discursively essentialize the biomedical component, to normalize the “state of exception”, affords us the possibility to define any post-COVID-19 state/society governance and organization as a democratic, authoritarian, or hybrid “coronocracy”.
Keywords: biopower; COVID-19; state of exception; immuno-state; coronocracy

Sunday Layi Oladipupo (PhD at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria)
The Metaphysics of E̩Sè̩ and the Question of Inalterability of Destiny in YorùBá Culture
https://doi.org/10.58945/CVEW2850
Abstract: Inalterability of destiny is one of the major issues of philosophical contention in, and among Yorùbá scholars. It has garnered quite a number of arguments in its favour and otherwise. While, some scholars contend that the traditional understanding of destiny suggested inalterability of destiny, to others the reverse is the case. Thus, the polemics that shrouds the essence and nature of destiny in Yorùbá culture raises the question of e̩sè̩ (struggle) in Yorùbá ontological and mythological analysis of the concept of destiny. The paper, anchored its argument on the Yorùbá saying ibi orí ń gbé ni lo, k’é̩sè̩ máà sini l’ónà – where the head is taking one to, may the leg not mislead one, to repudiate the inalterability of destiny in Yorùbá culture. Hence, the paper, using philosophical methods of investigation, projects the notion of e̩sè̩ (struggle) as fourth element that constitute the entirety of human person in Yorùbá culture.
Keywords: metaphysics; e̩sè̩; inalterability; destiny; Yorùbá culture

Olajumoke Akiode (Dr. at Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria – College of Humanities and Culture, Department of Philosophy)
In the Explication of the ‘Meaningfulness’ of Life: A Philosophical Analysis of Ian Flemming's James Bond 007 and Wole Soyinka's King's Horseman
https://doi.org/10.58945/NZHN3558
Abstract: This paper argues that the meaningfulness of life is dependent on and determined by the certain knowledge of a person’s life, intentional pursuit, and the fulfillment of purpose. This ultimately opens up challenges on the need to clarify the nature of the meaningfulness of life. The quest towards the understanding of life raises fundamental questions such as: What or who defines a person’s purpose and allocates purpose? Does purpose have an essential or existential trait? How are the concepts of existentialism and essentialism connected and what role(s) do both play in the exploration of the idea of meaningfulness of life? This paper adopts a critical-comparative analysis of two distinct characters from two different socio-political backgrounds and art genres: Ian Flemings’ James Bond 007 (a film) and Wole Soyinka’s King’s Horseman (Elesin Oba) (a play) to provide clarity and context to the roles known purpose, commitment and free choice play in the analysis and determination of meaningfulness (lessness) of life. The value of this discourse to knowledge is in the exploration of the contradicting but complementary contributions of existentialism and essentialism to the understanding of the meaningfulness of life as well as the roles free choice and commitment to purpose play.
Keywords: life; purpose; choice; existentialism; essentialism

Stefan Penov (…)
A New Monograph on Comparative Religion and Its Theory
https://doi.org/10.58945/YQDL6623