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| Author(s): |
Ramon Souza Capelle Andrade
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Campinas, SP. |
| Institution: | Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas |
| Defense date: | 2011-12-16 |
| Examining board members: |
Itala Maria Loffredo D'Ottaviano;
Fábio Maia Bertato;
Lauro Frederico Barbosa da Silveira;
Maria Eunice Quilici Gonzalez;
Osvaldo Pessoa Junior
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| Advisor: | Itala Maria Loffredo D'Ottaviano |
| Abstract | |
The objective of this thesis consists in arguing that (a) conditionals constitute the logical form underlying the manifestation of natural laws, biological laws, and psycho-behavioral habits. It is also argued that (b) even though we find the same logical form underlying the manifestation of these regularities (laws and habits), we do not find, however, the same degree of connection between antecedents and consequents in the relevant contexts of reality (physico-chemical, biological, and psycho-behavioral). In accord with our interpretation of part of Peirce's cosmological hypothesis, we argue that (c) natural laws strongly determine their consequents (if the antecedent occurs, then the consequent almost necessarily follows), (d) biological laws moderately determine their consequents (if the antecedent occurs, then the consequent very probably follows), and (e) psycho-behavioral habits weakly determine their consequents (if the antecedent occurs, then the consequent probably follows) We use the appellation "hypothesis of the spectrum of determination of causal conditionals" to express these different modalities of connection between antecedents and consequents (almost-necessary, very probable, and probable). Based on the semantics of David Lewis (2005), we propose (f) a model for this spectrum of determination, and we seek to express the determination of the conditional and, at the same time, to allow room for indetermination or chance. We seek (g) to characterize system and organization, and we argue that (h) a habit constitutes an organizational component in the psycho-behavioral structure of an agent. We offer (i) a threefold classification of habits into habits that establish the features of the identity of the system/agent, rational habits, and degenerate habits. We seek (j) to characterize self-organization, and (k) to analyze how a process of secondary self-organization establishes itself in the psycho-behavioral structure of an agent (AU) | |