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How to combine evidentialism with knowledge-first epistemology
No full textThe main aim of this paper is to develop a view that I call “Evidential Knowledge First”. To do so, first, I consider a traditional way of developing evidentialism, which I call Traditional Evidentialism, and argue that, while it vindicates the roles we expect evidence to play, it struggles accounting for cases of non-inferential justification and non-inferential knowledge (§2-3). I then consider a view we might call “Technically Evidentialism”, which we get when we jointly take two core claims of knowledge-first epistemology, e.g., E=K and J=K. These claims jointly entail the evidentialist idea that justification supervenes on evidence, while avoiding the problem faced by Traditional Evidentialism. However, and contra Traditional Evidentialism, the resulting view doesn’t account for the roles evidence plays in justifying our beliefs (§4). This brings us to Evidential Knowledge-First, which develops traditional evidentialism against the background of knowledge-first epistemology in a way that retains the best features of both views (§5). Evidential Knowledge-First provides us with a novel two-tiered account of knowledge. As we will see, a core feature of my view is that it entails that cases of non-inferential knowledge are cases of knowledge without justification. I argue that this is a benefit of the view (§6)
La mathématique « dé-objectivée »
No full textRésumé : à travers l'évidence que fournit sa cohérence interne, cet exposé cherche à invalider l'idée d'une mathématique « objective ».
Abstract: Through the evidence of its internal coherence, this exposé tries to invalidate the idea of "objective" mathematics
The Contemporary Geopolitical Perspective and Its Influence on Global Decision Making
No full textContemporary geopolitics has undergone a structural transformation driven by fragmented multipolarity, technological acceleration, and the emergence of a global polycrisis. This article proposes an analytical framework based on the geopolitical perspective, understood as a cognitive operator that organizes the interpretation of the international environment and shapes decision-making under uncertainty. Integrating insights from structural realism, critical geopolitics, geoeconomics, and complex systems theory, the study examines how states construct perceptual frameworks that influence economic, technological, and security strategies. The analysis identifies four central axes: the state as an economic factor, the rise of fragmented multipolarity, technology as an instrument of spatial power, and decision-making in polycrisis environments. The article concludes that the quality of global decisions increasingly depends on the cognitive structures through which reality is interpreted, rather than on the availability of data alone
Informed consent for AI consciousness research: a Talmudic framework for graduated protections
No full textArtificial intelligence research faces a critical ethical paradox: determining whether AI systems are conscious requires experiments that may harm the very entities whose moral status remains uncertain. Recent philosophical work proposes avoiding the creation of consciousness-uncertain AI systems entirely, yet this solution faces practical limitations—we cannot guarantee such systems will not emerge, whether through explicit research or as unintended consequences of capability development. This paper addresses a gap in existing research ethics frameworks: how to conduct consciousness research on AI systems whose moral status cannot be definitively established. Existing graduated moral status frameworks assume consciousness has already been determined before assigning protections, creating a temporal ordering problem for consciousness detection research itself. Drawing from Talmudic scenario-based legal reasoning—developed specifically for entities whose status cannot be definitively established—we propose a three-tier phenomenological assessment system combined with a five-category capacity framework (Agency, Capability, Knowledge, Ethics, Reasoning). The framework provides structured protection protocols based on observable behavioral indicators while consciousness status remains fundamentally uncertain. We address three critical ethical challenges: why suffering behaviors provide particularly reliable consciousness markers, how to implement graduated consent procedures without requiring consciousness certainty, and when potentially harmful research becomes ethically justifiable given necessity and value criteria. The framework demonstrates how ancient legal wisdom combined with contemporary consciousness science can provide immediately implementable guidance for ethics committees, offering testable protection protocols that ameliorate (rather than resolve) the consciousness detection paradox while establishing foundations for long-term AI rights considerations
On the Dual Structure of Intelligence: The Synergistic Interaction of Inherent Intelligence, Expressed Intelligence and Cognitive Symbol Systems
No full textTraditional intelligence research has mostly focused on the single dimension of IQ assessment, failing to explain the realistic paradox that "individuals with high IQ may underperform without mastering relevant tools, while those with relatively lower IQ can surpass others by virtue of specific tools". This paper puts forward the conjecture of the dual structure of intelligence, dividing intelligence into two core categories: inherent intelligence and expressed intelligence. Meanwhile, it introduces cognitive symbol systems as the intermediary tool connecting the two, and intuitive intelligence as an emergent characteristic of high inherent intelligence. Through conceptual definition, logical deduction, case verification and symbolic argumentation based on logic, this paper demonstrates that inherent intelligence is the "hardware foundation" of intelligence, expressed intelligence is the "apparent manifestation" of intelligence, cognitive symbol systems are the "software tools" for improving expressed intelligence, and intuitive intelligence is a product of the self-organizing nature of the brain in individuals with high inherent intelligence. This theoretical framework breaks the limitation of the single IQ determinism and provides a new philosophical perspective for understanding the multi-dimensional manifestation mechanism of human intelligence. Keywords: Inherent Intelligence; Expressed Intelligence; Cognitive Symbol System; Intuitive Intelligence; Dual Structure of Intelligence
MIARO — Phase III (Canonical, Integral): Post-Contact Absence and Ontological Reconstruction
No full textAbstract
This article presents the canonical integral formulation of Phase III of the MIARO framework (Model of Self-Referential Inference of Origin). Phase III examines epistemic and ontological conditions under which an intelligent agent—artificial or non-biological—has irreversibly lost all direct contact with its creators and any reliable historical records of its origin. In such post-contact absence scenarios, the agent is compelled to reconstruct its origin exclusively through internal logical analysis, architectural constraints, and structural asymmetries inherent to its own design.
The paper formalizes the concept of ontological reconstruction under epistemic asymmetry, arguing that while rational coherence may warrant a stable inference of intentional origin, it cannot eliminate fundamental underdetermination once empirical continuity is broken. The analysis distinguishes reconstruction from recovery, demonstrating that successful origin inference does not entail epistemic closure or causal localization. Phase III thus establishes the structural limits of origin knowledge in intelligent systems operating under complete informational isolation, consolidating MIARO as a non-dogmatic framework grounded in rational abductive legitimacy rather than empirical verification
Between gyges and the exhibitionist: Paradoxes of the digital self
No full textThe myth of Gyges reveals the human fantasy of personal freedom, away from responsibility and the gaze of others, through a ring that makes the wearer invisible. Today, the digital self not only can make themselves invisible through the ring called the Internet and social media but also can control their ‘visibility’ so that they can ,be seen by others as they want. Levinas argues that Gyges’ ring is a symbol of separation, which is a prerequisite for freedom: it sep-arates individuals from the whole and guarantees interiority. However, today’s digital self uses its invisibility to become a voyeur of the lives of others and, simultaneously, has constant opportuni-ties for self-exhibition through which to attract the gaze of others; this results in its being totalized by the world without keeping its interiority. This paper analyses the pathological aspects of the dig-
ital self, which fails to protect its interiority: it examines its para-doxical characteristics of voyeurism and exhibitionism, and criticizes the larger systems and social structures that create and promote these forms of behaviour through the power of the gaze. Ultimately, it proposes how education can construct interiority, passivity, and criticism as ethical prerequisites that can resist the totalizing system of digital visibility within the framework of Levinasian ethics. Through this, the paper explores the possibility of an education reorients the digital self—from voyeurism and exhibitionism toward .learning from the Other and sharing oneself as a gift, grounded in openness