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Pain, Pleasure, and the Human Condition in Peirce and Levinas: A Comparative Inquiry into Phenomenology, Gnosticism, and Ethics
No full textThis paper offers an analysis of Peirce’s phenomenology in relation to classical metaphysical and religious traditions as well as contemporary philosophical perspectives, such as Kant, Heidegger, and Levinas. By engaging Gnostic, Christian, and Platonic accounts of the divine and of evil, the study situates Peirce’s categories within a broader metaphysical conversation. Particular attention is given to the phenomena of pain and pleasure, understood as elemental structures of Firstness that, when developed within lived existence, disclose a vision of the human condition that bears striking affinities to Gnostic interpretations. Through this reading, Peirce emerges as a thinker whose phenomenology, though pragmatist in orientation, opens onto an almost Gnostic apprehension of human suffering, finitude, and the possibility of transcendence
Evidence-Based Medicine and the Promises and Limits of Digital Health and Wearable Technology
No full textNew approaches to biomedical evidence are emerging in relation to innovative technologies and data sources. These include digital health, which promises to revolutionise established paradigms such as Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and address longstanding criticism from philosophy and beyond. In this paper, we investigate the promises and show the limitations of digital health for the epistemology of medicine. Focusing on a paradigmatic type of digital health technologies – wearable devices – we specify the key epistemic assumptions at the basis of digital health and show their grounding on ideas of internal and external validity that come from EBM and promise to fix its limitations. Hence, digital health is expected to address longstanding issues of EBM and expand and reinforce its paradigm, and yet going in this direction exacerbates and creates concerns for the epistemology of medical evidence, with ethical and social implications too. In observational studies, we show that wearables are used with the assumption of extending EBM approaches to internal validity. Yet new and different issues emerge, leading to complicated trade-offs and concerns about overdetection and high false positive rates. In intervention studies, wearables are used with the assumption of creating a larger and more diverse evidential basis, potentially mitigating concerns about external validity. However, we argue that this can exacerbate and create new issues of representativity. Behind the hype, we thus paint a nuanced picture of the contribution of digital health to EBM and biomedical research and show the need to acknowledge limitations to avoid harmful applications
Fair hop Roman dominating function in graphs
No full textThis paper introduces a new variant of a hop Roman dominating function in graphs called the fair hop Roman dominating function. Moreover, several important combinatorial properties and characterizations of fair hop Roman dominating functions in various graph classes were investigated
The Cave of Silence — 1st Critical Edition
No full textI present a theory, based on my research and studies, entitled “The Cave of Silence.” This theory is directly related to technology, politics, geopolitics, financial systems, banking, healthcare, governments, security, art, and other areas. Above all, it focuses on what we currently know as artificial intelligence (AI), a subject widely discussed since the end of 2022. AI is used to create texts, images, photographs, videos, voices, and other outputs — for professional, ethical purposes, for research and study, and even, at times, for malicious intent. People express concern about the possibility of AI stealing their jobs or reaching a level of consciousness. Although popular debate about AI has intensified recently, in 2025, the subject is not new. Artificial intelligence has been referenced in books and films for many decades — not just in The Matrix. However, its use was only recently made available to the general public, while the military, big tech, and industries have been using it for much longer. In the media, arts, writing, and technology, there is a growing discussion about the possibility of artificial intelligence becoming conscious and dominating humanity
Awareness without Time
No full textRecently, philosophers with an interest in consciousness have turned their attention towards ‘fringe states of consciousness’. Examples include dreams, trances, and meditative states. Teetering between wakefulness and non-consciousness, fringe states illuminate the limits and boundaries of consciousness. This paper aims to give a coherent conceptualization of deep meditative states, focussing in particular on phenomenal temporality during meditation. Advanced meditators overwhelmingly describe deep states of meditation as atemporal and timeless; however, they also report being continuously alert while meditating. I intend to give a coherent interpretation of this apparent contradiction. After introducing some candidate interpretations, I shall argue that during (deepest) meditation, the subject experiences ‘pure duration’ without temporal structure. This, I argue, explains best why meditators describe deep meditation as ongoing but timeless awareness. A central part of the paper will expand on an account of phenomenal duration without phenomenal succession. The conclusion points towards some further avenues of research
Life, Thought, Consciousness: From Binary Distinction to Subjectivity
No full textThis paper argues that binary distinction - presence versus absence - is the fundamental principle underlying all structures and interactions in reality. Life arises as matter’s self-application of this distinction, sustaining itself by maintaining difference. The evolution of the nervous system and brain reflects progressive "probing" of the environment through acts of is\not recognition. Consciousness emerges when this principle is applied reflexively, producing subjectivity through stable internal patterns and coordinated private qualia. Qualia are not mere by-products of experience but elementary acts of self-demarcation, establishing the experiencing subject. This framework connects fundamental physical principles with the emergence of complex, self-aware systems
TOWARD A DESIGN PHILOSOPHY THAT STUDIES THE DESIGN OF ARTIFACTS AND THE WORLD IN WHICH THEY ARE EMBEDDED: THE CASE OF DIGITAL TWINS
No full textIn this chapter, we engage in an ecological phenomenology of the redesign of the World in the digital age in order to show why the consideration of the redesign of the World in the digital age is relevant for contemporary design philosophies and philosophies of technology (section “A New Critical Perspective for Design Philosophies”), and how design philosophers can research both the design of concrete artifacts and the World in which they are embedded in an integrated manner (section “An Ecological Phenomenology of the Redesign of the World in the Digital Age”). Based on our findings, we propose to study design at the physical level of artifacts, the processual level of invention and evolution, and the metaphysical level of the redesign of the World in an integrated manner. In order to set the stage, however, we first ask why contemporary design philosophies—and we take Value Sensitive Design as a case in point—are not able to move beyond the artifact level of design and are not able to study the World in which these designs are embedded (section “The Inability of Contemporary Design Thinking (Value Sensitive Design) to Reflect on the Redesign of the World”)
Glück und Zeit
No full textThis article examines the philosophical concept of happiness and its connection to the concept of time. The concept of happiness is one of the oldest concepts in philosophy. Accordingly, the article begins by examining the historical context of ‘happiness’. It then goes on to explore the ‘form of happiness’, identifying subjective and objective concepts of happiness and also taking into account the psychological interpretation of the concept. Finally, the article considers the temporal dimension of ‘happiness’
Behavioral and contextual predictors of sustainable crop farming among rural farmers: The mediation of eco-friendly practices in cross river state
No full textThis study investigated behavioral (environmental risk perception and perceived usefulness of eco-friendly practices) and contextual factors (institutional support, and access to agricultural inputs) influence the adoption of eco- friendly practices and sustainable crop farming in rural communities in Cross River State, Nigeria. This study employed a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. A multistage proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select 2,142 participants, of which 1,987 valid responses were analyzed. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire containing 36 items across six constructs, with reliability and validity confirmed through expert review, pilot testing, and measurement model evaluation. Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability values ranged from 0.84 to 0.95, and average variance extracted (AVE) values exceeded the 0.50 threshold. Indicator loadings were mostly above 0.70, variance inflation factors were within acceptable limits, and model fit indices indicated a good model fit. The results of the structural model of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) showed that while environmental risk perception, perceived usefulness of eco-friendly practices, and institutional support promoted the adoption of eco-friendly practices, only access to agricultural inputs had a direct influence on both adoption and sustainable crop farming. Adoption of eco-friendly practices served as the main mechanism linking farmers’ perceptions and support systems to improved farming outcomes. The findings suggest that programmes aiming to enhance sustainable crop farming should not only provide inputs and advisory support but also address behavioral factors that encourage consistent use of environmentally sound methods. The study is practically useful in guiding agricultural extension, rural development planning, and policy in Nigeria and other regions with similar farming conditions