The language of rights is utilized frequently in debates over contemporary social issues—a fetus’s “right to life” versus a woman’s “right to choose,” for example. Because these debates pertain to what our social policies should be, it is clear that the rights in question are moral rights, and that existing legal rights ought to be changed or maintained accordingly. The problem, however, is that moral rights require moral justification. In Conflicts of Rights, John Rowan takes this next step, and investigates possible moral justifications for rights alleged to exist in four contexts: abortion, affirmative action, welfare, and pornography freedoms. In doing so, he reaches conclusions about the morally appropriate policy for each issue, and also about the effectiveness of rights language in general.

Roger Schank's influential book, Dynamic Memory (CUP 1982), described how computers could learn based on what was known about how people learn. Since that book's publication, Dr. Schank has turned his focus from artificial intelligence to human intelligence. Dynamic Memory Revisited contains the theory of learning presented in the original book, extending it to provide principles for teaching and learning, and includes Dr. Schank's important theory of case-based reasoning and assesses the role of stories in human memory. Dynamic Memory Revisited is crucial reading for all who are concerned with education and school reform. It draws attention to how effective learning takes place and provides instruction for developing software that truly helps students learn.

This scholarly treasury of over 450 distinguished quotations, divided into 170 categories, focuses on the best thinking in the disciplines of psychology, philosophy, and artificial intelligence, from the classical period of Greece to contemporary cognitive science. Quotations are arranged chronologically within categories. This work will be of interest to scholars and professionals in psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science as well as undergraduate and graduate students in these disciplines.

The Pulitzer Prize finalist and national bestseller How the Mind Works is a fascinating, provocative work exploring the mysteries of human thought and behavior. How do we see in three dimensions? How do we remember names and faces? How is it, indeed, that we ponder the nature of our own consciousness? Why do we fall in love? In this bold, extraordinary book, Pinker synthesizes the best of cognitive science and evolutionary biology to explain what the mind is, how it has evolved, and, ultimately, how it works. This edition includes a new afterword that explores the impact of the book and its relevance today.

With an emphasis on the philosophy,this text examines formal ways of representing uncertainty (presented in terms of definitions and theorems) and considers various logics for reasoning about it.

SUPERинтеллект. Эффективный тренинг для развития природной гениальности Как укрепить интеллект и развить творческое мышление? Этот вопрос интересует многих молодых людей, ведь именно от этих способностей человека в значительной степени зависят его успехи в служебной деятельности и личной жизни. На страницах этой книги автор рассказывает о том, как определить уровень развития интеллекта, как выявить таланты и способности вашего ребенка, как научиться творчески мыслить. Интерес читателей непременно вызовут задания, игры, головоломки, способствующие развитию логического и понятийного мышления, пространственного воображения и даже чувства юмора.

В жизни часто случается ситуация, когда мы не можем логически вычислить, как следует поступить, что сказать, к кому обратиться. И тогда неожиданно просыпается наш «внутренний голос», который подсказывает единственно верное решение. Конечно, интуитивные способности даются человеку от рождения, но не многие знают, что их можно развивать и тренировать. Это не так уж трудно - было бы желание и хорошие учителя, которых вы найдете в лице авторов этой книги. Разработанные ими упражнения, задачи и тесты помогут вам выявить свои скрытые интуитивные способности и работать над их совершенствованием. Тренируйтесь регулярно - и станете обладателем суперинтуиции!

Память - главная составляющая мыслительной деятельности мозга. Каждому из нас ежедневно приходится запоминать и воспроизводить огромный объем информации. И не всегда это получается с легкостью: нужно прилагать немало усилий, чтобы не упустить главного. Но хорошая память - не природный дар, а приобретенная способность, которую нужно постоянно развивать и совершенствовать. Это не так уж трудно - было бы желание и хорошие учителя, которых вы найдете в лице авторов этой книги. Все разработанные ими методики высоко эффективны и совершенно безопасны, а также многократно опробованы на тренингах. Регулярное выполнение приведенных в книге упражнений сделает вас обладателями суперпамяти!

Jurgen Habermas is unquestionably one of the foremost philosophers writing today. His notions of communicative action and rationality have exerted a profound influence within philosophy and the social sciences. This volume examines the historical and intellectual contexts out of which Habermas' work emerged, and offers an overview of his main ideas, including those in his most recent publication. Amongst the topics discussed are his relationship to the Frankfurt School of critical theory and Marx, his unique contributions to the philosophy of the social sciences, the concept of 'communicative ethics', and the critique of post-modernism. New readers and non-specialists will find this the most convenient, accessible guide to Habermas currently available. Advanced students will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Habermas.

Tibetan Buddhist writings frequently state that many of the things we perceive in the world are in fact illusory, as illusory as echoes or mirages. In Twelve Examples of Illusion, Jan Westerhoff offers an engaging look at a dozen illusions--including magic tricks, dreams, rainbows, and reflections in a mirror--showing how these phenomena can give us insight into reality. For instance, he offers a fascinating discussion of optical illusions, such as the wheel of fire (the "wheel" seen when a torch is swung rapidly in a circle), discussing Tibetan explanations of this phenomenon as well as the findings of modern psychology, and significantly clarifying the idea that most phenomena--from chairs to trees--are similar illusions. The book uses a variety of crystal-clear examples drawn from a wide variety of fields, including contemporary philosophy and cognitive science, as well as the history of science, optics, artificial intelligence, geometry, economics, and literary theory. Throughout, Westerhoff makes both Buddhist philosophical ideas and the latest theories of mind and brain come alive for the general reader.

This book is the only account of what the bee, as an example of an insect, actually detects with its eyes. Bees detect some visual features such as edges and colours, but there is no sign that they reconstruct patterns or put together features to form objects. Bees detect motion but have no perception of what it is that moves, and certainly they do not recognize “things” by their shapes. Yet they clearly see well enough to fly and find food with a minute brain. Bee vision is therefore relevant to the construction of simple artificial visual systems, for example for mobile robots. The surprising conclusion is that bee vision is adapted to the recognition of places, not things. In this volume, Adrian Horridge also sets out the curious and contentious history of how bee vision came to be understood, with an account of a century of neglect of old experimental results, errors of interpretation, sharp disagreements, and failures of the scientific method. The design of the experiments and the methods of making inferences from observations are also critically examined, with the conclusion that scientists are often hesitant, imperfect and misleading, ignore the work of others, and fail to consider alternative explanations. The erratic path to understanding makes interesting reading for anyone with an analytical mind who thinks about the methods of science or the engineering of seeing machines.

Learn to involve others and make your work easier! This concise book lays out a simple, straightforward plan of action for finding the right people and keeping them energized, enthusiastic, and committed until the work is completed.

Автор - известный психолог из ГДР, профессор Берлинского университета. В книге исследуется память как активный компонент познания человеком окружающего мира. Обстоятельно излагаются особенности кратковременной и долговременной памяти (связанной с запоминанием и воспроизведением значений слов и понятий). При этом приводится новейшие результаты, полученные автором и его сотрудникам в собственных экспериментах.