The late origins of the timeline, or: three paradoxes explained.

We are all used to drawing straight lines to represent time, and above them, we plot historical events or physical or economic data. What to us is a self-evident convention, is however of an astonishingly recent date: it emerged only in the second half of the eighteenth century. To us, this late date seems paradoxical and cries out for an explanation. How else did earlier periods measure change, if not as a function of time? it will be argued that since Antiquity, time was taken to measure change, and change to occur in space. 'Our' idea of representing time as an independent dimension would have seemed aberrant. But then, a second issue arises. Did not medieval natural philosophers employ timelines, Oresme's diagram of the mean speed theorem being the most famous case? However, as will be shown, our interpretation of his diagram is probably wrong. This insight, in turn, takes care of a third paradox, namely Galileo's initial inability to represent the law of free fall correctly. This article will document that the timeline first emerged in the late sixteenth century in works on chronology, made its first appearance in physics in Galileo's diagrams, and had its general breakthrough in the eighteenth century.

The Essence of What it Is to Act Rationally: A Perspective on Distinctively Human Action Based on Aristotelian Philosophy and Evolutionary Science.

The purpose of this article is to understand the distinctively human behavior from Aristotelian ethics and evolutionary science to offer a perspective of what it means to act rationally. We argue that this way of acting is characterized by a decision informed by the analysis of whether or not it is worth pursuing an end, and by certain means, which takes place through a weighting of consequences from the body of knowledge that the person has so far We also argue that such a process can occur quickly (and requiring a less cognitive effort) or slowly (and demanding more cognitive effort), depending on whether or not the person has previous experiences of choices that have generated good consequences in the type of context presented; What does it mean for a person to have or not rational heuristics established in their minds, which are those that are connected to the most current network of "whys" and that has been consolidated precisely because they have proven effective in pointing out what is best to do in that kind of context. Finally, we apply the perspective we are offering to evidence three imprecise notions about "acting rationally".

Consciousness, 4E cognition and Aristotle: a few conceptual and historical aspects.

The new approach in cognitive science largely known as "4E cognition" (embodied/embedded/enactive/extended cognition), which sheds new light on the complex dynamics of human consciousness, seems to revive some of Aristotle's views. For instance, the concept of "nature" (phusis) and the discussion on "active intellect" (nous poiêtikos) may be particularly relevant in this respect. Out of the various definitions of "nature" in Aristotle's Physics, On the Parts of Animals and Second Analytics, I will concentrate on nature defined as an inner impulse to movement, neither entirely "corporeal," nor entirely "incorporeal," and neither entirely "substantial," nor entirely "accidental." Related to that, I will consider the distinction in On the Soul between the "active" and the "passive" intellect, which Aristotle asserted as generally present in "nature" itself. By offering a conceptual and historical analysis of these views, I intend to show how the mind-body problem, which is essential for the explanation of consciousness, could be somewhat either eluded or transcended by both ancients and contemporaries on the basis of a subtle account of causation. While not attempting to diminish the impact of the Cartesian paradigm, which led to the so-called "hard problem of consciousness," I suggest that the most recent neuroscience discoveries on the neurophysiological phenomena related to human consciousness could be better explained and understood if interpreted within a 4E cognition paradigm, inspired by some Aristotelian views.

A new perspective of Aristotle's theory of vision: analysis of the "psycho-physical" intertwined mechanism of vision.

Aristotle's visual theory plays a pivotal role in De Anima, he specifically analyzes three fundamental elements required for visual activities, namely, color, transparent substance, and light. Color moves and limits transparent substance, thereby transforming transparent substance from potentiality to actuality through light. However, there is a debate between Physicalism and Spiritualism as to the specific implementation of the visual activity. Through the intertwined mechanism, Aristotle's theory of vision can be clarified. The visual activity is neither purely psychological nor purely physical, it is the "psycho-physical" intertwined mechanism. This is why Aristotle's visual theory is closely related to contemporary visual psychology.

Evolution by habit: Peirce, Lamarck, and teleology in biology.

In our paper, we analyse the relationship of the evolutionary philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce to Lamarckian natural philosophy and link it to concepts of teleology, focusing especially on Aristotelian and Peircean conceptions of the final cause. Peirce commented on evolution in many of his writings, especially in 1891-1893 in essays such as 'Evolutionary Love' (1893) or 'Man's Glassy Essence' (1892). After introducing the three types of evolution distinguished by Peirce, we compare Peirce's and Lamarck's views on evolution, habit, and teleology. From a synthesis of concepts formulated by Peirce, Aristotle, nineteenth-century neo-Lamarckians, and current knowledge regarding epigenetics, there should emerge our own concept of biological teleology unburdened by panpsychism, subjective intentions, or determinism. We believe it could be a concept acceptable to current biology.

Efficient, Formal, Material, and Final Causes in Biology and Technology.

This paper considers how a classification of causal effects as comprising efficient, formal, material, and final causation can provide a useful understanding of how emergence takes place in biology and technology, with formal, material, and final causation all including cases of downward causation; they each occur in both synchronic and diachronic forms. Taken together, they underlie why all emergent levels in the hierarchy of emergence have causal powers (which is Noble's principle of biological relativity) and so why causal closure only occurs when the upwards and downwards interactions between all emergent levels are taken into account, contra to claims that some underlying physics level is by itself causality complete. A key feature is that stochasticity at the molecular level plays an important role in enabling agency to emerge, underlying the possibility of final causation occurring in these contexts.

Plasma angiopoietin-2 and its association with heart failure in patients with atrial fibrillation.

AIMS: Several biomarkers are associated with clinical outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), but a causal relationship has not been established. This study aimed to evaluate angiopoietin-2, a novel candidate biomarker of endothelial inflammation and vascular remodelling, in patients with AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Angiopoietin-2 was measured in plasma obtained from patients with AF treated with aspirin monotherapy (exploration cohort, n = 2987) or with oral anticoagulation (validation cohort, n = 13 079). Regression models were built to assess the associations between angiopoietin-2, clinical characteristics, and outcomes. In both cohorts, plasma angiopoietin-2 was independently associated with AF on the baseline electrocardiogram and persistent/permanent AF, age, history of heart failure, female sex, tobacco use/smoking, body mass index, renal dysfunction, diabetes, and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Angiopoietin-2 was independently associated with subsequent hospitalization for heart failure after adjusting for age, creatinine, and clinical characteristics in the exploration cohort [c-index 0.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75-0.82; third vs. first quartile, hazard ratio (HR) 1.74, 95% CI 1.26-2.41] and in the validation cohort (c-index 0.76, 95% CI 0.74-0.78; HR 1.58, 95% CI 1.37-1.82). In both cohorts, the association persisted when also adjusting for NT-proBNP (P ≤ 0.001). In full multivariable models also adjusted for NT-proBNP, angiopoietin-2 did not show statistically significant associations with ischaemic stroke, cardiovascular and all-cause death, or major bleeding that were consistent across the two cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with AF, plasma levels of angiopoietin-2 were independently associated with subsequent hospitalization for heart failure and provided incremental prognostic value to clinical risk factors and NT-proBNP.

Aristotle on identity: close enough!

We present what Aristotle wrote on identity in a leisurely manner, which is much more than is generally known, save among the cognoscenti (Aristotle scholars), and mutatis mutandis about the introduction of the identity-symbol [Formula: see text]. We add two codas, one on the so-called Leibniz' Law, which is different (but resembles) what passes for it in logic and philosophy, and one on the status of identity, as accepted by mathematicians and logicians, in physics. This article is part of the theme issue 'Identity, individuality and indistinguishability in physics and mathematics'.

Reflexive structure of the conscious subject and the origin of language codes.

The code paradigm in biological and social sciences arises to Aristotle. For conscious activity, Aristotle introduced the notion of reflexive self-awareness in sense perception. This reflexive process generates the codes that signify sensual perceptive events and constrain human behavior. Coding systems grow via the generation of hypertextual statements reflecting new meanings in the process defined by Marcello Barbieri as a codepoiesis. It results in the establishment of higher-level codes (metacodes) forming the semiotic screen that has a nature of the set of perceived objects internalized by the conscious subject in encoding the symbolic actions. The characteristic feature of the semiotic screen consists in its property of being shared between the communicating agents. A sufficient complexity of nervous system, through the appearance of mirror neurons that are fired both when a subject executes certain action and when he observes another subject performing a similar action, represents a prerequisite for the emergence of reflexive codes in evolution. The codes appearing as a result of reflexive awareness and establishing different sociotypes, span from the symbolic systems of art and music through the common language to the formal language of logic and mathematics. Social dynamics is based on the implementation of reflexive coding activity and results in the growth and decay of social systems and civilizations.

The Science of Sleep in Medieval Arabic Medicine: Part 1: Ibn Sina's Pneumatic Paradigm.

Modern sleep specialists are taught that, before the twentieth century, sleep was universally classified as a passive phenomenon with minimal to no brain activity. However, these assertions are made on the basis of particular readings and reconstructions of the history of sleep, using Western European medical works and ignoring works composed in other parts of the world. In this first of two articles on Arabic medical discussions on sleep, I shall show that sleep was not understood to be a purely passive phenomenon, at least from the time of Ibn Sina (lat. Avicenna, d. 1037) onward. Building on the earlier Greek medical tradition, Ibn Sina provided a new pneumatic understanding of sleep that allowed him to explain previously recorded phenomena associated with sleep, while providing a way to capture how certain parts of the brain (and body) can even increase their activities during sleep.

Committing Fallacies and the Appearance Condition.

This appearance condition of fallacies refers to the phenomenon of weak arguments, or moves in argumentation, appearing to be okay when really they aren't. Not all theorists agree that the appearance condition should be part of the conception of fallacies but this essay explores some of the consequences of including it. In particular, the differences between committing a fallacy, causing a fallacy and observing a fallacy are identified. The remainder of the paper is given over to discussing possible causes of mistakenly perceiving weak argumentation moves as okay. Among these are argument caused misperception, perspective caused misperception, discursive environment caused misperception and perceiver caused misperception. The discussion aims to be sufficiently general so that it can accommodate different models and standards of argumentation that make a place for fallacies.

Commenting on Aristotle with a Knife : The Heretical Anatomies of Bassanio Landi.

Drawing on a variety of sources, including manuscript notes and a wide variety of published material, this article offers the first analysis in English of Bassanio Landi's works in their medical and philosophical context. I argue that while Landi's output is characteristic of its sixteenth-century Paduan milieu, his approach to methodological questions in anatomy and the arts, as well as his paraphrase of Aristotle's De anima, make it possible to locate him within the heretical tradition that stretches from Pietro Pomponazzi (1462-1525) to Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623).

Friendship of Virtue-The Place of True Friends in the Psychotherapeutic Process.

This paper offers a new take on friendship, its specific qualities, how it is subjectively experienced and changes over the course of a patient's life and how it might serve as catalyst for positive change in the therapeutic process. The premise is based on the Aristotelian definition of friendship as a friendship of virtue, as well as on insights stemming from intersubjective thinking, and observations about horizontal relationships in contemporary psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. A review of the scant psychodynamic and psychoanalytic literature on friendship is presented and the author notes its marginal place in the lexicon compared with other more extensively studied relationships. Three clinical cases are presented to illustrate the potential of "friendships of virtue" as paths toward positive transformation in the course of treatment.

Circular Motion and Circular Thought: A Synthetic Approach to the Fifth Element in Aristotle's de Philosophia and de Caelo.

Scholars have long considered de Philosophia and de Caelo to be in contradiction regarding the nature of the heavenly bodies, particularly with respect to the activity proper to the element composing them. According to the accounts we have of de Philosophia, Aristotle seems to have put forth that stars move because they have minds, and, according to Cicero's account of the lost text, they choose their actions out of free will. In de Caelo, however, Aristotle seems only to consider that stars engage in the activity of circular motion because it is in their nature to do so, as it is in the nature of, e.g. fire to move upwards or Earth to move downwards. In this paper, I argue against the longstanding view that there is an incompatibility between these two "early" cosmological texts of Aristotle. I aim to show that these two texts endorse complementary, not contradictory, views of the heavenly bodies. I argue that in de Philosophia, Aristotle attributes to stars the intellective counterpart of the spatial motion which is developed in greater depth in de Caelo, while in de Caelo, we see hints of Aristotle's view in de Philosophia that the stars are also minds and are able to rationally cognize their particular good - a point which is shown in de Caelo 292a18-293a14, where Aristotle attributes both life and praxis to the heavenly bodies. The overarching view which I present of these two texts is that while de Caelo approaches the heavenly bodies qua bodies and de Philosophia approaches them qua minds, they are still examining one and the same substance and that Aristotle has not changed his mind regarding the basic nature of such a substance in the (supposed) interim between writing de Philosophia and de Caelo. Rather, we find echoes of de Caelo in de Philosophia, and echoes of de Philosophia in de Caelo, which speaks to the fact that Aristotle maintains one view of the heavenly bodies which he presents over the course of these two texts.

Aristotle - Ἀριστοτέλης (ARISTOTÉLES, 384/3- 322/1 BCE) The revelation of tuberculosis in his zoological works.

One of the most challenging issues with the sources of ancient medicine is to be able to identify the correspondence between the diseases we know today and those reported in ancient medical texts. Ancient diseases' definitions rarely help us, and the symptoms described often correspond to more than one disease. This is especially true about tuberculosis, a disease that historians of medicine habitually associates with the Greek words phthi(n)o (φθίνω), verb, phthisis/phthoe (φθίσις/φθόη), noun, phthinodes/phthisikos (φθινώδης/φθισικός), adjective, all etymologically linked to an Indo-European root that expresses the idea of consumption in a broad sense. This article aims to analyze a group of Greek words, branchos/branchia (ßράγχος/ßράγχια), krauros/kraurao (κραῦρος/κραυράω), and katarreo (καταρρέω), that appear in nosological contexts very close to the infectious disease that today we call tuberculosis. Moreover, the paper aims to focus on the transmission pathways of TB being via animal-human contact and some ancient strategies to cure it. The symptoms, transmission pathways and therapeutic approach of tuberculosis belong to a homogeneous pathological picture that emerges from a set of texts that date back to the period between the fifth century BC and the second century AD.

The kinesthetic diagnosis in a homeric item of pathological heartbeat: An overview in the history of ancient greek medicine.

The Iliad, by the Greek poet Homer, is a precious mine of examples of war traumatology. In the specific case of spear wounds in the chest, the death of the Trojan warrior Alcathous is particularly interesting from the point of view of the history of medicine and the evolution of cardiology and knowledge of the heart at the time of ancient Greece. In particular this paper aims to evidence and reconstruct the main anatomical and physiological knowledge of the heart at that time. Indeed, a historical-linguistic analysis of the Greek text prompts some reflections and thoughts on the heartbeat in pathological conditions and on the function of the heart as a hematopoietic organ. Furthermore, Homer's account is a critical text that highlights the relevance of the use of the senses in the ancient description of nosological pictures and it allows us an interesting and suggestive approach to reconstruction from the historical and historiographical point of view.

Spine Biomechanics in the Work of Aristotle (384 - 322 BC).

Background: Spine biomechanics is a field of applied research aiming to unravel the biomechanical understanding of the spine and its disorders and to understand the implications of their interventional therapy to improve clinical practice, physical performance and daily living. Its scientific whereabouts can be traced in the work of Aristotle, who discussed physical and biological concepts of spine biomechanics in a series of treatises.Results: The authors searched the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae archive for original texts written in Greek and attributed to Aristotle and selected excerpts of medical and biological treatises that elaborate on spine biomechanics.Discussion: While many of his theories have become outdated, his methodology and rationale remain relevant for contemporary researchers and clinicians. Here, the relevant content of passages of the corpus aristotelicum related to spine biomechanics and discuss their practical implications are presented.

Theoretical Construction and Clinical Application of Doctor-patient Shared Decision-making / 中国医学伦理学

On the basis of combing and reflecting on the literature related to doctor-patient shared decision-making, this paper proposed the necessity of discussing the ethical basis of shared decision-making from a theoretical perspective, and attempted to analyze the suitability of Aristotle’s "friendship" ideology as its ethics’ basis. At the practical level, starting from Ropohl’s technical ethics, it was recommended to establish a shared decision-making responsibility sharing system, providing methodological guidelines for the clinical application of shared decision-making.

Digital temperance: adapting an ancient virtue for a technological age.

In technological societies where excessive screen use and internet addiction are becoming constant temptations, the valuable yet intoxicating pleasures of digital technology suggest a need to recover and repurpose temperance, a virtue emphasized by ancient and medieval philosophers. This article reconstructs this virtue for our technological age by reclaiming the most relevant features of Aristotle's and Aquinas's accounts and suggesting five critical revisions needed to adapt the virtue for a contemporary context. The article then draws on this critical interpretation, along with empirical research analyzing the value and dangers of digital technology, to construct a normative account of digital temperance, a virtue that finds a mean between "digital insensibility," the vice of deficiency, and "digital overindulgence," the vice of excess. We conclude by showing how this virtue of digital temperance can help to promote human flourishing in a world saturated with tempting technology.