Open Access

Article

Article ID: 3125

Good sense: A philosophical analysis of intuition, epistemology, and practical decision-making

by Euclides Souza

Forum for Philosophical Studies, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

This paper delves into the philosophical concept of “good sense,” examining its epistemological foundations, psychological components, and its essential role in practical decision-making. Drawing on a broad spectrum of philosophical thought, this work explores how intuition, folk knowledge, scientific reasoning, and language intertwine to guide human decisions. We argue that “good sense” emerges as a vital tool for survival, particularly when individuals lack complete knowledge and must rely on practical, context-sensitive judgments. The discussion extends to real-world implications, such as decision-making in business, everyday life, and ethics, and how “good sense” shapes our understanding of morality, survival, and communication. This analysis concludes by highlighting the importance of “good sense” in reconciling human knowledge with the unpredictability of the world.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2817

Kant and biological evolution, contra Ralph Cudworth’s deus ex machina

by Ryan Vilbig

Forum for Philosophical Studies, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

The relationship between Immanuel Kant’s philosophy and the modern theory of biological evolution has been a topic of much scholarly debate with little consensus. It has been generally contended that the amassed confusions about Kant’s views are due to ambiguities in his own thinking, and, as such, perplexed interpretations subsequent to his writings were broadly articulated even in 19th-century Germany. More recent philosophers have sought to emphasize how Kant changed his mind from 1785 when he found evolutionary theories “so monstrous that reason recoils before them” to a reconsideration that “one species would have arisen from the other” as a mere “daring adventure of reason” in 1790. Alternatively, this paper will argue that Kant’s philosophical commitments to biological evolution can be traced to an earlier point, specifically, in his encounter with the deus ex machina concept of Ralph Cudworth (1617–1688) in his True Intellectual System, translated at Jena in 1733. Kant had read Cudworth’s text sometime before writing his Universal Natural History in 1755, influencing his professed adherence to universal physical laws and metaphysical teleology, as well as his opposition to the deus ex machina fallacy of divine interference in the natural biological order. Similar arguments against the deus ex machina concept are also frequently found among evolutionary biologists throughout the 19th–20th centuries, thus placing the pre-critical Kant even among their philosophical ranks. This paper will evaluate these important sources and demonstrate Kant’s continuing relevance to the philosophy of evolutionary biology, including his perspective on teleological judgments.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 2344

Beauty as an idea that can be developed and realized: A historical comparative study of Schiller’s aesthetics

by Xiangfei Bao

Forum for Philosophical Studies, Vol.3, No.1, 2025;

Schiller’s work is deeply rooted in Western philosophical traditions and significantly influences the evolution of aesthetics in the nineteenth century. Despite its foundational role, Schiller’s writings exhibit a lack of precision and systematic structure. This paper employs a historical-comparative approach to examine Schiller’s aesthetics in relation to other philosophical perspectives. By re-evaluating and interpreting classical texts, the study aims to provide a comprehensive clarification of Schiller’s aesthetic theory. Schiller conceptualizes beauty as an idea, yet this conception diverges from the notions advanced by Plato and Kant. He reconfigures the relationship between beauty and perfection, suggesting a return to Baumgarten’s principles. In Schiller’s view, perfect beauty encompasses its own reality, thereby addressing and surpassing the subjectivity and abstraction found in Kantian aesthetics. Furthermore, Schiller explores the origin and development of freedom, positing that freedom evolves through its awakening and growth, thereby demonstrating the realizability of beauty and the full potential of human nature.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 1659

Hitting or being right

by Cristián Pérez García

Forum for Philosophical Studies, Vol.2, No.1, 2024;

In this paper, we study Gettier’s problem based on some recent bibliography and new research advances. First, we set the terms of the discussion and expose the core of the problem. Many disputes on this topic are rooted in misapprehensions of the concept of knowledge. Therefore, we give the most common definition of knowledge and show its structure. Then we look at Gettier’s two cases and propose a new example that helps us clarify the nature of the problem. We use a case of induction because it gathers all the epistemological problems together so that its solution may be considered a complete one. Finally, incorporating recent advances in epistemology, we propose a solution to Gettier’s problem. Some situations that fit in the common definition of knowledge do not seem to also fit under the word “knowledge.” Through the study of a hypothetical case, in this article we shall propose a solution to this dissonance.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 1403

Leaders (non-faculty) in higher education: A phenomenological study on understanding their role

by Saravanan Sathiyaseelan

Forum for Philosophical Studies, Vol.2, No.1, 2024;

The higher education fraternity associates itself closely to academia; the environment or community concerned with the pursuit of research and education. Unsurprisingly, the faculty receive more attention in areas surrounding higher education. However, recent days are seeing vast evolutions in the higher education landscape, beginning with an escalating interest in a seamless and capable administration to support, strengthen and elevate both research and education goals to greater heights. This study used a qualitative phenomenological approach to examine fifteen leaders (non-faculty) working in mid-senior level positions in a university in Singapore to understand their role. The findings evidently proved that leaders (non-faculty) are facilitators and enablers who perform and complete their tasks by facilitating activities, processes, events, and interactions (to and for both students and faculty), and enabling an activity or implementing a policy. Furthermore, the findings reinforced the importance of such leadership within the higher education sector, especially at a time universities explore new strategies to diversify and gain competitive advantage in a challenging environment marked by globalization, technological disruptions, unpredictable demand, and changing student needs.

Open Access

Article

Article ID: 1386

A systematic design for AI-centered innovation management network by Marxist epistemology

by Qing Luo, Hexiu Cao

Forum for Philosophical Studies, Vol.2, No.1, 2024;

By building AI-centered innovation management systems, innovative countries and organizations can optimize management processes, stimulate creativity, and accelerate product and service innovation cycles. AI-centered innovation management finds market in China. The application of Marxist Epistemology is applicable in breeding innovation knowledge, especially in defining AI-centered networks to guide innovation management, focusing on providing innovation conditions and the development of innovation relations. Furthermore, systematic entity of contradictions design is critical for AI-centered innovation management networks, unifying the systematic functions and structure by integrating AI into innovation management effectively.