Papers by Basilis S. Dzelajei
European Journal of Physical Sciences
With the emergence of quantum physics in the 1920s, the major philosophical question was, do the ... more With the emergence of quantum physics in the 1920s, the major philosophical question was, do the unobservables in quantum system have ontological status or are mere instruments for scientific prediction? The Copenhagen interpretation developed an instrumentalist thesis, contending that the unobservables are tools for making predictions concerning the observables. Thus, we cannot have knowledge of the quantum particles. However, Popper attempts a realist and an objective interpretation. As such, he criticizes the Copenhagen interpretation, developing the propensity view, which accords ontological status to subatomic particles. The main thrust of our argument in this paper is that by replacing probability possibilities with propensities, Popper positions himself as a proponent of the metaphysics of modality. It is then our objective to establish the parallelism between Popper’s Propensity Interpretation and Modal Metaphysics. To establish this contention we proceeded analytically: fi...
This Paper attempts to unveil the ethical inkling of critical rationalism ,which is the logic of ... more This Paper attempts to unveil the ethical inkling of critical rationalism ,which is the logic of knowledge and science in Karl Popper"s epistemological edifice. Such endeavour transcends two philosophical positions: First and foremost, the contention that Karl Popper is not an ethicist , given he did not write systematically on ethics and secondly, the exclusive grounding of moral motivation on metaphysics, anthropology, and psychology. To proceed, we will examine the concept of critical rationalism in Karl Popper"s epistemology, in order to deduce its moral implications. Thus, after getting across the basic articulations of Popper"s critical rationalism, we establish our contention that the moral innuendos of critical rationalism constitute evidence that morality can also be based on epistemology. As a result, we can logically proceed from epistemological attitudes and virtues to infer moral values. This paper is then another challenge for ethicists, philosophers of the mind, and psychologists to rethink the question of the relationship between the will (nerve-centre of morality) and the intellect (faculty of understanding or knowing).
CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF LITERATURE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE, 2022
This paper situates us within the context of an internal conflict in the Philosophy of Karl Poppe... more This paper situates us within the context of an internal conflict in the Philosophy of Karl Popper. On the one hand, Popper is an ardent proponent of scientific realism-the view that science seeks to formulate true theories that depict the structure of the universe; and on the other hand, the very Karl Popper propounds Non-Justificationism in science-a negativist methodology which asserts that the logic of science seeks not the justification but the refutation of theories. This non-justificationism seems asymmetric to the realist optimistic ambition of justifying the reliability of scientific knowledge. To resolve this tension between realism and nonjustificationism in Popper's epistemology some philosophers have proceeded by revising his method of falsification (Imre Lakatos,), others have opted for a reinterpretation of his realism (Evandro Agazzi, Mario Alai,) while some have given an instrumentalist status to popper's rationality of science (Peter Godfrey-Smith, Anthony O'Hear). Our argument in this Paper is that to resolve the contradiction within Popper's rationality of science we have to situate the two conflicting theses (Realism and non-justicationism) within the general problem of Popper's epistemology. That is, the problem of the conditions necessary for the growth of scientific knowledge. Thus, after examining the basic tenets of Popper's realism and illustrating the levels of the opposition between realism and non-justificationism, we have gone beyond other solutions to defend the conflation of realism and non-justificationism as the condition for the growth of knowledge. Popper thus emerges out of our analysis as a 'critical realist' who rejects 'dogmatic optimism' and creates 'critical optimism' in his evolutionary epistemology.
Teaching Documents by Basilis S. Dzelajei
Drafts by Basilis S. Dzelajei
The 2022 edition of the World Day of Philosophy in Cameroon, will be commemorated under the theme... more The 2022 edition of the World Day of Philosophy in Cameroon, will be commemorated under the theme: "Philosophy and the city-state. Our contention in this paper was to unveil the philosophical implications of this theme in the 21 st century that the nation-state is in crisis. To attend this objective, we made a psychoanalysis of the motivation and intentions of those who conceived the theme by justifying its phraseology. We then proceeded to the semantic context by defining the key concepts in the theme. These definitions permitted us to clearly pose the philosophical problem that underpins this theme. The perspectives of our analysis consists in actualizing the theme to Africa and Cameroon even if philosophy by method is purported to be a universal activity.
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Papers by Basilis S. Dzelajei
Teaching Documents by Basilis S. Dzelajei
Drafts by Basilis S. Dzelajei