this article reviews the commentary tradition around the metaphysics of avicenna’s shifā’ as it evolved in the lands that belonged to avicenna’s own cultural horizon, most of all in iran. from this overview it emerges that this tradition is characterized by a keen interest  in textual criticism and a solid philosophical grasp of avicenna’s metaphysical doctrines. this interest is reflected in t...

In ever so many philosophical introductions to formal logic the latter is presented as the philosopher’s ars iudicandi, i.e. as the instrument that evaluates the quality of philosophical arguments or, more generally, of informal reasoning. Irrespective of its content, an argument is only worthy of consideration if it is valid, i.e. if the truth of its premise(s) necessitates the truth of its co...

The dual-use dilemma arises in the context of research in the biological and other sciences as a consequence of the fact that one and the same piece of scientific research sometimes has the potential to be used for bad as well as good purposes. It is an ethical dilemma since it is about promoting good in the context of the potential for also causing harm, e.g., the promotion of health in the co...

Pain has been defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage." Chronic pain is usually described as pain that has persisted for 3-6 months and/or beyond the expected time of healing. The numerical pain rating (NPR) is the customary met...

One of the most controversial topics in modern bioethics, science, and philosophy is the beginning of individual human life. In the seemingly endless debate, strongly stimulated by recent technologic advances in human reproduction, a synthesis between scientific data and hypothesis, philosophical thought, and issues of humanities has become a necessity to deal with ethical, juridical, and socia...