What are problems?

IF 1.1 1区哲学 0 PHILOSOPHY

PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES Pub Date : 2024-09-11 DOI:10.1007/s11098-024-02201-y

Hakob Barseghyan, Paul Patton, Guillaume Dechauffour, Carlin Henikoff

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Building off the recent work on the semantics of problem, we suggest a more general account that encompasses problems of all agents, human or nonhuman, individual or communal. Situation X is a problem for agent A, iff situation X is at odds with the agent’s goal G and removing the discrepancy between X and G presents some difficulty for agent A. In addition, for agent A to actually have a problem, they must also be in such situation X. In contrast, agent A recognizes that situation X is a problem for them iff agent A represents, correctly or incorrectly, that situation X is at odds with their goal G, agent A represents, correctly or incorrectly, that removing the discrepancy between X and G presents some difficulty, and agent A represents, correctly or incorrectly, that they are in situation X. Several conclusions follow from these definitions. (1) Not every problem involves questions. (2) Not all problems involve undesirable states. (3) For an agent to consider a situation problematic, they should be aware of the situation; yet awareness of the situation is not necessary for an agent to have a problem or for a situation to be a problem for an agent. (4) Contexts need not be part of the problem: the context of a specific problem need not also be part of a more general problem. (5) The complete elimination of the discrepancy between a situation and a goal eliminates the problem, while the problem continues to exist when it receives a partial solution. (6) For something to be a problem, it does not have to be solvable, and the agent does not have to accept that something needs to be done about it, nor should they use the language of ameliorable/solvable.

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什么是问题？

在最近关于问题语义学的研究基础上，我们提出了一种更普遍的解释，它涵盖了所有代理人的问题，无论是人类的还是非人类的、个体的还是群体的。如果情况 X 与代理人的目标 G 不一致，而消除情况 X 与目标 G 之间的差异会给代理人 A 带来一些困难，那么情况 X 对代理人 A 来说就是一个问题。相反，如果代理人 A 正确或错误地认为情况 X 与他们的目标 G 不一致，代理人 A 正确或错误地认为消除 X 与 G 之间的差异会带来一些困难，代理人 A 正确或错误地认为他们正处于情况 X 中，那么代理人 A 就会认为情况 X 对他们来说是一个问题。(1) 并非每个问题都涉及问题。(2) 并非所有问题都涉及不良状态。(3) 如果一个代理人认为某种情境是有问题的，他们就应该意识到这种情境；然而，对情境的意识并不是代理人产生问题或情境对代理人构成问题的必要条件。(4) 情境不一定是问题的一部分：一个具体问题的情境不一定也是一个更普遍问题的一部分。(5) 完全消除情境与目标之间的差异就消除了问题，而当问题得到部分解决时，它仍然存在。(6) 要使某件事成为问题，它不一定是可以解决的，代理人也不一定要接受需要对它采取什么措施，他们也不应该使用可改善/可解决的语言。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES PHILOSOPHY-

CiteScore

2.60

自引率

7.70%

发文量

127

期刊介绍： Philosophical Studies was founded in 1950 by Herbert Feigl and Wilfrid Sellars to provide a periodical dedicated to work in analytic philosophy. The journal remains devoted to the publication of papers in exclusively analytic philosophy. Papers applying formal techniques to philosophical problems are welcome. The principal aim is to publish articles that are models of clarity and precision in dealing with significant philosophical issues. It is intended that readers of the journal will be kept abreast of the central issues and problems of contemporary analytic philosophy. Double-blind review procedure The journal follows a double-blind reviewing procedure. Authors are therefore requested to place their name and affiliation on a separate page. Self-identifying citations and references in the article text should either be avoided or left blank when manuscripts are first submitted. Authors are responsible for reinserting self-identifying citations and references when manuscripts are prepared for final submission.