Many models have been proposed to explain the opinion formation in a group of individuals; most of these models study the opinion propagation as the interaction between nodes/agents in a social network. The opinion formation is a very complex process and a realistic model should also take into account the important feedbacks that the opinions of the agents have on the structure of the social ne...

Abstract Metasemantic inferentialism has gained popularity in the last few decades. Traditionally, is combined with a deflationary attitude towards semantic terms such as truth and reference, i.e., many inferentialists hold that when we use these do not purport to refer substantive properties. This combination makes attractive for philosophers who see themselves antirealists. Although attractio...

Pluralism without updating is not science. . . . It would be a warping of the scientifi c frame if we built into the charter of any department of political science that there had to be an expert in “realism,” or in “South Asia,” or in “democracy,” or in “qualitative methods.” . . . [ I ]nstitutionalizing slots for particular specialties is a threat to scientifi c progress. . . . A pluralism tha...

Drawing on surveys of religion and values in Great Britain, this paper suggests that Peter Berger's paradigm of two pluralisms can be usefully supplemented by taking account of a third kind of intensified pluralism. This involves the breakdown of the boundaries between religions, and between the religious and the secular, and is therefore a pluralism of de-differentiation. It helps explain many...

If the most perplexing thing in the world is a lack of theory, the second most perplexing must be an abundance of it. This contribution clarifies the notion of pluralism by introducing an often neglected but crucial distinction between different levels at which pluralism can be situated. It intends to provide a framework for scholars dealing with the question how to manage the divergence of vie...