New waves in philosophy of mathematics

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Bueno, O

2009-01-01

Thirteen promising young researchers write on what they take to be the right philosophical account of mathematics and discuss where the philosophy of mathematics ought to be going. New trends are revealed, such as an increasing attention to mathematical practice, a reassessment of the canon, and inspiration from philosophical logic.

21st Annual Conference of Ramanujan Mathematical Society

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 11; Issue 4. 21st Annual Conference of Ramanujan Mathematical Society. Information and Announcements Volume 11 Issue 4 April 2006 pp 108-108. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link:

Philosophical explorations on energy transition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geerts, Robert-Jan

2017-01-01

This dissertation explores energy transition from a philosophical perspective. It puts forward the thesis that energy production and consumption are so intimately intertwined with society that the transition towards a sustainable alternative will involve more than simply implementing novel

The Lublin Philosophical School: Founders, Motives, Characteristics

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Mieczysław A. Krąpiec

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article is focused on the Lublin Philosophical School; it explains its name, presents its founders, reveals the causes of its rise, and introduce the specific character of the School’s philosophy.It starts with stating the fact that in the proper sense, the term “Lublin Philosophical School” describes a way of cultivating realistic (classical philosophy developed in the 1950s by a group of philosophers at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland. The Lublin Philosophical School is characterized by cognitive realism (the object of cognition is really existing being, maximalism (taking up all existentially important questions, methodological autonomy (in relation to the natural-mathematical sciences and theology, transcendentalism in its assertions (its assertions refer to all reality, methodological-epistemological unity (the same method applied in objectively cultivated philosophical disciplines, coherence (which guarantees the objective unity of the object, and objectivity (achieved by the verifiability of assertions on their own terms, which is achieved by relating them in each instance to objective evidence. The term is the name of the Polish school of realistic (classical philosophy that arose as a response to the Marxism that was imposed administratively on Polish institutions of learning, and also as a response to other philosophical currents dominant at the time such as phenomenology, existentialism, and logical positivism.

INFORMATIZATION: PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

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A. A. Kosolapov

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose.Computerization and informatization in recent decades gave the mankind automated electronic document management systems, automated process of production, Internet and network information resources WWW, expanded the communications capabilities and led to the globalization of the information society. At the same time gives rise to a number of processes of informatization philosophical and anthropological problems, that has become an existential character. It is necessary to identify and understanding of these issues on the basis of the gnoseological model of the evolution informatization paradigms and determine their main characteristics. Methodology. The system-activity approach was used; it allowed identifying and analyzing the impact of the main components of information and communication technologies (ICT for educational activities. And further to present them as a unified system of human activity in conditions computerization/informatization. The philosophical principles: a comprehensive review of the subject, the unity of the logical and historical, ascending from the abstract to the concrete was used. The general scientific principles: unity and development of the system, the decomposition hierarchy, individualization and cooperation, diversity and taxonomy were applied. Findings.The three-stage gnoseological model of the paradigms computerization/informatization evolution was proposed by the author. It is based on three information system characteristics: speed, interface and data access. The seven-bar anthrop-centric model, which is called the architecture of information systems (AIS, which describes the changes in their types of procuring, was proposed for each paradigm. The philosophical-anthropological problems that affect negatively its progress were formulated for each stage of modern information society transformation. Originality. The gnoseological model of development processes of informatization in the form of three

Why Husserl should have been a strong revisionist in mathematics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Atten, M. van

Husserl repeatedly has claimed that (1) mathematics without a philosophical foundation is not a science but a mere technique; (2) philosophical considerations may lead to the rejection of parts of mathematical practice; but (3) they cannot lead to mathematical innovations. My thesis is that

Lipman, Dewey, and Philosophical Inquiry in the Mathematics Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Nadia Stoyanova

2012-01-01

The paper discusses Matthew Lipman's approach to inquiry as shaped and fashioned by John Dewey's model of scientific inquiry. Although Lipman's program adopted the major aspects of Dewey's pedagogy, at least two characteristics of that program stand out as radically different--his use of relatively free-form philosophical discussions to teach…

Shirakatsi Astronomical and Natural Philosophical Views

Science.gov (United States)

Mkrtchyan, Lilit

2016-12-01

Our work is aimed at presenting Shirakatsi astronomical and natural philosophical views. Karl Anania Shirakatsi is classified as one of the world-class intellectual geniuses. He was endowed with exceptional talent and analyzing scientific understanding of natural phenomena. He refers his philosophical works to almost all fields of science, cosmography, mathematics, calendarology, historiography, etc. Shirakatsy's earnings of natural science and natural philosophy in medieval is too big He was the first prominent scholar and thinker of his time, creating a unique, comprehensive gitapilisopayakan system that still feeds the human mind. The scientific value of Shirakatsi has great importance not only for Armenians but also for the whole world of science, history, culture and philosophy. Shirakatsi can be considered not only national but also universal greatness.

Pluralism in mathematics a new position in philosophy of mathematics

CERN Document Server

Friend, Michèle

2014-01-01

This book is about philosophy, mathematics and logic, giving a philosophical account of Pluralism which is a family of positions in the philosophy of mathematics. There are four parts to this book, beginning with a look at motivations for Pluralism by way of Realism, Maddy's Naturalism, Shapiro's Structuralism and Formalism. In the second part of this book the author covers: the philosophical presentation of Pluralism; using a formal theory of logic metaphorically; rigour and proof for the Pluralist; and mathematical fixtures. In the third part the author goes on to focus on the transcendental presentation of Pluralism, and in part four looks at applications of Pluralism, such as a Pluralist approach to proof in mathematics and how Pluralism works in regard to together-inconsistent philosophies of mathematics. The book finishes with suggestions for further Pluralist enquiry. In this work the author takes a deeply radical approach in developing a new position that will either convert readers, or act as a stron...

Wronski's Foundations of Mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Roi

2016-09-01

Argument This paper reconstructs Wronski's philosophical foundations of mathematics. It uses his critique of Lagrange's algebraic analysis as a vignette to introduce the problems that he raised, and argues that these problems have not been properly appreciated by his contemporaries and subsequent commentators. The paper goes on to reconstruct Wronski's mathematical law of creation and his notions of theory and techne, in order to put his objections to Lagrange in their philosophical context. Finally, Wronski's proof of his universal law (the expansion of a given function by any series of functions) is reviewed in terms of the above reconstruction. I argue that Wronski's philosophical approach poses an alternative to the views of his contemporary mainstream mathematicians, which brings up the contingency of their choices, and bridges the foundational concerns of early modernity with those of the twentieth-century foundations crisis. I also argue that Wronski's views may be useful to contemporary philosophy of mathematical practice, if they are read against their metaphysical grain.

Wittgenstein, finitism, and the foundations of mathematics

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Marion, Mathieu

2008-01-01

Mathieu Marion traces the development of Wittgenstein''s thinking from the 1920s through to the 1950s, in the context of the mathematical and philosophical work of the time, making sense of ideas that have often been misunderstood. He shows that study of Wittgenstein''s writings on mathematics is essential to a proper understanding of his philosophy. - ;Mathieu Marion offers a careful, historically informed study of Wittgenstein''s philosophy of mathematics. This area of his work has frequently been undervalued by Wittgenstein specialists and by philosophers of mathematics alike; but the surprising fact that he wrote more on this subject than on any other indicates its centrality in his thought. Marion traces the development of Wittgenstein''s thinking in the context of the mathematical and philosophical work of the times, to make. coherent sense of ideas that have too often been misunderstood because they have been presented in a disjointed and incomplete way. In particular, he illuminates the work of the ne...

The origin of the logic of symbolic mathematics Edmund Husserl and Jacob Klein

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Hopkins, Burt C

2011-01-01

Burt C. Hopkins presents the first in-depth study of the work of Edmund Husserl and Jacob Klein on the philosophical foundations of the logic of modern symbolic mathematics. Accounts of the philosophical origins of formalized concepts-especially mathematical concepts and the process of mathematical abstraction that generates them-have been paramount to the development of phenomenology. Both Husserl and Klein independently concluded that it is impossible to separate the historical origin of the thought that generates the basic concepts of mathematics from their philosophical meanings. Hopkins explores how Husserl and Klein arrived at their conclusion and its philosophical implications for the modern project of formalizing all knowledge.

CULTUROLOGICAL APPROACH AS METHODOLOGICAL BASIS OF MATHEMATICAL EDUCATION

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Ye. A. Perminov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Today, in the era of a mathematization of science and total expansion of digital technologies, mass mathematical education becomes a necessary part of culture of every person. However, there are some serious obstacles to formation and development of general mathematical culture: insufficient understanding of its importance by society and the state; fragmentary-clipconsciousness, emerging among representatives of the younger generation under the influence of the Internet, and preventing formation of a complete picture of the modern world; traditional system of disjointed subjects and courses in school, secondary vocational and high school mathematics education; non-cognitive (automatic transferring of the approaches, principles, technologies and techniques into training which are not specific in order to master a course. Development of sociological, axiological and especially culturological aspects of mathematical methodology is required for the solution of the urgent problems of methodology in mathematical education.The aim of the publication is to discuss methodological aspects of culturological approach realization in mathematical education.Methodology and research methods. The theoretical scientific methods of the present article involve analysis and synthesis of the content of philosophical, mathematical, pedagogical, methodological literature and normative documents; comparative, culturological and logical types of analysis of mathematical education; systematic, competence-based, practice-oriented and personal-activity metho-dological approaches were used to understand the concept of mathematical education.Results and scientific novelty. The practicability and leading role of culturological approach to promoting mathematical knowledge is proved from historical, philosophical and pedagogical positions. It is stated that objective conceptualization of progressive ideas and new methods of mathematical science and mathematical

The Definition of Mathematics: Philosophical and Pedagogical Aspects

Science.gov (United States)

Khait, Alexander

There is a strange fact that many works written with the purpose to explain what is mathematics, somehow avoid the issue. This paper is aimed at filling this gap. After discussing various descriptions of mathematics as they appear in literature, it is suggested that mathematics is an essentially linguistic activity characterized by association of words with precise meanings. Educational implications of this idea are considered in the light of(1) a strong tendency of most humans to the fuzzy way of thought as described by the dual-process theory developed by researchers of human reasoning;

Differentially Positioned Language Games: Ethnomathematics from a Philosophical Perspective

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Knijnik, Gelsa

2012-01-01

This paper discusses a new philosophical perspective for ethnomathematics which articulates Ludwig Wittgenstein's and Michel Foucault's theoretical notions. It is conceived as a theoretical toolbox which allows the analysis of, on the one hand, the mathematical language games of different forms of life and their family resemblances and, on the…

Literacy and Technological Development in Nigeria: A Philosophical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Literacy and Technological Development in Nigeria: A Philosophical ... Many challenges have occurred in society as a result of advances in sciences and technology. ... historical and cultural factors determine if and how, a technology is used.

Philosophical Talent : Empirical investigations into philosophical features of adolescents' discourse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rondhuis, N.T.W.

2005-01-01

This study tests the hypothesis that a philosophical talent exists in thinking patterns, uttered through oral expressions during philosophical discussions. A systematic study on the philosophical quality of thinking patterns was undertaken among youngsters of 10 - 20 years old. 'Philosophical

Postmodern View of Humanistic Mathematics 9 -8 ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Since the time of Pythagoras era up to the modern time, mathematics has ... traditional philosophies of mathematics, i.e. logicism (regarding mathematics as a ..... o/Over-Philosophication-Reply to A rcilla andNicholson, Educational Theory,.

Feferman on foundations logic, mathematics, philosophy

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Sieg, Wilfried

2017-01-01

This volume honours the life and work of Solomon Feferman, one of the most prominent mathematical logicians of the latter half of the 20th century. In the collection of essays presented here, researchers examine Feferman’s work on mathematical as well as specific methodological and philosophical issues that tie into mathematics. Feferman’s work was largely based in mathematical logic (namely model theory, set theory, proof theory and computability theory), but also branched out into methodological and philosophical issues, making it well known beyond the borders of the mathematics community. With regard to methodological issues, Feferman supported concrete projects. On the one hand, these projects calibrate the proof theoretic strength of subsystems of analysis and set theory and provide ways of overcoming the limitations imposed by Gödel’s incompleteness theorems through appropriate conceptual expansions. On the other, they seek to identify novel axiomatic foundations for mathematical practice, truth ...

Philosophical Prostitution

OpenAIRE

Amihud Gilead

2010-01-01

Problem statement: This research was needed because some philosophers were subject to a form of blindness concerning prostitution. This blindness was caused mainly by a lack of philosophical insights. The context of the work was that valid arguments without such insights must be blind. In the case of prostitution, I termed such blindness a philosophical prostitution: First of all, this was to indicate that such an opinion on prostitution was a philosophical artifact or fiction, entirely unawa...

CLASSICAL AND NON-CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

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T. A. Kozlova

2018-01-01

biological concepts to questions of culture, language, thinking.Discussion and Conclusions: The global society carries a whole spectrum of changes. The fragmentation and pluralism of the era of human deconstruction transforms the thinking, imagination and needs of man. The person himself is transformed, in connection with which the development of philosophical anthropology in the modern era is actualized.

CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDES TO OLD-ESTABLISHED ORGANS: OLIVER LODGE AND PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Imogen; Mussell, James

2015-09-20

In 1921 Oliver Lodge defended Philosophical Magazine against charges of mismanagement from the National Union of Scientific Workers. They alleged that its editors performed little editorial work, the bulk being done by the publishers, Taylor & Francis. Lodge reassured Nature's readers that the journal did consult its editors, and suggested 'a conservative attitude towards old-established organs is wise; and that it is possible to over-organise things into lifelessness.' The paper explores Lodge's response by considering the editorial arrangements at Philosophical Magazine. Founded in 1798, it remained remarkably unchanged and so appeared old-fashioned when compared with its closest rivals, Proceedings of the Royal Society and Proceedings of the Physical Society. We argue that for Lodge the management of Philosophical Magazine gave it the flexibility and independence required to sustain the kind of physics, also open to accusations of obsolescence, in which he believed.

From an unlicensed philosopher: reflections on brain, mind, society, culture--each other's environments with equal "ontologic standing".

Science.gov (United States)

Shay, Jonathan

2010-10-01

Philosophic conclusions drawn from work with psychologically and morally injured combat veterans include that brain, mind, society, and culture "co-evolved." The four encompass the complete human phenomenon, but not all are reducible to the physical brain. None of the four are "ontologically prior" to the others, when viewed over the entire lifecycle. All four are what I call "each other's environments," with obligatory cross-boundary flows--each with each in both directions. Rigorous, but nonreductionist interdisciplinary research, in the vein of "evo-devo" in embryology, is called for in the study of the human phenomena. On the basis of these conclusions, I offer a few practical comments on clinical work with psychologically and morally injured combat veterans. © 2010 Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease.

Nominalism and constructivism in seventeenth-century mathematical philosophy

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Sepkoski, David

2013-01-01

What was the basis for the adoption of mathematics as the primary mode of discourse for describing natural events by a large segment of the philosophical community in the seventeenth century? In answering this question, this book demonstrates that a significant group of philosophers shared the belief that there is no necessary correspondence between external reality and objects of human understanding, which they held to include the objects of mathematical and linguistic discourse. The result is a scholarly reliable, but accessible, account of the role of mathematics in the works of (

Software theory a cultural and philosophical study

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Frabetti, Federica

2014-01-01

This book engages directly in close readings of technical texts and computer code in order to show how software works. It offers an analysis of the cultural, political, and philosophical implications of software technologies that demonstrates the significance of software for the relationship between technology, philosophy, culture, and society.

Philosophical Issues in Ecology: Recent Trends and Future Directions

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Mark Colyvan

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Philosophy of ecology has been slow to become established as an area of philosophical interest, but it is now receiving considerable attention. This area holds great promise for the advancement of both ecology and the philosophy of science. Insights from the philosophy of science can advance ecology in a number of ways. For example, philosophy can assist with the development of improved models of ecological hypothesis testing and theory choice. Philosophy can also help ecologists understand the role and limitations of mathematical models in ecology. On the other side, philosophy of science will be advanced by having ecological case studies as part of the stock of examples. Ecological case studies can shed light on old philosophical topics as well as raise novel issues for the philosophy of science. For example, understanding theoretical terms such as "biodiversity" is important for scientific reasons, but such terms also carry political importance. Formulating appropriate definitions for such terms is thus not a purely scientific matter, and this may prompt a reevaluation of philosophical accounts of defining theoretical terms. We consider some of the topics currently receiving attention in the philosophy of ecology and other topics in need of attention. Our aim is to prompt further exchange between ecology and philosophy of science and to help set the agenda for future work in the philosophy of ecology. The topics covered include: the role of mathematical models, environmental problem formulation, biodiversity, and environmental ethics.

PHILOSOPHICAL COMMUNITARIANISM LIKE THE ACTUAL PARADIGM OF SOCIAL BEING

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Oleg Borisovich Davydov

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article discusses one of the most pressing areas of social philosophy – communitarianism. Analyzes the basic concepts that operate representatives of the philosophical direction, among them – the community, the common good, virtue ethics. Demonstrates that the issues raised in the social and philosophical discussions that ensued between the liberal and communitarian social philosophy are essential for the social practice, and therefore, can not be solved solely by means of the theoretical. Considrered the main points of communitarian critics of liberal philosophy. Ethical dimensions of philosophy, which is constitutive for the communitarian discourse, also have importance in today’s society, which is accompanied by a deep crisis. Analyzed the concept of virtue, which plays a key role in the socio-philosophical communitarianism.

Experiencing mathematics what do we do, when we do mathematics?

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Hersh, Reuben

2014-01-01

The question "What am I doing?" haunts many creative people, researchers, and teachers. Mathematics, poetry, and philosophy can look from the outside sometimes as ballet en pointe, and at other times as the flight of the bumblebee. Reuben Hersh looks at mathematics from the inside; he collects his papers written over several decades, their edited versions, and new chapters in his book Experiencing Mathematics, which is practical, philosophical, and in some places as intensely personal as Swann's madeleine. -Yuri Manin, Max Planck Institute, Bonn, Germany What happens when mid-career a mathemat

About the Code of Practice of the European Mathematical Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Arne

2013-01-01

The Executive Committee of the European Mathematical Society created an Ethics Committee in the Spring of 2010. The first task of the Committee was to prepare a Code of Practice. This task was completed in the Spring of 2012 and went into effect on 1 November 2012. Arne Jensen, author...... of this article, is Chair of the EMS Ethics Committee...

From Religion to Dialectics and Mathematics

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Achtner Wolfgang

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Hermann Grassmann is known to be the founder of modern vector and tensor calculus. Having as a theologian no formal education in mathematics at a university he got his basic ideas for this mathematical innovation at least to some extent from listening to Schleiermacher’s lectures on Dialectics and, together with his brother Robert, reading its publication in 1839. The paper shows how the idea of unity and various levels of reality first formulated in Schleiermacher’s talks about religion in 1799 were transformed by him into a philosophical system in his dialectics and then were picked up by Grassmann and operationalized in his philosophical-mathematical treatise on the extension theory (German: Ausdehnungslehre in 1844.

Philosophy of mathematics

CERN Document Server

Gabbay, Dov M; Woods, John

2009-01-01

One of the most striking features of mathematics is the fact that we are much more certain about the mathematical knowledge we have than about what mathematical knowledge is knowledge of. Are numbers, sets, functions and groups physical entities of some kind? Are they objectively existing objects in some non-physical, mathematical realm? Are they ideas that are present only in the mind? Or do mathematical truths not involve referents of any kind? It is these kinds of questions that have encouraged philosophers and mathematicians alike to focus their attention on issues in the philosophy of mat

Meaning in mathematics

CERN Document Server

2011-01-01

Is mathematics a highly sophisticated intellectual game in which the adepts display their skill by tackling invented problems, or are mathematicians engaged in acts of discovery as they explore an independent realm of mathematical reality? Why does this seemingly abstract discipline provide the key to unlocking the deep secrets of the physical universe? How one answers these questions will significantly influence metaphysical thinking about reality. This book is intended to fill a gap between popular 'wonders of mathematics' books and the technical writings of the philosophers of mathematics.

Panel Debate: Technics and technology in mathematics and mathematics education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Misfeldt, Morten

2015-01-01

The use of computer technology for teaching and learning of mathematics has several consequences and does sometimes give rise to both controversies and misunderstandings. We address these problems by both a philosophical and a historical approach, investigating what it actually is that goes on when...... guidelines and conclusions regarding the use of computer technology in mathematics education....... new technologies enter mathematics as a discipline and mathematics education as a societal practice. Our analysis suggests a focus on continuities in time and place in the sense that it is necessary to understand the history of “tool use” in mathematics and the various ways that scholastic and non...

The nature of mathematics

CERN Document Server

Jourdain, Philip E B

2007-01-01

Anyone with an interest in mathematics will welcome the republication of this little volume by a remarkable mathematician who was also a logician, a philosopher, and an occasional writer of fiction and poetry. Originally published in 1913, and later included in the acclaimed anthology The World of Mathematics, Jourdain's survey shows how and why the methods of mathematics were developed, traces the development of mathematical science from the earliest to modern times, and chronicles the application of mathematics to natural science.Starting with the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, the author p

A simple mathematical model of society collapse applied to Easter Island

Science.gov (United States)

Bologna, M.; Flores, J. C.

2008-02-01

In this paper we consider a mathematical model for the evolution and collapse of the Easter Island society. Based on historical reports, the available primary resources consisted almost exclusively in the trees, then we describe the inhabitants and the resources as an isolated dynamical system. A mathematical, and numerical, analysis about the Easter Island community collapse is performed. In particular, we analyze the critical values of the fundamental parameters and a demographic curve is presented. The technological parameter, quantifying the exploitation of the resources, is calculated and applied to the case of another extinguished civilization (Copán Maya) confirming the consistency of the adopted model.

VIRTUAL PHILOSOPHER PROJECT: PHILOSOPHICAL, PEDAGOGICAL AND TECHNICAL ASPECTS

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E. V. Kuchinov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes philosophical and pedagogical aspects of an idea of the ‘virtual philosopher’ project developed at creative sessions at Minin University and technically concretized during interaction with the Laboratory of Mobile Services. ‘Virtual philosopher’ is thought to deliver creative automation of routine operations; producing contingent matter for philosophical processing as well as elements of the philosophical artificial intelligence and forms of ‘artificial life’. Project implementation may lead to the creation of an unparalleled educational technology that functions on the principles of flexibility, nonlinearity, affective inclusion and gamification of the educational process. Based on specific character of problems raised, rhizomatic analysis of the philosophical communities’ requests, assessment of their technical feasibility and technical development, provisions are made on the feasibility, prospects and productivity of this project.

Between Theology and Mathematics. Nicholas of Cusa’s Philosophy of Mathematics

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Murawski Roman

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The paper is devoted to the philosophical and theological as well as mathematical ideas of Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464. He was a mathematician, but first of all a theologian. Connections between theology and philosophy on the one side and mathematics on the other were, for him, bilateral. In this paper we shall concentrate only on one side and try to show how some theological ideas were used by him to answer fundamental questions in the philosophy of mathematics.

God and religion in post-modern philosophers

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José J. Queiroz

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper is an essay on the positions of some post-modern philosophers on religion, with the debate about post-modernity as a background. Its preliminary objective is to situate post-modernity taking a position between plain acceptance and categorical refusal in contemporary society. In this polemical field, the paper focuses on three important post-modern philosophers by pointing their contributions for a new thinking about religion today. The procedure consists in the reading of the authors´ texts looking for an interpretation of their discourses on God, religion and the sacred. The conclusion is that post-modernity is not as new era overcoming modernity, but that it is comprised of new themes  that are on the fringes  or even  in opposite directions of modernity´s parameters . One can find these themes in many fields of human knowledge including theology and science of religion. On Derrida´s position, who is the most focused philosopher, the text is still embryonic as it comes from ongoing research.  

Mathematical Cultures : the London Meetings 2012-2014

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

This collection presents significant contributions from an international network project on mathematical cultures, including essays from leading scholars in the history and philosophy of mathematics and mathematics education. Mathematics has universal standards of validity. Nevertheless, there are local styles in mathematical research and teaching, and great variation in the place of mathematics in the larger cultures that mathematical practitioners belong to. The reflections on mathematical cultures collected in this book are of interest to mathematicians, philosophers, historians, sociologists, cognitive scientists and mathematics educators.

Bayesians versus frequentists a philosophical debate on statistical reasoning

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Vallverdú, Jordi

2016-01-01

This book analyzes the origins of statistical thinking as well as its related philosophical questions, such as causality, determinism or chance. Bayesian and frequentist approaches are subjected to a historical, cognitive and epistemological analysis, making it possible to not only compare the two competing theories, but to also find a potential solution. The work pursues a naturalistic approach, proceeding from the existence of numerosity in natural environments to the existence of contemporary formulas and methodologies to heuristic pragmatism, a concept introduced in the book’s final section. This monograph will be of interest to philosophers and historians of science and students in related fields. Despite the mathematical nature of the topic, no statistical background is required, making the book a valuable read for anyone interested in the history of statistics and human cognition.

Evaluating the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum

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M. Mardiana

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The study was to: (1 identify the interpretation toward the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum; and (2 evaluate the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum. In order to achieve these objectives, the researchers implemented the method of philosophy interpretation, namely a method that might discover an individual’s paradigm through the texts or the articles that he or she composed. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum the researchers implemented certain criteria and this effort was supported by the expert interview. The data were analyzed by means of hermeneutic method, namely the presence of a relationship among the three elements namely text, interpreter and reader. The conclusions of the study then were as follows: (1 the interpretation toward the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum contained six points namely: (a establishing and developing the nation’s attitude and civilization or the nation’s character, (b developing the curriculum based on the nation’s culture, (c referring to the fact that education had been a process of developing the learning participants’ potentials, (d referring to the fact that education had been based on the nation’s culture and experience in the past, (e referring to the fact that education had been basis of the nation’s life continuity and (f Referring to the fact that education had been adjusted to the life of the learning participants as an individual, a society member and a citizen; (2 the six philosophical reasons namely: (a perennialism, (b essentialism, (c progressivism, (d pragmatism, (e existentialism and (f reconstructionism; (3 the following evaluation results: (a the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum based on the interpretation results had provided clear educational objectives and functions, (b the philosophical foundation of 2013 Curriculum had been in accordance to facts, (c the philosophical foundation of 2013

Fuzzy pictures as philosophical problem and scientific practice a study of visual vagueness

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Cat, Jordi

2017-01-01

This book presents a comprehensive discussion on the characterization of vagueness in pictures. It reports on how the problem of representation of images has been approached in scientific practice, highlighting the role of mathematical methods and the philosophical background relevant for issues such as representation, categorization and reasoning. Without delving too much into the technical details, the book examines and defends different kinds of values of fuzziness based on a complex approach to categorization as a practice, adopting conceptual and empirical suggestions from different fields including the arts. It subsequently advances criticisms and provides suggestions for interpretation and application. By describing a cognitive framework based on fuzzy, rough and near sets, and discussing all of the relevant mathematical and philosophical theories for the representation and processing of vagueness in images, the book offers a practice-oriented guide to fuzzy visual reasoning, along with novel insights ...

Philosophical Foundations for Democracy: A Ukrainian Perspective

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Yuriy Myelkov

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The article intends to conduct a philosophical analysis of democracy as it is presented by democratization processes in societies under globalization. Turbulent political life or contemporary Ukraine with its recent ‘revolution’ provides an excellent example of such a process. The authors demonstrate that the processes in question could be denoted as rather manipulation and political technologies than democratic transition. They argue that democracy can only be understood correctly as the self-organization of society composed of free and conscious human personalities. They show that personality as the subject of democracy, opposed to crowds led by contemporary demagogues, is the only possibility to achieve real changes for a better society.

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT

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K. M. Alilova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The aim is to consider the relationship of philosophy and education; the article also reviews the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD, a global model for a special educational activity. We also discuss the features of the philosophical approach to the issue of sustainable development. Discussion. In research, we use the method of socio-natural approach, a new educational paradigm that combines the theory and concept of training and education within the anthropocentric approach based on humanistic philosophical ideas which laid the basis for understanding the person as the subject of life, history and culture. We analyzed environmental and educational aspects of sustainable development in the current context. In order to address these challenges, philosophy produces new concepts, theories and paradigms. It is necessary to work on people's motivation and values, develop their cooperation skills, teach civic engagement and democratic by action rather than words. Only a highly educated society can generate environmental paradigm and implement the strategy of sustainable development. Conclusions. We recommend transferring research outcomes into practice in schools starting with elementary school, as well as in vocational schools and universities. Clarifying the essence of the concept of education for sustainable development is possible through philosophical understanding of its genesis and ideas.

String figures as mathematics? an anthropological approach to string figure-making in oral tradition societies

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Vandendriessche, Eric

2015-01-01

This book addresses the mathematical rationality contained in the making of string figures. It does so by using interdisciplinary methods borrowed from anthropology, mathematics, history and philosophy of mathematics. The practice of string figure-making has long been carried out in many societies, and particularly in those of oral tradition. It consists in applying a succession of operations to a string (knotted into a loop), mostly using the fingers and sometimes the feet, the wrists or the mouth. This succession of operations is intended to generate a final figure. The book explores differ

Diego Velázquez's Kings, Buffoons and Philosophers in the Context of His Religious Paintings: the View from Russia (Philosophical-Anthropological Analysis

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Margarita Silantieva

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article is dedicated to the analysis of philosophic anthropology of the great Spanish artist of the 17th century Diego Velazquez. This anthropology is considered through the prism of the problems that set the life of contemporary Russia and its "reflections" in the present-day Russian artists' works. At that Velazquez's philosophical anthropology is reconstructed on the basis of his works. As a consequence, significant part of attention is paid to the method that allows performing such reconstruction. The author proceeds from the belief according to which not only written texts can be considered philosophically. The visual "texts" connected with certain world outlook component of art creative work undoubtedly possess definite semantics. Expressed by the language of art, such image lines contain intelligible sense component reconstruction of which can be subjected to strict scientific and philosophical analysis and corrected with its help. At that one should not think that the images are "translated" into "the text of words" - on the contrary, philosophical reconstruction implies not as "verbalization" of visual line as coherent to it logical mastering of the picture's sense (in this case against the background of historical and historical-philosophical "scenery". The urgency of turning to this problem is brought about by the fact that a number of questions that found vivid and coherent (as philosophical-anthropological research shows embodiment in Velazquez's creative work are extremely interesting for contemporary thinkers speaking the language of contemporary fine arts. "The topic of mirror" is among such questions and it deals with correlation of intellectual and rational in a person's consciousness, and, finally, there is the issue of the man as a bearer of moral principles. Comparison of attitudes shown by contemporary painting with Velazquez's ideas enables to trace the development of philosophical anthropology and in the area of its

Population Growth Rates: Connecting Mathematics to Studies of Society and the Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Ninbet, Steven; Hurley, Gabrielle; Weldon, Elizabeth

2006-01-01

This article reports on the teaching of a unit of lessons which integrates mathematics with studies of society and the environment. The unit entitled "Population Growth Rates" was taught to a double class of Year 6 students by a team of three teachers. The objectives of the unit were: (1) to provide students with a real-world context in…

Theoretical Mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Stöltzner, Michael

Answering to the double-faced influence of string theory on mathematical practice and rigour, the mathematical physicists Arthur Jaffe and Frank Quinn have contemplated the idea that there exists a `theoretical' mathematics (alongside `theoretical' physics) whose basic structures and results still require independent corroboration by mathematical proof. In this paper, I shall take the Jaffe-Quinn debate mainly as a problem of mathematical ontology and analyse it against the backdrop of two philosophical views that are appreciative towards informal mathematical development and conjectural results: Lakatos's methodology of proofs and refutations and John von Neumann's opportunistic reading of Hilbert's axiomatic method. The comparison of both approaches shows that mitigating Lakatos's falsificationism makes his insights about mathematical quasi-ontology more relevant to 20th century mathematics in which new structures are introduced by axiomatisation and not necessarily motivated by informal ancestors. The final section discusses the consequences of string theorists' claim to finality for the theory's mathematical make-up. I argue that ontological reductionism as advocated by particle physicists and the quest for mathematically deeper axioms do not necessarily lead to identical results.

2015 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics

CERN Document Server

Landry, Elaine

2016-01-01

This volume contains seventeen papers that were presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics/La Société Canadienne d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Mathématiques, held in Washington, D.C. In addition to showcasing rigorously reviewed modern scholarship on an interesting variety of general topics in the history and philosophy of mathematics, this meeting also honored the memories of Jacqueline (Jackie) Stedall and Ivor Grattan-Guinness; celebrated the Centennial of the Mathematical Association of America; and considered the importance of mathematical communities in a special session. These themes and many others are explored in these collected papers, which cover subjects such as New evidence that the Latin translation of Euclid’s Elements was based on the Arabic version attributed to al-Ḥajjāj Work done on the arc rampant in the seventeenth century The history of numerical methods for finding roots of nonlinear equations An original play feat...

2014 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics

CERN Document Server

Landry, Elaine

2015-01-01

This volume contains thirteen papers that were presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Mathematics/La Société Canadienne d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Mathématiques, held on the campus of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It contains rigorously reviewed modern scholarship on general topics in the history and philosophy of mathematics, as well as on the meeting’s special topic, Early Scientific Computation. These papers cover subjects such as •Physical tools used by mathematicians in the seventeenth century •The first historical appearance of the game-theoretical concept of mixed-strategy equilibrium •George Washington’s mathematical cyphering books •The development of the Venn diagram •The role of Euler and other mathematicians in the development of algebraic analysis •Arthur Cayley and Alfred Kempe’s influence on Charles Peirce's diagrammatic logic •The influence publishers had on the development of mathematical...

Daring to Question: A Philosophical Critique of Community Music

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Kertz-Welzel, Alexandra

2016-01-01

Community music is a successful concept in the world of music and music education. Based on ethnomusicological research, community music tries to implement the notion of music for all that transforms societies and people. While celebrating informal learning and the musical amateur, community music has never really been philosophically challenged…

[Building mathematics in imagination].

Science.gov (United States)

Patras, Frédéric

2015-01-01

The extraordinary quantitative achievements of contemporary science often hide their qualitative dimension. In mathematics, the understanding of fundamental theoretical phenomena we have got today goes much beyond that achieved in previous periods. This also holds when it comes to the theorisation of mathematical practice.Philosophically, these changes remain largely to be properly analyzed. The present article will address this issue from the point of view of Bachelard's epistemology.

A philosophical approach to quantum field theory

CERN Document Server

Öttinger, Hans Christian

2015-01-01

This text presents an intuitive and robust mathematical image of fundamental particle physics based on a novel approach to quantum field theory, which is guided by four carefully motivated metaphysical postulates. In particular, the book explores a dissipative approach to quantum field theory, which is illustrated for scalar field theory and quantum electrodynamics, and proposes an attractive explanation of the Planck scale in quantum gravity. Offering a radically new perspective on this topic, the book focuses on the conceptual foundations of quantum field theory and ontological questions. It also suggests a new stochastic simulation technique in quantum field theory which is complementary to existing ones. Encouraging rigor in a field containing many mathematical subtleties and pitfalls this text is a helpful companion for students of physics and philosophers interested in quantum field theory, and it allows readers to gain an intuitive rather than a formal understanding.

Structure and unity. Trancendence-philosophical interpretation of quantum physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambrecht, Juergen

2013-01-01

Since their beginnings at the begin of the 20th century quantum physics in the ontological and epistemological interpretation of their results is facing persistent difficulties, which could not be satisfactorily solved to this day. Some quantum phenomena are beyond of both our everyday understanding of the world and the classical-physical picture of the world, which is essentially based on the mechanics of Isaac Newton. They exceed our imagination and seem at least partly contradict logical and space-time laws. Transcendence-philosophical thinking, which exhibits a close structural relation to the logics of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and to the philosophical systems analysis, provides a set of methodological instruments, which can help to avoid some problems of quantum-theoretical interpretation, which are in striking contrast to the mathematically consistent formulation of quantum theory. This is paradigmatically shown by selected main themes of the quantum-theoretical discussion.

Noticing Young Children's Mathematical Strengths and Agency

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Dockett, Sue; Goff, Wendy

2013-01-01

This paper promotes the importance of noticing young children's mathematical strengths. It draws on the philosophical positions of children's rights and competence to propose a shift in the ways in which all involved might notice the mathematical engagement, understandings, experiences and practices of young children. Noticing children's…

Classical mathematics from Al-Khwarizmi to Descartes

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Rashed, Roshdi

2014-01-01

This book follows the development of classical mathematics and the relation between work done in the Arab and Islamic worlds and that undertaken by the likes of Descartes and Fermat.'Early modern,' mathematics is a term widely used to refer to the mathematics which developed in the West during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. For many historians and philosophers this is the watershed which marks a radical departure from 'classical mathematics,' to more modern mathematics; heralding the arrival of algebra, geometrical algebra, and the mathematics of the continuous. In this book, Roshdi Ra

Mathematical models in medicine: Diseases and epidemics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witten, M.

1987-01-01

This volume presents the numerous applications of mathematics in the life sciences and medicine, and demonstrates how mathematics and computers have taken root in these fields. The work covers a variety of techniques and applications including mathematical and modelling methodology, modelling/simulation technology, and philosophical issues in model formulation, leading to speciality medical modelling, artificial intelligence, psychiatric models, medical decision making, and molecular modelling

Mathematics Education as a Practice: A Theoretical Position

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Grootenboer, Peter; Edwards-Groves, Christine

2013-01-01

In this paper we will examine mathematics education using practice theory. We outline the theoretical and philosophical ideas that have been developed, and in particular, we discuss the "sayings," "doings," and "relatings" inherent in the teaching and learning practices of mathematics education. This theorising is…

Recent development in school mathematics' roles and relations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindenskov, Lena; Andresen, Mette

2010-01-01

The article sketches a national profile of Danish educational policy and school practice by three perspectives: regulations and teachers' autonomy, educational aims and goals, and students' attitudes towards mathematics. We present the enrollment of mathematics in a new construct, multi...... disciplinarity, introduced recently into Danish upper secondary schools with academically oriented programs. The potentials of multi-disciplinary mathematics teaxching at all levels are analysed and discussed within Realistic Mathematics Education Theory and philosophical approach to mathematical reflections...

Diagram, Gesture, Agency: Theorizing Embodiment in the Mathematics Classroom

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de Freitas, Elizabeth; Sinclair, Nathalie

2012-01-01

In this paper, we use the work of philosopher Gilles Chatelet to rethink the gesture/diagram relationship and to explore the ways mathematical agency is constituted through it. We argue for a fundamental philosophical shift to better conceptualize the relationship between gesture and diagram, and suggest that such an approach might open up new…

Philosophical Hermeneutic Interviewing

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Roxanne K. Vandermause PhD, RN

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This article describes, exemplifies and discusses the use of the philosophical hermeneutic interview and its distinguishing characteristics. Excerpts of interviews from a philosophical hermeneutic study are used to show how this particular phenomenological tradition is applied to research inquiry. The purpose of the article is to lay out the foundational background for philosophical hermeneutics in a way that clarifies its unique approach to interviewing and its usefulness for advancing health care knowledge. Implications for health care research and practice are addressed.

The Concept of Philosophical Education

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Boyum, Steinar

2010-01-01

Strangely, the concept of philosophical education is not much in use, at least not as a "philosophical" concept. In this essay, Steinar Boyum attempts to outline such a philosophical concept of philosophical education. Boyum uses Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Rene Descartes's life of doubt, and Immanuel Kant's criticism of metaphysics as paradigms…

Being, doing and leading in the project society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Anders; Geraldi, Joana; Thuesen, Christian

2017-01-01

explores strategies for living in the project society. Guided by the philosophical concepts of activity, time, space and relations, we explore the project society as an ideal type, in opposition to the disciplinary society. We discuss implications of being, doing and leading in a project society. Taken...

A beginner's guide to mathematical logic

CERN Document Server

Smullyan, Raymond M

2014-01-01

Combining stories of great philosophers, quotations, and riddles with the fundamentals of mathematical logic, this new textbook for first courses in mathematical logic was written by the subject's creative master. Raymond Smullyan offers clear, incremental presentations of difficult logic concepts with creative explanations and unique problems related to proofs, propositional logic and first-order logic, undecidability, recursion theory, and other topics.

Well-being, capabilities and philosophical practice

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Bulatović Aleksandra

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The concept of well being has become the main criterion to assess quality of life in contemporary society. Individual well-being describes the individual quality of life, while social well-being refers to quality of life in a society. Given that well-being has a multitude of dimensions, a unique definition of it is elusive to scholars. In this article social well-being is conceptualised as a dynamic process within the context set by social integration as one’s relationship to society and the community. This includes the quality of interaction between the individual and society and one’s ‘social actualisation’ understood as the realisation of one’s social capacities. Social actualisation also involves one’s ability to influence social processes and to benefit from social cohesion, which consists, in any society, of the quality, organisation and functioning of the social world. Hence the ability to impact society is an integral part of individual well being. This paper suggests that philosophical practice as a new paradigm in the humanities holds out promise for the improvement of both individual and social well-being. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47011: Crime in Serbia: Phenomenology, Risks and Possibilities for Social Intervention

Fighting corruption – a philosophical approach

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Schalk W. Vorster

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Corruption has reached astounding proportions in South Africa. The purpose of this article is to contribute to philosophical approaches aimed at combating corruption. In considering punishment for acts of corruption the most common approach is based on the philosophical theory of consequentialism, which allows only consideration of the consequences of corrupt acts. Ideally, cognisance should be taken of the norms in question, especially those norms demanding the judicious execution of obligations. It was, however, found that the Kantian categorical imperative presupposes an ideal rational society. The imperative has to be ‘softened’ by also allowing for enquiry about the corruptor’s personal circumstances, in the light of Christ’s love commandment. This article highlights the most prominent attributes of two important philosophical theories applicable to the study of corruption, namely utilitarianism (a variant of consequentialism and deontology. It is argued that qualified deontological and utilitistic approaches hold the best promise to curb corruption in the long run. The conclusion is that the state will urgently have to attend to the social context by revitalising programmes of ‘social renewal’, based on effective application of the law, the provision of adequate education and the eradication of poverty. There is also an urgent need for the ‘moral renewal’ of the entire population, focused on Christian values, operationalised within the context of the South Africa of today. Herein lies a massive task for the church.

Is Proust a philosopher?

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Luc Fraisse

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Different philosophers pondered on Proust’s novel, including those who formulated a subtle hypothesis that philosophical thought that emerged from the novel went beyond the passages of philosophical character that could be found in Proust’s work. It is difficult to determine precisely Proust’s approach towards the novel which he, alternately, favors or disdains. A hypothesis has been formulated that In Search of Lost Time shapes the fiction in the style of Shelling’s and Schopenhauer’s philosophy; it is pointed out that the novelist developed a kind of rivalry between him and his second cousin Bergson. Proust received a thorough education in philosophy yet philosophy is only present in his novel in an anecdotal form. The debate that he starts between idealism and philosophical realism in his prose takes the form of a discussion between symbolism and naturalism. The reconstruction of Proust’s philosophical culture leads to the observation that it is, without a doubt, significantly influenced in different ways by two philosophers: Leibniz and Kant. Still, the writer does not admit to being impacted by any particular thinker; therefore, his narrator’s line of thought is constantly changing in such a way that any school of philosophical thought that appears in the novel is present only for a short while.

Philosophy of mathematics an introduction to a world of proofs and pictures

CERN Document Server

Brown, James Robert

1999-01-01

This text discusses the great philosophers and the importance of mathematics to their thought. It includes topics such as: the mathematical image; platonism; picture-proofs; applied mathematics; Hilbert and Godel; knots and nations; definitions; picture-proofs and Wittgenstein; and computation, proof and conjecture.

Narrative plots of teaching mathematics to improve the breed in Colombian society

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Néstor Fernando Guerrero Recalde

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This article seeks to show the reasons which have led to consider the school as a privileged institution for the civilizing process. In particular understand the reasons which have led to argue that mathematical knowledge are key to the formation of the civilized individual parts. To account for this thesis was chosen in the history of Colombia the period 1873-1960, which have called period of "eugenic math" or "period of improving the race." In this period we are oriented to eliminate those features of our society seen as savage and barbaric speech. Also, this speech was accompanied with the idea of building a new republic from scientific educational devices. The most prominent figure in this period were the german physical and mathematical Julius Sieber.

[The concept of mania in Greek medical and philosophical literature].

Science.gov (United States)

Corleto, L M

1992-01-01

Coverage of the concept of mania in late archaic Greek culture displays a clear difference between its use in medical and philosophical works. Medical literature uses the terms [Greek] and [Greek] to describe mania, with the condition seen largely associated with physical illness. Specific treatment for this attered psychic state is not advanced. The philosophical view sees mania as a divine folly and thus possessing positive as well as negative aspects. Plate identifies four types of mania and treatment is closely associated with the divinity seen as responsible for that particular type. The radical rationalism found in the medical literature is a counterpoint to moderation as shown by Plato with his interest on regulations of society.

The Centrality of Philosophical Anthropology to (a Future) Environmental Ethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Gare, Arran

2016-01-01

While environmental ethics has successfully established itself in philosophy, as presently conceived it is still largely irrelevant to grappling the global ecological crisis because, as Alasdair MacIntyre has argued, ethical philosophy itself is in grave disorder. MacIntyre's historically oriented recovery of virtue ethics is defended, but it is argued that even MacIntyre was too constrained by received assumptions to overcome this disorder. As he himself realized, his ideas need to be integrated and defended through philosophical anthropology. However, it is suggested that current defenders of philosophical anthropology have not done it justice. To appreciate its importance it is necessary accept that we are cultural beings in which the core of culture is the conception of what are humans. This is presupposed not only in thought but in social practices and forms of life. This was understood by Aristotle, but modernity has been straightjacketed by the Seventeenth Century scientific revolution and Hobbes' philosophical anthropology, identifying knowledge and with techno-science and eliminating any place for questioning this conception of humans. The only conception of humanity that could successfully challenge and replace Hobbes' philosophical anthropology, it is argued, is Hegel's philosophical anthropology reformulated and developed on naturalistic foundations. This involves subordinating science to a reconceived humanities with a fundamentally different role accorded to ethics, placing it at the center of social life, politics and economics and at the centre of the struggle to transform culture and society to create an ecologically sustainable civilization.

The origins of the consumer society: socio-philosophical analysis

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O. O. Serdyuk

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the prerequisites of the consumer society and the theories of «consumer revolution». According to these theories, the formation of consumer society began long before the industrial age, consumerism revolution is represented by a consequence of economic development of production and markets at the end of the eighteenth century, which contributed to a significant expansion of public participation in the consumption and the changing of role of things in social life. It is shown that in this time consumption becomes more demonstrative, the status of things, is changing which is beginning to be appreciated not its durability, utility, and compliance with the latest fashion trends and prestige. The author believes that in the eighteenth century consumption only began to emerge and was not spread to the in public general, was part of a private rather than public life, being limited practice of general population. Concepts of consumer revolution are retrospective theories aimed to study of the origins of the trends of development of the society acquired relevance in our time. The author concludes that in traditional and premodern societies consumption due to objective reasons could not be widespread.

Philosophic-educational intelligence analysis as a subject of marketing management

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N. V. Litvinenko

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Philosophy of Education creates conceptual and methodological prerequisites for distribution to the field of marketing management in education as a portion of the general laws of development of scientific knowledge. Marketing management education facilitates the implementation of a sociologically principles, adapting to their needs sociocentrical priorities developed within the philosophy of education. The most significant factor in social development has been the ability of society to the creation and innovation through the use of their intellectual potential. The concept of intellectual capacity within the philosophical and educational research marketing management should be used primarily in view of its importance for personal development needs analysis in the context of the needs of social and economic development, that is a combination of the characteristics of carrier capacity (human and its socio­cultural environment. For marketing management education is most important composition of individual intellectual potential. The most heuristic value for philosophical and educational analysis of marketing management has its creative cognitive component that directs people to the practical application of knowledge and mental abilities. Intellectual potential can be seen within the philosophical and educational analysis of marketing management is quite close to the economic category of «human capital» and the philosophical category of «personal capacity».

Philosophical Roots of Cosmology

Science.gov (United States)

Ivanovic, M.

2008-10-01

We shall consider the philosophical roots of cosmology in the earlier Greek philosophy. Our goal is to answer the question: Are earlier Greek theories of pure philosophical-mythological character, as often philosophers cited it, or they have scientific character. On the bases of methodological criteria, we shall contend that the latter is the case. In order to answer the question about contemporary situation of the relation philosophy-cosmology, we shall consider the next question: Is contemporary cosmology completely independent of philosophical conjectures? The answer demands consideration of methodological character about scientific status of contemporary cosmology. We also consider some aspects of the relation contemporary philosophy-cosmology.

Problematising Mathematics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Begg, Andy

2015-01-01

We assume many things when considering our practice, but our assumptions limit what we do. In this theoretical/philosophical paper I consider some assumptions that relate to our work. My purpose is to stimulate a debate, a search for alternatives, and to help us improve mathematics education by influencing our future curriculum documents and…

Johannes Kinker. A Kantian Philosopher Teaching Dutch Language, Literature and Eloquence.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wal, van der M.J.

2018-01-01

The cosmopolitan citizen and Kantian philosopher Johannes Kinker, who had played a leading role in many institutions and societies of the northern Netherlands, held the newly founded Dutch chair in Liège for more than a decade. The present chapter addresses the questions why he accepted this post,

Socio-philosophical preconditions of formation of the concept of security in protosociology

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L. V. Kalashnikova

2016-08-01

The development of the theory of security is impossible without taking into account the foundations of social and philosophical heritage in this area, which is often out of sight of researchers. Socio-philosophical prerequisites of security concept creates the necessary conditions for the formation of general ideas about it as an objective reality, the study of which with the use of scientific and special methods of knowledge allows us to formulate the basic laws, scientific system of safety management principles that will ensure the safe existence of the person, the effective functioning of society and the state.

PHILOSOPHERS BEFORE AND AFTER SPACEFLIGHT

OpenAIRE

Fabio Grigenti

2011-01-01

In my contribution, I will show the ways by which philosophers have treated the topic of space-travel before and after its implementation. I will discuss the following points: a) Introduction: the human condition. b) Philosophers before spaceflight: the Astolfo Protocol. c) Philosophers after spaceflight: the Promethean suspect. In this paper I will emphasize the elements of two different and alternative visions of spaceflight that can be found in the Western tradition of philosophical thought.

The nature and power of mathematics

CERN Document Server

Davis, Donald M

2004-01-01

This captivating book explains some of mathematics' most fascinating ideas to nonspecialists. It explores items of philosophical and historical interest, discusses the often-surprising applicability of mathematics, and reveals the subject's intrinsic beauty. Author Donald M. Davis focuses on three main areas: non-Euclidean geometry, a basis for relativity theory; number theory, a major component of cryptography; and fractals, the key elements of computer-generated art. He also discusses related topics, such as the relevance of Greek mathematics to Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and the th

PHILOSOPHERS BEFORE AND AFTER SPACEFLIGHT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Grigenti

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In my contribution, I will show the ways by which philosophers have treated the topic of space-travel before and after its implementation. I will discuss the following points: a Introduction: the human condition. b Philosophers before spaceflight: the Astolfo Protocol. c Philosophers after spaceflight: the Promethean suspect. In this paper I will emphasize the elements of two different and alternative visions of spaceflight that can be found in the Western tradition of philosophical thought.

Archives: Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Items 1 - 26 of 26 ... Archives: Philosophical Papers. Journal Home > Archives: Philosophical Papers. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. Username, Password, Remember me, or Register · Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives. 1 - 26 of 26 Items. 2008. Vol 37 ...

The Philosophy of Mathematics Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

mathematics education, and the most relevant modern movements in the philosophy of mathematics. A case study is provided of an emerging research tradition in one country. This is the Hermeneutic strand of research in the philosophy of mathematics education in Brazil. This illustrates one orientation towards......This survey provides a brief and selective overview of research in the philosophy of mathematics education. It asks what makes up the philosophy of mathematics education, what it means, what questions it asks and answers, and what is its overall importance and use? It provides overviews of critical...... research inquiry in the philosophy of mathematics education. It is part of a broader practice of ‘philosophical archaeology’: the uncovering of hidden assumptions and buried ideologies within the concepts and methods of research and practice in mathematics education. An extensive bibliography is also...

Is Proust a philosopher?

OpenAIRE

Luc Fraisse

2015-01-01

Different philosophers pondered on Proust’s novel, including those who formulated a subtle hypothesis that philosophical thought that emerged from the novel went beyond the passages of philosophical character that could be found in Proust’s work. It is difficult to determine precisely Proust’s approach towards the novel which he, alternately, favors or disdains. A hypothesis has been formulated that In Search of Lost Time shapes the fiction in the style of Shelling’s and Schopenhauer’s philos...

The mathematical works of Bernard Bolzano

CERN Document Server

Russ, Steve

2004-01-01

Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848, Prague) was a remarkable thinker and reformer far ahead of his time in many areas, including philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, logic, and mathematics. Aimed at historians and philosophers of both mathematics and logic, and research students in those fields, this volume contains English translations, in most cases for the first time, of many of Bolzano's most significant mathematical writings. - ;Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848, Prague) was a remarkable thinker and reformer far ahead of his time in many areas, including philosophy, theology, ethics, politics, logic,

Using emergent order to shape a space society

Science.gov (United States)

Graps, Amara L.

1993-01-01

A fast-growing movement in the scientific community is reshaping the way that we view the world around us. The short-hand name for this movement is 'chaos'. Chaos is a science of the global, nonlinear nature of systems. The center of this set of ideas is that simple, deterministic systems can breed complexity. Systems as complex as the human body, ecology, the mind or a human society. While it is true that simple laws can breed complexity, the other side is that complex systems can breed order. It is the latter that I will focus on in this paper. In the past, nonlinear was nearly synonymous with unsolvable because no general analytic solutions exist. Mathematically, an essential difference exists between linear and nonlinear systems. For linear systems, you just break up the complicated system into many simple pieces and patch together the separated solutions for each piece to form a solution to the full problem. In contrast, solutions to a nonlinear system cannot be added to form a new solution. The system must be treated in its full complexity. While it is true that no general analytical approach exists for reducing a complex system such as a society, it can be modeled. The technical involves a mathematical construct called phase space. In this space stable structures can appear which I use as analogies for the stable structures that appear in a complex system such as an ecology, the mind or a society. The common denominator in all of these systems is that they rely on a process called feedback loops. Feedback loops link the microscopic (individual) parts to the macroscopic (global) parts. The key, then, in shaping a space society, is in effectively using feedback loops. This paper will illustrate how one can model a space society by using methods that chaoticists have developed over the last hundred years. And I will show that common threads exist in the modeling of biological, economical, philosophical, and sociological systems.

Love, Truth, Peace and Death as Extolled by Selected Literary Philosophers: Inputs in Understanding Spirituality as a Transformative Agent of Society

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Dr. Maria Luisa A. Valdez

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This qualitative study analyzed the selected works of the Christian mystics St. Augustine, St. Anselm, and William Blake as well as those of the Oriental mystics Confucius, and Rabindranath Tagore pointing out events and situations on how mysticism is reflected in their works. Likewise, this study tried to present how these identified literary philosophers extolled the meaning of love, truth, peace and death which serve as inputs in understanding spirituality as a transformative agent of the society. The selected writings consider the direct union of the human soul with the Divine through contemplation, meditation, prayer and love as the end of these mystics’ philosophy. For in these selected prose and poetry manifest their mystical attitude and the spiritual truth that the meaning of human existence is the mindful and enlightened manifestation of love as the core of human life and the divine supreme law that guides humanity. The spiritual manifestations of human existence find their noblest expressions and exemplifications on their lives and works. There surfaces a unifying thread interwoven in all their works which centers on the constant and balanced yearning of men to be united with the Divine. These inputs serve as a new paradigm in understanding spirituality as a transformative agent of society.

Russell's Unknown Logicism A Study in the History and Philosophy of Mathematics

CERN Document Server

Gandon, Professor Sebastien

2012-01-01

In this excellent book Sebastien Gandon focuses mainly on Russell's two major texts, Principa Mathematica and Principle of Mathematics, meticulously unpicking the details of these texts and bringing a new interpretation of both the mathematical and the philosophical content.

Frontiers in mathematical biology

CERN Document Server

1994-01-01

Volume 100, which is the final volume of the LNBM series serves to commemorate the acievements in two decades of this influential collection of books in mathematical biology. The contributions, by the leading mathematical biologists, survey the state of the art in the subject, and offer speculative, philosophical and critical analyses of the key issues confronting the field. The papers address fundamental issues in cell and molecular biology, organismal biology, evolutionary biology, population ecology, community and ecosystem ecology, and applied biology, plus the explicit and implicit mathematical challenges. Cross-cuttting issues involve the problem of variation among units in nonlinear systems, and the related problems of the interactions among phenomena across scales of space, time and organizational complexity.

Leśniewski's systems of logic and foundations of mathematics

CERN Document Server

Urbaniak, Rafal

2014-01-01

This meticulous critical assessment of the ground-breaking work of philosopher Stanislaw  Leśniewski focuses exclusively on primary texts and explores the full range of output by one of the master logicians of the Lvov-Warsaw school. The author’s nuanced survey eschews secondary commentary, analyzing Leśniewski's core philosophical views and evaluating the formulations that were to have such a profound influence on the evolution of mathematical logic.   One of the undisputed leaders of the cohort of brilliant logicians that congregated in Poland in the early twentieth century, Leśniewski was a guide and mentor to a generation of celebrated analytical philosophers (Alfred Tarski was his PhD student). His primary achievement was a system of foundational mathematical logic intended as an alternative to the Principia Mathematica of Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell. Its three strands—‘protothetic’, ‘ontology’, and ‘mereology’, are detailed in discrete sections of this volume, alongs...

Further Questions: A Way Out of the Present Philosophical Situation (via Foucault

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Leonard Lawlor

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Let us begin by assembling some signs of the present philosophical situation. On the one hand, the most important living French philosopher, Alain Badiou, calls for a “return to Plato,” despite the movement of anti-Platonism that dominated French and German thought in the 20th century. On the other hand, the present moment sees a resurgence of naturalism in philosophy in general (including and especially Anglophone analytic philosophy, despite the criticisms of naturalism that have appeared throughout the 20th century. Phenomenology seems to be at the center of both of these movements. On the one hand, it is the idea of a mathematized ontology that requires the return to Plato, a mathematized ontology constructed without a reflection on its transcendental grounds. On the other, the resurgence of naturalism is so strong that a book could be imagined and published with the bastard name of Naturalizing Phenomenology, as if the transcendental moment of phenomenology did not transform the very meaning of nature. These signs seem to indicate that we have entered into a phase of regression or even decline in philosophical thinking. If this interpretation of the signs is correct, if we have indeed entered into a phase of regression -- a twofold regression toward Platonism and toward naturalism -- we must ask the following question: is it possible for us to define something like a project or even a research agenda that would allow us to define a way of thinking that might lead us out of the present situation, a situation, it must be said, that seems dire for philosophy in general? If we can determine such a research agenda, perhaps we can also begin to understand what the tradition of “continental philosophy” has stood for.

Boethius and the Importance of Basic Logic and Mathematics for Philosophy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Qi

2014-01-01

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (480-525 A.D.) is regarded as a great thinker of the early Middle Ages. Indeed, Boethius is a man of immense erudition and his works touch upon many philosophical fields, including mathematics, logic and theology. In Boethius’ classification system, mathematics and

Overview of the ANS [American Nuclear Society] mathematics and computation software standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smetana, A.O.

1991-01-01

The Mathematics and Computations Division of the American Nuclear Society sponsors the ANS-10 Standards Subcommittee. This subcommittee, which is part of the ANS Standards Committee, currently maintains four ANSI/ANS software standards. These standards are: Recommended Programming Practices to Facilitate the Portability of Scientific Computer Programs, ANS-10.2; Guidelines for the Documentation of Computer Software, ANS-10.3; Guidelines for the Verification and Validation of Scientific and Engineering Computer Programs for the Nuclear Industry, ANS-10.4; and Guidelines for Accommodating User Needs in Computer Program Development, ANS-10.5. 5 refs

Early Modern Philosophical Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. van Bunge (Wiep)

2014-01-01

textabstractThe occurrence of an entry on early modern philosophical systems in an encyclopaedia of Neo-Latin studies is fraught with complications, if only on account of the gradual disappearance during the early modern period of Latin as the main vehicle of philosophical communication. What

Intuitionism vs. classicism a mathematical attack on classical logic

CERN Document Server

Haverkamp, Nick

2015-01-01

In the early twentieth century, the Dutch mathematician L.E.J. Brouwer launched a powerful attack on the prevailing mathematical methods and theories. He developed a new kind of constructive mathematics, called intuitionism, which seems to allow for a rigorous refutation of widely accepted mathematical assumptions including fundamental principles of classical logic. Following an intense mathematical debate esp. in the 1920s, Brouwer's revolutionary criticism became a central philosophical concern in the 1970s, when Michael Dummett tried to substantiate it with meaning-theoretic considerations.

Applications of Mathematical Logic in Philosophy and Linguistics, Papers of a Conference

CERN Document Server

Malzkom, Wolfgang; Räsch, Thoralf

2003-01-01

"Foundations of the Formal Sciences" (FotFS) is a series of interdisciplinary conferences in mathematics, philosophy, computer science and linguistics. The main goal is to reestablish the traditionally strong links between these areas of research that have been lost in the past decades. The second conference in the series had the subtitle "Applications of Mathematical Logic in Philosophy and Linguistics" and brought speakers from all parts of the Formal Sciences together to give a holistic view of how mathematical methods can improve our philosophical and technical understanding of language and scientific discourse, ranging from the theoretical level up to applications in language recognition software. Audience: This volume is of interest to all formal philosophers and theoretical linguists. In addition to that, logicians interested in the applications of their field and logic students in mathematics, computer science, philosophy and linguistics can use the volume to broaden their knowledge of applications of...

Popular lectures on mathematical logic

CERN Document Server

Wang, Hao

2014-01-01

A noted logician and philosopher addresses various forms of mathematical logic, discussing both theoretical underpinnings and practical applications. Author Hao Wang surveys the central concepts and theories of the discipline in a historical and developmental context, and then focuses on the four principal domains of contemporary mathematical logic: set theory, model theory, recursion theory and constructivism, and proof theory.Topics include the place of problems in the development of theories of logic and logic's relation to computer science. Specific attention is given to Gödel's incomplete

On the difficulties of acquiring mathematical experience: Case rural education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Booss-Bavnbek, Bernhelm

2014-01-01

Based on a variety of philosophical approaches and my own work for decades in pure and applied mathematics teaching and research, I explain my view upon the basic difficulties of acquiring the “Mathematical Experience” (in the sense of P.J. Davis and R. Hersh 1981) and submit a list of claims how...

Why is there Philosophy of Mathematics AT ALL? | Hacking | South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mathematics plays an inordinate role in the work of many of famous Western philosophers, from the time of Plato, through Husserl and Wittgenstein, and even to the present. Why? This paper points to the experience of learning or making mathematics, with an emphasis on proof. It distinguishes two sources of the perennial ...

The philosopher and the phenomenologist

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Daniele Valli

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns the relation between philosophy and philosophical practice in the husserlian paradigm of phenomenology. The role and the method that Husserl conceives for the philosopher are related unavoidably to his theoretical system. During his long and hard work, he deals with the question of the genesis of logic in the platonic-aristotelic dichotomy, with the connection between philosophy and objective sciences and with the problem of phenomenology as descriptive practice. Thanks to this reflections, in The crisis of european sciences he conceives the role of the philosopher with a precise historical and ethical function. This new model represents one of the last philosophical systems as a universal theory.

Epicureanism as a Foundation for Philosophical Counseling

OpenAIRE

Fatić, Aleksandar

2013-01-01

The paper discusses the manner and extent to which Epicurean ethics can serve as a general philosophy of life, capable of supporting philosophical practice in the form of philosophical counseling. Unlike the modern age academic philosophy, the philosophical practice movement portrays the philosopher as a personal or corporate advisor, one who helps people make sense of their experiences and find optimum solutions within the context of their values and general preferences. Philosophical counse...

Tolstoy’s Philosophic System and Taoism

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Lu Venya

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the intensive economic growth and consumer society formation, there expands a view that the human life value depends mainly on the material benefits and money; meanwhile, the moral values trail behind leading the humanity towards the spiritual crisis. The author recommends addressing the heritage of our great ancestors and studying both the works of L. N. Tolstoy and Taoism philosophy in order to maintain the spiritual self and revive our faith in human powers. Taoism is the native law of the world’s order demonstrating the natural ways of life, developing the harmonious life style, and teaching the natural control methods in compliance with the laws of nature.For the most Russian and Chinese readers Lev Tolstoy is a great writer and thinker; his philosophic system being one of the most significant in the Russian spirituality and ideology. L. Tolstoy rejected the western rationalism and studied the Chinese philosophic and religious doctrines. The author conducted a comparative analysis of Tolstoy’s concepts (non-resistance to evil by violence, wise non- doing and Taoism key concepts, and makes a conclusion about their organic interrelations, and the influence of the Chinese wisdom on Tolstoy’s works and worldview. 

La voix du philosophe Laruelle

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Gilbert Kieffer

2018-03-01

(Abstract   What is a voice in the context of the arts and philosophy? In the space of the philosopher's voice, in the complex grammar of his language is played his philosophical timbre, his own space, his particular voice, composed of concepts, articulated by the laws of coherence of the common philosophical language, with hypnotic specificities. These specificities are precisely the fruit of processes formerly called rhetoric, which I call non-hypnotics (of generalized hypnotic space, one of whose functions is just to speak in a double space: the common reference space of the reader or listener, and the conceptual virtual space peculiar to the philosopher. To the extent that the reader must pay increased and permanent attention to this double space, the philosophical trance effect, equivalent to the Ericksonian hypnotic trance, is facilitated. The difficulty of this double reading is the incessant passage from one code to another, which is also a hypnotic fascination. Heidegger prolongs and renews its structures and draws some effects from them, which provoke in the mind of the reader as an over-flow, a saturation effect, which itself favors the philosophical trance. Thus, each voice seeks to captivate the mind by confusing it with concepts, which seem at first sight familiar, but which reveal themselves with the use which is made, like formidable concepts to the power of unaccustomed fascination. One of the pleasures of reading Lareuelle's philosophy is due to this type of fascination with the philosophical voice and its language.

Freedom in mathematics

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Cartier, Pierre; Heinzmann, Gerhard; Villani, Cédric

2016-01-01

This book challenges the views put forward by Pierre Cartier, one of the anchors of the famous Bourbaki group, and Cédric Villani, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his generation, who received the Fields Medal in 2010. Jean Dhombres, mathematician and science historian, and Gerhard Heinzmann, philosopher of science and also a specialist in mathematics engage in a fruitful dialogue with the two mathematicians, prompting readers to reflect on mathematical activity and its social consequences in history as well as in the modern world. Cédric Villani’s popular success proves once again that a common awareness has developed, albeit in a very confused way, of the major role of mathematics in the construction and efficiency of natural sciences, which are at the origin of our technologies. Despite this, the idea that mathematics cannot be shared remains firmly entrenched, a perceived failing that has even been branded a lack of culture by vocal forces in the media as well as cultural and political esta...

How to transform economics? A philosophical appraisal

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Deniz Kellecioglu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Ten years after the global financial crisis there is hardly any evidence that the theories, teaching and policies of mainstream economics have changed. This paper is an attempt to contribute to the greater understanding of this persistence, but also to the discussion on what the requirements are to materialise a transformation in economics, given the dismal outcomes in the world economy. The analytical approach of the paper is to utilise relevant philosophical accounts that point out attributes of dominant discourses, and methodological requirements to supersede an already dominant discourse. The objective is to contribute to an improved understanding of factors that obstruct or construct transformations in a knowledge field such as economics; and thereby contribute to transformation efforts, preferably for a more pluralist and emancipatory economics. Given the complexities and the tensions between different philosophical positions, the conclusions of this appraisal are summarised into five criteria that appear essential to realise a successful transformation in economics: critical juncture; dissimilarity; scholar validation; sensibility; and external power. It is suggested to revise efforts to fulfil these criteria as much, and as soon as possible, given the importance and urgency of changing the trajectory of our economies and societies.

“Sketches of landscapes”: On philosophical poems

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Troy Jollimore

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Is it possible to do philosophy by writing lyric poems—or reading them? How can a poem be genuinely philosophical, and can a philosophical poem do something that straightforward philosophical writing cannot do? Some have suggested that poems and philosophical writings have different aims and are subject to different and conflicting demands, which would render it difficult if not impossible to write a successful philosophical poem. I suggest that while this is true with respect to the aims of the standard academic philosophical journal essay, there is a different way of doing philosophical work—one that pays close attention to actual thought processes and that dramatizes the interplay of ideas—that lyric poetry is quite well suited to take on. Such work may be significant not only in helping us better understand human consciousness, but in letting us grasp insights and aspects of our experience of the world which the philosophical demand for simple, unified theories might otherwise tempt us to minimize or ignore altogether.

Secondary Teachers’ Mathematics-related Beliefs and Knowledge about Mathematical Problem-solving

Science.gov (United States)

E Siswono, T. Y.; Kohar, A. W.; Hartono, S.

2017-02-01

This study investigates secondary teachers’ belief about the three mathematics-related beliefs, i.e. nature of mathematics, teaching mathematics, learning mathematics, and knowledge about mathematical problem solving. Data were gathered through a set of task-based semi-structured interviews of three selected teachers with different philosophical views of teaching mathematics, i.e. instrumental, platonist, and problem solving. Those teachers were selected from an interview using a belief-related task from purposively selected teachers in Surabaya and Sidoarjo. While the interviews about knowledge examine teachers’ problem solving content and pedagogical knowledge, the interviews about beliefs examine their views on several cases extracted from each of such mathematics-related beliefs. Analysis included the categorization and comparison on each of beliefs and knowledge as well as their interaction. Results indicate that all the teachers did not show a high consistency in responding views of their mathematics-related beliefs, while they showed weaknesses primarily on problem solving content knowledge. Findings also point out that teachers’ beliefs have a strong relationship with teachers’ knowledge about problem solving. In particular, the instrumental teacher’s beliefs were consistent with his insufficient knowledge about problem-solving, while both platonist and problem-solving teacher’s beliefs were consistent with their sufficient knowledge of either content or pedagogical problem solving.

Foundational aspects of non standard mathematics

CERN Document Server

Ballard, David

1994-01-01

This work proposes a major new extension of "non"standard mathematics. Addressed to a general mathematical audience, the book is intended to be philosophically provocative. The model theory on which "non"standard mathematics has been based is first reformulated within point set topology, which facilitates proofs and adds perspective. These topological techniques are then used to give new, uniform conservativity proofs for the various versions of "non"standard mathematics proposed by Nelson, Hrbáček, and Kawai. The proofs allow for sharp comparison. Addressing broader issues, Ballard then argues that what is novel in these forms of "non"standard mathematics is the introduction, however tentative, of relativity in one's mathematical environment. This hints at the possibility of a mathematical environment which is radically relativistic. The work's major and final feature is to present and prove conservative a version of "non"standard mathematics which, for the first time, illustrates this full radical relativ...

Shakespeare, dramatist-philosopher

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Armando Pego Puigbó

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In this essay a philosophical approach to the dramatic universe of William Shakespeare is proposed beyond the historic, social or aesthetic interpretations which are usual in some current critical theories. Its aim is not primarily to highlight only the philosophical intuitions which are contained in the Shakespere’s work, but to try to show the close philosophical condition of its literary imagination. Though avoiding the excess of the Bardolatry, it is necessary to reexamine the paradoxical relationship which the tragic model of Shakespeare maintains with some categories —and not the rules— of the Aristotelean Poetics. In putting them in check, it may be observed how the theatrical energy of Shakespeare has unveiled some ambiguous territories that the contemporary philosophy is groping as places of the modern invention of «human». Hamlet will be used as example of this capacity to raise a moral and aesthetic debate in interpretations of authors as C. Schmitt, S. Cavell, F. Ricordi o R. Girard.

The idea of philosophical sociology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chernilo, Daniel

2014-06-01

This article introduces the idea of philosophical sociology as an enquiry into the relationships between implicit notions of human nature and explicit conceptualizations of social life within sociology. Philosophical sociology is also an invitation to reflect on the role of the normative in social life by looking at it sociologically and philosophically at the same: normative self-reflection is a fundamental aspect of sociology's scientific tasks because key sociological questions are, in the last instance, also philosophical ones. For the normative to emerge, we need to move away from the reductionism of hedonistic, essentialist or cynical conceptions of human nature and be able to grasp the conceptions of the good life, justice, democracy or freedom whose normative contents depend on more or less articulated conceptions of our shared humanity. The idea of philosophical sociology is then sustained on three main pillars and I use them to structure this article: (1) a revalorization of the relationships between sociology and philosophy; (2) a universalistic principle of humanity that works as a major regulative idea of sociological research, and; (3) an argument on the social (immanent) and pre-social (transcendental) sources of the normative in social life. As invitations to embrace posthuman cyborgs, non-human actants and material cultures proliferate, philosophical sociology offers the reminder that we still have to understand more fully who are the human beings that populate the social world. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2014.

Aspects of the historical, philosophical and mathematical background to the statutory management of nuclear plant risks in the United Kingdom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Critchley, O.H.

1978-01-01

There is an ancient but extant school of philosophy which asserts that the only reality is change and another, more recent and also current, which holds that the causes of the future must already exist and can be observed and analysed scientifically. The two are combined in a theme which examines the impact of modern technology upon Western society especially in respect of atomic energy and its regulation, consequent developments in safety and the emerging new role of the engineer. Qualitative and quantitative methods of risk assessment are discussed from the viewpoint of epistemology and a synthesis combining elements of both in a systematic approach to hazard management is suggested. Finally, it is noted that problems arising from the interaction of technology, society and politics may not be soluble by mathematical logic alone. (author)

Mathematical Articles for the general public

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Vagn Lundsgaard

2003-01-01

Report on an article competition for mathematical articles addressing the general public arranged by the European Mathematical Society.......Report on an article competition for mathematical articles addressing the general public arranged by the European Mathematical Society....

The role of mathematics in politics as an issue for mathematics teaching

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sánchez, Mario; Blomhøj, Morten

2010-01-01

This paper presents analyses of some examples of mathematical models used in the Mexican society of today. We seek to justify why and illustrate how such examples can be included in mathematics teaching and in teacher education.......This paper presents analyses of some examples of mathematical models used in the Mexican society of today. We seek to justify why and illustrate how such examples can be included in mathematics teaching and in teacher education....

Working Group Reports and Presentations: Mars Settlement and Society

Science.gov (United States)

McKay, Chris

2006-01-01

The long-term implications of space exploration must be considered early in the process. With this in mind, the Mars Settlement and Society Group focused on five key areas: Philosophical Framework, Community Infrastructure and Government, Creating Stakeholders, Human Subsystems, and Habitat Design. The team proposes long and short term goals to support getting to and then staying long-term on Mars. All objectives shared the theme that they should engage, inspire, and educate the public with the intent of fostering stakeholders in the exploration of Mars. The objectives of long-term settlement on Mars should not neglect group dynamics, issues of reproduction, and a strong philosophical framework for the establishment of a society.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIALLY CREATED INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

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Yu. D. Gensitskiy

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Understanding the philosophical and anthropological importance of the development the artificial intelligence systems requires the analysis of the socio and anthropological content of intercomputer problems of interaction in the context of media philosophical praxis, anthropological maintenance of intellect nature, considering the specifics of the concept of artificial intelligence systems in the environment of M2M development of socio-cognitive practices of intercomputer interaction of social and humanitarian potential. Methodology. The implementation target is seen in the use of scientific and theoretical basis of the media philosophical, philosophical anthropology, the media philosophical approach to understanding society, science and technology, the use of publications on selected topics of research. Scientific novelty. The concept of artificial intelligence systems in the aspect of social and humanitarian potential of their formation and development in the environment of M2M was considered. The problems of machine learning as technology transformation M2M were analysed. The anthropological threats to the development of artificially created intelligent systems were defined. Conclusions. From the global risks point of view, one of the most critical circumstances due to the artificial intelligent system can strengthen its intelligence very quickly. The obvious reason for suspecting such an opportunity – a recursive self-improvement. Such system becomes smarter, including the intelligent writing of internal cognitive function, that the ability to rewrite their existing cognitive function to make it work better. This will make such systems more intelligent, and smarter in terms of the processing itself. The success of artificial intelligence may be the beginning of the end of the human race. Almost any technology falling into malicious hands reveals the potential for harm, but when it comes to artificial intelligent system, there is a

Philosophical biography : some problems of conceptualization

OpenAIRE

Polyakova, Irina

2014-01-01

This article considers the specificity of the genre of philosophical biography and brings to light its conceptual grounds. “Philosophical biography” is defined as an understanding of human life, which has received not only a literary but also a philosophical form of expression. It shows that philosophical biography has a variety of features, which limit the applications of chronology, rubrication and other principles of organizing in a linear manner the material of a biography. In this contex...

The story of mathematics

CERN Document Server

Mankiewicz, Richard

2000-01-01

Questioning how mathematics has evolved over the centuries and for what reasons; how human endeavour and changes in the way we live have been dependent on mathematics, this book tells the story of the impact this intellectual activity has had across cultures and civilizations. It shows how, far from being just the obsession of an elite group of philosophers, priests and scientists, mathematics has in some shape or other entered every area of human activity. The mysterious tally sticks of prehistoric peoples and the terrestial maps used for trade, exploration and warfare; the perennial fascination with the motions of heavenly bodies and changing perspectives on the art and science of vision; all are testament to a mathematics at the heart of history. The path of this changing discipline is marked by a wealth of images, from medieval manuscripts to the unsettling art of Dali or Duchamp, from the austere beauty of Babylonian clay tablets to the delicate complexity of computer-generated images. The text encompass...

Ethical issues in radiology: A philosophical perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sia, S.

2009-01-01

Given that there is much disagreement as to what constitutes 'philosophy', even among philosophers, it is a challenge to provide a philosophical perspective. There are, however, at least two areas that most philosophers would regard as coming within the terrain of philosophical thinking: (1) the clarification of issues and (2) providing some sort of a foundation on which further thinking can take place. Thus, by way of contributing a philosophical perspective to the discussion, this paper will clarify some of the more fundamental issues regarding ethical debates in the hope of establishing some kind of theoretical foundation on which to base the discussion of the more specific issues and of widening the scope of the discussion. (authors)

Two Kinds of "Elements" and the Dialectic between Synthetic-deductive and Analytic-genetic Approaches in Mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Steiner, Hans-Georg

1988-01-01

Describes two kinds of elements in mathematics: Euclid's and Bourbaki's. Discusses some criticisms on the two concepts of elements from a philosophical, methodological, and didactical point of view. Suggests a complementarist view and several implications for mathematics education. (YP)

Mathematics and art a cultural history

CERN Document Server

Gamwell, Lynn

2016-01-01

This is a cultural history of mathematics and art, from antiquity to the present. Mathematicians and artists have long been on a quest to understand the physical world they see before them and the abstract objects they know by thought alone. Taking readers on a tour of the practice of mathematics and the philosophical ideas that drive the discipline, Lynn Gamwell points out the important ways mathematical concepts have been expressed by artists. Sumptuous illustrations of artworks and cogent math diagrams are featured in Gamwell’s comprehensive exploration. Gamwell begins by describing mathematics from antiquity to the Enlightenment, including Greek, Islamic, and Asian mathematics. Then focusing on modern culture, Gamwell traces mathematicians’ search for the foundations of their science, such as David Hilbert’s conception of mathematics as an arrangement of meaning-free signs, as well as artists’ search for the essence of their craft, such as Aleksandr Rodchenko’s monochrome paintings. She shows t...

Revisiting Mary Daly: Towards a quadripartite theological and philosophical paradigm

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Hannelie Wood

2015-06-01

Full Text Available I was a tenderfoot in feminist discourse when I started my research on patriarchy, feminism, and Mary Daly. In my thesis, one aspect I engaged was Daly’s battle with gender issues in Christian theology. From the beginning I was troubled by Mary Daly’s views on God, men, and women in her discourse on Christianity. Daly undoubtedly contributed to the discussion on gender issues in the Christian faith, but her focus on androcentrism and her interpretations of Scripture led her to abandon the Christian faith. Mary Daly has written extensively on patriarchy as it is found in religion – particularly in the Christian faith – and how it filters through society. In her critique of patriarchy she set her course to dismantle the facade of a patriarchal and misogynistic God as the root of patriarchy. Daly did not see any positive qualities of the Christian faith and completely rejected other interpretations of a God whose person embraces both male and female qualities. Against this background I will evaluate Daly’s post-Christian feminist theological and philosophical paradigm. I propose that Daly has a quadripartite theological and philosophical paradigm wherein there are four main players. The ‘Who is who’ in Daly’s quadripartite patriarchal theological and philosophical paradigm are the patriarchal male, the patriarchal female, the patriarchal God and the biophilic woman.

Heteroglossia and Philosophers of Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Abowitz, Kathleen Knight

2002-01-01

Accepts the premise of Rene Arcilla's article, "Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to One Another?" asking how philosophers of education of a Deweyan character can occupy the intermediary position between philosophy and education with their different languages, contexts, and concerns. The essay uses examples from the work of…

Which kind of mathematics was known and referred to by those who wanted to integrate mathematics in «Wisdom»

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høyrup, Jens

2016-01-01

Plato, so the story goes, held mathematics in high esteem, and those philosopher-kings that ought to rule his republic should have a thorough foundation in mathematics. This may well be true – but an observation made by Aristotle suggests that the mathematics which Plato intends is not the one...... based on theorems and proofs which we normally identify with “Greek mathematics”. Most other ancient writers who speak of mathematics as a road toward Wisdom also appear to be blissfully ignorant of the mathematics of Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonios, etc. – though not necessarily of their names. The aim...... of the paper is to identify the kinds of mathematics which were available as external sources for this current (on the whole leaving out of consideration Liberal-Arts mathematics as not properly external). A number of borrowings can be traced to various practitioners' traditions – but always as bits borrowed...

Driven by History: Mathematics Education Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Permuth, Steve; Dalzell, Nicole

2013-01-01

The advancement of modern societies is fueled by mathematics, and mathematics education provides the foundation upon which future scientists and engineers will build. Society dictates how mathematics will be taught through the development and implementation of mathematics standards. When examining the progression of these standards, it is…

A New Philosophical Underpinning of Macromarketing Theories

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skytte, Hans

2014-01-01

and concepts: “language is autonomous”, “concept”, “seeing as”, “language-games”, etc. In this paper these philosophical thoughts and concepts combine so that they over time form recursive processes which spiral. These processes are taken as the philosophical foundation for researching the language and actions...... of the social actors in marketing systems. The unit of analysis for marketing systems and macromarketing issues is the idea in the recursive process and spiral. The introduction gives a brief overview of what is understood by macromarketing. Followed by a thorough explanation of many of Wittgenstein......This paper proposes a new philosophical foundation for analyzing macromarketing issues, and for further development of macromarketing theory, building on the language philosophy developed by the German/British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. The building blocks are a number philosophical thoughts...

Bourbaki at Seventy-Five: Its Influence in France and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Munson, Alexander

2010-01-01

Bourbaki, a professional mathematical society in France, was established formally in 1935. Throughout three quarters of a century, Bourbaki changed mathematics and mathematics education significantly. It was instrumental in the Moderne Mathématique movement that modernized French curricula. Bourbaki also provided philosophical support for the New…

Economic Relationship among Self, Society and Nation

OpenAIRE

Sung Jang Chung

2013-01-01

A scientific, economic relationship among self, society and nation is still not clearly known in philosophy, sociology and economics because of lack of concrete historical human data that would enable to substantiate it. Humanity experienced many conflicting economic and political systems. Consequently, philosophers, sociologists and economists have been investigating to study the economic relationship among self, society and nation that may lead to a desirable economic system for individual ...

The Role of History and Philosophy of in University Mathematics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjeldsen, Tinne Hoff; Carter, Jessica M H Grund

2014-01-01

uses of history and the research direction in philosophy of mathematics denoted ‘Philosophy of Mathematical Practice’. We link history and philosophy of mathematical practices to recent ideas in mathematics education in order to identify different roles history and philosophy can play in the learning...... of mathematics at university level. We present, analyse and discuss different examples of inclusions of history and philosophy in university programmes in mathematics. These presentations are divided into courses in history and philosophy, respectively, since this is the main way they are organised...... at the universities. We shall see, however, that the history courses address philosophical questions and that the philosophy courses employ historical material. The chapter ends with comments on how mathematics educations at university level can benefit from history and philosophy of mathematics...

John Dewey--Philosopher and Educational Reformer

Science.gov (United States)

Talebi, Kandan

2015-01-01

John Dewey was an American philosopher and educator, founder of the philosophical movement known as pragmatism, a pioneer in functional psychology, and a leader of the progressive movement in education in the United States.

Global Climate Change and Society: Scientific, Policy, and Philosophic Themes

Science.gov (United States)

Frodeman, R.; Bullock, M. A.

2001-12-01

The summer of 2001 saw the inauguration of the Global Climate Change and Society Program (GCCS), an eight week, NSF-funded experiment in undergraduate pedagogy held at the University of Colorado and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Acknowledging from the start that climate change is more than a scientific problem, GCCS began with the simultaneous study of basic atmospheric physics, classical and environmental philosophy, and public policy. In addition to lectures and discussions on these subjects, our twelve undergraduates (majoring in the physical sciences, social sciences, and humanities) also participated in internships with scholars and researchers at NCAR, University of Colorado's Center of the American West, and the Colorado School of Mines, on specific issues in atmospheric science, science policy, and ethics and values. This talk will discuss the outcomes of GCCS: specifically, new insights into interdisciplinary pedagogy and the student creation of an extraordinary "deliverable," a group summary assessment of the global climate change debate. The student assessment called for an integrated discussion of both the science of climate change and the human values related to how we inhabit the world. The problems facing society today cannot be addressed through the single-minded adherence to science and technology; instead, society must develop new means of integrating the humanities and science in a meaningful dialogue about our common future.

Philosophical theories of probability

CERN Document Server

Gillies, Donald

2000-01-01

The Twentieth Century has seen a dramatic rise in the use of probability and statistics in almost all fields of research. This has stimulated many new philosophical ideas on probability. Philosophical Theories of Probability is the first book to present a clear, comprehensive and systematic account of these various theories and to explain how they relate to one another. Gillies also offers a distinctive version of the propensity theory of probability, and the intersubjective interpretation, which develops the subjective theory.

La Meme Chose: How Mathematics Can Explain the Thinking of Children and the Thinking of Children Can Illuminate Mathematical Philosophy

Science.gov (United States)

Cable, John

2014-01-01

This article offers a new interpretation of Piaget's decanting experiments, employing the mathematical notion of equivalence instead of conservation. Some reference is made to Piaget's theories and to his educational legacy, but the focus in on certain of the experiments. The key to the new analysis is the abstraction principle, which has been formally enunciated in mathematical philosophy but has universal application. It becomes necessary to identity fluid objects (both configured and unconfigured) and configured and unconfigured sets-of-objects. Issues emerge regarding the conflict between philosophic realism and anti-realism, including constructivism. Questions are asked concerning mathematics and mathematical philosophy, particularly over the nature of sets, the wisdom of the axiomatic method and aspects of the abstraction principle itself.

A certain ambiguity a mathematical novel

CERN Document Server

Suri, Gaurav

2010-01-01

While taking a class on infinity at Stanford in the late 1980s, Ravi Kapoor discovers that he is confronting the same mathematical and philosophical dilemmas that his mathematician grandfather had faced many decades earlier--and that had landed him in jail. Charged under an obscure blasphemy law in a small New Jersey town in 1919, Vijay Sahni is challenged by a skeptical judge to defend his belief that the certainty of mathematics can be extended to all human knowledge--including religion. Together, the two men discover the power--and the fallibility--of what has long been considered the pinn

Which kind of mathematics was known by and referred to by those who wanted to integrate mathematics in «Wisdom» - Neopythagoreans and others?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høyrup, Jens

Plato, so the story goes, held mathematics in high esteem, and those philosopher-kings that ought to rule his republic should have a thorough foundation in mathematics. This may well be true - but an observation made by Aristotle suggests that the mathematics which Plato intends is not the one...... based on theorems and proofs which we normally identify with "Greek mathematics". Most other ancient writers who speak of mathematics as a road towardWisdom also appear to be blissfully ignorant of the mathematics of Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonios, etc. The aim of the paper is to identify the kinds...... of mathematics which were available as external sources for this current (on the whole leaving out of consideration Liberal-Arts mathematics as not properly external). A number of borrowings can be traced to various practitioners' traditions - but always as bits borrowed out of context....

Mathematics education and the information society

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gravemeijer, K.P.E.; Damlamian, A.; Rodigues, J.F.; Sträßer, R.

2013-01-01

Starting point for this chapter is that societal changes ask for adaptations of a foundational mathematics curriculum for all. This chapter especially looks at the effects of information technology and globalization on the job market and employability with an eye on its consequences for the goals of

'To Philosophize is to Learn How to Die?'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saitya Brata Das

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Philosophical thinking, as it is thinking of existence, is essentially finite thinking. This is to say that as thinking of existence, philosophical thinking is essentially also thinking of finitude. This ‘also' is not the accidental relationship between existence and finitude. Rather, to think existence in its finitude, insofar as existence is finite, is to think existence in its existentiality. Philosophy that gives itself the task of thinking the relationship between existence and finitude, must in the same gesture, be concerned with its own finitude: to philosophize is not only to think the finitude of existence, but the very finitude of thinking that thinks finite existence. To philosophize is not only to philosophize the finitude of existence as such, but also in so far as philosophising itself is a task which is essentially in itself finite. To assume as the task of thinking the finitude of existence is to think the very finitude of philosophical thinking: this is the profound relationship that exists between existence and philosophy, which is that philosophizing existence and an existential philosophy are essentially finite. This is perhaps what Socrates says of philosophizing: ‘to philosophize is to learn how to die.' "To philosophize is to learn how to die": this is to say, to philosophize is to learn that philosophy and existence are essentially finite. Philosophy and existence belong to finitude and gifts of finitude; therefore to philosophize is to learn how existence is this gift. To be able to learn how existence is this gift of finitude, to be able to assume this gift that makes existence essentially finite, which is to be able to assume existence at all, is to be able to die.' Learning to die' then comes to signify the ability of dying, which is in the same gesture, the ability of existing: existence, and dying at the end must be this ability, of existing and dying. Philosophizing must provide, then, the learning of this

Deleuze and the history of mathematics in defence of the 'new'

CERN Document Server

Duffy, Simon

2013-01-01

Gilles Deleuze's engagements with mathematics, replete in his work, rely upon the construction of alternative lineages in the history of mathematics, which challenge some of the self imposed limits that regulate the canonical concepts of the discipline. For Deleuze, these challenges are an opportunity to reconfigure particular philosophical problems - for example, the problem of individuation - and to develop new concepts in response to them. The highly original research presented in this book explores the mathematical construction of Deleuze's philosophy, as well as addressing the undervalued

Inferentialism in mathematics education : introduction to a special issue

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, Arthur; Hußmann, Stephan

2017-01-01

Inferentialism, as developed by the philosopher Robert Brandom (1994, 2000), is a theory of meaning. The theory has wide-ranging implications in various fields but this special issue concentrates on the use and content of concepts. The key idea, relevant to mathematics education research, is that

The philosophy of mathematics translated from Cours de philosophie positive by W. M. Gillespie

CERN Document Server

Comte, Auguste

2005-01-01

Written by the nineteenth-century French philosophical founder of positivism, this comprehensive map of mathematical science assigns to each part of the complex whole its true position and value. The two-part treatment begins with a general view of mathematical analysis and advances to algebra, continuing with an exploration of geometry's ancient and modern methods.

International Conference Organized on the Occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the Indian Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ISIAM)

CERN Document Server

Lozi, René; Siddiqi, Abul

2017-01-01

The book discusses essential topics in industrial and applied mathematics such as image processing with a special focus on medical imaging, biometrics and tomography. Applications of mathematical concepts to areas like national security, homeland security and law enforcement, enterprise and e-government services, personal information and business transactions, and brain-like computers are also highlighted. These contributions – all prepared by respected academicians, scientists and researchers from across the globe – are based on papers presented at the international conference organized on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the Indian Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ISIAM) held from 29 to 31 January 2016 at Sharda University, Greater Noida, India. The book will help young scientists and engineers grasp systematic developments in those areas of mathematics that are essential to properly understand challenging contemporary problems.

Understanding Philosophical Counseling | Sivil | South African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

philosophical counseling by exploring its points of convergence to and deviation from its complimentary parts – philosophy and counseling. The practical and applied orientation of philosophical counseling seems worlds apart from what many consider to exemplify philosophy – theoretical, intellectual and abstract concern ...

Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Philosophical Papers is a generalist journal of philosophy edited in the Department of Philosophy at Rhodes University. The journal appears three times a year; the November issue of every year is topic-based and guest-edited. The journal is published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis). Information regarding submissions ...

SPIRITUALITY AS PHILOSOPHICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DE-VELOPMENT PROBLEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. E. Gromov

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to regard the essence and phenomenon of spirituality in connection with ontological foundation of human being existence. The author suggests the concept of new cosmo-theocentric paradigm of human world outlook, as a ground of perspective transformation of social life activity on the contrary to anthropocentric view, which dominates in present society consciousness. The author gives the characteristics of the ideal sage and underlines the importance of spiritual teachers in cultural development of society. Methodology. The method of philosophizing is connected with the unity of mind, sensuality, belief, will in integral body and mental organization of a man. Such point of view takes into consideration not only aspects of objective determination, but includes senses of existence and world outlook ideas in culture on particular and universal levels of social experience. The author considers a special ontological disposition of the human being in the world as a “transcendent project” with “metaphysic responsibility”. Scientific novelty. In the history of social culture the problem of its spiritual attitude towards reality is a basic problem, but now it becomes especially up-to-date and important. Now the survival of the civilization depends on the development of spirituality. From metaphysical point of view it means how spiritual the human being may be. The author connects the consideration of spirituality with particular human being ontological status in the world and provides his reflection with speculative character. Conclusions. The transition of modern civilized society to the cosmo-theocentric paradigm is prepared by contradictions of its technological and cultural development. In historical circumstances when the conscious influence of society on itself is growing, the realization of this process depends on spiritual trend of human beings cultural activity and mental quality of social leaders

Social inequality: philosophical and sociological reflection

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A. Sh. Victorov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Social inequality is the phenomena that is hypothetically the base for first human communities genesis. Modern model for capitalist society as market relations form fails to satisfy the needs of society’s social development, and strongly requires to create new social knowledge structure and new approach for inequality sociology theory development. Our study conceptual logic comprises routine, philosophic and ideological reflexions analysis to create new social inequality definition in the context of new sociologic knowledge structure. Social inequality is the one of key problems in global sociology; the need is obvious to extract social inequality into separate discipline. Inequality sociology target is the decision of theoretical and practical problems in the formation of comprehensive knowledge about inequality phenomena in modern community, and in the development of common and specialized theoretical-methodological base for inequality study.

Hall effect on MHD flow of visco-elastic micro-polar fluid layer ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Department of Mathematics, Meerut College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, INDIA ... the micro-polar heat conduction parameter has stabilizing effect when. 1. 2. ∈> ...... 1964, Elastico-viscous boundary layer flow, Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, ... fluid”, Indian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Vol.

The scientist as philosopher philosophical consequences of great scientific discoveries

CERN Document Server

Weinert, Friedel

2005-01-01

How do major scientific discoveries reshape their originators’, and our own, sense of reality and concept of the physical world? The Scientist as Philosopher explores the interaction between physics and philosophy. Clearly written and well illustrated, the book first places the scientist-philosophers in the limelight as we learn how their great scientific discoveries forced them to reconsider the time-honored notions with which science had described the natural world. Then, the book explains that what we understand by nature and science have undergone fundamental conceptual changes as a result of the discoveries of electromagnetism, thermodynamics and atomic structure. Even more dramatically, the quantum theory and special theory of relativity questioned traditional assumptions about causation and the passage of time. The author concludes that the dance between science and philosophy is an evolutionary process, which will keep them forever entwined.

Human Freedom and the Philosophical Attitude

Science.gov (United States)

Rider, Sharon

2015-01-01

Attempts to describe the essential features of the Western philosophical tradition can often be characterized as "boundary work", that is, the attempt to create, promote, attack, or reinforce specific notions of the 'philosophical' in order to demarcate it as a field of intellectual inquiry. During the last century, the dominant tendency…

G.W. Leibniz, interrelations between mathematics and philosophy

CERN Document Server

Goethe, Norma B; Rabouin, David

2015-01-01

Up to now there have been scarcely any publications on Leibniz dedicated to investigating the interrelations between philosophy and mathematics in his thought. In part this is due to the previously restricted textual basis of editions such as those produced by Gerhardt. Through recent volumes of the scientific letters and mathematical papers series of the Academy Edition scholars have obtained a much richer textual basis on which to conduct their studies - material which allows readers to see interconnections between his philosophical and mathematical ideas which have not previously been manifested. The present book draws extensively from this recently published material. The contributors are among the best in their fields. Their commissioned papers cover thematically salient aspects of the various ways in which philosophy and mathematics informed each other in Leibniz's thought.

Discussion Note: Contemporary Philosophy Versus the Free Society

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Tibor R. Machan

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Some libertarians are impatient with philosophical discussions and even dismiss philosophy as not needed to make the case for the free society. I dispute this and indicate why. As many have found, even to dismiss philosophy, one needs a bit of it!

Philosophy of mathematics and deductive structure in Euclid's elements

CERN Document Server

Mueller, Ian

2006-01-01

A survey of Euclid's Elements, this text provides an understanding of the classical Greek conception of mathematics. It offers a well-rounded perspective, examining similarities to modern views as well as differences. Rather than focusing strictly on historical and mathematical issues, the book examines philosophical, foundational, and logical questions.Although comprehensive in its treatment, this study represents a less cumbersome, more streamlined approach than the classic three-volume reference by Sir Thomas L. Heath (also available from Dover Publications). To make reading easier and to f

Human Being and the Philosophical Discourse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirela Arsith

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The hypothesis from which we start our approach is the one according to which the philosophicaldiscourse is a specific way of communicating the reality. The base of the philosophical communication issurprise, doubt, uncertainty, anxiety, all generated by the fundamental interrogations of Kantian origin: Howmuch am I able to know? What do I have to do? What am I allowed to hope? The answers to all thesequestions were set up in philosophical concepts and visions, all of them leading to communication, trying toexpress themselves and make themselves understood. Communicability is the very essence of thephilosophical approach. Actually, communication is a fundamental philosophical attitude as I, in my capacityof human being, live only with the other, in full interaction. On my own I am nothing. Throughout this paperwe find arguments for the idea according to which the philosophical discourse subordinates an art ofgenuinely living and communicating about balance and avoidance of excess, about the ability to assume andovercome, about lucidity and wisdom, about credibility, certainty and truth, about freedom and limitation,about the meaning and value of the human condition.

Logic, mathematics, philosophy, vintage enthusiasms essays in honour of John L. Bell

CERN Document Server

DeVidi, David; Clark, Peter

2011-01-01

This book collects papers presented in honor of John L. Bell's 60th birthday. Includes contributions to current philosophical debate, new mathematical results, important historical surveys, and a translation by Wilfrid Hodges of a key work of arabic logic.

[On the philosophical genealogy of Freud].

Science.gov (United States)

Dimitrov, C T

1975-06-01

The origins of psycho-analysis, like those of every other medico-psychological study, have their own particular scientific and specific social, historical and philosophical-theoretical presuppositions. Freud's philosophical genealogy is closely linked to classical german philosophy and subsequent philosophical movements. I. Kant, J.-F. Herbart, A. Schopenhauer, F. Nietzsche, E. v. Hartmann, G. T. Fechner, E. Mach, W. Ostwald, L. Feuerbach and others did not only emphasise the significance of drives and the unconscious in human behaviour, they also described many psychological mechanisms from depth psychology, (for example repression, condensation, substitution, sublimation). Some false theoretical trends in psycho-analysis (biologism, psychologism and simplifying psycho-energetics to simplify) can be explained to some extent by the influences mentioned above.

Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The other minds skeptic supposes there may be no minds other than his. The external world skeptic thinks there could be no world external to him. Some philosophers think a person can refute the skeptic and prove that his world is not the solitary scenario the skeptic supposes his could be. In this paper I examine one ...

Images of Italian Mathematics in France from Risorgimento to Fascism

CERN Document Server

Jouve, Guillaume; Mazliak, Laurent; Tazzioli, Rossana

2016-01-01

The contributions in this proceedings volume offer a new perspective on the mathematical ties between France and Italy, and reveal how mathematical developments in these two countries affected one another. The focus is above all on the Peninsula’s influence on French mathematicians, counterbalancing the historically predominant perception that French mathematics was a model for Italian mathematicians. In the process, the book details a subtle network of relations between the two countries, where mathematical exchanges fit into the changing and evolving framework of Italian political and academic structures. It reconsiders the issue of nationalities in all of its complexity, an aspect often neglected in research on the history of mathematics. The works in this volume are selected contributions from a conference held in Lille and Lens (France) in November 2013 on Images of Italian Mathematics in France from Risorgimento to Fascism. The authors include respected historians of mathematics, philosophers of scien...

Developing Students' Reflections on the Function and Status of Mathematical Modeling in Different Scientific Practices: History as a Provider of Cases

Science.gov (United States)

Kjeldsen, Tinne Hoff; Blomhøj, Morten

2013-01-01

Mathematical models and mathematical modeling play different roles in the different areas and problems in which they are used. The function and status of mathematical modeling and models in the different areas depend on the scientific practice as well as the underlying philosophical and theoretical position held by the modeler(s) and the…

Spatial mathematics theory and practice through mapping

CERN Document Server

Arlinghaus, Sandra Lach

2013-01-01

In terms of statistics, GIS offers many connections. With GIS, data are gathered, displayed, summarized, examined, and interpreted to discover patterns. Spatial Mathematics: Theory and Practice through Mapping uses GIS as a platform to teach mathematical concepts and skills through visualization of numbers. It examines theory and practice from disparate academic disciplines such as geography, mathematics, physics, and general social science. This approach allows students to grapple with biodiversity, crime, natural hazards, climate, energy, water, and other relevant real-world issues of the twenty-first century. Includes QR Codes Linked to Animated Maps, a Mapping Activity Site, or to an Interactive Webpage, Creating an Interactive Resource That Stays Relevant The book integrates competing philosophical views of the world: synthesis and analysis. These two approaches yield different results and employ different tools. This book considers both approaches to looking at real-world issues that have mathematics as...

Mathematics as verbal behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Marr, M Jackson

2015-04-01

"Behavior which is effective only through the mediation of other persons has so many distinguishing dynamic and topographical properties that a special treatment is justified and indeed demanded" (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Skinner's demand for a special treatment of verbal behavior can be extended within that field to domains such as music, poetry, drama, and the topic of this paper: mathematics. For centuries, mathematics has been of special concern to philosophers who have continually argued to the present day about what some deem its "special nature." Two interrelated principal questions have been: (1) Are the subjects of mathematical interest pre-existing in some transcendental realm and thus are "discovered" as one might discover a new planet; and (2) Why is mathematics so effective in the practices of science and engineering even though originally such mathematics was "pure" with applications neither contemplated or even desired? I argue that considering the actual practice of mathematics in its history and in the context of acquired verbal behavior one can address at least some of its apparent mysteries. To this end, I discuss some of the structural and functional features of mathematics including verbal operants, rule-and contingency-modulated behavior, relational frames, the shaping of abstraction, and the development of intuition. How is it possible to understand Nature by properly talking about it? Essentially, it is because nature taught us how to talk. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Philosophical Toys Today

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Dvořák, Tomáš

2013-01-01

Roč. 35, č. 2 (2013), s. 173-196 ISSN 1210-0250 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP401/11/2338 Institutional support: RVO:67985955 Keywords : philosophical toys * scientific instruments * modern visual culture Subject RIV: AA - Philosophy ; Religion

Does gender bias influence awards given by societies?

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Mary Anne; Asher, Pranoti; Farrington, John; Fine, Rana; Leinen, Margaret S.; LeBoy, Phoebe

2011-11-01

AGU is a participant in a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project called Advancing Ways of Awarding Recognition in Disciplinary Societies (AWARDS), which seeks to examine whether gender bias affects selection of recipients of society awards. AGU is interested in learning why there is a higher proportion of female recipients of service and education awards over the past 2 decades. Combined with a lower rate of receipt of research awards, these results suggest that implicit (subconscious) bias in favor of male candidates still influences awardee selection. Six other professional societies (American Chemical Society, American Mathematical Society, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Mathematical Association of America, Society for Neuroscience, and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics) are participating in the project. Volunteers from each participant society attended an Association for Women in Science (AWIS)-sponsored workshop in May 2010 to examine data and review literature on best practices for fair selection of society awardees. A draft proposal for implementing these practices will be brought before the AGU Council and the Honors and Recognition Committee at their upcoming meetings.

Mathematical Perspectives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Glimm, J.

2009-10-14

Progress for the past decade or so has been extraordinary. The solution of Fermat's Last Theorem [11] and of the Poincare Conjecture [1] have resolved two of the most outstanding challenges to mathematics. For both cases, deep and advanced theories and whole subfields of mathematics came into play and were developed further as part of the solutions. And still the future is wide open. Six of the original seven problems from the Clay Foundation challenge remain open, the 23 DARPA challenge problems are open. Entire new branches of mathematics have been developed, including financial mathematics and the connection between geometry and string theory, proposed to solve the problems of quantized gravity. New solutions of the Einstein equations, inspired by shock wave theory, suggest a cosmology model which fits accelerating expansion of the universe possibly eliminating assumptions of 'dark matter'. Intellectual challenges and opportunities for mathematics are greater than ever. The role of mathematics in society continues to grow; with this growth comes new opportunities and some growing pains; each will be analyzed here. We see a broadening of the intellectual and professional opportunities and responsibilities for mathematicians. These trends are also occuring across all of science. The response can be at the level of the professional societies, which can work to deepen their interactions, not only within the mathematical sciences, but also with other scientific societies. At a deeper level, the choices to be made will come from individual mathematicians. Here, of course, the individual choices will be varied, and we argue for respect and support for this diversity of responses. In such a manner, we hope to preserve the best of the present while welcoming the best of the new.

Mathematical Literacy: A new literacy or a new mathematics?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renuka Vithal

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Mathematical Literacy is a ‘hot’ topic at present in most countries, whether it is referred to by that name, or in some cases as Numeracy, or Quantitative Literacy, or Matheracy, or as some part of Ethnomathematics, or related to Mathematics in Society. Questions continue to be asked about what is meant by mathematics in any concept of Mathematical Literacy and the use of the very word ‘Literacy’ in its association with Mathematics has been challenged. Its importance, however, lies in changing our perspective on mathematics teaching, away from the elitism so often associated with much mathematics education, and towards a more equitable, accessible and genuinely educational ideal.

Specifics of methodology historical and philosophical researh of hesychasm

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A. B. Klimenko

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the research methodology of  Hesychasm ­ one of the most important schools of the Byzantine philosophy, which played a significant role in the development of modern civilization. However, to date it remains a kind of «terra incognita» for the world historical and philosophical thought. Hesychasm is a kind of Christian mystical worldview that is embodied in a certain spiritual practices that form the basis of Orthodox asceticism. Even half a century ago, history of philosophy left without attention of philosophical and theological teachings of the authors of the late antiquity and the early middle ages, be they Christian thinkers or the neo­Platonists. The era of post­Plotins philosophers Neoplatonists or commentators on Aristotle considered as a period of decline of this philosophy and the time of the rise of irrationality. For the same reason it was considered that the system of Christian thinkers cannot and should not be subject to the historical and philosophical science. This fully relates Hesychasm. However, on the basis of works of the French philosopher P. Ado, the paper argues that philosophy in late antiquity when there is Hesychasm is first of all a way of life, and therefore Hesychasm can be considered as a specific philosophical school of Christian asceticism. The main modern method of historical and philosophical studies is the hermeneutical reconstruction of cultural meaning of the philosophical texts, however, Hesychasm cannot be reduced to the «amount of texts» or rational philosophical discourses. When learning is impossible not to take into account the existing experience, what is behind the lyrics: the experience of the inner purification, «the noetic prayer, which often has verbal reflection. Therefore, along with the use of hermeneutic and semiotic principles of research work with the texts, there is a problem of the analysis of the experience of spiritual practices. This requires the use

Implementing a new mathematics curriculum: Mathematics teachers’ beliefs and practices

OpenAIRE

Ernest Ampadu

2013-01-01

Mathematics has become a ‘critical filter’ in the social, economic and professional development of individuals and forms a core component of the school curriculum in most countries. It is upon this utilitarian nature of mathematics to the individual and the society as a whole that the school mathematics curriculum has been undergoing a number of restructuring over the last three decades. In Ghana, a new mathematics curriculum was introduced in September 2007 which aims at shifting the teachin...

Relation of Astronomy to other Sciences, Culture and Society

Science.gov (United States)

Harutyunian, H. A.; Mickaelian, A. M.; Farmanyan, S. V.

2015-07-01

The book contains the Proceedings of XIII Annual Meeting of the Armenian Astronomical Society "Relation of Astronomy to other Sciences, Culture and Society". It consists of 9 main sections: "Introductory", "Astronomy and Philosophy", "Astrobiology", "Space-Earth Connections", "Astrostatistics and Astroinformatics", "Astronomy and Culture, Astrolinguistics", "Archaeoastronomy", "Scientific Tourism and Scientific Journalism", and "Armenian Astronomy". The book may be interesting to astronomers, philosophers, biologists, culturologists, linguists, historians, archaeologists and to other specialists, as well as to students.

Philosophic foundations of quantum mechanics

CERN Document Server

Reichenbach, Hans

1998-01-01

Physics concerns direct analysis of the physical world, while philosophy analyzes knowledge about the physical world. This volume combines both disciplines for a philosophical interpretation of quantum physics - an interpretation free from the imprecision of metaphysics, offering a view of the atomic world and its quantum mechanical results as concrete as the visible everyday world.Written by an internationally renowned philosopher who specialized in symbolic logic and the theory of relativity, this approach consists of three parts. The first section, which requires no background in math or p

Critical Mathematics education: Past, present and future

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

contribution to the shaping of those concerns in the international community of mathematics educators and mathematics education researchers. This book gathers contributions of researchers from five continents, for whom critical mathematics education has been an inspiration to think about many different topics...... such as the dialogical and political dimensions of teacher education, mathematical modeling, the philosophy of mathematics from social and political perspectives, teaching practices in classrooms, the connection between mathematics and society, the scope and limits of critical thinking in relation to mathematics......Critical mathematics education brings together a series of concerns related to mathematics and its role in society, the practices of teaching and learning of mathematics in educational settings, and the practices of researching mathematics education. The work of Ole Skovsmose has provided a seminal...

Raising Public Awareness of Mathematics

CERN Document Server

Behrends, Ehrhard; Rodrigues, José Francisco

2012-01-01

This collective book aims to encourage and inspire actions directed towards raising public awareness of the importance of mathematical sciences for our contemporary society in a cultural and historical perspective. Mathematical societies, in Europe and around the world, can find ideas, blueprints and suggestions for activities - including concerted actions with other international organizations - directed towards raising public awareness of science, technology and other fields where mathematics plays a strong role. The material is divided into four parts: * National experiences * Exhibitions /

Mario Bunge: Physicist and Philosopher

Science.gov (United States)

Matthews, Michael R.

Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in the final year of the First World War.He learnt atomic physics and quantum mechanics from an Austrian refugee who had been a student of Heisenberg. Additionally he taught himself modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater. He was the first South American philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise on Philosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognised - it is salutary to see the fruits of one person's pursuit of the Big'' scientific and philosophical picture.

The Philosophical Sinification of Modernity and the Modern Confucian Paradigm of Immanent Transcendence (內在超越性

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana S. ROŠKER

2014-05-01

Full Text Available As a major source of social values, Modern Confucian theory assumes essential significance amidst the proliferation of instrumental rationality in contemporary China. This current is distinguished by a multifaceted attempt to revitalize traditional thought by means of new influences borrowed or derived from Western systems. It defines itself with a search for a synthesis between “Western” and traditional Chinese thought, aiming to elaborate a new system of ideas and values, suitable for the modern, globalized society. The present contribution examines the ways in which 3rd generation of Modern Confucian philosophers changed the framework within which traditional Chinese philosophical inquiry has been carried out, exposing the importance of immanent transcendence.

Philosophical Papers: Submissions

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Articles should be relevant to the analytic tradition in philosophy, understood broadly and including critiques of that tradition. All submissions are independently refereed. In most cases, decisions are based on reports from at least two referees. Final editorial decisions are made by the Editorial Board of Philosophical Papers.

PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE OF VIOLENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. M. Boychenko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In order to consistently distinguish between violence, which is always primarily a destructive force, and the civilized use of force that involves constructive, creative goals, one should explore the main possible philosophical approaches to understand the nature of violence and try to give it a systematic outline. Methodology. This study uses a systematic approach to identify the internal relationship between different forms of violence and, accordingly, the counteraction against violence. Also, the author uses an axiology to identify the values that are the basis for distinguishing violence from its prototypes, as well as for the distinction between violence and coercion, as well as different types of coercion. Originality. This article presents significant clarifications on the classification of types of violence, in particular, it is clearly established that certain types of violence can not have ethical relevance, since they belong to the sphere of biology (expansion, aggression or social anthropology (cultural, institutional coercion. Actually violence or violence in the narrow sense implies the existence of will, consciousness and destructive purpose. Accordingly, counteraction against violence should include the formation of a certain non-violent type of will, non-violent culture and creative, constructive goals. This requires both personal effort and institutional support and the availability of appropriate moral traditions. Ethical theory is intended to clarify and systematize these efforts. In this sense, ethics is the core of practical philosophy. To the extent that the influence of ethics on changes in human culture and sociality in the counterfactual regime is increasing, one should also speak of the anthropological significance of ethics. Conclusions. From the socio-philosophical point of view, it is necessary to specify exactly which social institutions and in which constellation generate violence. The ethical aspect of

Challenges and opportunities for informational societies from the present to become reliable learning and knowledge societies

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Eduardo ROMERO SÁNCHEZ

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article pretend to describe the principal social trends and cultural features that prevail today, too look the philosophical foundation of thinking, feel , living and to give an educative  response and accepted to the axiological reality  and cultural present. In modern western societies great paradoxes and contradictions coexist: economical growth, technological development and greater dimensions of freedom, but also great consumption, cultural deterioration, technological dependence and unique thought. Given this we talk about the great possibilities and at the same time of the terrible threats that exist in that modern information societies. In order to become acquainted with this reality, we have focused the analysis in 3 key aspects: the impact of digital devolution, the condition of culture in contemporary society, and the need of a “new education”.

Naming Being - or the Philosophical Content of Heidegger's National Socialism

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Blok, V.

2012-01-01

This contribution discusses the philosophical meaning of the Martin Heidegger’s Rectoral address. First of all, Heidegger’s philosophical basic experience is sketched as the background of his Rectoral address; the being-historical concept of “Anfang”. Then, the philosophical question of the Rectoral

Two Forms of Philosophical Argument or Critique

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Marshall, James D.

2004-01-01

In this paper the author looks at two forms of philosophical argument or critique. These are derived by himself from the work of the late Kantian scholar, Stephan Korner who, in his book "What is Philosophy?" (1969), draws a number of distinctions between different forms of "philosophical" argument or critique. The two forms of derived argument,…

The philosopher in Plato’s state

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Nikitović Aleksandar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Plato’s political theory rests on metaphysical principles that are understandable to only a few. It is assumed that only a narrow group of philosophers is able to put this theory into practice, and using repressive measures. The fewer the initiated the greater the repression. It is assumed that those who do not know the truth can neither predict their destiny nor do anything to make it better because they are unable to understand the goal and purpose of the repression. It is demonstrated that, in the imagined use of force, the sophists, who do acknowledge it, resort to repression to a much lesser extent than Plato’s philosopher. At first, Plato’s philosopher rejects the use of force as virtue, but it turns out to be indispensible, and in incomparably more aspects than it was in the sophists’ case. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 179049

Spiritual culture crisis in modern society

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Rusko Nadiya Mykhaylivna

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article researches the concept of spirituality as a holistic phenomenon, characterises the current state of spirituality in Ukraine and reveal the basic ways of forming spiritual culture with the help of philosophical, cultural, theological, linguistic, pedagogical, and psychological approaches. Moreover, the crisis in the today’s spiritual culture is analysed, and the determinants of the negative processes in the modern society are examined. Therefore, we can state that education remains a priority area in the spiritual and cultural development of the society. In the current phase of state construction, the main educational objective is the development of the spiritual culture of personality.

Training and "Abrichtung": Wittgenstein as a Tragic Philosopher of Education

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Friesen, Norm

2017-01-01

As a landmark philosopher of language and of mind, Ludwig Wittgenstein is also remarkable for having crossed, with apparent ease, the "continental divide" in philosophy. It is consequently not surprising that Wittgenstein's work, particularly in the "Philosophical Investigations," has been taken up by philosophers of education…

The Collected Works of Eugene Paul Wigner Historical, Philosophical, and Socio-Political Papers

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Wigner, Eugene Paul

2001-01-01

Not only was EP Wigner one of the most active creators of 20th century physics, he was also always interested in expressing his opinion in philosophical, political or sociological matters This volume of his collected works covers a wide selection of his essays about science and society, about himself and his colleagues Annotated by J Mehra, this volume will become an important source of reference for historians of science, and it will be pleasant reading for every physicist interested in forming ideas in modern physics

Philosophical Approaches towards Sciences of Life in Early Cybernetics

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Montagnini, Leone

2008-07-01

The article focuses on the different conceptual and philosophical approaches towards the sciences of life operating in the backstage of Early Cybernetics. After a short reconstruction of the main steps characterizing the origins of Cybernetics, from 1940 until 1948, the paper examines the complementary conceptual views between Norbert Wiener and John von Neumann, as a "fuzzy thinking" versus a "logical thinking", and the marked difference between the "methodological individualism" shared by both of them versus the "methodological collectivism" of most of the numerous scientists of life and society attending the Macy Conferences on Cybernetics. The main thesis sustained here is that these different approaches, quite invisible to the participants, were different, maybe even opposite, but they could provoke clashes, as well as cooperate in a synergic way.

Philosophical and methodological analyses in Japanese particle physics

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Bardos, G. (Kossuth Lajos Tudomanyegyetem, Debrecen (Hungary). Elmeleti Fizikai Tanszek)

1984-01-01

The history and philosophy of the Japanese school of dialectical materialism and its influence on nuclear and particle physicists are discussed. The ideas of main characters of this philosophical school are summerized. Parallel physical and philosophical works of Sakata are analyzed.

[Different philosophical traditions for knowledge development in nursing sciences].

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Ballard, Ariane; Khadra, Christelle; Le May, Sylvie; Gendron, Sylvie

2016-03-01

doctoral studies in nursing engage a critical reflections about philosophical traditions inherent to knowledge development. critical realism, hermeneutics, postmodernism and poststructuralism refer to philosophical traditions that are generally less explored in nursing, although they are attracting greater attention. this paper offers an introductory presentation to these traditions as the authors also reflect upon their contribution to nursing knowledge development in. for each tradition, ontological and epistemological properties are presented to provide an overview of their main features. Contributions to nursing knowledge development are then discussed. ontology refers to stratified, fixed and changing, or multiple realities, depending on the philosophical tradition. Likewise, epistemology emphasizes the explanatory power of knowledge, intersubjectivity, or inherent power dynamics. the diversity of philosophical traditions represents an asset that can significantly contribute to the advancement of the nursing discipline. clarification of the philosophical dimensions that underlie knowledge development is essential for doctoral nursing students in the process of developing their research projects and future programmes of research.

Social-philosophical practices of success

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S. R. Karpenko

2017-01-01

Is social-philosophical experts of success represent the complicated system of various world outlook, speech, mental factors and events in life of the various professional, age and subcultural bunches producing assessments under different visual angles, from positions of various social installations and identity in what the social philosophy of success expresses. In the course of forming social an expert (both in daily, and in an institutional discourse are shaped also theoretical ideas success: instrumental, is social-philosophical, is social-psychological, world outlook, historical and cultural, etc., characterising thereby various systems of a social discourse. Examination is social-philosophical the success expert shows the real complexity and ambiguity of the given appearance. Besides the presented typology constructed as the most approximate abstract plan, in each separate case probably build-up of typological models according to a principle ad hoc. It looks quite justified, considering that circumstance that representations about success and the successful person are constantly transformed and acquire new performances. Efficiency of the further examinations of a discourse and a success expert will depend on accepting of new heuristic approaches, capable to consider multidimensionality and ambiguity of the given phenomenon.

MARTIN HEIDEGGER’S BLACK NOTEBOOKS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHICAL CRITIQUE

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A. O. Karpenko

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study is to determine the key strategies of philosophical criticism of Heidegger’s Black Notebooks, whose achievement is realized in the following tasks: 1 to identify the body of texts that represent the discourse of philosophical criticism of Heidegger notes; 2 to reveal the typological features of the different strategies of interpreting Black Notebooks; 3 to reconstruct a thematic horizon of Heidegger studies, opened up by discussion on published notes. The methodology combines elements of discourse analysis with traditional methods of historical and philosophical criticism. Scientific novelty is expressed in the following: 1 philosophical discourse of the Notebooks’ reception includes texts of narrowly specialized character (Gatherings collection of articles, as well as reflections of key philosophers (A. Badiou, J.-L. Nancy 2 basic strategies in philosophical critique of Black Notebooks convey the overall structure of the discourse of interpretation of Heidegger’s legacy, distributed between apologetics and ideological criticism; 3 Black Notebooks have exacerbated the problem of architectonics of Gesammtausgabe and formed the textual basis for the study of "silence" period in philosophical life of Heidegger. Conclusions. The discourse of philosophical critique of Heidegger’s notes proves evidence for ideological charge of philosophizing and justifies socially oriented approaches of historical and philosophical studies examining philosophizing as a special cultural practice, not as a form of sublime creativity.

Reviving ancient Chinese mathematics mathematics, history and politics in the work of Wu Wen-Tsun

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Hudecek, Jiri

2014-01-01

Twentieth-century China has been caught between a desire to increase its wealth and power in line with other advanced nations, which, by implication, means copying their institutions, practices and values, whilst simultaneously seeking to preserve China's independence and historically formed identity. Over time, Chinese philosophers, writers, artists and politicians have all sought to reconcile these goals and this book shows how this search for a Chinese way penetrated even the most central, least contested area of modernity: science.Reviving Ancient Chinese Mathematics is a study of the life

Terrorism: some philosophical and ethical dilemmas

OpenAIRE

Stojanov, Trajce; Unsal, Zeynep

2017-01-01

Philosophers weren`t thinking a lot about terrorism before the terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001. Or even when they were thinking the main concern was how to deal with terrorism. But after this attack terrorism was high on the philosophical agenda mainly manifested as an ethical problem. The key concern was: can terrorism be morally justified? That is the issue we are dealing in this paper too. But, the answer of this question largely depends on the treatment of t...

Formalism and beyond on the nature of mathematical discourse

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Link, Godehard

2014-01-01

The essays collected in this volume focus on the role of formalist aspects in mathematical theorizing and practice, examining issues such as infinity, finiteness, and proof procedures, as well as central historical figures in the field, including Frege, Russell, Hilbert and Wittgenstein. Using modern logico-philosophical tools and systematic conceptual and logical analyses, the volume provides a thorough, up-to-date account of the subject.

PREFACE: X Workshop of the Gravitation and Mathematical Physics Division, Mexican Physical Society

Science.gov (United States)

2014-11-01

The collection of papers in this volume was presented during the X Workshop of the Gravitation and Mathematical Physics Division of the Mexican Physical Society (DGFM-SMF), which was held in Pachuca, Hidalgo, México, December 2-6, 2013. The Workshop is a bi-annual series of conferences sponsored by the DGFM-SMF that started in 1993 with the purposes of discussing and exchanging the research and experience of the gravitational and mathematical physics communities in Mexico. Each Mexican Workshop has been devoted to subjects of broad interest, so that students, in particular, can have access to specialized courses and talks that allow them to raise up their qualifications as professional researchers. Recurrent topics in the Mexican Workshop are supergravity, branes, black holes, the early Universe, observational cosmology, quantum gravity and cosmology and numerical relativity. Following our previous Workshops, distinguished researchers in the field, working in Mexico, were invited to give courses, whereas young researchers were invited for plenary lectures. More specialized talks were also presented in parallel sessions, with ample participation of researchers, and graduate and undergraduate students; most of the presentations have been included in these proceedings. The contributions in this volume have been peer-reviewed, and they represent most of the courses, plenary talks and contributed talks presented during our Workshop. We are indebted to the contributors of these proceedings, as well as to the other participants and organizers, all for making the event a complete success. We acknowledge the professionalism of our reviewers, who helped us to keep high quality standards in all manuscripts. Acknowledgments The organizing committee would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Mexican National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT), the Mexican Physical Society (SMF), as well as several Institutions including: Centro de Investigación y Estudios

The Philosopher In The Newspaper: Serhiy Krymsky As A Public Intellectual

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Melnyk Andriy

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Interactions of philosophical and journalistic spheres, mediatization of philosophy are main problems of this article. Author considers public philosophy of contemporary Ukrainian philosopher Serhiy Krymsky and determines a role of philosophical journalism in modern media discourse.

Accounting for primitive terms in mathematics

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D.F.M. Strauss

2005-07-01

Full Text Available The philosophical problem of unity and diversity entails a challenge to the rationalist aim to define everything. Definitions of this kind surface in various academic disciplines in formulations like uniqueness, irreducibility, and what has acquired the designation “primitive terms”. Not even the most “exact” disciplines, such as mathematics, can avoid the implications entailed in giving an account of such primitive terms. A mere look at the historical development of mathematics highlights the fact that alternative perspectives prevailed – from the arithmeticism of Pythagoreanism, the eventual geometrisation of mathematics after the discovery of incommensurability up to the revival of arithmeticism in the mathematics of Cauchy, Weierstrass, Dedekind and Cantor (with the later orientation of Frege, who completed the circle by returning to the view that mathematics essentially is geometry. An assessment of logicism and axiomatic formalism is followed by looking at the primitive meaning of wholeness (and the whole-parts relation. With reference to the views of Hilbert, Weyl and Bernays the article concludes by suggesting that in opposition to arithmeticism and geometricism an alternative option ought to be pursued – one in which both the uniqueness and mutual coherence between the aspects of number and space are acknowledged.

Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

2016-01-01

This article gives an overview of my book French Philosophy and Social Theory. A Perspective for Ethics and Philosophy of Management, published by Springer 2014. As an extension of my earlier work on French philosophy, this book provides an application of important concepts from contemporary French...... philosophy to business ethics and the ethics of organizations. Although the book covers a wide range of philosophers and philosophical movements, there is a core and deep unity of the book. This is the demonstration of how the conceptual resources of contemporary French philosophy from the early 20th Century...... to the present day can be applied to give us new perspectives on business ethics and the ethics of organizations....

Co to znaczy filozofować? (What does Philosophizing Mean?

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Aldona Pobojewska

2011-09-01

Full Text Available A philosophy teacher should constantly raise the question about the form of philosophical education. Following this need I undertook the problem “what is the philosophizing” once again. The results of this reflection are the following paper presented. It has two main parts. In the first – I present the philosophizing as rational reasoning which has to do with science and with common sense thinking even. In thesecond part – I point out a set of properties specific to philosophizing.

Euthanasia in South Africa: Philosophical and theological considerations

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Mojalefa L.J. Koenane

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Debates on euthanasia (or �mercy killing� have been a concern in moral, philosophical, legal, theological, cultural and sociological discourse for centuries. The topic of euthanasia inspires a variety of strong views of which the �slippery slope� argument is one. The latter warns that the principle(s underlying any ethical issue (including euthanasia may be distorted. Scholars� views on euthanasia are influenced mainly by cultural, personal, political and religious convictions. In South Africa, the issue of euthanasia has arisen from time to time, but the question of whether it should be legalised was not seriously considered until it recently attracted attention because of a particular case, that of Cape Town advocate Robin StranshamFord. Although euthanasia is still illegal (this is because the Stransham-Ford ruling is confined to this particular case only, as stated in the ratio decidendi by Judge Hans Fabricius of the High Court in Pretoria, the Court granted leave to appeal its April 2015 judgement regarding euthanasia in the application lodged by Stransham-Ford. In considering the contentious nature of the issue of euthanasia, this article adopts a multidisciplinary approach which includes historical, legal, theological, philosophical, theoretical and analytic frameworks, discussing euthanasia from philosophical and theological perspectives, in particular. We conclude by recommending that the subject of applied ethics, which helps to educate citizens about contemporary moral problems such as euthanasia, be introduced at school level. Exposing young people to the debates around thorny issues such as this would familiarise them with the discourse, encourage them to engage with it and empower them as mature citizens to make informed, reasonable decisions, obviating confusion and conflict which might otherwise arise. The problems surrounding the issue of euthanasia are multidimensional and have the capacity to polarise the nation and

Philosophical counselling: Towards a 'new approach' in pastoral ...

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In this article it was argued that philosophical counselling opens up new avenues for pastoral care and counselling. Philosophical counselling probes into the realm of different schemata of interpretation. A model for the making of a spiritual existential analysis was proposed in order to detect the impact of the Christian ...

The philosophical terrain of behavior analysis: a review of B. A. Thyer (Ed.), The Philosophical Legacy of Behaviorism.

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Lamal, P A

2000-09-01

The Philosophical Legacy of Behaviorism, edited by Bruce A. Thyer, is a set of original contributions, each dealing, from a behavioral stance, with one of the following major topics of philosophy: epistemology, ethics, consciousness, language, free will and determinism, and self-control. Confusions about radical behaviorism and its similarities to, and differences from, other behavioral and non-behavioral approaches are described in the book, which provides a state-of-the-art description of the philosophical underpinnings of behavior analysis.

Philosophical analysis of virtualization educational space problems

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V. D. Kolomiets

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Categorical imperative of the new spatial organization of education through its integration in the media space is its virtualization. It is possible in principle, given that both spaces are characterized by adaptability, ease transfer from one semiotic system to another, mobility, functionality, flexibility, allowing for their continuous restructuring. On the philosophical and educational perspective, for us it is important to note that the «idea» of media education space sets the goal of education, understanding of the complex and multi­level organization of information relations of the educational process is a simple link between empirical concepts and ideas about education space as integrity within the information society. Virtual dimension issues of educational space formed within one of the major philosophical and educational issues ­ problems of socio­cultural nature of education as a mechanism of becoming human in man. Today feature virtual philosophical analysis is understanding not just a technical phenomenon, but as a space of human existence, and therefore its educational space. It is in this sense the philosophy of education is important to apply the methodology of media philosophy in the development problems of media education space as a space of life, self­development and self­knowledge of man. Crisis and negative phenomena in postmodern education is not the result of the process of formation of modern electronic media and virtual media space. However, this specific problem requires analysis of education is in the context of new technologies of mass communication. The spread of the crisis of education in terms of media reality should be seen as a crisis of a man who fell into the information system, which is the media model and simulated education and awareness of life. Education in terms of media consumerism acts as a social technology and media culture «escape from thinking.» The transition from education information and

What is the problem in problem-based learning in higher education mathematics

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Dahl, Bettina

2018-01-01

Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) emphasise collaborate work on problems relevant to society and emphases the relation between theory and practice. PBL fits engineering students as preparation for their future professions but what about mathematics? Mathematics is not just applied mathematics, but it is also a body of abstract knowledge where the application in society is not always obvious. Does mathematics, including pure mathematics, fit into a PBL curriculum? This paper argues that it does for two reasons: (1) PBL resembles the working methods of research mathematicians. (2) The concept of society includes the society of researchers to whom theoretical mathematics is relevant. The paper describes two cases of university PBL projects in mathematics; one in pure mathematics and the other in applied mathematics. The paper also discusses that future engineers need to understand the world of mathematics as well as how engineers fit into a process of fundamental-research-turned-into-applied-science.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS VALUE LEVEL OF PERCEPTION OF THE WORLD

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S. I. Nekrasov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the philosophical understanding of the problem of perception of values and antivalues. Beliefs, recognized among the people regarding the purposes to which it is important to strive for life, named values. They are the Foundation for moral principles and provide people with their human existence despite the fact that different cultures hold different principles. In the tribe Yanomami cruelty is considered a value. The expectation that men will defend their honor in combat, is to be the norm corresponding to this value. Anyway, the principles followed by the personality, are accounted for morality. Principles justify the norms and standards that support human being in his desire to be honest and sincere for that society in which he lives, and be worthy of its representative.

Reprint of "Mathematics as verbal behavior".

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Marr, M Jackson

2015-05-01

"Behavior which is effective only through the mediation of other persons has so many distinguishing dynamic and topographical properties that a special treatment is justified and indeed demanded" (Skinner, 1957, p. 2). Skinner's demand for a special treatment of verbal behavior can be extended within that field to domains such as music, poetry, drama, and the topic of this paper: mathematics. For centuries, mathematics has been of special concern to philosophers who have continually argued to the present day about what some deem its "special nature." Two interrelated principal questions have been: (1) Are the subjects of mathematical interest pre-existing in some transcendental realm and thus are "discovered" as one might discover a new planet; and (2) Why is mathematics so effective in the practices of science and engineering even though originally such mathematics was "pure" with applications neither contemplated or even desired? I argue that considering the actual practice of mathematics in its history and in the context of acquired verbal behavior one can address at least some of its apparent mysteries. To this end, I discuss some of the structural and functional features of mathematics including verbal operants, rule-and contingency-modulated behavior, relational frames, the shaping of abstraction, and the development of intuition. How is it possible to understand Nature by properly talking about it? Essentially, it is because nature taught us how to talk. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The open society and its enemies

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Popper, Karl Raimund

2003-01-01

Written in political exile during the Second World War and first published in 1945, Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies is one of the most influential books of the twentieth century. Hailed by Bertrand Russell as a 'vigorous and profound defence of democracy', its now legendary attack on the philosophies of Plato, Hegel and Marx exposed the dangers inherent in centrally planned political systems. Popper's highly accessible style, his erudite and lucid explanations of the thought of great philosophers and the recent resurgence of totalitarian regimes around the world are just three of the reasons for the enduring popularity of The Open Society and Its Enemies, and for why it demands to be read both today and in years to come. This is the second of two volumes of The Open Society and Its Enemies.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF AESTETICS IN POST-CLASSICAL EPOCH

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Dariia M. Skalska

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To understand the dynamics of aesthetic conception as representative of the main directions of philosophical anthropology, identifying their contribution to the development of aesthetics and expand its research field. The condition of the study of the problem is the evolutionary process of adequateness, authenticity and alternativeness in determination of both the phenomenon of "aesthetic" and its role in philosophical and anthropological  convention. Methodology. Both the measurements of aesthetic as a unique, peculiar, specific and aesthetic dimensions of philosophical anthropology /systems of philisophy/ have in sight  the necessity to solve the same problem - the identification of new methodological basis. Theoretical results. The experience of theoretical researches of contemporary domestic and foreign philosophical and aesthetic schools іs generalized. The content of phenomenological and existential breakthrough in  modern age  of aesthetics іs revealed. The essence of "anthropological turn" in European philosophy of 20th century  as philosophical paradigm of the modern age and its impact on development of aesthetic theories of post-classical period was investigated. Conclusion. Philosophical and anthropological studies have amounted the "methodological synthesis" that appeared as the theoretical principles of the understanding of aesthetics due to its polystylistics.

Numbers Rule The Vexing Mathematics of Democracy, from Plato to the Present

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Szpiro, George G

2010-01-01

Since the very birth of democracy in ancient Greece, the simple act of voting has given rise to mathematical paradoxes that have puzzled some of the greatest philosophers, statesmen, and mathematicians. Numbers Rule traces the epic quest by these thinkers to create a more perfect democracy and adapt to the ever-changing demands that each new generation places on our democratic institutions. In a sweeping narrative that combines history, biography, and mathematics, George Szpiro details the fascinating lives and big ideas of great minds such as Plato, Pliny the Younger, Ramon Llull, Pierre Simo

From Subordination to Hegemony On the Epistemological Legitimation of Mathematics in Natural Philosophy of XVII Century

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Felipe Ochoa

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the epistemological legitimation of mathematics in natural philosophy in the seventeenth century. In the Renaissance it was claimed that mathematics does not meet the Aristotelian criteria of scientificity, and that it did not explain the efficient and final causes. So, its critics, inspired by the Aristotelian tradition, rejected the first attempts to mathematize natural philosophy. The epistemological conditions involved in the debate are examined on the scientific nature of mathematics and its relevance to natural philosophy. A historiographical tour of the mathematization of nature is made to provide new weighing elements with respect to a historically and philosophically more conceptual characterization of the emergence of modern science.

YHWH and the God of philosophical theology

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J W Gericke

2005-10-01

Full Text Available In popular orthodox Christian philosophical theology, it is often taken for granted that the divine philosophised about is none other than the Hebrew deity YHWH himself. Moreover , it is often assumed that the Old� Testament depicts YHWH as being, inter alia, single, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal. Now while it is to be admitted that there are indeed depictions of YHWH in the Old Testament in which his profile might be thought of as corresponding more or less to the popular philosophical ideal, it is also true that there are many representations that contradict it. In this article, the author looks at how the popular profile of� YHWH in the Old Testament as reconstructed by some philosophical theologians claiming to be �biblical�� is deconstructed when it is juxtaposed with alternative renderings of the divine in the same texts.

Exploring the Learning of Mathematics Word Problems by African Immigrant Early Learners

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Mahofa, Ernest; Adendorff, Stanley; Kwenda, Chiwimbiso

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the learning of mathematics word problems by African immigrant early learners in the Western Cape Province of South Africa (SA). Phenomenology was used as the philosophical underpinning for this study and also informed the research method. Purposive sampling methods were used to select 10 African immigrant…

Mendelssohn and Kant on Mathematics and Metaphysics

OpenAIRE

Callanan, John Joseph

2014-01-01

The difference between the method of metaphysics and the method of mathematics was an issue of central concern for Kant in both the Pre-Critical and Critical periods. I will argue that when Kant speaks of the ‘philosophical method’ in the Doctrine of Method in the Critique of Pure Reason (CPR), he frequently has in mind not his own methodology but rather the method of conceptual analysis associated with rationalism. The particular target is Moses Mendelssohn’s picture of analysis contained in...

Feser on Rothbard as a Philosopher

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Gerard Casey

2009-08-01

Full Text Available In “Rothbard as a philosopher” (Feser 2006 Edward Feser harshly criticises the philosophical abilities of Murray Rothbard. According to Feser, Rothbard seems unable to produce arguments that don’t commit obvious fallacies or produces arguments that fail to address certain obvious objections. His criticism centres on what he regards as Rothbard’s principal argument for the thesis of self-ownership. In this paper, I attempt to show that Feser’s criticism fails of its purpose and that Rothbard is very far from being the epitome of philosophical ineptitude that Feser takes him to be.

The early mathematical manuscripts of Leibniz

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Leibniz, G W

2005-01-01

The manuscripts and correspondence of Leibniz possess a special interest: they are invaluable as aids to the study of their author's part in the invention and development of the infinitesimal calculus. In addition, the main ideas behind Leibniz's philosophical theories lay here, in his mathematical work.This volume consists of two sections. The first part features Leibniz's own accounts of his work, and the second section comprises critical and historical notes and essays. An informative Introduction leads to the ""postscript"" to Leibniz's 1703 letter to James Bernoulli, his ""Historia et Ori

The Use of Philosophical Practice in Lifelong and Self-Directed Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Finn Thorbjørn

2001-01-01

In this article I invite the reader to reconsider philosophical counselling and practice first of all as a pedagogical practice. Recent research in adult education and especially in the area of "self-directed learning" reveals a growing interest in the existential and philosophical dimensions...... of learning and guidance in the adult education setting. I suggest that we use philosophical counselling to strengthen the adult´s capacity for lifelong and self-directed learning and that philosophical practice in general could be connected to a new kind of "existential adult pedagogy"....

IMPLIED AUTHOR IN PHILOSOPHICAL NOVELS

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Olga Senkāne

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The present article falls within a number of papers about research on specification of philosophical novels. The aim of this article is to analyze author’s function as a narrative category in classical philosophical novels (Franz Kafka "The Trial" (1925, "The Castle" (1926, Jean-Paul Sartre "Nausea" (1938, Hermann Hesse "The Glass Bead Game" (1943, Albert Camus "The Plague" (1947 and a novel of Latvian prose writer Ilze Šķipsna "Neapsolītās zemes" ["Un-Promised Lands"] (1970. The analysis is based on theoretical ideas of structural narratologists Gerard Genette, William Labov, Seymuor Chatman, Wolf Schmid, as well as philosophers Edmund Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Ricouer and semioticians Yuri Lotman (Юрий Лотман and Umberto Eco. The real author can ”enter” the text only indirectly—as an image, with the help of the storyteller, and the way how this ”entry” happens is determined by the narration of the real author or narrative (communication skills of the author. Thus, the author and implied author are functionally different concepts: author as a real person develops the concept idea, his intention is to define the concept under his original vision; narrator, in its turn, communicates with the reader, representing the concept, and his aim is to select appropriate means of communication with regard to reader’s perceptual abilities.

Theological Metaphors in Mathematics

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Krajewski Stanisław

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Examples of possible theological influences upon the development of mathematics are indicated. The best known connection can be found in the realm of infinite sets treated by us as known or graspable, which constitutes a divine-like approach. Also the move to treat infinite processes as if they were one finished object that can be identified with its limits is routine in mathematicians, but refers to seemingly super-human power. For centuries this was seen as wrong and even today some philosophers, for example Brian Rotman, talk critically about “theological mathematics”. Theological metaphors, like “God’s view”, are used even by contemporary mathematicians. While rarely appearing in official texts they are rather easily invoked in “the kitchen of mathematics”. There exist theories developing without the assumption of actual infinity the tools of classical mathematics needed for applications (For instance, Mycielski’s approach. Conclusion: mathematics could have developed in another way. Finally, several specific examples of historical situations are mentioned where, according to some authors, direct theological input into mathematics appeared: the possibility of the ritual genesis of arithmetic and geometry, the importance of the Indian religious background for the emergence of zero, the genesis of the theories of Cantor and Brouwer, the role of Name-worshipping for the research of the Moscow school of topology. Neither these examples nor the previous illustrations of theological metaphors provide a certain proof that religion or theology was directly influencing the development of mathematical ideas. They do suggest, however, common points and connections that merit further exploration.

Sir Kenelm Digby (1603-1665): diplomat, entrepreneur, privateer, duellist, scientist and philosopher.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellick, Sam A

2011-12-01

Kenelm Digby was a man with widely differing interests. He studied at Oxford but left without a degree. At the age of 20, he was involved in a dramatic street brawl in Madrid; the following year saw him as a successful privateer in the Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic waters, and he was then appointed a naval administrator with lucrative trade monopolies. He practised medicine without formal qualifications and gained notoriety by promoting the use of 'sympathetic' powder for healing wounds. Befriended by King James I and his son who succeeded him, he became chancellor to Queen Henrietta and was knighted by King James I on 21 October 1623 and appointed to the Privy Council. At one time, he even spent a brief time in prison, but he later became a founding member of the Royal Society and published two major philosophical treatises as well as a popular cookbook. He designed and manufactured wine bottles with tapered necks for simpler pouring and square sides for easy stacking. He dabbled in mathematics and corresponded with Fermat of 'Last Theorem' fame. In 1641, he challenged a French nobleman who publicly cast a slur on the British King to a 'digladiation' (a sword duel) and quickly dispatched him. He was a friend and admirer of Sir Thomas Browne whose 'Religio Medici' he helped to publish. The Cowlishaw Library holds a 1659 5th edition copy of this remarkable book, with Digby's name on the spine. Truly, Digby must qualify as a Renaissance man. © 2011 The Author. ANZ Journal of Surgery © 2011 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Mathematical Modeling in the High School Curriculum

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Hernández, Maria L.; Levy, Rachel; Felton-Koestler, Mathew D.; Zbiek, Rose Mary

2016-01-01

In 2015, mathematics leaders and instructors from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP), with input from NCTM, came together to write the "Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Mathematical Modeling Education" (GAIMME) report as a resource for…

Mathematics. [SITE 2002 Section].

Science.gov (United States)

Connell, Michael L., Ed.; Lowery, Norene Vail, Ed.; Harnisch, Delwyn L., Ed.

This document contains the following papers on mathematics from the SITE (Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education) 2002 conference: (1) "Teachers' Learning of Mathematics in the Presence of Technology: Participatory Cognitive Apprenticeship" (Mara Alagic); (2) "A Fractal Is a Pattern in Your Neighborhood" (Craig N. Bach); (3)…

Teaching of social and philosophical background to atomic theory

Science.gov (United States)

Lühl, Jutta

1992-06-01

The history of atomic theory is outlined from earliest times up to the orbital model, and a corresponding teaching method described. The first, historical part of the paper emphasizes social and philosophical aspects in the development of atomic theory. The following milestones are dealt with: the development of the concept of matter from Greek mythology up to the atom; the spreading of Arab philosophy to the Occident during the Middle Ages; the conflict between the church and its opponents in the Middle Ages about the nature of the individual and society; and the status of atomic theory at the time of Newton, and its final acceptance after Dalton. The second part of the paper describes a method for teaching this material at secondary level, in which students are encouraged to make their own conclusions from the range of material offered.

Arche papers on the mathematics of abstraction

CERN Document Server

Cook, Roy T

2007-01-01

This volume collects together a number of important papers concerning both the method of abstraction generally and the use of particular abstraction principles to reconstruct central areas of mathematics along logicist lines. Gottlob Frege's original logicist project was, in effect, refuted by Russell's paradox. Crispin Wright has recently revived Frege's enterprise, however, providing a philosophical and technical framework within which a reconstruction of arithmetic is possible. While the Neo-Fregean project has recieved extensive attention and discussion, the present volume is unique in pre

Kantian Turning Point in Gadamer's Philosophical Hermeneutics

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Kristína Bosáková

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The paper is treating the theme of a Kantian turning-point in the philosophical hermeneutics of H.- G. Gadamer based on of the harmonic relationship between metaphysics and science in Kantian philosophy from the point of view of the philosophical hermeneutics of Gadamer. The philosophical work of Kant had such an influence on Gadamer that without exaggerating we can talk about the Kantian turning-point in Gadamerian hermeneutics. Grondin, a former student of Gadamer, is talking about Kantian turning-point on the field of aesthetics, but in reality Kantian turning-point means much more than a mere change in the reception of the concept of judgement. It is a discovery of harmonical relationship between the beauty and the moral, between the reason and the sensitivity, between the modern sciences and the metaphysical tradition in the Kantian philosophy, made by Gadamer. This is what we call the Kantian turning-point in Gadamerian hermeneutics.

MATHEMATICS TEACHER: MOVING KNOWLEDGE UNDER FORMATION

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Roselaine Machado Albernaz

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This essay approaches the Mathematics teacher forming process from his/her experiences in the school system and the set of knowledge that hashistorical, philosophical and politically constituted him/her. This set of knowledge not only comprises academic knowledge, but also involves the subjective effects of knowledge it incorporates. Starting from a tale, the character, called ‘researcher-teacher’, conducts the text throughout questions about the forming processes of teachers of such a particular subject as Mathematics. The character seems to have an “interrogative something” which is peculiar to us, teachers, concerned about our disciplinary field. Having the objective of problematize the formation and knowledge of our character, her ways of being, thinking and perceiving, we intend to question, with and through her, the new requirements that have been demanded towards Mathematics teachers and the set of knowledge that constitute her, the way she is, her way of acting and taking  position in the school universe. The proposed essay seeks for an articulation between the fields of Art, Philosophy, Science and Education. It speaks about the intriguing school world, but not least, the ways we think to treat the forming process of Mathematics teachers from a set of logical, subjective and sensitive knowledge.  Key words: Forming process of teachers; mathematics; aesthetic experience; philosophy of difference.

Peace Education: Exploring Some Philosophical Foundations

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Page, James S.

2004-01-01

Peace education has been recognized as an important aspect of social education for the past three decades. The critical literature as well as official documents, however, have given little attention to its philosophical foundations. This essay explores these foundations in the ethics of (1) virtue, (2) consequentialism, (3) aesthetics, (4) conservative politics and (5) care. Each of these alone composes a significant element of peace education, although ultimately its solid basis can only be established through an integrative approach encouraging a culture of peace. The more complete development and articulation of the philosophical rationale of peace education is yet to be accomplished and remains a task for the future.

The role of Philosophical Hermeneutics in contributing to an understanding of physiotherapy practice: a reflexive illustration.

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Stenner, Rob; Mitchell, Theresa; Palmer, Shea

2017-09-01

This paper provides an overview of Philosophical Hermeneutics based on the work of German philosopher Hans Georg Gadamer. The concepts of the 'hermeneutic circle' as a vehicle for interpretation, management of the researcher's pre-understandings (prejudices), and the 'fusion of horizons' are introduced and illustrated by examples from the first author's research, before considering how rigour can be achieved in this type of research. The actual research study which aimed to explore how shared decision making and patient partnership are addressed by physiotherapists in the process of exercise prescription for patients with low back pain (LBP) is not the focus of this paper. However short descriptions of the study are used to explore issues surrounding a hermeneutic inquiry. For physiotherapists interested in research or considering undertaking an interpretive phenomenological inquiry, this theoretical discussion paper explores how Gadamer's philosophy offers a credible framework for undertaking such research. Copyright © 2016 Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Should Philosophers and Educators Be Speaking to Each Other?

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Fenstermacher, Gary D.

2002-01-01

Responds to Arcilla's article, "Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to One Another?" suggesting that philosophers and educators are actually speaking to one another, copiously and productively, though the conversation sometimes takes other, less direct modes. The paper asks whether they should be talking to each other,…

Latin American Philosophers: Some Recent Challenges to Their Intellectual Character

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Susana Nuccetelli

2016-07-01

Full Text Available For Latin American philosophers, the quality of their own philosophy is a recurrent issue. Why hasn’t it produced any internationally recognized figure, tradition, or movement? Why is it mostly unknown inside and outside Latin America? Although skeptical answers to these questions are not new, they have recently shifted to some critical-thinking competences and dispositions deemed necessary for successful philosophical theorizing. Latin American philosophers are said to lack, for example, originality in problem-solving, problem-making, argumentation, and to some extent, interpretation. Or does the problem arise from their vices of “arrogant reasoning?” On my view, all of these answers are incomplete, and some even self-defeating. Yet they cast some light on complex, critical-thinking virtues and vices that play a significant role in philosophical thinking.

[Health, environment and nursing. Philosophical and theoretical foundations for the development and validation of a nursing interface terminology. Part III].

Science.gov (United States)

Juvé-Udina, Maria-Eulàlia

2012-06-01

This manuscript is the third of a triad of papers introducing the philosophical and theoretical approaches that support the development and validation of a nursing interface terminology as a standard vocabulary designed to ease data entry into electronic health records, to produce information and to generate knowledge. To analyze the philosophical and theoretical approaches considered in the development of a new nursing interface terminology called ATIC. Review, analysis and discussion of the main philosophical orientations, high and mid-range theories and nursing scientific literature to develop an interpretative conceptualization of the metaparadigm concepts "Health", "Environment" and "Nursing". In the 2 previous papers the ATIC terminology, its foundation on pragmatism, holism, post-positivism and constructivism and the construction of the meaning for the concept elndividualh is discussed. In this third paper, Health is conceptualized as a multidimensional balance state and the concepts of Partial health status, Disease and Being ill are explored within. The analysis of the Environment theories drives its conceptualization as a group of variables that has the potential to affect health status. In this orientation, Nursing is understood as the scientific discipline focused on the study of health status in the particular environment and experience of the individuals, groups, communities or societies. ATIC terminology is rooted on an eclectic philosophical and theoretical foundation, allowing it to be used from different trends within the totality paradigm.

HISTORICAL-PHILOSOPHICAL-LEGAL RESEARCH OF THE PHENOMENON OF THE GENDER AS THE FACTOR OF THE SOCIAL STATUS OF THE UKRAINIAN WOMAN

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H. F. Moskalyk

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Topicality. Under the conditions of Ukraine’s integration into the European community, there is an urgent need to restructure all social institutions, freeing them from all forms of discrimination, including on the basis of gender. Modern problems of the state's socioeconomic development require a new look at the functional roles of men and women, as well as the understanding that the political, economic, cultural future of society depends on overcoming gender stereotypes that are deeply rooted in the social and individual consciousness and inhibit social progress, and also the development of democracy. That is why, today, it is extremely important to study the issue of social influence and the role of women and determine their social status against the backdrop of the historical development of our state. Purpose. The article studies the emergence and adoption of the phenomenon of gender as a factor of the social status of the Ukrainian woman in the historical, philosophical and legal realm. Methodology. In the research process the authors used the methods of analyzing and synthesizing historical sources to study the content and main provisions of philosophical concepts and legal norms that formed the social status of a Ukrainian woman at different historical periods of society development, with their subsequent comparison and generalization. Originality. The work further develops the theory of gender processes with the use of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the phenomenon of gender in the historical, philosophical and legal field as a factor of the social status of the Ukrainian woman, to critically re-evaluate the value guidelines on the construction of modern society and the formation of new ideas about the role and model of behavior of men and women and their interaction in society. Conclusions. For a long time, the social status of women was formed under the influence of philosophical views and concepts, slowly turned into

Problems in the Science and Mathematics of 'The Logic of Scientific Discovery'

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Alan B. Whiting

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Professor Sir Karl Popper (1902-1994 was one of the most influential philosophers of science of the twentieth century. However, in his most famous work 'The Logic of Scientific Discovery' he displays troubling misunderstandings of science and mathematics at a basic level. These call into question his conclusions concerning the philosophy of science. Quanta 2012; 1: 13–18.

Peirce and Rationalism: Is Peirce a Fully Semiotic Philosopher?

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Stables, Andrew

2014-01-01

While Peirce is a seminal figure for contemporary semiotic philosophers, it is axiomatic of a fully semiotic perspective that no philosopher or philosophy (semiotics included) can provide any final answer, as signs are always interpreted and the context of interpretation always varies. Semiosis is evolutionary: it may or may not be construed as…

Tenth-Grade High School Students' Mathematical Self-Efficacy, Mathematics Anxiety, Attitudes toward Mathematics, and Performance on the New York State Integrated Algebra Regents Examination

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Catapano, Michael

2013-01-01

Strong mathematical abilities are important for the continuation of a successful society. Mathematics is required and involved in all aspects of daily life: banking, communications, business, education, and travel are just a few examples. More specifically the areas of finance, engineering, architecture, and technology require individuals with…

Abandoning mathematics. Reconstructing the process in the context of the social perception of mathematics

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Anna Baczko-Dombi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Mathematics, as no other school subject, evokes conflicting emotions and contradictory attitudes – from “the gate to a career” and “the queen of science” to the widespread acceptance of mathematical ignorance in society. The process of studying mathematics requires systematic work and patience, as mathematical knowledge has a cumulative nature. In the case of mathematics education, some students abandon mathematics at quite early levels of education and begin to consider themselves “humanists”, which results in serious consequences for future educational and career choices. In this paper, I propose a description of the process of escaping from mathematics in the context of students’ perceptions of this subject, using the results of two studies – one qualitative and the other quantitative.

Humanizing mathematics and its philosophy essays celebrating the 90th birthday of Reuben Hersh

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This Festschrift contains numerous colorful and eclectic essays from well-known mathematicians, philosophers, logicians, and linguists celebrating the 90th birthday of Reuben Hersh. The essays offer, in part, attempts to answer the following questions set forth by Reuben himself as a focus for this volume: Can practicing mathematicians, as such, contribute anything to the philosophy of math? Can or should philosophers of math, as such, say anything to practicing mathematicians? Twenty or fifty years from now, what will be similar, and what will, or could, or should be altogether different: About the philosophy of math? About math education? About math research institutions? About data processing and scientific computing? The essays also offer glimpses into Reuben’s fertile mind and his lasting influence on the mathematical community, as well as revealing the diverse roots, obstacles and philosophical dispositions that characterize the working lives of mathematicians. With contributions from a veritable “w...

Technology, recommendation and design: on being a 'paternalistic' philosopher.

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Wong, Pak-Hang

2013-03-01

Philosophers have talked to each other about moral issues concerning technology, but few of them have talked about issues of technology and the good life, and even fewer have talked about technology and the good life with the public in the form of recommendation. In effect, recommendations for various technologies are often left to technologists and gurus. Given the potential benefits of informing the public on their impacts on the good life, however, this is a curious state of affairs. In the present paper, I will examine why philosophers are seemingly reluctant to offer recommendations to the public. While there are many reasons for philosophers to refrain from offering recommendations, I shall focus on a specific normative reason. More specifically, it appears that, according to a particular definition, offering recommendations can be viewed as paternalistic, and therefore is prima facie wrong to do so. I will provide an argument to show that the worry about paternalism is unfounded, because a form of paternalism engendered by technology is inevitable. Given the inevitability of paternalism, I note that philosophers should accept the duty to offer recommendations to the public. I will then briefly turn to design ethics, which has reconceptualised the role of philosophers and, in my mind, fitted well with the inevitability of paternalism. Finally, I shall argue that design ethics has to be supplemented by the practice of recommendation if it is to sustain its objective.

Developing Students’ Reflections about the Function and Status of Mathematical Modeling in Different Scientific Practices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kjeldsen, Tinne Hoff; Blomhøj, Morten

2013-01-01

position held by the modeler(s) and the practitioners in the extra-mathematical domain. For students to experience the significance of different scientific practices and cultures for the function and status of mathematical modeling in other sciences, students need to be placed in didactical situations......Mathematical models and mathematical modeling play different roles in the different areas and problems in which they are used. The function and status of mathematical modeling and models in the different areas depend on the scientific practice as well as the underlying philosophical and theoretical...... where such differences are exposed and made into explicit objects of their reflections. It can be difficult to create such situations in the teaching of contemporary science in which modeling is part of the culture. In this paper we show how history can serve as a means for students to be engaged...

On the Mathematics of the Jeffreys-Lindley Paradox

OpenAIRE

Villa, Cristiano; Walker, Stephen

2015-01-01

This paper is concerned with the well known Jeffreys-Lindley paradox. In a Bayesian set up, the so-called paradox arises when a point null hypothesis is tested and an objective prior is sought for the alternative hypothesis. In particular, the posterior for the null hypothesis tends to one when the uncertainty, i.e. the variance, for the parameter value goes to infinity. We argue that the appropriate way to deal with the paradox is to use simple mathematics, and that any philosophical argumen...

Agents of the Father's law in a society of brothers: A philosophic and psychoanalytic perspective on legitimate use of violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Even-Tzur, Efrat; Hadar, Uri

This paper explores subjective processes of "Agents of Law" - individuals who the state grants the authority to use violence - and the dissonance stemming from the contradictory demands posed on them as legitimate users of violence despite the societal taboo against violence. A conceptual model will be offered based on two theoretical legs, Lacanian psychoanalysis and political theories of legitimacy. Specifically, psychoanalytic ideas would serve to examine unconscious processes, subject position and various identifications related to the question of "self-legitimacy" of Agents of Law. A central link between psychoanalysis and political thought is found in the image of the father and in the triad ruler-God-Father, which calls for an oedipal analysis. A psychoanalytic reading of two philosophical schools that elaborated on the question of legitimacy will be presented, and yield two analytic poles of a model for the understanding of possible subject positions of agents of Law: identification with a "Living Father" vs. identification with a "Dead Father". The psychoanalytic reading will shed light on the limitations of the philosophical perspectives in reflecting on the various (im)possible psychological positions of agents of Law. Finally, then, it will be shown how psychoanalysis helps finding words to characterize different nuances in the coping of agents of Law with the contradictory demands posed on them in an age in which God is dead, the father was murdered and the king was beheaded. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Religion as a philosophical matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Albinus, Lars

with groundbreaking thoughts about culture and a basic human 'conditionality' among interwar philosophers such as Ernst Cassirer, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Walter Benjamin, and Martin Heidegger. Finally it draws a line to Jean-Luc Nancy’s deconstruction of Christianity which can also be seen as a deconstruction...

A brief philosophical encounter with science and medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Karbasizadeh, Amir Ehsan

2013-08-01

We show a lot of respect for science today. To back up our claims, we tend to appeal to scientific methods. It seems that we all agree that these methods are effective for gaining the truth. We can ask why science has its special status as a supplier of knowledge about our external world and our bodies. Of course, one should not always trust what scientists say. Nonetheless, epistemological justification of scientific claims is really a big project for philosophers of science. Philosophers of science are interested in knowing how science proves what it does claim and why it gives us good reasons to take these claims seriously. These questions are epistemological questions. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy which deals with knowledge claims and justification. Besides epistemological questions, metaphysical and ethical issues in science are worthy of philosophical scrutiny. This paper gives a short survey of these intellectually demanding issues.

Einstein's Theory A Rigorous Introduction for the Mathematically Untrained

CERN Document Server

Grøn, Øyvind

2011-01-01

This book provides an introduction to the theory of relativity and the mathematics used in its processes. Three elements of the book make it stand apart from previously published books on the theory of relativity. First, the book starts at a lower mathematical level than standard books with tensor calculus of sufficient maturity to make it possible to give detailed calculations of relativistic predictions of practical experiments. Self-contained introductions are given, for example vector calculus, differential calculus and integrations. Second, in-between calculations have been included, making it possible for the non-technical reader to follow step-by-step calculations. Thirdly, the conceptual development is gradual and rigorous in order to provide the inexperienced reader with a philosophically satisfying understanding of the theory.  Einstein's Theory: A Rigorous Introduction for the Mathematically Untrained aims to provide the reader with a sound conceptual understanding of both the special and genera...

Dementia: sociological and philosophical constructions.

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Davis, Daniel H J

2004-01-01

This analysis presents a challenge to the biomedical view of dementia as a disease. This view is critiqued from two perspectives: those of sociology and philosophy. Because these domains inform the creation of the medical discourse, their analysis provides an important refinement to the apprehension of the phenomenon of dementia. From the work of Foucault, and in particular his analysis of the historical origins of modern medicine, the sociological construction of dementia is considered. Following this, the philosophical question of Being is discussed, considering particularly the positions of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. Lastly aspects of dementia nursing that are damaging to those relatives forced to take on the role of primary carer are isolated, in the context of Kitwood's view that it is possible to maintain personhood at the extremes of this condition. It is suggested that this critique of sociological and philosophical foundations of dementia might offer a way of approaching the dismantling of the self and revise current conceptions of dementia care for the better.

Catharsis – Philosophical and Spiritual Aspects of Long-Distance Running

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Nemec Marcel

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze the occurrence of cathartic states in a sample of long-distance runners. Data collected via questionnaires were used to evaluate quantitative variables complemented by heuristics while aiming at qualitatively categorize the areas of cathartic states in the context of philosophical and spiritual aspects of long-distance running. The study findings objectify philosophical and spiritual aspects affecting personalities of long-distance runners. The study findings have shown that catharsis represents a relevant philosophical and spiritual aspect affecting long-distance running. We assume that authentic experience of catharsis and its effects motivates runners to perform regular physical activity. The analysis of philosophical and spiritual aspects of long-distance running has revealed a multi-spectral holistic relevance based on the transfer affecting a specific way of life, spectrum of values, ethical personality traits, and also the quality of long-distance runners’ lives.

Fighting corruption – a philosophical approach

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Schalk W. Vorster

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Corruption has reached astounding proportions in South Africa. The purpose of this article is to contribute to philosophical approaches aimed at combating corruption. In considering punishment for acts of corruption the most common approach is based on the philosophical theory of consequentialism, which allows only consideration of the consequences of corrupt acts. Ideally, cognisance should be taken of the norms in question, especially those norms demanding the judicious execution of obligations. It was, however, found that the Kantian categorical imperative presupposes an ideal rational society. The imperative has to be ‘softened’ by also allowing for enquiry about the corruptor’s personal circumstances, in the light of Christ’s love commandment. This article highlights the most prominent attributes of two important philosophical theories applicable to the study of corruption, namely utilitarianism (a variant of consequentialism and deontology. It is argued that qualified deontological and utilitistic approaches hold the best promise to curb corruption in the long run. The conclusion is that the state will urgently have to attend to the social context by revitalising programmes of ‘social renewal’, based on effective application of the law, the provision of adequate education and the eradication of poverty. There is also an urgent need for the ‘moral renewal’ of the entire population, focused on Christian values, operationalised within the context of the South Africa of today. Herein lies a massive task for the church. Korrupsie het verstommende afmetings in Suid-Afrika aangeneem. Die doel van hierdie artikel is om ’n bydrae te lewer tot filosofiese benaderings wat daarop gemik is om korrupsie te bestry. By die oorweging van strawwe vir korrupte dade word die mees algemene benadering gebaseer op die teorie van konsekwensialisme, wat slegs die gevolge van korrupte dade oorweeg. Ideaal-gesproke behoort ook kennis geneem te word

A Brief Philosophical Encounter with Science and Medicine

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Amir Ehsan Karbasizadeh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We show a lot of respect for science today. To back up our claims, we tend to appeal to scientific methods. It seems that we all agree that these methods are effective for gaining the truth. We can ask why science has its special status as a supplier of knowledge about our external world and our bodies. Of course, one should not always trust what scientists say. Nonetheless, epistemological justification of scientific claims is really a big project for philosophers of science. Philosophers of science are interested in knowing how science proves what it does claim and why it gives us good reasons to take these claims seriously. These questions are epistemological questions. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy which deals with knowledge claims and justification. Besides epistemological questions, metaphysical and ethical issues in science are worthy of philosophical scrutiny. This paper gives a short survey of these intellectually demanding issues.

Moral Cognitivism | Lillehammer | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper explicates a set of criteria the joint satisfaction of which is taken to qualify moral judgements as cognitive. The paper examines evidence that some moral judgements meet these criteria, and relates the resulting conception of moral judgements to ongoing controversies about cognitivism in ethics. Philosophical ...

Cosmos of science philosophical problems of the internal and external worlds

CERN Document Server

Earman, John

1998-01-01

The inaugural volume of the series, devoted to the work of philosopher Adolf Grünbaum, encompasses the philosophical problems of space, time, and cosmology, the nature of scientific methodology, and the foundations of psychoanalysis.

Why Philosophical Pragmatics Needs Clinical Pragmatics

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Ines Adornetti

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to show how clinical pragmatics (the study of pragmatic deficits can fruitfully inform the classical theoretical models proposed by philosophical pragmatics. In the first part of the paper I argue that theories proposed in the domain of philosophical pragmatics, as those elaborated by Austin and Grice, are not plausible from a cognitive point of view and that for this reason they cannot be useful to understand pragmatic deficits. In the second part, I show that Relevance Theory overcomes this limitation (being consistent with the data about actual mind’s functioning, but I also argue that it offers a restricted view of human communication which has to be integrated with a model of language use that takes into account a central pragmatic property: coherence of discourse.

Coevolution of nutrigenomics and society: ethical considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Korthals, Michiel

2011-12-01

To optimize the coevolution of nutrigenomics and society (ie, the reciprocal stimulation of both developments), I analyzed chances for a fruitful match between normative concepts and strategies of both developments. Nutrigenomics embodies ≥ 3 normative concepts. First, food is exclusively interpreted in terms of disease prevention. Second, striving for health is interpreted as the quantification of risks and prevention of diseases through positive food-gene interactions. The third normative idea is that disease prevention by the minimization of risks is an individual's task. My thesis was that these concepts of nutrigenomics would not easily match with concepts of food and health of various food styles in Western societies, which, for instance, parents in the case of metabolic programming endorse and with a philosophical view of the relation between food, health, and the meaning of life. Next, I reflected on the nonsynchronized coevolution of nutrigenomics and society because of this mismatch and introduced the concept of the fair representation of food styles in nutrigenomic developments. To synchronize and optimize the coevolution of nutrigenomics and society, I propose that the research policy of nutrigenomics should change to a research partnership with society on the basis of fair representation.

Women in mathematics celebrating the centennial of the Mathematical Association of America

CERN Document Server

Greenwald, Sarah; Jensen-Vallin, Jacqueline; Mast, Maura

2017-01-01

This collection of refereed papers celebrates the contributions, achievements, and progress of female mathematicians, mostly in the 20th and 21st centuries. Emerging from the themed paper session “The Contributions of Women to Mathematics: 100 Years and Counting” at MAA's 2015 MathFest, this volume contains a diverse mix of current scholarship and exposition on women and mathematics, including biographies, histories, and cultural discussions. The multiplicity of authors also ensures a wide variety of perspectives. In inspiring and informative chapters, the authors featured in this volume reflect on the accomplishments of women in mathematics, showcasing the changes in mathematical culture that resulted as more women obtained tenure-track and tenured academic positions, received prestigious awards and honors, served in leadership roles in professional societies, and became more visibly active in the mathematical community. Readers will find discussions of mathematical excellence at Girton College, Cambridg...

Improving University Students' Perception of Mathematics and Mathematics Ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shelly L. Wismath

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Although mathematical and quantitative reasoning skills are an essential part of adult life in our society, many students arrive at post-secondary education without such skills. Taking a standard mathematics course such as calculus may do little to improve those skills. Using a modification of the Tapia & Marsh questionnaire, we surveyed 62 students taking a broad quantitative reasoning course designed to develop quantitative skills, with respect to two broad attitudinal areas: students’ perception of their own ability, confidence and anxiety, and their perception of the value of mathematics in their studies and their lives. Pre- to post-course comparisons were done by both paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Our results showed a significant increase in confidence and decrease in anxiety, while perception of the value of mathematics was already high and changed little by the end of the course.

Critics to Metaphysics by Modern Philosophers: A Discourse on Human Beings in Reality

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Frederikus Fios

2016-01-01

Full Text Available We have entered the 21st century that is popularly known as the era of the development of modern science and technology. Philosophy provides naming for contemporary era as postmodern era. But do we suddenly come to this day and age? No! Because humans are homo viator, persona that does pilgrimage in history, space and time. Philosophy has expanded periodically in the long course of history. Since the days of classical antiquity, philosophy comes with a patterned metaphysical paradigm. This paradigm survives very long in the stage history of philosophy as maintained by many philosophers who hold fast to the philosophical-epistemic claim that philosophy should be (das sollen metaphysical. Classical Greek philosopher, Aristotle was a philosopher who claims metaphysics as the initial philosophy. Then, Immanuel Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Marx even Habermas offer appropriate shades of metaphysical philosophy versus spirit of the age. Modern philosophers offer a new paradigm in the way of doing philosophy. The new spirit of modern philosophers declared as if giving criticism on traditional western metaphysics (since Aristotle that are considered irrelevant. This paper intends to show the argument between traditional metaphysical and modern philosophers who criticize metaphysics. The author will make a philosophical synthesis to obtain enlightenment to the position of human beings in the space of time. Using the method of Hegelian dialectic (thesis-antiteses-synthesis, this topic will be developed and assessed in accordance with the interests of this paper. 

Special Needs: A Philosophical Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Vehmas, Simo

2010-01-01

This paper attempts to illuminate a central concept and idea in special education discourse, namely, "special needs". It analyses philosophically what needs are and on what grounds they are defined as "special" or "exceptional". It also discusses whether sorting needs into ordinary and special is discriminatory. It is argued that individualistic…

Anarchism and the nature of man: a philosophical appraisal | Ogan ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This work with the title “Anarchism and the Nature of Man: a Philosophical Appraisal” holds that Anarchism as a belief, movement or school of thought boils down to the age long philosophical problem of the relationship between authority and individuals or put differently, the problem of the justification of constituted authority ...

Étienne Gilson’s Philosophical Realism / Realizm filozoficzny w ujęciu Étienne Gilsona

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Natalia Kunat

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to analyze realist philosophy as the way of knowing reality in the thought of Étienne Gilson. The French Philosopher was a defender of philosophical realism who rationally justified the thesis about knowing things existing in the world independently of the knowing subject. Philosophical inquiry, carried out in a realist way, should start with the being which really exists. The basic philosophical method aims to rationally understand reality as well as explain the multifaceted cognition of reality. Gilson’s contribution to the development of philosophical realism includes the promotion of a realist philosophical awareness and the opposition to idealistic philosophies (Cartesianism, Kantianism.

ON TRANSLATION OF SOME PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTS IN KARL MARX’S WORKS

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Mr. Pyotr N. Kondrashov

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The article considers, that in Russian-speaking editions of K. Marx's works some philosophical concepts (produktiv, erzeugen, Erzeugung, Äußerung, Aneignung, Genuß, Arbeit, Verkehr, Gebrauchswert were translated as words with the productive and economic sense while Marx put philosophical, anthropological and existential connotations into these words in various contexts. It led to incorrect understanding of Marx's philosophy. The author of the article draws a conclusion about indispensability of new adequate translation of Marx's works and about radical reconsideration of its philosophical system.

Philosophical engineering toward a philosophy of the web

CERN Document Server

Halpin, Harry

2013-01-01

This is the first interdisciplinary exploration of the philosophical foundations of the Web, a new area of inquiry that has important implications across a range of domains. Contains twelve essays that bridge the fields of philosophy, cognitive science, and phenomenologyTackles questions such as the impact of Google on intelligence and epistemology, the philosophical status of digital objects, ethics on the Web, semantic and ontological changes caused by the Web, and the potential of the Web to serve as a genuine cognitive extensionBrings together insightful new scholarship from well-known an

Discrete thoughts essays on mathematics, science, and philosophy

CERN Document Server

Kac, Mark; Schwartz, Jacob T

1992-01-01

This is a volume of essays and reviews that delightfully explore mathematics in all its moods — from the light and the witty, and humorous to serious, rational, and cerebral. Topics include: logic, combinatorics, statistics, economics, artificial intelligence, computer science, and applications of mathematics broadly. You will also find history and philosophy covered, including discussion of the work of Ulam, Kant, Heidegger among others. "...these papers reflect on mathematics and its influence on human society. They can help the specialist to notice what is going on around him, and they may lead educated people from other domains to a better understanding of mathematics. Many of these papers can advise educators how to form a modern mathematics education, which develops approved ideas and institutions...I admire the stimulating perspectives of the authors."---American Mathematical Society "‘Mathematicians, like Proust and everyone else, are at their best when writing about their first love’ … They a...

1. The Province of Philosophers

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 4; Issue 4. Mapmakers - The Province of Philosophers. Harini Nagendra. Series Article Volume 4 Issue 4 April 1999 pp 6-11. Fulltext. Click here to view fulltext PDF. Permanent link: https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/reso/004/04/0006-0011 ...

Joseph Hooker: a philosophical botanist

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2008-04-24

Apr 24, 2008 ... The nineteenth-century British botanist, Joseph Dalton Hooker, was one of the people whose career became a model for that of the modern, professional scientist. However, he preferred to refer to himself as a philosophical botanist, rather than a professional. This paper explores the reasons for this choice, ...

Three Philosophical Pillars That Support Collaborative Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Maltese, Ralph

1991-01-01

Discusses three philosophical pillars that support collaborative learning: "spaces of appearance," active engagement, and ownership. Describes classroom experiences with collaborative learning supported by these pillars. (PRA)

Mathematics of the 19th century mathematical logic, algebra, number theory, probability theory

CERN Document Server

Yushkevich, A

1992-01-01

This multi-authored effort, Mathematics of the nineteenth century (to be fol­ lowed by Mathematics of the twentieth century), is a sequel to the History of mathematics fram antiquity to the early nineteenth century, published in three 1 volumes from 1970 to 1972. For reasons explained below, our discussion of twentieth-century mathematics ends with the 1930s. Our general objectives are identical with those stated in the preface to the three-volume edition, i. e. , we consider the development of mathematics not simply as the process of perfecting concepts and techniques for studying real-world spatial forms and quantitative relationships but as a social process as weIl. Mathematical structures, once established, are capable of a certain degree of autonomous development. In the final analysis, however, such immanent mathematical evolution is conditioned by practical activity and is either self-directed or, as is most often the case, is determined by the needs of society. Proceeding from this premise, we intend...

Singularity hypotheses a scientific and philosophical assessment

CERN Document Server

Moor, James; Søraker, Johnny; Steinhart, Eric

2012-01-01

Singularity Hypotheses: A Scientific and Philosophical Assessment offers authoritative, jargon-free essays and critical commentaries on accelerating technological progress and the notion of technological singularity. It focuses on conjectures about the intelligence explosion, transhumanism, and whole brain emulation. Recent years have seen a plethora of forecasts about the profound, disruptive impact that is likely to result from further progress in these areas. Many commentators however doubt the scientific rigor of these forecasts, rejecting them as speculative and unfounded. We therefore invited prominent computer scientists, physicists, philosophers, biologists, economists and other thinkers to assess the singularity hypotheses. Their contributions go beyond speculation, providing deep insights into the main issues and a balanced picture of the debate.

Applied Computational Mathematics in Social Sciences

CERN Document Server

Damaceanu, Romulus-Catalin

2010-01-01

Applied Computational Mathematics in Social Sciences adopts a modern scientific approach that combines knowledge from mathematical modeling with various aspects of social science. Special algorithms can be created to simulate an artificial society and a detailed analysis can subsequently be used to project social realities. This Ebook specifically deals with computations using the NetLogo platform, and is intended for researchers interested in advanced human geography and mathematical modeling studies.

Lakatos and Hersh on Mathematical Proof

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Hossein Bayat

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The concept of Mathematical Proof has been controversial for the past few decades. Different philosophers have offered different theories about the nature of Mathematical Proof, among which theories presented by Lakatos and Hersh have had significant similarities and differences with each other. It seems that a comparison and critical review of these two theories will lead to a better understanding of the concept of mathematical proof and will be a big step towards solving many related problems. Lakatos and Hersh argue that, firstly, “mathematical proof” has two different meanings, formal and informal; and, secondly, informal proofs are affected by human factors, such as individual decisions and collective agreements. I call these two thesis, respectively, “proof dualism” and “humanism”. But on the other hand, their theories have significant dissimilarities and are by no means equivalent. Lakatos is committed to linear proof dualism and methodological humanism, while Hersh’s theory involves some sort of parallel proof dualism and sociological humanism. According to linear proof dualism, the two main types of proofs are provided in order to achieve a common goal: incarnation of mathematical concepts and methods and truth. However, according to the parallel proof dualism, two main types of proofs are provided in order to achieve two different types of purposes: production of a valid sequence of signs (the goal of the formal proof and persuasion of the audience (the goal of the informal proof. Hersh’s humanism is informative and indicates pluralism; whereas, Lakatos’ version of humanism is normative and monistic.

Science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) as mathematics learning approach in 21st century

Science.gov (United States)

Milaturrahmah, Naila; Mardiyana, Pramudya, Ikrar

2017-08-01

This 21st century demands competent human resources in science, technology, engineering design and mathematics so that education is expected to integrate the four disciplines. This paper aims to describe the importance of STEM as mathematics learning approach in Indonesia in the 21st century. This paper uses a descriptive analysis research method, and the method reveals that STEM education growing in developed countries today can be a framework for innovation mathematics in Indonesia in the 21st century. STEM education integrate understanding of science, math skills, and the available technology with the ability to perform engineering design process. Implementation of mathematics learning with STEM approach makes graduates trained in using of mathematics knowledge that they have to create innovative products that are able to solve the problems that exist in society.

Interpreting mathematics in physics: Charting the applications of SU(2) in 20th century physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, Ronald; Joshi, G.C.

2008-01-01

The role mathematics plays within physics has been of sustained interest for physicists as well as for philosophers and historians of science. We explore this topic by tracing the role the mathematical structure associated with SU(2) has played in three key episodes in 20th century physics - intrinsic spin, isospin, and gauge theory and electroweak unification. We also briefly consider its role in loop quantum gravity. Each episode has led to profound and new physical notions of a space other than the traditional ones of space and spacetime, and each has had associated with it a complex and in places, contested history. The episodes also reveal ways mathematical structures provide resources for new physical theorizing and we propose our study as a contribution to a need Roger Penrose has identified to develop a 'profoundly sensitive aesthetic' sense for locating physically relevant mathematics

Mario Bunge: Physicist, philosopher and defender of science

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Michael R. Matthews

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in the final year of the First World War. He learnt atomic physics andquantum mechanics from an Austrian refugee who had been a student of Heisenberg. Additionally he taughthimself modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater. He was the first SouthAmerican philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology,sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise onPhilosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of theEnlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planksof the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect forindividuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy ofscience, educational research and science teaching are recognised – it is salutary to see the fruits of one person’spursuit of the ‘Big’ scientific and philosophical picture.

The invention of physical science intersections of mathematics, theology and natural philosophy since the seventeenth century : essays in honor of Erwin N. Hiebert

CERN Document Server

Richards, Joan L; Stuewer, Roger H

1992-01-01

Modern physical science is constituted by specialized scientific fields rooted in experimental laboratory work and in rational and mathematical representations. Contemporary scientific explanation is rigorously differentiated from religious interpretation, although, to be sure, scientists sometimes do the philosophical work of interpreting the metaphysics of space, time, and matter. However, it is rare that either theologians or philosophers convincingly claim that they are doing the scientific work of physical scientists and mathematicians. The rigidity of these divisions and differentiations is relatively new. Modern physical science was invented slowly and gradually through interactions of the aims and contents of mathematics, theology, and natural philosophy since the seventeenth century. In essays ranging in focus from seventeenth-century interpretations of heavenly comets to twentieth-century explanations of tracks in bubble chambers, ten historians of science demonstrate metaphysical and theological th...

Why moral philosophers are not and should not be moral experts.

Science.gov (United States)

Archard, David

2011-03-01

Professional philosophers are members of bioethical committees and regulatory bodies in areas of interest to bioethicists. This suggests they possess moral expertise even if they do not exercise it directly and without constraint. Moral expertise is defined, and four arguments given in support of scepticism about their possession of such expertise are considered and rejected: the existence of extreme disagreement between moral philosophers about moral matters; the lack of a means clearly to identify moral experts; that expertise cannot be claimed in that which lacks objectivity; and that ordinary people do not follow the advice of moral experts. I offer a better reason for scepticism grounded in the relation between moral philosophy and common-sense morality: namely that modern moral philosophy views even a developed moral theory as ultimately anchored in common-sense morality, that set of basic moral precepts which ordinary individuals have command of and use to regulate their own lives. Even if moral philosophers do nevertheless have a limited moral expertise, in that they alone can fully develop a set of moral judgments, I sketch reasons - grounded in the values of autonomy and of democracy - why moral philosophers should not wish non-philosophers to defer to their putative expertise. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The Transcendence in Lucian Blaga’s Philosophical Thinking

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Stelian Manolache

2016-03-01

Full Text Available On the occasion of the conference on Transcendence and Immanence - a topic buiding on the dialogue between philosophy and theology in the modern and post-modern time -, among the produced subjects, a discussion was held on the role played in respect with this dailogue by the inter-war famous philosophers, such as Lucian Blaga and Dumitru Stăniloaie. Below, we will present the issue of Transcendence according the the philosopher-poet Lucian Blaga’s vision; his vision is tructured into a Trilogy in his work: The Trilogy of Knowledge - The Dogmatic Aeon, The Luciferic Knowledge, The Transcendental Censorship - The Trilogy of the Culture - Horizon and Style; The Mioritic Space; The Genesis of the Metaphor and The Meaning of Culture - and The Trilogy of Values - Science and Creation; Magic Thinking and Religion; Art and Value. In these trilogies, the philosopher - poet elaborates, from an original metaphysical point of view, on the dimension of the knowledge of Transcendence - which he would define in in The Horizon of Mystery and Revelation. His vision will be addressed in a new theory of knowledge, which the philosopherpoet Lucian Blaga would distinguish as Paradisiac knowledge and Lucifer knowledge, within a new Metaphysics that would allow access to Transcendence and to the wonders beyond. Postulating the existence of certain faculties of Conscience, his Metaphysics would become, according to the Theory of Transcendence, a must for the human spirit; a proof for his approach would be the great philosophical systems of the world, from the antique to the modern.

The Vienna Roundabout. On the Significance of Philosophical Reaction

OpenAIRE

Hrachovec, Herbert

1989-01-01

There are three sentimental centres of 20th-century philosophical geography: Todtnauberg, Frankfurt and Vienna. Their exceptional status results not only from having given rise to decisive philosophical movements but also from the weight of stories about victimization and exile lacking with regard to Paris, Berkeley and Cambridge. Each of these centres is compromised in its own way: the Schwarzwald cottage from which Heidegger emerged to take over the Rektorat of Freiburg University and to wh...

Is a new version of philosophical pragmatism necessary? A reply to Barnes-Holmes

Science.gov (United States)

Leigland, Sam

2003-01-01

Barnes-Holmes (2000) discussed certain issues regarding philosophy, pragmatism, and behavior analysis, and offered a “behavioral pragmatism” based on or derived from behavior-analytic perspectives. In a comparison of certain philosophical views, Quine's concept of observation sentences was employed for representing pragmatism, but this concept is not sufficiently representative of the literature of philosophical pragmatism to warrant the broad conclusions drawn by Barnes-Holmes. Further, although the extensive and diverse literature of philosophical pragmatism has been shown by a number of writers to have various themes and perspectives in common with Skinner's radical behaviorism, it is unnecessary to extract a limited, generic version of pragmatism because (a) the latter cannot match the range and depth of the various extant versions and (b) the problems raised by Barnes-Holmes in justification for the new version yield readily to the current versions in philosophy. A set of philosophical views may provide additional verbal support for a given system of science, and the science of behavior analysis may eventually contribute to philosophical discourse. The latter, however, will not be achieved by proposing new versions of old philosophy, but rather by approaching established philosophical issues in new ways. PMID:22478409

Methodological aspect of research of the process of socialization in media-cultural space of information society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Y. Hirlina

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Integrated within the social and philosophical discourse interdisciplinary methodology, based on the classic philosophical methodology for the analysis of socio-cultural phenomena enables a holistic understanding of the studied phenomenon. From a methodological point of view it is important to determine the social and philosophical understanding of the impact medіa cultural space of personality in conditions of dynamically changing socio-cultural environment. important social and philosophical methodological guideline should be considered on a thesis constant presence in the media culture of human space as being due to the fact that man is a social being, and the information society without media culture as its attribute exists. Philosophical «core» study of the spiritual culture of youth is humanism in its broadest sense, that is, understanding of the studied phenomenon primarily as a multi-dimensional culturing of human values. Submission materialistic determinant factors medіa cultural spiritual space is only possible under the dominance of humanistic values. With all the variety to understanding the spiritual dimension of the relationship of the individual with the socio-cultural environment common dominant philosophical idea of guidelines is the recognition of the spiritual and cultural autonomy rights. Globalization and its associated civilization and processes are seen as foreign in relation to social rights, while the internal spiritual content is cultural processes. Anthropological oriented cultural space of socialization based on interpersonal cultural interaction that produces unique and distinctive personality.

Computational benchmark problems: a review of recent work within the American Nuclear Society Mathematics and Computation Division

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodds, H.L. Jr.

1977-01-01

An overview of the recent accomplishments of the Computational Benchmark Problems Committee of the American Nuclear Society Mathematics and Computation Division is presented. Solutions of computational benchmark problems in the following eight areas are presented and discussed: (a) high-temperature gas-cooled reactor neutronics, (b) pressurized water reactor (PWR) thermal hydraulics, (c) PWR neutronics, (d) neutron transport in a cylindrical ''black'' rod, (e) neutron transport in a boiling water reactor (BWR) rod bundle, (f) BWR transient neutronics with thermal feedback, (g) neutron depletion in a heavy water reactor, and (h) heavy water reactor transient neutronics. It is concluded that these problems and solutions are of considerable value to the nuclear industry because they have been and will continue to be useful in the development, evaluation, and verification of computer codes and numerical-solution methods

The Philosophical Anthropology of José Manzana

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Gómez Miranda

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The main focus and interest of José Manzana’s philosophical anthropology is centred on the human condition, the sense of man’s action, the possibility of knowledge… and all that refers to «vertical transcendence», towards the Absolute, which finally culminates in God. With his philosophical anthropology, Manzana aims to ground on a transcendental method of reflection the conditions of man and his different options as a human being. The objective of this author is to clarify human existence by identifying his moment of creation. The aforementioned reflection brings us to three main dimensions of the individual: the human being as an inquiring entity, his interpersonal dimension and his awakening to the Transcendental.

Measuring Music Education: A Philosophical Investigation of the Model Cornerstone Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Richerme, Lauren Kapalka

2016-01-01

Despite substantial attention to measurement and assessment in contemporary education and music education policy and practice, the process of measurement has gone largely undiscussed in music education philosophy. Using the work of physicist and philosopher Karen Barad, in this philosophical inquiry, I investigated the nature of measurement in…

[Medicine and society. Schools of thought in the health field].

Science.gov (United States)

García, J C

1983-01-01

The article considers the answers given by different schools of thought to the fundamental questions about the degree of autonomy of medicine and the kind of articulation between medicine and society as a whole and in its "parts." The answers vary with the thinking in the different social sciences and the philosophic schools associated with them. The author divides his presentation in two broad chapters: The first covers schools of thought in the health field, and attempts to delineate the philosophical foundations underlying the principal current schools of thought in this field, without attempting a history of the philosophical schools or analyzing each of them in detail. Thus, two idealist currents are studied which have exerted great influence in the health field--neopositivism and neo-Kantianism--and marxism as the materialist school, which recognizes the primary of matter, nature, and objective reality, and views consciousness as a property of matter. The second chapter considers the theoretical contest now going on among the schools of thought discussed in the first chapter, which try to explain the relationship between medicine and the social structure; the effectiveness of medical action, and the social determinants of disease. Prior to the seventies, the author says, the dominant view of the autonomy of medicine, its effectiveness, the potential for social change of the medical institutions, and the benefits to health of economic development, was endorsed by the predominance of positivism among these schools of medical thought. The view that medicine was broadly autonomous and at the same level with other subsystems such as the economic, the political and the educational subsystems, assumed the possibility of changing society by an effort begun through any of these "sectors." The enormous growth of productive forces that took place in the developed capitalist countries during the fifties, and even more during the sixties, collided at the end of the latter

Stereotype Endorsement And Mathematics-Related Behaviour ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

By endorsing the stereotypic belief that Mathematics is a male-only subject, some females accept the limitation placed on them by the gendering process and this inhibits the identification, development and utilization of their Mathematics ability for the development of self and the society. To determine the extent and effect of ...

Islamic design a mathematical approach

CERN Document Server

Wichmann, Brian

2017-01-01

This book deals with the genre of geometric design in the Islamic sphere. Part I presents an overview of Islamic history, its extraordinary spread from the Atlantic to the borders of China in its first century, its adoption of the cultural outlook of the older civilisations that it conquered (in the Middle East, Persia and Central Asia), including their philosophical and scientific achievements - from which it came to express its own unique and highly distinctive artistic and architectural forms. Part II represents the mathematical analysis of Islamic geometric designs.  The presentation offers unlimited precision that allows software to reconstruct the design vision of the original artist. This book will be of interest to Islamic academics, mathematicians as well as to artists & art students.

Mathematical Modelling of Surfactant Self-assembly at Interfaces

KAUST Repository

Morgan, C. E.; Breward, C. J. W.; Griffiths, I. M.; Howell, P. D.

2015-01-01

© 2015 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. We present a mathematical model to describe the distribution of surfactant pairs in a multilayer structure beneath an adsorbed monolayer. A mesoscopic model comprising a set of ordinary

Whose Ethics? Which Wittgenstein? | Richter | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

. I argue that we should distinguish not only between Wittgenstein's personal opinions and his philosophy, but also, within his philosophical work, between broadly methodological remarks and what Wittgenstein might call genuinely ...

A natural history of mathematics: George Peacock and the making of English algebra.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Kevin

2013-06-01

In a series of papers read to the Cambridge Philosophical Society through the 1820s, the Cambridge mathematician George Peacock laid the foundation for a natural history of arithmetic that would tell a story of human progress from counting to modern arithmetic. The trajectory of that history, Peacock argued, established algebraic analysis as a form of universal reasoning that used empirically warranted operations of mind to think with symbols on paper. The science of counting would suggest arithmetic, arithmetic would suggest arithmetical algebra, and, finally, arithmetical algebra would suggest symbolic algebra. This philosophy of suggestion provided the foundation for Peacock's "principle of equivalent forms," which justified the practice of nineteenth-century English symbolic algebra. Peacock's philosophy of suggestion owed a considerable debt to the early Cambridge Philosophical Society culture of natural history. The aim of this essay is to show how that culture of natural history was constitutively significant to the practice of nineteenth-century English algebra.

Interpreting mathematics in physics: Charting the applications of SU(2) in 20th century physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, Ronald [Department of Philosophy, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 (United States)], E-mail: ronald.anderson@bc.edu; Joshi, G.C. [School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia)], E-mail: joshi@physics.unimelb.edu.au

2008-04-15

The role mathematics plays within physics has been of sustained interest for physicists as well as for philosophers and historians of science. We explore this topic by tracing the role the mathematical structure associated with SU(2) has played in three key episodes in 20th century physics - intrinsic spin, isospin, and gauge theory and electroweak unification. We also briefly consider its role in loop quantum gravity. Each episode has led to profound and new physical notions of a space other than the traditional ones of space and spacetime, and each has had associated with it a complex and in places, contested history. The episodes also reveal ways mathematical structures provide resources for new physical theorizing and we propose our study as a contribution to a need Roger Penrose has identified to develop a 'profoundly sensitive aesthetic' sense for locating physically relevant mathematics.

Defining a middle ground for philosophers and production: bioethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, S L; Croney, C C

2004-03-01

From the perspective of most animal scientists and producers, animal agriculture has become increasingly contentious over the last 10 to 20 years. Furthermore, our critics seem to be extremists whose views are biased and unreasonable. But guess what? The critics say the same thing about animal producers and scientists (us). So where is the middle ground and how do we get there? Should we even worry about trying to define the middle ground? Are these contentious issues a fad that will go away? Are these "extremist" critics so far outside reason that they will be ignored by society? Ignoring "them" is not likely to work because we have seen society changing its mind (developing a new social ethic) with regard to farm animals, in part because of what these critics are saying. As a result, it is vitally important for us to know and understand what is happening and why. For example, there isn't just one voice among the critics. There is actually a spectrum of opinion among the group which conventional agriculturalists usually call their critics. The WCC-204 committee generally agrees that the key to finding the middle ground between what is perceived as a polarized set of issues between "us" (animal scientists and producers) and "them" (philosopher critics) is for both sides to learn about the reasons why each side says what they do. Only then can all parties rationally begin to identify where the middle ground lies.

Challenges in reading the Greek philosophers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Behnaz Aghili Dehkordi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Although Presocratics in 600 B.C founded new research ways in science and philosophy, wrote the first scientific essays, introduced basic conceptions of deduction, and abandoned mythological explanations, all we have of their works is but the fragments in the works of further doxographers, biographers, historians or philosophers who brought their statements between their own words. This would sometimes result in misunderstanding the presocratics’ purposes. Hermann Diels in his Doxographi Graeci raised a new method for dealing with doxography tradition. Diels’ new approach to doxography returned all this tradition to Aristotle’s pupil, Theophrastus. Some scholars like Jaap Mansfield criticized his disregard for the sophists like Gorgias and Hippias, and the successions of philosophers. According to his criticism, some matters like the Sophists’ influence on Plato, Aristotle’s definition of Doxa in the Placita and the influence of the succession and interpretation tradition on doxogtaphy are more noteworthy than Diels has thought.

Creating the Royal Society's Sylvester Medal

OpenAIRE

Cantor, G.

2004-01-01

Following the death of James Joseph Sylvester in 1897, contributions were collected in order to mark his life and work by a suitable memorial. This initiative resulted in the Sylvester Medal, which is awarded triennially by the Royal Society for the encouragement of research into pure mathematics. Ironically the main advocate for initiating this medal was not a fellow mathematician but the chemist and naturalist Raphael Meldola. Religion, not mathematics, provided the link between Meldola and...

Research in Mathematics Education and Language

Science.gov (United States)

Planas, Núria

2016-01-01

A synthesis of reasons for the production of this monograph is presented with a focus on contemporary research in the context of the Ninth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. Within the domain of mathematics and language, three lines of concern are addressed: (1) classroom discourse, (2) language diversity, and…

Mathematics education, democracy and development: Exploring connections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renuka Vithal

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Mathematics education and its links to democracy and development are explored in this article, with specific reference to the case of South Africa. This is done by engaging four key questions. Firstly, the question of whether mathematics education can be a preparation for democracy and include a concern for development, is discussed by drawing on conceptual tools of critical mathematics education and allied areas in a development context. Secondly, the question of how mathematics education is distributed in society and participates in shaping educational possibilities in addressing its development needs and goals is used to examine the issues emerging from mathematics performance in international studies and the national Grade 12 examination; the latter is explored specifically in respect of the South African mathematics curriculum reforms and teacher education challenges. Thirdly, the question of whether a mathematics classroom can be a space for democratic living and learning that equally recognises the importance of issues of development in contexts like South Africa, as a post-conflict society still healing from its apartheid wounds, continuing inequality and poverty, is explored through pedagogies of conflict, dialogue and forgiveness. Finally the question of whether democracy and development can have anything to do with mathematics content matters, is discussed by appropriating, as a metaphor, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s framework of multiple ‘truths’, to seek links within and across the various forms and movements in mathematics and mathematics education that have emerged in the past few decades.

Philosophic-educational intelligence analysis as a subject of marketing management

OpenAIRE

N. V. Litvinenko

2014-01-01

The highest value for the philosophical problems of education should consider introducing within the philosophical foundations of marketing management methodology for systematic consideration of education as a social subject­object process, which is based on needs. Philosophy of Education in the face of marketing philosophy and management philosophy got a good theoretical and methodological framework for the synthesis of market interpretations educational development and the development of fu...

Between Laws and Models: Some Philosophical Morals of Lagrangian Mechanics

OpenAIRE

Butterfield, Jeremy

2004-01-01

I extract some philosophical morals from some aspects of Lagrangian mechanics. (A companion paper will present similar morals from Hamiltonian mechanics and Hamilton-Jacobi theory.) One main moral concerns methodology: Lagrangian mechanics provides a level of description of phenomena which has been largely ignored by philosophers, since it falls between their accustomed levels--``laws of nature'' and ``models''. Another main moral concerns ontology: the ontology of Lagrangian mechanics is bot...

Mathematics and geometry towards ideality in «Domus»’s ideal houses

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Simona Chiodo

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Between 1942 and 1943 the editor of the journal «Domus» invited the most important Italian architects to design their ideal houses: fifteen projects designed by seventeen architects were published. They are most instructive to try to understand, firstly, what the philosophical notion of ideal means and, secondly, why mathematical and geometric tools are extensively used to work on ideality, namely, to design ideal houses. The first part of the article focuses on the philosophical foundations of ideality and, after an overview of the fifteen projects, on the use of the golden ratio in two particularly meaningful cases. The second part of the article focuses on the cases in which there is a hidden use of the golden ratio, on the use of the modulus and on the use of the number 2.

Creative Understanding Philosophical Reflections on Physics

CERN Document Server

Torretti, Roberto

1990-01-01

"A pleasure to read. Gracefully written by a scholar well grounded in the relevant philosophical, historical, and technical background. . . . a helpfully clarifying review and analysis of some issues of importance to recent philosophy of science and a source of some illuminating insights."—Burke Townsend, Philosophy of Science

Con Drury: philosopher and psychiatrist.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, John

2017-12-01

Maurice O'Connor Drury (1907-76), an Irish psychiatrist, is best known for his accounts of his close friendship with the eminent twentieth-century philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. His only book, The Danger of Words (1973), was well received by those who had an interest in the relationship between psychiatry, psychology and philosophy. This article concentrates on Drury's experiences, studies and writings in these fields.

Developing entrepreneurship ability of pre-service mathematics teachers through GSSM

Science.gov (United States)

Rohaeti, E. E.; Afrilianto, M.; Primandhika, R. B.

2018-01-01

This research aimed to describe mathematical entrepreneurship ability of 136 mathematics education students through Gerakan STKIP Siliwangi Mengajar (GSSM) that was conducted in 7 districts (of 17 villages) in West Java. GSSM was a programme that combines devotion to the society and college student internships activity at several schools within three months. The data was obtained through observation towards the activities performed by the students during GSSM. The questionnaire to measure the mathematical entrepreneurship ability of students. The results showed that 1) there were three activities that encourage the mathematical entrepreneurship ability of students; such as tutoring post, teaching practices in school and entrepreneurial activities in society, 2) through those three activities, students can develop their entrepreneurial spirit well and grow creativity, innovation and calculation take risk ability, 3) there was medium-association between student mathematical concept mastery that supports entrepreneurship with their mathematical entrepreneurship ability.

Mathematical subtleties and scientific knowledge: Francis Bacon and mathematics, at the crossing of two traditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Giuliano

2017-03-01

This article engages the much-debated role of mathematics in Bacon's philosophy and inductive method at large. The many references to mathematics in Bacon's works are considered in the context of the humanist reform of the curriculum studiorum and, in particular, through a comparison with the kinds of natural and intellectual subtlety as they are defined by many sixteenth-century authors, including Cardano, Scaliger and Montaigne. Additionally, this article gives a nuanced background to the 'subtlety' commonly thought to have been eschewed by Bacon and by Bacon's self-proclaimed followers in the Royal Society of London. The aim of this article is ultimately to demonstrate that Bacon did not reject the use of mathematics in natural philosophy altogether. Instead, he hoped that following the Great Instauration a kind of non-abstract mathematics could be founded: a kind of mathematics which was to serve natural philosophy by enabling men to grasp the intrinsic subtlety of nature. Rather than mathematizing nature, it was mathematics that needed to be 'naturalized'.

Critical relationships between teachers and learners of school mathematics

OpenAIRE

Wright, P.

2017-01-01

This article draws on critical theories and perspectives on mathematics education to explain the tendency of mathematics teaching worldwide to remain focused on developing procedural understanding, despite repeated calls from the mathematics education community for a more relevant and engaging curriculum. It highlights how conventional approaches to teaching mathematics contribute towards alienating a high proportion of learners and reproducing inequities within society. The article reports o...

The Philosophical Foundations of Modern Medicine

CERN Document Server

Lee, Dr Keekok

2011-01-01

An exploration of the philosophical foundation of modern medicine which explains why such a medicine possesses the characteristics it does and where precisely its strengths as well as its weaknesses lie. Written in plain English, it should be accessible to anyone who is intellectually curious, lay persons and medical professionals alike.

A philosophical taxonomy of ethically significant moral distress.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Tessy A; McCullough, Laurence B

2015-02-01

Moral distress is one of the core topics of clinical ethics. Although there is a large and growing empirical literature on the psychological aspects of moral distress, scholars, and empirical investigators of moral distress have recently called for greater conceptual clarity. To meet this recognized need, we provide a philosophical taxonomy of the categories of what we call ethically significant moral distress: the judgment that one is not able, to differing degrees, to act on one's moral knowledge about what one ought to do. We begin by unpacking the philosophical components of Andrew Jameton's original formulation from his landmark 1984 work and identify two key respects in which that formulation remains unclear: the origins of moral knowledge and impediments to acting on that moral knowledge. We then selectively review subsequent literature that shows that there is more than one concept of moral distress and that explores the origin of the values implicated in moral distress and impediments to acting on those values. This review sets the stage for identifying the elements of a philosophical taxonomy of ethically significant moral distress. The taxonomy uses these elements to create six categories of ethically significant moral distress: challenges to, threats to, and violations of professional integrity; and challenges to, threats to, and violations of individual integrity. We close with suggestions about how the proposed philosophical taxonomy of ethically significant moral distress sheds light on the concepts of moral residue and crescendo effect of moral distress and how the proposed taxonomy might usefully guide prevention of and future qualitative and quantitative empirical research on ethically significant moral distress. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Philosophical inquiry and the goals of nursing: a critical approach for disciplinary knowledge development and action.

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Pamela J; Perry, Donna J

2013-01-01

Philosophical inquiry remains critically important for nursing education, practice, and knowledge development. We propose a 3-level taxonomy of philosophical inquiry to guide nursing curricula and research development. Important background information about philosophy and the development of philosophical methods is given. Then philosophical inquiry is linked to the goals of nursing using our proposed taxonomy: level I-cultivating an attitude of "critical consciousness" related to all nursing situations and actions, level II-analysis and application of philosophical perspectives to nursing problems and level III-generating new knowledge for nursing purposes including new theories of practice and research.

The history of mathematics a brief course

CERN Document Server

Cooke, Roger

2005-01-01

This new edition brings the fascinating and intriguing history of mathematics to life. The Second Edition of this internationally acclaimed text has been thoroughly revised, updated, and reorganized to give readers a fresh perspective on the evolution of mathematics. Written by one of the world's leading experts on the history of mathematics, the book details the key historical developments in the field, providing an understanding and appreciation of how mathematics influences today's science, art, music, literature, and society. In the first edition, each chapter was devoted to a single cultu

Toward a New Philosophical Anthropology of Education: Fuller Considerations of Social Constructivism

Science.gov (United States)

Fleury, Stephen; Garrison, Jim

2014-01-01

Philosophical anthropology is philosophical inquiry into human nature that seeks to answer the fundamental question of what generally characterizes human beings and differentiates them from other creatures and things. Political theories considerably influence educational theories. We call attention to the fact that the three main political…

Social and philosophical analysis of brand clothes : the Ukrainian context

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H. V. Skalatskaya

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to consider the prospects of social and philosophical analysis of the product (clothes of fashion brand. In social and philosophical analysis of brand clothes, its fashion shows there is a range of discursive questions: the use and the definition of the concepts «designer» and «brand»; thematic focus of the brand (fabrics, colors, prints, shapes its semantics; format of representation of fashion collection in dependence; and a number of other structural elements. In the analysis of fashion trends or seasonal collections the concepts designer or brand are used. The concept «brand» contains an economic component, certain calculations, and intangible assets (goodwill; design work is subject to market needs and the interests of consumers (for analysis of the individual designer the biographical method is used. Theoretical analysis of fashion cannot be made apart from empirical material. A performative approach of K. Wolfe can be the methodology of the social and philosophical research of fashion show. The advantages of this method of the research are to determine fashion as performative space, staging ideas of the designer in the fashion show and making clothes. Implementation of performative approach allowed considering thematic focus of the brand of clothes and format of its representation in seasonal fashion shows on the example of Ukrainian brand «Domanoff». Social and philosophical analysis of brand clothes can be divided into the following main components, excluding aesthetic and economic aspects: the use of the concepts designer and brand (a set of aesthetic, economic, social and subjective components and design`s view; review of the semantics of clothes and staging (by providing clothes in the form of seasonal fashion shows of collections. For complex social and socio­philosophical analysis of fashion brand it necessary to have: the press release (description, designer`s interview (disclosure of early

Seneca's theology in its philosophical context

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Houte, M.S.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/304835862

2010-01-01

This study aims at a better understanding of the theological views of the Roman Stoic Seneca and the status of these views in relation to those of the earlier Stoics, and in the context of various other factors, such as the views of other philosophical schools and the purpose of Seneca's work.This

Mathematics and Computation in Music

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The 5th Biennial International Conference for Mathematics and Computation in Music (MCM 2015) took place June 22–25, 2015, at Queen Mary University of London, UK, co-hosted by the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (Centre for Digital Music) and the School of Mathematical...... Sciences. As the flagship conference of the Society for Mathematics and Computation in Music (SMCM), MCM 2015 provided a dedicated platform for the communication and exchange of ideas among researchers in mathematics, informatics, music theory, composition, musicology, and related disciplines. It brought...... together researchers from around the world who combine mathematics or computation with music theory, music analysis, composition, and performance. This year’s program – full details at http://mcm2015.qmul.ac.uk – featured a number of distinguished keynote speakers, including Andrée Ehresmann (who spoke...

Difference, inclusion, and mathematics education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Figueiras, Lourdes; Healy, Lulu; Skovsmose, Ole

2016-01-01

The round-table discussion on Difference, Inclusion and Mathematics Education was in included in the scientific programme of VI SIPEM in recognition and celebration of the emerging body of research into the challenges of building a culture of mathematics education which values and respects...... the diversity of learners in different educational contexts – in Brazil and beyond. This paper presents the contributions to the discussion, which focus on the problematisation of the term “inclusion”, explorations of how the practices of previously marginalized students can bring new resources to the teaching...... and learning of mathematics and reflections upon the potentially discriminatory nature of the structures which currently mould school mathematics. The paper aims to serve as material for the developing research agenda of the thirteenth working group of the Brazilian Society of Mathematics Education, which met...

Philosophical problems between teaching and learning

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Raquel Alvim Monteiro

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper intends to think the relation between teaching and learning, questioning the conception of education as a way to shape the subject involved in this relationship. Thus, introduce some legal bases readings that establish the Brazilian high school in order to consider the importance of discussing philosophically the Philosophy teaching.This way, with the reading of Foucault and Deleuze, rethink the conception of subject present in the parameters that rule the education, as well as the education paradigm as a way to promote the student to a social subject. In this sense, it is necessary to bring official discourse elements to stablish the conception of educating in this curriculum and, together, discuss about the notion of subject present in this documents. We intend to dissolve the comprehension of universal subject in order to treat the subjectivities and rethink the relation between teaching and learning. This relation is designed, most of the time, with a certain homogeneity in the formation of a certain subject and a certain knowledge. Therefore, this proposal aims to question the bases of education that start from a perception of teaching as a product. Discourse about a teaching that does not address only content transmission, but a teaching as philosophical experience. Think with Deleuze that learning is related not only to a rational aspect, but also to a sensitive one. However, starting with some researchers interested in the subject, consider these terms in order to propose possibilities of thinking a philosophical Philosophy teaching in high school. It is noteworthy that this proposal do not intend to deplete the thought of concepts that are so complex, but to raise questions that are still in an investigation process and should be analyzed constantly.

Status of the human embryo: Philosophical Foundations from Phenomenology

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Maria Emilia de Oliveira Schpallir Silva

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Given the difficulty in demonstrating the moment of ontogenesis in which personalization takes place, we sought to define, from a philosophic point of view, the nature of the human embryo regarding its individuality, using Phenomenology, specifically reflections of philosophers Bourghet and Merleau-Ponty on the embryo. Although the statement of their individuality does not entail ethical content in itself, from the point of view of ethical responsibility, it is an extremely important fact to be considered in the bioethical reflection about the moment of ontogeny from which human life must (ethical duty be protected.

Teaching Mathematics That Addresses Learners' Multiple Intelligences

Science.gov (United States)

Gouws, E.; Dicker, A-M.

2011-01-01

To meet the demands of our highly technological and globally competitive society, it is becoming increasingly important for all learners in South Africa to obtain skills and knowledge in mathematics. However, South Africa performed the worst of all the countries who participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS).…

Social research design: framework for integrating philosophical and practical elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Cunningham, Kathryn Burns

2014-09-01

To provide and elucidate a comprehensible framework for the design of social research. An abundance of information exists concerning the process of designing social research. The overall message that can be gleaned is that numerable elements - both philosophical (ontological and epistemological assumptions and theoretical perspective) and practical (issue to be addressed, purpose, aims and research questions) - are influential in the process of selecting a research methodology and methods, and that these elements and their inter-relationships must be considered and explicated to ensure a coherent research design that enables well-founded and meaningful conclusions. There is a lack of guidance concerning the integration of practical and philosophical elements, hindering their consideration and explication. The author's PhD research into loneliness and cancer. This is a methodology paper. A guiding framework that incorporates all of the philosophical and practical elements influential in social research design is presented. The chronological and informative relationships between the elements are discussed. The framework presented can be used by social researchers to consider and explicate the practical and philosophical elements influential in the selection of a methodology and methods. It is hoped that the framework presented will aid social researchers with the design and the explication of the design of their research, thereby enhancing the credibility of their projects and enabling their research to establish well-founded and meaningful conclusions.

Moral Attention: A Comparative Philosophical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Gendron, Claude

2016-01-01

The notion of moral attention allows the recognition of fundamental aspects of ethical life ignored or neglected by mainstream ethical theories. It is central to the theories of several notable female ethicists and many of them identify the French philosopher Simone Weil as the source of the contemporary use of this concept which invites…

Philosophical origins of the social rate of discount in cost-benefit analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, J C

1990-01-01

The social rate of discount--that is, the way decision makers today evaluate future consequences of collective activity--raises difficult issues of intergenerational justice. When benefits are discounted at the present rate the United States government requires, serious efforts to promote public health over the long term will fail cost-benefit tests. No consensus exists among theorists to establish fair rates; philosophers support discounting with economic arguments that economists reject, while economists no less paradoxically support the concept using philosophical arguments that philosophers disavow. A new emphasis on the role of consumers' and citizens' time preferences, however, will keep open rather than close debates on the social discount rate.

VULNERABILITY, AUTHENTICITY, AND INTER-SUBJECTIVE CONTACT: PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

OpenAIRE

Richard G. Erskine

2013-01-01

The Philosophical principles of a relationally focused Integrative Psychotherapy are described through the concepts of vulnerability, authenticity, and inter-subjective contact. Eight principles or therapist attitudes are outlined with clinical examples that illustrate the philosophy. These philosophical principles provide the foundation for a theory of methods. This article is based on a keynote address given at the 6th International Integrative Psychotherapy Association Conference, Granth...

The Joint Philosophical Program of Russell and Wittgenstein and Its Demise

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Nikolay Milkov

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Between April and November 1912, Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein were engaged in a joint philosophical program. Wittgenstein’s meeting with Gottlob Frege in December 1912 led, however, to its dissolution—the joint program was abandoned. Section 1 of this paper outlines the key points of that program, identifying what Russell and Wittgenstein each contributed to it. The second section determines precisely those features of their collaborative work that Frege criticized. Finally, building upon the evidence developed in the first two sections, section 3 recasts along previously undeveloped lines Wittgensein’s logical–philosophical discoveries in the two years following his encounter with Frege in 1912. The paper concludes, in section 4, with an overview of the dramatic consequences the Frege–Wittgenstein critique had for Russell’s philosophical development.

Fiction and Conviction | Blackburn | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

I claim that there is nothing so unusual in the interleaving of myth or fiction and history that Williams finds in Herodotus. I also reflect on the difficulty of separating acceptance of truth from acceptance of myth, metaphor, and model, not only in history but also in science. Philosophical Papers Vol.32(3) 2003: 243-260 ...

An Introduction to the Medieval English: The Historical and Literary Context, Traces of Church and Philosophical Movements in the Literature

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Esmail Zare Behtash

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The Transition from Greek to medieval philosophy that speculated on religion, nature, metaphysics, human being and society was rather a rough transition in the history of English literature. Although the literature content of this age reflected more religious beliefs, the love and hate relationship of medieval philosophy that was mostly based on the Christianity with Greek civilization was exhibited clearly. The modern philosophical ideologies are the continuation of this period’s ideologies. Without a well understanding of the philosophical issues related to this age, it is not possible to understand the modern ones well. The catholic tradition as well as the religious reform against church called Protestantism was organized in this age. In Medieval Period, philosophy and theoretical thoughts related to the Christianity were well-organized and the philosophy, science and theoretical thoughts served religion. Philosophy had different forms and orientations in various stages of this period. One of these philosophical thoughts was the Augustinian philosophy which was strongly in favor of church with its different practices and styles. It used Platonic and Neo-Platonic traditions to prove that faith is the result of divine dispensations, not the result of human will power and wisdom. On the other hand, according to Aquinas, we experience different types of the effects that existed in the world around us. He believed that we assign an effective cause to each effect we experienced around us. Additionally, he claimed that reasoning was the only way to reach the real faith. In fact, philosophy of Medieval Period attempted to prove that religious assertions and ideologists were in search of matching their philosophical beliefs with the beliefs of Christianity. Christianity as the dominant factor in Middle English Literature helped English to be stablished as a literary language.

Can a Rabbit Be a Scientist? Stimulating Philosophical Dialogue in Science Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Dunlop, Lynda; de Schrijver, Jelle

2018-01-01

Philosophical dialogue requires an approach to teaching and learning in science that is focused on problem posing and provides space for meaning making, finding new ways of thinking and understanding and for linking science with broader human experiences. This article explores the role that philosophical dialogue can play in science lessons and…

Zygmunt Bauman. Individual and society in the liquid modernity.

Science.gov (United States)

Palese, Emma

2013-01-01

Starting from the postmodern, the philosophical and sociological speculation by Zygmunt Bauman, opens - through the analysis of the phenomenon of globalization - to the meta-level of life, and then circumscribes the most recent thinking on political life, until reaching the liquid modernity: overcoming postmodernity itself. As a result individual, society, ethics, power, religion become those words impregnated with a liquidity capable of condensing in itself the most significant aspects of the present reality: a dimension in which the lasting gives way to the transient, the need to the desire, and the necessity to the utility.

Financial Education Through Mathematics and IT Curricula: Pocket Money Management

OpenAIRE

Gortcheva, Iordanka

2013-01-01

Report published in the Proceedings of the National Conference on "Education in the Information Society", Plovdiv, May, 2013 Mathematics and IT classes in the Bulgarian school provide various opportunities for developing students’ logical, mathematical, and technological thinking. Being an important part of mathematical literacy, financial literacy can be systematically built in the frame of national mathematics and IT curricula. Following that objective, exemplary word problems ...

Perception of a sample of mathematics teachers on training received in the university

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Edwin Chaves Esquivel

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this study was to determine the perception of a sample of 249 mathematics teachers regarding the training received in their university. We identified strengths and weaknesses of the academic programs that train teachers of mathematics in the country, according to the teachers. The sample included educators trained in public and private universities, working at different educational regions of the country. The information was gathered through a questionnaire. Overall, educators perceive training in theoretical mathematics as the main strength. However, according to the scale used, all other aspects related to the formation process of a math teacher had a low perception. Within the mentioned weaknesses are: training in educational elements, evaluative, methodological, philosophical, psychological and historical, as well as the lack of adequate preparation in the use of technological resources in teaching. These opinions are a valuable input to the universities, because they show the opinions held by graduates of the training received.

Animal Testing in the Risk Society and Violation of the Principle of Equal Consideration of Interests

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Rafael Speck de Souza

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper seeks to analyze the practice of animal testing under the paradigm of the Risk Society, Animal Rights, and in which point such research hurts the principle of equal consideration of like interests advocated by Peter Singer and other moral philosophers. On the one hand, this paper calls into question the attempt to transfer the results of an experiment with animals to reactions in humans, and the security criteria (or insecurity adopted by science. On the other hand, an evaluation is made of how much these animal models are considered speciesist practice, which does not take into account the interests of non-human sentient species (which are capable of suffering. The historical, comparative and deductive methods have been used in order to reach the intended goals. The sources of research used are mostly bibliographical: books, papers and journals. Theoretical references adopted were the risk society theory proposed by German sociologist Ulrich Beck and the animal ethics theory advocated by the Australian philosopher Peter Singer.

A Brief Prehistory of Philosophical Paraconsistency

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William H. F. Altman

2010-04-01

Full Text Available In celebration of Newton da Costa’s place in the history of paraconsistency, this paper considers the use and abuse of deliberate self-contradiction. Beginning with Parmenides, developed by Plato, and continued by Cicero, an ancient philosophical tradition used deliberately paraconsistent discourses to reveal the truth. In modern times, decisionism has used deliberate self-contradiction against Judeo-Christian revelation.

Does Prigogine’s Non-linear Thermodynamics Support Popular Philosophical Discussions of Self-Organization?

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Alexander Pechenkin

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The article is concerned with the philosophical talks which became popular in the 1980s and have kept their popularity till now–the philosophical essays about self-organization. The author attempts to find out as to which extent are these essays founded on the scientific theory to which they regularly refer, that is, Ilya Prigogine’s non-linear thermodynamics. The author insists that the equivalent of self-organization in Prigogine’s theoretical physics is the concept of dissipative structure. The concept of selforganization, as it is used in philosophical literature, presupposes a sequence of extrapolations, the first extrapolation being conducted by Prigogine and his coauthors. They became to use the concept of dissipative structure beyond the rigorous theory of this phenomenon. The subsequent step was that the scientific term “dissipative structure” was replaced by the vague concept “self-organization” in many popular and semi-popular books and papers. The author also emphasizes that by placing the concept of self-organization into the framework of philosophical concepts (the picture of the world, the ideals of scientific thought, the contemporary scientific revolution, etc. a philosopher conducts the extrapolation of extrapolation and comes to a kind of what Edmund Husserl called Weltanschauung (‘worldview’ philosophy.

A Philosophical Look at the Higgs Mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Friederich, Simon

2014-01-01

On the occasion of the recent experimental detection of a Higgs-type particle at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the paper reviews philosophical aspects of the Higgs mechanism as the presently preferred account of the generation of particle masses in the Standard Model of elementary particle

VULNERABILITY, AUTHENTICITY, AND INTER-SUBJECTIVE CONTACT: PHILOSOPHICAL PRINCIPLES OF INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard G. Erskine

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The Philosophical principles of a relationally focused Integrative Psychotherapy are described through the concepts of vulnerability, authenticity, and inter-subjective contact. Eight principles or therapist attitudes are outlined with clinical examples that illustrate the philosophy. These philosophical principles provide the foundation for a theory of methods. This article is based on a keynote address given at the 6th International Integrative Psychotherapy Association Conference, Grantham, UK, July 11-14, 2013.

Wiittgensteins's contributions to a Philosophical reflection on technology

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Geraldo Dôres Armendane

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines Wittgenstein’s cultural pessimism on the progress of Western techno-scientific civilization in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as the contributions of the Austrian thinker for a philosophical reflection on technology. We will also show that Wittgenstein’s philosophical position was based on a deep and intense activity of thought and language. The text is divided on in three parts: the first shows Wittgenstein’s cultural pessimism on the technological civilization progress; the second shows Wittgenstein's relationship with science and his strong opposition to the scientist ideology; the third presents Wittgenstein’s conception of philosophy therapy including for the uses of technological civilization. Finally, we conclude by showing that Wittgenstein's philosophy avoids the use of the "ladder" dealing with problems in the contemporary world.

Global Journal of Mathematical Sciences

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal of Mathematical Sciences publishes research work in all areas of ... of new theories, techniques and application to science, industry and society. The journal aims to promote the exchange of information and ideas between all ...

THE PRINCIPLES OF LAW. PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH

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MARIUS ANDREESCU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Any scientific intercession that has as objective, the understanding of the significances of the “principle of law” needs to have an interdisciplinary character, the basis for the approach being the philosophy of the law. In this study we fulfill such an analysis with the purpose to underline the multiple theoretical significances due to this concept, but also the relationship between the juridical principles and norms, respectively the normative value of the principle of the law. Thus are being materialized extensive references to the philosophical and juridical doctrine in the matter. This study is a pleading to refer to the principles, in the work for the law’s creation and applying. Starting with the difference between “given” and ‘constructed” we propose the distinction between the “metaphysical principles” outside the law, which by their contents have philosophical significances, and the “constructed principles” elaborated inside the law. We emphasize the obligation of the law maker, but also of the expert to refer to the principles in the work of legislation, interpretation and applying of the law. Arguments are brought for the updating, in certain limits, the justice – naturalistic concepts in the law.

Theories of Social Media: Philosophical Foundations

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Jiayin Qi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Although many different views of social media coexist in the field of information systems (IS, such theories are usually not introduced in a consistent framework based on philosophical foundations. This paper introduces the dimensions of lifeworld and consideration of others. The concept of lifeworld includes Descartes’ rationality and Heidegger’s historicity, and consideration of others is based on instrumentalism and Heidegger’s “being-with.” These philosophical foundations elaborate a framework where different archetypal theories applied to social media may be compared: Goffman’s presentation of self, Bourdieu’s social capital, Sartre’s existential project, and Heidegger’s “shared-world.” While Goffman has become a frequent reference in social media, the three other references are innovative in IS research. The concepts of these four theories of social media are compared with empirical findings in IS literature. While some of these concepts match the empirical findings, some other concepts have not yet been investigated in the use of social media, suggesting future research directions. Keywords: Social media, Lifeworld, Consideration of others, Rationality, Historicity, Instrumentalism, Being-with, Presentation of self

C. F. v. Weizsaecker. Physicist, philosopher, visionary; C. F. v. Weizsaecker. Physiker, Philosoph, Visionaer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goernitz, Thomas

2012-11-01

The 20th century with its political, social, and scientific aspects bundles itself in the life of Carl Friedrich v. Weizsaecker. As comprehensive thinker of the presence he led natural science, philosophy, and spirituality to a unity. In the public the grandson of last in Germany enobled minster and brother of the senior federal president achieved by his engagement for peace and disarmament a global effect. Competently and understandably his visionary and prospective physical ideas and his philosophical considerations are explained by his long standing coworker and close confident.

A Philosophical reflection on European integration : Aristotelian subsidiarity versus Kantian universalism

OpenAIRE

Bielskis, Andrius

2010-01-01

This paper aims to show how contemporary Aristotelian political philosophy can be utilised in our reflections on European integration. It argues that changes in international relations after the end of the Cold War and a growing cultural divide between Europe and the US makes Europe's Western identity untenable. Through a brief philosophical sketch of the history of 'the West' it argues that Europe needs to return to its European rather than Western roots. The philosophical emphasis on nation...

How can one be both a philosophical ethicist and a democrat?

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Oswald, Malcolm

2015-03-01

How can one be both a philosophical ethicist and a democrat? In this article I conclude that it can be difficult to reconcile the two roles. One involves understanding, and reconciling, the conflicting views of citizens, and the other requires the pursuit of truth through reason. Nevertheless, an important function of philosophy and ethics is to inform and improve policy. If done effectively, we could expect better, and more just, laws and policies, thereby benefiting many lives. So applying philosophical thinking to policy is an important job. However, it comes with substantial difficulties, not least in reconciling, or choosing between, competing philosophical theories. Despite the importance of the task, and the apparent obstacles, there is relatively little literature on how to apply ethics to real-world policy-making. Democracies need ethicists who can engage in democratic debate and bridge the gap between philosophy and public policy. I offer some tactics here.

Philosophical Performances in Everyday Life Situations

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Rüdiger H. Rimpler

2016-07-01

Following some of the ideas of Julian Klein and Arno Böhler on the significance of our feelings and on the limits of conceptual thinking I propose a specific form of philosophical performances, which is based on a grounding of emotions within thinking and on postponed deliberations within networking groups of individuals who are sharing a similar background of specific experiences in a given population.

The literary and philosophical conceptions of Laza Kostić

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Aleksić Slađana V.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Laza Kostić, in the early seventies of the XIX century, opposed the utilitarianism of Nikolay Chernyshevsky and Svetozar Markovié, and advocated the idea of aestheticism in poetry and art. In his study about Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Kostić had discovered two opposing processes in the poet, which he symbolically named the battle between the dragon and the nightingale. Kostić's conception about the origin of poetry is at the intersection of romanticist poetics about creation from divine inspiration, and a philosophical concept of the interference as a basic principle. The paper sheds light on the correspondence among the philosophical and literary views of Laza Kostić and his artistic work.

Adam Smith : Systematic Philosopher and Public Thinker

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schliesser, E.

2017-01-01

This book treats Adam Smith as a systematic philosopher. Smith was a giant of the Scottish Enlightenment with polymath interests. The book explores Smith’s economics and ethics in light of his other commitments on the nature of knowledge, the theory of emotions, the theory of mind, his account of

Introducing Giovanni Gentile, the "Philosopher of Fascism"

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Clayton, Thomas

2009-01-01

This essay aims to introduce Giovanni Gentile to scholars of Gramsci studies broadly and Gramsci-education studies more specifically. The largest part of the essay explores Gentile's academic life, his philosophical agenda, and his political career. Having established a basis for understanding the educational reform Gentile enacted as Mussolini's…

Dwie (antyfilozoficzne „gramatyki” Wittgensteina [Two (anti philosophical grammars of Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Adam Nowaczyk

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Wittgenstein is the author of two conceptions of “grammar”, that were meant to be tools of reaching the same goal: discrediting of the traditional, i.e. “metaphysical” questions of philosophy. His early conception concerns logical grammar being the language of logic notation, which is devoid of logical constants. This idea was supported by the ontological thesis that there are no logical objects. In fact, it was not indispensable for achieving the intended purpose, since the elimination of philosophical problems was provided by the semantic argument that the only sensible statements are those of the natural sciences. The second concept of grammar, presented in the writings of the later Wittgenstein, seems more ambiguous. Grammar is a set of rules of the language game, having a status of grammatical statements. Examples of such statements are diverse, and desirable, according to the authors, reformulation of them all into concrete orders or prohibitions seems problematic. In the Investigations Wittgenstein distinguishes between deep and surface grammar, which serves to determine the proper task of philosophy as description of the deep grammar (especially the grammar of philosophically relevant words. In this sense New Philosophy is a kind of philosophical grammar. Wittgensteinian grammar is also anti-philosophical, as it aims at the elimination of erroneous (pseudometaphysical claims derived from misleading forms of surface grammar. Despite the differences in the concepts of language and grammar in the early and late Wittgenstein, he has not changed his critical approach to the traditional philosophical questions.

Spirituality in the Philosophical Thought of Seyyed Hossein Nasr

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Fadhilah Khunaeni

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Spirituality for Seyyed Hossen Nasr is an inner reality that becomes a religious central in Islam. It is the esoteric dimension hidden in the reality of exoteric Islam. That view on spirituality brings Nasr to the philosophical thought that cannot be separated from religious metaphysical doctrine. Nasr argues that philosophy is more than just a ratio but also the activity of intellect that can reach the meta-cosmic nature to find the essence of truth namely the universal and eternal truth that lies behind the physical and relative truth. The philosophical efforts to find this truth are a combination of the optimizing potential of reason and intellectual intuition. Nasr refers to ḥikmah or wisdom as a kind of philosophy that combines logic and intellectual intuition. That philosophical view brings Nasr on a dualistic view of nature which not only has a cosmic dimension as such but also has a meta-cosmic dimension. This dualistic view is his fundamental reason in formulating the concept of metaphysical cosmology as a solution to the crisis of modern science that has caused a variety of ecological damage due to the secular vision.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20414/ujis.v20i2.812

Philosophical conceptions of the self: implications for cognitive science.

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Gallagher

2000-01-01

Several recently developed philosophical approaches to the self promise to enhance the exchange of ideas between the philosophy of the mind and the other cognitive sciences. This review examines two important concepts of self: the 'minimal self', a self devoid of temporal extension, and the 'narrative self', which involves personal identity and continuity across time. The notion of a minimal self is first clarified by drawing a distinction between the sense of self-agency and the sense of self-ownership for actions. This distinction is then explored within the neurological domain with specific reference to schizophrenia, in which the sense of self-agency may be disrupted. The convergence between the philosophical debate and empirical study is extended in a discussion of more primitive aspects of self and how these relate to neonatal experience and robotics. The second concept of self, the narrative self, is discussed in the light of Gazzaniga's left-hemisphere 'interpreter' and episodic memory. Extensions of the idea of a narrative self that are consistent with neurological models are then considered. The review illustrates how the philosophical approach can inform cognitive science and suggests that a two-way collaboration may lead to a more fully developed account of the self.

The philosophical premises of the second King Report on corporate governance

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G.J. Rossouw

2005-07-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on the philosophical presuppositions of the second King Report on corporate governance for South Africa (hereafter referred to as the King II Report. Especially in the “Introduction and Background” section of the King II Report it is clear that the Report is premised upon a specific understanding of the present-day corporation and its moral obligations. The purpose of this article is to commit what Charles Taylor called “an act of retrieval” in which the philosophical premises of the King II Report will be unearthed and exposed. It will be argued that the view of the present-day corporation that underlies the King II Report could be related back to a number of debates on the notion of the comtemporary corporation and its moral responsibilities that have been played out since the 1970s. It will be indicated how these debates provide the philosophical foundations for the view of the comtemporary corporation and its moral obligations that is espoused in the King II Report. The claim made in the Report that the African world view and culture influenced the Report’s notion of corporate governance will also be critically reviewed. Finally it will be attempted to evaluate to what extent the recommendations of the King II Report live up to its own philosophical premises.

The nature of delusion: psychologically explicable? psychologically inexplicable? philosophically explicable? Part 2.

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Cutting, J; Musalek, M

2016-03-01

The first part of this article dealt with the extant formulations of delusion, psychiatric and psychological, suggestions which, respectively, regard delusion as psychologically inexplicable or explicable. All this was subjected to critique. This second part puts forward informed philosophical thesis whereby delusion can be explained within the philosophical movement known as phenomenology and, in particular, Max Scheler's version of this. © The Author(s) 2015.

Ethnomathematics study: uncovering units of length, area, and volume in Kampung Naga Society

Science.gov (United States)

Septianawati, T.; Turmudi; Puspita, E.

2017-02-01

During this time, mathematics is considered as something neutral and not associated with culture. It can be seen from mathematics learning in the school which adopt many of foreign mathematics learning are considered more advanced (western). In fact, Indonesia is a rich country in cultural diversity. In the cultural activities, there are mathematical ideas that were considered a important thing in the mathematics learning. A study that examines the idea or mathematical practices in a variety of cultural activities are known as ethnomathematics. In Indonesia, there are some ethnic maintain their ancestral traditions, one of them is Kampung Naga. Therefore, this study was conducted in Kampung Naga. This study aims to uncover units of length, area, and volume used by Kampung Naga society. This study used a qualitative approach and ethnography methods. In this research, data collection is done through the principles of ethnography such as observation, interviews, documentation, and field notes. The results of this study are units of length, area, and volume used by Kampung Naga society and its conversion into standard units. This research is expected to give information to the public that mathematics has a relationship with culture and become recommendation to mathematics curriculum in Indonesia.

Self-knowledge in the process of interpreting philosophical texts

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A. V. Kulik

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Modern philosophical researches pay attention to various aspects of self-knowledge investigation. For instance, there are works on historical concepts of self-knowledge (e.g. ones by C. Moore, or articles about the place of self-knowledge in the phenomenon of rationality (e.g. ones by J. Roessler, or articles about epistemological lacks of self-knowledge (e.g. ones by J. Fernández. However, our paper is about the aspect that is not in the researchers’ centre of attention. Our study shows that practicing of book reading can be a source of information not only about the content of the books, but also about their readers. We investigate a phenomenon of incompatible interpretations, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ideas about understanding his texts, Merab Mamardashvili’s concept of ‘novel as a machine’, Ludwig Feuerbach’s theory of specifics of human cognition, and Philosophical Hermeneutics thinkers’ concepts about problems of understanding. The purpose of our paper is to describe possibilities of getting self-knowledge by analyzing the information about the results of philosophical texts reading. The research holds that these results give information about the content of the text as well as a reader’s ideas. A reader can use word forms from the texts to express his own implicit thoughts. Philosophical texts are the most effective tool for doing that because their content and ways of text organization stimulate such an activity. We illustrate these statements by examples from history of philosophy. For instance, we investigate the creation of the theory on the genealogy of morality by Friedrich Nietzsche. Analyzing phrases, which were important for him in the text, a person can estimate his own ideas. If one uses this theoretical model for getting self-knowledge he takes a new source of information about his own implicit ideas. The interpretation of this information will be effective. As a result of analyzing of Friedrich Schleiermacher

Unity and disunity and other mathematical essays

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Davis, Philip J

2015-01-01

This book is a mathematical potpourri. Its material originated in classroom presentations, formal lectures, sections of earlier books, book reviews, or just things written by the author for his own pleasure. Written in a nontechnical fashion, this book expresses the unique vision and attitude of the author towards the role of mathematics in society. It contains observations or incidental remarks on mathematics, its nature, its impacts on education and science and technology, its personalities and philosophies. The book is directed towards the math buffs of the world and, more generally, toward

Episodes in the mathematics of medieval Islam

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Berggren, J L

2016-01-01

This book presents an account of selected topics from key mathematical works of medieval Islam, based on the Arabic texts themselves. Many of these works had a great influence on mathematics in Western Europe. Topics covered in the first edition include arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and numerical approximation; this second edition adds number theory and combinatorics. Additionally, the author has included selections from the western regions of medieval Islam—both North Africa and Spain. The author puts the works into their historical context and includes numerous examples of how mathematics interacted with Islamic society.

The Philosophical Problem of Truth in Librarianship

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Labaree, Robert V.; Scimeca, Ross

2008-01-01

The authors develop a framework for addressing the question of truth in librarianship and in doing so attempt to move considerations of truth closer to the core of philosophical debates within the profession. After establishing ways in which philosophy contributes to social scientific inquiry in library science, the authors examine concepts of…

Harmonies of disorder Norbert Wiener : a mathematician-philosopher of our time

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Montagnini, Leone

2017-01-01

This book presents the entire body of thought of Norbert Wiener (1894–1964), knowledge of which is essential if one wishes to understand and correctly interpret the age in which we live. The focus is in particular on the philosophical and sociological aspects of Wiener’s thought, but these aspects are carefully framed within the context of his scientific journey. Important biographical events, including some that were previously unknown, are also highlighted, but while the book has a biographical structure, it is not only a biography. The book is divided into four chronological sections, the first two of which explore Wiener’s development as a philosopher and logician and his brilliant interwar career as a mathematician, supported by his philosophical background. The third section considers his research during World War II, which drew upon his previous scientific work and reflections and led to the birth of cybernetics. Finally, the radical post-war shift in Wiener’s intellectual path is considered, e...

10. Chigbo J. Ekwealo Contextualising Philosophic Sagacity among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ekwealo

on Chinua Achebe's epic novel, Things Fall Apart, set among the Igbo of South-. Eastern ... because they chose to deny philosophic status to Africans in order to be compliant with the ..... condemned for seven years to live in a strange land.

Is Odysseus a philosopher?

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Deretić Irina J.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the author attempts to demonstrate that certain philosophical questions are articulated in Homer's Odyssey, especially those that consider the relationship between truth, probability, and falsehood. First, the author discusses the following two assertions: 'Nobody is my name' and 'Nobody will I eat last among his comrades.' When asked by the one-eyed giant Polyphemus what his name really is, Odysseus replies that his name is 'Nobody'. Thereon, Polyphemus says that he will eat 'Nobody', considering 'Nobody' to be 'Somebody'. What appears to be a word-game is in fact an indicator of the necessity to determine the role of negative pronouns in a language, as well as to question their referential status. The negative pronouns like nobody or no one imply the non-existence of someone who can be described as 'nobody' or 'no one'. They can only designate, but they are non-referential. Because Polyphemus does not understand the sense of the negative pronouns, he believes that there is such a man, who is called 'Nobody', and whom he will eat. Therefore, one may claim that Homer's Odysseus discovers the meaning and role of the negative pronouns in a natural language, as well as how the misuse of these words can become a generator in lying and deceiving. Homer distinguishes two types of lies: 1 the absolute falsehoods, which are lies under all circumstances, and 2 the falsehoods which 'seem like the truth'. Most of Homer's Odysseus fantastic tales are of that kind - they are neither true nor false, but they 'seem like the truth'. The truth status of fiction as resembling the truth is one of Homer's discoveries, since he held that his main protagonist's narrations are neither true nor false, but they resemble the truth. The narrations should be as consistent and plausible as possible, in order to describe not what really happened, but 'what could have been happened', as Aristotle would claim. In the course of the paper, the author has

Introduction: Philosophers of the World Unite! Theorising Digital Labour and Virtual Work—Definitions, Dimensions, and Forms

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Marisol Sandoval

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In 1845, Karl Marx (1845, 571 formulated the 11th Feuerbach Thesis: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.” Today, interpreting the world has become an important form of labour that is expressed on and with the help of digital media. In this context it has become common to talk about digital labour and virtual work. Yet the changes that digital, social, and mobile media bring about in the world of labour and work have thus far only been little theoretically interpreted. In order to change the information society for the better, we first have to interpret digital labour with the help of critical theories. Social theorists of the world from different fields, backgrounds, interdisciplines, transdisciplines, and disciplines have to unite for this collective philosophical task. This special issue of tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique aims to contribute to building a theoretical framework for the critical analysis of digital labour, virtual work, and related concepts that can initiate further debates, inform empirical studies, and inspire social struggles connected to work and labour in and beyond digital capitalism. The papers collected in this special issue (a provide systematic definitions of digital labour, (b analyse its specific dimension, and (c discuss different forms of digital labour.

About social and cultural aspects of human nature in the context of philosophical anthropology

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S. K. Kostiuchkov

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In the paper the approaches to socio­cultural understanding of human nature in the context of philosophical anthropology, analyzes the essence of human nature contradictions inherent in the contradiction between biological and social components; author focuses attention on the concept of «identity» in the context of philosophical anthropology and characterization of the status of human life; put forward a reasoned statement that outlook, as the level of philosophical understanding of the world, combining both biological and social components of human nature. It is emphasized that universal principle transistorychnym public attitudes towards human life is the recognition of its absolute value in different dimensions ­ religious, philosophical, scientific. The author notes that religious, especially biblical doctrine emphasizes the value of human life that flows from dignity of man, created in God’s image, a rational being who comes to Earth as, in a sense, a representative of God. The article stresses the urgency of a new philosophical paradigm as an important ideological guideline that requires perceive and understand the biological basis of man is not as indispensable, but neutral background of social life, but as a basis upon which and through which a person is transformed into a cultural and civilized being.

PHILOSOPHEME OF SYMBOL AND CONCEPT OF THE MEANING: PHILOSOPHICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS

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P. V. Kretov

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study is to find out the meaning of the symbolic nature of the philosophical and anthropological knowledge deployment, as well as symbolic forms of correlation between artificial and natural in the consciousness of human identity and their fixation in the language and also in the forms and structures of culture. The research is based on the methodology of historical and philosophical analysis in synchronic and diachronic aspects, principles of hermeneutic understanding and reconstruction and phenomenological descriptions. Scientific novelty is represented by the postulating such predications of symbolic structures of language and consciousness as multipanorama and transfinite, justification of the ontological status of symbol and symbolism. The symbolic functioning character of language metaphor in scientific discourse and especially the symbolic dimension of semantic field of language and culture, as well as their symbolic association was fixed. The author proves the thesis about the symbolic nature of a holistic, means forming, philosophical knowledge of man, and the relation between the underlying symbolic and metaphorical structures of language and the mechanisms of consciousness, which finds its expression, in particular, in the language of science. The symbolic design that transmits the philosophical aspects of meaning that go beyond definition and formal-logic descriptions is used. In the comparison of the concepts of spiral dynamics, memetics and autopoiesis the existence of a specific symbolic dimension of the semantic field of language, culture and consciousness is postulated. Conclusions of the article define the role of symbol and symbolic and metaphorical constructions and structures of language in forming the discourse of modern philosophical anthropology, which would include the whole thesaurus of language and culture.

[Origin and thought on the philosophical ideas of acupuncture in Chinese medicine].

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Ren, Xiumei

2017-12-12

Acupuncture in Chinese medicine has been a treasure in Chinese traditional medicine for thousands of years. It is opposite to many basic theories in modern medicine in dynasties. Different from the cross compatibility and interactions among medical medicines, acupuncture in Chinese medicine has its own consolidation and inherent philosophical ideas. In view of this, how to discuss the philosophical ideas and its development of acupuncture in Chinese medicine becomes of great importance. It is crucial to clearly answer the three theoretical propositions in the development of acupuncture in Chinese medicine. Firstly, the differences in acupuncture should be identified between the ancient time and the modern time. The issues focus on the origin of Huangdi Neijing ( Yellow Emperor's Internal Medicine ) and its philosophical divergence. Secondly, the origin of acupuncture should be identified, whether it is from China or India. Thirdly, the differences in acupuncture should be identified between China and the west, focusing on the explanation and rectification of the interrelationship between the acupuncture in Chinese medicine and the western acupuncture. Hence, the basic features are discussed on the reality of acupuncture in Chinese medicine as well as its diversity. Finally, the proposition is extended on how to holistically grasp the philosophical foundation of acupuncture in Chinese medicine and its future trend.

A Philosophical Treatise of Universal Induction

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Samuel Rathmanner

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Understanding inductive reasoning is a problem that has engaged mankind for thousands of years. This problem is relevant to a wide range of fields and is integral to the philosophy of science. It has been tackled by many great minds ranging from philosophers to scientists to mathematicians, and more recently computer scientists. In this article we argue the case for Solomonoff Induction, a formal inductive framework which combines algorithmic information theory with the Bayesian framework. Although it achieves excellent theoretical results and is based on solid philosophical foundations, the requisite technical knowledge necessary for understanding this framework has caused it to remain largely unknown and unappreciated in the wider scientific community. The main contribution of this article is to convey Solomonoff induction and its related concepts in a generally accessible form with the aim of bridging this current technical gap. In the process we examine the major historical contributions that have led to the formulation of Solomonoff Induction as well as criticisms of Solomonoff and induction in general. In particular we examine how Solomonoff induction addresses many issues that have plagued other inductive systems, such as the black ravens paradox and the confirmation problem, and compare this approach with other recent approaches.

The quantum world philosophical debates on quantum physics

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Zwirn, Hervé

2017-01-01

In this largely nontechnical book, eminent physicists and philosophers address the philosophical impact of recent advances in quantum physics. These are shown to shed new light on profound questions about realism, determinism, causality or locality. The participants contribute in the spirit of an open and honest discussion, reminiscent of the time when science and philosophy were inseparable. After the editors’ introduction, the next chapter reveals the strangeness of quantum mechanics and the subsequent discussions examine our notion of reality. The spotlight is then turned to the topic of decoherence. Bohm’s theory is critically examined in two chapters, and the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics is likewise described and discussed. The penultimate chapter presents a proposal for resolving the measurement problem, and finally the topic of loop quantum gravity is presented by one of its founding fathers, Carlo Rovelli. The original presentations and discussions on which this volume is based t...

Awakening – Transformation, agency and virtue from three contemporary philosophical inspirations: Bhaskar, Segal and Slote

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Dudley Schreiber

2015-10-01

Full Text Available For some, ‘transformation’ is the new non-reductive and non-normative ‘development’, attracting attention from interdisciplinary array, but of particular theoretical and practical interest to Spirituality scholars. In philosophical context, transformation theory has suffered greatly from ’agency-structure’ dualism and suspension of ontology in body-mind dualism and rationalist virtue controversy. Drawing on the work of Bhaskar, Segal and Slote, a renegotiated and more meaningful sense of transformation emerges from their cumulative analytical and conceptual enrichment. In the complexity of possible relations between self, self-concept and society, lies the traditionally neglected transformative middle of sui-generis human depth. In redress, arguably, Bhaskar’s meta-philosophy accommodates Segal’s experiential depth analysis and Slote’s understanding of empathy and receptivity as valuable insights for ’awakening’ to transformative process.

Social space: Philosophical reflections | Strauss | South African ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Our analysis of the phrase 'social space' first of all concentrates on the modal or functional nature of the different aspects of reality, including the social and spatial aspects. Subsequently this leads to an analysis of the problem of modal analogies – one way in which an answer is given to the perennial philosophical problem ...

What Is the Problem in Problem-Based Learning in Higher Education Mathematics

Science.gov (United States)

Dahl, Bettina

2018-01-01

Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) emphasise collaborate work on problems relevant to society and emphases the relation between theory and practice. PBL fits engineering students as preparation for their future professions but what about mathematics? Mathematics is not just applied mathematics, but it is also a body of abstract knowledge…

2nd International Conference on Mathematics and Statistics

CERN Document Server

Jarrah, Abdul; Kallel, Sadok; Sulieman, Hana

2017-01-01

This work presents invited contributions from the second "International Conference on Mathematics and Statistics" jointly organized by the AUS (American University of Sharjah) and the AMS (American Mathematical Society). Addressing several research fields across the mathematical sciences, all of the papers were prepared by faculty members at universities in the Gulf region or prominent international researchers. The current volume is the first of its kind in the UAE and is intended to set new standards of excellence for collaboration and scholarship in the region.

Risk and society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tubiana, M.; Vrousos, C.; Pages, J.P.; Carde, C.

1999-01-01

This book brings together the communications presented at the colloquium 'risk and society' held in Paris (France) on November 1998. During this colloquium, the various aspects of risk and of its management were discussed by medical specialists, historians, industrialists, engineers, philosophers, lawyers, politicians and administration representatives. The first theme concerns the controversies generated by the development of some activities (genetics, bio-technologies, nuclear and radiations use). The second theme concerns the management of risks and the way to conciliate the point of view of authorities and citizens (confidence of the public with respect to experts, scientists, industrialists, government and administrative representatives, role played by the media). The debates that took place during the colloquium have shown that the public opinion concerning the nuclear activities or the new technologies greatly depends on the ideological attitudes and on the public's likes and dislikes with respect to some categories of actors (distrust with respect to public decisions, fears with respect to changes and future, nostalgia of the past). The following aspects are reviewed: Notions of risk and hazard (risk and health, risk in today's society, medicine and society, the point of view of the industrialists and of the scientific and technical specialists); from the psychological aspects of the risk to its social aspects (survey of the risk assessment battlefield, social attenuation and amplification of risk, the feeling of risks in Europe, insecurity and delinquency, controversies around radioactivity and health); the negotiation and communication about risks (risk and public health, negotiation around risks, risks and information dissemination about the public debate, communication and crisis, evolution of risk communication, comparison between American and European approaches, the Seveso directive); the public debate and the evolution of risks management (the

Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to Each Other? Some Reasons for Hope.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellett, Frederick S., Jr.

2002-01-01

Responds to Arcilla's article, "Why Aren't Philosophers and Educators Speaking to One Another?" noting complexities that complicate the answer and suggesting that they are indeed communicating if one accepts a broader definition of philosophers and educators. The essay asserts that little educational research and theory has had much…

Review of the Book: Yakubovich M.M. Philosophical Thought of the Crimean Khanate

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R.R. Abduzhemilev

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The book “Philosophical Thought of the Crimean Khanate” by Mikhaylo Yakubovich offers a comprehensive study of the religious and philosophical heritage of the Crimean Khanate. It should be mentioned that up to the present there was no such work among the list of available research monographs. There were only some fragmentary works, which did not cover the conceptual essence of the philosophical perspectives and concepts of medieval thinkers whose activity was shaped within the context of the Crimean Khanate. Thus, Mikhaylo Yakubovich’s contribution is obvious and there is no doubt of the work’s significance. The book consists of a preface, an introduction, seven chapters, conclusions, appendixes, list of illustrations (religious sites, libraries and photocopies of manuscripts, and a bibliography. A wide source-base is evident in the work: the bibliography lists manuscripts from various libraries throughout the world. In the first introductory chapter, a review of historiography is carried out and the range of sources within the framework of the study is defined. The prehistory of the formation of philosophical thought of the Crimean khanate, namely the origins of its formation back to the Golden Horde era, is outlined in the second chapter. This section presents the hermeneutical aspects of Sharaf ad-Din al-Kyrymi and Ahmad bin ‘Abd Allah al-Kyrymi’s interpretation of the philosophy of Ibn al-‘Arabi and Sadr al-Din al-Kunavi. The third chapter contains biographical information about Ibrahim al-Kyrymi, the specificity of the Qur’anic hermeneutics in his work, as well as the idea of a spiritual journey as viewed from anthropological and historiosophical perspectives. In the fourth chapter, the creativity of Abu’l-Baka’ al-Kafauvi is considered, while also reflecting on the life and scientific heritage of this philosopher, his work “al-Qulliyyat” in the context of Islamic encyclopedic learning, understanding the divine

THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF GLOBAL STRATEGIES FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY AND EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF CRITICAL THEORY

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Viktor V. Zinchenko

2015-05-01

 relationship of education and society, man and the state, and processes. The research and systematic analysis of neoliberal reforms at the level of society in general and education in particular are conducted. It examines substantive, structural and functional characteristics of the concept of «critical social philosophy of education» in the context of institutional tendencies of social life, as well as forms and possibilities of its methodological application. It consider a model of «critical social philosophy of education», as embodied in the programs of social development and learning, which are primarily designed to teach people how to lead an independent and original research themselves, society and knowledge systems. However, it is proved that the models and programs should not be cut off from any individual and the collective system of moral and social values, theoretical and applied training, nor from further use of the acquired values, norms and skills in everyday life, science, or in production, sphere of all social institutions. Conclusions. Critical philosophical, educational, pedagogical-psychological surprisingly theory, its models and concepts seek to redefine public and private and the public mind. Based on these grounds, in the future, it allows philosophy of education to develop a more inclusive philosophical vision of education, to apply directly to the problems of democratization and changes in social relations in the direction of equality and social justice in the field of education. The point of view of socio-philosophical and philosophical-еducational, pedagogical-psychological, normative understanding and social critics also requires the use of active efforts in the reconstruuction of education and society, the social vision of what education and human life can be and what their specific limitations in existing societies.

Realistic Humanism. Luc Dardenne as a Philosopher and Filmmaker

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Walter Lesch

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Luc Dardenne is not only a successful filmmaker together with his brother Jean-Pierre. He is also a stimulating philosopher who has reflected on the influence of Emmanuel Levinas on the brothers’ cinematic work. This article shows typical constellations of film and philosophy and focuses on the special contribution of a Levinasian perspec¬tive on face-to-face encounters, violence and compassion as central topics in the films of the Dardennes. Luc Dardenne has developed his philosophical approach in his dia¬ries and in the essay The Human Affair, published in 2012. This text can be used as a key for an understanding of the film Le gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, FR/BE/IT 2011.

Philosophizing about Teacher Dissatisfaction: A Multidisciplinary Hermeneutic Approach

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Santoro, Doris A.

2015-01-01

In this methodological reflection, I describe the multidisciplinary hermeneutic process of philosophizing about teacher dissatisfaction. I discuss how philosophy serves as a starting point for interpretive work based on interviews with former teachers and readings of qualitative and quantitative research on teacher attrition and dissatisfaction.…

Science and mathematics teachers of the future

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Claus; Nielsen, Jan Alexis; Petersen, Morten Rask

2008-01-01

This paper presents the project Science and Mathematics Teachers of the Future. The aim of the project is to develop and implement a graduate level equivalent degree program in mathematics and science instruction for in-service teachers of lower secondary education. This aim is achieved...... in the programme through involving the teachers in design, implementation and evaluation of innovative instructional sequences, which deals with a wide range of aspects of mathematics and science, e.g. modern science and the importance of science in society. In the program contemporary science and mathematics...... education research serves as a basis for the design and development of warranted practices with which the teachers may experiment in their classroom. We will focus on the outcomes of offering a program which is intimately tied to (i) contemporary science and mathematics education research, (ii) modern...

Cognitive correlates of performance in advanced mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Wei; Yuan, Hongbo; Chen, Chuansheng; Zhou, Xinlin

2012-03-01

Much research has been devoted to understanding cognitive correlates of elementary mathematics performance, but little such research has been done for advanced mathematics (e.g., modern algebra, statistics, and mathematical logic). To promote mathematical knowledge among college students, it is necessary to understand what factors (including cognitive factors) are important for acquiring advanced mathematics. We recruited 80 undergraduates from four universities in Beijing. The current study investigated the associations between students' performance on a test of advanced mathematics and a battery of 17 cognitive tasks on basic numerical processing, complex numerical processing, spatial abilities, language abilities, and general cognitive processing. The results showed that spatial abilities were significantly correlated with performance in advanced mathematics after controlling for other factors. In addition, certain language abilities (i.e., comprehension of words and sentences) also made unique contributions. In contrast, basic numerical processing and computation were generally not correlated with performance in advanced mathematics. Results suggest that spatial abilities and language comprehension, but not basic numerical processing, may play an important role in advanced mathematics. These results are discussed in terms of their theoretical significance and practical implications. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Students' Perceptions of the Relevance of Mathematics in Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Flegg, Jennifer; Mallet, Dann; Lupton, Mandy

2012-01-01

In this article, we report on the findings of an exploratory study into the experience of students as they learn first year engineering mathematics. Here we define engineering as the application of mathematics and sciences to the building and design of projects for the use of society [M. Kirschenman and B. Brenner, "Education for Civil…

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INTENTION OF PHILOSOPHIZING OF RENE DESCARTES AND ITS MANIFESTATION IN THE TEXT «THE RULES»

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Anatolii Malivskyi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Based on the understanding of The New Time philosophy as a response to the challenges of the era in relation to the construction of an objective picture of the world and the self-creation of man, to analyze the main options for evaluating the ambivalence of the basic intention of the philosophy of Descartes in the research literature and to clarify the nature of ambiguity. To justify the dominant nature of anthropological intention in the text of the «Rules for Guiding the Mind in Searching for the Truth». Novelty. The nature of the ambivalence of the basic intention of the text of the "Rules" is clarified as a form of two basic existences, opposite to the New Time, namely the query on the objectivity of scientific knowledge and inquiry in anthropology as a cornerstone of philosophy. The author of the article proves the domination of anthropological component of the text «The Rules» in front of scientific knowledge. Conclusions. The main manifestations of ambivalence of basic directivity of philosophizing of Rene Descartes to construction of an objective picture of the world and self-creation of person were described. The determining influence on the process of the establishment of basic intention of the specificity of the experience of mathematical knowledge and Plato’s and Aristotle’s tradition of philosophizing for the first, and of personal tradition of Christianity in the second place was emphasized. In the reference to the text «The Rules» of Descartes the ambiguity of the basic direction was argued, the nature and domination of the anthropological intention were justified.

International Conference on Mathematics and Computing

CERN Document Server

Giri, Debasis; Saxena, P; Srivastava, P

2014-01-01

This book discusses recent developments and contemporary research in mathematics, statistics and their applications in computing. All contributing authors are eminent academicians, scientists, researchers and scholars in their respective fields, hailing from around the world. The conference has emerged as a powerful forum, offering researchers a venue to discuss, interact and collaborate, and stimulating the advancement of mathematics and its applications in computer science. The book will allow aspiring researchers to update their knowledge of cryptography, algebra, frame theory, optimizations, stochastic processes, compressive sensing, functional analysis, complex variables, etc. Educating future consumers, users, producers, developers and researchers in mathematics and computing is a challenging task and essential to the development of modern society. Hence, mathematics and its applications in computer science are of vital importance to a broad range of communities, including mathematicians and computing p...

Physical frailty, sarcopenia, and the enablement of autonomy: philosophical issues in geriatric medicine.

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Blasimme, Alessandro

2017-02-01

Physical frailty and loss of muscular mass (sarcopenia) are believed to be predictors of age-related conditions, such as disability and loss of autonomy. In this paper, I show that what in political and moral philosophy has come to be known as "the capability approach" may indeed provide much needed conceptual clarification in the area of frailty research. Other than being useful at the theoretical level, the capability approach can definitely help in the implementation of clinical guidelines and public health measures aimed at translating the results that are accumulating from frailty research. I will first briefly review the main philosophical tenets of the capability approach, and then analyze how they relate to current debates about frailty and sarcopenia by introducing the notion of "enablement". Finally, I will show how my analysis bears on both clinical research in this domain and public policy aimed at tackling some of the age-related issues in an aging society.

PHILOSOPHIC AND CLINICAL DISCOURSE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

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V. M. Skyrtach

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose is to identify common and distinctive features of concepts and methodology of the problem of subject within different discourses, implicitly or explicitly relevant to the definition of "clinical" mode of human existence. The research methodology combines techniques of discourse analysis and basic principles of historical and philosophical studies. Originality of the research lies in definition of the clinical philosophical discourse as a special communicative process, where utterances not only focus on disease syndromes, and reveal phenomenology of inner experience of a pathological self, but also structure a certain type of sociality. Clinical discourse represents the space where the patient is treated not as a subject but as an object of disease. Ontology of clinical discourse prevails over ontology of disease, since its structures determine the notion of disease as such. Categorization of the disease, the idea of disease as a phenomenon subdued to professional authority leads to the idea of the need for patient’s isolation from the natural environment and removing him to special social institutions. The clinicist doctrines share the intention to reduce the patient’s self to its bodily dimension, while ignoring social determinants of psychological deviations. Conclusions of the study are summarized in the following positions: the current clinical discourse is based on the positivist-biological trend in humanitarian knowledge and it is the basis for the production and reproduction of medical and pharmaceutical repressive ideology; criticism of philosophical clinical discourse opens the possibility of overcoming the dominance of purely clinicist discourse; such a transformation is possible only after a paradigm shift in understanding the category of subject.

Qualitative research in multicultural psychology: philosophical underpinnings, popular approaches, and ethical considerations.

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Ponterotto, Joseph G

2010-10-01

This article reviews the current and emerging status of qualitative research in psychology. The particular value of diverse philosophical paradigms and varied inquiry approaches to the advancement of psychology generally, and multicultural psychology specifically, is emphasized. Three specific qualitative inquiry approaches anchored in diverse philosophical research paradigms are highlighted: consensual qualitative research, grounded theory, and participatory action research. The article concludes by highlighting important ethical considerations in multicultural qualitative research. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Epistemological bases OF THE RELATIONSHIP between culture and mathematics education

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Neivaldo Oliveira Silva

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Our main intention with this theoretical construct is to understand the mathematics education embedded in the social context to which it belongs and where different groups are present with their beliefs, knowledge, practices that, in turn, are the result of a historical process, in which changes occur and affect most of the different fields ofIcnowledge.In the theoretical construction, we start from a more general picture of the world and society, focusing on the historical and social changes and, at the same time, in changes in the scope of mathematical knowledge. We do this through a historical analysis and, along the way, we seek to understand culture, Mathematics and Mathematics Education, as fields or dimensions present in this broader context of historical changes, and seek to establish relationships between thesefields or areas of knowledge, in the context of their productions. ln seeking to understand "culture", we try not to lose sight of the social dynamics that are established in the contacts between different groups, each with characteristics that involve traditions, artistic manifestations, culinary language, but surrounded by a society that results from a globalization process getting stronger. It is in this broader context that we seek to understand mathematics, as a field of knowledge, making an analysis that goes from its origin as well as its implications with reality and society, so that to the end, we present and discuss the Ethnomathematics as a possible alternative to do or to understand the articulation pointed out. Finally, we extend the discussion to understand the mathematics education, in view of its social integration, and the socialization perspective of the mathematical knowledge. We realized that mathematics education, seen as a field of knowledge and considering the need for socialization of this knowledge, is also the result of practices developed and a comprehensive process of change that has been occurring in

Philosophic Processes and the Study of Human Moving.

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Bressan, Elizabeth S.; Pieter, Willy

1985-01-01

A theoretical framework describing second-order philosophical processes that can be productive for human movement studies is presented. The processes of edification and theory building can clarify issues, expand viewpoints, and establish systematic ways of dealing with a phenomenon, leading to the more mature forms of dialogues and theories. (MT)

Why People are Atypical Agents | Ross | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In this paper, I argue that the traditional philosophical approach of taking cognitively and emotionally competent adult people to be the prototypical instances of agency should be revised in light of current work in the behavioral sciences. Logical consistency in application is better served by taking simple goal-directed and ...

Governing the Modern, Neoliberal Child through ICT Research in Mathematics Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valero, Paola; Knijnik, Gelsa

2015-01-01

Research on the pedagogical uses of ICT for the learning of mathematics formulates cultural thesis about the desired subject of education and society, and thereby contribute to fabricate the rational, Modern, self-regulated, entrepreneurial neoliberal child. Using the Foucauldian notion...... of governmentality, the section Technology in the mathematics curriculum in the Third International Mathematics Education Research Handbook is discursively analyzed. We problematize how mathematics education research on ICT devices pedagogical technologies that steer the conduct of children to become the desired...

Between Hobbes and Spinoza. Research on the Philosophical Matrix of Ferdinand Tönnies’ Sociological Categories

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Furio Ferraresi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This essay reconstructs the main lines of Ferdinand Tönnies’ (1855-1936 critical approach to the thought of Hobbes and Spinoza. Specifically it shows the role played by the two philosophers in developing the categories of community (Spinoza and society (Hobbes. From the stand point of political thought, the essay reveals how Tönnies’ on going interpretation of Hobbes focuses more and more on the constitutive moment of the modern form of State. In this area it draws on Spinoza’s reflections on democracy as an absolutum omnino imperium. Tönnies is thus able to distinguish conceptually between the Hobbesian State, as a “society” that absorbs all natural law, and its natural law origin (the «original assembly», where we find a “common” element that can never be entirely neutralized by the State.

Cultural Difference and Human Rights : A Philosophical-Anthropological Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Kloeg (Julien)

2014-01-01

textabstractIn ‘Cultural Difference and Human Rights’, Julien Kloeg claims, with Pablo Gilabert, that theoretical attempts to justify human rights should move beyond the dichotomy of providing either a humanist or a political justification. Kloeg demonstrates how philosophical anthropology could

A Philosophical View of Research in Music Education

Science.gov (United States)

Jorgensen, Estelle R.

2009-01-01

In this paper, four interrelated questions are addressed: What counts as research? What are some present challenges to music education research? What should be the relationship between theory and empirical data? What ought to be the distinctive features of music education research? The purpose is to elucidate how philosophical inquiry can be…

The humanistic psychology-positive psychology divide: contrasts in philosophical foundations.

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Waterman, Alan S

2013-04-01

The relationship between the fields of humanistic and positive psychology has been marked by continued tension and ambivalence. This tension can be traced to extensive differences in the philosophical grounding characterizing the two perspectives within psychology. These differences exist with respect to (a) ontology, including the ways in which human nature is conceptualized regarding human potentials and well-being; (b) epistemology, specifically, the choice of research strategies for the empirical study of these concepts; and (c) practical philosophy, particularly the goals and strategies adopted when conducting therapy or undertaking counseling interventions. Because of this philosophical divide, adherents of the two perspectives may best be advised to pursue separately their shared desire to understand and promote human potentials and well-being.

Context-based mathematics tasks in Indonesia : Toward better practice and achievement

OpenAIRE

Wijaya, A.

2015-01-01

The Indonesian national curriculum mandates that mathematics education must be relevant to the needs of life and should offer students opportunities to develop the ability to apply their knowledge in society. Furthermore, there are educational movements in Indonesia that promote the application of mathematics and place a premium on using context-based tasks; see the projects Pendidikan MatematikaRealistik Indonesia (Indonesian Realistic Mathematics Education) and Pembelajaran Kontekstual (Con...

The digital divide: philosophical reflection

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Dedyulina Marina Anatolevna

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The problem of digital divide itself is interesting for philosophical reflection as it lies at the crossroads of interests of social and political philosophy, philosophy of technology and epistemology, and these are just some of them. Due to the constant development of information technologies and the introduction of new technologies the digital divide is a dynamic problem. The main aim of this work is to analyse the conceptual and descriptive aspects of the problem of the digital divide, to get a more complete picture of the phenomenon. The digital divide is a complex problem that has social, political, cultural and ethical aspects.

Mathematical Modeling Activities as a Useful Tool for Values Education

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Doruk, Bekir Kursat

2012-01-01

Values education is crucial since it is one of the factors to reach success in education in broader sense and in mathematics education in particular sense. It is also important for educating next generations of societies. However, previous research showed that expected importance for values education was not given in Mathematics courses. In a few…

The Role of Historical-Philosophical Controversies in Teaching Sciences: The Debate between Biot and Ampere

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Braga, Marco; Guerra, Andreia; Reis, Jose Claudio

2012-01-01

This paper evaluates the viability of using controversies in teaching. An educational project has been elaborated in which some historical-philosophical clashes were introduced into the classical syllabus of physics. The historical-philosophical controversy dealt with here, took place between the French physicists Biot and Ampere in the 19th…

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN THE FORMATION OF KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

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Jasarat Fikret Valehov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article aims to define opportunities of education in the formation of knowledge society, which is an integral part of information society and closely related to such an important determinant of the level of society’s development as social capital. Methods. Methodological basis for analyzing this problem lies in a systematic approach to studying social processes, while a monographic method in methodology. Based on this method, the author tried to define the philosophic mission of educational institutions, which they had performed before the emergence of knowledge economy. This was a significant foundation for further development of society. Results. In the age of knowledge economy international competition is based on search for talents. The author defined that in knowledge society students receive necessary knowledge, which gives them an advantage over others. University education is the focus of attention on a global scale. Ensuring prosperity and well-being of society requires better use of human mind. Scientific novelty of the article concludes in well-founded proof that countries where education is built at an academic level can ensure the formation of a new, promising generation and can withstand international competition. Practical significance lies in the conclusion that the system of vocational education should cover all spheres of economy, science and culture meeting the needs and interests of the country. 

Philosophical and cultural perspectives on acoustics in Vedic Hinduism

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Prasad, M. G.

2004-05-01

Acoustics plays a very important multi-faceted role in Vedic Hinduism. Vedas, that is an infinitely large collection of chants (mantras) in ancient Sanskrit language, form the foundational literature of Vedic Hinduism. The Vedic chants have specific acoustical qualities and intonations. The Vedic literature describes the various aspects of acoustics, namely, philosophical, spiritual, and cultural. The use of sounds from conch-shell, bells, cymbal in addition to the Vedic chants in rituals shows the spiritual aspects. Vedic literature discusses the role of sound in the philosophical understanding of our world. Music, both vocal and instrumental, plays an important role in the cultural aspects of Vedic Hinduism. It can be seen that certain musical instruments such as ``mridangam,'' a percussion drum, reflect scientific principles underlying in their design. This paper presents an overview of the various important and interesting roles of acoustics in Vedic Hinduism.

The Dialogue of Heidegger with Pre-Socratic Philosophers

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Antonio M. Martín Morillas

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1898-1976 attempted to outline in his second philosophy a hermeneutics of the thought of some philosophers (Anaximander, Parmenides and Heracleitus prior to the metaphysical development of Western thought. In several of his second work’s writings, Heidegger delimits, examines and reinterprets certain primitive Greek notions, which were especially appropriate for the jump from the «first beginning» of philosophy in Greece to the «other beginning» (not a metaphysical one of a «thinking of being» (Seinsdenken as «appropriating event» (Er-eignis. They are the pre-Socratic notions of Chreón (necessity, Lógos (thought-word, Móira (fate, Alétheia (truth y Ph?sis (nature-reality. Within the context of his long ontological research on the «essencing of being» (Seinswesen, Heidegger offers a reading in terms of an overcoming (Überwindung of metaphysical thought in general, understood as onto-theo-logy and marked by its «forgetfulness of being».

2nd International Conference on Mathematics and Computing

CERN Document Server

Chowdhury, Dipanwita; Giri, Debasis

2015-01-01

This book discusses recent developments and contemporary research in mathematics, statistics and their applications in computing. All contributing authors are eminent academicians, scientists, researchers and scholars in their respective fields, hailing from around the world. This is the second conference on mathematics and computing organized at Haldia Institute of Technology, India. The conference has emerged as a powerful forum, offering researchers a venue to discuss, interact and collaborate, and stimulating the advancement of mathematics and its applications in computer science. The book will allow aspiring researchers to update their knowledge of cryptography, algebra, frame theory, optimizations, stochastic processes, compressive sensing, functional analysis, complex variables, etc. Educating future consumers, users, producers, developers and researchers in mathematics and computing is a challenging task and essential to the development of modern society. Hence, mathematics and its applications in com...

The History of Science from a science-technology-society perspective (CTS

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Katiuska Pérez Bejerano

2003-12-01

Full Text Available One of the many goals of scientific training under CTS is to contribute to improving public understanding of the nature of science. It emphasizes the article in the possibilities of the history of science on this issue clarifying and illustrating through the history of chemistry as you can put scientific knowledge in context unraveled the complex relationship science - society links with the philosophical, ethical, political positions. This will help form a more responsible citizen, with a deeper awareness of their own activity, which takes sides with the problems affecting the world and their community.

The contribution of parent-child numeracy activities to young Chinese children's mathematical ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Qi; Zhang, Xiao; Liu, Yingyi; Yang, Wen; Song, Zhanmei

2017-09-01

A growing body of recent research has shown that parent-child mathematical activities have a strong effect on children's mathematical learning. However, this research was conducted predominantly in Western societies and focused mainly on mothers' involvement in such activities. This study aimed to examine both mother-child and father-child numeracy activities in Hong Kong Chinese families and both parents' unique roles in predicting young Chinese children's mathematics ability. A sample of 104 Hong Kong Chinese children aged approximately 5 years and their mothers and fathers participated in this study. Mothers and fathers independently reported the frequency of their own numeracy activities with their children. Children were assessed individually using two measures of mathematical ability. Hierarchical regression models were used to investigate the contribution of parent-child numeracy activities to children's mathematical ability. Mothers' participation in number skill activities and fathers' participation in number game and application activities significantly predicted their children's mathematical performance even after controlling for background variables and children's language ability. This study extends previous research with a sample of Chinese kindergarten children and shows that parent-child numeracy activities are related to young children's mathematical ability. The findings highlight the important roles that mothers and fathers play in their young children's mathematical learning. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Prisoners' Right to Education: A Philosophical Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Vorhaus, John

2014-01-01

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares: "Everyone has the right to education." This implies that the right to education and training applies to all persons, including all persons in prison. This position is considered here from a philosophical point of view and it will receive some support. Yet it is not obvious…

Visuospatial training improves elementary students' mathematics performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowrie, Tom; Logan, Tracy; Ramful, Ajay

2017-06-01

Although spatial ability and mathematics performance are highly correlated, there is scant research on the extent to which spatial ability training can improve mathematics performance. This study evaluated the efficacy of a visuospatial intervention programme within classrooms to determine the effect on students' (1) spatial reasoning and (2) mathematics performance as a result of the intervention. The study involved grade six students (ages 10-12) in eight classes. There were five intervention classes (n = 120) and three non-intervention control classes (n = 66). A specifically designed 10-week spatial reasoning programme was developed collaboratively with the participating teachers, with the intervention replacing the standard mathematics curriculum. The five classroom teachers in the intervention programme presented 20 hr of activities aimed at enhancing students' spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial orientation skills. The spatial reasoning programme led to improvements in both spatial ability and mathematics performance relative to the control group who received standard mathematics instruction. Our study is the first to show that a classroom-based spatial reasoning intervention improves elementary school students' mathematics performance. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Higher education and general studies in Nigeria: A philosophical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Higher education and general studies in Nigeria: A philosophical investigation. ... Mgbakoigba: Journal of African Studies ... national policy on education on tertiary or higher education reveals a startling chasm of gap between the goals of the policy through General Studies Programme and their expected actualizations.

Progress, Wealth, and Mathematics Achievement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Valero, Paola

2013-01-01

I am interested in discussing the historical conditions that make it possible to formulate the idea that the mathematical qualifications of citizens in modern states is connected to the progress and economic development of nations. I interconnect apparently unrelated areas in an attempt to shed l......, H. (1899). Préface. L' Enseignement Mathématique, 1(1), 1-5. Popkewitz, T. S. (2008). Cosmopolitanism and the age of school reform: Science, education, and making society by making the child. New York: Routledge....... to the end of the 19th century. During the second half of the 19th century, mathematics teachers in different countries struggled to make mathematics part of the classic school curricula. During the second industrialization, the justification for the need for mathematics education was formulated in the first...... as a result, among others, of the growing series of comparative information on educational achievement and development. Such reports can be seen as performances of the comparative logic of Modernity that operates differential positioning, not only among individuals but also among nations, with respect to what...

Conjoined Twins: Philosophical Problems and Ethical Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Savulescu, Julian; Persson, Ingmar

2016-02-01

We examine the philosophical and ethical issues associated with conjoined twins and their surgical separation. In cases in which there is an extensive sharing of organs, but nevertheless two distinguishable functioning brains, there are a number of philosophical and ethical challenges. This is because such conjoined twins: 1. give rise to puzzles concerning our identity, about whether we are identical to something psychological or biological; 2. force us to decide whether what matters from an ethical point of view is the biological life of our organisms or the existence of our consciousness or mind; 3. raise questions concerning when, if ever, it is morally acceptable to sacrifice one of us to save another; 4. force us to reflect on the conditions for ownership of organs and the justification of removal of organs for transplantation which causes the death of the donor; 5. raise questions about who should take decisions about life-risking treatments when this cannot be decided by patients themselves. We examine and suggest answers to these questions. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Strong Inference in Mathematical Modeling: A Method for Robust Science in the Twenty-First Century

Science.gov (United States)

Ganusov, Vitaly V.

2016-01-01

While there are many opinions on what mathematical modeling in biology is, in essence, modeling is a mathematical tool, like a microscope, which allows consequences to logically follow from a set of assumptions. Only when this tool is applied appropriately, as microscope is used to look at small items, it may allow to understand importance of specific mechanisms/assumptions in biological processes. Mathematical modeling can be less useful or even misleading if used inappropriately, for example, when a microscope is used to study stars. According to some philosophers (Oreskes et al., 1994), the best use of mathematical models is not when a model is used to confirm a hypothesis but rather when a model shows inconsistency of the model (defined by a specific set of assumptions) and data. Following the principle of strong inference for experimental sciences proposed by Platt (1964), I suggest “strong inference in mathematical modeling” as an effective and robust way of using mathematical modeling to understand mechanisms driving dynamics of biological systems. The major steps of strong inference in mathematical modeling are (1) to develop multiple alternative models for the phenomenon in question; (2) to compare the models with available experimental data and to determine which of the models are not consistent with the data; (3) to determine reasons why rejected models failed to explain the data, and (4) to suggest experiments which would allow to discriminate between remaining alternative models. The use of strong inference is likely to provide better robustness of predictions of mathematical models and it should be strongly encouraged in mathematical modeling-based publications in the Twenty-First century. PMID:27499750

Strong Inference in Mathematical Modeling: A Method for Robust Science in the Twenty-First Century.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganusov, Vitaly V

2016-01-01

While there are many opinions on what mathematical modeling in biology is, in essence, modeling is a mathematical tool, like a microscope, which allows consequences to logically follow from a set of assumptions. Only when this tool is applied appropriately, as microscope is used to look at small items, it may allow to understand importance of specific mechanisms/assumptions in biological processes. Mathematical modeling can be less useful or even misleading if used inappropriately, for example, when a microscope is used to study stars. According to some philosophers (Oreskes et al., 1994), the best use of mathematical models is not when a model is used to confirm a hypothesis but rather when a model shows inconsistency of the model (defined by a specific set of assumptions) and data. Following the principle of strong inference for experimental sciences proposed by Platt (1964), I suggest "strong inference in mathematical modeling" as an effective and robust way of using mathematical modeling to understand mechanisms driving dynamics of biological systems. The major steps of strong inference in mathematical modeling are (1) to develop multiple alternative models for the phenomenon in question; (2) to compare the models with available experimental data and to determine which of the models are not consistent with the data; (3) to determine reasons why rejected models failed to explain the data, and (4) to suggest experiments which would allow to discriminate between remaining alternative models. The use of strong inference is likely to provide better robustness of predictions of mathematical models and it should be strongly encouraged in mathematical modeling-based publications in the Twenty-First century.

Strong inference in mathematical modeling: a method for robust science in the 21st century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitaly V. Ganusov

2016-07-01

Full Text Available While there are many opinions on what mathematical modeling in biology is, in essence, modeling is a mathematical tool, like a microscope, which allows consequences to logically follow from a set of assumptions. Only when this tool is applied appropriately, as microscope is used to look at small items, it may allow to understand importance of specific mechanisms/assumptions in biological processes. Mathematical modeling can be less useful or even misleading if used inappropriately, for example, when a microscope is used to study stars. According to some philosophers [1], the best use of mathematical models is not when a model is used to confirm a hypothesis but rather when a model shows inconsistency of the model (defined by a specific set of assumptions and data. Following the principle of strong inference for experimental sciences proposed by Platt [2], I suggest ``strong inference in mathematical modeling'' as an effective and robust way of using mathematical modeling to understand mechanisms driving dynamics of biological systems. The major steps of strong inference in mathematical modeling are 1 to develop multiple alternative models for the phenomenon in question; 2 to compare the models with available experimental data and to determine which of the models are not consistent with the data; 3 to determine reasons why rejected models failed to explain the data, and 4 to suggest experiments which would allow to discriminate between remaining alternative models. The use of strong inference is likely to provide better robustness of predictions of mathematical models and it should be strongly encouraged in mathematical modeling-based publications in the 21st century.

Summer School Mathematical Foundations of Complex Networked Information Systems

CERN Document Server

Fosson, Sophie; Ravazzi, Chiara

2015-01-01

Introducing the reader to the mathematics beyond complex networked systems, these lecture notes investigate graph theory, graphical models, and methods from statistical physics. Complex networked systems play a fundamental role in our society, both in everyday life and in scientific research, with applications ranging from physics and biology to economics and finance. The book is self-contained, and requires only an undergraduate mathematical background.

Thoughts of unproven hypotheses

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Penyu Mihajlov

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to present a philosophical point of view for accounting. The philosophical approach of both the classics in philosophy and the modern point of view has been used. The accounting problems are described through the prism of the philosophical view point. Empirical research in accounting is discussed through observation and summary. There are some philosophical views on mathematical links with economics, mathematics and econometrics.

TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE LOGICS OF FORMAL INCONSISTENCY

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WALTER CARNIELLI

2015-01-01

Full Text Available AbstractIn this paper we present a philosophical motivation for the logics of formal inconsistency, a family of paraconsistent logics whose distinctive feature is that of having resources for expressing the notion of consistency within the object language in such a way that consistency may be logically independent of non-contradiction. We defend the view according to which logics of formal inconsistency may be interpreted as theories of logical consequence of an epistemological character. We also argue that in order to philosophically justify paraconsistency there is no need to endorse dialetheism, the thesis that there are true contradictions. Furthermore, we show that mbC, a logic of formal inconsistency based on classical logic, may be enhanced in order to express the basic ideas of an intuitive interpretation of contradictions as conflicting evidence.

Logic as a Key to Interdisciplinary Integration for Students in the Mathematical Sciences

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Thomas Marlowe

2017-08-01

Full Text Available We describe the creation and development of a course on mathematical logic and its extensions and limitations, in which coverage of technical material is interleaved with and related to discussion of relevant historical, linguistic, philosophical, and theological issues and of individuals of note. The new course, Logic, Limitations to Knowledge, and Christianity, presents an overview of topics in and related to logic, including development of formal logic and an axiomatic first-order logic. It explores the history of mathematics and logic in the Catholic Intellectual and wider Western Traditions, as well as the mutual interactions of mathematics, philosophy, language, and religion. It then considers extensions of first-order logic, and provable limits to knowledge: the three unsolvable problems of Euclidean geometry, and examples from Gödel, Turing, Arrow, quantum physics, and others. Epistemological issues will be emphasized throughout the course. The translation between natural language and expression in logical and reasoning formalisms is emphasized throughout. As a Core Curriculum course at Seton Hall University, fundamental questions such as "What is logic?" and "What are its limits?" will be considered within the framework of Christianity's broader view of the human person and human intelligence.

María Zambrano: a woman, a republican and a philosopher in exile

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PATRICIA PALOMAR GALDÓN

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The subject of this presentation is an attempt to understand the concept of exile in terms of the works of Spanish philosopher María Zambrano, a woman who left her country after the Spanish civil war and lived the life of an exile. This work focuses on the difficulties encountered by thinkers when they try to reflect on the experience of exile, and it aims to bring Zambrano’s thought on exile closer to her main philosophical concepts.

Philosophical skepticism not relativism is the problem with the Strong Programme in Science Studies and with Educational Constructivism

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Papayannakos, Dimitris P.

2008-06-01

The structure of David’s Bloor argument for the Strong Programme (SP) in Science Studies is criticized from the philosophical perspective of anti-skeptical, scientific realism. The paper transforms the common criticism of SP—that the symmetry principle of SP implies an untenable form of cognitive relativism—into the clear philosophical issue of naturalism versus Platonism. It is also argued that the concrete patterns of SP’s interest-explanations and its sociological definition of knowledge involve philosophical skepticism. It is claimed, then, that the most problematic elements of SP reside primarily in philosophical skepticism. It is also claimed that this sort of criticism can be directed against other more radical, versions of constructivism in science and science education studies.

Designing A Space For Thoughtul Voices: Aligning The Ethos Of Zines With Youth-Driven Philosophical Inquiry

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Natalie M. FLETCHER

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article strives to lay some necessary theoretical groundwork for justifying an alliance between zining and youth-driven “philosophical inquiry” (Lipman, 2004—two important practices that operate outside the mainstream yet can shed light on conventional (misunderstandings of youth by illustrating innovative ways of designing space for young voices to emerge and thrive in their educational experiences and beyond. By highlighting the shared ethos between zining and philosophical inquiry as practices that foster meaning-making, this article aims to emphasize their common participatory, do-it-yourself, experimental, politicizing and transformative features, while noting the challenges involved in extending them to the context of childhood. Further, it illustrates how aligning zining and philosophical inquiry can contribute to a re-envisioning of children by portraying them as capable cultural producers and social historians of their own discourse communities. Lastly, it explores issues of adult authority, suggesting conditions that may help to authenticate the philosophical use of zines with youth.

[Feelings as considered by preplatonic and contemporary philosophers--coincidence or influence?].

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Zaborowski, Robert

2007-01-01

Feelings' role in ancient Greek conceptions up till now has not become clear. As far as the researchers of antiquity are interested in Aristotle's and Hellenistic philosophers, Plato's and his predecessors has not been analysed from this point of view yet. It is often connected with a fact that Preplatonic philosophy is so-called philosophy of physis, and/or its nature is exclusively rationalistic. Thanks to the analysis of three passages (Heraclitus fr. B 85, Parmenides fr. B 3 and Democritus fr. B 31), and multilevel interpretation of Plato's conception one can indicate--if focus one's attention on the elements concerning the affectivity--the similarities to contemporary philosophers' outlooks. Among others, they concern 1) Heraclitus (and Parmenides fr. B 1, 1) versus Hume, Pascal, Ribot, Brentano, Bergson, 2) Parmenides versus Descartes, 3) Democritus versus Ribot, 4) Plato versus Scheler and Hartmann. Such analyses and interpretations let conquer conventional thinking of the Greek emotionality issue, because on the one hand they reveal a kind of deformations and misconstructions in searches, and on the other show a current importance of ancient conceptions. In support of the statement it is worth reminding of the formulation emotional intelligence that recently has enjoyed great popularity. His origins can be found already in Greek philosophers' thought.

Biohumanities: rethinking the relationship between biosciences, philosophy and history of science, and society.

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Stotz, Karola; Griffiths, Paul E

2008-03-01

We argue that philosophical and historical research can constitute a "Biohumanities" that deepens our understanding of biology itself engages in constructive "science criticism," helps formulate new "visions of biology," and facilitates "critical science communication." We illustrate these ideas with two recent "experimental philosophy" studies of the concept of the gene and of the concept of innateness conducted by ourselves and collaborators. We conclude that the complex and often troubled relations between science and society are critical to both parties, and argue that the philosophy and history of science can help to make this relationship work.

[The anti-philosophical anthropology in the Hippocratic treatise De Vetere Medicina (On Ancient Medicine)].

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Imai, Masahiro

2007-01-01

The Hippocratic treatise De Vetere Medicina (On Ancient Medicine) has been the focus of attention among classical scholars and historians of medicine. The author attacks in ch. 20 doctors and sophists who base their own medical theories and methods on philosophical anthropology taken from the contemporary natural philosophers. Many attempts have been made to elucidate, as opposed to their philosophical inquiry into human nature, the author's way of understanding it, which still remains unclear. I draw attention to the following points to make it clear that the conceptual framework of the author's medical anthropology is different from theirs. Their philosophical inquiry into human nature has its starting point in fundamental element(s), from which human beings were originally formed. The author focuses on human beings as existent in their present states, whose conditions and functions must be investigated through interrelations between them and their external factors, such as foods and drinks. A medical investigation into the interrelations will give us a scientific idea about human body, whose constituents are taken to be a large number of humors, reacting against some external factors and accordingly making us feel pain. This may presuppose that, in the author's medical anthropology, human body is conceptually demarcated as the physical or material aspect of human being, within which all physiological events depending on external factors and the humors take place. In their philosophical anthropology, however, human body doesn't seem to have been clearly conceptualized as such, because our experience of feeling pain should be judged to take place within the actions of the fundamental element(s), which must be supposed to constitute our cognitive self.

Philosophical Thinking and the Concept of Security in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The paper seeks to unpack the essentially contested concept of security, exposing its deep philosophical bases, for a better understanding of the concept by theorists involved in its interrogation. Relying on analytic and reflectively interrogative methods of social inquiry, the study has two inter-related objectives. First ...

Technology, recommendation and design: on being a 'Paternalistic philosopher'

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Wong, Pak-Hang

2013-01-01

Philosophers have talked to each other about moral issues concerning technology, but few of them have talked about issues of technology and the good life, and even fewer have talked about technology and the good life with the public in the form of recommendation. In effect, recommendations for

The enigma of energy: A philosophical inquiry

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Todaro-Franceschi, Vidette

1998-06-01

A philosophical inquiry was undertaken to examine the enigma of energy in an attempt to clarify and further illuminate the basic ideas of energy. Beginning with the origin of the concept-Aristotle's conceptualization of energeia-and continuing through to the present day with an overview of the historical conceptual development of energy in Western science, an analysis and interpretation of the scientific and philosophic literature was performed. Literature regarding aspects of human sentience was also examined for underlying ideas of energy. And, finally, selected medical and nursing science theoretical frameworks were analyzed with the hope of further grasping the philosophical underpinnings related to the phenomenon of human energy. Certain ideas of energy became evident. Energy can be viewed as a process and this view works well within the physical science domain. When energy is viewed as a process it falls within the mechanistic tradition: things are viewed as particulate, and cause and effect related. However, energy can also be viewed as a phenomenon, a thing. As a phenomenon, energy is continually transforming and actualizing inherent potentials in a communal process. When energy is recognized as the sole phenomenon responsible for everything in existence, it becomes evident that all is essentially one. In addition, when energy is viewed in this manner it becomes increasingly difficult to deny the purposive character underlying all nature. It is argued that the mystery ultimately leads to something far beyond what we know exists. One of the intuitive feelings of this researcher was that there were at least two different ideas of energy in the sciences of medicine and nursing, which, while different, shared some common elements as well. An examination of Hippocrates', Nightingale's, Selye's, Levine's, and Rogers' ideas, as well as the basic tenets of alternative health care, revealed two distinct worldviews regarding human energy which are congruent with the

Mathematics computer-based training tool for pupils with special educational needs

OpenAIRE

Čeponienė, Lina

2010-01-01

Mathematics has a great influence on the development of world science and education, technology and human culture. Ukeje observes that without mathematics there is no science, without science there is no modern technology and without modern technology there is no modern society. In other words, mathematics is the precursor and the queen of science and technology and the indispensable single element in modern societal development. So, it plays a vital role in developing learners abilities to c...

Students' perceptions of the relevance of mathematics in engineering

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Flegg, Jennifer; Mallet, Dann; Lupton, Mandy

2012-09-01

In this article, we report on the findings of an exploratory study into the experience of students as they learn first year engineering mathematics. Here we define engineering as the application of mathematics and sciences to the building and design of projects for the use of society [M. Kirschenman and B. Brenner, Education for Civil Engineering: A Profession of Practice, Leader. Manag. Eng. 10 (2010), p. 54]. Qualitative and quantitative data on students' views of the relevance of their mathematics study to their engineering studies and future careers in engineering was collected. The students described using a range of mathematics techniques (mathematics skills developed, mathematics concepts applied to engineering and skills developed relevant for engineering) for various usages (as a subject of study, a tool for other subjects or a tool for real world problems). We found a number of themes relating to the design of engineering mathematics curriculum emerged from the data. These included the relevance of mathematics within different engineering majors, the relevance of mathematics to future studies, the relevance of learning mathematical rigour and the effectiveness of problem-solving tasks in conveying the relevance of mathematics more effectively than other forms of assessment. We make recommendations for the design of engineering mathematics curriculum based on our findings.

The John Rawls Theory of Justice Applied to Bennet Omalu Story: Thoughts on a Current Case and its Disconnection to Rawls’ Philosophic Ideal

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Taina Hutten de Camargo

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In 2015, was launched the movie Concussion which tells the true story of Bennet Omalu - a medical examiner who worked in the city of Pittsburgh. When performing the autopsy of an idol of football, Omalu identified a never before diagnosed disease that can be caused by football practice and started a battle against the most powerful football league in the world, the National Football League. The story is reviewed in this study based on the John Rawls’ Theory of Justice, with reflections on why, even in a developed society, there are cases of absolute disconnection of his philosophical ideal.

A Civil Society Demands Education for Good Jobs.

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Murnane, Richard J.; Levy, Frank

1997-01-01

To educate children for a civil society, teachers should work to raise (noncollege-bound) students' skills to the levels that good jobs require. Maintaining the status quo and educating children to participate in Jeremy Rifkin's "third sector" are misguided options. The new basic skills should include hard skills (in basic mathematics,…

Explaining homosexuality: philosophical issues, and who cares anyhow?

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Suppe, F

1994-01-01

Standard behavioral and biological attempts to explain the etiology of homosexuality are surveyed. These include genetic, physiological (e.g., hormonal), constitutional (e.g., wrong pubic hair configurations), childhood experience, parenting, and psychoanalytic accounts. These are criticized from a number of perspectives, including inadequate conceptualization of homosexuality and heterosexuality. The use of path analysis to assess etiological accounts is examined, with particular attention being paid to the Kinsey Institute's Sexual Preference efforts. Drawing from the sociology of science, recent philosophical work on the growth of scientific knowledge, and historical considerations, the legitimacy of homosexual etiology as a scientific research question is examined. It is argued that homosexual etiology is a degenerative research program. The research program's conceptual crudity with respect to sexual identity and sexual orientation precludes it from making any scientific contribution. Thus the claim that homosexual etiology is a legitimate scientific issue is plausible only against the background of a set of late Victorian normative assumptions about "normal love," some surrogate thereof, or a political agenda. Implications of the homosexuality etiology case study for more general philosophical treatments of explanation are considered briefly.

Creating Inquiry Between Technology Developers and Civil Society Actors: Learning from Experiences Around Nanotechnology.

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Krabbenborg, Lotte

2016-06-01

Engaging civil society actors as knowledgeable dialogue partners in the development and governance of emerging technologies is a new challenge. The starting point of this paper is the observation that the design and orchestration of current organized interaction events shows limitations, particularly in the articulation of issues and in learning how to address the indeterminacies that go with emerging technologies. This paper uses Dewey's notion of 'publics' and 'reflective inquiry' to outline ways of doing better and to develop requirements for a more productive involvement of civil society actors. By studying four novel spaces for interaction in the domain of nanotechnology, this paper examines whether and how elements of Dewey's thought are visible and under what conditions. One of the main findings is that, in our society, special efforts are needed in order for technology developers and civil society actors to engage in a joint inquiry on emerging nanotechnology. Third persons, like social scientists and philosophers, play a role in this respect in addition to external input such as empirically informed scenarios and somewhat protected spaces.

Ethics in the Light Of Wittgenstein | Mulhall | Philosophical Papers

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examines a number of ways in which Wittgenstein's later philosophical method has been appropriated for moral philosophy. The work of Paul Johnston, Sabina Lovibond and Cora Diamond is discussed in relation to the following questions. Is there a sustainable distinction between ethics and meta-ethics (in the ...

The missing history of Bohm's hidden variables theory: The Ninth Symposium of the Colston Research Society, Bristol, 1957

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Kožnjak, Boris

2018-05-01

In this paper, I analyze the historical context, scientific and philosophical content, and the implications of the thus far historically largely neglected Ninth Symposium of the Colston Research Society held in Bristol at the beginning of April 1957, the first major international event after World War II gathering eminent physicists and philosophers to discuss the foundational questions of quantum mechanics, in respect to the early reception of the causal quantum theory program mapped and defended by David Bohm during the five years preceding the Symposium. As will be demonstrated, contrary to the almost unanimously negative and even hostile reception of Bohm's ideas on hidden variables in the early 1950s, in the close aftermath of the 1957 Colston Research Symposium Bohm's ideas received a more open-minded and ideologically relaxed critical rehabilitation, in which the Symposium itself played a vital and essential part.

Ethics of Information Technologies in Knowledge Society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

2016-01-01

, information science, and knowledge society in order to define responsibility and accountability. Although relations of causalities may be blurred and complex because of the auto-poetic development of computers and information systems we may still have to face the fact that human beings are fundamentally......How should we define the ethics of information technology? It is not a new field of study in the sense that it requires an entirely new ethical thinking. Rather, it is a field where we can try to use our traditional philosophical notions and apply them to this field of computer technology...... responsible behind the responsibilities of the computers. So we can say that the concept of reliability and accountability is related to human responsibility in the field of Internet technology. Indeed, issues of hacking, viruses and intervention in computers also pose the problems of responsibility...

The concept of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible � A comparative-philosophical analysis

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Jacobus W. Gericke

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This article provides a brief comparative philosophical clarification of the concept of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. Utilising the format of a presentation presented by Ryan (2008, four philosophical definitions of wisdom were compared with similar sentiments in ancient Israelite religion: (1 wisdom as epistemic humility, (2 wisdom as factual knowledge, (3 wisdom as useful knowledge, and (4 wisdom as successful living. Cumulatively the four criteria might approximate a functional list of individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for instantiating the property of being wise.

Biomedicine or Holistic Medicine for Treating Mentally Ill Patients? A Philosophical and Economical Analysis

OpenAIRE

Ventegodt, Søren; Kandel, Isack; Merrick, Joav

2007-01-01

Today we have two scientific medical traditions, two schools or treatment systems: holistic medicine and biomedicine. The two traditions are based on two very different philosophical positions: subjectivistic and objectivistic. The philosopher Buber taught us that you can say I-Thou or I-It, holding the other person as a subject or an object. These two fundamentally different attitudes seem to characterize the difference in world view and patient approach in the two schools, one coming from p...

A discourse on moderation as a philosophical concept | Airoboman ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This work is a contemporary attempt to revivify interest in the ancient philosophical concept of moderation. It attempts a conceptual analysis of the concept of moderation as virtue. It examined this concept hand in hand with sensual desire and holds that appetites and passions need not be eradicated completely, but instead, ...

Fritjof Capra’s holism and the structures of philosophical conceptualisation: The logosemantics of complexity

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P.J. Visagie

1998-03-01

Full Text Available This article explores a field of study that I call logosemantics: the theory of conceptual structures that determine philosophical expressions of ultimate insight. The kind of structures that logosemantics postulates are described with reference to the holistic philosophy of Capra. In particular the conceptualisation of holistic complexity in relation to reductionistic simplicity is thematised. In the course of this analysis the logosemantic place of complexity in the conceptual structure of philosophically foundational expressions is identified, with reference not only to Capra, but also to various philosophical "languages" in the history of Western thought, from Greek metaphysics to systems philosophy and post-structuralism. Attention is also given to some Eastern philosophies. After a purely descriptive analysis of logosemantic form, the possibility of logosemantic criticism is considered. The relation of simplicity and complexity is reviewed again, and an alternative interpretation to the one seemingly favoured by Capra is suggested.

Gordon Baker, Wittgensteinian Philosophical Conceptions and Perspicuous Representation: the Possibility of Multidimensional Logical Descriptions

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Oskari Kuusela

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses Gordon Baker’s interpretation of the later Wittgenstein, in particular his interpretation of the notion of Wittgensteinian philosophical conceptions (Auffassungen and the notions of non-exclusivity, local incompatibility, non-additivity and global pluralism which Baker uses to characterize Wittgensteinian conceptions. On the basis of this discussion, and a critique of certain features of Baker’s interpretation of Wittgensteinian conceptions, I introduce the notion of a multidimensional logical description of language use, explaining how this notion, which Baker’s interpretation excludes, constitutes and important element of the later Wittgenstein’s philosophical method of clarification and perspicuous representation. I conclude by explaining how Baker’s problematic notions of local incompatibility and non-additivity, if they are seen in the light of Wittgenstein’s criticisms of certain views of the completeness of philosophical or logical accounts, nevertheless point in the right direction.

The Philosophical Practitioner and the Curriculum Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dredge, Dianne; Benckendorff, Pierre; Day, Michele

2014-01-01

the balance between higher order knowledge in liberal education and skills-based vocational education required by industry; and it builds upon the Philosophic Practitioner Education to conceptualise a curriculum space that is socially constructed, dynamic and flexible. The proposed framework incorporates......This chapter reviews contemporary debates about tourism and hospitality education to conceptualise a curriculum space framework that can be used to facilitate understanding and decision making. The chapter is conceptual and makes two key contributions: it draws together diverse discourses about...

Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology

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Amigó, José M.

2017-01-01

The application of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering to medicine is gaining momentum as the mutual benefits of this collaboration become increasingly obvious. This theme issue is intended to highlight the trend in the case of mathematics. Specifically, the scope of this theme issue is to give a general view of the current research in the application of mathematical methods to medicine, as well as to show how mathematics can help in such important aspects as understanding, prediction, treatment and data processing. To this end, three representative specialties have been selected: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology. Concerning the topics, the 12 research papers and one review included in this issue cover biofluids, cardiac and virus dynamics, computational neuroscience, functional magnetic resonance imaging data processing, neural networks, optimization of treatment strategies, time-series analysis and tumour growth. In conclusion, this theme issue contains a collection of fine contributions at the intersection of mathematics and medicine, not as an exercise in applied mathematics but as a multidisciplinary research effort that interests both communities and our society in general. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology’. PMID:28507240

Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Amigó, José M; Small, Michael

2017-06-28

The application of mathematics, natural sciences and engineering to medicine is gaining momentum as the mutual benefits of this collaboration become increasingly obvious. This theme issue is intended to highlight the trend in the case of mathematics. Specifically, the scope of this theme issue is to give a general view of the current research in the application of mathematical methods to medicine, as well as to show how mathematics can help in such important aspects as understanding, prediction, treatment and data processing. To this end, three representative specialties have been selected: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology. Concerning the topics, the 12 research papers and one review included in this issue cover biofluids, cardiac and virus dynamics, computational neuroscience, functional magnetic resonance imaging data processing, neural networks, optimization of treatment strategies, time-series analysis and tumour growth. In conclusion, this theme issue contains a collection of fine contributions at the intersection of mathematics and medicine, not as an exercise in applied mathematics but as a multidisciplinary research effort that interests both communities and our society in general.This article is part of the themed issue 'Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology'. © 2017 The Author(s).

The Philosophical Basis of Bioethics.

Science.gov (United States)

Horn, Peter

2015-09-01

In this article, I consider in what sense bioethics is philosophical. Philosophy includes both analysis and synthesis. Analysis focuses on central concepts in a domain, for example, informed consent, death, medical futility, and health. It is argued that analysis should avoid oversimplification. The synthesis or synoptic dimension prompts people to explain how their views have logical assumptions and implications. In addition to the conceptual elements are the evaluative and empirical dimensions. Among its functions, philosophy can be a form of prophylaxis--helping people avoid some commonly accepted questionable theories. Generally, recent philosophy has steered away from algorithms and deductivist approaches to ethical justification. In bioethics, philosophy works in partnership with a range of other disciplines, including pediatrics and neurology. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Victory in the War on Cancer Remains Elusive: Biomedical Hypotheses and Mathematical Models

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Leonid Hanin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We discuss philosophical, methodological, and biomedical grounds for the traditional paradigm of cancer and some of its critical flaws. We also review some potentially fruitful approaches to understanding cancer and its treatment. This includes the new paradigm of cancer that was developed over the last 15 years by Michael Retsky, Michael Baum, Romano Demicheli, Isaac Gukas, William Hrushesky and their colleagues on the basis of earlier pioneering work of Bernard Fisher and Judah Folkman. Next, we highlight the unique and pivotal role of mathematical modeling in testing biomedical hypotheses about the natural history of cancer and the effects of its treatment, elaborate on model selection criteria, and mention some methodological pitfalls. Finally, we describe a specific mathematical model of cancer progression that supports all the main postulates of the new paradigm of cancer when applied to the natural history of a particular breast cancer patient and fit to the observables.

Philosophical Creationism: Thomas Aquinas’ Metaphysics of Creatio ex Nihilo

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Andrzej Maryniarczyk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available All philosophers, beginning with the pre-Socratics, through Plato and Aristotle, and up to Thomas Aquinas, accepted as a certain that the world as a whole existed eternally. The foundation for the eternity of the world was the indestructible and eternal primal building material of the world, a material that existed in the form of primordial material elements (the Ionians, in the form of ideas (Plato, or in the form of matter, eternal motion, and the first heavens (Aristotle. The article outlines the main structure of the philosophical theory of creation ex nihilo developed by St. Thomas Aquinas and indebted to his metaphysical thought. It shows the wisdom-based and ratiocinative foundation of the rational cognition of reality—reality that comes from the personal creative act of God. It concludes that the perception that the beings called to existence by the personal act of God the Creator are intelligible is the ultimate rational justification for the fact that our human cognition, love, and spiritual creativity are rational.

2nd Conference of the International Society for Nonparametric Statistics

CERN Document Server

Manteiga, Wenceslao; Romo, Juan

2016-01-01

This volume collects selected, peer-reviewed contributions from the 2nd Conference of the International Society for Nonparametric Statistics (ISNPS), held in Cádiz (Spain) between June 11–16 2014, and sponsored by the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, the Bernoulli Society for Mathematical Statistics and Probability, the Journal of Nonparametric Statistics and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. The 15 articles are a representative sample of the 336 contributed papers presented at the conference. They cover topics such as high-dimensional data modelling, inference for stochastic processes and for dependent data, nonparametric and goodness-of-fit testing, nonparametric curve estimation, object-oriented data analysis, and semiparametric inference. The aim of the ISNPS 2014 conference was to bring together recent advances and trends in several areas of nonparametric statistics in order to facilitate the exchange of research ideas, promote collaboration among researchers...

Catastrophes in nature and society mathematical modeling of complex systems

CERN Document Server

Khlebopros, Rem G; Fet, Abram I

2007-01-01

Many people are concerned about crises leading to disasters in nature, in social and economic life. The book offers a popular account of the causative mechanisms of critical states and breakdown in a broad range of natural and cultural systems - which obey the same laws - and thus makes the reader aware of the origin of catastrophic events and the ways to avoid and mitigate their negative consequences. The authors apply a single mathematical approach to investigate the revolt of cancer cells that destroy living organisms and population outbreaks that upset natural ecosystems, the balance between biosphere and global climate interfered lately by industry, the driving mechanisms of market and related economic and social phenomena, as well as the electoral system the proper use of which is an arduous accomplishment of democracy.

PHILOSOPHICAL-ANTROPOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF A PROBLEM OF SEARCH EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL OF CIVILIZATIONS

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A. T. Tshedrin

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The fears express, that «METI-projects», which testify to existence of mankind as technicalgeneous of a civilization for highly advanced ETC of a Galaxy, can have the extremely negative consequences, and «SETI-projects» and received radiosignals can become the information weapon aggressive ETC. The analysis of these fears as complete sociocultural of a phenomenon, them philosophical-anthropological of measurement, sociocultural of the basis, the forms of their display are the purpose of clause. Methodology. Author used the social-communicative approach, methods of system and cluster analyses. Scientific innovation. Are opened philosophical-anthropological of measurement of a problem of life extra-terrestrial intelligents (ETI, the factors of statement of a problem of contacts with ETC in the modern form connected with spacing of scientific and technical activity of mankind, influence of processes globalization on philosophical-anthropological aspects of a problem ETC, connected with changes in the fundamental relation «the Man - World» are investigated. These processes conduct to growth of fears concerning unpredictable intervention in terrestrial sociocultural system of alien reason. The persuasive fears, connected with possible consequences of contacts with ETC, take the form of hypotheses rather extra-terrestrial of artificial intelligence (ETAI as potential subject of space contact. The positive and negative scripts of dialogue with ETAI, problem «of high quality of a signal» and «SETI-hacker», connected with ETAI as by the subject of space dialogue are considered. Conclusions. The further development of a problem of search ETC and establishment of contacts with it will be connected, on the one hand to success in overcoming civilization of impasse, in which there was a mankind on a boundary ХХ – ХХI of centuries, and with another - deepening of revolution in cosmology, progress of observant astronomy, philosophical

Developmental Relations Among Motor and Cognitive Processes and Mathematics Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Helyn; Duran, Chelsea A K; Cameron, Claire E; Grissmer, David

2018-03-01

This study explored transactional associations among visuomotor integration, attention, fine motor coordination, and mathematics skills in a diverse sample of one hundred thirty-five 5-year-olds (kindergarteners) and one hundred nineteen 6-year-olds (first graders) in the United States who were followed over the course of 2 school years. Associations were dynamic, with more reciprocal transactions occurring in kindergarten than in the later grades. Specifically, visuomotor integration and mathematics exhibited ongoing reciprocity in kindergarten and first grade, attention contributed to mathematics in kindergarten and first grade, mathematics contributed to attention across the kindergarten year only, and fine motor coordination contributed to mathematics indirectly, through visuomotor integration, across kindergarten and first grade. Implications of examining the hierarchical interrelations among processes underlying the development of children's mathematics skills are discussed. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Philosophical, logical and scientific perspectives in engineering

CERN Document Server

Sen, Zekâi

2013-01-01

This book highlights and explains the significance of philosophical, logical, and scientific principles for engineering education/training and engineering works. In so doing, it aims to help to rectify the neglect of philosophy and logic in current education and training programs, which emphasize analytical and numerical methods at the expense of the innovative practical and creative abilities so important for engineering in the past. Individual chapters examine the relation of philosophy, logic, and science to engineering, drawing attention to, for example, the significance of ethics, the rel

How cool is Nietzsche – an aid to remove the fear of great philosophers

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H. Ester

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900 is far more accessible than many of his contemporaries. He has a tremendous sense of humour, plays with words and expressions,and he is not scared of attacking other philosophers like Hegel and Schopenhauer. Nietzsche’s use of figures is very significant thanks to the variations of these figures. The result of his style is a sort of inclusiveness towards the reader. Nietzsche seduces the reader to become a member of the select group of chosen thinkers. His central work “Thus spoke Zarathustra”, shows this strategy of conquering the reader or listener in a clear way. Nietzsche’s courage to ask other philosophers or “Geisteswissenschaftler” what their essence is can encourage us to ask essential questions. However, Nietzsche’s central value of life is too vague to be acceptable and caused a lot of political confusion during the previous century.

Quantitative Literacy for the Future Flourishing of our Students: A Guiding Aim for Mathematics Education

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Samuel L. Tunstall

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this essay, I examine the extent to which mathematics education and education for quantitative literacy support students’ present and future flourishing, a concept that entails realizing objective goods in a life lived from the inside. This perspective requires disentangling philosophical assumptions about the aims of mathematics education, which—in the context of flourishing—I take to be a hybrid of those that have informed curricular discussions over the past two centuries. In the process, I problematize ("make strange" many of the common reasons given for students learning mathematics, including: learning it for one’s career, for one’s logical reasoning skills, or for its own sake. My conclusion is that, through the end of compulsory schooling, all students should take coursework that fosters quantitative literacy, or the ability and disposition to use, interpret, and criticize numbers as they manifest in daily life. In addition, in the same environment, traditional mathematics should be included and compulsory up to grade eight, but afterward required only insofar as it is necessary for fulfilling one’s goals. I pursue this line of argument with full cognizance of sociopolitical elements of mathematics education and other challenges in implementation, noting that appealing to consequences—while fine as a justification for avoiding change in the short-term—is not a tenable justification for doing so in the long-term. I challenge readers to reflect on our ability to empower students for future flourishing, and to consider the role that mathematics has in doing so.

Historiography of mathematics in the 19th and 20th centuries

CERN Document Server

Schneider, Martina; Sørensen, Henrik

2016-01-01

This book addresses the historiography of mathematics as it was practiced during the 19th and 20th centuries by paying special attention to the cultural contexts in which the history of mathematics was written. In the 19th century, the history of mathematics was recorded by a diverse range of people trained in various fields and driven by different motivations and aims. These backgrounds often shaped not only their writing on the history of mathematics, but, in some instances, were also influential in their subsequent reception. During the period from roughly 1880-1940, mathematics modernized in important ways, with regard to its content, its conditions for cultivation, and its identity; and the writing of the history of mathematics played into the last part in particular. Parallel to the modernization of mathematics, the history of mathematics gradually evolved into a field of research with its own journals, societies and academic positions. Reflecting both a new professional identity and changes in its prim...

Culture of National Philosophical Communities: the Project Dedicated to the Research of Modern Ukrainian Philosophical Traditions

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Lidiya Bogataya

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The article introduces a new Ukrainian research project related to the preparation of a collective monograph. This monograph will highlight the activities of modern Ukrainian philosophical communities. Such communities in their totality constitute a modern national philosophical culture and its study belongs to the category of macro-humanitarian research. The basis for a holistic observation of a culture is, on the one hand, digital technologies that enable technically to take into account practically all the studies that are carried out in a particular field in a certain period of time. On the other hand, new methodological developments are emerging that allow us to quickly process large text arrays. An example of such methodological innovations can be considered the study of American-Italian literary critic Franco Moretti. Moretti examines the opportunities that arise when using “distant reading.” The article emphasizes that the main advantage of “distant reading” is the possibility of taking into account the whole body of texts, and not only its canonical kernel. Introduces the idea of «compression reading» as a special kind of “rapid reading”, which allows you to get the most general idea of the text based on the analysis of the title of the text and its annotation. The development of compression reading technologies along with distant reading technologies will allow efficient and efficient processing of large array of texts. The expediency of actualization of the whole textual array formed in this or that humanitarian field of research is associated with the development of a new ethic. This ethic is the ethic of collective labor. A new understanding of the collective is considered, which is possible only with careful consideration of any manifestation of the individual

The quantum Hall effects: Philosophical approach

Science.gov (United States)

Lederer, P.

2015-05-01

The Quantum Hall Effects offer a rich variety of theoretical and experimental advances. They provide interesting insights on such topics as gauge invariance, strong interactions in Condensed Matter physics, emergence of new paradigms. This paper focuses on some related philosophical questions. Various brands of positivism or agnosticism are confronted with the physics of the Quantum Hall Effects. Hacking's views on Scientific Realism, Chalmers' on Non-Figurative Realism are discussed. It is argued that the difficulties with those versions of realism may be resolved within a dialectical materialist approach. The latter is argued to provide a rational approach to the phenomena, theory and ontology of the Quantum Hall Effects.

Husserl and Shestov: philosophical antipodes

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Katarzyna Szepieniec

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The paper contains a general characteristics of the relation between Lev Shestov’s philosophy of existence and transcendental phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. The analysis was largely inspired by Cezary Wodziński’s research on Shestov’s writings, including his book published in Polish Wiedza a zbawienie. Studium myśli Lwa Szestowa (1991. In 1931, inspired by Descartes’ Meditationes de prima philosophiae, Husserl began a total transformation of philosophy into a science absolutely founded, assumptionless and developed in the spirit of absolute self-responsibility. Thus, the idea of philosophy as an exact science and Descartes’ idea of a science absolutely founded became the aim. It resulted in a project of universal science which — according to Husserl — has been the aim of European philosophy from the beginning. Ultimately, this philosophy was to rebuild the whole model of European culture. Less than two years after the first edition of Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenchaften und die transzendentale Phänomenologie, Lev Shestov published his Athens and Jerusalem (1938 where he agrees with Husserl’s diagnosis that the whole European culture is in a stage of a deep crisis which goes to its very foundations. However, Shestov points at the radically different sources of that crisis. Paradoxically, a remarkable friendship connecting these two thinkers did not affect the similarity of their views. In fact, they are located at the opposite poles of the contemporary philosophical scene. The friendship of Shestov and Husserl was born in the atmosphere of an intense and uncompromising intellectual debate. Both thinkers are strongly convinced that the fate of European culture and European understanding what it is to be man are decided in the realm of philosophy. So, the philosophical projects they offer are two extremely critical visions of culture. At the same time they suggest a way the European culture should be thoroughly reformed

The cosmology of the pre-Socratic Greek philosophers.

Science.gov (United States)

Theodossiou, E.; Manimanis, V. N.

The views of the ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosophers from Ionia opened new paths for the study of nature using human logic. Starting from the worship of the Earth as a goddess, they proceeded to examine its position in the Cosmos (Universe), proposing a spherical shape for our planet. They pioneered the unifying approach for the physical world, assuming one element as the basis for everything in the Universe (this was water for Thales, air for Anaximenes, infinity for Anaximander, fire for Heraclitus). The genesis and the decay of worlds succeed one another eternally. Anaximenes believed, like Anaximander, that our world was not the only one that existed. Heraclitus believed that, of the vast richness of the natural creation with its unpredictable changes, nothing remains stable and motionless. There is not constancy, but only an eternal flow, a perpetual motion. This is exactly what we accept today in quantum physics; the apparent stability and immobility is an illusion of our limited senses. According to Heraclitus, matter is constantly transformed. All the natural philosophers of Ionia distanced God the Creator from nature and history, keeping always a respect for the beliefs of their fellow people; most probably they, too, kept a form of God in an area of their minds, in his spiritual and moral dimension.

3. EI Ani Critique of Nkrumah's Philosophical Materialism pp1-30

African Journals Online (AJOL)

REGINALDS

pillars of Nkrumah's theory of emergentism (which he calls “philosophical materialism”), namely ... conversion, dialectical change, self motion of matter .... be verified, because the verification has to be carried out by someone who is outside the.

Grey Wisdom? : Philosophical Reflections on Conformity and Opposition between Generations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, Ernst; Goor, van Roel

2006-01-01

Should 'new' generations act in conformity with, or in opposition to 'older' generations? This can be regarded as a central question in the philosophical study of education. This question has practical implications. Should it be our main concern to initiate children into our traditions, or should we

a critical analysis of some modern igbo philosophical and satirical

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mrs NK

theory of innate ideas as held by rationalist philosophers. .... belief in the dignity and potentiality of the black race do not find expression only in his dramatic ..... The poet used the symbol of “osisi nwere uji” – a tree that has a hole, to describe.

Intangible heritage for sustainable future: mathematics in the paddy field

Science.gov (United States)

Dewanto, Stanley P.; Kusuma, Dianne A.; Nurani Ruchjana, Budi; Setiawan Abdullah, Atje

2017-10-01

Mathematics, as the only general language, can describe all phenomena on earth. Mathematics not only helps us to understand these phenomena, but it also can sustain human activities, consequently ensure that the future development is sustainable. Indonesia, with high cultural diversity, should aware to have its understanding, skills, and philosophies developed by certain societies, with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings, which will provide a foundation for locally appropriate sustainable development. This paper discussed the condition and situation on certain area in Cigugur, Indonesia, and what skills, knowledge, and concept can be transmitted, regarding simple mathematics (arithmetic). Some examples are provided.

Nationalism and religion from the point of view of the philosophical heritage of Islam

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Halilović Seid

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Division of people according to their different national and geographic features is not at all unnatural. However, in such divisions no group whatsoever can be especially prominent in the sense that it must necessarily be granted political power. The community which has sovereignty and political power in the Islamic cognitive tradition is called al-milla. Of course, al-milla here does not mean a nation, but a common path chosen by members of society in the light of intuitive and rational knowledge, which leads to the essences of ontological reality. Conversely, in the modern West, a nation draws on sensitive and emotional knowledge of folk bias and as such becomes a measure of political sovereignty. In fact, the nation is nowadays man's new social me, which in no way manifests sublime ontological realities, but creates reality itself. Therefore, in this paper we insist that nationalism is quite a new ideology of the modernistic era, which has never before in the history of human thought been credible. To show how a nation can be a measure and source of truth, values and rights, in this paper we use analyses of modern rationalist philosophers and German romantics. We will also explain that in the cognitive stage of Islam such an ideology must be clearly disproved. In religious traditions, kinship, financial and other material privileges are considered possible causes of the collapse of society. True privileges are only the nobility and purity of soul. The source of bliss, peace and harmony should be seen exactly in them and not in the national states that are the cause of conflicting identities, interests, territorial aspirations and suffering. Yet, many non-Western societies, including ours, are still in the race over who will be a more extreme supporter of the ideology of nationalism.

The Contribution of Parent-Child Numeracy Activities to Young Chinese Children's Mathematical Ability

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Huang, Qi; Zhang, Xiao; Liu, Yingyi; Yang, Wen; Song, Zhanmei

2017-01-01

Background: A growing body of recent research has shown that parent-child mathematical activities have a strong effect on children's mathematical learning. However, this research was conducted predominantly in Western societies and focused mainly on mothers' involvement in such activities. Aims: This study aimed to examine both mother-child and…

Ethic, society and environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angel Maya, Augusto

2000-01-01

This article is a reproduction of parts the fourth chapter of the book the return of Icaro, Death and life of the philosophy; the Universidad Autonoma de Occidente will publish that. The book intends to debate the crossroad in which any environmental interpretation is finned: penned between the reductionism of natural sciences and the philosophical sobrenaturalism of the social science. Between some natural sciences that don't understand the man and some social sciences that don't recognize the bonds with the nature if this approach is applied to the study of society or of culture, it would be necessary to understand it as the result of a evolutionary process, but also at the same time as a rupture with the previous evolutionary forms. The culture is not in the genes, but it has relationships with nature, the social sciences have not wanted to accept this fact. It has ethical and political consequences. As well as there is no ecosystem ethics, all human ethics should be aware of its relationships with the environment. Maybe this proposal will bring a new vision of what is freedom

Pynchon and Wittgenstein: ethics, relativism and philosophical methodology

OpenAIRE

Eve, Martin Paul

2014-01-01

This piece presents a tripartite analysis of the relationship between the philosophical works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the novels of Thomas Pynchon. This is broadly structured around three schools of Wittgenstein scholarship identified by Guy Kahane et al. as the Orthodox Tractatus, the New Wittgenstein, and several strands of the Orthodox Investigations (Kahane et al. 4-14). Moving from the earliest affiliation that Pynchon stages between Wittgenstein and Weissman, the underlying theme lie...

C. F. v. Weizsaecker. Physicist, philosopher, visionary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goernitz, Thomas

2012-01-01

The 20th century with its political, social, and scientific aspects bundles itself in the life of Carl Friedrich v. Weizsaecker. As comprehensive thinker of the presence he led natural science, philosophy, and spirituality to a unity. In the public the grandson of last in Germany enobled minster and brother of the senior federal president achieved by his engagement for peace and disarmament a global effect. Competently and understandably his visionary and prospective physical ideas and his philosophical considerations are explained by his long standing coworker and close confident.

Biomedicine or Holistic Medicine for Treating Mentally Ill Patients? A Philosophical and Economical Analysis

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Søren Ventegodt

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Today we have two scientific medical traditions, two schools or treatment systems: holistic medicine and biomedicine. The two traditions are based on two very different philosophical positions: subjectivistic and objectivistic. The philosopher Buber taught us that you can say I-Thou or I-It, holding the other person as a subject or an object. These two fundamentally different attitudes seem to characterize the difference in world view and patient approach in the two schools, one coming from psychoanalysis and the old, holistic tradition of Hippocratic medicine. Holistic medicine during the last decade has developed its philosophical positions and is today an independent, medical system seemingly capable of curing mentally ill patients at the cost of a few thousand Euros with no side effects and with lasting value for the patient. The problem is that very few studies have tested the effect of holistic medicine on mentally ill patients. Another problem is that the effect of holistic medicine must be documented in a way that respects this school's philosophical integrity, allowing for subjective assessment of patient benefit and using the patient as his/her own control, as placebo control cannot be used in placebo-only treatment. As the existing data are strongly in favor of using holistic medicine, which seems to be safer, more efficient, and cheaper, it is recommended that clinical holistic medicine also be used as treatment for mental illness. More research and funding is needed to develop scientific holistic medicine.

Biomedicine or holistic medicine for treating mentally ill patients? A philosophical and economical analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ventegodt, Søren; Kandel, Isack; Merrick, Joav

2007-12-18

Today we have two scientific medical traditions, two schools or treatment systems: holistic medicine and biomedicine. The two traditions are based on two very different philosophical positions: subjectivistic and objectivistic. The philosopher Buber taught us that you can say I-Thou or I-It, holding the other person as a subject or an object. These two fundamentally different attitudes seem to characterize the difference in world view and patient approach in the two schools, one coming from psychoanalysis and the old, holistic tradition of Hippocratic medicine. Holistic medicine during the last decade has developed its philosophical positions and is today an independent, medical system seemingly capable of curing mentally ill patients at the cost of a few thousand Euros with no side effects and with lasting value for the patient. The problem is that very few studies have tested the effect of holistic medicine on mentally ill patients. Another problem is that the effect of holistic medicine must be documented in a way that respects this school's philosophical integrity, allowing for subjective assessment of patient benefit and using the patient as his/her own control, as placebo control cannot be used in placebo-only treatment. As the existing data are strongly in favor of using holistic medicine, which seems to be safer, more efficient, and cheaper, it is recommended that clinical holistic medicine also be used as treatment for mental illness. More research and funding is needed to develop scientific holistic medicine.

The Humanistic Psychology-Positive Psychology Divide: Contrasts in Philosophical Foundations

Science.gov (United States)

Waterman, Alan S.

2013-01-01

The relationship between the fields of humanistic and positive psychology has been marked by continued tension and ambivalence. This tension can be traced to extensive differences in the philosophical grounding characterizing the two perspectives within psychology. These differences exist with respect to (a) ontology, including the ways in which…

A philosophical essay on probabilities

CERN Document Server

Laplace, Marquis de

1996-01-01

A classic of science, this famous essay by ""the Newton of France"" introduces lay readers to the concepts and uses of probability theory. It is of especial interest today as an application of mathematical techniques to problems in social and biological sciences.Generally recognized as the founder of the modern phase of probability theory, Laplace here applies the principles and general results of his theory ""to the most important questions of life, which are, in effect, for the most part, problems in probability."" Thus, without the use of higher mathematics, he demonstrates the application

The changing role of continuity and discontinuity in the history of philosophy and mathematics

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Danie F.M. Strauss

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to highlight the inevitability of employing discreteness and continuity as primitive (indefinable modes of explanation in the history of philosophy and mathematics. It embodies the general challenge to account for the coherence of what is unique. Gödel emphasises the coherence of ‘primitive concepts’. Greek philosophy already discovered the spatial whole and/or parts relation with its infinite divisibility. During and after the medieval era philosophers toggled between an atomistic appreciation of the continuum and its opposite, for example found in the thought of Leibniz who postulated his law of continuity (lex continui. The discovery of incommensurability (irrational numbers by the Greeks caused the first foundational crisis of mathematics, as well as its geometrisation. Leibniz and Newton did not resolve the problems surrounding the limit concept and soon it induced the third foundational crisis of mathematics. It caused Frege and the ‘continuum theoreticians’ to assign priority to the continuum – discreteness is a catastrophe. Recently Smooth Infinitesimal Analysis appreciated what is ‘continuous’ as constituting ‘an unbroken or uninterrupted whole’. Intuitionistic mathematics once more proceeded from an emphasis on the whole and/or parts relation. In spite of alternating attempts to understand continuity exclusively, either in arithmetical or in spatial terms, the history of philosophy and mathematics undeniably confirms that the co-conditioning role of these two modes of explanation remains a constant element in reflections on continuity and discontinuity. (The role of continuity and discontinuity within the disciplines of physics and biology will be discussed in a separate article.

Masses management in the epoch of the consumer society

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M. A. Zubarieva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The article examines the nature and origins of the idea of the phenomenon of mass, the mass consciousness, determinants of social and political science and philosophical aspects. The influence of external factors on the installation of the masses in the context of socio­psychological, informational  and communicational  components is analyzed. The main characteristics of the consumer society: mass consumption of goods and the formation of an appropriate system of values and attitudes are identified. Outlined the difficulties faced by the researcher mass phenomenon. The theory of Jean Baudrillard about simulation in the media is observed. The views of scientific information and interdependence of meaning, the essential characteristics of the simulation are  investigated. Signs of mass properties: missing attribute, predicate, quality, references are demonstrated. The issue of media terrorism and its impact on the consciousness of the masses in the context of the information war between Russia and Ukraine is examined, the main kinds of informational terrorism and the threats to the informational safety, also the degree of their danger is valued.  The reaction of mass media on terrorism, including the emergence of ethnic conflicts, destructive phenomena in society (depression, disappointment in the state, etc. are shown. The recommendations for effective management of the masses in the era of consumer society, the ability to resist attempts to manipulate them through information flows are provided.

Using Mathematics, Mathematical Applications, Mathematical Modelling, and Mathematical Literacy: A Theoretical Study

Science.gov (United States)

Mumcu, Hayal Yavuz

2016-01-01

The purpose of this theoretical study is to explore the relationships between the concepts of using mathematics in the daily life, mathematical applications, mathematical modelling, and mathematical literacy. As these concepts are generally taken as independent concepts in the related literature, they are confused with each other and it becomes…

Contesting the African Public Sphere: A Philosophical Re-imaging of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... Crow is to situate them within broader analytical frameworks. By adopting the basic methods of philosophical inquiry – exposition, critical analysis and reconstruction – the issues are lifted from the domain of fiction to the space of systematized knowledge directed at presenting a comprehensive notion of the African public ...

Use of Information Science Techniques by a Philosopher at Large.

Science.gov (United States)

Cremmins, Ed; Trachtman, Marji

This paper recounts the use of the information science techniques of subject indexing and annotation in the extensive writings and publications of the philosopher Mortimer J. Adler. A content analysis of Adler's "intellectual autobiography" is described, Adler's efforts as an indexer are reviewed, and some of Adler's thoughts on the…

Effects of Teaching Strategies on Student Motivation to Learn in High School Mathematics Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Toles, Ann

2010-01-01

To succeed in an increasing technological and global society, students need to develop strong mathematical and problem-solving skills. This qualitative grounded theory study examined student perceptions of the ways in which teaching strategies in high school mathematics classes affect student motivation to learn the subject. Study participants…

The relevance of philosophical hermeneutics in qualitative research

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Nicholas Procter

1996-12-01

Full Text Available Within a framework informed by the rhetoric of contemporary ethnography, philosophical hermeneutics, and nursing scholarship, this article focuses on the way data could be interpreted in qualitative health research. Opsomming Binne 'n raamwerk, omvorm deur die retoriek van kontemporere etnografie; filosofiese hermeneutiek en verpleegkundige vakkunde, fokus hierdie artikel op die wyse waarop data binne kwalitatiewe gesondheidsnavorsing, geinterpreteer kan word. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

Mathematical Footprints Discovering Mathematics Everywhere

CERN Document Server

Pappas, Theoni

1999-01-01

MATHEMATICAL FOOTPRINTS takes a creative look at the role mathematics has played since prehistoric times, and will play in the future, and uncovers mathematics where you least expect to find it from its many uses in medicine, the sciences, and its appearance in art to its patterns in nature and its central role in the development of computers. Pappas presents mathematical ideas in a readable non-threatening manner. MATHEMATICAL FOOTPRINTS is another gem by the creator of THE MATHEMATICS CALENDAR and author of THE JOY OF MATHEMATICS. "Pappas's books have been gold mines of mathematical ent

Teaching general problem-solving skills is not a substitute for, or a viable addition to, teaching mathematics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sweller, John; Clark, Richard; Kirschner, Paul A.

2010-01-01

Sweller, J., Clark, R., & Kirschner, P. A. (2010). Teaching general problem-solving skills is not a substitute for, or a viable addition to, teaching mathematics. Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 57, 1303-1304.

Philosophical problems of modern physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mittelstaedt, P.

1976-01-01

This book treats the philosophical problems that have arisen in connection with the theories of relativity and quantum theory. The book begins with a discussion of the problems that were raised by the special theory of relativity; questions relating to the structure of space and time, especially the problem of the temporal sequence of events. Subsequently problems are considered that were raised by the general theory of relativity, and which question the validity and applicability of Euclidean geometry to empirical space. The physical results, and in particular the theory of the measuring process in quantum mechanics, are considered. Criticism of the concept of substance and of the law of causality in quantum theory are discussed. Finally, the validity and applicability of classical logic for the domain of quantum-theoretical propositions are dealt with. (B.R.H.)

A Philosophical Wish List for Research in Music Information Retrieval

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grund, Cynthia M.

2006-01-01

Within a framework provided by the traditional trio consisting of metaphysics, epistemology and ethics, a first stab is made at a wish list for MIR-research from a philosophical point of view. Since the tools of MIR are equipped to study language and its use from a purely sonic standpoint, MIR re...

Oral tradition in African philosophical discourse: a critique of Sophie ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper seeks to discuss the place of oral tradition in African philosophical discourse. In doing this, the nature of oral tradition as well as its forms is critically discussed taking into cognizance Sophie Oluwole‟s scholarship on oral tradition in African philosophy. Oluwole defends the thesis that oral tradition almost ...

THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHICAL MINDSET IN EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION ADOPTION

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Talebian; Shahram Salavati

2016-01-01

The adoption of innovation is a cultural and managerial challenge for the modern educational systems. In the educational systems, managers/principals play significant roles to a successful innovation adoption. This paper evaluates the relation between philosophical mindset (comprehensiveness, introspection and flexibility) and motivation of educational innovation adoption. Through a survey, the data were gathered from 213 secondary school principals. Testing of hypotheses, using Spearman corr...

READING LITERATURE, TAKING PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS, AND OBTAINING CHARACTERS

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Siti Maisaroh

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This study aims to describe the philosophical ideas and characters containing in trilogy of 'RaraMendut's' novel by YB Mangunwijaya. The method used is the knowledge archeology of Michel Foucault. The research proves that the philosophical ideas as follows: 1 wife's faithfulness contains characters of wife’s strong determination and true faithfulness sense; 2 The women seizing fate's  contains the character of high struggle spirit;3 women as a glory’s symbol contains character of self-actualization ability; 4 women and a country's defense contains a character of clever to take on the role / responsive; 5 women and their benefits contains the character as a source of love and life spirit; 6 women as good mothers contains the character of conciliatory, reassuring, joyful, sincere, and full of love; 7 the anxiety to old age contains the character of religious and strong self-awareness; 8 the glory contains the character of the glory of battle with themselves; 9 the child's nature contains the character of belief in the skill/ creativity of children and believe to God the Evolver; And 10 the essence of wisdom and usefulness of life contain  the characters of uniting the scattered things, receiving and embracing sincerely things bad/ broken/ waste, understanding and forgiving, voice sincerity and excitement, not easy to complain.

Using assessment to individualize early mathematics instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Connor, Carol McDonald; Mazzocco, Michèle M M; Kurz, Terri; Crowe, Elizabeth C; Tighe, Elizabeth L; Wood, Taffeta S; Morrison, Frederick J

2018-02-01

Accumulating evidence suggests that assessment-informed personalized instruction, tailored to students' individual skills and abilities, is more effective than more one-size-fits-all approaches. In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of Individualizing Student Instruction in Mathematics (ISI-Math) compared to Reading (ISI-Reading) where classrooms were randomly assigned to ISI-Math or ISI-Reading. The literature on child characteristics X instruction or skill X treatment interaction effects point to the complexities of tailoring instruction for individual students who present with constellations of skills. Second graders received mathematics instruction in small flexible learning groups based on their assessed learning needs. Results of the study (n=32 teachers, 370 students) revealed significant treatment effects on standardized mathematics assessments. With effect sizes (d) of 0.41-0.60, we show that we can significantly improve 2nd graders' mathematics achievement, including for children living in poverty, by using assessment data to individualize the mathematics instruction they receive. The instructional regime, ISI-Math, was implemented by regular classroom teachers and it led to about a 4-month achievement advantage on standardized mathematics tests when compared to students in control classrooms. These results were realized within one school year. Moreover, treatment effects were the same regardless of school-level poverty and students' gender, initial mathematics or vocabulary scores. Copyright © 2017 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Journeying from the philosophical contemplation of constructivism to the methodological pragmatics of health services research.

Science.gov (United States)

Appleton, Jane V; King, Lindy

2002-12-01

This paper presents our journey through a contemplation of the philosophical origins of constructivism to consider its role as an active methodology in qualitative research. The first part of the paper summarizes the philosophical background of constructivism and the five principles underpinning this paradigm as described through the works of Guba and Lincoln. The philosophical roots of constructivism are then compared with postpositivism, critical realism and participatory inquiry. The paper moves on to consider their common methodological steps, before examining how the constructivist research strategy is being adopted and adapted within the pragmatics of health service research. Recent studies will be drawn upon to illustrate the use of constructivist methodology. Questions are raised about the role of philosophy and the extent to which it should or does underpin or influence qualitative research strategies. We believe that if researchers gain an understanding of both philosophy and methodology a richer and more robust study is likely to result.

Intellectual and Cognitive Effects of Plotinus on the Mystic Philosophical Opinions of Attar and Rumi

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Roja Pourfaraj

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The effects and synergies of intellectual and cultural influence are the features undeniable in various nations and civilizations from ancient times until the present day. Schools of thought, ideas and theories of philosophical and mystical in human life, have seen many changes and passed through a development and evolution. Plotinus, one of the philosophers of ancient Greece and founder of the Neo-Platonic philosophy, expressed intellectual and philosophical statements about the existence of human and relationship between man and the Creator of man and the universe. In the culture of Persian mysticism, the thinkers were inspired by the ideas of this Greek scholar and created many works. In this regard, Attar and Rumi as two figures in Islamic-Iranian mysticism affected by the ideas of this outstanding thinker. In this article, we are to distinguish similarities and differences of these three thoughtful ideas with each other in eleven categories: celibacy of spirit, spiritualism, world-aversion and so on.

Aesthetics of the Human Image in Life and Iconography of the Ancient Philosophers in Art

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Dorofeev, Daniil

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The acoustic and visual understanding of man is a hotly debated issue in contemporary culture. I found it important therefore to look at certain historical, cultural, aesthetical, philosophical and anthropological peculiarities of human image in Antiquity as reflected in the arts. The following aspects deserve special attention: the visualization of sense and values; the interaction of “ethos” (character and “soma” (body; the influence of the plastic images on the narrative ones; a normative typology of man; the significance of visual and acoustic perception. In this context, I studied ancient physiognomic; Aristotelian understanding of the acoustic and plastic arts; genesis, evolution and significance of the sculptural portrait image of man and the image of philosopher in Antiquity. I also pay attention to some methodological aspects of the study. As a result, there emerges an integral image of philosopher, which allows looking at the Greek culture from a fresh angle.

Ecstasy – a way to religious knowledge: some remarks to Paul Tillich as theologian and philosopher

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Tage Kurtén

1982-05-01

Full Text Available Much of the research examines ecstasy from the point of view of psychology, history or sociology, but a philosophical reflection on ecstasy is missing. Here, some points in the philosophical and theological thinking of Paul Tillich are presented. He can be looked upon as a religious thinker. In this case he is of interest for religiology mainly as historical material. Then he can be seen as a Christian who in modern time has tried theoretically to reflect upon his own religious faith and the place of ecstasy in that faith. He can also be regarded as a philosopher of religion, who tries to reflect universally and critically upon the phenomena of religion and ecstasy. In that case his main contribution to religiology is to help religiology to reflect upon the question of what possible meaning the concept of "religious ecstasy" can have in a modern scientific context. When looking at Tillich's ideas, it is very important to remember that he strives to be both a philosopher of religion and a Christian theologian, and that these two roles are different, according to Tillich. In any analysis of his thinking it is therefore necessary to discriminate between Tillich's philosophical and his theological statement. For Tillich's treatment of revelation and knowledge of revelation there are three central concepts: mystery, ecstasy and miracle. Every revelation has a subjective and an objective side, and they are both necessary for the revelation. Someone must be seized by the manifestation of the mystery and something must occur through which the mystery of revelation seizes someone, says Tillich. The subjective side is called ecstasy, the objective miracle.

On the Educational Value of Philosophical Ethics for Teacher Education: The Practice of Ethical Inquiry as Liberal Education

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Martin, Christopher

2013-01-01

This article explores the extent to which and ways in which philosophical ethics can make an educational contribution to teachers' understanding of their practice as a distinct moral domain. Philosophical ethics is argued to facilitate two necessary features of teachers' moral understanding of their practice. First, it promotes awareness of the…

Teaching Mathematics Bilingually for Kindergarten Students with Teaching Aids Based on Local Wisdom

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Ambarini, Ririn; Setyaji, Arso; Suneki, Sri

2018-01-01

Language and Mathematics are both skills and knowledge that need to master well so that it can be the provision for students' future life when mingling with the community or society. Because of that the integration of teaching both language and Mathematics in bilingual Math learning will give many benefits to the students. They will learn not only…

Some Components of Philosophical nature Constitutives of Prof. Mario Tourasse Teixeira’s Thought Alguns Elementos de Natureza Filosófica Constitutivos do Pensamento do Prof. Mario Tourasse Teixeira

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Romélia Mara Alves Souto

2008-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper I endeavor to show the interest shown by Prof. Mario Tourasse Teixeira with respect to the production of mathematical knowledge and the ideas underlying the concepts of creativity in mathematics which he used and which permeate the work he supervised. My aim was to organize ideas dispersed throughout the work produced by his pupils, recorded in manuscripts or elaborated as texts and published by Prof. Tourasse in SAPO newsletters. In an attempt to capture his thoughts on Mathematics and Education, I tried to establish connections between documents which, explicitly or not, bear his mark. I believe that the merit of this effort lies in organizing, systematizing and presenting, for the first time, a draft of Prof. Mario Tourasse Teixeira’s mathematical-philosophical thought. Keywords: Mario Tourasse Teixeira. Mathematics History. Mathematics Education. History of Mathematics Education.Neste trabalho procuro mostrar o interesse que o Prof. Mario Tourasse Teixeira manifestava em relação ao dinamismo do conhecimento matemático e as idéias subjacentes ao conceito de criatividade em matemática por ele utilizado e que permeiam todos os trabalhos que orientou. Meu intuito foi organizar idéias dispersas em vários trabalhos realizados por seus alunos, registradas em alguns manuscritos ou elaboradas em textos publicados pelo Prof. Mario Tourasse, anonimamente, nos boletins do SAPO. Na tentativa de captar seu pensamento sobre Matemática e Educação, busquei estabelecer conexões entre os diversos documentos que, explicitamente ou não, guardam seu registro. Acredito que o mérito desse esforço reside em organizar, sistematizar e apresentar pela primeira vez, um esboço do pensamento matemático-filosófico do Prof. Mario Tourasse Teixeira. Palavras-chave: Mario Tourasse Teixeira. História da Matemática. Educação Matemática. História da Educação Matemática.

The Talmudic philosophical conception of business ethics

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Alexander Maune

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The Talmud is considered to be one of the cornerstones of Judaism, Jewish business ethics and Jewish wisdom for business success. The Talmud has been the guide and main nerve center of the Jewish people. This article examines the philosophical conception of business ethics from a Talmudic perspective. The article used a conceptual approach as well as a review of related literature. It was found out that the road of the Talmud led not to philosophy and theology but to ethics, law and justice; it pursued not the abstract but the concrete. This article has therefore business and academic value.

Radiation protection: Some philosophical and ethical issues

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Sia, Santiago; Chhem, Rethy K.; Czarwinski, Renate

2010-01-01

The ethical issue of justification has become an urgent issue in radiology. There has been a shift in emphasis in the discussion from what has been regarded as a rather paternalistic attitude of practitioners to one that stresses the rights of the individual patient. This article comments on this current move on the part of the profession by offering certain relevant philosophical considerations. Using a medical scenario as the context to comment on this shift, it discusses important and fundamental issues, such as the autonomy and the rights of the patient in addition to the question of consent on the patient's part.

THE RECEPTION OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITION AS A WAY OF FORMING AMERICAN PERSONALISM: THE POST-SECULAR VIEW

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V. O. Patsan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to define the way of expounding the authenticity of the experience of self-cognition opened by the personalist philosophy of the USA on the horizon of receiving the philosophical tradition established by B. P. Bowne to lay the epistemological foundations for overcoming the impersonalist modes of thought in the philosophical-humanitarian space of North America. At the emergent stage of the historical-philosophical process defined as its post-secular period the topicality of studying American personalism in the indicated aspect of its genesis is predetermined by developing the personalistic inspiration of post-non-classical philosophy into renewing the interaction of philosophical and theological discourses initial for the personalist thought and intended to reunite rationality with its spiritual sources in the course of reflecting the personal mode of being realized on the ground of theism. The further reflection of the meta-ontology of the personhood uncovered by the Scripture and expounded by patristic trinitology presupposes the retrospection of the trajectory of moving towards the Supernatural Revelation paved in the late nineteenth and the first half of twentieth centuries by the attempts of personalizing the ontology, in particular by the “personalized” ontological constructions made in the USA. The methodology of the research is based upon realizing the meta-ontological character of the problem of the personality revealed in the midst of the twentieth century by the prominent Orthodox theologian and philosopher-personalist V. N. Lossky. Taking into consideration the Biblical background of American personalism and its genetic connections with the denominations of Protestantism developed on the North American continent and the branching Protestant theology, the author focuses on both proper philosophical and theological reference points of this personalistic current of philosophizing in the historical-philosophical

A Mythological, Philosophical and Astronomical approach of our solar system

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Drivas, Sotirios; Kastanidou, Sofia

2016-04-01

Teaching Geography in the first Class of Gymnasium - secondary education we will focus in Solar System: Astronomical approach: Students will look and find the astronomical data of the planets, they will make comparisons between the sizes of their radius, they will find the distance from the Sun, they will search the relative motion, they will calculate the gravity on each planet, etc. Mythological approach: We will search the names and meanings of the planets based on Greek mythological origin. Philosophical approach: Regarding the philosophical approach of the "solar system" we will look and find: • Why planets are called so? • How did planets get their names? • What are the periods of Greek astronomy? • What were the astronomical instruments of ancient Greeks and who did built them? • What were the Greek philosophers and astronomers? When did they live and what did they discover? • Which method did Eratosthenes of Cyrene apply about 206B.C. to serve a real measurement of the earth's radius? • What was the relationship between science and religion in ancient Greece? Literature approach: At the end of the program students will write their opinion in subject "Having a friend from another planet" based on the book of Antoine de Saint - Exupéry "The little prince". Law approach: A jurist working in Secondary Education will visits our school and engages students in the Space Law. Artistic approach: Students will create their own posters of our planetary system. The best posters will be posted on the school bulletin board to display their work. Visit: Students and teachers will visit the Observatory of Larissa where they will see how observatory works and talk with scientists about their job. They will look through telescopes and observe the sun.

How to make the best decision. Philosophical aspects of clinical decision theory.

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Wulff, H R

1981-01-01

An attempt is made to discuss some of the philosophical implications of the use of decision-analytic techniques. The probabilities of a decision analysis are subjective measures of belief, and it is concluded that clinicians base their subjective beliefs on both recorded observations and theoretical knowledge. The clinical decision maker also evaluates the consequences of his actions, and therefore clinical decision theory transcends medical science. A number of different schools of normative ethics are mentioned to illustrate the complexity of everyday decision making. The philosophical terminology is useful for the analysis of clinical problems, and it is argued that clinical decision making has both a teleological and a deontological component. The results of decision-analytic studies depend on such factors as the wealth of the country, the organization of the health service, and cultural norms.

Philosophical counselling: Towards a ‘new approach’ in pastoral care and counselling?

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Daniel J. Louw

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The practice of pastoral counselling was dominated for several decades by the Rogerian techniques of empathetic listening. To a large extent, healing was predominately related to the realm of feelings (the affective dimension. Rational Emotive Therapy opened up other avenues. However, besides Logotherapy, the realm of meaning and its connectedness to world views and ideas (Plato: forms remained uncharted in many theories for pastoral care and counselling. In this article it was argued that philosophical counselling opens up new avenues for pastoral care and counselling. Philosophical counselling probes into the realm of different schemata of interpretation. A model for the making of a spiritual existential analysis was proposed in order to detect the impact of the Christian spiritual schema of interpretation on the dynamics of existential networking.

A Philosophical Topography of Place and Non-Place: Lithuanian Context

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Odeta Žukauskienė

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Drawing on French anthropologist Marc Augé and his seminal book Non-Places (1995 the author pays attention to the transformation of contemporary urban landscapes. In thinking trough the dialectic of place and non-place, this paper aims to account for the apparent sense of placelesness in our cultural landscapes and in increasingly globalised world. If we want to ask fundamental questions about what has happened to our urban landscape and to the spirit of cities during the last decades then the concepts of place and non-place help us to describe the actual changes. Besides, Augé’s work gives us the methodological tools to address philosophical questions about the nature of supermodernity and the relationship between modernity and postmodernity moving toward new conditions of globality. This article will attempt to apply anthropological and philosophical concepts of place and space to the context of Lithuania, comparing the ways of spreading of non-places (non-lieu in the Soviet modernity and contemporary global, hyper-visual and liquid cultural landscape.