Originally published in 1971, this report presents Dr Jánossy’s attempt to demonstrate that all post-war economic ‘miracles’ lasted only until production levels reached the levels they should have done had there been no war and concludes that economic development is extremely consistent. Jánossy also provides a detailed growth theory which suggests that this consistency is reached purely by the development of mankind and occupational structure rather than research or capital development. This title will be of interest to students (...) of Business and Economics. (shrink)

The general methodology of "algebraizing" logics is used here for combining different logics. The combination of logics is represented as taking the colimit of the constituent logics in the category of algebraizable logics. The cocompleteness of this category as well as its isomorphism to the corresponding category of certain first-order theories are proved.

Summarizing and extending the ideas of many authors and also of our own work, we try to show that the wave equation of the one-body problem can be transformed into a system of equations describing the motion of a deformable medium carrying charge and having permanent magnetic polarization. The wave equation and the system of transformed equations are connected by a strict one-to-one correspondence. The transformation which is not uniquely determined from a mathematical point of view can be chosen so (...) that the new variables have directphysical significance. The latter requirement permits consequently a unique choice of the mathematical possibilities. (shrink)

Continuing the considerations given in the first part of this series (I), we use the analysis of the Aharonov-Bohm effect to show that the hydrodynamical variables by which the quantum mechanical one-body problem can be represented are of direct physical significance. It is shown in a particular case that the final state of a system can be obtained from its initial state in a unique manner if both states are characterized by hydrodynamical variables.

The facts that led to establishment of the special theory of relativity are reanalyzed. The analysis leads to the well-known formalism, involving, however, somewhat unusual notations. The object of the analysis is to start more closely from the directly observed experimental facts than is usually done; at the same time, great stress is laid on giving formulations independent of the representation in particular reference systems. A detailed analysis is given as to the actual physical methods involved when introducing three- or (...) four-dimensional reference systems. The orthogonal transformations and also the Lorentz transformations are introduced not so much as coordinate transformations but as operators reflecting physical properties of material systems. The principle of relativity is replaced by a mathematically equivalent principle denoted as theLorentz principle which reflects certain symmetries of the known physical laws. (shrink)

The considerations of Part I are extended and the experimental data and hypotheses that led to the establishment of the general theory of relativity are analyzed. It is found that one of the fundamental assumptions is that light is propagated homogeneously; i.e., by using arbitrary systems of coordinates, propagation of light can be represented by a homogeneous quadratic form. This is shown to be an assumption that can be verified by experiment, at least in principle. As a result of adding (...) a number of further assumptions to this, the usual formalism of the general theory of relativity can be established. In the above point of view, the general theory of relativity—like any other theory—cannot be built upad hoc, but is built on distinct physical hypotheses, each of which can be subjected to test by experiment. (shrink)

The considerations of the two former articles concerning the special and general theories of relativity are extended. The question of the physical reality of the ether and the interpretation of some cosmological problems are discussed. A view is expanded according to which the metric tensor g is taken as the energy momentum tensor of the ether. The gravitational equation of Einstein is considered to represent the equations of motion of the ether. The cosmological red shift is also interpreted in such (...) terms. (shrink)

It is shown that the wave equation of anN-body problem can be transformed into a system of “hydrodynamical equations” in a3N-dimensional space. The projections of the hydrodynamical variables in three-dimensional space do not obey strict equations of motion. This is shown to be connected with the fact that the mathematically possible solutions of the wave equations are much more numerous than the states of the system that are usually realized in nature. It is pointed out that the many-body wave equation (...) has to be supplemented with thermodynamic principles, so as to obtain a satisfactory description of real phenomena. (shrink)

It is shown that the nonconservation of energy to the extent given by the uncertainty relation can be interpreted also as the storing of inner energyQ by a wave mechanical system. The latter formalism is, apart from its terminology, identical with the accepted one.

This book presents the psychological basis, methodology, and application of Marton's phenomenographic approach to the theory of learning.

Introductory essay / Peter Jones -- The usefulness of the arts and the humanities : the case of Descartes / Gábor Boros -- Roads of remembrance : the treatment of imagination and memory in Gerard's Essay on genius / Zsolt Komáromy -- Diderot's untimeliness / László Kisbali ; transl. Márton Dornbach -- Melody vs. harmony : Rousseau, or, The aesthetics of vowels / Mária Ludassy ; transl. Zsolt Komáromy -- Judgement and taste : from Shakespeare to Shaftesbury / Ferenc (...) Hörcher -- Lord Shaftesbury's "aesthetic freedom" / Endre Szécsényi -- Why one should imitate the Greeks : on Winckelmann / Sándor Radnóti ; transl. Márton Dornbach -- Beauty or beast, or, Monstrous regiments? : Robertson and Burke on women and the public scene / László Kontler -- The concept of nature and the theodicy problem in the Malebranche-Arnauld-Leibniz debate / Dániel Schmal -- Lessing's anti-candide : between reason and revelation / Krisztina Utasi ; transl. Márton Dornbach. (shrink)

_Freedom of the Will_ provides a novel interpretation of G. E. Moore’s famous conditional analysis of free will and discusses several questions about the meaning of free will and its significance for moral responsibility. Although Moore’ theory has a strong initial appeal, most metaphysicians believe that there are conclusive arguments against it. Huoranszki argues that the importance of conditional analysis must be reevaluated in light of some recent developments in the theory of dispositions. The original analysis can be amended so (...) that the revised conditional account is not only a good response to determinist worries about the possibility of free will, but it can also explain the sense in which free will is an important condition of moral responsibility. This study addresses three fundamental issues about free will as a metaphysical condition of responsibility. First, the book explains why agents are responsible for their actions or omissions only if they have the ability to do otherwise and shows that the relevant ability is best captured by the revised conditional analysis. Second, it aims to clarify the relation between agents’ free will and their rational capacities. It argues that free will as a condition of responsibility must be understood in terms of agents’ ability to do otherwise rather than in terms of their capacity to respond to reasons. Finally, the book explains in which sense responsibility requires self-determination and argues that it is compatible with agents’ limited capacity to control their own character, reasons, and motives. (shrink)

Some things happen or exist only contingently: although they do happen or exist, they do not have to. Some other things do not happen or come to exist, although they could. They are contingent possibilities. Philosophers have tried to understand contingent possibilities in two different ways. According to one, possibilities should be understood with reference to worlds. A nonactual event is possible because there is a world in which it does happen. According to another, possibilities should be understood with reference (...) to modal properties. An event or an object is possible because it would occur or come to exist if a modal property of some substance, another object or set of objects were exercised. -/- This book argues that the latter approach provides a better account of possibilities than the former. It develops a theory of contingent possibilities according to which possibilities within a world must be distinguished from the possibility of worlds. It is the distribution of modal properties within a world which metaphysically determines what could happen in that world. The most important of these modal properties are abilities and dispositions. Dispositions explain nomic and behavioural regularities, while abilities ground more or less abstract possibilities. By way of connecting the ascription of more or less specific modal properties to different counterfactual conditionals, we can identify various possibilities that we are concerned with when we try to understand what can happen in our world. (shrink)

This book covers the field of and points to the intersections between politics, art and philosophy. Its hero, the late Sir Roger Scruton had a longstanding interest in all fields, acquiring professional knowledge in both the practice and theory of politics, art and philosophy. The claim of the book is, therefore, that contrary to a superficial prejudice, it is possible to address the philosophical issues of art and politics in the same oeuvre, as the example of this Cambridge-educated analytical philosopher (...) proves. Accordingly, the book has a bold thesis on the general, theoretical level, mapping the connections between politics, art and philosophy. However, it also has a pioneering commitment on the level of the particular, offering the first full-length study into the philosophical legacy of Roger Scruton, probably the most important British conservative philosopher of the late 20th and the first decades of the 21st century. It also allows reader to look into the philosopher’s fascination with Central European art and culture. Finally, it also provides a daring analysis of the late Scruton’s metaphysical inspirations, connecting the arts, and especially music, with religion and the bonds of love. (shrink)

In this new book, Fr. Damian Ference proposes a more precise lens for decoding Flannery O'Connor's narrative art, one that originates in O'Connor's own words about herself: Hillbilly Thomism. The author examines the various ways in which St. Thomas Aquinas and the philosophical tradition of Thomism shaped not only O'Connor's view of reality but also the stories she told to help us see and know it."--from inside front flap.

Diese Studie führt einen Dialog mit dem französischen Philosophen Gilles Deleuze, um anhand seines Denkens die Erscheinungsweisen von Ereignis zeit- und sprachphilosophisch zu beschreiben. Ereignis, dieses Begriffswort, das sich jeder Definition naturgemäß entzieht, wird in der jüngeren Praktischen Theologie und in der Systematischen Theologie seit Karl Barth häufig gebraucht und selten bestimmt. In dieser Studie geht Ferenc Herzig dem Ereignis nach, ohne es mit einer „Was-ist“-Frage einzuzäunen. Die Konsequenzen für liturgische und homiletische Grundfragen werden daraufhin ebenso dargestellt wie der (...) Versuch unternommen, die Frage nach Gott unter poststrukturalistischen Vorzeichen zu stellen. (shrink)

This paper argues against dismissing the Principle of Alternative Possibilities merely on the ground of so-called Frankfurt-style cases. Its main claims are that the interpretation of such cases depends on which substantive theory of responsibility one endorses and that Frankfurt-style cases all involve some form of causal overdetermination which can be interpreted either as being compatible with the potentially manipulated agent’s ability to act otherwise or as a responsibility undermining constraint. The paper also argues that the possibility of such scenarios (...) can support the truth of classical compatibilism as much as the truth of semicompatibilism. (shrink)

Agents have no control over the formation of their own zygote. Others may do. According to a well-known argument, the so-called Zygote Argument for incompatibilism, these facts, together with a prima facie plausible further assumption, are sufficient to prove that human agents cannot be responsible for their actions if they live in a deterministic universe. This paper argues that the lack of agents’ control over the constitution of their own zygote can undermine their responsibility only in exceptional conditions and that (...) the occurrence or non-occurrence of those conditions has nothing to do with the truth or falsity of determinism. What undermines agents’ responsibility in the situations described by the Zygote Argument is the occurrence of some specific initial conditions which may render the manipulation of agents’ behaviour possible, and not the truth of determinism. (shrink)

Here, we propose that the heterogeneity of mutational types in populations underpins alternative pathways of evolutionary adaptation. Point mutations, deletions, insertions, transpositions and duplications cause different biological effects and provide distinct adaptive possibilities. Experimental evidence for this notion comes from the mutational origins of adaptive radiations in large, clonal bacterial populations. Independent sympatric lineages with different phenotypes arise from distinct genetic events including gene duplication, different insertion sequence movements and several independent point mutations. The breadth of the mutational spectrum in (...) the ancestral population should be viewed as a form of bet‐hedging, reducing the risk of evolutionary dead ends and complementing the phenotypic and epigenetic heterogeneities that improve the survival capabilities of a population. Different mutational events arise from distinct cellular processes and are subject to separate environmental impacts, so the availability of any particular type of mutation may constrain or promote adaptive pathways in populations. (shrink)

Various approaches have been taken recently to a reinterpretation of the European reception of China and the sinophilia-sinophobia dichotomy (Hung 2003, Millar 2010, Jacobsen 2013). In the present article, a nineteenth-century approach to China is examined using Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) and John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) as examples. It will be argued that this approach differs from earlier attitudes. First, the central currents will be surveyed in the European reception of China between the Jesuit missionaries and early nineteenth-century philosophies of (...) history, introducing an interpretational framework that differentiates between various approaches to China, namely a _universalistic_ and a _progression-based approach_. Then, first Tocqueville's and then Mill's depictions of China in comparison with the concepts of preceding centuries will be analyzed. It will be argued that Tocqueville and Mill's understanding of China represents a third view that I will call _relation-based_. (shrink)

The question of the relationship of the State and the law is one of the oldest questions of the history of the theory of state. It is one of those fundamental issues which can be regarded as real dividing lines: the decision one takes in this theoretical question determines a lot in the thinker's later theory. It is difficult to find the reasons for this phenomenon. One might argue that this is so because these two concepts are so basic, that (...) while one has to use them quite frequently, one would hardly dare to define them. But even if we accept this aversion from clearcut definitions, the explanation of why the relationship of these two concepts is so important is an unavoidable task for a number of reasons. (shrink)

I offer an analysis of Reid's notion of the will. Naturalism in the philosophy of action is defined as the attempt to eliminate the capacity of will and to reduce volition to some class of appetite or desire. Reid's arguments show, however, that volition plays a particular role in deliberation which cannot be reduced to some form of motivation present at the time of action. Deliberation is understood as an action over which the agent has control. Will is a higher-order (...) mental capacity enabling us to control our own attitudes, decisions and actions. Reid investigates several distinct forms of this control. I conclude with some remarks about the relation between Reid's arguments about the function of the will and his moral rationalism. (shrink)

First we prove that the set of countable linear orders of the form I + I form a complete analytic set. As a consequence of this we improve a result of Humke and Laczkovich, who showed in [HL] that the set of functions of the form f ⚬ f form a true analytic set in C[0, 1]. We show that these functions form a complete analytic set, solving a problem mentioned on p. 215 of [K1] and on p. 4 of (...) [B]. (shrink)