A deterministic model that accounts for the statistical behavior of random samples of identical particles is presented. The model is based on some nonmeasurable distribution of spin values in all directions. The mathematical existence of such distributions is proved by set-theoretical techniques, and the relation between these distributions and observed frequencies is explored within an appropriate extension of probability theory. The relation between quantum mechanics and the model is specified. The model is shown to be consistent with known polarization phenomena (...) and the existence of macroscopic magnetism. Finally.. (shrink)

This book compares various approaches to the interpretation of quantum mechanics, in particular those which are related to the key words "the Copenhagen interpretation", "the antirealist view", "quantum logic" and "hidden variable theory". Using the concept of "correlation" carefully analyzed in the context of classical probability and in quantum theory, the author provides a framework to compare these approaches. He also develops an extension of probability theory to construct a local hidden variable theory. The book should be of interest for (...) physicists and philosophers of science interested in the foundations of quantum theory. (shrink)

Localist models of spreading activation (SA) and models assuming distributed representations offer very different takes on semantic priming, a widely investigated paradigm in word recognition and semantic memory research. In this study, we implemented SA in an attractor neural network model with distributed representations and created a unified framework for the two approaches. Our models assume a synaptic depression mechanism leading to autonomous transitions between encoded memory patterns (latching dynamics), which account for the major characteristics of automatic semantic priming in (...) humans. Using computer simulations, we demonstrated how findings that challenged attractor‐based networks in the past, such as mediated and asymmetric priming, are a natural consequence of our present model’s dynamics. Puzzling results regarding backward priming were also given a straightforward explanation. In addition, the current model addresses some of the differences between semantic and associative relatedness and explains how these differences interact with stimulus onset asynchrony in priming experiments. (shrink)

We consider the set of all matrices of the form pij = tr[W (Ei ⊗ Fj)] where Ei, Fj are projections on a Hilbert space H, and W is some state on H ⊗ H. We derive the basic properties of this set, compare it with the classical range of probability, and note how its properties may be related to a geometric measures of entanglement.

The distribution function associated with a classical gas at equilibrium is considered. We prove that apart from a factorisable multiplier, the distribution function is fully determined by the correlations among local momenta fluctuations. Using this result we discuss the conditions which enable idealised local observers, who are immersed in the gas and form a part of it, to determine the distribution 'from within'. This analysis sheds light on two views on thermodynamic equilibrium, the 'ergodic' and the 'thermodynamic limit' schools, and (...) the relations between them. It also provides an outline for a new definition of equilibrium that is weaker than full ergodicity. Finally, we briefly discuss the possibility that the distribution can be determined by external observers. (shrink)

This book expands the landscape of research in mathematics education by analyzing how the body influences mathematical thinking.

This project uses machine learning and computer vision techniques and a novel interactive visualization tool to provide street-level characterization of urban spaces such as safety and maintenance in urban neighborhoods. This is achieved by collecting and annotating street-view images, extracting objective metrics through computer vision techniques, and using crowdsourcing to statistically model the perception of subjective metrics such as safety and maintenance. For modeling human perception and scaling it up with a predictive algorithm, we evaluate perception predictions across two points (...) in time separated by economic changes in the urban core of Raleigh, North Carolina, in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession. We hypothesize specific socioeconomic processes can be substantially reflected in the built environment of cities and, thus, render themselves visible at the street level. This paper describes the process of incorporating subjective visual ratings across two datasets of temporally separated street-view images, an algorithm, and a visualization tool. This work serves as a case study for utilizing AI and visualization techniques in a richer characterization of urban spaces that includes both objective metrics such as income (that operates at a broader scale) and subjective metrics such as perception of individuals (that operates at a narrower scale at specific locations). We outline an interdisciplinary methodology to test this hypothesis in streetscape data from Raleigh, NC, from 2008 to 2020. We describe the results of training algorithms that utilized image features with crowdsourced human perception ratings. We provide a comparison of the results with income data. The analysis and interpretation of this comparison provide insight into the challenges and opportunities for using AI technology in characterizing changes in urban environments. One challenge is the ability of human domain experts to interpret the output of algorithms through manipulation and to integrate these results into their workflow. This is addressed with a novel interface designed for interactive analysis and visualization. We conclude with a discussion of some of the benefits and limitations of integrating AI models in the human expert’s decision-making process in the presence of both subjective and objective metrics. (shrink)

This article deals with the topics of nihilism and technology within the horizon of Western societies. More precisely, we research what is the most determining element in the relationship between nihilism and technology. To develop this research, we seek a concept of nihilism that is integrated into the scenario that emerged after the modern era, therefore integrating not only the 20th century, but also the 21st century. This concept is achieved through consideration of the effects of historicism according to Leo (...) Strauss' analysis in his work Natural Right and History. Next, the issues relating to the control of technology are analyzed and answered through Feenberg's position, which shows different conceptions of what would be considered the philosophy of technology. Finally, the conclusion is that, in the relationship between nihilism and technology, nihilism remains the most determining, because the dimensions specific to historicism still remain integrated and active in the institutions of democratic societies in the 21st century, despite the proposal to invent new institutions made by Feenberg. (shrink)

The intuition guiding the de…nition of computation has shifted over time, a process that is re‡ected in the changing formulations of the Church-Turing thesis. The theory of computation began with logic and gradually moved to the capacity of …nite automata. Consequently, modern computer models rely on general physical principles, with quantum computers representing the extreme case. The paper discusses this development, and the challenges to the Church-Turing thesis in its physical form, in particular, Kieu’s quantum computer and relativistic hyper-computation. Finally, (...) the robustness of the boundary between polynomial and exponential time complexity is considered in connection with quantum computers and quantum information theory. (shrink)

O presente ensaio inspirado na semiologia barthesiana tem por objetivo tematizar alguns desafios implicados no gesto aparentemente extemporâneo de escutar a escrita materializada no curso foucaultiano A Hermenêutica do sujeito. Trata-se de um exercício especulativo que, situando a educação no contexto das artes de viver, aborda o interesse crescente nas aulas ministradas por Foucault dedicadas à genealogia do sujeito implicada nas técnicas de si. Nesse percurso, defendemos que a atenção à escuta da voz que vem da escrita dessas aulas interfere (...) diretamente na recepção crítica da ética do cuidado de si. No limite, o que se busca enfatizar é como o tema do cuidado de si emerge inseparável de um gesto pedagógico que resulta de um estado singular de enunciação do pensamento. Palavras-chave: Hermenêutica do sujeito; Foucault; Artes de viver; Aula. For a pleasurable semiology of Hermeneutics of the Subject Abstract: The present essay, inspired by Barthesian semiology, aims to discuss some of the challenges involved in the apparently extemporaneous gesture of listening to the writing materialized in the Foucauldian course The Hermeneutics of the Subject. This is a speculative exercise that, placing education in the context of the arts of living, addresses the growing interest in the classes taught by Foucault dedicated to the genealogy of the subject implicated in the techniques of the self. In this course, we argue that attention to listening to the voice that comes from the writing of these classes interferes directly in the critical reception of the ethics of the care of the self. In the limit, what we seek to emphasize is how the theme of the care of the self emerges inseparable from a pedagogical gesture that results from a singular state of enunciation of thought. Key-words: Hermeneutics of the subject; Foucault; Arts of living; Class. Pour une sémiologie du plaisir de L'Herméneutique du sujet Résumé: Le présent essai, inspiré de la sémiologie barthésienne, vise à thématiser certains des enjeux du geste apparemment extemporané d'écoute de l'écriture matérialisée dans le cours foucaldien L'Herméneutique du sujet. Il s'agit d'un exercice spéculatif qui, plaçant l'éducation dans le contexte des arts de vivre, aborde l'intérêt croissant pour les cours de Foucault consacrés à la généalogie du sujet impliqué dans les techniques du soi. Dans ce parcours, nous soutenons que l'attention portée à l'écoute de la voix qui émane de l'écriture de ces classes interfère directement avec la réception critique de l'éthique du souci de soi. A la limite, ce que nous cherchons à souligner, c'est comment le thème du souci de soi émerge inséparable d'un geste pédagogique qui résulte d'un état singulier d'énonciation de la pensée. Mots-clés: Herméneutique du sujet ; Foucault ; Arts de vivre ; Leçon. Data de registro: 26/06/2022 Data de aceite: 04/11/2022. (shrink)

_Resumo_: este artigo analisa a interpretação de Foucault sobre Kant com o foco na complexidade das relações entre o trabalho filosófico, em geral, e o mundo concreto. O escopo do artigo é delimitado por esta análise de Foucault, especialmente, sobre dois textos de Kant: _O que é o iluminismo? _e _Antropologia de um ponto de vista pragmático_. Investiga-se a possibilidade de um acesso a um espaço anterior a qualquer orientação ética específica, deslocando-se, assim, do conjunto de elaborações éticas da tradição (...) filosófica. Primeiramente, destacam-se os diferentes posicionamentos possíveis assumidos pelos filósofos, em geral, em seu trabalho perante o mundo concreto. A seguir mostra-se a existência de uma ambigüidade latente no trabalho filosófico, a qual permite concluir que há sim um espaço prévio, dentro do qual o filósofo pode ou não compreender a sua situação histórica e o seu lugar no mundo. Todos estes elementos são expostos mediante o acompanhamento da análise realizada por Foucault. (shrink)

People sometimes explain behavior by appealing to an essentialist concept of the self, often referred to as the true self. Existing studies suggest that people tend to believe that the true self is morally virtuous; that is deep inside, every person is motivated to behave in morally good ways. Is this belief particular to individuals with optimistic beliefs or people from Western cultures, or does it reflect a widely held cognitive bias in how people understand the self? To address this (...) question, we tested the good true self theory against two potential boundary conditions that are known to elicit different beliefs about the self as a whole. Study 1 tested whether individual differences in misanthropy—the tendency to view humans negatively—predict beliefs about the good true self in an American sample. The results indicate a consistent belief in a good true self, even among individuals who have an explicitly pessimistic view of others. Study 2 compared true self-attributions across cultural groups, by comparing samples from an independent country and a diverse set of interdependent countries. Results indicated that the direction and magnitude of the effect are comparable across all groups we tested. The belief in a good true self appears robust across groups varying in cultural orientation or misanthropy, suggesting a consistent psychological tendency to view the true self as morally good. (shrink)

Semantic priming has long been recognized to reflect, along with automatic semantic mechanisms, the contribution of controlled strategies. However, previous theories of controlled priming were mostly qualitative, lacking common grounds with modern mathematical models of automatic priming based on neural networks. Recently, we introduced a novel attractor network model of automatic semantic priming with latching dynamics. Here, we extend this work to show how the same model can also account for important findings regarding controlled processes. Assuming the rate of semantic (...) transitions in the network can be adapted using simple reinforcement learning, we show how basic findings attributed to controlled processes in priming can be achieved, including their dependency on stimulus onset asynchrony and relatedness proportion and their unique effect on associative, category-exemplar, mediated and backward prime-target relations. We discuss how our mechanism relates to the classic expectancy theory and how it can be further extended in future developments of the model. (shrink)

Este artigo aborda as definições de objeto técnico conforme a filosofia de Gilbert Simondon, com foco nas críticas à perspectiva antropocêntrica da técnica. Investiga-se se o objeto técnico, na sua demanda por uma cultura técnica e no próprio processo de evolução/concretização, apresenta um caráter não antropocêntrico. Tal apelo não antropocêntrico pode ser evidenciado pelo avanço das técnicas de comunicação e processamento, como observado nos modelos de inteligência artificial da segunda metade do século XXI. O artigo explora esses aspectos do objeto (...) técnico, destacando as contribuições da filosofia de Simondon para a compreensão da realidade tecnológica contemporânea. (shrink)

The paper proposes a solution to the problem with Odysseus’ kingship in the Odyssey by maintaining that Odysseus is not officially considered dead. Consequently, Telemachus cannot inherit the position of king and Penelope must leave Odysseus’ household before remarrying. After discussing the modern concept of legal death and previous interpretations of the Ithacan situation, the paper focusses on Athena's speech at 1.275–92. A close reading demonstrates that erecting a cenotaph to Odysseus would be tantamount to a modern declaration of death (...) in absentia, since it will render Penelope a widow and Telemachus the head of the household. This legal convention chimes with the Homeric depiction of Hades. (shrink)

A long-debated question in the philosophy of health, and contingent disciplines, is the extent to which wise clinical practice (“clinical wisdom”) is, or could be, compatible with empirically validated medicine (“evidence-based medicine”—EBM). Here we respond to Baum-Baicker and Sisti, who not only suggest that these two types of knowledge are divided due to their differing sources, but also that EBM can sometimes even hurt wise clinical practice. We argue that the distinction between EBM and clinical wisdom is poorly defined, unsupported (...) by the methodology employed, and ultimately incorrect; crucial differences exist, we argue, not in the source of a particular piece of clinical knowledge, but in its dependability. In light of this subtle but fundamental revision, we explain how clinical wisdom and EBM are—by necessity—complementary, rather than in conflict. We elaborate on how recognizing this relationship can have far-reaching implications for the domains of clinical practice, medical education, and health policy. (shrink)

Biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey has suggested that one of the reasons we as a society invest so little in research on combating aging is because we are in an intellectual trance. We think the effort will be futile: aging is immutable, so why try? A healthy skepticism can be a good thing but it is a major mistake to bet against the irresistible force of inexorable technological progress. Over the next few decades, nanotechnology will come to play a pivotal role (...) in the solution to the problem of human aging. Medical nanorobotics, if it can be made to work, can unquestionably offer convenient solutions to all known causes of age-related damage and most likely can also successfully address any new causes of senescence that remain undiscovered today. (shrink)

Can the axioms of probability theory and the classical patterns of statistical inference ever be falsified by observation? Various possible answers to this question are examined in a set theoretical context and in relation to the findings of microphysics.

We develop and defend the thesis that the Hilbert space formalism of quantum mechanics is a new theory of probability. The theory, like its classical counterpart, consists of an algebra of events, and the probability measures defined on it. The construction proceeds in the following steps: (a) Axioms for the algebra of events are introduced following Birkhoff and von Neumann. All axioms, except the one that expresses the uncertainty principle, are shared with the classical event space. The only models for (...) the set of axioms are lattices of subspaces of inner product spaces over a field K. (b) Another axiom due to Soler forces K to be the field of real, or complex numbers, or the quaternions. We suggest a probabilistic reading of Soler's axiom. (c) Gleason's theorem fully characterizes the probability measures on the algebra of events, so that Born's rule is derived. (d) Gleason's theorem is equivalent to the existence of a certain finite set of rays, with a particular orthogonality graph (Wondergraph). Consequently, all aspects of quantum probability can be derived from rational probability assignments to finite "quantum gambles". (e) All experimental aspects of entanglement- the violation of Bell's inequality in particular- are explained as natural outcomes of the probabilistic structure. (f) We hypothesize that even in the absence of decoherence macroscopic entanglement can very rarely be observed, and provide a precise conjecture to that effect .We also discuss the relation of the present approach to quantum logic, realism and truth, and the measurement problem. (shrink)

A growing body of research has examined how people judge the persistence of identity over time—that is, how they decide that a particular individual is the same entity from one time to the next. While a great deal of progress has been made in understanding the types of features that people typically consider when making such judgments, to date, existing work has not explored how these judgments may be shaped by normative considerations. The present studies demonstrate that normative beliefs do (...) appear to play an important role in people's beliefs about persistence. Specifically, people are more likely to judge that the identity of a given entity remains the same when its features improve than when its features deteriorate. Study 1 provides a basic demonstration of this effect. Study 2 shows that this effect is moderated by individual differences in normative beliefs. Study 3 examines the underlying mechanism, which is the belief that, in general, various entities are essentially good. Study 4 directly manipulates beliefs about essence to show that the positivity bias regarding essences is causally responsible for the effect. (shrink)

1. The Physical Church-Turing Thesis. Physicists often interpret the Church-Turing Thesis as saying something about the scope and limitations of physical computing machines. Although this was not the intention of Church or Turing, the Physical Church Turing thesis is interesting in its own right. Consider, for example, Wolfram’s formulation: One can expect in fact that universal computers are as powerful in their computational capabilities as any physically realizable system can be, that they can simulate any physical system . . . (...) No physically implementable procedure could then shortcut a computationally irreducible process. (Wolfram 1985) Wolfram’s thesis consists of two parts: (a) Any physical system can be simulated (to any degree of approximation) by a universal Turing machine (b) Complexity bounds on Turing machine simulations have physical significance. For example, suppose that the computation of the minimum energy of some system of n particles takes at least exponentially (in n) many steps. Then the relaxation time of the actual physical system to its minimum energy state will also take exponential time. (shrink)

We argue that the intractable part of the measurement problem -- the 'big' measurement problem -- is a pseudo-problem that depends for its legitimacy on the acceptance of two dogmas. The first dogma is John Bell's assertion that measurement should never be introduced as a primitive process in a fundamental mechanical theory like classical or quantum mechanics, but should always be open to a complete analysis, in principle, of how the individual outcomes come about dynamically. The second dogma is the (...) view that the quantum state has an ontological significance analogous to the significance of the classical state as the 'truthmaker' for propositions about the occurrence and non-occurrence of events, i.e., that the quantum state is a representation of physical reality. We show how both dogmas can be rejected in a realist information-theoretic interpretation of quantum mechanics as an alternative to the Everett interpretation. The Everettian, too, regards the 'big' measurement problem as a pseudo-problem, because the Everettian rejects the assumption that measurements have definite outcomes, in the sense that one particular outcome, as opposed to other possible outcomes, actually occurs in a quantum measurement process. By contrast with the Everettians, we accept that measurements have definite outcomes. By contrast with the Bohmians and the GRW 'collapse' theorists who add structure to the theory and propose dynamical solutions to the 'big' measurement problem, we take the problem to arise from the failure to see the significance of Hilbert space as a new kinematic framework for the physics of an indeterministic universe, in the sense that Hilbert space imposes kinematic objective probabilistic constraints on correlations between events. (shrink)

According to a prominent view in Jewish-Halakhic literature, “mitzvot (commandments) require intention.” That is, to fulfill one’s obligation in performing a commandment, one must intend to perform the act because it’s a mitzvah; one must take the fact that one’s act is a mitzvah as her reason for doing the action. I argue that thus understood, this Halakhic view faces a revised version of Thomas Hurka’s recent dilemma for structurally similar views in ethics: either it makes it a necessary condition (...) for the act’s being a mitzvah that one has a false belief about the act’s Halakhic status, or it commits proponents of the “mitzvot require intention” view to a sort of rational failure in performing the mitzvot. The dilemma arises, however, only if we interpret this Halakhic view as requiring one to have a belief about her act’s Halakhic status in order for it to have this status. I suggest that the dilemma can be avoided by interpreting the intention requirement as requiring a make-belief, instead of a belief. Under this understanding, Halakha (or God) doesn’t care about why one performs an act of a mitzvah, but rather about how she does it; how she sees and experiences her action. This suggests another form of worship central to Judaism—worship via make-believing. (shrink)

We develop a systematic approach to quantum probability as a theory of rational betting in quantum gambles. In these games of chance, the agent is betting in advance on the outcomes of several (finitely many) incompatible measurements. One of the measurements is subsequently chosen and performed and the money placed on the other measurements is returned to the agent. We show how the rules of rational betting imply all the interesting features of quantum probability, even in such finite gambles. These (...) include the uncertainty principle and the violation of Bell's inequality among others. Quantum gambles are closely related to quantum logic and provide a new semantics for it. We conclude with a philosophical discussion on the interpretation of quantum mechanics. (shrink)

In the mid-nineteenth century George Boole formulated his ‘conditions of possible experience’. These are equations and ineqaulities that the relative frequencies of events must satisfy. Some of Boole's conditions have been rediscovered in more recent years by physicists, including Bell inequalities, Clauser Horne inequalities, and many others. In this paper, the nature of Boole's conditions and their relation to propositional logic is explained, and the puzzle associated with their violation by quantum frequencies is investigated in relation to a variety of (...) approaches to the interpretation of quantum mechanics. * While preparing this paper for publication I have learnt of the untimely death of Professor J. S. Bell, and I wish to dedicate the paper to his memory. This research was undertaken while I spent a sabbatical leave at Wolfson College, and the History and Philosophy of Science Department at the University of Cambridge. I would like to thank Michael Redhead and Jeremy Butterfield for their hospitality and for helpful discussions. A first draft of this paper has been distributed among the participants of the conference 'Einstein in Context' which was held in Israel, in April 1990.1 have benefited from the comments of many colleagues. I would like to thank in particular Arthur Fine who enlightened me on the prism models, David Albert. Maya Bar-Hillel. Yemima Ben-Menachem, Mara Beller. Simon Saunders, and Mark Steiner. This research is partially supported by the Edelstein Center for the History and Philosophy of Science at the Hebrew University. (shrink)

Statistical learning is often taken to lie at the heart of many cognitive tasks, including the acquisition of language. One particular task in which probabilistic models have achieved considerable success is the segmentation of speech into words. However, these models have mostly been tested against English data, and as a result little is known about how a statistical learning mechanism copes with input regularities that arise from the structural properties of different languages. This study focuses on statistical word segmentation in (...) Arabic, a Semitic language in which words are built around consonantal roots. We hypothesize that segmentation in such languages is facilitated by tracking consonant distributions independently from intervening vowels. Previous studies have shown that human learners can track consonant probabilities across intervening vowels in artificial languages, but it is unknown to what extent this ability would be beneficial in the segmentation of natural language. We assessed the performance of a Bayesian segmentation model on English and Arabic, comparing consonant-only representations with full representations. In addition, we examined to what extent structurally different proto-lexicons reflect adult language. The results suggest that for a child learning a Semitic language, separating consonants from vowels is beneficial for segmentation. These findings indicate that probabilistic models require appropriate linguistic representations in order to effectively meet the challenges of language acquisition. (shrink)

Why do we not see large macroscopic objects in entangled states? There are two ways to approach this question. The first is dynamic. The coupling of a large object to its environment cause any entanglement to decrease considerably. The second approach, which is discussed in this paper, puts the stress on the difficulty of observeing a large-scale entanglement. As the number of particles n grows we need an ever more precise knowledge of the state and an ever more carefully designed (...) experiment, in order to recognize entanglement. To develop this point we consider a family of observables, called witnesses, which are designed to detect entanglement. A witness W distinguishes all the separable (unentangled) states from some entangled states. If we normalize the witness W to satisfy tr W 1 for all separable states , then the efficiency of W depends on the size of its maximal eigenvalue in absolute value; that is, its operator norm W . It is known that there are witnesses on the space of n qubits for which W is exponential in n. However, we conjecture that for a large majority of n-qubit witnesses W O n log n . Thus, in a nonideal measurement, which includes errors, the largest eigenvalue of a typical witness lies below the threshold of detection. We prove this conjecture for the family of extremal witnesses introduced by Werner and Wolf [Phys. Rev. A 64, 032112 (2001)]. (shrink)

Suppose someone is brought up as an orthodox Jew, and so only eats kosher, is very conservative sexually, etc. Suppose they then find out that this Judaism stuff is just all a big mistake. If they then regret all the shrimp they could have eaten, all the sex!, this makes perfect sense. Not so, however, if someone finds out that moral realism is false, and they now regret all the fun they could have had hurting people’s feeling, etc. Even if (...) this does make sense, there’s a strong disanalogy between the moral and the religious case. This asymmetry, on a realist picture of morality, calls for explanation. This chapter tries to explain it. The discussion engages some topics familiar from objections to Robust realism—the why-be-moral challenge, the status of de-dicto moral motivation, and whether and why we should care about the moral properties, robustly realistically understood. (shrink)

For a long while the dilemma between ‘not being’ and ‘being other’ has haunted the history of Brazil. The country's mixed-race condition lay at the heart of the dilemma which reached its apogee in the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. At that point in its history, that is, its emergence as a nation-state, the construction of a national identity became an imperative for the political and intellectual elites of Brazil. In this context, a (...) European, the German naturalist, Carl von Martius, made himself particularly notable for having been one of the first, after Independence, to point out the significance of miscegenation in the composition of Brazilian identity. (shrink)

The general purpose of this article is to critically analyze and describe the panoptic threat and structural racism, as well as their intersections, based on the works of Michel Foucault and Achille Mbembe. On the one hand, in Surveillance and Punishment, Foucault argues that panoptism represents a governmental model centered on the State's ability to exercise domination over individuals, by showing the birth of a disciplinary society where visibility and surveillance are indispensable mechanisms for maintaining totalitarian order. On the other (...) hand, in Critique of Black Reason, Mbembe examines the ontological problem of the state of race and demonstrates that its unscientific foundation hierarchizes human groups, legitimizes exploitative and violent interventions, promotes the degradation of non-European identities, and emphasizes that the representation of racialized humanity serves as a tool for dehumanization and social control. Based on this fusion of horizons, through an analytical-descriptive methodology that combines bibliographical review, close reading and creative writing, the aim is to evidence, as a research result, the extent to which the two philosophers understand the relationship between power, knowledge and subjectivity, as well as how they contribute to a critique of the necrobiopolitical backfeeding between panoptism and racism in contemporary times. (shrink)

A classical gas at equilibrium satisfies the locality conditionif the correlations between local fluctuations at a pair of remote small regions diminish in the thermodynamic limit. The gas satisfies a strong locality conditionif the local fluctuations at any number of remote locations have no (pair, triple, quadruple....) correlations among them in the thermodynamic limit. We prove that locality is equivalent to a certain factorizability condition on the distribution function. The analogous quantum condition fails in the case of a freeBose gas. (...) Next we prove that strong locality is equivalent to the total factorizability of the distribution function, and thus (given Liourille’s theorem) to the Maxwell Boltzmann distribution for an ideal gas. (shrink)

The paper discusses Leonhard Euler’s theses in Reflections on space and time. After a brief introduction to the debate about the nature of space and time in the 17th and 18th centuries and Euler’s position in it (section 1), the paper advances two hypotheses. Based on an approach to Isaac Newton’s writings, it is argued that Euler understands the notion of “reflection” as a rational activity of thought (section 2). Furthermore, it is argued that Euler’s silence about the nature of (...) absolute space and time must be understood in the same way as Newton’s refusal to discuss the nature of gravity. Space/time and gravity exist; however, their natures are not accessible to the human mind (section 3). (shrink)

We present a general method for obtaining all Bell inequalities for a given experimental setup. Although the algorithm runs slowly, we apply it to two cases. First, the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger setup with three observers each performing one of two possible measurements. Second, the case of two observers each performing one of three possible experiments. In both cases we obtain hundreds of inequalities. Since this is the set of all inequalities, the one that is maximally violated in a given quantum state must (...) be among them. We demonstrate this fact with a few examples. We also note the deep connection between the inequalities and classical logic, and their violation with quantum logic. (shrink)

Resumen: En Le courage de la vérité, justo antes del análisis en torno de la filosofía cínica, se hace referencia a una serie de textos que han abordado en alguna medida la cuestión del influjo del cinismo helenístico más allá de los márgenes de la Antigüedad. El único de los textos mencionados que no es alemán y que tiene como autor a alguien que pertenece al escenario intelectual de Foucault es Cynisme et passion de André Glucksmann, trabajo que ha sido (...) obviado por las diferentes investigaciones en torno a la filosofía cínica y por los estudios sobre la “vuelta” foucaultiana a los griegos. En el presente ensayo no procuraremos apenas dejar en evidencia la originalidad y pertinencia de la concepción glucksmanniana del cinismo, sino, además, mostraremos los elementos en los que se descubre un paralelismo entre dicha concepción y lo sostenido por Foucault en el último de sus seminarios impartidos en el Collège.: In Le courage de la vérité, just prior to his analysis of Cynicism, Foucault refers to a series of texts that have addressed, to some extent, the influence of Ancient Cynicism beyond the margins of ancient times. Among the texts mentioned, there is only one that is not German, whose author belongs to Foucault’s intellectual environment: André Glucksmann’s Cynisme et passion. This work has been ignored by both different pieces of research on Cynicism, and the studies regarding Foucault’s “return” to the Greeks. The present article will not merely highlight the originality and relevance of Glucksmann’s conception of Cynicism, but it will also reveal the elements in which parallelisms can be found between such conception and what Foucault claims in his last course at the Collège de France. (shrink)

O artigo faz uma análise crítica da leitura Adorno sobre a concepção de liberdade prática de Kant, tendo como escopo principal investigar o conceito-chave de ‘adendo’, proposto na terceira parte da Dialética negativa, Modelo Liberdade. Iniciamos com a apresentação de alguns aspectos centrais na concepção adorniana quanto à liberdade humana, encaminhando a argumentação para defendermos a hipótese de certa artificialidade no conceito de adendo, tendo em vista o modo um tanto antinômico e genérico com que Adorno trata a relação dos (...) planos do pensamento (consciência, linguagem, cultura) e da natureza (corpo, fisiologia, impulsos naturais). (shrink)

The primary aim of this article is to bring the work of Deleuze and Guattari to bear on the question ofcommunication in the classroom. I focus on the mathematics classroom, where agency and subjectivity are highly regulated by the rituals of the discipline, and where neoliberal psychological frameworks continue to dominate theories of teaching and learning. Moreover, the nature ofcommunication in mathematics classrooms remains highlyelusive and problematic, due in part to the distinct relationship the discipline has with verbal language and (...) thought. I first discuss current attempts to better address the embodied nature ofcommunication in mathematics classrooms, and argue that these remain overly logo-centric and language-centric in their conception of thinking. I then show how the work of Deleuze and Guattari on thought as a radical disruptive event can be used effectively to critique current pedagogical practices that privilege a narrow conception of communication in the classroom. I examine a set of exemplary classroom videos used in mathematics teacher education to argue that the current approach fails to honor the highly creative and disruptive nature ofthinking. (shrink)