This article examines the relevance of a theory of the multinational state for the evaluation of claims for self-determination and secession. Considerations of ?ethnocultural justice? imply that the recognition of the multinational character of a state ? or the granting of some of the minority nations' demands ? is a matter of justice. If these requirements are not met, secession could be justified. Indeed, if secession needs a just cause (as it has been argued), a failure to build a truly (...) multinational arrangement can be a valid reason for a minority nation to secede. An approach like the one proposed would also contribute to the resolution of some of the key problems of the three main theories of secession and their appeals to nationalism, choice and remedial rights. (shrink)

Solving numeric, logic and language puzzles and paradoxes is common within a wide community of high school and university students, fact witnessed by the increasing number of books published by mathematicians such as Martin Gardner, Douglas Hofstadter [in one of the best popular science books on paradoxes ], inspired by Gödel’s incompleteness theorems), Patrick Hughes and George Brecht and Raymond M. Smullyan, inter alia. Books by Smullyan are, however, much more involved, since they introduce learning trajectories and strategies across several (...) subjects of mathematical logic, as difficult as combinatorial logic, computability theory, and proof theory. These books provide solutions to their suggested exercises. Both statements and their solutions are written in the natural language, introducing some informal algorithms. As an exercise in Mathematics we wonder if an easy proof system could be devised to solve the amusing equations proposed by Smullyan in his books. Moreover, university students of logic could well train themselves in constructing deductive systems to solve puzzles instead of a non-uniform treatment one by one. In this paper, addressing students, we introduce one such formal systems, a tableaux approach able to provide the solutions to the puzzles involving either propositional logic, first order logic, or aspect logic. Let the reader amuse herself or himself! (shrink)

Although they are often used as synonyms, emancipation and liberation constitute two distinct normative horizons in critical theory of society. In this article, I offer an analysis of these two concepts, including their historical and epistemological characteristics, pointing out similarities, differences and the possibilities for their combined use as basis of models of normative social criticism. I argue that the critical horizon of human emancipation emerges in post-Kantian European thought, while the horizon of liberation was developed in Latin American decolonial (...) thinking in the second half of the 20th century. The horizon of emancipation arises with the critique of the primacy of systemic domination, while liberation emerges in the resistance to the primacy of the experience of oppression. The analytical distinction between these two normative horizons can be helpful to better understand both the foundations of epistemic decolonization and the potential for dialogue between the critical perspectives of center and periphery. (shrink)

O principal objectivo deste artigo é comparar uma figura da história da filosofia contemporânea que poderíamos considerar relativamente distante de nós – Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) – com um autor vivo – John Searle (1932-). Parte-se da filosofia da mente de John Searle, nomeadamente no que diz respeito à intencionalidade e à filosofia da linguagem e explora-se a possível relação com Husserl, tendo por chave o fenómeno da intencionalidade. Outros aspectos analisados são a consciência e a percepção. O artigo termina com (...) uma comparação das teorias do conhecimento dos dois filósofos. (shrink)

Earlier, we have studied computations possible by physical systems and by algorithms combined with physical systems. In particular, we have analysed the idea of using an experiment as an oracle to an abstract computational device, such as the Turing machine. The theory of composite machines of this kind can be used to understand (a) a Turing machine receiving extra computational power from a physical process, or (b) an experimenter modelled as a Turing machine performing a test of a known physical (...) theory T. Our earlier work was based upon experiments in Newtonian mechanics. Here we extend the scope of the theory of experimental oracles beyond Newtonian mechanics to electrical theory. First, we specify an experiment that measures resistance using a Wheatstone bridge and start to classify the computational power of this experimental oracle using non-uniform complexity classes. Secondly, we show that modelling an experimenter and experimental procedure algorithmically imposes a limit on our ability to measure resistance by the Wheatstone bridge. The connection between the algorithm and physical test is mediated by a protocol controlling each query, especially the physical time taken by the experimenter. In our studies we find that physical experiments have an exponential time protocol, this we formulate as a general conjecture. Our theory proposes that measurability in Physics is subject to laws which are co-lateral effects of the limits of computability and computational complexity. (shrink)

Human cancers comprise an heterogeneous array of diseases with different progression patterns and responses to therapy. However, they all develop within a host context that constrains their natural history. Since it occurs across the diversity of organisms, one can conjecture that there is order in the cancer multiverse. Is there a way to capture the broad range of tumor types within a space of the possible? Here we define the oncospace, a coordinate system that integrates the ecological, evolutionary and developmental (...) components of cancer complexity. The spatial position of a tumor results from its departure from the healthy tissue along these three axes, and progression trajectories inform about the components driving malignancy across cancer subtypes. We postulate that the oncospace topology encodes new information regarding tumorigenic pathways, subtype prognosis, and therapeutic opportunities: treatment design could benefit from considering how to nudge tumors toward empty evolutionary dead ends in the oncospace. (shrink)

We have begun a theory of measurement in which an experimenter and his or her experimental procedure are modeled by algorithms that interact with physical equipment through a simple abstract interface. The theory is based upon using models of physical equipment as oracles to Turing machines. This allows us to investigate the computability and computational complexity of measurement processes. We examine eight different experiments that make measurements and, by introducing the idea of an observable indicator, we identify three distinct forms (...) of measurement process and three types of measurement algorithm. We give axiomatic specifications of three forms of interfaces that enable the three types of experiment to be used as oracles to Turing machines, and lemmas that help certify an experiment satisfies the axiomatic specifications. For experiments that satisfy our axiomatic specifications, we give lower bounds on the computational power of Turing machines in polynomial time using nonuniform complexity classes. These lower bounds break the barrier defined by the Church-Turing Thesis. (shrink)

This exploratory study is focused on the perceptions of science communication practitioners about the activities of scientists and the audiences of the marine sciences outreach in Portugal. Using the qualitative method of thematic analysis and collecting data through semistructured interviews of 14 practitioners of diverse professions, backgrounds, ages, and stages of career, it was found that the role of marine scientists in this area is traditionally viewed as reduced, but with a slight improvement in the past 5 to 10 years. (...) Despite having a historical connection with and curiosity about the sea, audiences were considered to have a mostly utilitarian interest in the marine sciences. Most practitioners had a view of science communication connected to the knowledge deficit model, with a minority articulating a more dialogical model. Although there are signs of conflict between science communicators and scientists, the proliferation of training opportunities in science communication at the national level, the perceived increase of interest and participation of marine scientists in public communication in the past years, and the consolidation of science communicators as part of the scientific community offer positive prospects for the future of outreach of marine sciences in Portugal. (shrink)

Sumário Mostramos que, em virtude dos limites teóricos da computação, nem toda a ciência formulada com carácter preditivo pode ser simulada. Em particular, evidencia- se que a Fisica Clássica, nomeadamente a Físíca Newtoniana, padece deste mal, encerrando processos de Zenão.

The class of recursive functions over the reals, denoted by , was introduced by Cristopher Moore in his seminal paper written in 1995. Since then many subsequent investigations brought new results: the class was put in relation with the class of functions generated by the General Purpose Analogue Computer of Claude Shannon; classical digital computation was embedded in several ways into the new model of computation; restrictions of were proved to represent different classes of recursive functions, e.g., recursive, primitive recursive (...) and elementary functions, and structures such as the Ritchie and the Grzergorczyk hierarchies.The class of real recursive functions was then stratified in a natural way, and and the analytic hierarchy were recently recognised as two faces of the same mathematical concept.In this new article, we bring a strong foundational support to the Real Recursive Function Theory, rooted in Mathematical Analysis, in a way that the reader can easily recognise both its intrinsic mathematical beauty and its extreme simplicity. The new paradigm is now robust and smooth enough to be taught. To achieve such a result some concepts had to change and some new results were added. (shrink)

COSTA, J. W. B. Dom leme e os movimentos religiosos de massas: a proposta de ordem cristã para o Brasil. Dissertação (Mestrado) 2013. 157f - Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Religião, Belo Horizonte. Palavras-chave: D. Leme. Congresso Eucarístico. Nossa Senhora Aparecida. Cristo do Corcovado. Ordem Cristã.

En este volumen José de Faria ofrece una muestra de los fundamentos que brindan una forma propia de pensar en cuanto pensamiento pensado, pero también en tanto que pensamiento pensante, con todo lo que esto acarrea de frágil, de nuevo, e incluso de ruptura a la filosofía del derecho a partir de un étimo onto-antropológico. -- En esta perspectiva es donde el derecho, en cuanto orden sumergido en la historia, se concibe como un enorme y genuino pedazo de lo real (...) construido que pertenece a la galaxia de la razón práctica.No se trata simplemente de un (válido) deber-ser que es. -- En realidad, y sobre todo, se trata de un válido es que debe ser. -- A lo largo del texto, el lector podrá encontrar reflexiones actuales e importantes, no sólo sobre el problema de la obediencia al derecho, con la búsqueda de una respuesta posible de nuestro tiempo, sino que también podrá indagar sobre aspectos más analíticos de la normatividad jurídica, especialmente en lo referente a la dimensión del derecho como categoría del pensamiento, realizado en el horizonte de una lógica comprensiva.Todo eso sin perder de vista la necesidad de analizar una vertiente crucial para la fundamentación antropológica del Derecho: su dimensión temporal, críticamente reflejada en la temporalidad de lo justo. (shrink)