Most scientific models are not physical objects, and this raises important questions. What sort of entity are models, what is truth in a model, and how do we learn about models? In this paper I argue that models share important aspects in common with literary fiction, and that therefore theories of fiction can be brought to bear on these questions. In particular, I argue that the pretence theory as developed by Walton (1990, Mimesis as make-believe: on the foundations of the (...) representational arts. Harvard University Press, Cambridge/MA) has the resources to answer these questions. I introduce this account, outline the answers that it offers, and develop a general picture of scientific modelling based on it. (shrink)

This monograph offers a critical introduction to current theories of how scientific models represent their target systems. Representation is important because it allows scientists to study a model to discover features of reality. The authors provide a map of the conceptual landscape surrounding the issue of scientific representation, arguing that it consists of multiple intertwined problems. They provide an encyclopaedic overview of existing attempts to answer these questions, and they assess their strengths and weaknesses. The book also presents a comprehensive (...) statement of their alternative proposal, the DEKI account of representation, which they have developed over the last few years. They show how the account works in the case of material as well as non-material models; how it accommodates the use of mathematics in scientific modelling; and how it sheds light on the relation between representation in science and art. The issue of representation has generated a sizeable literature, which has been growing fast in particular over the last decade. This makes it hard for novices to get a handle on the topic because so far there is no book-length introduction that would guide them through the discussion. Likewise, researchers may require a comprehensive review that they can refer to for critical evaluations. This book meets the needs of both groups. (shrink)

In this paper we explore the constraints that our preferred account of scientific representation places on the ontology of scientific models. Pace the Direct Representation view associated with Arnon Levy and Adam Toon we argue that scientific models should be thought of as imagined systems, and clarify the relationship between imagination and representation.

Science provides us with representations of atoms, elementary particles, polymers, populations, genetic trees, economies, rational decisions, aeroplanes, earthquakes, forest fires, irrigation systems, and the world’s climate. It's through these representations that we learn about the world. This entry explores various different accounts of scientific representation, with a particular focus on how scientific models represent their target systems. As philosophers of science are increasingly acknowledging the importance, if not the primacy, of scientific models as representational units of science, it's important to (...) stress that how they represent plays a fundamental role in how we are to answer other questions in the philosophy of science. This entry begins by disentangling ‘the’ problem of scientific representation, before critically evaluating the current options available in the literature. (shrink)

Entropy is ubiquitous in physics, and it plays important roles in numerous other disciplines ranging from logic and statistics to biology and economics. However, a closer look reveals a complicated picture: entropy is defined differently in different contexts, and even within the same domain different notions of entropy are at work. Some of these are defined in terms of probabilities, others are not. The aim of this chapter is to arrive at an understanding of some of the most important notions (...) of entropy and to clarify the relations between them, After setting the stage by introducing the thermodynamic entropy, we discuss notions of entropy in information theory, statistical mechanics, dynamical systems theory and fractal geometry. (shrink)

Gases reach equilibrium when left to themselves. Why do they behave in this way? The canonical answer to this question, originally proffered by Boltzmann, is that the systems have to be ergodic. This answer has been criticised on different grounds and is now widely regarded as flawed. In this paper we argue that some of the main arguments against Boltzmann's answer, in particular, arguments based on the KAM-theorem and the Markus-Meyer theorem, are beside the point. We then argue that something (...) close to Boltzmann's original proposal is true for gases: gases behave thermodynamic-like if they are epsilon-ergodic, i.e., ergodic on the entire accessible phase space except for a small region of measure epsilon. This answer is promising because there are good reasons to believe that relevant systems in statistical mechanics are epsilon-ergodic. (shrink)

On the face of it ‘deterministic chance’ is an oxymoron: either an event is chancy or deterministic, but not both. Nevertheless, the world is rife with events that seem to be exactly that: chancy and deterministic at once. Simple gambling devices like coins and dice are cases in point. On the one hand they are governed by deterministic laws – the laws of classical mechanics – and hence given the initial condition of, say, a coin toss it is determined whether (...) it will land heads or tails.2 On the other hand, we commonly assign probabilities to the different outcomes a coin toss, and doing so has proven successful in guiding our actions. The same dilemma also emerges in less mundane contexts. Classical statistical mechanics (which is still an important part of modern physics) assigns probabilities to the occurrence of certain events – for instance to the spreading of a gas that is originally confined to the left half of a container – but at the same time assumes that the relevant systems are deterministic. How can this apparent conflict be resolved? (shrink)

The United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme’s UKCP09 project makes high-resolution projections of the climate out to 2100 by post-processing the outputs of a large-scale global climate model. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the methodology used and then urge some caution. Given the acknowledged systematic, shared errors of all current climate models, treating model outputs as decision-relevant projections can be significantly misleading. In extrapolatory situations, such as projections of future climate change, there is little reason to (...) expect that post-processing of model outputs can correct for the consequences of such errors. This casts doubt on our ability, today, to make trustworthy probabilistic projections at high resolution out to the end of the century. (shrink)

The United Kingdom Climate Impacts Program’s UKCP09 project makes high-resolution forecasts of climate during the 21st century using state of the art global climate models. The aim of this paper is to introduce and analyze the methodology used and then urge some caution. Given the acknowledged systematic errors in all current climate models, treating model outputs as decision relevant probabilistic forecasts can be seriously misleading. This casts doubt on our ability, today, to make trustworthy, high-resolution predictions out to the end (...) of this century. (shrink)

Consider a gas confined to the left half of a container. Then remove the wall separating the two parts. The gas will start spreading and soon be evenly distributed over the entire available space. The gas has approached equilibrium. Why does the gas behave in this way? The canonical answer to this question, originally proffered by Boltzmann, is that the system has to be ergodic for the approach to equilibrium to take place. This answer has been criticised on different grounds (...) and is now widely regarded as flawed. In this paper we argue that these criticisms have dismissed Boltzmann’s answer too quickly and that something almost like Boltzmann’s answer is true: the approach to equilibrium takes place if the system is epsilon-ergodic, i.e. ergodic on the entire accessible phase space except for a small region of measure epsilon. We introduce epsilon-ergodicity and argue that relevant systems in statistical mechanics are indeed espsilon-ergodic. (shrink)

Featuring contributions from leading experts, this book represents the first collection of essays on the topic of art and science in the analytic tradition of ...

GRW Theory postulates a stochastic mechanism assuring that every so often the wave function of a quantum system is `hit', which leaves it in a localised state. How are we to interpret the probabilities built into this mechanism? GRW theory is a firmly realist proposal and it is therefore clear that these probabilities are objective probabilities (i.e. chances). A discussion of the major theories of chance leads us to the conclusion that GRW probabilities can be understood only as either single (...) case propensities or Humean objective chances. Although single case propensities have some intuitive appeal in the context of GRW theory, on balance it seems that Humean objective chances are preferable on conceptual grounds because single case propensities suffer from various well know problems such as unlimited frequency tolerance and lack of a rationalisation of the principal principle. (shrink)

This is the first of three parts of an introduction to the philosophy of climate science. In this first part about observing climate change, the topics of definitions of climate and climate change, data sets and data models, detection of climate change, and attribution of climate change will be discussed.

Let us begin with a characteristic example. Consider a gas that is confined to the left half of a box. Now we remove the barrier separating the two halves of the box. As a result, the gas quickly disperses, and it continues to do so until it homogeneously fills the entire box. This is illustrated in Figure 1.

The growing academic literature on ‘food sovereignty’ has elaborated a food producer-driven vision of an alternative, more ecological food system rooted in greater democratic control over food production and distribution. Given that the food sovereignty developed with and within producer associations, a rural setting and production-side concerns have overshadowed issues of distribution and urban consumption. Yet, ideal types such as direct marketing, time-intensive food preparation and the ‘family shared meal’ are hard to transcribe into the life realities in many non-rural, (...) non-farming households, and it is unclear, in turn, how such realities can fit into models of food sovereignty. A particular practical and research gap exists in how to engage the overwhelming need for food options served under time constraints and (often) outside of the home or a full-service restaurant. The over-generalized vilification of ‘fast food’ should be replaced by a framework that allows us to distinguish between unhealthy, corporate fast foods and both traditional and emerging alternatives that can serve to extend the tenets of food sovereignty further into food processing, distribution and consumption. This article analyzes existing conceptualizations of fast food, explores fast food historically, and studies how food sovereignty can operationalize its tenets and priorities in situations where fast food is an unquestionable necessity. (shrink)

Boltzmannian statistical mechanics (BSM) partitions a system’s space of micro-states into cells and refers to these cells as ‘macro-states’. One of these cells is singled out as the equilibrium macro-state while the others are non-equilibrium macro-states. It remains unclear, however, how these states are characterised at the macro-level as long as only real-valued macro-variables are available. We argue that physical quantities like pressure and temperature should be treated as field-variables and show how field variables fit into the framework of our (...) own version of BSM, the long-run residence time account of BSM. The introduction of field variables into the theory makes it possible to give a full macroscopic characterisation of the approach to equilibrium. (shrink)

Review of: Peter Smith, Explaining chaos. Cambridge: Cambridge univeristy Press, 1998. ISBN 0 521 47747 6.

De Neys is right to criticize the exclusivity assumption in dual-process theories, but he misses the original sin underlying this assumption, which his working model continues to share. Conflict paradigms, in which experimenters measure how one cognitive process interferes (or does not interfere) with another, license few inferences about how the interfered-with process works on its own.

In recent publications we have drawn attention to the fact that if the dynamics of a model is structurally unstable, then the presence of structural model error places in-principle limits on the model’s ability to generate decision-relevant probability forecasts. Writing with a varying array of co-authors, Eric Winsberg has now produced at least four publications in which he dismisses our points as unfounded; the most recent of these appeared in this journal. In this paper we respond to the arguments of (...) Winsberg and his co-workers, and we point out that their criticisms fail. We take this as an opportunity to restate and explain our arguments, and to point to fruitful directions for future research. (shrink)

Research questions asked about Pompeius’ cura annonae – often termed “grain command” – dwell mainly on what made it more like any other promagistracy. Scholars tend to approach this office as if it were a kind of military command, albeit innovative. However, unlike promagistrates before him, Pompeius was endowed with the task which concerned the sphere domi. While not neglected, this aspect of Pompeius’ power becomes even more significant if appreciated through the lens of a more general problem of late-republican (...) promagistrates’ interference in the sphere of domestic politics. This paper aims to supplement scholarly observations on the cura annonae, including F. Vervaet’s recent findings, by reconsidering especially the evidence on Pompeius’ making or revising a list of grain recipients. (shrink)

La presente investigación consiste en el análisis de la obra del escritor y filósofo Fabrice Hadjadj, desde la perspectiva de uno de los conceptos clave en ella: la «carne». La importancia de la carne para entender al hombre es una intuición desarrollada por Hadjadj en contraposición al espiritualismo dominante de la nueva era tecnológica. Nos encontramos en una era post-ideológica que se caracteriza por el dominio de lo tecnológico. Además, otra de las grandes novedades de nuestro tiempo es la conciencia (...) mayoritaria de la posibilidad de extinción de la especie humana. La crisis actual es profunda, antropológica: se trata de la pérdida de sentido de lo «humano». Esta crisis se ve agravada por una visión cada vez más desencarnada del hombre o espiritualista, lo que supone una ruptura antropológica que es promovida por el impacto de las tecnologías en nuestra lógica. Según Hadjadj, es este espiritualismo lo que contribuye más profundamente a diluir lo humano y acelerar la deriva poshumana de los nuevos tiempos. Nuestro trabajo, además de despejar cuál es el sentido de la carne para Hadjadj, así como el porqué de su particular relevancia para la nueva era, muestra algunas de las principales consecuencias de esa ruptura antropológica que promueve el uso de las tecnologías. La finalidad de esta investigación es mostrar cómo una visión antropológica centrada en la carne como la que propone Hadjadj, constituye una poderosa alternativa (si no la única) para resistir a la tentativa de que el espiritualismo tecnológico acabe devorando lo humano. (shrink)

this study is to analyse the biomechanical influence of the been studied extensively, little is known how it is influclinical data on stability of the ankle joint. A two-dimenenced by the osseous joint configuration. Based on lateral..

A new construction of a certain conceptual space is presented. Elements of this conceptual space correspond to concept elements of reality, which potentially comprise an infinite number of qualities. This construction of a conceptual space solves a problem stated by Dietz and his co-authors in 2013 in the context of Voronoi diagrams. The fractal construction of the conceptual space is that this problem simply does not pose itself. The concept of convexity is discussed in this new conceptual space. Moreover, the (...) meaning of convexity is discussed in full generality, for example when space is deprived of it, its substitutes for concept domains are considered. (shrink)

Purpose. Considers the possibility of establishing the Hospitality Philosophy as an independent field of philosophical knowledge. Theoretical basis. Theoretical basis for this issue is the numerous philosophical researches on the topic of hospitality (anthropological, phenomenological, ethical, social-philosophical etc.) and the analysis of its essence and paradigmatic antinomy in the historicalphilosophical way. Scientific novelty. The article attempts to revitalise the notion of philotechnics (φιλοτεχνία) as 'the art of taking care of the guest's welfare' as a possible basic concept of contemporary philosophy (...) of hospitality, which is able to reflect its nature most concisely, including its utilitarian and extra-utilitarian functions – not only a high service level, but also a “humane” attitude towards the guest. Findings. It has been summarized that modern hospitality as a specific human activity needs its own philosophy, which would comprehensively analyze the concept, study the facets and forms of its manifestations, define the worldview paradigm, form a methodology and be able to lead to an understanding of the goals of hospitality, to orient modern hospitality models to achieve certain and clear quality indicators while respecting historically verified value constants. (shrink)

The article reviews the book Korespondencja Adama Adamandego Kochańskiego SJ, edited by Bogdan Lisiak.

Adrian Miaskowski należy do wybitniejszych jezuitów polskich na przełomie XVII i XVIII w. Był pedagogiem, autorem Dialektyki, płodnym pisarzem w dziedzinie teologii, rektorem kilku kolegiów i prowincjałem jezuitów. W dotychczasowej literaturze istnieje na jego temat sporo dłuższych lub krótszych tekstów i wzmianek, a jego nazwisko figuruje w wielu encyklopediach i słownikach, na czele z Polskim Słownikiem Biograficznym. Jednakże jego poglądy filozoficzne nie były dotąd przedmiotem zainteresowania. Niniejsze krótkie opracowanie ma za cel wypełnić tę lukę. Zawiera biografię Miaskowskiego, przegląd treści Dialektyki (...) i zawartych w niej poglądów, oceny Dialektyki oraz omówienie elementów filozofii człowieka i filozofii Boga, zawartych w traktatach teologicznych Miaskowskiego. (shrink)

The article reviews the book Edukacja oświeceniowa a szkoła tradycyjna. Z dziejów kultury intelektualnej i filozoficznej [Enlightenment Education and Traditional Education: From the History of Intellectual and Philosophical Culture], by Stanisław Janeczek.

In the paper I ask the question about the relation between formal logic and the natural logic of human mind. By a natural logic I mean the ways of thinking of a person that is intelligent but untrained in formal logic. As it turns out that the laws, rules or properties of formal logic in some cases diverge from the natural ways of reasoning, I explain the causes of this divergence. Since the majority of research in this area has been (...) carried out from the standpoint of psychology, as a logician I suggest a slight change of the angle from which we look at the problem. I argue that certain narrowing of an interdisciplinary research would be helpful in getting a better picture of natural logic, and might provide a new stimulus for formal investigations. (shrink)

Der Autor untersucht als Berufspadagoge, Technologe und Technikphilosoph die gegenwartig zu losenden Erziehungs- und Bildungsproble- me unter dem Aspekt des Wesens der Technik. Die mit der Technikent- wicklung entstandenen Grundfragen des individuellen und gesellschaft- lichen Lebens und die notwendig gewordene Regelung desselben werden unter soziotechnischen und bildungsintentionalen Gesichtspunkten analysiert und in systemtheoretische Blickwinkel geruckt. Die Untersuchung richtet sich an alle, die aktiv an der Menschenbildung, an kulturpolitischen Entscheidungen und an der technikphilosophischen Diskussion beteiligt sind.".

Se realiza una valoración crítica de la aportación de Joan Poinsot, más conocido como Juan de Santo Tomas (1589-1655), raíz de la publicación de La naturaleza y las causas a cargo del destacado académico Juan Cruz Cruz. A pesar de que se trata de la edición de una pequeña parte de la Philosophia Naturalis, más conocida como Cursus Philosophicus, de Juan de Santo Tomás, concretamente de las “cuestiones” IX a XIII. Se establece un semblante de Juan de Santo Tomas y (...) de su obra, tratando de centrar el personaje en el contexto de su época y las posiciones que mantenía y denunciando las interpretaciones interesadas que pretenden hacer pasar por moderno un pensamiento que antepone lo religioso a la razón, en la vieja estrategia eclesiástica de hacer pasar por filosofía a la teología y viceversa. (shrink)

In his Bellum Ciuile, Caesar reports the events of 1 January 49 with these words : misso ad uesperum senatu omnes qui sunt eius ordinis a Pompeio euocantur. laudat Pompeius atque in posterum confirmat, segniores castigat atque incitat.When the Senate had been dismissed towards dusk, all who belonged to that order were summoned by Pompeius. He praised the determined and encouraged them for the future while criticizing and stirring up those who were less eager to act.This meeting has not attracted (...) much scholarly attention and admittedly for a good reason: other circumstances of the outbreak of the Civil War are, perhaps, more significant for understanding the events as well as the intentions and decisions of the political actors. The importance of this gathering lies, however, not so much in what its role might have been in the developments of the year 49 but rather in the context of the phenomenon of the promagistrates’ interference in the domestic politics of Late Republican Rome. (shrink)