We work with a large spatialized array of individuals in an environment of drifting food sources and predators. The behavior of each individual is generated by its simple neural net; individuals are capable of making one of two sounds and are capable of responding to sounds from their immediate neighbors by opening their mouths or hiding. An individual whose mouth is open in the presence of food is “fed” and gains points; an individual who fails to hide when a predator (...) is present is “hurt” by losing points. Opening mouths, hiding, and making sounds each exact an energy cost. There is no direct evolutionary gain for acts of cooperation or “successful communication” per se. In such an environment we start with a spatialized array of neural nets with randomized weights. Using standard learning algorithms, our individuals “train up” on the behavior of successful neighbors at regular intervals. Given that simple setup, will a community of neural nets evolve a simple language for signaling the presence of food and predators? With important qualifications, the answer is “yes.” In a simple spatial environment, pursuing individualistic gains and using partial training on successful neighbors, randomized neural nets can learn to communicate. (shrink)

Is simulation some new kind of science? We argue that instead simulation fits smoothly into existing scientific practice, but does so in several importantly different ways. Simulations in general, and computer simulations in particular, ought to be understood as techniques which, like many scientific techniques, can be employed in the service of various and diverse epistemic goals. We focus our attentions on the way in which simulations can function as (i) explanatory and (ii) predictive tools. We argue that a wide (...) variety of simulations, both computational and physical, are best conceived in terms of a set of common features: initial or input conditions, a mechanism or set of rules, and a set of results or output conditions. Studying simulations in these terms yields a new understanding of their character as well as a body of normative recommendations for the care and feeding of scientific simulations. (shrink)

Environmental variability has been proposed as an important mechanism in behavioral psychology, in ecology and evolution, and in cultural anthropology. Here we demonstrate its importance in simulational studies as well. In earlier work we have shown the emergence of communication in a spatialized environment of wandering food sources and predators, using a variety of mechanisms for strategy change: imitation (Grim, Kokalis, Tafti & Kilb 2000), localized genetic algorithm (Grim, Kokalis, Tafti & Kilb 2001), and partial training of neural (...) nets on the behavior of successful neighbors (Grim, St. Denis & Kokalis 2002). Here we focus on environmental variability, comparing results for all of these mechanisms in a range of different environments: (a) environments with constant resources, (b) environments with random resources around the same mean, and (c) sine-wave variable environments with cycles of ‘boom and bust’. Communication, it turns out, is strongly favored by environmental variability on the pattern of ‘boom and bust.'. (shrink)

The goal of philosophy of information is to understand what information is, how it operates, and how to put it to work. But unlike ‘information’ in the technical sense of information theory, what we are interested in is meaningful information. To understand the nature and dynamics of information in this sense we have to understand meaning. What we offer here are simple computational models that show emergence of meaning and information transfer in randomized arrays of neural nets. These we take (...) to be formal instantiations of a tradition of theories of meaning as use. What they offer, we propose, is a glimpse into the origin and dynamics of at least simple forms of meaning and information transfer as properties inherent in behavioral coordination across a community. (shrink)

This article addresses the important question of how “upper”-caste power is reproduced in contemporary India, in the face of organized challenges from below. It argues that this process turns on the reproduction of castelessness. A long-standing site for the cultivation of castelessness has been the postcolonial census, which has limited the enumeration of caste to certain nonelites for the purposes of affirmative action reservations. However, in the aftermath of an intensive campaign to include a full castewise enumeration in Census 2011, (...) the political leadership of the Indian National Congress Party conceded and reversed seventy years of census policy on caste. This article examines the institutional pushback within the executive bureaucracy in the year following the public concession to change census policy on caste. In doing so, it shows how bureaucratic actions and inactions reproduce both castelessness and upper-caste power in contemporary India. (shrink)

(2013). Multiple paths to transfer and constraint relaxation in insight problem solving. Thinking & Reasoning: Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 96-136. doi: 10.1080/13546783.2012.742852.

The art and commentary of Nell Brinkley (1886–1944) ran in American newspapers from 1907 through the 1930s. At the height of her popularity, “The Brinkley Girl” appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies and inspired poems and popular songs. Brinkley’s name even sold hair curlers, and her delicate pen work influenced later women cartoonists. As early as 1913, Brinkley was drawing working women, from farm and factory workers to those pursuing careers, using her art to encourage decent pay, pensions, and housing for (...) thousands of young women working for the war effort. This work covers her life and her work, which might upon first glance show pretty girls but on a closer inspection reveals a post–Victorian feminism. It also looks at her rise to popularity, the innocent sexuality of her Brinkley girls, the sugary and sentimental Betty and Billy series, and the beauty of her line drawings. (shrink)

This thesis is a study of Konrad Bayer's dramatic texts. It has evolved out of various attempts to read those texts, some filed and some more successful. It does not claim to be authoritative or complete, since the nature of Bayer's texts, as will become clear in the course of the ensuing chapters, means that they resist such an interpretation. To accept this was an important prerequisite for the writing of this thesis, but a difficult one to fulfill because for (...) the Bayer commentator it constitutes a certain acceptance of defeat even before one begins. Chapter 1 will begin by providing some introductory information about Konrad Bayer, including details of his life and his membership of the Wiener Gruppe, a formative phase in his development as a writer. It will also consider the historical and cultural climate of 1950s Austria that provided the backdrop for Bayer's literary work. The phenomenon of the Wiener Gruppe will then be examined against the background of preceding experimental movements, for the purpose of situating Bayer's work historically and artistically. The aim of this historical and artistic survey is to prepare for the confrontation with Bayer's texts that makes up the other chapters of the thesis. Chapter 2 will constitute a close textual study of one of Bayer's dramatic texts using criteria from the field of text linguistics. Such a study will offer an entry point into Bayer's texts and will supply material which will form the basis for the interpretative investigations of the chapters that follow it. Chapter 3 will consider the influence of language and the individual. In chapter 4 the figure of the Lion of Belfort, a recurring figure in Bayer's dramatic texts, is discussed. The final chapter of this thesis will examine the recurring motifs of violence and cannibalism and will consider them in terms of the findings of preceding chapters. (shrink)

The goal of philosophy of information is to understand what information is, how it operates, and how to put it to work. But unlike ‘information’ in the technical sense of information theory, what we are interested in is meaningful information. To understand the nature and dynamics of information in this sense we have to understand meaning. What we offer here are simple computational models that show emergence of meaning and information transfer in randomized arrays of neural nets. These we take (...) to be formal instantiations of a tradition of theories of meaning as use. What they offer, we propose, is a glimpse into the origin and dynamics of at least simple forms of meaning and information transfer as properties inherent in behavioral coordination across a community. (shrink)

George Berkeley. Alciphron/Siris. Tradução, apresentação e notas de Jaimir Conte. São Paulo: Editora da Unesp, 2022. O volume reúne traduções de duas obras de George Berkeley, “Alciphron, ou o filósofo minucioso” e “Siris”. “Alciphron” é estruturado como um diálogo filosófico entre quatro personagens, no qual Berkeley combate os argumentos dos chamados “livres-pensadores” (como Mandeville ou Shaftesbury), fazendo uma apologia do Cristianismo. Já “Siris” é tanto um tratado sobre as virtudes medicinais da água de alcatrão quanto uma visão do filósofo das (...) cadeias do ser, explorando a gradual ascensão que vai do mundo dos sentidos e da mente, até chegar ao sobrenatural e a Deus, a essência trina. (shrink)

Este artículo es una exposición y explicación de la descripción del trascendental “amar” como extensión de la intimidad, la libertad y el intelecto personal de la persona humana, es decir, de la persona que carece de réplica y debe “buscar” y amar donalmente a Dios. Como la estructura donal es trina, se exponen y explican también las indicaciones de Polo sobre la esencia del hombre y, más en concreto, sobre la voluntad, el querer libre y el “retorno” de la (...) esencia a la persona para completar dicha estructura. (shrink)

The article attempts to characterize three key doctrinal controversies in the Carolingian Renaissance, namely: the disputes over the Eucharist, the so-called trina deitas, and predestination. The core of the article is an exposition of the controversy concerning predestination, whose main protagonist is Gottschalk of Orbais. The article discusses four crucial issues related to the problem: (i) the concept of God, (ii) the understanding of grace, nature and free will, (iii) the relation of foreknowledge to predestination, and (iv) the doctrine (...) of redemption, i.e., specifically the relationship betweenjustice and mercy. The article is largely an attempt at an interpretation of the texts of the epoch, mainly those of Gottschalk of Orbais and his adversary, Hincmar of Reims. The conclusions point to difficulties in the issues discussed and outline what attempts at solving this problem have taken place in the coming centuries. (shrink)

Through a series of letters, Professors Robert Chang and Adrienne Davis examine the politics of positionality in law and literary criticism. They use the scholarly debates and conversations around critical race theory and feminist legal theory as a starting point to formulate some thoughts about Critical Race Feminism ("CRF") and its future. The authors use the epistolary form as a literary device to allow them to collaborate on this project while maintaining their own voices. Thus, the letters are not dated. (...) The letters pay particular attention to various border crossings: male attempts to engage in feminist literary criticism, white attempts to engage in African American literary criticism, and attempts to engage in black male, black feminist criticism. The racial politics of identity, boundaries, and theory are ones that the late Professors Jerome Culp, Trina Grillo, and Marilyn Yarbrough dedicated much of their lives to pursuing. This is reflected in their scholarship, which challenged existing modes of legal reasoning about race, gender, and theories of justice, and thus effected paradigm shifts in all areas. Moreover, Professors Culp, Grillo, and Yarbrough encouraged progressive legal scholars of color to think about the issues raised over the meaning and politics of black feminism, the role of theory in reasoning about race and the law, the fluidity of racial identity and its political implications, the transcendence of binary legal models, the importance of community and collaboration, and above all, an abiding disrespect for boundaries. The letters are wide-ranging with regard to the texts that they engage, moving from Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon to monuments to the film Monster's Ball. The letters examine some contentious academic debates, such as those between "race men" and black feminists and between critical race theorists and their critics. In all of this, the central questions relate to who speaks and, as corollaries, who is allowed to speak and what is remembered. These questions may be methodological entry points for those doing critical race feminism. (shrink)

En este artículo, mediante una investigación de la obra de Lonergan, se pretende ofrecer una explicación del rol de los sentimientos en el dinamismo intencional de la conciencia humana. Los sentimientos son distinguidos en dos tipos, por un lado los estados y tendencias no intencionales, por otro lado, las respuestas intencionales. Los primeros son comunes a los seres humanos y a los animales. Los segundos son propiamente los que constituyen la afectividad humana. Los sentimientos en cuanto respuestas intencionales pueden responder (...) a lo que es subjetivamente satisfactorio o responder al valor. Entre los sentimientos que responden al valor se dan las aprehensiones de valor, las cuales revelan simultáneamente el límite de la integración moral presente y la posibilidad de la autotrascendencia moral. Se ofrece una explicación de la conciencia como trina: cognitiva, volitiva y afectiva que nos invita a dejar atrás tanto la tradición racionalista, en la cual los sentimientos son relegados a un segundo plano, como la tradición voluntarista, en la cual los sentimientos quedan absorbidos por el appetitus natural e intelectual. (shrink)

Straipsnyje nagrinėjama biografija kaip civilizacijos kontrolinis principas. Biografija traktuojama dvejopai: 1) kaip tam tikros subcivilizacijos gyvavimo tarpsnio įsirašymas į civilizacinę aplinką ir 2) kaip iškilaus veikėjo, lėmusio civilizacijos pokyčius, gyvenimo įrašymas į istorinę visuomenės atmintį. Teigiama, kad abu – didžiojo ir mažojo – įrašymo atvejai sudaro sąveiką, kurios metu formuojasi mūsų kaip istorinės visuomenės dalių tapatumas. Nagrinėjami du Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės istorijos tarpsniai pereinamaisiais laikotarpiais: formuojantis krikščioniškajai visuomenei ir integruojantis piliečių bendrijai ypatingoje bažnytinės unijos subcivilizacijoje. Iškeliama Vytauto Didžiojo kaip LDK (...) biografo, įrašiusio Lietuvos visuomenę į Vakarų civilizacijos metraštį ir suteikusio jai ypatingos Vakarų subcivilizacijos rangą , figūra. Remiantis LDK atveju kritikuojama Toynbee’o civilizacijos teorija kaip pernelyg apriorinė ir abstrakti. Iškeliamos tezės: 1) civilizacija iškyla tik kaip priešiška kitoms kultūroms kūrybinė visuma; 2) pagonybė Europos centre išsilaikė kaip politinis kompromisas, ypatingas valstybinės tvarkos, žinomos pax lithuanica vardu, receptas; 3) civilizacijų plėtros veiksnys – jų sąveika, kuri savo ruožtu trina skirtis tarp jų, drauge – atskiros civilizacijos požymius. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Songs of Degrees: Essays on Contemporary Poetry and PoeticsVirginia A. La CharitéSongs of Degrees: Essays on Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, by John Taggart; 254 pp. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1994, $29.95 paper.John Taggart is a highly respected American poet whose passion for objectivism permeates his critical reading as well as his own creative works. The volume Songs of Degrees: Essays on Contemporary Poetry and Poetics represents the (...) first time that his various critical articles have been collected into a single work. Of the eighteen essays, all but one were previously published in various journals between 1975 and 1989; the eighteenth is an essay or “A Preface” on one of his own collections of poetry, Peace on Earth. By addressing his own poetry, Taggart’s volume cleverly includes himself as poet in this study of what he considers valuable in a work of art. [End Page 398]Finding a poem to be a simple composition of words (principle) and an image suggested by that composition (process), Taggart adopts the title Songs of Degrees from Louis Zukofsy’s seven short poems published in 1956 as Some Time. A song is then a poetic form, a continuing complete statement which actualizes the separate entities (words) of its expression. However, and most importantly, a song does not begin as a visual report; rather, a song moves towards being visualized. Consequently, everything depends on technique and everything turns on its structure, as the mind coordinates the information received by the eye. Degrees, then, emerge as variations of consonance and dissonance or word-sound functions. To write down is to compose; to compose is to create. Hence, a song of degrees is both an actual object and a metaphor for that object.Under the poetic of objectivism, Taggart’s essays are primarily concerned with poets whose work is in accord with his own: George Oppen (three essays), Frank Sampori, William Bronk, Louis Zukofsy (three essays), Bruce Andrews, Susan Howe (two essays), Robert Duncan, Charles Olson, and Theodore Enslin. Taggart demonstrates here that he is a sensitive and intellectually alert reader. These essays on criticism are in actuality essays on Taggart’s concept of poetics. Implicit is Taggart’s bias as an objectivist poet who insists that poetry has a spiritual value in the visionary tradition of Robert Lowell and Robert Duncan and to an extent Wallace Stevens.But perhaps of even greater interest than Taggart’s superb readings of his poetic colleagues—and it can be justifiably argued that perhaps only Taggart can read these poets with the sympathetic eye that they deserve—is the inclusion of three essays on other arts: dance (Trina Collins), stained glass (Mark Rothko), and jazz (John Coltrane). By including these essays with those of literary criticism, Taggart expands the terms poetics and poetry to any text or object which is a moving line and complete at the same time. Form comes from language; language is then based on experience, not belief, and the resulting image is what is revealed and reflected, what is seen. A work (poem, song, text) is valuable because its visionary imagination captures the collective conscience to regain spiritual ascesis. The process of objectification is the metaphor or song, which emerges in degrees of interaction. The song has substance, it is tangible, and it has an objective existence of its own. To be critical is to objectify the composition or structure at hand. Critical is another term for technical, and indeed it is the technical aspect of writing poetry which Taggart so deftly elucidates in his volume of essays.For anyone interested in objectivist poetry, Taggart’s collection of essays is mandatory reading. His insights into this kind of cerebral poetry are invaluable, for he blends appreciation with analysis, information with inspiration, and logic with imagination. His own sensitivity to the struggle which is the poetic process brings a new consciousness to the poetics of poetry.Virginia A. La CharitéUniversity of KentuckyCopyright © 1995 The Johns Hopkins University Press... (shrink)