A scholar of Hellenistic and Prussian history, Droysen developed a historical theory that at the time was unprecedented in range and depth, and which remains to the present day a valuable key for understanding history as both an idea and a professional practice. Arthur Alfaix Assis interprets Droysen’s theoretical project as an attempt to redefine the function of historiography within the context of a rising criticism of exemplar theories of history, and focuses on Droysen’s claim that the goal underlying historical (...) writing and reading should be the development of the subjective capacity to think historically. In addition, Assis examines the connections and disconnections between Droysen’s theory of historical thinking, his practice of historical thought, and his political activism. Ultimately, Assis not only shows how Droysen helped reinvent the relationship between historical knowledge and human agency, but also traces some of the contradictions and limitations inherent to that project. (shrink)

Taxa and homologues can in our view be construed both as kinds and as individuals. However, the conceptualization of taxa as natural kinds in the sense of homeostatic property cluster kinds has been criticized by some systematists, as it seems that even such kinds cannot evolve due to their being homeostatic. We reply by arguing that the treatment of transformational and taxic homologies, respectively, as dynamic and static aspects of the same homeostatic property cluster kind represents a good perspective for (...) supporting the conceptualization of taxa as kinds. The focus on a phenomenon of homology based on causal processes (e.g., connectivity, activity-function, genetics, inheritance, and modularity) and implying relationship with modification yields a notion of natural kinds conforming to the phylogenetic-evolutionary framework. Nevertheless, homeostatic property cluster kinds in taxonomic and evolutionary practice must be rooted in the primacy of epistemological classification (homology as observational properties) over metaphysical generalization (series of transformation and common ancestry as unobservational processes). The perspective of individuating characters exclusively by historical-transformational independence instead of their developmental, structural, and functional independence fails to yield a sufficient practical interplay between theory and observation. Purely ontological and ostensional perspectives in evolution and phylogeny (e.g., an ideographic character concept and PhyloCode’s ‘individualism’ of clades) may be pragmatically contested in the case of urgent issues in biodiversity research, conservation, and systematics. (shrink)

At the end of the 19th century, most professional historians – wherever they existed – deemed history to be a form of knowledge ruled by a method that bears no resemblance with those most commonly traceable in the natural sciences. The bulk of the historian’s task was then frequently regarded as being the application of procedures frequently referred to as ‘historical method’. In the context of such an emerging interest on historical methods and methodology, at least three textbooks stand out: (...) Johann Gustav Droysen’s Grundriss der Historik (Outline of the Theory of History), Ernst Bernheim’s Lehrbuch der historischen Methode (Handbook of Historical Method), and Charles Langlois and Charles Seignobos’s Introduction aux études historiques (Introduction to the Study of History). These books were quite influential in Germany, France, and elsewhere, and they very much helped promote a general idea of historical method that would become relatively consensual among historians of many nationalities by the early 20th century. Such a relative agreement on historical method sponsored both the communication and the development of a sense of disciplinary identity among historians trained within different and sometimes conflicting national traditions. It was then partially extended, partially challenged, and surely made more complex when, from the 1920s on, social and economic historians became a good part of the historiographical establishment in many countries. -/- The three books by Droysen, Bernheim, and Langlois and Seignobos were already pieced together by Rolf Torstendahl, who studied them as a group of texts that, despite their differences, contributed to shape the developments outlined above. However, Torstendahl’s primary aim was to show how Droysen, Bernheim, and Seignobos all resorted to ‘method’ as a way to circumvent skepticism against the possibility of historical knowledge, rather than investigate the internal interrelationships between the three texts. In this chapter I follow precisely this latter, not yet taken, road, focusing on crucial cross-references between the Grundriss, the Lehrbuch, and the Introduction. I intend to show that, at a general level, the schemes of historical method found in these texts are largely convergent, and that this convergence is due to Bernheim’s reading of Droysen and to Langlois and Seignobos’s reading of Bernheim. I will attempt to do it through a regressive approach that starts with an analysis of the Introduction. Aspects of the editorial history and circulation of the three texts will also be briefly addressed, as a way to illustrate their special importance within the framework of early 20th century historical theory. Because my argument calls for a focus on the most general lines of Droysen’s, Bernheim’s, and Langlois and Seignobos’s schemes of historical method, I will, for the sake of consistency, refrain from analysing in-depth the complex epistemological and ontological arguments in which those schemes are nested. (shrink)

Cicero once stressed as the first law of history that “the historian must not dare to tell any falsehood.” This precept entails a minimal ethical requirement that remains unscathed by the whirlpools of epistemic relativism that have called many other aspects of professional historians’ practice into question in the last century or so. No commendable scholar seems willing to invalidate Cicero’s first law, and dependable scholarship—whether relying on objectivity-friendly or objectivity-hostile theoretical assumptions—follows shared standards of integrity and accuracy with which (...) someone from Cicero’s time, for instance, would never be able to comply. In this essay, I suggest that those two circumstances should dispose us more favorably toward a refreshed notion of historical objectivity pointing not only to epistemology but also to professional ethics. I address the condemnation of lying and, more generally, historians’ commitment to sincerity as a way to highlight the ethical dimension of history writing. By focusing on the deep but underexplored moral roots of objectivity, I argue that this concept is still very useful as both an analytical tool and a normative ideal. Objectivity, in the sense I underline here, does not stand in opposition to subjectivity—on the contrary, it is actually tied up with subjective dispositions, virtues, and skills that help shape responsible historiography. (shrink)

Trata-se de um trabalho de natureza didática cujo propósito é introduzir o leitor à teoria da história de Jörn Rüsen. O texto inicia-se com uma introdução que situa este autor no contexto do desenvolvimento histórico da disciplina “teoria da história. Está dividido em três capítulos, nos quais os cinco componentes da sua “matriz disciplinar da ciência histórica são apresentados e discutidos, a saber (1) as carências de orientação e funções orientativas; (2) perspectivas diretoras da interpretação histórica e métodos de pesquisa (...) empírica; e (3) as formas de apresentação histórica. O trabalho finaliza-se com uma lista bibliográfica, da qual constam os títulos mais importantes de Rüsen, bem como uma série de comentários à sua teoria da história. (shrink)

We present the opinion of some authors who believe there is no force between a stationary charge and a stationary resistive wire carrying a constant current. We show that this force is different from zero and present its main components: the force due to the charges induced in the wire by the test charge and a force proportional to the current in the resistive wire. We also discuss briefly a component of the force proportional to the square of the current (...) which should exist according to some models and another component due to the acceleration of the conduction electrons in a curved wire carrying a dc current (centripetal acceleration). Finally, we analyze experiments showing the existence of the electric field proportional to the current in resistive wires. (shrink)

Este artigo trata das mudanças ocorridas no universo religioso católico da Diocese de Nova Iguaçu, localizada na Baixada Fluminense, região metropolitana do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, conhecida pela situação de pobreza e pela violência, em especial por ação de grupos de extermínio. O evento que serve de base para investigamos tais mudanças ficou sendo denominado de Chacina da Baixada, que deixou 29 pessoas mortas e uma ferida no bairro da Posse em Nova Iguaçu. A diocese prontamente se mostrou solidária (...) com as famílias das vítimas, cobrando desde o primeiro momento providências das autoridades locais. Entretanto, as visões sobre o envolvimento eclesial se dividem conforme a proximidade dos agentes religiosos, em especial os leigos, da área física dos assassinatos. Assim, os que residem e trabalham pastoralmente mais próximo à localidade apresentam reticências, silêncios e receios não apresentados por leigos entrevistados de outras localidades. Percebemos que, embora haja consenso quanto à necessidade de mobilização da Diocese quanto ao caso, as percepções são abaladas pelo medo que constantemente rege as experiências cotidianas dos moradores daquela região. (shrink)

A Expressão Questão maquiavélica foi popularizada por Isaiah Berlin ao ponderar sobre a fortuna crítica do pensamento político do secretário florentino. Há divergências entre as interpretações monocráticas e republicanas das obras de Machiavelli, as quais centram-se, especialmente, nas possíveis discrepâncias existentes entre Il Principe e os Discorsi. Diversos contextos históricos permitem múltiplas apropriações das ideias presentes nesses e outros textos desse autor: um pensador amoral na ausência das premissas religiosas; um republicano a lutar pela liberdade popular aos moldes dos pensamentos (...) iluministas e posteriormente românticos; um patriota a almejar a libertação e a unificação da Itália no Risorgimento; um nacionalista a compreender os limites dos interesses populares na ascensão do Fascismo; e tantas outras possibilidades receptivas. Todavia, na leitura dos textos de Machiavelli, destaca-se a criação de uma civilità, uma Ordem civil virtuosa a promover união entre os cidadãos, amor à Pátria e incentivo à defesa da Liberdade, a agir de acordo com necessidades específicas, evitando a Tirania, as facções e os privilégios de cidadãos particulares. Desse modo, em uma leitura do Discorso Reformare Stato di Firenze, em paralelos com temas e passagens específicas nos Discorsi e em Il Principe, constatam-se posições políticas plurais assumidas por Machiavelli de acordo com a necessidade e com a Ocasião, essas que corroboram a variedade na recepção de suas ideias e devem ser compreendidas em sua complementaridade em seus contextos iniciais. (shrink)

Richard Rorty propõe uma concepção de conhecimento que abandone a pretensão de objetividade entendida como uma representação fiel do mundo em nossa mente ou na linguagem. Para ele, se o mundo não torna nossas crenças verdadeiras ou falsas e sim que elas são justificadas socialmente, o conhecimento não pode ser uma questão de adequação com a realidade, e sim de concordância entre os membros de determinada comunidade. Com isso, Rorty abandona a pretensão de uma epistemologia de caráter universal e propõe (...) uma concepção de conhecimento que só pode ser justificada localmente, abrindo alas dessa forma para o seu etnocentrismo, assim como para sua defesa da ideia do conhecimento como solidariedade e da razão como conversação. Este artigo pretende apontar alguns limites da proposta neopragmática de Rorty. (shrink)

Apresentamos os conceitos de inércia, espaço e tempo na mecânica newtoniana. Analisamos o princípio de Mach, segundo o qual a inércia de qualquer corpo é devida a sua interação com os corpos distantes do universo. Em seguida explicamos porque, em geral, a teoria da gravitação de Einstein não implementa este princípio. Discutimos então o trabalho de Erwin Schrödinger que apresenta uma formulação alternativa para a mecânica baseada numa lei de Weber para a gravitação e que é compatível com as idéias (...) de Mach. (shrink)

This paper reviews the origin of inertia according to Mach's principle and Weber's law of gravitation. The resulting theory is based on simultaneous nonlocal gravitational interactions between particles in the solar system and others in the remote universe beyond the Milky Way galaxy. It explains the precession of the perihelion of Mercury. A most important implication of the Mach-Weber theory of the force of inertia is the necessity for a large amount of uniformly distributed matter in the galactic universe. This (...) matter could be the source of the cosmic background radiation. Nonlocal inertia forces are compatible with a static universe and also with an expanding universe but the latter would demand slow changes in the mass of particles and the gravitational constant. (shrink)

We derive the equation describing the flow of a variable current in straight wires and in coaxial cables from Newton's second law of motion plus Weber's electrodynamics. We show that in both cases the signal propagates at light velocity.

A pauta musical foi o primeiro gráfico da Europa”, afirma o autor à página 144 de seu “A Medida da Realidade. Essa é, de fato, a primeira afirmação pretensamente original do livro, já passados quase dois terço da leitura.

In this work we analyze the case of resistive conductor plates carrying constant currents, utilizing surface charge distributions. We obtain the electric potential in the plates and in the space surrounding them. We obtain a non-vanishing electric field outside the conductors. We compare the theoretical results with experimental data present in the literature.

We present Helmholtz's argument against Weber's electrodynamics. It is related with a fixed charged nonconducting spherical shell and a charged particle moving inside it. Then we utilize Weber's electrodynamics plus Schrödinger's expression for gravitational interactions in order to obtain the equation of motion and to study this situation. We show that this approach avoids the problems pointed out by Helmholtz. Moreover, it indicates that the effective inertial mass of the charged particle will depend not only on the electrostatic potential of (...) the shell but also on its velocity. This is a relevant aspect of Weber's theory. (shrink)

We comment on and translate Gustav Kirchhoff's important paper of 1857 entitled On the motion of electricity in conductors. The significance of this paper is that Kirchhoff proved with action at a distance that electric disturbances travel along wires of negligible resistance with the velocity of light. He accomplished this with the laws of Newtonian electrodynamics (Coulomb, Ampere, F. Neumann and Weber) before Maxwell had formulated his equations.