This volume contains the invited lectures and a selection of the contributed papers and posters of the workshop on "Fluctuations and Sensitivity in Nonequil ibrium Systems", held at the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center, Un i vers ity of Texas at Austin, March 12-16, 1984. The workshop dealt with stochastic phenomena and sensi­ tivity in nonequilibrium systems from a macroscopic point of view. Durin9 the last few years it has been realized that the role of fluctuations is far less trivial (...) in systems far from equilibrium than in systems under thermodynamic equilibrium condi­ tions. It was found that random fluctuations often are a determining factor for the state adopted by macroscopic systems and cannot be regarded as secondary effects of minor importance. Further, nonequilibrium systems are also very sensitive to small systematic changes in their environment. The main aims of the workshop were: i) to provide scientists with an occasion to acquaint themselves with the state of the art in fluctuation theory and sensitivity analysis; ii) to provide a forum for the presentation of recent advances in theory and experiment; iii) to bring toge­ ther theoreticians and experimentalists in order to delineate the major open problems and to formulate strategies to tackle these problems. The organizing committee of the workshop consisted of W. Horsthemke, O. K. Konde­ pudi, G. Dewel, G. Nicolis, I. Prigogine and L. Reichl. (shrink)

I argue that de se attitudes pose a special problem for philosophical theories of attitudes. Attitude contents are supposed to play a role in characterizing agreement and are also supposed to play a role in the explanation of action. De se attitudes reveal that no single type of object can play both roles.

It is conventional to try to arrive at the Boltzmann principle and the Second Law starting with the laws of dynamics at the microscopic level. In this article the opposite view is presented: Starting with the Second Law, microscopic properties are derived. A classical result of Wien is developed into a general theorem, and the possibility of deriving the Boltzmann principle as a consequence of Carnot's theorem is discussed.

It is proved to be consistent relative to a measurable cardinal that there is a uniform ultrafilter on the real numbers which is generated by fewer than the maximum possible number of sets. It is also shown to be consistent relative to a supercompact cardinal that there is a uniform ultrafilter on \ which is generated by fewer than \ sets.

We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom.Are the smartest people also the wisest? Not necessarily. While traditional intellectual reasoning and procedural knowledge have helped build the communities we live in, there is a growing scientific understanding that we need emotionally balanced and better-fitting prosocial frameworks for coping with the uncertainties and complexities of life and addressing new challenges of the modern world. We are now poised on the edge of a new science of wisdom.The concept of wisdom, long (...) considered the “pinnacle of insight into the human condition”, has been that of an intangible, subjective, culturally specific entity—an unscientific... (shrink)

The objective of the present article is to support the idea that Machado de Assis’ work conforms well to what may be called a non-religious spirituality. For that, the article’s main focus is the analysis of the short story “O Segredo do Bonzo: Capítulo Inédito de Fernão Mendes Pinto”, published in 1882’s collection titled Papéis Avulsos, where the main principles of that spirituality, which is spread all over his work, are given in a nutshell. In a first moment, we analise (...) the intertextuality between Machado’s short story “O Segredo do Bonzo” and Portuguese Renaissance writer’s travelogue Peregrinação and the Machado’s nineteen century critique of the west’s main universalizing proposals: Christianity, scientificity and Enlightenment. In a second moment, we analise the philosophical implications of the primacy given to ‘opinion’ as an existential foundation and as a constitutive element of reality, in a context of close proximity with the soteriological traditions of ancient Greek skepticism, on the one hand, and Buddhism, on the other. A critic of religion, specially of Christian religion, Machado’s ‘accidental’ association with Buddhism is symptomatic of a very peculiar form of non-religious spirituality. (shrink)

This essay offers a proposal for how to understand the idea that there is a special connection between de se attitudes and the explanation of action.

Theories are conceptualized as predictors of phenomena using computable functions acting on prior world information. Formally, the concept of bounded prior world recursive function is defined and used as a candidate for a potential theory. An artificial world of fact is then constructed for which there exist two inconsistent best theories, in that they cannot be improved upon, and these theories are maximally inconsistent in that every best theory is a compromise. It is argued that in such a world the (...) scientific objective would be to find these maximally inconsistent theories. The construction is motivated as an attempt to illustrate the status of theory in the social sciences and in economics, in particular. (shrink)

The main result of this paper is an improvement of the upper bound on the cardinal invariant $cov^*(L_0)$ that was discovered in [11]. Here $L_0$ is the ideal of subsets of the set of natural numbers that have asymptotic density zero. This improved upper bound is also dualized to get a better lower bound on the cardinal $non^*(L_0)$. En route some variations on the splitting number are introduced and several relationships between these variants are proved.

Each of the three phrases-the revival of rhetoric, the new rhetoric, and the rhetorical turn-points to a rediscovery of rhetoric in contemporary thought. However, the scholarly work, motivation and commitments associated with each phrase invokes and puts into playa different notion of rhetoric. In this paper, I explore those differences with a view to showing how the "rhetorical turn," unlike the "revival of rhetoric" and the "new rhetoric," repositions rhetoric as a "metadiscipline." Thus, it signifies a radical shift in the (...) self-understanding of rhetoric. (shrink)

A case is made for supposing that the total probability accounted for in a decision analysis is less than unity. This is done by constructing a measure on the set of all codes for computable functions in such a way that the measure of every effectively accountable subset is bounded by a number <1. The consistency of these measures with the Savage axioms for rational preference is established. Implications for applied decision theory are outlined.

In this paper we describe the nature and problems of business and define one aspect of the business environment. We then propose a framework based on augmented soft systems methodology and object technology that captures both the soft and hard aspects of a business environment within the context of organisational culture. We also briefly discuss cognitive informatics and its relevance to understanding problems and solutions. Pólya's work, which is based around solving mathematical problems, is considered within the context of information (...) systems development. We propose a generic reusable business object model based on general systems theory. We also show how these approaches can be integrated to provide a strategy for understanding business problems and developing integrated solutions. (shrink)

We present a survey of some results and problems concerning constructions which require a diagonalization of length continuum to be carried out, particularly constructions of almost disjoint families of various sorts. We emphasize the role of cardinal invariants of the continuum and their combinatorial characterizations in such constructions.

This paper is about the relationship between two questions: the question of what the objects of assertion are and the question of how best to theorise about ‘shifty’ phenomena like modality and tense. I argue that the relationship between these two questions is less direct than is often supposed. I then explore the consequences of this for a number of debates in the philosophy of language.

This essay uses a puzzle about assertion and time to explore the pragmatics, semantics, and epistemology of future discourse. The puzzle concerns cases in which a subject is in a position to say, at an initial time t, that it will be that ϕ, but is not in a position to say, at a later time t′, that it is or was that ϕ, despite not losing or gaining any relevant evidence between t and t′. We consider a number of (...) approaches to the puzzle and defend the view that subjects in these cases lose knowledge simply by moving through time. (shrink)

This paper concerns two points of intersection between de se attitudes and the study of natural language: attitude ascription and communication. I first survey some recent work on the semantics of de se attitude ascriptions, with particular attention to ascriptions that are true only if the subject of the ascription has the appropriate de se attitude. I then examine – and attempt to solve – some problems concerning the role of de se attitudes in linguistic communication.

This essay introduces a puzzle about the interaction between quantifiers and epistemic modals. The puzzle motivates the idea that whether an object satisfies an epistemically modalized predicate depends on the mode of presentation of the domain of quantification. I compare two ways of implementing this idea, one using counterpart theory, the other using Aloni's 'conceptual covers' theory, and then provides some evidence in favor of the former.

We answer a question of Cummings and Magidor by proving that the P-ideal dichotomy of Todorčević refutes ${\square}_{\kappa, \omega}$ for any uncountable $\kappa$. We also show that the P-ideal dichotomy implies the failure of ${\square}_{\kappa, < \mathfrak{b}}$ provided that $cf(\kappa) > {\omega}_{1}$.

Counterfactual attitudes like imagining, dreaming, and wishing create a problem for the standard formal semantic theory of de re attitude ascriptions. I show how the problem can be avoided if we represent an agent's attitudinal possibilities using "multi-centered worlds", possible worlds with multiple distinguished individuals, each of which represents an individual with whom the agent is acquainted. I then present a compositional semantics for de re ascriptions according to which singular terms are "assignment-sensitive" expressions and attitude verbs are "assignment shifters".

The standard account of modal expressions in natural language analyzes them as quantifiers over a set of possible worlds determined by the evaluation world and an accessibility relation. A number of authors have recently argued for an alternative account according to which modals are analyzed as quantifying over a domain of possible worlds that is specified directly in the points of evaluation. But the new approach only handles the data motivating it if it is supplemented with a non-standard account of (...) attitude verbs and conditionals. It can be shown the the relational account handles the same data equally well if it too is supplemented with a non-standard account of such expressions. (shrink)

Simple taste predications come with an `acquaintance requirement': they require the speaker to have had a certain kind of first-hand experience with the object of predication. For example, if I tell you that the crème caramel is delicious, you would ordinarily assume that I have actually tasted the crème caramel and am not simply relying on the testimony of others. The present essay argues in favor of a lightweight expressivist account of the acquaintance requirement. This account consists of a recursive (...) semantics and an account of assertion; it is compatible with a number of different accounts of truth and content, including contextualism, relativism, and purer forms of expressivism. The principal argument in favor of this account is that it correctly predicts a wide range of data concerning how the acquaintance requirement interacts with Boolean connectives, generalized quantifiers, epistemic modals, and attitude verbs. (shrink)

We investigate some aspects of bounding, splitting, and almost disjointness. In particular, we investigate the relationship between the bounding number, the closed almost disjointness number, the splitting number, and the existence of certain kinds of splitting families.

This essay surveys some of the literature on "imagining oneself to be another," and offers a theory of the content of such imaginings.

ABSTRACT The objective of this article is to contribute to the understanding of Nāgārjuna's 'two truths' doctrine as presented in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. For that purpose, we argue that 'two truths' doctrine the basic structural framework for the operational functionality of upāya of upāya, perhaps the most important epistemological/pedagogical notion of Mahāyāna Buddhism. RESUMO O objetivo deste artigo é contribuir para a compreensão da doutrina das "duas verdades", tal como presente no Mūlamadhyamakakārikā de Nāgārjuna. Argumentamos, para tanto, que a doutrina das (...) "duas verdades" constitui o fundamento estrutural básico para a funcionalidade operacional do upāya, que é, talvez, a noção epistemológico-pedagógica mais importante do budismo Mahāyāna. (shrink)

According to one tradition in the philosophy of language and mind, the content of a psychological attitude can be characterized by a set of possibilities. On the classic version of this account, advocated by Hintikka (1962) and Stalnaker (1984) among others, the possibilities in question are possible worlds, ways the universe might be. Lewis (1979, 1983a) proposed an alternative to this account, according to which the possibilities in question are possible individuals or centered worlds, ways an individual might be. The (...) motivation for the centered worlds theory has primarily to do with self-locating – or de se – attitudes. The focus of this paper is on the less-discussed question of how other-locating – or de re – attitudes ought to be treated within this framework. Most advocates of what we might call the modal approach to attitudes, Stalnaker and Lewis included, offer some kind of descriptivist solution to the well-known problems that other-locating attitudes raise. There are intramural differences between Stalnaker, Lewis, and other modal theorists (e.g. two-dimensionalists) on a number of issues: on the precise nature of the descriptivism involved, how attitude content relates to the asserted content of the sentences we utter, and on the proper semantic treatment of attitude reports. I pass over these differences to focus on a problem common to these various approaches: all face a problem when it comes to characterizing the contents of counterfactual attitudes like imagining, dreaming, and wishing. (shrink)

Contributed research papers chiefly on Indic philosophy.

The deontic modal must has two surprising properties: an assertion of must p does not permit a denial of p, and must does not take past tense complements. I first consider an explanation of these phenomena that stays within Angelika Kratzer’s semantic framework for modals, and then offer some reasons for rejecting that explanation. I then propose an alternative account, according to which simple must sentences have the force of an imperative.

When one considers one's own persistence over time from the first-person perspective, it seems as if facts about one's persistence are "further facts," over and above facts about physical and psychological continuity. But the idea that facts about one's persistence are further facts is objectionable on independent theoretical grounds: it conflicts with physicalism and requires us to posit hidden facts about our persistence. This essay shows how to resolve this conflict using the idea that imagining from the first-person point of (...) view is a guide to centered possibility, a type of possibility analyzed in terms of centered worlds. (shrink)

Jeffrey King has recently argued: (i) that the semantic value of a sentence at a context is (or determines) a function from possible worlds to truth values, and (ii) that this undermines Jason Stanley's argument against the rigidity thesis, the claim that no rigid term has the same content as a non-rigid term. I show that King's main argument for (i) fails, and that Stanley's argument is consistent with the claim that the semantic value of a sentence at a context (...) is (or determines) a function from worlds to truth values. (shrink)

In this paper we shall try to understand what it is to beg the question, and since begging the question is generally believed to be linked with circularity, we shall also explore this relationship. Finally, we shall consider whether certain forms of valid argument can go through smoothly in anepistemio context without begging the question. We shall consider, especially, the claims of the disjunctive syllogism in this regard.

The distinct function of ātmanepada in Sanskrit language remains a sort of linguist mystery in Sanskrit studies. In this article, I analyze the larger implications and subliminal meaning of ātmanepada by moving beyond the realm of linguistics, which has been the dominant approach, and entering the territory of philosophy and, more specifically, the purportful approach of traditional Indian philosophy of language represented by Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya. Bhartṛhari’s analytical procedure seeks to unveil the ontological interdependence that binds together the constituent elements of (...) linguistic sentences, understood as modal appearances of the ever present foundational ground of the world/word—Brahman as Vāc. This is our referential guide to the semantic reconstruction of ātmanepada’s teleology. (shrink)

A intervenção histórica de Jung constitui, em nossa opinião, uma proposta de revitalização, na modernidade, de uma filosofia soteriológica que se ancora, estrategicamente, no contexto disciplinar de uma “psicologia científica”. Enquanto “clínica da meia-idade” ou “clínica da individuação”, o modelo que mais diretamente inspira a psicologia analítica de Jung é o athanasius pharmakon dos antigos - a “medicina da imortalidade”. Seu arcabouço conceitual, ao invés de uma teoria científica de pretensões universalizantes, consagra-se como linguagem-força que estrutura e sustenta, no Ocidente (...) moderno, uma reflexão dialógica e conversacional analista-analisando, comprometida com a eliminação sistemática dos “invólucros falsos” que encobrem o Si-Mesmo e com a realização de uma verdade existencialmente transformadora que promove, em definitivo, a plenitude existencial. Para sustentar essa linha interpretativa, fazemos recurso à doutrina indiana dos Puruṣārthas, em especial ao processo de transição entre dharma e mokṣa. (shrink)

Razão e Devoção no Advaita Vedānta: Madhusūdana Sarasvatī e o Bhagavad Gītā 1 Resumo: O artigo tem por objetivo empreender a análise dos princípios constitutivos da práxis devocional proposta pelo Bhagavad Gītā, segundo a interpretação do filósofo Madhusūdana Sarasvatī. Excelso representante do Advaita Vedānta, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī buscou incorporar as práticas devocionais à epistemologia tradicional da escola, centrada num exercício radical de reflexão racional, em sintonia com os ensinamentos do filósofo fundador Śaṅkarācārya. Devoto inarredável de Kṛṣṇa, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī cumpriu sua tarefa (...) filosófica em meio a uma interlocução fascinante com a escola Acintyabhedābheda Vedānta, fundada por Caitanya Mahāprabhu, de orientação predominantemente devocionalista vaiṣṇava.Palavras-chave: Devoção. Bhakti. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī. Bhagavad Gītā. Vedānta. Reason and Devotion in Advaita Vedānta: Madhusūdana Sarasvatī and the Bhagavad Gītā: The article aims to undertake the analysis of the constitutive principles of devotional praxis proposed by the Bhagavad Gītā, in accordance with philosopher Madhusūdana Sarasvatī’s interpretation. A great representative of Advaita Vedānta, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī sought to incorporate devotional practices into the school’s traditional epistemology, centered around a radical exercise of rational reflection, in line with the teachings of philosopher and founder Śaṅkarācārya. A great devotee of Kṛṣṇa, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī fulfilled his philosophical task in the midst of a fascinating dialogue with the school Acintyabhedābheda Vedānta, founded by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, of a predominant vaiṣṇava devotionalist orientation. Key-words: Devotion. Bhakti. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī. Bhagavad Gītā. Vedānta. Raison et Dévotion dans Advaita Vedānta: Madhusūdana Sarasvatī et la Bhagavad Gītā Résumé: L'article vise à entreprendre l'analyse des principes constitutifs de la praxis dévotionnelle proposée par le Bhagavad Gītā, selon l'interprétation du philosophe Madhusūdana Sarasvatī. Représentant notable d'Advaita Vedānta, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī a cherché à incorporer les pratiques de dévotion dans l'épistémologie traditionnelle de son école, centrée sur un exercice radical de réflexion rationnelle, conformément aux enseignements du philosophe fondateur Śaṅkarācārya. Un ardent dévot de Kṛṣṇa, Madhusūdana Sarasvatī a accompli sa tâche philosophique au milieu d'un dialogue fascinant avec l'école Acintyabhedābheda Vedānta, fondée par Caitanya Mahāprabhu, et dont l’ orientation est principalement dévotionnelle vaiṣṇava. Mots clés: Dévotion. Bhakti. Madhusūdana Sarasvatī. Bhagavad Gītā. Vedānta. Data de registro: 30/07/2020 Data de aceite: 21/10/2020 1 As palavras transliteradas do sânscrito seguem as normas do International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration. Todas as traduções de originais em sânscritos foram feitas pelo autor. (shrink)