Porosity is considered as one of the most important indicators for the characterization of the comprehensive performance of thermal barrier coatings. In this study, the ultrasonic technique and the artificial neural network optimized with the genetic algorithm are combined to develop an intelligent method for automatic detection and accurate prediction of TBCs’s porosity. A series of physical models of plasma-sprayed ZrO2 coating are established with a thickness of 288 μm and porosity varying from 5.71% to 26.59%, and the (...) ultrasonic reflection coefficient amplitude spectrum is constructed based on the time-domain numerical simulation signal. The characteristic features f 1, f 2, A max, Δ A of the URCAS, which are highly dependent on porosity, are extracted as input data to train the GA_BPNN model for predicting the unknown porosity. The average error of the prediction results is 1.45%, which suggests that the proposed method can achieve accurate detection and quantitative characterization of the porosity of TBCs with complex pore morphology. (shrink)

In this paper I will defend the incapacity of the informational frameworks in thermal physics, mainly those that historically and conceptually derive from the work of Brillouin (1962) and Jaynes (1957a), to robustly explain the approach of certain gaseous systems to their state of thermal equilibrium from the dynamics of their molecular components. I will further argue that, since their various interpretative, conceptual and technical-formal resources (e.g. epistemic interpretations of probabilities and entropy measures, identification of thermal entropy (...) as Shannon information, and so on) are shown to be somehow incoherent, inconsistent or inaccurate, these informational proposals need to 'epistemically parasitize' the manifold of theoretical resources of Boltzmann's and Gibbs' statistical mechanics, respectively, in order to properly account for the equilibration process of an ideal gas from its microscopic properties. Finally, our conclusion leads us to adopt a sort of constructive skepticism regarding the explanatory value of the main informationalist trends in statistical thermophysics. (shrink)

The focus of the paper is the comparison between the two composite aluminum panels, respectively Alpolic and Durabond. The paper is going to explore their reaction when interacting with Tirana`s climatological factors and their tension strength through an experiment, in order to find out which panel displays the best performance. The construction urge is constantly evolving, especially in Tirana mostly because it is the main industrial and economical district of Albania. It is distinguished that innovative technology is being used in (...) facades of the new buildings. One of the features that finds massive use in façade coating in the city is the application of ventilated facades equipped with external aluminum composite panels. This paper is going to deal with two buildings with different typologies of external coating, including the different types of aluminum panels. The analysis will focus on identifying each panel property such as tension strength; their respond to various external factors; their thermal conductivity; and their manufacturing companies which have been selected and produced. Within this paper graphics displays of the records will be included, offering concentrated information and a high level of reliability for both aluminum composite panels. (shrink)

In the history of science, the birth of classical chemistry and thermodynamics produced an anomaly within Newtonian mechanical paradigm: force and acceleration were no longer citizens of new cited sciences. Scholars tried to reintroduce them within mechanistic approaches, as the case of the kinetic gas theory. Nevertheless, Thermodynamics, in general, and its Second Law, in particular, gradually affirmed their role of dominant not-reducible cognitive paradigms for various scientific disciplines: more than twenty formulations of Second Law—a sort of indisputable intellectual wealth—are (...) conceived after 1824 Sadi Carnot’s original statement and a multitude of entropy functions are proposed after 1865 Clausius’ former definition. Furthermore, at the end of nineteenth century, thermodynamics extended its cognitive domain to chemistry. Mainly thanks to Gibbs, a brand new discipline—chemical thermodynamics or physical chemistry—gradually affirmed its role inside the scientific community. This paper reports the former results of collaborative research program in the History and Epistemology of Science as well as Nature of Science Teaching aimed at retracing the foundations of the physical chemistry. Specifically, the research is structured in three parts: historical-epistemic reflections on fundamental thermodynamic concepts and principles—such as reversible process, heat, temperature, thermal equilibrium and Clausius’ Second Law—that play a structural role inside modern physical chemistry; panoramic overview on the entropy, whose polysemy makes it one of the most demanding concepts for scholars, teachers and students while approaching thermodynamics; conceptualization of chemical equilibrium as complex entity according to the dual epistemological approach offered by Gibbs’ thermodynamic model and the kinetic standpoint by Guldberg and Waage. In particular, the present work details an original reading of thermodynamic principles with the aim of setting forth a rationalized multidisciplinary substrate whereon the foundational concepts of reversible process and thermal equilibrium can be set. (shrink)

In the history of science, the birth of classical chemistry and thermodynamics produced an anomaly within Newtonian mechanical paradigm: force and acceleration were no longer citizens of new cited sciences. Scholars tried to reintroduce them within mechanistic approaches, as the case of the kinetic gas theory. Nevertheless, Thermodynamics, in general, and its Second Law, in particular, gradually affirmed their role of dominant not-reducible cognitive paradigms for various scientific disciplines: more than twenty formulations of Second Law—a sort of indisputable intellectual wealth—are (...) conceived after 1824 Sadi Carnot’s original statement and a multitude of entropy functions are proposed after 1865 Clausius’ former definition. Furthermore, at the end of nineteenth century, thermodynamics extended its cognitive domain to chemistry. Mainly thanks to Gibbs, a brand new discipline—chemical thermodynamics or physical chemistry—gradually affirmed its role inside the scientific community. This paper reports the former results of collaborative research program in the History and Epistemology of Science as well as Nature of Science Teaching aimed at retracing the foundations of the physical chemistry. Specifically, the research is structured in three parts: historical-epistemic reflections on fundamental thermodynamic concepts and principles—such as reversible process, heat, temperature, thermal equilibrium and Clausius’ Second Law—that play a structural role inside modern physical chemistry; panoramic overview on the entropy, whose polysemy makes it one of the most demanding concepts for scholars, teachers and students while approaching thermodynamics; conceptualization of chemical equilibrium as complex entity according to the dual epistemological approach offered by Gibbs’ thermodynamic model and the kinetic standpoint by Guldberg and Waage. In particular, the present work details an original reading of thermodynamic principles with the aim of setting forth a rationalized multidisciplinary substrate whereon the foundational concepts of reversible process and thermal equilibrium can be set. (shrink)

The quantum corrections related to the ideal gas model often considered are those associated to the bosonic or fermionic nature of particles. However, in this work, other kinds of corrections related to the quantum nature of phase space are highlighted. These corrections are introduced as improvements in the expression of the partition function of an ideal gas. Then corrected thermodynamics properties of the ideal gas are deduced. Both the non-relativistic quantum and relativistic quantum cases are considered. It is shown that (...) the corrections in the non-relativistic quantum case may be particularly useful to describe the deviation from the Maxwell–Boltzmann model at low temperature and/or in confined space. These corrections can be considered as including the description of quantum size and shape effects. For the relativistic quantum case, the corrections could be relevant for confined space and when the thermal energy of each particle is comparable to their rest energy. The corrections appear mainly as modifications in the thermodynamic equation of state and in the expressions of the partition function and thermodynamic functions like entropy, internal energy and free energy. Expressions corresponding to the Maxwell–Boltzmann model are shown to be asymptotic limits of the corrected expressions. (shrink)

The energy conversion units and energy storage equipment connected to the multi-energy system are becoming diversified, and the uncertain factors brought by distributed wind power and photovoltaic power generation make the system energy flow structure more complex, which brings great difficulties to the modeling and application of traditional energy hub modeling methods. This study deeply analyzes the multi-energy flow coupling structure and operation mechanism of multi-energy systems, and carries out the power flow calculation and analysis of multi-energy systems based on (...) an energy hub, so as to ensure the safe and stable operation of regional energy. Based on the physical characteristics of energy systems such as power systems, thermal systems, and gas systems, this article studies the comprehensive power flow model including the electric-gas-thermal multi-energy coupling network and proposes the power flow decomposition of the energy supply subsystem and its applicable equation based on Newton–Raphson method. The effectiveness of the proposed method under different operation modes is verified by case studies. The calculation results show that under constant load, the energy hub running in fixing thermal by electricity and fixing electricity by thermal mode has little influence on the voltage of each node in the power sub-network. Within the constraint range, the natural gas flow obtained from the natural gas subsystem is coupled with the power subsystem to meet the load demand. The influence on the power flow at each node of the heat network is not obvious. (shrink)

Foundational puzzles surround gravitational thermal physics—a realm in which stars are treated as akin to molecules in a gas. Whether such an enterprise is successful and the domain of thermal physics extends beyond our terrestrial sphere is disputed. There are successes and paradoxical features. Callender :960–981, 2011) advocates reconciling the two sides of the dispute by taking a broader view of thermodynamics. Here I argue for an alternative position: if we are careful in distinguishing statistical mechanics and thermodynamics, (...) then no reconciliation is required. Both sides can live in harmony because whilst statistical mechanics applies, thermodynamics does not. This state of affairs—the applicability of statistical mechanics without the emergence of thermodynamic behaviour—can be explained in terms of an infamous infinite idealisation: the thermodynamic limit. (shrink)

Climate has a strong influence on urban planning and also plays a fundamental role in soil composition affecting the character of plants and animals. The climate is a combination of different meteorological factors that characterized a specific region over a specific time. The movement of the Sun and Earth inclination toward it is the most important factors which determine the characteristics of the climate. The global movement of the air from equator toward poles and vice versa influences also drastically the (...) climate change. In this section are also included breezes. Also air relative humidity plays an important role shaping the climate. It plays a very important role in cloud formation. The built environment can influence the urban climate of the city through height, form, and applied building materials. Building form and shape, building materials, openings in the façade, and their orientation often are determined by climate parameters. Urban density, directions, and street network and their shape are related to the climate change, apart from topography. Density of urban structures produces important effects on the microclimatic conditions in external spaces. The bioclimatic behavior of each type of outdoor spaces depends on the relationship with its surrounding elements. The city of Tirana is included in Mediterranean climate characterized by hot dry summers and mild cold wet winters with high daily thermal excursions. All of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea benefit from the Mediterranean climate. Specifically spotted, Tirana is part of Mediterranean coastal zone (<22 °C in temperature) with an annual temperature of 15.3 °C. In the inner city can be found areas with high pollution, which normally contain a high percentage of business and industry, settlements, and traffic, so-called “sealed” areas. They constitute “hyperthermic areas” or “heat islands”. The term “heat island” describes built-up areas which are hotter than nearby rural areas. Heat islands can affect communities by increasing summertime peak energy demand, air-conditioning costs, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness and mortality, and water quality. The aim of the bioclimatic design is also the reduction of the heat-island phenomenon. The use of materials with different energy absorption capabilities and integration of green spaces into urban life is important. The vegetation effects on microclimate and in the built environment are present. Trees are necessary and indispensable to human life. They provide shelter for us, provide food, and their fibers cloth us. Implementation of the green belts in the city is one of the strategies in order to reduce heat-island effect. Vegetation also can provide a deep feeling of attachment to certain places and trees which are part of it. The use of trees avoids monotony and ensures diversification. They play a crucial role creating microclimates which influence the thermal comfort of people reducing heating or cooling loads. Vegetation also creates cooler microclimates around the building through evapotranspiration, reduces wind speed, regulates humidity, and reduces temperature. It is observed that tree species have a greater influence on humidity than on temperature. Trees can also absorb and reduce the reverberation time of the sound, behaving as sound buffers. The benefits of tree plantation in the inner city are enormous and they can’t be neglected. (shrink)

Sheehan and coworkers have claimed [D. P. Sheehan et al., Found. Phys. 30, 1227 ; 32, 441 ; D. P. Sheehan, in Quantum Limits to the Second Law, AIP Conference Proceedings 643, p. 391] that a dilute gas trapped between an external shell and a gravitator can support a steady state in which energy flux by particles in one direction is balanced by energy flux by radiation in the opposite direction, and in which work can be extracted from an isothermal (...) heat reservoir, thereby violating the second law of thermodynamics. In this paper, we identify a fundamental error in their simulation and analysis of their model system that vitiates their conclusions. We analyze a simpler, exactly soluble, three-dimensional model of a very dilute gas in a gravitational field between two thermal reservoirs, and show that their conclusions are not supported for the simple model. We show that their method of simulation, when applied to either the simple model or their more complex model under simpler conditions where the answers are known, leads to unphysical results. We also show that, when appropriate sampling is done, their model gives results in accord with the second law and detailed balance. (shrink)

In the Sahara, there is a species of silver ants with coats precisely calibrated to adapt to the harsh landscape around them. Their tiny radiant armor is made of triangular, reflective hairs on their midsection that dissipate heat through thermal radiation, thus enabling them to survive in the greater than 150 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures during the twenty minutes or so each day when they leave their nests. By midcentury such examples of extreme adaptation may have increasing significance for us. (...) How we are able to become constituents of a broader landscape will gain more relevance as the earth warms and its population reaches the nine billion mark. Our deeply held values about individuality may even become... (shrink)

The paper reviews the basics of development and implementation of the debt policy of Ukraine, outlines its formation principles and establishes requirements to normative legal documents which specify administrative measures in the field of the public debt. The research conducted shows that the main normative legal documents which govern activities of state administration bodies responsible for the debt policy implementation are the State Budget and the Program for State Debt Management of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. An analysis of (...) the structure of the above documents and ensuing governmental regulations of Ukraine indicates that the national debt policy is not a separate link of the public financial administration, it is shaped subsequent to the results of managerial decisions in the field of monetary relations, changes in the taxation system, operation of the efficiency control system of national taxes, the government deficit level, impacts of foreign economic factors etc. It is proved that debt operations in Ukraine are becoming a factor of economic risk for the state budget whereas the debt budget itself is becoming a destabilization factor. The budgetary policy of Ukraine, which is primarily aimed at maximization of tax collection, results in distortion of the public finance system and aggravates the economic status of numerous industries. The public debt service expenses are however still increasing and require public borrowings which keep growing year by year. The author indicates that the most unsuccessful decisions of the national leadership, which brought about a higher public debt, are the issue of internal public bonds for capitalization of the Privatbank PJSC in 2017 and poor state control over quasi-fiscal operations which may result in default of national Compulsory Social Insurance Funds on their obligations, accumulation of debts on VAT refund, remission of dead tax debts, instalment payment and deferral of money liabilities or tax debts of taxpayers, attraction of sovereign credits by resident economic entities, debt restructuring of such entities with public guarantees, supply of natural gas to heat-and-power engineering companies for generation of thermal energy at preferential prices, accrued receivables of the National Joint-Stock Company 'Naftogaz Ukrainy' for sale of natural gas to the population and heat-and-power engineering companies. (shrink)

This case is designed to help students analyze decision making from various ethical perspectives and to use stakeholder analysis. The case perspective is that of the CEO of Degussa AG, a multispecialty chemical company, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. Degussa is considering whether to submit a bid to supply its anti-graffiti coating, Protectosil ® , for a new Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe being planned for Berlin. Degussa’s ethical dilemma is that a former Degussa subsidiary, Degesch, manufactured and supplied (...) the Zyklon B nerve gas used by the Nazis to kill Jews in the concentration camps during World War II. Although Degussa has made attempts both to acknowledge and to atone for its war-time Nazi collaboration, public disclosure of its bid has the potential to engulf Degussa in controversy when activists and Jewish leaders learn of it. Students are asked to evaluate the bid’s benefits and costs to Degussa’s stakeholders, to consider the relevance of a company’s historical legacy to contemporary decision making, and to explore how German corporate history during and after the Holocaust has parallels to human rights issues in other countries. (shrink)

The structure of the thermal equilibrium state of a weakly interacting Bose gas is of current interest. We calculate the density matrix of that state in two ways. The most effective method, in terms of yielding a simple, explicit answer, is to construct a generating function within the traditional framework of quantum statistical mechanics. The alternative method, arguably more interesting, is to construct the thermal state as a vector state in an artificial system with twice as many degrees (...) of freedom. It is well known that this construction has an actual physical realization in the quantum thermodynamics of black holes, where the added degrees of freedom correspond to the second sheet of the Kruskal manifold and the thermal vector state is a state of the Unruh or the Hartle–Hawking type. What is unusual about the present work is that the Bogolubov transformation used to construct the thermal state combines in a rather symmetrical way with Bogolubov's original transformation of the same form, used to implement the interaction of the nonideal gas in linear approximation. In addition to providing a density matrix, the method makes it possible to calculate efficiently certain expectation values directly in terms of the thermal vector state of the doubled system. (shrink)

The author discusses the position of coat in the energetic future of Belgium.The report of the «Commission des Sages» has carefully studied only the problem of the applications of nuclear energy.During the next century, the energy of all origins wilt be used. The future must not be mortgaged by putting forward solutions which bring only marginal contributions.The actual reserves of coat in Belgium and in the world are enormous. In 2000, only 2 % of these reserves wilt be consumed.There is (...) enough coat in the world to cover the energetic needs during several centuries.The use of Belgian or imported coat to produce electricity induces to study simultaneously the development of a modern carbochemistry which will progressively replace petroleum and gas by the manufacture of substituted gas and motor fuel.Methanol is the car motor-fuel for the future. Coat underground pressurised gasification shows interesting views for the upgrading of deep seams and of those who are not exploitable because of their small thickness.A sequence based on the production of electricity from high volatile coat, previously distilled at low temperature is proposed. This sequence allows a progressive and immediate development of a carbochemical industry in Belgium without important investments. (shrink)

There is a paradox in the standard model of cosmology. How can matter in the early universe have been in thermal equilibrium, indicating maximum entropy, but the initial state also have been low entropy (the “past hypothesis"), so as to underpin the second law of thermodynamics? The problem has been highly contested, with the only consensus being that gravity plays a role in the story, but with the exact mechanism undecided. In this paper, we construct a well-defined mechanical model (...) to study this paradox. We show how it reproduces the salient features of standard big-bang cosmology with surprising success, and we use it to produce novel results on the statistical mechanics of a gas in an expanding universe. We conclude with a discussion of potential uses of the model, including the explicit computation of the time-dependent coarse-grained entropies needed to investigate the past hypothesis. (shrink)

Based on three earlier papers which treat electromagnetic, elastogravitational, and radiant-nonradiant thermal phenomena in terms of six types of electric or nonelectric charges, the authors classify states of matter as hyperefficient, efficient, semiefficient, and hypoefficient in transmitting a particular type of charge, by means of a generalization of Ohm's law to two or three dimensions. Conventional states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, vacuum) are associated with torsional (gravitational) charges. Applications are made to electric superconductivity of crystals at elevated temperatures, (...) and to frequency shift (gravitational red shift, Lamb shift, and Zeeman and Stark effects). (shrink)

Pictet’s experiment was front and center in the 18th/19th century debate concerning whether heat is a wave, or a particle. Pictet’s experiment is best understood by realizing that thermal radiation energy plays a significant role in heat transfer. It is argued that this readily ignored experiment should have long ago alerted us to issues concerning our understanding of thermodynamics. This questions the rationale behind modern statistical thermodynamics, which describes all of a gaseous system’s energy purely in terms of the (...) kinematics of that system’s gas. Not only is the philosophy of statistical mechanics now questioned but so too are those associated with entropy and its mathematical accomplice the second law. After raising questions, a simpler explanation as to what is witnessed will be discussed. An explanation that relegates statistical mechanics to a valid approximation for sufficiently dilute closed systems of gas, such as those often used in experiments. An explanation that remains void of the mathematical simplifications that statistical mechanics provides. Ultimately, the accepted epistemology of our sciences will be verbally challenged. (shrink)

My life as a quantum physicist / M. Nakahara -- A review on operator quantum error correction - Dedicated to Professor Mikio Nakahara on the occasion of his 60th birthday / C.-K. Li, Y.-T. Poon and N.-S. Sze -- Implementing measurement operators in linear optical and solid-state qubits / Y. Ota, S. Ashhab and F. Nori -- Fast and accurate simulation of quantum computing by multi-precision MPS: Recent development / A. Saitoh -- Entanglement properties of a quantum lattice-gas model on (...) square and triangular ladders / S. Tanaka, R. Tamura and H. Katsura -- On signal amplification from weak-value amplification / Y. Shikano -- Topological protection of quantum information / K. Fujii -- Quantum annealing with antiferromagnetic fluctuations for mean-field models / Y. Seki and H. Nishimori -- A method to change phase transition nature - Toward annealing methods / R. Tamura and S. Tanaka -- Computational analysis of the first stage of the photosynthetic system, the light-dependent reaction, by quantum chemical simulation method / M. Tada-Umezaki -- Two-qubit gate operation on selected nearest neighboring qubits in a neutral atom quantum computer / E. Hosseini Lapasar... [et al.] -- A simple operator quantum error correction scheme avoiding fully correlated errors / C. Bagnasco, Y. Kondo and M. Nakahara -- Black hole predictability, classical and quantum / A. Ishibashi -- Classical field simulation of finite-temperature Bose gases / T. Sato -- Atomic quantum simulations of lattice gauge theory: Effect of gauge symmetry breaking / K. Kasamatsu, I. Ichinose and T. Matsui -- Recursive construction of noiseless subsystem for qudits / U. Gungordu... [et al.] -- Composite quantum gates for precise quantum control / M. Bando... [et al.] -- New formulation of statistical mechanics using thermal pure quantum states / S. Sugiura and A. Shimizu -- Thermodynamics in unitary time evolution / T. N. Ikeda -- Second law of thermodynamics with QC-mutual information / T. Sagawa. (shrink)

This case explores the ethical dilemmas faced by Wolfgang Thierse and other board members of the Memorial Foundation for the Murdered Jews of Europe. They must decide whether Degussa AG, a memorial subcontractor, can continue working on the memorial, despite Swiss andGerman media reports that a former subsidiary of Degussa’s, named Degesch, manufactured and supplied the nerve gas that killed Jews and other individuals in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The board’s decision is complicated by negative publicity the memorial has received, (...) by the fact that Degussa has already applied its anti-graffiti coating to some of the pillars that form the memorial’s main design, and by questions of whether the board exercised due diligence when Degussa was originally proposed as a project subcontractor. Students are asked to help Thierse reach a personal decision about Degussa’s continued participation and, in his role as board chair, formulate a discussion strategy for the upcoming, potentially volatile board meeting. (shrink)

This case explores the ethical dilemmas faced by Wolfgang Thierse and other board members of the Memorial Foundation for the Murdered Jews of Europe. They must decide whether Degussa AG, a memorial subcontractor, can continue working on the memorial, despite Swiss andGerman media reports that a former subsidiary of Degussa’s, named Degesch, manufactured and supplied the nerve gas that killed Jews and other individuals in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The board’s decision is complicated by negative publicity the memorial has received, (...) by the fact that Degussa has already applied its anti-graffiti coating to some of the pillars that form the memorial’s main design, and by questions of whether the board exercised due diligence when Degussa was originally proposed as a project subcontractor. Students are asked to help Thierse reach a personal decision about Degussa’s continued participation and, in his role as board chair, formulate a discussion strategy for the upcoming, potentially volatile board meeting. (shrink)

A statistical mechanical treatment is given of thermal contact between two systems. Reciprocal temperature emerges from this as the relative change in the number of microscopic states a macroscopic system at equilibrium ranges over, at constant volume and chemical composition, with change in internal energy. The significance of this is discussed in detail with reference to a monatomic gas and an Einstein solid.

Jacob Bekenstein's identification of black hole event horizon area with entropy proved to be a landmark in theoretical physics. In this paper we trace the subsequent development of the resulting generalized second law of thermodynamics (GSL), especially its extension to incorporate cosmological event horizons. In spite of the fact that cosmological horizons do not generally have well-defined thermal properties, we find that the GSL is satisfied for a wide range of models. We explore in particular the case of an (...) asymptotically de Sitter universe filled with a gas of small black holes as a means of casting light on the relative entropic ‘worth’ of black hole versus cosmological horizon area. We present some numerical solutions of the generalized total entropy as a function of time for certain cosmological models, in all cases confirming the validity of the GSL. (shrink)

Aberrations -- Absorption -- Accuracy and precision -- Alpha radiation -- Amplitude -- Angular forces -- Angular momentum -- Antenna -- Arago dot -- Aperture -- Archimedes's principle -- Band theory of solids -- Bernoulli's principle -- Beta radiation -- Blackbody radiation -- Bohr atom -- Bose condensation -- Bra-ket notation -- British thermal unit (BTU) -- Calculating system efficiency -- Circular motion -- Closed systems and isolated systems -- Concave and convex -- Conservation of charge -- Conservation of (...) energy -- Convection and conduction -- Cosmic radiation -- Crest and trough -- Density and specific gravity -- Diode -- Distance and area -- Distortion -- Doppler effect -- Dynamic systems theory -- Edison effect -- Eigenvectors -- Elastic and inelastic collisions -- Electric circuits: Parallel vs series, diagrams and components -- Electric potential -- Energy and power -- Enthalpy -- Entropy -- Euler's laws of motion -- Falling bodies and physics -- Faraday's law -- Feynman diagrams -- Flywheel -- Focal point -- Free body diagram -- Frequency -- Gamma radiation -- Gauss's law -- Gluon -- Gravitational potential energy -- Harmonic oscillator -- Harmonics -- Heisenberg uncertainty principle -- Higgs boson -- Horsepower -- Ideal gas law -- Joule --. (shrink)

In this paper I explore graded attributions of blameworthiness—that is, judgments of the general sort, "A is more blameworthy for x-ing than B is," or "A is less blameworthy for her character than B is." In so doing, I aim to provide a philosophical basis for the widespread, if not completely articulate, practice of altering the degree to which we hold others responsible on the basis of facts about them or facts about their environments. To vindicate this practice, I disambiguate (...) several related properties and identify the properties of being more blameworthy for an action with a complex set of relations between what an agent deserves for her action and how good it is from the point of view of desert that she receives that response. (shrink)

Discussions about the nature of essence and about the inference problem for non-Humean theories of nomic modality have largely proceeded independently of each other. In this article I argue that the right conclusions to draw about the inference problem actually depend significantly on how best to understand the nature of essence. In particular, I argue that this conclusion holds for the version of the inference problem developed and defended by Alexander Bird. I argue that Bird’s own argument that this problem (...) is fatal for David Armstrong’s influential theory of the laws of nature but not for dispositional essentialism is seriously flawed. In place of this argument, I develop an argument that whether Bird’s inference problem raises serious difficulties for Armstrong’s theory depends on the answers to substantial questions about how best to understand essence. The key consequence is that considerations about the nature of essence have significant, underappreciated implications for Armstrong’s theory. (shrink)

What is it to blame someone, and when are would-be blamers in a position to do so? What function does blame serve in our lives, and is it a valuable way of relating to one another? The essays in this volume explore answers to these and related questions.

Plato’s references to Empedocles in the myth of the Statesman perform a crucial role in the overarching political argument of the dialogue. Empedocles conceives of the cosmos as structured like a democracy, where the constituent powers ‘rule in turn’, sharing the offices of rulership equally via a cyclical exchange of power. In a complex act of philosophical appropriation, Plato takes up Empedocles’ cosmic cycles of rule in order to ‘correct’ them: instead of a democracy in which rule is shared cyclically (...) amongst equal constituents, Plato’s cosmos undergoes cycles of the presence and absence of a single cosmic monarch who possesses ‘kingly epistēmē’. By means of a revision of Empedocles’ democratic cosmology, Plato’s richly woven myth is designed precisely to reject the appropriateness of democracy as a form of human political association and legitimate monarchy in its stead. (shrink)

Despite widespread agreement that ambivalence precludes agency “at its best,” in this paper I argue that ambivalence as such is no threat to one’s agency. In particular, against “unificationists” like Harry Frankfurt I argue that failing to be fully integrated as an agent, lacking purity of heart, or being less than wholehearted in one’s choices, tells us nothing about whether an agent’s will is properly functioning. Moreover, it will turn out that in many common circumstances, wholeheartedness with respect to some (...) motive or course of action is itself a defect in an agent’s will. (shrink)

On Gandhian philosophy, socialism, and communism.

The question in philosophy of whether History is a Science is rather like the question in Politics of the expediency of a Channel Tunnel: it is one which provides a perennial subject for debate, there is no indication that it will ever be decided one way or the other, and it does not after all seem to matter much even if it never is decided; we can get along well enough by neglecting it altogether. One might argue indeed that the (...) dispute is not much more than a matter of words, of the intension and extension of terms. It is evident that the method and aim of the historian differ widely from those of the physicist, and on the other hand resemble closely those of the geologist. Why trouble to go splitting hairs? (shrink)

Last year the B.B.C. arranged for certain eminent men to broadcast their Points of View to the public. The result was a most interesting series of talks; but for the sceptical philosopher the series was chiefly entertaining for its brilliantly illustrating the old tag: quot homines, tot sententiæ. One was struck not merely by the discrepancy of opinion, but by how each speaker was ‘true to type': the biologist, the physicist with a taste for spiritualism, the Christian Platonist, and the (...) rest—each spoke his part and told of a world built according to his own particular measuring-rod. (shrink)