Invertebrate animals are frequently lumped into a single category and denied welfare protections despite their considerable cognitive, behavioral, and evolutionary diversity. Some ethical and policy inroads have been made for cephalopod molluscs and crustaceans, but the vast majority of arthropods, including the insects, remain excluded from moral consideration. We argue that this exclusion is unwarranted given the existing evidence. Anachronistic readings of evolution, which view invertebrates as lower in the scala naturae, continue to influence public policy and common morality. The (...) assumption that small brains are unlikely to support cognition or sentience likewise persists, despite growing evidence that arthropods have converged on cognitive functions comparable to those found in vertebrates. The exclusion of invertebrates is also motivated by cognitive-affective biases that covertly influence moral judgment, as well as a flawed balancing of scientific uncertainty against moral risk. All these factors shape moral attitudes toward basal vertebrates too, but they are particularly acute in the arthropod context. Moral consistency dictates that the same standards of evidence and risk management that justify policy protections for vertebrates also support extending moral consideration to certain invertebrates. Moving beyond a vertebrate-centered conception of welfare can also clarify foundational moral concepts in their own right. (shrink)

The question "Where do we come from?" has fascinated philosophers, scientists, and artists for generations. This book reorients the question of the matrix as a place where everything comes from (_chora_, womb, incubator) by recasting it in terms of acts of "matrixial/maternal hospitality" producing space and matter of and for the other. Irina Aristarkhova theorizes such hospitality with the potential to go beyond tolerance in understanding self/other relations. Building on and critically evaluating a wide range of historical and contemporary (...) scholarship, she applies this theoretical framework to the science, technology, and art of ectogenesis (artificial womb, neonatal incubators, and other types of generation outside of the maternal body) and proves the question "Can the machine nurse?" is critical when approaching and understanding the functional capacities and failures of incubating technologies, such as artificial placenta. Aristarkhova concludes with the science and art of male pregnancy, positioning the condition as a question of the hospitable man and newly defined fatherhood and its challenge to the conception of masculinity as unable to welcome the other. (shrink)

The paper looks into one branch of Ukrainian economy - the food industry. It is established that marketing activities of food industry companies have some specific features, namely mismatching of an agricultural performance period and production time; a perishable nature of products, which necessitates tight time frames of storage and sales; production focus on the direct consumer; a high level of materials consumption of products released, which requires a large quantity of feedstock as well as high qualification skills and expertise (...) from workers. The activity of a domestic bakery is described. It is determined that the complexity of its production processes and increased information flows requiring in-line processing for acquisition of appropriate data served as a basis for introduction of the special 'Marketing' software by its Marketing Department. The conducted analysis of the information product allowed to establish that the user of the above software maintains routine accounting and control of product supplies. To that end, information is processed, parameters related to production and supplies analyzed. The software significantly improves operational efficiency owing to an increased number of accountable factors and reduced decision making time. That bundled software however makes no provisions for development of a unified integrated management system, which reduces the company operating efficiency. It is established that to date there are many information systems available for food production automation, the Oracle E-Business Suite-based technology, developed by TopS BI, among them. It was offered for application at the food enterprise in question. The above system allows to automate production planning and management processes at various levels: from daily shop planning and management with step-by-step product quality control to scaled-up calendar planning of production, including that for a group of enterprises. (shrink)

The new social reality of the end of twentieth century has created the need to reexamine our social theories. This paper is devoted to the methodological andtheoretical aspects of a new paradigm for social philosophy. The author formulates the main features of the paradigm: restricted rationalism, pluralism, variability, multi-dimensionality, stochasticity, the human dimension of social processes, alternativity, non-predictability, catastrophicity, and self-organization. The author then uses the methodological tools of this paradigm to reconstruct and examine the socio-cultural reality in post-communist Ukraine.

The presented work examines the features of modern Russian youth and their media behavior in the context of the spread of COVID-19, which contributed to the more active use of information and communication technologies in their daily life. Based on the results of sociological and marketing research, the article examines the most popular information and communication technologies and solutions that contribute to the most effective remote interpersonal and social interaction characteristic of modern Russian youth, examines its features as representatives of (...) generation Z. (shrink)

A widespread assumption in experimental comparative cognition is that, barring compelling evidence to the contrary, the default hypothesis should postulate the simplest cognitive ontology consistent with the animal’s behavior. I call this assumption the principle of cognitive simplicity . In this essay, I show that PoCS is pervasive but unjustified: a blanket preference for the simplest cognitive ontology is not justified by any of the available arguments. Moreover, without a clear sense of how cognitive ontologies are to be carved up (...) at the joints—and which tools are appropriate for the job—PoCS rests on shaky conceptual ground. (shrink)

The article is devoted to spelling errors of Russian learners in a French-speaking environment. Based on 1,816 spelling errors, the analysis focuses on four mechanisms (transposition, insertion, omission, and substitution), and the influence of contextual and non-contextual (cognitive, inter- and intralinguistic, extralinguistic) factors is taken into account for each mechanism in question. Despite the multidimensional nature of the factors involved, the recurrence of certain errors makes it possible to distinguish clear trends in the acquisition of linguistic facts. In addition, a (...) quantitative analysis of the obtained data allows cross-sectional studies of errors, which traces back the steps in the acquisition of various aspects of Russian spelling, from A1 to C1 level for the first time. Moreover, the qualitative analysis of errors provides valuable data for pedagogical materials. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

People often justify their moral opinions by referring to larger moral concerns. Is there a general agreement about what concerns apply to different moral opinions? We used surveys in the United States and the United Kingdom to measure the perceived applicability of eight concerns to a wide range of moral opinions. Within countries, argument applicability scores were largely similar whether they were calculated among women or men, among young or old, among liberals or conservatives, or among people with or without (...) higher education. Thus, the applicability of a given moral concern to a specific opinion can be viewed as an objective quality of the opinion, largely independent of the population in which it is measured. Finally, we used similar surveys in Israel and Brazil to establish that this independence of populations also extended to populations in different countries. However, the extent to which this holds across cultures beyond those included in the current study is still an open question. (shrink)

Behavioural flexibility is often treated as the gold standard of evidence for more sophisticated or complex forms of animal cognition, such as planning, metacognition and mindreading. However, the evidential link between behavioural flexibility and complex cognition has not been explicitly or systematically defended. Such a defence is particularly pressing because observed flexible behaviours can frequently be explained by putatively simpler cognitive mechanisms. This leaves complex cognition hypotheses open to ‘deflationary’ challenges that are accorded greater evidential weight precisely because they offer (...) putatively simpler explanations of equal explanatory power. This paper challenges the blanket preference for simpler explanations, and shows that once this preference is dispensed with, and the full spectrum of evidence—including evolutionary, ecological and phylogenetic data—is accorded its proper weight, an argument in support of the prevailing assumption that behavioural flexibility can serve as evidence for complex cognitive mechanisms may begin to take shape. An adaptive model of cognitive-behavioural evolution is proposed, according to which the existence of convergent trait–environment clusters in phylogenetically disparate lineages may serve as evidence for the same trait–environment clusters in other lineages. This, in turn, could permit inferences of cognitive complexity in cases of experimental underdetermination, thereby placing the common view that behavioural flexibility can serve as evidence for complex cognition on firmer grounds. (shrink)

This paper investigates the role of pictures in mathematics in the particular case of Cayley graphs—the graphic representations of groups. I shall argue that their principal function in that theory—to provide insight into the abstract structure of groups—is performed employing their visual aspect. I suggest that the application of a visual graph theory in the purely non-visual theory of groups resulted in a new effective approach in which pictures have an essential role. Cayley graphs were initially developed as exact mathematical (...) constructions. Therefore, they are legitimate components of the theory (combinatorial and geometric group theory) and the pictures of Cayley graphs are a part of practical mathematical procedures. (shrink)

In guarding against inferential mistakes, experimental comparative cognition errs on the side of underattributing sophisticated cognition to animals, or what I refer to as the underattribution bias. I propose eliminating this bias by altering the method of choosing the default, or null, hypothesis. Rather than choosing the most parsimonious null hypothesis, as is current practice, I argue for choosing the best-evidenced hypothesis. Doing so at once preserves the risk-controlling structure of the current statistical paradigm and introduces a sensitivity to probability-conferring (...) empirical and theoretical information. This analysis illustrates how values like parsimony can covertly shape statistical-experimental design and inference. (shrink)

This paper identifies and addresses persistent gaps in the consideration of ethical practice in ‘technology for good’ development contexts. Its main contribution is to model an integrative approach using multiple ethical frameworks to analyse and understand the everyday nature of ethical practice, including in professional practice among ‘technology for good’ start-ups. The paper identifies inherent paradoxes in the ‘technology for good’ sector as well as ethical gaps related to (1) the sometimes-misplaced assignment of virtuousness to an individual; (2) difficulties in (...) understanding social constraints on ethical action; and (3) the often unaccounted for mismatch between ethical intentions and outcomes in everyday practice, including in professional work associated with an ‘ethical turn’ in technology. These gaps persist even in contexts where ethics are foregrounded as matters of concern. To address the gaps, the paper suggests systemic, rather than individualized, considerations of care and capability applied to innovation settings, in combination with considerations of virtue and consequence. This paper advocates for addressing these challenges holistically in order to generate renewed capacity for change at a systemic level. (shrink)

This interview took place on the 8th of April 2010 in München, at Professor Waldenfels’ house. The questions for this interview were meant to touch the most important ideas of Bernhard Waldenfels’ philosophy—the idea of universal order as a sign for a limited and dictatorial thinking, the respondent that replaces the traditional subject, the idea that an ethics according to which a subject is responsible for something to someone overestimates the unity of the subject and does injustice to all the (...) three instances of a happening (subject—for something—to someone). Waldenfels clarifies some of the problematic implications of these ideas. (shrink)

We critically reconsider an old hypothesis of the role of the dekad in Pythagorean philosophy. Unlike Zhmud, we claim that: 1) the dekad did play a role in Philolaus’ astronomical system, and 2) Aristotle did not project Plato’s theory of the ten eidetic numbers onto the Pythagoreans. We claim that the dekad, as the τέλειος ἀριθμός, should be understood in Philolaus’ philosophy as completeness and the basis of counting in Greek – as in most other languages – in a decimal (...) system. Additionally, we argue that the number ten is not even a candidate for the τέλειος ἀριθμός in Plato’s philosophy. As a final result of our discussion, we compare and contrast Philolaus’, Plato’s, and Speusippus’ accounts of completeness in relation to numbers. (shrink)

The debates between various Buddhist and Hindu philosophical systems about the existence, definition and nature of self, occupy a central place in the history of Indian philosophy and religion.

У статті проаналізований експорт вітчизняної продукції у вартісному вираженні в країни Європейського Союзу та Митного Союзу та її питому вагу; визначено структуру товарного експорту української продукції по галузях національної економіки в країни Європейського Союзу та Митного Союзу, а також видову товарну структуру експорту продукції металургії, машинобудування, АПК, хімічної промисловості, харчової промисловості та енергетичної галузі. Обґрунтовані основні чинники збільшення продуктивності сільськогосподарських підприємств, які сприятимуть підвищенню результативності їх функціонування. Наукова новизна результатів дослідження полягає в напрацюванні та обґрунтуванні автором пропозицій щодо зростання експорту (...) в країни ЄС. Це забезпечить нові можливості та вигоди для галузей національної економіки після вступу України до ЗВТ й сприятиме підвищенню конкурентоспроможності вітчизняних товаровиробників. (shrink)

Parallels between cancer and ecological systems have been increasingly recognized and extensively reviewed. However, a more unified framework of understanding cancer as an evolving dynamical system that undergoes a sequence of interconnected changes over time, from a dormant microtumor to disseminated metastatic disease, still needs to be developed. Here, we focus on several examples of such mechanisms, namely, how in cancer niche construction a metabolic adaptation and consequent change to the tumor microenvironment becomes an important factor in evasion of the (...) predator, facilitating disease progression; how tumor establishment and propagation is driven by the tumor’s own keystone species, the cancer stem cells; and how the succession of stages of metastatic dissemination can be informed by ergodic theory and forest ecology. (shrink)

In this paper we propose an ‘undisciplinary’ meeting between Elinor Ostrom and Judith Butler, with the intent to broaden the theory of the commons by discussing it as a relational politics. We use Butler’s theory of power to problematize existing visions of commons, shifting from Ostrom’s ‘bounded rationality’ to Butler’s concepts of ‘bounded selves’ and mutual vulnerability. To be bounded – as opposed to autonomous being – implies being an effect of socio-power relations and norms that are often beyond control. (...) Thus, to be a collective of bounded selves implies being mutually vulnerable in power relations which are enabling, albeit injurious. A politics of commoning is not a mere technical management of resources but a struggle to perform common livable relations. We argue that the multiple exposures which produce us are also the conditions of possibility for more just and equalitarian ‘re-commoning’ of democracies around the world. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to discuss quantitative content analysis as established in communication sciences as a method for research in business ethics. We argue that communication sciences and business ethics are neighboring disciplines, which allow the transfer of quantitative content analysis from communication sciences to business ethics. Technically, quantitative content analysis can be applied through human as well as software coding. Examples for both applications are provided and discussed. We make reference to the software solutions ‘Leximancer’, ‘Crawdad’, and (...) ‘Wordle’, and examine their suitability and limitations with regard to ethical questions for researching business ethics. We recommend a mixed‐method approach, combining human and software coding. Furthermore, we propose a three‐step process that discusses quantitative content analysis as a method for business ethics, including an ethical research objective, and most importantly, concluding with ethical reasoning and interpretation of the quantitative results. (shrink)

The author clarifies Herzen's historiosophy—that is, his view of the character and meaning of the historical process.

This article explores the kinds of response John Dewey received in Russia between 1900 and 1930, and the impact he had on the educational debate there. The study’s main findings are: Both before and after the Socialist October Revolution of 1917, Dewey had a significant impact on the development of the Russian school system. The ultimate rejection of Dewey’s pedagogy towards the end of the 20s was not due to educational but to political and ideological reasons.

Behandlungsfehler in der Psychotherapie sind bisher kaum erforscht. Eine empirisch gestützte Kategorisierung von Behandlungsfehlern stellt einen ersten Schritt dar, sich evidenzbasierten ethischen Empfehlungen zum Umgang mit solchen Fehlern zu nähern. Zielsetzung dieser Arbeit ist es, dafür erste Grundlagen zu erarbeiten, die auf Erfahrungen von Praktikern Bezug nehmen. Nach einer systematischen Literaturrecherche wurden 30 semistrukturierte Interviews mit approbierten Psychotherapeuten unterschiedlicher Ausrichtungen (Schulen) geführt und anhand der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse nach Mayring ausgewertet. Die beschriebenen, alltäglich auftretenden Behandlungsfehler konnten in technische, normative, Einschätzungs- und (...) Systemfehler klassifiziert werden. Viele der technischen und Einschätzungsfehler wurden als reversibel angesehen; sie könnten sogar konstruktiv für die Behandlung nutzbar gemacht werden. Das Versäumnis, einen Fehler zu korrigieren, wurde als Hauptfehler betrachtet. Bei normativen Fehlern sei mit rechtlichen oder berufspolitischen Konsequenzen, aber auch mit Vertrauensverlust und Therapieabbruch zu rechnen. Für Systemfehler fühlten sich die befragten Therapeuten nicht verantwortlich; hier seien berufspolitische Änderungen nötig. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Befragten zu der Empfehlung tendieren, Psychotherapiepatienten in passender Form über Behandlungsfehler aufzuklären und in die entstehenden Konsequenzen einzubeziehen. Fazit: Psychotherapeuten äußern sich aufgeschlossen gegenüber einer transparenten, konstruktiven Fehlerkultur – eine wesentliche Voraussetzung für Fehlerprävention. Häufig resultiert erst durch die fehlende Korrektur eines (alltäglichen) Fehlers ein Behandlungsfehler, der Konsequenzen hat (z. B. Scheitern der Therapie). Um diesem entgegenzuwirken, zeichnet sich eine Befürwortung für eine passende Form der Patientenaufklärung über Fehler ab. (shrink)

We analyze programs for undergraduate women in science and engineering as strategic research sites in the study of disparities between women and men in scientific fields within higher education. Based on responses to a survey of the directors of the universe of these programs in the United States, the findings reveal key patterns in the programs’ definitions of the issues of women in science and engineering, their solutions to address the issues, their goals and perceived success with goals, and their (...) organizational characteristics and relationship to the larger institutional environments. The findings—which are conceptually grounded in the distinction between structural/institutional and individual issues facing women in science—have implications for understanding gender, science, and higher education, and for initiatives undertaken to improve the condition of women in scientific fields. The findings may also inform strategic efforts to reduce gender disparity in other organizational contexts. (shrink)

Traditional accounts of the fair play principle suggest that, under appropriate conditions, those who benefit from the cooperative labor of others acquire an obligation of repayment. However, these accounts have had little to say about the nature of such obligations within morally or legally problematic cooperative schemes, taking the matter to be either straightforward or unimportant. It is neither. The question of what sorts of fair play obligations obtain for those who benefit from illicit cooperative activity is a matter of (...) great complexity and consequence with implications for, inter alia, global economic justice. In this essay, I explore the nature of this obligation within illicit cooperative schemes, specifically those with so-called negative externalities, or deleterious effects on non-members of the scheme. I conclude that the willing beneficiaries of such schemes acquire a fair-play obligation to recognize and respond to their culpability. This reconceptualization of the fair play principle opens up new avenues for exploring the obligations of those who benefit from acts of collective wrongdoing. (shrink)

This article explores the kinds of response John Dewey(1859-;1952) received in Russia between 1900 and1930, and the impact he had on the educational debatethere. The study's main findings are: Both before andafter the Socialist October Revolution of 1917, Deweyhad a significant impact on the development of theRussian school system. The ultimate rejection ofDewey's pedagogy towards the end of the 20s was notdue to educational but to political and ideologicalreasons.

The purpose of the study is to reveal the relationship between the discreteness of historical consciousness and the processes of spiritual and intellectual development of the individual; to offer his vision of what the discreteness of historical consciousness is and to determine the degree of its influence on the process of spiritual and intellectual formation of the individual. The article focuses on the fact that the discreteness of historical consciousness has a destructive effect on public consciousness and its forms. The (...) degree of discreteness of historical consciousness and the level of spiritual and intellectual development of the individual are interdependent and have a mutual influence on each other. As a result of the conducted research, it was revealed that the discrete historical consciousness is a fragmented "torn" historical consciousness, which poses a threat to the spiritual and intellectual formation of the individual. (shrink)

There is no unproblematic way to study things as “African”, yet an epistemologically situated approach based on concrete technological projects situated in Africa and their social and political implications offers an important account of the intersection of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and African Studies. We explore this perspective through the notion of “indiscipline” using the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope project (SKA) based in South Africa as a case study through which to observe “indiscipline” as a methodological approach to technoscience (...) at work. Indiscipline helps frame the socio-technical (by)products of astrophysics and engineering, and we present the production of ventilators for COVID-19 patients as an example of how the design of mega-science projects can become entangled with the dynamic concerns of society. Our conclusion elaborates on the politics of large technological systems, opening up a conversation on the intersection of science and society in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in African settings, using the template of experiences with the SKA and the National Ventilator Project in South Africa. (shrink)

The subject of the study is the ontological ideas of ancient Chinese music in the context of the formation of philosophical schools of Ancient China, which make it possible to identify a number of philosophical categories that underlie traditional chinese music and outline different approaches to its understanding and interpretation. Most Chinese researchers in the field of musical aesthetics focus on the art of music, rare to pay attention to the philosophical origins of the categories of music that past thinkers (...) wrote about when analyzing laws of existence of the universe. Restoring and rethinking these values in the context of the philosophical and cultural analysis of ancient Chinese music is key to this work, which allows us to gain an understanding of the specifics of ancient Chinese culture and its musical heritage. The novelty of the work lies in carrying out the correlation of genesis of the musical ontology of Ancient China with the dynamics of the formation of the philosophical schools of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, their rise or fall depending on the historical and cultural situation. Musical philosophy in China has not yet become an independent discipline, so the presented work makes a significant contribution to the field of musical ontology. During the study, the authors revealed three main aspects which are basic for the ontology of ancient Chinese music: The nature of music has its source three categories: Tao, air and sound, existing both in a natural state in nature and embodied in musical structure and instruments; Sound and rhythm being the essence to any musical work, organize the sounding space in accordance with the cosmic order; The metaphysical nature of music is justified by the basic principles of Taoist philosophy and number theory. (shrink)

In this article I attempt to conceptualize myexistential and institutional experience as thedirector of the Kharkov Center for GenderStudies acquired in the course of introducinggender studies into the system of post-Soviethigher education. The main subject of thearticle concerns the logical ground of genderdiscourse and the complicated relations betweenthe notions of `gender studies', `women'sstudies', and, within the latter, `feminism' inthe former USSR, all in the framework ofconcepts from Western feminists theory.

En el Gran Discurso de Protágoras, en el diálogo platónico que lleva su nombre, Platón pone en boca de Protágoras un mito acerca del origen, desarrollo y naturaleza del ser humano, que es de gran relevancia filosófica. Se expresa que los dioses crearon a los seres mortales desde dos elementos: la tierra y el fuego. A su vez, también asignaron dos titanes, Epimeteo y Prometeo, para que proveyeran a los mortales de sus facultades. ¿Acaso esto implica que la creación no (...) fue terminada por los dioses? ¿Hasta qué punto los dioses crearon enteramente al ser humano? ¿Podría afirmarse que este es un mito creacionista? El desarrollo de los seres vivientes puede dividirse en cuatro instancias. A lo largo de este artículo, se proponen distintos modelos hermenéuticos para responder los interrogantes mencionados anteriormente. (shrink)

Introduction. At present, the issues of the Far East accelerated economic development remain in the focus of the state attention. Among the key mechanisms of state policy is the formation of advanced development territories (ADT). The article sets the task of studying the impact of the institutional measures taken on the welfare and the population’s life quality in the Far Eastern territories. Particular attention is paid to studying migration processes and analyzing the economic activity of the Far East population. The (...) purpose of the article is to study the effects of implementing mechanisms for accelerated economic growth, as well as assess their impact on the life quality in the Far East regions. Methods. The authors use the following methods: economic and mathematical modeling, computational and analytical methods, comparative and spatial analysis. Scientific novelty of the research. For a comprehensive assessment of the regional well-being, the authors propose to supplement the multiplicative model based on the A. Sen’s extended welfare function with a composite ecological index. It takes into account the ecological conditions of human life, which are an important aspect of well-being. The authors obtain ecologically adjusted indicators of well-being for the eastern regions of the Russian Federation and study their dynamics, as well as the relations with the data on the population’s migration activity during the formation of new institutions of advanced development in the East of the country. Results. The authors find out that most of the Far Eastern territories are still lagging behind the average Russian level in socio-economic development. The results of assessing the level of well-being of regions on the basis of a multiplicative model without taking into account the environmental factor show that the most prosperous areas are raw materials-based territories. It is shown that the role of environmental factors in the life quality in the Far Eastern territories of Russia is very significant - the ecologically adjusted level of well-being is noticeably lower than the indicator that does not take into account this aspect of well-being. The authors reveal that socio-economically disadvantaged regions with difficult natural and climatic living conditions have very high rates of migration outflow. Their coefficients of migration loss reflect the presence of a crisis in economic development, which has been increasing in recent years. An analysis of trends in economic activity shows a relationship between the dynamics of the number of employed and the implementation of ADT projects in the Far Eastern territories. Conclusions. The conclusion is that the measures taken by the state for the advanced economic development of the eastern territories of the country have not yet had a noticeable positive impact on the welfare and life quality in the Far East regions. (shrink)

Like Socrates, Aspasia did not leave any writings. We know about her from secondary sources. In this paper, I will show a number of things in the reports of what Aspasia said and did that are philosophically interesting, especially in what they show about dealing with various kinds of crises, from marital to political ones. First, I will argue for the most probable reconstruction of her life. Second, I will elucidate what kind of method Aspasia employed when considering marital issues. (...) Third, I will endeavor to prove that Plato’s representation of Aspasia was not a mockery, as some authors argue. Furthermore, the most significant philosophical points of Aspasia’s Funeral Speech will be highlighted and assessed. Eventually, I will attempt to figure out what Plato’s reasons might have been to ascribe this speech to a woman. (shrink)

As a cognitivist about emotions, Socrates takes the fear of death to be a belief that death is a bad thing for the one who dies. Socrates, however, thinks there are reasons for thinking death is not a bad thing at all, and might even be a blessing. So the question considered in this paper is: how would Socrates explain the fact that so many people believe death is bad?

Cet article cherche à montrer comment la pratique mathématique, particulièrement celle admettant des représentations visuelles, peut conduire à de nouveaux résultats mathématiques. L'argumentation est basée sur l'étude du cas d'un domaine des mathématiques relativement récent et prometteur: la théorie géométrique des groupes. L'article discute comment la représentation des groupes par les graphes de Cayley rendit possible la découverte de nouvelles propriétés géométriques de groupes.

The genomes of virtually all sexually reproducing species contain transposable elements. Although active elements generally transpose more rapidly than they are inactivated by mutation or excision, their number can be kept in check by purifying selection if its effectiveness becomes disproportionately greater as their copy number increases. In sexually reproducing species, such synergistic selection can result from ectopic crossing-over or from homologous recombination under negative epistasis. In addition, there may be controls on transposon activity that are associated with meiosis. Because (...) a sexual lineage that abandons sex must lack such mechanisms, it may be driven to extinction by the unchecked proliferation of deleterious transposons inherited from its sexual progenitor. An important component of the evolutionary advantage of sex over asex may therefore lie in the ability of sex, despite facilitating the spread of deleterious elements within interbreeding populations, also to restrain their intragenomic proliferation. BioEssays 27:76–85, 2005. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

С тех пор как был сформулирован новый способ прочтения Платона, осно- ванный на «неписаном учении», он стал предметом споров. Однако свидетель- ства его существования неоспоримы. Выражение Платона «неписаное учение» было использовано Аристотелем в «Физике», а описание этого учения можно найти как у Аристотеля, так и у других классических мыслителей. Есть три ключевых момента, имеющих решающее значение для «неписаного учения» Платона, т. е. его устных лекций, прочитанных в Академии, — это, во-первых, учение о принципах, т. е. о Едином и неопределенной Двоице, (...) во-вторых, тезис о геометрическом построении мира и, в-третьих, учение об идеальных числах. Эти числа упоминаются как в прямой, так и в косвенной традиции. Полемика по вопросу о «неписаном учении» возникла в немецких академических кругах, где интенсивное изучение Платона имеет давнюю и хорошо развитую тради- цию. В англосаксонском мире эта дискуссия, по-видимому, не была хорошо принята и иногда даже вызывала отвержение (особенно в кругу Г. Черниса и его последователей). Однако из этого, конечно, нельзя сделать вывод о том, что исследования, опирающиеся на «неписаное учение» Платона, не появи- лись в англоязычном мире, в котором также искали новые пути понимания смысла его философии. Сначала мы оценим различные прочтения, а также их аргументы относительно важности «неписаного учения» для реконструкции философии Платона, а затем аргументируем свою позицию в этих дискуссиях. (shrink)