There exist two conjectures for constraint satisfaction problems of reducts of finitely bounded homogeneous structures: the first one states that tractability of the CSP of such a structure is, when the structure is a model-complete core, equivalent to its polymorphism clone satisfying a certain nontrivial linear identity modulo outer embeddings. The second conjecture, challenging the approach via model-complete cores by reflections, states that tractability is equivalent to the linear identities satisfied by its polymorphisms clone, together with the natural uniformity on (...) it, being nontrivial. We prove that the identities satisfied in the polymorphism clone of a structure allow for conclusions about the orbit growth of its automorphism group, and apply this to show that the two conjectures are equivalent. We contrast this with a counterexample showing that [Formula: see text]-categoricity alone is insufficient to imply the equivalence of the two conditions above in a model-complete core. Taking another approach, we then show how the Ramsey property of a homogeneous structure can be utilized for obtaining a similar equivalence under different conditions. We then prove that any polymorphism of sufficiently large arity which is totally symmetric modulo outer embeddings of a finitely bounded structure can be turned into a nontrivial system of linear identities, and obtain nontrivial linear identities for all tractable cases of reducts of the rational order, the random graph, and the random poset. Finally, we provide a new and short proof, in the language of monoids, of the theorem stating that every [Formula: see text]-categorical structure is homomorphically equivalent to a model-complete core. (shrink)

This paper gives a brief survey of current research on the complexity of the constraint satisfaction problem over fixed constraint languages.

The study of weighted structures is one of the important trends in recent computer science. The aim of the article is to provide a weighted, many-valued version of classical intensional semantics formalised in the framework of higher-order fuzzy logics. We illustrate the apparatus on several variants of fuzzy S5-style modalities. The formalism is applicable to a broad array of weighted intensional notions, including alethic, epistemic, or probabilistic modalities, generalised quantifiers, counterfactual conditionals, dynamic and non-monotonic logics, and some more.

Journal of Mathematical Logic, Ahead of Print.

Patterns of reproduction associated with extramarital conception are examined using data on non-marital births, marital births occurring during less than 8 months after marriage, and spontaneous and induced abortions experienced by unmarried women. Trends in the incidence and demographic outcomes of conceptions resulting from extramarital coitus are analysed by means of age-specific probabilities of becoming pregnant outside marriage; and of terminating such a pregnancy by abortion, by legitimating it through marriage before confinement, or by having a baby while remaining unmarried. (...) Substantial increases in the proportion of extramaritally conceived pregnancies leading to non-marital births are detected for the period since the late 1980s, and ascribed mainly to rising levels of unmarried cohabitation. The demographic effects of the post-1989 transition from state to market economy are discussed. (shrink)

Studie věnuje pozornost problematice demokratizace vědy, v jejímž rámci zaujímá klíčové postavení otázka, v jaké míře a zda vůbec má mít široká veřejnost možnost zasahovat do vědní a výzkumné politiky a participovat na rozhodování v odborných záležitostech. První část studie je věnována představení dvou radikálně odlišných a vzájemně protichůdných pohledů na tuto problematiku, které byly rozpracovány v rámci poválečné filosofie vědy v dílech Michaela Polanyiho a Paula Feyerabenda a v různých podobách spolu soupeří dodnes. Tyto dva pohledy, jež nás staví (...) před volbu mezi odborností na úkor demokracie a demokracií na úkor odbornosti, jsou následně podrobeny kritickému zhodnocení a v opozici k nim je představen alternativní pohled rozvíjený v rámci vědních studií Harrym Collinsem a Robertem Evansem, jenž překračuje nutnost této volby a na základě sociologických výzkumů fenoménu odbornosti nabízí způsob, jak lze odbornost a demokratické hodnoty sloučit dohromady. (shrink)

Tématem studie je dosud neprobádaná oblast vnějších dějin vzniku sociologie vědeckého poznání. Jejím záměrem je analýza vnějších faktorů, které se podílely na vzniku této disciplíny, a to za účelem nalezení odpovědi na otázku, proč vznikla právě v sedmdesátých letech minulého století na Oddělení pro studium vědy při Edinburské univerzitě a právě v podobě tzv. silného programu sociologie vědění. Skrze postavu zakladatele edinburského Oddělení pro studium vědy C. H. Waddingtona se studie zaměřuje konkrétně na dvě epizody, a to na vznik politicky (...) angažovaného hnutí britských levicových vědců ve třicátých letech prosazujících myšlenku sociální funkce vědy a na politizaci tzv. problému dvou kultur v poválečné Velké Británii, která vedla ke změně britské vědní politiky a k reformám britského systému vzdělání. Závěrečná část studie pak věnuje pozornost individuálním zájmům těch členů edinburského Oddělení pro studium vědy, kteří stáli za bezprostředním vznikem silného programu. (shrink)

Význam Thomase Kuhna z hlediska jeho vlivu na další vývoj představ o povaze vědy a konkrétně na vznik tzv. sociologie vědeckého poznání bývá dnes běžně spojován s jeho Strukturou vědeckých revolucí, zatímco jeho starším historickým pracím je v tomto ohledu jen zřídkakdy věnována pozornost. Příspěvek analyzuje právě tyto práce a pokouší se charakterizovat základní metodologické rysy Kuhnova přístupu k dějinám vědy, který je v nich uplatňován. Prostřednictvím jejich porovnání s metodologickými východisky rané sociologie vědeckého poznání se snaží zjistit, nakolik lze (...) již Kuhnovy historické práce považovat za významné ze sociologické perspektivy. Jelikož tyto práce pocházejí z doby, kdy byla historiografie vědy pod výrazným vlivem Alexandra Koyrého, příspěvek zkoumá také metodologická východiska jeho prací, aby bylo možno zjistit, do jaké míry se Kuhnův přístup vymykal standardní poválečné historiogra) i vědy navazující na Koyrého tradici. (shrink)

Předmětem této studie je analýza jednoho z aktuálně předkládaných řešení tzv. problému dvou kultur, který roku 1959 formuloval Charles Percy Snow, a to tzv. třetí kultuře, kterou v polovině devadesátých let ve stejnojmenné práci představil John Brockman. Mým záměrem zde bude kriticky zhodnotit Brockmanovo pojetí "třetí kultury" a předložit argumenty ve prospěch tvrzení, že v souvislosti s ním ve skutečnosti nelze hovořit o řešení problému dvou kultur, ale jedná se naopak o názorný doklad přetrvávající existence a aktuálnosti tohoto problému. Pro (...) tyto účely bude v textu využit koncept tzv. obchodních zón (trading zones), který zavádí filosof a historik vědy Peter Galison k popisu a vysvětlení možných způsobů interakce a dorozumění vědců napříč nesouměřitelnými vědeckými disciplínami. Jak se pokusím ukázat, tento koncept lze stejně úspěšně aplikovat i na problematiku komunikace právě mezi přírodními vědami a vědami humanitními. (shrink)

This article presents an extension of Lewis’ analysis of counterfactuals to a graded framework. Unlike standard graded approaches, which use the probabilistic framework, we employ that of many-valued logics. Our principal goal is to provide an adequate analysis of the main background notion of Lewis’ approach—the one of the similarity of possible worlds. We discuss the requirements imposed on the analysis of counterfactuals by the imprecise character of similarity and concentrate in particular on robustness, i.e., the requirement that small changes (...) in the similarity relation should not significantly change the truth value of the counterfactual in question. Our second motivation is related to the logical analysis of natural language: analyzing counterfactuals in the framework of many-valued logics allows us to extend the analysis to counterfactuals that include vague statements. Unlike previous proposals of this kind in the literature, our approach makes it possible to apply gradedness at various levels of the analysis and hence provide a more detailed account of the phenomenon of vagueness in the context of counterfactuals. Finally, our framework admits a novel way of avoiding the Limit Assumption, keeping the core of Lewis’ truth condition for counterfactuals unchanged. (shrink)

Larry Laudan v článku z roku 1983 označil problém demarkace, tj. rozlišení „vědy" a „pseudovědy", za filosofický pseudoproblém, kterým není třeba se zabývat, a slova „vědecké" a „pseudovědecké" za prázdné pojmy, které můžeme z našeho slovníku zcela vyškrtnout. V předkládané studii zpochybňuji toto Laudanovo stanovisko a předkládám argumenty ve prospěch tvrzení, že 1) rozlišení vědy a pseudovědy představuje důležitý a aktuální problém, kterým je třeba se zabývat, a že 2) možný způsob řešení tohoto problému nabízejí současná sociální studia vědy. Jejich (...) východiskem je pojetí vědy jako „formy života" a pojetí demarkačního kritéria jako proměnlivého souboru charakteristik, který sice nelze jednoznačně definovat, ale přesto jej lze zkoumat, a to prostřednictvím sociologické analýzy vědecké praxe. Mým záměrem je na příkladu několika vzorových studií představit specifika sociologického přístupu z hlediska jeho metodologie i povahy nabízených řešení a zhodnotit jeho možnosti i omezení pro filosofii vědy. (shrink)

Wilhelm Przeczek is a Polish writer who has lived in Karviná, the Czech Republic, since he was born in 1936. He is a member of a Polish minority and he has aimed his literary output at its members and at readers in Poland. Translations into the Czech language are aimed at readers in the Czech Republic. Having made a protest against the intervention of the Warsaw Pact armies into Czechoslovakia in August 1968, W. Przeczek was not allowed to publish and (...) he was dismissed – he had worked as an editor of a Polish paper “Głos Ludu”. In 1970–1977 he worked as an actor, stage director, and dramatic advisor of a puppet show theatre Bajka in Český Těšín, the Czech Republic. In his article, the author deals with poems by W. Przeczek’s on the subject of journeys about Europe. The starting point is local, but a global result. (shrink)

Thomas Kuhn ve svých pozdějších pracích ostře napadá tzv. silný program sociologie vědění a důsledně se vůči němu vymezuje. Tato skutečnost je zajímavá z toho důvodu, že představitelé silného programu se naopak ke Kuhnovi otevřeně hlásí a vydatně čerpají z jeho díla, neboť v něm spatřují řadu klíčových myšlenek, které implikují možnost sociologické analýzy vědeckého poznání. Cílem této studie je kriticky přezkoumat Kuhnovu kritiku silného programu a zhodnotit její oprávněnost. V první části je za tímto účelem nejprve rekonstruováno Kuhnovo pojetí (...) silného programu, jež je posléze porovnáno s pracemi jeho zakladatelů Davida Bloora a Barryho Barnese, v nichž je silný program teoreticky rozvíjen. V další části jsou Kuhnovy argumenty proti silnému programu konfrontovány s vybranou historickou studií, v níž je silný program aplikován v praxi. Třetí část pak obrací pozornost ke Kuhnovu vlastnímu pojetí vědy, které je v ní porovnáno se silným programem právě v těch aspektech, jež na něm Kuhn kritizuje. (shrink)

In recent decades there has been growing concern about the combined undesired consequences of rapid economic growth, based on the free market movement, and developments in science and technology. This concern has placed the sustainable development concept on the world's agenda. The notion of sustainability, which originally referred mostly to the environmental consequences of human activities, along with their economic and social aspects, has been discussed not only at the national and the global levels but also in relation to particular (...) sectors of the economy. One such sector is agriculture, which to be sustainable must be ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible. Unless current trade and agricultural policies are geared to creating such a structure, sustainability will be no more than a myth in the industrialized and globalized world, while considerable numbers of people will be left struggling with hunger and poverty. Ethical, fair trade and ecologic agricultural practices, such as organic farming, have been suggested as alternatives to existing practices. However, with their current and potential size, these alternatives cannot compete with existing production and trade systems. But these alternatives nevertheless highlight the main problems of current day free trade and industrialized agriculture structures and their related solutions.This paper reviews the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable agriculture: it raises the question whether the world-wide free market economy is really free, and it considers the undesired consequences of this economy by focusing on the relationship between sustainable agriculture and agriculture-related trade policies. (shrink)

We generalize the notion ofconsequence relationstandard in abstract treatments of logic to accommodate intuitions ofrelevance. The guiding idea follows theuse criterion, according to which in order for some premises to have some conclusion(s) as consequence(s), the premises must each beusedin some way to obtain the conclusion(s). This relevance intuition turns out to require not just a failure of monotonicity, but also a move to considering consequence relations as obtaining betweenmultisets. We motivate and state basic definitions of relevant consequence relations, both (...) in single conclusion (asymmetric) and multiple conclusion (symmetric) settings, as well as derivations and theories, guided by the use intuitions, and prove a number of results indicating that the definitions capture the desired results (at least in many cases). (shrink)

Recenze: K. Brad WRAY, Kuhn's Evolutionary Social Epistemology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2011, xiv+229s.

Based on two years of fieldwork with fans of financial success best-sellers, this article analyzes the idea of financial freedom, which is the cornerstone of popular financial self-help resources. Fans of the genre train themselves and engage in business and investing with the main goal of reaching something that is at once mathematical and a condition of the self. Financial freedom is a specific equation between income and expenses that makes it possible to quit one’s job while maintaining an income. (...) But it is also a condition by which one has freed oneself from one’s own fears and limitations in regards to money and investing and the need for security. Therefore, all practices directed at increasing one’s wealth are also practices of the self that are directed at combating external and internal forms of dependence. The intellectual roots of the problematization of internal and external dependence are explored. The tension between freedom and security is illustrated through the example of the examination of one’s family upbringing. (shrink)

In the regeneration of shamanism in Buryatia, kinship and locale play a significant and, indeed, determining role. Shamans, as representatives of their clans and kinship lines, are the intermediaries between people and the sacred, between people and the spirits in nature, in particular spirits of a specific locale which is linked historically to a clan and to the ancestors who have been buried there. It is to these ancestral spirits as well as to the spirits of place that the clan (...) shaman makes entreaties and asks for blessings and protection from ill fortune.The historical relationship of the Buryat tribes to the present land of Buryatia and Ust‐Orda region and the kinship structure of these tribes as existent prior to the Soviet period is shown to have parallels with traditional spiritual territorial cults of Buryats. There is a clear‐cut link between Buryat social organization into hierarchical units of kinship structures along patrilineal descent lines and their conceptions of deities according to locality, that is, they traditionally conceived of protective deities as associated with wider or narrower territorial groupings which corresponded to the social groups of tribes, clans, villages, and families.Several cases of renewal of home and hearth through appeal to ancestral and local spirits by the clan shaman are presented. (shrink)

In the regeneration of shamanism in Buryatia, kinship and locale play a significant and, indeed, determining role. Shamans, as representatives of their clans and kinship lines, are the intermediaries between people and the sacred, between people and the spirits in nature, in particular spirits of a specific locale which is linked historically to a clan and to the ancestors who have been buried there. It is to these ancestral spirits as well as to the spirits of place that the clan (...) shaman makes entreaties and asks for blessings and protection from ill fortune.The historical relationship of the Buryat tribes to the present land of Buryatia and Ust‐Orda region and the kinship structure of these tribes as existent prior to the Soviet period is shown to have parallels with traditional spiritual territorial cults of Buryats. There is a clear‐cut link between Buryat social organization into hierarchical units of kinship structures along patrilineal descent lines and their conceptions of deities according to locality, that is, they traditionally conceived of protective deities as associated with wider or narrower territorial groupings which corresponded to the social groups of tribes, clans, villages, and families.Several cases of renewal of home and hearth through appeal to ancestral and local spirits by the clan shaman are presented. (shrink)

There is common agreement that preschool-level science education affects children’s curiosity, their positive approach towards science, and their desire to engage with the subject. Children’s natural curiosity drives them to engage enthusiastically in all forms of exploration. Engaging in scientific exploration necessitates self-regulation capabilities and a wide repertoire of cognitive and metacognitive strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent preschoolers (aged 5‒6 years) implement nascent inquiry skills, metacognitive awareness, and self-regulation capabilities during play-based scientific exploration (...) tasks. An additional purpose was to investigate the relationships between these capabilities, a relationship not yet investigated in the context of play-based, scientific exploration among young children. The study consisted of 215 preschoolers, from 10 preschools. For this study, we developed two scientific exploration tasks—structured and open-ended. Our motivation was to examine whether preschoolers’ capabilities will differ in the context of structured task which is aligned with the view that young children need guidance and explicit instructions compared to the context of open-ended, play-based task–allowing the children to apply and test their intuitive theories and skills. During performance participants were videotaped. Their verbal and non-verbal responses were analyzed by means of a scoring scheme. The results of a micro-analysis of about 100 hours of video showed that given the opportunity, even without setting explicit goals and instructions, children exhibit inquiry capabilities: they ask questions, plan, hypothesize, use tools, draw conclusions. Asking questions and planning were better manifested during the structured task. Children also manifested higher levels of attention, persistence, and autonomy during the structured task. However, significant higher scores of self-regulation indications were revealed in the context of the open-ended, play-based, exploration task. Moreover, results indicate significant correlations between the five measures of preschoolers’ inquiry capabilities and measures of metacognitive strategic awareness and self-regulation. The results of the present study suggest the importance of combining various learning environments and experiences in early science education that encourage children to engage in structured exploration alongside play-based, open-ended, exploration. (shrink)

Nine Worlds of SEID‐MAGIC: Ecstasy and Neo‐Shamanism in North European Paganism. Jenny Blain. London and New York: Routledge, 2001. 192 pages $20.95 Paperback.

This article examines valuation and payment practices of psychoanalysts in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Psychoanalysts do not use explicit sliding scales but rather reach an agreement about fees in conversation with the patient. This negotiation is conducted with some principles of gift-giving, where parties try to give more, rather than through competitive bargaining (an inverted bazaar). Drawing on the sociology of money, morals and markets, and valuation studies literatures, I distinguish four factors to explain this: 1) Some formally produced prices as (...) well as market mechanisms shape benchmarks for fees, but the peculiar service psychologists offer (which makes quality judgments hard), the way patients and therapists are matched, and the lack of public information about prices allow for high flexibility in price-setting; these are structural factors that remain unsaid in the conversation on fees. 2) A professional narrative that highlights a responsibility towards patients that should not be contaminated by economic interest. 3) Psychoanalysts’ elaborations on the meanings of the payment, which should reflect the uniqueness of each patient and the bond analyst-patient and symbolize the patient’s commitment to treatment, involving a cost and a loss beyond the economic. 4) The prevalence of cash, face-to-face payment without intermediaries, which helps desacralize the analyst and disentangle the session from the rest of the economic life of the analyst, but impedes evading moralization of the transaction. Payments in psychoanalysis are delicate arrangements, and analysts often stress about valuation and payments. They have to be careful to ensure this flexibility results in morally acceptable transactions. (shrink)

Recenze: Harry Collins & Robert Evans, Why Democracies Need Science. Cambridge: Polity Press 2017, viii + 194 pp.

ABCP asset‐backed commercial paper ABS asset‐backed security ABX a source of price indices for MBSs and CDSs ARM adjustable‐rate mortgage B...

Growth modelling is of interest to scientists in various disciplines. In our article, we will collect 17 models designed for growth modelling, appraise these models and contribute to the discussion of their applicability. The merit of the paper lies in studying the convergence properties of nonlinear regression in selected models. Our studies will be performed mainly concerning the quality of the obtained estimates, which are closely related to the intrinsic curvature of the model according to Bates and Watts. This curvature (...) determines the size of the linearization domains. Only if the initial solution is in this domain, then the convergence of the estimate in nonlinear regression is guaranteed. The primary goal is to design a methodology for selecting a growth model. We will demonstrate fruitfulness of our methodology on the weight measurements of 10 calves under 25 months of age from cowsheds in the village Záluží in the Czech Republic. Estimated parameters of growth curves, sizes of linearization domain, calculated residues and coefficients of determination indices will be the subject of discussion. (shrink)

La actual crisis financiera nos ha impactado de tal forma que es imposible escapar a una reflexión sobre el sistema financiero global y sus efectos sociales. La conciencia política puede ser radicalmente alterada a través de experiencias catastróficas, dándonos la posibilidad de pensar en una transformación del orden establecido. En este trabajo, nos proponemos reflexionar sobre las relaciones financieras regionales y globales a la luz del reciente escándalo de la LIBOR. Es fundamental que las organizaciones intergubernamentales, las organizaciones no (...) gubernamentales, los Estados democráticos, las empresas y la sociedad civil se involucren en procesos de innovaciones financieras responsables en un contexto de gobernanza sostenible global. (shrink)