The phenomenon of exchange degeneracy of 2-particle quantum states is studied in detail within the framework of Relativistic Schrödinger Theory (RST). In conventional quantum theory this kind of degeneracy refers to the circumstance that, under neglection of the interparticle interactions, symmetric and anti-symmetric 2-particle states have identical energy eigenvalues. However the analogous effect of RST degeneracy is rather related to the emergence of two types of mixtures (positive and negative) in connection with the vanishing or non-vanishing of certain components of (...) the Hamiltonian (“exchange fields”). As a consequence, there arise two subcases of RST degeneracy: (i) mixture degeneracy through neglection of the exchange fields and (ii) exchange degeneracy through neglection of the mixture character of matter. The latter RST exchange degeneracy consists in the fact that the RST dynamics admits a certain set of pure-state solutions, as borderline case between positive and negative mixtures, and all these different solutions are generating the same physical situation, e.g., concerning mass eigenvalues and physical densities (of current and energy-momentum). The general results are exemplified by considering the 2-particle states for (scalar) Helium. Analogously as the conventional exchange degeneracy is broken (ortho- and para-Helium) by taking into account the interparticle interactions (e.g., Coulomb forces), the RST degeneracy is broken by simultaneously taking into account the mixture character of matter together with non-zero exchange fields. (shrink)

This paper reports on the integration of the higher-order theorem proving environment TPS [Andrews96] into the mathematical assistant OMEGA [Omega97]. TPS can be called from OMEGA either as a black box or as an interactive system. In black box mode, the user has control over the parameters which control proof search in TPS; in interactive mode, all features of the TPS-system are available to the user. If the subproblem which is passed to TPS contains concepts defined in OMEGA’s database of (...) mathematical theories, these definitions are not instantiated but are also passed to TPS. Using a special theory which contains proof tactics that model the ND-calculus variant of TPS within OMEGA, any complete or partial proof generated in TPS can be translated one to one into an OMEGA proof plan. Proof transformation is realised by proof plan expansion in OMEGA’s 3-dimensional proof data structure, and remains transparent to the user. (shrink)

The human brain’s ongoing activity is characterized by intrinsic networks of coherent fluctuations, measured for example with correlated functional magnetic resonance imaging signals. So far, however, the brain processes underlying this ongoing blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal orchestration and their direct relevance for human behavior are not sufficiently understood. In this study, we address the question of whether and how ongoing BOLD activity within intrinsic occipital networks impacts on conscious visual perception. To this end, backwardly masked targets were presented (...) in participants’ left visual field only, leaving the ipsi-lateral occipital areas entirely free from direct effects of task throughout the experiment. Signal time courses of ipsi-lateral BOLD fluctuations in visual areas V1 and V2 were then used as proxies for the ongoing contra-lateral BOLD activity within the bilateral networks. Magnitude and phase of these fluctuations were compared in trials with and without conscious visual perception, operationalized by means of subjective confidence ratings. Our results show that ipsilateral BOLD magnitudes in V1 were significantly higher at times of peak response when the target was perceived consciously. A significant difference between conscious and non-conscious perception with regard to the pre-target phase of an intrinsic-frequency regime suggests that ongoing V1 fluctuations exert a decisive impact on the access to consciousness already before stimulation. Both effects were absent in V2. These results thus support the notion that ongoing slow BOLD activity within intrinsic networks covering V1 represents localized processes that modulate the degree of readiness for the emergence of visual consciousness. (shrink)

I. Liturgical practices, whether solemn or celebratory, mark our transcendence of the everyday. In liturgy, the common and the worldly fall away. Our spirit is tasked with the work dedicated to the...

Recently ethical implications of human resource management have intensified the focus on care perspectives in management and organization studies. Appeals have also been made for the concept of organizational care to be grounded in philosophies of care rather than business theories. Care perspectives see individuals, especially women, as primarily relational and view work as a means by which people can increase in self-esteem, self-develop and be fulfilled. The ethic of care has received attention in feminist ethics and is often socially (...) construed as a feminine ethic. Although well developed in the caring professions there remains no model or definition of the care ethic in management literature with little care research undertaken. This paper develops the concept of the care ethic using Heidegger’s philosophy, namely, care is fundamental to human being. To show Heideggerian care, an individual notices, pays attention to another and responds in ways to empower and enable. In a study which aimed to analyze women’s lived experience of career, we applied the philosophically grounded methodology hermeneutic phenomenology. Findings revealed the power of Heideggerian care, Sorge, as a key factor in creating meaning. From this, we propose that care has potential as a theoretical and philosophically based construct with strong practical implications. It provides a way of understanding the care ethic, lies at the heart of our being, and is essential to meaning in our grelationships and undertakings. Crucially, it can provide reprieve from the existential angst that trademarks our being. (shrink)

Rorty's assessment of the origins of the analytic/continental divide is discussed and criticized on several grounds. Rorty's plea in favour of the philosophical quietism implicit in the pragmatists' dismissal of metaphysics rests on an uncritical faith in scientific progress. To emphasize the tensions implicit in the ideal of progress a novel interpretation of the significance of Faust's encounter with Sorge (Care) is offered and compared with Heidegger's construal of Sorge in Sein und Zeit . A better understanding of (...) the analytic/continental divide is gained if we concentrate on the impact of Nazism and Fascism on the philosophical tradition with which philosophers living on the Continent had to come to terms after the Second World War. In this respect Adorno's attitude to progress in general and to philosophy in particular is very instructive and can be usefully contrasted with Rorty's dismissal of metaphysics. (shrink)

Against the backdrop of contemporary debates about care ethics and care, this article undertakes a re-reading of Foucault’s analyses of the ancient care of the self. While the care of the self has so far been interpreted primarily in terms of an ethics and aesthetics of the self, it argues that the care of the self is constituted by the presence of the Other. This becomes clear as soon as one links the care of the self to parrhesia, which signifies (...) an act of truth-telling through which the individual constitutes herself as the subject of a discourse of truth by confronting the Other with the truth. It is through this connection that the care of the self and parrhesia unfold their critical potential, as can be seen in the examples of Sophocles’ Antigone or the whistleblower Edward Snowden. This makes it possible not only to detach the concept of care from its close entanglement with the private sphere and to reframe it in political terms but also to envisage a critical attitude that is based both on the care of the self and others and on a concern for truth. (shrink)

The bestseller The Courage to Be presents Tillich’s “concrete existential” notion of religion that is based on the key terms ‘anxiety’ and ‘courage’. This essay traces this idea’s long history in Tillichian thinking that reaches back to the mid-twenties lectures on dogmatics in Marburg and Dresden, and outlines its core elements, pointing out its contrast to Tillich’s earlier notion of religion as the mind’s intention on absolute meaning. Subsequently, the discussion moves to Tillich’s theorem of the double principle of ‘individualization (...) and participation’, providing instructive insights into basic social presuppositions and types of religion, instructive especially in the present-day situation of religious pluralism. (shrink)

This paper analyses Spalding’s Betrachtung über die Bestimmung des Menschen (1748) through a translation proposal that tries to point out the human disposal to act ethically. In accord with modern German use, I argue for a translation of Bestimmung as disposition. In the first part of the article, I deal with the relevant issues for a philosophy of human experience that are present in Spalding’s text. In the second one, I bring the translation proposal into the philosophical domain showing how (...) the Bestimmung as disposition suits the human nature, in particular for what concerns the ethics, namely the way humans are arranged to act with others, and things in a non-egoistic mode. The analysis rests on two philosophical concepts: Sorge (Heidegger) and Liebe (Jaspers), that give a description of the essential relational component of human beings in which to take care, to love, and to discover our surrounding world are the key points. (shrink)

La intención principal del presente artículo se centra en tres puntos esenciales y correlacionados entre sí. Nuestra principal intención es presentar, argumentativamente, las razones por las que Juan David García Bacca habría cometido un error al traducir el término heideggeriano Sorge por preocupación y no por cuidado. Pretendemos sostener que el hecho de traducir Sorge por preocupación, distorsiona gravemente todo el andamiaje ontológico y existencial propuesto por Heidegger. Si esto es así, Juan David García Bacca habría elaborado un (...) sistema crítico contra Heidegger, sostenido sobre un error de fondo, de traducción y de nivel de discurso. Es decir, el filósofo español únicamente se habría quedado en un orden de discurso óntico y no ontológico tal y como exige el proyecto fenomenológico heideggeriano.The aim of this essay focuses on three main points which are essentials and related to each other. Our main aim is to present, in our argument, the reasons for which Juan David García Bacca would have erroneously translated Heidegger´s term “Sorge” for “concern” instead of “care”. We hope to maintain the argument that the fact of translating Sorge for concern seriously distorts the ontological and existential framework that Heidegger proposes. If this is a fact, Juan David García Bacca would have developed a critical system against Heidegger, held over a fundamental mistake, at both a discourse and a translation level. In this way, the Spanish philosopher would have only achieved an ontic discourse and not an ontologic one, which is what Heidegger´s phenomenological project requires. (shrink)

The relativistic Schrödinger theory (RST) for N-fermion systems is further elaborated with respect to three fundamental problems which must emerge in any relativistic theory of quantum matter: (i) emergence/suppression of exchange forces between identical/non-identical particles, (ii) self-interactions, (iii) non-relativistic approximation. These questions are studied in detail for two- and three-particle systems but the results do apply to a general N-particle system. As a concrete demonstration, the singlet and triplet configurations of the positronium groundstate are considered within the RST framework, including (...) a discussion of the corresponding hyperfine splitting. (shrink)

Ocherk 1. Voprosy ontologii -- Ocherk 2. Voprosy ėtiki i ėstetiki -- Ocherk 3. Voprosy gnoseologii i aksiologii.

Accessing knowledge of a single knowledge source with different client applications often requires the help of mediator systems as middleware components. In the domain of theorem proving large efforts have been made to formalize knowledge for mathematics and verification issues, and to structure it in databases. But these databases are either specialized for a single client, or if the knowledge is stored in a general database, the services this database can provide are usually limited and hard to adjust for a (...) particular theorem prover. Only recently there have been initiatives to flexibly connect existing theorem proving systems into networked environments that contain large knowledge bases. An intermediate layer containing both, search and proving functionality can be used to mediate between the two. In this paper we motivate the need and discuss the requirements for mediators between mathematical knowledge bases and theorem proving systems. We also present an attempt at a concurrent mediator between a knowledge base and a proof planning system. (shrink)

The relativistic three-particle systems are studied within the framework of Relativistic Schrödinger Theory, with emphasis on the determination of the energy functional for the stationary bound states. The phenomenon of entanglement shows up here in form of the exchange energy which is a significant part of the relativistic field energy. The electromagnetic interactions become unified with the exchange interactions into a relativistic U gauge theory, which has the Hartree–Fock equations as its non-relativistic limit. This yields a general framework for treating (...) entangled states of relativistic many-particle systems, e.g., the N-electron atoms. (shrink)

Within the framework of Relativistic Schrödinger Theory (RST), the scalar two-particle systems with electromagnetic interactions are treated on the basis of a non-Abelian gauge group U(2) which is broken down to the Abelian subgroup U(1)×U(1). In order that the RST dynamics be consistent with the (non-Abelian) Maxwell equations, there arises a compatibility condition which yields cross relationships for the links between the field strengths and currents of both particles such that self-interactions are eliminated. In the non-relativistic limit, the RST dynamics (...) becomes identical to the well-known Hartree–Fock equations (for spinless particles). Consequently the original RST field equations may be considered as the relativistic generalization of the Hartree–Fock equations, and the “exchange interactions” of the conventional theory (induced by the anti-symmetrization postulate) do reappear here as ordinary gauge interactions due to a broken symmetry. (shrink)

This paper examines the relationship of bonding with nonhuman animals during an interactive, animal-in-the-wild science program and the science attitudes of 358 young children between the ages of 8 and 14 Talking Talons utilizes typically wild animals such as raptors, reptiles, and bats in a school-based educational science curriculum. Qualitative data from interviews with students in the program indicated that "bonding with animals" and the educators within the program were related to increased positive attitudes toward science. The program used quantitative (...) methods to examine these dual relationships—with animals and with educators- on student attitude toward science. The program performed a step-wise multiple regression with "Attitude toward Science" as the dependent variable and "Gender," "Age," and "Bonding with Animals" as independent variables. Both "Bonding with Animals" and "Bonding with the Educator" contributed significantly to prediction of the participants' science attitudes. Altogether 28% of the variance in "Science Attitude" was predicted by both "Gender" and "Age" , "Bonding with Animals" and "Bonding with Educator" . Bonding with the animals had a large quantifiable relationship with student attitudes toward science. (shrink)

Opening with an essay entitled »Faust und die Sorge«, the first issue of the DVjs entered the world in a year of economic crises, national bankruptcy, and hyperinflation. This situation suggests viewing the project of Geistesgeschichte as reflecting stories of care (Sorge) and crises of the spirit (Geist). The thematization of such stories is here traced with respect to various scenes: Goethe’s Faust II, conflicts regarding hermeneutic power, and finally the history of political economy itself.

This study examines the outcomes of a four-year faculty learning community (FLC) that aimed to transform departmental ethics curriculum by supporting Earth Sciences faculty members as they ethically inquired into their teaching of ethics and refined existing courses in alignment with an Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection (ICELER) framework. We present ethnographic case studies that unpack processes through which three faculty members transformed undergraduate courses. We assembled case studies by triangulating interview data, course artifacts, and faculty reflections. We examine (...) how faculty (1) built awareness around teaching ethics, (2) took responsibility for and made judgments about teaching ethics, (3) experimented by designing and implementing ICELER-inspired courses, and (4) interrogated the outcomes of their ethics teaching, utilizing findings to enhance awareness and revise courses. The paper closes by introducing a model detailing how instructors inquire into ethics teaching and how model components might inspire future educational practice and research. (shrink)

Prologue, invitation to thinking about God In the Hebrew Bible? -- Part I, questions about God? -- Why does God in the Bible have a body? -- What do God's body parts in the Bible mean? -- Why is God angry in the Bible? -- Does God in the Bible have gender or sexuality? -- Part II, questions about God in the world? -- What can creation tell us about God? -- Who-or what-is the Satan? -- Why do people suffer (...) according to the Hebrew Bible? -- Epilogue, God in the Bible and beyond. (shrink)

Twenty-four critical essays, including a substantial introduction, written by the most distinguished international scholars, in honour of Graziella Federici Vescovini.

Many books explain what is known about the universe. This book investigates what cannot be known. Rather than exploring the amazing facts that science, mathematics, and reason have revealed to us, this work studies what science, mathematics, and reason tell us cannot be revealed. In The Outer Limits of Reason, Noson Yanofsky considers what cannot be predicted, described, or known, and what will never be understood. He discusses the limitations of computers, physics, logic, and our own thought processes. Yanofsky describes (...) simple tasks that would take computers trillions of centuries to complete and other problems that computers can never solve; perfectly formed English sentences that make no sense; different levels of infinity; the bizarre world of the quantum; the relevance of relativity theory; the causes of chaos theory; math problems that cannot be solved by normal means; and statements that are true but cannot be proven. He explains the limitations of our intuitions about the world -- our ideas about space, time, and motion, and the complex relationship between the knower and the known. Moving from the concrete to the abstract, from problems of everyday language to straightforward philosophical questions to the formalities of physics and mathematics, Yanofsky demonstrates a myriad of unsolvable problems and paradoxes. Exploring the various limitations of our knowledge, he shows that many of these limitations have a similar pattern and that by investigating these patterns, we can better understand the structure and limitations of reason itself. Yanofsky even attempts to look beyond the borders of reason to see what, if anything, is out there. (shrink)