The brain, rather than being homogeneous, displays an almost infinite topological genus, since it is punctured with a high number of “cavities”. We might think to the brain as a sponge equipped with countless, uniformly placed, holes. Here we show how these holes, termed topological vortexes, stand for nesting, non-concentric brain signal cycles resulting from the activity of inhibitory neurons. Such inhibitory spike activity is inversely correlated with its counterpart, i.e., the excitatory spike activity propagating throughout the whole brain tissue. (...) We illustrate how Pascal’s triangles and linear and nonlinear arithmetic octahedrons are capable of describing the three-dimensional random walks generated by the inhbitory/excitatory activity of the nervous tissue. In case of nonlinear 3D paths, the trajectories of excitatory spiking oscillations can be depicted as the operation of filling the numbers of octahedrons in the form of “islands of numbers”: this leads to excitatory neuronal assemblies, spaced out by empty areas of inhibitory neuronal assemblies. These mathematical procedures allow us to describe the topology of a brain of infinite genus, to represent inhibitory neurons in terms of Betti numbers and to highlight how spike diffusion in neural tissues is generated by the random activation of tiny groups of excitatory neurons. Our approach suggests the existence of a strong mathematical background subtending the intricate oscillatory activity of the central nervous system. (shrink)

This book presents new findings that deal with different facets of the well-being of children and their relevance to the proper treatment of children. The well-being of children is considered against the background of a wide variety of legal, political, medical, educational and familial perspectives. The book addresses diverse issues from a range of disciplinary perspectives using a variety of methods. It has three major sections with the essays in each section loosely organized about a common general theme. The first (...) section focuses on issues concerning the relation between children’s well-being and autonomy or agency. The second section deals with child well-being insofar as the limits of parental authority are concerned. The third section has a more applied orientation and addresses a variety of public policy controversies involving the interpretation of children’s well-being. (shrink)

Theocritus' twenty-second idyll is cast in the form of a hymn to the Dioscuri, who are addressed in the proem as saviours of men, horses, and ships. This opening section of the idyll is modelled loosely on the short thirty-third Homeric hymn, and like that hymn contains an expanded account of the twins' rescue of ships about to be lost in a storm. As is hardly surprising, Theocritus in reworking the Homeric hymn draws on other literary antecedents as well, and (...) like other Alexandrian poets makes prominent use of diction borrowed and adapted from the Homeric epics. At the same time, the proem also shares several points of contact, largely overlooked or disputed by previous scholarship, with the poetry of Theocritus' own contemporaries. In the present paper, I shall suggest that in the storm scene of the proem references to Aratus' Phaenomena and Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica occur in a carefully arranged pattern with potentially significant implications for our understanding of the proem and the idyll as a whole. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Necessity and Essence Naming and Reference Rules and Meaning Conclusion References.

Can we have a posteriori knowledge of modal facts? And if so, is that knowledge fundamentally a posteriori, or does a priori intuition provide the modal component of what is known? Though the latter view seems more straightforward, there are also reasons for taking the first option seriously.

Metaphors involve immense explanatory power and positive impact predominantly in the scientific education and popularization. Still the use of metaphors in science might be a double-edged sword. Introduction of the computer metaphor to many scientific fields in the last century resulted in reductionist approaches, oversimplifications and mechanistic explanations in science as well as in humanities. In this short commentary we developed further the computer metaphor by prof. Noble and the illusions this metaphor led to in genetics, linguistics and consequently DNA (...) linguistics. (shrink)

For Protosociology the "Diskurs "-theory has a special significance. Validity-dimensions of speech and their evaluation in the procedure of argumentation indicate generalized presuppositions of interactive processes. These validity-dimensions can be reconstructed in lingusitic characterisations of "normative language" (P.W. Taylor). Thus it is possible to make first steps to a theory of validity. Protosociology provides a special reconstruction of argumentative speech on the level "interpersonality, structure of communicative acting and collective identity". The aim of Protosociology within a context of problems of (...) "Diskurs"-theory would have to establish normative values for an evaluation of such validity-dimensions. A logic of "Diskurs" would have to be developed as a kind of logic of "relevance". (shrink)

At first place the article should serve as clarification of the term "lifeworld" ("Lebenswelt) by means of selected lifeworld-conceptions of 20th. century philosophy.I would like to explikate the attempts of reflexive reference to lifeworld which exist in the concept of Husserl, Heidegger, Wittgenstein and Searle. According to the explanations of Husserl and Heidegger my main interest lies in the problematic of validity. The relation between lifeworld and reflection shall be dealt with in the light of the philosophy of language (Wittgenstein, (...) Searle).At least I would like to discuss the relation between tifeword and science. (shrink)

Dieser Band versammelt aktuelle Beiträge zur empirischen Subjektivierungsforschung, welche aus methodischer, methodologischer wie theoretischer Perspektive (mit unterschiedlichen Akzentuierungen) normative Ordnungen in Varianten ihrer alltäglichen Reflexion, Interpretation, Aushandlung und Aneignung in den Blick nehmen. Im Fokus der Auseinandersetzungen stehen daher jeweils Möglichkeiten der Rekonstruktion von Normen des Subjekt-Seins und deren Bezug zur Alltagspraxis bzw. zu den diese orientierenden Wissensstrukturen. Trotz diesem gemeinsamen Rahmen greifen die Beiträge unterschiedliche, theoretische Positionen auf, so dass der Band nicht in ein homogenes und geschlossenes Forschungsprogramm einführt, (...) sondern einen Einblick in die Bandbreite subjektivierungsanalytischer Methodologien, Fragestellungen und Methoden geben möchte. Relevante Bezugspunkte der hier versammelten Beiträge sind – neben den Konzepten und Studien Foucaults – etwa die Governmentality Studies, Cultural Studies, Diskurs- und Dispositivtheorie, Biografieforschung, hermeneutische Wissenssoziologie, praxeologische Wissenssoziologie, Habitus-, Performativitäts- und Praxistheorien sowie die Mediatisierungsforschung, welche teils auch in einen Dialog miteinander treten bzw. in Form von Triangulationen genutzt werden, um Subjektivierungsprozesse in verschiedenen Disziplinen und vielfältigen Forschungskontexten zu rekonstruieren. (shrink)

Christianity has understood the environment as a gift to nurture and steward, a book of divine revelation disclosing the divine mind, a wild garden in need of cultivation and betterment, and as a resource for the creation of a new Eden. This Cambridge Companion details how Christianity, one of the world's most important religions, has shaped one of the existential issues of our age, the environment. Engaging with contemporary issues, including gender, traditional knowledge, and enchantment, it brings together the work (...) of international scholars on the subject of Christianity and the Environment from a diversity of fields. Together, their work offers a comprehensive guide to the complex relationship between Christianity and the environment that moves beyond disciplinary boundaries. To do this, the volume explains the key concepts concerning Christianity and the environment, outlines the historical development of this relationship from antiquity to the present, and explores important contemporary issues. (shrink)

Dieser Band der Fichte-Studien stellt die neuesten Forschungen zu Fichtes Bildlehre im systematischen Zusammenhang seiner Wissenschaftslehre vor. Im Vordergrund steht der Bezug des Bildes zur Einbildungskraft und zum Selbstbewusstsein, aber auch praktische und ästhetische Aspekte der Bildproblematik werden dabei mitberücksichtigt.

This article describes a qualitative inquiry into the historical reception of Flemish television fiction broadcast by the monopolistic Flemish broadcaster BRT between 1953 and 1989. This is a relatively homogeneous period, both in terms of broadcasting policies and fiction output. What do viewers remember of this period? Can patterns be discerned in these memories, and if so, why? To answer these questions, this research uses semi-structured interviews with older viewers. First, the article discusses the particular problems of this method, mostly (...) ‘faulty’ memory and nostalgic reinterpretation. Then, the findings are presented, reflecting on processes of memory formation. One clear finding concerns the selective and homogeneous nature of memories; the same few serials are remembered in similar ways by most, leading to clichéd memories of the past. (shrink)