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)

According to James Woodward’s influential interventionist account of causation, X is a cause of Y iff, roughly, there is a possible intervention on X that changes Y. Woodward requires that interventions be merely logically possible. I will argue for two claims against this modal character of interventions: First, merely logically possible interventions are dispensable for the semantic project of providing an account of the meaning of causal statements. If interventions are indeed dispensable, the interventionist theory collapses into a counterfactual theory (...) of causation. Thus, the interventionist theory is not tenable as a theory of causation in its own right. Second, if one maintains that merely logically possible interventions are indispensable, then interventions with this modal character lead to the fatal result that interventionist counterfactuals are evaluated inadequately. Consequently, interventionists offer an inadequate theory of causation. I suggest that if we are concerned with explicating causal concepts and stating the truth-conditions of causal claims we best get rid of Woodwardian interventions. (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)

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)

The article provides a reply to critical remarks made during the discussion about creativity and scientific knowledge. The authors propose to consider their concept of creativity not as antagonistic or incommensurable with the alternative, but rather co-existing through the complementarity principle. Responding to a comment about the socio-cultural conditionality of a particular cognitive situation, the authors question whether globalization seriously influence this matter in science. They support the statement about the importance of the interaction between science and art, science and (...) philosophy as an opportunity to consider scientific problems from the outside, in an unusual way. Regarding the comment about serendipity, the authors note that in certain cases we need exactly epistemological randomization, since we cannot consciously induce serendipity. In conclusion, thanks are expressed to all participants in the discussion. (shrink)

This article investigates the original meaning of a passage of Plotinus’ Enneads, the treatise On Fate (Enneads, III, 1, 5). The thesis of the article envisagesthe understanding of the passage in the light of a Plotinian critic of astrology and argues that the understanding and the modern translations of the passage did not exactly detect neither the Plotinian doctrine nor how Plotinus represents his polemical opponents. We argued in this article that, for criticizing the contemporary astrology of his time, Plotinus (...) elusively calls Anaxagoras’ astronomy, claiming exclusive minerality of the heaven in perfect circular movement. In addition, I correlated this observation with a broader conclusion on the grounding of the heaven as a significant space in the horizon of a hermeneutic conversion of the Plotinian philosophy. (shrink)

Alexander's views on universals are, it seems, quite important in the history of western philosophy. When Boethius gives in his second commentary on Porphyry's Isagoge his solution to the problem of universals as he conceived it, he claims to be adopting Alexander's approach. If true, this means that the locus classicus for all western medieval thinkers on this topic is really a rendering of Alexander's teaching. Alexander commented Aristotle’s statement in his On the Soul “The universal (...) animal either is nothing at all or is posterior if it exists”, and this commentary has been translated into Arabic several times in the classical period. In this study the anonymous Arabic translations of Alexander’s commentary has been translated into English. (shrink)

Quantum mechanics was initiated with the object of allowing only observable concepts to enter into the theory. The new mechanics has, however, inherited the old difficulty with the conservation laws involved in beta decay, and this led Pauli, about 1931, to introduce the idea of the neutrino, with the object of reconciling the facts of beta decay with the conservation laws. The neutrino, as it was proposed by Pauli and as accepted today, is a particle devoid both of mass and (...) charge, but having a spin 1/2 and obeying the Fermi statistics. In 1934 Fermi founded his theory of beta disintegration based on the neutrino. The Fermi theory assumes that this hypothetical particle is emitted simultaneously with the disintegrating electron and carries off the excess energy, thereby reconciling the conservation laws with beta disintegration. It will be remembered that the continuous distribution in energy of the beta particles is such that, except at the maximum energy end point of the beta spectra, there is more energy available from the disintegration than is emitted in the form of beta particles. (shrink)