This book is devoted to a thorough analysis of the role that models play in the practise of physical theory. The authors, a mathematical physicist and a philosopher of science, appeal to the logicians’ notion of model theory as well as to the concepts of physicists.

Lire Hegel: Un bilan -- "Sortir de Hegel": Des jeunes-hégéliens à Nietzsche et Rosenzweig.

La juridicisation croissante de notre vie publique et le fonctionnement de l'Etat de droit ont rendu nécessaire de reposer la question des modes de raisonnement fondant désormais les décisions judiciaires, de plus en plus importantes, de plus en plus nombreuses, qui régissent notre activité quotidienne. L'enjeu n'en est pas négligeable. Au-delà d'une vision "technologique" du droit - le droit, une technique, un outil... -, c'est aussi, et de manière peut-être plus inquiétante, une vision plus politique qui en est souvent suggérée (...) : la mort annoncée du droit comme technique autonome, capable de résister au politique - simple habillage, habile camouflage, d'une décision dont la motivation ne serait jamais - ne pourrait jamais être - mise en échec, orientée, ou commandée par les contraintes du droit. Entre positivisme et réalisme, l'oscillation risque d'être catastrophique. Entre ces deux abîmes, cet ouvrage tente d'ouvrir les voies d'une réflexion rigoureuse et scientifique sur les moyens intellectuels les plus nécessaires à l'affirmation - et à l'affermissement - de l'Etat de droit. (shrink)

It is now integral to much of cultural, political and social analysis. This is the first comprehensive survey in one volume of the interdisciplinary field of cosmopolitan studies.

Hawking particles emitted by a black hole are usually found to have thermal spectra, if not exactly, then by a very good approximation. Here, we argue differently. It was discovered that spherical partial waves of in-going and out-going matter can be described by unitary evolution operators independently, which allows for studies of space-time properties that were not possible before. Unitarity dictates space-time, as seen by a distant observer, to be topologically non-trivial. Consequently, Hawking particles are only locally thermal, but globally (...) not: we explain why Hawking particles emerging from one hemisphere of a black hole must be 100 % entangled with the Hawking particles emerging from the other hemisphere. This produces exclusively pure quantum states evolving in a unitary manner, and removes the interior region for the outside observer, while it still completely agrees locally with the laws of general relativity. Unitarity is a starting point; no other assumptions are made. Region I and the diametrically opposite region II of the Penrose diagram represent antipodal points in a PT or CPT relation, as was suggested before. On the horizon itself, antipodal points are identified. A candidate instanton is proposed to describe the formation and evaporation of virtual black holes of the type described here. (shrink)

This book will appeal to second- and third-year undergraduates, and graduates and academics in sociology and social theory, politics, cultural studies and other ...

This paper is a theo-poetic exposition on hope via the series Neon Genesis Evangelion. The authors work to counter the dilemma of the modern human-cyborg: a subject saturated with digital technology who wants to fight the horror of their continual experience of a commodified hope. What emerges in this paper’s analysis is the articulation of three kinds of hope. The first kind is a prosaic general hope of the imaginary; the second is a rational hope of the symbolic, while the (...) third is an occult, excessive hope in the real. The ethical injunction of this paper’s conclusion is that to refuse the horror of the digital, we must preserve this third-order hope through an ethics of antagonistic uselessness. (shrink)

LA CRITIQUE PAR RAMSEY EN 1926 DE LA THESE DU DUALISME DES CONSTITUANTS DE LA PROPOSITION CONSTITUE UNE DES MANIFESTATIONS LES PLUS IMPORTANTES DE L'EBRANLEMENT DE LA CONSEPTION STANDARD ASSOCIANT LE DUALISME ONTOLOGIQUE (PARTICULIERS ET UNIVERSELS), LA DICHOTOMIE DES CONSTITUANTS DE LA PROPOSITION ET LA DISTINCTION METAPHYSIQUE ENTRE SUBSTANCE ET QUALITES. LA CRITIQUE DE LA NOTION DE SUBSTANCE AMORCEE AVEC L'EMPIRISME, NOTAMMENT CHEZ HUME, VA TROUVER DANS LA THEORIE DE LA RELATIVITE DE NOUVELLES JUSTIFICATIONS, ET L'EFFONDREMENT DE LA NOTION DE (...) SUBSTANCE VA METTRE EN CAUSE LA CONCEPTION STANDARD. LE DUALISME ONTOLOGIQUE SEMBLE SURVIVRE A CES ATTAQUES MAIS AU PRIX D'UN COMPLET REAMENAGEMENT CONCEPTUEL. LA SUBSTANCE CEDE LA PLACE A L'EVENEMENT COMME PARADIGME DES PARTICULIERS. (shrink)

Adam and Eve’s theft marks the beginning of the human career as moral agents. This article will examine the assumptions underlying the notion of moral agency from the perspective of three unremarkable human beings who found themselves in situations of moral difficulty. The article will conclude that these three people could not have acted differently than they did. It will conclude that it is unreasonable to assume that ordinary human beings will inevitably possess the resources to address difficult moral decisions.

For the contemporary reader of Psychoanalysis: Its Image and Its Public the analyses of communicative systems in the book provides a challenging occasion for reconsidering current social psychological thinking about the character of social groups. In Moscovici's careful delineation of the communicative systems of diffusion, propagation and propaganda through his content analysis of the French press, one can also see the description of different types of group structured through distinctive social psychological organisations. Moscovici himself suggests that the genres of diffusion, (...) propagation and propaganda are each linked to the construction of a specific type of social-psychological object, opinion, attitude and stereotype respectively. But one can also identify different forms of affiliation corresponding to each communicative genre, and consequently also different representations of the people who constitute both the in-group and the out-group in each instance. The affiliative bonds might be described as forms of sympathy, communion and solidarity. (shrink)

Many scientists believe that the universe, including the human brain, is governed by natural laws and that all can be explained by natural processes. In consequence, they believe that all events, including brain events, are determined. From this, they often conclude that free will cannot exist. I believe these views are mistaken and will present several lines of argument to support this position. I conclude that the operation of free will is compatible with determinism, can be explained by natural processes (...) and does not entail immaterial substance. (shrink)

The blood oxygen level dependent effect that provides the contrast in functional magnetic resonance imaging has been demonstrated to affect the linewidth of spectral peaks as measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy and through this, may be used as an indirect measure of cerebral blood flow related to neural activity. By acquiring MR-spectra interleaved with frames without water suppression, it may be possible to image the BOLD effect and associated metabolic changes simultaneously through changes in the linewidth of the unsuppressed water (...) peak. The purpose of this study was to implement this approach with the MEGA-PRESS sequence, widely considered to be the standard sequence for quantitative measurement of GABA at field strengths of 3 T and lower, to observe how changes in both glutamate and GABA levels may relate to changes due to the BOLD effect. MR-spectra and fMRI were acquired from the occipital cortex of 20 healthy participants whilst undergoing intrascanner visual stimulation in the form of a red and black radial checkerboard, alternating at 8 Hz, in 90 s blocks comprising 30 s of visual stimulation followed by 60 s of rest. Results show very strong agreement between the changes in the linewidth of the unsuppressed water signal and the canonical haemodynamic response function as well as a strong, negative, but not statistically significant, correlation with the Glx signal as measured from the OFF spectra in MEGA-PRESS pairs. Findings from this experiment suggest that the unsuppressed water signal provides a reliable measure of the BOLD effect and that correlations with associated changes in GABA and Glx levels may also be measured. However, discrepancies between metabolite levels as measured from the difference and OFF spectra raise questions regarding the reliability of the respective methods. (shrink)

In the standard formalism of quantum gravity, black holes appear to form statistical distributions of quantum states. Now, however, we can present a theory that yields pure quantum states. It shows how particles entering a black hole can generate firewalls, which however can be removed, replacing them by the ‘footprints’ they produce in the out-going particles. This procedure can preserve the quantum information stored inside and around the black hole. We then focus on a subtle but unavoidable modification of the (...) topology of the Schwarzschild metric: antipodal identification of points on the horizon. If it is true that vacuum fluctuations include virtual black holes, then the structure of space-time is radically different from what is usually thought. (shrink)

The central issue in this paper is the overtaking of neoliberalism by a possible new “social order”, a new phase in the history of capitalism. In contemporary capitalism, the “upper classes”—capitalist classes, the classes of managers and officials—jointly ensure the control of the means of production. Their common hegemony in neoliberalism is supported by the alliance at the top of the social hierarchies, under the leadership of capitalist classes. This hegemony could be continued beyond neoliberalism, though under new forms. A (...) first such potential social order is similar to neoliberalism, which it prolongs, a “third financial hegemony”. (Neoliberalism represented the “second financial hegemony”; the first prevailed before the Great Depression of the 1930s). The other social order can be described as a “neomanagerialism”. While the same alliance would prevail at the top, the leadership would here be that of the managerial class, and would involve much stronger state intervention. (Another opportunity, albeit one which we unfortunately deem unlikely, would be the alliance between popular classes and managers, a “social-managerialism”). A comparison between the United states and China highlights the relevance of neomanagerialism. The strong neomanagerial features of China show the potential efficiency of this social configuration. A turn to neomanagerialism would probably be the only way of preserving what can be saved of U.S. international hegemony. (shrink)