Philosophy of Science; Ukraine; Polysytemic nature of theories; Practical theories; Subsystems of a theory.

An application of diagrams for separating modes of theory development.

The short exposition of the triplet model of concepts and some definitions connected with it are given. In this model any concept may be depicted as having three characteristics: a base, a representing part and the linkage between them. The paper introduces the fuzzification of concepts in terms of the triplet model.

The scheme for classifications of concepts is introduced. It has founded on the triplet model of concepts. In this model a concept is depicted by means of three kinds of knowledge: a concept base, a concept representing part and the linkage between them. The idea of triplet classifications of concepts is connected with a usage of various specifications of these knowledge kinds as classification criteria.

The triplet model treats a concept as complex structure that expresses three kinds of information. The first is about entities subsumed under a concept,their properties and relations. The second is about means and ways of representing the first information in intelligent systems. The third is about linkage between the first and second ones and methods of its constructing. The application of triplet models to generalization and development of concept models in philosophy, logic, cognitive psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, artificial intelligence has (...) been demonstrated. The componential structure of the triplet model and extended concept classification have been given. Theoretical considerations are combined with historical case-studies of concept history. For scientists and students with an interest in problems of knowledge structure and representation. Abstract and Extended Summary in English. (shrink)

Physical theories are complex and necessary tools for gaining new knowledge about their areas of application. A distinction is made between abstract and practical theories. The last are constantly being improved in the cognitive activity of professional physicists and studied by future physicists. A variant of the philosophy of physics based on a modified structural-nominative reconstruction of practical theories is proposed. Readers should decide whether this option is useful for their understanding of the philosophy of physics, as well as other (...) philosophies of particular sciences. (shrink)

The paper has three objectives: to expound a set-theoretical triplet model of concepts; to introduce some triplet relations (symbolic, logical, and mathematical formalization; equivalence, intersection, disjointness) between object concepts, and to instantiate them by relations between certain physical object concepts.

It is proposed to analyze fuzzy concepts and relations between them in the frame of triplet concept modeling. Fuzzy concepts are introduced by means of the so-called fuzzification of dichotomous concepts. The cognitive and psychological aspects of concept possession are separated and studied.

It is proposed to analyze the unity of scientific knowledge in terms of its structure-nominative reconstruction. -/- .

There are no universally adopted answers to the natural questions about scientific concepts: What are they? What is their structure? What are their functions? How many kinds of them are there? Do they change? Ironically, most if not all scientific monographs or articles mention concepts, but the scientific studies of scientific concepts are rare in occurrence. It is well known that the necessary stage of any scientific study is constructing the model of objects in question. Many years logical modeling was (...) dominant in the concept studies. Last decades, concepts came to be regarded as the subject of mathematical modeling. However, different authors take different features of concepts as independent variables of their models. Our objective is to characterize informally the spectra of relevant variables for the modeling of scientific concepts. (shrink)

The changes of concepts are described in the frame of concept triplet model. -/- .

The English Synopsis is after the text of the book. The book presents an original and generalizing substantive vision of the philosophy of science through the prism of a detailed analysis of the polysystem structure of scientific theories. Theories are considered, firstly, as complex specialized forms of developed scientific thinking about the realities studied by natural science, secondly, as constantly improving tools for producing new knowledge in interaction with experimental research, and thirdly, as carriers of ordered and verified knowledge. Emphasis (...) is placed on their nominal and ontic subsystems. The book develops personal and joint research of the authors (theoretical physicist and philosopher), the experience of teaching philosophy of physics at NaUKMA, philosophy of science at the Higher School of Philosophy at the H. Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and theoretical physics at the National Technical University "Ihor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". The research is based on a significant source base covering works of modern Western researchers in natural science and philosophy of science. For students, teachers, and scientists who are interested in the problems of modern philosophy of science and have a certain amount of scientific knowledge. It will also be useful for high school students who are eager to become scientists. (shrink)

Scientific knowledge systems function as effective and specialized apparatus for formulating, analyzing and solving scientific problems. In science, problems become internal parts of the knowledge systems; thus they acquire new forms and properties in comparison with common-sense problems. Definite theoretical structures connected with problems and questions appear in the theory. Among them are erotetic expressions and languages, calculi and algebras of problems. On the basis of the structure-nominative reconstruction of a theory, the unified treatment of these structures is given. Methods (...) of the theory of named sets are used in the logical analysis of problems and their systems. As a consequence a new formalized model of the problem part of theory is constructed. (shrink)

The history and use of the acronym ‘BCS’ (named after Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer) in the science of superconductivity is traced and analysed. It is shown that a number of different theories are labelled ‘BCS’. The confusion in the application of the term ‘BCS’ is shown to be common because the term ‘theory’ itself is not precisely defined in physics. Recommendations are given to physics readers and students on how to distinguish between various theories referred to as ‘BCS’. Contributions from (...) scientists in different laboratories to the creation and formation of the superconductivity theory are indicated. (shrink)

Existence of state-supported academies of science is a distinctive feature of the fundamental-science organization in Ukraine. Their research staff is divided into two groups: (i) personal members (academicians and corresponding members) and the rest of the researchers. First-group members have numerous economic and status privileges. It is officially purported that personal members are scientifically qualified than their colleagues. We analyzed this hypothesis on the basis of international indicators of the scientifi c activity (numbers of publications in the international peer-reviewed journals (...) and citations in them). The indicators testify that there are no distinctions between representatives of both groups being of the same age and qualifi cation. A conclusion is made that the lifelong privileges of the first group are ill-founded. (shrink)

The recent proposition to eliminate eponyms from physical publications is discussed. The role of eponyms in research and education is analyzed. We show that eponyms constitute an integral part of physical texts and ensure the continuity of scientific research. Their proposed elimination is dangerous for science and the entire human culture and must be rejected.

One of the vividly discussed topics in the contemporary philosophy of science (especially physics) is the opposition between realism and Anti-Realism. The supporters of the first way of thinking trust in the objective existence of realities studied by science. They consider theories as approximate descriptions of these realities (Psillos 1999, xvii), whereas their opponents do not. However, both sides base their argumentation on simplified notions of scientific theories. In this paper, we present a more general approach, which can be coined (...) as “Theoretical Physics Realism” (TPR). It is based on the detailed reconstruction of the polysystemic nature of physical theories. The consequences of this reconstruction for understanding the genuine relationship between theories and experiments in studying the realities are indicated. The paper distinguishes between abstract (general) and domain-dependent theories and appeals to specific physical theories together with their application domains rather than to general speculations. (shrink)

Representative models are considered parts of real scientific theories.

We examine some of Connes’ criticisms of Robinson’s infinitesimals starting in 1995. Connes sought to exploit the Solovay model S as ammunition against non-standard analysis, but the model tends to boomerang, undercutting Connes’ own earlier work in functional analysis. Connes described the hyperreals as both a “virtual theory” and a “chimera”, yet acknowledged that his argument relies on the transfer principle. We analyze Connes’ “dart-throwing” thought experiment, but reach an opposite conclusion. In S , all definable sets of reals are (...) Lebesgue measurable, suggesting that Connes views a theory as being “virtual” if it is not definable in a suitable model of ZFC. If so, Connes’ claim that a theory of the hyperreals is “virtual” is refuted by the existence of a definable model of the hyperreal field due to Kanovei and Shelah. Free ultrafilters aren’t definable, yet Connes exploited such ultrafilters both in his own earlier work on the classification of factors in the 1970s and 80s, and in Noncommutative Geometry, raising the question whether the latter may not be vulnerable to Connes’ criticism of virtuality. We analyze the philosophical underpinnings of Connes’ argument based on Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, and detect an apparent circularity in Connes’ logic. We document the reliance on non-constructive foundational material, and specifically on the Dixmier trace −∫ (featured on the front cover of Connes’ magnum opus) and the Hahn–Banach theorem, in Connes’ own framework. We also note an inaccuracy in Machover’s critique of infinitesimal-based pedagogy. (shrink)

The paper deals with the possible readings of The Reaper Argument premisses. Some conjectures related to the Stoics’ alleged proof of the argument are discussed.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain (...) in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant. (shrink)

We consider games over a finite alphabet with Gurevich-Harrington's winning conditions and restraints as in Yakhnis-Yakhnis . The game tree, the Gurevich-Harrington's kernels of the winning condition and the restraints are defined by finite automata. We give an effective criterion to determine the winning player and an effective presentation of a class of finite automata defined winning strategies.Our approach yields an alternative solution to the games considered by Büchi and Landweber . The BL algorithm is an important tool for solving (...) effectively presented games. The differences between the BL and our algorithms are as follows. Our algorithm is uniformly applicable to winning sets that correspond to boolean combinations of BL winning conditions, while the BL algorithm requires a transformation of such boolean combinations into a single BL condition. Our algorithm directly applies to a larger class of game trees for a given game alphabet than does the BL one. We describe Büchi-Landweber's class of winning conditions in a more transparent way by using finite automata and Gurevich-Harrington's form of winning conditions. Our algorithms that determine the winner of the game and find a winning strategy, are based on a translation of the events in the game in terms of the transition table of the automaton representing the game. This automaton differs from the ones that represent BL winning conditions. Both algorithms need further investigation.The algorithm determining the winner in the game, can be used as a verifier of concurrent programs. This is because programs can be viewed as strategies in Gurevich-Harrington's games and program specifications could be regarded as winning conditions for such games. The algorithm which finds a winning strategy could be used as a basis for automated concurrent program design.The present paper is a sequel to Annals of Pure and Applied Logic 48 277–297. (shrink)

The article offers a comparative analysis of the uses of set theory in Castoriadis's "The Imaginary Institution of Society" and Badiou's "Being and Event".

The Cell Cycle Ontology (CCO) has the aim to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for scientists interested in the biology of the cell cycle that would like to ask questions from a molecular and/or systems pe...

We consider QED processes in the presence of an infinitely thin and infinitely long straight string with a magnetic flux inside it. The bremsstrahlung from an electron passing by the magnetic string and the electron-positron pair production by a single photon are reviewed. Based on the exact electron and positron solutions of the Dirac equation in the external Aharonov-Bohm potential we present matrix elements for these processes. The dependence of the resulting cross sections on energies, directions, and polarizations of the (...) involved particles is discussed for low energies. (shrink)

This paper continues the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of ontic structural realism, which begun in the first part of the paper. Non-eliminative versions of this approach are considered, which try to find a compromise between the ontology of structures and the ontology of objects. It is shown that the semirealism of A. Chakravartti and the constructive structural realism of T. Cao have a number of limitations caused by the authors’ desire to strictly distinguish between the nature of the (...) existence of objects and structures. Then the version of the relationship between structures and entities is presented. Firstly, two concepts are divided according to their content: “object” and “entity”. Second, to solve the problem of causality, I suggest that the nature of entities and structures lie in their ability to act. It is this ability that I propose to use instead of the popular concepts of “causal powers”, “causal properties” or “dispositions”. Third, instead of a rigid alternative to ontological primitives – either essence, or causal relations, or structures – the concept of ontological pluralism and inherited existence is proposed. There each entity is represented as a derivative of another structure and, in turn, creates other entities and structures. Thus, both structures and entities at each level of the complexity hierarchy partially inherit the ability to act and a certain degree of existence from the structures and entities of the previous levels. Finally, I am trying to clarify the modal aspects of the ontic structural realism. Following the popular interpretations of quantum theory, the ability to act, and hence the existence of structures and entities, are considered separately in two worlds – potential and actual ones. The potential world is associated with a set of possible objects and structures of quantum theory, and the actual world is associated with a set of real (observable) objects and structures of classical physical theories. The transition from the potential to the actual world is proposed to be considered as a primitive metaphysical event. The proposed concept partially overcomes the objections to ontic structural realism, thereby strengthening its position in the discussion about the reality of quantum objects. (shrink)

Nonmonotonic causal logic is a knowledge representation language designed for describing domains that involve actions and change. The process of literal completion, similar to program completion familiar from the theory of logic programming, can be used to translate some nonmonotonic causal theories into classical logic. Its applicability is restricted, however, to theories that deal with truth-valued fluents, represented by predicate symbols. In this note we introduce functional completion—a more general process that can be applied to causal theories in which fluents (...) are treated as functions. (shrink)

Im Unterschied zum christlichen Begriff der Gerechtigkeit als einer sittlichen Tugend, wie es Thomas von Aquin zusammenfasste, als einer Einstellung, kraft deren ein Mensch festen und steten Willens jedem sein Recht zukommen lässt, erkennt Nietzsche die Herkunft der Gerechtigkeit im Ausgleich oder Kompromiss zwischen ungefähr gleich Mächtigen sowie im Zwang der weniger Mächtigen zu einem Ausgleich. Zur Untermauerung dieser Einstellung, die sich auf der Behauptung gründet, dass das Leben seinem innersten Wesen nach eine Aneignung sei bzw. dass der Wille zur (...) Macht den Lebenswillen schlechthin ausmache, griff Nietzsche auf den von Thukydides geschilderten Dialog der Athener und Melier zurück. Der Autor kommt jedoch zu dem Schluss, dass Nietzsche nicht nur ein Denker der Macht war, sondern nach einem neuen Verständnis der Gerechtigkeit trachtete, das aus der Gesamtheit seines Denkens zu deuten sei. (shrink)

Publication du cours de philosophie morale professé à l'Université libre de Bruxelles en 1962, différent des cours de la Sorbonne. Didactique, argumenté par de nombreuses références à l'histoire de la philosophie, ce cours donne aussi l'avantage aux thèmes de prédilection du philosophe.

Od grčkog pojma sophia do Potterovih pojmova mudrosti i biološkog znanja, autor analizira različite filozofske i znanstvene koncepte znanja. Autor se slaže s Jaspersom u stavu da ono što je »iz filozofije prevodivo u zajedničko mišljenje, to na koncu odlučuje o njezinoj vrijednosti «. Autor zaključuje da novoj epohi i bioetičkoj perspektivi odgovara zahtjev za orijentacijskim znanjem, te ga nastoji definirati ne samo iz povijesti filozofije, nego i u suprotnosti s tradicionalnim stajalištima , te iz zahtjeva nove epohe.From the Greek (...) term sophia to the Potter’s terms wisdom and biological knowledge, author analyses different philosophical and scientific concepts of knowledge. The author agrees with Jaspers on the notion that what is “transferable from philosophy into the common reasoning is what at the end decides on its worthiness”. The author concludes that the demand for an orientational knowledge corresponds with the new epoch and bioethical perspective, and is trying to define this demand not only from the history of philosophy, but in its contrast to the traditional views represented by Descartes and Bacon, and also from the demands of the new epoch itself. (shrink)

Можно ли сказать, что в центре христианской культуры лежит искушение - как о том свидетельствуют в евангельских повествованиях искушения Христа Дьяволом? Так, кажется, думает Достоевский, который - в особенности в «Братьях Карамазовых» - стремится показать, что именно невинные становятся жертвами дьявольских козней. Такова для него и ситуация русского народа, который он идеализирует, противопоставляя его интеллигенции. В реальности, как показывает недавняя история, эта претензия на «невинность» русского народа была лишь фантазмом Достоевского. La tentation serait-elle au centre de la culture chrétienne comme (...) le donneraient à penser les tentations du Christ par le Démon que racontent les évangiles ? C’est ce que semble croire Dostoïevski qui, en particulier dans Les frères Karamazov, s’efforce de montrer que ce sont justement des innocents qui sont soumis à ces manoeuvres démoniaques. Telle serait, d’ailleurs, d’après lui, la situation du peuple russe, qu’il idéalise en l’opposant à l’intelligentsia. En réalité - l’histoire récente l’a montré - cette prétendue « innocence » du peuple russe n’était qu’un fantasme de Dostoïevski. Is temptation at the center of Christian culture, as suggested by the temptations Christ had been exposed to by the Devil, according to the Gospels? This is what Dostoyevsky seems to believe, most notably in The Brothers Karamazov, in which he aims at showing that only innocent people are subject to these demonic maneuvers. This would also be, according to him, the situation of the Russian people, which he idealizes, contrasting it to the intelligentsia. In fact, recent history has shown that this alleged « innocence » of the Russian people was a fantasy of Dostoyevsky. (shrink)

There are many methodological considerations that adversely affect external validity as much as, or even more than, unrepresentative sampling does. Among suspect applications, especially worrisome is the incorporation of WEIRD-based findings regarding moral reasoning and retribution into normative expectations, such as might be held by international criminal tribunals in war-torn areas.

Cicero's De fato: On Hellenistic Conditionals and Free Will. The Serbo-Croatian translation of Cicero's De fato, with comments and detailed analysis of some arguments and problems of the text. -/- (s/h): Tekst Ciceronovog spisa "de fato", prevod, komentari i u dodacima, detaljnija analiza pojedinih argumenata i problema sadržanih u tekstu.