We introduce proof nets and sequent calculus for the multiplicative fragment of non-commutative logic, which is an extension of both linear logic and cyclic linear logic. The two main technical novelties are a third switching position for the non-commutative disjunction, and the structure of order variety.

We define proof nets for cyclic multiplicative linear logic as edge bi-coloured graphs. Our characterization is purely graph theoretical and works without further complication for proof nets with cuts, which are usually harder to handle in the non-commutative case. This also provides a new characterization of the proof nets for the Lambek calculus (with the empty sequence) which simply are a restriction on the formulas to be considered (which are asked to be intuitionistic).

Hilbert's conference lectures during the year 1922, Neuebegründung der Mathematik. Erste Mitteilung and Die logischen Grundlagen der Mathematik (both are published in (Hilbert [1935] 1965) pp. 157-195), contain his first public presentation of an axiom system for propositional logic, or at least for a fragment of propositional logic, which is largely influenced by the study on logical woks of Frege and Russell during the previous years.The year 1922 is at the beginning of Hilbert's foundational program in its definitive form. The (...) final public presentation by Hilbert of an axiom system for propositional logic is contained in the 1934 book Grundlagen der Mathematik, I (Hilbert and Bernays [1934] 1968). Sequent .. (shrink)

This paper gives an overview of the common approach to quantification and generalised quantification in formal linguistics and philosophy of language. We point out how this usual general framework represents a departure from empirical linguistic data. We briefly sketch a different idea for proof theory which is closer to the language itself than standard approaches in many aspects. We stress the importance of Hilbert’s operators—the epsilon-operator for existential and tau-operator for universal quantifications. Indeed, these operators are helpful in the construction (...) of a semantic representation which is close to natural language in particular with quantified noun phrases as individual terms. We also define guidelines for the design of proof rules corresponding to generalized quantifiers. (shrink)

This work is devoted to the relations between Lambek’s Syntactic Calculus and noncommutative variants of Girard’s Linear Logic; in particular the paper will consider: the geometrical representation of the laws of LC by means of proof-nets; the discovery - due to such a geometrical representation - of some laws of LC not yet considered; the discussion of possible linguistic uses of these new laws.

We present a geometrical analysis of the principles that lay at the basis of Categorial Grammar and of the Lambek Calculus. In Abrusci it is shown that the basic properties known as Residuation laws can be characterized in the framework of Cyclic Multiplicative Linear Logic, a purely non-commutative fragment of Linear Logic. We present a summary of this result and, pursuing this line of investigation, we analyze a well-known set of categorial grammar laws: Monotonicity, Application, Expansion, Type-raising, Composition, Geach (...) laws and Switching laws. (shrink)

L'oeuvre de Claude Tresmontant est un formidable appel à un développement théologique digne des défis actuels du XXIe siècle, fondé sur les bases solides théologiques reconnues par l'Eglise, en particulier les conciles. Tresmontant qui connaît parfaitement l'hébreu s'est livré à une recherche approfondie sur le véritable contenu du christianisme. Sa pensée est celle d'une métaphysique qui nous réconcilie avec le réel : il donne toute sa place dans la réflexion à ce que les sciences de la nature nous enseignent.

La interpretación monista de la ontología de Parménides aquí propuesta parece confirmada por la lógica ineludible que impregna enteramente su pensamiento. A pesar del carácter fragmentario de su poema, es posible reconstruir la férrea racionalidad de la ontología parmenídea. Esta lógica intrínsecamente coherente pone de manifiesto la absoluta necesidad de la naturaleza monística del ser. En esta perspectiva parece evidente la absoluta incompatibilidad de la perfecta racionalidad y coherencia de la verdad con la dimensión engañosa e inconsistente de la doxa.

In technologically grounded organizations, culture is bound tightly to the material characteristics of the technology that the organization manufactures, distributes, or services. Technological grounding helps explain why high-technology organizations often experience cultural integration problems following a merger. Examining the recent merger of US West and Qwest, this article analyzes how powerful actors strategically used the process of technological grounding to enroll a core technology to situate postmerger integration in technological terms, creating a discourse of inevitability that then justified publicly Qwest's (...) cultural domination of US West. (shrink)

This essay presents a personal remembering of Rudolf Haller and deals with his interpretation and evaluation of Meinong’s theory of impossible and incomplete objects in order to better understand the objects of fiction and imagination.

This paper extends the analysis of liberal principles in social choice recently proposed by Mariotti and Veneziani (2009a) to infinitely-lived societies. First, some novel characterisations of inegalitarian leximax social welfare relations are derived based on the Individual Benefit Principle (IBP), which incorporates a liberal, non-interfering view of society. This is surprising because the IBP does not explicitly incorporate any preference for inequality, nor does it assign priority to well-off members of society. Second, some impossibility results are derived that highlight a (...) general tension between standard fairness and efficiency axioms in social choice, and a liberal Principle of Non-Interference that generalises IBP. (shrink)

This essay examines the educational opportunities of people in poverty who receive social welfare assistance. The dominant political theory underlying social policy (including education policy) in the United States has evolved from 1960s and 1970s welfare liberalism into 1980s and 1990s style neo-conservatism—a theory that embraces principles of the market and individual liberty as paramount social values. Against this backdrop, I review two recent books that provide compelling evidence for this turn and I call for increased understanding of the relationship (...) between social welfare policies and higher education opportunities for those in poverty. (shrink)

This essay is an attempt to deal seriously with the Foucauldian concept of governmentality. Instead of charting its emergence and its uses in Foucault’s disperse texts, the essay contends with governmentality as a concept able to refresh our very understanding of politics. Governmentality is described as the best concept through which to interrupt the “natural” relationship linking modern western States to sovereignty. This is why governmentality is coupled with apparently distant legal and political historically oriented lines of thought. The essay (...) thus proposes a new approach to the history of modern State informed by an enriched concept of governmentality. (shrink)

This paper is a reflection on the potential of teaching methodologies that focus on the phenomenon of dissonance or cognitive conflict. In a multicultural and increasingly polarized society, the capacity to question one’s own beliefs and behaviors is certainly one of the skills that the educational system should promote, and the development of this competence is closely related to the effective control of the experience of dissonance originated by new information. Starting from a brief reconstruction of the pedagogical and psychological (...) literature on the subject, I will try to analyze the complexity of the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance by proposing an explanation of the contradictory results of empirical research, identifying as the main problematic nodes the emotional regulation of conflict and the role of the teacher as a facilitator of the process of conceptual change. (shrink)

Résumé La ville productive, au-delà de l’usine industrielle représente le territoire de la vie ET du travail de l’ère postfordiste. Des multitudes de précaires/intermittents produisent la ville même par de nouvelles formes de vie, d’expérimentations, d’affects et de création, perçus comme autant de bruits parasites et non fonctionnels par les institutions. De Paris à Rio en passant par Buenos Aires, nous interrogeons ce rapport conflictuel fondamentalement biopolitique entre le contrôle des espaces urbains par les pouvoirs institués et les appropriations subjectives (...) de territoires de la ville par les multitudes constituantes de nouvelles formes de démocratie. (shrink)

We argue that in extensive decision problems (extensive games with a single player) with imperfect recall care must be taken in interpreting information sets and strategies. Alternative interpretations allow for different kinds of analysis. We address the following issues: 1. randomization at information sets; 2. consistent beliefs; 3. time consistency of optimal plans; 4. the multiselves approach to decision making. We illustrate our discussion through an example that we call the ‘‘paradox of the absentminded driver.’’ Journal of Economic Literature Classification (...) Numbers: C7, D0. 1997 Academic Press. (shrink)

This book explains why anti-realism is so popular with philosophers of science by showing that many contemporary philosophers of science and language, who define themselves as empiricists, in fact have evolved into linguistic idealists.

This essay recounts the author’s journey with her father during his prolonged decline due to dementia. The experience pushed her to break out of the confines of conventional scholarly research in her academic field of architectural history to a multi-disciplinary consideration of nineteenth-century environmental, sensory and horticultural therapies for the mentally ill. During her father’s illness, she discovered the tangible therapeutic benefits of momentary engagements with his environment through his five senses and through the emotional filter of poetry. This reorientation (...) to sensory and poetic experience had a beneficial impact on the caretaker as well. (shrink)