One of the most problematic aspects of the ‘Harvard School’ of liberal international theory is its failure to fulfil its own methodological ideals. Although Harvard School liberals subscribe to a nomothetic model of explanation, in practice they employ their theories as heuristic resources. Given this practice, we should expect them neither to develop candidate causal generalizations nor to be value-neutral: their explanatory insights are underpinned by value-laden choices about which questions to address and what concepts to employ. A key question (...) for liberal theorists, therefore, is how a theory may be simultaneously explanatory and value-oriented. The difficulties inherent in resolving this problem are manifested in Ikenberry's writing: whilst his work on constitutionalism in international politics partially fulfils the requirements of a more satisfactory liberal explanatory theory, his recent attempts to develop prescriptions for US foreign policy reproduce, in a new form, key failings of Harvard School realism. (shrink)

We present a mini review of the Stueckelberg mechanism, which was proposed to make the abelian gauge theories massive as an alternative to Higgs mechanism, within the framework of Minkowski as well as curved spacetimes. The higher the scale the tighter the bounds on the photon mass, which might be gained via the Stueckelberg mechanism, may be signalling that even an extremely small mass of the photon which cannot be measured directly could have far reaching effects in cosmology. We present (...) a cosmological model where Stueckelberg fields, which consist of both scalar and vector fields, are non-minimally coupled to gravity and the universe could go through a decelerating expansion phase sandwiched by two different accelerated expansion phases. We discuss also the possible anisotropic extensions of the model. (shrink)

We give a simplified treatment of revised countable support (RCS) forcing iterations, previously considered by Shelah (see [Sh, Chap. X]). In particular we prove the fundamental theorem of semi-proper forcing, which is due to Shelah: any RCS iteration of semi-proper posets is semi-proper.

Open peer commentary on the article “Constructing Constructivism” by Hugh Gash. Upshot: The concept of “constructivist teaching” seems unattainable for two reasons: a philosophical and an empirical one. Also, Hugh Gash’s survey is not so much about radical constructivism in education, but a review of different connected ideas labeled “constructivism” that have dominated the educational field.

In this paper, I explore the intersection of climate justice and international cooperation, focussing on the compulsory licensing of climate-related technologies. I aim to contribute to a critical analysis of the role of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and global development in the twenty-first century, particularly within the context of a climate crisis, by: (i) explaining the evolution of the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR&RC) in the international governance on climate change, and (ii) analysing discussions around (...) compulsory licensing of climate-related technologies within the international system of IPRs’ protection. For this, I use qualitative research methods, including critical discourse analysis and a preliminary literature review, to understand the interactions between delegations and the narratives constructed for international cooperation to address climate change. I then argue that a ‘climate justice’ framework would improve discussions of the development and transfer of climate-related technologies and bring transformative possibilities for the understanding of global development. (shrink)

First published in 2011. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Upshot: In response to the issues raised in the OPCs, I emphasize the following aspects: teaching cannot be transmitting knowledge, stages are too constraining a model, RC focuses on the individual construction and talking about social context invites the spectre of social constructivism.

The relationGM=RC 2 is used as a definition ofG, withM andR defined by integrals of the energy-momentum and Einstein curvature tensors over a particular spacelike surface. Modified field equations then do not admit source-free solutions, in agreement with a strong form of Mach's principle.