Povijest najljepših otkrića i eksperimenata u fizici: od Aristotela do Higgsa

Author(s): Slavica Brkić / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 20/2015

The history of natural sciences reaches back to the distant past when man consciously started conveying knowledge and experiences to his descendants. In antiquity the research founded on experience was considered unworthy of man, while discoveries occurred accidentally. Physics, as a natural science, studies the objective reality existing independently on human consciousness. It is as a theoretical as experimental science, and it should be studied as such. How interesting is the historical development of experiments and discoveries, is shown by the editors of the American magazine “Physics World”, who in 2002 called their readers to give their vote for the most beautiful experiment in the history of physics. Some discoveries fascinate by the beauty of the idea, and some others by the importance for the development of physics. The development of historical ideas has a great educational importance for students for they have to understand that the development of physics is the work of people like them, rather than something developing outside of the space and time or exists by itself. In the last decades discoveries are not related to one man but rather to groups of scientists associated in collaborations working jointly on researches in specific areas of physics. In this paper we present the historical development of physics through interesting discoveries and experiments with the explanation why they found a place in our survey.

АНТИУТОПИЧЕСКИЙ ПАФОС И СПЕЦИФИКА ХРОНОТОПА В РАННЕЙ ПРОЗЕ В.О. ПЕЛЕВИНА

Author(s): Anastasia Leonidovna Bobyleva,Tatiana Gennadevna Prokhorova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 2/2014

The paper analyses the dystopian tendencies in Victor Pelevin’s prose of the 1990s. The features of the chronotope and the dialogic connections with classic dystopias are revealed. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the dystopian look at the future is replaced in Pelevin’s works by the post-utopian view on the present. At the same time, the nature of the chronotope is determined by the Buddhist conception of human life as a chain of sufferings and the idea of the circle of samsara. However, both post-utopian and Buddhist paradigms undergo travesty, which leads to the transformation of the chronotope and the conflict as well as to the reduction of the dystopian pathos. As a result, the genre of dystopia becomes an object of parody.

Shaftesbury as a Popperian: critical rationalism before its time? Part II

Author(s): Lydia Amir / Language(s): English Issue: 36/2016

Shaftesbury has assigned humor an unparalleled role within philosophy, which may be encapsulated in the following tenets: (1) ridicule is the test of truth; (2) humor and good humor have a habilitating function with regard to truth; (3) the most effective criticism is humorous; and (4) humor is the mark of rationality. In the present article, I introduce Shaftesbury’s views on ridicule, good humor and humor in order to assess both the originality and viability of Shaftesbury’s contribution. I argue, first, that Shaftesbury’s views on ridicule as a test of truth and on good-humor as habilitating truth are thoroughly original, but cannot be implemented without adhering to his metaphysics and epistemology. Second, Shaftesbury’s views on humor are only partially original, though these can be implemented independently of metaphysical and epistemological assumptions for the greatest benefit of philosophers in general and critical rationalists in particular. I conclude that not only does Shaftesbury anticipate the view that critical thinking is the core of rationality, the main principle of the view known as critical rationalism associated with the renown 20th century philosopher of science and social philosopher, Karl Popper, but he also offers a viable means to enhance criticism as rationality by taking into consideration the psychological resistance to criticism that Popper acknowledges but refuses to address.

Refleksyjny podmiot w świecie społecznym. O paradygmacie i założeniach socjologii interpretacyjnej

Author(s): Elżbieta Hałas / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2016

The article analyses the use of Thomas Kuhn’s concept of paradigm in sociology, presented in the 20th century as a multiparadigm science. The unity of the so-called interpretive paradigm is questioned and the transformation of the interpretive orientations in sociology under the influence of postmodernism and critical praxis theory is analysed. The problems of the subject’s reflexivity and the intersubjectivity of the life-world, which have their roots in pragmatism and phenomenology, are discussed on the backdrop of new attempts to reconstruct systematic sociology.

The Structure of Reality, or Where to Find the Final Theory?

Author(s): Alexander Panov / Language(s): English Issue: 19/2017

The main objective of the present article is the methodological analysis of the structures of physical theories that could apply to the theory of quantum gravitation or the unified theory of all interactions (other terms are the “Final Theory” or “The Theory of Everything”, TOE). In the first step of this discussion, it is shown that, unlike widely believed, quantum theory, in principle, allows representation by local classical hidden variables. The possibility of such representation is proved by the possibility of an exhaustive simulation of quantum systems by means of a local and classical device — the computer equipment plays a role in the local classical hidden variables. Details regarding the realization of such a representation are discussed using the example of an actual computer program simulating a correlation experiment using Einstein-Podolsky-Rozen pairs. This example explicitly violates the theorems of impossibility for hidden classical variables in quantum theory.The fact that these theorems ignore the possibility for a situation, which, in this article, is characterized as the splitting of the layers of reality, is the reason that a possible violation of the theorem of impossibility for hidden variables exists. There are two such layers in the computer example — a reality layer where computer equipment exists, and a layer of simulated quantum reality. The analysis of this example results in a general idea about the layers of reality, which are the main subject of the subsequent discussion.The computer example plays a role of the existence theorem. It follows that, in principle, a fundamental local and classical structure may exist behind physical quantum reality. However, such a “local realism” leads to the idea that an immense “space container” exists for classical objects of such a layer of reality. The problem is overcome if the fundamental ontology is classical but nonlocal. Then, a space container for it is not required. It is shown that such a classical, but nonlocal, structure is very similar to a formal mathematical system. It leads to a thought that the ideal mathematical system can be a fundamental ontology of the TOE, or it is reminiscent of something beyond mathematics — a nonreducible pseudomathematical structure.In this regard, the analysis of the nature of mathematics is given. It is shown that mathematics is not only a result of the imagination of people, but that mathematical forms and all mathematics holistically exist objectively. Moreover, the statement about the objective existence of mathematical forms has an empirical status based on Popper’s criterion of falsifiability. It transfers a question of objectivity for mathematics from the field of philosophy to the field of empirical science. Then, a connection on the bases of mathematics and physics is established — namely, with the existence of the classical sector of quantum theory and with a causal structure of space-time. In this sense, the existing mathematics is not the only objective, but they also possess physics. That is, mathematics, in a sense, is a thing but it is not a thought, and this quality can be considered as an objective layer of reality that can be a substrate of the physical world.In the final part of this paper, several modern directions in the quantum gravity theory or TOE (string theory, loop quantum gravity, and causal sets) are considered regarding, as far as these theories are concerned, the formation of an abstract mathematical substratum. It is shown that the tendency to develop an of structure like an abstract mathematical substratum definitely exists. This means that a TOE can be not just a physical theory, but rather an abstract mathematical structure.

Economics in times of crisis. In search of a new paradigm in economic sciences

Author(s): Joanna Dzionek-Kozlowska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

The relationship between the development of economics and economic performance is not reducible to any set of simple rules. Among the historians of economic thought there is even a handful of those who perceive the progress in economics mostly as an outcome of the attempts to solve the problems, inconsistencies and paradoxes within economic theory itself. Seen from this perspective, economic reality has minor (or no) importance. On the other hand, the endeavours to modify a mainstream approach are significantly greater in times of economic downturns. Seeing that economics is in such a state of ‘intellectual ferment’ nowadays, it is worth reconsidering the connection between economics and the economy. Thus the main aim of the paper is to analyse the current state of economic science in relation to the last economic slump. Although it is of course not possible to predict the future trajectories of economic theorising, taking into consideration the nature of the crisis the most feasible and potentially most fruitful areas are indicated.

Social mechanisms and social causation

Author(s): Friedel Weinert / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2014

The aim of this paper is to examine the notion of social mechanisms by comparison with the notions of evolutionary and physical mechanisms. It is argued that social mechanisms are based on trends, and not lawlike regularities, so that social mechanisms are different from mechanisms in the natural sciences. Taking as an example of social causation the abolition of the slave trade, this paper argues that social mechanisms should be incorporated in Weber’s wider notion of adequate causation in order to achieve their explanatory purpose.

The ‘desire for money:’ Aristotelian blind spot in the field of economics? A French heterodox point of view

Author(s): Richard Sobel / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2013

If the field of economics has today become the archetype for determinism in the social sciences, it comes at the price of a form of objectivity founded on the complex process of the reduction and naturalization of a certain type of social relation, a process best described via the real approach or the ‘approach by value.’ A radical critique of this process requires the deconstruction of this dominant approach, characterized by the articulation of neoclassical theory and economic liberalism. It is only once the repression of the desire for money, a repression constitutive of false economic objectivity, has been denounced that the standard model can then be subject to such a critique. This will in turn open the possibility of an economic theory which is radically anti-naturalist.

The evolution of merchant moral thought in Tokugawa Japan

Author(s): Ryan Langrill / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2012

The Tokugawa Era of Japan is known for its domination by the shogunate, or warrior bureaucracy. While samurai capture the popular imagination, the merchant class of this era was changing their cultural narrative as well. The regime, officially Neo-Confucian, considered trade a vulgar and corrupting activity, but among commoners, especially in Osaka, a culture arose celebrating the virtue of commerce. Merchant scholars and commoners assailed the orthodoxy by putting forth alternate interpretations of Confucianism, and later by abandoning the entire Confucian framework. Their primary goal was to explore the nature of virtue and commerce, and justify their own place in the world. As a side effect, the marriage of virtue to commerce allowed a nexus of long-term relationships to arise, based in Osaka.

Review of Eric Helleiner, Stefano Pagliari and Hubert Zimmerman (editors), Global Finance in Crisis: The Politics of International Regulatory Change, Routledge, 2010, pp. 216

Author(s): Linh Dao / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2012

Critical Realism versus Social Constructivism in International Relations

Author(s): Roxana Bobulescu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2011

This article discusses the methodological differences between the British school and the American school of international relations. It attempts to demonstrate that Susan Strange, representative of the British school, could be considered a critical realist. The aim of the article is to show that her vision of international political economy fulfills the methodological reorientation initiated in economics by Tony Lawson at the end of the 90s. Strange’s radical ontology claims that structural power determines human actions. The paper contrasts Strange’s approach with that of John Ruggie, from the American school, who identifies himself as a social constructivist. Ruggie emphasizes the role of ideational factors in international relations and the constructed nature of social reality.

Financial stability requires macroeconomic foundations of macroeconomics

Author(s): Sergio Rossi / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2010

Financial stability features prominently among the goals of several post­crisis macroeconomic policies around the world. Being a systemic characteristic, financial stability requires a systemic analysis, which only macroeconomics can offer logically. Yet, the current way of doing macroeconomics is not up to the task, as it is grounded on so­called microfoundations. Considering macroeconomics as the science of aggregating data obtained at microeconomic level can lead indeed to conclusions that are either misleading or wrong. This paper points out that the true foundations of macroeconomics are macroeconomic, and that understanding the working of monetary economies of production and exchange requires a conceptual rather than a mathematical treatment of economic issues at a systemic level.

A Review of Moral Markets: the Critical Role of Values in the Economy, Edited by Paul J. Zak, Princeton/Oxford, Princeton University Press, 2008, 386 pp.

Author(s): Thomas Wells / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2009

Methodology and the practice of economists – a philosophical approach

Author(s): Bjørn-Ivar Davidsen / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2008

Practicing academic economists are reported to pay little attention to work being done by economic methodologists. This is an unfortunate situation for the sub­field of economic methodology as well as for the discipline of economics at large. If the sub­field of economic methodology does not succeed in communicating with practitioners of the larger discipline of which it is a part, its rationale is seriously brought into question. And when practitioners of a scientific discipline do not pay heed to methodological questions, the discipline is destined to stagnation and possible degeneration.In order to contribute to an amelioration of the noted unfortunate state of affairs, this paper argues the case for purposeful philosophically informed approaches through which economic methodologists may prove themselves helpful and valuable to the practitioners of the discipline. A scheme of descriptive­critical analyses of economic texts is set forth as a means of enhancing academic economists’ awareness of, and interest in, philosophical questions embedded in, and vital to, their practices. Moreover, it is argued, and exemplified, how philosophically minded methodologists may contribute constructively to processes directed towards establishing and developing economic theories and analyses.

Classifying Heterodoxy

Author(s): Rick Szostak / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2008

This paper draws upon the scholarship of interdisciplinarity to argue that Economics, like all disciplines, should be open to a wide range of theories and methods, and the study of all relevant phenomena. A classification of the different methods and theory types used by scholars identifies key strengths and weaknesses of each. Different schools of heterodox [that is, non-neoclassical] economics, as well as neoclassical economics itself, emphasize different sets of theory and method. Each thus has a unique contribution to make to a holistic understanding of the economy. At present, different heterodox schools, like neoclassical economics itself, tend to act as if it were thought that their theory and method were superior. This paper urges a quite different attitude: different heterodox schools, as well as neoclassical economics, should be seen as complements rather than substitutes. That is, the insights of different schools of thought within Economics can and should be integrated just as disciplinary insights are integrated within interdisciplinary scholarship. The classification also identifies valuable theory types not presently embraced by any heterodox approach. Heterodoxy needs also to embrace the causal linkages between economic and diverse non-economic phenomena; the paper outlines a strategy for organizing the complex understandings that emerge from such a project. Some might recoil at the complexity of an academic enterprise that embraces such a wide range of phenomena, theory, and method; this paper shows how these diverse investigations can be organized in terms of the classifications presented such that all economists could readily appreciate the contributions of others. The paper also makes suggestions regarding the daily practice of heterodox economists, and draws lessons for heterodoxy from interdisciplinary research practice.

Developmental Freedom and Social Order: Rethinking the Relation between Work and Equality

Author(s): Louise Haagh / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2007

This essay points to an institutional account of our existential interest in work as a missing piece in welfare analysis. In contrast with social liberals in the post-war era, both liberal economic and egalitarian discourses today espouse a narrowly atomistic account of human nature and the modern economy. Therefore they are unable to take account of the institutional bases of economic development, individual autonomy and social order, and the way these connect. The essay shows that a patterning of distributional outcomes is a reality in both deregulated and densely governed capitalist economies, but that only the latter offers real scope for social and individual choice. The influence of the atomistic account on liberal egalitarian thought however has produced an unambitious, imprecise, and in the case of welfare contractualism, a coercive, account of both individual freedom and social community. What is needed is a more explicit inclusion of a temporal dimension in welfare and economic analysis and a more differentiated framework of pluralist governance.

Morality and value neutrality in economics: a dualist view

Author(s): Cheng Li / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

This paper proposes a dualist view that economics exhibits the properties of both moral science and value-neutral approach, regardless of the normative-positive distinction. Our argumentation is derived from the understanding that, analytically, economics is a broadly-defined rational choice theory. As implied by this claim, on the one hand, economics behaves as a moral science for two main reasons: all economic theories and policy discussions are necessarily based on moral premises about means-end considerations; economics as an analytical approach can be and has been applied to explanations of a wide range of moral phenomena. On the other hand, since economists — without being informed of some ethical presuppositions of higher order — cannot deal with the comparisons among different value criteria, their approach remains neutral regarding judgmental positions, which should be given a priori to make economic enquiries possible. Ultimately, by this view we reconcile morality with value neutrality in economics, without slicing the discipline into two distinctive branches.

Историософията на Арнълд Тойнби

Author(s): Zhelyazko Stoyanov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2019

The article presents the basic views of the renowned British historian and philosopher of history (historiosopher) Arnold Toynbee (1889–1975), outlined above all in his 12-volume work 'A Study of History'. First of all, his understanding of the specifics of the emergence, development and existence of civilizations is examined. Special attention is paid to the criteria formulated by the British historian for the development of civilizations. Emphasis is placed on the topic of the relation between society and the individual, which is an essential element in Toynbee’s historiosophy. His views on the decline of civilizations and the “universal state” are also traced, as well as his scenarios for the future of civilizations.

“Yes…, and…”. On Violence and/as Hospitality

Author(s): Ana M. LUSZCZYNSKA / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

Beginnings are violent and deceitful. Pretending that they spontaneously emerge from nowhere, these words and thoughts cannot help but feign erasure of all that preceded them. There is thus something bold and presumptuous about claiming the ability to inaugurate and virtually burst onto the scene. In an attempt to mitigate the violence and deception of this particular beginning, I want to clearly contextualize what will follow.

Американският неореализъм и съзнанието

Author(s): Georgi Belogashev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2019

The article focuses on the theoretical understanding of the nature of consciousness in the various conceptual developments of thinkers of American neo-realism. Identical theoretical thesis are shown of the nature of consciousness, of objects, as well as their relation, knowledge sphere and cognitive field of consciousness, the correlation between consciousness and biophysical human organization. The insignificant differences in the detailed definition of the nature of consciousness are revealed, which do not change the characteristic theoretical position concerning the problem.