scholarly journals Is Prime Matter Energy?

Author(s):  
David S. Oderberg
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Pasi Heikkurinen

This article investigates human–nature relations in the light of the recent call for degrowth, a radical reduction of matter–energy throughput in over-producing and over-consuming cultures. It outlines a culturally sensitive response to a (conceived) paradox where humans embedded in nature experience alienation and estrangement from it. The article finds that if nature has a core, then the experienced distance makes sense. To describe the core of nature, three temporal lenses are employed: the core of nature as ‘the past’, ‘the future’, and ‘the present’. It is proposed that while the degrowth movement should be inclusive of temporal perspectives, the lens of the present should be emphasised to balance out the prevailing romanticism and futurism in the theory and practice of degrowth.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Brower

Aquinas has much to say about individuation over the course of his career. Although certain aspects of his views appear to undergo development, there is one aspect that remains constant throughout—namely, his commitment to assigning both prime matter and quantity an essential role in the individuation of substances. This paper examines the vexed issue of how either prime matter or quantity, as Aquinas understands them, could have any role to play in this context. In the course of doing so, the author attempts to put to rest a number of longstanding worries about the coherence of Aquinas’s views about individuation, as well as to draw out some of his broader commitments in metaphysics and natural philosophy that have yet to be fully appreciated.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett R. Caraway

This article outlines a socio-political theory appropriate for the study of the ecological repercussions of contemporary media technologies. More specifically, this approach provides a means of assessing the material impacts of media technologies and the representations of capitalist ecological crises. This approach builds on the work of ecological economists, ecosocialist scholars, and Marx’s writings on the conditions of production to argue that capitalism necessarily results in ecological destabilization. Taking Apple’s 2016 Environmental Responsibility Report as a case study, the article uses the theory to analyze Apple’s responses to ecological crises. The article asserts that Apple’s reactions are emblematic of the capitalist compulsion for increasing rates of productivity. However, unless the matter/energy savings achieved through higher rates of productivity surpass the overall increase in the flow of matter/energy in production, ecological crises will continue. Ultimately, capital accumulation ensures continued ecological destabilization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Osman Yılmaz ◽  
Ertan Güdekli

AbstractWe investigate Friedmann–Lamaitre–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) models with modified Chaplygin gas and cosmological constant, using dynamical system methods. We assume $$p=(\gamma -1)\mu -\dfrac{A}{\mu ^\alpha }$$ p = ( γ - 1 ) μ - A μ α as equation of state where $$\mu$$ μ is the matter-energy density, p is the pressure, $$\alpha$$ α is a parameter which can take on values $$0<\alpha \le 1$$ 0 < α ≤ 1 as well as A and $$\gamma$$ γ are positive constants. We draw the state spaces and analyze the nature of the singularity at the beginning, as well as the fate of the universe in the far future. In particular, we address the question whether there is a solution which is stable for all the cases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grit Kalies

AbstractQuantum mechanics for describing the behavior of microscopic entities and thermodynamics for describing macroscopic systems exhibit separate time concepts. Whereas many theories of modern physics interpret processes as reversible, in thermodynamics, an expression for irreversibility and the so-called time arrow has been developed: the increase of entropy. The divergence between complete reversibility on the one hand and irreversibility on the other is called the paradox of time. Since more than hundred years many efforts have been devoted to unify the time concepts. So far, the efforts were not successful. In this paper a solution is proposed on the basis of matter-energy equivalence with an energetic distinction between matter and mass. By refraining from interpretations predominant in modern theoretical physics, the first and second laws of thermodynamics can be extended to fundamental laws of nature, which are also valid at quantum level.


1974 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ivan ◽  
L. R. Giles ◽  
A. R. Alimon ◽  
D. J. Farrell

SUMMARY1. A split-plot design was used to study apparent digestibility of dry matter, gross energy and nitrogen of a whole grain wheat diet and processed (hammermilled, rolled or hammermilled and then steam-pelleted) wheat diets by eight small (33·9 ± 0·1 kg) and eight large (70±1·7 kg) pigs. Metabolizable energy and nitrogen retention were also studied with the small pigs.2. The processed wheat diets were superior to the whole grain wheat diet in all the parameters measured.3. There were no significant differences between the performance of pigs given the differently processed wheat diets.4. Apparent digestibility of dietary components particularly in the whole wheat diet was significantly higher when diets were given to small pigs than when given to large pigs.


Nature ◽  
1898 ◽  
Vol 59 (1522) ◽  
pp. 199-199
Keyword(s):  

2014 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 408-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua S. White ◽  
April C. Maskiewicz

Using a design-based research approach, we developed a data-rich problem (DRP) set to improve student understanding of cellular respiration at the ecosystem level. The problem tasks engage students in data analysis to develop biological explanations. Several of the tasks and their implementation are described. Quantitative results suggest that students from the experimental class who participated in the DRP showed significant gains on cellular respiration posttest items, and students from the control class who participated in a non-DRP task showed no significant gains. Qualitative results from interviews and written responses showed that students from the experimental class progressed to deeper “levels of achievement” in cellular respiration. The data-rich tasks promote student understanding of cellular respiration, matter transformation, decomposition, and energy transformation – all goals recommended by the Next Generation Science Standards.


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