Epistemic Explanations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest Sosa
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Epistemology ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
First Approximation ◽  
Suspension Of Judgment ◽  
Special Case

This book develops an improved virtue epistemology and uses it to explain several epistemic phenomena. Part I lays out a telic virtue epistemology that accommodates varieties of knowledge and understanding particularly pertinent to the humanities. Part II develops an epistemology of suspension of judgment, by relating it to degrees of confidence and to inquiry. Part III develops a substantially improved telic virtue epistemology by appeal to default assumptions important in domains of human performance generally, and in our intellectual lives as a special case. This reconfigures earlier virtue epistemology, which now seems a first approximation. This part also introduces a metaphysical hierarchy of epistemic categories and defends in particular a category of secure knowledge.

On the Heaving Motion of Cylinders of Shallow Draft

1961 ◽  
Vol 5 (04) ◽  
pp. 34-43
Author(s):  
R. C. MacCamy
Keyword(s):  
Integral Equations ◽  
Circular Disk ◽  
Finite Width ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Virtual Mass ◽  
Method Of Integral Equations ◽  
First Approximation ◽  
Strip Theory ◽  
Considerable Simplification ◽  
Special Case

A perturbation procedure is developed for the two-dimensional motion produced by a long ship in heave when the draft is assumed small. The procedure reduces the shallow draft problem to a series of problems for a "raft" of zero draft. A considerable simplification in the method of integral equations is found to occur. For the first approximation, that is, a raft of finite width, the integral equations are solved numerically to determine pressure, virtual mass and damping. The problem of heave of a circular disk of zero draft is treated by the same methods so that an evaluation of strip theory in this special case is possible.

The translation of two bodies under the free surface of a heavy fluid

1950 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Coombs
Keyword(s):  
Free Surface ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Finite Depth ◽  
Arbitrary Cross Section ◽  
Wave Resistance ◽  
Vertical Force ◽  
First Approximation ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Two Bodies

1. Many investigations have been made to determine the wave resistance acting on a body moving horizontally and uniformly in a heavy, perfect fluid. Lamb obtained a first approximation for the wave resistance on a long circular cylinder, and this was later confirmed to be quite sufficient over a large range. In 1926 and 1928, Havelock (4, 5) obtained a second approximation for the wave resistance and a first approximation for the vertical force or lift. Later, in 1936(6), he gave a complete analytical solution to this problem, in which the forces were expressed in the form of infinite series in powers of the ratio of the radius of the cylinder to the depth of the centre below the free surface of the fluid. General expressions for the wave resistance and lift of a cylinder of arbitrary cross-section were found by Kotchin (7) using integral equations, and the special case of a flat plate was evaluated. He continued with a discussion of the motion of a three-dimensional body. More recently, Haskind (3) has examined the same problem when the stream has a finite depth.

Knowledge, Default, and Skepticism

2021 ◽  
pp. 123-143
Author(s):  
Ernest Sosa
Keyword(s):  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Virtue Epistemology ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Performance Domains

Chapter 7 introduces a distinctive idea of default assumptions and explains how that idea reconfigures earlier virtue epistemology. Default assumptions are endemic to human performance domains generally including games and sports. Our domains of judgment are only special cases in which a telic normativity allows performers to assume by default the standing of the background conditions required for success and aptness of performance. This enables a fresh treatment of philosophical skepticism. The response to the skeptics will be that they have mistaken what is required for the epistemic quality of ordinary judgments and beliefs. This treatment of skepticism is enabled by analogies between epistemic and athletic performance, and between episteme and praxis more generally.

Reflection and Security

Episteme ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-489
Author(s):  
Ernest Sosa
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Epistemology ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Performance Domains

Abstract“Reflection and Security” introduces a distinctive notion of default assumptions, one that applies in human performance domains generally, and uses that notion to extend virtue epistemology in new directions.

Extreme self-sacrifice beyond fusion: Moral expansiveness and the special case of allyship

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Crimston ◽  
Matthew J. Hornsey
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Biological Markers ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Relevant Dimension ◽  
Special Case

AbstractAs a general theory of extreme self-sacrifice, Whitehouse's article misses one relevant dimension: people's willingness to fight and die in support of entities not bound by biological markers or ancestral kinship (allyship). We discuss research on moral expansiveness, which highlights individuals’ capacity to self-sacrifice for targets that lie outside traditional in-group markers, including racial out-groups, animals, and the natural environment.

Determination of the phase structure of polymerblends by electron microscopy

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 492-493
Author(s):  
Dr. G. Kaemof
Keyword(s):  
Screw Extruder ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Single Screw Extruder ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Twin Screw ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Microscopic Investigations

A mixture of polycarbonate (PC) and styrene-acrylonitrile-copolymer (SAN) represents a very good example for the efficiency of electron microscopic investigations concerning the determination of optimum production procedures for high grade product properties.The following parameters have been varied:components of charge (PC : SAN 50 : 50, 60 : 40, 70 : 30), kind of compounding machine (single screw extruder, twin screw extruder, discontinuous kneader), mass-temperature (lowest and highest possible temperature).The transmission electron microscopic investigations (TEM) were carried out on ultra thin sections, the PC-phase of which was selectively etched by triethylamine.The phase transition (matrix to disperse phase) does not occur - as might be expected - at a PC to SAN ratio of 50 : 50, but at a ratio of 65 : 35. Our results show that the matrix is preferably formed by the components with the lower melting viscosity (in this special case SAN), even at concentrations of less than 50 %.

The limits of human performance

2008 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Beneke ◽  
Dieter Böning
Keyword(s):  
Human Performance ◽  
Safety Margin ◽  
Afferent Input ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Human Organism ◽  
Mechanical Resistance ◽  
As Doping ◽  
Gene And Protein Expression ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Biochemical Research

Human performance, defined by mechanical resistance and distance per time, includes human, task and environmental factors, all interrelated. It requires metabolic energy provided by anaerobic and aerobic metabolic energy sources. These sources have specific limitations in the capacity and rate to provide re-phosphorylation energy, which determines individual ratios of aerobic and anaerobic metabolic power and their sustainability. In healthy athletes, limits to provide and utilize metabolic energy are multifactorial, carefully matched and include a safety margin imposed in order to protect the integrity of the human organism under maximal effort. Perception of afferent input associated with effort leads to conscious or unconscious decisions to modulate or terminate performance; however, the underlying mechanisms of cerebral control are not fully understood. The idea to move borders of performance with the help of biochemicals is two millennia old. Biochemical findings resulted in highly effective substances widely used to increase performance in daily life, during preparation for sport events and during competition, but many of them must be considered as doping and therefore illegal. Supplements and food have ergogenic potential; however, numerous concepts are controversially discussed with respect to legality and particularly evidence in terms of usefulness and risks. The effect of evidence-based nutritional strategies on adaptations in terms of gene and protein expression that occur in skeletal muscle during and after exercise training sessions is widely unknown. Biochemical research is essential for better understanding of the basic mechanisms causing fatigue and the regulation of the dynamic adaptation to physical and mental training.

1880: Assessment of Basic Human Performance Resources Predicts Performance of Ureterorenoscopy in Human Cadavers

2004 ◽  
Vol 171 (4S) ◽  
pp. 496-497
Author(s):  
Edward D. Matsumoto ◽  
George V. Kondraske ◽  
Lucas Jacomides ◽  
Kenneth Ogan ◽  
Margaret S. Pearle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Performance ◽  
Human Cadavers

Short Stress State Questionnaire

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
William S. Helton ◽  
Katharina Näswall
Keyword(s):  
Stress State ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Human Performance ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Stress States ◽  
Related Stress ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Task Conditions ◽  
Multiple Samples

Conscious appraisals of stress, or stress states, are an important aspect of human performance. This article presents evidence supporting the validity and measurement characteristics of a short multidimensional self-report measure of stress state, the Short Stress State Questionnaire (SSSQ; Helton, 2004 ). The SSSQ measures task engagement, distress, and worry. A confirmatory factor analysis of the SSSQ using data pooled from multiple samples suggests the SSSQ does have a three factor structure and post-task changes are not due to changes in factor structure, but to mean level changes (state changes). In addition, the SSSQ demonstrates sensitivity to task stressors in line with hypotheses. Different task conditions elicited unique patterns of stress state on the three factors of the SSSQ in line with prior predictions. The 24-item SSSQ is a valid measure of stress state which may be useful to researchers interested in conscious appraisals of task-related stress.

Test Validation Without Measurement

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilie Lacot ◽  
Mohammad H. Afzali ◽  
Stéphane Vautier
Keyword(s):  
Test Data ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Scientific Explanation ◽  
Test Validation ◽  
Clinical Tests ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Power Of Test ◽  
Memory Accuracy ◽  
Social Uses ◽  
Special Case

Abstract. Test validation based on usual statistical analyses is paradoxical, as, from a falsificationist perspective, they do not test that test data are ordinal measurements, and, from the ethical perspective, they do not justify the use of test scores. This paper (i) proposes some basic definitions, where measurement is a special case of scientific explanation; starting from the examples of memory accuracy and suicidality as scored by two widely used clinical tests/questionnaires. Moreover, it shows (ii) how to elicit the logic of the observable test events underlying the test scores, and (iii) how the measurability of the target theoretical quantities – memory accuracy and suicidality – can and should be tested at the respondent scale as opposed to the scale of aggregates of respondents. (iv) Criterion-related validity is revisited to stress that invoking the explanative power of test data should draw attention on counterexamples instead of statistical summarization. (v) Finally, it is argued that the justification of the use of test scores in specific settings should be part of the test validation task, because, as tests specialists, psychologists are responsible for proposing their tests for social uses.

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