scholarly journals What Should We Require from an Account of Explanation in Historiography?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Veli Virmajoki
Keyword(s):  
Basic Structure ◽  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Explanatory Depth ◽  
Satisfactory Account

Abstract In this paper, I explicate desiderata for accounts of explanation in historiography. I argue that a fully developed account of explanation in historiography must explicate many explanation-related notions in order to be satisfactory. In particular, it is not enough that an account defines the basic structure of explanation. In addition, the account of explanation must be able to explicate notions such as minimal explanation, complete explanation, historiographical explanation, explanatory depth, explanatory competition, and explanatory goal. Moreover, the account should also tell how explananda can be chosen in a motivated way. Furthermore, the account should be able to clarify notions that are closely connected with explanation such as historical contingency. Finally, it is important that the account is able to recognize when explanation-related notions and issues are so closely intertwined that we are in danger of not seeing the differences between them. In other words, I argue that a satisfactory account of explanation in historiography must have the power to explicate central explanation-related notions and to clarify discussions where the differences between the notions are obscure. In order to explicate these desiderata, I formulate a (version of the) counterfactual account of explanation and show how that account is able to explicate explanation-related notions and clarify issues that are connected with historiographical explanations. The success of the counterfactual account suggests that historiographical explanations do not differ fundamentally from explanations in many other fields.

Introduction

Religion ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
David Chidester
Keyword(s):  
Basic Structure ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Historical Contingency ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Spatial Sense ◽  
Material Religion

This chapter provides an introduction to the book by identifying its basic structure—categories, formations, and circulations. Looking beyond religious studies, not in a temporal but in a spatial sense, this introductory chapter identifies openings for multidisciplinary research and reflection in the study of material religion. The discussion focuses on categories, formations, and circulations—the historical contingency of basic categories of religion, the colonial and imperial forces in formations of religion, and the mobility of materiality in circulations of religion. By attending to these dynamics and highlighting recent publications in the field, this introduction indicates some of the ways in which the “beyond” is already present in the study of religion. The introduction concludes with some guidelines for considering how materiality matters in the study of religion.

Microstructure and crystal symmetry of Pb2Sr2(Y/Ca)Cu3O9−δ

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 64-65
Author(s):  
Y. P. Lin ◽  
J. S. Xue ◽  
J. E. Greedan
Keyword(s):  
Electron Diffraction ◽  
High Temperature Superconductors ◽  
Carbon Film ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Crystal Symmetry ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Space Groups ◽  
New Family ◽  
Convergent Beam

A new family of high temperature superconductors based on Pb2Sr2YCu3O9−δ has recently been reported. One method of improving Tc has been to replace Y partially with Ca. Although the basic structure of this type of superconductors is known, the detailed structure is still unclear, and various space groups has been proposed. In our work, crystals of Pb2Sr2YCu3O9−δ with dimensions up to 1 × 1 × 0.25.mm and with Tc of 84 K have been grown and their superconducting properties described. The defects and crystal symmetry have been investigated using electron microscopy performed on crushed crystals supported on a holey carbon film.Electron diffraction confirmed x-ray diffraction results which showed that the crystals are primitive orthorhombic with a=0.5383, b=0.5423 and c=1.5765 nm. Convergent Beam Electron Diffraction (CBED) patterns for the and axes are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively.

The brain structure and neurosecretory cells of noctuid moth Anadevidia peponis: Noctuidae

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-437
Author(s):  
M. Sato ◽  
Y. Ogawa ◽  
M. Sasaki ◽  
T. Matsuo
Keyword(s):  
Biological Clock ◽  
Virgin Female ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Fixed Time ◽  
Neurosecretory Cells ◽  
Nerve Cells ◽  
Noctuid Moth ◽  
The Right ◽  
20 Nm ◽  
The Brain

A virgin female of the noctuid moth, a kind of noctuidae that eats cucumis, etc. performs calling at a fixed time of each day, depending on the length of a day. The photoreceptors that induce this calling are located around the neurosecretory cells (NSC) in the central portion of the protocerebrum. Besides, it is considered that the female’s biological clock is located also in the cerebral lobe. In order to elucidate the calling and the function of the biological clock, it is necessary to clarify the basic structure of the brain. The observation results of 12 or 30 day-old noctuid moths showed that their brains are basically composed of an outer and an inner portion-neural lamella (about 2.5 μm) of collagen fibril and perineurium cells. Furthermore, nerve cells surround the cerebral lobes, in which NSCs, mushroom bodies, and central nerve cells, etc. are observed. The NSCs are large-sized (20 to 30 μm dia.) cells, which are located in the pons intercerebralis of the head section and at the rear of the mushroom body (two each on the right and left). Furthermore, the cells were classified into two types: one having many free ribosoms 15 to 20 nm in dia. and the other having granules 150 to 350 nm in dia. (Fig. 1).

HRTEM study of valleriite, a hydroxide-bearing copper sulfide

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 462-463
Author(s):  
S. Wang ◽  
P. R. Buseck
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Copper Sulfide ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrite ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Selected Area Electron Diffraction ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Wavy Structure

Valleriite is an unusual mineral, consisting of intergrowths of sulfide layers (corresponding in structure to the mineral smythite - Fe9S11) and hydroxide layers (corresponding to brucite - Mg(OH2)). It has a composition of approximately 1.526[Mg.68Al.32(OH)2].[Fe1.07Cu.93S2] and consists of two interpenetrating lattices, each of which retains its individual structural and diffraction characteristics parallel to the layering. The valleriite structure is related to that of tochilinite, an unusual iron-rich mineral that is of considerable interest for the origin of certain carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and to those of franckeite and cylindrite, two minerals that are of interest because of their unique morphological and crystallographic properties, e.g., the distinctive curved form of cylindrite and the perfect mica-like cleavage with unusual striations and the long-period wavy structure of franckeite.Our selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns and high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) images of valleriite provide new structural data. A basic structure and a new superstructure have been observed.

Tense? (Re)lax!

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71
Author(s):  
Markus A. Pöchtrager
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Government Phonology ◽  
Vowel Height

AbstractThis article looks at what is referred to as the tense/lax contrast in English and proposes that members of the two sets of vowel have the same basic structure but differ in how part of that structure is made use of by its neighbours. The proposal forms part of a general theory of the representation of vowel height within the framework of Government Phonology 2.0.

Injecting Inter-Layers and the Built-in Potential of Blue Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes

2000 ◽  
Vol 660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Brown ◽  
Ian S. Millard ◽  
David J. Lacey ◽  
Jeremy H. Burroughes ◽  
Richard H. Friend ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Indium Tin Oxide ◽  
Light Emitting Diodes ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
Thin Layers ◽  
Carrier Injection ◽  
Semiconducting Polymer ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Organic Solid ◽  
Polymer Light Emitting Diodes

ABSTRACTThe semiconducting-polymer/injecting-electrode heterojunction plays a crucial part in the operation of organic solid state devices. In polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a common fundamental structure employed is Indium-Tin-Oxide/Polymer/Al. However, in order to fabricate efficient devices, alterations to this basic structure have to be carried out. The insertion of thin layers, between the electrodes and the emitting polymer, has been shown to greatly enhance LED performance, although the physical mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. Here, we use electro-absorption measurements of the built-in potential to monitor shifts in the barrier height at the electrode/polymer interface. We demonstrate that the main advantage brought about by inter-layers, such as poly(ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrene sulphonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) at the anode and Ca, LiF and CsF at the cathode, is a marked reduction of the barrier to carrier injection. The electro- absorption results also correlate with the electroluminescent characteristics of the LEDs.

The Generative Dimension of Translation

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-96
Author(s):  
Alexander Kozin
Keyword(s):  
Basic Structure ◽  
General Level ◽  
Social Phenomenon ◽  
Original Sense ◽  
Optimal Mode

This article seeks to disclose the sense(s) of translation by attending to it in the phenomenological key with Edmund Husserl’s The Origin of Geometry. I suggest that the text could be approached through the prism of generative phenomenology, and I investigate it from two different perspectives: xenological and Derridean. Both perspectives are employed toward the same objective: to demonstrate the theoretical relevance of Husserl’s text to the understanding of a complex social phenomenon such as translation. The emphasis on sociality, historicity, and tradition, as these themes transpire in The Origin, brings about a new understanding of translation as a phenomenon of the liminal in-between, with its basic structure defined as the encounter with the alien. Derrida gives this emphasis much attention in his commentary on The Origin. In this commentary, he focuses on the constitution of a communal history, which is not possible without the iteration of the origin, the basic means of which is communication on the general level, while on the level of different socio-cultural worlds translation comes up as the most optimal mode for the encounter with the alien. The encounter takes place in the liminal in-between which points to repeatability as the original sense of translation inscribed in the acts of binding and approximation.

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