Wittgenstein’s Thought-Experiments

Conceptus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (101-102) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nenad Miščević
Keyword(s):  
Thought Experiments ◽  
Rule Following ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
The Difference

AbstractWittgenstein’sOne immediate result of comparing Wittgenstein’s thought-experiments with their counterparts in the analytic mainstream reveals an interesting trait: they are merely suggestive, in the sense that the theses they point to are rarely put forward explicitly, and even more rarely argued for in the manner that is nowadays fashionable in the mainstream. The paper briefly points to the difference by using the examples of Saul Kripke’s (1982) presentation of Rule-following and the unorthodox reading of the Builders by Charles Travis (1989), to illustrate the potential of the merely suggestive material for re-interpretation by a creative thinker.

scholarly journals Natural Science and Supernatural Thought Experiments

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 389
Author(s):  
James Robert Brown
Keyword(s):  
Natural Science ◽  
Thought Experiment ◽  
Thought Experiments ◽  
The Other ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Theological Thought

Religious notions have long played a role in epistemology. Theological thought experiments, in particular, have been effective in a wide range of situations in the sciences. Some of these are merely picturesque, others have been heuristically important, and still others, as I will argue, have played a role that could be called essential. I will illustrate the difference between heuristic and essential with two examples. One of these stems from the Newton–Leibniz debate over the nature of space and time; the other is a thought experiment of my own constructed with the aim of making a case for a more liberal view of evidence in mathematics.

scholarly journals H. L. Wagner's Unbiased Hit Rate and the Assessment of Categorical Forecasting Accuracy

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 802-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy W. Armistead
Keyword(s):  
Weather Forecasting ◽  
Skill Score ◽  
Conditional Probabilities ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Forecasting Accuracy ◽  
Hit Rate ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Measure Of Association ◽  
Accuracy Rates

Abstract The paper briefly reviews measures that have been proposed since the 1880s to assess accuracy and skill in categorical weather forecasting. The majority of the measures consist of a single expression, for example, a proportion, the difference between two proportions, a ratio, or a coefficient. Two exemplar single-expression measures for 2 × 2 categorical arrays that chronologically bracket the 130-yr history of this effort—Doolittle's inference ratio i and Stephenson's odds ratio skill score (ORSS)—are reviewed in detail. Doolittle's i is appropriately calculated using conditional probabilities, and the ORSS is a valid measure of association, but both measures are limited in ways that variously mirror all single-expression measures for categorical forecasting. The limitations that variously affect such measures include their inability to assess the separate accuracy rates of different forecast–event categories in a matrix, their sensitivity to the interdependence of forecasts in a 2 × 2 matrix, and the inapplicability of many of them to the general k × k (k ≥ 2) problem. The paper demonstrates that Wagner's unbiased hit rate, developed for use in categorical judgment studies with any k × k (k ≥ 2) array, avoids these limitations while extending the dual-measure Bayesian approach proposed by Murphy and Winkler in 1987.

An Overview of Micro-Grid

2014 ◽  
Vol 552 ◽  
pp. 99-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Song Zhou ◽  
Li Yang Yin ◽  
You Jie Ma
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Generation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Distributed Power ◽  
Network Diversity ◽  
Key Technologies ◽  
Micro Power ◽  
Micro Grid ◽  
The Difference

Micro-Grid is a small system consisting of micro-power source and the load, which provide electricity and heat for the user. Micro-grid concept proposed mainly to solve large-scale, distributed power and network diversity technically and issues on the market and policy in order to play the advantages of distributed generation technologies in the economic, energy and the environment. It can maximize acceptance of distributed power, and better meet the electricity users’ requirements of power reliability and power quality. Therefore, the research and development of micro-network is an inevitable choice for a large number of distributed generation connected to the grid. This paper briefly discusses evolution of Micro-Grid development, including the difference from conventional power system, the characteristics of Micro-Grid, the present research status, and the key technologies of Smart Grid.

scholarly journals Late neolithic cultural landscape in the Al-Jafr Basin, southern Jordan: a brief review in context

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Sumio Fujii
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
The West ◽  
Research Outcomes ◽  
The Difference

Late neolithic cultural landscape in the Al-Jafr Basin, southern Jordan: a brief review in context The Late Neolithic cultural landscape in southern Jordan waspoorly understood due to the deficiency of basic information. However, recent investigations are improving this situation. A good example is providedby the discovery of a Jericho IX pottery assemblage at Munqata’a near Tafileh, which offers a glimpse into the influence of an exotic culture onthe post-PPNB cultural landscape in southern Jordan. However, things are different in the al-Jafr Basin to the east, where a new adaptation strategy to cope with increasing aridification was sought within the context of the traditional PPNB outpost culture. The difference in cultural landscapes between the east and the west in this period ushers in the era of ‘the desertand the sown.’ In preparation for future comparative study, this paper briefly reviews past research outcomes in the basin and discusses the Late Neolithic cultural landscape at the arid margin of southern Jordan.

Manipulated Agents

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred R. Mele
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Thought Experiments ◽  
The Other ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Psychological State ◽  
Important Lesson ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Historical Difference

Thought experiments featuring manipulated agents and designed agents have played a significant role in the literature on moral responsibility. What can we learn from thought experiments of this kind about the nature of moral responsibility? That is this book’s primary question. An important lesson lies at the core of its answer: Moral responsibility for actions has a historical dimension of a certain kind. A pair of agents whose current nonhistorical properties are very similar and who perform deeds of the same kind may nevertheless be such that one is morally responsible for the deed whereas the other is not, and what makes the difference is a difference in how they came to be as they are at that time—that is, a historical difference. Imagine that each of these agents attempts to assassinate someone. Depending on the details of the cases, it may be that one of these agents is morally responsible for the attempt whereas the other is not, because one of them was manipulated in a certain way into being in the psychological state that issues in the behavior whereas the other agent came to be in that state under his own steam. A variety of thought experiments are considered. They include stories about agents whose value systems are radically altered by manipulators, vignettes featuring agents who are built from scratch, and scenarios in which agents magically come into being with full psychological profiles.

An Overview of Smart Grid

2013 ◽  
Vol 339 ◽  
pp. 550-553
Author(s):  
Xue Song Zhou ◽  
Zhao Hao Hou ◽  
You Jie Ma
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Smart Grid ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Research Status ◽  
Key Technologies ◽  
Energy Independence ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth

Smart Grid is very important as it will take us towards energy independence and environmentally sustainable economic growth. This paper briefly discusses evolution of Smart Grid development, including the difference from conventional energy system, the characteristics of Smart Grid, the present research status, and the key technologies and technologies of Smart Grid.

The Current Research on STATCOM

2014 ◽  
Vol 940 ◽  
pp. 333-335
Author(s):  
You Jie Ma ◽  
De Xiang Wang ◽  
Xue Song Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Power Electronics ◽  
Power Quality ◽  
The Other ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Industrial Control ◽  
Research Status ◽  
Voltage Quality ◽  
Key Technologies ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Difference

Power electronics products are widely used in industrial control, requirements of power quality have become more sophisticated. So how to improve voltage quality and how to ensure that the system is stable is an important and urgent issue. This paper briefly discusses evolution of STATCOM development, including the difference from the other compensation devices, the characteristics of STATCOM, the research status, the key technologies of STATCOM, and the trend in the future.

What's So Different about a Counterfactual?

2000 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 550-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Ned Lebow
Keyword(s):  
Thought Experiments ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Difference

The author contends that the difference between so-called factual and counterfactual arguments is greatly exaggerated; it is one of degree, not of kind. Both arguments ultimately rest on the quality of their assumptions, the chain of logic linking causes to outcomes, and their consistency with available evidence. He critiques two recent historical works that make extensive use of counterfactuals and finds them seriously deficient in method and argument. He then reviews the criteria for counterfactual experimentation proposed by social scientists who have addressed this problem and finds many of their criteria unrealistic and overly restrictive. The methods of counterfactual experimentation need to be commensurate with the purposes for which it is used. The author discusses three uses for counterfactual arguments and thought experiments and proposes eight criteria appropriate to plausible-world counterfactuals.

scholarly journals The Eventuality of Equating Energy and Mass - Laws and Theories

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Hamdoon A. Khan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Total Energy ◽  
Internal Energy ◽  
Thought Experiments ◽  
Current Work ◽  
Speed Of Light ◽  
External Energy ◽  
Scientific Claim ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Important Basis ◽  
Kinetic And Potential Energies

Einstein's famous equation, , revolutionized the theory of physics and introduced new perspectives to the study of energy and mass. However, a close consideration of its principles raises essential concerns on the equitability of mass and energy as well as other phenomena like the speed of light. The unavoidable scientific claim of this paper is that the total energy of matter depends on its internal and external energies, which are accounted for by kinetic and potential energies. In the current work, thought experiments reveal important additions to this idea regarding the apparent effects of external energy on the nature of matter and particles. This paper employs detailed thought experiments and theoretical discussions to identify and address several notable inconsistencies related to the energy and mass equation based on previous works in physics. The relative external energy of an object will be influenced by the position of the observer. The outcomes of the experiments presented herein also provide key insights into the constancy of the internal energy of all matter and particles. Generally, this paper provides an important basis for analyzing the theory underlying the physics of energy and mass, addressing questionable ideas that are common but poorly substantiated and providing a new understanding of the nature of mass and energy that lays the foundations for further research in this area by projecting the difference between them.

scholarly journals From Calculus to Language Game

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Durt ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Technical Problem ◽  
Ordinary Language ◽  
Language Game ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Rule Following ◽  
Cognitive Technology ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The One ◽  
Creating Meaning

Cognitive technology is an increasingly important form of technology that can deal with meaning by either replicating or simulating human cognition. Cognitive technology can make use of information technology, but it strives to go beyond mere information processing by recognizing, changing, and creating meaning. This presents us with a two-sided challenge: On the one hand, cognitive technology is challenged to ‘understand’ meaning in ordinary language. And on the other, it challenges us to rethink fundamental questions of human cognition and sense-making. Both challenges demand a better understanding of the difference between the technical transformation of symbols and the understanding of meaning in the ordinary sense. After explaining the topic in relation to both the insights and the limitations of the reflections by Turing, Searle, and Heidegger, this paper primarily builds on Wittgenstein’s contributions to a better understanding of the difference between two conceptions of meaning and their implications for technical replication and simulation. The paper shows that Wittgenstein developed his early calculus account of meaning into that of language games and that language games not only come in many different varieties, but are also much more flexible than calculi. Of particular interest will be the difference between rigid and creative rule-following. Creative rule-following involves an intricate interplay of very different bodily, mental, and cultural constituents, so that its simulation is not merely a technical problem but also requires clarification of a number of profound philosophical questions. It will become clear that the challenge of cognitive technology shows up at unexpected places and that is much bigger than usually assumed.

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