Arithmetic of the Species: Darwin and the Role of Mathematics in his Argumentation

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Wynn
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Origin Of Species ◽  
Mathematical Arguments ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
And Mathematics

Abstract Historians of science resist recognizing a role for mathematics in The Origin of Species on the grounds that Darwin's arguments are inductive and mathematics is deductive, while rhetoricians seem to oppose the idea that deductive mathematical arguments fall within the jurisdiction of rhetorical analysis. A close textual analysis of the arguments in The Origin and a careful examination of the methodological/philosophical context in which Darwin is doing science, however, challenges these objections against and assumptions about the role of mathematical warrants in Darwin's arguments and their importance to his rhetorical efforts in the text.

Logikôs Argumentation in Aristotle’s Natural Science

Apeiron ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Woodcox
Keyword(s):  
Natural Science ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
Standard Domain

AbstractThis paper offers a novel interpretation of the nature and role of logical (logikôs) argumentation in Aristotle’s natural philosophy. In contrast to the standard domain interpretation, which makes logikôs argumentation the contrary of phusikôs, relying on principles drawn from outside the domain of natural science, I propose that the essential or defining feature of logikôs argumentation is the use of principles that are general relative to the question under investigation. My interpretation is developed and illustrated with a close textual analysis of Aristotle’s explanation of mule sterility in Generation of Animals II 8.

Contentment, Satisfaction and Good-Pleasure

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atif Khalil
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
Early Islamic

The article examines early Sufi notions of rida, usually translated as “contentment,” “satisfaction,” and “good-pleasure.” It does so through a close textual analysis of some of the most important works of the tradition authored up until what has been identified as the “formative period of Sufi literature,” a period which ends in the 11th century. In the process, the article situates rida within the larger context of early Islamic moral psychology as it was formulated by the fledgling Sufi tradition. The article analyses early definitions of rida, the role of rida in tribulation, contentment and the ills of complaint, the higher levels of rida, and the role of love in rida. It ends with a brief overview of the paradox of rida inherent within a largely deterministic theology which traces all acts back to God.

scholarly journals Configuration of the Self-Mythology and Identity of Female Characters in Paul Auster’s In the Country of Last Things and The New York Trilogy

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Mohammad Amin Shirkhani
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
The Self ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Paul Auster ◽  
Detective Novels ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
New York Trilogy ◽  
American Society

The works of American novelist Paul Auster (1947- ) are uniquely concerned with the mythology of self, metanarrative and the role gender plays in these transactions. In his earliest works, The New York Trilogy (1985-1986) and In the Country of Last Things (1987), Auster uses genre conventions and styles (for the former, detective novels; for the latter, dystopian fiction) to interrogate these preconceptions of self-mythology and the role of gender within these genres, subverting tropes and traits of these works to comment upon them. In the following, we investigate these works in depth along these themes, conducting a close textual analysis from the framework of Freudian and Lacanian theories of psychoanalysis and poststructuralism. By investigating the roles of women in The New York Trilogy and In the Country of Last Things, we hope to illuminate Auster’s uniquely postmodernist, deconstructive approach to the psychological imperatives women are socialized into within American society, and how they are informed by narrative and mythology. The role of women, from the absent trophies of The New York Trilogy to the central voice of sanity of Anna in In the Country of Last Things, posits women as a societal superego whose goal it is to keep the destructive, nihilistic id-like impulses of men in check. 

scholarly journals Realism and Naturalism in Samrat Upadhyay’s The Guru of Love

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-147
Author(s):  
Bimal Kishore Shrivastwa
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Human Being ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
Principal Finding ◽  
Realism And Naturalism

This research project seeks to explore realism and naturalism in Samrat Upadhyay's novel, The Guru of Love, in the context of Nepalese society. It analyses how the novel delineates a realistic account of Nepalese middle-class people's hardships, struggles, and problems they face internally and externally through the character of Ramchandra, the protagonist of the fiction, an ordinary mathematics teacher who faces some hindrances in search of a better life and developing a career in the capital city. The principal objective of the study is to find the realistic, naturalistic, and materialistic elements in the novel, to examine the psychic predispositions that characters come through realistically, and to analyze the role of love and sex in terms of spirituality and emancipation as they all fall into the parameters of naturalism and realism. This study is developed through a theoretical framework based on realism and naturalism for the close textual analysis of the novel. The principal finding of the research paper is that the major characters of the novel, The Guru of Love, suffer from the conflict between their desires and their socio-economic realities. The article also surveys how material prosperity fails to resolve all the problems that human being goes through. It is expected that the paper stands as a reference for the research scholars interested to explore in the area.

Working Memory and Number Sense as Predictors of Mathematical (Dis-)Ability

2015 ◽  
Vol 223 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn H. Kroesbergen ◽  
Marloes van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Number Sense ◽  
Mathematical Learning ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Mathematical Learning Disabilities ◽  
Visual Spatial Working Memory ◽  
And Mathematics

Recent research has pointed to two possible causes of mathematical (dis-)ability: working memory and number sense, although only few studies have compared the relations between working memory and mathematics and between number sense and mathematics. In this study, both constructs were studied in relation to mathematics in general, and to mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) in particular. The sample consisted of 154 children aged between 6 and 10 years, including 26 children with MLD. Children performing low on either number sense or visual-spatial working memory scored lower on math tests than children without such a weakness. Children with a double weakness scored the lowest. These results confirm the important role of both visual-spatial working memory and number sense in mathematical development.

The Role of Muslim Women in Civil Society In Promoting Values and Principles for Building Peace: Action Guide from The Qur’ān

Sains Insani ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-36
Author(s):  
Che Amnah Bahari ◽  
Fatimah Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Pluralistic Society ◽  
Women And Children

The whole world, the Muslim in particular has witnessed conflicts in different areas, which have hindered the developmental efforts of the nations concerned. It should be learned that most victims of these conflicts are women and children. This article attempts to elaborate the role of Muslims Women as a crucial segment in civil society in initiating peace building through nurturing process. It maintains that the adoption of the principles and values derived from the Qur’ān and Sunnah of the Prophet is necessary as a process of lifelong learning.  Those identified values constituted the framework of this article and it adopts the textual analysis method.   This article concludes that through the implementation of those values and frameworks for peace building, women as one of the important segments of civil society are able to play significant role towards initiating peace building and promoting peaceful co-existence in pluralistic society. Abstrak: Dunia Islam khususnya telah menyaksikan konflik di pelbagai daerah yang berbeza. Konflik ini telah menghalang usaha kearah pembangunan Kawasan yang berkenaan. Kebanyakan mangsa konflik ini adalah wanita dan kanak-kanak. Artikel ini cuba untuk menghuraikan peranan wanita Islam sebagai segmen penting dalam masyarakat madani dalam membangun proses kedamaian dengan mendidik dan memupuk prinsip dan nilai murni janaan al-Qur’an. Penggunaan prinsip dan nilai yang dikutip dari ayat-ayat Qur'an dan hadis Rasulullah adalah keperluan yang mendesak sebagai wadah bagi proses pembelajaran sepanjang hayat. Nilai-nilai yang dikenal pasti merupakan rangka kerja artikel ini, dan metod yang dirujuk adalah analisis teks. Artikel ini menyimpulkan bahawa melalui pelaksanaan nilai-nilai dan kerangka kerja Islam bagi proses kedamaian, wanita Islam dalam masyarakat madani mampu memainkan peranan penting dalam memulakan pembinaan keamanan dan menggalakkan kehidupan yang harmonis, sejahtera dan saling bantu membantu dalam masyarakat majmuk.

Masks and Emasculation: Populist Crisis Rhetoric and the 2020 Presidential Election

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110112
Author(s):  
Meredith Neville-Shepard
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
Presidential Campaign ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Preventative Measure ◽  
Litmus Test

This essay illustrates how Donald Trump engaged in what I call “populist crisis rhetoric” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and coinciding 2020 U.S. presidential campaign cycle. By performing a critical rhetorical analysis of textual fragments surrounding how Trump addressed the preventative measure of mask-wearing, I show how he rejected the role of comforter-in-chief and instead opted for the role of victim-in-chief. Specifically, turning the bare face into a litmus test of Trump loyalism, his rhetoric suggested that masks threatened masculinity and functioned as a form of anti-choice bodily oppression.

scholarly journals The Role of Mental Effort in Fostering Self-Regulated Learning with Problem-Solving Tasks

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1055-1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara van Gog ◽  
Vincent Hoogerheide ◽  
Milou van Harsel
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Mental Effort ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Task Sequence ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Self Regulated Learning ◽  
Regulated Learning ◽  
And Mathematics

Abstract Problem-solving tasks form the backbone of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) curricula. Yet, how to improve self-monitoring and self-regulation when learning to solve problems has received relatively little attention in the self-regulated learning literature (as compared with, for instance, learning lists of items or learning from expository texts). Here, we review research on fostering self-regulated learning of problem-solving tasks, in which mental effort plays an important role. First, we review research showing that having students engage in effortful, generative learning activities while learning to solve problems can provide them with cues that help them improve self-monitoring and self-regulation at an item level (i.e., determining whether or not a certain type of problem needs further study/practice). Second, we turn to self-monitoring and self-regulation at the task sequence level (i.e., determining what an appropriate next problem-solving task would be given the current level of understanding/performance). We review research showing that teaching students to regulate their learning process by taking into account not only their performance but also their invested mental effort on a prior task when selecting a new task improves self-regulated learning outcomes (i.e., performance on a knowledge test in the domain of the study). Important directions for future research on the role of mental effort in (improving) self-monitoring and self-regulation at the item and task selection levels are discussed after the respective sections.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document