scholarly journals Was Pierre Duhem an Esprit de finesse?

Author(s):  
Víctor Manuel Hernández

Although Pierre Duhem is well known for his conventionalist outlook and, in particular, for his critique of crucial experiments outlined in his thesis on the empirical indeterminacy of theory, he also contributed to the scholarship on the psychological profiles of scientists by revising Pascal’s famous distinction between the subtle mind and the geometric mind (esprits fins and esprits géométriques). For Duhem, the ideal scientist is the one who combines the defining qualities of both types of intellect. As a physicist, Duhem made important theoretical contributions to the field of thermodynamics as well as to the then-nascent physical chemistry. Due to his rejection of atomism and his unrelenting critique of Maxwell’s electrodynamics, however, in his later years, Duhem’s work was surpassed and abandoned by the dominant tendencies of physics of the time. In this essay, I will discuss whether Duhem himself can be understood through the lens of his own account of the scientist’s psychological profile. More specifically, I examine whether the subtle mind – to which he seems to assign greater cognitive value – in fact plays a key role in Duhem’s critique of the English School (école anglaise), or if his preference for the axiomatic structure of theoretical physics shows a greater affinity with the geometric mind.

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Charles de Berg

Physical Chemistry's birth was fraught with controversy, a controversy about electrolyte solution chemistry which has much to say about how scientific knowledge originates, matures, and responds to challenges. This has direct implications for the way our students are educated in physical chemistry in particular and science in general. The incursion of physical measurement and mathematics into a discipline which had been largely defined within a laboratory of smells, bangs, and colours was equivalent to the admission into chemistry of the worship of false gods according to one chemist. The controversy can be classified as a battle betweendissociationistson the one hand andassociationistson the other; between theEuropeanson the one hand and theBritishon the other; between theionistson the one hand and thehydrationistson the other. Such strong contrasts set the ideal atmosphere for the development of argumentation skills. The fact that a compromise position, first elaborated in the late 19th century, has recently enhanced the explanatory capacity for electrolyte solution chemistry is challenging but one in which students can participate to their benefit.


Author(s):  
Michael P. Lynch

This chapter argues that academic freedom is justified because it is an inherently epistemic practice that serves the ideals of democracy. With Dewey, it is argued that “The one thing that is inherent and essential [to the idea of a university] is the ideal of truth.” But far from being apolitical, the value of pursuing truth and knowledge—the value that justifies academic freedom, both within and without the public mind—is a fundamental democratic value, and for three reasons: the practices of academic inquiry exemplify rational inquiry of the kind needed for democratic deliberation; those practices serve to train students to pursue that kind of inquiry; and those practices are important engines of democratic dissent.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (01) ◽  
pp. 045-052
Author(s):  
Mario Bazanelli Junqueira Ferraz ◽  
Guilherme Constante Preis Sella

AbstractNasal dorsal preservation surgery was described more than 100 years ago, but recently has gained prominence. Our objective is to show the surgical technique, the main indications and counterindications, and the complications. It is a technique that does not cause the detachment of the upper lateral cartilage (ULC) from the nasal septum, and has the main following sequence: preparation of the septum and its resection can be at different levels (high or low, i.e., SPAR [septum pyramidal adjustment and repositioning] A or B); preparation of the pyramid; transversal osteotomy; lateral osteotomy(s); and septopyramidal adjustment. The result is a nose with a lower radix than the original, a deprojection of the nasal dorsum tending to maintain its original shape; an increase in the interalar distance (IAD) and enlargement of the nasal middle ⅓; and loss of projection of the nasal tip and roundness of the nostrils. Thus, the ideal candidate is the one who benefits from such side effects, that is: tension nose, that is, high radix with projected dorsum, projected anterior nasal septal angle (ANSA), narrow middle ⅓, narrow IAD, thin nostrils and straight perpendicular plate of the ethmoid (PPE), and, depending on the characteristics, the deviated nose. The counterindications are low radix, irregularities in the nasal dorsum, ANSA lower than rhinion, and a wide middle ⅓. And the main stigmas are: a nose with a very low radix, middle ⅓ enlarged, residual hump, and saddling of the supratip area. Other issues of this technique are: the shape of the radix; the need or not to remove PPE; wide dorsum; irregular dorsum; ANSA lower than rhinion; weak cartilages; long nasal bone; deviated PPE; and obsessive patient. We conclude that this is a great technique for noses with characteristics suitable to it; care must be taken with the stigmas it can cause.


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.


2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roch Plewik ◽  
Piotr Synowiec ◽  
Janusz Wójcik

Two-phase CFD simulation of the monodyspersed suspension hydraulic behaviour in the tank apparatus from a circulatory pipe The hydrodynamics in fluidized-bed crystallizers is studied by CFD method. The simulations were performed by a commercial packet of computational fluid dynamics Fluent 6.x. For the one-phase modelling (15), a standard k-ε model was applied. In the case of the two-phase flows the Eulerian multi-phase model with a standard k-ε method, aided by the k-ε dispersed model for viscosity, has been used respectively. The collected data put a new light on the suspension flow behaviour in the annular zone of the fluidised bed crystallizer. From the presented here CFD simulations, it clearly issues that the real hydraulic conditions in the fluidised bed crystallizers are far from the ideal ones.


2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Venezky

Philologists, linguists, and educators have insisted for several centuries that the ideal orthography has a one-to-one correspondence between grapheme and phoneme. Others, however, have suggested deviations for such functions as distinguishing homophones, displaying popular alternative spellings, and retaining morpheme identity. If, indeed, the one-to-one ideal were accepted, the International Phonetic Alphabet should become the orthographic standard for all enlightened nations, yet the failure of even a single country to adopt it for practical writing suggests that other factors besides phonology are considered important for a writing system. Whatever the ideal orthography might be, the practical writing systems adopted upon this earth reflect linguistic, psychological, and cultural considerations. Knowingly or unknowingly, countries have adopted orthographies that favour either the early stages of learning to read or the advanced stages, that is, the experienced reader. The more a system tends towards a one-to-one relationship between graphemes and phonemes, the more it assists the new reader and the non-speaker of the language while the more it marks etymology and morphology, the more it favours the experienced reader. The study of psychological processing in reading demonstrates that human capacities for processing print are so powerful that complex patterns and irregularities pose only a small challenge. Orthographic regularity is extracted from lexical input and used to recognise words during reading. To understand how such a system develops, researchers should draw on the general mechanisms of perceptual learning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-277
Author(s):  
Tzu-Lung Chiu
Keyword(s):  
The One ◽  

Vinaya rules embody the ideal of how Buddhists should regulate their daily lives, and monastics are required to observe them, despite the fact that they were compiled nearly 2,500 years ago in India: a context dramatically different not only from Chinese Buddhism's present monastic conditions, but from its historical conditions. Against this backdrop, rules of purity (qinggui) were gradually formulated by Chinese masters in medieval times to supplement and adapt vinaya rules to China's cultural ethos and to specific local Chinese contexts. This study explores how the traditional qinggui are applied by the Buddhist sa?gha in present-day Taiwan, and contrasts modern monastics' opinions on these rules and their relation to early Buddhist vinaya, on the one hand, against classical Chan literature (such as Chanyuan qinggui) and the Buddhist canon (such as Dharmaguptakavinaya), on the other. This comparison fills a notable gap in the existing literature.


Author(s):  
Ainhoa LASA LÓPEZ

LABURPENA: Artikulu honetan, Europar Batasuneko botere-artikulazio berriak erkidegotan osatutako Espainian zer eragin daukan aztertuko dugu. Europa mailako politika-ekonomia erlazioak funtsezko bi koordenatu izan behar ditu ezinbestean. Alde batetik, Europako konstituzio-ordena ez dela gizartearen konstituzionalismoaren koordenatuetan ernatutako ordenaren berdina. Bestetik, Europako konstituzio ekonomikoa Europa bat egiteko proiektuak berarekin dakartzan aldaketa berriak gorpuzteko eremua dela. Izan ere, funtsean, Europako konstituzio ekonomikoa plataforma ezin hobea delako boterearen artikulazioa berria nola artikulatu asmatzeko, Europa guztirako. RESUMEN: el objetivo de este artículo es analizar el impacto que tiene la nueva articulación del poder en la Unión Europea en el Estado español de las autonomías. La relación política-economía a nivel europeo debe tener en cuenta dos coordenadas fundamentales. Por una parte, la consideración del orden constitucional europeo como un orden distinto al gestado bajo las coordenadas del constitucionalismo social. Por otra, la caracterización de la constitución económica europea como ámbito de materialización de las nuevas transformaciones que incorpora el proyecto de integración europeo. Fundamentalmente, porque la constitución económica europea representa la plataforma idónea desde la que dilucidar la nueva articulación del poder desde el espacio supranacional europeo. ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the new articula tion of power in the European Union in the Spanish state of autonomies. The relationship between politics and economy at European level must take into consideration two fundamental coordinates. On the one hand, the Euro pean constitucional system appears as a system opposite to that of social constitutionalism. Moreover, the characterization of the European economic constitution as a field of realization of the new transformations incorporated by the European project. Specially, because this represents the ideal platform in order to analyse the new articulation of power from European supranational space.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-34
Author(s):  
Robert Stănciulescu

Abstract Specialized studies show how a fighter should physically be, not just any fighter, but the one who possesses the qualities and features of the ideal model, i.e. those elements that define the near-perfect fighter. The demands of the modern battlefield impose a high quality human potential that provides a good basis for the selection and training of fighters. Resistance to physical, climate, season and weather condition demands, to the prolonged efforts fighting requires is one of the important conditions of success. The paper presents information with particular impact in optimizing exercise capacity for future officers of the land forces, emphasizing once again the idea that a high level of motric ability is an essential objective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Kasmuri Selamat ◽  
Irma Handayani ◽  
Akhyar Hanif

The ideal leader is an expectation for every society in the world. Leadership is a relationship between the influence of the leader and the one being led. Leadership also functions to execute power to invite, influence, guide, mobilize and build other people to do something to achieve certain goals. To implement, Islam provides normative and philosophical bases on the principles of leadership. These principles include deliberation, fairness, gentleness, freedom of thought, synergy in building togetherness. The principles taught by Islam are in line with the thoughts of one of the Islamic philosophers, Ibn Khaldun. Furthermore, he emphasized that the social solidarity factor is crucial to become an ideal leader.


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