‘The adding of artificial organs to the natural’: Extended and Distributed Cognition in Robert Hooke’s Methodology

Author(s):  
Pieter Present

This chapter compares Robert Hooke’s views on the use of writing as an external memory with contemporary notions of extended and distributed cognition. The aim is not to portray Hooke as a proponent of these views avant la lettre, but to highlight certain interesting structural similarities and differences. Hooke believed that cognition could be externalised through the use of an external ‘repository’. In this case, cognition takes place through the manipulation of written material. This externalisation of memory makes it possible for other people to access, supplement, and organise the same ‘repository’, which allows for a cognitive division of labour. It is further shown how the Royal Society, of which Hooke was a member, is presented by Thomas Sprat as an enterprise aimed precisely at this kind of cognitive division of labour. The chapter concludes with a concrete example of an ‘external repository’ designed by Hooke, analysing the way it puts into practice Hooke’s ideas on individually and socially extended cognition.

SUHUF ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-214
Author(s):  
Afifur Rochman Sya'rani

Most of traditional Muslim exegetes interpret Q. 4:34 in terms of maintaining the superiority of men over women. Some progressive Muslim scholars then insist a contextual approach to the verse to criticize gender inequality. Among some progressive Muslim scholars, this article comparatively examines the interpretations of Amina Wadud and Mohammed Talbi of Q. 4:34. Although both of them propose a contextual reading of the verse, they have different intellectual background, approach and method in interpreting the Qur’ān. The questions are to what extent the similarities and differences of both Wadud’s and Talbi’s interpretation of Q. 4:34 and how far their interpretations reflect their respective intention and perspective? Applying Gadamer’s hermeneutical approach, the article concludes that [1] Both Wadud and Talbi argue that the verse does not establish the superiority of men over women, but acknowledges duties division among married couple; [2] the difference among their interpretations is on the status of relationship among married couple; [3] Wadud’s and Talbi’s interpretations represent their respective hermeneutical situations and the way they define ontologically the nature of  interpretation and Qur’anic hermeneutics affect on producing the meanings of the verse.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Nate

Although Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1623-1673), did not belong to the scientific community which after 1660 formed itself around the Royal Society, several of the philosophical issues discussed there are reflected in her writings. Lengthy reflections on language and style which run through her philosophical worksprovide evidence that the linguistic and rhetorical debates of the early Royal Society also left their mark. The isolation which Cavendish faced as a woman writer obliged her to discuss problems of terminology and style even more intensively, thereby adhering to the rhetorical principle of perspicuity which Thomas Sprat demanded in his proposal for a scientific plain style. The influence of the New Science on Cavendish's work becomes obvious when her later writings are compared to her earlier ones where traces of a courtly and more elitist understanding of style can still be found. In this paper the development of Cavendish's stylistic attitudes is traced in several of her works, including her Utopian narrative The Blazing World (1666).


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-32
Author(s):  
Mirosława Czaplińska ◽  
Małgorzata Rymarzak ◽  
Dariusz Trojanowski

Abstract In the last few years, there has been a visible change in the structure of the fuel station market in both Poland and the United Kingdom. The changes taking place both in the fuel station market structure and the management forms of fuel stations, along with the increasing significance of convenience goods sales, result in the necessity of verifying the existing Polish valuation standards of the income approach. Moreover, there is an urgent need to develop specific fuel station valuation guidelines. Fuel station valuation requires both the specific approach and profits method adjustment to be able to account for the specificity of the valuation. The universal character of property valuation in Poland cannot result in ignoring the specificity of fuel station valuation and the market where it operates. Property valuers undertaking valuations of this type of facilities must be familiar with the rules operating on the fuel station market. This paper focuses on the comparison analysis of the fuel station market structure in Poland and the United Kingdom along with the specificity of the way fuel stations operate. Its emphasis is on the comparison analysis of fuel station valuation methods under Polish and RICS standards in order to show their similarities and differences. The aim of the paper is to present the methods of fuel station valuation in Poland and the United Kingdom, though mainly to show the areas of changes in the Polish valuation standards with regards to the profits method under the income approach that would take into account the specificity of fuel stations and their market.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (18) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Jaime Tomás Page Pliego

Suele asumirse que la noción de persona es igual entre los pueblos de tsotsiles y tesltales de los Altos de Chiapas. Sin embargo, su configuración varía sustancialmente, sin perder la base que los une. Este trabajo trata sobre las diferencias y similitudes que se presentan en el concepto denominado complejo persona en tres municipios: Oxchuc —de habla tseltal—, Chamula y Chenalhó —de habla tsotsil—, y en forma destacada sobre la importancia del cuerpo en dicho concepto. Asimismo, se abordan las variaciones que se han suscitado en torno a esa noción a partir de 1940, bajo la incidencia de la escalada proselitista cristiana. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BODY WITHIN THE COMPLEX OF THE NOTION OF PERSONHOOD AMONG CONTEMPORARY MAYANS FROM OXCHUC, CHAMULA AND CHENALHÓ IN CHIAPAS STATE There is a tendency to assume that the Tsotsil and Tseltal communities in the Chiapas Highlands (Altos de Chiapas) share the same notion of personhood. However, the way this notion is constructed does vary substantially without losing a common foundation. This piece of research deals with the similarities and differences present in the concept of personhood complex in three different municipalities: Oxchuc —a tseltal-speaking community—, Chamula and Chenalhó —tsotsil-speaking communities—, and emphasizes the importance of the body in this concept. It also addresses the permutations that have emerged around this notion since 1940, under the escalating influence of Christian proselytism.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-549
Author(s):  
Cristián Santibáñez

In this paper the role of images in argumentative settings is analyzed from a cognitive angle. In particular, the proposal of this paper is to see visual argumentation as a specific form of extended and distributed cognition. In order to develop this idea, some of Wittgenstein’s insights are used to put evidence produced by research on temporal-spatial reasoning processes into philosophical perspective. Some contemporary argumentative analyses of visual argumentation are also discussed using commercial and political examples. The paper finishes with the notion of collective minds in order to specify the general idea of arguing with images as extended cognition.


1806 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 305-326 ◽  

Dear Sir, Being perfectly convinced of your love of mathematical science, and your extensive acquirements in it, I submit to your perusal a new demonstration of the binomial theorem, when the exponent is a positive or negative fraction. As I am a strenuous advocate for smoothing the way to the acquisition of useful knowledge, i deem the following articles of some importance ; and unless I were equally sincere in this persuasion, and in that of your desire to promote mathemati­cal studies, in requesting the perusal, I should accuse myself of an attempt to trifle with your valuable time. The following demonstration is new only to the extent above mentioned ; but in order that the reader may perceive the proof to be complete, a successive perusal of all the articles is necessary. As far as it relates to the raising of in­tegral powers, it is in substance the same with one which I drew up in the year 1794, and which was honoured with a place in the Philosophical Transactions for 1795. If, therefore, you think the following demonstration worthy the attention of mathematicians, you will much oblige me by presenting it to the Royal Society.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roslyn M Frank

<p>Translation is usually understood as the practice of rendering a text written in one language into another, a process that also requires taking into consideration the cultural similarities and differences entrenched in each language. In this chapter a set of European folktales, referred to collectively as the tale of “The Bear’s Son,” are analysed, focusing on the way that the interpretative framework utilised by storytellers and their audiences has changed over time. The chapter enters a terrain that has been little explored, engaging with and addressing not only the question of the role played by folktales in projecting cultural mindsets, but also their role in constructing, maintaining, and ultimately deconstructing a worldview that appears to have been grounded initially in the belief that humans descended from bears.</p>


Author(s):  
Gary Smith

Humans have invaluable real-world knowledge because we have accumulated a lifetime of experiences that help us recognize, understand, and anticipate. Computers do not have real-world experiences to guide them, so they must rely on statistical patterns in their digital data base—which may be helpful, but is certainly fallible. We use emotions as well as logic to construct concepts that help us understand what we see and hear. When we see a dog, we may visualize other dogs, think about the similarities and differences between dogs and cats, or expect the dog to chase after a cat we see nearby. We may remember a childhood pet or recall past encounters with dogs. Remembering that dogs are friendly and loyal, we might smile and want to pet the dog or throw a stick for the dog to fetch. Remembering once being scared by an aggressive dog, we might pull back to a safe distance. A computer does none of this. For a computer, there is no meaningful difference between dog, tiger, and XyB3c, other than the fact that they use different symbols. A computer can count the number of times the word dog is used in a story and retrieve facts about dogs (such as how many legs they have), but computers do not understand words the way humans do, and will not respond to the word dog the way humans do. The lack of real world knowledge is often revealed in software that attempts to interpret words and images. Language translation software programs are designed to convert sentences written or spoken in one language into equivalent sentences in another language. In the 1950s, a Georgetown–IBM team demonstrated the machine translation of 60 sentences from Russian to English using a 250-word vocabulary and six grammatical rules. The lead scientist predicted that, with a larger vocabulary and more rules, translation programs would be perfected in three to five years. Little did he know! He had far too much faith in computers. It has now been more than 60 years and, while translation software is impressive, it is far from perfect. The stumbling blocks are instructive. Humans translate passages by thinking about the content—what the author means—and then expressing that content in another language.


1876 ◽  
Vol 166 ◽  
pp. 725-735 ◽  

In a paper read before the Royal Society, April 1874, I pointed out that the communication of heat from a solid surface to a gas, whether accompanied by evaporation or not, must, according to the kinetic theory, be attended by a reactionary force equi­valent to an increase in the pressure of the gas on the surface, and, conversely, when heat is communicated from the gas to the surface the pressure against the surface is diminished; and I also suggested that these forces are the probable cause of the motion, resulting in some way from radiation, which Mr. Crookes had brought into such pro­minent notice. Since the publication of this paper neither my conclusions as to the existence of these “heat reactions,” nor the reasoning by which I supported them, have been controverted or even questioned; but, on the other hand, they have received important confirmation. The results at which Professors Tait and Dewar arrived after a careful investigation fully bear out my conclusions, not only as to the existence of the forces, but also as to the way in which they explain Mr. Crookes’s experiments.


Having undertaken the magnetic survey of the Indian Archipelago at the recommendation of the Royal Society, I think a slight sketch, detailed as briefly as possible, of my operations may not be uninteresting to Sir John Herschel and the Committee of Physics of which he is Chairman, prior to the publication of the Survey. I trust likewise I have acted strictly in accordance with the wishes of those who so kindly recommended me for the Survey, and I hope that my earnest efforts to do my duty will gain for me that approbation which I have under no ordinary difficulties incessantly striven to obtain. I will in the first place mention the different stations I visited, and then describe in a few words, the way in which the observations were taken.


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