Fixed nature and dynamic processes in Hahnemann's thought

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (40) ◽  
pp. 190-191
Author(s):  
Cloe Taddei-Ferretti

Background and Aims. At least since classical Greek philosophy two opposite vews are facing, the one of Heraclitus, affirming that all things are in a continuous flux, and the other of Parmenides, the assertor of changelessness. The aim of present contribution is to consider if and how the tension between such views continues to permeate several features of the culture, including the thought of S. Hahnemann. Methods. This will be achieved through the examination of some cases in the natural sciences and human sciences, including Hahnemann’s writings. Few examples are presented here. The living being can be viewed as a thing genetically determined, or as an open and dynamic complex of processes interacting mutually and with the environment at metabolic and informational levels. The central nervous system is seen to underlie both automatic, and creative behaviours. A species is considered a pure ideal type, or a historically varying population of similar individuals. The basic traits of human behaviour are attributed to an unchanging nature (better, a nature undergoing slow Darwinian changes), or to a culture evolving in a rapid Lamarckian way. Within an integrated view of the person one may consider both the four fixed human constitutions (see H. Bernard; M. Martiny; N. Pende; A. Negro), and their four changing constitutional stages (see H. Bernard). Classical culture highlights the paramount importance of universal principles, while postmodern culture highlights proteanism, liquid state, patchwork. In particular, we may encounter such two views in the thought of Hahnemann on diseases. They are found in his writings respectively on the chronic diseaes, and on the so-called non-miasmatic diseases. About chronic diseases, he wrote that they are primitive, deeply-rooted, underlying external symptoms, old, universal, always recurring, internal, and do not desappear even when external symptoms of acute diseases desappeared, while the whole symptoms of them must be extensivery taken into account. About non-miasmatic diseases, he wrote that the complex of symptoms of a single case, which is always different for each individual case, cannot be foreseen, nor schematized, nor taken as a model, nor treated by an a priori chosen remedy or with a priori rules different from the strict application of the so-called law of similars, experimentally established. Conclusions. We may conclude that Hahnemann’s integrated consideration of diseases takes into account both the fixed characteristics of the chronic ones and the dynamic processes of the acute ones, so that the two above views appear to be not opposed, but perfectly integrated.

Philosophy ◽  
1929 ◽  
Vol 4 (16) ◽  
pp. 453-466
Author(s):  
A. C. Ewing

Some modern thinkers have supposed that “cause” is an outworn notion, or at least that it is one of which modern science has no need. This is due mainly to the discovery that, while the scientist can give us general laws as to what in fact happens, he cannot help us to discern the reason for the laws or the inward nature of the forces on which they depend. He can tell us the “that” but not the “why”; he cannot show us in a single case that the effect follows necessarily a priori from the nature of the cause, that any other effect than the one which actually takes place would be logically impossible. He has studied the law of gravitation, but this law does not enable him to see why material bodies should attract each other in this fashion; it is only a generalized statement of the fact that they do. He knows that certain substances, if absorbed by eating, will nourish and others destroy our tissues; but he cannot say why they should do so. He can no doubt analyse them further and discover that, for example, meat is nourishing because it contains a large proportion of nitrogenous matter, but he could not tell a priori whether this nitrogenous matter would be likely to nourish or to poison us. Only where mathematics can be applied do we see necessity in such a way that any alternative becomes inconceivable to us; but mathematics alone can never establish from a quantity present here and now what quantity there will be at a later time or in another part of space. Mathematics can show, e.g., that, if there is 2 + 2 here and now, there must be 4 here and now, not that, if there is 2 + 2 here and now, there will be 4 in an hour's time or a mile away; and therefore it cannot be made the sole basis of any causal law whatever.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-13
Author(s):  
James B. Talmage ◽  
Jay Blaisdell

Abstract Injuries that affect the central nervous system (CNS) can be catastrophic because they involve the brain or spinal cord, and determining the underlying clinical cause of impairment is essential in using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), in part because the AMA Guides addresses neurological impairment in several chapters. Unlike the musculoskeletal chapters, Chapter 13, The Central and Peripheral Nervous System, does not use grades, grade modifiers, and a net adjustment formula; rather the chapter uses an approach that is similar to that in prior editions of the AMA Guides. The following steps can be used to perform a CNS rating: 1) evaluate all four major categories of cerebral impairment, and choose the one that is most severe; 2) rate the single most severe cerebral impairment of the four major categories; 3) rate all other impairments that are due to neurogenic problems; and 4) combine the rating of the single most severe category of cerebral impairment with the ratings of all other impairments. Because some neurological dysfunctions are rated elsewhere in the AMA Guides, Sixth Edition, the evaluator may consult Table 13-1 to verify the appropriate chapter to use.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Corcoran ◽  
Florian Loebbert ◽  
Julian Miczajka ◽  
Matthias Staudacher

Abstract We extend the recently developed Yangian bootstrap for Feynman integrals to Minkowski space, focusing on the case of the one-loop box integral. The space of Yangian invariants is spanned by the Bloch-Wigner function and its discontinuities. Using only input from symmetries, we constrain the functional form of the box integral in all 64 kinematic regions up to twelve (out of a priori 256) undetermined constants. These need to be fixed by other means. We do this explicitly, employing two alternative methods. This results in a novel compact formula for the box integral valid in all kinematic regions of Minkowski space.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
I. L. Buchbinder ◽  
E. A. Ivanov ◽  
B. S. Merzlikin ◽  
K. V. Stepanyantz

Abstract We apply the harmonic superspace approach for calculating the divergent part of the one-loop effective action of renormalizable 6D, $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = (1, 0) supersymmetric higher-derivative gauge theory with a dimensionless coupling constant. Our consideration uses the background superfield method allowing to carry out the analysis of the effective action in a manifestly gauge covariant and $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = (1, 0) supersymmetric way. We exploit the regularization by dimensional reduction, in which the divergences are absorbed into a renormalization of the coupling constant. Having the expression for the one-loop divergences, we calculate the relevant β-function. Its sign is specified by the overall sign of the classical action which in higher-derivative theories is not fixed a priori. The result agrees with the earlier calculations in the component approach. The superfield calculation is simpler and provides possibilities for various generalizations.


Author(s):  
Robert Audi

Abstract Kant influentially distinguished analytic from synthetic a priori propositions, and he took certain propositions in the latter category to be of immense philosophical importance. His distinction between the analytic and the synthetic has been accepted by many and attacked by others; but despite its importance, a number of discussions of it since at least W. V. Quine’s have paid insufficient attention to some of the passages in which Kant draws the distinction. This paper seeks to clarify what appear to be three distinct conceptions of the analytic (and implicitly of the synthetic) that are presented in Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and in some other Kantian texts. The conceptions are important in themselves, and their differences are significant even if they are extensionally equivalent. The paper is also aimed at showing how the proposed understanding of these conceptions—and especially the one that has received insufficient attention from philosophers—may bear on how we should conceive the synthetic a priori, in and beyond Kant’s own writings.


1927 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 839-845
Author(s):  
V. P. Roshchin

The problem of glaucoma has, for many reasons, occupied and continues to occupy a prominent place in the ophthalmic press. It is enough to recall that 19% of all blind people owe their misfortune to glaucoma to understand why interest in this affliction has never faded among ophthalmologists. Furthermore, no ophthalmologist is quite sure that a certain method of treatment, even if the patient has timely applied for medical attention, can definitely prevent a sad outcome in every single case. This plus the absence of a unified and correct view of the essence of glaucoma keeps ophthalmologists in a constant state of flux, constantly striving to uncover the hidden springs of the disease process on the one hand, and to find a more radical means to combat it on the other.


Author(s):  
CHENGGUANG ZHU ◽  
zhongpai Gao ◽  
Jiankang Zhao ◽  
Haihui Long ◽  
Chuanqi Liu

Abstract The relative pose estimation of a space noncooperative target is an attractive yet challenging task due to the complexity of the target background and illumination, and the lack of a priori knowledge. Unfortunately, these negative factors have a grave impact on the estimation accuracy and the robustness of filter algorithms. In response, this paper proposes a novel filter algorithm to estimate the relative pose to improve the robustness based on a stereovision system. First, to obtain a coarse relative pose, the weighted total least squares (WTLS) algorithm is adopted to estimate the relative pose based on several feature points. The resulting relative pose is fed into the subsequent filter scheme as observation quantities. Second, the classic Bayes filter is exploited to estimate the relative state except for moment-of-inertia ratios. Additionally, the one-step prediction results are used as feedback for WTLS initialization. The proposed algorithm successfully eliminates the dependency on continuous tracking of several fixed points. Finally, comparison experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm presents a better performance in terms of robustness and convergence time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-317
Author(s):  
H.M. Bowers ◽  
A.L. Wroe

Background: Previous research suggests benefits of targeting beliefs about the unacceptability of emotions in treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Aims: The current study developed and tested an intervention focusing on beliefs and behaviours around emotional expression. Method: Four participants with IBS attended five group sessions using cognitive behavioural techniques focusing on beliefs about the unacceptability of expressing emotions. Bi-weekly questionnaires were completed and a group interview was conducted. This study used an AB design with four participants. Results: Averages indicate that participants showed decreases in beliefs about unacceptability of emotions and emotional suppression during the intervention, although this was not reflected in any of the individual trends in Beliefs about Emotions Scale scores and was significant in only one individual case for Courtauld Emotional Control Scale scores. Affective distress and quality of life improved during follow-up, with only one participant not improving with regard to distress. Qualitative data suggest that participants felt that the intervention was beneficial, referencing the value in sharing their emotions. Conclusions: This study suggests the potential for beliefs about emotions and emotional suppression to be addressed in cognitive behavioural interventions in IBS. That beliefs and behaviours improved before outcomes suggests they may be important processes to investigate in treatment for IBS.


1887 ◽  
Vol 33 (142) ◽  
pp. 230-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Heimann

Certain therapeutic effects upon the human organism ascribed to cocaine,∗ occasioned me to make use of the drug in suitable cases of psychosis and psycho-neurosis. Stimulant action and exhilaration (Euphoria) on the one hand, and on the other depression of undue sensitiveness, these were the effects I looked for from the alkaloid. Unfortunately, I am able to record scarcely a single case of certain and permanent cure following the use of the drug.


2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-86
Author(s):  
Dragan Trailovic

The article explores the European Union's approach to human rights issues in China through the processes of bilateral and multilateral dialogue on human rights between the EU and the People's Republic of China, on the one hand. On the other hand, the paper deals with the analysis of the EU's human rights policy in the specific case of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, which is examined through normative and political activities of the EU, its institutions and individual member states. Besides, the paper examines China's response to the European Union's human rights approaches, in general, but also when it comes to the specific case of UAR Xinjiang. ?his is done through a review of China's discourse and behaviour within the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue framework, but also at the UN level and within the framework of bilateral relations with individual member states. The paper aims to show whether and how the characteristics of the EU's general approach to human rights in China are reflected in the individual case of Xinjiang. Particular attention shall be given to the differentiation of member states in terms of their approach to human rights issues in China, which is conditioned by the discrepancy between their political values, normative interests and ideational factors, on the one hand, and material factors and economic interests, on the other. Also, the paper aims to show the important features of the different views of the European Union and the Chinese state on the very role of Human Rights Dialogue, as well as their different understandings of the concept of human rights itself. The study concluded that the characteristics of the Union's general approach to human rights in China, as well as the different perceptions of human rights issues between China and the EU, were manifested in the same way in the case of UAR Xinjiang.


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