Platonism and Mathematical Explanations

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Fabrice Pataut ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Theory ◽  
Causal Explanation ◽  
Applied Mathematics ◽  
Propositional Attitude ◽  
Abstract Objects ◽  
Mathematical Explanations ◽  
Parsimony Principle ◽  
The Face ◽  
Numerical Formulation ◽  
The One

Ontological parsimony requires that if we can dispense with A when best explaining B, or when deducing a nominalistically statable conclusion B from nominalistically statable premises, we must indeed dispense with A. When A is a mathematical theory and it has been established that its conservativeness undermines the platonistic force of mathematical derivations (Field), or that a non numerical formulation of some explanans may be obtained so that the platonistic force of the best numerical-based account of the explanandum is also undermined (Rizza), the parsimony principle has been respected. Since derivations resorting to conservative mathematics and proofs involved in non numerical best explanations also require abstract objects, concepts, and principles under the usual reading of “abstract,” one might complain that such accounts turn out to be as metaphysically loaded as their platonistic counterparts. One might then urge that ontological parsimony is also required of these nominalistic accounts. It might, however, prove more fruitful to leave this particular worry to the side, to free oneself, as it were, from parsimony thus construed and to look at other important aspects of the defeating or undermining strategies that have been lavished on the disposal of platonism. Two aspects are worthy of our attention: epistemic cost and debunking claims. Our knowledge that applied mathematics is conservative is established at a cost, and so is our knowledge that nominalistic proofs play a genuine theoretical role in best explanations. I will suggest that the knowledge one must acquire to show that nominalistic deductions and explanations do indeed play their respective theoretical role involves some question-begging assumptions regarding the nature and validity of proofs. As for debunking, even if the face value content of either non numerical claims, or conservative mathematical claims, or platonistic mathematical claims didn’t figure in our causal explanation of why we hold the mathematical beliefs that we do, construed or understood as beliefs about such contents, or as beliefs held in either of these three ways, we could still be justified in holding them, so that the distinction between nominalistic deductions or non numerical explanations on the one hand and platonistic ones on the other turns out to be spurious with respect to the relevant propositional attitude, i.e., with respect to belief.

scholarly journals Platonism And Mathematical Explanations

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Fabrice Pataut ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Theory ◽  
Propositional Attitude ◽  
Abstract Objects ◽  
Mathematical Beliefs ◽  
Mathematical Explanations ◽  
Debunking Arguments ◽  
Parsimony Principle ◽  
The Face

Ontological parsimony requires that if we can dispense with A when best explaining B, or when deducing a nominalistically statable conclusion B from nominalistically statable premises, we must indeed dispense with A. When A is a mathematical theory and it has been established that its conservativeness undermines the platonistic force of mathematical derivations (Field), or that a nonnumerical formulation of some explanans may be obtained so that the platonistic force of the best numerical-based account of the explanandum is also undermined (Rizza), the parsimony principle has been respected.Since both derivations resorting to conservative mathematics and nonnumerical best explanations also require abstract objects, concepts and principles, ontological parsimony must also be required of nominalistic accounts. One then might of course complain that such accounts turn out to be as metaphysically loaded as their platonistic counterparts. However, it might prove more fruitful to leave this particular worry to one side, to free oneself, as it were, from parsimony thus construed and to look at other important aspects of the defeating or undermining strategies that have been lavished on the disposal of platonism.Two aspects are worthy of our attention: epistemic cost and debunking arguments. Our knowledge that good mathematics is conservative is established at a cost, and so is our knowledge that nominalistic proofs play a theoretical role in best explanations. I will suggest that the knowledge one must acquire to show that nominalistic deductions and explanations do play their respective theoretical role involves some question-begging assumptions regarding the nature of proofs. As for debunking, even if the face value content of either conservative or platonistic mathematical claims didn’t figure in our explanation of why we hold the mathematical beliefs that we do, we could still be justified in holding them so that the distinction between nominalistic deductions and explanations and platonistic ones turns out to be invidious with respect to the relevant propositional attitude, i.e., with respect to belief.

Óscar Romero and the Politics of Sainthood

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-291
Author(s):  
Manuel A. Vasquez ◽  
Anna L. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil War ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
The Other ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Holy See ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Face ◽  
Crisis Of Modernity ◽  
The One

In this article, we explore the debates surrounding the proposed canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero, an outspoken defender of human rights and the poor during the civil war in El Salvador, who was assassinated in March 1980 by paramilitary death squads while saying Mass. More specifically, we examine the tension between, on the one hand, local and popular understandings of Romero’s life and legacy and, on the other hand, transnational and institutional interpretations. We argue that the reluctance of the Vatican to advance Romero’s canonization process has to do with the need to domesticate and “privatize” his image. This depoliticization of Romero’s work and teachings is a part of a larger agenda of neo-Romanization, an attempt by the Holy See to redeploy a post-colonial and transnational Catholic regime in the face of the crisis of modernity and the advent of postmodern relativism. This redeployment is based on the control of local religious expressions, particularly those that advocate for a more participatory church, which have proliferated with contemporary globalization

The Hierophanic Facets of the Seraphic Hymns

Trictrac ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petru Adrian Danciu
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Material World ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The People ◽  
Musical History ◽  
The Face ◽  
The One

Starting from the cry of the seraphim in Isaiahʹ s prophecy, this article aims to follow the rhythm of the sacred harmony, transcending the symbols of the angelic world and of the divine names, to get to the face to face meeting between man and God, just as the seraphim, reflecting their existence, stand face to face. The finality of the sacred harmony is that, during the search for God inside the human being, He reveals Himself, which is the reason for the affirmation of “I Am that I Am.” Through its hypnotic cyclicality, the profane temporality has its own musicality. Its purpose is to incubate the unsuspected potencies of the beings “caught” in the material world. Due to the fact that it belongs to the aeonic time, the divine music will exceed in harmony the mechanical musicality of profane time, dilating and temporarily cancelling it. Isaiah is witness to such revelation offering access to the heavenly concert. He is witness to divine harmonies produced by two divine singers, whose musical history is presented in our article. The seraphim accompanied the chosen people after their exodus from Egypt. The cultic use of the trumpet is related to the characteristics and behaviour of the seraphim. The seraphic music does not belong to the Creator, but its lyrics speak about the presence of the Creator in two realities, a spiritual and a material one. Only the transcendence of the divine names that are sung/cried affirms a unique reality: God. The chant-cry is a divine invocation with a double aim. On the one hand, the angels and the people affirm God’s presence and call His name and, on the other, the Creator affirms His presence through the angels or in man, the one who is His image and His likeness. The divine music does not only create, it is also a means of communion, implementing the relation of man to God and, thus, God’s connection with man. It is a relation in which both filiation and paternity disappear inside the harmony of the mutual recognition produced by music, a reality much older than Adam’s language.

Challenging Gender Hierarchies in Narratives of the Nation: Representations of Women in Zintgraff and the Battle of Mankon and Hard Choice

Imbizo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Epongse Nkealah ◽  
Olutoba Gboyega Oluwasuji
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Gender Differentiation ◽  
Hard Choice ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Gender Hierarchies ◽  
The Face ◽  
The One ◽  
Representations Of Women ◽  
Do So

Ideas of nationalisms as masculine projects dominate literary texts by African male writers. The texts mirror the ways in which gender differentiation sanctions nationalist discourses and in turn how nationalist discourses reinforce gender hierarchies. This article draws on theoretical insights from the work of Anne McClintock and Elleke Boehmer to analyse two plays: Zintgraff and the Battle of Mankon by Bole Butake and Gilbert Doho and Hard Choice by Sunnie Ododo. The article argues that women are represented in these two plays as having an ambiguous relationship to nationalism. On the one hand, women are seen actively changing the face of politics in their societies, but on the other hand, the means by which they do so reduces them to stereotypes of their gender.

TINDAK PENGANCAMAN DAN PENYELAMATAN WAJAH ANIES BASWEDAN DAN BASUKI “AHOK” TJAHAJA PURNAMA

Jurnal KATA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 356
Author(s):  
Saiko Rudi Kasenda
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Large Range ◽  
Politeness Theory ◽  
Crucial Point ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Positive Image ◽  
The Face ◽  
Face Saving ◽  
The One

<p><em>This article is aimed to investigate face threathening acts and face saving acts demonstrated by Anies Baswedan dan Basuki Tjahaja Purnama as the candidates of DKI Jakarta governor during the debate held in April 2017. Face threatening act and face saving act are analyzed because they are able to show not only their positive image but also the negatve one in front of not only to each candidate but also to the audience watching the debate. Politeness theory from Brown and Levinson (1987.) are employed to analyze both candidates’ face threatening acts and saving acts since this theory provides detailed descriptions of a large range of strategies that can be used to deeply understand both face threatening acts and face saving act performed by the candidates. The context surrounding the debate becomes a crucial point to analyze how politeness strategy is applied to show face thratening act and face saving act. Through qualitative method, this study found that 1) Bald on-record is the strategy used by the candidates to show face threatening and they are intended to show contradictions, to disagree, to insult, to interrupt, to speak out-of-topic, to challenge, and to exaggerate. 2) Both candidates use positive and negative strategies to show face saving act intended to show contradictions, to assert common ground, to show agreement, to joke, to apologize, and to avoid disagreement. 3) The face threatening act and saving acts can be considered as the efforts to defend their argumentations and to preserve their positive faces, 4.) The use of the word “kita” and passive voice can be seen as markers in both candidates’ utterances to minimize the imposed face threatening act and to signal solidarity to each candidate and to audience, 5) While Anies is revealed to be the one who more frequently uses face threatening act, Basuki is the candidate who uses face saving act more often during the debate. The study is expected to enrich the study in the field of pragmatics focusing on the use of politeness strategy. </em></p><p> </p><p>Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menginvestigasi tindak pengancaman muka wajah dan tindak penyelamatan wajah yang ditunjukkan oleh Anies Baswedan dan Basuki Tjahaja Purnama pada Debat Pilkada gubernur provinsi DKI Jakarta 2017.<strong> </strong>Tindak pengancaman wajah dan penyelamatan wajah diteliti pada makalah ini karena dapat merepresentasikan citra positif maupun citra negatif kandidat pilkada Gubernur DKI tidak hanya dihadapan masing-masing kandidat tetapi juga kepada masyarakat umum yang menyaksikan. Teori kesantunan dari Brown dan Levinson digunakan untuk menganalisis tindak pengancaman muka dan tindak penyelamatan muka kedua kandidat karena teori ini memiliki penjelasan yang komprehensif tentang berbagai strategi yang dapat dipergunakan untuk memahami secara mendalam bagaimana tindak pengancaman dan penyelamatan wajah ditunjukkan oleh kedua kandidiat. Konteks topik debat yang diangkat dipahami untuk dapat menganalisis tindak pengancaman dan penyelamatan wajah oleh Anies dan Basuki.  Melalui metode kualitatif, studi ini menemukan bahwa 1) Bald on-record adalah strategi yang sering digunakan untuk menunjukkan tindak pengancaman muka dan ditujukan untuk menyatakan kontradiksi, menyatakan ketidaksetujuan, menyinggung, menginterupsi, berbicara di luar topik pembicaraan, menantang kandidat lain, dan memberikan pernyataan yang berlebihan. 2) Tindak penyelamatan muka dilakukan dengan strategi kesantunan positif dan negatif seperti menyatakan kontradiksi, menegaskan common ground, memberikan persetujuan, membuat lelucon, meminta maaf, dan menghindari ketidaksetujuan. 3) Tindak pengancaman muka dan penyelamatan muka dapat dianggap sebagai cara untuk mempertahankan argumentasi kedua kandidat dan untuk melindungi wajah positif masing-masing.4) Penggunaan kata “kita” dan kalimat pasif dimaksudkan untuk meminmalisiri ancaman sekaligus sebagai sinya solidaritas.5) Anies ditunjukkan sebagai kandidat yang lebih sering menggunakan tindak pengancaman muka, sedangkan Basuki adalah kandidat yang lebih sering menunjukkan penyelamatan muka selama debat berlangsung. Studi ini diharapkan dapat memperkaya pemahaman di bidang pragmatik khususnya tentang penggunaan strategi kesantunan</p>

scholarly journals An Existence Theory for Gravity–Capillary Solitary Water Waves

Water Waves ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Groves
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Water Waves ◽  
Applied Mathematics ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Existence Theory ◽  
Water Wave Problem ◽  
Reduction Methods ◽  
Centre Manifold Reduction ◽  
Weak Surface ◽  
The One

AbstractIn the applied mathematics literature solitary gravity–capillary water waves are modelled by approximating the standard governing equations for water waves by a Korteweg-de Vries equation (for strong surface tension) or a nonlinear Schrödinger equation (for weak surface tension). These formal arguments have been justified by sophisticated techniques such as spatial dynamics and centre-manifold reduction methods on the one hand and variational methods on the other. This article presents a complete, self-contained account of an alternative, simpler approach in which one works directly with the Zakharov–Craig–Sulem formulation of the water-wave problem and uses only rudimentary fixed-point arguments and Fourier analysis.

scholarly journals Are asylum seekers more likely to work with more inclusive labor market access regulations?

2019 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Slotwinski ◽  
Alois Stutzer ◽  
Roman Uhlig
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Early Integration ◽  
Labor Market Policies ◽  
The Face ◽  
Labor Market Access ◽  
The One

Abstract In the face of recent refugee migration, early integration of asylum seekers into the labor market has been proposed as an important mechanism for easing their economic and social lot in the short as well as in the long term. However, little is known about the policies that foster or hamper their participation in the labor market, in particular during the important initial period of their stay in the host country. In order to evaluate whether inclusive labor market policies increase the labor market participation of asylum seekers, we exploit the variation in asylum policies in Swiss cantons to which asylum seekers are as good as randomly allocated. During our study period from 2011 to 2014, the employment rate among asylum seekers varied between 0 and 30.2% across cantons. Our results indicate that labor market access regulations are responsible for a substantial proportion of these differences, in which an inclusive regime increases participation by 11 percentage points. The marginal effects are larger for asylum seekers who speak a language that is linguistically close to the one in their host canton. Summary Inclusive labor market access regulations substantially increase the employment chances of asylum seekers, in particular if the language distance is short.

The Theory and Prevention of Undamped Aeroplane Nosewheel Shimmy

1956 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-220
Author(s):  
D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Linkage Mechanism ◽  
Model Experiments ◽  
Good Feature ◽  
The One ◽  
Value Model ◽  
Elastic Constraint

SummaryThe mathematical theory of nosewheel shimmy is given, with particular reference to twin nosewheel assemblies. It is shown that a sovereign remedy for shimmy is to make the castor length greater than what is here called the “ creep distance,” which in practice is found to be approximately equal to the tyre radius. Lateral flexibility of the oleo leg is disadvantageous but elastic constraint at the pivot is a good feature. The one necessitates an increased castor for stability while the other allows a smaller castor. It is also shown how, by the use of a compact linkage mechanism, the effective castor length can be made independent of the wheel-leg offset and can have any desired value. Model experiments that confirm the theoretical conclusions are described.

Pictorial Scale of Physical Self-Concept for Younger Children (P-PSC-C): A Feasibility Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (s2) ◽  
pp. S391-S402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maike Tietjens ◽  
Dennis Dreiskaemper ◽  
Till Utesch ◽  
Nadja Schott ◽  
Lisa M. Barnett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Kindergarten Children ◽  
Face Validity ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
Gross Motor Development ◽  
The Face ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
The One

Children’s self-perception of motor skills and physical fitness is said to be an important mediator between skills and physical fitness on the one hand and physical activity on the other hand. An age-appropriate self-perception scale is needed to understand the development and the differentiation of the physical self-concept of children and its components. Therefore, the objectives of this study were (1) to develop a pictorial scale of physical fitness for pre-school children (3–6 years old), and (2) to describe the face validity and feasibility of the scale. The study sample included 27 kindergarten children. In order to determine the psychometric properties, validity was assessed by administrating the Pictorial Scale for Physical Self-Concept in Kindergarten Children (P-PSC-C) compared with children’s fundamental movement skill competency (Test of Gross Motor Development [TGMD]-3; six locomotor and seven object-control skills), height, weight, and demographics. The face validity was favorable. Expectable negatively skewed response distributions were found in all items. Medium correlations with related constructs and with sport enjoyment were found. The results indicate that the new scale is usable for kindergarten children. Future validation studies are needed so that the new scale can contribute to the research about physical self-concept development in kindergarten children.

scholarly journals Homophily, heterophily and the diversity of messages among decision-making individuals

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 180027 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pouria Ramazi ◽  
James Riehl ◽  
Ming Cao
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Replicator Dynamics ◽  
Evolutionary Games ◽  
Cheap Talk ◽  
Convergence Result ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Dominated Strategies ◽  
The Face ◽  
Cheap Talk Games ◽  
The One

To better understand the intriguing mechanisms behind cooperation among decision-making individuals, we study the simple yet appealing use of preplay communication or cheap talk in evolutionary games, when players are able to choose strategies based on whether an opponent sends the same message as they do. So when playing games, in addition to pure cooperation and defection, players have two new strategies in this setting: homophilic (respectively, heterophilic) cooperation which is to cooperate (respectively, defect) only with those who send the same message as they do. We reveal the intrinsic qualities of individuals playing the two strategies and show that under the replicator dynamics, homophilic cooperators engage in a battle of messages and will become dominated by whichever message is the most prevalent at the start, while populations of heterophilic cooperators exhibit a more harmonious behaviour, converging to a state of maximal diversity. Then we take Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) as the base of the cheap-talk game and show that the hostility of heterophilics to individuals with similar messages leaves no possibility for pure cooperators to survive in a population of the two, whereas the one-message dominance of homophilics allows for pure cooperators with the same tag as the dominant homophilics to coexist in the population, demonstrating that homophilics are more cooperative than heterophilics. Finally, we generalize an existing convergence result on population shares associated with weakly dominated strategies to a broadly applicable theorem and complete previous research on PD games with preplay communication by proving that the frequencies of all types of cooperators, i.e. pure, homophilic and heterophilic, converge to zero in the face of defectors. This implies homophily and heterophily cannot facilitate the long-term survival of cooperation in this setting, which urges studying cheap-talk games under other reproduction dynamics.

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