Struktura rewolucji relatywistycznej i kwantowej w fizyce, czyli o systematyczności badań naukowych i roli kantyzmu we współczesnej filozofii nauki

The article is a voice in the discussion on Wojciech Sady’s book Struktura rewolucji relatywistycznej i kwantowej w fizyce [The Structure of Relativistic and Quantum Revolution in Physics]. The author points out that the central idea of this book directly refers to the works of Thomas Kuhn, who emphasized the role of revolutions in the process of scientific development. Sady criticizes this position, claiming that the development of science is primarily determined by systematic research. The author also argues with Sady’s thesis that an important consequence of the relativistic and quantum revolution in physics is the fundamental questioning of the value of Kant’s philosophy. The text tries to show that Kantism is still present in contemporary philosophy of science.

Cold atoms meet lattice gauge theory

The central idea of this review is to consider quantum field theory models relevant for particle physics and replace the fermionic matter in these models by a bosonic one. This is mostly motivated by the fact that bosons are more ‘accessible’ and easier to manipulate for experimentalists, but this ‘substitution’ also leads to new physics and novel phenomena. It allows us to gain new information about among other things confinement and the dynamics of the deconfinement transition. We will thus consider bosons in dynamical lattices corresponding to the bosonic Schwinger or Z 2 Bose–Hubbard models. Another central idea of this review concerns atomic simulators of paradigmatic models of particle physics theory such as the Creutz–Hubbard ladder, or Gross–Neveu–Wilson and Wilson–Hubbard models. This article is not a general review of the rapidly growing field—it reviews activities related to quantum simulations for lattice field theories performed by the Quantum Optics Theory group at ICFO and their collaborators from 19 institutions all over the world. Finally, we will briefly describe our efforts to design experimentally friendly simulators of these and other models relevant for particle physics. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Quantum technologies in particle physics’.

ASPECT AND AKTIONSART OF SECONDARY ASPECTUAL VERBS IN SERBIAN

The aim of the paper is to investigate aspectual value of secondary aspectual verb phrase in Serbian in terms of both grammatical and lexical aspect (Aktionsart). The present analysis focuses on two secondary aspectualizers krenuti and stati, which when used as lexical verbs have the opposite meanings related to motion in space, but when they appear as phase construction heads both verbs modify the opening segment of the aspectual event. The central idea of the proposal is that event types in general largely depend on temporal structures which need to be contextualized before they are formally identifiable. In other words, contrary to traditional approaches which define lexical aspect as inherent to verb meaning, we claim that each verb form (or any lexical and/or grammatical form for that matter) has an underlying meaning through which it entertains systematic relations with other forms in a language (Hirtle 1982:40). We start form aspectual and Aktionsart features of krenuti and stati as verb lexemes, then move onto the level of syntax to identify the co-compositional aspect of the overall phase construction via event structure and event segmentation mechanisms. Finally, the present paper aims to examine different uses of the two secondary aspectual verbs, along with the different types of events they can denote in order to bring to light the potential meanings which give rise to the various contextual senses of the aspectual construction. The reported results of the analysis were checked on the Corpus of Contemporary Serbian Language (SrpKor 2013). Key words: aspectual constructions, Aktionsart, aspectual event, temporal structure, secondary aspectualizer, event segmentation, event co-composition

Empathy, Altruism, and Group Identification

This paper investigates the role of group identification in empathic emotion and its behavioral consequences. Our central idea is that group identification is the key to understanding the process in which empathic emotion causes helping behavior. Empathic emotion causes helping behavior because it involves group identification, which motivates helping behavior toward other members. This paper focuses on a hypothesis, which we call “self-other merging hypothesis (SMH),” according to which empathy-induced helping behavior is due to the “merging” between the helping agent and the helped agent. We argue that SMH should be interpreted in terms of group identification. The group identification interpretation of SMH is both behaviorally adequate (i.e., successfully predicts and explains the helping behavior in the experimental settings) and psychologically plausible (i.e., does not posit psychologically unrealistic beliefs, desires, etc.). Empathy-induced helping behavior, according to the group identification interpretation of the SMH, does not fit comfortably into the traditional egoism/altruism dichotomy. We thus propose a new taxonomy according to which empathy-induced helping behavior is both altruistic at the individual level and egoistic at the group level.

Investigating Mindful Awareness from Moment-to-Moment in Meditation: The Mindful Awareness Task (MAT)

Buddhist and contemporary psychological theories propose that training attention and awareness in mindfulness meditation is a fundamental mechanism of mindfulness, essential for producing its salutary effects. Yet, the empirical foundation for this central idea in mindfulness science is surprisingly small due to a limited methodological capacity to measure attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation. Accordingly, we set out to study these processes (N = 143) via a novel behavioral paradigm measuring the objects and temporal dynamics of mindful awareness during meditation – the Mindful Awareness Task (MAT). Using this paradigm, we empirically characterized attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation. We provide novel behavioral evidence indicating that, as long-theorized, attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation are related to previous mindfulness meditation practice, attitudinal qualities of mindfulness, attention regulation, and mental health. We found that in contrast to widely held assumptions, sustained attention and executive functions, as measured via common cognitive-experimental tasks, may not be meaningfully related to the cognitive capacities trained and expressed in mindfulness meditation. Furthermore, we found that the accuracy of self-reported mindfulness is, paradoxically, dependent on behaviorally measured capacities for mindful awareness. Collectively, our behavioral findings reveal that, as long-theorized, attention and awareness during mindfulness meditation may indeed be fundamental to the practice, cultivation, and salutary functions of mindfulness. Findings indicate that the MAT paradigm may overcome significant limitations of extant measurement methods, and thereby enable future scientific insights into attention and awareness in mindfulness meditation and their salutary effects.

The Value Gap

Evaluations about what is good (period) and what is good for someone shape much of ethics. The two value notions ‘good’ and ‘good for’ mark the deep-rooted divide between the impersonally and personally valuable—the value divide on which The Value Gap centres. Past and contemporary philosophers have argued it is a mistake to believe that these two value notions give rise to unresolvable value conflicts. This book argues that they are wrong. Part I considers two views to that effect, which share the idea that one of the two value notions is either flawed or at best conceptually dependent on the other notion. The views disagree, however, about whether it is good or good-for that is the flawed concept. These approaches deny the central idea of this work, namely that goodness and goodness-for are independent value notions that cannot be fully understood in terms of one another. Part II provides an analysis of impersonal and personal goodness in terms of a fitting-attitude analysis. By elaborating a more nuanced understanding of the analysis’ key elements—reasons and pro- and con-attitudes—the book challenges a common idea, namely that our beliefs about practical and moral dilemmas can be dismissed as being conceptually confused. The gap between favouring what is good and what is good for someone appears insurmountable.

Soolisustatud rahvuslus Lilli Suburgi (1841–1923) jutustuses “Liina” (1877)

The article deals with the representation of nationalism in Lilli Suburg’s (1841–1923) short story “Liina” (1877). Lilli Suburg was a writer, journalist, pedagogue, and the first Estonian feminist. “Liina” is her most famous literary work, which also belongs among the most important works of early Estonian literature. “Liina” was published in two editions (1877, 1884) and was also translated into Finnish (1892). It is important in the context of Estonian national movement because it is a short story based on the central idea which emphasizes the importance of being Estonian. It became popular among readers and made the author famous. “Liina” is based on Suburg’s German-language diary, and it is an autobiographical short story about an Estonian peasant girl who struggles to remain Estonian. The national ideas represented in “Liina” emphasize the importance of remaining Estonian in an environment where social mobility rather implied Germanization. On the other hand, the national theme in “Liina” represents a gendered viewpoint. Suburg understood the woman as a national subject equal to the man and therefore the carrier of national ideas is a woman – the protagonist called Liina. The article deals with the representation of nationalism and gender in the short story and also with the context of the creation and reception of the work.

Illocutionary Acts from the Perspective of Identity Theory with Pu-Yi’s Lines in The Last Emperor against the Tobacco-Prevalent Backdrop

The end of Qing Dynasty was a time where tobacco was prevalent. The social context exerted great influence on group members’ behavior. The central idea of Identity Theory is that the languages we use are actually controlled, or at least affected, by both ourselves and the situations we are in. However, the analyses of illocutionary acts from the perspective of identity are short of due attention. This article is designed to detect illocutionary acts from the perspective of Identity Theory to find out a brand-new way to approach the reasons why different illocutionary acts are chosen by speakers and also will offer the answer to the question of how illocutionary acts reflect speaker’s social identities. After analyzing the seven examples, this paper arrives at two main conclusions i.e. Pu-Yi’s illocutionary acts change with the changes of identities and the illocutionary acts make it possible for reflecting his various social identities. Furthermore, with the examples of Pu-Yi’s lines in The Last Emperor, this study might be more understandable, more interesting and with, more or less, an added historical value in the specific tobacco-prevalent social context.

Evolutionary Quasi-Variational-Hemivariational Inequalities I: Existence and Optimal Control

We study a nonlinear evolutionary quasi–variational–hemivariational inequality (in short, (QVHVI)) involving a set-valued pseudo-monotone map. The central idea of our approach consists of introducing a parametric variational problem that defines a variational selection associated with (QVHVI). We prove the solvability of the parametric variational problem by employing a surjectivity theorem for the sum of operators, combined with Minty’s formulation and techniques from the nonsmooth analysis. Then, an existence theorem for (QVHVI) is established by using Kluge’s fixed point theorem for set-valued operators. As an application, an abstract optimal control problem for the (QVHVI) is investigated. We prove the existence of solutions for the optimal control problem and the weak sequential compactness of the solution set via the Weierstrass minimization theorem and the Kuratowski-type continuity properties.

A Reality Based on Consciousness

"This paper addresses the central idea of nonlocal consciousness: that all life is interconnected and interdependent, that we are part of a matrix of life, but even more fundamentally than spacetime itself arises from consciousness, not consciousness from spacetime. It is not a new idea. The excavation of burials dating to the Neolithic (≈ 10,200-2,000 BCE) has revealed that early humans had a sense of spirituality and some concept about the nature of human consciousness. It discusses the bargain made between the Roman Church, and the emerging discipline of science in the 16th century, one taking consciousness (packaged as “spirit”), the other spacetime, and how this led to physicalism taking root as a world view and becoming the prevailing materialist paradigm. It describes the emergence of a new paradigm that incorporates consciousness and lays out the four relevant descriptors helping to define what this new paradigm will look like. They are: • Only certain aspects of the mind are the result of physiologic processes. • Consciousness is causal, and physical reality is its manifestation. • All consciousnesses, regardless of their physical manifestations, are part of a network of life which they both inform and influence and are informed and influenced by; there is a passage back and forth between the individual and the collective. • Some aspects of consciousness are not limited by the time/space continuum and do not originate entirely within an organism’s neuroanatomy. "