Disturbances in the Ether

<p>We criticise the current philosophical practice of invoking causation as a solution to various problems in various fields of philosophy. Our specific concern is that many of these solutions to problems rely on the intuition that causation is "the cement of the universe". We question whether several different analyses of causation which are supposed to substantiate this intuition (or at least are treated as if they substantiate this intuition) in fact substantiate this intuition. We begin by establishing a basic desideratum for such an analysis of causation - that causal dependence ought to track physical dependence in this universe. We investigate in turn a Lewis-style counterfactual analysis of causation, the transference analysis developed by Aronson, Fair and Heathcote, and the process analyses developed by Salmon and Dowe. Rather to our surprise, none of the analyses fulfil our basic desideratum. Although this is not in itself conclusive grounds for scepticism about causation, our results speak against casually invoking analyses of causation in order to solve particular varieties of philosophical problems.</p>

Disturbances in the Ether

<p>We criticise the current philosophical practice of invoking causation as a solution to various problems in various fields of philosophy. Our specific concern is that many of these solutions to problems rely on the intuition that causation is "the cement of the universe". We question whether several different analyses of causation which are supposed to substantiate this intuition (or at least are treated as if they substantiate this intuition) in fact substantiate this intuition. We begin by establishing a basic desideratum for such an analysis of causation - that causal dependence ought to track physical dependence in this universe. We investigate in turn a Lewis-style counterfactual analysis of causation, the transference analysis developed by Aronson, Fair and Heathcote, and the process analyses developed by Salmon and Dowe. Rather to our surprise, none of the analyses fulfil our basic desideratum. Although this is not in itself conclusive grounds for scepticism about causation, our results speak against casually invoking analyses of causation in order to solve particular varieties of philosophical problems.</p>

Interdependence dynamics of corporate equity and public real estate markets

PurposeWith growing interdependence between financial markets, the goal of this paper is to examine the dynamic interdependence between corporate equity and public real estate markets for the USA and a select group of seven European developed economies under a cross-country framework in crisis and boom market conditions. Dynamic interdependence is related to four measures of market linkages of “correlation, spillover, connectedness and causality”.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a four-step investigation. The authors first estimate “time-varying variance–covariance spillovers and implied correlations” modeled with the bivariate BEKK-MGARCH methods. Second, the methods of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012, 2014) measure the conditional volatility spillover-connectedness effects across the corporate equity and public real estate markets based on a decomposition of the forecast error variance. Third, the authors implement nonlinear bivariate and multivariate causality tests to understand the lead-lag dynamics of the two asset markets' returns, volatilities and net directional volatility connectedness across different sample periods. Finally, the authors conclude the study by providing a portfolio hedging analysis.FindingsThe authors find that corporate equity and public real estate are moderately interdependent to the extent that their diversification benefits increases in the longer term. Moreover, the authors find increased corporate equity-public real estate causal dependence of the market groups of the European and international portfolios during the GFC and INTERCRISIS periods. The nonlinear causality test findings indicate that the joint information of asset markets can be a useful source of prediction for future innovation of market risks. Additionally, policy makers may also be able to employ conditional volatility and volatility connectedness as two other measures to manage market stability in the cross-asset market dependence during highly volatile periods.Research limitations/implicationsOne major take away from this academic research is since international portfolio investors are not only concerned the long-term price relationship but also the correlation structure and volatility spillover-connectedness, the conditional BEKK modeling, generalized risk connectedness analysis and nonlinear causal dependence explorations from this multi-country study can shed fresh light on the nature of market interdependence and magnitude of volatility connectedness effects in a multi-portfolio framework.Practical implicationsThe hedging performance analysis for portfolio diversification and risk management indicates that industrial stocks (“pure” equities) are valuable assets that can improve the hedging performance of a well-diversified corporate equity-public real estate portfolio during crisis periods. For policymakers, the findings provide important information about the nature of causal links and predictability during the crisis and asset-market boom periods. They can then equip with this information to manage and coordinate market stability in cross corporate equity-real estate relationships effectively.Originality/valueAlthough traditional research has in general reported at least a moderate degree of relationship between the two asset markets, investors' knowledge of stock-public real estate market linkage is somewhat inadequate and confine mostly to broad stocks (i.e. stocks that are exposed to public real estate influence) in a single-country context. In this paper, the authors examine the interdependence dynamics in a multi-country (multi-portfolio) context. A clear understanding their changing market relationships in a multi-country context is of crucial importance for portfolio investors, financial institutions and policy makers. Moreover, since the authors use an orthogonal stock market index, the authors allow global investors to understand the potential diversification benefits from stock markets that are beyond the public real estate market under different market conditions.

STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF PROPOSALS WITH HOMOGENEOUS MEMBERS IN THE ARTISTIC TEXT (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE POETIC WORK OF A.S. PUSHKIN)

В статье рассматриваются структурные и семантические особенности предложений с однородными членами на примере поэтических произведений А.С. Пушкина. В исследуемом языковом материале однородные члены осложняют структуру не только самостоятельного простого предложения, но и простого предложения в составе сложного. Типичные дифференциальные свойства однородных компонентов, описанные в работе, указывают на грамматическую однотипность однородных членов предложения. Однако при выделении блока однородных членов учитывается не только данный морфологический признак, но и семантический критерий. В этой связи описываются различные отношения между компонентами однородного ряда: одновременности, последовательности действий, причинной зависимости и другие. Также устанавливается, что однородные члены предложения в лирическом тексте могут являться любым членом предложения, т.е. выполнять различные синтаксические функции. При этом однородный ряд образуют не только отдельные слова, но и целые словосочетания, находящиеся в сочинительных отношениях друг с другом. Язык лирики, отличающийся строгой поэтической формой, стремлением к ритму, рифме, мелодике и т.д., способствует созданию некоторых особенностей функционирования предложений с однородными членами: разнообразная структура, богатая семантика, приём инверсии. Особая поэтическая форма и своеобразие синтаксических конструкций с однородными членами ведут к созданию экспрессии лирического произведения, информативности и передаче авторской субъективности. The article discusses the structural and semantic features of sentences with homogeneous members on the example of the poetic works of A.S. Pushkin. In the studied linguistic material, homogeneous members complicate the structure of not only an independent simple sentence, but also a simple sentence within a complex one. Typical differential properties of homogeneous components described in the work indicate the grammatical uniformity of homogeneous members of the sentence. However, when selecting a block of homogeneous members, not only this morphological feature is taken into account, but also a semantic criterion. In this regard, various relationships between the components of a homogeneous series are described: simultaneity, sequence of actions, causal dependence, and others. It is also established that homogeneous members of a sentence in a lyric text can be any member of a sentence, i.e. perform various syntactic functions. At the same time, a homogeneous series is formed not only by individual words, but also by whole phrases that are in a compositional relationship with each other. The language of lyrics, characterized by a strict poetic form, striving for rhythm, rhyme, melody, etc., contributes to the creation of certain features of the functioning of sentences with homogeneous members: a diverse structure, rich semantics, and the method of inversion. A special poetic form and originality of syntactic constructions with homogeneous members lead to the creation of an expression of a lyric work, information content and the transfer of the author's subjectivity.

Where Tracking Loses Traction

Tracking theories see knowledge as a relation between a subject's belief and the truth, where the former is responsive to the latter. This relationship involves causation in virtue of a sensitivity condition, which is constrained by an adherence condition. The result is what I call a stable causal relationship between a fact and a subject's belief in that fact. I argue that when we apprehend the precise role of causation in the theory, previously obscured problems pour out. This paper presents 13 distinct and original counterexamples to Nozick's tracking theory – many of which also constitute problems for more recent tracking theories. I begin by discussing how tracking relates to causation: Nozick invokes causation through conditions similar to those of Lewisian causal dependence. As a result, when causal dependence is not necessary for causation, Nozick fails to identify knowledge. I then address the inability of causation to capture epistemically important concepts, such as justification and truth. I conclude by discussing the underlying asymmetries between causation and knowledge that undermine any attempt to reduce knowledge to a purely metaphysical relation.

Critique, participation et démocratie

The problem of interdependence is crucial for understanding the climate, with its interactions between land, water, and atmosphere, as well as with human activities, past and future. The concept of interdependence expresses two types of relationship, that of causality and that of responsibility. For the problems of climate governance as understood as a statistical average in the Conferences of the parties (COP), causal dependence is impossible to reconstruct precisely, notably because of the complexity of these phenomena. However, dependence does not only concern the domain of being, falling within the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the human descriptive predictive. It also concerns the ought-to-be and therefore the normative sciences (ethics, political theory, law, and normative economy). Here interdependence is much more problematic since it is opposed to freedom. This article discusses the various interdependencies and political solutions that are offered to take care of this needs, architectures for discussing climate change politically: systems (N. Luhmann) and deliberation (J. Habermas). It then proposes another solution, that of moral and political consideration.