Phase-Space Correlations among Systems of Satellite Galaxies

Driven by the increasingly complete observational knowledge of systems of satellite galaxies, mutual spatial alignments and relations in velocities among satellites belonging to a common host have become a productive field of research. Numerous studies have investigated different types of such phase-space correlations and were met with varying degrees of attention by the community. The Planes of Satellite Galaxies issue is maybe the best-known example, with a rich field of research literature and an ongoing, controversial debate on how much of a challenge it poses to the ΛCDM model of cosmology. Another type of correlation, the apparent excess of close pairs of dwarf galaxies, has received considerably less attention despite its reported tension with ΛCDM expectations. With the fast expansion of proper motion measurements in recent years, largely driven by the Gaia mission, other peculiar phase-space correlations have been uncovered among the satellites of the Milky Way. Examples are the apparent tangential velocity excess of satellites compared to cosmological expectations, and the unexpected preference of satellites to be close to their pericenters. At the same time, other kinds of correlations have been found to be more in line with cosmological expectations—specifically, lopsided satellite galaxy systems and the accretion of groups of satellite galaxies. The latter has mostly been studied in cosmological simulations thus far, but it offers the potential to address some of the other issues by providing a way to produce correlations among the orbits of a group’s satellite galaxy members. This review is the first to provide an introduction to the highly active field of phase-space correlations among satellite galaxy systems. The emphasis is on summarizing existing, recent research and highlighting interdependencies between the different, currently almost exclusively individually considered types of correlations. Future prospects in light of upcoming observational facilities and our ever-expanding knowledge of satellite galaxy systems beyond the Local Group are also briefly discussed.

Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility Volume 7

This is the seventh volume of Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility (OSAR), and the fifth drawn from papers presented at the New Orleans Workshop on Agency and Responsibility (NOWAR, November 14–16, 2019). The OSAR series is devoted to publishing cutting edge, interdisciplinary work on the wide array of topics falling under the general rubric of ‘agency and responsibility.’ In this volume, roughly half of the chapters focus on agency, and half focus on responsibility. In the former camp, there are essays about the non-observational knowledge we have about our current intentional actions, constitutivism, answerability, organizational agency, socially embedded agency, and a brain sciences critique of causal theories of action. In the latter camp, there are essays about praise, guilt, blame, sanction, forgiveness, and disclaimers.

Schlick and Sellars on Observational Knowledge

"The aim of the present paper is to provide a comparative account of the manner in which Moritz Schlick and Wilfrid Sellars treat certain aspects surrounding the topic of observational knowledge. By considering Sellars’s allusions to Schlick’s epistemological undertaking within the context of his rejection of givenness, I evaluate the extent to which Schlick can be characterized as a traditional foundationalist. By emphasizing that this is not the case and that Schlick adheres to a non-standard version of epistemological foundationalism, I shed some light on those theoretical elements that allow for a convergence of opinions between the two authors to transpire. Keywords: Schlick, Sellars, confirmations, the Given, observation reports "

Bodily sensations and the varieties of spatial bodily awareness

This paper addresses the question of whether awareness of the spatial properties of our body is achieved through bodily sensations. We begin by analyzing our current understanding of the spatial dimension of bodily sensations. The notion of non-observational knowledge is introduced as the main objection to the idea that bodily sensations are the means by which we are aware of any spatial property of our body. We discuss two important philosophical criticisms of such a notion, as well as a series of empirical findings that could be interpreted as objections. We finish by considering an alternative explanation of our awareness of the spatial properties of our body.

Embrace IR Anxieties (or, Morgenthau's Approach to Power, and the Challenge of Combining the Three Domains of IR Theorizing)

This article addresses the call made by the ISA Sapphire panel to focus on “the opportunities and the challenges of theory-building in interdisciplinary scholarship.” The article focuses on the multiple anxieties that exist in the discipline of IR, its departmental subalternity, its fragmentation of content, its methodological diversity, and its hybrid constitution of practical and observational knowledge. However, rather than arguing for any restriction, the article pleads for these anxieties to be embraced and for IR to be treated as a privileged space in which to integrate that knowledge. It invites scholars to link three distinct yet important domains of IR theorizing: the philosophical, the explanatory, and the practical. It invites the discipline to see the three domains as equally fundamental for its identity. Using Morgenthau's theory of power as a foil, the article shows the need to think about these three domains of theorizing concomitantly, despite the difficulties involved in providing a coherent link between them, something Morgenthau did not achieve.

Practical Knowledge

This chapter discusses the argument of Sections 44-48 of G.E.M. Anscombe’s Intention. It begins by situating her appeal to the concept of practical knowledge in relation to the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Following this, the chapter shows how several elements in Aquinas’ account are drawn on by Anscombe in her argument that an agent’s self-knowledge of her act is “the cause of what it understands”. It is argued that Anscombe meant to characterize an agent’s practical knowledge as both formal and efficient cause of its object. Finally, the chapter considers whether Anscombe succeeds in defending her thesis that intentional action is necessarily known without observation. Here it is argued, first, that knowledge of one’s act is not a strict requirement of doing something intentionally, and second, that the role of observation in an agent’s self-knowledge is different from that of evidence in observational knowledge of the world.

QUR’AN AND SCIENCE: A STUDY OF THE COMPATIBILITY OF QUR’ANIC VERSES WITH MODERN SCIENTIFIC THEORIES

Qur’an is the infallible Word of God and since its inception in the world of Space and Time its immutability has been proven time and again. In all the fields of Knowledge it proved to be a miracle of the Divine. Its literary quality is unparalleled and its teachings are the ultimate remedy for the ailments of mankind. Though it’s not a book of empirical sciences, we still can find much compatibility of its contents with the modern established scientific theories. Some verses of the Qur’an are much similar to the observational theories of cosmology and biology that the likeness deems it impossible to be a work of any man of the 7th century. In this paper I have tried to compare some Qur’anic verses with some of the important theories of modern Cosmology like the Big Bang theory and expansion of the Universe. I have also brought the modern observational knowledge of embryology as being compatible with many verses dealing with same subject of the evolution of embryo into fetus and the stages of a baby inside a mother’s womb. Qur’an is a fascinating book which at the one hand satisfies the spiritual quest of the mystically inclined and on the other hand gives rational satisfaction to a scientifically minded rationalist. It is for a common layman and for a philosopher as well. It is the guideline for the social, economic and political endeavors of man and a complete religious treatise as well. We can rightly assume that the precise scientific hints in the Holy Qur’an is a part of much studies ‘Ijaz ul Qur’an and there is no harm in making science as a tool in presenting and sharing Islam with Humanity. It is a part of argumentative polemics and a defense of Faith and many scholars use this methodology in Da’wah work all over the world. It is also important because scientific method is the most dominant method in the present world and this method can be used to combat the philosophical materialism and atheistic ideologies.