Lawyers as Upholders of Human Dignity (When They Aren\u27t Busy Assaulting It)

David Luban argues in this lecture that the moral foundation of the lawyer\u27s profession lies in the defense of human dignity-and the chief moral danger facing the profession arises when lawyers assault human dignity rather than defend it. The concept of human dignity has a rich philosophical tradition, with some philosophers identifying human dignity as a metaphysical property of individuals-a property such as having a soul, or possessing autonomy. Luban argues instead that human dignity is a relational property of the dignifier and the dignified, emphasizing that assaulting human dignity humiliates the victim. Lawyers honor the human dignity of others by protecting them against humiliations, and defile that dignity by subjecting them to humiliations. The lecture develops these ideas through four traditional issues in legal ethics: the right of criminal defendants to an advocate, the duty of confidentiality, paternalism of attorneys toward their clients, and pro bono service

The Use of Explicit Plans to Guide Inductive Proofs

We propose the use of explicit proof plans to guide the search for a proof in automatic theorem proving. By representing proof plans as the specifications of LCF-like tactics, [Gordon et al 79], and by recording these specifications in a sorted meta-logic, we are able to reason about the conjectures to be proved and the methods available to prove them. In this way we can build proof plans of wide generality, formally account for and predict their successes and failures, apply them flexibly, recover from their failures, and learn them from example proofs. We illustrate this technique by building a proof plan based on a simple subset of the implicit proof plan embedded in the Boyer-Moore theorem prover, [Boyer & Moore 79]

Low-Loss Plasmonic Dielectric Nanoresonators

Material losses in metals are a central bottleneck in plasmonics for many applications. Here we propose and theoretically demonstrate that metal losses can be successfully mitigated with dielectric particles on metallic films, giving rise to hybrid dielectric-metal resonances. In the far field, they yield strong and efficient scattering, beyond even the theoretical limits of all-metal and all-dielectric structures. In the near field, they offer high Purcell factor (>5000), high quantum efficiency (>90%), and highly directional emission at visible and infrared wavelengths. Their quality factors can be readily tailored from plasmonic-like (∼10) to dielectric-like (∼103), with wide control over the individual resonant coupling to photon, plasmon, and dissipative channels. Compared with conventional plasmonic nanostructures, such resonances show robustness against detrimental nonlocal effects and provide higher field enhancement at extreme nanoscopic sizes and spacings. These hybrid resonances equip plasmonics with high efficiency, which has been the predominant goal since the field’s inception. Keywords: light scattering; nanoantennas; Nanoparticles; nonlocality; radiative efficiency; spontaneous emissionUnited States. Army Research Office (Contract W911NF-13-D-0001)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMR-1419807)United States. Department of Energy (Grant DE-SC0001299

Static and dynamic inventory models under inflation, time value of money and permissible delay in payment

In this research a number of mathematical models were developed for static and dynamic deterministic single-item inventory systems. Economic factors such as inflation, time value of money and permissible delay in payment were considered in developing the models. Nonlinear optimization techniques were used to obtain the optimal policies for the systems.;First, a static single-item inventory model was considered in which shortages are allowed and a delay is permitted in payment. In this case, suppliers allow the customers to settle their accounts after a fixed delay period during which no interest is charged.;An extension of the model was then considered in which all cost components of the model are subject to inflation and discounting, with constant rates over the planning horizon. The mathematical model of the system was developed and a nonlinear optimization technique, Hooke and Jeeves search method, was used to obtain the optimal policies for the system.;A dynamic deterministic single-item inventory model was also considered in which the demand was assumed to be a linear function of time. Suppliers allow for a delay in payment and the cost components are subject to inflation and discounting with constant rates and continuous compounding. The Golden search technique was used to obtain the optimum length of replenishment cycle such that the total cost is minimized.;Computer applications using Visual Basic and Mathematics were developed and several numerical example were solved

The search for new axioms

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-106).Abstract The independence results in set theory invite the search for new and justified axioms. In Chapter 1 I set the stage by examining three approaches to justifying the axioms of standard set theory (stage theory, G6del's approach, and reflection principles) and argue that the approach via reflection principles is the most successful. In Chapter 2 I analyse the limitations of ZF and use this analysis to set up a mathematically precise minimal hurdle which any set of new axioms must overcome if it is to effect a significant reduction in incompleteness. In Chapter 3 I examine the standard method of justifying new axioms-reflection principles-and prove a result which shows that no reflection principle (known to be consistent via large cardinals) can overcome the minimal hurdle and yield a significant reduction in incompleteness. In Chapter 4 I introduce a new approach to justifying new axioms-extension principles-and show that such principles can overcome the minimal hurdle and much more, in particular, such principles imply PD and that the theory of second-order arithmetic cannot be altered by set size forcing. I show that in a sense (which I make precise) these principles are inevitable. In Chapter 5 I close with a brief discussion of meta-mathematical justifications stemming from the work of Woodin. These touch on the continuum hypothesis and other questions which are beyond the reach of standard large cardinals.by Peter Koellner.Ph.D

The BG News August 31, 1983

The BGSU campus student newspaper August 31, 1983. Volume 66 - Issue 2https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/bg-news/5147/thumbnail.jp