302 research outputs found
Proof-theoretic Semantics for Intuitionistic Multiplicative Linear Logic
This work is the first exploration of proof-theoretic semantics for a substructural logic. It focuses on the base-extension semantics (B-eS) for intuitionistic multiplicative linear logic (IMLL). The starting point is a review of Sandqvist’s B-eS for intuitionistic propositional logic (IPL), for which we propose an alternative treatment of conjunction that takes the form of the generalized elimination rule for the connective. The resulting semantics is shown to be sound and complete. This motivates our main contribution, a B-eS for IMLL
, in which the definitions of the logical constants all take the form of their elimination rule and for which soundness and completeness are established
Modes of Truth
The aim of this volume is to open up new perspectives and to raise new research questions about a unified approach to truth, modalities, and propositional attitudes. The volume’s essays are grouped thematically around different research questions. The first theme concerns the tension between the theoretical role of the truth predicate in semantics and its expressive function in language. The second theme of the volume concerns the interaction of truth with modal and doxastic notions. The third theme covers higher-order solutions to the semantic and modal paradoxes, providing an alternative to first-order solutions embraced in the first two themes. This book will be of interest to researchers working in epistemology, logic, philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and semantics
Humanism and anti-humanism in environmental values
This thesis identifies a family of humanist presuppositions which, I argue, pervade modern Western society and are partly responsible for our inability to escape from a spiral of environmental destruction. For example, humanist ethical theories frequently assume the existence of an objective / subjective divide, autonomous rational individuals and a neutral rationality. I argue that these assumptions, which are peculiar to our society, provide a wholly inappropriate basis for the expression of many environmental concerns.
Humanism imposes particular taxonomies and interpretations on social and environmental relations; these facilitate the treatment of nature as a resource rather than as a part of our (ethical) community. At the theoretical level, humanism develops explicit systems of ''formal rationaiity" which purport to be neutral e.g. axiological systems like neoclassical economics and utilitarianism. However, these systems reduce environmental evaluation to the bureaucratic application of abstract methodologies and, far from being neutral, they impose a particular humanist ideology on decision making processes which marginalises those who speak in a different voice.
I develop an alternative perspective; a critical theory informed by the antihumanism of Althusser, the later Wittgenstein and Bourdieu. This post-humanist theoretical problematic works in two ways. First, it explains how ideologies interpellate individuals into social structures and reproduce current social values. Second, it advocates an alternative "ecological paradigm", embedded in anti-humanist and radical traditions which would give due regard to the constitutive role of 'nature' in the formation of our moral values
Modes of Truth
The aim of this volume is to open up new perspectives and to raise new research questions about a unified approach to truth, modalities, and propositional attitudes. The volume’s essays are grouped thematically around different research questions. The first theme concerns the tension between the theoretical role of the truth predicate in semantics and its expressive function in language. The second theme of the volume concerns the interaction of truth with modal and doxastic notions. The third theme covers higher-order solutions to the semantic and modal paradoxes, providing an alternative to first-order solutions embraced in the first two themes. This book will be of interest to researchers working in epistemology, logic, philosophy of logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and semantics
Epistemic Modality, Mind, and Mathematics
This book concerns the foundations of epistemic modality. I examine the nature of epistemic modality, when the modal operator is interpreted as concerning both apriority and conceivability, as well as states of knowledge and belief. The book demonstrates how epistemic modality relates to the computational theory of mind; metaphysical modality; the types of mathematical modality; to the epistemic status of large cardinal axioms, undecidable propositions, and abstraction principles in the philosophy of mathematics; to the modal profile of rational intuition; and to the types of intention, when the latter is interpreted as a modal mental state. Chapter \textbf{2} argues for a novel type of expressivism based on the duality between the categories of coalgebras and algebras, and argues that the duality permits of the reconciliation between modal cognitivism and modal expressivism. Chapter \textbf{3} provides an abstraction principle for epistemic intensions. Chapter \textbf{4} advances a topic-sensitive two-dimensional truthmaker semantics, and provides three novel interpretations of the framework along with the epistemic and metasemantic. Chapter \textbf{5} applies the fixed points of the modal -calculus in order to account for the iteration of epistemic states, by contrast to availing of modal axiom 4 (i.e. the KK principle). Chapter \textbf{6} advances a solution to the Julius Caesar problem based on Fine's "criterial" identity conditions which incorporate conditions on essentiality and grounding. Chapter \textbf{7} provides a ground-theoretic regimentation of the proposals in the metaphysics of consciousness and examines its bearing on the two-dimensional conceivability argument against physicalism. The topic-sensitive epistemic two-dimensional truthmaker semantics developed in chapter \textbf{4} is availed of in order for epistemic states to be a guide to metaphysical states in the hyperintensional setting. Chapter \textbf{8} examines the modal commitments of abstractionism, in particular necessitism, and epistemic modality and the epistemology of abstraction. Chapter \textbf{9} examines the modal profile of -logic in set theory. Chapter \textbf{10} examines the interaction between epistemic two-dimensional truthmaker semantics, epistemic set theory, and absolute decidability. Chapter \textbf{11} avails of modal coalgebraic automata to interpret the defining properties of indefinite extensibility, and avails of epistemic two-dimensional semantics in order to account for the interaction of the interpretational and objective modalities thereof. The hyperintensional, topic-sensitive epistemic two-dimensional truthmaker semantics developed in chapter \textbf{2} is applied in chapters \textbf{7}, \textbf{8}, \textbf{10}, and \textbf{11}. Chapter \textbf{12} provides a modal logic for rational intuition and provides four models of hyperintensional semantics. Chapter \textbf{13} examines modal responses to the alethic paradoxes. Chapter \textbf{14} examines, finally, the modal semantics for the different types of intention and the relation of the latter to evidential decision theory
Property Theories
Revised and reprinted; originally in Dov Gabbay & Franz Guenthner (eds.), Handbook of Philosophical Logic, Volume IV. Kluwer 133-251. -- Two sorts of property theory are distinguished, those dealing with intensional contexts property abstracts (infinitive and gerundive phrases) and proposition abstracts (‘that’-clauses) and those dealing with predication (or instantiation) relations. The first is deemed to be epistemologically more primary, for “the argument from intensional logic” is perhaps the best argument for the existence of properties. This argument is presented in the course of discussing generality, quantifying-in, learnability, referential semantics, nominalism, conceptualism, realism, type-freedom, the first-order/higher-order controversy, names, indexicals, descriptions, Mates’ puzzle, and the paradox of analysis. Two first-order intensional logics are then formulated. Finally, fixed-point type-free theories of predication are discussed, especially their relation to the question whether properties may be identified with propositional functions
Alien theory : the decline of materialism in the name of matter
The thesis tries to define and explain the rudiments of a 'nonphilosophical'
or 'non-decisional' theory of materialism on the basis of a
theoretical framework provided by the 'non-philosophy' of Francois
Laruelle. Neither anti-philosophical nor anti-materialist in character, non-materialism
tries to construct a rigorously transcendental theory of matter by
using certain instances of philosophical materialism as its source material.
The materialist decision to identify the real with matter is seen to retain a
structural isomorphy with the phenomenological decision to identify the real
with the phenomenon. Both decisions are shown to operate on the basis of a
methodological idealism; materialism on account of its confusion of matter
and concept; phenomenology by virtue of its confusion of phenomenon and
logos. By dissolving the respectively 'materiological' and
'phenomenological' amlphibolies which are the result of the failure to effect a
rigorously transcendental separation between matter and concept on the one
hand; and between phenomenon and logos on the other, non-materialist
theory proposes to mobilise the non-hybrid or non-decisional concepts of a
'matter-without-concept' and of a 'phenomenon-without-logos' in order to
effect a unified but non-unitary theory of phenomenology and materialism.
The result is a materialisation of thinking that operates according to matter's
foreclosure to decision. That is to say, a transcendental theory of the
phenomenon that licenses limitless phenomenological plasticity,
unconstrained by the apparatus of eidetic intuition or any horizon of
apophantic disclosure; yet one which is simultaneously a transcendental
theory of matter, uncontaminated by the bounds of empirical perception and
free of all phenomenological circumscription
Critique of memory research
The present relation between theory and experimentation
in the area of memory is discussed, and as a result it is
suggested that there is a crisis in thin field of work.
On the one hand, there are some theories which are supposed
to be guides for research as exemplified by the theory of
Shiffrin and Atkinson and on the other bond there are a
great deal of problems, or phenomena, which are open to
research and cannot be explained using contemporary
theories. It in concluded that the lack of relation
between the explanation and the phenomena is the major
source of the crisis. This conclusion is supported here
with on experimental analysis of the ideas of trace, flow
of information and stores. One of the indications of
possible solution to the crisis, is the experimental
evidence in favour of the idea of memory as a reconstructive
process. A conceptual structure for further work is
presented, which could be considered as an intermediate
step to relate in the future, in a clearer way, several
phenomena and explanations. This conceptual structure
suggests the use of a different interpretation of memory
functions; suggest the use of the idea of processes of
manipulation of information, and points out the difficulties in trying to elaborate account, of representation
Computation offloading for algorithms in absence of the Cloud
Mobile cloud computing is a way of delegating complex algorithms from a mobile
device to the cloud to complete the tasks quickly and save energy on the mobile device.
However, the cloud may not be available or suitable for helping all the time. For
example, in a battlefield scenario, the cloud may not be reachable. This work considers
neighbouring devices as alternatives to the cloud for offloading computation and presents
three key contributions, namely a comprehensive investigation of the trade-off between
computation and communication, Multi-Objective Optimisation based approach to
offloading, and Queuing Theory based algorithms that present the benefits of offloading
to neighbours.
Initially, the states of neighbouring devices are considered to be known and the decision
of computation offloading is proposed as a multi-objective optimisation problem. Novel
Pareto optimal solutions are proposed. The results on a simulated dataset show up to
30% increment in performance even when cloud computing is not available. However,
information about the environment is seldom known completely. In Chapter 5, a realistic
environment is considered such as delayed node state information and partially connected
sensors. The network of sensors is modelled as a network of queues (Open Jackson
network). The offloading problem is posed as minimum cost problem and solved using
Linear solvers. In addition to the simulated dataset, the proposed solution is tested on a
real computer vision dataset. The experiments on the random waypoint dataset showed
up to 33% boost on performance whereas in the real dataset, exploiting the temporal
and spatial distribution of the targets, a significantly higher increment in performance
is achieved
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