On Continuity: Rush Rhees on Outer and InnerSurfaces of Bodies

This article presents an edited excerpt from a hitherto unknown fragmentary treatise by Rush Rhees. In the treatise, Rhees gives his account of the problem of continuity that he had started elaborating before he became acquainted with Wittgenstein. The excerpt, which contains Rhees' original distinction between outer and inner surfaces of bodies, builds on Brentano's theory of the continuum and his doctrine of plerosis. This treatment of continuity sheds light on Rhees' early philosophical development and confirms that even though he and Wittgenstein discussed the problem of continuity, Rhees' own approach remained distinct from that of Wittgenstein.publishedVersio

Voluntary Action in New Commons

A major new social, economic, political and cultural space (actually, a sector of many spaces) we can call the new commons has gradually emerged outside of markets, governments and households. It currently goes by many names and reaches far beyond the recognized and incorporated nonprofit sector to include many additional forms of voluntary assembly and organized action. This space is legally defined and is the domain of fundraising, volunteering, advocacy, mutual aid, self-help and various forms of collective behavior. It includes associations, groups and clubs but also constitutionally protected assembly - not only public gatherings but also parades, festivals, cosmopolitan canopies like the Reading Market in Philadelphia where a wide variety of people can peacefully gather, and a diverse variety of forms of collective behavior including crowds, street corner societies, jazz and art \u27scenes\u27 and, of course, online and digital \u27communities\u27 and \u27commons\u27 of many types. A common thread characterizing all of these diverse activities is that they are all new commons - legally enabled and protected, (as opposed to the old commons of history that were traditional, customary and largely without legal protection or sanction; a condition that made them highly vulnerable to \u27enclosure\u27. These new commons include not only social but also cultural organizations including social movements, social problems and diverse other \u27knowledge commons\u27. New commons have only recently begun to be recognized as a single class, category or group. In part this is because they have been studied under many different names in many different disciplines and research fields, even though they share certain commonalities. Throughout much of the world today new commons are legally protected and enabled by a penumbra of international, national and state/provincial laws. They function voluntarily on the basis of common resource pools for the achievement of common purposes or missions. Among the intrinsic effects of these new commons are the emergence of social capital, including relations built on trust and arrays of social networks, common identity formation for participants and the formation, defense and projection of norms, values and practices. When a new social movement seeks a major change in society, the rise of new commons will ordinarily follow. If a new social problem is detected, an array of new commons can be expected to emerge to define it, identify its characteristics and work out practices and procedures for dealing with it. Likewise, in the arts, the organizational structure of the institutional complex termed an ‘art world’ has all the characteristics of a new commons. New commons are an important component of civil society, basic to the idea of philanthropy as the love of the human condition, and offer one possible pathway to future development of democratic society and culture

The life and work of Prof. George Chrystal (1851-1911)

This thesis is principally concerned with George Chrystal's life and his work, mainly in three directions viz., as an experimentalist, a mathematician, and an educationist. The main object is to bring to light the work of a personality who is representative of many more who are always forgotten. The majority of historians of science consider the works of the giants in science, ignoring totally the contributions made by the less prominent people like Prof. George Chrystal. In fact their contributions serve as one of the most important factors in propagation of scientific knowledge. His main contributions: verification of Ohm's Law experimentally; Non-Euclidean geometry; differential equations; text books on algebra; theory of seiches; institution of leaving certificate examination in Scottish education and many more have been discussed in detail. A survey of Chrystal's general thought is given in so far as it may be gathered from his scattered remarks. The references are mentioned by numerals in the superscript, details of which are given at the end of each chapter. The main text consists of six chapters. There are three appendices at the end,' Appendix 'A' consists of his correspondence with different scientists, most of which is still unpublished. Appendix 'B' contains a bibliography of his contributions in chronological order, and Appendix 'C contains his three Promoter's addresses. Tables and figures are attached at their proper places, including some rarely available photographs