Merleau-Ponty on Embodied Subjectivity from the Perspective of Subject-Object Circularity

The phenomenological point of view of the body is usually appreciated for having introduced the notion of the ‘lived’ body. We cannot merely analyze and explain the body as one of the elements of the world of objects. We must also describe it, for example, as the center of our perspective on the world, the place where our sensing is ‘localized’, the agens which directly executes our intentions. However, in Husserl, the idea of the body as lived primarily complements his objectivism: the body (Leib) is an objective and mental reality, a ‘double unity’, as he writes. In contrast, Merleau-Ponty’s later considerations of the body in Phenomenology of Perception tend to the idea of a circular relationship between the objective and subjective dimensions of the body – between the objective and the lived. One of the means to overcome the idea of the body as a site of the correlation between two opposite and complementary realms is, for Merleau-Ponty, the philosophical interpretation of an early neurological notion of ‘body schema’. Body schema is neither an idea nor a physiological-physical fact, it is rather a practical diagram of our relationships with the world, an action-based norm in reference to which things make sense. In the recently published preparatory notes for his 1953 courses, Merleau-Ponty dedicates much effort to further developing the notion of body schema, and interprets fresh sources that he did not use in Phenomenology of Perception. Notably, he studies various possibilities of how this practical ‘diagram’ can be de-differentiated (pathology) or further refined (cognitive and cultural superstructures, symbolic systems), which shows the fundamentally dynamic unity of the body. This paper summarizes the basic elements of Merleau-Ponty’s 1953 renewed philosophical interpretation of the notion of body schema, while contrasting it to the more traditional understanding of the body in phenomenology and in recent philosophical texts dealing with body schema

The Concept of Experience in Husserl's Phenomenology and James' Radical Empiricism

In this paper, I develop a comparison between the philosophies of Husserl and James in relation to their concepts of experience. Whereas various authors have acknowledged the affinity between James’ early psychology and Husserl’s phenomenology, the late development of James’ philosophy is often considered in opposition to Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology. This is because James’ radical empiricism achieves a non-dual dimension of experience that precedes the functional division into subject and object, thus contrasting with the phenomenological analysis of the dual structure of intentionality. However, I argue that the later “genetic” development of phenomenology converges with some central aspects of James’ radical empiricism. This is because genetic phenomenology leads us to conceive of the flow of primal impressions as a fundamental dimension of experience that precedes the subject-object duality and is at the base of the process of co-constitution of the subject and the object in reciprocal dependence. At the same time, Husserl conceives of the impressional core of experience as structured by formal conditions that depend on the concrete constitution of an embodied subject. For this reason, I argue that Husserl’s genetic phenomenology can complement James’ radical empiricism, thus leading to the development of the doctrine of pure experience as a form of empirical and not metaphysical realism

General modeling of the windings for multi-phase ac machines

This paper, which deals with the winding modeling of ac multi-phase machines with a regular distribution of the stator slots, details an original matrix modeling of the stator winding. First, the properties of the balanced multi-phase windings (with integral-slot and fractional-slot patterns) are analysed. The winding function approach, one of the most common way to model the winding distribution effects on the stator rotating field, is then introduced. For multi-phase machines, it will be shown that the pole number generated by the winding distribution depends on a new parameter: the circularity index. The discrete nature of the winding, imposed by the stator slots, leads to the development of a discrete modeling of the winding obtained from sampling the winding function: two matrices, the winding function matrix and the distribution function matrix, are introduced to characterize the multi-phase winding. This matrix approach is thus a concise way to calculate the winding factors and to estimate the set of self and mutual stator inductances for smooth air gap multi-phase machines. A particularly original method of obtaining an analytical expression for the leakage mutual inductance is described. The results are validated with two experimental 5-phase PM machines by using experimental measurements and numerical simulations

Data, problems, heuristics and results in cognitive metaphor research

Cognitive metaphor research is characterised by the diversity of rival theories. Starting from this observation, the paper focuses on the problem of how the unity and diversity of cognitive theories of metaphor can be accounted for. The first part of the paper outlines a suitable metascientific approach which emerges as a modification of B. von Eckardt’s notion of research framework. In the second part, by the help of this approach, some aspects of the sophisticated relationship between Lakoff and Johnson’s, Glucksberg’s, and Gentner’s theories are discussed. The main finding is that the data, the problems, the heuristics and the hypotheses which have been partly shaped by the rivals contribute to the development of the particular theories to a considerable extent

Performance impact of honing dynamics on surface finish of precoated cylinder bores

The surface modification of engine cylinder bores with improved sliding properties is often produced by the honing process. This multi-stage process is performed using abrasive stones loaded against the bore with simultaneous rotation and oscillation. To guarantee this process robustness with acceptable dimensional accuracy and surface quality, the stone dynamic effects in continuous balanced contact with the workpiece have to studied deeply. This paper highlights these effects on honed surface textures. The stone dynamic behavior was studied at conventional regime ranged from 0,5g to 1,5g as often used in mass production. In this range, the dimensional accuracy is ensured by opposition to the surface appearance. However, higher accelerations up to 2,5g improve simultaneously the form quality (especially straightness) and reduces the cycle time. This work shows, at least, that the bore surface finish can be dynamically controlled while honing. This technology is enabled by a micro scale regeneration mechanism of abrasive stones

Labour mobility and diaspora: An overview of Solomon Islands’ historical regulatory experience, 1850s-2013

With less than 4,500 of its population of around 600,000 living overseas in 2013, the Solomon Islands ranks 138th in the world for diaspora formation. At these levels the scale of the diaspora as a proportion of population (0.8 percent) remains lower than it was in the early 20th century, when more than 5,000 Solomon islanders were compulsorily repatriated from Queensland under early Australian Commonwealth legislation. This working paper retraces and reframes the history of Solomon Islands labour mobility and diaspora formation since the 1850s, considering it in relation to the wider institutional and macro-regulatory machineries of three phases or regimes of economic, trade and mobility regulation. These regimes are referred to in this paper as: 1.liberal imperial, 2. national territorial and 3. International neoliberal. We argue that Solomon Islanders’ participation in labour mobility has been substantial under all three phases, but that international mobility and diaspora formation only developed significantly under the liberal imperial regime. Even then, however, its development proved precarious. The ways regional actors and governments acting within the different regimes have framed and segmented labour markets continue to powerfully shape mobility and diaspora outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the situation to date for future economic development and security in Solomon Islands

Contributions to the accreted stellar halo: an atlas of stellar deposition

The accreted component of stellar halos is composed of the contributions of several satellites, falling onto their host with their different masses, at different times, on different orbits. This work uses a suite of idealised, collisionless N-body simulations of minor mergers and a particle tagging technique to understand how these different ingredients shape each contribution to the accreted halo, in both density and kinematics. I find that more massive satellites deposit their stars deeper into the gravitational potential of the host, with a clear segregation enforced by dynamical friction. Earlier accretion events contribute more to the inner regions of the halo; more concentrated subhaloes sink deeper through increased dynamical friction. The orbital circularity of the progenitor at infall is only important for low-mass satellites: dynamical friction efficiently radialises the most massive minor mergers erasing the imprint of the infall orbit for satellite-to-host virial mass ratios $\gtrsim1/20$. The kinematics of the stars contributed by each satellite is also ordered with satellite mass: low-mass satellites contribute fast-moving populations, in both ordered rotation and radial velocity dispersion. In turn, contributions by massive satellites have lower velocity dispersion and lose their angular momentum to dynamical friction, resulting in a strong radial anisotropy.Comment: 15 pages, accepted version, discussion extende

Three epistemic paralogisms, one logic of utterances

Assuming that a paralogism is an unintentionally invalid reasoning, we give an exampl