School Literary Societies--Model Constitution, Rules of Parliamentary Procedure, and Principles of Debating

"August 22, 1913."Mode of access: Internet

Platonism in Lotze and Frege Between Psyschologism and Hypostasis

In the section “Validity and Existence in Logik, Book III,” I explain Lotze’s famous distinction between existence and validity in Book III of Logik. In the following section, “Lotze’s Platonism,” I put this famous distinction in the context of Lotze’s attempt to distinguish his own position from hypostatic Platonism and consider one way of drawing the distinction: the hypostatic Platonist accepts that there are propositions, whereas Lotze rejects this. In the section “Two Perspectives on Frege’s Platonism,” I argue that this is an unsatisfactory way of reading Lotze’s Platonism and that the Ricketts-Reck reading of Frege is in fact the correct way of thinking about Lotze’s Platonism

The Dual Path Initiative Framework

This thesis, conducted at Norconsult Astando AB, investigates and finds the best performing algorithm for routing in a road network given a set of constraints. The constraintsare mainly performance oriented and also the algorithm must not be too complex to implement. A study of algorithms was conducted and the most promising candidate, Contraction Hierarchies, was selectedfor implementation. Experiments suggest that Contraction Hierarchies perform as theoretically expected. Contraction Hierarchies is recommended as the algorithmthat best satisfies the constraints.Ruttning i ett vägnät: Hitta en enkelt implementerbar algoritm utifrån prestandakrav. Detta examensarbete, utfört på Norconsult AstandoAB, ämnar att hitta den bäst presterande algoritm för ruttning i ett vägnät utifrån ett antal restriktioner. Restriktionerna är mestadels prestanda men även att algoritmen inte får vara för komplicerad att implementera. Det gjordes en studie av algoritmer för att hitta den bästa kandidaten. Contraction Hierarchies var den mest lovande och utvaldes för implementation. Praktiska experiment antyder att Contraction Hierarchies presterar som teoretiskt förväntat. Contraction Hierarchies rekommenderas som den algoritm som bäst uppfyller alla restriktioner

Making mathematics phenomenal : Based on an Inaugural Professorial Lecture delivered at the Institute of Education, University of London, on 14 March 2012

Mathematics is often portrayed as an 'abstract' cerebral subject, beyond the reach of many. In response, research with digital technology has led to innovative design in which mathematics can be experienced to some extent like everyday phenomena. I examine how careful design can 'phenomenalise' mathematics - that is to say create mathematical artefacts that can be directly experienced to support not only engagement but also focus on key ideas. I argue that mathematical knowledge gained through interaction with suitably designed tools can prioritise powerful reasons for doing mathematics, imbuing it with a sort of utility and offering learners hooks on which they can gradually develop fluency and connected understanding. Illustrative examples are taken from conventional topics such as number, algebra, geometry and statistics but also from novel situations where mathematical methods are juxtaposed with social values. The suggestion that prioritising utility supports a more natural way of learning mathematics emerges directly from constructionist pedagogy and inferentialist philosophy

A General Defense of Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins

Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins was the most important federalism decision of the Twentieth Century. Justice Brandeis’s opinion for the Court stated unequivocally that “[e]xcept in matters governed by the Federal Constitution or by acts of Congress, the law to be applied in any case is the law of the state. . . . There is no federal general common law.” Seventy-five years later, however, Erie finds itself under siege. Critics have claimed that it is “bereft of serious intellectual or constitutional support” (Michael Greve), based on a “myth” that must be “repressed” (Craig Green), and even “the worst decision of all time” (Suzanna Sherry). Other scholars, such as Caleb Nelson and Michael Green, have been less damning in their conclusions but nonetheless raised serious questions about Erie’s reasoning. Out in the real world, Erie’s restrictive vision of federal lawmaking has been undermined and circumvented by unfettered executive lawmaking and expansive theories of federal common law. This article undertakes to rescue Erie from its critics. Rather than reinventing the case’s rationale, I argue that Justice Brandeis’s reasoning was fundamentally sound. Although the case Erie overruled — Swift v. Tyson — was surely correct when decided, Justice Brandeis rightly read the Rules of Decision Act to foreclose the broad practice of “general federal common law” that had arisen by the end of the nineteenth century. And Brandeis was right to worry about divergence between the law applied in state and federal courts sitting within the same jurisdiction. Most important, Erie announced a constitutional principle of judicial federalism — that federal courts may not make law on their own, even in areas where Congress could legislate. This principle forms the intellectual core of modern federalism doctrine, which is primarily concerned with procedural and political limits on national lawmaking. More ambitiously, I hope that by shoring up Erie’s intellectual foundations this essay may lend support to the vision of limited federal lawmaking that Erie embodied — that is, one in which the federal separation of powers reinforces federalism by limiting the occasions on which federal lawmaking may displace state law. That vision is of more than theoretical import. Its implications may govern practical controversies ranging from the domestic force of customary international law to the preemptive effect of federal regulatory policies on state tort law. Likewise, in an era of resurgent dynamism at the state level, Erie’s respect for the preservation of state prerogatives in the absence of a federal legislative consensus takes on renewed importance