2,014 research outputs found
Phenomenology: Basing Knowledge on Appearance
Phenomenology is the study of appearance as such. It is a branch of both Ontology and Epistemology, since appearing is being known. By an âappearanceâ is meant any existent which impinges on consciousness, anything cognized, irrespective of any judgment as to whether it be ârealâ or âillusory.â The evaluation of a particular appearance as a reality or an illusion is a complex process, involving inductive and deductive logical principles and activities. Opinion has to earn the status of strict knowledge.
Knowledge develops from appearances, which may be: (a) objects of perception, i.e. concrete phenomena in the physical or mental domains; (b) objects of intuition, i.e. oneâs subjective self, cognitions, volitions and valuations (non-phenomenal concretes); and/or (c) objects of conception, i.e. simple or complex abstracts of preceding appearances. Abstraction relies on apprehensions of sameness and difference between appearances (including received or projected appearances, and projected negations of appearances). Coherence in knowledge (perceptual, intuitive and conceptual) is maintained by apprehensions of compatibility or incompatibility. Words facilitate our construction of conceptual knowledge, thanks to their intentionality. The abstract concepts most words intend are common characters or behaviors of particulars (concrete material, mental or subjective experiences). Granting everything in the world is reducible to waves, âuniversalsâ would be equalities or proportionalities in the measures of the features, motions and interrelations of particular waves. Such a theory of universals would elucidate sensation and memory.
In attempting to retrace the development of conceptual knowledge from experience, we may refer to certain major organizing principles. It is also important to keep track of the order of things in such development, interrelating specific concepts and specific experiences. By proposing a precise sequence of events, we avoid certain logical fallacies and are challenged to try and answer certain crucial questions in more detail. Many more topics are discussed in the present collection of essays, including selfhood, adduction and other logical issues, the status of mathematical concepts and theology
The Epistemology of Simulation, Computation and Dynamics in Economics Ennobling Synergies, Enfeebling 'Perfection'
Lehtinen and Kuorikoski ([73]) question, provocatively, whether, in the context of Computing the Perfect Model, economists avoid - even positively abhor - reliance on simulation. We disagree with the mildly qualified affirmative answer given by them, whilst agreeing with some of the issues they raise. However there are many economic theoretic, mathematical (primarily recursion theoretic and constructive) - and even some philosophical and epistemological - infelicities in their descriptions, definitions and analysis. These are pointed out, and corrected; for, if not, the issues they raise may be submerged and subverted by emphasis just on the unfortunate, but essential, errors and misrepresentationsSimulation, Computation, Computable, Analysis, Dynamics, Proof, Algorithm
Paraphysical Jurisprudent Massacre Mediation
It is possible and thereby feasible to develop and implement a pragmatic methodology for a
preemptive evidentiary system of âParaphysical Jurisprudenceâ for mediating the occurrence of
massacres. A required comprehensive completion and formalizing of the tools of epistemology
(theory of knowledge) already exists and has been tested both ecumenically and scientifically. The
evolution of epistemology has followed the historical progression from myth and superstition to
logic and reason to empiricism and now finally to the utility of âtranscendenceâ as a tool in
knowledge acquisition. An inspiring example from popular culture is illustrated in the 2002
Hollywood film noir âMinority Reportâ designed by its director to present a âplausible future
worldâ for the year 2054 wherein an elaborate âPrecrime Unitâ is tested to prevent murder by
utilizing a trio of âprecogsâ bathed in a âphotonic milkâ able to presciently predetermine impending
occurrences of homicide for which the Precrime Police Unit then intervenes to prevent. Disdain
for a putative so-called scientific metaphysics by natural philosophers is deeply rooted in modern
pragmatic societies; perhaps rightly so as consistency, credibility and lack of a comprehensive
theory has been heretofore emphatically lacking. In addition to the major problem of repeatability
is the perceived distinction between domains of the physical and so-called âspiritualâ as mutually
exclusive. In this work a strong case is made for the rigorous viability and near term putative
implementation of a system of paraphysical jurisprudence drawing on the utility of a panoply of
concepts. The remaining question is when does feasible become practical in the face of a steady
increase in the heinous massacre of innocents
Evaluation and Microenterprise Programs
Microenterprise programs attempt to help poor people start or strengthen small businesses. Funding and political support has grown rapidly. Is microenterprise a good use of scarce development funds? Unfortunately, most evaluations have been case studies in what not to do. Because benefits and costs cannot be measured completely nor with perfect certainty, rigorous evaluations should support their necessarily subjective judgements with logic and explicit assumptions. The usefulness of an evaluation lies not in its (apparent) incontrovertibility but rather in its clarity of assumptions and in its openness to meaningful review and critique.Microenterprise,evaluation,welfare reform
The Einstein-Jordan conundrum and its relation to ongoing foundational research in local quantum physics
We demonstrate the extraordinary modernity of the 1924/25 âEinstein-Jordan
fluctuation conundrumâ, a Gedankenexperiment which led Jordan to his
quantization of waves published as a separate section in the famous Born-
Heisenberg-Jordan 1926 âDreimĂ€nnerarbeitâ. The thermal nature of energy
fluctuations caused by the restriction of the QFT vacuum to a subvolume
remained unnoticed mainly because it is not present in QM. In order to
understand the analogy with Einsteinâs fluctuation calculation in a thermal
black body system, it is important to expose the mechanism which causes a
global vacuum state to become impure on a localized subalgebra of QFT. The
present work presents the fascinating history behind this problem which
culminated in the more recent perception that âcausal localizationâ leads to
thermal manifestations. The most appropriate concept which places this
property of QFT into the forefront is âmodular localizationâ. These new
developments in QFT led to a new access to the existence problem for
interacting quantum fields whose solution has remained outside the range of
renormalized perturbation theory. It also clarifies open problems about the
relation of particles and fields in particular about the incompletely
understood crossing property. Last not least it leads to a constructive
understanding of integrable versus non-integrable QFTs..
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