71 research outputs found

    Marxism and Deconstruction

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    Originally published in 1982. Aside from Jacques Derrida's own references to the "possible articulation" between deconstruction and Marxism, the relationship between the two has remained largely unexplored. In Marxism and Deconstruction, Michael Ryan examines that multifaceted relationship but not through a mere comparison of two distinct and inviolable entities. Instead, he looks at both with an eye to identifying their common elements and reweaving them into a new theory of political practice. To accomplish his task, Ryan undertakes a detailed comparison of deconstruction and Marxism, relating deconstruction to the dialectical tradition in philosophy and demonstrating how deconstruction can be used in the critique of ideology. He is a forceful critic of both the politics of deconstruction and the metaphysical aspect of Marxism (as seen from a deconstructionist perspective). Besides offering the first book-length study of Derrida in this context, Ryan makes the first methodic attempt by an American scholar to apply deconstruction to domains beyond literature. He proposes a deconstructive Marxism, one lacking the metaphysical underpinnings of conservative "scientific" Marxist theory and employing deconstructive analysis both for Marxist political criticism and to further current anti-metaphysical developments within Marxism. Marxism and Deconstruction is an innovative and controversial contribution to the fields of literary criticism, philosophy, and political science

    Islamic contradictory theology

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    There are two overarching aims of the five collated papers that make up my thesis. The first is to demonstrate that making sense of an ineffable Islamic God in virtue of classical logic and various truth theories (under the purview of analytic philosophy) motivates a theological contradiction. The second is to offer a solution to this problem. I spend a substantial part of my thesis establishing the first of these aims. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, it is to illustrate the incompatibility between an ineffable God of Islam and various modes of logical and metaphysical inquiry that fall under the purview of analytic philosophy. Although, it becomes increasingly evident that we cannot philosophically make sense of an absolute ineffable God, my inquiry still bears relevance. It offers a comprehensive insight into the logical and metaphysical perspectives that are responsible for motivating the theological contradiction in question. Secondly, fleshing out the various logical and metaphysical perspectives helps lay the theoretical groundwork for the solution. It is not my aim to establish the ineffability of God within the Islamic tradition. That is, I do not engage with Islamic theology beyond referring to, and teasing out, an ineffable view of God from selected Islamic theological sources. The primary focus of my work is to establish that theological contradictions are motivated when assessing them against certain (analytic) philosophical modes. This brings me to the second aim of my thesis, namely, the solution. After having established how an Islamic theological contradiction is motivated, it begs a solution. Prior to offering my solution, I evaluate the recent work on Christian contradictory theology by Jc Beall (2019, 2021). Beall’s proposed solution to the fundamental problem of Christology is what he calls ‘Contradictory Christology’. Although this may seem like a plausible solution for an Islamic theological contradiction, I argue to the contrary. Finally, I propose my own solution to the problem. I call this ‘Islamic Mystical Dialetheism’

    Physics Avoidance & Cooperative Semantics: Inferentialism and Mark Wilson’s Engagement with Naturalism Qua Applied Mathematics

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    Mark Wilson argues that the standard categorizations of "Theory T thinking"— logic-centered conceptions of scientific organization (canonized via logical empiricists in the mid-twentieth century)—dampens the understanding and appreciation of those strategic subtleties working within science. By "Theory T thinking," we mean to describe the simplistic methodology in which mathematical science allegedly supplies ‘processes’ that parallel nature's own in a tidily isomorphic fashion, wherein "Theory T’s" feigned rigor and methodological dogmas advance inadequate discrimination that fails to distinguish between explanatory structures that are architecturally distinct. One of Wilson's main goals is to reverse such premature exclusions and, thus, early on Wilson returns to John Locke's original physical concerns regarding material science and the congeries of descriptive concern insofar as capturing varied phenomena (i.e., cohesion, elasticity, fracture, and the transmission of coherent work) encountered amongst ordinary solids like wood and steel are concerned. Of course, Wilson methodologically updates such a purview by appealing to multiscalar techniques of modern computing, drawing from Robert Batterman's work on the greediness of scales and Jim Woodward's insights on causation

    Second-order logic is logic

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    "Second-order logic" is the name given to a formal system. Some claim that the formal system is a logical system. Others claim that it is a mathematical system. In the thesis, I examine these claims in the light of some philosophical criteria which first motivated Frege in his logicist project. The criteria are that a logic should be universal, it should reflect our intuitive notion of logical validity, and it should be analytic. The analysis is interesting in two respects. One is conceptual: it gives us a purchase on where and how to draw a distinction between logic and other sciences. The other interest is historical: showing that second-order logic is a logical system according to the philosophical criteria mentioned above goes some way towards vindicating Frege's logicist project in a contemporary context

    Jevons, Debreu and the foundations of mathematical economics: an historical and semiotic analysis

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    This thesis analyses whether the criticism that 20th c economic theory is too abstract, and lacking in economic meaning as a consequence of being mathematical, is justified, from a methodological perspective that is epistemological in character (cf ch2 and Cheix, 1996). Using, firstly the 'external' historical approach, that compares. Economics to the sciences (especially Mathematics chs 5, 6, 7, 8); and, secondly, the semiotic approach, that enquires into the contribution of notation to meaning, the thesis examines the historical and cognitive raison d'etre of mathematics in Economics. The thesis identifies (chs l, 2) 20th c mathematical-economics with model building and neoclassical theory. The main lines of argument are developed with reference to Jevons' Theory of Political Economy and Debreu's Theory of Value. This limitation is practical but not unnecessarily restrictive as the authors are major neo-classical writers, and mathematical economics has developed along the lines they envisaged. Further, neo-classical ideas have established themselves as paradigms of 20th c Economics, and have influenced theories in the social sciences and their mathematization. It is shown that Jevons (ch5) used the symbolism, and in particular, the linearity property of differentials to unify economic theory and the sciences on the pattern of Physics. For him however, the mathematization of economics involved also empirical and experimental inquiries using statistics. For the case of Debreu (ch6) it is shown how he used set-theoretic formalism and fixed point theorems to provide equilibrium theory with logico-mathematical content. This content is viewed as an axiomatic and deductive structure implying equilibrium. The definitions of mathematical economic models discussed in Part 3 show that economics was mathematized through influences not only from Physics, but also from Logic, and, more widely from the 20th c (socio-cultural) trend of model building in science. It is argued that this latter trend is not exclusively, or even necessarily, rooted in neo-classical economics. The semiotic analysis of chs 5 and 6 reveals how notations connect different interpretative levels ('isotopies') of mathematical theories, and how inconsistences may arise between these levels. The general conclusion of the thesis given certain methodological provisos, is that mathematization, in itself, is not a cause of, or explanation for, the emptiness of economic theories

    LOGIC TEACHING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

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    We are much better equipped to let the facts reveal themselves to us instead of blinding ourselves to them or stubbornly trying to force them into preconceived molds. We no longer embarrass ourselves in front of our students, for example, by insisting that “Some Xs are Y” means the same as “Some X is Y”, and lamely adding “for purposes of logic” whenever there is pushback. Logic teaching in this century can exploit the new spirit of objectivity, humility, clarity, observationalism, contextualism, and pluralism. Besides the new spirit there have been quiet developments in logic and its history and philosophy that could radically improve logic teaching. This lecture expands points which apply equally well in first, second, and third courses, i.e. in “critical thinking”, “deductive logic”, and “symbolic logic”

    ON SOBER PLATONISM: NEW PERSPECTIVES IN MATHEMATICAL PLATONISM BEYOND STRONG ONTOLOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS

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    This work aims at analyzing a trend which in recent years has been developed in mathematical Platonism. I have identified four theories which seem to me paradigmatic of this new trend: Full-Blooded Platonism by Mark Balaguer, ante rem Structuralism by Stewart Shapiro, Abstract Object Theory by Edward Zalta and Trivialism by Agust\uecn Rayo. These four theories share a platonist attitude towards mathematical objects, assuming that mathematical objects, as the reference of the terms in mathematical statements, actually exist. But contrary to classical mathematical Platonism, their ontological assumptions are so moderate, or sober, as to give the impression that these theories aren\u2019t even genuinely platonist. I therefore propose to call \u2018Sober Platonism' those approaches that support Platonism, without endorsing strong ontological commitment. The key feature of this trend is that the assumption of the existence of mathematical objects is no longer considered the starting-point of a theory of mathematical objects, but becomes a necessary condition to the occurrence of a fact: the human mind accesses to mathematical knowledge. Consequently, mathematical objects must exist and be such as to make possible a connection between mathematical objects and the human mind. Hence, the ultimate aim of Sober Platonism is to obtain a description of mathematics as practiced, which does not impose any philosophical constrain, but is able to answer philosophical questions. The first chapter of this work is devoted to the analysis of classical mathematical Platonism. I propose to consider this line of thought as the sum of three major theses: Independence (mathematical objects are independent of human thought and practices), Existence (mathematical objects exist) and Epistemology (mathematical objects are knowable). The latter thesis is further divided into three sub-theses: Theory of Knowledge, Reference and Truth. In the second, third, fourth and fifth chapter I discussed the proposals of the four aforementioned authors, matched together by their implicit, or sober, ontological commitment towards mathematical objects. These four theories take into account the existence of mathematical objects, the possibility to access to mathematical knowledge, the meaning of mathematical statements and the reference of their terms as philosophically relevant questions. Their main objective, however, is rather the development of an accurate description of mathematics in its autonomy. In the last chapter I have defined Sober Platonism through its adherence to the same theses to which classical Platonism adheres, Independence, Existence and Epistemology (again analyzed as Theory of Knowledge, Reference and Truth). After a comparative evaluation, it becomes clear that Sober Platonism assumes largely what is assumed by classical Platonism. The real element of distinction lies in the relationship between philosophy and mathematics, since in Sober Platonism the autonomy and dignity of mathematics are clearly established. The proper role of Philosophy is then to deliver a methodological description of how mathematics is performed, rather than a normative prescription of how mathematics should be performed. Beyond the results that may be achieved until today, Sober Platonism promises to have what it takes to reduce the importance of at least some of those issues that seems to be relevant to the philosophy of mathematics, but are not relevant for mathematics as practiced. In conclusion, Sober Platonism offers both an innovative approach in the philosophy of mathematics, and a fruitful contribution in providing both philosophy and mathematics with a genuine domain of inquiry

    Dynamic Games under Bounded Rationality

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    I propose a dynamic game model that is consistent with the paradigm of bounded rationality. Its main advantages over the traditional approach based on perfect rationality are that: (1) under given state the strategy space is a chain-complete partially ordered set; (2) the response function satisfies certain order-theoretic property; (3) the evolution of economic system is described by the Dynamical System defined by iterations of the response function; (4) the existence of equilibrium is guaranteed by fixed point theorems for ordered structures. If the preference happens to be represented by a utility function and the response was derived from utility maximization, then the equilibrium defined by fixed points of the response function will be the same as Nash equilibrium. This preference-response framework liberates economics from the utility concept, and constitutes a synthesis between normal-form and extensive-form games. And the essential advantages of our preference-response approach was secured by successfully resolving some long-standing paradoxes in classical theory, yielding straightforward ways out of the impossibility theorem of Arrow and Sen, the Keynesian beauty contest, the Bertrand Paradox, and the backward induction paradox. These applications have certain characteristics in common: they all involve important modifications in the concept of perfect rationality

    Scientific Progress on the Semantic View : An Account of Scientific Progress as Objective Logical and Empirical Strength Increments

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    The aim of this master thesis is to make a convincing argument that scientific progress can be spoken of in objective terms. In order to make this argument I will propose a philosophical theory of scientific progress. Two concepts will be constructed with this aim in mind, both which are types of strength measures on scientific theories. The first concept, that of logical strength, pertains to the way a theory may exclude, or permit less, model classes compared to another theory. The second concept, that of empirical strength, pertains to an objective measure of the informational content of data models, defined in terms of Kolmogorov complexity. This latter idea stems from communication and computational theory. Scientific progress is then defined as the interaction, or the stepwise increases, of these two strength measures. Central for the conception of a scientific theory is the philosophical framework known as The Semantic View of Scientific Theories. This view can briefly be characterized as an empirical extension of Tarskian model-theory. Another central notion for this theory of scientific progress is the philosophical or metaphysical thesis called structural realism. Both will accordingly be explained and argued for. Finally, as a test on this proposed theory of scientific progress, it will be applied to two examples of theory transition from the history of physical theory. I conclude that the proposed theory handles these two cases well

    Titles and Topoi:Narrative Structure and Organizational Devices in the Work of Thomas Pynchon

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    This thesis will extend the critical supposition common in studies of Thomas pynchon that the author's novels bear a direct structural correlation to their respective titles. Taking as a starting point Samuel Cohen's analysis of the importance of the ampersand in Mason & Dixon (1997), Joseph W. Slade and Tony Tanner's parabolic models for Gravity's Rainbow (1973). and Harold Bloom's observations on the V¡shape in V. (1963), I intend to apply an analogous logic to The Crying of Lot 49 (1966), Vineland (1990), Againstthe Day (2006) and Inherent Vice (2009), proceeding chronologically across Pynchon's entire novelistic oeuvre. With the exception of Co hen, who makes Mason & Dixon's titular ampersand the crux of his reading of the novel, critics have simply gestured towards a connection between Pynchon's titles and possible visuowgeometrical narrative structures, without delving into the broader implications of this approach or basing their readings of the novels on this titulo-structural correspondence. Recuperating this notion, this study will extract it from the realm of the passing remark and the interesting observation, both analyzing it and proposing it as a form of analysis in itself. By attending to the formal relationship between titles and topoi in Pynchon's novels, not only will this thesis offer new interpretations of this canonical author's body of work, but it will also heed to the thematic specificity of each individual text, encompassing the multiplicity of Pynchon's expansive fictions. This study will be the first to attempt a systematic, coherent analysiS of the interrelation between the structuring devices of Pynchon's novels and their titles. In this way, this thesis constitutes a unique contribution to pynchon scholarship and, more broadly, the field of American Studies.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo
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