600 research outputs found
Reply to Duncan Pritchard and John Campbell
An epistemological how-possible question asks how knowledge, or knowledge of some specific kind, is possible. The main contention of Duncan Pritchardâs stimulating comments is that what I call âexplanatory minimalismâ appears to offer us just what we are seeking when we ask such a question. This looks like a problem for me given that I defend a version of explanatory anti-minimalism. Pritchard outlines a version of minimalism inspired by the writings of John McDowell and does not find it obvious that this position is lacking in any relevant respect. Nor do I. My minimalism is moderate rather than extreme but Pritchardâs objections to anti-minimalism are objections to extreme anti-minimalism. Indeed, his comments do not seem to me to have any direct bearing on what I take to be the fundamental disagreement between minimalism and anti-minimalism
An improved lower bound for the maximal length of a multivector
A new lower bound for the maximal length of a multivector is obtained. It is
much closer to the best known upper bound than previously reported lower bound
estimates. The maximal length appears to be unexpectedly large for -vectors,
with n>2, since the few exactly known values seem to grow linearly with vector
space dimension, whereas the new lower bound has a polynomial order equal to
n-1 like the best known upper bound. This result has implications for quantum
chemistry
What is knowledge?
What would a good answer to this question â call it (WK) â look like? What Iâm going to call the standard analytic approach (SA) says that:
(A) The way to answer WK is to analyse the concept of
knowledge.
(B) To analyse the concept of knowledge is to come up with noncircular necessary and sufficient conditions for someone to know that something is the case.
Is the standard analytic approach to WK the right approach? If not, what would be a better way of doing things? These are the questions Iâm going to tackle here. I want to look at some criticisms of SA and consider the prospects for a different, non-standard analytic approach (NA) to WK
Generalization of the concepts of seniority number and ionicity
We present generalized versions of the concepts of seniority number and
ionicity. These generalized numbers count respectively the partially occupied
and fully occupied shells for any partition of the orbital space into shells.
The Hermitian operators whose eigenspaces correspond to wave functions of
definite generalized seniority or ionicity values are introduced. The
generalized seniority numbers (GSNs) afford to establish refined hierarchies of
configuration interaction (CI) spaces within those of fixed ordinary seniority.
Such a hierarchy is illustrated on the buckminsterfullerene molecule
A Fast Algorithm for the Construction of Integrity Bases Associated to Symmetry-Adapted Polynomial Representations. Application to Tetrahedral XY4 Molecules
Invariant theory provides more efficient tools, such as Molien generating
functions and integrity bases, than basic group theory, that relies on
projector techniques for the construction of symmetry--adapted polynomials in
the symmetry coordinates of a molecular system, because it is based on a finer
description of the mathematical structure of the latter. The present article
extends its use to the construction of polynomial bases which span possibly,
non--totally symmetric irreducible representations of a molecular symmetry
group. Electric or magnetic observables can carry such irreducible
representations, a common example is given by the electric dipole moment
surface. The elementary generating functions and their corresponding integrity
bases, where both the initial and the final representations are irreducible,
are the building blocks of the algorithm presented in this article, which is
faster than algorithms based on projection operators only. The generating
functions for the full initial representation of interest are built recursively
from the elementary generating functions. Integrity bases which can be used to
generate in the most economical way symmetry--adapted polynomial bases are
constructed alongside in the same fashion. The method is illustrated in detail
on XY4 type of molecules. Explicit integrity bases for all five possible final
irreducible representations of the tetrahedral group have been calculated and
are given in the supplemental material associated with this paper
Intellectual vice and self-awareness
To what extent are we able to recognise our own intellectual shortcomings, asks Quassim Cassa
Diagnostic error, overconfidence and self-knowledge
According to the overconfidence hypothesis (OH), physician overconfidence is a major factor contributing to diagnostic error in medicine. This paper argues that (OH) can be read as offering a personal, a sub-personal or a systemic explanation of diagnostic error. It is argued that personal level overconfidence is an âepistemic viceâ. The hypothesis that diagnostic errors due to overconfidence can be remedied by increasing physician self-knowledge is shown to be questionable. Some epistemic vices or cognitive biases, including overconfidence, are âstealthyâ in the sense that they obstruct their own detection. Even if the barriers to self-knowledge can be overcome, some problematic traits are so deeply entrenched that even well-informed and motivated individuals might be unable to correct them. One such trait is overconfidence. Alternative approaches to âdebiasingâ are considered and it is argued that overconfidence is blameworthy only if it is understood as a personal level epistemic vice rather than a sub-personal cognitive bias
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