Locke, God, and Materialism

This paper investigates Locke’s views about materialism, by looking at the discussion in Essay IV.x. There Locke---after giving a cosmological argument for the existence of God---argues that God could not be material, and that matter alone could never produce thought. In discussing the chapter, I pay particular attention to some comparisons between Locke’s position and those of two other seventeenth-century philosophers, René Descartes and Ralph Cudworth. Making use of those comparisons, I argue for two main claims. The first is that the important argument of Essay IV.x.10 is fundamentally an argument about the causation of perfections. Indeed, Locke gives multiple such arguments in the chapter. My second main claim is that my proposed reading of IV.x is not merely consistent with what Locke says elsewhere about superaddition, but also provides reasons to favor a particular understanding of what superaddition is

Gassendi and Hobbes

Gassendi and Hobbes knew each other, and their approaches to philosophy often seem similar. They both criticized the Cartesian epistemology of clear and distinct perception. Gassendi engaged at length with skepticism, and also rejected the Aristotelian notion of scientia, arguing instead for a probabilistic view that shows us how we can move on in the absence of certain and evident knowledge. Hobbes, in contrast, retained the notion of scientia, which is the best sort of knowledge and involves causal explanation. He thought, however, that this sort of knowledge was only available in geometry and political philosophy

Multi-channel active noise cancellation using the DSP56001 (digital signal processor)

The authors report on the performance of a portable active noise cancellation (ANC) system based around a PC hosted 20-MHz Motorola DSP56001 processor with a four-channel analog input/output (I/O) board connected to the real world via standard consumer audio components. The system will perform active noise cancellation over the frequency range of 65-500 Hz. Quantitative results are presented for the cancellation of single tone noise and of narrowband noise, and a measure of the ANC power spectrum is calculated for various parameters of the filtered-X LMS algorithm in different acoustic environments. Qualitative results based on human hearing perception of the attenuation of various narrowband and real world noise sources are also discussed

Turning people into couch potatoes is not the cure for sports concussion

No abstract available

Materialism and the Activity of Matter in Seventeenth‐Century European Philosophy

Early modern debates about the nature of matter interacted with debates about whether matter could think. In particular, some philosophers (e.g., Cudworth and Leibniz) objected to materialism about the human mind on the grounds that matter is passive, thinking things are active, and one cannot make an active thing out of passive material. This paper begins by looking at two seventeenth-century materialist views (Hobbes’s, and one suggested but not endorsed by Locke) before considering that objection (which I call here the Activity Argument). In discussion, I note that several philosophers of the time believed that matter was active. That view opens up a possible response to the Activity Argument. The paper concludes by looking at the views of two materialists of the time who also believed that matter was active, Toland and Cavendish

Some aspects of the biology of the pidgean coccidium, Eimeria Labbeana Pinto, 1928

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThis study was undertaken with the purpose of describing some aspects of the biology of Eimeria labbeana, a relatively little-studied but widespread parasite of pigeons, with special emphasis on the resistance of the oocyst to various chemical and physical agents. Measurements of oocysts collected early and late in the patent period remained relatively constant during the course of infection in most cases. When small oocysts appeared early in the infection, the mean dimensions of those measured later in the patent period of the same infection were larger. Five pigeons exposed for 24 hours to grain from cages of infected birds became infected. When water transmission was tested, only 1 of 5 birds was infected. It was found that cleaning cages at 24 hour intervals effectively prevented reinfection. Cleaning at 48 hour intervals did not. E. labbeana was found in all areas of the lower digestive tract of the pigeon, from just below the gizzard to the rectum. None were seen in the ceca. The prepatent period was normally 6 to 7 days. Although the patent period varied considerably, it never exceeded 30 days. Severe symptoms of coccidiosis were not observed, even when large numbers of sporulated oocysts were administered. Greenish diarrhea most frequently gave indication of heavy infection. All stages of the parasite were found in the intestinal epithelium, and a few coccidia appeared to have penetrated somewhat more deeply. Periodicity of oocyst production was verified. Most oocysts were given off in feces between 9 A.M. and 3 P.M. Oocysts were found to sporulate rapidly in 2% potassium dichromate and were capable of infecting pigeons after periods of from 48 hours up to 400 days. Sporulation in distilled water was greatly reduced, and oocysts were no longer viable after 30 days. Oocysts could still infect pigeons after 3 days in 20% sodium chloride solution and after 10 days in 15% sodium chloride solution. Sporulation proceeded well in 2% and 5% hydrochloric acid and in 5% acetic acid. A 2% solution of sodium bicarbonate hindered sporulation, and a 5% solution prevented it entirely. Oocysts sporulated well in 1% formalin but not at all in 2% and 5% formalin solutions. Ethyl alcohol in concentrations of 50% and 70% prevented sporulation and killed oocysts within 3 days. Oocysts were resistant to temperatures of from 0° to 2.5°C and 3° to 4°C but did not sporulate. Those at the latter temperature range were still viable after 60 days, while oocysts at the former range were not. Very little sporulation occurred at 35°C and none at 37°C or higher. All oocysts were killed within 96 hours by drying at room temperature. Sporulation was found to occur equally well in light and darkness. Anaerobic conditions reduced percentage of sporulation, although some oocysts were still viable after 30 days without oxygen. Excystation in vivo was found to occur principally in the upper intestine of the pigeon, although a few opened oocysts were seen in the gizzard as well. No excystation was observed in vitro in trypsin. There was some evidence of age resistance to E. labbeana . A slight short-term immunity following infection was observed in some cases. Multiple doses of sporulated oocysts at 24 hour intervals did not influence the course of infection initiated by the first dose. Attempts to infect 4 chicks with S. labbeana were unsuccessful and 2 pigeons could not be infected with E. tenella of chickens. Coccidia from 5 wild pigeons were found to be morphologically identical with those used throughout the investigation and produced infections similar to the ones being studied

Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside, 1904-1920

Review of: Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside, 1904-1920. Bissett, Jim

Cudworth as a Critic of Hobbes

This chapter considers Ralph Cudworth as a philosophical critic of Hobbes. Cudworth saw Hobbes as a representative of the three views he was attacking: atheism, determinism, and the denial that morality is eternal and immutable. Moreover, he did not just criticize Hobbes by assuming that a general critique of those views applied to Hobbes’s particular case. Rather, he singled out Hobbes, often by quoting him, and argued against the distinctively Hobbesian positions he had identified. In this chapter I look at Cudworth as a critic of Hobbes in two of the three central areas, atheism and ethics, focusing on passages where we see him explicitly picking out Hobbes

The life history of mallophaaga with special reference to columbicola columbae (Linnaeus)

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityResults of all these tests are given in chart form to show how long lice lived on the various feathers that were used. Of ten lice on the starvation teat, none lived longer than three days. Lice on old and acetone-treated pigeon feathers lived about as long as those on ftesh untreated feathers. The average lengths of life on bird.s more closely related to the pigeon were longer than those on birds not as closely related. An exception to this general rule was the life span of those lice on feathers of the lesser road-runner. Five of the ten lice used lived three weeks or longer. A few eggs and larvae were observed on feathers of the ground dove, whitefronted parrot, and road-runner. Lice on the pigeon feathers lived, the eggs hatched, and the larvae developed. Mating was observed frequently. It appears that even when lice can adjust to feathers other than those of the pigeon, reproduction is curtailed

Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside, 1904-1920

Review of: Agrarian Socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside, 1904-1920. Bissett, Jim