Some Problems with Negative Refraction

J. B. Pendry's "Negative Refraction Makes a Perfect Lens" is analyzed. It appears that several statements may be understood in terms of lens design but not in terms of fundamental behavior of light.Comment: 4 pages. Published PRL Comment: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v87/e24970

Henry Hallam revisited

Although Henry Hallam (1777–1859) is best known for his Constitutional History of England (1827) and as a founder of ‘whig’ history, to situate him primarily as a mere critic of David Hume or as an apprentice to Thomas Babington Macaulay does him a disservice. He wrote four substantial books of which the first, his View of the state of Europe during the middle ages (1818), deserves to be seen as the most important; and his correspondence shows him to have been integrated into the contemporary intelligentsia in ways that imply more than the Whig acolyte customarily portrayed by commentators. This article re-situates Hallam by thinking across both time and space and depicts a significant historian whose filiations reached to Europe and North America. It proposes that Hallam did not originate the whig interpretation of history but rather that he created a sense of the past resting on law and science which would be reasserted in the age of Darwin.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Kant's Arguments for God's Existence

A clear and concise exposition and critique of Kant's arguments for God's existenc

OCD and Philosophy: Short Papers on OCD, Psychopathy, and Psychopathology

Short papers on OCD, philosophy, psychopathy, psychopathology generally, and their interrelations

The Economics of Higher Education in the 21st Century

In the first part of this two-part work, the economics of higher education are explained. It is made clear how a university’s business model differs from that of a company that has to compete on the open market. On this basis, it is explained: (i)Why universities are in no way threatened by low retention-rates and graduation-rates; (ii)Why universities cannot significantly improve or otherwise alter the quality of their educational services without imperiling their very existences; (iii)Why universities do not have to improve the quality of their educational services; (iv)Why universities couldn’t improve the quality of their services even if they wanted to; (v)Why the fact that many universities have low retention- and graduation-rates does not a represent a business opportunity, or opportunity of any other kind, for anyone, whether inside or outside of academia; and (vi)Why principles of Knowledge Management (KM) that are so useful when it comes to helping businesses that compete on the open market are completely useless, and indeed of negative utility, when it comes to helping universities solve their problems. In the second part of this work, it is explained how to construct an online university that is both lucrative and also provides instruction that is faster, better, cheaper, and more useful than the instruction provided by any existing (or possible) brick-and-mortar university. Finally, it is explained how the principles of KM can be used to optimize such a university, once it is up and running

Commentary on the Portfolio of Compositions submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Composition

John Goodenough Doctor of Philosophy by Composition Durham University Department of Music 2014 Portfolio Contents 1. Ubi Caritas 2009 - for Violin & Piano 4.36 2. String Quartet 2010 - for String Quartet 5.15 3. Echoes of Poems & Prose 2010 - for small ensemble 32.45 4. Fountains 2011 - for String Quartet 4.45 5. Stato di Cambiamento 2012 - for large ensemble 5.10 6. Triptych 2012 - for small ensemble 5.20 7. Divergenza 2013 - for large orchestra 33.12 Total time 91.03 Other musical examples (not part of the portfolio) Sette archi spezzati 2013 - for small ensemble 5.28 This portfolio has three principal themes. The first, explored with the discussion of Ubi Caritas and the (2010) String Quartet, concerns the interpretation of harmony; that is harmony, plainly being the vertical component in music but having an inbuilt propensity for horizontal movement, including line and counterpoint. In echoes of Poems & Prose, there is a disregard for any horizontal reasoning, harmony is constrained to the point of isolation and focus fundamentally shifts to the chord as 'object'. I consider this 'objective' sense in detail, in subsequent music in this portfolio. A second theme hinges on a discussion of 'musical material' (the term devised by Theodor Adorno); this considered alongside Samuel Beckett's description of a relationship, between 'mess and confusion' (Beckett's terms for material) and the 'form' that contains it. In Echoes of Poems & Prose, I consider material explicitly, in particular the singular sound. With Fountains and Stato di Cambiamento control of the sounds and their overall architecture become increasingly obscure, with issues around form, substantively re-defining the compositional process. A third theme is the consideration of aspects of structure, which become of particular significance in the final pieces Triptych and Divergenza (the term 'structure' being as defined by John Cage). In Triptych, exploration is made of a confining form into which structural material grows; material that yields intensely colourful musical moments. In the final piece Divergenza, the Fibonacci sequence applies a vice-like grip on the material, but as I remove the conceptual dependence on this sequence, the music's intrinsic characteristics of rhythm and character grow to become of central importance

Institutionalising ethical cultures: an investigation of formal organisational approaches

This thesis examined the institutionalisation of ethics within Australian organisations. A particular focus is the role of the strategic apex, or executive level of the organisation, in establishing the environment in which an ethical culture can develop. The literature review examined both organisational theory and existing approaches to developing organisational ethical culture using formal mechanisms such as written policies, procedures, training and development and reinforcement strategies. This revealed the polarisation of ethics literature between compliance and integrity based approaches. This is seen to be consistent with only two forms of organizations, the mechanistic and organic structures. This was identified as a major flaw in ethics literature as it does not inform organisations about appropriate ethical design for organisations that fall in between this continuum. The review of organisational theory concluded that components of organisational structure are used to discuss organisational moral responsibility and are also the components of the compliance and integrity approaches to organisational ethics. A tentative hypothesis was established that organisational ethics systems would be more effective if they are in fit with an organisation's structure. The study utilised a qualitative case based research method, argued as appropriate given the focus being strategic alignment of organisational structure and ethics frameworks. Thus was also recognised as having limitations, specifically not addressing the behavioural impact of such strategies in a significant way. The study examined the ethical frameworks of three large organisations. This included: an analysis of background to the ethics strategy, the design process, who was given responsibility for design and implementation of the framework. The major characteristics of the program was considered, how it was encultured throughout the organisation and consideration of any evaluation mechanism. This was contrasted against the organization's structural characteristics to establish whether the ethical framework was in fit with the structure of the organization. The analysis and discussion identified that senior management support was evident in all three case studies and crucial to the development of an ethical culture. Extensive written policies (codes of ethics and conduct) were identified in all three cases; however, the extent of appropriate support systems determined the degree to which these policies were effective. There was a general lack of understanding of ethical systems within the organisation with little expertise evident by those responsible for the programs in terms of appropriate strategies for enculturation. Ineffective strategies were mainly due to lack of appropriate support mechanisms (communication, training, reinforcement and reward and review) or inconsistency between support mechanisms and other organisational policies A major conclusion of the thesis is that the strategies used for enculturation of ethics, are basic organisational design variables. As such ethical frameworks need to be informed by organisational theory so as to design systems that achieve fit which leads to greater effectiveness