"Acquired wit" and Hobbesian education

This thesis analyzes and evaluates the scheme for civil education discussed in Thomas Hobbes’ political works. Hobbes argues in The Elements of Law, De Cive, and Leviathan that the preservation of political order requires that all subjects learn the rationally grounded principles of political theory. Some contemporary scholarship on this aspect of Hobbes’ political philosophy has confined its understanding of “Hobbesian education” to this: the sovereign’s system of true civil doctrines and the means for their dissemination. I argue that for the system of Hobbesian civil doctrines to function as it is intended, a public must also receive instruction in formal argumentation, a skill Hobbes calls “acquired wit” (L viii.13). I will show that the subjects’ cultivation of their individual reasoning abilities is required so the subjects are able to (1) understand the philosophical foundations of the sovereign’s power, (2) sufficiently resist the allure of obfuscating eloquence and other falsehoods, and (3) conduct themselves in accordance with Hobbes’ natural laws. Civil peace in a Hobbesian system requires that the public be able to tell the difference between sound and unsound inferences. If Hobbes did intend for the sovereign to instruct the public in “acquired wit,” contemporary scholars who have offered sympathetic appraisals of Hobbesian education are further vindicated

Subleading long-range interactions and violations of finite size scaling

We study the behavior of systems in which the interaction contains a long-range component that does not dominate the critical behavior. Such a component is exemplified by the van der Waals force between molecules in a simple liquid-vapor system. In the context of the mean spherical model with periodic boundary conditions we are able to identify, for temperatures close above $T_c$, finite-size contributions due to the {\it subleading} term in the interaction that are {\it dominant} in this region decaying algebraically as a function of $L$. This mechanism goes beyond the standard formulation of the finite-size scaling but is to be expected in real physical systems. We also discuss other ways in which critical point behavior is modified that are of relevance for analysis of Monte Carlo simulations of such systems.Comment: The version to be printe

X575: writing rengas with web services

Our software system simulates the classical collaborative Japanese poetry form, renga, made of linked haikus. We used NLP methods wrapped up as web services. Our experiments were only a partial success, since results fail to satisfy classical constraints. To gather ideas for future work, we examine related research in semiotics, linguistics, and computing.Comment: 4 pages; submitted to CC-NLG - Computational Creativity in Natural Language Generatio

Job Vacancy Chains and Local Employment Creation; the Case of Supply-Side Restrictions

The job-chains model of local labor market change is a demand-driven analytic device for estimating the effects of new job creation. This paper explores the effects of restricting supply, i.e. limiting job access, on the model’s primary outcomes: vacancy chain multipliers, welfare effects and distributional impacts. Major sources of labor supply are the local unemployed, out of the labor force and in-migrants. Three simulations are reported relating to 1) restricting new jobs to current local residents (i.e. no in-migrants), 2) restricting new jobs to current residents in the first round of hiring only and 3) restricting hiring to local unemployed/out of labor force on the first round alone. The results are compared to the basic model that assumes no supply-side restrictions. In terms of chain length, welfare effects, distributional impacts and policy palatability, first round restrictions on in-migrants would seem to be the most plausible option. However, as an economic development strategy,well targeted demand-side initiatives would still seem to be preferable.

Behavioral synthesis from VHDL using structured modeling

This dissertation describes work in behavioral synthesis involving the development of a VHDL Synthesis System VSS which accepts a VHDL behavioral input specification and performs technology independent synthesis to generate a circuit netlist of generic components. The VHDL language is used for input and output descriptions. An intermediate representation which incorporates signal typing and component attributes simplifies compilation and facilitates design optimization.A Structured Modeling methodology has been developed to suggest standard VHDL modeling practices for synthesis. Structured modeling provides recommendations for the use of available VHDL description styles so that optimal designs will be synthesized.A design composed of generic components is synthesized from the input description through a process of Graph Compilation, Graph Criticism, and Design Compilation. Experiments were performed to demonstrate the effects of different modeling styles on the quality of the design produced by VSS. Several alternative VHDL models were examined for each benchmark, illustrating the improvements in design quality achieved when Structured Modeling guidelines were followed