On the Banality of Literary Truths

The propositional theory of literary truth says that the purpose of literary works is to express propositions. One objection to this theory is that the propositions that can be extracted from literary works are too banal to constitute the purpose of those works. This paper defends the propositional theory against this objection

Experimental and computational investigation of multi-principal element alloys

Multi-principal element (MPE) alloys, unlike traditional alloys, consist of five or more principal elements with near equi-atomic compositions creating a large new compositional space for exploring new alloy possibilities. However, designing MPE alloys with the desired phases, microstructures and properties is challenging task, and there is a demand for basic research for a better understanding of structure-processing-property relations in these alloys. In this Ph.D. research, different computational models and experiments were integrated to study phase formations, and mechanical properties of different MPE alloys. Density functional theory (DFT) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations were used to determine crystal structures, phase stability, and plastic deformation mechanisms. A modified thermodynamic approach was developed to calculate the phase diagrams of MPE alloys, and the accuracy of this approach was tested against commercial software. Experimental casting and characterization, and literature data were used to validate modeling predictions. The phase diagram calculations of AlFeCoNiCu HEA showed coexistence of two phases at room temperature and stabilization of one phase above 1070 K at the equiatomic composition. The characterization experiments confirmed the crystal structures and composition of phases. To investigate the plastic deformation mechanisms and ductilities of CoCrFeNi-based HEAs, unstable and intrinsic stacking fault and unstable twinning energies were determined by DFT calculations. Finally, the effects of interstitial carbon on the phase formations in AlxFeCoCrNiCu HEAs were investigated, showing formation of different possible carbides and inter-granular graphite --Abstract, page iv

Leonard Meyer. Style and Music: Theory, History and Ideology. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989. xi, 376 pages. Studies in the Criticism and Theory of Music.

Leonard Meyer's splendid new book, Style and Music: Theory, History and Ideology, provides a rich feast of food for musical thought and (inevitably) for musical controversy. Theorists will, of course, be drawn to the author's nuts-and-bolts functional analyses of the various musical passages he discusses in making his argument; and music historians, doubtless, will find much to stimulate them, as well as to argue about, in his historical characterization of the Classical and Romantic periods in music and of their relevant social, political, and philosophical backgrounds. But philosophers of art like myself will surely fasten upon Meyer's bold attempt to connect the pure musical parameters of syntax and structure to the reigning ideologies with which they co-exist. Nor, I think, will it be out of place to concentrate on this attempt in the present review essay; for it is the major theme and argument of Meyer's book. I call the attempt to connect music and ideology "bold" because-and I think Meyer would agree-this is one of the most difficult and contentious things to make out in the "philosophy of music." In my view, it is one of the two master problems of the discipline, the other, to which it is obviously related, being the problem of making out exactly what the nature is, in the first place, of the aesthetic satisfaction we take in absolute music, given that such music seems, at least on the surface, bereft of semantic or representational content, and, yet, has come to occupy a place in the pantheon no less prominent than that accorded the semantic and representational arts

Formation of chromium-iron carbide by carbon diffusion in AlₓCoCrFeNiCu high-entropy alloys

Effect of the addition of carbon on phase formations in AlxCoCrFeNiCu (x = 0.3, 1.5, 2.8) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) was studied. Free diffusion of carbon from graphite crucible resulted in the partitioning of the entire Cr from the matrix and the formation of the (Cr,Fe)23C6 phase in all HEAs. No other metal-carbide phase was detected. The formation of (Cr,Fe)23C6 enhanced the overall hardness of the HEAs. By increasing the amount of Al, the Cr amount decreased resulting in the reduction of carbon diffusion and volume fraction of the (Cr,Fe)23C6 phase in HEAs. The hardness of matrix phases and the overall hardness of HEAs increased with an increase in the amount of Al

Aesthetics and literature : a problematic relation?

The paper argues that there is a proper place for literature within aesthetics but that care must be taken in identifying just what the relation is. In characterising aesthetic pleasure associated with literature it is all too easy to fall into reductive accounts, for example, of literature as merely "fine writing". Belleslettrist or formalistic accounts of literature are rejected, as are two other kinds of reduction, to pure meaning properties and to a kind of narrative realism. The idea is developed that literature-both poetry and prose fiction-invites its own distinctive kind of aesthetic appreciation which far from being at odds with critical practice, in fact chimes well with it