37,114 research outputs found
Objectionable thick concepts in denials
So-called "thick" moral concepts are distinctive in that they somehow "hold together" evaluation and description. But how? This paper argues against the standard view that the evaluations which thick concepts may be used to convey belong to sense or semantic content. That view cannot explain linguistic data concerning how thick concepts behave in a distinctive type of disagreements and denials which arise when one speaker regards another's thick concept as "objectionable" in a certain sense. The paper also briefly considers contextualist, presuppositional, and implicature accounts of the evaluative contents of thick concepts, but finds none clearly superior to the others
Quantum Simulations of One-Dimensional Nanostructures under Arbitrary Deformations
A powerful technique is introduced for simulating mechanical and
electromechanical properties of one-dimensional nanostructures under arbitrary
combinations of bending, twisting, and stretching. The technique is based on a
novel control of periodic symmetry, which eliminates artifacts due to
deformation constraints and quantum finite-size effects, and allows transparent
electronic structure analysis. Via density-functional tight-binding
implementation, the technique demonstrates its utility by predicting novel
electromechanical properties in carbon nanotubes and abrupt behavior in the
structural yielding of Au7 and MoS nanowires. The technique drives simulations
markedly closer to the realistic modeling of these slender nanostructures under
experimental conditions.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 1 vide
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