The modal account of luck revisited

According to the canonical formulation of the modal account of luck [e.g. Pritchard (2005)], an event is lucky just when that event occurs in the actual world but not in a wide class of the nearest possible worlds where the relevant conditions for that event are the same as in the actual world. This paper argues, with reference to a novel variety of counterexample, that it is a mistake to focus, when assessing a given event for luckiness, on events distributed over just the nearest possible worlds. More specifically, our objection to the canonical formulation of the modal account of luck reveals that whether an event is lucky depends crucially on events distributed over all possible worlds–viz., across the modal universe. It is shown that an amended modal account of luck which respects this point has the additional virtue of avoiding a notable kind of counterexample to modal accounts of luck proposed by Lackey (2008)

Not knowing a cat is a cat: analyticity and knowledge ascriptions

It is a natural assumption in mainstream epistemological theory that ascriptions of knowledge of a proposition p track strength of epistemic position vis-à-vis p. It is equally natural to assume that the strength of one’s epistemic position is maximally high in cases where p concerns a simple analytic truth (as opposed to an empirical truth). For instance, it seems reasonable to suppose that one's epistemic position vis-à-vis “a cat is a cat” is harder to improve than one's position vis-à-vis “a cat is on the mat”, and consequently, that the former is at least as unambiguous a case of knowledge as the latter. The current paper, however, presents empirical evidence which challenges this intuitive line of reasoning. Our study on the epistemic intuitions of hundreds of academic philosophers supports the idea that simple and uncontroversial analytic propositions are less likely to qualify as knowledge than empirical ones. We show that our results, though at odds with orthodox theories of knowledge in mainstream epistemology, can be explained in a way consistent with Wittgenstein's remarks on 'hinge propositions' or with Stalnaker's pragmatics of assertion. We then present and evaluate a number of lines of response mainstream theories of knowledge could appeal to in accommodating our results. Finally, we show how each line of response runs into some prima facie difficulties. Thus, our observed asymmetry between knowing “a cat is a cat” and knowing “a cat is on the mat” presents a puzzle which mainstream epistemology needs to resolve

Topological charge unfreezing with AMReX

A new approach to the problem of topological freezing in gauge theories is introduced in which a physical volume preserving coarsening of the lattice induces sufficient energy variation in the Hamiltonian to overcome large topological barriers. Though the process is not reversible, the physical volume preserving aspect minimises the time spent rethermalisating the lattice after coarsening periods, which we then treat as a new ensemble disjoint from previous runs. We have tested this technique on the pure gauge 2D Schwinger model and find that topological sampling rates are improved. We also demonstrate that autocorrelation times for extensive observables are restored to their pre-coarsening values after coarsening periods over a acceptably short simulation time.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

A Manual for OT Educators and OT Students in a Level II Fieldwork Experience in Hand Therapy

According to Leatherwood (1997), approximately 30% of all emergency room injuries are injuries of the upper extremity, amounting to 16 million hand injuries per year seen in the United States. According to the Arthritis Foundation (2008), an estimated 46 million adults in the United States (21 %) report having doctor diagnosed arthritis. Traumatic injuries and cumulative trauma such as arthritis are two of the diagnostic categories most commonly treated by hand therapists in the United States and Canada (Muenzen et aI., 2002). Often, occupational therapists who specialize in the treatment of clients with upper extremity disorders are responsible for treating persons with the aforementioned diagnoses. Educational backgrounds of these students vary but often include student engagement in an optional hand therapy fieldwork or internship. As these fieldworks are optional, it is obvious that smaller quantity occupational therapy (OT) students engage in these experiences than in required fieldworks and, consequently, it is likely that fewer hand therapy clinics have structure fieldwork protocols for students and fieldwork educators. Currently, there is no published manual for an OT fieldwork in hand therapy. This scholarly project has addressed the need for a manual for OT students and OT fieldwork educators in a Level II hand therapy fieldwork. A review of literature revealed a lack of information for OT students in a Level II hand therapy fieldwork. The literature search provided information on competencies of an entry-level hand therapist, diagnostic categories treated by hand therapists, and the VI therapeutic procedures utilized in treatment. The literature search also focused on Level II fieldwork in occupational therapy, including benefits and barriers for OT students, fieldwork educators, and fieldwork sites. We found that OT students identified a need for fieldwork educators to provide structure, clear learning objectives, and student expectations to maximize the student\u27s learning potential and reduce stress throughout a twelve-week Level II fieldwork experience in hand therapy (Mulholland & Derdall, 2007). Based on the literature findings, a product was developed to guide OT students and fieldwork educators in a Level II fieldwork experience in hand therapy. The information in the manual was selected and ordered according to commonality in hand therapy practice, level of complexity, and relation to other learning objectives being addressed simultaneously. Several hand therapy texts illustrated a similar organization of the material included in the manual (Burk et aI., 2005; Cooper, 2006; Mackin et aI. 2002; Weiss & Falkenstein, 2005). The topics addressed included, but are not limited to, anatomy, measurement, evaluation, physical agent modalities, splinting, simple trauma, complex trauma, and cumulative trauma. The overall goals of this manual and scholarly project were to provide stucture, clear learning objectives, and student expectations for OT students and OT fieldwork educators to maximize the student\u27s learning potential and identify the areas that should be addressed by the fieldwork educator during a twelve-week Level II fieldwork in hand therapy