Transcendental Aspects, Ontological Commitments and Naturalistic Elements in Nietzsche's Thought

Nietzsche's views on knowledge have been interpreted in at least three incompatible ways - as transcendental, naturalistic or proto-deconstructionist. While the first two share a commitment to the possibility of objective truth, the third reading denies this by highlighting Nietzsche's claims about the necessarily falsifying character of human knowledge (his so-called error theory). This paper examines the ways in which his work can be construed as seeking ways of overcoming the strict opposition between naturalism and transcendental philosophy whilst fully taking into account the error theory (interpreted non-literally, as a hyperbolic warning against uncritical forms of realism). In doing so, it clarifies the nature of Nietzsche's ontological commitments, both in the early and the later work, and shows that his relation to transcendental idealism is more subtle than is allowed by naturalistic interpreters while conversely accounting for the impossibility of conceiving the conditions of the possibility of knowledge as genuinely a priori

Channel plasmon-polaritons: modal shape, dispersion, and losses

We theoretically study channel plasmon-polaritons (CPPs) with a geometry similar to that in recent experiments at telecom wavelengths (Bozhevolnyi et al., Nature 440, 508 (2006)). The CPP modal shape, dispersion relation, and losses are simulated using the multiple multipole method and the finite difference time domain technique. It is shown that, with the increase of the wavelength, the fundamental CPP mode shifts progressively towards the groove opening, ceasing to be guided at the groove bottom and becoming hybridized with wedge plasmon-polaritons running along the groove edges.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The Analytic of Finitude and the History of Subjectivity

In one of his last texts, Foucault defined his philosophical enterprise as an ?analysis of the conditions in which certain relations between subject and object are formed or modified, insofar as they are constitutive of a possible knowledge,? or again as ?the manner in which the emergence of games of truth constituted, for a particular time and place and certain individuals, the historical a priori of a possible experience.? Despite its eclipse during the genealogical period, the notion of the historical a priori is thus reaffirmed as central by later Foucault. There is, however, an essential modification with respect to its archaeological problematisation: In The Order of Things, the various historical a priori were characterized by specific relations between being and language, relations in which the subject of knowledge did not always or necessarily have a place. The Renaissance episteme was defined by the homogeneity of words and things, and its Classical counterpart by the transparent distance between being and representation, which excluded any positioning for the subject (the missing ?place of the king?). Within the archaeological configuration, only the contemporary historical a priori was characterized by the invention of a new position for the subject of knowledge, that of Man, which according to Foucault generated the Analytic of Finitude and ultimately resulted in the ?anthropological sleep? criticised at the end of The Order of Things. So although later Foucault refocuses his work around the notion of the historical a priori, he gives the notion a considerable twist whereby the conditions of truth saying are no longer referred back to an implicit connection between being and language, but to the various relations historically established between ?modes of subjectivation? and ?modes of objectification.

Is early Foucault a historian? History, history and the analytic of finitude

This paper is an exploration of the theme of history in The Order of Things, with a view to clarifying the relation between history and philosophy in Foucault?s early work. I argue that Foucault introduces, beyond the Hegelian distinction between res gestae (past deeds) and historia rerum gestarum(the history of past deeds), a third meaning for the notion: History (capitalized) as our current historical a priori or �pist�m�, succeeding Order in the Classical age. I show that methodologically speaking, this commits early Foucault to a revised form of transcendental idealism. I then examine the complex relation between History and Man, established by chapters VII and IX as the ground of our current �pist�m�. This involves an analysis of the theme of the origin in chapter IX, which in turn allows the core of this relation to be formally identified as the possibility of shifting from the empirical to the transcendental in order to distinguish between two forms of temporality, primordial and derived. I then argue that because Foucault still belongs to the very �pist�m� he is trying to describe, the content of this distinction is and must remain obscure. However, I also show that his liminary position allows him a unique insight into the problems generated by the grounding of History in Man, and examine the impact of his criticism of anthropology on his characterization of History. Finally, I draw out the consequences of these analyses for Foucault?s methodology by arguing that the latter is best characterized as a form of ?transcendental history?, meant to de-anthropomorphize the analytic of finitude while retaining its demand for a shift from the post hoc to the a priori (in a revised sense)

Virginia POST: Improving Patient- Physician Communication about End of Life Care

Educational Objectives 1. Examine the complexities of medical decision-making at the end of life and the inadequacy of advance directives alone to affect care at the end of life. 2. Demonstrate how effective communication can facilitate medical decision-making and improve congruency between care received and patient goals, priorities, and values. 3. Discuss the National POLST Paradigm and the current status of POST in Virginia

RF System Upgrades to the Advanced Photon Source Linear Accelerator in Support of the Fel Operation

The S-band linear accelerator, which was built to be the source of particles and the front end of the Advanced Photon Source injector, is now also being used to support a low-energy undulator test line (LEUTL) and to drive a free-electron laser (FEL). The more severe rf stability requirements of the FEL have resulted in an effort to identify sources of phase and amplitude instability and implement corresponding upgrades to the rf generation chain and the measurement system. Test data and improvements implemented and planned are describedComment: LC 2000 (3 pages, 6 figures