Ciric's fixed point theorem in a cone metric space

In this paper, we extend a fixed point theorem due to Ciric to a cone metric space.Comment: To appear in TJNS

On Pain and the Privation Theory of Evil

The paper argues that pain is not a good counter-example to the privation theory of evil. Objectors to the privation thesis see pain as too real to be accounted for in privative terms. However, the properties for which pain is intuitively thought of as real, i.e. its localised nature, intensity, and quality are features of the senso-somatic aspect of pain. This is a problem for the objectors because, as findings of modern science clearly demonstrate, the senso-somatic aspect of pain is neurologically and clinically separate from the emotional-psychological aspect of suffering. The intuition that what seems so real in pain is also the source of pain’s negative value thus falls apart. As far as the affective aspect of pain, i.e. ”painfulness’ is concerned, it cannot refute the privation thesis either. For even if this is indeed the source of pain’s badness, the affective aspect is best accounted for in privative terms of loss and negation. The same holds for the effect of pain on the aching person

One Observation behind Two-Envelope Puzzles

In two famous and popular puzzles a participant is required to compare two numbers of which she is shown only one. In the first one there are two envelopes with money in them. The sum of money in one of the envelopes is twice as large as the other sum. An envelope is selected at random and handed to you. If the sum in this envelope is x, then the sum in the other one is (1/2)(2x) + (1/2)(0.5x) = 1.25x. Hence, you are better off switching to the other envelope no matter what sum you see, which is paradoxical. In the second puzzle two distinct numbers are written on two slips of paper. One of them is selected at random and you observe it. How can you guess, with probability greater than 1/2 of being correct, whether this number is the larger or the smaller? We show that there is one principle behind the two puzzles: The ranking of n random variables X1, ... , Xn cannot be independent of each of them, unless the ranking is fixed. Thus, unless there is nothing to be learned about the ranking, there must be at least one variable the observation of which conveys information about it.two envelope paradox

What if Achilles and the tortoise were to bargain? An argument against interim agreements

Zeno's paradoxes of motion, which claim that moving from one point to another cannot be accomplished in finite time, seem to be of serious concern when moving towards an agreement is concerned. Parkinson's Law of Triviality implies that such an agreement cannot be reached in finite time. By explicitly modeling dynamic processes of reaching interim agreements and using arguments similar to Zeno's, we show that if utilities are von Neumann-Morgenstern, then no such process can bring about an agreement in finite time in linear bargaining problems. To extend this result for all bargaining problems, we characterize a particular path illustrated by \cite{ra}, and show that no agreement is reached along this path in finite time.Zeno's paradox, bargaining problems, interim agreements, vNM utility