The Value of Mathematics within the ‘Republic’

In this paper I examine two prominent views regarding the value of mathematics within the republic. One view, formulated by Julia Annas, gives mathematics only instrumental value while the second view, attributed to M.F. Burnyeat, states that mathematics is constitutive of the Good. I will end up arguing, contrary to both views, that mathematics plays not only an instrumental role but also that it is also good “just for itself.” In other words, I place mathematics within the second category of goods defined at the start of Book II- good just for itself as well as good for its consequences

Hume and the Cause of Inductive Inferences

I present Hume’s problem of induction and a puzzle that initially arises from the conclusion to the problem. In order to solve the puzzle I will present two ways we can understand Hume’s conclusion. I argue that the second interpretation provides an especially charitable account of what Hume intends to prove with the problem. On this interpretation, Hume is concerned with the cause of an inductive inference. I present three arguments in favor of this reading and conclude by summarizing Hume’s negative conclusion about induction

Stalin's PowerPoint

Explores several case studies from the history of data design and visualization in the Soviet Union of the inter-war period

Toward a Computational Archaeology of Fictional Space

In this paper I propose to reconsider theories of diegetic space that rely on explicit framing (i.e., "two people walk into a room" or "in Spain"). Rather than looking for maps, I define space in terms of lexical categories denoting objects. The emphasis on objects leads to a method for literary archaeology, informed by cognitive theory and anthropology. If the universe is made of atoms, a fictional world is also made up of atomic relationships that form basic, stable configurations, or what I call narratological primes. I construct several such basic spatial buildings blocks here—diegetic density and clutter distance. Their application to a well-explored body of nineteenth-century novels challenges several long-standing historical intuitions related to the development of material culture in the nineteenth century

Function and tissue focus of daf-18/PTEN in maintaining blast cell multipotency and quiescence in Caenorhabditis elegans dauer larvae

Cellular quiescence, a reversible state of cell-cycle exit, and developmental potential, the ability to differentiate into appropriate cell types, are properties essential for normal development and stem cell function (reviewed in (Cheung and Rando, 2013; Fiore et al., 2018; Mihaylova et al., 2014). Understanding the mechanisms by which cells maintain quiescence has important implications for developmental biology, as this reversible state of cell-cycle exit is a key attribute of stem cells, as well as for cancer biology, as quiescence plays a key role in tumor dormancy and metastasis. Environmental conditions are key in regulating whether stem cells maintain quiescence or exit to resume divisions and developmentally progress. I aim to investigate how the properties of quiescence and developmental potential are retained over long periods of time and how they are appropriately regulated by external environmental inputs. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an excellent model for investigating both of these questions because it is capable of entering and maintaining a developmentally arrested state for an unusually long time compared to the normal lifetime of the worm, and because the decision to enter this arrest is regulated entirely by external environmental inputs (Cassada and Russell, 1975). Upon encountering conditions unfavorable for growth, C. elegans enters an alternative, developmentally arrested state called dauer diapause in which precursor cells remain quiescent for months – a period many times the lifespan of a worm grown under favorable conditions (Cassada and Russell, 1975). Maintaining precursors in this arrested state is important in order for the worms to develop normally once conditions improve and requires components of the conserved Insulin/Insulin-like (IIS) signaling pathway (Karp and Greenwald 2013 and this work); of note, the IIS pathway also regulates mammalian quiescence (Eijkelenboom and Burgering, 2013). Canonical regulation of dauer diapause includes IIS, TGFß, and dafachronic acid (DA)/nuclear hormone receptor (NHR) signaling (reviewed in (Murphy and Hu, 2013a)). Here, I investigate how DAF-18, the sole C. elegans ortholog of the tumor suppressor PTEN (Phosphatase and tensin homolog) (Gil et al., 1999; Mihaylova et al., 1999; Ogg and Ruvkun, 1998; Rouault et al., 1999), maintains quiescence in dauer through regulation of these conserved signaling pathways using the C. elegans gonad as a model. The gonad is composed of somatic cells and the germline. Both the somatic gonad and germline develop post-embryonically from precursor cells present when dauer arrest occurs, and these precursor cells remain quiescent for the duration of dauer diapause (Cassada and Russell, 1975; Hong et al., 1998; Narbonne and Roy, 2006). After exit from dauer, division and differentiation resume. DAF-18/PTEN is required for germline quiescence during dauer diapause (Narbonne and Roy, 2006), and my results implicate DAF-18/PTEN in the control of quiescence of the somatic tissues as well, including the somatic gonad. In this role, DAF-18/PTEN activity in the somatic gonad non-autonomously coordinates both germline stem cell (GSC) and somatic gonad blast (SGB) quiescence. I have demonstrated this somatic gonad focus through mosaic analysis, tissue-specific rescue, and tissue-specific excision mosaics. We propose that DAF-18/PTEN mediates production of a signal promoting quiescence from the somatic gonad to the SGBs and GSCs and that this signal does not absolutely require or solely target the IIS, TGFß, or DA/NHR signaling pathways normally implicated in regulation of dauer diapause

The Emergence of American Formalism

The American Formalist archive presents compelling evidence for a movement concerned with the techniques of mass literary production. Contemporaneous and in some cases antecedent to European formalisms, the American school contributed to a significant expansion of letters, affecting both the theory and the practice of “industrial modernism.” In the arc of the book’s argument, the mass deployment of literary technique represents a significant early step toward the automation of creative labor. Mounting a concerted attack on the Romantic notion of authorship, the formalists advanced a program of teachable technique, by which habits of writing well-the good and the beautiful—could be distilled, refined, and transmitted to an emerging class of professional writers

The Value of Mathematics within the \u27Republic\u27

In this paper I examine two prominent views regarding the value of mathematics within the republic. One view, formulated by Julia Annas, gives mathematics only instrumental value while the second view, attributed to M.F. Burnyeat, states that mathematics is constitutive of the Good. I will end up arguing, contrary to both views, that mathematics plays not only an instrumental role but also that it is also good “just for itself.” In other words, I place mathematics within the second category of goods defined at the start of Book II- good just for itself as well as good for its consequences

Coherent resonant tunneling in ac fields

We have analyzed the tunneling transmission probability and electronic current density through resonant heterostructures in the presence of an external electromagnetic field. In this work, we compare two different models for a double barrier : In the first case the effect of the external field is taken into account by spatially dependent AC voltages and in the second one the electromagnetic field is described in terms of a photon field that irradiates homogeneously the whole sample. While in the first description the tunneling takes place mainly through photo sidebands in the case of homogeneous illumination the main effective tunneling channels correspond to the coupling between different electronic states due to photon absorption and emission. The difference of tunneling mechanisms between these configurations is strongly reflected in the transmission and current density which present very different features in both cases. In order to analyze these effects we have obtained, within the Transfer Hamiltonian framework, a general expression for the transition probability for coherent resonant tunneling in terms of the Green's function of the system.Comment: 16 pages,Figures available upon request,to appear in Phys.Rev B (15 April 1996

How Final and Non-Final Valuing Differ

How does valuing something for its own sake differ from valuing an entity for the sake of other things? Although numerous answers come to mind, many of them rule out substantive views about what is valuable for its own sake. I therefore seek to provide a more neutral way to distinguish the two valuing attitudes. Drawing from existing accounts of valuing, I argue that the two can be distinguished in terms of a conative-volitional feature. Focusing first on “non-final valuing”—i.e. valuing_ x_ for the sake of something else—I argue that it involves adopting certain reasons on account of a desire for _x_ to contribute to other things. I then show how this contrasts final valuing. The result, I argue, is a plausible account of how the two modes of valuing differ that leaves open substantive views about what all can be valued for its own sake. This is helpful because it develops a popular methodology used to explore the value of a wide range of things, including natural entities, family heirlooms, and artworks, as well as, more broadly, entities that might have “extrinsic final value.

Open Letter In Support of the Digital Humanities Studio Space at Butler Library

The Studio at Butler Library, as we imagine it, will host mix of scheduled events loosely related to digital humanities, along with providing an unstructured, community-driven workspace for all those interested in the applied aspects of book culture, data curation, knowledge design, big history, complex social systems, experimental philosophy and criticism, cultural analytics, network analysis, computational modeling, text mining, data visualization, and critical making