A fresh look on the role of the second kind of knowledge in Spinoza’s Ethics

In this paper, through a close reading of Spinoza's use of common notions I argue for the role of experiential and experimental knowledge in Spinoza's epistemology

Inherence of False Beliefs in Spinoza’s Ethics

In this paper I argue, based on a comparison of Spinoza's and Descartes‟s discussion of error, that beliefs are affirmations of the content of imagination that is not false in itself, only in relation to the object. This interpretation is an improvement both on the winning ideas reading and on the interpretation reading of beliefs. Contrary to the winning ideas reading it is able to explain belief revision concerning the same representation. Also, it does not need the assumption that I misinterpret my otherwise correct ideas as the interpretation reading would have it. In the first section I will provide a brief overview of the notion of inherence and its role in Spinoza‟s discussion of the status of finite minds. Then by examining the relation between Spinoza‟s and Descartes‟ distinction of representations and attitudes, I show that affirmation can be identified with beliefs in Spinoza. Next, I will take a closer look at the identification of intellect and will and argue that Spinoza's identification of the two is based on the fact that Spinoza sees both as the active aspect of the mind. After that, I analyze Spinoza‟s comments on the different scopes of will and intellect, and argue that beliefs are affirmations of the imaginative content of the idea. Finally, through Spinoza‟s example of the utterance of mathematical error, I present my solution to the problem of inherence of false beliefs

Is Spinoza’s theory of Finite Mind Coherent? – Death, Affectivity and Epistemology in the Ethics

In this paper I examine the question whether Spinoza can account for the necessity of death. I argue that he cannot because within his ethical intellectualist system the subject cannot understand the cause of her death, since by understanding it renders it harmless. Then, I argue that Spinoza could not solve this difficulties because of deeper commitments of his system. At the end I draw a historical parallel to the problem from medieval philosophy

Unofficial Economic Activities and Fiscal Discipline in Hungary as Mirrored in Consecutive Enterprise Surveys on Tax Behaviour

The paper focuses on a segment of the hidden economy, i. e. on unofficial (unreported) economic activities of registered medium and large enterprises in Hungary. First we place the problem into a broader context, then we delimit those segments of unofficial economic activities our surveys are able to catch. The data from our 1996,1998 and 2001 enterprise surveys put us into a unique position: we are able to analyse the dynamics of some components of the hidden economy during the transition. Our surveys focus on the everyday practice of tax evasion and tax avoidance (including some of the various methods and techniques enterprises use to diminish their tax liabilities). These methods include underreporting activities and revenues, exaggerating (over-reporting) costs, using outsourcing to small subcontractors in order to provide “tax-efficient” labour, tailor-made remuneration packages to take advantage of loopholes, etc. While some of the tax planning methods clearly remain within the realm of legality, others may include tax dodging of the illegal kind. The borderlines between avoidance and evasion are necessarily blurred. We also deal with some other aspects of fiscal discipline and tax compliance and enterprise behaviour (tax delays, tax litigation, etc .). Our data unanimously support the hypothesis that the importance of unofficial economic activity of registered medium and large enterprises radically diminished since 1996. As we also have information about the selected enterprise group’s opinion on the unofficial activities of their business partners and main domestic competitors, our data enable us to generalise this finding to the whole registered business sector.

Control apparatus

Although the method and apparatus of the present invention can be utilized to apply either a uniform or a nonuniform covering of material over many different workpieces, the apparatus (20) is advantageously utilized to apply a thermal barrier covering (64) to an airfoil (22) which is used in a turbine engine. The airfoil is held by a gripper assembly (86) while a spray gun (24) is effective to apply the covering over the airfoil. When a portion of the covering has been applied, a sensor (28) is utilized to detect the thickness of the covering. A control apparatus (32) compares the thickness of the covering of material which has been applied with the desired thickness and is subsequently effective to regulate the operation of the spray gun to adaptively apply a covering of a desired thickness with an accuracy of at least plus or minus 0.0015 inches (1.5 mils) despite unanticipated process variations

Airfoil

Although the method and apparatus of the present invention can be utilized to apply either a uniform or a nonuniform covering of material over many different workpieces, the apparatus (20) is advantageously utilized to apply a thermal barrier covering (64) to an airfoil (22) which is used in a turbine engine. The airfoil is held by a gripper assembly (86) while a spray gun (24) is effective to apply the covering over the airfoil. When a portion of the covering has been applied, a sensor (28) is utilized to detect the thickness of the covering. A control apparatus (32) compares the thickness of the covering of material which has been applied with the desired thickness and is subsequently effective to regulate the operation of the spray gun to adaptively apply a covering of a desired thickness with an accuracy of at least plus or minus 0.0015 of an inch (1.5 mils) despite unanticipated process variations

Das lokale System der mithraischen Personifikationen im Gebiet von Poetovio

Avtor obravnava posebno skupino mitričnih posvetil, ki so značilna za Podonavske rimske province, namreč Natura dei, Petra genetrix, Fons perennis in Transitus dei. Vse kaže, da se je ta skupina posvetil širila iz Poetovione, in sicer kmalupotem, ko se je kult tam pojavil, to je v prvi polovici 2. stoletja. Rezultati:1. Omenjena posvetila so povezana s kozmološkim ozadjem mitraizma in ponazarjajo menjavo letnih časov.2. Z gotovostjo je mogoče trditi, da so se najprej pojavila v Poetovioni.3. Možno je, da je začetnik teh dedikacij kak lokalni »prerok« v Poetovioni

Method and apparatus for use in making an object

Although the method and apparatus of the present invention can be utilized to apply either a uniform or a nonuniform covering of material over many different workpieces, the apparatus (20) is advantageously utilized to apply a thermal barrier covering (64) to an airfoil (22) which is used in a turbine engine. The airfoil is held by a gripper assembly (86) while a spray gun (24) is effective to apply the covering over the airfoil. When a portion of the covering has been applied, a sensor (28) is utilized to detect the thickness of the covering. A control apparatus (32) compares the thickness of the covering of material which has been applied with the desired thickness and is subsequently effective to regulate the operation of the spray gun to adaptively apply a covering of a desired thickness with an accuracy of at least plus or minus 0.0015 inches (1.5 mils) despite unanticipated process variations