The content and nature of thought

Die Dissertation prüft das Potential von Fines Semantischem Relationismus für einen kognivistischen Ansatz der Sprache und des Geistes. Hauptziel ist es, den Semantischen Relationismus als einzig angemessene Inhalstheorie für die Gedankensprache zu verteidigen, indem die Vorzüge gegenüber den wichtigsten Alternativen, dem Referentialismus und dem Fregeanismus, aufgezeigt werden. Die Arbeit soll zeigen, dass nur der Semantische Relatinismus alle Varianten des Frege Puzzles für die Gedankensprache lösen kann, und zwar in einerWeise, die die erheblichen Schwierigkeiten der alternativen Theorien umgeht. Das Ergebnis ist sowohl eine Verteidigung des Sematischen Relationismus als auch eine Bestätigung der Tragbarkeit der Hypothese einer Gedankensprache. Auf Basis der Gedankensprache und einer relationistischen Semantik stellt die Arbeit zudem eine neue Theorie der Propositionen vor, die sich erheblich von allen bestehenden Alternativen, inbegriffen der von Fine, unterscheidet. Das Endergebnis ist eine Auffassung von Propositionen als syntaktisch strukturierten mentalen Repräsentationen, die Sätze in der Gedankensprache darstellen, sowie Träger von Inhalten, die durch ihren semantischen Inhalt typindividuiert sind. Ein Kernziel der Arbeit ist es, die Vorteile dieser Auffassung gegenüber klassischen und modernen Alternativen aufzuzeigen. Die Arbeit entwickelt ihr Gesamtergebnis durch die Aufarbeitung von drei aktuellen, eng miteinander verbundenen Debatten. Erstens, das Problem, dass Freges Puzzle für Gedanken und überzegungen darstellt, insbesondere in Form von Kripkes Puzzle. Zweitens, das Problem der Typindividuierung von Symbolen in der Gedankensprache. Drittens, die Debatte um die Ontologie von Begriffen und Propositionen. Indem eine vielversprechende relationistische Lösung in diesen Problembereichen entwickelt wird, bietet die Arbeit zusätzliche Bestätigung für Fines semantische Theorie durch eine erhebliche Erweiterung ihres Anwendungsbereichs.The thesis evaluates the potential of Fine’s Semantic Relationism for a cognitivist approach to language and the mind. The main aim is to champion Semantic Relationism as the only adequate theory of content for the Language of Thought by bringing out the benefits of the theory over its main rivals, Referentialism and Fregeanism. It seeks to show that only Semantic Relationism can address all the variants of Frege’s Puzzle for the Language of Thought, and that it can do so in a way that avoids the substantial difficulties that beset other semantic theories. The main outcome is at the same time a vindication of the adopted semantic theory and a confirmation of the viability of the Language of Thought hypothesis. The thesis also offers a new theory of propositions on the basis of the Language of Thought and a Relationist semantics that differs significantly from all such presently available theories, including Fine’s. The final result is a theory of propositions as syntactically structured mental representations, which are sentences in the Language of Thought, that are content bearers individuated by their semantic content as specified by Semantic Relationism. A major objective of the thesis is to highlight the advantages of this view over both classical and current alternatives. The thesis develops its overall view by offering solutions in three closely related ongoing debates. First, the challenge posed by Frege’s Puzzle for thought and belief, Kripke’s Puzzle notably included, secondly, the problem about the proper type-individuation of Language of Thought symbol tokens, and thirdly, the debate about the ontological nature of concepts and propositions. By developing a promising Relationist response to these problems, the thesis also provides additional support to Fine’s semantic theory by considerably expanding its scope of application

Energy management engineering : a predictive energy management system incorporating an adaptive neural network for the direct heating of domestic and industrial fluid mediums.

The objective of this research project is to improve the control and provide a more cost-efficient operation in the direct heating of stored domestic or industrial fluid mediums; such to be achieved by means of an intelligent automated energy management system. For the residential customer this system concept applies to the hot water supply as stored in the familiar hot water cylinder; for the industrial or commercial customer the scope is considerably greater with larger quantities and varieties of fluid mediums. Both areas can obtain significant financial savings with improved energy management. Both consumers and power supply and distribution companies will benefit with increased utilisation of cheaper 'off-peak' electricity; reducing costs and spreading the system load demand. The project has focussed on domestic energy management with a definite view to the wider field of industrial applications. Domestic energy control methodology and equipment has not significantly altered for decades. However, computer hardware and software has since then flourished to an unprecedented proportion and has become relatively cheap and versatile; these factors pave the way for the application of computer technology in this area of great potential. The technology allows the implementation of a 'hot water energy management system', which makes a forecast of the hot water demand for the next 24 hours and proceeds to provide this demand in the most efficient manner possible. In the (near) future, the system, known as FEMS for Fluid Energy Management System, is able to take advantage and in fact will promote the use of a retail 'dynamic spot price tariff’. FEMS is a combination of hardware and software developed to replace the existing cylinder thermostat, take care of the necessary data-acquisition and control the cylinder's total energy instead of it's (single point) temperature. This provides, besides heating cost reduction, a greater accuracy, a degree of flexibility, improved feedback, legionella inhibition, and a diagnostic capability. To the domestic consumer the latter three items are of greatest relevance. The crux of the system lies in its predictive ability. Having explored the more conventional alternatives, a suitable solution was found in the utilisation of the Elman recurrent neural networks, which focus on the temporal characteristics of the hot water demand time series and are able to adapt to changing environments, coping with the presence of any non-linearity and noise in the data. Prior to developing FEMS a study was made of the basic fluid behaviour in medium and high pressure domestic hot water cylinders, an area not well-covered to date and of interest to engineers and manufacturers alike. For this step data acquisition equipment and software was purposely created. The control software plus equipment were combined into a fully automated test system with minimal operator input, allowing a large amount of data to be gathered over a period measured in months. A similar system was subsequently used to collect actual hot water demand data from a residential family, and in fact forms the basis for FEMS. Finally an enhanced version of FEMS is discussed and it is shown how the system is able to output multiple prediction and utilise varying tariff rates

Optimizing Prosthetic Gait: Balancing capacity and load

Haan, A. de [Promotor]Woude, L.H.V. van der [Promotor]Houdijk, J.H.P. [Copromotor

Light-switchable Metal-Organic Cages

Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr

Photoswitchable molecular tweezers: isomerization to control substrate binding, and what about vice versa?

NWOSupramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr

Light-Modulated Self-Blockage of a Urea Binding Site in a Stiff-Stilbene Based Anion Receptor

Anion binding to a receptor based on stiff‐stilbene, which is equipped with a urea hydrogen bond donating group and a phosphate or phosphinate hydrogen bond accepting group, can be controlled by light. In one photoaddressable state (E isomer) the urea binding site is available for binding, while in the other (Z isomer) it is blocked because of an intramolecular interaction with its hydrogen bond accepting motif. This intramolecular interaction is supported by DFT calculations and 1H NMR titrations reveal a significantly lower anion binding strength for the state in which anion binding is blocked. Furthermore, the molecular switching processhas been studied in detail by UV/Vis and NMR spectroscopy. The presented approach opens up new opportunities toward the development of photoresponsive anion receptors.Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr

Stiff‐Stilbene Photoswitches: From Fundamental Studies to Emergent Applications

Stiff‐stilbene, a sterically restricted fused ring analogue of stilbene, has been regularly used as a model compound in theoretical studies of stilbene photoisomerization. Lately, owing to its excellent photoswitching properties, it is increasingly being applied to reversibly control the properties and function of chemical as well as biological systems. Stiff‐stilbene photoswitches possess a number of advantageous properties including a high quantum yield for photoisomerization and a high thermal stability. Furthermore, they undergo a large geometrical change upon isomerization and their synthesis is straightforward. Herein, we provide an overview of the basic properties of stiff‐stilbene and of recent applications in supramolecular chemistry, catalysis, and biological systems.Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr

Anion-induced reversible actuation of squaramide-crosslinked polymer gels

NWOSupramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr

Visible-Light-Driven Tunable Molecular Motors Based on Oxindole

Molecular rotary motors based on oxindole which can be driven by visible light are presented. This novel class of motors can be easily synthesized via a Knoevenagel condensation, and the choice of different upper halves allows for the facile tuning of their rotational speed. The four-step rotational cycle was explored using DFT calculations, and the expected photochemical and thermal isomerization behavior was confirmed by NMR, UV/vis, and CD spectroscopy. These oxindole motors offer attractive prospects for functional materials responsive to light