Despair, Liberation, and Everyday Life: Two Bundle Views of Personal Identity

This paper, intended for general readership, discusses the real-life effects that personal identity theory either has had or has apparently failed to have upon two philosophers: David Hume and Derek Parfit. Both arrive at similar and quite radical beliefs about personal identity. And both have documented the difficulty of sustaining these beliefs in their day-to-day lives. For those considering embarking upon philosophical study – whether formally or not – this last point may seem discouraging, reinforcing a picture of a discipline that even on the admission of its own practitioners has little impact on everyday life or concerns. I explore these two philosophers’ views on personal identity in some detail, and outline the conflicts which they claim to exist between their philosophical and non-philosophical thinking. I will go on to propose that these conflicts do not in fact reinforce an opposition between everyday life and philosophy

Scraping Down the Past: Memory and Amnesia in W. G. Sebald\u27s Anti-narrative

Vanguard anti-narrativist Galen Strawson declares personal memory unimportant for self-constitution. But what if lapses of personal memory are sustained by a morally reprehensible amnesia about historical events, as happens in the work of German author W. G. Sebald? The importance of memory cannot be downplayed in such cases. Nevertheless, contrary to expectations, a concern for memory needn’t ally one with the narrativist view of the self. Recovery of historical and personal memory results in self-dissolution and not self-unity or understanding in Sebald’s characters. In the end, Sebald shows how memory can be significant, even imperative, within a deeply anti-narrativist outlook on the self, memory, and history

Hirsch, Sebald, and the Uses and Limits of Postmemory

Marianne Hirsch’s influential concept of postmemory articulates the ethical significance of representing trauma in art and literature. Postmemory, for Hirsch, “describes the relationship of children of survivors of cultural or collective trauma to the experiences of their parents, experiences that they ‘remember’ only as the narratives and images with which they grew up, but that are so powerful, so monumental, as to constitute memories in their own right”. Through appeal to philosophical work on memory, the ethics of remembering, and Peter Goldie’s discussion of empathy, I explore the virtues and limitations of Hirsch’s concept of postmemory, and the risks involved in empathic engagement in the past of another. This analysis informs my rejection of Hirsch’s attempt to place German author W.G. Sebald in league with the postmemory generation

Axial residual stresses in boron fibers

The axial residual stress distribution as a function of radius was determined from the fiber surface to the core including the average residual stress in the core. Such measurements on boron on tungsten (B/W) fibers show that the residual stresses for 102, 142, 203, and 366 micron diameter fibers were similar, being compressive at the surface and changing monotonically to a region of tensile within the boron. At approximately 25 percent of the original radius, the stress reaches a maximum tensile stress of about 860 mn/sq.m and then decreases to a compressive stress near the tungsten boride core. Data were presented for 203 micron diameter B/W fibers that show annealing above 900 C reduces the residual stresses. A comparison between 102 micron diameter B/W and boron on carbon (b/C) shows that the residual stresses were similar in the outer regions of the fibers, but that large differences near and in the core were observed. The effects of these residual stresses on the fracture of boron fibers were discussed

Longitudinal residual stresses in boron fibers

A method of measuring the longitudinal residual stress distribution in boron fibers is presented. The residual stresses in commercial CVD boron on tungsten fibers of 102, 142, and 203 microns (4, 5.6, and 8 mil) diameters were determined. Results for the three sizes show a compressive stress at the surface 800 to -1400 MN/sq m 120 to -200 ksi), changing monotonically to a region of tensile stress within the boron. At approximately 25 percent of the original radius, the stress reaches a maximum tensile 600 to 1000 MN/sq m(90 to 150 ksi) and then decreases to compressive near the tungsten boride core. The core itself is under a compressive stress of approximately -1300 MN/sq m (-190 ksi). The effects of surface removal on core residual stress and core-initiated fracture are discussed

Residual stresses in boron/tungsten and boron/carbon fibers

By measuring the change in fracture stress of 203 micrometer diameter fibers of boron on tungsten (B/W) as a function of fiber diameter as reduced by chemical etching, it is shown that the flaws which limit B/W fiber strength are located at the surface and in the tungsten boride core. After etching to a diameter of 188 micrometers m virtually all fiber fractures were caused by core flaws, the average strength being 4.50 GN/sq m. If both the surface and core flaws are removed, the fracture strength, limited by flaws in the boron itself, is approximately 6.89 GN/sq m. This was measured on B/W fibers which were split longitudinally and had their cores removed by chemical etching. The longitudinal residual stress distribution was determined for 102 micrometer diameter B/W and B/C fibers

spotlight europe #2013/04, May 2013: The Changing Face of North Africa. An Opportunity for and with Europe.

North Africa is changing fast, and its youthful societies look back with pride at their recent uprisings. However, they are also getting frustrated by the fact that the economic outlook is not improving. Europe’s role in the strategically important southern Mediterranean area needs to be realigned in order to promote the development of democracy, employment opportunities, and security. There is a great deal of potential for cooperation with Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt

Calculation of residual principal stresses in CVD boron on carbon filaments

A three-dimensional finite element model of the chemical vapor deposition of boron on a carbon substrate (B/C) is developed. The model includes an expansion of the boron after deposition due to atomic rearrangement and includes creep of the boron and carbon. Curves are presented showing the variation of the principal residual stresses and the filament elongation with the parameters defining deposition strain and creep. The calculated results are compared with experimental axial residual stress and elongation measurements made on B/C filaments. For good agreement between calculated and experimental results, the deposited boron must continue to expand after deposition, and the build up of residual stresses must be limited by significant boron and carbon creep rates

System measures unidirectional forces, excludes extraneous forces

System measures unidirectional force without interference from other directional forces. The measuring apparatus is mounted so that it only moves vertically and is constrained from horizontal and rotational movement. This system can be used to accurately measure small forces in one direction, or as an analytic balance