Counterfactuals, Thought Experiments and Singular Causal Analysis in History

Thought experiments are ubiquitous in science but especially prominent in domains in which experimental and observational data are scarce. Thus, for instance, when the causal analysis of singular events such as the causes of a particular war, of the rise of a culture or of the economic performance of a country in a specific historical period is at stake. A longstanding tradition in history that goes back to Max Weber answers questions about the causes of singular historical events by means of ‘What-if?’ counterfactuals. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, I want to give a descriptive account of this widely used method in history. Second, I argue that historians who follow this method examine difference makers rather than causes in the philosophers’ sense, despite their surface rhetoric. I conclude that although difference making is neither necessary nor sufficient for causation in the philosophers’ sense, looking for difference makers is more consistent with the historians’ more ultimate purposes

What's wrong with our theories of evidence?

Este artículo describe y valora críticamente diversas teorías de la evidencia en relación a cuatro desiderata. Una buena teoría de la evidencia debería ser tanto una teoría sobre el apoyo evidencial [evidential support] (ser informativa sobre qué tipos de hechos hablan a favor de la hipótesis) como sobre la justificación [warrant]; debería aplicarse en las situaciones no ideales en las que normalmente se encuentran los científicos; y debería ser "descriptivamente adecuada", esto es, capaz de representar correctamente episodios típicos de razonamiento evidencial. Las teorías aquí revisadas bayesianismo, hipotético-deductivismo, teorías de la satisfacibilidad, la estadística del error, así como las propuestas de Achinstein y Cartwright se consideran deficientes en aspectos básicos. Argumentaré que un defecto común en todas ellas es que olvidan, o minusvaloran, el contexto epistémico en el que el episodio de razonamiento evidencial tiene lugar

Biomedical Research, Neglected Diseases, and Well-Ordered Science

In this paper we make a proposal for reforming biomedical research that is aimed to align re-search more closely with the so-called fair-share principle according to which the proportions of global resources as-signed to different diseases should agree with the ratios of human suffering associated with those diseases

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Economics

The most fundamental questions of economics are often philosophical in nature, and philosophers have, since the very beginning of Western philosophy, asked many questions that current observers would identify as economic. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Economics is an outstanding reference source for the key topics, problems, and debates at the intersection of philosophical and economic inquiry. It captures this field of countless exciting interconnections, affinities, and opportunities for cross-fertilization. Comprising 35 chapters by a diverse team of contributors from all over the globe, the Handbook is divided into eight sections: I. Rationality II. Cooperation and Interaction III. Methodology IV. Values V. Causality and Explanation VI. Experimentation and Simulation VII. Evidence VIII. Policy The volume is essential reading for students and researchers in economics and philosophy who are interested in exploring the interconnections between the two disciplines. It is also a valuable resource for those in related fields like political science, sociology, and the humanities.</p

Epistemic virtues and concept formation in economics

The aim of this Thesis is to defend the following two main claims: (a) A "Baconian" science of economics is desirable and possible; (b) Two of Bacon's central insights are of particular relevance for modern economics: the importance of concept formation as a part of the scientific endeavour and the collaboration of theory construction and measurement. Chapter 1 introduces the topic by way of juxtaposing and contrasting Francis Bacon's scientific method with Gustav Schmoller's philosophy of economics and showing that they share a number of crucial aspects, which are significant for modern methodological debates. It is argued that the three epistemic virtues of phenomenal adequacy, explanatory power and exactness are as relevant for contemporary economics as they were for Schmoller and Bacon. Chapters 2-4 critically examine various strands in the contemporary economic literature. It is claimed that methods of concept formation dominant in this literature can allow us to obtain either of the three virtues severally but not all three simultaneously. In response to this criticism, Chapter 5 develops an alternative method of economic concept formation. In particular, the idea of Natural Economic Quantities (NEQs) is introduced. Essentially, an economic quantity is natural if and only if it figures in a tested causal model and it is measurable in the appropriate way. NEQs are supposed to help in building models which achieve the three epistemic virtues simultaneously, and thus allow economics to be a "Baconian" science. The theory of NEQs and its ability to help in realising all three epistemic virtues is illustrated with a case study from William Stanley Jevons's work on index numbers

Contrefactuels, expériences de pensée, et conception singulariste de la relation causale en histoire

L’analyse singulariste de la relation causale Dans l’un de ses textes les plus souvent lus, « Possibilité objective et causalité adéquate en histoire », Max Weber introduit ainsi la procédure de base de l’analyse singulariste des relations causales : L’attribution des effets aux causes prend place à travers un processus de pensée qui inclut une série d’abstractions. La première et la plus décisive a lieu quand nous concevons que l’une ou plusieurs des composantes causales sont modifiées dans ..

Bacillus pumilus laccase: a heat stable enzyme with a wide substrate spectrum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Laccases are multi-copper oxidases that catalyze the one electron oxidation of a broad range of compounds. Laccase substrates include substituted phenols, arylamines and aromatic thiols. Such compounds are activated by the enzyme to the corresponding radicals. Owing to their broad substrate range laccases are considered to be versatile biocatalysts which are capable of oxidizing natural and non-natural industrial compounds, with water as sole by-product.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A novel CotA-type laccase from <it>Bacillus pumilus </it>was cloned, expressed and purified and its biochemical characteristics are presented here. The molecular weight of the purified laccase was estimated to be 58 kDa and the enzyme was found to be associated with four copper atoms. Its catalytic activity towards 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (2,6-DMP) and syringaldazine (SGZ) was investigated. The kinetic parameters <it>K</it>_Mand <it>k</it>_catfor ABTS were 80 ± 4 μM and 291 ± 2.7 s^-1, for 2,6-DMP 680 ± 27 μM and 11 ± 0.1 s^-1and for SGZ only <it>k</it>_catcould be estimated to be 66 ± 1.5 s^-1. The pH optimum for ABTS was 4, for 2,6-DMP 7 and for SGZ 6.5 and temperature optima for ABTS and 2,6-DMP were found to be around 70°C. The screening of 37 natural and non-natural compounds as substrates for <it>B. pumilus </it>laccase revealed 18 suitable compounds. Three of them served as redox mediators in the laccase-catalyzed decolorization of the dye indigocarmine (IC), thus assessing the new enzyme's biotechnological potential.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The fully copper loaded, thermostable CotA laccase from <it>Bacillus pumilus </it>is a versatile laccase with potential applications as an industrial biocatalyst.</p

Model Order Reduction for the 1D Boltzmann-BGK Equation: Identifying Intrinsic Variables Using Neural Networks

Kinetic equations are crucial for modeling non-equilibrium phenomena, but their computational complexity is a challenge. This paper presents a data-driven approach using reduced order models (ROM) to efficiently model non-equilibrium flows in kinetic equations by comparing two ROM approaches: Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) and autoencoder neural networks (AE). While AE initially demonstrate higher accuracy, POD's precision improves as more modes are considered. Notably, our work recognizes that the classical POD-MOR approach, although capable of accurately representing the non-linear solution manifold of the kinetic equation, may not provide a parsimonious model of the data due to the inherently non-linear nature of the data manifold. We demonstrate how AEs are used in finding the intrinsic dimension of a system and to allow correlating the intrinsic quantities with macroscopic quantities that have a physical interpretation