Ramsey's conditionals

In this paper, we propose a unified account of conditionals inspired by Frank Ramsey. Most contemporary philosophers agree that Ramsey's account applies to indicative conditionals only. We observe against this orthodoxy that his account covers subjunctive conditionals as well-including counterfactuals. In light of this observation, we argue that Ramsey's account of conditionals resembles Robert Stalnaker's possible worlds semantics supplemented by a model of belief. The resemblance suggests to reinterpret the notion of conditional degree of belief in order to overcome a tension in Ramsey's account. The result of the reinterpretation is a tenable account of conditionals that covers indicative and subjunctive as well as qualitative and probabilistic conditionals

Frank Plumpton Ramsey

Frank Plumpton Ramsey (1903-1930) was a British mathematician and philosopher, working at Cambridge University during the twenties. He was part of the Cambridge group that gave birth to the analytic tradition in philosophy. He made original contributions, in particular, to philosophy of mathematics and mathematical logic, probability theory and economics. Despite his early death, he achieved impressive results in many different fields of investigation. The aim of this profile is to give a general overview of Ramsey's thought, his works and most relevant results, and to show what an extraordinary thinker he was.Frank Plumpton Ramsey (1903-1930) fu un matematico e filosofo britannico, che lavorò presso l'Università di Cambridge durante gli anni Venti. Fece parte del gruppo di Cambridge che diede inizio alla tradizione analitica in filosofia, dette contributi originali soprattutto alla filosofia della matematica e alla logica matematica, alla teoria della probabilità e all'economia. Nonostante la sua precoce morte, raggiunse risultati straordinari nei piú disparati campi d'indagine. L'obiettivo di questo articolo è presentare il pensiero di Ramsey, le sue opere e i risultati piú importanti e mostrare quale pensatore fuori dal comune egli fosse

Confirming Mathematical Conjectures by Analogy

Analogy has received attention as a form of inductive reasoning in the empirical sciences. However, its role in pure mathematics has received less consideration. This paper provides an account of how an analogy with a more familiar mathematical domain can contribute to the confirmation of a mathematical conjecture. By reference to case-studies, we propose a distinction between an incremental and a non-incremental form of confirmation by mathematical analogy. We offer an account of the former within the popular framework of Bayesian confirmation theory. As for the non-incremental notion, we defend its role in rationally informing the prior credences of mathematicians in those circumstances in which no new mathematical evidence is introduced. The resulting 'hybrid' framework captures many important aspects of the use of analogical inference in the realm of pure mathematics.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figure

A dual-species microbial model for studying the dynamics between oral streptococci and periodontal pathogens during biofilm development on titanium surfaces by flow cytometry

The association of Streptococcus mutans ATCC 25175 or Streptococcus oralis ATCC 9811, as pioneer microorganisms, with the secondary colonizers Fusobacterium nucleatum ATCC 25586 or Porphyromonas gingivalis ATCC 33277, during biofilms development on titanium surface, was evaluated by flow cytometry (FCM) using specific polyclonal antibodies. Antibody sensitivity and specificity were determined in ELISA and FCM, revealing a high sensitivity and specificity. Biofilm formation of four dual-species combinations was analyzed by crystal violet staining, while the association between streptococci and periodontal pathogens was assessed in FCM. Dual-species association between S. oralis and P. gingivalis or F. nucleatum showed significantly proportional decrease of S. oralis during biofilm development with concomitant increase of P. gingivalis or F. nucleatum. This trend was not observed in both the dual-species associations of S. mutans with the periodontal pathogens. Our dual-species microbial model by FCM revealed to be useful to study partnerships between bacteria in oral associations, evidencing that the presence of primary colonizers is required for the establishment of secondary colonizers into biofilms. Since the proposed experimental approach is technically simple to prepare and analyse, and proved to be reproducible, it is very suitable for studying the development and dynamics of oral communities

Carta nazionale del paesaggio. Elementi per una strategia per il paesaggio italiano

Documento ufficiale che contiene indicazioni programmatiche (azioni strategiche e strumenti possibili) per il futuro de paesaggio italian

The Acute Impact of an Ultramarathon on Right Heart: a 12-lead ECG study

Some concerns exist about possible detrimental effects on cardiac function of ultra-endurance competitions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute effects of an ultramarathon by comparing pre- and post-race 12-lead ECG features