En 1679 Leibniz envía a Huygens un proyecto de nueva geometría, denominada analysis situs, mediante la cual pretende superar la geometría euclídea. Huygens, sin embargo, en carta a Leibniz afirma que no comprende la utilidad de este nuevo método, ante lo cual Leibniz deja de desarrollarlo. Habitualmente la literatura científica ha incidido en la incomprensión de Huygens por ser una figura centrada en resultados claros y no dado a especulaciones. Sin embargo, si atendemos a estas cartas y al (...) contexto que las rodea, podemos comprobar que la forma en la que Leibniz presentó esta nueva geometría a Huygens pudo impedir que éste la comprendiese adecuadamente. (shrink)

In the first part of this paper the Leibnizian theory of relations is presented as the metaphysical background of his concept of space. The structure of metaphysical space is dominated by the monads while geometrical aspects are neglected. In the second part the paper deals with Leibniz' concept of space in his mathematical works and especially in the Analysis Situs . What emerges is that the attempt to transfer philosophical arguments into mathematical structures fails because of the incompatibility (...) of notions in different contexts. The same problem arises in his Characteristica universalis: Philosophy is not computable. (shrink)

This book reconstructs, both from the historical and theoretical points of view, Leibniz's geometrical studies, focusing in particular on the research Leibniz ...

(No abstract is available for this citation).

V rámci tohoto příspěvku se pokusím zpochybnit dosavadní mainstreamovou interpretaci Leibnizovy metafyziky prostoru, jak ji představil v dopisech anglickému učenci Samuelu Clarkovi. Přestože bývá Leibnizova metafyzika prostoru právě na základě jeho korespondence s Clarkem obvykle považována za ostrý protipól metafyziky Clarkovy, respektive Newtonovy, v rámci tohoto příspěvku poukážu na to, že při zvážení Leibnizovy geometrie zvané „analysis situs“ se taková interpretace stává neudržitelnou. Leibnize nelze považovat za zastánce typicky relačního pojetí prostoru.

Christopher Boorse’s biostatistical theory of medical disorder claims that biological part-dysfunction (i.e., failure of an internal mechanism to perform its biological function), a factual criterion, is both necessary and sufficient for disorder. Jerome Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction analysis of medical disorder agrees that part-dysfunction is necessary but rejects the sufficiency claim, maintaining that disorder also requires that the part-dysfunction causes harm to the individual, a value criterion. In this paper, I present two considerations against the sufficiency claim. First, I analyze (...) Boorse’s central argument for the sufficiency claim, the “pathologist argument,” which takes pathologists’ intuitions about pathology as determinative of medical disorder and conclude that it begs the question and fails to support the sufficiency claim. Second, I present four counterexamples from the medical literature in which salient part-dysfunctions are considered nondisorders, including healthy disease carriers, HIV-positive status, benign mutations, and situs inversus totalis, thus falsifying the sufficiency claim and supporting the harm criterion. (shrink)

In this paper I offer a fresh interpretation of Leibniz’s theory of space, in which I explain the connection of his relational theory to both his mathematical theory of analysis situs and his theory of substance. I argue that the elements of his mature theory are not bare bodies (as on a standard relationalist view) nor bare points (as on an absolutist view), but situations. Regarded as an accident of an individual body, a situation is the complex of (...) its angles and distances to other co-existing bodies, founded in the representation or state of the substance or substances contained in the body. The complex of all such mutually compatible situations of co-existing bodies constitutes an order of situations, or instantaneous space. Because these relations of situation change from one instant to another, space is an accidental whole that is continuously changing and becoming something different, and therefore a phenomenon. As Leibniz explains to Clarke, it can be represented mathematically by supposing some set of existents hypothetically (and counterfactually) to remain in a fixed mutual relation of situation, and gauging all subsequent situations in terms of transformations with respect to this initial set. Space conceived in terms of such allowable transformations is the subject of Analysis Situs. Finally, insofar as space is conceived in abstraction from any bodies that might individuate the situations, it encompasses all possible relations of situation. This abstract space, the order of all possible situations, is an abstract entity, and therefore ideal. (shrink)

Although the name of Immanuel Kant has survived in the history of culture as the name of one of the greatest philosophers of modern times, Kant's role as a scientist is also very important. His work in the field of cosmology and physics is directly related to philosophy. Kant's development of the transcendental method was a direct result of thinking about the relationship between mathematics and experiment. Transcendentalism and Kant's theory of subjectivity continue the development of physics from Galileo to (...) Newton and Leibniz. This is especially true of his theory of space and time. All this should have turned transcendental aesthetics into a turning point in the development of mathematical natural science. However, in practice, the alienation of the natural sciences from philosophy has only intensified. An analysis of the scientific revolution at the beginning of the 20th century shows the enormous role of Kant's ideas in it in repulsing scientists from Kantianism. Weinert, a researcher of the relationship of 20th century physics to Kant's philosophy, shows that Einstein, being a Kantian as a philosopher, opposed Kantianism as a physicist. He enthusiastically accepted the Kantian idea of the autonomy of theoretical knowledge, but did not accept the concept a priori. An approach in which experience and theory do not precede each other, but are in constant interaction, is defined in the article as experimental transcendentalism. With the methodological difference between physics and philosophy, the concept of space and time in modern physics has a deep similarity with the transcendental doctrine. The definition of the qualitative structure of space (Analysis Situs), including the theoretical substantiation of its three dimensions, was the subject of reflections of scientists from Galileo, Leibniz and Kant to Einstein and Poincaré. (shrink)

Entre 1676 y 1680 Leibniz intentó conseguir un puesto remunerado en la Académie des sciencesque quedó vacante tras el fallecimiento de Roberval en 1675. Al mismo tiempo, Leibniz ofrece en cartas a Huygens varios métodos, recetas e invenciones que podrían ser de utilidad para la academia parisina: entre ellos encontramos el analysis situs, una discusión sobre el método de Becher para encontrar oro, la receta del fósforo, el método inverso de tangentes, la cuadratura aritmética y su propia red (...) epistolar. La hipótesis de este trabajo defiende que estas discusiones fueron presentadas a Huygens con la finalidad de conseguir el puesto remunerado en la Académie, lo cual no ha sido lo suficientemente tenido en cuenta en la literatura científica. (shrink)

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In einem Brief an Christiaan Huygens aus dem Jahre 1679 schlägt Leibniz eine neue von der Cartesischen Algebra verschiedene Characteristica geometrica vor. Dieser Entwurf wurde von einigen Wissenschaftshistorikern als ein Vorläufer der Analysis situs oder Topologie betrachtet. Im Jahre 1846 erhielt Graßmann einen Preis, der ausgesetzt worden war für die Konstruktion eines geometrischen Kalküls, der dem Leibnizschen ähnlich sein sollte. Im folgenden kritisierte ich die heute gemeinhin vertretene Auffassung, die Geometnsche Analyse von Graßmann sei die legitime mathematische Weiterentwicklung (...) der geometrischen Konzeptionen von Leibniz. Zunächst breite ich einige wenig bekannte historische Fakten bezüglich Leibniz und Graßmann aus und dann gehe ich dazu über, Kritik an Graßmanns Lektüre des Leibnizschen Textes zu üben. Die Frage nach dem wissenschaftlichen Wert der Gedanken, die Leibniz Huygens gegenüber äußert, möchte ich jedoch bis zur bald zu erwartenden Publikation zahlreicher Leibniz-Texte zu diesem Thema offen lassen. (shrink)

Henri Poincaré était réputé être un mathématicien hostile à la rigueur, aussi bien dans sa pratique mathématique que dans ses réflexions philosophiques. Or, des éléments indiquent que Poincaré se basait implicitement sur une conception personnelle de la rigueur mathématique, et qui correspondrait à sa pratique des mathématiques. Nous proposons donc de caractériser ce que serait cette conception. Tout d’abord, nous observons donc son rap­port à la rigueur dans ses travaux en topologie, à partir d’exemples tirés du mémoire Analysis (...) class='Hi'>Situs de 1895 [Poincaré 1895]. Ensuite, nous étudions pour quelles raisons Poincaré revendique son opposition à certaines normes de ri­gueur. Enfin, nous développons une conception « poincaréenne » de la rigueur mathématique. (shrink)

This is a short summary of my new interpretation of Leibniz’s philosophy, including metaphysics and dynamics. Monadology is the core of his philosophy, but according to my interpretation, this document must be read together with his works on dynamics and geometry Analysis Situs, among others. Monadology describes the reality, the world of monads. But in addition, it also contains a theory of information in terms of the state transition of monads, together with a sketch of how that information (...) is transformed into the phenomena via coding. I will argue that Leibniz’s program has a surprisingly wide range, from classical physics to the theories of relativity, and extending even to quantum mechanics. (shrink)

: This paper examines two features of Kant’s 1768 critique of Leibniz’ conception of space. Firstly, Leibniz’ proposed geometrical calculus called ‘analysis situs’; secondly, Leibniz’ relational conception of space. The main thesis of the paper is that Kant’s arguments are more powerful than generally recognized. With regard to the analysis situs, I will show that Kant was quite well informed about this proposed science and that his arguments severely undermine Leibniz’ claims to what it could perform. (...) With regard to the relational theory of space, Kant’s argument would require Leibniz to present a complex story about the relation between God’s act of creation and our spatial experience to defend his relational view, rather than using the simple principle of sufficient reason. (shrink)

Leibniz pursued the study of his new geometry, the analysis situs, throughout his lifetime. The following essays, the Ars Representatoria and the text Uniformis locus…, both go back to the early nineties of the seventeenth century. Although most of the analysis situs texts are still unpublished—which makes it very hard to see how this discipline might have evolved during the years—there seems to be no doubt that the beginning of 1690s marked a breakthrough in Leibniz’s studies.

Leibniz pursued the study of his new geometry, the analysis situs, throughout his lifetime. The following essays, the Ars Representatoria and the text Uniformis locus…, both go back to the early nineties of the seventeenth century. Although most of the analysis situs texts are still unpublished—which makes it very hard to see how this discipline might have evolved during the years—there seems to be no doubt that the beginning of 1690s marked a breakthrough in Leibniz’s studies.

The following article describes a pilot study on the possible integration of digital historiography into teaching practice. It focuses on Émilie Du Châtelet’s considerations of space and time against the background of Leibniz’s program of analysis situs. Historians have characterized philosophical controversies on space and time as a dichotomy between the absolute and relational concepts of space and time. In response to this, the present case study pursues two aims: First, it shows that the common portrayal simplifies the (...) complex pattern of change and the semantic shift from absolute-relational concepts of space and time to invariance and conservation principles. Second, against this background, I present the Online Reading Guide on Émilie Du Châtelet’s Foundations of Physics, a teaching and research project designed to help navigate Du Châtelet’s Institutions physiques. This project makes Du Châtelet’s important text visible to a broad audience and allows for a more critical and deeper view on classical topics of the history of philosophy and science in a more accessible way than traditional introductions. (shrink)

La théorie leibnizienne de l'expression, centrée sur la notion de relation, introduit, entre les mots des langues naturelles et la pensée, un rapport qui n'est pas seulement de représentation. Elle introduit également une parenté entre langues naturelles et langages formels. L'objectif de l'article est de mener une confrontation entre l'analyse par Leibniz des relations dans les langues naturelles et dans les langages symboliques afin de mettre en évidence leurs analogies. L'article cherchera à montrer : l'existence d'une double articulation dans les (...) langues naturelles et les langages formels tels que les conçoit Leibniz ; le caractère mathématique de son analyse des prépositions ; l'arrière-plan logique de son analyse des dérivations sémantiques. (shrink)

Leibniz's work resembles its author. A. Robinet has called it “an intellectual storm.” In its two hundred thousand pages of manuscript (most of it still unpublished) there are philosophical works that have nourished the thoughts of thinkers from generation to generation; mathematical texts of fundamental import (we all know of Leibniz as the founder - or rather co-founder - of infinitesimal calculus, but this triumph ought not to obscure his other contributions; for example, his being a precursor in the field (...) of formal logic and the inventor of analysis situs); treatises on physics that have been relegated to obscurity by Newtonian mechanics but which may be in the process of being given new life because of the problems that the classic paradigm has encountered in the twentieth century; an impressive correspondence (approximately fifteen thousand letters, addressed to more than a thousand corespondents); significant contributions to fields as varied as theology, jurisprudence, history, politics and even technology (Leibniz did not scorn practical problems, and we find, alongside the most abstract of metaphysical systems, notes concerning the problem of Venice's sinking or the production of cognac). (shrink)

Jerome Wakefield criticizes my biostatistical analysis of the pathological—as statistically subnormal biological part-functional ability relative to species, sex, and age—for its lack of a harm clause. He first charges me with ignoring two general distinctions: biological versus medical pathology, and disease of a part versus disease of a whole organism. He then offers 10 counterexamples that, he says, are harmless dysfunctions but not medical disorders. Wakefield ends by arguing that we need a harm clause to explain American psychiatry’s 1973 (...) decision to declassify homosexuality. I reply, first, that his two distinctions are philosophic fantasies alien to medical usage, invented only to save his own harmful-dysfunction analysis (HDA) from a host of obvious counterexamples. In any case, they do not coincide with the harmless/harmful distinction. In reality, medicine admits countless chronic diseases that are, contrary to Wakefield, subclinical for most of their course, as well as many kinds of typically harmless skin pathology. As for his 10 counterexamples, no medical source he cites describes them as he does. I argue that none of his examples contradicts the biostatistical analysis: all either are not part-dysfunctions (situs inversus, incompetent sperm, normal-flora infection) or are indeed classified as medical disorders (donated kidney, Typhoid Mary’s carrier status, latent tuberculosis or HIV, cherry angiomas). And if Wakefield’s HDA fits psychiatry, the fact that it does not fit medicine casts doubt on psychiatry’s status as a medical specialty. (shrink)

This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare's finesse to Oscar Wilde's wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim's Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of (...) the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library. (shrink)

During the second half of the twentieth century, several philosophers of technology argued that their predecessors had reflected too abstractly and pessimistically on technology. In the view of these critics, one should study technologies empirically in order to fully understand them. They developed several strategies to empirically inform the philosophy of technology and called their new approach the empirical turn. However, they provide insufficient indications of what exactly is meant by empirical study in their work. This leads to the critical (...) question of what counts as an empirically informed philosophy of technology in the empirical turn. In order to answer this question, we first elaborate on the problems that the empirical turn philosophers tried to address; secondly, we sketch their solutions, and, thirdly, we critically discuss their conceptions of empirical study. Our critical analysis of the empirical turn contributes to new efforts to engage in an empirically informed philosophy of technology. (shrink)

Different notions of analysis have been both theorized and put to use in early analytic philosophy. Two of them stand out: connective analysis and analysis as paraphrase. The latter played a central role in the development of analytic philosophy from Frege to Quine and beyond. With the advent of formal semantics of natural language in the 1970s, paraphrase came to be characterizable as translation into a formal “target language”. While I claim that the method cannot achieve its (...) original philosophical aims, I insist that, in spite of them, it is far from being a theoretically empty operation and that it lives on in some contemporary philosophical enterprises. (shrink)

One of Russell's most important and interesting books which reconciles the materialistic tendency of psychology with the anti-materialistic tendency of physics.

Born in 1838, Mach was a pioneer in the field of physics, having even made an impression on Einstein in his younger life who credited him with being the "Philosophical forerunner of relativity theory." His name is also associated with the speed of sound (as in traveling at Mach "insert-number-here") as well as the Doppler effect. Throughout his career, he was particularly interested in the biological and sensory relationship to physics and science, and naturally, this interest expanded to that of (...) the world of psychological perception and physiological psychology as well as philosophy. The Analysis of Sensations is about just that, the nature of the relationship of physics and the physical sciences to psychological phenomena of sense and perception. It's a fascinating read for anyone looking to expand their knowledge of how the two sides of the same coin meld harmoniously. (shrink)

This essay examines the quantitative aspects of Greco-Roman science, represented by a group of established disci¬plines, which since the fourth century BC were called mathēmata or mathē¬ma¬tikai epistē¬mai. In the group of mathēmata that in Antiquity normally comprised mathematics, mathematical astronomy, harmonics, mechanics and optics, we have also included geography. Using a dataset based on The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Natural Scientists, our essay considers a community of mathēmatikoi (as they called themselves), or ancient scientists (as they are defined for the (...) purposes of the present paper) from a sociological point of view, focusing on the size of the scientific population known to us and its disciplinary, temporal and geographical distribution. A diachronic comparison of neighboring and partly overlapping communities, ancient scientists and philosophers, allows the pattern of their interrelationship to be traced. An examination of centers of science throughout ancient history reveals that there were five major centers – Athens, Alexandria, Rhodes, Rome and Byzantium/Constantinople – that appear and replace one another in succession as leaders. These conclusions serve to reopen the issue of the place of mathēmata and mathēmatikoi in ancient society. (shrink)

The focus of this article is the analysis of generative mechanisms, a basic concept and phenomenon within the metatheoretical perspective of critical realism. It is emphasized that research questions and methods, as well as the knowledge it is possible to attain, depend on the basic view – ontologically and epistemologically – regarding the phenomenon under scrutiny. A generative mechanism is described as a trans empirical but real existing entity, explaining why observable events occur. Mechanisms are mostly possible to grasp (...) only indirectly by analytical work, based however on empirical observations. In order to achieve such an explanatory analysis, five methodological steps are suggested and discussed, among them abduction and retroduction. These steps are illustrated throughout by examples drawn from empirical research regarding social work practice. The article is concluded with a discussion of the need for knowledge of generative mechanisms. (shrink)

Conceptual analysis of health and disease is portrayed as consisting in the confrontation of a set of criteria—a “definition”—with a set of cases, called instances of either “health” or “ disease.” Apart from logical counter-arguments, there is no other way to refute an opponent’s definition than by providing counter-cases. As resorting to intensional stipulation is not forbidden, several contenders can therefore be deemed to have succeeded. This implies that conceptual analysis alone is not likely to decide between naturalism (...) and normativism. An alternative to this approach would be to examine whether the concept of disease can be naturalized. (shrink)

Stakeholder literature tends to presume that effective stakeholder dialogue, occurring directly or indirectly, among a focal firm, local communities, governments, and nongovernmental organizations is desirable for successful firm–stakeholder relationships. Even if theoretically desirable, effective dialogue does not always occur. There are two key theory-informing lessons in Botnia’s Fray Bentos successful green field pulp mill investment and start-up in Western Uruguay. First, critics could not halt the project politically supported by Uruguay in an expanding multi-party international dispute. Second, the Botnia corporate (...) communications process did not succeed in building consensus relationships, and attention was not paid to discourse creating shared meanings among all stakeholders. Participatory relationships were few, and successful dialogue was at best limited to supporters. This article uses discursive analysis to examine how newspaper and press release texts and language used therein both shaped and reflected the dynamically changing nature of firm–stakeholder relations in the Fray Bentos dispute. Despite the focal firm’s professed good intentions to create participatory relationships with its stakeholders during the building project, various stakeholders opposed the project and Botnia was caught in the crossfire of heated debate between Uruguay and Argentina. Three different frames changing over time are identified: the investment frame, the conflict frame, and the political frame. The analysis shows that the relationships between the focal firm and stakeholders involved many meanings only partly shared, due in part to a lack of corporate appreciation for the role of language in managing firm–stakeholder relationships. (shrink)

One of Russell's most important and interesting books which reconciles the materialistic tendency of psychology with the anti-materialistic tendency of physics.

Conceptual analysis is undergoing a revival in philosophy, and much of the credit goes to Frank Jackson. Jackson argues that conceptual analysis is needed as an integral component of so-called serious metaphysics and that it also does explanatory work in accounting for such phenomena as categorization, meaning change, communication, and linguistic understanding. He even goes so far as to argue that opponents of conceptual analysis are implicitly committed to it in practice. We show that he is wrong (...) on all of these points and that his case for conceptual analysis doesn't succeed. At the same time, we argue that the sorts of intuitions that figure in conceptual analysis may still have a significant role to play in philosophy. So naturalists needn't disregard intuitions altogether. (shrink)

With the development of teachers’ psychological cognition, the moral education curriculum develops as per the changes in times. Currently, a resurgence of interest on studying teachers’ perceptions of the moral education curriculum has observed. This is because moral education curriculum of each country plays a unique role in the overall design of the country’s education curriculum. However, studies on teachers’ perceptions of the moral education curriculum are scarce, and no framework has been developed to guide the teaching and learning of (...) teachers for the moral education curriculum for schools. The moral education curriculum serves as one of the main vehicles for value education, with teachers as direct executors. It can influence the overall development of the school system and long-term development of a country. Thus, in this paper, we reviewed current literature related to teachers’ perceptions of the moral education curriculum and developed future trends considering teachers’ perceptions of the moral education curriculum in improving existing moral education programs in a country. We identified a list of keywords related to moral education curriculum and teacher perceptions and relevant to the scope of this study. These keywords were used to search the articles from the Scopus and WoS studies. Overall, 32 papers meeting the search criteria were retrieved. Further, we conducted thematic studies, and four themes were successfully identified: the model of teacher perceptions of moral and national education, the dimensions of the teacher ethics model, teaching strategies, and the role of teachers. The results of this study suggested a new framework for research trends in teachers’ perception models, particularly toward the moral education curriculum. This study contributed to the knowledge regarding teaching and learning approaches of moral education considering teachers’ perceptions of the moral education curriculum. The findings of study would benefit future studies and would improve the implementation of a country’s moral education program. (shrink)

From a corporate governance perspective, one of the most important jobs of a firm's top management team is to create and maintain a positive moral environment. Business ethics has long been considered a cornerstone in the field of strategic management and a number of scholars have called for more research in this area over the years. In this paper 658 articles that appeared in "Strategic Management Journal" over the 10-year period between 1996 and 2005 are reviewed for business ethics focus (...) and content. The results reveal that while business ethics research in "Strategic Management Journal" is on the rise, the overall focus on this research stream has been limited. The most prominent ethics theme during the review period was environmentalism, accounting for 30% of all ethics articles. Author affiliations, future research directions, and implications are also discussed. (shrink)

Odenbaugh and Alexandrova provide a challenging critique of the epistemic benefits of robustness analysis, singling out for particular criticism the account we articulated in Kuorikoski et al.. Odenbaugh and Alexandrova offer two arguments against the confirmatory value of robustness analysis: robust theorems cannot specify causal mechanisms and models are rarely independent in the way required by robustness analysis. We address Odenbaugh and Alexandrova’s criticisms in order to clarify some of our original arguments and to shed further light (...) on the properties of robustness analysis and its epistemic rationale. (shrink)