The simple concept of a SIC poses a very deep problem in algebraic number theory, as soon as the dimension of Hilbert space exceeds three. A detailed description of the simplest possible example is given.

The problem of constructing maximal equiangular tight frames or SICs was raised by Zauner in 1998. Four years ago it was realized that the problem is closely connected to a major open problem in number theory. We discuss why such a connection was perhaps to be expected, and give a simplified sketch of some developments that have taken place in the past 4 years. The aim, so far unfulfilled, is to prove existence of SICs in an infinite sequence of dimensions.

One problematic aspect of the rationality of medical practice concerns the relation between expert knowledge and non-expert knowledge. In medical practice it is important to match medical knowledge with the self-knowledge of the individual patient. This paper tries to study the problem of such matching by describing a model for technological paradigms and comparing it with an ideal of technological rationality. The professionalised experts tend to base their decisions and actions mostly on medical knowledge while the rationality of medicine also (...) involves just as important elements of the personal evaluation and knowledge of the patients. Since both types of knowledge are necessary for rational decisions, the gap between the expert and the non-expert has to be bridged in some way. A solution to the problem is suggested in terms of pluralism, with the patient as ultimate decision-maker. (shrink)

The paper is a long, detailed, critical presentation of Ingemar Duering's Aristoteles. Darstellung und Interpretation seines Denkens, Heidelberg 1966, on the occasion of the publication of the Italian translation (by P.L. Donini, Milano 1976) of the same.

The paper examines the introduction of the so-called professor’s privilege in Sweden in the 1940s and shows how this legal principle for university patents emerged out of reforms of techno-science and the patent law around World War II. These political processes prompted questions concerning the nature and functions of university research: How is academic science different than other forms of knowledge production? What are the contributions of universities for economy and welfare? Who is the rightful owner of scientific findings? Is (...) academic science “work”? By following the introduction of the professor’s privilege, the paper shows how spokespersons for the academic profession addressed such questions and contributed to a new definition of university science through boundary-setting, normative descriptions, and by producing symbolic relationships between science and the economy. The totality of those positions is here referred to as a “nomos” – that is: a generic and durable set of seemingly axiomatic claims about universities. This Swedish nomos, as it took shape in the 1940s, amalgamated classical notions of academic science as exceptional and autonomous with emerging ideas of inventiveness and close connections between academics and business. Crucially, though, the academic-industrial relations embedded in this nomos were private and individual, thus in sharp conflict with the ideas of entrepreneurial universities evolving globally by the end of the 20th century. (shrink)

Originally published in 1941. Herodicus was a Greek physician of the fifth century BC, and a native of Selymbria. The first use of therapeutic exercise for the treatment of disease and maintenance of health is credited to him, and he is believed to have been one of the tutors of Hippocates.

Klyachko and coworkers consider an orthogonality graph in the form of a pentagram, and in this way derive a Kochen-Specker inequality for spin 1 systems. In some low-dimensional situations Hilbert spaces are naturally organised, by a magical choice of basis, into SO(N) orbits. Combining these ideas some very elegant results emerge. We give a careful discussion of the pentagram operator, and then show how the pentagram underlies a number of other quantum “paradoxes”, such as that of Hardy.

In current philosophical debate Bell's theorem is often refered to as a proof of the impossibility of determinism in nature. It is argued here that this conclusion is wrong. The main consequence of the theorem is the non-local character of quantum theory itself and it is shown how this quality leads to a contradiction with the theory of relativity. If hidden variable theories are impossible, it is so because no empirically founded interpretation at all can be compatible with both quantum (...) mechanics and relativity. (shrink)

Should medicine be defined as the enterprise in charge of the health problems of society? If so, then any problem (individual, public, social or political) that can be reformulated as a “health problem” could serve as a goal of medicine. If, on the other hand, medicine ⁀ or medicine proper ⁀ is defined in terms of some limited goal and limited means, then some medical professionals would find themselves working in other fields than medicine. It could be of some importance (...) to the patient to know whether the medical professional he meets is engaged in medical practice (aiming at the patient's health), research, public health or some other project which involves medical competence. Obviously, some of these enterprises may have conflicting goals. This paper will analyse various candidates for being a model of medicine, discuss some of the consequences, and argue for a limited view of medical practice. (shrink)

A suitable demarcation between pure science and applied research can be drawn in terms of their goals. This distinction of goals has methodological and cultural consequences. If the demarcation is accepted, what does the connection between the two enterprises look like? What is the role of science in medical practice? The Baconian answer to this question is discussed and criticised as too linear. A second answer may be that pure science has no part at all in medicine. This too can (...) be criticised as too simplistic. A third answer is suggested in which pure science plays the role of being an instrument for interpreting observations and problems, and of being a source of inspiration for technological research programs. (shrink)

In this book, Ingemar Nordin analyzes how not only scientific but also non-scientific knowledge is to be used in practice when establishing a rational technological and medical development.

Goodman’s paradox gives rise to a cluster of problems, problems that are in need of different answers. I will discuss some variants of the grue hypothesis applied to the technological context. One conclusion in this paper is that there is room for rational decisions, and that solutions to the paradoxes in technology can be found in the practical choice situation. *Received April 2008. †To contact the author, please write to: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, SE‐581 83 Linköping, (...) Sweden; e‐mail: ingemar[email protected]. (shrink)

A central theme within political theory is the rational management of society based on science and technology. This idea involves several problems concerning the philosophy of technology and social engineering. Some of these difficulties, which are discussed in this essay, are (1) the scientific identification of objective needs and what we can do with it with respect to rational choice, (2) expert-management versus user-management in technical matters, (3) the nature of technology and its consequences for planning, and (4) the nature (...) of technology and its consequences for democratic social engineering. (shrink)