To this day, a hundred and fifty years after Mendeleev's discovery, the overal structure of the periodic system remains unaccounted for in quantum-mechanical terms. Given this dire situation, a handful of scientists in the 1970s embarked on a quest for the symmetries that lie hidden in the periodic table. Their goal was to explain the table's structure in group-theoretical terms. We argue that this symmetry program required an important paradigm shift in the understanding of the nature of chemical elements. The (...) idea, in essence, consisted of treating the chemical elements, not as particles, but as states of a superparticle. We show that the inspiration for this came from elementary particle physics, and in particular from Heisenberg's suggestion to treat the proton and neutron as different states of the nucleon. We provide a careful study of Heisenberg's last paper on the nature of elementary particles, and explain why the Democritean picture of matter no longer applied in modern physics and a Platonic symmetry-based picture was called for instead. We show how Heisenberg's Platonic philosophy came to dominate the field of elementary particle physics, and how it found its culmination point in Gell-Mann's classification of the hadrons in the eightfold way. We argue that it was the success of Heisenberg's approach in elementary particle physics that sparked the group-theoretical approach to the periodic table. We explain how it was applied to the set of chemical elements via a critical examination of the work of the Russian mathematician Abram Ilyich Fet the Turkish-American physicist Asim Orhan Barut, before giving some final reflections. (shrink)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an important figure in the popular understanding of America has been rediscovered by scholars and critics, yet there has been no critical study of Emerson's relation to traditional nineteenth-century questions about ethics and epistemology. In Emerson's Epistemology David Van Leer turns to this unexplored area of Emerson's philosophy and especially to the problem of his relation to the central intellectual issue of his age - the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant. Although Emerson would throughout his life try (...) a number of vocational roles, he considered himself primarily a thinker. He saw his roles as poet and prophet as versions of the more fundamental one of philosopher. Thus an understanding of Emerson's relation to traditional problems about the theory of knowledge clarifies not only the arguments of the specific essays, but the shape of his complex career. (shrink)

As presidential campaigns and “Saturday Night Live” have repeatedly demonstrated, debate is an uninteresting mode of communication, imitating dialogue without engaging in it. Formally it encourages infinite regress: my misreading of your misreading of my misreading of your misreading. Intellectually its conclusions are in some ways predetermined. In the short run, the winner is whoever speaks last; in the long run, whoever has the greater power. Rather than occasion or remark on further “shifty moments” , then, I will try to (...) review some general areas of contention suggested in my exchange with Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick.Although Sedgwick and I value the personal and the theoretical both, we disagree on the lines of intersection. I am struck by her initial situation of “Van Leer” in the ranks of those who feel silenced. The complaint might just as easily have been that he has entirely too much to say. Nor, if autobiography is really the issue, do I in any way regret the notoriety of Sedgwick’s work? From what I take to be my point of view, Sedgwick’s book has opened up for me a far more visible space in the academy than has my own. And I attribute to myself at least enough self-consciousness to recognize the disingenuousness of “feeling silenced” in Critical Inquiry. David Van Leer is associate professor of English and American literature at the University of California, Davis. The author of Emerson’s Epistemology: The Argument of the Essays , he is currently examining the issue of contextualism in a book to be called The Queening of America. (shrink)

[Eve] Sedgwick examines from an explicitly feminist, implicitly Marxist perspective the relation of homosexuality to more general social bonds between members of the same sex . She argues that the similarity between homosocial desire and homosexuality lies at the root of much homophobia. Moreover, she sees this tension as misogynist to the extent that battles fought over patriarchy within the homosocial world automatically exclude women from that patriarchal power. Thus she places homosexuality and its attendant homophobia within a wider dynamic (...) of social relationships.1Yet even as Sedgwick invents a more sophisticated definition of “homophobia,” she may permit misreading of a more elementary sort. Her use of vocabulary is troubling. In a slangy prose that regularly juxtaposes James Hogg and Louis Lepke, Tennyson and Howard Keel, references to the “campiness” of Thackeray’s “bitchy” bachelors or the “feminized” cuckolds of Wycherley’s The Country Wife seem tame enough. Yet there is a political difference between the jokes. One can burlesque fifties musicals or organized crime with impunity; to refer to sexually embattled men with feminine adjectives, however, is to reinforce a sexual stereotype that sees in the supposed effeminacy of homosexuals a sign of their deviance. Nor are women empowered when terms of female degradation like “bitch” are turned back against men: the ironic reversal does not challenge the terms’ validity but reaffirms it, showing they have an even wider range of applicability than had been thought. 1. Throughout my analysis, I use “homosexual” and “gay” exclusively in reference to male sexuality. I do so in part to echo Sedgwick’s emphasis and in part because the logic of my own argument does not empower me to speak on female homosexuality. David Van Leer is associate professor of English and American literature at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of Emerson’s Epistemology: The Argument of the Essays and articles on American literature and popular culture. (shrink)

Excessive fear generalisation is a feature characteristic of clinical anxiety and has been linked to its aetiology. Previous animal studies have shown that the mere passage of time increases fear generalisation and that brief exposure to training cues prior to long-term testing reverses this effect. The current study examined these phenomena in humans. Healthy participants learned the relationship between the presentation of a picture of a neutral male face and the delivery of a mild shock. One group was immediately tested (...) with a novel picture of a somewhat different male face (generalisation test). Another group was tested one week later. A third group was also tested one week later and was additionally exposed to the training picture prior to testing. During picture presentations, shock-expectancy ratings were obtained as a measure of fear. Fear generalisation increased from the immediate test to the 1-week follow-up test. This result could not be attributed to level of neuroticism or a general increase in fear (incubation). Furthermore, the time-dependent increase in fear generalisation vanished following brief exposure to the training picture. Results indicate that human fear generalisation is a temporally dynamic process and that memory for stimulus details can be re-established following a reminder treatment. (shrink)

The cooking show The Naked Chef (1999–2001) with Jamie Oliver has often been highlighted as an example of the cooking show genre's potential for reformulating masculine identity through cooking. Through a series of close readings of a selection of cooking shows from France, the UK and Denmark post-The Naked Chef and through a dialogue with other works on the subject, this article will attempt to identify the tendencies in the constructions and negotiations of masculinity in the cooking show genre following (...) The Naked Chef and to understand these in relation to a revision of masculine identity in contemporary culture. The article is informed by poststructural gender theory and understands ‘doing food’ and ‘doing masculinity’ as two mutually constituting practices. The analyses identify four new tendencies in the construction of masculinity in cooking shows at the beginning of the twenty-first century: 1) rechefisation, 2) the TV chef as a moral entrepreneur, 3) the TV chef and the revitalisation of the national myth and 4) cooking as masculine escapism. The article concludes that the innovation of the masculine identity that was launched in The Naked Chef has not continued; rather, the genre has become a platform for the revitalisation of traditional masculinity discourses. (shrink)

Symmetry is at the heart of our understanding of matter. This book tells the fascinating story of the constituents of matter from a common symmetry perspective. The standard model of elementary particles and the periodic table of chemical elements have the common goal to bring order in the bewildering chaos of the constituents of matter. Their success relies on the presence of fundamental symmetries in their core. -/- The purpose of Shattered Symmetry is to share the admiration for the power (...) and the beauty of these symmetries. The reader is taken on a journey from the basic geometric symmetry group of a circle to the sublime dynamic symmetries that govern the motions of the particles. Along the way the theory of symmetry groups is gradually introduced with special emphasis on its use as a classification tool and its graphical representations. This is applied to the unitary symmetry of the eightfold way of quarks, and to the four-dimensional symmetry of the hydrogen atom. The final challenge is to open up the structure of Mendeleev's table which goes beyond the symmetry of the hydrogen atom. Breaking this symmetry to accommodate the multi-electron atoms requires us to leave the common ground of linear algebras and explore the potential of non-linearity. (shrink)

The Five Senses of Haiti discusses a series of medical mission trips by physicians and medical students to the Central Plateau of Haiti delivering care in the outpatient setting. Practitioners describe their experiences through the use of their five senses to draw contrast between modern health care and medical practice in the developing world. Physicians in a resource poor setting are left without the usual diagnostic armamentarium and the safeguards and distractions of the modern hospital setting. This deficit creates an (...) opportunity to devote time and focus to individual patients. Practicing medicine in this context clinicians use a heightened sense of awareness and increase their reliance on physical exam findings. Global medicine creates an opportunity for medical students to learn and physicians out of training to practice overlooked physical exam skills in the modern era. Physical exam findings and patient care yield diagnoses and fosters the bonds of the doctor-patient relationship. (shrink)

This chapter is on when and how formalization and model building contribute to theory construction in methodological individualism. It shows that formalization is not always needed but can sometimes be useful for making assumptions explicit and for deriving implications that would appear out of reach of, or even go counter to, informal reasoning. The chapter focuses on examples from different theoretical approaches and research fields, including meanwhile ‘classic’ as well as more recent contributions. We sketch both insights that do not (...) require elaborate formalization as well as implications that do require some degree of formalization. The exposition itself is largely informal. (shrink)

Research has shown high levels of housing precarity among government-assisted refugees connected to difficult housing markets, limited social benefits, and other social and structural barriers to positive settlement. The COVID-19 pandemic has likely exacerbated this precarity. Research to date demonstrates the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for refugees and low-income households, including both health-related issues and economic challenges, that may exacerbate their ability to obtain affordable, suitable housing. In this context, we examined Syrian government-assisted refugees’ experiences during the pandemic, (...) asking: how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Syrian refugees’ experiences of housing stability. To examine this issue, we interviewed 38 families in Calgary, London, and Fredericton. Using a qualitative descriptive methodology for analysis and interpretation, we found the liminality of settling as a GAR has been compounded by isolation, further economic loss, and new anxieties during the pandemic. Ultimately, for many participants, the pandemic has thwarted their housing stability goals and decreased their likelihood of improving their housing conditions. Based on our findings, we discuss potential policy and practice relevant solutions to the challenges faced by refugees in Canada during the pandemic and likely beyond. (shrink)

This study assessed the International Critical Thinking Essay Test (ICTET-A) for inter-rater reliability, internal reliability, and criterion validity. A self-selecting sample of participants (N = 100) completed the ICTET-A and a comparison test online. We found the ICTET-A items to have moderate to good levels of inter-rater reliability, and overall excellent inter-rater consistency for total test scores. The test had good internal reliability. There was a strong correlation between scores on the ICTET-A and the comparison test. Factor analysis showed that (...) scores were best explained with one factor, suggesting the test measures a single construct. The ICTET-A can therefore be considered a valid measure of critical thinking. Additionally, we propose a short form of the test. (shrink)

De Leer van Boeddha. H. Saddhatissa. Wereldbibliotheek B. V., Amersterdam. 143pp.

El artículo es una creación en la que convergen las experiencias, indagaciones, discusiones suscitadas en los antecedentes y el desarrollo del Proyecto “Investigar, leer y escribir en la universidad:el docente investigador mediador y aprendices investigadores autónomos”, que identifica la problemática sobre la orientación de investigación formativa en pregrado, en la relación docencia-investigación; así, formula la pregunta directriz ¿Cómo orientar el proceso de investigación formativa en la formulación de proyectos de investigación? La propuesta recoge la experiencia docente e investigativa en lectura, (...) escritura, procesos de mediación y autorregulación. Además, reconoce la necesidad de articular los proyectos de investigación estudiantiles, planteados comotrabajos de grado, al sistema de investigación universitario. (shrink)

En este artículo me propongo releer el llamado “fragmento de las máquinas” de los cuadernos Grundrisse a partir de la concepción de la prótesis y la producción biodrag de subjetividades desplegada por Preciado. Mientras que la mayoría de las lecturas de Preciado en clave marxiana se centran en Testo yonqui, sostendré que leer a Marx a partir del concepto de prótesis en Manifiesto contra-sexual permite reformular la noción de “individuo social” en una clave transhumanista. Esto empuja la interpretación de Marx (...) más allá de los marcos en que él mismo comprendió la crítica del capital. Al mismo tiempo, esta vuelta a Marx ilumina los marcos sociales comprehensivos en cuyo seno la producción tecnológica del género tiene lugar. La producción de géneros y la maquínica se articulan así de manera significativa. (shrink)

The work of Arnout Geulincx (1624?1669), a Flemish Cartesian that developed a highly curious ?parallelistic? view on the universe, shows striking prima facie resemblances to Stoicism. Should we label Geulincx a reinventor of Stoic tenets, albeit within a strict Cartesian theoretical framework? To answer this question, my contribution begins by discussing relevant aspects of Stoicism and by introducing the ?existential? philosophy of Geulincx, whose metaphysical views on man brought him to adopt an ethics based upon absolute obedience and humility. (...) It will discuss Geulincx's own views on the Stoics and, finally, compare Geulincx's philosophy with the Stoic world view. The main argument will be that, despite a deep affinity and many parallels, one crucial difference remains, as the dualism any true Cartesian metaphysics implies has important consequences for Geulincx's ethics in general and for his view on man in particular. As we will see, man plays a very peculiar role in the cosmic drama that we call the ?universe? (shrink)

La novela ha sido consagrada como una de las “técnicas de experiencia vicaria” fundamentales, que adiestran nuestra habilidad para ponernos en la piel de otras personas. No han sido pocos los que han visto un claro efecto moral en esa permanente exploración de la alteridad. El artículo repasa los argumentos de los entusiastas de esa idea, los que creen que leer novelas nos hace más empáticos y solidarios; de los moderados, quienes consideran que ayuda ante todo a ejercitar nuestro juicio (...) moral, y de los escépticos, que apenas encuentran ningún fin moral en ese hábito. Revisa a continuación algunas complejidades del desarrollo moral, que hacen improbable una fácil conexión, y termina distinguiendo los modos en que la lectura de novelas sí puede contribuir a cultivar la humanidad que hay en nosotros y a ahondar en el humanitarismo. (shrink)

¿Cómo desplazar un sistema de signos? ¿Cómo expandir el alcance textual de una fuerza? ¿Cómo repensar una teoría del cambio en el marco de un discurso que por estructura se nutre del silencio como su modo otro de conformación? ¿Cómo des-leer los montajes e imágenes que el lenguaje jurídico ata y moviliza? El presente trabajo pretende abordar la pregunta por la relación entre texto jurídico, ausencia y transformación a partir de los aportes de tres autores: Julia Kristeva, Gayatri Spivak y (...) Pierre Legendre. Entendiendo que es allí en la tensión misma entre lo dicho, lo ausente y lo im-puesto donde se inscribe la posibilidad misma de la acción. Mientras que Kristeva aborda la pregunta por la transformación a partir de una crítica vuelta sobre la semiótica misma, Spivak inscribe una teoría del cambio en el marco de una relectura semiótica de la subalternidad. Legendre, por su parte, insiste en el carácter inconsciente, libidinal de la sujeción. (shrink)

El trabajo forma parte de! Proyecto HISTELEA y propone una historia social de la lectura y escritura como campo de estúdio interdisciplinaria que supere la mirada diacrónica de la didáctica. Invita a combinar la historia de la escritura y su tecnologia con la historia de la lectura y sus variaciones desde la oralidad residual de la lectura colectiva en alta voz de! catecismo em las aulas conventuales, hasta la ruminatío que preanunciaba la lectura silenciosa individual moderna. La escuela fue erigida (...) como e! espacio privilegiado para curnplir con el objetivo de la producción masiva de Jectores ai constituirse los sistemas educativos nacionales euro-occidentales a fines del Sigla XIX, y siglas de prácticas sociales de escritura y lectura pasaron a condensarse en e! manual escolar, el libra de lectura, el discurso de! método como integrante del discurso pedagógico naciente, y con ello, la aparición de la escena de lectura escolar. (shrink)

Este artículo se centra en L'Alcorano di Macometto, escrito por Giovanni Battista Castrodardo de Belluno (1517 ca.-1588 ca.) e impreso por Andrea Arrivabene en Venecia en 1547. Aunque hoy sea considerado como una torpe paráfrasis de la traducción latina del Corán de Roberto de Ketton (1143 AD), un examen atento demuestra que L¿Alcorano costituyó una práctica y exitosa enciclopedia de bolsillo sobre la historia del islam y del Imperio otomano. Siguiendo una intuición de Alessandro D¿Ancona (1889), analizo los textos históricos (...) publicados en la introducción del texto, centrándome especialmente en la biografía del profeta Muh.ammad escrita por Castrodardo. Dicha biografía presenta una larga oración renacentista pronunciada por el monje Sergio-Bahi-ra- para convencer a Muh.ammad a derrocar al emperador Heraclio. A través de un análisis lingüistico y retórico detallado de esta oración, intento demostrar la cultura literaria de Castrodardo y su interés por las obras de Maquiavelo. Este nuevo retrato de Muhammad presenta al profeta del islam como un príncipe renacentista, un legislador y un «profeta armado», revelando asimismo las ideas políticas de los círculos filoturcos y anti-imperiales vinculados a la embajada de Francia en Venecia. (shrink)

The beginning of Philosophy of Right with the concept of "Right" and "morality" presents the appearance of a form of treatment typical of the methodological individualism of natural right theories. Nevertheless, Hegel makes it clear that the expository plan does not reflect the genetic, temporal or ontological structure of the issue. This article will thus try to give an answer to the question about the criteria to which this problematic structure of the work plan responds. The thesis sustained by the (...) author is that the first two parts of the work have to be read mainly as a critical-negative exposition of the current theories, and only the third part about the institutions of Sittlichkeit provides a positive exposition of Hegel's thought. The treatment of Right and morality is not merely negative either, but takes up again and at the same time conforms to Kant's and Natural Rights fundamental principles, as necessary conditions for the comprehension of the institutions of modern society and modern State.El comienzo de la Filosofía del Derecho con el concepto de "Derecho abstracto" y la "moralidad" presenta la apariencia de una forma de tratamiento típica del individualismo metodológico de las teorías jusnaturalistas. Hegel aclara sin embargo que el plan de la exposición no refleja ni el orden genético, o temporal, ni la estructura ontológica de la cosa. La pregunta que tratará de responder este artículo es, entonces, a qué criterios responde esta problemática estructura del plan de la obra. La tesis que sostiene el autor es que las dos primeras partes de la obra se tienen que leer principalmente como una exposición crítico-negativo de las teorías vigentes, y que recién la tercera parte sobre las instituciones de la eticidad expone positivamente el pensamiento de Hegel. Pero el tratamiento del derecho y la moralidad no es tampoco meramente negativo, sino que retoma y hace suyos al mismo tiempo principios fundamentales del jusnaturalismo y de Kant, como condiciones necesarias para comprensión de las instituciones de la sociedad y del Estado modernos. (shrink)

Foucault y Benjamin aprovecharon distintos temas y categorías de El capital de Marx, en concordancia con sus temas de interés y opciones teóricas y políticas. Foucault se concentró en el análisis de las relaciones de producción en lo que atañía al disciplinamiento de la clase obrera por el capital. Benjamin, a partir del fetichismo de la mercancía, en la fascinación del consumo y de la mera exhibición consumista patente en los grandes almacenes. Ambas lecturas son tratadas en este artículo como (...) complementarias y convergentes. En efecto, a partir de los fundamentos marxianos, permiten trazar una genealogía bien equipada del sometimiento de los seres vivos a la relación moderna del capital: un sometimiento que continúa bajo nuevas formas en el capitalismo actual. Sobre esto el texto se cierra, abriendo un camino para explorar. (shrink)

In this article I pay attention to some of the reviews that Reason in Common Sense of George Santayana received from some of the most outstanding philosophers of his time: E. Albee, J. Dewey, A.W. Moore, G. E. Moore, C. S. Peirce and F. C S. Schiller. My paper is arranged in six sections: 1) Biographical circumstances of Reason in Common Sense; 2) Peirce’s reading of Santayana; 3) The reviews of John Dewey; 4) Other readers of Reason in Common Sense; (...) 5) Santayana returns on his book; and, finally, by way of conclusion, 6) Reading today Reason in Common Sense. (shrink)

Se pretende en este estudio cuestionarnos sobre el significado de Leer, y desde esta pregunta encaminarnos a la cuestión tratada por Heidegger en ¿qué significa pensar? sobre el pensar y el decir. Ello en el contexto de la indagación hermenéutica de las modalidades del decir de leer, interpretar y comprender en la obra de Martin Heidegger. Esto nos obliga, en primer lugar, escuchar los sentidos arcaicos en griego de légein y noeīn y sus derivas en la lengua castellana y el (...) alemán de Heidegger. (shrink)