(1992). The rituals of science: Comments on Abir‐Am (with response) Social Epistemology: Vol. 6, The Historical Ethnography of Scientific Rituals, pp. 373-387.

(1992). The rituals of science: Comments on Abir‐Am (with response) Social Epistemology: Vol. 6, The Historical Ethnography of Scientific Rituals, pp. 373-387.

This volume breaks new ground in the study of how national culture, disciplinary tradition, epistemological choice, and political expediency affect the construction of collective memory and, then, how historians work with—and sometimes against—those constructions. Essays focus on a variety of commemorative rites, ranging from the quincentennial of Copernicus to the centennials of Pasteur, Darwin, and Planck; from the tercentenary of Harvard to the half centennial of Los Alamos; from the centennial of evolutionary theory to anniversaries of research schools in molecular (...) biology. Contributors include Clark A. Elliott, Owen Gingerich, Dieter Hoffmann, Dominque Pestre, Robert W. Seidel, and V. Betty Smocovitis. (shrink)

(1992). A historical ethnography of a scientific anniversary in molecular biology: The first protein X‐ray photograph (1984, 1934) Social Epistemology: Vol. 6, The Historical Ethnography of Scientific Rituals, pp. 323-354.

This book discusses the basic foundations of theoretical biology. Contrary to the objects of theoretical physics, the biological object contains a kind of ontological duality and refers to a fundamental wholeness of a living system. The rational interpretation of wholeness is considered by the author as a true basis for fundamental principles of development of theoretical biology and for understanding its link to physics, to psychology, and to semiotics. The rational holistic approach in application to theoretical biology can be substantiated (...) through the clarification of internal logic of organization and description of biological systems. This logic will provide an understanding of the place of life in the Universe. The main goal of this book is to introduce the view that in the potentially infinite system of human knowledge, a proper clarification of the place of Man in the Universe is possible only via understanding of the phenomenon of life. (Imprint: Nova Biomedical). (shrink)

This article focuses on the representation of female physical illness and disability in the works of two Arab women writers: Iraqi Alia Mamdouh’s Habbat al Naftalin [Mothballs] (1986) and Egyptian Salwa Bakr’s al ‘Arabah al Dhahabiyah la Tas‘ad ila al Sama’ [The Golden Chariot] (1991). It argues that the representation of female illness in these works centres upon the figure of the sick mother. Despite the limitations of this trope of illness, both novels offer a more complex illness narrative than (...) those of their Arab predecessors. By problematizing the representation of the sick woman/mother, both novels challenge the traditional role of the silent, sick female figure whose story remains outside the limits of representation. Finally, the article argues that this textual recuperation of the female suffering body is achieved through the employment of a mother— daughter plot which continues to represent the sick mother as socially and emotionally absent but which nevertheless renders her a central figure in the daughter’s narrative. (shrink)

This essay explores the material, phenomenological and political meaning of the Syrian corpse and the question of its dignity as represented in a series of media and visual outputs from 2011 to the present. The essay begins by arguing that the violence in Syria now targets the dead as much as the living. As such, the essay highlights the forms of ‘necroviolence’ that the Syrian corpse has been subjected to: mistreatment, erasure of markers of identity, denial of burial, mutilation and (...) ultimately an attempt to erase it from memory. The essay concludes by arguing that the Syrian corpse is not merely the passive subject or victim of ‘necroviolence’ but can also become the paradoxical agent of what we might call ‘postmortem resistance’. (shrink)

In order to modelize the reasoning of an intelligent agent represented by a poset T, H. Rasiowa introduced logic systems called “Approximation Logics”. In these systems a set of constants constitutes a fundamental tool. In this papers, we consider logic systems called L′T without this kind of constants but limited to the case where T is a finite poset. We prove a weak deduction theorem. We introduce also an algebraic semantics using Hey ting algebra with operators. To prove the completeness (...) theorem of the L′T system with respect to the algebraic semantics, we use the method of H. Rasiowa and R. Sikorski for first order logic. In the propositional case, a corollary allows us to assert that it is decidable to know “if a propositional formula is valid”. We study also certain relations between the L′T logic and the intuitionistic and classical logics. (shrink)

In order to modelize the reasoning of intelligent agents represented by a poset T, H. Rasiowa introduced logic systems called “Approximation Logics”. In these systems the use of a set of constants constitutes a fundamental tool. We have introduced in [8] a logic system called equation image without this kind of constants but limited to the case that T is a finite poset. We have proved a completeness result for this system w.r.t. an algebraic semantics. We introduce in this paper (...) a Kripke-style semantics for a subsystem equation image of equation image for which there existes a deduction theorem. The set of “possible worldsr is enriched by a family of functions indexed by the elements of T and satisfying some conditions. We prove a completeness result for system equation image with respect to this Kripke semantics and define a finite Kripke structure that characterizes the propositional fragment of logic equation image. We introduce a reational semantics which has the advantage to allow an interpretation of the propositionnal logic equation image using only binary relations. We treat also the computational complexity of the satisfiability problem of the propositional fragment of logic equation image. (shrink)

In order to modelize the reasoning of intelligent agents represented by a poset T, H. Rasiowa introduced logic systems called “Approximation Logics”. In these systems a set of constants constitutes a fundamental tool. In this paper, we consider logic systems called L'T without this kind of constants but limited to the case where T is a finite poset. We study the tableau method for this system and we prove its completeness for a class of formulas with respect to an algebraic (...) semantics. (shrink)

Any living system possesses internal embedded description and exists as a superposition of different potential realisations, which are reduced in interaction with the environment. This reduction cannot be recursively deduced from the state in time present, it includes unpredictable choice and needs to be modelled also from the state in time future. Such non-recursive establishment of emerging configuration, after its memorisation via formation of reflective loop (sign-creating activity), becomes the inherited recursive action. It leads to increase of complexity of the (...) embedded description, which constitutes the rules of generative grammar defining possible directions of open evolutionary process. The states in time future can be estimated from the point of their perfection, which represents the final cause in the Aristotelian sense and may possess a selective advantage. The limits of unfolding of the reflective process, such as the golden ratio and the golden wurf are considered as the canons of perfection established in the evolutionary process. (shrink)

Any living system possesses internal embedded description and exists as a superposition of different potential realisations, which are reduced in interaction with the environment. This reduction cannot be recursively deduced from the state in time present, it includes unpredictable choice and needs to be modelled also from the state in time future. Such non-recursive establishment of emerging configuration, after its memorisation via formation of reflective loop (sign-creating activity), becomes the inherited recursive action. It leads to increase of complexity of the (...) embedded description, which constitutes the rules of generative grammar defining possible directions of open evolutionary process. The states in time future can be estimated from the point of their perfection, which represents the final cause in the Aristotelian sense and may possess a selective advantage. The limits of unfolding of the reflective process, such as the golden ratio and the golden wurf are considered as the canons of perfection established in the evolutionary process. (shrink)

(1997). Information processing as an intrinsic property of biological systems: Origin and dynamics of information. World Futures: Vol. 50, No. 1-4, pp. 571-581.

Here, we analyze how the set of nucleotides in the cell is equilibrated and how this generates simple rules that help the cell to organize itself via maintenance of a stable non‐equilibrium state. A major mechanism operating to achieve this state is thermodynamic buffering via high activities of equilibrating enzymes such as adenylate kinase. Under stable non‐equilibrium, the ratios of free and Mg‐bound adenylates, Mg2+ and membrane potentials are interdependent and can be computed. The adenylate status is balanced with the (...) levels of reduced and oxidized pyridine nucleotides through regulated uncoupling of the pyridine nucleotide pool from ATP production in mitochondria, and through oxidation of substrates non‐coupled to NAD+ reduction in peroxisomes. The set of adenylates and pyridine nucleotides constitutes a generalized cell energy status and determines rates of major metabolic fluxes. As the result, fluxes of energy and information become organized spatially and temporally, providing conditions for self‐maintenance of metabolism. (shrink)