Improved governance in any economy indicates government stability, secured law and order, and minimum internal and external conflicts. A higher level of governance may demonstrate the healthy performance of economic activities and tax revenue collection. Hence, it is vital to investigate the relationship between governance and tax revenue collection in any developing country. Therefore, we aim to investigate the impact of governance on tax revenue in Pakistan using control variables inflation and industrial value-added. The Autoregressive Distributive Lag cointegration technique is (...) utilized to find the long- and short-run effects of hypothesized variables on the tax revenue using a period 1976–2019. After employing a cointegration on the hypothesized model, the results expose that government stability, law and order, and internal and external conflicts leave a positive and significant impact on tax revenue in the long and short run. Hence, it is concluded that governance is an essential source in expanding tax revenue in Pakistan. Moreover, industrial value-added and inflation also show positive effects on the tax revenue. On the grounds of these results, it is proposed that the government should make serious efforts to improve governance and industrial activities for better tax revenue collection. (shrink)

While individuals presented in central texts of the period are indeed often alone or separated from others, Yousef regards this isolation as a problem the texts attempt to illuminate, rather than a condition they construct as normative or ...

Descartes’s Method: The Formation of the Subject of Science provides a systematic interpretation of Descartes’s method in Rules for the Direction of the Mind and related texts. The book reconstructs Descartes’s method in its entirety and concretely demonstrates both the efficacy of the method in the sciences as well as the unity of the method from Rules for the Direction of the Mind (1620s) to Principles of Philosophy (1644). The principal thesis of the book is that Descartes’s method is a (...) problem-solving cognitive disposition (or habitus) that can be actualized in a variety of well-defined ways, depending always on the nature of problem. The book divides into five parts and eleven chapters. Parts I–II (Chapters 1–4) develop an interpretation of the historical and conceptual foundations of Descartes’s method (its operations and acquisition), while the remainder of the book (Parts III–V, which include Chapters 5–11) demonstrates the fruits of the method in solutions to problems in the sciences (above all, mathematics and optics). (shrink)

An assessment of Descartes’s relation to his Aristotelian contemporaries in his Regulae ad directionem ingenii—and more specifically his relation to the theory of scientific habitus—has never been undertaken and is long overdue. Despite broad scholarly consensus that Descartes rejected the scholastic theory of scientific habitus in the Regulae, I will show that, in fact, he redefines a centuries-old scholastic debate about the unity of science, and that he does so by employing, not rejecting, the concept of scientific habitus. For Descartes, (...) the sciences are collectively one in virtue of a habitus which inclines the intellect to regard all things, not as they are in reality, but rather as they are relative to the intellect alone. Descartes establishes the unity of science via what Suárez refers to as “extrinsic denomination” in Disputationes metaphysicae 44.11.64. This creates a serious problem. As he no doubt knew and as Suárez would have rightly pointed out, the extrinsic denominations that Descartes employs in the Regulae have no ontological basis in the things denominated. Descartes’s method creates, arguably for the first time, a chasm between how things can be known by the intellect and how they are in reality—i.e., between “epistemology” and “ontology”—that motivates him to pursue metaphysics after the Regulae. (shrink)

Let 1 n. We show that the class NrnCAβ of n-dimensional neat reducts of β-dimensional cylindric algebras is not closed under forming elementary subalgebras. This solves a long-standing open problem of Tarski and his co-authors Andréka, Henkin, Monk and Németi. The proof uses genuine model-theoretic arguments.

It is generally believed that the de Broglie-Bohm model does not admit a particle interpretation for massive relativistic spin-0 particles, on the basis that particle trajectories cannot be defined. We show this situation is due to the fact that in the standard representation of the Klein-Gordon equation the wavefunction systematically contains superpositions of particle and anti-particle contributions. We argue that by working in a Foldy-Wouthuysen type representation uncoupling the particle from the anti-particle evolutions, a positive conserved density for a particle (...) and associated density current can be defined. For the free Klein-Gordon equation the velocity field obtained from this current density appears to be well-behaved and sub-luminal in typical instances. As an illustration, Bohmian trajectories for a spin-0 boson distribution are computed numerically for free propagation in situations in which the standard velocity field would take arbitrarily high positive and negative values. (shrink)

Descartes’s most extensive discussion of the law of refraction and the shape of the anaclastic lens is contained in Rule 8 of "Rules for the Direction of the Mind". Few reconstructions of Descartes’s discovery of the law of refraction take Rule 8 as their basis. In Rule 8, Descartes denies that the law of refraction can be discovered by purely mathematical means, and he requires that the law of refraction be deduced from physical principles about natural power or force, the (...) nature of the action of light, and the behavior of light rays in a variety of transparent media. For over a century, however, there has been broad agreement that Descartes discovered the law of refraction by purely mathematical means, and that he only later provided the relevant physical rationale (via comparisons or analogies) in Dioptrics II. I execute each step in Descartes’s proposed deduction of the law of refraction and the shape of the anaclastic lens in Rule 8 and concretely show how Descartes could have discovered the law of refraction and the shape of the anaclastic by its means. Rule 8, I argue, reflects Descartes’s actual path to the discovery of the law of refraction and the shape of the anaclastic lens. (shrink)

This paper argues that chance (risk or opportunity) discovery is challenging, from a reasoning point of view, because it represents a dilemma for inductive reasoning. Chance discovery shares many features with the grue paradox. Consequently, Bayesian approaches represent a potential solution. The Bayesian solution evaluates alternative models generated using a temporal logic planner to manage the chance. Surprise indices are used in monitoring the conformity of the real world and the assessed probabilities. Game theoretic approaches are proposed to deal with (...) multi-agent interaction in chance management. (shrink)

The article examines Rawlss Law of Peoples as an attemptto extend the conception of public justification originallydeveloped in Political Liberalism to the internationaldomain. After briefly sketching the main elements of Rawlssconception of public justification, the article examineshow this is developed in Law of Peoples, pointingout the main differences with the domestic case. The articlethen tries to show that Rawlss justificatory strategy containsa number of inconsistencies which undermine the persuasivenessof the conception of international justice he advocates. Thisin turn can be traced (...) back to the failure fully to addressthe constituency problem facing theories ofpublic justification. (shrink)

We survey various results on the relationship among neat embeddings, complete representations, omitting types, and amalgamation. A hitherto unpublished application of algebraic logic to omitting types of first-order logic is given.

In the recently discovered Cambridge manuscript, widely regarded as an early draft ofRules for the Direction of the Mind, Descartes does not describe the mind as a ‘purely spiritual’ force ‘distinct from the whole body’. This has led some readers to speculate that Descartes did not embrace mind-body dualism in the Cambridge manuscript. In this article, I offer a detailed interpretation of Descartes's mind-body dualism in the established Charles Adam and Paul Tannery edition ofRules, and argue that, while differences between (...) the Cambridge manuscript and the established version ofRulesare significant, the relevant passages in the Cambridge manuscript preclude interpretation along both materialist and hylomorphic lines. I then offer an account of the development of Descartes's mind-body dualism between the Cambridge manuscript and the established version ofRules. What the Cambridge manuscript reveals is not Descartes before dualism, but rather Cartesian dualism in its barest form. (shrink)

The article highlights one of the most important aspects of the modernizing potential of Falsafa (hellenizing philosophy of classical Islam), associated with the significance of the soteriological concept developed within its framework for the soteriological concept that began in the 19th century reconstruction of theological discourse. On the example of the activity of Jamaladdin al-Afghani (d. 1897), Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), Rashid Rida (d. 1935) and other reformers, it is shown how thinkers inspired by the ideals of scientific rationality and (...) socio-cultural progress overcame the eschatologism of traditional theology, applying to the intellectualistically and presentistically oriented soteriological teachings of the Muslim peripatetics, primarily Ibn Sina (Avicenna; d. 1037) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes; d. 1198). In fact, denying the normativity of hadiths (reports of proper prophetic sayings) as a source of creed-aqida, modernists exclude from the traditional list of obligatory dogmas all principles based on hadiths, including traditions on the nearness of the end of the world and the signs that precede it. The article pays special attention to the reformist rehabilitation of Falsafa’s theses, previously qualified as heterodox: the immateriality of the soul, the unresuscitatability of the earthly body, the otherness of the otherworldly corporeality, the intellectual-imaginative nature of the afterlife, the universality of final salvation (apokatastasis). (shrink)

All geopolitical change represents the creation of a new order and this entails the alteration of the spatial conditions and, therefore, the modification of the way of understanding borders. Carl Schmitt, especially in his last stage, aimed at delineating a new international configuration made up of large spaces (Grossräume), once the time of sovereignties typical of the Ius publicum europaeum was over. The goal of this study is to analizy to which extent and how Schmitt 's analytical tools around borders (...) can be useful to understand the current state of globalization. Todo cambio geopolítico representa la creación de un nuevo orden y ello conlleva la alteración de las condiciones espaciales y, por tanto, la modificación de la manera de entender las fronteras. Carl Schmitt, especialmente en su última etapa, apuntó al delineamiento de una nueva configuración internacional conformada por grandes espacios (Grossräume), una vez que el tiempo de las soberanías propias del Ius publicum europaeum había terminado. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar hasta qué punto y de qué manera las herramientas analíticas de Schmitt en torno a las fronteras pueden ser útiles para comprender el estado actual de la globalización. (shrink)

In this article, I developed the CSR-19 scale to assess the perceptions company executives have of CSR actions during the COVID-19 pandemic and to conceptualize the economic, legal, social, and environmental aspects of CSR actions as a high-order construct. This paper's findings suggest that the legal, environmental, and social aspects of CSR actions are being perceived to positively contribute to companies' CSR actions, but the economic aspect of CSR actions is deemed to contribute negatively to companies' CSR actions. The 16-item (...) CSR-19 scale shows strong evidence of reliability as well as content, convergent, and discriminant validity in a sample of 211 Jordanian companies. Managerial implications and suggestions for applying the CSR-19 scale in future research are presented. (shrink)

The ISA, based on system theory, is the best way to organize knowledge and exchange it. It depends on defining every system through its boundary, main processes within this boundary, and exchange with the environment through this boundary. It relies upon thermodynamics and information theory and is, therefore, applicable to all kinds of systems, which makes it most suitable for cross-disciplinary investigations and innovation. SD is complex and cross-disciplinary by its very nature and, therefore, the ISA is the best way (...) to investigate its different subsystems. Among the most important subsystems of SD are integrated bio-refineries and bio-fuels, both of which are investigated in this article. (shrink)

Sumário - Capítulo I. Cultura, realidade, linguagem e lógica; Capítulo II. Premissas epistemológico - jurídicas; Capítulo III. Problemas de teoria geral do direito; Capítulo IV. Sobre a revogação; Capítulo V. Alguns casos concretos de revogação no direito tributário.

We present a fully relativistic formulation of the theory of electron-nucleus Bremsstrahlung, within the context of self-field QED, as advanced recently by Barut and his co-workers. The Bremsstrahlung emission cross-section, reported here, is also shown to reduce to the standard correct nonrelativistic limit, in the dipole approximation.

Within the context of the time-reversed S-matrix approach to photoionization, and employing a recently proposed strong-field solution to the Schrödinger equation, analytic expressions for the atomic photoionization rates are obtained here without using the dipole approximation. We show that the absorbed photon momentum shows up as a forward-directed momentum component for the photoelectron. All the expressions reported in this work have the correct limits when the dipole approximation is used.

The Aesthetic Commonplace is a study of the everyday as a region of overlooked value in the work of William Wordsworth, George Eliot, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. The Romantic poet, the realist novelist, and the modern philosopher are each separately associated with a commitment to the common, the ordinary, and the everyday as a vital resource for reflection on language, on feeling, on ethical insight, and social attunement. The Aesthetic Commonplace is the first study to draw substantive lines of connection between (...) Wittgenstein and the cultural and literary history of nineteenth century England. Tracing conceptual and formal affinities between the poet, the novelist, and the philosopher, the book brings to light significant links between the intellectual history of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth, making the case for a continuous cultural commitment to the aesthetic as a distinctive mode of investigating thought, feeling, and the everyday language upon which we depend for their articulation. Addressed to both literary studies and to philosophy, The Aesthetic Commonplace makes a compelling case for the interdependence of form, concept, and emotion in the history and interpretive practices of both disciplines. (shrink)

For most commentators, the universality of Descartes’s method goes hand in hand with the uniformity with which it must be applied to any problem in any science. I will henceforth refer to this as the Uniformity Thesis. Finding themselves unable to identify such a uniformly applied method in any of Descartes’s extant treatises, many readers of Descartes have been led to conclude that Descartes’s method played little or no role in Cartesian science. My principle argument will be that Descartes did (...) not, in fact, accept the Uniformity Thesis, and that the relevant textual evidence strongly suggests that he denied it. For Descartes, the method is universal, and can be employed to discover scientia, not because it can or ought to be uniformly applied to any problem in any science, but rather because practice in the method habituates the human ingenium to be sensitive to diff erent kinds of problem, such that the procedure for constructing and resolving a problem can, within definable limits, vary from application to application. (shrink)

We give a simple new construction of representable relation algebras with non-representable completions. Using variations on our construction, we show that the elementary closure of the class of completely representable relation algebras is not finitely axiomatizable.

Computational Creativity, Concept Invention, and General Intelligence in their own right all are flourishing research disciplines producing surprising and captivating results that continuously influence and change our view on where the limits of intelligent machines lie, each day pushing the boundaries a bit further. By 2014, all three fields also have left their marks on everyday life – machine-composed music has been performed in concert halls, automated theorem provers are accepted tools in enterprises’ R&D departments, and cognitive architectures are being (...) integrated in pilot assistance systems for next generation airplanes. Still, although the corresponding aims and goals are clearly similar (as are the common methods and approaches), the developments in each of these areas have happened mostly individually within the respective community and without closer relationships to the goings-on in the other two disciplines. In order to overcome this gap and to provide a common platform for interaction and exchange between the different directions, the International Workshops on “Computational Creativity, Concept Invention, and General Intelligence” (C3GI) have been started. At ECAI-2012 and IJCAI-2013, the first and second edition of C3GI each gathered researchers from all three fields, presenting recent developments and results from their research and in dialogue and joint debates bridging the disciplinary boundaries. The chapters contained in this book are based on expanded versions of accepted contributions to the workshops and additional selected contributions by renowned researchers in the relevant fields. Individually, they give an account of the state-of-the-art in their respective area, discussing both, theoretical approaches as well as implemented systems. When taken together and looked at from an integrative perspective, the book in its totality offers a starting point for a (re)integration of Computational Creativity, Concept Invention, and General Intelligence, making visible common lines of work and theoretical underpinnings, and pointing at chances and opportunities arising from the interplay of the three fields. (shrink)

This book focuses on the reconfiguration of aesthetic anthropology into an anthropological problem of cogitation, opening up a fascinating new dialogue between the domains of anthropology, philosophy, and art. Tarek Elhaik embarks on an inquiry composed of a series of cogitations based on fieldwork in an ecology of artistic and scientific practices: from conceptual art exhibitions to architectural environments; from photographic montages to the videotaping of spirit seances; from artistic interventions in natural history museums to ongoing dialogues between performance (...) artists and marine scientists. The chapters examine the image-work, ethical demands, and aesthetic struggles of interlocuters including artists Mathias Goeritz, Mounir Fatmi, Silvia Gruner, Joan Jonas, and Patricia Lagarde. (shrink)

This thesis explores how the problem of other minds arises in philosophy and literature of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The effort to imagine and establish the conditions, limits and possibilities of human knowledge of other human beings is common to works of empirical psychology, moral philosophy, political theory, autobiography and fiction. The ways in which literature, and specifically autobiographical writing, imagine the solitude and singularity of the human being are understood, in this dissertation, as contextualizations of the skeptical (...) moods which afflict the subjects of philosophical writing. The argument of the thesis, simply put, is that the human being and self conceived in this period is constructed in terms of dependence rather autonomy, and determined by the imagination of its relatedness to others, not its self-sufficiency. Rousseau's influence on English Romanticism provides a historical framework and principle of selection for the diverse set of texts brought together in the dissertation. Epistemological and ethical philosophies of the English Enlightenment serve as background for a study of the problems of human association that are central to all of Rousseau's work. The ineradicable doubts and insecurities which are constitutive of human relations in Rousseau are shown to be assimilated and transformed in the literature of English Romanticism. (shrink)

Amyloid beta precursor protein (APP) and prion protein (PrP) are cell membrane elements implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. Both proteins undergo endoproteolysis. Evidence is adduced from the literature hinting that the process in the two proteins could be related, their functions may overlap and their distributions coincide. It is proposed that PrP catalyses its own cleavage, the C-terminal fragment functions as an α secretase and the N-terminal segment chaperones the active site; the α secretase releases anticoagulant and neurotrophic ectodomains from APP. (...) The proposals explain some features of spongiform encephalopathies. BioEssays 23:456–462, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to propose and develop an intelligent e-learning system based on advanced document management techniques at Al-Quds Open University. In this article, we focus on a case using e-mail contents as supplement educational materials at QOU. We describe how the interactive classification system based on concept hierarchy can simplify this task. This system provides the functions to index, classify, and retrieve a collection of e-mail messages based on user profiles. By automatically indexing e-mail messages using (...) our E-mail Classification System for e-Learning, instructors and/or students can easily find their messages and find the topics. The test results of our system evaluation showed that a good classification quality has been achieved, with a precision of 77.4%, recall of 90%, and F-measure of 82.8. (shrink)

Sources such as diaries, letters and inventories suggest that certain places were preferred for music-making during the seventeenth century: the great chamber for eating and dancing, the chamber and the cabinet for private concerts, and the gallery for great occasions. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the ballroom appears in some beautiful castles and town mansions, equipped with a balcony all around or a small loft to house musicians. During the same period, some people had a cabinet devoted to (...) music. It is only during the second half of the century that we find precise terms such as ‘chamber for music’ at Chenonceau Castle or ‘music room’ as it appears in the well-known Parisian mansion of the duchesse de Guise. This evolution is naturally symptomatic of both the royal examples and the creation of multiple social circles, the so-called ‘salons’. (shrink)