Another paper that should get wider exposure: “The Classical Model of Science: a millennia-old model of scientific rationality” by Willem R. de Jong and Arianna Betti. Synthese (2010) 174:185-203. Excerpts: Throughout more than two millennia philosophers adhered massively to ideal standards of scientific rationality going back ultimately to Aristotle’s Analytica posteriora. These standards got progressively […]
The worldwide list of dissident scientists: Critics and alternative theories by Jean de Climont (Assailly Publishing, 2016) compiles 40 lists of dissident scientists from around the world and finds 8000 of them. This is a remarkable challenge to the assertion that scientists are in agreement about scientific theories. Synopsis : This directory, available exclusively in
This interesting paper deserves to be known more widely: “And Yet It Moves: The Observability of the Rotation of the Earth” by Peter Kosso, Northern Arizona University, published in Foundations of Science, (2010) 15:213–225. Excerpts: Abstract A central point of controversy in the time of the Copernican Revolution was the motion, or not, of the
Although several new terms have been introduced on this blog (see glossary here), more are needed. For every concept and term about space there is a corresponding concept, and should be a corresponding term, about time. A place is “a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent”. The corresponding term is a
This follows a post on synchrony conventions here. The question is, What is the meaning of here and now for what is observed? Is everything than an observer observes part of their here and now? Some things observed may be a long distance away. Some things observed may be from signals sent in the past,
A place is a location within space. An event is a location within time. Past, present, and future are adjectives that modify place or event. We may speak of places in the past or of events in the past. Here indicates the present place. Now indicates the present event. The locus of events in the
In abstract algebra, a semiring is an algebraic structure similar to a ring, but without the requirement that each element must have an additive inverse. Analogously, what could be called a semi-marriage is like a marriage, but without the requirement that the persons be of opposite sex. (Compare here.) How would this work? First, a
Since the development of relativity theory, space and time have been combined in a four-dimensional continuum. Because the speed of light is an absolute value in relativity theory, it acts as a conversion factor between space and time. Accordingly, the four dimensions may be understood as any combination of space and time: 4 + 0:
I’ve written that the perspective of 1D space + 3D time is just as legitimate as the usual 3D space + 1D time. Is there an intermediate perspective of 2D space + 2D time? In a sense, Yes. This is the perspective of 2D images. Maps are usually 2D images of space but they may
This continues the posts here and here and here based on George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s book Philosophy in the Flesh (Basic Books, 1999). The Location Event-Structure Metaphor Locations → States Movements → Changes Forces → Causes Forced Movement → Causation Self-propelled Movements → Actions Destinations → Purposes Paths (to destinations) → Means Impediments to
