The Quasi-Empirical Epistemology of Mathematics

This paper clarifies and discusses Imre Lakatos’ claim that mathematics is quasi-empirical in one of his less-discussed papers A Renaissance of Empiricism in the Recent Philosophy of Mathematics. I argue that (1) Lakatos’ motivation for classifying mathematics as a quasi-empirical theory is epistemological; (2) what can be called the quasi-empirical epistemology of mathematics is not correct; (3) analysing where the quasi-empirical epistemology of mathematics goes wrong will bring to light reasons to endorse a pluralist view of mathematics.

The Monetary Nexus

<p>Recent debate on monetary theory has probed increasingly into its fundamental conceptualisations, and some far-reaching proposals for reform have emerged. This study is an attempt to contribute towards such a reform. It begins with an appraisal of the theory in order to evaluate its status as an empirical theory, and finds that the ideas of money as a nexus between producer and user, of economic processes as occurring through time, and of the absence of general equilibrating tendencies, need substantial reformulation if the processes of a modern pecuniary economy are to be adequately represented. The study devotes its major effort to structuring these ideas into a form capable of sustaining the required theoretical development while maintaining contact with the world of experience.</p>

The Monetary Nexus

<p>Recent debate on monetary theory has probed increasingly into its fundamental conceptualisations, and some far-reaching proposals for reform have emerged. This study is an attempt to contribute towards such a reform. It begins with an appraisal of the theory in order to evaluate its status as an empirical theory, and finds that the ideas of money as a nexus between producer and user, of economic processes as occurring through time, and of the absence of general equilibrating tendencies, need substantial reformulation if the processes of a modern pecuniary economy are to be adequately represented. The study devotes its major effort to structuring these ideas into a form capable of sustaining the required theoretical development while maintaining contact with the world of experience.</p>

IIT’s Scientific Counter-Revolution: A Neuroscientific Theory’s Physical and Metaphysical Implications

IIT includes commitments about the very nature of physical reality, a fact both highly unusual for an empirical theory within neuroscience, and surprisingly underappreciated within the literature. These commitments are intimately tied to the theory; they are not incidental. This paper demonstrates as much by raising certain objections in a “naive” way, and then exposing how the principled IIT responses would rely upon metaphysical positions. Along the way we draw on the IIT literature for support for these interpretations, but also point to a need for elaboration and clarification. Section 1 applies the Placement Argument in a way that leads to problem involving zombies, treated in Section 2. Section 3 frames the zombie problem as an apparent dilemma, and addresses that dilemma by drawing on claims in the IIT literature concerning physical reality. Section 4 raises a related dilemma and treats it in a way that dovetails with the treatment in Section 3 of physical reality. All of this underscores not just the breadth of IIT, but the relevance of this breadth to a full consideration of IIT’s merits.

PENGUJIAN WAGNER'S LAW VERSUS KEYNESIAN HYPOTHESIS: PENDEKATAN REGIONAL INDONESIA

In this paper, we tested the Wagner’s Law against the Keynesian Hypothesis for Indonesia using granger causality test. After conducting theoretical and empirical theory, this paper is analysing the relationship between government expenditure and GDP percapita. The long run parameters and causality test found valid Wagners’ Law in Indonesia not Keynesian Hypothesis. The results reveal a positive and statistically significant long run effect running from economic growth toward the government expenditure refer to Wagner’s Law in Indonesia. Further more, the growth of population is giving a positive effect for government expenditure also.

Luminescence Response and Quenching Models for Heavy Ions of 0.5 keV to 1 GeV/n in Liquid Argon and Xenon

Biexcitonic collision kinetics with prescribed diffusion in the ion track core have been applied for scintillation response due to heavy ions in liquid argon. The quenching factors q = EL/E, where E is the ion energy and EL is the energy expended for luminescence, for 33.5 MeV/n 18O and 31.9 MeV/n 36Ar ions in liquid Ar at zero field are found to be 0.73 and 0.46, compared with measured values of 0.59 and 0.46, respectively. The quenching model is also applied for 80–200 keV Pb recoils in α-decay, background candidates in direct dark matter searches, in liquid argon. Values obtained are ~0.09. A particular feature of Birks’ law has been found and exploited in evaluating the electronic quenching factor qel in liquid Xe. The total quenching factors qT for 0.5–20 keV Xe recoils needed for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) searches are estimated to be ~0.12–0.14, and those for Pb recoils of 103 and 169 keV are 0.08 and 0.09, respectively. In the calculation, the nuclear quenching factor qnc = Eη/E, where Eη is the energy available for the electronic excitation, is obtained by Lindhard theory and a semi-empirical theory by Ling and Knipp. The electronic linear energy transfer plays a key role.

Approximate Models for Lateral Growth on Ice Crystal Surfaces during Vapor Depositional Growth

Measurements show that after facets form on frozen water droplets, those facets grow laterally across the crystal surface leading to an increase in volume and surface area with only a small increase in maximum dimension. This lateral growth of the facets is distinctly different from that predicted by the capacitance model and by the theory of faceted growth. In this paper we develop two approximate theories of lateral growth, one that is empirical and one that uses explicit growth mechanisms. We show that both theories can reproduce the overall features of lateral growth on a frozen, supercooled water droplet. Both theories predict that the area-average deposition coefficient should decrease in time as the particle grows, and this result may help explain the divergence of some prior measurements of the deposition coefficient. The theories may also explain the approximately constant mass growth rates that have recently been found in some measurements. We also show that the empirical theory can reproduce the lateral growth that occurs when a previously sublimated crystal is regrown, as may happen during the recycling of crystals in cold clouds.