A Helmholtzian approach to space and time

A slight modification of Helmholtz’s metrical approach to the foundations of geometry leads to the locally Euclidian character of space without restriction of the curvature. A bolder generalization involving time measurement leads to the locally Minkowskian character of spacetime. Some philosophical consequences of these results are drawn.     

Helmholtz's Kant revisited (Once more). The all-pervasive nature of Helmholtz's struggle with Kant's Anschauung

In this analysis, the classical problem of Hermann von Helmholtz's (1821–1894) Kantianism is explored from a particular vantage point, that to my knowledge, has not received the attention it deserves notwithstanding its possible key role in disentangling Helmholtz's relation to Kant's critical project. More particularly, we will focus on Helmholtz's critical engagement with Kant's concept of intuition [Anschauung] and (the related issue of) his dissatisfaction with Kant's doctrinal dualism. In doing so, it soon becomes clear that both (i) crucially mediated Helmholtz's idiosyncratic appropriation and criticism of (certain aspects of) Kant's critical project, and (ii) can be considered as a common denominator in a variety of issues that are usually addressed separately under the general header of (the problem of) Helmholtz's Kantianism. The perspective offered in this analysis can not only shed interesting new light on some interpretive issues that have become commonplace in discussions on Helmholtz's Kantianism, but also offers a particular way of connecting seemingly unrelated dimensions of Helmholtz's engagement with Kant's critical project (e.g. Helmholtz's views on causality and space). Furthermore, it amounts to the rather surprising conclusion that Helmholtz's most drastic revision of Kant's project pertains to his assumption of free will as a formal condition of experience and knowledge.     

Signs, toy models, and the a priori: from Helmholtz to Wittgenstein

The Marburg neo-Kantians argue that Hermann von Helmholtz’s empiricist account of the a priori does not account for certain knowledge, since it is based on a psychological phenomenon, trust in the regularities of nature. They argue that Helmholtz’s account raises the ‘problem of validity’ (Gültigkeitsproblem): how to establish a warranted claim that observed regularities are based on actual relations. I reconstruct Heinrich Hertz’s and Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Bild theoretic answer to the problem of validity: that scientists and philosophers can depict the necessary a priori constraints on states of affairs in a given system, and can establish whether these relations are actual relations in nature. The analysis of necessity within a system is a lasting contribution of the Bild theory. However, Hertz and Wittgenstein argue that the logical and mathematical sentences of a Bild are rules, tools for constructing relations, and the rules themselves are meaningless outside the theory. Carnap revises the argument for validity by attempting to give semantic rules for translation between frameworks. Russell and Quine object that pragmatics better accounts for the role of a priori reasoning in translating between frameworks. The conclusion of the tale, then, is a partial vindication of Helmholtz’s original account.     

Becker–Blaschke problem of space

In a letter to Weyl, Becker proposed a new way to solve the problem of space in the relativistic context. This is the result of Becker׳s encounter with the two traditions of thinking about space: Husserlian transcendental phenomenology and Blaschke׳s equiaffine differential geometry. I reconstruct the mathematical content of the Becker–Blaschke solution to the problem of space and highlight the philosophical ideas that guide this construction. This permits me to underline some common properties of Riemannian and Minkowskian manifolds in terms of an unusual notion of isotropy. Finally, I will use this construction as a support to analyze several philosophical differences between Weyl׳s and Becker׳s proposals.     

From Helmholtz to Schlick: The evolution of the sign-theory of perception

Efforts to trace the influence of fin de siècle neo-Kantianism on early 20th Century philosophy of science have led scholars to recognize the powerful influence on Moritz Schlick of Hermann von Helmholtz, the doyen of 19th Century physics and a leader of the zur?ck zu Kant movement. But Michael Friedman thinks that Schlick misunderstood Helmholtz' signature philosophical doctrine, the sign-theory of perception. Indeed, Friedman has argued that Schlick transformed Helmholtz' Kantian view of spatial intuition into an empiricist version of the causal theory of perception. However, it will be argued that, despite the key role the sign-theory played in his epistemology, Schlick thought the Kantianism in Helmholtz' thought was deeply flawed, rendered obsolete by philosophical insights which emerged from recent scientific developments. So even though Schlick embraced the sign-theory, he rejected Helmholtz' ideas about spatial intuition. In fact, like his teacher, Max Planck, Schlick generalized the sign-theory into a form of structural realism. At the same time, Schlick borrowed the method of concept-formation developed by the formalist mathematicians, Moritz Pasch and David Hilbert, and combined it with the conventionalism of Henri Poincaré. Then, to link formally defined concepts with experience, Schlick's introduced his ‘method of coincidences’, similar to the ‘point-coincidences’ featured in Einstein's physics. The result was an original scientific philosophy, which owed much to contemporary scientific thinkers, but little to Kant or Kantianism.     

Weyl’s ‘agens theory’ of matter and the Zurich Fichte

This paper investigates Hermann Weyl’s reception of philosophical concepts stemming from the German Idealist Johann Gottlieb Fichte. In particular, Weyl’s ‘agens theory’ of matter, which he held around 1925, will be looked at. In the extant literature, the—admittedly also important—influence of Husserl on Weyl has mainly been addressed. Thus, apart from investigating some detailed Fichtean inheritances in Weyl’s concepts of causality, chance and continuity, the general difference which Weyl saw between the philosophies of Fichte and Husserl will also be discussed. For Weyl this is above all a difference between an active constructivism and a rather passive phenomenological seeing (Schau). Further, the paper shows in some detail the way Weyl was drawn into a certain reading of Fichte by his Zurich colleague, the philosopher Fritz Medicus. The methodological frame of the paper is that of Konstellationsforschung, a historical and systematic approach which proves to be particularly fruitful when investigating a (broadly speaking) German Idealist context and which allows special attention to be given to the acting subjects within the constellation under investigation. Conversely, Weyl’s agens theory suggests amendments to this methodology.     

Hermann Cohen's Das Princip der Infinitesimal-Methode: The history of an unsuccessful book

This paper offers an introduction to Hermann Cohen's Das Princip der Infinitesimal-Methode (1883), and recounts the history of its controversial reception by Cohen's early sympathizers, who would become the so-called ‘Marburg school’ of Neo-Kantianism, as well as the reactions it provoked outside this group. By dissecting the ambiguous attitudes of the best-known representatives of the school (Paul Natorp and Ernst Cassirer), as well as those of several minor figures (August Stadler, Kurd Lasswitz, Dimitry Gawronsky, etc.), this paper shows that Das Princip der Infinitesimal-Methode is a unicum in the history of philosophy: it represents a strange case of an unsuccessful book's enduring influence. The “puzzle of Cohen's Infinitesimalmethode,” as we will call it, can be solved by looking beyond the scholarly results of the book, and instead focusing on the style of philosophy it exemplified. Moreover, the paper shows that Cohen never supported, but instead explicitly opposed, the doctrine of the centrality of the ‘concept of function’, with which Marburg Neo-Kantianism is usually associated.     

Mesh and measure in early general relativity

In the early days of general relativity, several of Einstein׳s readers misunderstood the role of coordinates or “mesh-system” in ways that threatened the basic predictions of the theory. This confusion largely derived from intrinsic defects of Einstein׳s first systematic exposition of his theory. A few of Einstein׳s followers, including Arthur Eddington, Hermann Weyl, and Max von Laue, identified the interpretive difficulties and solved them by combining a deeply geometrical understanding of the theory with detailed attention to the concrete conditions of measurement.     

民营水保——金沙江干热河谷水土保持建设的新兴模式

民营水保已发展成为金沙江干热河谷地区——云南省元谋县水土保持生态建设和农村经济发展的一支重要的生力军。民营水保一改过去“国家出钱、部门包办、群众出力”的水保建设传统模式,通过积极吸引民间资本,以市场为导向进行生产经营,有效解决了以往水保建设资金不足、水保工程破坏严重、管护困难、经济效益低下等长期困扰水保建设的问题,经济效益突出,水保成效显著。本文在回顾民营水保在云南省元谋县的产生背景、发展历程的基础上,重点介绍民营水保的主要发展形式及其特点、发展中存在的问题。元谋的水保实践表明,民营水保较好地将经济效益与生态效益结合起来,是一种具有发展前景的水土流失治理及经济发展的新兴模式,为新形势下金沙江干热河谷地区水保建设的发展提供了一条新的思路。     

电信空调冷却塔供冷系统节能应用

根据电信机楼的空调负荷特点,在冬季和部分过渡季节,选择使用冷却塔加板式换热器的间接式免费供冷空调系统为电信机楼提供冷量。介绍了冬季机房空调送风温度和冷却塔供冷温度的确定,分析了冷却塔供冷温度对冷却塔运行消耗的影响。通过预测计算确定冷却塔免费制冷的的运行时间及节能效果。并引入了冷负荷供需指数的概念,经过现场测试计算得出江苏电信第二枢纽工程中影响该指数的三个因素,最后总结了江苏电信免费制冷技术的节能情况和应用潜力。     

Theoretical construction in physics – The role of Leibniz for Weyl's ‘Philosophie der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaft’

This paper aims at closing a gap in recent Weyl research by investigating the role played by Leibniz for the development and consolidation of Weyl's notion of theoretical (symbolic) construction. For Weyl, just as for Leibniz, mathematics was not simply an accompanying tool when doing physics—for him it meant the ability to engage in well-guided speculations about a general framework of reality and experience. The paper first introduces some of the background of Weyl's notion of theoretical construction and then discusses particular Leibnizian inheritances in Weyl's ‘Philosophie der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaft’, such as the general appreciation of the principles of sufficient reason and of continuity. Afterwards the paper focuses on three themes: first, Leibniz's primary quality phenomenalism, which according to Weyl marked the decisive step in realizing that physical qualities are never apprehended directly; second, the conceptual relation between continuity and freedom; and third, Leibniz's notion of ‘expression’, which allows for a certain type of (surrogative) reasoning by structural analogy and which gave rise to Weyl's optimism regarding the scope of theoretical construction.     

能源工程的发展与展望

本文内容主要包括阐述能源科学对国民经济发展的重要性,论述能源科学今后的发展方向,提高煤炭、石油、天然气利用效率,采用洁净煤技术,开发利用清洁能源与可再生能源,同时展望未来应采取有力措施研究能源新技术,为人类创造优美、洁净、和谐的生态环境,为我国经济可持续发展建立重要的物质基础。     

Realism without tears II: The structuralist legacy of sensory physiology

This paper examines the implications of the Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies for contemporary philosophy and psychology. Part I analyzed Johannes Peter Müller’s canonical formulation of the Doctrine, arguing that it follows from empirical results combined with methodological principles. Here, I argue that these methodological principles remain valid in psychology today, consequently, any naturalistic philosophy of perception must accept the Doctrine’s skeptical conclusion, that the qualities of our perceptual experience are not determined by, and thus do not reveal the nature of, their causes in the world. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we must be global skeptics; rather, I argue that contemporary epistemology of perception should embrace Müller’s own response to the Doctrine: epistemic structural realism. As articulated by Müller’s student, Helmholtz, structural realism follows from the Doctrine once we recognize that active exploration constitutes part of the mechanism that determines perceptual experience, a view congenial to contemporary theories of embodied perception in cognitive science. Structural realists in philosophy of science should likewise heed the lessons of the Doctrine, as it played a critical part in the early history of their view, and may still serve a constructive role as exemplar today.     

Energy conservation and supertasks

The most recent results in the dynamics of infinite systems of particles have shown there is no necessary connection between the performance of a deterministic supertask and the non-conservation of energy. Much more difficult to prove is the non-existence of any necessary connection between the performance of an indeterministic supertask and the non-conservation of energy; however, this paper does just that. So the requirement that energy be conserved does not mean we can exclude as “non-physical” either of the two major types of supertask considered to date. The paper also proposes, in this context, a “hidden variables method” to prove general results of compatibility in dynamics.     

能源互联网与能源路由器

日益紧张的能源供需矛盾和环境压力等要求可再生清洁能源应该在未来能源体系中承担主要能源供给任务.能源传输技术、存储技术、信息通信以及高性能计算技术的发展为有效利用分布式、间歇性可再生能源提供了技术支持.针对类似于信息互联网式的能源互联网愿景,本文探讨了以能源路由器为核心交换装置的能源互联网实现模型,从能源路由器的实现目标,已有支撑技术和实现部署方式等方面分析了涉及的关键技术,并结合已有研究成果说明了该领域亟需突破的研究方向.     

太阳能热气流发电及其对我国能源与环境的深远影响

为从根本上扭转我国能源面临的资源短缺、需求增势高、结构不合理、环境压力大等困境,本文从国情出发,提出充分利用我国广大荒漠化、沙化土地及其太阳能资源,大规模开发太阳能热气流发电,大幅度提高电力在终端能源结构中的比重,处理好与其它类型发电的兼容性与互补性,从根本上改善现行不合理的能源结构,将是在聚变能实现前即本世纪上半叶乃至中叶,解决我国能源困境的有效途径。太阳能热气流发电与风能的大规模互补联合开发,将有利于提高供电稳定性和电能质量,实现大面积荒漠绿化、沙尘暴治理和局域气候改善;发展基于太阳能热气流发电的电解制氢和海水淡化,将缓解我国油、气、水资源之不足;利用节余燃煤发展煤的液化、气化可进一步弥补我国油、气不足。     

Number and measure: Hermann von Helmholtz at the crossroads of mathematics, physics, and psychology

In 1887 Helmholtz discussed the foundations of measurement in science as a last contribution to his philosophy of knowledge. This essay borrowed from earlier debates on the foundations of mathematics (Grassmann / Du Bois), on the possibility of quantitative psychology (Fechner / Kries, Wundt / Zeller), and on the meaning of temperature measurement (Maxwell, Mach). Late nineteenth-century scrutinisers of the foundations of mathematics (Dedekind, Cantor, Frege, Russell) made little of Helmholtz’s essay. Yet it inspired two mathematicians with an eye on physics (Poincaré and Hölder), and a few philosopher-physicists (Mach, Duhem, Campbell). The aim of the present paper is to situate Helmholtz’s contribution in this complex array of nineteenth-century philosophies of number, quantity, and measurement.