Promises of Presence

My review of Ike Kamphof’s “Webcams to Save Nature: Online Space as Affective and Ethical Space” focuses on the question how the engagement of the spectator of the described websites is temporally structured and how the discrepancy between the instantaneity of affective response and the duration of moral engagement is solved. I propose to draw on Alexander Nehamas’ philosophy of beauty as an in-between, bringing affect and ethics closer together.     

Thinking (-Animal-Technology-Human-) Touch

J. Macgregor Wise and R. van de Vall kindly reviewed my analysis of the potential of webcams on nature conservation sites for developing networks of care. I am indebted to them for their subtle and intelligent deliberation and their valuable suggestions for further elaboration of the project. My focus, as stated in the article, is on the study of users, technology and animals as assemblages, bound together by physical, visual and affective bonds in the process of ‘doing something’.     

Performing Phenomenology: Negotiating Presence in Intermedial Theatre

This paper analyzes from a pragmatic postphenomenological point of view the performative practice of CREW, a multi-disciplinary team of artists and researchers. It is our argument that this company, in its use of new immersive technologies in the context of a live stage, gives rise to a dialectics between an embodied and a disembodied perspective towards the perceived world. We will focus on W (Double U), a collaborative interactive performance, where immersive technology is used for live exchange of vision. By means of a head mounted omni-directional camera and display the fields of vision of two participants are swapped, which enables the participants to perceive the world through another person??s point of view. This intermedial experience brings a classic dichotomic perception of space to falter: material reality as a ??live?? condition can no longer be opposed to a virtual mediated reality. In the shifting moment between the embodied and the perceived world, on the fracture between what one sees and what one feels, the distinction between live and mediated is blurred, moreover, can no longer be made. The perception of the body is pushed to the extreme, causing a most confusing corporal awareness, a condition that intensifies the experience and causes an altered sense of presence. In a dynamic cognitive negotiation, one tends, however, to unify the divergent ontologies of the ??real?? and the ??virtual?? to a meaningful experience. In this respect, we refer to recent neurological experiments such as the ??rubber hand illusion?? in order to clarify the spectator??s tendency to fuse both ontologies and to embody a coherent image-world.     

Points of View: A Conceptual Space Approach

Points of view are a central phenomenon in human cognition. Although the concept of point of view is ambiguous, there exist common elements in different notions. A point of view is a certain way to look at things around us. In conceptual points of view, things are looked at or interpreted through conceptual lenses. Conceptual points of view are important for epistemology, cognitive science, and philosophy of science. In this article, a new method to formalize conceptual points of view is introduced. It is based on the conceptual space approach, where concepts are regions of multi-dimensional quality spaces. Points of view, as defined in this article, consist of a selection of relevant dimensions, referred to here as determinables, and of a certain supposition, referred to here as a theory, about the subject content. After considering some early efforts to formalize points of view, the notion of conceptual space is defined and explored. One concept of point of view is defined and developed in the framework of conceptual space, and a new logic for points of view is also outlined. The problem of mind–body correlation is discussed as an example of the application of the notion of points of view. To conclude, the meaning and applications of the new concepts and tools developed in the article are discussed.     

The Struggle for Technology: Towards a Realistic Political Theory of Technology

Pieter Lemmens’ neo-Marxist approach to technology urges us to rethink how to do political philosophy of technology. First, Lemmens’ high level of abstraction raises the question of how empirically informed a political theory of technology needs to be. Second, his dialectical focus on a “struggle” between humans and technologies reveals the limits of neo-Marxism. Political philosophy of technology needs to return “to the things themselves”. The political significance of technologies cannot be reduced to its origins in systems of production or social organization, but requires study at the micro-level, where technologies help to shape engagement, interaction, power, and social awareness.     

Technology and the Body: the (Im)Possibilities of Re-embodiment

This article argues for a more rigorous distinction between body extensions on the one hand and incorporation of non-bodily objects into the body on the other hand. Real re-embodiment would be a matter of taking things (most often technologies) into the body, i.e. of incorporation of non-bodily items into the body. This, however, is a difficult process often limited by a number of conditions of possibility that are absent in the case of ??mere?? body extensions. Three categories are discussed: limb extensions/prostheses, perceptual extensions/prostheses and cognitive extensions/prostheses. For each category, a distinction between extensions and incorporations is proposed, and the conditions of possibility for real incorporation are discussed. These conditions of possibility differ in each category, but in general they ask for radical or fundamental alterations not only in the motor and/or sensory or cognitive constitution of a human subject, but also in his or her subjective experience.     

Postphenomenology and the Politics of Sustainable Technology

In this paper I argue that Don Ihde??s ??postphenomenology?? may constitute a proper access to the question concerning sustainable technology and I do so in three steps. First, I lay bare how a modern framework that systematically separates facts and instruments from values, choices and responsibilities yields no space for engaged decisions and responsible action towards more sustainable societies. In a second step, I elaborate how postphenomenology??s ??in-between?? perspective opens up the possibility of questioning science and technology as an inherent part of our human existence. Building on this, I argue how a ??normativity of the in-between?? may be developed around the concept of ??topical measure?? and which is grounded in the foundationless foundation of postphenomenology??s relational ontology. In a last step, I show how such a ??topical measure?? opens up two fields of normative action vis-à-vis the question concerning sustainable technology: one critical, the other empowering. Whereas ??topical criticism?? focuses on bringing into the open the powerful subpolitics of science and technology, the field of ??topical responsibility?? rather aims at actively assuming responsibility in these political circles. Besides its main interest, which lies in forging a genuine and adequate way into the issue of sustainability, this paper also constitutes an entry into Ihde??s philosophical oeuvre. The question concerning sustainable technology does not only touch upon Ihde??s relational trinity human-technology-world, it also deals with the degree of normative inquiry present in Ihde??s philosophy, an issue he has been repeatedly questioned about by his interlocutors.     

文献资源共享网络中用户浏览行为的整体特性分析

文献资源共享的最终目标是为用户提供优质的文献和信息服务,满足用户在文献资源方面的利用需求。对文献资源共享网络的用户行为进行分析和研究,根据用户特征提供针对性服务,对提高文献共享网络服务水平有重要参考价值。本文以国家科技文献图书中心用户浏览行为为例,分析了某一时间段全体用户浏览行为时间分布特征、时间间隔分布特征以及浏览次数的概率分布特征等,并以此为基础提出了相应提升服务的建议。     

确定"理论与实际关系"的困境:政治指向与发展指向的冲突

追溯“理论与实际关系”如何成为科技政策讨论的公共话语,将这一时期关于“理论联系实际”不同文本置于中国独特政治结构与文化范畴,对其内在意义或指称做出理解与解释,我们发现,内化于“理论联系实际”的双重功能预期,围绕“理论与实际关系”的讨论表现出的价值紧张,“理论联系实际”现实化引发的政治与发展间的冲突,使“理论联系实际”概念内涵在不断调试中变得模糊不清。最后,探讨了“理论联系实际”得以透过外在层面转化为科学家内在道德焦虑,进而转化为自我否定内在动力的独特文化与心理依据。     

技术使用者研究的三种主要范式及其比较

在大众多元文化取向引导下,科学技术论领域呈现一种明显趋势,即把关注点从科学技术的生产转向科学技术用户及其使用。文章集中对国外有关技术使用者的研究进行梳理,概括出三条来自于不同学科传统与范式的研究路径,即哲学范式、文化研究范式和经济管理学范式,逐一检视了它们的理论背景、分析视角、核心概念、基本观点和方法论,进而通过比较探讨了它们共存与竞争、互补与整合的态势。     

协同宽带无线通信研究进展

国家973计划项目“多域协同宽带无线通信基础研究”于2007年立项。该项目围绕国家“新一代宽带无线通信网络”重大专项等发展需求,探索从根本上提高频谱资源利用有效性的基础理论,力争实现宽带无线通信技术体系及核心关键技术的创新。本文介绍了该项目的立项背景、科学问题和研究课题设置,以及项目在多域协同通信系统体系框架、低信噪比信号同步、多极化天线小型化、异构网络融合等方面取得的主要创新研究成果。最后,对该项目下一阶段的研究工作进行了展望。     

国际医学术语体系进展及特色优势分析

文章深入调研国际主流医学术语体系的新进展,为中文医学术语体系建设提供参考。选取国际具有较高影响力的医学术语体系,概要阐述其编制目标、内容结构及应用现状等基本情况,并对其特色优势进行剖析与归纳,发现国际主流医学术语体系表现出更新持久、应用目标明确、开放易获取、语义关系丰富等特色。国际医学术语体系的编制模式及新进展,开辟了一条融合创新与应用验证相结合的医学术语标准化之路,有助于推动中文医学术语体系的建设落地。     

Dealing with Distances and Transformations for Fuzzy C-Means Clustering of Compositional Data

Clustering techniques are based upon a dissimilarity or distance measure between objects and clusters. This paper focuses on the simplex space, whose elements??compositions??are subject to non-negativity and constant-sum constraints. Any data analysis involving compositions should fulfill two main principles: scale invariance and subcompositional coherence. Among fuzzy clustering methods, the FCM algorithm is broadly applied in a variety of fields, but it is not well-behaved when dealing with compositions. Here, the adequacy of different dissimilarities in the simplex, together with the behavior of the common log-ratio transformations, is discussed in the basis of compositional principles. As a result, a well-founded strategy for FCM clustering of compositions is suggested. Theoretical findings are accompanied by numerical evidence, and a detailed account of our proposal is provided. Finally, a case study is illustrated using a nutritional data set known in the clustering literature.     

大型燃煤发电机组过程节能的基础研究进展

“973”计划“大型燃煤发电机组过程节能的基础研究”（2009CB219800）项目实施近5年来,围绕核心科学问题,在大型燃煤机组节能理论与方法、机组关键参数和运行状态的精确表征、机组能量输运特性及其与外部因素的耦合机制．以及大型燃煤机组能耗控制策略和设计运行优化方法等方面取得了重要进展,为我国燃煤发电深层次节能奠定了科学基础、为解决关键技术问题做出了贡献。本文对该项目的研究思路与主要进展作了介绍。     

技术归化:理解用户与产品关系的关键视角

技术归化是20世纪90年代从文化与传媒研究领域引入技术论研究的新概念,它把握住了用户在技术消费使用过程中的能动性,为理解用户与产品关系提供了关键的视角。技术归化是指将技术产品融入到应用环境,使其成为用户所处实践与文化网络一部分的过程。技术归化是一个学习与赋予意义的过程,正是通过技术归化,技术产品的社会文化价值才得以形成。对一项技术进行归化的集体过程既可能导致技术根深蒂固,难以排除,也可能使地位确立的技术"祛稳定化",后者提供了一种打破技术锁定,摆脱路径依赖的可能途径。     

Displacing Epistemology: Being in the Midst of Technoscientific Practice

Interest the Erklären?CVerstehen debate is usually interpreted as primarily epistemological. By raising the possibility that there are fundamentally different methods for fundamentally different types of science, the debate puts into play all the standard issues??that is, issues concerning scientific explanation and justification, the unity and diversity of scientific disciplines, the reality of their subject matter, the accessibility of various subject matters to research, and so on. In this paper, however, I do not focus on any of these specific issues. I start instead from the fact that the very existence of the debate itself is an issue; in fact, it poses a philosophical problem that almost everyone but the hardest line logical empiricists has come to realize cannot be resolved epistemologically. In my view, however, that it cannot be resolved ontologically, either. I think the problem is at bottom hermeneutical, and its resolution requires that we focus first, not on the objects of science or the methods of studying them, but on the character of the philosophical orientation assumed by those who would try to resolve it. In this paper, I explain why I think this is so by analyzing (1) Dilthey??s contribution to the original debate, (2) Husserl??s reaction to Dilthey, and (3) Heidegger??s critical evaluation of both. This line of philosophical development??this movement of self-understanding from critiques of objectivism to hermeneutical phenomenology??is of course already a central feature of much work in continental philosophy of science. In my conclusion, however, I argue for the less well-established??even if apparently approved??idea that it ought to be a central feature of technoscience studies as well.     

长江中下游铜矿带的早期开发和中国青铜文明

本世纪３０年代以来，商周时期巨大数量的铜料来源，一直成为众多学者关注的学术悬案。该文从古文献所载早期铜产地、现代地质勘探揭示的铜矿资源分布和早期采铜冶铜遗址的发掘研究，辅以铅同位素法等现代检测手段，论证长江中下游铜矿带和中条山区及其迤于带为商周铜料的主产地。中国青铜时代各文化区的形成与发展和各地区采铜冶铜生产与铜料供应的状况是密切相关的。商周时期的三大铜都（荆州、扬州和中条山），长江中下游据其中之     

Taxonomy Based Models for Reasoning: Making Inferences from Electronic Road Sign Information

Taxonomy Based modeling was applied to describe drivers’ mental models of variable message signs (VMS’s) displayed on expressways. Progress in road telematics has made it possible to introduce variable message signs (VMS’s). Sensors embedded in the carriageway every 500m record certain variables (speed, flow rate, etc.) that are transformed in real time into “driving times” to a given destination if road conditions do not change. VMS systems are auto-regulative Man-Machine (AMMI) systems which incorporate a model of the user: if the traffic flow is too high, then drivers should choose alternative routes. In so doing, the traffic flow should decrease. The model of the user is based on suppositions such as: people do not like to waste time, they fully understand the displayed messages, they trust the displayed values, they know of alternative routes. However, people also have a model of the way the system functions. And if they do not believe the contents of the message, they will not act as expected. We collected data through interviews with drivers using the critical incidents technique (Flanagan, 1985). Results show that the mental models that drivers have of the way the VMS system works are various but not numerous and that most of them differ from the“ideal expert” mental model. It is clear that users don’t have an adequate model of how the VMS system works and that VMS planners have a model of user behaviour that does not correspond to the behaviour of the drivers we interviewed. Finally, Taxonomy Based Modeling is discussed as a tool for mental model remediation.     

A Non-Aristotelian Model: Time as Space and Landscape in Postmodern Theatre

In his Poetics, Aristotle articulated certain ideas on the structure of drama that dominated both dramatic literature and theatre practices for the centuries to come. In this article I show how the thorough analysis of his statements leads us to believe that he endorses causality, narrativity, and temporal linearity as primary factors in the organization of dramatic and stage texts. Tracing various modifications of causality throughout theatre history, I use the work of the two prominent contemporary directors, Eimuntas Nekrosius and Anatoly Vasilyev, to demonstrate how postmodernist theatre has arrived at non-Aristotelian theatrical model based on the unity of a time–space continuum rather than temporal development.     

Meaningfulness: Civic or Political? A Response to Erik Claes’s ‘Civic Meaningfulness’

This reply examines to what extent Claes’s qualitative research on volunteers, meaningfulness and citizenship mirrors dimensions of republican citizenship. Republican citizenship brings together the idea of freedom as membership of a self-governing community and the ideal of commitment of those members to the common good of the community. According to the author, the idea of republican citizenship that emerges from the interviews is connected with (1) An experience of meaningfulness that is self-fulfilling, but at the same time places life in a larger context, (2) A deeper inner side of civic engagement, (3) A notion of civic virtue that is not too demanding due to its inner link with self-discovery through active citizenship, (4) A strong awareness of the plurality of ways of living a human life, and not a passive identification with an abstract, homogeneous social whole.