Newton’s notion and practice of unification

In this paper I deal with a neglected topic with respect to unification in Newton’s Principia. I will clarify Newton’s notion (as can be found in Newton’s utterances on unification) and practice of unification (its actual occurrence in his scientific work). In order to do so, I will use the recent theories on unification as tools of analysis (Kitcher, Salmon and Schurz). I will argue, after showing that neither Kitcher’s nor Schurz’s account aptly capture Newton’s notion and practice of unification, that Salmon’s later work is a good starting point for analysing this notion and its practice in the Principia. Finally, I will supplement Salmon’s account in order to answer the question at stake.     

Pierre Duhem’s good sense as a guide to theory choice

This paper examines Duhem’s concept of good sense as an attempt to support a non rule-governed account of rationality in theory choice. Faced with the underdetermination of theory by evidence thesis and the continuity thesis, Duhem tried to account for the ability of scientists to choose theories that continuously grow to a natural classification. I will examine the concept of good sense and the problems that stem from it. I will also present a recent attempt by David Stump to link good sense to virtue epistemology. I will argue that even though this approach can be useful for the better comprehension of the concept of good sense, there are some substantial differences between virtue epistemologists and Duhem. In the light of this reconstruction of good sense, I will propose a possible way to interpret the concept of good sense, which overcomes the noted problems and fits better with Duhem’s views on scientific method and motivation in developing the concept of good sense.     

Models as products of interdisciplinary exchange: Evidence from evolutionary game theory

The development of evolutionary game theory (EGT) is closely linked with two interdisciplinary exchanges: the import of game theory into biology, and the import of biologists’ version of game theory into economics. This paper traces the history of these two import episodes. In each case the investigation covers what exactly was imported, what the motives for the import were, how the imported elements were put to use, and how they related to existing practices in the respective disciplines. Two conclusions emerged from this study. First, concepts derived from the unity of science discussion or the unification accounts of explanation are too strong and too narrow to be useful for analysing these interdisciplinary exchanges. Secondly, biology and economics—at least in relation to EGT—show significant differences in modelling practices: biologists seek to link EGT models to concrete empirical situations, whereas economists pursue conceptual exploration and possible explanation.     

低山丘陵区统一年产值测算研究——以四川华蓥市为例

本文以四川华蓥市为研究区域,严格遵循国家法律、标准和规范对低山丘陵为主的华蓥市征地统一年产值进行测算,通过的大量的数据计算得出结果华蓥市的地区征地统一年产值为20520元,并用该结果与上一轮的价格进行比较和分析,提出了一些实用该结果的建议。     

Interpreting the Wigner–Eckart Theorem

The Wigner–Eckart theorem is central to the application of symmetry principles throughout atomic, molecular, and nuclear physics. Nevertheless, the theorem has a puzzling feature: it is dispensable for solving problems within these domains, since elementary methods suffice. To account for the significance of the theorem, I first contrast it with an elementary approach to calculating matrix elements. Next, I consider three broad strategies for interpreting the theorem: conventionalism, fundamentalism, and conceptualism. I argue that the conventionalist framework is unnecessarily pragmatic, while the fundamentalist framework requires more ontological commitments than necessary. Conceptualism avoids both defects, accounting for the theorem’s significance in terms of how it epistemically restructures the calculation of matrix elements. Specifically, the Wigner–Eckart theorem modularizes and unifies matrix element problems, thereby changing what we need to know to solve them.     

一体化与当代文学史书写的症结

“当代文学”是一个不断延伸的概念,它没有终点。它的使用造成了相关称谓的混乱。洪子诚提出的文学“一体化”的论断,对新中国文学的命名与中国当代文学史的学科建构均有启示意义。中国当代文学史的内部书写面临诸多问题,这些问题带来文学史的人为的断裂。分析当代文学史书写背后所存在的症结,有助于排除这些困扰,从而建立当代文学史的书写规范。     

知识哲学视域中的农业科技推广

地方性知识对解决我国当前农业科技推广中的困境具有重要的理论启迪意义。文章从地方性知识的情景性特征出发,论述了农业科技推广要强调普遍性农业科技知识与地方性农业知识的通约性;从地方性知识产生的协商性和辩护性特征出发,强调要致力于构建我国农业科技推广共同体;从地方性知识的文化整体性出发,强调农业科技推广的最终目标是促进农业生产和农村生活方式的和谐统一,而不是单一的农业生产方式改进。     

统一场论的历史发展及其研究

对相互作用统一的迫求,历来都深深地吸引着众多的物理学家。本文深入研究了统一场论所经历的三个方要阶段:几何统一场论、旋量统一场论和规范统一场论;并对每个阶段的思想渊源和发展都做了详尽的研究。     

Unification and mechanistic detail as drivers of model construction: Models of networks in economics and sociology

We examine the diversity of strategies of modelling networks in (micro) economics and (analytical) sociology. Field-specific conceptions of what explaining (with) networks amounts to or systematic preference for certain kinds of explanatory factors are not sufficient to account for differences in modelling methodologies. We argue that network models in both sociology and economics are abstract models of network mechanisms and that differences in their modelling strategies derive to a large extent from field-specific conceptions of the way in which a good model should be a general one. Whereas the economics models aim at unification, the sociological models aim at a set of mechanism schemas that are extrapolatable to the extent that the underlying psychological mechanisms are general. These conceptions of generality induce specific biases in mechanistic explanation and are related to different views of when knowledge from different fields should be seen as relevant.