The Sociocultural Determination of the Fundamental and Applied Sciences.L. G. Drotianko -2002 -Russian Studies in Philosophy 41 (2):70-87.detailsThe discussion among philosophers and experimental scientists on the pages of Problems of Philosophy [Voprosy filosofii] about the substance of and relations between the fundamental and applied sciences [1] persuades me that this remains a topical issue despite the very deep crisis that followed the breakup of the USSR in all spheres of society, including science, throughout the post-Soviet region. Most likely, it is precisely the crisis phenomena in society that impel its thinking part to answer the questions: What has (...) happened to us? Where are we now? Where do we go from here and by which paths? What is the role of science in changing the situation? And inasmuch as science and philosophy are the supreme creations of the human mind, called upon to reflect by specific means what is taking place in society, these questions have been at the center of philosophers' and scientists' attention. (shrink)
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Reinhold Niebuhr and the Irony of American History in and after the Cold War.L. G. Castellin -2014 -Telos: Critical Theory of the Contemporary 2014 (168):85-105.detailsAt the beginning of the 1950s, Reinhold Niebuhr used the Christian concept of ‘irony’ to explain the difficult condition of the United States in the international system. In The Irony of American History the protestant theologian analyzed the ambiguity of American foreign policy during the first years of the Cold War. According to Niebuhr, the United States was involved in an ironic confutation of its sense of virtue, strength, security and wisdom. This confutation was due not only to its lack (...) of (Christian) realism but also to its false claim to dominate history. After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, when America became the most powerful nation of the international system, the irony of its history did not disappear. Even in a totally different situation for structure and distribution of power, compared to the one of sixty years ago, the ambiguous situation the United States is dealing with, can be spelt out trough irony again. This article discusses the lasting validity of the concept of ‘irony’ used to explain American present and, perhaps, future. (shrink)
Religiozno-filosofskai︠a︡ myslʹ russkogo zarubezhʹi︠a︡ pervoĭ poloviny XX veka: bibliograficheskiĭ ukazatelʹ.L. G. Filonova (ed.) -2011 - Moskva: Pashkov dom.detailsВ указателе собраны изданные в стране за период 1990-2008 гг. сочинения, представителей религиозно-философской мысли русского зарубежья, начало творчества которых в России пришлось на конец XIX в. Для специалистов.
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DeFinettian Consensus.L. G. Esteves,S. Wechsler,J. G. Leite &V. A. González-López -2000 -Theory and Decision 49 (1):79-96.detailsIt is always possible to construct a real function f, given random quantities X and Y with continuous distribution functions F and G, respectively, in such a way that f(X) and f(Y), also random quantities, have both the same distribution function, say H. This result of De Finetti introduces an alternative way to somehow describe the `opinion' of a group of experts about a continuous random quantity by the construction of Fields of coincidence of opinions (FCO). A Field of coincidence (...) of opinions is a finite union of intervals where the opinions of the experts coincide with respect to that quantity of interest. We speculate on (dis)advantages of Fields of Opinion compared to usual `probability' measures of a group and on their relation with a continuous version of the well-known Allais' paradox. (shrink)
Brownian movement and microscopic irreversibility.L. G. M. Gordon -1981 -Foundations of Physics 11 (1-2):103-113.detailsAn extension of the hypothetical experiment of Szilard, which involved the action of a one-molecule gas in an isolated isothermal system, is developed to illustrate how irreversibility may arise out of Brownian motion. As this development requires a consideration of nonmolecular components such as wheels and pistons, the thought-experiment is remodeled in molecular terms and appears to function as a perpetuum mobile.
Patient-centred equipoise and the ethics of randomised controlled trials.L. G. Olson -2002 -Monash Bioethics Review 21 (2):S55-S67.detailsThe ethical pre-condition of randomised controlled trials is, at present, the presence of equipoise. This refers to an opinion of the investigator that there is uncertainty as to the merits of the treatments being compared. It is argued that since the decision to enrol is the potential subject’s, the investigator’s opinion is not ethically relevant. It is proposed instead that equipoise be patient-centred, and that a trial is in equipoise for a patient when enrolling gives them the same chance of (...) a good outcome as not enrolling. It is shown that trial enrolment is normally easily the best strategy for achieving a good outcome, and that trials currently thought to be unethical may be in patient-centred equipoise. This is so for three reasons: (1) patients in trials receive superior care, (2) trial enrolment minimises the risk of being a victim of a therapeutic disaster and (3) health professionals make mistakes, and a 50% chance of receiving the worse treatment until a trial reports is always better than any chance of receiving the worse treatment indefinitely. It is concluded that so long as the standard of professional conduct is the furtherance of patients’ objective interests randomised controlled trials are ethical. (shrink)