Although the theory which we are discussing here is applicable to all questions which concern the transfer of motion, this little work has been given the title Essay on Machines in General, first, because it is principally Machines we have seen as being the most important object of mechanics; and in the second place, because it is not a question of any particular kind of Machine, but only of the properties which are common to all.

Lazare Carnot uses the terms force and puissance interchangeably and without additional specification. As proposed above, we will use the modern term, force. Moment–of–Activity is one of the crucial terms in Carnot’s theory and is nowadays called (mechanical) work.

This book offers insights relevant to modern history and epistemology of physics, mathematics and, indeed, to all the sciences and engineering disciplines emerging of 19th century. This research volume is the first of a set of three Springer books on Lazare Nicolas Marguérite Carnot’s (1753–1823) remarkable work: Essay on Machines in General (Essai sur les machines en général [1783] 1786). The other two forthcoming volumes are: Principes fondamentaux de l’équilibre et du mouvement (1803) and Géométrie de position (1803). Lazare Carnot (...) – l'organisateur de la victoire – in Essai sur le machine en général (1786) assumed that the generalization of machines was a necessity for society and its economic development. Subsequently, his new coming science applied to machines attracted considerable interest for technician, as well, already in the 1780’s. With no lack in rigour, Carnot used geometric and trigonometric rather than algebraic arguments, and usually went on to explain in words what the formulae contained. His main physical– mathematical concepts were the Geometric motion and Moment of activity–concept of Work . In particular, he found the invariants of the transmission of motion (by stating the principle of the moment of the quantity of motion) and theorized the condition of the maximum efficiency of mechanical machines (i.e., principle of continuity in the transmission of power). While the core theme remains the theories and historical studies of the text, the book contains an extensive Introduction and an accurate critical English Translation – including the parallel text edition and substantive critical/explicative notes – of Essai sur les machines en général (1786). The authors offer much-needed insight into the relation between mechanics, mathematics and engineering from a conceptual, empirical and methodological, and universalis point of view. As a cutting–edge writing by leading authorities on the history of physics and mathematics, and epistemological aspects, it appeals to historians, epistemologist–philosophers and scientists (physicists, mathematicians and applied sciences and technology). (shrink)

Lazare Carnot: 3 portraits on paper (20,5x28) cm; (19,5x27,5) cm; (25,5x34,5) cm.

Is shame social? Is it superficial? Is it a morally problematic emotion? Researchers in disciplines as different as psychology, philosophy, and anthropology have thought so. But what is the nature of shame and why are claims regarding its social nature and moral standing interesting and important? Do they tell us anything worthwhile about the value of shame and its potential legal and political applications? In this book, Julien Deonna, Raffaele Rodogno, and Fabrice Teroni propose an original philosophical account of (...) shame aimed at answering these questions. The book begins with a detailed examination of the evidence and arguments that are taken to support what they call the two dogmas about shame: its alleged social nature and its morally dubious character. Their analysis is conducted against the backdrop of a novel account of shame and ultimately leads to the rejection of these two dogmas. On this account, shame involves a specific form of negative evaluation that the subject takes towards herself: a verdict of incapacity with regard to values to which she is attached. One central virtue of the account resides in the subtle manner it clarifies the ways in which the subject's identity is at stake in shame, thus shedding light on many aspects of this complex emotion and allowing for a sophisticated understanding of its moral significance. This philosophical account of shame engages with all the current debates on shame as they are conducted within disciplines as varied as ethics, moral, experimental, developmental and evolutionary psychology, anthropology, legal studies, feminist studies, politics and public polic. (shrink)

We consider the following signaling game. Nature plays first from the set {1, 2}. Player 1 (the Sender) sees this and plays from the set {A, B}. Player 2 (the Receiver) sees only Player 1’s play and plays from the set {1, 2}. Both players win if Player 2’s play equals Nature’s play and lose otherwise. Players are told whether they have won or lost, and the game is repeated. An urn scheme for learning coordination in this game is as (...) follows. Each node of the desicion tree for Players 1 and 2 contains an urn with balls of two colors for the two possible decisions. Players make decisions by drawing from the appropriate urns. After a win, each ball that was drawn is reinforced by adding another of the same color to the urn. A number of equilibria are possible for this game other than the optimal ones. However, we show that the urn scheme achieves asymptotically optimal coordination. (shrink)

Pierre de Fermat is known as the inventor of modern number theory. He invented–improved many methods useful in this discipline. Fermat often claimed to have proved his most difficult theorems thanks to a method of his own invention: the infinite descent. He wrote of numerous applications of this procedure. Unfortunately, he left only one almost complete demonstration and an outline of another demonstration. The outline concerns the theorem that every prime number of the form 4n + 1 is the sum (...) of two squares. In this paper, we analyse a recent proof of this theorem. It is interesting because: it follows all the elements of which Fermat wrote in his outline; it represents a good introduction to all logical nuances and mathematical variants concerning this method of which Fermat spoke. The assertions by Fermat will also be framed inside their historical context. Therefore, the aims of this paper are related to the history of mathematics and to the logic of proof-methods. (shrink)

Psychophysical experiments have demonstrated large and highly systematic perceptual distortions of tactile space. Such a space can be referred to our experience of the spatial organisation of objects, at representational level, through touch, in analogy with the familiar concept of visual space. We investigated the neural basis of tactile space by analysing activity patterns induced by tactile stimulation of nine points on a 3 × 3 square grid on the hand dorsum using functional magnetic resonance imaging. We used a searchlight (...) approach within pre-defined regions of interests to compute the pairwise Euclidean distances between the activity patterns elicited by tactile stimulation. Then, we used multidimensional scaling to reconstruct tactile space at the neural level and compare it with skin space at the perceptual level. Our reconstructions of the shape of skin space in contralateral primary somatosensory and motor cortices reveal that it is distorted in a way that matches the perceptual shape of skin space. This suggests that early sensorimotor areas critically contribute to the distorted internal representation of tactile space on the hand dorsum. (shrink)

Abbiamo rivolto una serie di domande ad Angela de Benedictis e a Raffaele Laudani, autori di due volume che mettono in primo piano il rapporto tra obbedienza e disobbedienza. Il confronto riguarda una serie di concetti politici fondamentali all'interno della storia costituzionale moderna: resistenza, ribellione, rivoluzione, potere costituente, sovranità. Fondamentali risultano i linguaggi con i quali trovano espressione le contestazioni dell'ordine, in particolare il linguaggio giuridico che è spesso usato sia per contestare l'ordine sia per confermarlo. Non da ultimo (...) emerge l'importanza che la disobbedienza ha avuto per costituire lo spazio politico europeo e atlantico. (shrink)

Recently it has been claimed that no extension of quantum theory can have improved predictive power, the statement following, according to the authors, from the assumptions of free will and of the correctness of quantum predictions concerning the correlations of measurement outcomes. Here we prove that the argument is basically flawed by an inappropriate use of the assumption of free will. In particular, among other implications, the claim, if correct, would imply that Bohmian Mechanics is incompatible with free will. This (...) statement, appearing in the paper, derives from the unjustified identification of free will with the no-signaling constraint and of a purely formal and not physical use of such a constraint. (shrink)

The global age is distinguished by disobedience, from the protests in Tiananmen Square to the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the anti-G8 and anti-WTO demonstrations. In this book, Raffaele Laudani offers a systematic review of how disobedience has been conceptualized, supported, and criticized throughout history. Laudani documents the appearance of "disobedience" in the political lexicon from ancient times to the present, and explains the word's manifestations, showing how its semantic wealth transcended its liberal interpretations in the 1960s and (...) 1970s. Disobedience, Laudani finds, is not merely an alternative to revolution and rebellion, but a different way of conceiving radical politics, one based on withdrawal of consent and defection in relation to the established order. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to refute the hypothesis that the observer’s consciousness is necessary in the quantum mechanics measurement process. In order to achieve our target, we propose and investigate a variation of the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment called “DAP”, short for “Dead-Alive Physicist”, in which a human being replaces the cat. This strategy enables us to logically disprove the consistency of the above hypothesis, and to oblige its supporters either to be trapped in solipsism or to rely (...) on an alternative interpretation of quantum mechanics in which the conscious observer plays the sole role of acknowledging the experimental results. Our analysis hence provides support to clarify the relationship between the observer and the objects of her/his experimental observation; this and a few other implications are discussed in the fourth section and in the conclusions. (shrink)

Do epistemic intuitions tell us anything about knowledge? Stich has argued that we respond to cases according to our contingent cultural programming, and not in a manner that tends to reveal anything significant about knowledge itself. I’ve argued that a cross-culturally universal capacity for mindreading produces the intuitive sense that the subject of a case has or lacks knowledge. This paper responds to Stich’s charge that mindreading is cross-culturally varied in a way that will strip epistemic intuitions of their evidential (...) value. I argue that existing work on cross-cultural variation in mindreading favors my position over Stich’s. (shrink)

Riassunto: Presentiamo una prospettiva semiotica e dinamica per indagare e discutere dal punto di vista psicologico i fenomeni della regolazione affettiva attraverso la mediazione e l’articolazione dei segni. Al fine di evitare uno sguardo semplicistico, lineare e riduttivo, i fenomeni affettivi sono presentati come campi quasi strutturati, i quali vengono a differenziarsi attraverso mediatori semiotici. La loro funzione è quella di orientare le persone attraverso l’anticipazione dell’immediato futuro. La regolazione semiotica conduce alla costruzione di gerarchie – temporanee – ovvero strutture (...) di segni che incanalano le esperienze. Dalla costituzione di segni operatori di meta-livello segue sia la veloce espansione della costruzione di segni sia l’arresto e la demolizione della temporanea gerarchia regolativa di segni. Tali segni permettono tanto l’espansione flessibile quanto la limitazione della profondità e della ridondanza dei processi di auto-regolazione delle esperienze soggettive e delle azioni nei diversi contesti. Parole chiave: Mediazione semiotica; Segni; Gerarchie; Affetti; Regolazione affettiva; Campi affettivi The Dynamic Regulation of Affective Processes through Semiotic Mediation: We introduce a semiotic and dynamic perspective to investigate and discuss – from a psychological point of view – the process of affective regulation through the mediation and articulation of signs. In order to avoid a simplistic, linear and reductive appraisal, affective phenomena are presented as quasi-structured fields, which differentiate themselves through semiotic mediators. Their function is to orient people in anticipation of the immediate future. Semiotic regulation leads to the construction of temporary hierarchies, namely structures of signs that guide experiences. From the constitution of meta-level operator signs ensues both the rapid expansion of the construction of signs and the arrest and the demolition of the temporary regulatory hierarchy of signs. These signs allow for flexible expansion but also limit the “depth” and redundancy of self-regulation processes in subjective experiences and actions in different contexts. Keywords: Semiotic Mediation; Signs; Hyerarchies; Affects; Affect Regulation; Affective Fields. (shrink)

It has recently been suggested by Shaw (2007) that the distinction between voluntary active euthanasia, such as giving a patient a lethal overdose with the intention of ending that patient's life, and voluntary passive euthanasia, such as removing a patient from a ventilator, is much less obvious than is commonly acknowledged in the literature. This is argued by suggesting a new perspective that more accurately reflects the moral features of end-of-life situations. The argument is simply that if we consider the (...) body of a mentally competent patient who wants to die, a kind of ‘unwarranted’ life support, then the distinction collapses. We argue that all Shaw has provided is a perspective that makes the conclusion that there is little distinction between voluntary active euthanasia and voluntary passive euthanasia only seemingly more palatable. In doing so he has yet to convince us that this perspective is superior to other perspectives and thus more accurately reflects the moral features of the situations pertaining to this issue. (shrink)

I examine the nature of human-robot pet relations that appear to involve genuine affective responses on behalf of humans towards entities, such as robot pets, that, on the face of it, do not seem to be deserving of these responses. Such relations have often been thought to involve a certain degree of sentimentality, the morality of which has in turn been the object of critical attention. In this paper, I dispel the claim that sentimentality is involved in this type of (...) relations. My challenge draws on literature in the philosophy of art and in cognitive science that attempts to solve the so called paradox of fictional emotions, i.e., the seemingly paradoxical way in which we respond emotionally to fictional or imaginary characters and events. If sentimentality were not at issue, neither would its immorality. For the sake of argument, however, I assume in the remaining part of the paper that sentimentality is indeed at play and bring to the fore aspects of its badness or viciousness that have not yet been discussed in connection with robot pets. I conclude that not even these aspects of sentimentality are at issue here. Yet, I argue that there are other reasons to be worried about the wide-spread use of ersatz companionship technology that have to do with the potential loss of valuable, self-defining forms of life. (shrink)

Jennifer Johnston’s fiction presents the conditions of Irish culture and society by exploring the separations between interior and exterior realms and past and present temporalities persisting within the insulating privacy of the familial home space. In _The Christmas Tree_ (1981), the home is both haven and prison for Johnston’s heroine. In this paper, I argue that the home—which assumes the form of the individual body and the familial home—is paradoxical. The protagonist leaves 1950s Ireland because of the country’s rigid (...) gender roles in order to pursue an autonomous life as a writer in England, but she is unable to publish her writing within the confines of the patriarchal publishing world. The home of her body becomes paradoxical when she becomes a single mother as an avenue for creativity but is then diagnosed with terminal cancer. She returns to her father’s home to die, which she re-orders and reclaims through the disorder of the uncanny—represented by her non-conformity and illness brought into the patriarchal home. By writing her life story and creating a brief, alternative maternal relationship with her young caretaker, the protagonist confronts her own ambivalence toward her parents, who also represent aspects of oppressive heteronormative gender expectations. (shrink)

The well-replicated observation that many people maintain mental health despite exposure to severe psychological or physical adversity has ignited interest in the mechanisms that protect against stress-related mental illness. Focusing on resilience rather than pathophysiology in many ways represents a paradigm shift in clinical-psychological and psychiatric research that has great potential for the development of new prevention and treatment strategies. More recently, research into resilience also arrived in the neurobiological community, posing nontrivial questions about ecological validity and translatability. Drawing on (...) concepts and findings from transdiagnostic psychiatry, emotion research, and behavioral and cognitive neuroscience, we propose a unified theoretical framework for the neuroscientific study of general resilience mechanisms. The framework is applicable to both animal and human research and supports the design and interpretation of translational studies. The theory emphasizes the causal role of stimulus appraisal (evaluation) processes in the generation of emotional responses, including responses to potential stressors. On this basis, it posits that a positive (non-negative) appraisal style is the key mechanism that protects against the detrimental effects of stress and mediates the effects of other known resilience factors. Appraisal style is shaped by three classes of cognitive processes – positive situation classification, reappraisal, and interference inhibition – that can be investigated at the neural level. Prospects for the future development of resilience research are discussed. (shrink)

Based on our research regarding the relationship between physics and mathematics in HPS, and recently on Geneva Edition of Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1739–42) by Thomas Le Seur (1703–70) and François Jacquier (1711–88), in this paper we present some aspects of such Edition: a combination of editorial features and scientific aims. The proof of Proposition XLIII is presented and commented as a case study.

Tactile distance perception is believed to require that immediate afferent signals be referenced to a stored representation of body size and shape (the body model). For this ability, recent studies have reported that the stored body representations involved are highly distorted, at least in the case of the hand, with the hand dorsum represented as wider and squatter than it actually is. Here, we aim to define the neural basis of this phenomenon. In a behavioural experiment participants estimated the distance (...) between touches on two points by adjusting the length of a visually-presented line on the screen. The technique of multidensional scaling (MDS) was used to reconstruct a perceptual map of tactile space. Analysis of spatial distortion using Procrustes alignment showed that maps were stretched in the mediolateral hand axis. In order to determine the neural correlates of these body distortions, we performed an fMRI study. For each participant, we used a searchlight pattern classifier with Euclidean distance on pre-defined regions of interests (ROIs). In order to relate the representations between the different points and to computational models, we compare response-pattern dissimilarity matrices in these ROIs. Similar to the behavioural experiment, we used MDS to reconstruct maps of the neural representation of tactile space using the values from the dissimilarities matrices. We were able to reconstruct the perceptual map of tactile space in the contralateral primary somatosensory and motor cortices. This suggests that these areas are critical to generate the tactile representations of the dorsum of the hand. (shrink)

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of his passing, this special book features studies on Alexandre Koyré, one of the most influential historians of science of the 20th century, who re-evaluated prevalent thinking on the history and philosophy of science. In particular, it explores Koyré’s intellectual matrix and heritage within interdisciplinary fields of historical, epistemological and philosophical scientific thought. Koyré is rightly noted as both a versatile historian on the birth and development of modern science and for his interest in philosophical (...) questions on the nature of scientific knowledge. In the 1940s and 1950s his activities in the United States established a crucial bridge between the European historical tradition of science studies and the American academic environments, and an entire generation of historians of science grew up under his direct influence. The book brings together contributions from leading experts in the field, and offers much-needed insights into the subject from historical, nature of science, and philosophical perspectives. It provides an absorbing and revealing read for historians, philosophers and scientists alike. (shrink)

This first of a two-part volume (Book I) deals with a unit intellectual cultural history of science in the Renaissance within fundamental frameworks. An intellectual cultural history of science examines how human and their intellectual experiences have been expressed in, and emerged by scientific ideas. Taking into account the excellence of the essays – which cover several branches and disciplines in history and epistemology of science – this book also provides perspectives on the enduring influence of a historiographical tradition, e.g., (...) the emergence of fundamental works on mathematics and geometry, household’s principal functions, food and culture, clock instrumentation, surgery as a practical branch of medicine. It describes the ways it differently accounted for variation in unlike countries and consequently how its results remain, still nowadays, a debated question, as well as due to constraints preventing an extensive exploration of its remarkable historiography. This volume gathers selected and double peer review contributions by historians of physics/mathematics/science as new fundamental perceptions in the history of science during the Renaissance, ranging across several fields of science within its intellectual and cultural history. The book is an accessible avenue to understanding cultural issues to develop scientific ideas by leading authorities who offer much-needed historical insights into the field of intellectual and fundamental history of science. It provides an absorbing and revealing read for historians, philosophers and scientists alike. (shrink)

This second of a two-part volume (Book II) extends the historical–scientific inquiry of first-part volume (Book I) by considering other specific case studies within cultural, fundamental & technological frameworks. An intellectual cultural history of science & technology examines how human and their applied sciences-experiences have been expressed in, and trained by ideas and technologies. The contributors explain ways in which the sciences allowed advanced modelling on the one hand, and the development of new technological ideas on the other hand, including (...) methods and theories, institutions, engineering devices/instrumentation and social implications as well. Taking into account the excellence of the essays, the book covers several branches and disciplines in science & technology, e.g., theoretical mathematics and the empirical work, machinery and mechanisms, stored information, transportation, inquiring methods in history and historiography of science & technology. It describes the ways it differently accounted for variation in unlike contexts and consequently how its results remain, still nowadays, a debated question, as well as due to constraints preventing an extensive exploration of its remarkable historiography. The book gathers selected and double peer review contributions by historians of physics/mathematics/engineering/science as new perceptions of the history of science during the Renaissance ranging across several fields of science within its fundamental, cultural & technological history. The volume is an accessible avenue to understanding cultural ideas & technologies by leading authorities who offer much-needed historical insights into the field of and intellectual history of science & technology. It provides an absorbing and revealing read for historians, philosophers, and scientists alike. (shrink)

We present historical and epistemological notes on the relationships between Chemistry–Physics as dating back to two scientific revolutions: Lavoisier’s Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (1789) and by Sadi Carnot’s Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu (1824). Their scientific paradigms and mathematical interpretations of chemical and physical phenomena did not made use of infinitesimal analysis as, i.e., exposed within mechanics and, generally speaking, they were totally different from notable Newtonian paradigm survived until to 19th century. An anomaly was, and two revolutions (...) were produced. (shrink)

The links between the philosophies of Montaigne and Bruno are explored here for the first time, in this speculative comparison that focuses as much on rhetoric and ethics as on ontology and anthropology.

1. Introduzione Perché, tra tutto ciò “che è”, scegliere di studiare proprio il denaro? Essenzialmente per due motivi. Anzitutto, col denaro abbiamo a che fare tutti i giorni, si tratta quindi di un ente che ha un ruolo rilevante nella vita dell’uomo contemporaneo, di più, direi che oggi esso abbia un ruolo centrale negli interessi degli uomini, pensiamo solo a quanti lo usano come criterio di scelta nella propria vita. Tuttavia, e qui arriviamo al secondo motivo, il denaro nella sua (...) struttur... (shrink)

S'inscrivant dans le sillage des travaux les plus récents sur l'histoire du cartésianisme, ce livre en retient d'abord l'idée que ce phénomène varie selon les contextes nationaux, mais qu'il est parfois possible de repérer des ressemblances qui outrepassent les frontières. Se confrontant à une pensée vivante qui se réfracte sous des aspects inattendus, les articles recueillis explorent des sujets qui se situent à l'intersection de plusieurs champs disciplinaires (théologie, physique, médecine, éthique, anthropologie, etc.). Les acquis principaux du cartésianisme dans le (...) domaine scientifique constituent toutefois la toile de fond historique et épistémologique sur laquelle s'élaborent les analyses des contributions de ce volume."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) although elaborated on the general population, is frequently used in clinical samples. The study evaluates the psychometric characteristics of TCI in clinical populations with the aim of creating a reduced version of the test suitable for these subjects. This research was conducted on two groups of mental health outpatients. In the first study, 44 items, correlated with the psychiatric disorders, was selected. These items, divided in four dimensions utilizing both statistic and psychopathological criteria, show (...) good internal consistency and external validity and constitute a Reduced Version (TR-TCI) of the test. In the second study, the predictive validity of the TR-TCI was evaluated through the ROC curves and a logistic regression model. The results show a good predictive validity of TR-TCI, that allows us to use this instrument in order to identify the personality structures that make people sensitive to psychiatric pathologies. (shrink)

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-021-00451-y.

We examined the neural basis of tactile distance perception by analyzing activity patterns induced by tactile stimulation of nine points on a 3 x 3 square grid on the hand dorsum using functional magnetic resonance (fMRI). We used a searchlight approach within pre-defined regions of interests (ROIs) to compute the pairwise Euclidean distances between the activity patterns elicited by tactile stimulation. Then, we used multidimensional scaling (MDS) to reconstruct skin space at the neural level and compare it with skin space (...) at the perceptual level. Our reconstructions of the shape of skin space in contralateral primary somatosensory (SI) and motor (M1) cortices reveal that it is distorted in a way that matches the perceptual shape of skin space. This suggests that early sensorimotor areas are critical to processing tactile distance perception. (shrink)