Download or read book Rethinking Linguistic Relativity written by John J. Gumperz and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-07-11 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Linguistic relativity is the claim that culture, through language, affects the way in which we think, and especially our classification of the experienced world. This book reexamines ideas about linguistic relativity in the light of new evidence and changes in theoretical climate. The editors have provided a substantial introduction that summarizes changes in thinking about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in the light of developments in anthropology, linguistics and cognitive science. Introductions to each section will be of especial use to students.
Download or read book Relativity written by Roger B. Angel and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2014-05-20 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relativity: The Theory and its Philosophy provides a completely self-contained treatment of the philosophical foundations of the theory of relativity. It also surveys the most essential mathematical techniques and concepts that are indispensable to an understanding of the foundations of both the special and general theories of relativity. In short, the book includes a crash course in applied mathematics, ranging from elementary trigonometry to the classical tensor calculus. Comprised of 11 chapters, this book begins with an introduction to fundamental mathematical concepts such as sets, relations, and functions; N-tuples, vectors, and matrices; and vector algebra and calculus. The discussion then turns to the concept of relativity and elementary foundations of Newtonian mechanics, as well as the principle of special relativity and its philosophical interpretation by means of empiricism and rationalism. Subsequent chapters focus on the status of the doctrine of conventionalism in the theory of special relativity; the commensurability of classical and relativistic mechanics; mathematical foundations of special relativistic physics; and the classical or Newtonian theory of gravitation. The principle of general covariance and its relation to the principle of general relativity are also examined. The final chapter addresses the fundamental question as to the actual information concerning the structure of spacetime that is conveyed to us through the theory of general relativity. This monograph will be of interest to students, teachers, practitioners, and researchers in physics, mathematics, and philosophy.
Download or read book Linguistic Relativity written by Caleb Everett and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2013-07-15 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The claim that crosslinguistic disparities foster differences in nonlinguistic thought, often referred to as 'linguistic relativity', has for some time been the subject of intense debate. For much of that time the debate was not informed by much experimental work. Recently, however, there has been an explosion of research on linguistic relativity, carried out by numerous scholars interested in the interaction between language and nonlinguistic cognition. This book surveys the rapidly accruing research on this topic, much of it carried out in the last decade. Structured so as to be accessible to students and scholars in linguistics, psychology, and anthropology, it first introduces crucial concepts in the study of language and cognition. It then explores the relevant experimentally oriented research, focusing independently on the evidence for relativistic effects in spatial orientation, temporal perception, number recognition, color discrimination, object/substance categorization, gender construal, as well as other facets of cognition. This is the only book to extensively survey the recent work on linguistic relativity, and should serve as a critical resource for those concerned with the topic.
Download or read book Discourse on a New Method written by Mary Domski and published by Open Court. This book was released on 2010-09-10 with total page 1053 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addressing a wide range of topics, from Newton to Post-Kuhnian philosophy of science, these essays critically examine themes that have been central to the influential work of philosopher Michael Friedman. Special focus is given to Friedman's revealing study of both history of science and philosophy in his work on Kant, Newton, Einstein, and other major figures. This interaction of history and philosophy is the subject of the editors' "manifesto" and serves to both explain and promote the essential ties between two disciplines usually regarded as unrelated.
Download or read book Relativity for the Questioning Mind written by Daniel F. Styer and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To those of us who are not mathematicians or physicists, Einstein’s theory of relativity often seems incomprehensible, exotic, and of little real-world use. None of this is true. Daniel F. Styer’s introduction to the topic not only shows us why these beliefs are mistaken but also shines a bright light on the subject so that any curious-minded person with an understanding of algebra and geometry can both grasp and apply the theory. Styer starts off slowly and proceeds carefully, explaining the concepts undergirding relativity in language comprehensible to nonscientists yet precise and accurate enough to satisfy the most demanding professional. He demonstrates how the theory applies to various real-life situations with easy equations and simple, clear diagrams. Styer's classroom-tested method of conveying the core ideas of relativity—the relationship among and between time, space, and motion and the behavior of light—encourages questions and shows the way to finding the answers. Each of the book’s four parts builds on the sections that come before, leading the reader by turn through an overview of foundational ideas such as frames of reference, revelatory examples of time dilation and its attendant principles, an example-based exploration of relativity, and explanations of how and why gravity and spacetime are linked. By demonstrating relativity with practical applications, Styer teaches us to truly understand and appreciate its importance, beauty, and usefulness. Featuring worked and end-of-chapter problems and illustrated, nontechnical explanations of core concepts, while dotted throughout with questions and answers, puzzles, and paradoxes, Relativity for the Questioning Mind is an enjoyable-to-read, complete, concise introduction to one of the most important scientific theories yet discovered. The appendixes provide helpful hints, basic answers to the sample problems, and materials to stimulate further exploration.
Download or read book It s About Time written by N. David Mermin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-06 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In It's About Time, N. David Mermin asserts that relativity ought to be an important part of everyone's education--after all, it is largely about time, a subject with which all are familiar. The book reveals that some of our most intuitive notions about time are shockingly wrong, and that the real nature of time discovered by Einstein can be rigorously explained without advanced mathematics. This readable exposition of the nature of time as addressed in Einstein's theory of relativity is accessible to anyone who remembers a little high school algebra and elementary plane geometry. The book evolved as Mermin taught the subject to diverse groups of undergraduates at Cornell University, none of them science majors, over three and a half decades. Mermin's approach is imaginative, yet accurate and complete. Clear, lively, and informal, the book will appeal to intellectually curious readers of all kinds, including even professional physicists, who will be intrigued by its highly original approach.
Download or read book The Mental as Physical written by Edgar Wilson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-29 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The central theme of this impressively argued study is that the mental and physical are identical. Drawing heavily on recent scientific research into the mind-brain relationship, Dr Wilson argues that human mentality, rationality and purposefulness are phenomena which come within the compass of scientifically based explanation. The consequences of this thesis are enormous both in relation to the controversies about reasons and causes as explanations of human behaviour, and, more important, to the problems of free will, moral responsibility, penal philosophy, ethics and the law. The book argues that free will is a misconceived idea and that our notions of moral responsibility need radical revision. The book is of considerable relevance not only to academic philosophy but also to scientists and jurisprudents interested in the implications of this study. Originally published in 1979.
Download or read book Conventionalism written by Yemima Ben-Menahem and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-04-21 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The daring idea that convention - human decision - lies at the root both of necessary truths and much of empirical science reverberates through twentieth-century philosophy, constituting a revolution comparable to Kant's Copernican revolution. This book provides a comprehensive study of Conventionalism. Drawing a distinction between two conventionalist theses, the under-determination of science by empirical fact, and the linguistic account of necessity, Yemima Ben-Menahem traces the evolution of both ideas to their origins in Poincaré's geometric conventionalism. She argues that the radical extrapolations of Poincaré's ideas by later thinkers, including Wittgenstein, Quine, and Carnap, eventually led to the decline of conventionalism. This book provides a fresh perspective on twentieth-century philosophy. Many of the major themes of contemporary philosophy emerge in this book as arising from engagement with the challenge of conventionalism.
Download or read book The Logic of Relativism written by Mark Ressler and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-08-03 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This in-depth study aims to develop a rigorous analysis of the nature and the logic of relativism in general as a basis for evaluating the charge of self-refutation against relativism. It develops a general definition of relativism that distinguishes relativism from structurally similar notions such as conventionalism and contextualism. On the basis of this definition, it formulates a series of logical systems that each might be presented as candidates for the logic of relativism. Each system is evaluated to see whether it can sustain the charge of self-refutation. The result is that one of these systems can be proven not to be self-refuting, even under increasingly stronger challenges. Consequently, this study argues that even global relativism can be demonstrated not to refute itself, despite the long history of arguments to the contrary.
Download or read book Relativity and Geometry written by Roberto Torretti and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2014-05-20 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relativity and Geometry aims to elucidate the motivation and significance of the changes in physical geometry brought about by Einstein, in both the first and the second phases of relativity. The book contains seven chapters and a mathematical appendix. The first two chapters review a historical background of relativity. Chapter 3 centers on Einstein's first Relativity paper of 1905. Subsequent chapter presents the Minkowskian formulation of special relativity. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with Einstein's search for general relativity from 1907 to 1915, as well as some aspects and subsequent developments of the theory. The last chapter explores the concept of simultaneity, geometric conventionalism, and a few other questions concerning space time structure, causality, and time.
Download or read book The Sonic Self written by Naomi Cumming and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using Classical violin music as her principal laboratory, the author examines how a performance incorporates distinctive features not only of the work but of the performer as well--and how the listener goes about interpreting not only the composer's work and the performer's rendering of the work, but the performer's and listener's identities as well. A richly interdisciplinary approach to a very common, yet persistently mysterious, part of our lives.
Download or read book Victorian Relativity written by Christopher Herbert and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-11-15 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the articles of faith of twentieth-century intellectual history is that the theory of relativity in physics sprang in its essentials from the unaided genius of Albert Einstein; another is that scientific relativity is unconnected to ethical, cultural, or epistemological relativisms. Victorian Relativity challenges these assumptions, unearthing a forgotten tradition of avant-garde speculation that took as its guiding principle "the negation of the absolute" and set itself under the militant banner of "relativity." Christopher Herbert shows that the idea of relativity produced revolutionary changes in one field after another in the nineteenth century. Surveying a long line of thinkers including Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, Alexander Bain, W. K. Clifford, W. S. Jevons, Karl Pearson, James Frazer, and Einstein himself, Victorian Relativity argues that the early relativity movement was bound closely to motives of political and cultural reform and, in particular, to radical critiques of the ideology of authoritarianism. Recuperating relativity from those who treat it as synonymous with nihilism, Herbert portrays it as the basis of some of our crucial intellectual and ethical traditions.
Download or read book Geometry Relativity and the Fourth Dimension written by Rudolf Rucker and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-06-08 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Exposition of fourth dimension, concepts of relativity as Flatland characters continue adventures. Topics include curved space time as a higher dimension, special relativity, and shape of space-time. Includes 141 illustrations.
Download or read book Back in Time and Faster than Light Travel in General Relativity written by Serguei Krasnikov and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-05-10 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the past 20 years causality violations and superluminal motion have been the object of intensive study as physical and geometrical phenomena. This book compiles the results of its author and also reviews other work in the field. In particular, the following popular questions are addressed: Is causality protected by quantum divergence at the relevant Cauchy horizon? How much "exotic matter" would it take to create a time machine or a warp drive? What is the difference between a "discovered" time machine and a created one? Why does a time traveler fail to kill their grandfather? How should we define the speed of gravity and what is its magnitude?
Download or read book Philosophy of Logics written by Susan Haack and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1978-07-27 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first systematic exposition of all the central topics in the philosophy of logic, Susan Haack's book has established an international reputation (translated into five languages) for its accessibility, clarity, conciseness, orderliness, and range as well as for its thorough scholarship and careful analyses. Haack discusses the scope and purpose of logic, validity, truth-functions, quantification and ontology, names, descriptions, truth, truth-bearers, the set-theoretical and semantic paradoxes, and modality. She also explores the motivations for a whole range of non-classical systems of logic, including many-valued logics, fuzzy logic, moddal and tense logics, and relevance logics. Persupposing only an elementary knowledge of formal logic, this book includes many useful summary tables and diagrams, as well as a helpful glossary of technical terms. Wide-ranging, informative, and eminently readable, this book has proven a valuable resource for generations of students and scholars in a variety of disciplines outside philosophy needing guidance on the philosophy of logic.
Download or read book General physics relativity astronomy and plasmas written by and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 832 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Tenseless Theory of Time written by W.L. Craig and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2000-11-30 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The central question in the philosophy of time is whether time is tensed or tenseless, viz., whether the moments of time are objectively past, present or future, or whether they are ordered merely by the tenseless temporal relations earlier than, simultaneous with, and later than. In this book and the companion volume The Tensed Theory of Time: A Critical Examination, Craig undertakes the first thorough appraisal of the arguments for and against the tensed and tenseless theories of time. The discussions range widely over issues in the philosophy of language, phenomenology, relativity theory, philosophy of space and time, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. The Tenseless Theory of Time sets out to discover whether the ineliminability of tense from language and our experience of tense warrants a belief in its objective ontological status, or whether the defeaters raised by McTaggart's paradox and the Myth of Passage serve to undermine any warrant that the tensed theory of time may be supposed to enjoy.
