Algebra of Conscience

Algebra of Conscience PDF Author: V.A. Lefebvre
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401090513
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
In this book two ethical systems are described in the language of mathematics. Ordinarily mathematics is thought to be a science of quantity. Indeed, manipulation of quantities constitutes much of mathematics. Elementary applied mathematics deals with reckoning and measurement, where concrete quantities are objects of attention, such as counting sheep or weighing corno But the operations on these quantities are performed with the help of symbols, from which concrete referents have been 'abstracted out': 3 + 5 = 8 regardless of whether the symbols stand for numbers of sheep or tons of corno Thus, the first principle that exhibits the power of mathematics is abstraction. It is one ofthe three pillars on which the edifice of mathematics rests. Another pillar is precision. Ordinarily, man communicates by words. W ords serve communication to the extent that they refer to things, events, states of affairs, feelings of the speaker, and so on. These are the meanings attributed to words. Communication is successful to the extent that the meanings coded upon words by the speaker correspond to the meanings decoded by the hearer. As is weH known, the degree ofthis correspondence varies enormously in different contexts of discourse and with the back grounds or attitudes of the speakers and hearers. Mathematics is a language in which the meanings ofthe symbols (the 'words' ofthis language) are absolutely precise. This precision is achieved by abstraction. Abstract terms are defined by their relations to other terms and by nothing else.

Algebra of Conscience

Algebra of Conscience PDF Author: V.A. Lefebvre
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401090513
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this book two ethical systems are described in the language of mathematics. Ordinarily mathematics is thought to be a science of quantity. Indeed, manipulation of quantities constitutes much of mathematics. Elementary applied mathematics deals with reckoning and measurement, where concrete quantities are objects of attention, such as counting sheep or weighing corno But the operations on these quantities are performed with the help of symbols, from which concrete referents have been 'abstracted out': 3 + 5 = 8 regardless of whether the symbols stand for numbers of sheep or tons of corno Thus, the first principle that exhibits the power of mathematics is abstraction. It is one ofthe three pillars on which the edifice of mathematics rests. Another pillar is precision. Ordinarily, man communicates by words. W ords serve communication to the extent that they refer to things, events, states of affairs, feelings of the speaker, and so on. These are the meanings attributed to words. Communication is successful to the extent that the meanings coded upon words by the speaker correspond to the meanings decoded by the hearer. As is weH known, the degree ofthis correspondence varies enormously in different contexts of discourse and with the back grounds or attitudes of the speakers and hearers. Mathematics is a language in which the meanings ofthe symbols (the 'words' ofthis language) are absolutely precise. This precision is achieved by abstraction. Abstract terms are defined by their relations to other terms and by nothing else.

Algebra of Conscience. A Comparative Analysis of Western and Soviet Ethical Systems

Algebra of Conscience. A Comparative Analysis of Western and Soviet Ethical Systems PDF Author: Vladimir A. LEFEBVRE
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : it
Pages : 194

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Book Description


Algebra of Conscience

Algebra of Conscience PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Ethics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Algebra of Conscience

Algebra of Conscience PDF Author: V.A. Lefebvre
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401706913
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Conscience is an essential human attribute. Nevertheless, in the construction of formal models of the subject it is customarily left outside the framework of theoretical analysis. The Algebra of Conscience, whose first edition appeared in 1982, was the first specialized work modeling the phenomenon of conscience. The method used in this book made it possible to connect moral experience with decision-making procedures on the level of mathematical models. The application of such models allows us to propose the hypothesis of two fundamentally different ethical systems determining the normative patterns of human behavior in situations of conflict. Under the first ethical system the subject's self-esteem is raised if the subject seeks to resolve the conflict; in the second it is raised by seeking to dramatize the conflict. The new edition of The Algebra of Conscience is significantly expanded. The second part of the book, devoted to moral choice, is completely new. Based on the theory presented in the first part, it constructs the model of a subject capable of making an intentional choice. A special variable corresponds to the subject's intention. This development allows us to include within the model freedom of will and freedom of choice, and also to generalize classical 2×2 game theory to the case where outcomes, in addition to having utility measures, are either `positive' or `negative.' In its concluding chapters the book constructs a dynamic model of the intentional subject faced with a choice between two alternatives, neither of which is morally acceptable for the subject. It is shown that in this case the probabilities of choice of the alternatives may change chaotically. From this it follows that one cannot predict which alternative will be chosen or even the probabilities with which they will be chosen. Audience: The book is addressed to a broad readership having elementary knowledge of mathematical logic and the theory of probability. It can be used in college courses studying the modelling of moral choice. The book's material can also be used in the design of artificial intelligence systems.

Algebra of Conscience

Algebra of Conscience PDF Author: V. A. Lefebvre
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789401706926
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description


Science of Goal Formulation

Science of Goal Formulation PDF Author: Stuart A. Umpleby
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9780891167358
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This work contains the proceedings of a meeting held by 18 American and Soviet scholars on the state of cybernetics and systems theory in their two countries. American interest focused on the observation of systems, whilst Soviet interest focused on mathematical modelling.

The Will to Predict

The Will to Predict PDF Author: Eglė Rindzevičiūtė
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501769782
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
In The Will to Predict, Eglė Rindzevičiūtė demonstrates how the logic of scientific expertise cannot be properly understood without knowing the conceptual and institutional history of scientific prediction. She notes that predictions of future population, economic growth, environmental change, and scientific and technological innovation have shaped much of twentieth and twenty-first-century politics and social life, as well as government policies. Today, such predictions are more necessary than ever as the world undergoes dramatic environmental, political, and technological change. But, she asks, what does it mean to predict scientifically? What are the limits of scientific prediction and what are its effects on governance, institutions, and society? Her intellectual and political history of scientific prediction takes as its example twentieth-century USSR. By outlining the role of prediction in a range of governmental contexts, from economic and social planning to military strategy, she shows that the history of scientific prediction is a transnational one, part of the history of modern science and technology as well as governance. Going beyond the Soviet case, Rindzevičiūtė argues that scientific predictions are central for organizing uncertainty through the orchestration of knowledge and action. Bridging the fields of political sociology, organization studies, and history, The Will to Predict considers what makes knowledge scientific and how such knowledge has impacted late modern governance.

Strategic Culture and Weapons of Mass Destruction

Strategic Culture and Weapons of Mass Destruction PDF Author: K. Kartchner
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230618308
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
This book describes strategic culture and its value as a methodological approach to the study of International Relations. In particular, the book uses strategic culture to illuminate a number of case studies on countries that have made decisions regarding the acquisition, proliferation or use of weapons of mass destruction.

Social Change and Modernization

Social Change and Modernization PDF Author: Bruno Grancelli
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 311088447X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description


Philosophy in Reality

Philosophy in Reality PDF Author: Joseph E. Brenner
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030627578
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 531

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Book Description
Philosophy in Reality offers a new vision of the relation between science and philosophy in the framework of a non-propositional logic of real processes, grounded in the physics of the real world. This logical system is based on the work of the Franco-Romanian thinker Stéphane Lupasco (1900-1988), previously presented by Joseph Brenner in the book Logic in Reality (Springer, 2008). The present book was inspired in part by the ancient Chinese Book of Changes (I Ching) and its scientific-philosophical discussion of change. The emphasis in Philosophy in Reality is on the recovery of dialectics and semantics from reductionist applications and their incorporation into a new synthetic paradigm for knowledge. Through an original re-interpretation of both classical and modern Western thought, this book addresses philosophical issues in scientific fields as well as long-standing conceptual problems such as the origin, nature and role of meaning, the unity of knowledge and the origin of morality. In a rigorous transdisciplinary manner, it discusses foundational and current issues in the physical sciences - mathematics, information, communication and systems theory and their implications for philosophy. The same framework is applied to problems of the origins of society, the transformation of reality by human subjects, and the emergence of a global, sustainable information society. In summary, Philosophy in Reality provides a wealth of new perspectives and references, supporting research by both philosophers and physical and social scientists concerned with the many facets of reality.