An Ink–and–Paper Automaton: The Conceptual Mechanization of Cognition and the Practical Automation of Reasoning in Leibniz’s De Affectibus (1679) Simon DUMAS PRIMBAULT* Abstract. On ten loose handwritten folios dating back from April 1679, Leibniz gradually devised, in the course of three days, a full-blown theory of thought that nonetheless remained unpublished and still has […]
Author: dti
Broadening the Horizon of Occasionalism: From Metaphysics to Science
Broadening the Horizon of Occasionalism: From Metaphysics to Science Christian HENKEL Occasionalism: From Metaphysics to Science is an anthology published by Brepols in 2018 studying occasionalism, i.e., “the view that natural events are mere occasions for the exercise of the only real and effective causal power, i.e., God’s power […]” (p. 7). It aims at […]
Selected Bibliography
Selected Bibliography Sean Winkler Primary Literature2 English Letters from Boris Hessen to J.G. Crowther, 5 April 1934 – 26 June 1936. In Special Collections: The J.G. Crowther Archive; SxMs29/1/3/2/6/11, SxMs29/1/3/4/1/14. Sussex: University of Sussex Library, 1934–1936. “The Social and Economic Roots of Newton‟s „Principia‟.” In Science at the Crossroads: Papers Presented to the International […]
Translation of Boris Hessen’s “Preface to Articles by A. Einstein and J.J. Thomson”
Translation of Boris Hessen’s “Preface to Articles by A. Einstein and J.J. Thomson” Sean Winkler Abstract. The following is a translation of Boris Hessen‟s «Предисловие к статьям А. Эйнштейна и Дж. Дж. Томсона», which was published in the Soviet Journal, Под знаменем марксизма.1 The paper was an introduction to the Russian translations of Albert […]
Boris Hessen and Newton’s God
Boris Hessen and Newton’s God Ioannis Trisokkas Abstract. A significant thread in Boris Hessen‟s iconic essay, The Social and Economic Roots of Newton’s Principia (1931), is his critique of Newton‟s involving God in his physics. Contra Newton, Hessen believes that nature does not need God in order to function properly. Hessen gives two, quite […]
Boris Hessen at the Crossroads of Science and Ideology. From International Circulation to the Soviet Context
Boris Hessen at the Crossroads of Science and Ideology. From International Circulation to the Soviet Context Gerardo Ienna Giulia Rispoli Abstract. This article is based on a joint endeavor. The first part introduces Hessen‘s theses and reconstructs their reception from the 1930s to the most contemporary research in Science and Technology Studies in an […]
Boris Hessen as Philosopher and Polemicist. Ideology, Politics and the New Physics in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s
Boris Hessen as Philosopher and Polemicist. Ideology, Politics and the New Physics in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s Paul Josephson Abstract. Boris Hessen, a Soviet philosopher and physicist active in the 1920s and 1930s, made significant contributions to the history of science, in particular the so-called externalist approach, and to the […]
Introduction: Boris Hessen and the Dialectics of Natural Science
Introduction: Boris Hessen and the Dialectics of Natural Science Sean Winkler Boris Hessen (1893 – 1936)1 is best known for his talk at the 2nd International Congress of the History of Science and Technology in London in 1931, entitled “The Socio-Economic Roots of Newton‟s Principia”. The talk is considered among the most famous in […]
Locke and Descartes on Mental Transparency
Locke and Descartes on Mental Transparency Philipp N. MÜLLER Abstract.The transparency thesis – i.e. the doctrine that every mental state is necessarily conscious – was a widespread view in early modern philosophy. In this paper, I inquire into the role of mental transparency in the philosophies of John Locke and René Descartes. I begin […]
Memory, Recollection and Consciousness in Spinoza’s Ethics
Memory, Recollection and Consciousness in Spinoza’s Ethics Olivér István TÓTH Abstract.Spinoza’s account of memory has not received enough attention, even though it is relevant for his theory of consciousness. Recent literature has studied the “pancreas problem.” This paper argues that there is an analogous problem for memories: if memories are in the mind, why is […]