18,409 research outputs found
ADAM SMITH'S OPTIMISTIC TELEOLOGICAL VIEW OF HISTORY
No full textAdam Smith's four-stage theory provides the framework for his writings on history. The fourth stage is the commercial epoch; the culmination of history in this stage is a key component in the conventional interpretation of Adam Smith as a prophet of commercialism. In two historical case studies Smith shows the capacity of commercial society to regenerate itself. This potent capacity suggests that commercial society is inevitable. At a certain point in time it also overcomes the major obstacles to its permanence. Smith's philosophy of history anticipates the end of history views of Kant and Hegel.Political Economy,
How Might Adam Smith Pay Professors Today?
No full textAdam Smith’s proposal for paying professors was intended to induce increased faculty knowledge. If students have imperfect information about what they learn, and universities can only imperfectly measure the input of faculty time in student learning, publications may be used to measure faculty knowledge. If professors’ ability to publish is positively related to their ability to produce student learning, which universities can imperfectly measure, publications may be necessary to attract more able professors. Since research signals faculty knowledge, schools that do not value publications per se could require higher publication standards and pay higher wages than schools that value only publications.
ADAM SMITH'S VIEW OF HISTORY: CONSISTENT OR PARADOXICAL?
No full textThe conventional interpretation of Adam Smith is that he is a prophet of commercialism. The liberal capitalist reading of Smith is consistent with the view that history culminates in commercial society. The first part of the article develops this optimistic interpretation of Smith's view of history. Smith implies that commercial society is the end of history because 1) it supplies the ends of nature that he identifies; 2) it is inevitable; and 3) it is permanent. The second part of the article shows that Smith has some dark moments in his writings where he seems to reject completely such teleological notions. In this more civic humanist mood he confesses that commercial society does not supply the ends of nature, nor is it inevitable, nor is it permanent. Both views exist in Smith and the commentator is forced to choose between passages in Smith's work in order to support a particular interpretation of the former's view of history.Political Economy,
Star-formation histories of massive quiescent galaxies
No full textThis thesis presents several related analyses designed to understand the star-formation
histories (SFHs) and quenching mechanisms of massive quiescent
galaxies across cosmic time. More generally, it contains research directed at
sophisticated modelling and Bayesian fitting of galaxy spectra. I firstly present
Bayesian Analysis of Galaxies for Physical Inference and Parameter EStimation,
or Bagpipes, a new, publicly available Python code that can be used to rapidly
generate complex model galaxy spectra and to fit these to arbitrary combinations
of spectroscopic and photometric data.
I then perform a detailed analysis of the SFHs of a sample of 9289 quiescent
galaxies from UltraVISTA with stellar masses, M∗> 1010M⊙ and observed
redshifts from 0:25 < z < 3:75. The majority of these galaxies exhibit SFHs
that rise gradually then quench relatively rapidly, over 1-2 Gyr. This behaviour
is consistent with recent cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, where AGN-driven
feedback in the low-accretion (jet) mode is the dominant quenching
mechanism. At z > 1, I also find a class of objects with SFHs that rise and
fall very rapidly, with quenching timescales of < 1 Gyr, consistent with quasar-mode
AGN feedback. Finally, at z < 1, I find a population with SFHs that quench
more slowly than they rise, over > 3 Gyr, consistent with other such analyses in
the local Universe. I confirm the trend towards earlier formation with increasing
stellar mass (downsizing) at fixed observed redshift, and a trend towards more
rapid quenching at higher stellar masses.
I then present a general investigation of the use of parametric SFH models
in spectral fitting analyses. Parametric models for galaxy SFHs are widely
used, though they are known to impose strong priors on physical parameters,
with consequences for measurements of the galaxy stellar-mass function, star-formation-
rate density (SFRD) and star-forming main sequence (SFMS). I
investigate the effects of the exponentially declining, delayed exponentially
declining, lognormal and double power law SFH models. I demonstrate that each
of these models imposes strong priors on specific star-formation rates (sSFRs),
potentially biasing the SFMS, and also imposes a strong prior preference for
young stellar populations. I show that stellar mass, SFR and mass-weighted
age inferences from high-quality mock photometry vary with the choice of SFH
model by at least 0.1, 0.3 and 0.2 dex respectively. However the biases with
respect to the true values depend more on the true SFH shape than the choice
of model. I also demonstrate that photometric data cannot discriminate between
SFH models, meaning it is important to perform independent tests to find well-motivated
priors. In response to this I finally fit a low-redshift, volume-complete
sample from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) Survey with each model.
I demonstrate that the inferred stellar masses and SFRs at redshift, z ~ 0:05
are consistent with other analyses. However, the inferred cosmic SFRDs peak
at z ~ 0:4, approximately 6 Gyr later than direct observations suggest, meaning
that mass-weighted ages are significantly underestimated. This makes the use of
parametric SFH models for understanding mass assembly in galaxies challenging.
I finally present a Bayesian full-spectral-fitting analysis of 75 massive (M∗>
1010:3M⊙) UVJ-selected galaxies at redshifts of 1:0 < z < 1:3, combining
extremely deep rest-frame ultraviolet spectroscopy from VANDELS with multi-wavelength
photometry by the use of a sophisticated physical plus systematic
uncertainties model. I constrain the stellar mass vs stellar age relationship,
finding a strong trend towards earlier formation with increasing stellar mass
(downsizing) of 1:48+0:34
≲0:39 Gyr per decade in mass. I show that this is consistent
with other spectroscopic studies from 0 < z < 2. This places strong constraints
on the AGN-feedback models used in cosmological simulations. I demonstrate
that, although the relationships predicted by the Simba and IllustrisTNG
simulations agree well with observations at z = 0:1, they are too shallow at
z = 1, predicting an evolution of . 0:5 Gyr per decade in mass. The majority
of the lowest-mass galaxies in the sample (M∗~ 1010:5M⊙) are consistent with
formation in recent (z < 2), intense starburst events, with timescales of ≲ 500
Myr. A second class of objects experience extended star-formation epochs before
rapidly quenching, passing through both green-valley and post-starburst phases.
The most massive galaxies in the sample are extreme systems: already old by
z = 1, they formed at z ~ 5 and quenched by z = 3. However, I find evidence
for their continued evolution through both AGN and rejuvenated star-formation
activity. To understand the detailed SFHs of these objects, similar studies must
be extended to the highest redshifts
Adam Smith and Roman Servitudes
No full textThis essay is a preprint of an article that appeared at: Tijdschrift voor Rechstsgeschiedenis, 72 (2004), 327–57.This essay discusses Adam Smith historical jurisprudence and his use of Roman law materials in his Lectures on Jurisprudence. It argues that Smith found it difficult to maintain his theory of legal development in the face of a highly developed body of Roman law literature
THE THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF ADAM SMITH'S WORK
No full textThe paper will discuss the theological foundation to Smith's writings. Teleology, final causes and divine design were initially seen as central to understanding Smith's writings. Over time, this view fell out of fashion. In the period after World War II, with the rise of positivism, commentators tended to overlook or downplay this interpretation. In the last decade, or so, teleology has started to be restored to its former position as an essential element in understanding Smith. After spelling out Smith's teleology and his view of final causes, divine design and the ends of nature, we try to explain the Panglossian nature of the 'new theistic view' of Smith. While our view differs somewhat, we agree with the essence of the 'new view' claim: a theological view exists in Smith which underpins his moral and economic theories.Political Economy,
Interview. Matthew Joseph with Adam Gussow, musician and author
No full textInterview in which Adam Gussow discusses hill country blues musi
Książę Adam Jerzy Czartoryski i jego stronnicy w świetle historiografii ukraińskiej
No full textIn 1937, the Warsaw historian Marceli Handelsman published a work entitled Ukraińska polityka
ks. Adama Czartoryskiego przed wojną krymską [Ukrainian politics of Prince Adam Czartoryski
before the Crimean War]. So far, this book has been used by historians as the primary source of
information on the Ukrainian issue in the views of the Hotel Lambert’s leader. The author of this
text has decided to collect Ukrainian works referring to the topic inaugurated by Handelsman. Unfortunately, no larger study has been prepared on the Ukrainian side. However, a number of articles
and encyclopaedic notes showing Prince Adam and his Eastern policy (especially during his stay
at the court of Tsar Alexander I Romanov) has been published. Ukrainian authors paid much more
attention to Czartoryski’s associates, who tried to put his ideas into practice. Ukrainian researchers
wrote mainly about Michał Czaykowski (Sadyk Pasha) organizing the Cossack troops in the Ottoman Empire, about Hipolit Terlecki striving for the union of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic
Churches, and finally about the ethnographer and writer Franciszek Duchiński clearly separating
Ukraine from Russia in his writings
Adam smith and the Church of Scotland
No full textIn contrast to the French Enlightenment, the Scottish Enlightenment was neither anticlerical nor anti-religious. Intellectuals such as William Robertson, a historian, Hugh Blair, professor of rhetoric and belles letters, Adam Ferguson, professor of natural and later moral philosophy, John Home, playwright, Alexander Carlyle, author of numerous pamphlets were all ministers in the Church of Scotland and belonged to the Moderate party. Adam Smith shared the culture of intellectuals of this party. They had a love of learning, faith in reason and science, a preference for social order and stability and a commitment to religious tolerance and freedom of expression. Smith was one of the founding members of the Select Society and one of contributors of Edinburgh Review with William Robertson and others. In Wealth of Nations Smith had mentioned on the Church of Scotland. He praised ministers as ‘a learned, decent, independent and respectable sets of men’ and that they maintained ‘the uniformity of faith, the spirit of order, regularity, and austere morals in the great body of the people’.departmental bulletin pape
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