163 research outputs found
time and the other in late nineteenth-century German travel writing
No full textThis thesis focuses on the experience of time by three nineteenth-centui-y German travellers in Africa, Heinrich Earth, Gerhard Rohlfs and Gustav Nachtigal; on their use of time to structure their travel narratives; and their use of temporal concepts to distinguish themselves from the 'primitive' Africans. The thesis argues that the role of the temporal mind-set during encounters between Germans and Africans is dialectic and subversive. Far from blindly imposing their conceptions on what they encountered, the Germans found their familiar concepts in varying degrees unsettled and even undermined by their encounter with alterity. The opening chapter outlines the temporal mind-set with which the explorers presupposed: an experience of time as both linear and homogeneous chiefly constituted by scientific progress, industrialisation and the expansion of the railway; and a conception of linear-progressive historical time influenced by Hegelian historicism. The second chapter looks at time in its narrating function, investigating macro and micro narrative patterns in the travel narratives. An analysis of the relationship between Erzdhlzeit and erzdhlte Zeit demonstrates the notation of time and date as an expression of control over the experience of alterity. The discussion then moves from time to space in the third chapter, demonstrating the slow erosion of the explorers' mind-sets by their experience of African climate and terrain. The fourth chapter discusses the role of the occidental temporal mind-set during cultural encounters and how, if at all, it is employed as a means of asserting cultural superiority. The thesis concludes that the explorers Earth and Rohlfs employ the time-set as a means of understanding new experiences. Nachtigal in contrast, willingly collapses western notions of time and history to create a totality of experience. He alone welcomes the dissolution of the occidental subject as a discovery of primal authenticity. However, all three explorers find that they cannot but inscribe the experience of non-Western time-sets in their narratives. Thus the imposition of historicist, linear time is unsuccessful. It is argued that this is the result of a particularly German interest in alternative regions of human experience other than the aggressively imperialist reduction of otherness. For the explorers remained open, in varying degrees, to dialectical exchange
Little Points of Light
No full textThe article discusses several approaches in determining the spectroscopic aspects of the stars and the galaxy formulated by various astronomer. It notes that astronomer Norman Robert Pogson created a magnitude system to analyzes the perceived brightness of the stars by differentiating between the apparent magnitude and the absolute magnitude. It mentions on the development of the Hubble\u27s law by astronomer Edwin Hubble and Milton Humason to determine the spectra of a collection of galaxies
The social occupations of modernity : philosophy and social theory in Durkheim, Tarde, Bergson and Deleuze
No full textThis thesis explores the relationship between occupations and the ontology of the
social. I begin by drawing a distinction between the messianic and the modern as
concentrated in the affective transformation of vocation into occupation. I then, in
the Introduction, sketch an ontic-ontological contrast proper to the modern, between
modernity, as the collective problematization of social diversity, and the
contemporary, as the plural ground of need which provides a source for these
problematizations. I argue that this distinction will enable me to shed new light on
the occupational as a distinctly modern event.
In Part I, I begin by providing a reading of Durkheim in which I argue that the
occupational is to be understood ontologically, but no longer by means of the
theorization of society and social types. This kind of theorization, exemplified in
Durkheim's concept of solidarity, contains a fundamental ambiguity between this
concept's ontological senses of original diversity and of unity in diversity.
Durkheim's thought is thus first intelligible in terms of an implicit evolutionary sense
of coherence or `need of wholeness.' However, the explicit evolutionary framework
and its central typological difference between the mechanical and organic is an
attempt to resolve the ambiguity that must fail because it addresses primarily a
distinction of obligation rather than a distinction of need. Obligation is shown to be
a concept of facticity which overcodes and obscures the distinction of need. I then
go on to argue that sociality can be better accounted for in terms of a continuity of
social becoming which is revealed in a perspective of modernity purged of the
modernist tendency to metaphorize this continuity in terms such as `solidity'
(Durkheim) and `flow' (Tarde). This perspective is the irreducibly plural perspective
of the contemporary, which, I conclude Part I by suggesting, lies in a sense of
merging with a social outside.
In Part II, I turn to investigate the outside by discussing the social thought of Bergson
and Deleuze. Bergson's thought is presented as an alternative to the deductivesociologistic
approaches of Durkheim and Tarde, because it attempts to critically
affirm the smooth duration of social continuity. However, I argue that the notion of
`open society' that Bergson presents is still too tied to a model of rare spirituality and
hence to the messianic perspective. I then proceed to a social-theoretical analysis of
Deleuze's oeuvre, in order to show how he uses elements of a thought of continuity
from Tarde (microsociology) and from Bergson (multiplicity), but that he is able to
transcend the family-model-centeredness of Tarde and the rare-spiritual-modelcenteredness
of Bergson, by theorizing non-modelled figures of transformative
affective multiplicity inscribed within the actual, ie. `full particularities'.
In my concluding chapter, I show how the intellectual trajectory which takes us from
Durkheim to Deleuze can be analysed as a movement from a doctrine or relatively
passive notion of social externality towards a more active social image of the outside.
In particular, I am concerned to show how this image of the outside can be recontextualized
in terms of a movement of occupation that can be thought of as
always combining a sense of the contemporary with a sense of modernity
Identity, continuity and consciousness
No full textIt is my intention in this thesis to demonstrate that there exists a clear and explicit formal relationship between the seemingly exclusive descriptions of spatio-temporal and purely temporal continuity, and further, that this relationship manifests itself within our most fundamental understanding of the physical world itself, namely; within our understanding of the identity, diversity and re-identification of material bodies (Book 1). It may therefore be claimed that behind that cultural understanding which leads us to imagine that the physical world is located in both space and time, whereas our thoughts and feelings are located in time alone, there lies a formal logical framework, or an explicit formal description of how being in space and time relates to being in time alone - leading us to wonder, perhaps, whether these two things are really as distinct as we might at first imagine.
That I should then go on (albeit without a formal methodology) to apply to this analysis a philosophical interpretation of Bergson's conception of the relationship between the intuition and the intellect (Book 2) is of lesser importance - indicating as it does little more than my own philosophical inclinations. However, something will be gained, I hope, from this further exercise. Along the way it will allow me to clarify a number of technical points of which the general philosopher may be unaware; for example the unobservable nature of numerical identity and re-identification, the importance of the principle of special relativity to the topic of mind and the technical difficulties of claiming that mental events are 'in time' at all.
Notwithstanding these latter points, however, the intentions of this work are predominantly analytical and are adequately described as an attempt to consolidate spatio-temporal and purely temporal description under a unified logical framework
The Scientific romances of Charles Howard Hinton : the fourth dimension as hyperspace, hyperrealism and protomodernism
No full textThis thesis examines the epistemological, socio-cultural and aesthetic impact of the hyperspace philosophy of Charles Howard Hinton, as expressed within his two-volume
collection of Scientific Romances (1884-1896). Hinton's hyperspace philosophy is founded on the belief that the fourth dimension exists as a transcendental yet material
space that is accessible to both the mind and the physical senses. Inspired by Immanuel Kant's discussion of space as an a priori intuition, Hinton's project is one of
consciousness expansion: he argues that 'a new era of thought' can be attained through the recognition of the fourth dimension. The thesis demonstrates that, in the Scientific Romances, Hinton seeks to engender the 'reality' of the fourth dimension within the reader's imagination through the collaboration of reader and author. Hinton's hyperspace philosophy is thus concerned with mediation, the ways in which the consciousness thinks and creates with and through the aesthetics of space. In addition to providing the most developed analysis of Hinton's writing to date, this thesis examines the work of Hinton's contemporaries
exploring the ways in which the discourse of the fourth dimension can offer new readings of familiar literary texts. A recurring explanatory device throughout
hyperspace philosophy is the dimensional analogy, and the thesis illustrates how this trope resonates across the work of contemporary writers including Lewis Carroll, H. G. Wells, HenryJames, Friedrich Nietzsche and William James
Vibrational spectroscopy at very high pressures—XLVI. A new high pressure phase transition in NaNO2
No full textUnderstanding the impact of distance and disadvantage on lung cancer care and outcomes: a study protocol
No full textAbstract Background Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK and the leading cause of cancer mortality globally. NHS England guidance for optimum lung cancer care recommends management and treatment by a specialist team, with experts concentrated in one place, providing access to specialised diagnostic and treatment facilities. However, the complex and rapidly evolving diagnostic and treatment pathways for lung cancer, together with workforce limitations, make achieving this challenging. This place-based, behavioural science-informed qualitative study aims to explore how person-related characteristics interact with a person’s location relative to specialist services to impact their engagement with the optimal lung pathway, and to compare and contrast experiences in rural, coastal, and urban communities. This study also aims to generate translatable evidence to inform the evidence-based design of a patient engagement intervention to improve lung cancer patients’ and informal carers’ participation in and experience of the lung cancer care pathway. Methods A qualitative cross-sectional interview study with people diagnosed with lung cancer < 6 months before recruitment (in receipt of surgery, radical radiotherapy, or living with advanced disease) and their informal carers. Participants will be recruited purposively from Barts Health NHS Trust and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trusts to ensure a diverse sample across urban and rural settings. Semi-structured interviews will explore factors affecting individuals’ capability, opportunity, and motivation to engage with their recommended diagnostic and treatment pathway. A framework approach, informed by the COM-B model, will be used to thematically analyse facilitators and barriers to patient engagement. Discussion The study aligns with the current policy priority to ensure that people with cancer, no matter where they live, can access the best quality treatments and care. The evidence generated will be used to ensure that lung cancer services are developed to meet the needs of rural, coastal, and urban communities. The findings will inform the development of an intervention to support patient engagement with their recommended lung cancer pathway. Protocol registration The study received NHS Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 23/SC/0255) and NHS Health Research Authority (IRAS ID 328531) approval on 04/08/2023. The study was prospectively registered on Open Science Framework (16/10/2023; https://osf.io/njq48 )
Acceleration-Based Estimation of Vertical Ground Reaction Forces during Running: A Comparison of Methods across Running Speeds, Surfaces, and Foot Strike Patterns
No full textTwenty-seven methods of estimating vertical ground reaction force first peak, loading rate, second peak, average, and/or time series from a single wearable accelerometer worn on the shank or approximate center of mass during running were compared. Force estimation errors were quantified for 74 participants across different running surfaces, speeds, and foot strike angles and biases, repeatability coefficients, and limits of agreement were modeled with linear mixed effects to quantify the accuracy, reliability, and precision. Several methods accurately and reliably estimated the first peak and loading rate, however, none could do so precisely (the limits of agreement exceeded ±65% of target values). Thus, we do not recommend first peak or loading rate estimation from accelerometers with the methods currently available. In contrast, the second peak, average, and time series could all be estimated accurately, reliably, and precisely with several different methods. Of these, we recommend the Pogson methods due to their accuracy, reliability, and precision as well as their stability across surfaces, speeds, and foot strike angles
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