24,610 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.
On the interaction of function, constraint and complexity in evolutionary systems
No full textBiological evolution contains a general trend of increasing complexity of the most complex organisms. But artificial evolution experiments based on the mechanisms described in the current theory generally fail to reproduce this trend; instead, they commonly show systematic trends of complexity minimisation. In this dissertation we seek evolutionary mechanisms that can explain these apparently conflicting observations. To achieve this we use a reverse engineering approach by building computational simulations of evolution. One highlighted problem is that even if complexity is beneficial, evolutionary simulations struggle with apparent roadblocks that prevent them from scaling to complexity. Another is that even without roadblocks, it is not clear what drives evolution to become more complex at all. With respect to the former, a key roadblock is how to evolve ‘irreducibly complex’ or ‘nondecomposable’ functions. Evidence from biological evolution suggests a common way to achieve this is by combining existing functions – termed ‘tinkering’ or ‘building block evolution’. But in simulation this approach generally fails to scale across multiple levels of organisation in a recursive manner. We provide a model that identifies the problem hindering recursive evolution as increasing ‘burden’ in the form of ‘internal selection’ as joined functions become more complex. We show how having an ontological development process that occurs by local growth, as present in most complex biological organisms, resolves this problem, enabling evolution to occur recursively. Meanwhile, to understand what drives complexity in evolution we provide a model showing that under certain conditions a well-studied concept from the computational study of algorithms – complexity lower bounds – applies in evolution. The model shows how the ‘difference’ between the conditions required by an organism’s replicator and its external environment results in a minimum complexity floor that varies as the external environment changes. We find that selection in such a system produces a system-wide, overall trend of increasing complexity of the most complex organisms (as environments are colonised), coupled with local trends of complexity minimisation in individual environments (as evolution seeks to minimise its cost of resources) –thereby resolving the tension between biological observations and theoretical outcomes. Our simulations and analytic results demonstrate (a) how evolution can, when complexity is beneficial, scale to complexity over multiple organisational levels, and (b) the conditions in which complexity is beneficial in evolution. These models describe a set of phenotypic, ontogenetic and environmental conditions that are generally present in biological evolution, in which evolution consistently generates an overall trend of increasing complexity of the most complex organisms
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,
I'm here, Performance as part of The Listening
No full text“Performances by Adam Gallagher, Go Sing, Mataio Austin Dean, Euan Francis Gubbins, and East Anglia Records. Happening to mark the final night of Joe Davies and Grace Black’s installation The Listeners.”
Performed I'm here, reading across Special Category Status and What did I do to deserve this? in virtual reality whilst standing in an ionic footbath holding two bitter melons
Interview with Justin Davies and Andrew Tochterman
No full text Justin Davies and Andrew Tochterman speak to Adam Price-Evans, Commissioning Editor of Future Cardiology: Justin Davies is a Senior Research Fellow and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London (UK). His main research interests include the development and application of pioneering technologies in engineering to aid understanding of disease mechanisms, and in the diagnosis of pathological disease states. After completing his undergraduate training at Imperial College, he was awarded a prestigious British Heart Foundation research fellowship to undertake his PhD at Imperial College. Since then, he has trained in interventional cardiology with a specialist interest in physiological and structural assessment of coronary disease states. In 2008, he was appointed as a Walport Clinical Lecturer to support his research activities alongside his ongoing clinical commitments. Born in Greentown, Indiana (USA), Andrew holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN, USA) and an MBA from the Wharton Business School (PA, USA). His experience includes roles in Quality Engineering, R&D, Clinical & Product Marketing, Marketing Management and Sales at Guidant Corporation/Abbott Vascular. Andrew joined Philips Image Guided Therapy (CA, USA) in 2012, helping launch the instant wave-free ratio (iFR) product in Europe and the United States before taking on greater responsibilities as the Physiology Segment Leader, and later assuming his current role as Coronary Segment Leader at Philips Image Guided Therapy (CA, USA). </jats:p
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
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