18,420 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,
Bisector Energy and Few Distinct Distances
No full textWe introduce the bisector energy of an n-point set P in the real plane, defined as the number of quadruples (a,b,c,d) from P such that a and b determine the same perpendicular bisector as c and d. If no line or circle contains M(n) points of P, then we prove that the bisector energy is O(M(n)^{2/5}n^{12/5} + M(n)n^2). We also prove the lower bound M(n)n^2, which matches our upper bound when M(n) is large. We use our upper bound on the bisector energy to obtain two rather different results:
(i) If P determines O(n / sqrt(log n)) distinct distances, then for any 0 < a < 1/4, either there exists a line or circle that contains n^a points of P, or there exist n^{8/5 - 12a/5} distinct lines that contain sqrt(log n) points of P. This result provides new information on a conjecture of Erdös regarding the structure of point sets with few distinct distances.
(ii) If no line or circle contains M(n) points of P, then the number of distinct perpendicular bisectors determined by P is min{M(n)^{-2/5}n^{8/5}, M(n)^{-1}n^2}). This appears to be the first higher-dimensional example in a framework for studying the expansion properties of polynomials and rational functions over the real numbers, initiated by Elekes and Ronyai
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
Bounds on the maximum multiplicity of some common geometric graphs
No full textWe obtain new lower and upper bounds for the maximum multiplicity of some weighted, and respectively non-weighted, common geometric graphs drawn on points in the plane in general position (with no three points collinear): perfect matchings, spanning trees, spanning cycles (tours), and triangulations.
(i) We present a new lower bound construction for the maximum number of triangulations a set of points in general position can have. In particular, we show that a generalized double chain formed by two almost convex chains admits Omega (8.65^n) different triangulations. This improves the bound Omega (8.48^n) achieved by the previous best construction, the double zig-zag chain studied by Aichholzer et al.
(ii) We present a new lower bound of Omega(11.97^n) for the number of non-crossing spanning trees of the double chain composed of two convex chains. The previous bound, Omega(10.42^n), stood unchanged for more than 10 years.
(iii) Using a recent upper bound of 30^n for the number of triangulations, due to Sharir and Sheffer, we show that n points in the plane in general position admit at most O(68.664^n) non-crossing spanning cycles.
(iv) We derive exponential lower bounds for the number of maximum and minimum weighted geometric graphs (matchings, spanning trees, and tours). It was known that the number of longest non-crossing spanning trees of a point set can be exponentially large, and here we show that this can be also realized with points in convex position. For points in convex position we obtain tight bounds for the number of longest and shortest tours. We give a combinatorial characterization of the longest tours, which leads to an O(n log n) time algorithm for computing them
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
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