Circular Reasoning Research Articles

Daniel 11 Decoded: An Exegetical, Historical, and Theological Study

Daniel 11 Decoded: An Exegetical, Historical, and Theological Study

A multi‐criteria decision making approach for strategy formulation using Pythagorean fuzzy logic

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to develop Pythagorean fuzzy (PF) multi‐objective optimization by ratio analysis (PF‐MOORA) plus full MULTIplicative form (PF‐MULTIMOORA) method for solving multicriteria decision making (MCDM) problems with completely unknown information of criteria weights. In the model formulation process, a new distance measure is defined to quantify the difference between PF sets by combining Hamming distance and Hausdorff metric. This distance measure is, subsequently, implemented in entropy weight model for determining unknown weights of criteria, and also in reference point approach for obtaining preference indices of alternatives. To overcome the deficiencies occurred in existing MULTIMOORA method, like multiple comparisons, circular reasoning, and so on, an aggregation‐based approach is recommended in the proposed PF‐MULTIMOORA. To demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of the proposed method, an example concerning strategy prioritization of a tiles manufacturing company is presented. In the strategy evaluation process, at first, the judgement values provided by the decision maker are expressed in linguistic terms, and then those are converted into PF numbers through a PF weighting scale. The sensitivity of the proposed model is validated by changing of weights of criteria which impact on the ranks of the strategies. To show robustness of the developed method, the result attained by applying PF‐MULTIMOORA is compared with existing techniques, not only in crisp and fuzzy quantitative strategic planning matrix context, but also using four other MCDM methods, namely, modified PF‐MOORA, as a particular case of the proposed PF‐MULTIMOORA technique, PF weighted sum, PF‐TOPSIS and PF‐VIKOR.

A Logico-Linguistic Inquiry into the Foundations of Physics: Part 1

Physical dimensions are {\it not numbers}, but used as {\it numbers} to perform dimensional analysis by the physicist. The law of excluded middle falls short of explaining the contradictory meanings of the same symbols. The statements like ``$r\to 0$'', ``$q\to 0$'', used by the physicist, are inconsistent on dimensional grounds because ``$r$'', ``$q$'' represent {\it quantities} with physical dimensions of $[L], [Q]$ respectively and ``$0$'' represents just a number devoid of physical dimension. Consequently, the involvement of the statement ``$\lim_{q\to 0}$, where $q$ is the test charge'' in the definition of electric field leads to either circular reasoning or a contradiction regarding the experimental verification of the smallest charge in the Millikan-Fletcher oil drop experiment. Considering such issues as problematic, by choice, I make an inquiry regarding the basic language in terms of which physics is written, with an aim of exploring how truthfully the verbal statements can be converted to the corresponding physico-mathematical expressions (involving physical dimensions). Necessarily I demonstrate the meaning of the terms ``self inquiry'', ``middle way'', ``dependent origination'', ``emptiness/relational existence'', which signify the basic tenets of Buddhism. In light of this, I explain my view of ``definition''; the relation among quantity, physical dimension and number; the logico-linguistic fallacy of ``zero quantity''; difference between unit and unity. I present a critical analysis of the definitions of electric field due to Maxwell and Jackson. A postulate regarding the existence of charges becomes necessary which, however, resolves the contradiction regarding the oil drop experiment. This work is an appeal for the dissociation of the categorical disciplines of logic and physics and on the large, a fruitful merger of Eastern philosophy and Western science.

Re-evaluation of abusive head trauma in Norway appears flawed.

A review by Wester et al in Acta Paediatrica presented 17 adjudicated cases of Norwegian infants with abusive head trauma (AHT).(1) Their interpretation of the medical findings identified alternative diagnoses for 16 of the 17 children and suggested that the injuries were not inflicted and may have been the result of spontaneously occurring events. The authors stated that eight children had clinical and radiological characteristics consistent with external hydrocephalus, complicated by chronic subdural haematoma, and that six had findings compatible with hypoxic-ischaemic insults. Fractures were attributed to prematurity and sequelae from birth trauma. If their interpretations are correct, this study calls for a thorough review of how the medical community, forensic experts and the courts manage AHT cases. However, there are several elements of concern in the Wester et al study that we believe need clarification before a conclusion can be reached.

Controversy and Debate : Questionable utility of the relative risk in clinical research: Paper 4 :Odds Ratios are far from “portable” — A call to use realistic models for effect variation in meta-analysis

ObjectiveRecently Doi et al. argued that risk ratios should be replaced with odds ratios in clinical research. We disagreed, and empirically documented the lack of portability of odds ratios, while Doi et al. defended their position. In this response we highlight important errors in their position. Study design and settingWe counter Doi et al.’s arguments by further examining the correlations of odds ratios, and risk ratios, with baseline risks in 20,198 meta-analyses from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. ResultsDoi et al.’s claim that odds ratios are portable is invalid because 1) their reasoning is circular: they assume a model under which the odds ratio is constant and show that under such a model the odds ratio is portable; 2) the method they advocate to convert odds ratios to risk ratios is biased; 3) their empirical example is readily-refuted by counter-examples of meta-analyses in which the risk ratio is portable but the odds ratio isn't; and 4) they fail to consider the causal determinants of meta-analytic inclusion criteria: Doi et al. mistakenly claim that variation in odds ratios with different baseline risks in meta-analyses is due to collider bias. Empirical comparison between the correlations of odds ratios, and risk ratios, with baseline risks show that the portability of odds ratios and risk ratios varies across settings. ConclusionThe suggestion to replace risk ratios with odds ratios is based on circular reasoning and a confusion of mathematical and empirical results. It is especially misleading for meta-analyses and clinical guidance. Neither the odds ratio nor the risk ratio is universally portable. To address this lack of portability, we reinforce our suggestion to report variation in effect measures conditioning on modifying factors such as baseline risk; understanding such variation is essential to patient-centered practice.

The functional performance of productidine brachiopods in relation to environmental variables

Fossils are useful as palaeoenvironmental indicators when evaluated using large occurrence and lithology association data sets and/or functional morphology. However, when functional morphology is invoked on an ad hoc basis there exists a risk of circular reasoning. Performance spaces/landscapes constructed using biomechanical experiments can be used to tie performance to morphology quantitatively. They can be used to estimate fitness and function in specific environments by allowing multiple specific measures of function to be evaluated simultaneously. Absolute performance can be used to constrain palaeoenvironmental interpretations by detecting functional limits. We constructed a performance space with four variables (transport resistance, settling time, settling orientation and respiration potential) relating to hydrodynamic and metabolic variables. We combine new performance data with existing palaeoenvironmental interpretations and associated distributions of brachiopods of the suborder Productidina during the late Carboniferous and early Permian in the North American Midcontinent. Productidines were chosen because they lacked pedicles and relied on body and spine morphology to interact with their environment. Offshore dysoxia-associated taxa had increased resistance to sinking and proportionally larger lophophores, potentially improving survivorship in low-oxygen, soft substrate environments. Taxa associated with nearshore and oxygenated offshore environments display a range in performance consistent with a range of conditions, but all had proportionally smaller lophophores. Models that are less stable in high-velocity flows consistently settle in the correct convex down orientation if entrained, while more stable models did not. Our study suggests that as productidines radiated during the Carboniferous, they also differentiated within the performance space.

The use of plant ontologies in comparative and evolutionary studies should be flexible

The use of plant ontologies in comparative and evolutionary studies should be flexible

A Simple Course in Capital Theory: A Misunderstood Debate

This short paper is a demonstration of the difficulty with the textbook production function which uses the notion of capital as a factor of production. Because, this notion is logically incompatible with the other notion of the money value of capital needed for distribution theory. Theories of production and distribution become incompatible. Outside a one commodity world, this leads to insurmountable circular reasoning. The value of capital cannot be measured without first knowing its distributional parameters (e.g. real wage or the profit rate) and if they are known the marginal productivity theory based on the notion of the relative scarcity of capital as a factor of production is not only superfluous but meaningless. The scarcity of something which cannot be measured even in theory cannot be defined.

Extirpating Inherently Biased Rote Approaches, Replacing them with Critical Thinking-Based Interpretation of Evidence

Physical anthropology embraces a hunger for understanding the ecosphere in which we live, its impact on the life and health and our impact environmental signature. This has been pursued tenaciously, utilizing speculative approaches, with lesser attention to assuring adherence to fundamentals. The resulting perceptions of the environment and of the people therein, both contemporary and ancient, have been subject to a variety of biases. Although many are obvious and discussed in detail in this manuscript, it seems appropriate to question why they have persisted. What benefit does the biased individual gain? Certainly not advancement beyond circular reasoning, which itself reinforces the proponent and their philosophies. It certainly is easy to pursue studies and their promulgation by rote, minimizing cognitive effort expenditure. It is easier to pontificate a technique, than to pursue and assure its independent validation. It is easier to assume that students are performing correctly, without expending the rigor/time of/for actually testing fundamentals and assuring the validity of one’s own techniques. It is easier to stalwartly defend the status quo that has defined one’s life to date, than to subject it to potential modification and thus to consider critical thinking as an existential threat. Perhaps that explains apparent aversion to and attempts to block promulgation of evidence that application of scientific methodology to physical anthropology provides an opportunity for meaningful contributions beyond salvage work. The latter has value, but physical anthropology can offer much more. Extirpating the biases would be a major step in that direction and resurrect logos.

Multicultural Counseling Competence: A Construct in Search of Operationalization

The work of many great scholars has proliferated a sizable body of knowledge on the construct of multicultural counseling competence. However, the construct’s operationalization remains obscured, perplexing, and frustrating to practitioners who attempt to translate the scholarship into practice. We identify ten definitional problems that prevent the construct from evolving into a cohesive form that can inform practitioners’ work. These include: an indistinct purpose, culturally general/culturally specific divide, terminological interchange, confusing competency with competence, lack of integration, no definition, ambiguity, equivocation, circular reasoning, and divergence. Furthermore, the three major models of the construct—skills-based, adaptation, and process-oriented—share six limitations. They lack interdependence, prescriptive methods, deep incorporation of culture, coherent designs, conclusive research support, and they are oversimplifications. We call on the community of our fellow scholars to collaborate in reconceptualizing this complex construct into a sound, applicable guide for practitioners’ work with diverse clients.

The Seasons They Go Round and Round

When an aviation accident occurs, courts in the United States are frequently presented with a claim that an aircraft or one of its component parts should be deemed ‘defective’. In considering this type of claim, defendants almost always argue that the product met FAA certification standards and was deemed safe by that agency. Several recent US decisions as well as the fatal accidents involving the 737MAX have once again focused attention on this issue. This article addresses how some US courts have used circular reasoning in analysing the meaning of the federal statute and regulatory regime which govern product certification and aviation safety generally. The first section of this article examines the initial decision to address this issue and the flaws in the analysis that caused the court to reject this defence. The next section examines a subsequent decision which pointed out the foregoing flaws and held that the entire field of aviation safety was preempted. The following sections address how the first court recognized the flaw in its initial rationale while another panel of the court which first recognized that flaw issued a decision which hearkened back to the rationale of the initial court’s decision. Although Supreme Court review of the latter was requested, the FAA urged that Court to wait until the 737Max issues played out before addressing this subject and that is what the Supreme Court agreed to do. While final resolution of this issue will require a Supreme Court determination, a review of the decisions issued to date provides useful context for analysing how this issue will ultimately be resolved. It is the author’s belief that federal standards will ultimately be recognized to control and that FAA certification will either conclusively establish that the product is safe or create a presumption regarding that fact. aviation product preemption, aviation product certification, FAA aircraft certification, aviation safety, US case law

On the Controversy over the Logical Correctness of Einstein’s First Paper on Mass-Energy Equivalence

It is well-known that Einstein’s first attempt to explain E = mc2 which was published in Annalen der Physik in 1905, has been criticized as problematic. In particular, it has been shown by Ives and reiterated by Jammer that it suffers from the error of circular reasoning. Attempts have been made in the scientific literature to discount the circular reasoning objection of Ives, Jammer, Arzeliès and others. Fritz Rohrlich in 1990 gave a remarkably simple and concise derivation of E = mc2 along lines similar to Einstein’s but based on both momentum and energy conservation, in contrast to Einstein’s which uses only energy considerations. Rohrlich’s approach using momentum conservation is an alternative to Einstein’s, which is free from objection in logical error, and we make it quite clear on the importance of the implicit assumption of momentum conservation in any attempt to refute the circular reasoning error in Einstein’s paper. It is our contention that this point is overlooked or altogether avoided by those who have attempted to uproot the circular reasoning criticism of Einstein’s paper.

Intellectually Virtuous Inquirer and the Practical Value of Truth

Veritism is the thesis that the truth is the fundamental epistemic good. According to Duncan Pritchard, the most pressing objections to veritism are the trivial truths objection and the trivial inquiry problem. The former states that veritism entails that trivial truths are as important as deep and important truths. The latter is a problem that a veritist must prefer trivial inquiry that generates many trivial truths to the serious inquiry with the hope but no guarantee to discover some deep and important truth. Both objections arise from the inability of veritism prima facie to properly rate the different types of truths. Pritchard's solution is to approach the truth from the perspective of the intellectually virtuous inquirer who would prefer weighty truth over trivial truth. In my commentary, I criticise the proposed solution as circular reasoning. The necessary virtue for an intellectually virtuous inquirer is that they would prefer the weighty truth over the trivial one and at the same time, the weighty truth is superior because it is the goal for intellectually virtuous inquirer. I suggest another path to substantiate veritism in the face of the two sibling objections. I argue that truth is the fundamental epistemic good as it makes the epistemic realm practically valuable more than any other epistemic good. The weighty truths are preferable to the trivial ones because the practical value of the deep and important truths is usually higher. The suggested path goes away from the attempts to prove the epistemic value of truth only within the epistemic realm, yet I argue it does not compel the intellectually virtuous inquirer to seek the truth only for the sake of practical reasons.

EGYPTIAN POTTERY FROM THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE LEVANT IN CONTEXT

The contribution aims at a reassessment of Egyptian and Egyptianizing pottery from stratified assemblages in the MBA Levantin light of the high chronology supported by the recent ‘radiocarbon revolution’. The archaeological context of so-called ‘key-types’ that allowed previous cross-dates ,together with the methods adopted for absolute dating, will be critically evaluated in order to avoid circular reasoning. The study will then attempt a regional synthesis integrating the examined artifacts with the radiocarbon chronology, the historical chronology of Egypt, and the relative sequence of cultural developments of the MBALevant

Health-promotive and exclusionary mechanisms in civil society – a critical review of the empirical support for Putnam’s view of social capital

A critical, integrative review in the SocINDEX database was conducted to screen empirically grounded research on civil society and health among youth. Our initial search string resulted in 477 hits, and our final selection was 58 articles. We found both promotive and excluding processes emanating from civil society. The engaged participants seem to empower themselves and live healthier lives, but simultaneously, they tend to exclude those with poorer health and status. Civil society does not seem to have the ability to resolve the existing stratifications, and there are risks of reinforcing the existing inequalities. Partly due to insufficient theoretical detail, there was also significant room for circular reasoning since the operationalisations of participation in civil society, social capital and health often overlapped. Of the three mechanisms proposed by Robert Putnam as links between networks and health, social control seems to have the best support in the reviewed empirical studies.

The Great Persecution: A Historical Re-Examination by Min Seok Shin

Reviewed by: The Great Persecution: A Historical Re-Examination by Min Seok Shin H. A. Drake Min Seok Shin The Great Persecution: A Historical Re-Examination Studia Antica Australiensis 8 Turnhout: Brepols, 2019 Pp. xii + 280. €55.00. Given how central the Great Persecution of 303–313 was to the history of the fourth century and the Christian church, and the number of studies that have been devoted to it over the years, it comes as something of a surprise to read that this is the first book-length treatment by a single author in almost a century. So, the immediate question is, was it worth it? The immediate answer, happily, is yes. Shin has meticulously assembled all the relevant evidence needed to understand Diocletian’s decision to launch this crucial policy, its impact, and the reason it failed. Additionally, he has put many of his results, including the names, dates, and places of martyrdoms, and the sequence of the persecuting edicts and their contents, into tabular form. The result is a book that will be useful to novices and more advanced scholars alike. Shin divides his study into three parts. The first, and longest, deals with antecedents to the first persecuting edict in 303. Despite, or maybe because of, a growing convergence with pagan thought at the philosophical level, Christians came to be seen as a threat once the emperor Gallienus loosened restrictions in 260. Shin cautions against regarding this action as the equivalent of legalization, and he supports this argument by looking at the vulnerability of Christians serving in the army, as well as evidence for Christians serving in the imperial household. Diocletian’s edict against the Manichees provides insight into his state of mind and, along with his creation of the Jovian and Herculian dynasties, helps explain his reaction when priests told him Christians were responsible for failed [End Page 447] divinations. Scholars have been preoccupied with dating these events and weighing their relative importance, and Shin provides a balanced assessment of the results. The second part systematically goes through the reasons for each of Diocletian’s edicts and the ensuing edicts issued by Maximinus Daia. Although all of this information will be familiar to specialists, Shin adds two features to his study: (1) he uses another of Diocletian’s actions, his famous Edict on Prices, to gauge the value of church goods seized during the persecution, and (2) he classifies known martyrdoms by diocese and date in order to chart the way the edicts were implemented in different parts of the empire. Finally, in a relatively brief third part, Shin carries the story down to Constantine’s defeat of the eastern emperor Licinius in 324, listing official actions taken by each of the emperors in turn. Shin broadens the horizon of his study by a generous use of excursus—everything from dye-making (44) to imperial birthdays (79) to the history of book-burning (109). These may not be strictly necessary, but neither are they irrelevant. A good example is Shin’s treatment of one Aurelius Gaius (34–38). Gaius, a Phrygian, comes up as part of a longer discussion of the spread of Christianity. Shin first presents Gaius’s lengthy tombstone in Greek with an English translation. He then turns to the military appointments that Gaius listed and gives the history of each of them, remarking on the geographical extent of Gaius’s travels (during the course of which we learn that “India” does not refer to the Asian country, but a territory in the south of Egypt). The ranks in which Gaius served leads to a discussion of legionary tactics from Polybius in the second century b.c.e. to Vegetius in the fourth century c.e., which ends with scholarship on legionary titles. None of this is strictly necessary, but it lightens the load for the reader while providing the kinds of tidbits one expects from a genial tour guide, which Shin surely is. When dealing with the issues connected to study of the Great Persecution, Shin engages with other scholars and summarizes their conclusions before presenting his own. There are occasional bouts of circular reasoning (on whether Armenian king Tiridates III issued...

Denialism Preserves Scientific Controversies: a Case Study of Abusive Head Trauma Research

The traditional theory of abusive head trauma requires scientific scrutiny. Those who question the validity of this theory have been accused of denialism for the purpose of obfuscating evidence in legal settings and supporting abusive caregivers. The tradi­tional theory holds that abusive head trauma results from “shaken baby syndrome”. In reference to abusive head trauma in the absence of external signs of trauma, we argue that it is the child-protection clinicians and concerned researchers who represent denialism. We have identified three types of denialism in this area: (i) denialism of the presence of a scientific controversy; (ii) denialism of relevant scientific distinctions between abusive head trauma cases with versus without external signs of trauma; and (iii) denialism of circular reasoning as a major risk of bias. The analysis discloses that the scientific controversy pertaining to abusive head trauma is real and that it is problematic to lump together all alleged abusive head trauma, with and without exter­nal signs of trauma. Further, it has been ignored that circular reasoning results in a high risk of bias. We conclude that denialism preserves rather than promotes scientific developments on abusive head trauma research.

Provenance and the Holy Grail of Purpose in Recent Markan Research

Abstract Since Willi Marxsen’s break with the consensus view that the Gospel of Mark was most probably written in Rome, the question of provenance has played a crucial role in discussions of Mark’s purpose. While several researchers (most notably Dwight Peterson) have pointed out how using provenance as the hermeneutical key to Mark may involve a risk of circular reasoning, recent contributions have tied discussions of Mark’s purpose ever more tightly to the question of where the gospel was written. After outlining these recent research developments, this article argues for an alternative way of handling the question of Mark’s provenance, one that emphasizes how the major themes of Mark’s gospel touch upon longstanding issues within Second Temple Judaism, which means that a particular provenance is not needed as a hermeneutical crutch for establishing Mark’s purpose.

The key role of underlying theories for scientific explanations. A darwinian case study

A given explanatory theory T falls into circular reasoning if the only way to determine its explanandum is through the application of T. To find an (often previous) underlying theory T′ that determines T′s explanandum helps us save T from this accusation of circularity. We follow the structuralist view of theories in presenting and dealing with this issue, by applying it to particular theories. More specifically, we focus on the relationship between the Darwinian theory of common ancestry and the determination of homologies.

How Old Is the Hebrew Bible? A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study

How Old Is the Hebrew Bible? A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study