Logical Inconsistencies Research Articles

Федерация Между Государством и Империей

SUMMARY: The article by Olivier Beaud surveys the recent legal and political theoretical debates about federation and federalism and suggests an alternative interpretation of federation as a political form different from the state. The author mentions two misconceptions and logical vicious circles about federation: one reads that federation is a state form, the other – that federation is different from confederation. These misconceptions arise from the analysis of federation through the hegemonic lens of the political, that is, the modern concept of sovereignty. Some political theorists, Beaud observes, note the logical inconsistencies of analysis of federation from the view point of sovereignty and refrain from the legal and political classification of federation as a political form. Beaud takes a different approach and on the basis of analysis of European political thought constructs a different interpretation of federation. He suggests that federation is a form of political community rather than a hierarchically based system of political relations. Therefore, Beaud contends that the best way to approach the theoretical riddle of federation and federalism would be to bracket federation and confederation as a single political type and allow for the possibility of dual orders of sovereign relations inside the political community of federation.

対立を用いた法的知識の整合性検証

In this paper, we propose a verification methodology of large-scale legal knowledge. With a revision of legal code, we are forced to revise also other affected code to keep the consistency of law. Thus, our task is to revise the affected area properly and to investigate its adequacy. In this study, we extend the notion of inconsistency besides of the ordinary logical inconsistency, to include the conceptual conflicts. We obtain these conflictions from taxonomy data, and thus, we can avoid tedious manual declarations of opponent words. In the verification process, we adopt extended disjunctive logic programming (EDLP) to tolerate multiple consequences for a given set of antecedents. In addition, we employ abductive logic programming (ALP) regarding the situations to which the rules are applied as premises. Also, we restrict a legal knowledge-base to acyclic program to avoid the circulation of definitions, to justify the relevance of verdicts. Therefore, detecting cyclic parts of legal knowledge would be one of our objectives. The system is composed of two subsystems; we implement the preprocessor in Ruby to facilitate string manipulation, and the verifier in Prolog to exert the logical inference. Also, we employ XML format in the system to retain readability. In this study, we verify actual code of ordinances of Toyama prefecture, and show the experimental results.

Clouds, Rain, and the Upper Waters: FromBereshit Rabbahto the Piyyuṭim of Eleazar be-rabbi Qillir

The state of knowledge of the natural world among Jews in early seventh-century Palestine (i.e., on the eve of the Muslim conquest), as reflected in a number of compositions by the liturgical poet Eleazar berabbi Qillir, is investigated. The focus is on Qillir's description of the process by which rain is produced and reaches the earth, as found in part of his oeuvre for the festival of Shemini Atzeret. This description draws heavily on materials from the rabbinic literature (especially Bereshit Rabbah ), which are in turn rooted in biblical ideas about hydrology and rainmaking. The conception of the origin of rain, as conceived in these two corpora, is reviewed and analyzed to provide the proper background for an evaluation of Qillir's presentation. Special attention is paid to the way in which the midrashic material is arranged in the piyyuṭ as a poetic narrative, exposing a number of logical inconsistencies inherent in it.

Can factor analysis be applied to spectra taken in binary solvent mixtures?

It is suggested that, in spite the logical inconsistencies, factor analysis can be applied in many cases to fluorescence and absorption spectra of dyes in binary solvent mixtures. Limits as to when this application will be successful are derived. This idea was applied to four different dyes in two different binary solvent mixtures and was generally found to generate smoother curves, plotting the contribution of one of the two contributing bands to the experimental spectrum vs. solvent component mole fraction, as compared to those that are generated when one uses the normally applied method of plotting maximum peak position vs. solvent component mole fraction.

The Fallacies of 'New Dialectics' and Value-Form Theory

AbstractChris Arthur's approach aims at a systematic re-ordering of Marx's categories. This article argues that his approach is actually a different ordering of different categories that are positioned within a specific theoretical whole, a Hegelian re-interpretation of Marx and especially of abstract labour, which distances itself from Marx. While the debate has focused mainly on the philosophical aspects of Arthur's work, its economic features have not been the object of a systematic analysis. Yet, a full assessment of the 'New Dialectics' should include explicitly a systematic internal critique of its economic dimensions. The aim of this article is to assess the internal consistency of the economic ramifications of the 'New Dialectics'. The focus is on the notions of abstract labour, concrete labour, and exploitation. Arthur's faithfulness to Marx, or correspondence to Marx's quotations, is not the criterion used to assess the 'New Dialectics'. Rather, the criterion is whether it (a) discovers logical inconsistencies in Capital and (b) is itself free from inconsistencies. The answer is negative in both cases.

Obstacles to the flow of requirements verification

AbstractThe process of developing technical requirements and subsequently documenting adherence to those requirements is a primary task for Systems Engineering. Disciplined validation and verification of requirements helps assure that the product system will be successful as designed and gives the program a fighting chance to achieve its goals. But commitment and adherence to a process of thorough validation and verification is not always sufficient. Unforeseen technical constraints and logical inconsistencies often spring up at the last minute to block requirements verification for complex systems. By recognizing weaknesses in the structure and definition of requirements that are likely to interfere with the verification flow, the systems engineer can create a more manageable hierarchy of requirements and more effectively redirect the verification process when difficulties arise. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng

Logical Problems and the Teaching of Economics - A Plea for an Explanation

The basic academic education in economic thinking is dominated by very simplified models of firms and individuals in the market. The theory of firm, which is the fundamental model of neoclassical microeconomics, therefore has great influence on the way people think about economic processes. The following paper elaborates logical inconsistencies of the standard model of neoclassical microeconomics first raised by George Stigler and extensively discussed by Steve Keen, which arise if all actors are considered to be mere price-takers. Taking this inconsistencies seriously leads to the conclusion, that - interpreting the marginal market power of the individual firms correctly - a competitive environment yields quantities, prices and profits, that differ fundamentally from those predicted by standard neoclassical microeconomic models. Therefore we want to encourage the teachers of economics to enter the debate around these inconsistencies.

Using Static Analysis to Find Bugs

Static analysis examines code in the absence of input data and without running the code. It can detect potential security violations (SQL injection), runtime errors (dereferencing a null pointer) and logical inconsistencies (a conditional test that can't possibly be true). Although a rich body of literature exists on algorithms and analytical frameworks used by such tools, reports describing experiences in industry are much harder to come by. The authors describe FindBugs, an open source static-analysis tool for Java, and experiences using it in production settings. FindBugs evaluates what kinds of defects can be effectively detected with relatively simple techniques and helps developers understand how to incorporate such tools into software development.

The Topology of Post-1990s Historical Revisionism

This essay aims to reconsider the logic and nature of Japanese historical revisionism, with reference to similar instances in Germany. Attention is paid to the written texts and statements of the Study Group for a Liberal View of History, with particular emphasis on the manga of Kobayashi Yoshinori. This analysis of historical revisionism remains grounded in the many empirical studies on this phenomenon, but it seeks to supplement such research by focusing on the logical inconsistencies and gaps of this discourse.

Quantum mechanics as a consistency condition on initial and final boundary conditions

If the block universe view is correct, the future and the past have similar status and one would expect physical theories to involve final as well as initial boundary conditions. A plausible consistency condition between the initial and final boundary conditions in non-relativistic quantum mechanics leads to the idea that the properties of macroscopic quantum systems, relevantly measuring instruments, are uniquely determined by the boundary conditions. An important element in reaching that conclusion is that preparations and measurements belong in a special class because they involve many subsystems, at least some of which do not form superpositions of their physical properties before the boundary conditions are imposed. It is suggested that the primary role of the formalism of standard quantum mechanics is to provide the consistency condition on the boundary conditions rather than the properties of quantum systems. Expressions are proposed for assigning a set of (unmeasured) physical properties to a quantum system at all times. The physical properties avoid the logical inconsistencies implied by the no-go theorems because they are assigned differently from standard quantum mechanics. Since measurement outcomes are determined by the boundary conditions, they help determine, rather than are determined by, the physical properties of quantum systems.

Logic of the preface paradox

The preface paradox is the apparent pragmatic inconsistency that occurs when the author of a book declares in its preface that despite believing that it is highly probable that everything the book maintains is true it is also highly probable that the book contains at least some errors. The preface paradox has often been presented as an example of a logically inconsistent belief that it is nevertheless rational to accept, supporting the suggestion that rationality has nothing immediately to do with avoiding formal logical inconsistency in one’s beliefs. In contrast with complicated received solutions, I explain a simple method of avoiding inconsistency in preface paradox assertions by indexing the two claims to distinct probability or justification sources, referencing in the first case the conscientious efforts to eliminate errors and in the second case the chagrin of past experience in discovering previously unsuspected errors in published writings. The solution thereby helps preserve the concept of rationality as logical consistency of belief, and avoids the conclusion that the preface paradox proves that it is sometimes rational to accept logically inconsistent beliefs.

Restructuring Metaphors: Using Mental Re-Mapping in Cognitive Coaching

This article outlines different aspects of dealing with metaphors within the cognitive coaching framework. It focuses on the connection between metaphor, language and perception. Metaphors are an intimate part of most linguistic expressions. Since coaching is a structured verbal interaction it involves the exchange of metaphors between a client and a coach. The cognitive coaching literature concentrates mainly on techniques that help clients to pinpoint logical inconsistencies in their thinking. Such techniques have proven to be very helpful, but not all clients have the ability to benefit from this traditional rational disputing. In these situations the coach can make use of another technique, which still derives from cognitive principles. The first part of the article focuses on the theoretical aspects of metaphors as linguistic expressions while the second part addresses a specific client case. Suggestive techniques on how to restructure metaphors are described in connection with the client case.

Quantum thermodynamics: Microscopic foundations of entropy and of entropy generation by irreversibility

What is the physical significance of entropy? What is the physical origin of irreversibility? Do entropy and irreversibility exist only for complex and macroscopic systems? Most physicists still accept and teach that the rationalization of these fundamental questions is given by Statistical Mechanics. Indeed, for everyday laboratory physics, the mathematical formalism of Statistical Mechanics (canonical and grand-canonical, Boltzmann, Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac distributions) allows a successful description of the thermodynamic equilibrium properties of matter, including entropy values. However, as already recognized by Schrodinger in 1936, Statistical Mechanics is impaired by conceptual ambiguities and logical inconsistencies, both in its explanation of the meaning of entropy and in its implications on the concept of state of a system. An alternative theory has been developed by Gyftopoulos, Hatsopoulos and the present author to eliminate these stumbling conceptual blocks while maintaining the mathematical formalism so successful in applications. To resolve both the problem of the meaning of entropy and that of the origin of irreversibility we have built entropy and irreversibility into the laws of microscopic physics. The result is a theory, that we call Quantum Thermodynamics, that has all the necessary features to combine Mechanics and Thermodynamics uniting all the successful results of both theories, eliminating the logical inconsistencies of Statistical Mechanics and the paradoxes on irreversibility, and providing an entirely new perspective on the microscopic origin of irreversibility, nonlinearity (therefore including chaotic behavior) and maximal-entropy-generation nonequilibrium dynamics. In this paper we discuss the background and formalism of Quantum Thermodynamics including its nonlinear equation of motion and the main general results. Our objective is to show in a not-too-technical manner that this theory provides indeed a complete and coherent resolution of the century-old dilemma on the meaning of entropy and the origin of irreversibility, including Onsager reciprocity relations and maximal-entropy-generation nonequilibrium dynamics, which we believe provides the microscopic foundations of heat, mass and momentum transfer theories, including all their implications such as Bejan's Constructal Theory of natural phenomena.

ON THE IDENTIFICATION OF A LOGICAL INCONSISTENCY IN THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME

ABSTRACT Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime is widely tested and commented upon and just as widely misapprehended. Criminologists have paid insufficient attention to the implications of the theory's rootedness in classical criminological and rational choice principles and its steadfast rejection of positivism. As a result, much of the beauty of the theory remains unappreciated. A more serious consequence is that criminologists have overlooked what careful attention to the classical and rational choice underpinnings of the theory discloses: the logical inconsistency of two fundamental claims made by Gottfiredson and Hirschi. This paper shows that on pain of logical inconsistency one cannot simultaneously assert, as Gottfredson and Hirschi wish to do, that rational judgment is the ultimate causal determinant of behavior and that variation in parental management practices explains variation in self-control. The proof consists of a demonstration that parental management practices can explain variation in self-control only if rational judgment is not, contrary to what Gottfredson and Hirschi assert, the ultimate causal determinant of behavior. Subsequent to presentation of the proof, implications are discussed, and the logical form of an alternative account of self-control suggested by the manner of resolution of the contradiction is offered.

The Wrongfulness of Wrongly Interpreting Wrongfulness: Provocation, Interpretational Bias, and Heat of Passion Homicide

In U.S. criminal law, a defendant charged with murder can invoke the heat of passion defense, an affirmative, partial-excuse defense so that he may be instead found guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter. This defense requires the defendant to demonstrate that he was significantly provoked and, as a direct result of the provocation, became extremely emotionally disturbed and committed the killing while in this uncontrolled emotional state. In this way, the law makes a partial allowance for emotional dysfunction—the wrongfulness of the homicide is mitigated when the emotionally charged reactivity restricts the actor's capacity for rational thought and reasoned behavior. However, the defense makes no such allowance for cognitive dysfunction, despite the widely replicated finding in psychology that violent reactivity is associated with distorted cognitive processing. In particular, reactive violence is often attributed, in part, to provocation interpretational bias—a set of cognitive difficulties by which certain ambiguous-provocation situations are interpreted as intentional, hostile, and wrongful by the reacting aggressor. The present paper discusses how affording a partial excuse for emotional—but not cognitive—dysfunction poses both a logical inconsistency and a moral dilemma for American provocation law. Recommendations for reframing the heat of passion doctrine and resolving these issues are made. Provocation law is all about emotions, most notably anger.

INCONSISTENCY OF THE INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE INFERENCE IN PLANNING PROCESS

Although the experience knowledge, which is obtained by induction based on data, is important and is utilized in planning process, sometimes, the utilization of inductive inference causes a logical inconsistency. We show an example problem on the fire compartment formed by many shatters. This type of inconsistency may occur, when the induction is used jointly with deduction, and this inconsistency is called the inductive inference inconsistency. Mechanism of the generation of the inductive inference inconsistency is clarified. We propose methods for avoiding the inductive inference inconsistency.

Experiment-Specific Estimation of Peptide Identification Probabilities Using a Randomized Database

Determining the error rate for peptide and protein identification accurately and reliably is necessary to enable evaluation and crosscomparisons of high throughput proteomics experiments. Currently, peptide identification is based either on preset scoring thresholds or on probabilistic models trained on datasets that are often dissimilar to experimental results. The false discovery rates (FDR) and peptide identification probabilities for these preset thresholds or models often vary greatly across different experimental treatments, organisms, or instruments used in specific experiments. To overcome these difficulties, randomized databases have been used to estimate the FDR. However, the cumulative FDR may include low probability identifications when there are a large number of peptide identifications and exclude high probability identifications when there are few. To overcome this logical inconsistency, this study expands the use of randomized databases to generate experiment-specific estimates of peptide identification probabilities. These experiment-specific probabilities are generated by logistic and Loess regression models of the peptide scores obtained from original and reshuffled database matches. These experiment-specific probabilities are shown to very well approximate "true" probabilities based on known standard protein mixtures across different experiments. Probabilities generated by the earlier Peptide_Prophet and more recent LIPS models are shown to differ significantly from this study's experiment-specific probabilities, especially for unknown samples. The experiment-specific probabilities reliably estimate the accuracy of peptide identifications and overcome potential logical inconsistencies of the cumulative FDR. This estimation method is demonstrated using a Sequest database search, LIPS model, and a reshuffled database. However, this approach is generally applicable to any search algorithm, peptide scoring, and statistical model when using a randomized database.

Modernizing Political Science: A Model-Based Approach

Although the use of models has come to dominate much of the scientific study of politics, the discipline's understanding of the role or function that models play in the scientific enterprise has not kept pace. We argue that models should be assessed for their usefulness for a particular purpose, not solely for the accuracy of their predictions. We provide a typology of the uses to which models may be put, and show how these uses are obscured by the field's emphasis on model testing. Our approach highlights the centrality of models in scientific reasoning, avoids the logical inconsistencies of current practice, and offers political scientists a new way of thinking about the relationship between the natural world and the models with which we are so familiar.Kevin A. Clarke is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Rochester (kevin.clarke@rochester.edu) and David M. Primo is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Rochester (david.primo@ rochester.edu). Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association and at the 2005 Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association and the Canadian Political Science Association; we thank the participants for their comments. We thank Chris Achen, Jim Alt, Jake Bowers, Henry Brady, Bear Braumoeller, John Duggan, Mark Fey, Rob Franzese, John Freeman, Gary Goertz, Miriam Golden, Jim Granato, Gretchen Helmke, John Jackson, Keith Krehbiel, Skip Lupia, Scott de Marchi, Andrew Martin, Becky Morton, Bob Pahre, Kevin Quinn, Curt Signorino, Randy Stone, and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and discussion. We also thank Matt Jacobsmeier for research assistance. Support from the National Science Foundation (Clarke: Grant #SES-0213771, Primo: Grant #SES-0314786) is gratefully acknowledged.

Preservation of effect and the regulatory approval of new treatments on the basis of non‐inferiority trials

The criteria for approval of an experimental treatment on the basis of active-controlled non-inferiority trials often include demonstration of 'preservation of effect' relative to the active control. While this appears on its surface to be a reasonable criterion, on closer inspection it can be shown to lead to serious logical inconsistencies. In particular, an experimental treatment may have clinical trial results that are superior to those for the standard treatment and yet fail to meet this criterion for approval. In this paper we propose a set of principles that will help avoid these logical inconsistencies, and we argue that the qualities of an experimental treatment that are required for approval should be consistent regardless of the presence or absence of existing treatments and the type of study design used to evaluate the treatment.

Public perceptions of biotechnology

The very term 'Biotechnology' elicits a range of emotions, from wonder and awe to downright fear and hostility. This is especially true among non-scientists, particularly in respect of agricultural and food biotechnology. These emotions indicate just how poorly understood agricultural biotechnology is and the need for accurate, dispassionate information in the public sphere to allow a rational public debate on the actual, as opposed to the perceived, risks and benefits of agricultural biotechnology. This review considers first the current state of public knowledge on agricultural biotechnology, and then explores some of the popular misperceptions and logical inconsistencies in both Europe and North America. I then consider the problem of widespread scientific illiteracy, and the role of the popular media in instilling and perpetuating misperceptions. The impact of inappropriate efforts to provide 'balance' in a news story, and of belief systems and faith also impinges on public scientific illiteracy. Getting away from the abstract, we explore a more concrete example of the contrasting approach to agricultural biotechnology adoption between Europe and North America, in considering divergent approaches to enabling coexistence in farming practices. I then question who benefits from agricultural biotechnology. Is it only the big companies, or is it society at large--and the environment--also deriving some benefit? Finally, a crucial aspect in such a technologically complex issue, ordinary and intelligent non-scientifically trained consumers cannot be expected to learn the intricacies of the technology to enable a personal choice to support or reject biotechnology products. The only reasonable and pragmatic alternative is to place trust in someone to provide honest advice. But who, working in the public interest, is best suited to provide informed and accessible, but objective, advice to wary consumers?