Obscure Idea Research Articles

I Play, Therefore I Think: Procedural Philosophy in Remedy Entertainment's Alan Wake 2 (2023)

Regarding video games as loci of philosophical thinking, not simply illustrations of preexisting philosophical concepts and positions, is far too rare in gamic thought studies. Yet due to the conceptually complex nature of the critically acclaimed Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment, 2023) such a perspective becomes necessary in order to fully understand the philosophical, gamic, and aesthetic complexity of the game. Subsequently, this article argues that the game performs what is termed “procedural philosophy” as it involves adapting a position of radical skepticism and questioning the essential ontological categories of both the gamic and the nongamic reality. As the analysis shows, Alan Wake 2 develops a philosophical conceptualization of reality which results in the formation of “obscure ideas,” related to a gamic flattening of ontology.

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Let's Calculate Bach: Applying Information Theory and Statistics to Numbers in Music by Alan Shepherd

Reviewed by: Let's Calculate Bach: Applying Information Theory and Statistics to Numbers in Music by Alan Shepherd Robert L. Wells (bio) Alan Shepherd. Let's Calculate Bach: Applying Information Theory and Statistics to Numbers in Music (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021). xxxiv, 352 pp. The music of J. S. Bach has long been the subject of numerical investigations, from the work of Arnold Schering and Friedrich Smend in the early twentieth century to more recent scholarship involving duration, tempo, and compositional architecture.1 The matter of numbers in Bach took a new musicological turn in 2015 with Ruth Tatlow's Bach's Numbers: Compositional Proportion and Significance. In this work, Tatlow aims to provide documentary and numerical evidence that Bach's published works demonstrate simple internal proportions of 1:1 and 1:2 in measure counts and/or numbers of movements.2 The response to Tatlow's work has been mixed, with some scholars praising her work and others being largely critical.3 In particular, Daniel R. Melamed suggests that many of Tatlow's claims about intentional, planned proportions are unsupported by documentary evidence, and the numbers likely result from a combination of analytical choices about counting measures/movements and mathematical chance.4 It is in the context of these discussions that Alan Shepherd's Let's Calculate Bach: Applying Information Theory and Statistics to Numbers in Music has arisen, seeking to answer questions not of musicology, but of probability and statistics: namely, [End Page 155] how likely is it that numerical results in Bach's works appear by chance versus as a product of conscious planning? Let's Calculate Bach opens with an introductory chapter laying out the main goals of the book: to use computers to understand the extent to which numbers are relevant to the music of Bach and other composers. Significantly, while Shepherd promises to explore numerous quantitative approaches to Bach, he states that there will be a special emphasis on Tatlow's theories of "proportional parallelism."5 The next five chapters lay the foundation for applying information theory to music. Chapter 2 begins by introducing the basics of information theory and numeric codes, including the notions of bits, bytes, symbols, messages, and "gematria," where letters of a word are converted to numbers and then summed to yield a single, representative value ("G-Value") (13). Shepherd emphasizes that in most cases, G-Values produce ambiguous results, so that a single numerical value could "decode" to many different words. In chapter 3, Shepherd exhaustively considers the ways a composer might encode symbols into their music, from oft-explored examples (numbers of notes, measures, and movements) to more obscure ideas (encoding via rhythm, figured bass, and Hertz frequencies). While these explorations might initially seem excessive, Shepherd is attempting to avoid bias by not eliminating any symbolic possibilities before they have been fairly considered. He also highlights the "true" coding present in a musical score, where dots on a page represent sounds to be performed (36)—a reminder that the score is, at its heart, a set of "codes" for performers. Chapter 4 considers the aforementioned problem of ambiguity in gematria and "G-Values," in which a single number might "decode" to multiple words. For instance, using the Latin Natural-Order alphabet, where A = 1, B = 2, and so forth (but I = J = 9), the word "Bach" would encode to 2 + 1 + 3 + 8 = 14. However, numerous other words could also encode to 14, such as "an" (1 + 13) and "beg" (2 + 5 + 7). The most striking result in this chapter is a set of histograms that show the number of words associated with each G-Value based on the modern dictionary, the Luther Bible, and Bach's cantata texts. All [End Page 156] cases result in a bell-like curve in which mid-range numbers produce a high level of ambiguity, while smaller or larger numbers correspond to fewer possible words. For instance, in the Luther Bible, which only contains words that would have existed in Bach's lifetime, Shepherd finds that the average G-Value represents 74 words in the Latin Natural-Order alphabet (44–45). The G-Value's high level of ambiguity leads Shepherd to...

Developing Smart Web-Search using Regex

Due to the increasing storage data on the Web Applications it becomes very difficult to use only keywordbased searches to provide comprehensive search results, thus increasing the difficulty for web users to search information on the web. In this paper, we proposed using a combined method of keyword-based and Regular expressions (RegEx) searches to perform search using strings of targeted items for optimal results even as the volume of data around the world on the Internet continues to explode. The idea is to embed RegEx patterns as part of search engine’s algorithm in a web application project to provide strings related to the targeted items for more comprehensive coverage of search results. The user's search query is a string of characters guided by search boundaries selected from the entry point. The results returned from the search operation are different results within a category determined by the search boundaries. This is designed to be beneficial to a user who has an obscure idea about the information he/she wanted to search but knows the boundries within which to get the information. This technique can be applied to data processing tasks such as information extraction and search refinements.

Diffusive propagation of nervous signals and their quantum control

The governing theory of electric signal transfer through nerve fibre, as established by Hodgkin and Huxley in the 1950s, uses for the description of action potential a clever combination of various concepts of electrochemistry and circuit theory; however, this theory neglects some fundamental features of charge transport through any conductor, e.g., the existence of a temporary charged layer on its boundary accompanied by an external electric field. The consequences of this fact are, among others, the introduction of a non-adequate concept of “conduction velocity” and the obscure idea of saltatory propagation of action potential in myelinaed nerve fibres. Our approach, based on standard transport theory and, particularly, on the submarine cable model, describes the movement of the front of the action potential as a diffusion process characterized by the diffusion constant DE. This process is physically realized by the redistribution of ions in the nervous fluid (axoplasm), which is controlled by another diffusion constant DΩ ≪ DE. Since the action bound with the movement of Na+ and K+ cations prevailing in the axoplasm is comparable with the Planck constant ℏ (i.e. DΩ → ℏ∕2M, where M is ion mass), signal transfer is actually a quantum process. This fact accounts for the astonishing universality of the transfer of action potential, which is proper to quite different species of animals. As is further shown, the observed diversity in the behaviour of nerve tissues is controlled by the scaling factor $$\sqrt{(D_{\Omega} / D_E)}$$ , where DΩ is of a quantum nature and DE of an essentially geometric one.

RESEARCH IN BASIC MEDICAL SCIENCES: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

he one overarching aim of scientific research conducted in the medical field is to improve the health of the human species. The approach though may vary from pure basic, applied to epidemiological.Basic research or bench research provides the first stepping stone towards research at the bedside. A stronger and wider foundation would positively influence the strength and stability of applied research that follows. It has been shown that most pre-clinical trials (80-90%) do not extend into the clinical trial phase;1 thus making basic research a pre-requisite of further clinical research. This foundation knowledge comes from traditional disciplines of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Histopathology, Haematology and microbiology. The 21st Century has seen the continuing development of sciences amalgamated and rearranged according to the techniques used from in-vitro cell cultures, to in-vivo animal studies and even virtual modeling of proteins and enzymes.2Research over the past 50 years with the discovery of the Double helix of the DNA and the human genome project has led to the newer and emerging fields like molecular biology and genetics leading to a better understanding of causative mechanisms of illnesses.3 This breakthrough research at the cellular, sub-cellular and molecular levels has expanded the frontiers of research further than the mere scope of human senses with the advent of more powerful hyper-resolution microscopes and precision techniques.4 How else would there be the fields of personalised medicine or theranostics working through cancer genomics, pharmacogenomics or systems biology; tailored to the individual, based on their predicted response or risk of disease.5Scientists have defined basic science research as aimed towards pursuing fundamental questions of natural systems and organisms. Basic science uses hypothesis driven specifically designed experiments in testing the underlying pathogenesis of diseases which can be modified and revised, again and again leading to conclusive evidence of proof or disproof of the hypothesis. This is in contrast to goal-oriented research i.e. applied or inter-disciplinary that has been acclaimed for its practicality.2ChallengesOne of the most pressing issues in basic sciences research is financial resources.6 The development and up-gradation of laboratories with state of the art equipment is a huge endeavor for developed countries where a study showed 51% faculty identifying this as a barrier to research let alone developing ones.6 Although without doubt the applicability and visibility of applied or clinical research appears to have a greater and immediate impact, the importance of research in the basic medical or for that matter dental science cannot be denied.The amount of research work and clocked hours at the bench side that may or may not lead to a significant breakthrough in treatment of diseases is another mitigating factor on conducting fundamental research. A scholar of this field spends years to be able to achieve a small fraction of results whereas the majority of clinical research is conducted as a part time effort with a greater projection.7Culturally funding bodies in our part of the world promulgate the idea of short term impact and applicability directly translated into tangible outputs rather than seemingly obscure ideas that are the mainstay of basic science research. As so pertinently questioned by Dyna (2016) “Why would a nation that cannot feed its people try to send a spacecraft to Mars?”.8 The answer would be why not? Many of ours problems can be solved by us by targeting local issues from antibiotic resistance to malnutrition rather than looking towards the developed world to solve these problems. OpportunitiesThe change of perception of basic research as an obscure research needs to be addressed at the grass roots with appropriate awareness campaigns aimed at an understanding that the insights generated by such research is the basis for future disease treatment or even eradication.9The active involvement of such scientists as part of administration of funding agencies is another aspect that may readjust the cultural thinking of such agencies towards developing an understanding of the importance and need for basic sciences research as they would bring in a different perspective based on their experiences.9Translational medicine is another aspect that can be developed with involvement of both basic and applied scientists on the pattern of programs by National Institute of Health (NIH).1Thus acquiring fundamental knowledge of biological systems through basic sciences research would lead to healthier living by reducing disability and illness. Basic sciences at Khyber Medical University is also working on joint collaborative programs like Nutrition and cancer genetics with research groups comprised of not only basic scientists but clinicians and epidemiologists as well.

Post-Soviet collective memory: Russian youths about Soviet past

The research is focused on the image of the Soviet Union and that of its successor – the Russian Federation – in the minds of the Russian student youth. The concept of collective memory, being interdisciplinary and highly debatable, has been used in the given paper in its broad socio-cultural sense meaning the attitudes of interconnected social groups regarding the past and the present.The participants of the poll were 100 students from the leading Moscow universities. They had been born after the Soviet Union collapse, so, the majority of them have a very obscure idea of the Soviet reality, simultaneously feeling nostalgia for the Soviet political past.The results of the research show that the image of the Soviet Union drastically differs from that of Russia in the young people's minds being positive and negative, respectively.

Garbhasanskar: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Antenatal Mothers of Dharwad, Karnataka

As good nutritional food provides physical health, the unborn child in womb require Sanskar to acquire mental health to thrive. The activity of the mother during pregnancy in the form of prayer (good rational thoughts), Manshakti (positive emotion), conversation with fetus (talk) or expressing feeling (touch) is not only recognized by unborn baby but it has positive effects on physical and mental health. Hence Garbhasanskar is scientific way of molding mental health of unborn child. In the present paper, we are expressing findings of the first phase of our study that is knowledge, attitude and practice among antenatal mothers of Dharwad. Present study concludes, sample population of ANC mothers are not aware of proper scientific knowledge about GS, the source of whatever obscure idea and concept they have is mainly from sr. family members in the form of spiritual preaching hence there is a need for proper training of scientific knowledge about garbhasanskar which is missing. The practices followed are not conductive and nonscientific.

Recritude: Reflections on Postural Ontology

Recritude: Reflections on Postural Ontology

Recritude: Reflections on Postural Ontology

Recritude: Reflections on Postural Ontology

Confucius: A Guide for the Perplexed by Yong Huang (review)

YONG HUANG, Confucius: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. xiii, 175 pp. £16.99 (pb). ISBN 978-1-4411-9653-8 Yong Huang’s Confucius: A Guide for the Perplexed is a unique introduction to early Confucian thought from the perspective of comparative analytic philosophy. Instead of attempting a broad summary of the main themes and ideas attributed to Confucius, Huang focuses on four philosophical issues summarized in the titles of chapters 2–5: (2) ‘‘Morality: Why you should not turn the other cheek;’’ (3) ‘‘Virtue: How to love virtue as you love sex;’’ (4) ‘‘Moral education: How to teach what can only be learned by oneself;’’ and (5) ‘‘Filial piety: Why an upright son does not disclose his father stealing a sheep.’’ The first chapter is a historical introduction: ‘‘The life of Confucius: A ‘homeless dog.’’’ Throughout the book Huang draws freely not just from the Analects (Lunyu 論 語) of Confucius but from nearly the entire body of texts containing statements attributed to Confucius and details of his life. These include the Shiji 史記 [Historical records] of Sima Qian 司馬遷, the Guoyu 國語 [Sayings of the states], the Liji 禮記 [Record of ritual], the Da Dai Liji 大戴禮記 [The elder Dai’s Liji], the Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋 [Mr. Lü’s Spring and Autumn (annals)], the Xiaojing 孝經 [Scripture of filiality], the Kongzi jiayu 孔子家語 [Statements of Confucius’ family], and the other three of the ‘‘Four Books’’ (Mengzi 孟子, Daxue 大學, and Zhongyong 中庸). This method has both advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, it enables Huang to flesh out with much greater clarity many of the fragmentary and obscure ideas in the Analects. But since the historical accuracy of these later texts is highly contested, it should be incumbent upon the author to justify their usage. One way to do this would be to distinguish explicitly between the ‘‘historical Confucius’’1 and the figure of Confucius accepted by the later tradition—what some have called the ‘‘canonical Confucius.’’ Yet the only mention of the problem is in the publisher’s blurb: [T]his book also brings into discussion those sayings of Confucius that are recorded in other texts, greatly expanding our perspective of the original Confucius. Scholars in the past, unsure about the authenticity of such sayings, have been reluctant to use them in discussing Confucius’ view. However, recent archaeological findings have shown that at least some of them are reliable. Some, to be sure, but certainly not all. For example, in chapter 1 Huang summarizes at face value Sima Qian’s story about Confucius meeting Laozi 老子. There is no hint whatsoever that the scholarly world for nearly a century has acknowledged that ‘‘Laozi’’ is a purely mythic figure personifying the multiple authors of the Daodejing 道德經, or that ‘‘Laozi’’ is not even a name: it means 1 This is not to imply that the Analects is entirely trustworthy; it was compiled over a period of more than one-hundred years after Confucius’ death. But, especially in its earlier chapters, it is much closer to the historical Confucius than texts like the Kongzi jiayu, which many scholars believe to be a third-century CE forgery. See, for example, Paul R. Goldin, Rituals of the Way: The Philosophy of Xunzi (Chicago: Open Court, 1999), 135, n. 53. 158 BOOK REVIEWS ‘‘Old Master(s),’’ not ‘‘Master Lao.’’ This is the most egregious example of what could be considered an ahistorical perspective. The rest of this biographical chapter is highly entertaining, as it contains much more detail about Confucius’ comings and goings than we usually encounter in studies of the historical Confucius. But it is marred by the absence of authorial assistance in sorting out what might and might not be historical. The chapter also contains an inordinate number of errors in English usage; it appears not to have been copy-edited at all. Once the caveat is borne in mind that we are really discussing Confucius as represented in the later tradition, not necessarily the historical Confucius, and also that we are focusing strictly on moral philosophy, this book is definitely worth reading. Chapter 2 focuses on two quite different answers to the question: ‘‘What is the appropriate attitude towards wrongdoers?’’ (p. 37). According to the Gospel of Matthew (5...

The Hidden Soul: The Growth of the Unconscious, 1750-1900

1. To have ideas and yet not be conscious of them seems to be a contradiction, for how can we know that we have them if we are not conscious of them? Still we can be indirectly conscious of having an idea, even though we may not be directly aware of it. . . . The fact that the realm of our sense perceptions and feelings, of which we are unconscious, though it is past doubt that we indeed have them, that is, the realm of obscure ideas . . . should be immeasurable, while the clear ones make up but an infinitely small part of the same perceptions and feelings, that on the great map of our emotions only a few sites are illuminated, all of this can make us marvel at our own being. 2. Nothing prevents me from returning, via the ego I am now conscious of, to a time when it was not yet conscious of itself, from assuming the existence of a realm beyond the presently given consciousness, that is, an activity that does not appear by itself but instead enters my consciousness through its results. Besides conscious and . . . free activity there must exist another unconscious one through which, disregarding the limitless expression of freedom, something comes about involuntarily and perhaps even against the will of the acting subject. [End Page 257] 3. We regard the rich expanse of the ego all too narrowly when we leave out the enormous realm of the unconscious, this genuine inner Africa. Within the entire wide globe of memory, hardly a few illuminated mountaintops revolve at any one time in the mind; the rest of the world remains shrouded in their shadow. Were we completely conscious of ourselves, we would be our own creators and infinite. [Yet there is] something dark that is not our creation but instead our creator. 4. We live and feel just as much in dreams as in our waking moments; and we are both the one and the other; it is man's privilege to dream and know it. Up to now the usefulness of this has not been sufficiently explored. Dreaming is a life that, if added to the rest of our existence, becomes that which we call human life. 5. If we could still be surprised by phenomena that habit has rendered utterly familiar to us, we would surely feel astonishment and fright on thinking about the prodigious difference between these two alternating modes of existence: one in which we live, feel, and act with the consciousness and inner feeling of our existence, of our impressions, and our acts; whereas in the other, we live, feel, and act, often enough with the aid of the selfsame organs and apparently in the same way, without consciousness, without ego, without memory and remaining like strangers, in one of these modes of existence, to everything that we had experienced, felt, imagined or done in the other. 6. It is strange that the inner man should have been explored so poorly and so foolishly spoken of. So-called psychology is [End Page 258] another one of these masks that have occupied the sanctuary instead of the images of the real gods. . . . No one has had the idea of searching for yet unnamed forces, and of tracing their interrelations. Who knows what kind of marvelous and astonishing births remain to be discovered in ourselves? 7. Ideas become forces when they resist each other. This occurs when several contradictory ones encounter each other. . . . First of all: an older idea can be . . . for a time completely repressed. . . . Psychology is nothing but . . . the tracing of relations among perceptions by means of that which perception cannot reach. . . . Science knows more than experience: it can only know more because experience cannot be conceived of without assuming a hidden realm. 8. Everybody carries in his memory a general yet cohesive reminiscence of his earlier life that reaches into unconscious childhood. True...

On the relentless logic of the logo-sign

On the relentless logic of the logo-sign

Locke’s construction of the idea of power

I explain Locke’s account of the origin of our idea of power, showing that it concerns the idea of the disposition to act or change, and that this idea is constructed out of the ideas of action or change. I also show how Locke could have modified his account to avoid Hume’s criticism and argue that his neglect to do so reflects a studied neglect of taxonomy, an ambiguity in the notion of capacity, and complications in Locke’s conception of simple ideas. A comparison of the two empiricists reveals that not only do they disagree about the role of reason in the origin of our idea of power, but they are also talking about different ideas. Within the framework of Locke’s account of the origin of the idea of power, I explain why he believes that bodies only provide us with an obscure idea of active power. I conclude by defending his insight that there is a deep connection between the ability to predict and the idea of power.

’Die Macht Der Dunklen Ideen’: A Leibnizian Theme In German Psychology and Fiction Between the Late Enlightenment and Romanticism

In eighteenth‐century Germany the rise of sensualism led to increasing interest in the non‐rational or ‘obscure’ side of epistemology: the obscure ideas that occupy a position at the bottom of Leibniz’s cognitive scale in his Meditationes de Cognitione, Veritate et Ideis (1684). In the first half of the article, I examine changing attitudes towards the obscure ideas in German psychology at the turn of the nineteenth century, beginning with Sulzer’s reserved approach and ending with the conciliatory view taken by thinkers such as Moses Mendelssohn and Jean Paul. I suggest that the evolution of the theory of the obscure perceptions in German psychology during this period exemplifies the Germans’ caution with regard to the emancipation of the senses, since here a theory which rose to prominence against the background of the Enlightenment’s sensualism is quickly integrated into a normative framework. In the second half of the article, I discuss two German novels which can be seen to illustrate alternative (sceptical and appreciative) approaches to the theory of the obscure perceptions at the turn of the nineteenth century: Tieck’s William Lovell (1795–96) and Jean Paul’s Titan (1800–03).

On Hegel's“Tübingen Manuscript on Folk Religion”

In October 1788, W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) entered the Stift at Tubingen, a theological seminary, at the age of 18, from which he graduated in October 1793. Just before the graduation from the seminary he wrote a quite extended manuscript in which he propounded his idea on an ideal religion.In this article the author aims to clarify the background of this manuscript and to examine its content in relation to the development of Hegel's philosophy in his later years.I. The years when Hegel was studying at Tubinger Stift saw the French Revolution, the downfall of the Enlightenment, the rise of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress), the rise of modern sciences, and the new philosophy represented by Kant. It was the dawn of a new movement in terms of political, religious and philosophical thoughts. Hegel was strongly influenced by such a new philosophical movement and was rather critical of the conservative atmosphere of Tubinger Stift. He was dissatisfied with the professors at the Stift and with the intention to demonstrate his ability of philosophical reasoning he wrote the Manuscript.II. The Manuscript covers the first 36 pages of the first volume of Hegel's Complete Works published by the Suhrkamp Verlag. In the first part of the Manuscript, Hegel proposes the importance of elucidating the idea of the true religion which he calls“the folk religion”(Volksreligion). The word, folk religion, is taken from Rousseau's term of religion civile found in his“Social Contract.”According to the Manuscript the religion is divided into the objective religion and the subjective one. The objective religion is the aggregate of creeds such as represented in Scholastic theology and so on. Hegel rejects the idea of the objective religion because it is only the matter of rote memory and asserts that the true religion should be within the domain of the subjective religion.Among the subjective religions there is a religion conceived by the Enlightenment philosophy. Hegel turns down the religion of the Enlightenment in that it is concerned only with the matter of understanding (Verstand). Hegel contends that the true religion should be the folk religion which is alive in the daily life of the people of a nation.As the content of the folk religion Hegel contends that the folk religion must have the doctrines, cults and festivals. Hegel conceives the idea of the folk religion based on the model of the Greek religion. In the Manuscript Hegel describes the details of the doctrines, cults and festivals of the folk religion in the light of the cases of the Greek religion. While describing the content of the folk religion, Hegel propounds his ideas of logic, metaphysics, ethics and social thought which he develops in his later philosophical works.Although there are some disorders in the structure of the Manuscript and obscure ideas and wordings together with poetic expressions are found in many places, the author concludes that Hegel's Tubingen Manuscript is the“beautiful”prelude to the manuscript entitled“The Spirit and the Destiny of Christianity”written in his Frankfurt period (1796-1800).

Locke on active power and the obscure idea of active power from bodies

I explain Locke’s account of the origin of our idea of power, showing that it concerns the idea of the disposition to act or change, and that this idea is constructed out of the ideas of action or change. I also show how Locke could have modified his account to avoid Hume’s criticism and argue that his neglect to do so reflects a studied neglect of taxonomy, an ambiguity in the notion of capacity, and complications in Locke’s conception of simple ideas. A comparison of the two empiricists reveals that not only do they disagree about the role of reason in the origin of our idea of power, but they are also talking about different ideas. Within the framework of Locke’s account of the origin of the idea of power, I explain why he believes that bodies only provide us with an obscure idea of active power. I conclude by defending his insight that there is a deep connection between the ability to predict and the idea of power.

Les avatars du «sentiment de l'existence», de Locke à Rousseau

John S. Spink : The «feeling of existing » from Locke to Rousseau. To declare that we have an awareness of the self as the object of an «obscure idea » meant a preference for Malebranche, whereas to be content with an awareness of our existence as an «idea of reflexion » meant a preference for Locke. The French word sentiment was criticized by Locke, who preferred sensation and idea and concerned himself with the understanding and not with the affects. But sentiment de l'existence (feeling of existing) was used in France for an affective awareness of existing. In England, Hume also looked to the affects as a basis for personal existence which the understanding could not give, while the notion of a non-affective aperception , launched by Leibniz, dominated in Germany. The different conceptions of the feeling of existing in various French writers, from Boulainviller to Condillac and Maupertuis, are here reviewed. In the fifties a retreat from Locke to Malebranche appeared ; Locke was abandoned to the Encyclopédistes. Rousseau attempts to be compre hensive and gives a full literary development to the theme, while Condillac remains the precursor of the modern theory of reflective awareness.

Transformation of shape

We are lucky to be able to discuss to-day so simple a concept as that of ‘growth’. Growth means change of size, and the size of an organism is something definite, unambiguous and measurable. It has been more than once suggested that ‘growth’ is an all but impenetrably obscure concept because it relates to a very heterogeneous process, i. e. because a great number of diverse factors contribute to change of size. One might equally well argue that the respiratory quotient was an ill-defined ratio because of the complexity of the respiratory process. The diversity of the causes of change of size does not imply that change of size is an obscure idea. As biological concepts go, it is an uncommonly clear one. It can, of course, be made as obscure as we wish by arbitrary subdivisions of its terms of reference. One may distinguish, for example, between a ‘true’ sort of growth and a ‘mere’ sort of growth ; molecular replication is ‘true’, and the intussusception of water is ‘mere’. This sort of distinction is a surviving remnant of the habit of mind that distinguishes between the protoplasm of the animal, which is truly alive, and the rest of it, which is dead. There are, indeed, profound differences between the processes that severally contribute to change of size, but they are not differences of which terms like ‘true’ and ‘mere’ can usefully be applied. A description of growth must necessarily precede an investigation of growth processes, just as an analysis of the mechanism of nerve regeneration or skin healing cannot be begun unless we know what is actually going on, in an anatomical sense, when nerves regenerate and skin heals. The recording of growth is thus primarily an exercise in anatomy or descriptive embryology. Because size is measured numerically, the description of growth is necessarily mathematical in the everyday sense, but this is not inconsistent with its being anatomical as well. An anatomist who says that one organism is ever so much larger than another, or is longer and thinner than another, is making statements which in a general sense are mathematical. They are mathematical statements and they are mathematically imprecise. There are some purposes for which documentary information about growth is best presented in the form of parallel columns of figures for sizes and ages, or weights and heights, as it is in some weighing machines on railway platforms. A person who weighs himself is interested in his own weight and may be interested in the mean weight of other people of his own age or height. One pair of entries among a double column of figures can provide him with this information instantly, and it would be unkind to expect him to extract it from a growth equation intended to be applicable to all ages. But for most purposes the con­struction of growth equations is very well worth while: they expedite the analysis of growth rates; they allow comparison between the modes of growth of related organisms; and, most important, they make it possible to frame inductive ‘laws' of growth after an investigation of the general analytic properties which the growth equations of different organisms share in common (Medawar 1945).