Zeno's paradoxes and temporal becoming in dialectical atomism

The homogeneity of time (i.e. the fact that there are no privileged moments) underlies a fundamental symmetry relating to the energy conservation law. On the other hand the obvious asymmetry between past and future, expressed by the metaphor of the arrow of time or flow of time accounts for the irreversibility of what happens. One takes this for granted but the conceptual tension it creates against the background of time's presumed homogeneity calls for an explanation of temporal becoming. Here, it is approached with the help of a claim to the effect that the instant (moment) itself has a structure isomorphic to that of time as a whole. Then the asymmetry of past and future in regard to temporal becoming is associated with the internal structure of the very moment, and not with external relations between different moments of time. In this paper ideas of ancient atomism and contemporary dialectics are brought together. It is for the sake of a contrast to what is known as logical atomism that I choose to call this view dialectical atomism. The latter admits dialectical contradictions and, so far as the logical status of contradictions is concerned, bears reference to paraconsistent logics. In the paper there is an outline of a method of converting any consistent axiomatic formal system into a paraconsistent theory.     

Logical atomism,elementarism, and the analysis of value

Philosophical Studies -     

Mereological nihilism: quantum atomism and the impossibility of material constitution

Mereological nihilism is the philosophical position that there are no items that have parts. If there are no items with parts then the only items that exist are partless fundamental particles, such as the true atoms (also called philosophical atoms) theorized to exist by some ancient philosophers, some contemporary physicists, and some contemporary philosophers. With several novel arguments I show that mereological nihilism is the correct theory of reality. I will also discuss strong similarities that mereological nihilism has with empirical results in quantum physics. And I will discuss how mereological nihilism vindicates a few other theories, such as a very specific theory of philosophical atomism, which I will call quantum abstract atomism. I will show that mereological nihilism also is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that avoids the problems of other interpretations, such as the widely known, metaphysically generated, quantum paradoxes of quantum physics, which ironically are typically accepted as facts about reality. I will also show why it is very surprising that mereological nihilism is not a widely held theory, and not the premier theory in philosophy.     

Selective migration among southern blacks: A reinterpretation of Lee (1951)

Comparisons of the mean IQs of Northern and Southern blacks have consistently shown a 7–12 point difference favoring the former group. Explanations of this difference have been highly polarized. Hereditarians have generally favored an hypothesis of selective migration; environmentalists have tended to ascribe the difference to such environmental causes as education, discrimination and cultural deprivation. Two studies (Klineberg, 1935; Lee, 1951) have been interpreted by many commentators as decisively vindicating the environmentalist position. In this paper this interpretation is questioned and certain neglected features of Lee's (1951) data are construed as providing strong evidence for selective migration.     

Effects of prior contect on lexical access during sentence comprehension: A replication and reinterpretation

In a phoneme monitoring task, prior biasing context eliminates the effect of lexical ambiguity, replicating and extending the results of Swinney and Hakes (1976). It is argued, however, that the conclusions drawn by Swinney and Hakes are not justified by the data and that a different model of the effects of context on lexical processing is more theoretically plausible than theirs.     

Parallel perceptual processing and decisional strategies: A reinterpretation of the Shaw and LaBerge effect

A reinterpretation is offered for an effect found by Shaw and LaBerge (1971) in a tachistoscopic detection paradigm. Their Ss were instructed to “scan” the letters of a multiletter stimulus array in a particular sequence. The Ss were more accurate in identifying a target letter if it occurred earlier rather than later in the instructed sequence. Although Shaw and LaBerge interpreted this result as supporting a limited-capacity attentional mechanism, the result is also consistent with a nonattentional parallel processing conception: the payoff incentives used to encourage the correct “scanning sequence” could alter Ss’ postperceptual decisional strategy so as to produce the results obtained. Given the compatibility of a parallel processing conception with the results of Shaw and LaBerge and the results of other detection experiments, the need for postulating a spatial capacity limit or attentional mechanism is questioned.     

A reinterpretation of hemispherectomy data without functional plasticity of the brain: I. Intellectual function

A comprehensive reanalysis of post-hemispherectomy IQ, language, and other intellectual findings in patients whose brain damage occurred in infancy, childhood, or adulthood reveals no recovery advantages attributable to superior interhemispheric transfer of properties in the immature brain. Instead, recovery heterogeneity in each age group is considerable, while both individual differences within the groups and minor intergroup differences are parsimoniously explained by etiological, recovery-period, and experiential variables. The findings fail to support the presuppositions of the plasticity model: that the immature brain lacks functional asymmetry, that language acquisition must occur early in life, and that recovery from brain damage is facilitated by the brain's functional equivocality during an early, critical period.     

人的存在的历史性及其现代境遇

This article argues that the problem of modernity concerns the circumstances of existence and human destiny in modern times. To understand the nature of this problem and find the corresponding solution, we need to reinterpret the thought of Karl Marx regarding the contradictions of human existence and its historical dimensions. Following Marx’s line of thinking, this article reviews his critical sequence, creative transformation, and development of duality of thought on man and the world in Western history, focusing on the following four issues: (1) how Marx, on the basis of man’s sensuous objective activities, observes the duality of man and the world as well as the relationship between man’s internal and external activities; (2) how Marx discloses the true connotation and real significance of man’s historical existence, history, and historicity; (3) how Marx reveals the inherent contradictions of modern capitalist society and the destiny of modern man based on historic thought concerning man’s existence; and (4) by praising Marx’s views on material production and the eternal significance of ancient Greek culture, the article reveals another dimension of Marx’s thought, a dimension that tends to be ignored. This article holds that in this era of globalization, it is extremely important and urgent to have an in-depth understanding of Marx’s historical thoughts regarding human existence and of the feasibility of his theory. Moreover, it is imperative to further develop this understanding to create a clearer picture of our own path of development and our outlook on humanity. Translated by Cui Hui from Zhongguo Shehuikexue Wenzhai 中国社会科学文摘 (China Social Science Digest), 2005, (3): 44–46