Reflections on catastrophic change

Abstract

The present paper examines the way Freud's letters, in particular the ones to Oskar Pfister and Karl Abraham, were edited. The nature and extent of distortions and cuts are demonstrated, and conclusions are drawn regarding the picture of Freud that emerges. Questions of confidentiality, medical discretion, and archival restrictions are discussed.     

Solute drag or diffusion processes in a migrating thick interface

Hillert proposed a new solute drag formula applicable not only to the migration of grain boundaries, but also to that of interfaces. Svoboda and co-workers derived an expression for the velocity of a migrating thick interface by applying the principle of maximum dissipation. In this article, it is shown that the expressions for the interface velocity, one obtained from Hillert's solute drag formula, and the other derived from the principle of maximum dissipation, are equal for steady-state conditions.     

A concise derivation of the contact conditions at a migrating sharp interface

A sharp interface model can be used to simulate the kinetics of diffusional phase transformations provided the transformation process is controlled by migration of the interface and by diffusion of components in the bulk phases only. The contact conditions at the migrating sharp interface can be derived by applying the principles of mass balance and maximum dissipation. A concise derivation of the contact conditions on this basis is presented in this work.     

Avicenna's Conception of the Efficient Cause

The concept of efficient causation originates with Aristotle, who states that the types of cause include ‘the primary source of the change or rest’. For Medieval Aristotelians, the scope of efficient causality includes creative acts. The Islamic philosopher Avicenna is an important contributor to this conceptual change. In his Metaphysics, Avicenna defines the efficient cause or agent as that which gives being to something distinct from itself. As previous studies of Avicenna's ‘metaphysical’ conception of the efficient cause attest, it takes God as a model agent. This essay considers whether Avicenna's ‘metaphysical’ conception of the efficient cause applies to natural agents. It ultimately argues that Avicenna offers a unified view of the efficient cause, which includes both divine and natural agents. On this view, an efficient cause gives being to another and is simultaneous with its effect. While Avicenna's defence of this view is an important chapter in the history of the concept of the efficient cause, it is also of interest in its own right. By appeal to a version of the principle of sufficient reason, it challenges a widespread view that causes are temporally prior to their effects.     

Fine-Tuning,Atheist Criticism,and the Fifth Way

Abstract

Like the “modern watchmaker” argument formulated by William Paley, the argument from fine-tuning should not be confused with Thomas Aquinas' fifth proof for the existence of God as expressed in the Summa Theologiae. While the former is based on efficient causality, the latter is based upon final causality. Though some atheist criticisms are relevant to the fine-tuning argument, they do not affect the Fifth Way. After briefly expositing the fine-tuning argument, I will argue that Aquinas' argument from the “governance of the world” offers a more convincing proof for God—one that evades atheistic criticisms leveled against design arguments.     

Mary – ‘Mother of the Church’: challenging conciliar ecclesiology

On 21 November 1964, at the end of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (LG), was solemnly adopted together with its final chapter on Mary. Simultaneously, Pope Paul VI proclaimed the Marian title Mater Ecclesiae. This article will both review the Council’s debate and identify the specifics of the title Mater Ecclesiae. The Council had rejected the idea of awarding this title to Mary, even though chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium mentions her ‘function as mother’ (LG 60). In proclaiming this title, Paul VI did not follow the Council, which had located Mary within the Church. The question therefore arises as to whether Mary, as the ‘Mother of the Church’, is now placed outside the Church.     

Testing the triple-match principle among technology employees

The triple-match principle (TMP) proposes that the strongest, interactive relationships between job demands and job resources are observed when job demands, job resources and job-related outcomes are based on qualitatively identical dimensions. This principle is tested with regard to three outcomes: cognitive failure, emotional exhaustion, and physical health complaints. Data were collected in a large sample of employees in the technology sector (n = 1533). Results demonstrate that the positive association between emotional job demands and emotional exhaustion is compensated by the availability of emotional job resources. No triple-match interactions are found with regard to cognitive failure or physical health complaints. In line with the TMP, results show that the likelihood of finding theoretically valid interactions is related to the degree of match between job demands, job resources, and outcomes.     

干细胞治疗的系统观

当前干细胞治疗面临着不少的技术难关和争议,需要运用现代系统论观点,从患者的整体上确定治疗目标,摸索出各种疾病所需的最佳干细胞类型和输注数量、最佳治疗时机、最佳输注途径,以发挥最佳效果。     

胸腰段爆裂性骨折的手术策略选择

胸腰段爆裂性骨折是最常见的脊柱损伤之一,而手术治疗是其主要的治疗方式,选择最优的手术路径、做出最佳的临床抉择,是其治疗的首要目标。本文对胸腰段爆裂性骨折的不同手术入路方式及其特点做了比较和探讨,认为以最优化为原则,选择一期后路小切口有限减压的手术方式,是治疗胸腰段爆裂性骨折的最佳手术策略。     

朱子易学之哲学的分析——通过《易学启蒙》理解"理"的"穷极"义

本文通过对朱熹<易学启蒙>的分析,考察作为象数易学和义理易学的基础的先天易学和后天易学的基本原理和相互关系,由此进一步研究作为象数易学和义理易学的共同基础的"理"的意味.朱熹的易学不是在象数和义理哪一个的立场上对两种易学的综合,而是试图确立易学的基础,进而把对理的意味的系统的解释和说明作为最终目标.