Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

Summary. Diagrams play an important role in the construction of mathematical concepts, mainly in (some) “limit” situations, like in the case of the mental representation of geometric tangent lines. They have many properties and can be viewed as particular epistemic mediators . Further, they are able to provide a better understanding of some mathematical concepts because they can be manipulated. In this paper we investigate how a particular kind of diagram (microscope) can serve to obtain two different and interesting visual representations of how a real function appears in small neighborhoods of its points.

Summary. Jared Diamond, in his provocative book Collapse , describes multiple cases where civilizations went through periods of collapse, e.g., the Mayans, the Anasazi and the natives of Easter Island. These collapses were caused by changes in the local system brought about by a combination of natural and human activity. So, for example, the Mayan and Anasazi civilizations developed agricultural technologies during periods when the climate was favorable. The result was an expanded population which could not be supported when extended droughts occurred. But collapse was not inevitable; all of these cultures made choice; indeed, some like the Anasazi survived by changing practices. Our global civilizations have now created the anthropocene, in which human, natural and technological systems are inextricably intertwined. Human activity can, in a very short time, create holes in the ozone layer and change the climate across the entire planet. According to Brad Allenby, our species has a responsibility to manage the global ecosystem. Indeed, it the key to the survival of civilization. This presentation will explore the cognitive capabilities needed to undertake this task, incorporating the latest results from a workshop on trading zones and interactional expertise, to be held at Arizona State University from May 21 to 25. Modeling will be one of the tools discussed in the talk, including results on the economic and health impacts of air pollution in China.

Summary. Tacit knowledge is pervasive in many aspects of human life. In the past it was analyzed mainly as behavioral skill and know-how in practical knowledge such as craftsmanship. Afterwhile it was also applied to more intellectual skills such as piano playing and science. But this interpretation of tacit knowledge lacks to include fundamental cognitive dimensions such as background knowledge and implicit cognitive rules. The first deals with cultural values and principles that drive our interpretation of the reality. The second deals with the inferential rules that drive our reasoning and decision making processes. In the last ten years Cognitive Anthropology has collected a great amount of data showing deep differences between westerner (mainly American) and easterner (mainly Chinese) way of thinking. In our opinion these differences are based on a different tacit background knowledge that causes different implicit cognitive rules.

Summary. Philosophy offers the culture of science and technology a certain research tradition composed of two elements, ontological assumptions and epistemologicalmethodological principles, which restricts specific explanation model. Through the case study of the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, this paper states the ontological assumptions and epistemological-methodological principles of the research tradition in ancient China, analyzes the functional-analogical explanation model’s positive and negative influences on Chinese culture of science and technology, tries to answer the famous “Needham’s Problem”, and criticizes some trends in the culture of science and technology in contemporary China.

Summary. It is common knowledge that there is an essential methodological distinction in dealing with diagnosis in Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) and in Modern Medicine(MM). For a long time, understanding the diagnosis in TCM has been quite disregarded. The concept of model-based reasoning can help us to get a new and clearer understanding of the cognitive process involved with TCM. In the first part of this paper I will present the most common models coming from the theory of TCM. In the second I will describe how these models are applied. Finally, I will discuss from a methodological point of view the significance of model-based reasoning in the diagnosis of TCM.

Summary. This paper addresses the different models and their functions in cognitive science. First, this paper discusses the various uses and meanings of various models in science and two kinds of functions of each model such as idealizations and representations of the real world. In cognitive science, cognitive architectures were used as cognitive models. Second, this paper discusses Neil Stillings’ global cognitive architecture as well as an example. In addition, this paper focuses on several forms of cognitive models including the von Neumann model, symbol system model and production system model. Further, it was argued that the connectionist model was a better approach to understanding the mechanisms of human cognition through the use of simulated networks of simple, neuron-like processing units. Finally, four models in neuroscience were addressed, being: different models of sensory processing, Marshall-Newcombe’s symbolic model of reading, model of memory system, and Mishkin-Appenzeller’s model of visual memory functions. These models are approaches to physical implementation, not a computational approach to cognition.

Summary. Indian Philosophy can be traced to the Vedic literature. However the six Schools of Indian Philosophy - Nyaya, Vaisesika, Sankhya, Yoga, Purva and Uttara Mimamsa are found much later, some of them contemporary to Buddhism. Modelbased reasoning can be found in the sutra literature of Indian philosophical writers of the six Schools. Comparison can be made with western philosophical theories of model-based reasoning. The impact of Indian Philosophy on sciences-physics, chemistry, biology and metallurgy together with ayurveda, the indigenous system of medicine is also assessed.

Summary. In recent philosophical studies on technological artefacts, an idea of dual nature of artefacts has been emphasized. Although this idea of dual nature is not a novel one, recent studies have extensively developed ontological aspects of technological artefacts. According to various authors there are two constitutive elements of technological artefacts that can be described in terms of physical properties of objects and intentional action. In this paper, ontology of artefacts is connected to issues discussed by C.S. Peirce under topics of abductive reasoning and philosophy.

Summary. Fractal Art is still a disputable topic among those touched by the “computer phobia”. But in the postmodern era, the power of the fragment to announce the whole could never be underestimated. In fact, it is a form of Digital Art, having its own techniques and its own aesthetics. Moreover, we could detect in Fractal Art some connections with the Artificial Intelligence, if we agree that the Intelligence itself is already presupposed in any Theory of/on Complexity and so in any set/system of algorithms describing shapes with the self-similarity property.

Summary. Polynomizing is a term that intends to describe the uses of polynomiallike representations as a reasoning strategy and as a tool for scientific heuristics. I show how proof-theory and semantics for classical and several non-classical logics can be approached from this perspective, and discuss the assessment of this prospect, in particular to recover certain ideas of George Boole in unifying logic, algebra and the differential calculus.