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This work, the Nature and Value of Scepticism, shows that the metaphilosopby arising from what David Hume calls "true scepticism," is of use and value, refuting three standard objections to sceptical philosophy: the charges of unlivability, of idleness and of being dangerous and destructive. / The unlivability charge is refuted with an examination of the work of a self-proclaimed extreme sceptic, Sextus Empiricus. The idleness charge is answered by questioning its assumption that if scepticism does not lead to an extreme conclusion, it must be idle and without philosophical interest. The destructive charge, that the acceptance of scepticism would result in the death of rationality, is countered in reviewing the work of Hume and Ludwig Wittgenstein, showing that their outlook is not against philosophy but only a particular type of philosophy, namely dogmatic philosophy. / Chapter 1 argues that two reasonable interpretations of Sextus's writings yield a scepticism that is livable and philosophically important. Chapter 2 shows Hume's philosophy is livable and not destructive. Chapter 3 examines the connection between Hume's philosophy and his sceptical approach, arguing that his true scepticism informs his philosophical outlook. Chapter 4 argues that Wittgenstein shares much with Hume's "true scepticism," and that his work is not anti-philosophical as widely supposed. Chapter 5 provides examples of how a sceptically informed metaphilosophy can help address questions in epistemology and metaethics.

This thesis sets out to show that a philosophical reflection on history is, in the strongest possible way, an essential feature of Hume's project of a science of human nature: a philosophical investigation of human nature, for Hume, cannot be successful independently of an understanding of the relation of human beings to their history. Hume intended to criticize traditional metaphysics by referring all knowledge to experience. But it is almost always assumed that Hume means by "experience" the result of an individual's past sense perception or personal observation. Accordingly, Hume's criticism of traditional metaphysics is taken to lead to an individualistic conception of knowledge and human nature. In this thesis I claim that this picture of Hume's "empiricism" is simply wrong. He is not a philosopher who reduces "experience" to the merely private happenings within a personal psychology. On the contrary, Hume has a wider notion of experience, one that includes not only personal observation and memory, but, fundamentally, one that includes implicit knowledge of human history. Experience, so understood, brings about what I term a historical point of view, namely, the point of view of someone who seeks to extend his experience as far as it is possible in order to acquire the capacity to produce more nuanced and impartial judgments in any given practice. It is precisely this historical point of view that enables us to depart from the individualistic perspective that we would otherwise be bound to adopt not only in epistemology but, most significantly, in politics, in social life, in religion, etc. / Chapter 1 presents the historical background against which Hume elaborates his views of history's role in philosophy. Chapter 2 discusses and criticizes the individualist reading of Hume by showing that he had a satisfactory account of beliefs formed via human testimony. Chapter 3 presents a view of Hume on explanation that underscores his interest in practical and informal explanations as those of history. Chapter 4 provides a discussion of Hume's notion of historical experience in relation both to his theory of perception and to his project of a "science of man."

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This thesis is part of a more extended study of the life of John Neilson which I hope to complete later for the degree of Ph.D. It is restricted to the period 1818-182 8 and deals with Neilson1s activities in the Assembly of Lower Canada and his representations in England in 1822, on the matter of the Union Bill, and in 1828 before the Canada Committee. Its scope has been further limited to those issues arising out of the constitution, organization and functioning of the government. This involves the question of administration and the struggle between Assembly and Executive for its control, as well as relations with the mother country and with Upper Canada. The closely related fields of law, land settlement and education have not been included. The object has been to bring out Neilson1s views on these questions in the belief that they contribute to an understanding of the period. / fr

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The starting point of this study is the history of the reception of the German romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) in Russia, which reached a highpoint around 1830. The interest in Hoffmann at this time is also reflected in the literary production of some Russian authors. One of the most important pioneers in this area was Antonij Pogorel'skij (1787-1836), at the present time an almost forgotten writer who, nevertheless, is regarded as the first significant representative of the so-called "Russian Hoffmannism." / This study sets out to analyze two comparable short stories, E. T. A. Hoffmann's "Der Sandmann" (The Sandman) and A. Pogorel'skij's "Pernicious Consequences of an Unrestrained Imagination". Besides the extensive comparative interpretation which concerns itself with the questions of origin and genre, as well as plot and character analysis, this study offers an insight into the structure and function of elements of the uncanny in these texts and their realisation in the rhetorical sphere. The correspondence in the content of these two stories justifies the title, "Mystery and Imagination", which has been borrowed from E. A. Poe.

Network analysis in GIS is often related to finding solutions to transportation problems. In a GIS the real world is represented by either one of two spatial models, vector-based, or raster-based. Prefering raster or vector GIS is more a question of choice than of accuracy. A raster-based GIS model shows a better fit, when the problem is concerned with finding a path across terrain which does not have predefined paths. The approach of this study is to translate the scenario into a &lsquo / least-cost path&rsquo / graph with an associated cost function on the raster-based GIS layer. Sometimes, computation of shortest paths between different locations on a raster-based GIS has to be done in real-time. Therefore, knowing which shortest path algorithm runs fastest on real networks is needed. In order to meet this requirement, Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm with priority queue implementation is selected, because it reduces the time complexity of Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm from O(V2 log V) to O(E log V ). The run-time results of Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm, Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm with priority queue implementation and ArcMap Spatial Analyst Tool are compared for a number of raster GIS layers which have different number of nodes. Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm with priority queue implementation and Spatial Analyst tool of ArcMap show a linear relationship between node numbers and time, whereas Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm represents a quadratic relationship. Hence, when the number of nodes and edges in graph is increased, the run-time performance of the Dijsktra&rsquo / s algorithm decreases rapidly.

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Humanas, Departamento de História, 2008. / Submitted by wesley oliveira leite (leite.wesley@yahoo.com.br) on 2009-09-18T14:54:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_NeumaBRodrigues.pdf: 3290099 bytes, checksum: 61a4e6f30ce9935c3b788a97842dd6fa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Guimaraes Jacqueline(jacqueline.guimaraes@bce.unb.br) on 2010-06-30T11:58:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_NeumaBRodrigues.pdf: 3290099 bytes, checksum: 61a4e6f30ce9935c3b788a97842dd6fa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2010-06-30T11:58:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_NeumaBRodrigues.pdf: 3290099 bytes, checksum: 61a4e6f30ce9935c3b788a97842dd6fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-07 / O marechal de campo Raimundo José da Cunha Mattos (1776-1839) acreditava que era necessário conhecer para reformar e que o mérito deveria ser o principal critério de ascensão profissional. Teve contato com a Ilustração na Real Casa Pia de Lisboa da época de Anastácio da Cunha. Na Escola Regimental de Artilharia do Algarve foi treinado com base nas idéias e práticas implantadas pelo Conde Lippe. Foi veterano da guerra do Roussillon, serviu em São Tomé e Príncipe, foi governador de Armas de Goiás, deputado na Assembléia Legislativa do Império Brasileiro e um dos fundadores do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro. A adesão dos funcionários régios desta geração à causa brasileira esteve ligada a sua identificação com o projeto reformista de d. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho. Eles viam no Brasil a possibilidade da construção de um novo e vasto Império. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / The field marshall Raimundo José da Cunha Mattos (1776-1839) believed in knowing to change and on merits as the main criteria to professional success. He had contact with Enlightenment in the Real Casa Pia de Lisboa in Anastacio da Cunha´s time. In the Algarve Artillery Regiment School had contact with ideas and practices from Count Lippe, was a veteran of the Roussillon War, served in São Tomé e Principe, served as military governor of Goiás, congressman and one of the founders of the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro. The participation of royal officers from this generation in brazilian´s independence is connected to their belief in d. Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho´s project of a Mighty Portuguese- Brazilian Empire based on economic reciprocity and the Empire of Brazil was the way they saw to achieve the ‘Poderoso Império’.