Philosophical Essays

A collection of personal essays in philosophy of science (physics, especially gravity), philosophy of information and communication technology, current social issues (emotional intelligence, COVID-19 pandemic, eugenics, intelligence), philosophy of art, and logic and philosophy of language.

The distinction between falsification and refutation in the demarcation problem of Karl Popper
Imre Lakatos – Heuristics and methodological tolerance
Isaac Newton on the action at a distance in gravity: With or without God?
Causal Loops in Time Travel
The singularities as ontological limits of the general relativity
Epistemology of Experimental Gravity – Scientific Rationality
Philosophy of Blockchain Technology – Ontologies
Big Data Ethics in Research
Emotions and Emotional Intelligence in Organizations
COVID-19 Pandemic – Philosophical Approaches
Evolution and Ethics of Eugenics
Epistemology of Intelligence Agencies
Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky – Psychological and philosophical aspects
Causal theories of reference for proper names

CONTENTS:

The distinction between falsification and refutation in the demarcation problem of Karl Popper
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – 1 The demarcation problem
– – – 2 Pseudoscience
– – – 3 Falsifiability
– – – 4 Falsification and refutation
– – – 5 Extension of falsifiability
– – – 6 Criticism of falsifiability
– – – 7 Support of falsifiability
– – – 8 The current trend
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
– – – Notes
Imre Lakatos – Heuristics and methodological tolerance
– – – Rational reconstruction of science through research programmes
– – – Dogmatic Falsificationism
– – – Justificationism
– – – Bibliography
Isaac Newton vs. Robert Hooke on the law of universal gravitation
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – Robert Hooke’s contribution to the law of universal gravitation
– – – Isaac Newton’s contribution to the law of universal gravitation
– – – Robert Hooke’s claim of his priority on the law of universal gravitation
– – – Newton’s defense
– – – The controversy in the opinion of other contemporary scientists
– – – What the supporters of Isaac Newton say
– – – What the supporters of Robert Hooke say
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
– – – Notes
Isaac Newton on the action at a distance in gravity: With or without God?
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – Principia
– – – Correspondence with Richard Bentley
– – – Queries in Opticks
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
Causal Loops in Time Travel
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – History of the concept of time travel
– – – Grandfather paradox
– – – The philosophy of time travel
– – – Causal loops
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
– – – Notes
The singularities as ontological limits of the general relativity
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – – – – Classical Theory and Special Relativity
– – – – – – General Relativity (GR)
– – – 1 Ontology of General Relativity
– – – 2 Singularities
– – – – – – Black Holes
– – – – – – – – – Event Horizon
– – – – – – Big Bang
– – – – – – Are there Singularities?
– – – 3 Ontology of Singularities
– – – – – – Ontology of black holes
– – – – – – The hole argument
– – – – – – There are no singularities
– – – Conclusions
– – – Notes
– – – Bibliography
Epistemology of Experimental Gravity – Scientific Rationality
– – – Introduction
– – – – – – Gravity
– – – – – – Gravitational tests
– – – – – – Methodology of Lakatos – Scientific rationality
– – – – – – The natural extension of the Lakatos methodology
– – – – – – – – – Bifurcated programs
– – – – – – – – – Unifying programs
– – – 1. Newtonian gravity
– – – – – – 1.1 Heuristics of Newtonian gravity
– – – – – – 1.2 Proliferation of post-Newtonian theories
– – – – – – 1.3 Tests of post-Newtonian theories
– – – – – – – – – 1.3.1 Newton’s proposed tests
– – – – – – – – – 1.3.2 Tests of post-Newtonian theories
– – – – – – 1.4 Newtonian gravity anomalies
– – – – – – 1.5 Saturation point in Newtonian gravity
– – – 2. General relativity
– – – – – – 2.1 Heuristics of the general relativity
– – – – – – 2.2 Proliferation of post-Einsteinian gravitational theories
– – – – – – 2.3 Post-Newtonian parameterized formalism (PPN)
– – – – – – 2.4 Tests of general relativity and post-Einsteinian theories
– – – – – – – – – 2.4.1 Tests proposed by Einstein
– – – – – – – – – 2.4.2 Tests of post-Einsteinian theories
– – – – – – – – – 2.4.3 Classic tests
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.3.1 Precision of Mercury’s perihelion
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.3.2 Light deflection
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.3.3 Gravitational redshift
– – – – – – – – – 2.4.4 Modern tests
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.4.1 Shapiro Delay
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.4.2 Gravitational dilation of time
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.4.3 Frame dragging and geodetic effect
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.4.4 Testing of the principle of equivalence
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.4.5 Solar system tests
– – – – – – – – – 2.4.5 Strong field gravitational tests
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.5.1 Gravitational lenses
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.5.2 Gravitational waves
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.5.3 Synchronization binary pulsars
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.5.4 Extreme environments
– – – – – – – – – 2.4.6 Cosmological tests
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.6.1 The expanding universe
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.6.2 Cosmological observations
– – – – – – – – – – – – 2.4.6.3 Monitoring of weak gravitational lenses
– – – – – – 2.5 Anomalies of general relativity
– – – – – – 2.6 The saturation point of general relativity
– – – 3. Quantum gravity
– – – – – – 3.1 Heuristics of quantum gravity
– – – – – – 3.2 The tests of quantum gravity
– – – – – – 3.3 Canonical quantum gravity
– – – – – – – – – 3.3.1 Tests proposed for the CQG
– – – – – – – – – 3.3.2. Loop quantum gravity
– – – – – – 3.4 String theory
– – – – – – – – – 3.4.1 Heuristics of string theory
– – – – – – – – – 3.4.2. Anomalies of string theory
– – – – – – 3.5 Other theories of quantum gravity
– – – – – – 3.6 Unification (The Final Theory)
– – – 4. Cosmology
– – – Conclusions
– – – Notes
– – – Bibliography
Philosophy of Blockchain Technology – Ontologies
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – Blockchain Technology
– – – – – – Design
– – – – – – Models
– – – Bitcoin
– – – Philosophy
– – – Ontologies
– – – – – – Narrative ontologies
– – – – – – Enterprise ontologies
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
– – – Notes
Big Data Ethics in Research
– – – Abstract
– – – 1. Introduction
– – – – – – 1.1 Definitions
– – – – – – 1.2 Big Data dimensions
– – – 2. Technology
– – – – – – 2.1 Applications
– – – – – – – – – 2.1.1 In research
– – – 3. Philosophical aspects
– – – 4. Legal aspects
– – – – – – 4.1 GDPR
– – – – – – – – – Stages of processing of personal data
– – – – – – – – – Principles of data processing
– – – – – – – – – Privacy policy and transparency
– – – – – – – – – Purposes of data processing
– – – – – – – – – Design and implicit confidentiality
– – – – – – – – – The (legal) paradox of Big Data
– – – 5. Ethical issues
– – – – – – Ethics in research
– – – – – – Awareness
– – – – – – Consent
– – – – – – Control
– – – – – – Transparency
– – – – – – Trust
– – – – – – Ownership
– – – – – – Surveillance and security
– – – – – – Digital identity
– – – – – – Tailored reality
– – – – – – De-identification
– – – – – – Digital inequality
– – – – – – Privacy
– – – 6. Big Data research
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
Emotions and Emotional Intelligence in Organizations
– – – Abstract
– – – 1. Emotions
– – – – – – 1.1 Models of emotion
– – – – – – 1.2 Processing emotions
– – – – – – 1.3 Happiness
– – – – – – 1.4 The philosophy of emotions
– – – – – – 1.5 The ethics of emotions
– – – 2. Emotional intelligence
– – – – – – 2.1 Models of emotional intelligence
– – – – – – – – – 2.1.1 Model of abilities of Mayer and Salovey
– – – – – – – – – 2.1.2 Goleman’s mixed model
– – – – – – – – – 2.1.3 The mixed model of Bar-On
– – – – – – – – – 2.1.4 Petrides’ model of traits
– – – – – – 2.2 Emotional intelligence in research and education
– – – – – – 2.3 The philosophy of emotional intelligence
– – – – – – – – – 2.3.1 Emotional intelligence in Eastern philosophy
– – – 3. Emotional intelligence in organizations
– – – – – – 3.1 Emotional labor
– – – – – – 3.2 The philosophy of emotional intelligence in organizations
– – – – – – 3.3 Critique of emotional intelligence in organizations
– – – – – – 3.4 Ethics of emotional intelligence in organizations
– – – – – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
COVID-19 Pandemic – Philosophical Approaches
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – 1 Viruses
– – – – – – 1.1 Ontology
– – – 2 Pandemics
– – – – – – 2.1 Social dimensions
– – – – – – 2.2 Ethics
– – – 3 COVID-19
– – – – – – 3.1 Biopolitics
– – – – – – 3.2 Neocommunism
– – – – – – 3.3 Desocialising
– – – 4 Forecasting
– – – Bibliography
Evolution and Ethics of Eugenics
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – New Eugenics
– – – The Future of Eugenics
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
Epistemology of Intelligence Agencies
– – – Abstract
– – – 1 Introduction
– – – – – – 1.1. History
– – – 2. Intelligence activity
– – – – – – 2.1. Organizations
– – – – – – 2.2. Intelligence cycle
– – – – – – 2.3 Intelligence gathering
– – – – – – 2.4. Intelligence analysis
– – – – – – 2.5. Counterintelligence
– – – – – – 2.6. Epistemic communities
– – – 3. Ontology
– – – 4. Epistemology
– – – – – – 4.1. The tacit knowledge (Polanyi)
– – – 5. Methodologies
– – – 6. Analogies with other disciplines
– – – – – – 6.1. Science
– – – – – – 6.2. Archeology
– – – – – – 6.3. Business
– – – – – – 6.4. Medicine
– – – 7. Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky – Psychological and philosophical aspects
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – 1 Cinema technique
– – – 2 Psychological Aspects
– – – 3 Philosophical aspects
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliography
– – – Notes
Causal theories of reference for proper names
– – – Abstract
– – – Introduction
– – – 1. The causal theory of reference
– – – 2. Saul Kripke
– – – 3. Gareth Evans
– – – 4. Michael Devitt
– – – 5. Blockchain and the causal tree of reference
– – – Conclusions
– – – Bibliografie
About the author
– – – Nicolae Sfetcu
– – – – – – Contact
Publishing House
– – – MultiMedia Publishing

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