Basil Evangelidis

In his version of atomism, Lucretius made explicit reference to the concept of an intrinsic declination of the atom, the atomic swerve (clinamen in Latin), stressing that the time and space of the infinitesimal atomic vibration is uncertain. The topic of this article is the Epicurean and Lucretian arguments in favour of the swerve. Our exposition of the Lucretian model of the atomic clinamen will present and elucidate the respective considerations on the alleged role of the swerve in the generation of free-action.

'Reason, Causation and Compatibility with the Phenomena' strives to give answers to the philosophical problem of the interplay between realism, explanation and experience. This book is a compilation of essays that recollect significant conceptions of rival terms such as determinism and freedom, reason and appearance, power and knowledge. This title discusses the progress made in epistemology and natural philosophy, especially the steps that led from the ancient theory of atomism to the modern quantum theory, and from mathematization to analytic philosophy. Moreover, it provides possible gateways from modern deadlocks of theory either through approaches to consciousness or through historical critique of intellectual authorities. This work will be of interest to those either researching or studying in colleges and universities, especially in the departments of philosophy, history of science, philosophy of science, philosophy of physics and quantum mechanics, history of ideas and culture. Greek and Latin Literature students and instructors may also find this book to be both a fascinating and valuable point of reference.

The opening pathways of the French philosophy of technology derive from the works of Descartes, Bergson, Bachelard, Leroi-Gourhan, Canguilhem and Simondon. The concept of the Homo Faber is central from Bergson to Simondon, since tools and machines as information and energy resources constitute the principal theoretical problems that lead to a philosophy of technical mentality through the stages of anthropological evolution. Canguilhem, influenced by Bergson, theorised the genesis of intelligence and science by the needs of action from their earlier phases. He avowed at the same time that the intellectual mode of knowledge is not the only possible and primary one, following Bergson in the interpretation of technique as a phenomenon of life. The emergence of a French Philosophy of Technology is, moreover, an outcome of the works of Jacques Lafitte, Louis Couffignal, Pierre Ducassé, Jaques Ellul, Marie‐Dominique Chenu, Emmanuel Mounier, Jean Brun, Bernard Charbonneau, Michel Foucault, Jean-Pierre Dupuy, François Russo, François Dagognet, Jean-Claude Beaune, Jacques Viénot, Etienne Souriau, Georges Friedmann, Bernard Stiegler, Jean-Pierre Séris, Pierre Lévy and others.

The epistemological rupture of Copernicus, the laws of planetary motions of Kepler, the comprehensive physical observations of Galileo and Huygens, the conception of relativity, and the physical theory of Newton were components of an extremely fertile and influential cognitive environment that prompted the restless Leibniz to shape an innovative theory of space and time. This theory expressed some of the concerns and intuitions of the scientific community of the seventeenth century, in particular the scientific group of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, but remained relatively unknown until the twentieth century. After Einstein, however, the relational theory of Leibniz gained wider respect and fame. The aim of this article is to explain how Leibniz foresaw relativity, through his critique of contemporary mechanistic philosophy.

The present endeavour aims at the clarification of the concept of the logical consequence. Initially we investigate the question: How was the concept of logical consequence discovered by the medieval philosophers? Which ancient philosophical foundations were necessary for the discovery of the logical relation of consequence and which explicit medieval contributions, such as the notion of the formality (formal validity), led to its discovery. Secondly we discuss which developments of modern philosophy effected the turn from the medieval concept of logical consequence to its most recent conceptions, such as the semantic, syntactic, axiomatic and natural deductive approaches? Thirdly we examine which are the similarities and the differences between the logical concepts of consequence, inference, implication and entailment? Furthermore, we ask what kind of relation signifies the concept of the logical consequence? That is to say, which is the analytic definition of the consequence relation R between the premises p1, p2...pn and the conclusion c of a formally valid argument? Finally, we focus on the respective answers given through the developments in proof theory by David Hilbert and Gerhard Gentzen.

There is a vast amount of research data accumulating from space exploration on the topics of impacts, symmetries, habitable zone, chemical compositions, atmosphere, climate and geology. The related facts, sayings and relations need to be evaluated by a theory of decision based on strategies of reflection on empirical research and cooperation. More and more suitable technological applications, appropriate inventions and innovations are being introduced for the implementation of the objective to find interstellar habitat. A logic of space science and technology is being, therefore, continuously articulated and innovated through focusing on efficiency, computability, polyvalence, feedback control etc. This effort needs also to be assisted by a reevaluation of conceptual and mathematical frameworks, with the adoption of new physical definitions and new units of measurement. Otherwise, the whole effort remains impeded by its own entitlement. An example of the requirement for conceptual reevaluation is the increasing significance of astrobiology, on account of the quest for water, life and habitable planets. Hereby philosophy of physics meets the philosophy of biology, so far as the concepts of life and non-life could plausibly be reconsidered by space exploration, while ethical problems on the value of space medicine, health and information arise, as well. An example of the urgent requirement for reflection and reevaluation of mathematical frameworks is the task for an efficient motion of spacecraft to the interstellar medium, to Proxima Centauri b and other exoplanets. Such a task should require the adoption of new units of measurement, for instance, of the magnitude of ~6.000 km/s (30 times faster than the Parker Solar Probe), being thus better comparable to the speed of light (since ~6.000 km/s equals to 1/50 or 2% of the speed of light). However, the most significant instant of the challenge to reflection is the role of the magnetosphere, the magnetic fields and dynamos for the development and the motion of the planets of our solar system and exoplanets. A successful procedure to explaining the contribution of the magnetic field to planetary dynamics may help us answer serious scientific questions and probably may crucially contribute to the discovery of a new unified physical theory of everything.

A notorious controversy among historians refers to the issue of ‘technological determinism’ and the categories related to theoretical aspects of modernization. The ambivalence between instrumental, contextual and social approaches is obvious in these disputes. A justified answer to these problems may be that the mediators of technology are not simply channeling technology, but neither are the users passive consumers. Societies resist and eventually incorporate the new into the old, and their citizens selectively modify and use technologies to create new cultures and new forms of modernisation. There is an interactive social construction which modifies technologies and new forms of artificial life.