The Metaphysics of Stoic Corporealism

The Stoics are famously committed to the thesis that only bodies are, and for this reason they are rightly called “corporealists.” They are also famously compared to Plato’s earthborn Giants in the Sophist, and rightly so given their steadfast commitment to body as being. But the Stoics also notoriously turn the tables on Plato and coopt his “dunamis proposal” that being is whatever can act or be acted upon, to underwrite their commitment to body rather than shrink from it as the Giants do. The substance of Stoic corporealism, however, has not been fully appreciated. This paper argues that Stoic corporealism goes beyond the dunamis proposal, which is simply an ontological criterion for being, to the metaphysics of body. This involves, first, an account of body as metaphysically simple and hence fundamental; second, an account of body as malleable and continuous, hence fit for blending (krasis di’ holou) and composition. In addition, the metaphysics of body involves a distinction between this composition relation seen in the cosmology, and the constitution relation by which the four-fold schema called the Stoic Categories proceeds, e.g. the relation between a statue and its clay, or a fist and its underlying hand. It has not been appreciated that the cosmology and the Categories are distinct — and complementary — explanatory enterprises, the one accounting for generation and unity, the other taking those individuals once generated, and giving a mereological analysis of their identity and persistence conditions, kinds, and qualities. The result is an elegant division of Plato’s labor from the Battle of Gods and Giants. On the one hand, the Stoics rehabilitate the crude cosmology of the Presocratics to deliver generation and unity in completely corporeal terms, and that work is found in their Physics. On the other hand, they reform the Giants and “dare to corporealize,” delivering all manner of predication (from identity to the virtues), and that work is found in Stoic Logic. Recognizing the distinctness of these explanatory enterprises helps dissolve scholarly puzzles, and harmonizes the Stoics with themselves.

A review on tobacco and its effect on health

Tobacco is an important agricultural product that is consumed all over the world. More than 8000 chemicals are reported to be present in tobacco, and a large number of these chemicals are known carcinogens, and hence is known to be one of the most significant contributors to the development of cancer of different body parts. These chemicals have been reported to alter both the genetic and epigenetic constituents of cells. Such changes involve point mutation, deletion, insertion, recombination, transversion, transition, and chromosomal aberrations including aneuploidy and polyploidy. The chemical composition of different types of tobacco has been reported to be different. In this article, brief information about tobacco plants; history, types and popularity of tobacco; its chemical composition; relation to cancer and other diseases and its effects on the molecular, epigenetic and genetic compositions have been highlighted.

On Commutation Properties of the Composition Relation of Convergent and Divergent Permutations (Part I)

In the paper we present the selected properties of composition relation of the convergent and divergent permutations connected with commutation. We note that a permutation on ℕ is called the convergent permutation if for each convergent series ∑an of real terms, the p-rearranged series ∑ap(n) is also convergent. All the other permutations on ℕ are called the divergent permutations. We have proven, among others, that, for many permutations p on ℕ, the family of divergent permutations q on ℕ commuting with p possesses cardinality of the continuum. For example, the permutations p on ℕ having finite order possess this property. On the other hand, an example of a convergent permutation which commutes only with some convergent permutations is also presented.

A Constraint-Based Approach to the Composition Relation Management of a Product Class in Design

The choice of solution, which a systems architect is confronted with within the framework of a product structure definition, can very quickly prove to be a thorny problem owing to the possible combinatorial system. In this paper, we will offer an alternative resting on the utilization of constraint-based programming techniques for representing and managing such complexity. More precisely, we will dwell on the presentation of a constraint-based approach to the composition relation management of a product class in design. After setting forth all the potential of the constraint-based approach, we will formally explain, in more detail, the six types of relations that seem to be essential to building a class of products. The approach is based on a three-level architectural model. The first level concerns the product model as such, the second supplies a formal representation of this model, whereas the third consists of rendering an arithmetic constraint-based approach to the intermediate model. We will use the discrete constraint satisfaction problems for operating and solving the latter. Our overall approach, from product modeling to resolution, is intended to be a generic one and the case in point will be the design of a functional pivot link between a connecting rod and a piston. The architect can subsequently make his own choices and the tool will automate their propagation by means of the constraint network modeling the problem. A dimensioning architectural model is, thus, obtained in compliance with the original list of requirements.