It is well known that Paul A.M. Dirac (1902–1984) had a great impact on quantum mechanics. His celebrated wave equation won him the 1933 Nobel Prize, was dubbed "The Dirac Equation," and predicted the existence of antimatter particles 27 years before their experimental confirmation by Segre and Chamberlain in 1955.1 Lesser known is Dirac’s philosophy of science, particularly Continue Reading …
The Trouble with Functional Explanations in the Social Sciences
Are functional explanations a kind of causal explanation? A common practice in the social sciences and philosophy is to explain why a social phenomenon (behavior, policy, institution, etc.) exists by showing the function that it serves in the society. These are called functional explanations. To better understand whether there is more than one genuine kind of scientific Continue Reading …
Effi Briest and Lacan’s “Mirror Stage”; or Constant Alienation
‘Why haven’t I got any proper dresses? Why don’t you make a lady of me?’ ‘Would you like that?’ ‘No.’ Saying which, [Effi] ran up to her mother, threw her arms round her impetuously and kissed her.[i] Theodor Fontane (1819–1898) was a German poet and novelist best known for his realist style and social criticism of Wilhelm II’s Prussian Empire. In 1895, Fontane wrote Effi Continue Reading …