A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World

Abstract

The reasons for the lack of communication between economists and econophysicists are clarified by giving an outline of the methodological differences between economics and econophysics, which has emerged as a new field of research over the last decade. Theorists working in econophysics see economic and financial phenomena through the ‘lens’ of statistical physics. So far, there has been no real dialogue between economists and econophysicists because both communities adhere to their own methodological precepts.     

A Brief History of Evolution

I present in this paper a non-reductionist framework of eight nested modes of evolution that have successively emerged to organize the reproduction of all organisms, from the blue-green algae to our societies. The processes of biological, “Darwinian” evolution are those of drift during reproduction, and of selection. The key unit of evolutionary time is the generation, and its locus is the organisms' life-cycle setup. Different life-cycle setups support different mechanisms of reproduction, and therefore different modes of evolution. By tracing the different life-cycle setups attested throughout life's history, we can characterize the successive modes of evolution with which they are associated as follows: basic; reptilian; archaic mammalian; progressive mammalian; sociocultural; extrasomatically enhanced sociocultural; tinkering; and finally parabiological. These successively emerging modes govern a progressively reduced number of life-forms. The first four modes are “Darwinian” in the strict sense. The fifth, or sociocultural mode, which governs whales and elephants' societies in addition to hominoids, is already not “Darwinian” in the traditional sense. The last three modes have emerged with the genus homo, through the progressive extension of its life-cycle setups. The present framework is to be used heuristically, as a prism with which to separate the evolutionary spectrum of the constituent elements of human behavior. An example of such a behavioral evolutionary spectrum is presented in conclusion, and used to compare the present framework with those recently proposed by Maynard Smith and Szathmáry and by Foley.     

A Brief History of Brain Archiving

This paper narrates the history of the conservation of the human brain, tracking techniques of brain archiving from the first experiments in the preservation of soft tissue in spirits of alcohol to the latest refinements in cryogenic technology. It traces the changing social and legal conditions that permitted the collection of post mortem human tissue, as well as the increasingly sophisticated technologies that allowed for the preservation and storage of this material. This preliminary survey of brain archiving uses examples of specific collections in order to discuss changes in the techniques, goals and achievements of neural tissue collecting from the mid-eighteenth to the late twentieth centuries.     

论王符的史学思想

王符将历史学看做经验性和思想性的学问,其对象是"前言往行",其任务是"蓄其德"和"明真";史学的功用在于增智修德、学习往圣先贤和掌握历史与未来。历史发展是有规律的,人民才是历史的决定力量,精神的善恶是历史发展的动力。历史认识主体应该具备正确的态度,应该选择有价值有意义的客体,典籍是其中介;历史认识方法就是观察;其检验的标准一是理论的即要符合往古圣人的意见,二是实际的即依据历史主体的行为。史学研究法主要是历史辩证研究方法、历史批评研究方法和历史个案研究法。王符史学思想的性质是政治的、民间的。     

A Brief Exploration of Neurological Art History

The invention of realistic portraiture to reveal "inner life" is attributed by some art historians to Jan van Eyck who worked in Flanders from 1420 onwards. We show, using clinical neurological examination of the gold mask of Agamemnon dating from 1550-1500 BC and of the portraits of Henry III and his son Edward I - important English royals - painted between 1216 and 1307, that realistic portraits were made well before the 15th Century. Thus artists unwittingly used neurology as part of their realistic approach to the presentation of the face. Because neurological diagnosis is often visual, neurology, in turn, has a rich potential to unveil examples of realism in art. We consider the art pieces examined here also pertinent to art historians, as they assess the role of art in documenting history.     

略论陆懋德的史学思想

陆懋德是20世纪前半期在史学理论方面颇有建树的著名学者。他强调治史应以"无所谓中西,取其长而求其是"为宗旨,以考古史料与文献材料并重的史料观审查、检验史料的真实性,用物质和心理的解释"二者当参用而不可偏用"的观点来解释历史变化、发展的过程。他的这种史学思想,是在继承前人成果与反思当时中国史学发展状况的过程中形成的,具有较强的理论价值和现实意义。     

1949年以来中国近代经济思想史研究述评

1949年以来,中国近代经济思想史研究取得丰硕成果,作17种以上,论1165篇。在研究深度方面,随思想的解放步伐而逐步加深。在今后的研究中,应进一步解放思想,加强基础研究、“条条”研究、“块块”研究、比较研究和资料建设。     

史学与政治——美国“共识”史学初探

史学与政治的关系历来备受关注。但人们往往从史学应不应该为政治服务的角度出发看待它们之间的关系,未免有些简单化。事实上,史学与政治的关系涉及了史学理论的诸多问题。本文围绕“共识”史学探讨史学与政治之间的关系,实际上是探讨史学理论中有关主观性的问题。笔者认为,历史学家的研究活动预设了政治前提,其研究的对象也是在政治环境中产生的。因此,史学与政治之间有一种天然的联系。对此,我们应该有一种自觉的认识,才会有利于我们的历史研究。