Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Smith Problem'

For turbulent flow calculations, some of the well-known turbulence models in the literature are applied on a previously developed Navier-Stokes solver designed to handle laminar flows. A finite volume formulation, which is cell-based for inviscid terms and cell-vertex for viscous terms, is used for numerical discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations in conservative form. This formulation is combined with one-step, explicit time marching Lax-Wendroff numerical scheme that is second order accurate in space. To minimize non-physical oscillations resulting from the numerical scheme, second and fourth order artificial smoothing terms are added. To increase the convergence rate of the solver, local time stepping technique is applied. Before applying turbulence models, Navier-Stokes solver is tested for a case of subsonic, laminar flow over a flat plate. The results are in close agreement with Blasius similarity solutions. To calculate turbulent flows, Boussinesq eddy-viscosity approach is utilized. The eddy viscosity (also called turbulent viscosity), which arises as a consequence of this approach, is calculated using Cebeci-Smith, Michel et. al., Baldwin-Lomax, Chien&rsquo<br>s k-epsilon and Wilcox&rsquo<br>s k-omega turbulence models. To evaluate the performances of these turbulence models and to compare them with each other, the solver has been tested for a case of subsonic, laminar - transition fixed - turbulent flow over a flat plate. The results are verified by analytical solutions and empirical correlations.

This dissertation examines the aesthetics of Adam Smith. It argues that, despite appearances to the contrary, Smith not only articulated ideas on the subject and was engaged in the aesthetic debates of his time, but that he in many ways innovates on and challenges received opinion—he thus differs significantly from some of his better known contemporaries, including Edmund Burke and David Hume. For this reason, he is not merely a major thinker who happened to dabble in aesthetics; on the contrary, he considered the subject, which appears in nearly all his works, important, and often interrogates its issues in a more studied way. My project thus makes a case for Smith as a significant thinker in the history of aesthetics, one who merits renewed attention. This study does so by investigating the major aesthetic issues of the day, which Smith in fact discusses. It begins by examining Smith’s remarks on taste—the aesthetic issue of the century—which occur largely in Theory of Moral Sentiments. Though seemingly tangential, his discussion of taste is significant as it argues against the predominant eighteenth-century current that maintained the existence of a standard. He also challenges theorists such as Hume who made aesthetic experience classless and, especially via sympathy, disinterested. The study next investigates Smith’s aesthetic normativity and what are for him valid aesthetic judgments, which can be reconciled with his remarks problematizing taste. Here too, Smith appears to argue against the predominant impulse that sought to ground valid aesthetic experience in the immediate; in doing so, Smith demystifies and democratizes aesthetic experience. Finally, the dissertation investigates tragedy, by far the literary genre that most interested Smith, and which also drew attention from better known theorists. The paradox of tragedy—why readers and spectators are attracted to painful representations—was an aesthetic issue that vexed many thinkers of the century, and although Smith appears to ignore the issue, we have in his moral theory a solution to the paradox, one that is unique and more satisfying than those of his contemporaries. The project concludes by examining Smith’s relation to neoclassical dramatic theory. Though superficially appearing complacent in uncritically adopting neoclassical doctrine, Smith, even here, is being original.

Since the end of the Second World War, several phases of migration to West European states have occurred. These migrants consisted of the so called guest workers who were recruited to fill labour shortages, citizens from former colonies who wanted to settle in the colonial empires as well as asylum seekers and refugees. These migrants generally migrated within the network of a certain ethnic group which led to the formation of ethnic groupings in the West European states (so called new ethnic minorities). These ethnic groupings often live segregated from the host population where they experience a lack of cultural, economical and political integration. This lack of integration of the new ethnic minorities often leads to antagonism, lack of understanding, mistrust and sometimes a racist attitude by the host population towards these groups. The development of a collective policy for the management of new ethnic minorities only became priority in the European Union (EU) by the late 1990s. The current policy for the management of new ethnic minorities consists of guidelines and recommendations to member states on the implementation of a own, unique new ethnic minority policy. Although the current Belgian policy for the management of new ethnic minorities adheres to the guidelines and recommendations of the EU, it still has structural problems and gaps. The purpose of this study was foremost to do a descriptive analysis of the protection of established minorities in Belgium. In contrast to and comparison with this, an in depth analysis of the political problem, management and current situation of new ethnic minorities in Belgian was made in order to identify shortcomings in the current policy for the management of new ethnic minorities. This was done through a literature search as well as an empirical study in the form of semi -structured interviews. The general finding was that the Belgian political system makes adequate provision for the protection of established minorities, but not for the protection of new ethnic minorities. In this regard and in conclusion, specific recommendations were made in order to identify and address the current protective measures of new ethnic minorities in Belgium.<br>Thesis (M.A. (Public Management and Administration))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The dissertation concerns F. A. Hayek’s (1899–1992) critique of legislation. The purpose of the investigation is to clarify and assess that critique. I argue that there is in Hayek’s work a critique of legislation that is distinct from his well-known critique of social planning. Further that the main claim of this critique is what I refer to as Hayek’s legislation tenet, namely that legislation that aims to achieve specific aggregate results in complex orders of society will decrease the welfare level.           The legislation tenet gains support; (i) from the welfare claim – according to which there is a positive correlation between the utilization of knowledge and the welfare level in society; (ii) from the dispersal of knowledge thesis – according to which the total knowledge of society is dispersed and not available to any one agency; and (iii) from the cultural evolution thesis – according to which evolutionary rules are more favorable to the utilization of knowledge in social cooperation than are legislative rules. More specifically, I argue that these form two lines of argument in support of the legislation tenet. One line of argument is based on the conjunction of the welfare claim and the dispersal of knowledge thesis. I argue that this line of argument is true. The other line of argument is based on the conjunction of the welfare claim and the cultural evolution thesis. I argue that this line of argument is false, mainly because the empirical work of political scientist Elinor Ostrom refutes it. Because the two lines of argument support the legislation tenet independently of each other, I argue that Hayek’s critique of legislation is true. In this dissertation, I further develop a legislative policy tool as based on the welfare claim and Hayek’s conception of coercion. I also consider Hayek’s idea that rules and law are instrumental in forging rational individual action and rational social orders, and turn to review this idea in light of the work of experimental economist Vernon Smith and economic historian Avner Greif. I find that Smith and Greif support this idea of Hayek’s, and I conjecture that it contributes to our understanding of Adam Smith’s notion of the invisible hand: It is rules – not an invisible hand – that prompt subjects to align individual and aggregate rationality in social interaction. Finally, I argue that Hayek’s critique is essentially utilitarian, as it is concerned with the negative welfare consequences of certain forms of legislation. And although it may appear that the dispersal of knowledge thesis will undermine the possibility of carrying out the utilitarian calculus, due to the lack of knowledge of the consequences of one’s actions – and therefore undermine the legislation tenet itself – I argue that the distinction between utilitarianism conceived as a method of deliberation and utilitarianism conceived as a criterion of correctness may be used to save Hayek’s critique from this objection.

Ces travaux de thèse portent sur l'étude des mécanismes de transport de charges au sein des polymères conducteurs PEDOT/PSS et PEDOT/PSTFSIK dans le domaine térahertz (THz). Ces polymères conducteurs viennent du LCPO.En premier lieu, nous avons étudié les propriétés intrinsèques de ces matériaux dans le domaine THz à partir d'une expérience de spectroscopie THz-TDS. Ceci a permis d'une part de montrer que la transmission des deux polymères est quasi-constante sur la plage de fréquences considérées et d'autre part que la conductivité intrinsèque du PEDOT/PSS est plus importante que celle du PEDOT/PSTFSIK. Ce dernier résultat a été obtenu en ajustant les données de conductivité par deux modèles de conduction bien distincts. Le premier est le modèle de Drude-Smith qui étend le modèle de Drude par l'ajout d'un coefficient de piégeage, il ne possède que peu de paramètres ajustables. Le second, le modèle de Dyre, permet de prendre en compte la structure en grains des polymères conducteurs. Il possède néanmoins un grand nombre de paramètres ajustables. Les mesures de conductivité en régime continu obtenues à partir des modèles sont en accord avec les mesures effectuées au LCPO.Nous avons ensuite caractérisé le comportement des polymères conducteurs PEDOT/PSS et PEDOT/PSTFSIK soumis à une impulsion femtoseconde centrée dans la bande bipolaronique de ces matériaux en plus de l'impulsion THz déjà présente. En utilisant les modèles de Drude-Smith et de Dyre, nous avons pu étudier le changement de conductivité induit par l'impulsion femtoseconde dans le domaine THz en supposant que les paramètres ajustables des modèles dépendent maintenant du délai entre l'impulsion femtoseconde et l'impulsion THz.Finalement, en étudiant les réponses du PEDOT/PSS et du PEDOT/PSTFSIK pour différentes intensités de pompe dans le cadre d'une expérience tout-optique où à on a pompé dans la bande bipolaronique et où on a sondé dans la bande polaronique des polymères conducteurs, on a pu échafauder un scénario plausible pour l'impact de la pompe optique dans ces matériaux<br>This thesis project aims to study transport mechanisms in conducting polymers PEDOT/PSS and PEDOT/PSTFSIK in the terahertz (THz) domain. These two polymers come from LCPO laboratory.First of all, we studied intrinsics properties of these materials in the THz domain with a THz-TDS experiment. This drove us to show that their transmission is quasi-constant in the THz domain and that the intrinsic conductivity is larger for PEDOT/PSS than PEDOT/PSTFSIK. This last result has been obtained by using two differents fitting models of conduction. The first model, so-called Drude-Smith model, extend the Drude model by adding a trap parameter. It also possess only few fitting parameters. The second one, the Dyre model, take into account of the grain structure of polymers. Nevertheless, it has several fitting parameters. We obtained a direct current conductivity of polymers that is in excellent agreement with LCPO measurements.Among these, we caracterized the behavior of PEDOT/PSS and PEDOT/PSTFSIK under a femtosecond pulse centered in the bipolaronic band. We also have the THz pulse. By using Drude-Smith and Dyre models, we were able to study the change of conductivity induced by the femtosecond pulse in the THz domain. In this case, we supposed that fitting parameters have to be a function of the delay between the femtosecond pulse and the THz pulse.Finally, by studying PEDOT/PSS and PEDOT/PSTFSIK responses for differents pump intensity in a full optic experiment, where we pumped on the bipolaronic band and probed on the polaronic band, we were be able to give a possible scenario for the impact of the optical pump in these materials

Deux cent cinquante ans après la publication de la Théorie des sentiments moraux, quelle place accorde-t-on à la philosophie morale dans l'oeuvre d'Adam Smith? Le présent mémoire porte sur cette question et, en particulier, le débat que suscite le Das Adam Smith Problem. Afin de dresser un portrait de l'état actuel du débat, nous analysons une sélection de livres et d'articles ayant été publiés sur le sujet au cours de la période 2002-2008, qui précède le 250e anniversaire de la publication de la Théorie des sentiments moraux (1759-2009). Le chapitre l propose, en guise d'entrée en matière, une section consacrée au Siècle des Lumières en Écosse. Nous présentons ensuite les événements marquants de la vie de Smith ainsi que les principaux penseurs ayant influencé son oeuvre, notamment Francis Hutcheson, David Hume et les stoïciens. Le chapitre suivant est centré sur les thèses principales énoncées dans la Théorie et La Richesse des nations. Nous entendons mettre en évidence les diverses idées formulées par Smith dans ces oeuvres, qui sont susceptibles d'éclairer sa philosophie morale. Une fois jetées ces bases, nous abordons au chapitre III le sujet précis du Problème, d'abord en faisant un survol historique au cours duquel nous retraçons les origines du débat et présentons les auteurs importants y ayant contribué aux XIXe et au XXe siècle. Pour ce faire, nous nous référons aux analyses incontournables de la question, notamment « The Consistency of Adam Smith » (Oncken, 1897) et « Adam Smith and Laissez Faire » (Viner, 1927). Nous démontrons que le débat concernant la cohésion entre les deux oeuvres majeures de Smith est bien vivant au XXle siècle et que les avis vont généralement dans le même sens. En effet, la majorité des interprètes actuels de la pensée de Smith ne croient pas que les deux oeuvres divergent sensiblement. Cela constitue toutefois un des seuls points communs de ces auteurs. Leurs textes concernant le Problème prennent appui sur des analyses distinctes qui ont marqué le débat depuis deux cents ans. Suivant l'analyse de Leonidas Montes (2003), qui établit trois phases caractérisant le débat entourant le Problème depuis le bicentenaire de la Richesse en 1976, nous mettons en avant l'idée selon laquelle le débat comporterait une quatrième phase. Celle-ci se caractérise par le fait que les auteurs de la période 2002-2008 proposent une vision renouvelée de ces théories classiques.

Defence date: 24 June 2002<br>Examining board: John Brewer (Supervisor, EUI), University of Chicago ; Nicholas Phillipson, University of Edinburgh ; Peter Wagner, EUI ; Robert Wokler, Manchester University<br>PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

abstract: ABSTRACT For many years, difference scholars, such as Cornel West, Iris Marion Young, and Janet Atwill have been reminding humanities scholars that if social equity is ever to be realized, difference needs to be reconfigured and reframed. As Janet Atwill puts it, "difference can no longer be the anomaly, the enemy, or the problem to be solved. Difference is the condition" (212). While these scholars insightfully recognize that difference needs to be accepted, welcomed and loved rather than merely tolerated, they have not sufficiently addressed the perceptual change that must occur worldwide if difference as an intrinsic underlying condition of human existence is to be embraced. This project provides a point of departure for carrying out such a dramatic epistemic change by arguing that hierarchical thinking, not difference, is the real agent underwriting societal violence and discord. Hierarchical thinking delineates a more appropriate critical space than does difference for social justice inquiry, invention, and intervention. This project also rhetorically theorizes the realm of intersubjectivity and provides two novel contributions to contemporary rhetorical theory: 1) privilege as a rhetorical construct and 2) the untapped inventional potential of the postmodern understanding of intersubjectivity. To illustrate the embodied and performative aspects of hierarchical thinking, this work draws upon the writings of Lillian Smith, a white southerner (1897-1966) whose descriptive analyses of the Jim Crow South allude to large systems of privilege of which Jim Crow is merely representational. Illustrating the invidious nexus of privilege, Smith's writings describe the ways in which individuals embody and perform practices of exclusion and hate to perpetuate larger systems of privilege. Smith shows how privilege operates much as gender and power--fluidly and variously and dependent upon context. Viewing privilege as a rhetorical construct, operating dynamically, always in flux and at play, provides rhetoricians with a theoretically important move that un-yokes privilege from specific identities (e.g., white privilege). When viewed through this more dynamic and precise lens, we can readily perceive how privilege functions as a colonizing, ubiquitously learned, and variegated rhetorical practice of subordination and domination that, as a frame of analysis, offers a more fluid and accurate perspective than identity categories provide for discussions of oppression, social justice, and democratic engagement.<br>Dissertation/Thesis<br>Ph.D. English 2012

As the central expression of the principle of justice, the idea of exchange has deep roots in the classical Greek constitution of political community. In the writings of Aristotle, the just material transaction is crucial to the constitution of political community. Aristotle's analysis of exchange in the Nichomachean Ethics and the Politics attempts to investigate the ways in which exchange can be rendered in accordance with the principle of justice as an equalizing reciprocity. However, as I show in the first chapter of this work, Aristotle's treatment of exchange in the Ethics does not succeed in creating a formula for equivalency. Nor, in the subsequent attempt to approach the issue of exchange in the Politics, is Aristotle able to decisively separate transgressive and unequal modes of exchange from beneficial and fair ones. In the end, as I argue, Aristotle has discovered an aporia pointing to the fundamental ambiguity of exchange—one which points, moreover, to a troubling ambiguity with regard to the nature of the bonds maintaining the polis. The second chapter explores Mercantilist and Physiocratic attempts to solves the problem of the excessive remainder of exchange. The resolution of Aristotle's aporia, as I argue in the third chapter, is found in the Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Smith's epochal work endures less for its formal analytical contributions than for the ideological content it offers to market economics. My argument is, in essence, that the ideological portion of the Wealth of Nations is premised on a characterization of exchange as qualitative and distributive. This positing of exchange effects a turn on the Aristotelian treatment of beneficial and/or non-transgressive exchange forms in order to repress the quantitative issue of exchange-value and the attendant issue of individual profit. The suspension of quantitativity is not only necessary to the supression of profit—but serves to formulate a new characterization of exchange in which the exchange transaction as disassociated from the trappings of quantitativity now becomes a source for ideological or “meta-economic” appropriations.