Balazs Gyenis' article, titled Physical, Empirical, and Conductive Inductive Possibility, recently appeared in Philosophy of Physics. The article can be accessed online here.

A new study by Gábor Szécsi entitled The Linguistic Foundations of the Mediatization of Communities in Digital Culture has been published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the European Academy of Sciences & Arts.

The latest Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on A. J. Ayer has been published with the contribution of Ádám Tamás Tuboly.

International publications

Barcsi, Tamás: „Comments on Dante’s Conception of Value”. Díké, 7(2), 191–196.

Dante Alighieri is arguably one of the greatest figures in Western culture. A separate discipline, Dantist Studies, is concerned with exploring the different layers of his art. Without wishing to place myself among the scholars of this discipline, I would like to offer a few thoughts, mainly of an ethical nature, on the relationship of Dante’s works to the Renaissance.

Bárdos, Dániel – Toescu, Emil C.: „A new view on biology and some philosophical perspectives: Book review of How Life Works by Philip Ball”, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews,49(5), 566–573.

This review essay critically examines Philip Ball’s How Life Worksand explores Ball’s engagement with key concepts and issues in the philosophy of biology, such as emergence, teleology, and biological agency, evaluating their implications for contemporary biology.

Bene, László: „Hellenistische Philosophie: Stoa, Epikureismus, Skeptizismus”. In: Tornau, C. (szerk.): Plotin-Handbuch. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 2024, 141–153.

This chapter deals with the Plotinian reception of the teachings of three major Hellenistic schools. While Plotinus severly criticises the Stoics’ corporealist ontology and empiricist theory of knowledge, he sometimes incorporates Stoic physical and ethical notions, which he adjusts to the Platonic metaphysical framework of his own philosophy. The main example of this is the use he makes of the Stoic notions of logos and sympatheia. Moreover, Plotinus’ account of autonomy draws on Epictetus. Plotinus’ reception of Epicureanism is mainly polemical, but occasionally he is also prepared to make positive use of Epicurean notions and distinctions. The Sceptics provided important inspiration for Plotinus’ doctrine of the Intellect in that he develops the thesis of the identity of the knower with the known in the face of Sceptical arguments against the possibility of (self-) knowledge.

Bene, László: „Ideen”. In: Tornau, C. (szerk.): Plotin-Handbuch. Stuttgart: J. B. Metzler, 2024, 249–258.

This chapter deals with three roles Plotinus assigns to Platonic Forms. First, the Forms constitute the intelligible paradigm on which the perceptible world is modelled. The Forms create by being what they are, and they endow their participants with properties which they themselves do not possess – an interpretation of causality which allows for expanding the traditional scope of the Forms. Secondly, Sceptical doubts as to the possibility of (self-) knowledge are answered with the thesis of the internality of intelligible Forms to the Intellect, which secures infallibility. Thirdly, the Forms of the virtues make ethical conduct and purification possible; more generally, the contemplation of Forms constitutes an important stage in the ascent of the soul to the first principle of reality. In addition, the metaphysical difficulties arising from positing Platonic Forms are addressed, including their relation to the One and their mode of presence in the perceptible world.

Bíró, Gábor István: „The Case of the Missing Potatoes: Reconsidering Michael Polanyi’s Spontaneous Order”. Global Intellectual History, 10(1), 53–77.

The research article argues that not a single, but multiple theories of spontaneous order were developed in the first half of the twentieth century. Then it endeavours to explore the specific characteristics of Michael Polanyi’s spontaneous order theory and shows that these characteristics may actually help us to overcome decades-old debates not just in the history of economics but also in economic policy.

Csordás, Hédi Virág – Karakas, Alexandra: „Evaluating visual arguments in science: A case study of the Mars Phoenix Lander’s images”. Journal of Argumentation in Context, 2024/3, 454–474.

Gángó, Gábor: „Minister Eötvös’s Alliance with Neolog Jewry in Hungary and His Defeat at 1868/69 Jewish Congress”. Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 23(2), 369–388.

Golden, Daniel L.: „What does generative AI actually know?” In: Kristóf Nyíri (szerk.): Envisioning an Electrifying Future. Budapest – Pécs: Hungarian Academy of Sciences – University of Pécs, 2024, 53–55.

The paper explores the epistemological implications of generative AI systems, concluding that knowledge within them is an extension of discoursive human culture.

Hangai, Attila: „Plotinus’ power account of perception: Ennead IV.6.2”. Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae.

The paper provides a close reading of Plotinus’ obscure chapter Ennead IV.6.2. I try to make clear, beyond the central thesis that sense-perception is an active power, how it contributes to the argument of the whole treatise, how its seemingly disconnected comments make up a coherent line of thought, and how it remains consistent with Plotinus’ positions expressed elsewhere.

Hofer-Szabó, Gábor: „PBR, nonreality and entangled measurement”. Foundations of Physics, 54, 36.

In a recent paper, Cabbolet argues that the PBR theorem is nonreal since in the ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics the entangled measurement used in the derivation of the PBR theorem is nonexisting. However, Cabbolet (1) does not provide any argument for the nonexistence of entangled measurements beyond the incompatibility of the existence of entangled measurements and the existence of -epistemic models which we already know from the PBR theorem; and (2) he does not show why it is more reasonable to abandon entangled measurements instead of -epistemic models. Hence, the PBR theorem remains intact.

Hofer-Szabó, Gábor: „Sequential measurements and the Kochen-Specker arguments”. Journal for General Philosophy, 55, 29–42.

It will be shown that the Peres-Mermin square admits value-definite noncontextual hidden-variable models if the observables associated with the operators can be measured only sequentially but not simultaneously. Namely, sequential measurements allow for noncontextual models in which hidden states update between consecutive measurements. Two recent experiments realizing the Peres-Mermin square by sequential measurements will also be analyzed along with other hidden-variable models accounting for these experiments.

Hörcher, Ferenc: „Beyond the Window That Can Never Be Opened – Roger Scruton on ‘Moments of Revelation’ in Human Life”. Religions, 15(4), 1–15.

This paper explores the metaphysical interests of the British aesthete and political philosopher Roger Scruton. It takes as its starting point not the late lecture series, but the writings that explore the limits of the ineffable.

Hörcher, Ferenc: „Central European Anglophilia: Personal and Historical Recollections”. In: Pitt, Daniel – Blond, Phillip (szerk.): The Post-Liberal Turn and the Future of Conservatism. Budapest: Ludovika Egyetemi Kiadó, 2024, 231–254.

The aim of this study is to interpret Anglophilia, which has appeared in several waves in Hungarian culture as a specific Central European phenomenon. In addition to the interpretation of conventional historical sources, a historiographical method based on personal memories will also be used to deal with the subject.

Hörcher, Ferenc: „Natural Law in Pope Benedict’s Thought”. In: Jancsó, András – Darabos, Ádám (szerk.): Keresztények a pluralista demokráciában: Tanulmányok XVI. Benedek pápa munkásságáról. Budapest: Ludovika Egyetemi Kiadó, 2024, 177–187.

It is not widely known that Pope Benedict XVI formulated important ideas at the interface of legal theory and political philosophy. This essay analyses his writings and speeches in support of the resurrection of natural law.

Hörcher, Ferenc: „Small-town Civility and the Concept of Liberty in Géza Ottlik’s Opus Magnum”. In: Györke, Ágnes – Juhász, Tamás (szerk.): Urban Culture and the Modern City: Hungarian Case Studies. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2024, 193–218.

The aim of the study is to present how the writer Géza Ottlik describes the bourgeoisie of Kőszeg, a small town on the bordr with Austria, where he grew up in the midst of many difficulties in the military school.

Hörcher, Ferenc – Lorman, Thomas: „The Metamorphoses of a Historical Constitution”. In: Gil, Xavier (szerk.): Constitutional Moments: Founding Myths, Charters and Constitutions through History. Boston (MA), Leiden: Brill, 2024, 334–355.

The study sketches a comprehensive picture of the challenges of Hungarian constitutional thought in the 19th century, with particular reference to the Reform Era, 1848-49 and the Settlement with Austria.

Karakas, Alexandra – Tuboly, Ádám Tamás: „Materializing values”. Synthese, 204(5), 2024.

Kelemen, Oguz – Máttyássy, Adrienn – Tari, Gergely: „Psychiatry, Ethics and COVID-19 in Hungary”. In: Pascalev, Assya – Tari, Gergely (szerk.): Ethical Issues of the SARS-Co-V-2: Outbreak in East-Central Europe and Beyond. Budapest: Trivent Publishing, 2024, 207–216.

Psychiatric service has always been sensitive to ethical perspectives. It became relevant in the COVID-19 pandemic as well. From an ethical angle, different service levels can be investigated. We divided our investigation into three layers, and analysed each one through the lens of the main types of rationing: macro-and microallocation. We classified the first layer as ‘the social’ in which, at the beginning, a lot of resources (beds, nurses, physicians, etc.) were taken from psychiatry as well as to support the disease-related services according to the governmental orders. The second layer is the ‘local hospital and outpatient system’, wherein the main question was where and until when to treat the COVID -19 infected psychiatric patients. Should they be treated among other infected patients, or within specialised departments or wards? The third layer is the ‘interpersonal’ level, reflecting on the different angles of real patient-physician interactions and the most common human conflicts within the medical staff on site.

Kondor, Zsuzsanna: „Theory, Design, Remediation”. Constructivist Foundations, 201, 421–423.

This open commentary proposes enhancing enaction design with two key dimensions: the impact of new inventions on epistemic access and the role of remediation in shaping user experience. Drawing on Heidegger’s philosophy of technology and Material Engagement Theory, it contends that technological artifacts not only mediate human-environment interactions but also actively transform cognitive and behavioural patterns.

Kovács, Dániel Attila: „Plotinus on the Parthood and Agency of Individual Souls”. Méthexis, 36(1), 32–53.

The paper explores the problem of how Plotinus can attribute autonomous agency to individual human souls if they are part of a larger, universal soul. The difficulty is compounded by the fact that Plotinus, explicitly rejects the Stoic model in which human souls are part of the universal soul partly because he considers it to be incompatible with individual autonomy. The solution lies in a mereological framework specific to intelligible beings, which allows human souls to possess their specific capacities and activities, which, although metaphysically dependent on them, do not coincide with the generic activity of the universal soul.

Kovács, Dániel Attila: „From passion to knowledge: Plotinus’ grades of virtues as stages in the development of practical moral agency”. Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae.

In this paper, I aim to situate the practical agency of the sage in an overall picture of the development of the Plotinian moral agent. This development is a gradual transition from external to internal principles of action guidance which endow the agent with autonomy and coherence in her practical actions. The analysis of Plotinus’ theory of moral development shows that the sage’s inward turn and detachment from external circumstances do not involve inactivity in the practical sphere but figure as a necessary condition of her making an active contribution to the order of the sensible world through her actions as opposed to passively responding to external circumstances.

Mester, Béla: „Controversies of Philosophers with Protestant, Catholic and Secular Background in the Hungarian Philosophical Review (1882–1891)”. In: Žalec, Bojan – Štivić, Stjepan (szerk.): Intellectual History and Culture Wars in Central and Eastern Europe in the Light of Modern Theories of Religion. Berlin–Münster–London–Wien–Zürich: LIT Verlag, 2024, 105–115.

The first series of the Hungarian Philosophical Review (Magyar PhilosophiaiSzemle) was the first periodical of philosophy in Hungarian (1882–1891). Hungarian philosophers used it as a forum for controversies of highly diverse opinions from the strict Positivism through the neo-Kantianism until the Catholic philosophy.

Németh, Attila: „Democritus on the atomic shapes of colours”. In: Ierodiakonou, K. – Decaix, V. (szerk.): Colour Theories from Democritus to Descartes. London – New York: Routledge, 2024, 7–31.

Németh, Attila: „Diogenes of Oenoanda and the Epicurean Epistle Tradition”. In: Masi, F. – Morel, P-M. – Verde, F. (szerk.): Epicureanism and Scientific Debates: Antiquity and Late Reception, Vol. 2. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2024, 177–190.

Pete, Krisztián – Tuboly, Ádám Tamás: „Explication in the space of reasons: What Sellars and Carnap could offer to each other” Topoi: An International Review of Philosophy43: 171–185.

Rédei, Miklós – Gömöri, Márton: „Entropic taming of the Look Elsewhere Effect”. Synthese, 203(12), 2024.

To mitigate the Look Elsewhere Effect in multiple hypothesis testing using p-values, the paper suggests an “entropic correction” of the significance level at which the null hypothesis is rejected. The proposed correction uses the entropic uncertainty associated with the probability measure that expresses the prior-to-test probabilities expressing how likely the confirming evidence may occur at values of the parameter. When the prior-to-test probability is uniform (embodying maximal uncertainty) the entropic correction coincides with the Bonferroni correction. When the prior-to-test probability embodies maximal certainty (is concentrated on a single value of the parameter at which the evidence is obtained), the entropic correction overrides the Look Elsewhere Effect completely by not requiring any correction of significance. The intermediate situation is illustrated by a simple hypothetical example. Interpreting the prior-to-test probability subjectively allows a Bayesian spirit enter the frequentist multiple hypothesis testing in a disciplined manner. If the prior-to-test probability is determined objectively, the entropic correction makes possible to take into account in a technically explicit way the background theoretical knowledge relevant for the test.

Richardson, Alan – Tuboly, Ádám Tamás: „Introduction: Carnap’s Transformation of the Canon”. In: Richardson, Alan – Tuboly, Ádám Tamás (szerk.):Interpreting Carnap: Critical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024, 1–10.

Szécsi, Gábor: „Mediatized Communities and Identity-shaping Narratives in the Information Age”. Journal of Posthuman Studies, 2024/1, 54–75.

Tuboly, Ádám Tamás: „Neurath on Plato-Hitler and the British Scene of Irritation.” In Damböck, Christian – Friedl, Johannes – Höfer, Ulf (szerk.): Scientific World-Conceptions: Rudolf Carnap and Otto Neurath. Leiden: Brill, 2024, 342–366.

In Hungarian

Barcsi Tamás: „A kegyetlenné váló és a kegyetlen célból létrehozott felügyeleti intézményekről”. In: Frivaldszky János – Tussay Ákos: A Természetjog Napja III. Konferenciatanulmányok. Budapest: Pázmány Press, 2024, 15–27.

Barcsi Tamás: „Gondolatok a kegyetlenségről”. Vigilia, 89(9), 785–794.

Barcsi Tamás: „Lehetséges válaszok az emberi méltóság fogalmával kapcsolatos kételyekre”. In: Daróczi Enikő – Laczkó Sándor (szerk.): A kétely. Szeged: Pro Philosophia Szegediensi Alapítvány, 105–115.

Barcsi Tamás: „’Nem tartják embernek ma sem’. Az elmebetegség és a biohatalom összefüggéseiről Hajnóczy Péter szociográfiája nyomán”. Forum: Acta Juridica et politica, 14(2). 49–58.

Barcsi Tamás – Demeter Tamás: „Szociologizáló tendenciák a magyar jogfilozófiában?”. Replika, 131, 7–19.

Barcsi Tamás – Nemes László: „Az eutanáziavita és az elmúlás gondolata. Kell-e foglalkoznunk a halandóságunkkal?”. Fundamentum, 28(2–3), 59–63.

Bene László: „Nüsszai Gergely az érzelmekről”. In: Bene László – Molnár Péter (szerk.): Teológia és antropológia. Tanulmányok Vidrányi Katalin emlékére. Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó, 2024, 51–74.

Gángó Gábor: „A természetjog oktatása a Debreceni Református Kollégiumban”. In: Bíró Csilla – Klima Gyula – Nagy József (szerk.): Magyar keresztény gondokodók az Árpád-kortól napjainkig. Budapest: Magyarságkutató Intézet, 2024, 119–140.

Gángó Gábor: „Kodifikáció, helyhatóságok és központosítás Szemere Bertalan és Irínyi József útleírásaiban”. In: Schweitzer Gábor – Szentgáli-Tóth Boldizsár (szerk.): ...aki bátor és odaadó hazafi volt. Emlékkötet Irínyi József (1822–1859) tiszteletére. Budapest: Akadémiai, 2024, 5–18.

Golden Dániel: „A filozófia hivatalos reprezentációja az 1952-es Filozófiai Évkönyv tükrében”. In: Veress Károly (szerk.): Filozófiai álláspontok és fordulatok. Filozófiai hatástörténet és kritika 1. Közelítések a szocializmus évtizedeinek filozófiai teljesítményéhez. Kolozsvár: Pro Philosophia – Egyetemi Műhely Kiadó, 2024, 41–61.

Golden Dániel: „A szkepticizmus fokozatai a tudományfilozófiában”. In: Daróczi Enikő – Laczkó Sándor (szerk.): Lábjegyzetek Platónhoz 21. A kétely. Szeged: Pro Philosophia Szegediensi Alapítvány – Magyar Filozófiai Társaság – Státus Kiadó, 2024, 278–286.

Gyenis Balázs: „Melyik szabad akarat létezik?”. Magyar Filozófiai Szemle, 2024/1, 51–103.

Gyenis Balázs: „Mi a fizikai és az empirikus lehetőség viszonya?”. Magyar Filozófiai Szemle, 2024/2 (megjelenés alatt).

Hofer-Szabó Gábor: „Kvantumelmélet és interpretáció”. Magyar Filozófiai Szemle, 2024/1, 182–207.

Hörcher Ferenc: „Eliot, Mannheim, Polányi. Második világháborús angliai eszmecsere a keresztény elit szerepéről”. In: Bíró Csilla – Klima Gyula – Nagy József (szerk.): Magyar keresztény gondolkodók az Árpád-kortól napjainkig. Budapest: Magyarságkutató Intézet, 2024, 281–299.

Hörcher Ferenc: „Halász Gábor Óbuda-képe 1935-ből: városi táj és közösségi emlékezet”. In: Hörcher Ferenc – Tóth Kálmán (szerk.): A város mediális lenyomatai. Budapest: Ludovika Egyetemi Kiadó, 2024, 101–112.

Hörcher Ferenc: „Irodalom és politika kapcsolata az irodalmi Deák-párt tagjainak gondolkodásában”. In: Hörcher Ferenc – Tóth Kálmán (szerk.): A szavak lázadása – Irodalom és politika Kazinczy börtönéveitől a Mozgó Világ-botrányig. Budapest: Magyar Művészeti Akadémia, 2024, 101–131.

Hörcher Ferenc: „Joachim Ritter és a münsteri iskola: Egy elhanyagolt fejezet a második világháború utáni német politikai gondolkodás történetében”. Politikatudományi Szemle, 33(4), 7–23.

Mester Béla: „Agora vagy közpark? A 19. századi Budapest urbanisztikai dilemmája”. In: Hörcher Ferenc – Tóth Kálmán (szerk.): A város mediális lenyomatai. Budapest: Ludovika Egyetemi Kiadó, 2024, 171–182.

Mester Béla: „Bizalom és kételkedés a józan észben. Egy filozófiai beállítódásról”. In: Daróczi Enikő – Laczkó Sándor (szerk.): A kétely. Szeged: Pro Philosophia Szegediensi Alapítvány, 2024, 173–192.

Mester Béla: „Rejtett álláspontok és viták a filozófiai szaksajtóban, a szocializmus korában”. In: Veress, Károly (szerk.): Filozófiai álláspontok és fordulatok. Filozófiai hatástörténet és kritika 1. Közelítések a szocializmus évtizedeinek filozófiai teljesítményéhez. Kolozsvár: Pro Philosophia, Egyetemi Műhely Kiadó, 2024, 21–39.

Németh Attila: „Uno ore. Száműzetés, nyelv és identitás”. In: Kozák Dániel – Tamás Ábel (szerk.): A sokhangú Aeneis. Tanulmányok Vergilius eposzáról és recepciójáról. Budapest: reciti, 2024, 133–144.

Rónaszéki Benedek – Barabás Katalin – Domonkos Norbert – Gábor Krisztin Mita – Horváthné Tóth Judit – Kelemen Oguz – Mellár István – Rozsinszkyné Apró Ágnes – Tari Gergely Róbert – Tóth Dorina et al.: „Beszámoló a Méltósággal távozni – Életvégi Ellátás Csongrád-Csanád Vármegyében c. konferenciáról”. Kharón – Thanatológiai Szemle, 28(3), 39–50.

Schmal Dániel: „A társadalmi szerepek problémája Pascal Három beszéd az előkelők állapotáról című írásában”. Különbség, 24(1), 2024, 35–48.

Schmal Dániel: „Érzés és reflexió: Az érzés közvetlenségének episztemológiája a XVII–XVIII. században”. In: Csanádi Szilvia – Frenyó Zoltán (szerk.): Filozófia és vallás a XVIII. században. Budapest: HUN-REN BTK, 2024, 21–35.

Schmal Dániel: „Módszertani kétely, tudat és reflexív kontroll Descartes-nál”. In: Daróczi Enikő – Laczkó Sándor (szerk.): A kétely. Szeged: Pro Philosophia Szegediensi Alapítvány – Magyar Filozófiai Társaság – Státus Kiadó, 2024, 11–21.

Schmal Dániel: „Szent Ágoston és a modernitás”. In: Bene László – Molnár Péter (szerk.): Teológia és antropológia: tanulmányok Vidrányi Katalin emlékére. Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó, 2024, 271–288.

Szabados, Bettina: „Elvtársi üdvözlettel: Lukács György – Lukács György filozófusi szerepvállalása 1945–1955 között”. In: Veress, Károly (szerk.): Filozófiai álláspontok és fordulatok. Filozófiai hatástörténet és kritika 1. Közelítések a szocializmus évtizedeinele filozófiai teljesítményéhez. Kolozsvár: Pro Philosophia, Egyetemi Műhely Kiadó, 2024, 107–122.

Szécsi Gábor: „Én, narratíva, megértés. Adalékok a narratív én filozófiai elméletéhez”. Magyar Filozófiai Szemle, 2024/1, 208–228.

Tari Gergely: „A betegség szubjektív tapasztalatának értéke a technomedicina korában. Medikalizáció és episztémikus igazságtalanság”. In: Daróczi Enikő – Laczkó Sándor (szerk.): A kétely. Szeged: Pro Philosophia Szegediensi Alapítvány – Magyar Filozófiai Társaság – Státus Kiadó, 2024, 284–290.

Varga Péter András: „Marxista versus keresztény eszkatológia, avagy margójegyzet egy gondolati forma felhasználhatóságáról a katolikus teológiában”. In: Lovassy Attila (szerk.): Kínos teológiai kérdések konferenciája. Vác: AVKF, 2024, 80–104.

Varga Péter András: „Neumer Katalin”. In: Hay Diana – Palasik Mária – Schadt Mária (szerk.): Nők a tudomány fellegvárában. Kutatói életutak a Magyar Tudományos Akadémián 1949–2021. Budapest: Akadémiai, 2024, 259–266.

Varga Péter András: „Vajjon [...] mikor fogják Kant [...] tanszékéről aquinói sz. Tamás bölcsességét hirdetni és magasztalni? – Vogl Márton pályaképe: egy kontrafaktuális fejezet az elfelejtett modern magyar katolikus filozófia keletkezéstörténetéből”. Teológia, 58(3–4), 76–89.

A joint study by Alexandra Karakas and Ádám Tamás Tuboly (MTA Value-Polarizations in Science Research Group) was published in the academic journal Synthese, entitled Materializing values. In the article, the authors examine the value dependence of scientific objects, in the light of philosophy of science, scientific studies, and material culture.

Attila Hangai’s article Alexander of Aphrodisias’ Criticism of the Stoic Theory of Perception: typos and typōsis (10.1515/elen-2022-0018) has been published open access at Ancient philosophy journal Elenchos.

Márton Gömöri's study "On the Very Idea of Distant Correlations" has been published in Foundations of Physics. The paper points to a yet unanalyzed conceptual component of statistical correlation and shows how this aspect may give us a new way to understand the famous EPR correlations in quantum mechanics.

Balázs Gyenis' study "Determinism, Physical Possibility, and Laws of Nature" has been published in Foundations of Physics. The paper calls attention to different formulations of how physical laws relate to what is physically possible in the philosophical literature, and argue that it may be the case that determinism fails under one formulation but reigns under the other. The text is available here.

Ferenc Hörcher's article entitled Philosophers and the City in Early Modern Europe is published by Routledge, in an outstanding new handbook, The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of the City. The handbook's description is available here at the homepage of the publisher.

Ferenc Hörcher presents a paper in Hungarian with the title Mi a szerepe a posztkommunizmusnak a mai európai válságban? (What is the Role of Post-Communism in the Present European Crisis?), on 4 April, 2019, at 4.00 pm., in the Institute for Political Science of the Hungarian Academy of Science (4 Tóth Kálmán Street, 1097 Budapest, Hungary). His talk is part of the conference Vezér, demokrácia, politikatudomány: Konferencia a 60 éves Körösényi András tiszteletére (Leader, Democracy, Political Science, Conference in honour of the 60th Birthday of András Körösényi).

Balazs Gyenis’ „Maxwell and the normal distribution: A colored story of probability, independence, and tendency toward equilibrium” is forthcoming in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics.

The abstract of the paper:

We investigate Maxwell’s attempt to justify the mathematical assumptions behind his 1860 Proposition IV according to which the velocity components of colliding particles follow the normal distribution. Contrary to the commonly held view we find that his molecular collision model plays a crucial role in reaching this conclusion, and that his model assumptions also permit inference to equalization of mean kinetic energies (temperatures), which is what he intended to prove in his discredited and widely ignored Proposition VI. If we take a charitable reading of his own proof of Proposition VI then it was Maxwell, and not Boltzmann, who gave the first proof of a tendency towards equilibrium, a sort of H-theorem. We also call attention to a potential conflation of notions of probabilistic and value independence in relevant prior works of his contem- poraries and of his own, and argue that this conflation might have impacted his adoption of the suspect independence assumption of Proposition IV.