VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Logical validity

This dissertation is about logical consequence. The main points I will defend can be summarised as follows. First, I claim that logical consequence can be understood as truth-preservation under all interpretations of the language. There is no need to use modal notions to define consequence. In chapter one, I argue that domain-variation across different interpretations can be understood in purely interpretational terms, if we take quantifiers to be context-sensitive expressions.
Secondly, I am sympathetic with a substitutional account of logical consequence, where consequence is preservation of truth under all substitutions of the non-logical vocabulary. In chapter two, I extend the substitutional account to modal logic, where the box is read as "It is substitutionally valid that". Modal logic is seen as a way for the system to reflect upon what is valid. Different readings of the box can be provided by restricting the substitutions relevant for the truth of a modal formula.
In the third chapter, I argue that a theory of logical consequence ought to be self-applicable: it should apply to its own language. This is required by our use of logical consequence in philosophical logic, to express the debate between the monist and the pluralist about logical consequence, and to link our theory of what is valid with a theory of valid reasoning and justification.
Finally, in the fourth chapter I suggest that a theory of interpretations of a given language will never really capture all the interpretations of that language. I extend the worry even to theories that admit absolute generality and take higher-order talk to be non-reducible to first-order talk. I argue that, regardless of the order of the theory one is speaking from, there is always an order higher that one can take as one's starting point, and at any further order up the hierarchy, more interpretations of any language become available.

Keywords: axiomatic theories of truth
higher-order logic
modal logic
logical consequence
Advisor: Halbach, V
Williamson, T
Justice intuitions and popular support for war: a theory of presidential retributive rhetoric

The popular desire to exact retribution on an adversary is an attractive resource for American presidents to utilise when mobilising support for war. While prior scholarship has identified the critical role of political leaders’ communications in making retribution salient to the public, a fine-grained theory of why, how, and when leaders are likely to employ retributive concepts is yet to be developed. This thesis addresses this gap in the literature by providing a comprehensive theory of retributive rhetoric. The theory draws on multidisciplinary research on ordinary people’s intuitions and decision principles concerning moral blameworthiness and demonstrates how and when U.S. presidents intuitively employ these concepts in their rhetoric directed to the popular audience. It is argued that when a president wishes to intervene militarily, morally salient harms committed against geographically and culturally distant states are most likely to elicit retributive rhetoric. This thesis also argues that creating a sense of popular moral outrage and an attendant desire for retribution may help explain the popularity of aerial bombing strikes as a foreign policy response.
This work is distinguished from prior scholarship in several ways. It integrates many related but disparate strands of investigation into a unifying theory of retributive rhetoric; it models the performative display of retributive rhetoric as a novel form of “emotional mobilisation”; and it departs from the traditional convention of conceptualising international punishment as revenge, instead focusing on the more psychologically accurate theory of retribution. The expectations and implications of the theory are explored through qualitative analysis of three case studies involving military intervention by the United States: entry into World War II following the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin crisis precipitating the first official use of military force against North Vietnam, and the 1991 Persian Gulf War following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

Keywords: retribution
punishment
war
public opinion
political rhetoric
US politics
Advisor: Johnson, D
Payne, A
In defence of aesthetic attachment: a response to Walter Benjamin's critique of Calderón de la Barca

This doctoral thesis makes its case for an aesthetics of attachment. The argument is made against Walter Benjamin’s Ursprung des deutschen Trauerspiels (1925), which endeavours to obstruct the immersive experience of its readers. According to Benjamin, the Catholic and “Romantic” dramas by Calderón de la Barca epitomise the dangers of aesthetic attachment. Indeed, he reads the playwright through the lenses of Romantic writers such as A.W. Schlegel, who identify in Calderón’s works the sacred world of magic and religion that the Enlightenment had allegedly repressed. For Jena Romantics, Calderón became the emblem for the fight against what they took to be a “disenchanted” version of everyday life.
Benjamin tells us that such a Romantic endeavour to recreate the divine in the arts is uncritical and irresponsible. He compares Calderón’s dramas with Counter-Reformation buildings, in which the ornamentation — according to Benjamin — mesmerises visitors and obfuscates their ability to appreciate the edifice’s keystone. Hence the danger of aesthetic attachment, in this argument, is that it hinders our critical abilities. As an alternative, Benjamin champions the “ruined” — that is, fragmentary — aesthetics of German Baroque drama. Ursprung therefore recreates a neo-Baroque rhetoric which schools its readers into the position of detached interpreters — the objective being, of course, to hinder feelings of immersion.
This thesis goes back to the Spanish comedia and to the debates about the dangers of fiction in early-modern Spain in order to dismantle Benjamin’s assumptions about Calderón as well as to make a case for popular art. The engagement with Calderón underscores the fact that aesthetic attachment cannot be dispelled and, therefore, that it also plays a central role in Benjamin’s book. Finally, through close readings of La vida es sueño and La dama duende, I show that Calderón calls forth feelings of identification and immersion whilst remaining both critical and thought-provoking.

Keywords: Ursprung des deutschen Trauerspiels
Calderón
Walter Benjamin
Golden Age Drama
Advisor: Morgan, B
Thacker, J
Homo Maximus: Emanuel Swedenborg and the interaction of soul and body

This thesis investigates the lifelong commitment of the Swedish parliamentarian, assessor of mines, and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) to the topic of soul-body interaction. It is a thematic intellectual biography, rooted in the history of science, religion and medicine, which places Swedenborg’s life and work in the context of Swedish and Scandinavian society, politics and intellectual life. It provides a new narrative about why soul-body was so crucial to him, why it informed almost all of what he did, and why he pursued the topic within an impressively large array of disciplines and research projects across six decades.
My thesis revises a number of understandings about his life, ideas, intellectual interlocutors, and sense of self. First, it tracks his engagement with the soul-body theme earlier than previously thought, and argues that his famous turn towards theology actually occurred during his anatomical studies. This led him to pursue his soul-body work within an anatomically informed cosmological theology, which postulated that the afterlife as a whole constituted the spiritual grand body of God, that he named Homo Maximus (‘the Grand Man’). Second, the thesis shows how Swedenborg relied on his understanding of the soul-body relationship to pursue various other goals; these consisted of attacking the orthodox conception of the doctrine of the Trinity, attempting to restore mankind’s lost Adamic prelapsarian powers, criticizing absolutist monarchy, spreading his millenarian theology of works, and striving to prove the existence of God. In contrast to dominant historiography, the thesis demonstrates that his famous ‘doctrine of correspondences’ was only a by-product of a larger soul-body quest. It also shows how his soul-body research directly informed his conversations with the dead and his elaborate doctrines about the afterlife.
By doing so, the thesis produces a richly contextualised history of the soul-body problem during the Swedish Age of Liberty (Frihetstiden, 1718-1772). It demonstrates the wide variety of applications of early modern soul-body debates, from anatomy to chemistry, taxonomy, theology, epistemology, economics, and politics in a transnational, European and global context. More broadly, Swedenborg’s late fame, and his innovative attempts to bring reason and revelation together show the need for a wider reassessment of his positioning within current scholarship on the religious Enlightenment.

Keywords: Emanuel Swedenborg
political history
Swedish history
history of science
history of the body
history of the soul
mind-body problem
intellectual history
Enlightenment
history of religion
eighteenth century history
history of medicine
history of anatomy
Advisor: Iliffe, R
Investigation of magnetic states in molecular systems in cryogenic environments

The aim of this Thesis is to increase the fundamental understanding of magnetic molecules, as the ultimate miniaturisation of the electronic component. The considerable interest in molecular nanoscale systems for quantum technologies is hampered by poor understanding of their behaviour when introduced into electronic nanodevices. We investigate the magnetic and electronic states of molecular systems at millikelvin temperature, with the aim of clarifying their behaviour in extreme conditions, and to develop novel instrumentation to further this cause. We do so by concentrating on single-molecule magnets and molecular graphene nanoribbons, first addressed in single crystals and then as single molecules in electronic nanodevices. We observe clear signatures of true magnetism in graphene nanoribbons and reveal connections between the magnetic anisotropy of molecules and their transport properties. The Thesis ultimately contributes to the unification of magnetic and conductive molecular systems and thus serves to advance the field of molecular spintronics.

Keywords: magnetism
spintronics
graphene nanoribbons
spin transport
single-molecule magnets
electronic transport
low-temperature
quantum science
nanoscience
Advisor: Bogani, L
The 1981 riots in London

Past attempts to explain riots have foundered on problems that are as mu conceptual as empirical. Failures to understand what should constitute a 'cause' of a riot and the nature of social mobilisation implicated in the process of rioting have led to the easy misappropriation of rioting in academic discourse as the historical event becomes a rhetorical symbol.
Attempting to provide the best possible description to serve as the raw materials for explanation, Home Office data is here combined with local source material to demonstrate that the disorders involved a wide range of behavioural repertoires that were not distributed evenly between old and young, black and white, 'locals' and travellers to the disturbance. Dominating the most serious riots and at the heart of most other disorders was a clash between black people and the police which was just one manifestation of a deeply rooted historical conflict. Notions of the 'average rioter' and the mistaken assumption that rioting is a generic form of behaviour confused understanding of events and contributed to a 'moral panic' which further clouded common perception of the 1981 riots in London
Three case studies examine the detailed context and local history behind thse clashes. The collective violence of 1981 is best understood in terms of the reproduction and transformation of the police/paliced power relation; in particular the challenges to this relation that were tied to specific ‘front lines’ of conflict. This link between the rejection of the policing prerogative and the symbolic reading of particular 'senses of place’, between actions and locales, can be stated theoretically in a reconciliation of dramaturgical analysis with spatial semiolgy.
It is thus possible to see the rioting as unsurprising in its historical and geographical context but at the same time spontaneous, the riots constituted a collective rejection of a particular social order but the rioters were not part of a deindividuated mob, scotching suggestions of conspiratorial planning, revolutionary strategy and crowd irrationality. The purposive nature of human behaviour is retained whilst allowing scape for the unacknowledged conditions of action and a strong notion of the determination of social action.
Analysis of the newly introduced consultative machinery in London confirms that this conflict is not susceptible to resolution by discussion. The salient characteristics of the groups themselves assure that even the most astute individuals must operate within a bureaucratic structure that can offer only occasional palliatives to a tragic social schism.
Behavioural and ecological observations on giant tortoises on Aldabra Atoll

This study is the result of twenty months field work on Aldabra. Aldabra is a raised limestone atoll, with the highest point of land 18 m above sea level. In the main, it is covered with low dense scrub, and has 1ittle fresh-water: the terrain is very broken and treacherous. There is distinct seasonality in climate. The southern summer, November to April, is hot, cloudy, and rainy, while the other six months are dry and clear but cool. The most noticable change during the seasons is in the wind. It is light and variable in summer but a steady thirteen knots in winter. Aldabra, although not the ideal tropical paradise, supports the largest population of giant tortoises anywhere in the world today; 100 000 animals may occur on the atoll. These are the last representati of a population that once occurred over many islands of the western Indian Ocean. The closest relative is a species, now extinct, from Madagascar.
The animals grow to large size, although none reach the 500 pound mark recorded in the earlier part of this century. general topies of morphology, that relate to the rest of the study, are discussed.
The locomotory gaits are described: noises have a gait which apparently does not occur in other animals. rate of locomotion is related to air temperature. Records of long distance movements are also mentioned; a giant tortoise can probably cover a kilometre a day.
[The abstract continues in the thesis]
On the impact of new, light states in some astrophysical and laboratory systems

We investigate the observational consequences of adding hypothetical new states to the Standard Model of particle physics. These additional fields are feebly coupled and much lighter than the electroweak scale. They include dark photons, mil- licharged particles, heavy neutral leptons, as well as light dark matter that couples to electronic spin, among others.
We derive limits on particles that could have been detected by the Big Euro- pean Bubble Chamber (BEBC) in the 1982 CERN-WA-066 beam dump experiment. Light states coupling to photons, as well as heavy neutral leptons, may have been produced in the copious hadronic decays in the beam dump, and the lack of ob- served signal events allows us to place world-leading bounds on both these particles in the GeV mass range.
We also reappraise an existing astrophysical limit on ultra-light dark photons derived from Jupiter’s magnetosphere. The new bosons may kinematically mix with our photon, leading to modifications of electrodynamics at large distances. Observations of the magnetic field around Jupiter allow us to place the strongest constraints to date on the size of the mixing, once we include measurements of the plasma from the recent Juno spacecraft mission.
Lastly, we study the ability of sub-GeV dark matter coupling electronic spin to excite magnons in magnetically ordered materials. We calculate the expected excitation rate in quasi-2d ferromagnetic materials, and show it exhibits strong anisotropies. These materials then allow for directional detection of such dark mat- ter candidates. The near-term possibility of detecting these small meV energy de- positions raises the exciting prospect that this may be a compelling way to discover the particle nature of dark matter.

Keywords: dark matter phenomenology
Advisor: Sarkar, S
Wheater, J
A nationalist theory of secession

In this thesis I argue that nations can have a right to unilaterally secede from a legitimate, non-usurping state. In addition, I argue that they are special in this regard. I argue that there is a presumption in favour of collective autonomy by nations, establishing this claim by showing that co-nationality can be an intrinsically valuable relationship and that this grounds a strong claim to self-determination. I then argue that there are no considerations that always defeat the presumption in favour of collective autonomy by nations—for example, unilateral secession from a legitimate state need not wrong citizens of the remainder state by wrongfully taking territory. As such, nations can have an undefeated claim right to unilaterally secede from a legitimate state.
I establish the second part of the claim above—that nations are special in this regard—in two ways. First, I argue against more permissive accounts of self-determination; accounts that attempt to ground a right to secede for any territorially concentrated group capable of performing the basic functions of statehood and governing in a satisfactory manner. Secondly, I argue that despite the fact that other kinds of group—such as religious groups—share the features in virtue of which nations have a claim to self-determination, the content of these groups’ identities is too narrow to be the basis of a pluralistic political identity, and such, they would wrong members of minority groups within their territory by seceding. This is not true of nations, I argue.

Keywords: territorial rights
secession
nationalism
legitimacy
philosophy of international law
self-determination
Advisor: Butt, D
Miller, D
Boundaries adrift: entitlements and delimitation in shifting seas

Sea-level rise threatens to undermine the legal order of the oceans. By causing a retreat in the shoreline, it can submerge critical basepoints and alter the status of features from which entitlement limits and delimited boundaries are measured. This issue has received significant academic attention, yet much of it is dedicated to the study of adaptation. The consensus is that the existing legal framework will have to be replaced by one that provides for stable baselines and limits. This thesis does not deny the need for adaptation. However, it argues for an enhanced focus on resilience. Recognizing that new rules to address sea-level rise will require significant time to be adopted, the thesis explores what coastal states can do, under existing law, to stabilize their maritime claims. Examining the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the thesis unearths significant resilience within its provisions. It argues that the ambulation of the normal baseline under Article 5 is not automatic but is controlled by the coastal state through the revision of charts. It demonstrates how vertical datum calculations could be used to tether the movements of the charted baseline. It offers a doctrinal justification for the construction of straight baselines on coasts impacted by sea-level rise under Article 7(2). It uncovers the legal basis for the use of coastal fortification measures to stabilize the baseline within Article 11. It justifies why continental shelf limits are resilient to the effects of sea-level rise, determining that there are two routes to their permanence under Article 76(8) and Article 76(9). Finally, it reveals that the opposability of delimited boundaries cannot be successfully challenged in the context of sea-level rise due to their status as executed treaty provisions. The doctrinal limits to which the Convention’s provisions may be applied are also studied. The thesis identifies each measure as one with promising yet finite utility. It concludes by outlining a plan of action that coastal states may follow to enhance the resilience of their maritime claims, based on the preceding legal analysis.

Advisor: Redgwell, C
Papastavridis, E
Impact of a VI-polysaccharide conjugate vaccine in preventing Typhoid Fever in an endemic setting, Lalitpur, Nepal

Globally, an estimated 11 to 21 million cases of febrile illness and 117,000 to 161,000 deaths are attributed to typhoid fever each year. Typhoid fever is prevalent mainly in low-resource settings with poor water, and inadequate sanitation and hygiene facilities, with South Asia accounting for a large proportion of the burden. Children bear a substantial burden of the disease. Increasing antimicrobial resistance threatens to limit treatment options for typhoid fever. The WHO, in 2018, recommended the use of a new generation vaccine, typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), for the control of typhoid fever in endemic regions; however, data from typhoid-endemic settings were lacking. A randomized controlled trial was therefore conducted in Lalitpur, Nepal, to assess the impact of TCV.
In this phase III participant-observer-blind randomized controlled trial, children aged 9 months to under-16 years old, were individually randomized (1:1) to either receive the TCV (Typbar-TCV, Bharat Biotech) or a capsular group A meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenA) as control, and were followed-up for two years.
The protective efficacy of TCV against blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever at two years was 79.0% (95% confidence interval (CI): 61.9%, 88.5%; P<0.001). Administration of TCV reduced the incidence of typhoid fever (72 (95% CI: 38,123) cases per 100,000 person-years) compared with the control group (Incidence (MenA group): 342 (95% CI 262, 438) cases per 100,000 person-years).
The results of this trial represent one of the first findings confirming that TCV is efficacious in a setting of high endemicity. As a direct result of the findings of this trial and with GAVI support, TCV introduction has been implemented in policy in Nepal. TCV is now routinely administered to children at 15 months of age as part of the national immunization schedule. In this thesis, I describe the design, implementation and results of the trial conducted in Nepal.

Keywords: typhoid conjugate vaccine
Typhoid Fever
vaccine efficacy
Advisor: Pollard, A
Basnyat, B
Voysey, M