Reply to Nathan: How to reconstruct the causal argument

Nicholas Nathan tries to resist the current version of the causal argument for sense-data in two ways. First he suggests that, on what he considers to be the correct re-construction of the argument, it equivocates on the sense of proximate cause. Second he defends a form of disjunctivism, by claiming that there might be an extra mechanism involved in producing veridical hallucination, that is not present in perception. I argue that Nathan’s reconstruction of the argument is not the appropriate one, and that, properly interpreted, the argument does not equivocate on proximate cause. Furthermore, I claim that his postulation of a modified mechanism for hallucinations is implausibly ad hoc.     

Pit your wits against young minds!

This column is a place for those bits of contagious mathematics that travel from person to person in the community, because they are so elegant, suprising, or appealing that one has an urge to pass them on. Contributions are most welcome.     

Crystal structure and vibrational spectra of hydrazinium (2+) tri-μ-fluoro bis[pentafluorozirconate (IV)] fluoride and vibrational spectra of its hafnium analogue

Monoclinic (N₂H₆)₃Zr₂F₁₃·F crystallizes in space group P2₁-C ₂ ² (No. 4) with unit cell dimensionsa=5.670(1),b=10.984(2),c=10.601(2) Å,=93.88(1)°,V=658.7(4) ų andZ=2. Two different types of N₂H₆ ²⁺ ions are present. One is involved in strong H-bonds to F^– ions in infinite chains running along the a axis (the shortest N-F distance is 2.437(5) Å), and the other links the structure through weaker bi- and trifurcated H-bonds to fluorine ligands of the Zr₂F₁₃ ^5– ions. The N-N bond lengths range from 1.430(5) to 1.446(5) Å with apparently no meaningful correlation to the type of N₂H₂ ²⁺ ions. The Zr₂F₁₃ ^5– ions have very nearly C₂ point symmetry and are formed by joining two distorted bicapped trigonal prisms of ZrF₈-units through a common face. Distances of Zr-F terminal bonds range from 2.015(2) to 2.112(2) Å and of bridging bonds from 2.133(2) to 2.212(2) Å. (N₂H₆)₃Hf₂F₁₃·F is isomorphous. The vibrational spectra of the two compounds are nearly identical, with the exception of a strong infrared band, which is assigned to a stretching mode with the moving central atom within the anion. The anion part of the spectrum is simple, showing broad unresolved bands. The cation part shows two types of N₂H₆ ^– ions. H-Bonding is strongly present in the spectra, but no simple correlations with the H-bond strength is evident.