We investigated the impact of frequency of interruptions in a simulated medical visual search task. Participants performed the visual search task during which they were interrupted by a number-classification task in 25, 50, or 75% of all trials, respectively, reflecting the frequency conditions. Target presence and interruption were varied within-subjects, and interruption frequency was varied between-subjects. Globally, on a frequency condition level, participants in the low frequency condition had longer mean response times for the primary visual search task than in (...) the high condition, but there were no other performance differences between the three frequency conditions. Locally, on the level of specific interruption effects, accuracy decreased directly after interruptions for target present but not for target absent trials. Furthermore, interruptions caused significant interruption costs, reflected in slower overall RTs in interrupted than in uninterrupted trials. The combined findings show that especially for critical visual search tasks as in the medical field, interruptions—regardless of frequency—should be avoided. (shrink)

Through modern driver assistant systems, algorithmic decisions already have a significant impact on the behavior of vehicles in everyday traffic. This will become even more prominent in the near future considering the development of autonomous driving functionality. The need to consider ethical principles in the design of such systems is generally acknowledged. However, scope, principles and strategies for their implementations are not yet clear. Most of the current discussions concentrate on situations of unavoidable crashes in which the life of human (...) beings is existentially affected. In this paper, we argue that ethical considerations should be mandatory for any algorithmic decision of autonomous vehicles, instead of a limitation to hazard situations. Such an ethically aligned behavior is relevant because autonomous vehicles, like any other traffic participants, operate in a shared public space, where every behavioral decision impacts the operational possibilities of others. These possibilities concern the fulfillment of a road-user’s safety, utility and comfort needs. We propose that, to operate ethically in such space, an autonomous vehicle will have to take its behavior decisions according to a just distribution of operational possibilities among all traffic participants. Using an application on a partially-autonomous prototype vehicle, we describe how to apply and implement concepts of distributive justice to the driving environment and demonstrate the impact on its behavior in comparison to an advanced but egoistic decision maker. (shrink)

The vast network of Drosophila geneticists spawned by Thomas Hunt Morgan's fly room in the early 20th century has justifiably received a significant amount of scholarly attention. However, most accounts of the history of Drosophila genetics focus heavily on the "boss and the boys," rather than the many other laboratory groups which also included large numbers of women. Using demographic information extracted from the Drosophila Information Service directories from 1934 to 1970, we offer a profile of the gendered division of (...) labor within Drosophila genetics in the United States during the middle decades of the 20th century. Our analysis of the gendered division of labor supports a reconsideration of laboratory practices as different forms of work. (shrink)

All states of human life are limited by time. Human personality, but also interpersonal justice therefore have a temporal dimension. Is time thus a source of normativity: a factor that every ethic must take into account? Does it make any demands on the design of our personal way of life? And must norms and rules that aim to bring about, maintain, change or end certain states of human life always have to take into account the passage of time? In this (...) book, seventeen philosophers discuss the significance of the temporal dimension of human personality and interpersonal justice for ethics and law. It becomes clear that hardly any problem applied ethics face today does not refer to the normative meaning of the temporality of our existence and the passing of time. With contributions by Dieter Birnbacher, Frank Dietrich, Michael Grossheim, Martin Hoffmann, Jan C. Joerden, Sebastian Knell, Andrea Klonschinski, Walter Mesch, Lukas H. Meyer, Andreas Mueller, Johannes Mueller Salo, Michael Quante, Michael Schefczyk, Reinold Schmücker , Niko Strobach, Timothy Waligore, Ulla Wessels. (shrink)

In the Classical Quarterly, xlix , Mrs. A. D. Ure mentions a Corinthian pyxis which had been previously published by her in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, lxix. 19 f. . This vase, at first believed to be of Boeotian origin, appears to come from Corinth, as subsequently shown by Mrs. Ure in J.H.S. lxxii. 121. Its subject is quite well known, consisting of an unbearded figure dressed in a fawn-skin with two horns growing from its head, and sitting on (...) what very probably is a heap of corn. In his right hand he is holding a staff thickened at the head, and in his left a stick terminating in forklike prongs. The figure is flanked on the right by a small animal and on the left by a basket of fruit. (shrink)

Die Kritik der Rabbinen an Gott erweist sich keineswegs als eine Schwächung der Glaubenskraft oder gar als verhüllter Atheismus; sie weist zwar dadurch, daß sie nur bei Einzelnen auftritt und nicht eigentlich die Stimme der Gemeinde, d. h. einen sensus communis, darstellt, auf die Tatsache hin, daß es Richtungen, Spaltungen, Häresien im Rabbinismus gegeben hat - eine Tatsache, die uns auch ohnedies schon bekannt ist. Das Bemerkenswerte jedoch daran ist, daß die kritischen Elemente ertragen worden sind und das Judentum der (...) Kritik in seiner eignen Mitte standgehalten hat: die jüdische Gemeinde ist daran nicht zugrunde gegangen, ihr Glaube war stark genug, auch damit fertig zu werden. Ferner darf man diese Kritik an der Gottheit, sogar als einen Erweis lebendigen Umgangs mit ihr betrachten: Gott ist gleichsam auch der Gefährte des Menschen, nicht nur der Herr, und diese Einstellung des Rabbinismus mag als ein fast notwendiges Supplement - oder wenn man will, ein Korrelat - zur Vorstellung von der Überweltlichkeit Gottes und von seinem Getrenntsein von der Welt, wie sie sonst das Judentum bestimmt, angesehen werden. Gott als der Gefährte des Menschen begegnet uns ja auch gelegentlich im Neuen Testament: er bedarf, obschon der "Herr der Ernte", der Erntearbeiter Mt. 9,38, d. h. aber der Gehilfen; noch deutlicher bringt dies der paulinische Terminus Mitarbeiter Gottes, I. Cor. 3,9 u. ö., zum Ausdruck. Die Kritik an Gott ist gleichzeitig eine Krit i k a m Menschen. Sie betrifft ja den Schöpfer, dessen Werk in der Erschaffung des Menschen gipfele32). Jüdische Kreise, die die Schöpfung abwerten, nehmen am Geist der Zeit teil. Auch bewirken gnostische Ideen durch die Aufstellung von Mittlerwesen eine Entfernung der Gottheit von der Welt: er nimmt nicht mehr unmittelbar an ihr teil. Gottes Macht wird beschränkt durch die Hypostasierung seiner Eigenschaften. Der Anthropomorphismus, von einem Teil der Schriftgelehrten zu beheben oder zu mildern versucht, wird bei anderen umso stärker, und sie drücken darin ihren Hader mit Gott aus: er ist trotzig gegen die Bitten der Gemeinde, er verwechselt Namen und ist vergeßlich, ja er entzieht sich seinem eignen Gesetz oder den ethischen Verpflichtungen, die er selbst geboten hat. Aber wiederum, von der anderen Seite gesehen: Gott leidet mit seinem Volk, er ist ohnmächtig, demütig, weint und klagt, trauert um Stadt und Tempel, ist erlösungsbedürftig und ringt mit sich selbst um sein Erbarmen. Man könnte dies die positive Seite der rabbinischen Kritik an Gott nennen. Auf zwei große Motive läßt sich diese Kritik zurückführen : auf eine Fortführung des alttestamentlichen Dispute zwischen Gott und Menschen, wobei gleichzeitig eine Veränderung der biblischen Gottesvorstellung nach der spekulativen Seite hin erfolgt - und auf das Interesse a n der Entlastung der bedrängten Gemeinde. Es sind Motive, die in der Weiterentwicklung des Judentums unvermeidlich waren. Auch andere große Religionen haben unter dem Druck solcher Anfechtungen gestanden. Auch dem Islam und dem Christentum ist solche Kritik nicht fremd geblieben. Was den Islam betrifft, so ist Verfasser durch einen Vortrag von Hellmut Ritter im Orient-Institut Frankfurt/Main über "die Kritik an Gott bei den persischen Mystikem"33) zu vorliegender Untersuchung angeregt wor den. Wenn auch die Erscheinungswelt der islamischen, zumal der persischen Mystik von derjenigen der Rabbinen so verschieden ist wie nur möglich, da es sich dort meist um Extravaganzen des Typus des "närrischen Heiligen" handelt, der die Freiheit hat, auch die radikalsten Gedanken über die Gottheit zu äußern, ohne daß er sein praktisches Verhalten der Ergebung in Gott ändert, so haben doch b e i d e Welten das eine gemeinsam, daß es die Not ist, die hier ein entscheidendes Wort mitspricht. Im Christentum ist die Kritik an Gott lediglich verhüllter dank der Idee der Menschwerdung Gottes und der ins Dogma eingebauten Theorie vom Mittler; aber sie ist nichtsdestoweniger vorhanden und bricht in Zeiten der Krisis hervor. Schon die Theodizee, die positive Seite der Kritik an Gott, setzt voraus, daß der Mensch nicht um eine Recht-fertigung Gottes herumkommt; das aber hat wieder zur Voraussetzung, daß der Mensch Gott Vorwürfe macht. So tut es z. B. LUTHER, der "in seinen seelischen Kämpfen Gott besonders Härte und Ungerechtigkeit vorgeworfen hat"34). Diese Kritik ist zuletzt notwendige Begleiterscheinung jedes ernsthaften, sich um sich selber mühenden, nicht scholastisch erstickten Glaubens. Auch über die Kritik der Rabbinen an Gott kann schließlich kein anderes Urteil gefällt werden, als daß sie die dialektische Überwindung der Negation mittels ihrer ehrlichen Durchschreitung darstellt. (shrink)

Democratic decision-making is often defended on grounds of the ‘wisdom of crowds’: decisions are more likely to be correct if they are based on many independent opinions, so a typical argument in social epistemology. But what does it mean to have independent opinions? Opinions can be probabilistically dependent (threatening the ‘wisdom of crowds’) even if individuals form their opinion in causal isolation from each other. We distinguish four probabilistic notions of opinion independence. Which of them holds depends on how individuals (...) are causally affected by environmental factors such as commonly perceived evidence. In a general theorem, we identify causal conditions guaranteeing each kind of opinion independence. These results have implications for whether and how ‘wisdom of crowds’ arguments are possible, and how truth-conducive institutions can be designed. (shrink)

The excellent quality and depth of the various essays make [the book] an invaluable resource....It is likely to become essential reading in its field.—CHOICE.

Von Hildebrand, D. Das Wesen der Hierarchie.--Hengstenberg, H.-E. Gegenwärtigkeit.--Deku, H. De nihilo.--Hamburger, S. J. Das Phänomen der Patina.--Marra, W. A. A minimum epistomology.--Crosby, J. F. Refutation of skepticism and general relativism.--Wenisch, F. Versuch einer Rechtfertigung der Philosophie.--Chervin, R. The Christian phenomenologist as teacher of contemporary youth.--Von Hildebrand, A. Near-sightedness of keen thinkers.--Miceli, V. Heidegger and Bultmann.--Seifert, J. Friedrich Nietzsches Verzweiflung an der Wahrheit und sein Kampf gegen die Wahrheit.--Heyne, M. W. Wesen und Wirklung einiger in der Abtreibungsdiskussion verwendeter Schlagworte.--Schwarz, S. (...) D. Spontaneous freedom.--Teichert, F.--The essence of virtue, as found in the writings of Dietrich von Hildebrand. (shrink)

„On 23rd February 2022, when the editors had worked out topical issues of dispute relating to politics, ethics, technology and religion for a Hans Jonas Centre conference on responsibility for the future and discourse ethics, it was suddenly foreseeable that Russia would invade the core area of Ukraine the next night. We immediately informed our Ukrainian colleagues that we would allow them asylum, if desired, and invite them to the conference in Bad Kissingen as keynote speakers. In no time at (...) all, the new programme for the confer-ence was ready: After commemorating Hans Jonas' honorary doctorate in Berlin under the motto ‘Fatalism would be a mortal sin’ exactly 30 years ago, we now focus on ‘Discourse despite war’. After that, we discuss digitalisation as well as theology, philosophy and commitment". With contributions by Prof. Dr. Claus Altmayer; Harald Asel, M.A.; Dorothee Bär, MdB; Dr. Thomas Bausch; Prof. Dr. Dietrich Böhler; Prof. Dr. Michael Bongardt; Wolfgang Freese; Bernadette Herrmann, M.A.; Sebastian Höpfl; Bischof em. Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Huber; Dr. Grigori Katsakoulis; Pfarrer Wolfgang Klein; Wolfgang Korb; Dr. Lena Kornyeyeva; Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Klaus Leisinger; Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans Lenk; Prof. Dr. Ulf Liedke; Prof. Dr. Alfons Matheis; Dr. Olaf Meyer; Dr. Jürgen Naeher-Zeiffer; Stephanie von Dallwitz; Dr. Marianne Rabe; Dr. Manuela Rottmann, MdB; PD Dr. Dr. Thomas Rusche; Prof. Dr. Johann Michael Schmidt; Dr. Eva-Maria Schwickert; Maritta Strasser, M.A.; OB Dr. Dirk Vogel and Prof. Dr. Anatoliy Yermolenko. (shrink)

We present a new road map for research on “How the Brain Got Language” that adopts an EvoDevoSocio perspective and highlights comparative neuroprimatology – the comparative study of brain, behavior and communication in extant monkeys and great apes – as providing a key grounding for hypotheses on the last common ancestor of humans and monkeys and chimpanzees and the processes which guided the evolution LCA-m → LCA-c → protohumans → H. sapiens. Such research constrains and is constrained by analysis of (...) the subsequent, primarily cultural, evolution of H. sapiens which yielded cultures involving the rich use of language. (shrink)

Bonhoeffer dira plus tard qu’il a « découvert » la Bible en donnant ce cours sur « Création et chute » en 1932-33. Il a voulu faire un « exercice » d’« exégèse théologique », comprise comme relecture de toute l’écriture à partir de la fin de la création dans le Christ. Les allusions au nazisme qui vient de prendre le pouvoir en Allemagne montrent Bonhoeffer soucieux de lui opposer une anthropologie théologique qui soit la prise en compte, dans l’écriture, (...) de toute la réalité humaine dévoilée à la lumière du monde nouveau.Notons quelques idées maîtresses de cette anthropologie : la résurrection du Christ est ce qui révèle l’acte créateur comme appel à l’être ; la Parole créatrice donne forme au réel ; l’appartenance commune des hommes à la terre fonde leur co-humanité, chacun advenant à la liberté par sa relation à l’autre ; la limite est grâce et le refus de la limite, l’origine du mal ; l’union de l’homme et de la femme dans la différence signifie et l’acceptation de la limite et l’accueil de la grâce, que chacun est pour l’autre ; l’église se fonde et se signifie dans cette communauté humaine différenciée et réconciliée.Later in his life Bonhoeffer will say that he “discovered” the Bible in giving his course on “Creation and Fall” in 1932-33. He had wanted to make it an “exercise” of “theological exegesis”, taken as a rereading of all Scripture in terms of the end of creation in Christ. The allusions to Nazism that came to power in Germany show Bonhoeffer’s concern to oppose it with a theological anthropology. It would take into account, in Scripture, all human reality unveiled in the light of a new world.Let us note some key ideas of this anthropology : Christ’s resurrection is that which reveals the creative act as a call to being ; the creative Word gives form to the real ; the common appartenance of men to the earth establishes their co-humanity, each approaching freedom by his relation to the other ; grace is the limit and refusal of the limit is the origin of evil ; the union of man and woman in their differences signifies both the acceptance of the limit and the reception of grace, what each one is for the other ; the Church establishes and gives itself meaning in this human community that is differentiated and reconciled. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance by Reggie L. WilliamsCourtney H. DavisBonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance Reggie L. Williams waco, tx: baylor university press, 2014. 196 pp. $39.95.In a year when nine people were killed in a historic black church and a litany of African American lives have been extinguished by police brutality, to say this book (...) about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and racialized interpretations of Jesus is timely is an understatement.Bonhoeffer was in search of a meaningful Christian theology through an authentic encounter with Jesus. Reggie Williams argues that Bonhoeffer, while [End Page 205] communing with people of color in 1930 Harlem at the height of its literary movement, found that meaning in the “black Christ” tradition otherwise unfamiliar to the young scholar. Bonhoeffer carried the identity of the black Christ to Germany, where he actively resisted Nazi atrocities and was executed in 1945. How is it that his ethic of resistance could be so singular, given that he was formed in much the same way as his “fundamentally oblivious” German peers (2)? Williams credits the difference to Harlem, where Bonhoeffer was schooled in hermeneutics and empathy; he further contends that Bonhoeffer’s practical experience in New York as well as the South and Cuba informed and motivated his attempts to actively eradicate the “lethal assumptions” of his peers in the German academy about God and humanity (3).On the undeniable influence of a hermeneutic, Williams states that a community of believers must have one; not only that, its hermeneutic must be connected to justice that extends concern beyond the confines of “self and kind” (3). Here Williams introduces the concept of empathy, which he describes as an ability to enter into the context of another’s suffering. Quite unintentionally, he informs the Rachel Dolezal controversy in noting that one does so without “losing grasp of one’s own separate identity” (3). Williams posits that Bonhoeffer must have experienced a “healthy and appropriate” empathy evidenced by his transformation from a theology that sanctioned racism prior to Harlem, to a willingness to share vicariously in the daily toll of racism in the black community, to resistance of racism upon returning to Germany (4). Bonhoeffer was not hamstrung by his social identity; he did not let being a white German scholar impede his ability to enter into the black American community and learn from it, “as though he had never been an outsider at all” (78).Williams argues that Bonhoeffer’s German peers did not possess such empathy because they had not shared in his Harlem experience. But there were in fact others in Germany who did not allow German nationalism to supersede Christ-centered resistance, even without the benefit of such an encounter. Although Williams does not address this fact in his argument, the historical documentation assembled in this book makes it plain that Harlem, the black literary movement, and Adam Clayton Powell Sr.’s ecclesiology did indeed have a profound effect on Bonhoeffer and his radical ethic of resistance.In addition to the exploration of Bonhoeffer’s time in Harlem, this book raises important considerations about scholarship and pedagogy that would benefit a broad audience. Williams, using Bonhoeffer’s own words, emphasizes that his early theology had been a demonstration of intellect rather than an expression of faith. Although he had written two dissertations, he was “not yet a Christian” when he set off for New York (109). When he returned, he lamented the German academy’s “guardians of purity” in Bonn who policed the borders of tradition—what was and was not taught in the classroom or preached on [End Page 206] Sunday (111). Has the academy continued this tradition of policing, and what is the rationale for the discipline of theology: intellectual religion or active faith? Williams makes the answers clear.Courtney H. DavisSt. Bernard’s School of Theology and MinistryCopyright © 2016 Society of Christian Ethics... (shrink)

Horst Dietrich Preuss, Old Testament TheologyRolf P. Knierim, The Task of Old Testament Theology: Essays, Substance, Method and CasesDaniel Patte, Ethics of Biblical Interpretation: A Re‐evaluationBrian D. Ingraffia, Postmodern Theory and Biblical Theology: Vanquishing God's ShadowJohn Barclay and John Sweet, Early Christian Thought in its Jewish ContextStephen T. Davis, Daniel Kendall and Gerald O'Collins, The Resurrection: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Resurrection of JesusMaureen A. Tilley, Donatist Martyr Stories: The Church in Conflict in Roman North AfricaMaureen A. Tilley, The (...) Bible in Christian North Africa: The Donatist WorldL. G. Patterson, Methodius of Olympus: Divine Sovereignty, Human Freedom and Life in ChristJ. H. D. Scourfield, Consoling Heliodorus: A Commentary on Jerome, Letter 60C. Moreschini and D. A. Sykes, St Gregory of Nazianzus: Poemata ArcanaPeter O'Dwyer, Towards a History of Irish SpiritualityUinseann Ó Maid'n, The Celtic Monk: Rules and Writings of Early Irish MonksDáibhíÓ Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland 400–1200Gerhard Ladner, God, Cosmos, Humankind: The World of Early Christian SymbolismKevin Trainor, Relics, Ritual and Representation in Buddhism: Rematerializing the Sri Lankan Theravãda TraditionSteven F. Ostrow, Art and Spirituality in Counter‐Reformation Rome: The Sistine and Pauline Chapels in S. Maria MaggioreDavid Morgan, Visual Piety: A History and Theory of Popular Religious ImagesColleen McDannell, Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in AmericaSarah Coakley, Religion and the BodyPaul F. Bradshaw and Lawrence A. Hoffman, Life Cycles in Jewish and Christian WorshipGordon P. Jeanes, The Day Has Come! Easter and Baptism in Zeno of VeronaJohn Macquarrie, A Guide to the SacramentsMegan McKenna, Rites of Justice: The Sacraments and Liturgy as Ethical ImperativesDouglas J. Davies, Death, Ritual and Belief. (shrink)

The works of H. Richard and Reinhold Niebuhr provide an appropriate starting point for renewed attention to the idea of responsibility in Christian ethics. While responsible choice and ‘the responsible society’ were important themes in ecumenical Protestant ethics in Britain and the US from the 1930s to the late 1950s, the idea has been neglected in recent decades. German theology, however, has considered Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s wartime writings on the ‘venture of responsibility’ and a biblical theology of judgment and responsibility (...) in light of a growing literature in philosophy and social thought that structures the moral life around a technological society’s responsibility for the human future. These different ways of thinking about responsibility invite further theological and ethical reflection on their history, their disagreements, and their possibilities for the future. (shrink)

This is the first book to explore the cognitive science of effortless attention and action. Attention and action are generally understood to require effort, and the expectation is that under normal circumstances effort increases to meet rising demand. Sometimes, however, attention and action seem to flow effortlessly despite high demand. Effortless attention and action have been documented across a range of normal activities--from rock climbing to chess playing--and yet fundamental questions about the cognitive science of effortlessness have gone largely unasked. (...) -/- This book draws from the disciplines of cognitive psychology, neurophysiology, behavioral psychology, genetics, philosophy, and cross-cultural studies. Starting from the premise that the phenomena of effortless attention and action provide an opportunity to test current models of attention and action, leading researchers from around the world examine topics including effort as a cognitive resource, the role of effort in decision making, the neurophysiology of effortless attention and action, the role of automaticity in effortless action, expert performance in effortless action, and the neurophysiology and benefits of attentional training. -/- Contributors: Joshua M. Ackerman, James H. Austin, John A. Bargh, Roy F. Baumeister, Sian L. Beilock, Chris Blais, Matthew M. Botvinick, Brian Bruya, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Marci S. DeCaro, Arne Dietrich, Yuri Dormashev, László Harmat, Bernhard Hommel, Rebecca Lewthwaite, Örjan de Manzano, Joseph T. McGuire, Brian P. Meier, Arlen C. Moller, Jeanne Nakamura, Evgeny N. Osin, Michael I. Posner, Mary K. Rothbart, M. R. Rueda, Brandon J. Schmeichel, Edward Slingerland, Oliver Stoll, Yiyuan Tang, Töres Theorell, Fredrik Ullén, Robert D. Wall, Gabriele Wulf. (shrink)

Introduction: the age of reflexion Part I. Romanticism: 1. Romanticism and the sciences David Knight 2. Schelling and the origins of his Naturphilosophie S. R. Morgan 3. Romantic philosophy and the organization of the disciplines: the founding of the Humboldt University of Berlin Elinor S. Shaffer 4. Historical consciousness in the German Romantic Naturforschung Dietrich Von Engelhardt 5. Theology and the sciences in the German Romantic period Frederick Gregory 6. Genius in Romantic natural philosophy Simon Shaffer Part II. Sciences (...) of the Organic: 7. Doctors contra clysters and feudalism: the consequences of a Romantic revolution Nelly Tsouyopoulos 8. Morphotypes and the historical-genetic method in Romantic biology Timothy Lenoir 9. ’Metaphorical mystifications’: the Romantic gestation of nature in British biology Evelleen Richards 10. Transcendental anatomy Philip F. Rehbock 11. Romantic thought and the origins of cell theory L. S. Jacyna 12. Alexander von Humbolt and the geography of vegetation Malcolm Nicholson Part III. Sciences of the Inorganic: 13. Goethe, colour, and the science of seeing Dennis L. Sepper 14. Johann Wilhelm Ritter: Romantic physics in Germany Walter D. Wetzels 15. The power and the glory: Humphrey Davy and Romanticism Christopher Lawrence 16. Oersted’s discovery of electromagnetism H. A. M. Snelders 17. Caves, fossils and the history of the earth Nicholas A. Rupke Part IV. Literature and the Sciences: 18. Goethe’s use of chemical theory in his Elective Affinities Jeremy Adler 19. Kleist’s bedlam: abnormal psychology and psychiatry in the works of Heinrich von Kleist Nigel Reeves 20. Coleridge and the sciences Trevor H. Levere 21. Nature’s book: the language of science in the American Renaissance David van Leer 22. The shattered whole: Georg Buchner and Naturphilosophie John Reddick. (shrink)

Educating the Virtues David Carr Routledge, 1991. Pp. 304. ISBN 0?415?05746?9. £35. The Philosophical Theology of St Thomas Aquinas By Leo J. Elders E. J. Brill, 1990. Pp. 332. ISBN 0?04?09156?4. $74.36. The State and Justice: An Essay in Political Theory By Milton Fisk Cambridge University Press, 1990. Pp. x + 391. ISBN 0?521?38966?6. £10.95 pbk. Perspectives on Language and Thought: Interrelations in Development Edited by S. A. Gelman and J. P. Byrnes Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. xii + 524. (...) ISBN 0?521?37497?9. £50. Aristotle's First Principles By T. H. Irwin Oxford University Press, 1989. Pp. xviii + 702. ISBN 0?198?24717?6. £17.50 Pbk. Truth and Eros: Foucault, Lacan, and the Question of Ethics By John Rajchman Routledge, 1991. Pp. 155. ISBN 0?415?90380?7. £10.99. Logical Forms By Mark Sainsbury Blackwell, 1991. Pp. 408. ISBN 0?631?17777?9. £11.95. Form and Transformation. A Study in the Philosophy of Plotinus By Frederic M. Schroeder McGill?Queen's University Press, 1992. Pp. xiv + 136. ISBN 0?7735?1016?8. £34.95. Did The Greeks Believe Their Myths? An Essay on the Constitutive Imagination By Paul Veyne, translated by Paula Wissing The University of Chicago Press, 1988. Pp. 161. ISBN 0?226?85434?5. £8.75 Pbk. What is Philosophy? By Dietrich von Hildebrand Routledge, 1991. Pp. lvii + 242. ISBN 0?415?02584?2. £12.99. (shrink)

On September 27, 2016 people across the world looked down at their buzzing phones to see the AP Alert: “Baby born with DNA from 3 people, first from new technique.” It was an announcement met with confusion by many, but one that polarized the scientific community almost instantly. Some celebrated the birth as an advancement that could help women with a family history of mitochondrial diseases prevent the transmission of the disease to future generations; others held it unethical, citing medical (...) tourism and consequences for the future of the therapy. The child in question was actually born a few months earlier on April 6, 2016, but the research was published a few months later in the October edition of Fertility and Sterility. The mother carries DNA that could have given the baby Leigh Syndrome, a severe neurological disorder characterized by psychomotor regression that typically results in death between ages two and three.[1] Also known as subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy, Leigh Syndrome is caused by genetic mutations in mitochondrial DNA, which causes defective oxidative phosphorylation. Because people with this condition cannot re-form ATP, “demyleniation, gliosis, necrosis, spongiosis, or capillary proliferation”[2] can occur, thereby producing bilateral lesions across the central nervous system. The 36-year-old mother previously had four miscarriages and successfully birthed two children, both of whom survived less than six years due to the syndrome. For religious reasons, the mother opted for Spindle Nuclear Transfer instead of Pronuclear Transfer,[3] which many religious organizations oppose because it entails the destruction of fertilized eggs.[4] In Pronuclear Transfer, both the parent and donor egg are fertilized. The parent’s nuclear material is then removed from the egg containing mutated mitochondria and inserted into the fertilized donor egg—from which the original nuclear material has been removed and destroyed. Spindle Nuclear Transfer, on the other hand, removes the mother’s nuclear material from the egg with unhealthy mitochondria, then implants it into a donor’s egg. The newly created egg is then fertilized with the father’s sperm. This Spindle Nuclear Transfer was performed in Mexico by a team of doctors led by Dr. John Zhang, the founder of the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City. In their report, the doctors outline that five oocytes were successfully reconstituted, four of which developed into blastocysts. Only one was euploid: containing 46 XY chromosomes. Researchers then biopsied that blastocyst and found that the transmission rate of maternal mtDNA was, “5.10 ± 1.11% and the heteroplasmy level for 8993T>G was 5.73%.”[5] This indicates that at the blastocyst stage, around five percent of the mitochondria are from the original maternal egg with the mutation for Leigh Syndrome. After birth, they biopsied different tissues and found that they had an average of less than 1.60 ± 0.92% of transmitted mtDNA from the original maternal egg. The baby is reportedly doing well and the team of doctors concluded that “[h]uman oocytes reconstituted by SNT are capable of producing a healthy live birth. SNT may provide a novel treatment option in minimizing pathogenic mtDNA transmission from mothers to their babies."[6] Even when considered theoretically, Spindle Nuclear Transfer is controversial. Many doctors believe that the risks at this stage of research are too great. Dr. Trevor Stammers, a bioethicist at St. Mary’s University in London, points out: “We do not yet have a clear picture of the interaction between nuclear DNA and mitochondria.”[7] Others hold that faulty mitochondrial DNA can still be transferred during the procedure. Still more argue this technology could create problems because of germline modification.[8] Dr. Paul Knoepfler, a cell biologist at the UC Davis School of Medicine, explains: “Since this is uncharted territory and the children born from this technology would have heritable genetic changes, there are also significant unknown risks to future generations.”[9] However, proponents counter these arguments. They say the benefits outweigh the risks, as “mitochondrial replacement techniques [like Spindle Nuclear Transfer] would eliminate maternal transmission of mitochondrial disease… allowing a woman with a family history of mitochondrial diseases to ensure her children would not be affected.”[10] Additionally, experts say that no symptoms will occur if less than 20% of the transferred mitochondrial DNA is faulty.[11] And while opponents see potential germline modification as a problem, advocates answer that this could stop a family history of mitochondrial disease, which they deem a more serious concern. In this case specifically, however, there are more issues at hand. While the team of doctors did eliminate the possibility of germline modification by selecting a male embryo, there are other ethical concerns. Some argue that this case could be described as “medical tourism.” While New Hope Medical Clinic does maintain a branch in Mexico, Dr. Zhang stated that Mexico has “no rules.”[12] It is a country with underdeveloped regulations, making it difficult to confirm that doctors adhere to widely-held medical and ethical standards. Furthermore, while it is highly unlikely that the child will develop Leigh’s Syndrome, Dr. Dietrich Egli of the New York Stem Cell Foundation says the 5% mitochondrial transfer rate indicates that the technique “was not carried out well.”[13] He points to studies of embryos where the rate of mtDNA transfer was almost ten times lower. Spindle Nuclear Transfer is currently legal in the UK,[14] and many are hoping to see it legalized in the US, although Congress currently prohibits the FDA from considering applications that would entail trials in people.[15] While Dr. Zhang’s work is arguably revolutionary, many wonder if the manner in which this study was performed—in Mexico and with a high mitochondrial transfer rate—will impact the technology’s future in the US. Last week, Dr. Zhang presented the report to scientists gathered in Salt Lake City, saying that while science isn’t a race, it is “in a sense, a race for the family to find a cure, to find hope.”[16] Only time will tell if this study set back other families racing and hoping for a cure. References 1. "Leigh Syndrome." Genetics Home Reference, US National Library of Medicine, 25 Oct. 2016. Accessed 26 Oct. 2016. 2. McKusick, Victor A., and Ada Hamosh. "LEIGH SYNDROME; LS." Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, Johns Hopkins University, 20 Jan. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 3. Zhang, J, H Liu, S Luo, A Chavez-Badiola, and Z Liu. "First live birth using human oocytes reconstituted by spindle nuclear transfer for mitochondrial DNA mutation causing Leigh syndrome." Fertility and Sterility, vol. 106, no. 3, 2016, pp. e375-76. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 4. Sample, Ian. "‘Three-parent’ babies explained: what are the concerns and are they justified?" The Guardian, 2 Feb. 2015. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 5. Zhang, et al. 6. Ibid. 7. Knapton, Sarah. "Three-parent babies: the arguments for and against." The Telegraph, 3 Feb. 2015. 8. Ibid. 9. Ibid. 10. "Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy FAQs." New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute, New York Stem Cell Foundation. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 11. Reardon, Sara. "‘Three-parent baby’ claim raises hopes — and ethical concerns." Nature, 28 Sept. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 12. Hamzelou, Jessica. "Exclusive: World’s first baby born with new “3 parent” technique." New Scientist, 27 Sept. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 13. Reardon, Sara. "‘Three-parent baby’ claim raises hopes — and ethical concerns." Nature, 28 Sept. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 14. "3-Person IVF: A Resource Page." Center for Genetics and Society, 24 Oct. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 15. Ritter, Malcolm. "Baby born with DNA from 3 people, first from new technique." Associated Press, 27 Sept. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. 16. Chen, Daphne. "Controversy swirls around first three-parent baby." Deseret News, 19 Oct. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. Works consulted Swetlitz, Ike. "FDA urged to approve ‘three-parent embryos,’ a new frontier in reproduction." STAT, 3 Feb. 2016. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016. (shrink)

Cuando se habla de filosofía se habla de antropología. Del mismo modo, cuando se habla de antropología también se debería de hablar de la afectividad. Sin embargo, hasta hoy, pienso que muchos filósofos han comprendido mal la afectividad en la persona humana, pues han caído en dos reduccionismos: uno considera la afectividad como un componente irracional, es el caso del dualismo; el otro la asocia a un monismo, como se puede verificar en el sentimentalismo y en el psicologismo. De igual (...) modo, aquellos que permanecen en una posición intermedia también la han comprendido mal, como se puede ver, por ejemplo, en la perspectiva aristotélico- tomista. Para estos, la afectividad es siempre pre- moral y debe ser siempre subordinada a la razón y a la voluntad. De esta forma, no han comprendido que la afectividad tiene también un ámbito espiri-tual y que, así, es ella quien muchas veces debe integrar la razón y la voluntad, a fin de garantizar la autorrea-lización de la persona humana. En este sentido, tampoco han visto que la afectividad puede ser valorada desde el punto de vista moral. Debido sobre todo a estos errores que se han cometido en el ámbito filosófico con relación a la afectividad, he visto que sería bueno repensar la noción de afectividad de la persona humana. Así, de entre todos los autores que he conocido y estudiado, he visto que la propuesta de Dietrich von Hildebrand con relación a la afectividad podría proporcionar muchas respuestas y herramientas para poder solventar estas inquietudes filosóficas y poder evitar reduccionismos, proporcionando interpretaciones más completas. El filósofo, fenomenólogo-realista, Dietrich von Hildebrand se ha distinguido en muchas áreas de la filosofía, como en la metafísica, en la gnoseología, en la ética, en la antropología, en la religión, etc.. “Casi quiero decir que el genio (artístico) de Adolf von Hildebrand ha sido heredado por su hijo (...) como un genio filo-sófico” (Husserl: H. Sepp; L. Embree, Handbook of Phenomenological Aesthetics, Springer, London, 2010, p. 145 (Traducción del autor). No obstante, sin duda alguna, la principal área, aquella en la que con mayor prominencia ha destacado, creemos que fue en el ámbito de la afectividad, aportando, así, contribuciones que hasta hoy no hubieran sido tenidas en consideración. Husserl lo comprueba. Cuando ha dirigido la tesis de doctorado de Hildebrand ha decido: “Sin embargo, su verdadera fuerza y sus significativos y originales resul-tados residen principalmente en la esfera emocional, en los análisis que llenan los capítulos 3o a 8o, de la parte II, y que sorprenden con un conocimiento íntimo sin precedentes de las múltiples formas de la conscien-cia emocional y sus correlatos representativos. Dicho esto, sólo puedo solicitar el título de opus eximium para esta importante obra” [E. Husserl, Urteil Über Hildebrands Doktorarbeit, Ed. K. Schuhmann, Aletheia, V, 1992, p. 5 (Traducción al español del autor)]. El mapa afectivo en Hildebrand es muy vasto. Por esto, he decidido presentar directamente un solo tema, o sea de que modo la afectividad se relaciona con la libertad y así, en este sentido, como ella puede ser valorada moralmente. Para atingir este objetivo, inicialmente me propongo analizar como Hildebrand entiende y concibe la afectividad en la persona humana. Posteriormente analizaré la libertad humana y su relación con la moralidad. Finalmente relacionaré los distintos tipos de libertad en la persona humana con la afectividad, demostrando así al mismo tiempo como la afectividad puede ser moralmente evaluada. (shrink)

The debate on the role and identity of Christian social ethics in liberal democracy touches upon the question about the relationship between universality and specificity. Rather than argue for the difference between these approaches, it can be argued that they are to be understood in a differentiated unity with each other. This idea can be substantiated by a figurative appropriation of a Chalcedonian Christology, particularly the communicatio idiomatum . The communicative dimension of this concept has been found to be useful (...) for a reinterpretation of the idea of responsibility. By engaging contemporary positions of communicative ethics, H. Richard Niebuhr's understanding of responsibility as responsiveness, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christological concept of responsibility in a constructive dialogue with each other, the article has attempted to outline main tenets of a responsive concept of responsibility based on a broadly conceived Chalcedonian Christology. This responsive understanding of responsibility serves as the foundation of a third position beyond the futile antagonism of liberalism and communitarianism. Hereby it maintains the reasonableness of a liberal democratic assertion of a common political discourse, and yet it also contends the necessity of authentic particular worldviews and outlooks. In its argument for such a third-way thinking it hopes to contribute with an understanding where these positions are seen in a constructive relationship – rather than in contrast – with each other. (shrink)

About Christian philosophy, by J. Maritain.--Von Hildebrand and Marcel: a parallel, by A. Jourdain.--Love and philosophy, by J. V. Walsh.--The concepts of cyclic and evolutionary time, by B. de Solages.--The sovereignty of the object; notes on truth and intellectual humility, by A. Kolnai.--Authentic humanness and its existential primordial assumptions, by C. Marcel.--Individuality and personality, by M. F. Sciacca.--Can a will be essentially good? By H. de Lubac.--Reason and revelation on the subject of charity, by R. W. Gleason.--Technique of spiritualization and (...) transformation in Christ, by J. A. Cuttat.--Some reflections on gratitude, by B. V. Schwarz.--Bibliography of the works of Dietrich Von Hildebrand (p. 195-210). (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us by Christine D. PohlAndrew WattsLiving into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us CHRISTINE D. POHL Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012. 176 pp. $15.00With Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us, Christine Pohl provides a useful and accessible companion to her first book, Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Practice (Eerdmans, 1999). Concerned that “church and culture have not (...) provided the skills or virtues for us to be part of the very communities we long for and try to create” (4), she again challenges the identity of the Christian community. She likewise draws again upon the rich contributions of John Calvin and John Wesley as well as Catholic social movements such as L’Arche as she examines three core practices that engender hospitality: gratitude, promise-keeping, and truth-telling.This book grew out of a grant to participate in the Lilly Endowment project, “Sustaining Pastoral Excellence.” In partnership with her church, Pohl gathered a group of pastors, leaders of intentional communities, and seminary professors to think about gratitude, promise-keeping, truth-telling, and hospitality. The group met for three days twice a year, sharing and reflecting on examples of these practices in their ministries. Pohl provides the practical and theological fruit of their conversations, hoping this work will be used by leaders and members to strengthen their communities. She lays out three sections of three chapters each addressing gratitude, promise-keeping, and truth-telling. Each chapter works from the previous one, examining the practices from historical, biblical, theological, and philosophical perspectives. The last section on hospitality integrates the previous ones rather than simply reworking her previous published material. The book is strengthened by Pohl’s ability to connect together various scholarly and pastoral threads—an ability aided by the practical wisdom of a good working group—to offer helpful practical insights.For example, in the first chapter on gratitude, “Grateful Hearts,” she examines the theological attitudes of gratitude, generosity, and debt contrasted with entitlement and dissatisfaction, or grumbling—ever-present cultural complications for “good” and “holy” communities. In the second section, “Promise-Keeping,” she works through different kinds of promises in order to initiate [End Page 245] the hard work of communal reflection. There, rather than resting in the beautiful but abstract insights of thinkers such as Margaret Farley and Hannah Arendt, she distinguishes contractual and covenantal promises from one another and describes their consequences.Throughout the first two sections, qualities of contemporary culture—individualism, freedom, autonomy, mobility, distrust of institutions—affect and deform the practices of gratitude and promise-keeping essential to healthy and faithful communities. This attention to contemporary culture produces vital insight for the section on promise-keeping: while most Christian organizations appear to operate with covenantal expectations, “we actually work with a hybrid of covenantal and contractual obligations” (78). This “contemporary confusion” can lead to betrayal and loss and impede the mediation of fierce disagreements.Although Pohl provides helpful biblical narrative to support her analysis of each practice, she does not provide an adequate analysis of contemporary culture. One suspects that for Pohl—much like H. Richard Niebuhr—culture exists as a construct external to the well-formed community. It appears responsible for many of the attitudes deforming the essential practices she examines. Yet this suspicion is never fully confirmed, in part because she addresses sin as a present deforming power.Perhaps the most eloquent analysis in the book is found in its discussion of truth-telling. Rather than concede to Augustine’s (theological) or Immanuel Kant’s (rational) prohibition against lying, Pohl turns to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s invocation of the concrete situation to analyze the practice of truth-telling. Only a community that places truthfulness within the context of covenantal relationships can deal redemptively with deception and wrongdoing. Several of her examples help the reader understand the uniqueness of this practice for healthy communities. [End Page 246]Andrew WattsBelmont UniversityCopyright © 2014 Society of Christian Ethics... (shrink)

We posit a key goal of firms’ corporate social responsibility efforts is to influence reputation through carefully crafted communicative practices. This trend has accelerated with the rise of social media such as Twitter and Facebook, which are essentially public message networks that organizations are leveraging to engage with concerned audiences. Given the large number of messages sent on these sites, only some will be effective and achieve broad public resonance. Building on signaling theory, this paper asks whether and how messages (...) conveying CSR-related topics resonate with the public and, if so, which CSR topics and signal qualities are most effective. We test our hypotheses using data on public reactions to Fortune 500 companies’ CSR-focused Twitter feeds, using the retweeting of firms’ messages as a proxy for public resonance. We find resonance is positively associated with messages that convey CSR topics such as the environment or education, those that make the topic explicit through use of hashtags, and those that tap into existing social movement discussions. (shrink)