Could there have been nothing? is the first book-length study of metaphysical nihilism - the claim that there could have been no concrete objects. It critically analyses the debate around nihilism and related questions about the metaphysics of possible worlds, concrete objects and ontological dependence.

Correspondence analysis of 28 proteomes selected to span the entire realm of prokaryotes revealed universal biases in the proteins’ amino acid distribution. Integral Inner Membrane Proteins always form an individual cluster, which can then be used to predict protein localisation in unknown proteomes, independently of the organism’s biotope or kingdom. Orphan proteins are consistently rich in aromatic residues. Another bias is also ubiquitous: the amino acid composition is driven by the GþC content of the first codon position. An unexpected bias (...) is driven, in many proteomes, by the AANbox of the genetic code, suggesting some functional biochemical relationship between asparagine and lysine. Less-significant biases are driven by the rare amino acids, cysteine and tryptophan. Some allow identification of species-specific functions or localisation such as surface or exported proteins. Errors in genome annotations are also revealed by correspondence analysis, making it useful for quality control and correction. (shrink)

This thoughtful reflection on a valuable questionnaire survey of patients' attitudes regarding being told that their dentist had been infected with hepatitis B is of very direct relevance to HIV, as the authors show.1 The measured tone and analytical approach are a welcome change from the stridency that has characterised some of the debate elsewhere. I am very conscious that more time and effort has gone into drafting and redrafting, amending, revising and refining policy in this area than in any (...) other area of HIV control, with the probable exception of blood transfusion. Yet this is the setting that has the lowest risk among all established routes. Why has it been so hard to establish a satisfactory policy and practice to deal with this situation?Many factors, of course, apply. However, much seems to stem from a prevailing view, fostered by recent political administrations, that health care can be delivered in a risk-free way. This has also been linked with a “blame culture”, where adverse outcomes are seen as someone's fault, and where the professions are regarded with distrust. It has been fuelled by levels of concern about risk for HIV that have stemmed more from media “stories” about risk than careful risk assessment.Hence Blatchford et al comment that public anxiety about HIV relative to hepatitis B was a factor in assessing how the incident was handled, implying that HIV was of greater concern - even though the risk of transmission is some two orders of magnitude less. Interestingly, they also comment that, because the risk of death with HIV is higher than for hepatitis B, this balances the overall risk. I am not sure of the validity of this argument, …. (shrink)

In the Anthropocene era, the coexistence with other species and wildlife has become an ethical imperative but continues to face challenges due to anthropic pressures and anthropocentrism. Drawing from my experience as an NGO volunteer assisting sheep farmers in France to coexist with wolves, I employ ethnographic methods to explore the ethics of multispecies coexistence. More specifically, I examine how wolves are socially constructed as entitled, or not, to coexist in spaces of encounter. Considering space as a matrix that shapes (...) ethical relations, the analysis draws on posthumanist theory and other-than-human geography. The findings highlight how the ethics of coexistence are conditioned by the undoing of the predation/production and wolf/farmer dichotomies, which involves a social production of space in three distinct ways. Firstly, there is a production of the spaces of coexistence to encompass broader relationships with the wolf that extend beyond farmers and redefine the moral impact of the wolf. Secondly, the spatiality of sheep, wolves, dogs, and farmers is produced to blur the constitution of sheep as wolf victims and wolves as ruthless killers. Thirdly, the negotiation of space between species is produced as an ethical practice. This article contributes to the growing field of organizational posthuman ethics and biodiversity conservation by demonstrating how space, species, and ethics are interconnected. It further delineates the contours of coexistence as an ethical practice. (shrink)

This book is an account of the important influence on the development of mathematical logic of Charles S. Peirce and his student O.H. Mitchell, through the work of Ernst Schroder, Leopold Lowenheim, and Thoralf Skolem. As far as we know, this book is the first work delineating this line of influence on modern mathematical logic.

Working Feminism looks at key concepts and debates within feminist theory and puts them to work concretely in relation to the real problems faced by Filipina ...

A printed record of the symposium held in 1971 that was sponsored by the University of California's medical campus in San Francisco and the City and County of San Francisco to examine man's destiny and moral development.

Ethical dilemmas abound in the neonatal intensive care unit as hour-to-hour life and death decisions are made for premature or compromised newborns. This book is a rich tapestry of parental perceptions woven from the many stories parents tell about their experiences with a baby in the unit, as well as major events after discharge related to the ethical decision making.

The article explores the different modalities of the notion of bond in Rousseau’s philosophy (social, civil, political) according to the main axes of his thinking. We begin with the criticism of the sociability of Enlightenment developed in the Discourse on the Origins and Basis of Inequality among Men in order to compare it with the political remedy that emerges in the Social Contract, as well as the analysis that is conducted in the Émile around “the abstract man” cultivating his capacity (...) for attachment. Thus the genealogy of the links can emerge from the relationships of need. Alongside the condemnation of mutual dependence, mapping the notions of link, bond, relationship, node and spring offers full meaning to the positive definition of Man as a “relative being”. (shrink)

Transformative unlearning: safety, discernment and communities of learningThis paper aims to stimulate awareness about the intellectual and emotional work of ‘unlearning’ in knowledge workers in the emerging learning age. The importance of providing a safe space for dialogue to promote transformative learning, through building ‘communities of learning’, is highlighted. Unlearning is conceptualized within a transformative education paradigm, one whose primary orientation is discernment, a personal growth process involving the activities of receptivity, recognition and grieving. The author utilizes the metaphor of (...) an unfolding spiral path to explore her experience of needing to ‘unlearn’ a trusted nursing practice prior to ‘learning’ new best caring practices related to infant sleep positions. Macro and micro approaches to facilitating unlearning in organizations, in learners and in nurses are suggested. (shrink)

The study of metaphysical possibility involves two central questions: What are possible worlds? Is there an empty possible world? In looking at the first question we consider the different accounts of possible worlds—Lewisian realism, ersatzism, etc. In looking at the second question we consider the discussions of metaphysical nihilism, the modal ontological arguments, etc. In this paper I am drawing these two questions together in order to show how the position we hold on one of these issues affects the position (...) we should hold on the other. (shrink)

This paper aims to contribute to intercorporeal ethics studies by enlarging their political understanding. Intercorporeal ethics revolve around the idea that, within organizations, our embodied interaction with each other is a conduit to enact genuine ethical relations of autonomy, mutual recognition, respect, care and responsibility. However, how intercorporeality can also be a means for organizations to shape and control their members’ ethical relationships in pursuit of corporate interests remains to be examined. We explore this political perspective on intercorporeality by combining (...) insights from Merleau-Ponty and Nussbaum. We analyze how the deployment of a lean management program in a financial institution produces unethical relations of objectification between employees by influencing their embodied interactions. Our study thus enlarges the political understanding of intercorporeality by showing the processes through which the embodied experience of one another is conditioned not only by our corporeal sensibility but also by managerial prescriptions. This provides a more nuanced understanding of intercorporeality as a basis to counter control and domination in organizations. (shrink)

Neste artigo, discutiremos os limites do modelo de estabilização empregado nas operações da Organização das Nações Unidas para construção da paz de longo prazo. Nosso argumento é que a estratégia política da estabilização, por ser baseada no uso robusto da força para combater grupos armados e apoiar governos no restabelecimento da autoridade estatal, acaba perdendo de vista os esforços de resolução dos conflitos, o que, no limite, contribui para o prolongamento da violência. Metodologicamente, o artigo se baseia no estudo do (...) caso do combate ao grupo armado M23 pela MONUSCO na RDC, por meio da análise de dados e documentos que nos permitam avaliar dois aspectos principais: (i) os níveis de violência armada; e (ii) a condução de um processo político de resolução do conflito. (shrink)

Prisoners sometimes die in prison, either due to natural illness, violence, suicide, or a result of imprisonment. The purpose of this study is to understand deaths in custody using qualitative methodology and to argue for a comprehensive definition of death in custody that acknowledges deaths related to the prison environment. Interviews were conducted with 33 experts, who primarily work as lawyers or forensic doctors with national and/or international organisations. Responses were coded and analysed qualitatively. Defining deaths in custody according to (...) the place of death was deemed problematic. Experts favoured a dynamic approach emphasising the link between the detention environment and occurrence of death rather than the actual place of death. Causes of deaths and different patterns of deaths were discussed, indicating that many of these deaths are preventable. Lack of an internationally recognised standard definition of death in custody is a major concern. Key aspects such as place, time, and causes of death as well as relation to the prison environment should be debated and incorporated into the definition. Systematic identification of violence within prison institutions is critical and efforts are needed to prevent unnecessary deaths in prison and to protect vulnerable prisoners. (shrink)

In the theoretical description of prospect theory, distinct sets of parameters can control the curvature of the value function and the shape of the probability weighting function. There is one for the gain domain and one for the loss domain. However, in most estimations, behaviour over losses is assumed to perfectly reflect behaviour over gains, through a unique set of parameters. We examine the consequences of relaxing this simplifying assumption in the context of Tanaka et al.’s (Am Econ Rev 100(1):557–571, (...) 2010) risk-elicitation procedure based on multiple price lists. We show that subjects’ behaviour for gains is mostly reflected for losses at the aggregate and individual levels, and is consistent with the distinctive prospect theory fourfold pattern. Reflection is only partial as the mean curvature of the value function is slightly less convex for losses than it is concave for gains. These results are robust to a high-stake context. However, we demonstrate that assuming reflection can have huge consequences on loss-aversion measures. Incidentally, we also highlight the existence of a strong, negative and persistent pure loss-frame effect on elicited loss aversion. We recommend that future practitioners and modellers are particularly cautious about the loss-aversion values they obtain or use because these are especially sensitive to parametric assumptions and framing. (shrink)

Pour une théorisation explicite des temporalités patrimoniales en SHS Les études patrimoniales constituent un champ de recherches interdisciplinaires particulièrement fécond pour la théorisation des temporalités en sciences humaines et sociales. En effet, le patrimoine est un construit social caractérisé par un rapport spécifique aux temporalités, résultat de la patrimonialisation, l’« ensemble des processus de collecte et de valorisation par lesquels un groupe social sort un objet – au sens le plus large du terme – du cours ordinaire du temps pour (...) l’ériger en emblème de son identité dans le temps » (A. Micoud, 2005). Il naît de l’« édification d’un objet ou d’un bâtiment (ou d’une pratique, ou d’un savoir…) en signe de quelque chose d’autre que lui-même : une partie de notre passé, de notre identité, de nos valeurs communes » (M. Rautenberg, 2024, p. 19). Le patrimoine, « instrument moderne pour organiser la cohérence entre le présent et le passé », désigne « un ensemble de repères... (shrink)

This paper has been explicitly composed for oral presentation: written by ear to be (read as) heard. It stages an experiment/experience ( expérience ) with sound—and in the written text with the “sight” of sound—in order to solicit and engage the becoming sens (e) of sound in the space between resonance and response-ability it seeks to explicate and explore. The presentation begins with the sound of the first few bars of a popular song (whose identity I am withholding in this (...) submission in order to preserve the integrity of the expérience upon which its success depends), which is eventually heard in its entirety and which constitutes the point of departure, reference, and return—of resonance and response-ability—for the composition as a whole. (shrink)

This article examines the relationship between spirituality and politics. The author states her frustration at spirituality which is deployed against ethics in the service of politics, this she believes is inherent in many discourses and practices of spirituality. The article asks us to look again at many of the liberation theologies not because they are believed to be wrong, simply disappointing, that is to say they seem to end in concrete identities rather than pushing the very boundaries of meaning and (...) identity themselves. The article calls for spirituality that does not split us off from this world and thus from our creativity and the potential subversive possibilities that lie within it. (shrink)

L’époque contemporaine est dominée par l’injonction à « produire du lien social », laissant supposer que le lien social est en crise, qu’il s’est perdu, à tout le moins s’est affaibli, morcelé et diversifié, sous le coup de l’individualisme, de l’accroissement des inégalités, de la perte des sentiments collectifs et d’une forme de consensus moral. L’urgence sanitaire dans laquelle nous sommes plongés nous exhorte soudainement au confinement généralisé en faisant résonner le concept nouveau de...

Drawing on an ethnography among Quebecois and French female new Muslims, I consider how converts epitomize and embody the “encounter” between Muslim and western societies. By choosing Islam, converts position themselves on the margins, giving them a unique perspective on the “West.” My participants’ reflexive narratives hinge on continuity/disruption dialectics that dissolve the commonly held dichotomy between Sameness and Otherness. In analyzing these narratives, I view subjectivity as a rhetorical construction and elaborate upon converts’ daily intimate encounters and dialogues with (...) Otherness in social spaces. In light of Simmel’s figure of the Stranger based on distance and proximity, I show that converts’ experiences echo the “pacific coexistence” that Muslim and European populations have experienced historically. I argue that narratives are crucial to understanding how Islam—as a political and symbolic language of Otherness—can help frame and profile emergent western subjects and identities. (shrink)

In this paper I put in dialogue two areas of scholarship: Technology Studies and Sound Studies. Within Technology Studies I discuss the influential social construction of technology approach and illustrate it with the history of the moog electronic music synthesizer, the first commercial music synthesizer. I stress the role of standardization of keyboards and the key role played by users in the development of this technology. I examine certain iconic sounds that the moog synthesizer produces and discuss the stabilization of (...) sound. It is argued that just as technologies can be traced as stabilizing over time, sounds also can be traced with certain sounds stabilizing and being taken up by users whilst other sounds fail to stabilize. The technology required to produce a sound, performance practice, and wider cultural concerns such as the naming of sounds are crucial ingredients in the stabilization of sound. (shrink)

Mental health is reaching a crisis point due to the ramifications of COVID-19. In an attempt to curb the spread of the virus and circumvent health systems from being overwhelmed, governments have imposed regulations such as lockdown restrictions and home confinement. These restrictions, while effective for infection control, have contributed to poorer lifestyle behaviors. Currently, Positive Psychology and Lifestyle Medicine are two distinct but complimentary disciplines that offer an array of evidence-based approaches for promoting mental health and well-being across a (...) universal population. However, these strategies for improving mental health are typically used in isolation. This perspective calls for a new paradigm shift to create and rollout well-designed interdisciplinary universal multicomponent mental health interventions that integrates the benefits of both disciplines, and uses innovative digital mental health solutions to achieve scalability and accessibility within the limitations and beyond the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions. (shrink)

This paper elaborates on the Golem metaphor as a way of understanding uncertainty in science. Its implications for the ethics of communicating science are explored.

Does a concurrent cognitive task affect the dynamics of bimanual rhythmic coordination? In‐phase coordination was performed under manipulations of phase detuning and movement frequency and either singly or in combination with an arithmetic task. Predicted direction‐specific shifts in stable relative phase from 0° due to detuning and movement frequency were amplified by the cognitive task. Nonlinear cross‐recurrence analysis suggested that this cognitive influence on the locations of the stable points or attractors of coordination entailed a magnification of attractor noise without (...) a reduction in attractor strength. An approximation to these findings was achieved through parameter changes in a motion equation in relative phase. Results are discussed in terms of dual‐task performance as limited resources, dynamics rather than chronometrics, and reparameterization rather than degradation. (shrink)

A B S T R A C T Detailed examination of audio recordings of business-to-business `field-sales' encounters are used to report one way in which salespeople elicit verbal expressions of affiliation from their prospective customers — by reciprocating second assessments which affiliate with, trade off and build on prospects' own assessments. This article outlines the prototypical features of these junctures of assessment-affiliation and describes how salespeople can mobilize such assessments to build extended sequences of `rapport' that take the form of (...) adjacent and mutual expressions of substantive verbal affiliation. Consideration is also given to explicating both the interactional basis of these sequences as well as the socially obligating influence such affiliation and rapport can have on sales outcomes. (shrink)

A group of activist clinicians have offered to volunteer for clinical trials of live attenuated HIV vaccines. This has provided an important conceptual challenge to medical ethics, and to work on the development of HIV vaccines. In exploring these issues, this article highlights how the HIV field has altered the content as well as the tone of ethical discourse. The balance of expertise and authority between research subjects and triallists is profoundly changed, raising questions about the limits of voluntarism and (...) differing perspectives on risk-benefit analysis. Care is needed to ensure that the novelty of the situation does not confuse the central ethical and scientific issues. (shrink)

Dr de Zulueta articulates some important and commonly held concerns about the anonymised screening programme for HIV in pregnant women, which is one of a number of such programmes that are current. However, in my view, many of these concerns reflect a failure to understand two key distinctions.In both these regards, there is a danger of putting up a “straw man” for challenge. In this commentary, I wish to pick up some of these issues to help to resolve the apparent (...) ethical tensions that Dr de Zulueta has set out.Firstly, the unlinked seroprevalence surveillance programmes, including that on pregnant women, comprise research studies that are designed to inform policy and practice, as well as individual decision making. They are not screening for the purpose of clinical care. The anonymisation is a procedural research tool, which enables the studies to be done in a way that does not undermine consent or individual autonomy. The ethical standards and duties expected of professionals are thus, in this specific regard, those that relate to the conduct of clinical research. That research is evidently designed to improve the quality of clinical care as a result of the information and insight gained. The duty of care is to apply the results of properly conducted and valid research in order to improve clinical practice on behalf of the individuals receiving care, in this case the mother and unborn child. The research conducted, in this case by a particular form of screening procedure, is not the same as a screening procedure done for clinical purposes to identify individuals who could benefit from an intervention. The ethical debate must therefore focus on the purpose in applying the procedure, not on the procedure itself, regardless of intent.Secondly, it is vital to distinguish, in debating such …. (shrink)

Guest Editors' introductionFor this special issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics we have assembled articles that reflect some of the newer issues or fresh perspectives. There is a mix of approaches including forward looks, present dilemmas and reflections on the past, now that sufficient time has elapsed to allow a considered view. We are most grateful to our wide range of contributors for their thoughtful analyses of several key areas of contemporary debate. Our own contributions include the following editorials (...) in which each of us has considered, from his own perspective, the impact of AIDS on medical ethics, a case study and a lexicon that allows brief probing of some topics.The impact of aids on medical ethics -1ANTHONY J PINCHINGMedical ethics has been matured through being tested and refined through the multifaceted challenge of AIDS. As with the society and social values from which its moral framework is derived, so medical ethics has been subjected to intense scrutiny by the emergence of this new disease. Few areas of ethical discourse have been untouched. This infection is so intensely private in its transmission, the disease so isolating and so personally devastating in its impact, it readily distinguishes the reality of what people are and do, from the rhetoric of what others may feel they should be and do. AIDS has forced us to recognise that respecting individual rights is a critical safeguard for the health of the community, as well as for the person. These issues are well illustrated by the interweaving issues of patient empowerment, respect for confidentiality, and patient advocacy and activism.EMPOWERMENTPhysicians in this field have been struck by the way in which people affected have wanted to be involved in decision making. While this has often been ascribed to their social groups, it probably was more a reflection of their younger age and a generation change …. (shrink)

This selection of essays represents a continuous and coherent developing work which integrates philosophical (abstract) and political (concrete) concerns. The essays draw on an extensive knowledge of and familiarity with 20th-century European philosophy.