Today we are in the midst of a far-reaching shift in scientific thought involving the recasting of many of our long-cherished ideas and preconceptions. To some this appears but the orderly evolution of scientific thought, while to others it portends a revolution in both the ideas and the methods of scientific inquiry.

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Pancreatitis is a complex, progressively destructive inflammatory disorder. Alcohol was long thought to be the primary causative agent, but genetic contributions have been of interest since the discovery that rare PRSS1, CFTR and SPINK1 variants were associated with pancreatitis risk. We now report two associations at genome-wide significance identified and replicated at PRSS1-PRSS2 and X-linked CLDN2 through a two-stage genome-wide study. The PRSS1 variant likely affects disease susceptibility by altering expression of the primary trypsinogen gene. The CLDN2 risk allele is (...) associated with atypical localization of claudin-2 in pancreatic acinar cells. The homozygous CLDN2 genotype confers the greatest risk, and its alleles interact with alcohol consumption to amplify risk. These results could partially explain the high frequency of alcohol-related pancreatitis in men. © 2012 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved. (shrink)

In some part, the ideas presented here are anticipated in a paper by Frank Tillman, through I present a broader theory intended to have utility in connection with the theory of truth.

This essay explores two ideas that have recently played an important role in discourse about the American constitutional order. The first idea has emerged from the revival of civic republicanism. The republican revival has focused our attention on the classical conception of civic virtue. Our basic social arrangements ought to nourish a citizenry with the characteristics of mind and will that promote human flourishing. The second idea, expressed in critical race theory and feminist jurisprudence, is that we have an obligation (...) as a society and as scholars to attend to excluded voices. The juxtaposition of these two themes offers an opportunity to explore the relationship between classical philosophy and the American constitutional order. Civic republicanism is a complex set of ideas that has developed over the course of two millennia; understanding the republican revival requires a recognition that there are many strands in republican thought-that republicanism is itself a contested concept. In order to untangle the strands, I will examine classical moral and political philosophy, especially the work of Aristotle and Machiavelli, in relation to the work of the architects of the republican revival, including Frank Michelman, Suzanna Sherry, Cass Sunstein, and others. (shrink)

Compassion is an emotion that occupies a central position in Mah?y?na Buddhist philosophy while it is often a neglected subject in contemporary western philosophy. This essay is a comparison between an Eastern view of compassion based upon Mah?y?na Buddhist perspectives and a western view of the same emotion. Certain principles found in Mah?y?na Buddhist philosophy such as the Bodhisattva Ideal, and suffering to name two, are explored for the information they contain about compassion. An essay by Lawrence Blum is (...) taken as representative of a Western view and it is analyzed for its shortcomings in light of the Buddhist view. The conclusion briefly describes the value of understanding an eastern view on compassion as a means of filling the void one finds in western medical ethics discourse which focuses so heavily, and redundantly, upon issues such as patient autonomy and paternalism. (shrink)

The philosophy of Schelling has for too long been lost in the shadows of Fichte and Hegel. While one might dispute Martin Heidegger’s judgment that Schelling was actually the most creative and far-reaching thinker of German Idealism, it betrays both ignorance and intellectual indolence to simply deny his importance. Schelling was not only a significant co-author of “Hegelian” idealism, he was also its first and perhaps most penetrating critic. He outlived Hegel by over 20 years and, as Manfred Frank (...) demonstrates in one of the following essays, developed the arguments against Hegel that were subsequently taken up by Feuerbach, Marx, and Kierkegaard. (shrink)

As one of America’s "public intellectuals," John Dewey was engaged in a lifelong struggle to understand the human mind and the nature of human inquiry. According to Thomas C. Dalton, the successful pursuit of this mission demanded that Dewey become more than just a philosopher; it compelled him to become thoroughly familiar with the theories and methods of physics, psychology, and neurosciences, as well as become engaged in educational and social reform. Tapping archival sources and Dewey’s extensive correspondence, Dalton reveals (...) that Dewey had close personal and intellectual ties to scientists and scholars who helped form the mature expression of his thought. Dewey’s relationships with F. M. Alexander, Henri Matisse, Niels Bohr, Myrtle McGraw, and Lawrence K. Frank, among others, show how Dewey dispersed pragmatism throughout American thought and culture. (shrink)

This two-volume collection of essays brings together major contemporary theoretical works on freedom of speech. Volume I, begins with a theoretical overview of freedom of speech and then turns to the topics of what justifies freedom of speech and what kinds of acts raise free speech concerns. Volume II, examines the distinctions among content regulations and between content and content-neutral regulations. It also analyses the concept of the public forum, inciting and hateful speech and lastly the tension between the subsidizing (...) activities of the affirmative state and the negative liberty of freedom of speech. (shrink)

Frank A. Lewis presents a close study of book Zeta of Aristotle's Metaphysics, one of his most dense and controversial texts, commonly understood to contain his deepest thoughts on the definition of substance and related metaphysical issues. Lewis argues that Aristotle returns to the causal view of primary substance from his Posterior Analytics.

One might expect functionalism to imply that personal identity is preserved through various operations on the brain, including transplantation. I argue that this is not clearly so even where the whole brain is transplanted. It is definitely not so in cases where only the cerebrum is transplanted, a conceivable kind of hemispherectomy, and even certain cases in which the brain is "gradually" replaced by an inorganic substitute. These results distinguish functionalism from other accounts taking what Eric T. Olson calls the (...) "Psychological Approach" to personal identity, enabling it to avoid some of his objections to them. (shrink)

The aim of Kant’s Sources in Translation is to retrieve the rich intellectual world that influenced Kant’s philosophical development. In its first stage, the series makes available the most important textbooks Kant used throughout his long teaching career. Many of these textbooks are in Latin or in German and remain inaccessible to Anglophone readers. Lacking this material, however, it is difficult to appreciate Kant’s originality and process of philosophical maturation, for readers are unable to understand what prompted Kant to introduce (...) a distinction, offer a qualification, attack a position, or develop a new thesis. This background is essential to understand the genesis of Kant’s thought. -/- This volume provides the first English translation of Johann August Eberhard’s Preparation for Natural Theology, as well as the Danzig transcript of Kant’s course on rational theology. Given the growing contemporary interest in Kant’s philosophy of religion and the heated debates on how to read his bewildering Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, the material published here is key to shedding light on the formative stages of Kant’s mature thoughts on these matters. (shrink)

This particular book has been published by The Ecumenical Theological Seminary, and is part of The Ecumenical Theological Seminary Library. In addition to our many other endeavors, primarily our ongoing goal to strive for, and achieve theological academic excellence, The Ecumenical Theological Seminary publishes literature pertaining to Theological subject matter, Spirituality, Meditation, Religion, Mysticism, et cetera.If you are an aspiring writer, or an author who would like to have your work published, or if you would like to submit a proposal, (...) or have any questions, or concerns, please contact The Ecumenical Theological Seminary. There is no cost to submit a manuscript to The Ecumenical Theological Seminary, and the copyright remains the property of the author. Certain manuscripts may be adequate to earn credit toward one of our degree programs. Therefore, please feel free to inquire about such.Publishing Your Book with The Ecumenical Theological Seminary; what we can offer:The Ecumenical Theological Seminary has been established since November 27th, 1994, and through the years has earned recognition, acknowledgement and respect throughout the world. The Ecumenical Theological Seminary has a team of dedicated and experienced editors who will review and provide feedback and guidance on your proposal. The Ecumenical Theological Seminary has a strong international presence, global distribution and marketing venues, and our sales channels reach deeply into markets within the United States, and throughout the world. Our editorial and marketing teams ensure that your book receives the right exposure.The Ecumenical Theological Seminary has a dedicated and knowledgeable sales team, with resources within the United States, and throughout the world; selling directly to bookstores, wholesalers, online retailers, library suppliers, colleges and universities, and churches. We offer quality design and production values, using the latest technology, our books are produced efficiently, quickly and attractively. We offer a global marketing plan, including direct mail, electronic and web marketing, advertising, review mailing, conference representation and adoption marketing for religious based books. The Ecumenical Theological Seminary has an extensive eBooks program, with new titles being added regularly, and we know how important it is to provide eBook content in a format that customers want.For further information, please feel free to contact The Ecumenical Theological Seminary.The Rev. Dr. Damian Stone, Founder, and President. (shrink)

Given the central role played by space and time both in our ordinary experience and in our attempts to understand the world by means of scientific theory, it is no surprise that attempts to understand space and time form a central locus of the interaction of philosophy and the physical sciences.

Kochen has suggested an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which he denies that wavepackets ever collapse, while affirming that measurements have definite results. In this paper I attempt to show that his interpretation is untenable. I then suggest ways in which to construct similar, but more satisfactory, hidden variable interpretations.