Why do people think that someone living a morally bad life is less happy than someone living a good life? One possibility is that judging whether someone is happy involves not only attributing positive psychological states (i.e., lots of pleasant emotions, few unpleasant emotions, and satisfaction with life) but also forming an evaluative judgment. Another possibility is that moral considerations affect happiness attributions because they tacitly influence attributions of positive psychological states. In two studies, we found strong support for the (...) second hypothesis. Moral considerations only appear to affect happiness attributions when they also affect attributions of positive psychological states. Additionally, both studies supported a hypothesis about why moral judgments have these effects. Specifically, we found that when people judge that someone is living a bad life, they infer that the person is not at peace with themselves. However, when this inference is blocked, moral considerations do not affect attributions of happiness or positive psychological states. In sum, although “happiness” appears to be a purely psychological concept, happiness judgments are sensitive to moral considerations because people often assume that immorality disrupts intrapersonal harmony. (shrink)

In Michael Stingl argues that the legalization of euthanasia can be made reasonable social policy only in the context of healthcare reform to deliver primary- and community-based care. Stingl accepts that euthanasia and that includes not only pain, but He is not worried The failure of the healthcare system to adequately respond to the needs of people who are suffering with chronic or terminal conditions may lead competent people to elect euthanasia. Stingl argues that it is the institutionalization of (...) care for dying people that reduces their ability to find meaning in prolonged life, and thereby makes it more attractive to consider ending one's life sooner. Options such as palliative care at home that significantly improve quality of life and make euthanasia less attractive are currently only available to those who can privately subsidize healthcare services. If an emphasis is placed on community-based initiatives and well-supported self-help, then there would be less inequality of healthcare and the voluntariness of choices, including euthanasia, would be more equal for all people under the healthcare system. (shrink)

Genome Canada has funded a research project to evaluate the usefulness of different forms of ethical analysis for assessing the moral weight of public opinion in the governance of genomics. This paper will describe a role of public consultation for ethical analysis and a contribution of ethical analysis to public consultation and the governance of genomics/biotechnology. Public consultation increases the robustness of ethical analysis with a more diverse and rich accounts experiences. Consultation must be carefully and respectfully designed to generate (...) sufficiently diverse and rich accounts of moral experiences. Since dominant groupstend to define ethical or policy issues in a manner that excludes some interests or perspectives, it is important to identify the range of interests that diverse publics hold before defining the issue and scope of a consultation. Similarly, a heavy policy focus and pressures to commercialize products risk oversimplification of the discussion and the premature foreclosure of ethical dialogue. Consequently, a significant contribution of ethical dialogue strengthened by social analysis is to consider the context and non-policy use of power to govern genomics and to sustain social debate on enduring ethical issues. (shrink)

Significant progress has been made over the last decade in elucidating the mechanisms employed by receptor protein tyrosine kinases (RTKs) in transducing extracellular signals critical for the regulation of diverse cellular activities. Nevertheless, revealing the biological significance of a subset of the RTKs that contain catalytically inactive protein tyrosine kinase domains has proven more elusive. ErbB3 has served as the prototype for models of catalytically inactive RTK function, performing the role of signal diversification in heterodimeric receptor complexes with other ErbB (...) subfamily members. The receptor related to tyrosine kinases (RYK) is unique amongst the catalytically inactive RTKs. Based on structural or functional properties of the extracellular domain, RYK cannot be classified into an existing RTK subfamily. Recent genetic analyses of mouse Ryk and its Drosophila orthologue derailed have defined a role for this novel subfamily of receptors in the control of craniofacial development and neuronal pathway selection, respectively. Recent biochemical data lead us to propose a model that involves RYK in signal crosstalk and scaffold assembly with Eph receptors. This model is consistent with the established roles of Eph receptors and ephrins in craniofacial and nervous system morphogenesis. BioEssays 23:34–45, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

In diesem Buch werden Aspekte der Aussagenlogik und der Prädikaten­ logik der ersten Stufe behandelt. Eine Mathematisierung und Kalkü­ lisierung der Logik kann natürlich ganz verschieden ausfallen, je nach dem, von welchen Motiven man sich primär leiten läßt. Wir stellen drei Gesichtspunkte, die uns auch als die wesentlichsten erscheinen, in den Vordergrund: Die Formalisierung des Wahrheits­ begriffes, die Formalisierung des Beweisbarkeitsbegriffes und das Problem des Suchens nach Beweisen. Diese drei Aspekte führen zu drei verschiedenen Arten von Kalkülen. Die Betonung des (...) Wahrheitsbegriffes führte auf die untersuchung der Hilberttypkalküle von einem Standpunkt, wie er etwa auch im Buch von Rasiowa-Sikorski [Ra-Si] eingenommen wird. Hierbei wurde besonderen Wert auf die algebraischen Techniken gelegt, denn die Natur der Vollständigkeitsbeweise in diesen Kalkülen läßt sich u. E. eigentlich nur algebraisch verstehen. Etwas überspitzt könnte man formulieren, daß die Vollständigkeitsbeweise in Hilberttypkal­ külen Korollare zu Betrachtungen über Kongruenzrelationen in ge­ wissen Boole'schen Algebren sind. Bei den modelltheoretischen Be­ trachtungen haben wir uns kurz ge faßt und nur einige grundlegende Begriffe vorgestellt. (shrink)

Volume 19, Issue 5, May 2019, Page 24-26.

Now, in Emergent Forms of Life and the Anthropological Voice, path-breaking scholar Michael M. J. Fischer moves the discussion to a consideration of the ...

Phenomenologists or Continental thinkers argue for the subject-object continuum. For phenomenology, subjectivity is of the object, and object is for the subject. This book applies that continuum to the holistic foundations of work or specialization. The author devotes a chapter to each of eight cultural applications of the subject-object continuum. Chapter One examines the specialist-generalist continuum meaning specialization for general education. That continuum comprises the framework for the remaining seven chapters. Those seven include production for community, design for user, automation (...) for user, computing for society, taxation for society, information for manufacturing, and procedure for goal. These eight applications constitute the basis for a core curriculum. The core curriculum gives holistic meaning, order, or cosmos to all jobs and to all people. Cosmos is a Greek word meaning humanistic-scientific order, irreducible to physics. The core curriculum is fundamental cosmology. Each of the eight continuities follow in a logical, systematic manner from the analytic-subjective continuum meaning object for subjectivity. Phenomenology of education can become the human basis of a promising holistic logic, bringing together analytic and existential themes. (shrink)

This paper examines the divergent accounts of generation in Physics I and On Generation and Corruption. While the former concerns an unqualified and absolute generation of substance from not-substance, the latter describes the unqualified and simple generation of the elements from each other. In each of these texts, an unusual instance of ὀρέγεσθαι appears in Aristotle’s analysis, regarding the unqualified generation of substance at Phys. I 9, 192a18 and 19, and the cyclical transformation of the elements at GC II 10, (...) 336b28. These passages employ the verb consistently, suggesting that generation involves an ambiguous ontological desire. Such orectic striving differs greatly from human or other animal striving for some good. The accounts of generation in these texts are developed in order to emphasize both the distinction between the two processes and the significance of ontological desire to unqualified generation in its strongest sense. (shrink)

In November of 2019, the University of California Santa Cruz hosted a 3-day interdisciplinary conference to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley. A panel of senior researchers convened to discuss the impact of the novel on modern discussions of scientific ethics. The panel featured Nandini Bhattacharya, George Blumenthal, Michael M. Chemers, David Haussler, and Jenny Reardon. In the process, the panelists acted as the Institutional Review Board for a proposal from Victor Frankenstein himself.

Book Information Concise Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Language. Edited by Peter V. Lamarque. Pergamon Press. 1997. Pp. xix + 599. Dfl 298, US$171.50.

This dissertation is an investigation of ontological priority. The Introduction argues that although philosophers have often been concerned with the things that are ontologically prior, they have seldom addressed the question of what ontological priority is. ;Part One gives a detailed analysis of what ontological priority is. Chapter 1 notes that there are two competing theories available: according to the first, ontological priority is a dependence relation; according to the second, it is a degrees-of-being relation. Since the two views are (...) in themselves irreconcilable and since there are no good grounds for choosing between them, it is better to find a "higher" theory that encompasses both of them. Chapter 2 lays the groundwork for the development of this "higher" theory by examining the Scotistic notion of "essential order", a notion that includes the two relations that have been called 'ontological priority' as noted in Chapter 1. Chapter 3 adapts Scotus's understanding of essential order to formulate a definition of ontological priority. The definition does not define just one relation; rather, it gives membership criteria for an entire class of "ontological priority relations". ;Part Two examines some of the members of the class of ontological priority relations. Chapter 4 examines dependence and concludes three things: first, that the received understanding of dependence is incorrect; second, that dependence properly understood is an ontological priority relation; third, that the relation that is usually thought to be dependence is also an ontological priority relation. Chapter 5 examines degrees-of-being. Since the question of what degrees-of-being is is too complicated to deal with in the context of the dissertation, the chapter examines several theories and shows that degrees-of-being is an ontological priority relation according to any of the theories. ;The Conclusion shows some relations among the three ontological priority relations discussed in Part Two. It also shows briefly how the concept of ontological priority relations can be used to talk about the orderings of the universe. Finally, it points the way to further investigation. (shrink)

This paper examines a proposal to make use of IVF techniques to provide an alternative to therapeutic abortion of fetuses with genetic abnormalities. We begin by describing the proposed procedure, and then show that, considered in itself, it is morally on a par with therapeutic abortion. However, once the wider practical implications are brought into view, the proposed new procedure loses its initial appeal. The pros and cons are not sufficiently clear-cut entirely to rule out the IVF procedure, so the (...) paper concludes by indicating some further complications which may follow, should the procedure come to be adopted. (shrink)

The multiple activities of the RecA protein in DNA metabolism have inspired over a decade of research in dozens of laboratories around the world. This effort has nevertheless failed to yield an understanding of the mechanism of several RecA protein‐mediated processes, the DNA strand exchange reactions prominent among them. The major factors impeding progress are the invalid constraints placed upon the problem by attempting to understand RecA protein‐mediated DNA strand exchange within the context of an inappropriate biological paradigm – namely, (...) homologous genetic recombination as a mechanism for generating genetic diversity. In this essay I summarize genetic and biochemical data demonstrating that RecA protein evolved as the central component of a recombinational DNA repair system, with the generation of genetic diversity being a sometimes useful byproduct, and review the major in vitro activities of RecA protein from a repair perspective. While models proposed for both recombination and recombinational repair often make use of DNA strand cleavage and transfer steps that appear to be quite similar, the molecular and thermodynamic requirements of the two processes are very different. The recombinational repair function provides a much more logical and informative framework for thinking about the biochemical properties of RecA and the strand exchange reactions it facilitates. (shrink)

Alfred Schutz’ article on the well-informed citizen can, among others, also be read as a treatise on the information flow in democratic society. To be “well-informed” is a challenge the citizen has to keep up with in order to play his role in civil society, and being well-informed is also to be seen as a precondition for a fairly functioning political community. For Jürgen Habermas, it is the free press that guarantees public communication of democratic societies and which is threatened (...) by the colonisation of the life-world by system constraints following capitalistic logic. The systems nowadays threatening the life-world have additionally become digital in nature, questioning the traditional division of public and private, whereby the challenge of the well-informed citizen set up by Schütz has not lost any relevance nor contemporary interest. On the basis of Schutz’ framework, these questions are debated in the context of Habermas’ Structural Change of the Public Sphere, Volker Gerhardt’s theory of the Public Sphere, and Vilém Flusser’s analyses of the new telematic digitalized society. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThere is surprisingly little empirical evidence supporting theoretical and anecdotal claims regarding the spontaneous production of prototypic facial expressions used in numerous emotion re...

The archive is the place for the storage of documents and records. With the emergence of the modern state, it became the storehouse for the material from which national memories were constructed. Archives also housed the proliferation of files and case histories as populations were subjected to disciplinary power and surveillance. Behind all scholarly research stands the archive. The ultimate plausibility of a piece of research depends on the grounds, the sources, from which the account is extracted and compiled. An (...) expanding and unstable globalizing archive presents particular problems for classifying and legitimating knowledge. Increasingly the boundaries between the archive and everyday life become blurred through digital recording and storage technologies. Not only does the volume of recordable archive material increase dramatically (e.g. the Internet), but the volume of material seen worthy of archiving increases too, as the criteria of what can, or should be, archived expands. Life increasingly becomes lived in the shadow of the archive. (shrink)

The philosophical literature understands ontological priority in two ways, in terms of dependence, and in terms of degrees-of-being. These views are not reconcilable in any straightforward manner. However, they can be reconciled indirectly, if both are seen as instances of higher-level concept that is a modification of John Duns Scotus' notion of essential order. The result is a theory of ontological priority that takes the form of a list of membership criteria for the class of "ontological priority relations", of which (...) dependence and degrees-of-being are just two examples. (shrink)

St. Thomas Aquinas’ exposition of the Liber de causis, one of the few extended commentaries on this influential work, has received much greater detailed attention during recent decades. Nonetheless, interpretations have diverged concerning how this Neoplatonic source was assimilated and refined by Aquinas. It is not only important to comprehend the originality of procedures and accomplishment of St. Thomas in relation to his work for the sake of historical precision. Equally important is the intention of both the author and his (...) commentator, which is to contribute to our grasp of reality in terms of fundamental metaphysical principles. (shrink)

Betrifft die Handschriften Codd. 12, 13 (S. 185), 134 (S. 181, 332, 336-337), 224 (S. 173), 325 (S. 246), 352 (S. 185), 540 (S. 113, 211) und A 91.8 (S. 2-3, 168, 177, 320, 328, 354) der Burgerbibliothek Bern.

This book declares that lifelong learning teaches values and wholeness and rejects inert ideas or fragmentation. Education plays a vital role in reorganizing and revitalizing the abundant facts from the information explosion. Specialization works at cross-purposes with liberal arts education, which discloses a holistic vision of each person's being.

This paper examines parataxis and ring composition in Anaxagoras Fragment B4a, arguing that this ostensibly prose philosopher employs these poetic techniques to capture his thought. Comparing the fragment with Homeric similes and his description of Achilles’s Shield from Ililad XVIII reveals an immanent poetics within the Anaxagorean text. Lying between two instances of "πολλά τε καὶ παντοῖα" (many things of all kinds) most of fragment constitutes a single sentence. Such ring composition advises that no part of the paratactic clause should (...) be read independently from any other. This supports reading the discussion of "seeds" (σπέρματα) and "compacted" (συμπαγῆναι) human beings in B4a as yielding a conception of infinitely proliferating microcosmic worlds each undergoing its own separation within a single cosmos. (shrink)

This project reframes the four roots (or elements) in Empedocles in order to challenge the Aristotelian account of the One as undifferentiated sameness. Aristotle credits Empedocles with developing both the theory of four material elements and introducing the conception of dualistic moving causes into philosophy through Love and Strife. Aristotle’s interpretation maintains a singular moment in the evolution of the cosmos when Love dominates the whole and unifies all things into a perfectly spherical One, which he describes as an undifferentiated, (...) qualityless substratum. Based on Fragments B17, B62, and B110, this paper argues that a rhizomatic motion in which each root tends towards its own kind emerges from the roots independently of Love and Strife. Thus, Empedocles actually maintains three different sorts of motion: (1) the motion of unlike towards unlike, motivated by Love, (2) the motion of unlike away from unlike, motivated by Strife, and (3) a rhizomatic motion of like to like. The presence of six sources of motion challenges Aristotle’s assumption that, as the One, the universe enjoys a moment of identity without difference. The presence of rhizomatic motion makes the blending or mixing of the roots impossible in the Σφαῖρος. The paper begins by developing Aristotle’s paradox of Strife in the Metaphysics and his paradox of alteration in On Generation and Corruption, followed by Empedocles’ account of mixture and separation in Fragments B8 and B35. Section three examines the precise functions of Love and Strife in Fragments B17 and B21. The last section considers the Empedoclean Σφαῖρος under these different conditions, arguing that the cosmic sphere should not be viewed as an inconsistent disappearance of the roots, but as god understood as a singular community of difference. (shrink)

At the first and most basic level this work is a close reading of Herder's early essay "Uber den Fleiss in mehreren gelehrten Sprachen" (On Diligence in Several Learned Languages) of 1764.

Previous research shows that students often do not read informed consent forms to understand their rights. Four hundred fifty-eight students participated in an advertised temperament study that actually measured whether they noticed a manipulation within the consent form. Answering five questions about the form raised the percentage of students noticing the manipulation in multiple settings; however, overall rates were low. Fewer than 10% of ethnic minority students noticed the manipulation. If the goal of consent forms in higher education remains an (...) informed decision, these results indicate the need for increased interaction within the consent process. (shrink)

Some decades before Umberto Eco refounded semiotics in the sixties, Alfred Schutz had already elaborated a theory on signs and symbols. Moreover, as Schutz himself affirms, neither was he the first to do so. The thoughts of Charles Sanders Peirce had already clearly influenced American pragmatism, and thinkers like George Herbert Mead and Ernst Cassirer had developed a theory of symbols, both referred to by Schutz in his later works. Nonetheless, sign theory was already present in his first book, Der (...) sinnhafte Aufbau der sozialen Welt, and can be traced to the influence of Edmund Husserl. Schutz’s focus on the analysis of the relationship between individual and society fomented his perception of the importance of intermediary communication and sign processes as the setting and interpretation of signs, “Zeichensetzung und Zeichendeutung”, reflections that in his later working phase resulted in a proper sign theory, which is analyzed in the following article. Based on Husserl’s concept of pairing, Schutz here develops his theory of appresentational references, comprising a subdivision of: marks, indications, signs and symbols. This involves the concept of representation, a relationship between the signifier and the signified, and a subjective as well as constructive interpretation by actors. Consequently, this concept involves an objective sign system, a social situation and, as inserted into a process of communication, complementary producers and receptors of signs and symbols. In the final comments the question is addressed whether, and in what sense, given the preceding theory of appresentational references, Schutz would hold that reality is a symbolic construction, as proposes the title of the 2016 conference on Schutz in Tokyo, The Symbolic Construction of Reality. (shrink)

This paper examines the relationship between participation and motion with respect to the natural philosophy of the "Phaedo". Aristotle’s criticism of participation and its failure to account for motion shows the relevance of the dialogue to this problem. Challenging Aristotle’s critique, I interpret the "Phaedo" as offering a possible solution to the question of how forms cause motion in material beings. The verb ὀρέγεσθαι at 65c8, 75a2, and 75b1, together with the active ὀρέγειν at 117b2, ground an account of ontological (...) striving as a solution to the difficulties inherent in participation within the literary context of the dialogue. (shrink)

Many viral and cellular mRNA species contain a leader sequence derived from a distant upstream site on the same gene by a process of RNA splicing. This process usually involves either nuclear functions or self‐splicing of RNA molecules. Coronavirus, a cytoplasmic RNA virus, unfolds yet another mechanism of joining RNA, which involves the use of a free leader RNA molecule. This molecule is synthesized and dissociates from the template RNA, and subsequently reassociates with the template RNA at down‐stream initiation sites (...) of subgenomic mRNAs to serve as the primer for transcription. This leader‐primed transcriptional process thus generates viral mRNAs with a fused leader sequence. A similar mechanism might also operate in the mRNA transcription of African trypanosomes. (shrink)