A recent proposal to formulate physics in terms of finite-information variables is examined, concentrating on its consequences for classical mechanics. Both shortcomings and promising avenues are discussed.

The aim of the present investigation was to describe and to classify significant ethical problems encountered by the members of the staff during the daily clinical work at a hospital medical department. A set of definitions was prepared for the purpose, including the definition of a 'significant ethical problem'. During a three month period 426 inpatients and 173 outpatients were admitted. Significant ethical problems were encountered during the management of 106 in-patients (25 per cent) and 9 out-patients (5 per cent). (...) No significant difference was found between the frequency of ethical problems in female and male patients, but a positive correlation was noted between the number of problems and the patients' age. The problem types were classified according to a problem list. The results of this investigation suggest that greater attention must be paid to discussions about ethical problems among doctors and other categories of health personnel and that, among others, medical students ought to be taught the analysis of ethical problems. (shrink)

An edition of the letters of Erasmus, regarded as one of the greatest humanist writers. All 12 volumes of this work have been reissued, complete with their scholarly apparatus of commentary and notes, as well as plates.

This volume collects P. M. S. Hacker's papers on Wittgenstein and related themes written over the last decade. Hacker provides comparative studies of a range of topics--including Wittgenstein's philosophy of psychology, conception of grammar, and treatment of intentionality--and defends his own Wittgensteinian conception of philosophy.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Thomas Aquinas on the Priesthood:Temple, Allegory, and the Humanities of Christ*Reginald M. Lynch O.P.In this lecture, I will examine Aquinas's approach to the concept of priesthood and its place in the economy of salvation, drawing upon Aquinas's systematic presentation of Christ's priesthood and sacramental priesthood within the Church, as well as the figural representation of these incarnational and ecclesial realities within the liturgical world of the Mosaic covenant. Theologically (...) considered, in the context of the New Law Aquinas's notion of priesthood in the Church begins with Christ, then extending to the members of the Church in Baptism, and in a special sense to those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. In the case of both Christ himself and the Church's membership, however, the concept of priesthood is fundamentally associated with human nature, both soteriologically and anthropologically considered: human persons have at once a need for a salvation that can come only from Christ and a corresponding need to give fitting worship to God that likewise finds its fulfillment in Christ alone. The concept of priesthood, concretized and perfected in the priesthood of Christ, provides for the actualization of these same dimensions of human nature.Beginning with his treatment of Christ's priesthood in the tertia pars of the Summa theologiae (ST), in the first part of this essay I will explore the [End Page 789] broader systematic context in which Aquinas's account of Christ's priesthood should be understood, focusing in particular on the necessity of sacra doctrina and the Incarnation for the salvation of human nature, and the specific capacity of human nature for sacrificial, and ultimately priestly, acts in relation to God. Following this, in the second section I will examine the figural role of Christ's priesthood under the Mosaic Law. Although the Church now lives in the full reality of what was only foreshadowed in the Old Law, Aquinas's description of the figurative sense of this law—which is surprisingly rich—gives us a picture of the full ecclesial implications of Christ's priesthood in relation to the people that Aquinas describes in his systematic treatment of Christ's priesthood in ST III. Perhaps because of the correspondence between its literal sense and the scope of the natural law, the figurative treatment of Christ's priestly role in relation to the Church that is found in these questions on the Old Law provides a profound account of the elevation of human nature in the context of Christ's offering. First in outward ritual actions and then within human nature itself, Christ's realization of what is held in figure under the Old Law's letter offers a powerful account of the personal and social implications of Christ's singular sacrifice, understood as an offering made first in his humanity, and subsequently in ours by participation.Lastly, in my third and final section, I will return to priesthood within the Church as it is described in the tertia pars, exploring the baptismal priesthood and the ordained priesthood in relation to the priesthood of Christ. In each of these three sections, the divinizing relationship between the assumed humanity of Christ and the humanity of those who participate in his body will remain a point of emphasis, contextualized accordingly in each section. Beginning from the heart of Aquinas's sapiential treatment of Christ's priesthood in relation to the reality of the Incarnation, I hope to show not only that these same principals are reflected in Aquinas's treatment of Old Testament figures, but that the figurative dimension of these previous epochs of salvation history in fact provide a living illustration of Christ's priestly relationship with human nature in the context of the Church—because Christ is a priest, something foreshadowed in the Old Law and in the law of nature itself is fulfilled, and the image of God is restored in the rational creature.Christ's PriesthoodIn ST III, q. 22, a. 1, Aquinas offers a general definition of the priesthood, in the context of his description of the priesthood of Jesus Christ: "The office proper to a priest is to be a mediator... (shrink)

The concept of normal is so familiar that it can be hard to imagine contemporary life without it. Yet the term entered everyday speech only in the mid-twentieth century. Before that, it was solely a scientific term used primarily in medicine to refer to a general state of health and the orderly function of organs. But beginning in the middle of the twentieth century, normal broke out of scientific usage, becoming less precise and coming to mean a balanced condition to (...) be maintained and an ideal to be achieved. In Normality, Peter Cryle and Elizabeth Stephens offer an intellectual and cultural history of what it means to be normal. They explore the history of how communities settle on any one definition of the norm, along the way analyzing a fascinating series of case studies in fields as remote as anatomy, statistics, criminal anthropology, sociology, and eugenics. Cryle and Stephens argue that since the idea of normality is so central to contemporary disability, gender, race, and sexuality studies, scholars in these fields must first have a better understanding of the context for normality. This pioneering book moves beyond binaries to explore for the first time what it does—and doesn’t—mean to be normal. (shrink)

All projects take place within a context of uncertainty. That is especially noticeable in complex hydroelectric power generation projects, which are affected by factors such as the large number of multidisciplinary tasks to be performed in parallel, long execution times, or the risks inherent in various fields like geology, hydrology, and structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering, among others. Such factors often lead to cost overruns and delays in projects of this type. This paper analyzes the efficiency of the Earned Value (...) Management technique and its Earned Schedule extension, as means of forecasting costs and deadlines when applied to complex hydroelectric power production projects. It is worth noting that this analysis was based on simulation models applied to real-life projects. The results showed that cost forecasting becomes very accurate over time, whereas duration forecasting is not reliably accurate. (shrink)

Incorporating significant editorial changes from earlier editions, the fourth edition of Ludwig Wittgenstein's _Philosophical Investigations_ is the definitive _en face_ German-English version of the most important work of 20th-century philosophy The extensively revised English translation incorporates many hundreds of changes to Anscombe’s original translation Footnoted remarks in the earlier editions have now been relocated in the text What was previously referred to as ‘Part 2’ is now republished as _Philosophy of Psychology – A Fragment_, and all the remarks in it (...) are numbered for ease of reference New detailed editorial endnotes explain decisions of translators and identify references and allusions in Wittgenstein's original text Now features new essays on the history of the _Philosophical Investigations_, and the problems of translating Wittgenstein’s text. (shrink)

This paper is an examination of Donald Davidson's writings on the idea of a conceptual scheme--and idea which he famously rejects. O relevance in this is the notion of linguistic relativity and the famous Whorf-Sapir thesis.

Argues that though Kant articulated but a single solution to the problem of taste, by establishing a capacity for a common sense, but expanded it by explaining why people can take the disinterested attitude required for a common sense by appealing to our supersensible, rational nature. Proposes a solution to provide a natural reading of the antinomy according to which it is both required for Kant's broader purposes and does not make his earlier deduction obsolete. Revised from a dissertation for (...) the University of Iowa (no date noted). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR. (shrink)

This paper canvasses recent arguments in favor of commercial markets in human transplant kidneys, raising objections to those arguments on grounds of the role of injustice, exploitation, and coercion in compromising the autonomy of those most likely to sell a kidney, namely, the least well off members of society.

Humans are caught – in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too – in a net of good and evil. Natural evils are simply natural catastrophes that destroy human life, property, crops, and means of livelihood such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, avalanches, floods, and droughts. Some people may never recover from such evils and be incapable of leading a normal human life. The evil of (...) evil‐doers can therefore be explained away by showing that they themselves are victims. The existence of human evil is explained by reference to the wickedness of those who choose of their own will to do evil. The idea that evil is privative, that is, it consists in the absence of good, stripped of its theological trappings, is unconvincing. (shrink)