I argue that Moorean theories of value have a difficult time accommodating the resonance requirement, that is, the platitude that we should value what’s valuable, while a sophisticated reflective endorsement theory of value and the resonance requirement are perfectly consistent. To this extent, a sophisticated reflective endorsement theory has a significant advantage over the Moorean approach. The reflective endorsement theory that I endorse emphasizes systematic exposure to possible sources of satisfaction, as well as a similarity principle of practical rationality.

SummaryEinstein frequently used the historical narrative form to express his philosophical and even scientific ideas. Analysis of his historical writings reveals that he employed a distinctive historical method which may be designated an “intuitive archeology”, following one of his examples. It will be shown that his historical method was consistently directed toward the goal of freeing ongoing scientific research from arbitrary restrictions. He regarded these arbitrary restrictions, in turn, to be the result of a loss of recollection of the origins (...) of scientific concepts. Finally, Einstein's position that the reality of the historical process of science itself validated his approach to writing history will be discussed.RésuméEinstein a souvent utilisé la forme d'une narration historique pour exprimer ses idés philosophiques ou même scientifiques. L'analyse de ses écrits historiques révèle qu'il employait une méthode historique particulière qui peut être appelée »archeologie intuitive« selon I'un de ses exemples. L'auteur montre que sa méthode historique avait constéuemment pour but de libérer la recherche actuelle de restrictions arbitraires. II considérait ces restrictions arbitraires elles‐mêmes comme résultant d'un oubli des origines des concepts scientifiques. Enfin, I'auteur discute la position d'Einstein selon laquelle la réalité historique que constitue la science elle‐même justifiait sa manière d'écrire I'histoire.ZusammenfassungEinstein verwendet häufig die historisch erzählende Form, um seine philosophischen und ge‐legentlich sogar urn seine wissenschaftlichen Gedanken zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Eine Untersu‐chung seiner historischen Schriften verrät, dass er eine besondere historische Methode angewen‐det hat, die einem seiner eigenen Beispiele gemass als »intuitive Archaologie« bezeichnet werden kann. Es wird gezeigt, dass seine historische Methode immer darauf ausgerichtet ist, die fortschreitende Forschung von willkürlichen Einschräkungen zu befreien. Solche willkürlichen Beschränkungen betrachtete er als das Ergebnis einer Miss‐achtung des Ursprungs der wissenschaftlichen Begriffe. Es wird schliesslich Einsteins Anspruch diskutiert, wonach der wirkliche Entwicklungsprozess der Wissenschaft seine Art, Geschichte zu schreiben, rechtfertigt. (shrink)

Hutton considers the ideas of philosophers, poets, and historians to seek outthe roots of fact as mere recollection.

It is well known that Albert Einstein adhered to a deterministic world view throughout his career. Nevertheless, his developments of the special and general theories of relativity prove to be incompatible with that world view. Two different forms of determinism—classical Laplacian determinism and the determinism of isolated systems—are considered. Through careful considerations of what concretely is involved in predicting future states of the entire universe, or of isolated systems, it is shown that the demands of the theories of relativity make (...) these deterministic positions untenable. (shrink)

Several authors have used the expression ‘formal asymmetry’ to characterize Einstein's method of introducing conceptual innovations. Prior to his use of formal asymmetries, however, Einstein relied upon analogy to introduce his major concepts, but without satisfactory results. He gradually refined another technique, reflection upon empirical problems, into the method of formal asymmetries, with impressive results. This historical study, based upon a textual analysis of Einstein's publications, raises a series of questions regarding the place of formal asymmetries in his work.

Lonergan’s written reflections on the notion of form span almost thirty years. Beginning with his 1930s manuscripts on the philosophy of history, Lonergan returned again and again to the problem of clarifying that metaphysical concept. His thought on the issue of form reached its mature stage in 1957 with the publication of Insight. This article first presents an account of the mature, Insight stage of Lonergan’s notion of form. It then shows how Lonergan arrived at that position from his interpretation (...) of Aristotle as set forth in Verbum: Word and Idea in Aquinas. It concludes with some remarks in response to a criticism of Lonergan, commonly leveled by certain Thomist thinkers, according to which Lonergan’s effort to ground philosophy in self-appropriation rather than metaphysics condemns him to a subjectivist or idealist position. Such a critique, I argue, fails to take into account what Lonergan actually held. Indeed, the preference for a metaphysical point de départ is itself vulnerable to a reverse criticism on Lonergan’s part. (shrink)

The works of three well-remembered French historians- Jules Michelet, Alphonse Aulard, and François Furet - raise the issue of memory's relationship to history, but each treats it in a different way. History for Michelet concerned the sustaining of tradition. His conceptions of the past grew directly out of a living tradition, from which he established comparatively little distance. For Aulard, history meant consecrating its events in the guise of science. History for Furet demanded the deconstruction of the commemorative forms in (...) which the history of the Revolution had been enshrined. Today's historians may not wish to commemorate the past, but a historiography that dismisses the significance of a tradition of understanding the passions of the past is likely to lose its appeal to posterity. The writings emanating from this tradition hold great power to reveal the meaning the Revolution held for its participants. Overlooking the potency of these writings in order to underscore their power to shape the form of the Revolution's commemoration would be to deprive the event itself of enduring appeal. (shrink)

When a plant root is reoriented within the gravity field, it responds by initiating a curvature which eventually results in vertical growth. Gravity sensing occurs primarily in the root tip. It may involve amyloplast sedimentation in the columella cells of the root cap, or the detection of forces exerted by the mass of the protoplast on opposite sides of its cell wall. Gravisensing activates a signal transduction cascade which results in the asymmetric redistribution of auxin and apoplastic Ca2+across the root (...) tip, with accumulation at the bottom side. The resulting lateral asymmetry in Ca2+and auxin concentration is probably transmitted to the elongation zone where differential cellular elongation occurs until the tip resumes vertical growth. The Cholodny‐Went theory proposes that gravity‐induced auxin redistribution across a gravistimulated plant organ is responsible for the gravitropic response. However, recent data indicate that the gravity‐induced reorientation is more complex, involving both auxin gradient‐dependent and auxin gradient‐independent events. (shrink)

Two recent studies by Joseph Torchia and Paul Griffiths show the importance of Augustine’s critique of the vice of curiositas to contemporary life and thought. Superficially, it might seem that Augustine condemned curiosity because it “seeks to find out whatever it wishes without restriction of any kind.” Though profoundly influenced by Augustine, Bernard Lonergan praised intellectual curiosity precisely insofar as it is motivated by an unrestricted desire to know, rather than by less noble motives. Drawing upon the researches of Torchia (...) and Griffiths, this article endeavors to show that Augustine does not simply equate curiositas with an unrestricted desire to know, and that the virtue of intellectual curiosity as Lonergan understood it is in fact endorsed by Augustine by means of its relationship to the virtue of studiositas. This more nuanced view of the virtues and vices of intellect can provide guidance for contemporary intellectual pursuits, both how to pursue and not to pursue knowledge. (shrink)

In his most recent book Alasdair MacIntyre criticizes the dominant moral system of advanced societies, which “presents itself as morality as such.” Yet, he argues, its primary function is to channel human desires into patterns that will minimize conflict amid distinctively modern economic and political arrangements. Although he appreciates how what he calls “expressionism” has unmasked this ideological function of modern morality, he points out that expressionism is also impotent to provide adequate moral guidance amidst the “conflicts of modernity.” He (...) proposes that Neo-Aristotelianism’s account of reasoning and desire has the ability to overcome the moral failings of these modern modes of thought. Yet he relies on an excessively deductive version of reason and overlooks Aristotle’s fuller account of desire. The article shows how Bernard Lonergan’s account of both provides a superior account of both Aristotle’s own writings and the actual human phenomena of reasoning and desire. (shrink)

Albert Einstein's attitude towards quantum mechanics—and statistical physics in general—was a puzzle to many of his contemporaries, and has remained a puzzle to the present. Though he made many significant contributions to statistical physics, he continually refused to regard that branch of science as fundamental. The present essay demonstrates that his attitude towards statistical physics was formed during his earliest investigations—between 1901 and 1903. In particular, it is shown that in Einstein's view, statistical laws are based upon non-statistical assumptions. This (...) view influenced much of his later thinking. A few illustrations are offered, concluding with a discussion of his opposition to quantum mechanics. (shrink)

ABSTRACTEdith Stein’s study of empathy has much to offer to the current growth of research into empathy. This article first summarizes her phenomenological account of the complex layers involved in...

Bernard Lonergan’s vocation as a Jesuit was central to his entire life’s work, although this is not well known. This essay shows the indebtedness of Lonergan’s method of self-appropriation owes a great deal to Ignatian spiritual practices. In particular, it shows how Ignatian prayer and Lonergan’s account of the structures of consciousness mutually enhance one another. In particular, it concentrates on how prayer is a transforming encounter between Christ and the one praying.