Feminists surely cannot be blamed for having one or two differences with a philosopher who compared women to plants in their intellectual powers, denied that they were capable of the higher activities of art, science, and philosophy, and warned that when “women hold the helm of government, the state is at once in jeopardy, because women regulate their actions not by the demands of universality but by arbitrary inclinations and opinions.” Undoubtedly, in some of his texts Hegel made patently ridiculous (...) and offensive statements about women. Nevertheless, it seems to me that in their zeal to attack the prejudice that Hegel on occasion displayed, some feminists have overlooked much of the subtlety of his philosophy. Ignoring the larger context of his arguments, they have instead myopically focussed on particular phrases and moments in his thinking which seem to be easy targets. (shrink)

Stuart Swindle in “Why Feminists Should Take the Phenomenology of Spirit Seriously” accuses me of failing to interpret the passages in the Phenomenology on the family and women in the full context of the progress to absolute spirit. He gives no particular evidence for this claim, but merely asserts it repeatedly and at an ever increasing decibel level. To this general criticism I assert that nothing that I wrote in “Has Hegel Anything to Say to Feminists?” denied that (...) spirit progresses beyond the Hellenic world or any other particular stage of development. In fact, my argument was predicated on just such a development. Women, however, - I argued - do not seem to develop, nor are they capable of development, in their consciousness or social expression according to Hegel from Greek times to modernity. (shrink)

The first two-thirds of Stuart Swindle’s article, “Why Feminists Should Take the Phenomenology of Spirit Seriously,” amounts to little more than rhetorical misogyny: “Those poor feminists, trapped in ‘the little stories’ of the Hegelian system, unable to see for themselves that what is really important is Hegel’s ‘big story.’ Why those poor creatures, those feminists just cannot see the forest for the trees! How could they be so small-minded: trying to turn such monumental philosophy into “an activists’ handbook”! (...) On top of that, they are so haphazard in their work. Really, their lack of seriousness is just too much to bear!”. (shrink)

Matthew Stuart offers a fresh interpretation of John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, arguing for the work's profound contribution to metaphysics. He presents new readings of Locke's accounts of personal identity and the primary/secondary quality distinction, and explores Locke's case against materialism and his philosophy of action.

A searing personal record of spiritual and communal crisis, wherein the death of god announces the beginning of friendship.

Excerpt: "In order to help ethics students in our universities and outside of them to better understand the meaning of morality and the end of ethical effort, this book has been written." In the accompanying notes, I have taken the I want to make some suggestions to teachers, some of whom have less years of teaching behind the ones I have, I do not apologize for writing in a clear, non-technical style, or for minimizing references to literature in other languages. (...) These things are in accordance with the purpose of the volume. "This edition contains a unique biography of the great George Stuart Fullerton, where he discusses in detail his life and his work as a philosopher that helps to understand the different motivations that led to the writings of his works. It also contains explanatory notes to better understand the whole narrative. (shrink)

My comments will focus on the problem of the fascist self.1 All three essays—correctly to my mind—imply that it holds the key to a better understanding of the nature of fascism. It is disturbing enough to study people so enamored with death. Fascism remakes the nineteenth-century bourgeois individual into a type of “reduced complexity” who cultivates the role of a conquering hero through sacrifice and murder. Even worse, Helmut Lethen provocatively suggests that fascists share this affection for typologizing human beings (...) with other modern avant-garde movements. I would push this argument further. Postmodern intellectuals share with fascism an affection for.. (shrink)

Scientific developments take place in a socio-political context but scientists often ignore the ways their innovations will be both interpreted by the media and used by policy makers. In the rush to neuroscientific discovery important questions are overlooked, such as the ways: (1) the brain, environment and behavior are related; (2) biological changes are mediated by social organization; (3) institutional bias in the application of technical procedures ignores race, class and gender dimensions of society; (4) knowledge is used to the (...) advantage of the powerful; and (5) its applications may reinforce existing structures of power that pose ethical questions about distributive justice. The case of crime, deception and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) shows the complexity, and the political and ethical challenges that confront those who seek to use neuroscience to explain the etiology of crime, and who base policy on its findings. An ethically grounded neuroscience needs to take account of existing structures of power and difference, and to develop a public neuropolitical consciousness that ensures that those subject to risk by the application of science and technology are participants in the decision-making processes involving the implementation of policies that affect them. (shrink)

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill took thirty years to complete and is acknowledged as the definitive edition of J.S. Mill and as one of the finest works editions ever completed. Mill's contributions to philosophy, economics, and history, and in the roles of scholar, politician and journalist can hardly be overstated and this edition remains the only reliable version of the full range of Mill's writings. Each volume contains extensive notes, a new introduction and an index. Many of (...) the volumes have been unavailable for some time, but the Works are now again available, both as a complete set and as individual volumes. (shrink)

Thomas & Karmiloff- Smith ’ argument that the Residual Normality assumption is not valid for developmental disorders has implications for models of cognition in schizophrenia, a disorder that may involve a neurodevelopmental pathogenesis. A limiting factor for such theories is the lack of understanding about the nature of the cognitive system. Moreover, it is unclear how the proposal that modularization emerges from developmental processes would change that fundamental question.

This paper will explore the relationship between Mezirow's concept of reflexivity and Bourdieu's theory of habitus in order to develop a more robust framework within which critical reflection can take place. Nurse educators have sought to close the theory practice gap through the use of critical reflection. However, we are not convinced that this has produced the depth and quality of reflection required. Furthermore, the contexts in which critical reflection takes place is often sidelined or erased so that the whole (...) impetus in the literature is to educate nurses in reflection rather than empower nurses to understand the complex circumstances and barriers that obstruct critical reflection. This paper argues that the reason for this position is that nurse education does not always acknowledge the role that personal and cultural values systems have on reflective practices. The literature search was undertaken using CINHAL and MEDLINE. Keywords included: values systems, habitus, and critical reflection. Inclusion criteria were determined by the theoretical approach and included seminal texts, from as far back as 1956, to identify key themes. Although critical reflection is a potentially powerful way of enhancing care it has often failed to do so. It is suggested that this is because nurse educators have frequently used models of reflection without considering the impact that student's personal values systems has on their perceptions of care and subsequently care delivery. The purpose of this paper is to promote deeper levels of reflection and is part of a programme of research aimed at developing a more robust approach to reflection in educational practice. (shrink)

Christie, Jaye; Stuart, Stephen The United States have experienced devastating attacks on church-state separation in recent decades. The intrusion of religion into affairs of state is more blatant than in Australia, but there is mounting evidence that the religious right is gaining momentum here. As former Australian High Court judge, Michael Kirby, has said, 'The principle of secularism is one of the greatest developments in human rights in the world. We must safeguard and protect it, for it can come (...) under threat in contemporary Australia.'. (shrink)

Abstract:In this paper, I apply John Cage’s wide musical embrace of sound to the field of music education and explore its curricular and practical implications. In particular, I ask music teachers to consider themselves teachers of sound, or “sound teachers.” I argue that privileging sound as our chief concern leads us to reconsider the ways we speak about music, the offerings we include in our music curricula, and the ways we teach (about) sound. In particular, I suggest that application of (...) Cage’s ideas compels us to permit still more genres and styles in the classroom and curriculum, to emphasize activities that allow students to manipulate a diverse palette of sound types (for example, electronic composition), and to teach in ways that expand and diversify rather than narrow and limit students’ relationships with sound. I close by considering how Cage’s ideas of “purposeless play” and “purposeful purposelessness” orient our goals toward making students more attentive to and invested in the world of sound and the sound of the world. (shrink)

This two-volume work, first published in 1843, was John Stuart Mill's first major book. It reinvented the modern study of logic and laid the foundations for his later work in the areas of political economy, women's rights and representative government. In clear, systematic prose, Mill disentangles syllogistic logic from its origins in Aristotle and scholasticism and grounds it instead in processes of inductive reasoning. An important attempt at integrating empiricism within a more general theory of human knowledge, the work (...) constitutes essential reading for anyone seeking a full understanding of Mill's thought. Continuing the discussion of induction, Volume 2 concludes with Book VI, 'On the Logic of the Moral Sciences', in which Mill applies empirical reasoning to human behaviour. A crucial early formulation of his thinking regarding free will and necessity, this book establishes the centrality of 'the social science' to Mill's philosophy. (shrink)

The gelsolin gene family encodes a number of higher eukaryotic actin-binding proteins that are thought to function in the cytoplasm by severing, capping, nucleating or bundling actin filaments. Recent evidence, however, suggests that several members of the gelsolin family may have adopted unexpected nuclear functions including a role in regulating transcription. In particular, flightless I, supervillin and gelsolin itself have roles as coactivators for nuclear receptors, despite the fact that their divergence appears to predate the evolutionary appearance of nuclear receptors. (...) Flightless I has been shown to bind both actin and the actin-related BAF53a protein, which are subunits of SWI/SNF-like chromatin remodelling complexes. The primary sequences of some actin-related proteins such as BAF53a exhibit conservation of residues that, in actin itself, are known to interact with gelsolin-related proteins. In summary, there is a growing body of evidence supporting a biological role in the nucleus for actin, Arps and actin-binding proteins and, in particular, the gelsolin family of actin-binding proteins. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Validity is a central principle of assessment relating to the appropriateness of the uses and interpretations of test results. Usually, one of the inferences that we wish to make is that the score reflects the extent of a student?s learning in a given domain. Thus, it is important to establish that the assessment tasks elicit performances that reflect the intended constructs. This research explored the use of three methods for evaluating whether there are threats to validity in relation to the (...) constructs elicited in international A level geography examinations: (a) Rasch analysis; (b) analysis of processes expected and apparent when students answer questions; and (c) qualitative analysis of responses to items identified as potentially problematic. The results provided strong evidence to support validity with regard to the elicitation of constructs although one question part was identified as a threat to validity. Strengths and weaknesses of the methods can be identified. (shrink)

Context: Seventeen years ago Francisco Varela introduced neurophenomenology. He proposed the integration of phenomenological approaches to first-person experience – in the tradition of Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty – with a neuro-dynamical, scientific approach to the study of the situated brain and body. Problem: It is time for a re-appraisal of this field. Has neurophenomenology already contributed to the sciences of the mind? If so, how? How should it best do so in future? Additionally, can neurophenomenology really help to resolve or (...) dissolve the “hard problem” of the relation between mind and body, as Varela claimed? Method: The papers in this special issue arose out of a conference organised by the Consciousness and Experiential Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society in Bristol, UK, in September 2012. We have invited a representative sample of the speakers at that conference to present their work here. Results: Various papers argue that the first-person methods of phenomenology are distinct from, and more robust than, the failed “introspectionist” methods of early modern psychology. The “elicitation interview” emerges as a successful and widely adopted method to have emerged from this field. Phenomenological techniques are already being successfully applied to neuroscientific problems. Various specific proposals for new techniques and applications are made. Implications: It is time to take neurophenomenology seriously. It has proven its worth, and it is ripe with the potential for further immediate, successful applications. Constructivist content: Varela’s key aim was to develop a non-dualising approach to the science of consciousness. The papers in this special issue look at the philosophical and practical details of successfully putting such an approach into practice. (shrink)

RESUMEN Juan Marinello Vidaurreta, eminente trabajador de las letras, que no cambió la pluma por la política, sino que hizo de la política incesante gestión de creación espiritual. Vivió tres etapas decisivas de Cuba: los rezagos de la colonia española; la República mediatizada, que combatió; y el socialismo, que ayudó a consolidar. El objetivo es demostrar la confluencia del pensamiento martiano y marxista desde el análisis de la cultura en la obra de Juan Marinello Vidaurreta. Se asumió la concepción dialéctica (...) materialista como metodología general para conocer el objeto de investigación en sus antecedentes y tendencias actuales. Además permitió ampliar el conocimiento sobre el tema objeto de estudio, a través del análisis de texto, el contenido y el discurso; la crítica de fuentes posibilitó extraer inferencias a partir de la teoría preexistente y la información empírica acopiada. El pensamiento marinelliano se fue formando como resultado de la influencia del movimiento progresista cubano, del pensamiento martiano y marxista-leninista, lo más avanzado del pensamiento latinoamericano y universal. Subyace en su obra una concepción integradora y totalizadora de la cultura, de base martiana y marxista. ABSTRACT Juan Marinello Vidaurreta eminent worker of the letters that did not change the pen by the policy, but that made of the policy, incessant management of spiritual creation. He lived three decisive stages of Cuba: the lags of the Spanish colony; the mediated Republic, which fought; and socialism, which helped to consolidate. The objective is to demonstrate the confluence of Marti's and Marxist thinking from the analysis of culture in the work of Juan Marinello Vidaurreta. The dialectical materialist conception was assumed as general methodology to know the object of research in its antecedents and current trends. In addition it allowed expanding the knowledge on the subject under study, through the analysis of text, content and discourse; the critique of sources made it possible to draw inferences from the preexisting theory and the empirical information collected. Marinellian thought was formed as a result of the influence of the Cuban progressive movement, of Marti and Marxist-Leninist thought, the most advanced of Latin American and universal thought. It underlies in his work an integrative and totalizing conception of the culture, of Marti base and marxist. (shrink)

This book investigates the debates around religion and science at the influential Victoria Institute. Founded in London in 1865, and largely drawn from the evangelical wing of the Church of England, it had as its prime objective the defence of 'the great truths revealed in Holy Scripture' from 'the opposition of science, falsely so called'. The conflict for them was not between science and religion directly, but rather what exactly constituted true science Chapters cover the Victoria Institute's formation, its heyday (...) in the late Nineteenth Century, and its decline in the years following the First World War. They show that at stake was more than any particular theory; rather, it was an entire worldview, combining theology, epistemology, and philosophy of science. Therefore, instead of simply offering a survey of religious responses to evolutionary theory, this study demonstrates the complex relationship between science, evangelical religion, and society in the years after Darwin's Origin of Species. It also offers some insight as to why conservative evangelicals did not display the militancy of some American fundamentalists with whom they shared so many of their intellectual commitments. Filling in a significant gap in the literature around modern attitudes to religion and science, this book will be of keen interest to scholars of Religious Studies, the History of Religion, and Science and Religion. (shrink)