During the 1960s, Howard M. Temin (1934-1994), dared to advocate a "heretical" hypothesis that appeared to be at variance with the central dogma of molecular biology, understood by many to imply that information transfer in nature occurred only from DNA to RNA. Temin's provirus hypothesis offered a simple explanation of both virus replication and viral-induced cancer and stated that Rous sarcoma virus, an RNA virus, is replicated via a DNA intermediate. Popular accounts of this scientific episode, written after the discovery (...) of an RNA-directed DNA polymerase in 1970, tend to describe the reaction to his proposition as ardent opposition. Typically these accounts use a 'molecular biology' standpoint emphasizing the central dogma's part in its rejection. In this article, however, this episode will be examined from a joint perspective of virology and experimental cancer research. From this perspective it is clear that Temin's work was well within the epistemological and methodological boundaries of virology and cancer research. Still, scientists did have reasons to doubt the provirus hypothesis, but these do not seem to be good enough to either justify an account that portrays Temin as a renegade or his ideas as heretical. (shrink)

This paper follows the circuitous path of theories concerning the origins of viruses from the early years of the twentieth century until the present, considering RNA viruses in particular. I focus on three periods during which new understandings of the nature of viruses guided the construction and reconstruction of origin hypotheses. During the first part of the twentieth century, viruses were mostly viewed from within the framework of bacteriology and the discussion of origin centered on the “degenerative” or the “retrograde (...) evolution theory.” However, concomitantly, in the context of origin-of-life theorizing, the notion that viruses are vestiges of a prebiotic world was also being contemplated. In the 1960s the idea that viruses were genetic elements that “escaped” from cells became prevalent. These traditional hypotheses are being revisited nowadays by evolutionary virologists, who have placed them within a new conceptual framework that is supported by cutting-edge genomic and proteomic data. Two current, opposing scenarios of virus origin are presented. The philosophical dimensions of “revisiting” the original hypotheses are briefly discussed. (shrink)

Drawing on a conception of scientists and community members as partners in the construction of ethically responsible research practices, this article urges investigators to seek the perspectives of teenagers and parents in evaluating the personal and political costs and benefits of research on adolescent risk behaviors. Content analysis of focus group discussions involving over 100 parents and teenagers from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds revealed community opinions regarding the scientific merit, social value, racial bias, and participant and group harms and (...) benefits associated with surveys, informant reports, intervention studies, blood sampling, and genetic research on youth problems. Participant comments highlight new directions for socially responsible research. (shrink)

A counterlegal is a counterfactual conditional containing an antecedent that is inconsistent with some set of laws. A backtracker is a counterfactual that tells us how things would be at a time earlier than that of its antecedent, were the antecedent to obtain. Typically, theories that evaluate counterlegals appropriately don’t evaluate backtrackers properly, and vice versa. Two cases in point: Lewis’ ordering semantics handles counterlegals well but not backtrackers. Hiddleston’s :632–657, 2005) causal-model semantics nicely handles backtrackers but not counterlegals. Taking (...) Hiddleston’s account as a starting point, I offer steps toward a theory capable of handling both counterlegals and backtrackers. The core contribution of this paper is a means for evaluating counterlegals relative to minimally-illegal models. (shrink)

'... this book represents a welcome addition to the literature on PP and is recommended for readers interested in risk assessment, decision making and the precautionary principle.' - Krishna Ravi Srinivas, Political Studies Review.

In this article, we attempt to unravel the misconception about deception and nervous behavior. First we will cite research demonstrating that observers believe lie tellers display more nervous behaviors than truth tellers; that observers pay attention to nervous behaviors when they attempt to detect deception; and that lie tellers actually feel more nervous than truth tellers. This is all in alignment with a lie detection approach based on spotting nervous behaviors. We then will argue that the next, vital, step is (...) missing: Research has found that lie tellers generally do not display more than truth tellers the nervous behaviors laypersons and professionals appear to focus on. If observers pay attention to nervous behaviors but lie tellers do not come across as being nervous, lie detection performance is expected to be poor. Research has supported this claim. We finally discuss ideas for research into lie detection based on non-verbal behaviors. (shrink)

Donald C. Williams was a key figure in the development of analytic philosophy. This book will be the definitive source for his highly original work, which did much to bring metaphysics back into fashion. It presents six classic papers and six previously unpublished, revealing his full philosophical vision for the first time.

ABSTRACT In this paper we define two logics, KLn and BLn, and present tableau-based decision procedures for both. KLn is a temporal logic of knowledge. Thus, in addition to the usual connectives of linear discrete temporal logic, it contains a set of unary modal connectives for representing the knowledge possessed by agents. The logic BLn is somewhat similar; it is a temporal logic that contains connectives for representing the beliefs of agents. In addition to a complete formal definition of the (...) two logics and their decision procedures, the paper includes a brief review of their applications in AI and mainstream computer science, correctness proofs for the decision procedures, a number of worked examples illustrating the decision procedures, and some pointers to further work. (shrink)

The HIV/aids pandemic has brought global attention to the ethical challenges of conducting research involving socially vulnerable participants. Such challenges require not only ethical deliberation but also an empirical evidentiary basis for research ethics policies and practices. This need has been addressed through the Fordham University HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Institute, a National Institute on Drug Abuse–funded program that trains and funds early career scientists in conducting research on HIV/drug abuse research ethics. This article describes the ethical (...) framework guiding Institute training and introduces readers to six empirical articles in this special issue that illuminate and help foster the responsible conduct of research. (shrink)

The relation between the digital and the collective has become an urgent contemporary question. These collected essays explore the implications of this relation, around the theme of #NousSommes. This hashtag marks the point where the «personal» modalities of social media have become embroiled in collective expressions of unity, solidarity and resistance. As this volume demonstrates, the impact of this cannot be isolated to the internet, but affect philosophy, literature, cinema, politics and the public space itself. The contributors approach the issue (...) of #NousSommes from a diverse range of disciplines and methodologies, bringing out both the continuity and discontinuity with other forms of collective expression. Important contemporary philosophers such as Nancy, Derrida and Deleuze are engaged here, as are issues of ecology, community, automation, postcolonial identity and addiction. Featuring eight academic essays and an interview, this volume testifies to the importance of French philosophy and culture in understanding the digital and the collective today. (shrink)

ObjectiveApproximately half of all people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis experience persistent or recurrent emotional distress, yet little is known about the psychological processes that maintain emotional distress in this population. The self-regulatory executive functioning model specifies that maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and processes are central to the development and maintenance of emotional distress. This study explored whether maladaptive metacognitive beliefs are associated with emotional distress after controlling for demographic factors, time since diagnosis, and current level of physical functioning.DesignIn a cross-sectional (...) design, 75 adults with a diagnosis of ALS completed self-report questionnaires. Participants had a mean age of 60.40 years, mean duration of symptoms 63.92 months, and male:female gender ratio of 14:11.Main Outcome MeasuresQuestionnaires assessed emotional distress, physical functioning, repetitive negative thinking, metacognitive beliefs, and demographic factors.ResultsMaladaptive metacognitive beliefs explained additional variance in emotional distress after controlling for age, gender, time since diagnosis, physical functioning, and repetitive negative thinking. Repetitive negative thinking partially mediated the relationships between positive and negative metacognitive beliefs and emotional distress.ConclusionsThese data support the utility of the metacognitive model in understanding emotional distress in people with ALS. Examination of the temporal relationship between maladaptive metacognitive beliefs and emotional distress in people living with ALS may help to guide the development of therapeutic approaches. (shrink)

The future of trial lies in customization. Throughout the Anglo-American world, the public model of criminal and civil procedure is gradually giving way to a private contractual paradigm, one which allows the litigating parties to tailor the evidentiary and procedural landscape of trial to fit their specific needs and preferences. Procedural and evidence rules are shifting from mandatory safeguards of public values to default rules and bargaining chips within the hands of the litigating parties. There is growing recognition in the (...) ability of litigating parties in civil trials and of defendants in criminal trials to waive evidentiary and procedural rights, such as the right of cross-examination, the right to trial by jury, or the right to appeal. Courts are exhibiting a willingness to enforce choice of procedure and choice of evidence agreements, such as agreements to restrict the presentation of otherwise admissible evidence or to allow for presentation of otherwise inadmissible evidence. (shrink)

Imagine you are a cycling fan and are watching Lance Armstrong decimate his rivals in the time trial up L’Alpe d’Huez. However, before the event ends you are called away from the TV. You quickly put a videotape in and press record. You get time to watch the video the next morning and have successfully avoided finding out the result. Are you as excited about watching the video as you were when you sat down to watch the event on TV? (...) I suggest not. I think this example highlights an interesting topic that has escaped the atten- tion of philosophers of sport. The question I aim to answer in this article is, why are we significantly less interested in watching sport when we believe that we are not watching it at the same time as other people? Obviously, this presupposes an empirical claim, and it is to this that I first address myself. I then consider a number of ways of explaining this phenomenon, all of which I think ultimately fail. I then propose my own tentative explanation. (shrink)

Aucune méthode d'hypothèse et de raisonnement hypothétique en science ne peut être examinée dc façon critique sans que soit résolue au préalable la question de ce qui sert d'hypothèse. D'un point de vue très général, des éléments très différents peuvent servir à constituer la partie hypothétique ou conjecturale de la science. Du temps de Gassendi, il était possible de recourir à des entités hypothétiques tels les tourbillons cartésiens, à de généralisations idéalisées de phénomènes telle la loi de la chute libre, (...) à des élaborations conjecturales comme l'image céleste de Ptolémée, à des modèles explicatifs et synthétiques comme la description par Harvey de la circulation sanguine ou à de modèles précurseurs comme celui de Kepler (orbites planétaires). Tous ces éléments de nature différente ont au moins un point commun : nous les acceptons comme tels avec la promesse de pouvoir justifier leur utilisation, plus tard, d'une façon ou d'une autre. La difficulté de cette acceptation préliminaire, selon une conception toute classique, réside dans le paradoxe qui consiste à profiter des avantages - de nature explicative, déductive ou illustrative, pour n'en citer que quelque-uns - offerts par l'emploi de tels éléments hypothétiques, même si nous manquons de preuves satisfaisantes à leur sujet, et cela pour approfondir notre compréhension de phénomènes pour lesquels nous disposons réellement de preuves. (shrink)

This article provides a critical appraisal of the case for healthcare being rationed away from older patients to those who are younger. After sketching a metaphysics of elderliness and reviewing clinical and economic cases for healthcare rationing, the article looks in depth at the most challenging case for age rationing known as the ‘fair innings’ case. This article rejects that case and makes an alternative case that fairness actually dictates against age rationing in favour of allocation on the basis of (...) need. It concludes with a call for a renewed ‘covenant between generations’, founded on the virtue of pietas. (shrink)

Engaging undergraduate students and instigating debate within philosophy seminars is one of the greatest challenges faced by instructors on a daily basis. _How to Get Philosophy Students Talking: An Instructor’s Toolkit _is an innovative and original resource designed for use by academics looking to help students of all abilities get the most out of their time spent in group discussions. Each chapter features thought experiments, discussion questions and further readings on topics within the following core areas of philosophy: Metaphysics Epistemology (...) Philosophy of Mind Philosophy of Language Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of Science Political Philosophy Normative Ethics Applied Ethics Metaethics Aesthetics Group discussions and debates are a key part of undergraduate study and one of the best ways for students to learn and understand often complex philosophical theories and concepts. This book is an essential toolkit for instructors looking to get the most out of their philosophy students. (shrink)

‘How very Lacanian’, psychoanalyst Milena Gardosh observes at onepoint in Michael Caton-Jones’ Basic Instinct 2 : a line that would become notorious.1The question is: just how Lacanian is Basic Instinct 2?

Everyday memory tasks often require that researchers focus on output-bound measures of memory. As a result, nonmemorial processes (e.g., report option and grain size) may influence recall accuracy. These nonmemorial processes, usually eliminated by laboratory researchers, have the potential to explain some anomalous results and may even be useful to enhance everyday recollection.

Since the 1950s, art and philosophy have continued to return to the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and his assertion of the primacy of perception. Influenced by Husserl and Heidegger and an associate of Sartre and de Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty developed a range of evocative concepts that have informed the production, criticism and theory of art. The only phenomenologist of the first half of the twentieth century to engage with the sciences and psychology as well as art, literature, linguistics and politics, his (...) exploration of the situated character of embodied perception and how it unfolds over time in social, historical and political contexts reveals a concept of the self that is "caught up in things, that has a front and a back, a past and a future". (shrink)

If contemporary political theory in the area of international justice is to accomplish its aim of clarifying and making coherent the meaning of justice in an international context, the question of the appropriate role and responsibility of international criminal law must be answered. International criminal law must be more than simply domestic laws that are prosecuted at the international level. However, the question of what makes an international crime such that it deserves this special classification and international condemnation has not (...) been adequately theorized. This paper examines the character of international law as expressed by two theorists, Allen Buchanan and Larry May, and reveals the deficiencies of their theories. Then, it offers the first steps to a better theory, one that demands that two thresholds be met for an action to be considered international crime: the severity threshold and the agency threshold. It argues that these two thresholds restrict the domain of international criminal law to crimes that are of significant concern to the global community by way of their threat to political organization. International crimes are the jurisdiction of the international community because they threaten the most basic physical security human rights and because they originate out of the fundamental nature of humans as social entities and maliciously distort and threaten this natural inclination. (shrink)