Jaegwon Kim (1998a, 2005) claims that his exclusion problem follows a priori for the non-reductive physicalist given her commitment to five apparently inconsistent theses: mental causation, non-identity, supervenience, causal closure and non-overdetermination. For Kim, the combination of these theses entails that mental properties are a priori excluded as causes, forcing the non-reductive physicalist to accept either epiphenomenalism, or some form of reduction. In this thesis, I argue that Kim’s exclusion problem depends on a particular conception of causation, namely sufficient production, (...) and that when causation is understood in interventionist terms, the non-reductive physicalist can avoid the exclusion problem. I argue that Woodward’s (2003, 2008a, 2011a) version of interventionism not only provides an account of mental causation that avoids the exclusion problem, but argue that it also upholds all of the minimal commitments of non-reductive physicalism, thereby providing a successful non-reductive physicalist solution to the exclusion problem. In Chapter 2, I argue that all five theses are minimal commitments of non-reductive physicalism that cannot be rejected in order to avoid the exclusion problem. Chapter 3 identifies the assumptions that I take to underlie the exclusion problem. Chapter 4 introduces and outlines the central features of Woodward’s (2003) interventionism and Chapter 5 argues that Woodward’s interventionist account of mental causation provides a solution to the exclusion problem. I examine two alternative interventionist accounts of mental causation[1] that fail to provide satisfactory solutions to the exclusion problem and conclude that Woodward’s account therefore provides the only satisfactory account of mental causation and solution to the exclusion problem. Chapter 6 addresses some challenges proposed by Michael Baumgartner (2009, 2010) and argues that the interventionist is able to defend her position against these objections and uphold the interventionist solution to the exclusion problem outlined in this thesis. [1. Proposed by List and Menzies (2009) and Campbell (2007, 2008a, 2008b, 2010).]. (shrink)

Grammatical theories of Scalar Implicatures make use of an exhaustivity operator exh, which asserts the conjunction of the prejacent with the negation of excludable alternatives. We present a new Grammatical theory of Scalar Implicatures according to which exh is replaced with pex, an operator that contributes its prejacent as asserted content, but the negation of scalar alternatives at a non-at-issue level of meaning. We show that by treating this non-at-issue level as a presupposition, this theory resolves a number of empirical (...) challenges faced by the old formulation of exh (as well as by standard neo-Gricean theories). The empirical challenges include projection of scalar implicatures from certain embedded environments (‘some under some’ sentences, some under negative factives), their restricted distribution under negation, and the existence of common ground-mismatching and oddness-inducing implicatures. We argue that these puzzles have a uniform solution given a pex-based Grammatical theory of implicatures and some independently motivated principles concerning presupposition projection, cancellation and accommodation. (shrink)

The concept of downward causation is frequently used in an explanatory capacity in biology to account for certain regularities and processes. Some philosophers, however, argue that downward causation is metaphysically incoherent, providing three main objections. Underlying these objections is the assumption that entities are connected by compositional hierarchies of levels of organization. In this paper, I introduce the notions of weak and strong compositional relations using examples from evolutionary developmental biology. I argue that downward causation becomes unproblematic if we use (...) features of interventionist theories of causation to explain the causal relations between levels. I show that an interventionist account of downward causation successfully responds to the three central objections to downward causation in the philosophical literature and I clarify the explanatory usefulness of the concept in biology. As such, this paper provides an epistemic solution to demystify downward causation in the context of scientific practice. The solution proposed is compatible with how biologists seem to use a concept of downward causation fruitfully in their work. (shrink)

Survival is obviously important, but sometimes, under particular circumstances, life can become miserable, difficult, or intolerable; at that point, survival can seem like a punishment or misfortune. A patient who is in a vegetative state, unable to sustain life with dignity, and who is suffering from a terminal illness, has freedom to choose between life and death. The practice of "mercy killing," or euthanasia is an ongoing debate in the discussion of medical ethics. When it comes to making euthanasia decisions (...) for their incompetent patients, medical practitioners are faced with a problem. The moral dilemma of whether something is morally acceptable or not is moral in nature. The "end of life" issue is related to euthanasia should be legally acceptable under specific circumstances, such as when a patient is terminally sick, death is imminent, and treatment is unsuitable and ineffective. It is morally acceptable when a patient makes the autonomous decision to end his life or asks someone else to help him. In order to make an informed decision, the patient needs to be thoroughly informed about the diagnosis and prognosis of an incurable, deadly condition. However, in the context of a Muslim-majority population, where any argument for the legality of suicide (and, by extension, physician-assisted suicide) would be automatically rejected as contrary to Islamic moral and jurisprudential principles, this is an extraordinary request for the health service authorities of a developing country to consider. This paper discusses mainly non-voluntary active euthanasia. The discussion is conducted by giving a case study from Bangladesh. The situation in Bangladesh will also be examined in the paper's last section with regard to the permissibility of active euthanasia, specifically whether it can be done in our state given the socio-cultural-religious practices that are now in place. (shrink)

This clinical vignette stems from French research into sedative practices and their influence on bereavement in spouses of cancer patients. We worked with hospital departments to recruit participants. They were offered a questionnaire and were invited to a research interview. This led us to explore the various issues that palliative care providers may face, including their relationship with the patient’s loved ones, questions about bereavement, and how best to support the bereaved. Feelings of bereavement are difficult to put into words, (...) and there is often concern that talking about it may increase the suffering of the person concerned. The question we raise in this case study is whether fears about talking about bereavement come from the bereaved person or from the caregiver. In other words, for whom is talking about bereavement more painful? This point relates to two ethical challenges in our study: first, we seek to better understand the relationship between spouses of cancer patients and healthcare providers, starting with how to narrate the experience of grief. The second question relates to the ethics of research and specifically the possibility of including patients and family members in the research process. (shrink)

This article re-examines the distinction between the libertarian approach and the egalitarian approach to the regulation of campaign finance. The conventional approach (as exemplified by the work of Owen Fiss and Ronald Dworkin) is to reconcile the competing values of liberty and equality. By contrast, this article advances the normative claim that democracies should seek to incorporate both the libertarian and the egalitarian approaches within constitutional law. I argue that instead of emphasizing one value over the other, the ideal position (...) is one that simultaneously recognizes the values of liberty and equality despite the irreconcilable tension between them. Rather than choosing one value over the other, or reconciling these values by redefining them, I claim that it is vital to maintain the tension between liberty and equality by instantiating the conflict in law. Democracy is better served when the law contains an explicit tension between these foundational values.After setting forth this normative framework, I then apply it to the campaign finance decisions of the Supreme Courts of the United States and Canada, respectively. I make two main claims. First, I argue that although the libertarian/egalitarian distinction is usually presented as a binary choice, the laws of a given jurisdiction often simultaneously display both libertarian and egalitarian characteristics. For this reason, I claim that the libertarian/egalitarian distinction is better conceived of as a “libertarian-egalitarian spectrum.” Second, I argue that in recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Canada, respectively, have privileged one value—liberty or equality—at the expense of the other. The U.S. Supreme Court has over-emphasized the value of liberty (most notably in itsCitizens Uniteddecision), with the result that political equality is markedly undermined. By the same token, the Supreme Court of Canada’s commitment to equality has become too one-sided in recent cases (HarperandBryan), with the result that there are significant impairments to free speech liberties. I argue that both of these approaches are detrimental to democratic participation and governance. Finally, this article offers a preliminary proposal for how courts and legislatures can allow for the conflict between liberty and equality to be instantiated in law. (shrink)

O conceito tardio de plano de imanência na filosofia de Gilles Deleuze diz respeito não apenas à recusa de um segundo mundo transcendente, mas também de um campo transcendental organizado sob a determinação recíproca entre sujeito universal e forma geral de objeto. A construção desse conceito passa, portanto, pela crítica do fundamento transcendental kantiano desenvolvida por Deleuze através de um resgate original do empirismo de Hume. A discussão gira em torno do estatuto da subjetividade: segundo a crítica empírica, o sujeito (...) não pode ser entendido como um pressuposto a _priori_, mas deve, sim, ser compreendido como um produto _a_ _posteriori_ cuja emergência remete, em última instância, a um princípio de repetição. Assim, buscando compreender a amplitude da noção de imanência na filosofia deleuziana, analisamos a leitura do filósofo francês a respeito do problema do fundamento transcendental, sobretudo em _Empirismo e Subjetividade_. Por fim, indicamos brevemente de que maneira o conjunto dessa problemática reaparece em _Diferença e Repetição_. (shrink)

Nosso objetivo foi discutir a análise do estatuto das armas e do armamento no quadro de uma reflexão sobre a tecnologia como apresentada por Gilles Deleuze e Félix Guattari na obra Mil Platôs. Os autores oferecem uma interpretação sobre a especificidade desses elementos técnicos a partir de sua ligação com o processo de inovação das sociedades guerreiras nômades. Esse processo é indissociável de certo modo de operação da metalurgia artesanal e itinerante sobre o phylum maquínico, definido como matéria-movimento composta por (...) singularidades e manifesta em traços de expressão determinados. Porém, o phylum maquínico e a linhagem tecnológica do armamento também podem ser capturados por um aparelho de Estado, passando a funcionar de maneira distinta daquela em que operavam quando conexos ao espaço nômade. Essa captura está na gênese de uma indústria armamentista, cerne problemático da relação entre guerra, técnica e capital para o qual se direciona nossa reflexão final. (shrink)

How kids play in virtual worlds, how it matters for their offline lives, and what this means for designing educational opportunities.

(2008). Latin Poet‐Doctors of the Eighteenth Century: the German Lucretius (Johann Ernst Hebenstreit) Versus the Dutch Ovid (Gerard Nicolaas Heerkens) Intellectual History Review: Vol. 18, Humanism and Medicine in the Early Modern Era, pp. 91-101.

Data on patterns of marriage, differential fertility and mortality were collected from 211 Kotia women residing in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Consanguineous marriages made up just over a quarter of the total, and of these, father's sister's daughter (FSD) were more common than mother's brother's daughter (MBD). The mean inbreeding coefficient for the sample (F) was 0·0172. Women in consanguineous marriages had a lower mean number of total conceptions, live births and living offspring (net fertility) than women in (...) non[hyphen]consanguineous marriages. Significant heterogeneity was found in the means of living offspring for FSD, MBD and non-consanguineous couples, but not for conceptions and live births. (shrink)

Este escrito muestra que el método que surge a partir del pensamiento cartesiano, con un propósito explicativo, revela una radical insuficiencia que conducirá a una nueva propuesta metódica que tiene ahora un propósito comprensivo: la hermenéutica. El método cartesiano se revela suficiente para comprender fenómenos de la naturaleza, pero se muestra insuficiente para hacerse cargo del fenómeno humano. Este método, originalmente orientado a la comprensión de textos, especialmente la escritura sagrada, con Schleiermacher se amplía para convertirse en un procedimiento de (...) comprensión de lo humano en general. This paper shows that the method emerging from Cartesian thinking, with an explanatory purpose, reveals a radical insufficiency that will lead to a new methodical proposal that has a comprehensive purpose: hermeneutics. The Cartesian method shows itself sufficient for the comprehension of natural phenomena, but it shows itself insufficientfor the human phenomena. This method—primarily oriented toward the comprehension of lexts. in particular Holy Scriptures— broadens in Schleiermacher's work so as to turn into a procedure for the comprehension of what is in general human. (shrink)

A lo largo de la historia, las relaciones de la poesía con las otras bellas artes han sido objeto de numerosos estudios basados principalmente en criterios de comparación. El lenguaje poético, trasciende las fronteras de la literatura y se convierte en un elemento clave para determinar si la obra es arte. La forma, la percepción y la ejecución de la performance, que en sus orígenes estaba ligada al acto representativo basado en el texto, como medio artístico de expresión en el (...) contexto latinoamericano se convierte en una herramienta de denuncia en las movilizaciones sociales relativas a la defensa de los derechos humanos. El máximo exponente del arte performance en Guatemala, Regina José Galindo (nacida en 1974), comenzó su trayectoria desde el ámbito de la poesía. Sus acciones performativas establecen conexiones formales y funcionales con el lenguaje poético, creando metáforas a través del sujeto, el objeto y la acción, que sirven como catalizador del mensaje a transmitir y que provocan otro tipo de recepción, que va más allá de los límites habituales que se circunscriben a ambas disciplinas. Las metáforas performativas de la artista, además de cuestionar la posición social de la mujer, logran que el observador, a través de la identificación, alcance la plenitud de la experiencia emancipatoria. (shrink)

Background and ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to draw the attention toward the implications of COVID-19 and the related restrictions imposed worldwide especially in Pakistan. The primary objective was to highlight the levels of psychological distress, anxiety, family violence, suicidality, and well-being due to COVID-19 and the secondary objective was to associate it to social demographic factors.Materials and MethodsIt is designed as a cross-sectional study by employing an online questionnaire in the English language and obtaining responses using a snowball (...) sampling technique. We used three validated measures including Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) index and World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5).ResultsA sample of 420 participants was recruited from across Pakistan, with most participants were females (79%), students (89.8%) and belonging to Punjab (54%). Nearly one-fourth of the participants (23.8%) scored above the minimum value set for moderate or high psychological distress (K10 > 12). There was a higher prevalence of distress among females and resident of province Punjab. The majority of individuals reported that they were living with their family (94.5%) and more than half (52.6%) were neutral regarding their satisfaction with their living conditions. 40.5% believed that the lockdown has had a negative impact on their mental health. 31.4% have reported that they themselves have experienced abuse from a family member. 48.6% scored high on the GAD-7 scale and low wellbeing score was found among 80.2%. Students were found to be more vulnerable to mental illness and anxiety.ConclusionWith the lockdown restrictions, psychosocial distress has become prevalent in Pakistan. (shrink)

The issue of communicated accountability is particularly important in Faith-Based Charity Organisations as the donated funds and use of those funds are often meant to fulfil religious obligations for the well-being of society. Integrating Stewart’s (1984) ladder of accountability with the Statement of Recommended Practice guidance for charities, this paper examines communicated accountability practices of Muslim and Christian Charity Organisations in England and Wales. Our content analysis results indicate communicated accountability to be generally limited, focusing on providing basic descriptive information (...) rather than judgement-based information. Our interviews with trustees and preparers of Trustee Annual Reports in Muslim Charity Organisations identified the reasons being due to high donor trust and consequently weak demand by stakeholders for the latter type of information, as well as internal organisational issues related to the organisational structure and culture, lack of internal professional expertise and high accountability cost. (shrink)

Risk management is a well-known method to face technological challenges through a win–win combination of protective and proactive approaches, fostering the collaboration of operators, researchers, regulators, and industries for the exploitation of new markets. In the field of autonomous and unmanned aerial systems, or UAS, a considerable amount of work has been devoted to risk analysis, the generation of ground risk maps, and ground risk assessment by estimating the fatality rate. The paper aims to expand this approach with a tool (...) for managing data protection risks raised by drones through the design of flight maps. The tool should allow UAS operators choosing the best air corridor for their drones based on the so-called privacy by design principle pursuant to Article 25 of the EU data protection regulation, the GDPR. Among the manifold applications of this approach, the design of fly zones for drones can be tailored for public authorities in the phase of authorization of new operations, much as for national Data Protection authorities that have to control the lawfulness of personal data processing by UAS operations. The overall aim is to present the first win–win approach to data protection issues, aerospace engineering challenges, and risk management methods for the threats posed by this technology. (shrink)

O presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar os argumentos de Oyèrónkẹ́ Oyěwùmíem sua obra A invenção das mulheres: construindo um sentido africano para os discursos ocidentais de gênero, (1997), para ser pensado a relação entre o corpo e a ética na cosmovisão e na cosmopercepção. Para demonstrar que a epistemologia ocidental engendra sobre si e os demais povos a universalidade da categoria gênero e os problemas sociais oriundos desta generificação, a epistemóloga iorubana escreve A invenção das mulheres com um caráter (...) dialético, em que é demonstrada sua crítica ao passo que são descritos os costumes autóctones Iorubás, com objetivo de demonstrar que para tal povo o corpo não determinava papéis sociais antes da colonização. A partir de sua defesa de que o gênero é uma categoria criada socialmente, mas que esta não foi parte originária de todos os povos é que se inicia a escrita deste texto. Para apresentar a complexidade do pensamento oyewumiano, as categorias de cosmovisão e cosmopercepção foram retomadas, através do alinhavemento do que elucida a autora sobre a bio-lógica, raciocínio corporal, somatocentralidade e senioridade. Com a apresentação destes conceitos é que se conclui como cada cultura cunha seus liames éticos. (shrink)

This volume commemorates the scientific contributions of Detlef Dürr (1951–2021) to foundational questions of physics. It presents new contributions from his former students, collaborators, and colleagues about their current research on topics inspired or influenced by Dürr. These topics are drawn from physics, mathematics, and philosophy of nature, and concern interpretations of quantum theory, new developments of Bohmian mechanics, the role of typicality, quantum physics in relativistic space-time, classical and quantum electrodynamics, and statistical mechanics. The volume thus also gives a (...) snapshot of present research in the foundations of physics. (shrink)

O presente artigo objetiva discutir como Richer de Reims, monge beneditino do século X, compôs um relato histórico baseando na construção narrativa totalmente ligada ao aparato estético com instrumento retórico. A partir de sua formação clássica, organizada pelo Abade Gerbert d’Aurillac, Richer constrói um texto de Histórias que compõe uma narrativa a partir de uma fórmula estética particular, que é a “reescrita”, ou “criação”, dos diálogos dos diversos personagens que aparecem no relato; com isso, faz com que as supostas “vozes” (...) de seus personagens ajudem-no na legitimação, política ou intelectual, daqueles para quem ele deixa transparecer sua preferência. (shrink)

Although beef and dairy production in Alberta, Canada, enjoys strong public support, there are enduring public concerns, including farm animal welfare. Evolving codes of practice and animal care councils prescribe changes and improvements to many areas of farm management, and may be seen by farmers as an appropriate response to public animal welfare concerns. However, codes of practice do not address every animal welfare concern, and new concerns can arise over time. Drawing on social practice theory and in-depth field research (...) with 36 cattle and dairy farmers, this paper explores the materials, competencies, and meanings of four animal husbandry practices: branding, dehorning, weaning, and on-farm handling and moving. Findings show that branding and dehorning are evolving slowly with attention to pain management, but remain firmly rooted in ranching tradition and communities of practice. Weaning and animal handling practices are evolving more quickly with attention to changing materials, attitudes, and values that are more prevalent within producer communities. (shrink)

La cimatheque, un centre alternatif du film, situé dans le centre du Caire a ouvert ses portes le 3 juin 2015. Elle est née d’abord du désir de jeunes cinéastes de créer une société de production indépendante. Avec la révolution le projet s’est étoffé, et la Cimathèque est devenue un lieu de rencontre, de projection, de production, de digitalisation, d’archivage, de débats à l’adresse de tous les cinéphiles. L’Égypte possède une longue tradition cinématographique, interrompue par des années de négligence, de (...) corruption et un manque d’ambition pour un art profondément aimé par la population. La question de l’archivage du patrimoine cinématographique mais aussi des productions contemporaines sur divers supports est centrale dans le projet de la Cimathèque, surtout dans une époque de déconstruction du sens de l’histoire collective. (shrink)

Color charts, or grids of evenly spaced multicolored dots or squares, appear in the work of modern artists and designers. Often the artist/designer distributes the many colors in a way that could be described as “random,” that is, without an obvious pattern. We conduct a statistical analysis of 125 “random-looking” art and design color charts and show that they differ significantly from truly random color charts in the average distance between adjacent colors. We argue that this attribute generalizes results in (...) subjective randomness in a black/white setting and gives further evidence supporting a connection between subjective randomness and what is esthetically pleasing. (shrink)

In view of the arguments put forward by Clifton and Monton [this volume], we reconsider the alleged conflict of dynamical reduction models with the enumeration principle. We prove that our original analysis of such a problem is correct, that the GRW model does not meet any difficulty and that the reasoning of the above authors is inappropriate since it does not take into account the correct interpretation of the dynamical reduction theories.

Responding to claims of Anthropocene geoscience that humans are now geological agents, social scientists are calling for renewed attention to the social, cultural, political and historical differentiation of the Anthropos. But does this leave critical social thought’s own key concepts and categories unperturbed by the Anthropocene provocation to think through dynamic earth processes? Can we ‘socialize the Anthropocene’ without also opening ‘the social’ to climate, geology and earth system change? Revisiting the earth science behind the Anthropocene thesis and drawing on (...) social research that is using climatology and earth systems thinking to help understand socio-historical change, this article explores some of the possibilities for ‘geologizing’ social thought. While critical social thought’s attention to justice and exclusion remains vital, it suggests that responding to Anthropocene conditions also calls for a kind of ‘geo-social’ thinking that relates human diversity and social difference to the potentiality and multiplicity of the earth itself. (shrink)

In this paper, I provide an epistemic evaluation of the harms that result from the widespread marketing of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests. While genetic tests are a valuable accessory diagnostic tool when ordered by a medical practitioner, there are different implications when they are sold directly to consumers. I aim to show that there are both epistemic and non-epistemic harms associated with the widespread commoditization of DTC genetic tests. I argue that the epistemic harms produced by DTC genetic tests have (...) been disregarded in discussions on the topic. Drawing on the notion of contributory epistemic injustices, I highlight two pertinent epistemic harms: (1) a failure to uptake an individual’s articulations about their identity and (2) the presiding reductionist framework dismisses useful hermeneutical resources. I then propose ways to mitigate these harms. (shrink)

The role of reciprocal causation in Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) is controversial. Proponents of EES argue that reciprocal causation is a key innovation, underpinning the necessity of EES. Conversely, critics of the EES maintain that Standard Evolutionary Theory (SET) adequately encompasses the concept of reciprocal causation, challenging the need for EES. This skepticism is rooted in two primary critiques. First, the mischaracterization of causal dynamics within SET by EES advocates leads to a misrepresentation of SET. Second, the oversight of how (...) SET incorporates and acknowledges instances of reciprocal causation leads to claims about the empirical inaptness of SET. As a result, the debate has reached an impasse, with limited progress towards a constructive examination of reciprocal causation’s significance to evolutionary explanations. This paper introduces the scope argument, which examines reciprocal causation through timescales and grain of explanations. This approach revitalizes the debate in two ways. First, reframing the debate in terms of scope clarifies the role of reciprocal causation by allowing research programs to specify targets of explanation. Second, the elements of scope (timescales and grain) elucidate the epistemic advantage of reciprocal causation in the respective research programs in question. (shrink)