La filosofía desde la teoría general del derecho, por H. Cairns.--Teoría jurídica integralista, por J. Hall.--Más allá del pragmatismo jurídico, por T.A. Cowan.--La tecla para una ciencia jurídica estimativa, por A.H. Pekelis.--Palabras y música, por J. Frank.--Teoría de los intereses sociales de Pound, por E.W. Patterson.--La metamorfosis de la idea de justicia, por H. Kelsen.--Sobre la naturaleza del derecho natural, por A.-H. Chroust.

Here the techniques customarily employed in the interpretation of legal phenomena are critically analyzed from the position of rigorous scientific method. Cairns's book is a brilliant statement for the possibilities of the scientific approach in regard to social institutions in general and to the sociology of law in particular. Originally published in 1941. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously (...) out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value. (shrink)

In "reason and conduct" henry david aiken maintains that there is an antinomy of moral objectivity and freedom. Freedom requires that we each choose our own moral principles while objectivity requires that there be universally binding principles. He resolves the antinomy by proposing a principle of objectivity consistent with a diversity of moral codes, Thus forsaking universalizability in ethics. However, His notion of freedom is too stringent and his objectivity inadequate in not encompassing universalizability. Still, Aiken's concept of objectivity is (...) important in pointing to the defeasibility of all our moral positions. (staff). (shrink)

This paper evaluates several recent efforts to interpret the work of Nāgārjuna through the lens of modern symbolic logic. An attempt is made to uncover the premises that justify the use of symbolic logic for this purpose. This is accomplished through a discussion of (1) the historical origins of those premises in the Indian and Tibetan traditions, and (2) how such assumptions prejudice our understanding of Nāgā rjuna’s insistence that he has no “proposition” (pratijñā). Finally, the paper sets forth an (...) alternative interpretation that takes into account the literary dimensions of Nāgārjuna’s writing. (shrink)

Martin Heidegger's commitment to the idea that _Dasein_ is ultimately gender neutral, as well as several other major aspects of his thought, raises significant questions for feminist philosophers. The fourteen essays included in this volume clearly illustrate the ways in which feminist readings can deepen our understanding of his philosophy. They illuminate both the richness and the limitations of the resources his work can provide for feminist thought. This volume engages the full scope of Heidegger's writings from_ Being and Time (...) _through his latest work, from his readings of the ancient Greek poets to his critique of modern technology. At the same time, it reflects a wide range of contemporary feminist concerns: the significance of gender difference; the role of the body in philosophical thought; the relationship between philosophy and the natural world, and between philosophy and the domestic realm; and the aspiration to move forward into a new, more just, political world. Included in this volume are important new essays by Ellen Armour, Carol Bigwood, Jack Caputo, Tina Chanter, Trish Glazebrook, Jennifer Gosetti, Luce Irigaray, Dorothy Leland, Mechthild Nagel, Gail Stenstad, and the editors—as well as a valuable historical and theoretical Introduction by Patricia Huntington, the first of Jacques Derrida's "Geschlecht" articles, and an important 1997 essay by Iris Marion Young. (shrink)

My dissertation traces key aspects of the conceptual influence of Heidegger's work on feminist poststructuralist theories. This archeology enables me to indicate that poststructualism cannot provide the foundation necessary to forming three normative ideals requisite to a viable feminist theory: personal autonomy, heterogeneous community, and solidarity. I argue that certain versions of poststructuralism repeat Heidegger's abstraction from an hermeneutics of suspicion and his totalizing rejection of modernity. Without a theory of willed ignorance, post-Lacanian feminism undercuts women's agency. And, without tying (...) a vision of Sittlichkeit to ideology critique, feminist ethics falls prey to abstraction and antinormativism. ;In Part I, I recover a dialectical theory of autonomy that can account for the deliberate ways that subjects mediate their environment. In Part II, I flesh out Heidegger's and Irigaray's respective visions of heterogeneous community. In Part III, however, I show how neither Heidegger nor US appropriations of Irigaray yield either a sufficiently complex moral theory or a theory of solidarity. After delineating Heidegger's antinormative tendencies, I reveal similar deficiencies in the works of Irigaray and Drucilla Cornell. I demonstrate that the nominalist underpinnings of post-Lacanian feminism threaten to normalize a fragmented view of pluralism rather than tackle the hard problem of developing interactive models of universalism and of solidarity. ;I conclude by developing features of a feminist methodology that can support solidarity and avoid antinormativism. These features include: a hermeneutic of the symbolic order complex enough to address the overlap between race, class and gender; grounding theory in ideology critique; a model of critical social consciousness rooted in the ability to disdain the immiseration of others and to acknowledge one's own interests; and an interactionist basis for moral theory. (shrink)

Patricia Joy Huntington reflects that loneliness does not only consist of the heartfelt absences of a friend, partner, spouse, or child, but rather stems from a radical breach in one's life journey. In this conceptually rigorous and warmly poetic book, Huntington develops a unique philosophy of receptivity and an original portrait of redemptive suffering. By fully exploring notions of pain, she also examines how the relation between the heart's musical attunement and meaning-filled life passages can lead one to (...) a more spiritual philosophy and a more independent life. Huntington reveals the maternal face of God and encourages the feminine divine in her poignant narrative of overcoming. This deeply philosophical meditation offers a nuanced view of religious experience, providence, and transcendence. (shrink)

Structural Causal Modeling (SCM) is an approach to causal inference closely associated with Judea Pearl and given an accessible instroduction in [Pearl, J., & Mackenzie, D. (2018). The book of why: The new science of cause and effect. Basic Books]. It is highly popular outside of economics, but has seen relatively little application within it. This paper briefly introduces the main concepts of SCM through the lens of whether applied economists are likely to find marginal benefit in these methods beyond (...) standard economic approaches to causal inference. The most promising areas are those where SCM's causal diagrams alone offer significant value: covariate selection, the development of placebo tests, causal discovery, and identification in complex models. (shrink)

One of the most pressing and urgent academic tasks of the day is to dismantle the persistent Eurocentrism of philosophy. In the quest to remedy the white, middle-class, heteronormative, and European biases of philosophy's initial expressions, feminist theorizing has cultivated culturally and ethnically specific forms, intersectional analyses, and global articulations. Buddhism beyond Gender and Women and Buddhist Philosophy breathe new vitality into these pursuits. Both books underscore the immense potential of the core doctrines of Buddhist philosophy, such as the nonsubstantialist (...) view of self, the nondualistic outlook, and the ontological premise of the interdependence of all beings, for overcoming Western hierarchies, reified conceptions of identity, and pernicious dichotomies. The two women represented in these books—Rita Gross herself and Kim Iryŏp, a Buddhist nun —ground philosophy in a narrative, existential journey and in their personal practices as Buddhists. In contrast with Gross's second-wave methodology and revisionist aims, Park's contribution to comparative feminist scholarship underscores the originality of Iryŏp's attempt to rethink Buddhist ideas in a contemporary feminist context. Particularly compelling is that Park unequivocally defends existential narrative as a genre of philosophy largely through an analysis of the Buddhist nun's love letters. (shrink)

This paper describes how an innocent venture outside the confines of academia to update my nursing skills completely changed the focus of my research. I was deeply involved in the theoretical development of my thesis, which I thought was a feminist exploration of the meaning of health for mid‐life women. I was immersed in feminist theory and was exploring the work of the French Feminists. I had written comprehensive draft chapters about nursing, women's bodies and science. While I was absorbed (...) in my theoretical exploration I decided to venture back into practice to improve my nursing skills. I am still unsure why I chose to do this; however, in hindsight, my theoretical exploration was inexorably pushing me in that direction. While my conscious thinking was focused on my stated topic, my subconscious (my intuition) turned me towards another. Being confronted with the reality of nursing practice through working with staff nurses in a gynaecological ward caused a major disjunction in every aspect of my research: the topic, my methodology and the setting, and the experience challenged my feelings about nurses and nursing. This inevitably led to a dramatic and fundamental change in my research. (shrink)

One central point of contention between Hegel’s feminist critics and his defenders centers on whether he provides a model of ethical community that could effectuate harmony between the two sexes. Hegel’s account of Antigone is taken as the centerpiece of this debate because it assigns Antigone and Creon to two independent moral laws, the divine and human respectively. Many feminists argue, first, that in accepting the sexed assignment of women to the separate moral sphere of the family with its attendant (...) religious duties, Hegel subscribes to a dubious naturalistic assumption that women have a different ethical sensibility from men; and second, that this assumption leads Hegel to misconstrue women’s ethical agency. Irigaray alternatively holds that, while there is a natural difference between the sexes, Hegel’s Antigone nonetheless projects a male fantasy about woman’s ethical orientation. In contrast to both positions, Nadine Changfoot demonstrates that the logic of Hegel’s account points beyond the Greek war between the sexes to a model of ethical community that prizes divine and human law equally without necessarily perpetuating the assignment of women and men to these two, separate social spheres. The dialectic calls for, without realizing, gender equality. (shrink)

In this paper, I explore loneliness as a primordial call to find accord with the self that, as Kierkegaard claims, is born of spirit. I put Kierkegaard’s Anti-Climacan formula, “the more consciousness, the more self,” to work by examining lamentation over loss of the innocent days of youth as symptomatic of primordial loneliness. In loneliness, I argue, we confound loss of naivete (a developmental change) with loss of innocence (a spiritual failing). While each person is fated to lose naivete, no (...) person loses innocence by developmental necessity. Each person loses innocence by his or her own hand in freedom. (shrink)

This article presents a set of moral arguments regarding the selective abortion of fetuses on the basis of prenatal screening for late onset genetic diseases only, and for Huntington's Disease* in particular. After discussion of human suffering, human perfection and the distinctive features of the lives of people confronting late onset genetic disease, the author concludes that selective abortion is difficult to justify ethically, although it must remain a matter of personal choice.

ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to identify future lawyers’ and physicians’ views on testing children for Huntington’s disease (HD) against parents’ wishes. After receiving general information about HD, patient autonomy and confidentiality, law students and advanced medical students were shown an interview with a mother suffering from HD who is opposed to informing and testing her two children (aged 10 and 16) for HD. Students then filled out questionnaires concerning their agreement with testing. No significant differences were (...) found between medical and law students or between students from different courses concerning the adolescent son. Three quarters of students thought that he should be told about his mother’s disease, and 91% thought the adolescent son should have the opportunity of genetic testing for HD for himself. However, significant differences were found concerning the 10‐year old son, with 44% of law students and 30% of medical students in favour of testing the child for HD. Students raised some important ethical issues in their elective comments. In conclusion, we found highly positive attitudes towards informing a 16‐year old of his mother’s HD and offering to test him. These attitudes were not in tune with guidelines. Students did not consider several practical and ethical issues of genetic testing of children and adolescents. Specific education should ensure that attitudes are based on sufficiently detailed knowledge about all aspects of genetic testing of children to discourage pressures on persons at risk of HD. (shrink)

Until approximately twenty years ago, advances in the study of human genetics had little influence on the practice of medicine. In the 1980s, this changed dramatically with the mapping of the altered genes that cause cystic fibrosis and Huntington disease. In just a few years, these discoveries led to DNA-based tests that enabled clinicians to determine whether prospective parents were carriers of CF or whether an individual carried the Huntington gene and, as a result, would almost certainly develop (...) the disease.Observers interested in the social and economic implications of genetic technology realized that such genetic tests could be used by insurance companies to predict which insurance applicants were likely to become ill or even die from these diseases. (shrink)

Until approximately twenty years ago, advances in the study of human genetics had little influence on the practice of medicine. In the 1980s, this changed dramatically with the mapping of the altered genes that cause cystic fibrosis and Huntington disease. In just a few years, these discoveries led to DNA-based tests that enabled clinicians to determine whether prospective parents were carriers of CF or whether an individual carried the Huntington gene and, as a result, would almost certainly develop (...) the disease.Observers interested in the social and economic implications of genetic technology realized that such genetic tests could be used by insurance companies to predict which insurance applicants were likely to become ill or even die from these diseases. (shrink)

SummaryThe incidence of family breakdown and stress has been examined in an unselected group of 92 South Wales families, each containing a patient suffering from Huntington's chorea, and related to the onset and duration of the disease, age of the patient, and behavioural symptoms shown. The frequency of actual and attempted suicide is analysed and the effects of the disorder on the primary care agent for the patient discussed. Some of the effects on children and the needs of the (...) families for support and practical help are outlined. It is concluded that family support is an essential factor in any programme aimed at the long-term alleviation and prevention of Huntington's chorea. (shrink)

As a consequence of the problems caused by genetic discrimination, federal and state law makers are being pressured to pass a legislative remedy. A primary question is whether the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 applies to individuals with a potentially disabling genetic disorder who are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic and may never become ill and to healthy individuals who are carriers of genetic conditions. At present, this question has relevance principally for individuals with the genotype for single gene disorders, like (...) Huntington disease and hemochromatosis, and to asymptomatic carriers of single gene disorders such as cystic fibrosis. Although many such single gene conditions exist, the total incidence of these conditions in the U.S. population is less than 0.4 percent. However, the question concerning the applicability of the ADA will become increasingly important because genetic tests will almost certainly be developed in the near future for common multifactorial diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and certain forms of cancer. (shrink)

As a consequence of the problems caused by genetic discrimination, federal and state law makers are being pressured to pass a legislative remedy. A primary question is whether the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 applies to individuals with a potentially disabling genetic disorder who are pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic and may never become ill and to healthy individuals who are carriers of genetic conditions. At present, this question has relevance principally for individuals with the genotype for single gene disorders, like (...) Huntington disease and hemochromatosis, and to asymptomatic carriers of single gene disorders such as cystic fibrosis. Although many such single gene conditions exist, the total incidence of these conditions in the U.S. population is less than 0.4 percent. However, the question concerning the applicability of the ADA will become increasingly important because genetic tests will almost certainly be developed in the near future for common multifactorial diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and certain forms of cancer. (shrink)

Against several recent interpretations, I argue in this paper that Immanuel Kant's support for enlightened absolutism was a permanent feature of his political thought that fit comfortably within his larger philosophy, though he saw such rule as part of a transition to democratic self-government initiated by the absolute monarch himself. I support these contentions with (1) a detailed exegesis of Kant’s essay "What is Enlightenment?" (2) an argument that Kantian republicanism requires not merely a separation of powers but also a (...) representative democratic legislature, and (3) a demonstration that each stage of a democratic transition can potentially be in an absolute monarch’s short-run self-interest. I conclude the paper by defending Kant's theory of democratization against charges of consequentialism and paternalism and by pointing out its similarity to other accounts of democratic transitions (for example, those of Samuel Huntington and Guillermo O'Donnell), suggesting a previously unnoticed opportunity for cross-fertilization between political philosophy and comparative politics. (shrink)

The Huntington thesis of the clash of cultures and American foreign policy analysis are both aspects of the legacy of Carl Schmitt's distinction between friend and foe. This article explores Schmitt's political theology as the theoretical basis of modern politics in terms of the concepts of state sovereignty and the idea of a permanent emergency. Within this Schmittian framework, the analysis of Islam as presented by writers such as Huntington, Fukuyama and Barber is critically analysed. Their analysis of (...) fundamentalism and political Islam fails to grasp the complexity and diversity of modern Islam. The article concludes by examining a number of social and economic processes that make the political division between friend and foe untenable. (shrink)

Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease is a fatal, transmissible, neurodegenerative disorder for which there is currently no effective treatment. vCJD arose from the zoonotic spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. There is now compelling evidence for human to human transmission through blood transfusions from presymptomatic carriers and experts are warning that the real epidemic may be yet to come. Imperatives exist for the development of reliable, non-invasive presymptomatic diagnostic tests. Research into such tests is well advanced. In this article the ethical implications of (...) the availability of these tests are elaborated and comparisons drawn with predictive genetic testing for Huntington’s disease and screening for HIV. Paramount to considerations is the issue of whom to test, weighing up respect for personal autonomy against obligations to benefit and protect society. A paradigm is proposed similar to that used for HIV screening but with unique features: compulsory testing of all blood/organ donors and individuals undergoing surgery or invasive procedures who have a significant risk of disease transmission. (shrink)

Activating the ERK pathway (extracellular signal‐regulated kinase pathway) has proven beneficial in several models of Huntington's disease (HD), and drugs that are protective in HD models have recently been found to activate ERK. Thus, the ERK cascade may be a potential target for therapeutic intervention in this currently untreatable disorder. HD is caused by an expanded polyglutamine repeat in the huntingtin (Htt) protein that actuates a diverse set of pathogenic mechanisms. In response to mutant Htt, ERK is activated and (...) directs a protective transcriptional response and inhibits caspase activation. Paradoxically, Htt also interferes with several signaling events of the ERK pathway. Mutant Htt compromises the ERK‐dependent transcriptional response to corticostriatal BDNF signaling. Mutant Htt also hinders glutamate uptake from the synaptic cleft by down‐regulating ERK‐dependent expression of glutamate transporters, leaving cells vulnerable to excitotoxicity. Some of this cellular complexity can be capitalized on to achieve selective activation of ERK, which can be protective. (shrink)

What ethical justification can be found for informing a person that he or she will later develop a lethal disease for which no therapy is available? This question has been discussed during the past twenty years by specialists concerned with the prevention of Huntington's Disease, an incurable late-onset hereditary disorder. Many of them have played an active role in developing experimental testing programmes for at-risk persons. This paper is based on a corpus of 119 articles; it reviews the development (...) of their reflection and includes an outline of the ethical problems identified and the solutions adopted in pre-clinical protocols. Seen in a broader perspective, the experience of presymptomatic testing for Huntington's Disease has given medical geneticists the opportunity to clarify their ethical position in the as yet little explored field of predictive medicine. (shrink)

A 62-year-old female with Huntington’s disease presented after a suicide attempt. Her advance directive stated that she did not want intubation or resuscitation, which her family acknowledged and supported. Despite these directives, she was resuscitated in the emergency department and continued to state that she would attempt suicide again. Her suicidality in the face of a chronic and advancing illness, and her prolonged consistency in her desire to take her own life, left careproviders wondering how to provide ethical, respectful (...) care to this patient. Tension between the ethical principles of autonomy and beneficence is central in this case. The patient’s narrative demonstrated that her suicide was an autonomous decision, free from coercion or disordered thinking from mental illness. Beneficence then would seem to necessitate care aligned with the patient’s desire to end her life, which created ethical uneasiness for her family and careproviders. The case highlights several end-of-life ethical considerations that have received much recent attention. With ongoing discussions about the legalization of aid in dying across the country, caregivers are challenged to understand what beneficence means in people with terminal illnesses who want a say in their death. This case also highlights the profound moral distress of families and careproviders that arises in such ethically challenging scenarios. (shrink)