If natural selection chose where new mutations occur it might well favour placing them near existing polymorphisms, thereby avoiding disruption of areas that work while adding novelty to regions where variation is tolerated or even beneficial. Such a system could operate if heterozygous sites are recognised and ‘repaired’ during the initial stages of crossing over. Such repairs involve an extra round of DNA replication, providing an opportunity for further mutations, thereby raising the local mutation rate. If so, the changes in (...) heterozygosity that occur when populations grow or shrink could feed back to modulate both the rate and the distribution of mutations. Here, I review evidence from isozymes, microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms that this potential is realised in real populations. I then consider the likely implications, focusing particularly on how these processes might affect microsatellites, concluding that heterozygosity does impact on the rate and distribution of mutations. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to explore some of the challenges of measuring Christian spiritual development across distinct traditions of Christian spirituality. This presses into questions of what might be universal and what might be particular when it comes to Christian spirituality in how it is understood and practiced. We address the feasibility of a general, ecumenical measure by hearing from representative voices of five traditions of Christian spirituality: African American spirituality, Anglican spirituality, Benedictine spirituality, Pentecostal spirituality, and Reformed (...) spirituality. After noting some of the distinctives of these traditions, we conclude with four strategies for navigating the unity and diversity of Christian spirituality in conceptualizing and measuring Christian formation. (shrink)

De l'apathie de l'âme humaine, ou, L'incapacité de l'âme de se sentir, et l'absence de faculté de sentir en elle, alors que notre oragnisme vivant possède ces qualités -- Sur les idées distinctes des choses qui appartiennent soit à notre âme, soit à notre corps organique vivant -- Traité de l'art de philosopher avec simplicité et précision.

A barrier to the development and refinement of ethics education in and across health professional schools is that there is not an agreed upon instrument or method for assessment in ethics education. The most widely used ethics education assessment instrument is the Defining Issues Test (DIT) I & II. This instrument is not specific to the health professions. But it has been modified for use in, and influenced the development of other instruments in, the health professions. The DIT contains certain (...) philosophical assumptions (“Kohlbergian” or “neo-Kohlbergian”) that have been criticized in recent years. It is also expensive for large institutions to use. The purpose of this article is to offer a rubric—which the authors have named the Health Professional Ethics Rubric—for the assessment of several learning outcomes related to ethics education in health science centers. This rubric is not open to the same philosophical critiques as the DIT and other such instruments. This rubric is also practical to use. This article includes the rubric being advocated, which was developed by faculty and administrators at a large academic health science center as a part of a campus-wide ethics education initiative. The process of developing the rubric is described, as well as certain limitations and plans for revision. (shrink)

Proponents of Alvin Plantinga’s evolutionary argument against Naturalism often quote Charles Darwin’s 22 April 1881 letter to William Graham to imply Darwin worried that his theory of evolution committed its adherents to some sort of global skepticism. This niggling epistemic worry has, therefore, been dubbed ‘Darwin’s Doubt’. But this gets Darwin wrong. After combing through Darwin’s correspondence and autobiographical writings, the author maintains that Darwin only worried that evolution might cause us to doubt particularly abstruse metaphysical and theological beliefs, (...) and beliefs arrived at by ‘intuition’ rather than evidence-based reasoning. He did not worry that unguided evolution should lead us to doubt all of our beliefs in the way Plantinga and others have implied that it does. (shrink)

Despite the fact that six years have passed since 9/11, the Pentagon's recent decision to try six Guantanamo detainees for capital crimes such as terrorism and support of terrorism made national headlines. William Glaberson, "U.S. Charges 6 With Key Roles in 9/11 Attacks", N.Y. Times, Feb. 11, 2008, at A1. In this Debate, Professors Amos N. Guiora, of the University of Utah, and John T. Parry, of Lewis & Clark Law School, attempt to settle the question of what (...) sort of forum is most appropriate to try the thousands of individuals in U.S. custody who are suspected of terrorism. Professor Guiora considers three forum options: treaty-based international terror courts, traditional Article III courts, and a hybrid option he calls domestic terror courts. Ultimately, Professor Guiora argues in favor of domestic terror courts, which he describes as being able to balance the legitimate rights of the individual with the equally legitimate national security rights of the state. He considers this option to be the most practical and expedient policy solution, necessitated by an untenable tension between the understanding that some of the detainees present a genuine threat to American national security, and an awareness that indefinite detention violates constitutional principles and fundamental concepts of morality. Professor Parry agrees that current U.S. policy toward detainees has been misguided, but does not believe that innovations of the sort proposed by Professor Guiora are necessary. Rather, he suggests that policymakers should choose Article III courts rather than hybrid courts for trials of suspected terrorists, with military courts as a fallback option. Professor Parry points to research that shows that the federal government is often able to prosecute suspected terrorists in federal court, and therefore considers alternative proposals to Article III courts to be solution[s] in search of a problem. Professor Parry realizes that trial in federal court will not be possible for every suspected terrorist, and concludes that, [f]or people who pose a risk but whose conduct may not violate federal criminal law, prolonged preventive detention is the best choice. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Reformed Virtue after Barth: Developing Moral Virtue Ethics in the Reformed Tradition by Kirk J. NolanAmos Winarto Oei, PhDReformed Virtue after Barth: Developing Moral Virtue Ethics in the Reformed Tradition Kirk J. Nolan LOUISVILLE, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX PRESS, 2014. 192 PP. $30.00In this addition to the Columbia Series in Reformed Theology, Kirk Nolan attempts to overcome the theological obstacles that Karl Barth raises to Reformed moral virtues (...) ethics. He hopes that his work will contribute to the broader discussion regarding Christian virtue ethics in two ways: the relational dimension of virtue and its prophetic contribution to challenge and influence personal life and future social arrangements (viii–ix). Nolan's thesis is that the attempt to overcome theological obstacles requires grounding virtue ethics in a covenant based in God's free election (8). Though virtue ethics may seem out of place in Reformed theology, especially in the thought of Karl Barth, Nolan argues that Barth's theology actually proves virtue ethics can be compatible with the Reformed tradition. [End Page 213]He elaborates the thesis by identifying those areas of greatest theological concern in the tradition and seeking to address them. He first looks at John Calvin's theology, the Westminster Confession, and Jonathan Edwards's theology (chapter 1). One concern to address is the problem of "Constantinianism" in their thought where they all "presume church-state relations in which the church is the dominant force in society" (35). Karl Barth challenges such presumption by pointing out that the church's role is not to coerce her morality on others but instead simply to present the power of the Holy Spirit. Virtue ethics is not top-down management.Nolan then looks at the theology of Karl Barth himself (chapters 2 and 3), especially those areas that may present difficulties to virtue ethics: Christocentric anthropology, rejection of the Analogia entis, and rejection of habitual grace. Nolan explores these difficulties by engaging with others such as Erich Przywara and William Werpehowski, arriving at so-called "virtue ethics without recourse to natural morality" (71). What does a virtue ethic without natural morality look like (chapter 4)? The key feature is that it is grounded in God's revelation instead of "an overly optimistic view of the effects of sin on humankind" (108). This implies, using a modified Thomist terminology, that all virtues in this ethic are infused; in this case, they are all shaped by grace, and this grace continues to work in the life of believers even when they stubbornly resist it (simul iustus et peccator).In the final chapter (chapter 5), Nolan shows the practice of virtue ethics by addressing a short history of social witness in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Virtue ethics after Barth will commit to practical wisdom, frugality, and charity. The PC(USA) should make these commitments explicit and then should integrate its institutional focus on social injustice with concern for individual moral change since "virtue ethics, with its link between the flourishing of society and the flourishing of individuals, provides rich resources for this integrative task" (133).Kirk Nolan has creatively argued for a Barthian virtue ethics, developing a virtue ethics based on Barth's doctrine of revelation. This is an important addition to the discussion of virtue ethics. One question comes up through the reading of this work: Can a virtue ethics without natural morality be really called Reformed? Reformed tradition, in the works of people such as John Calvin, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Francis Turretin had a well-developed view of the conscience as having an innate or implanted knowledge of the natural law—albeit one that could not motivate unregenerate sinners to do the good which pleases God. [End Page 214]Amos Winarto OeiAletheia Theological Seminary (Indonesia)Copyright © 2017 Society of Christian Ethics... (shrink)

Robert Smid is senior lecturer in philosophy and religion at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts. This book, a slightly revised version of his recent PhD dissertation from Boston University, is dedicated to Robert Cummings Neville, under whose guidance it was originally written. As the title suggests, this volume explores various methods of comparative philosophers in the pragmatist and process traditions of American philosophy. Smid thus focuses his analytic lens on William Ernest Hocking (1873–1966), F. S. C. Northrop (1893–1992), the (...) collaborative work of David Hall (1937–2001) and Roger Ames (1947-), and Neville himself (1939-). The four chapters at the heart of the book—between the introduction and final .. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Nishida and Western PhilosophyAmos YongNishida and Western Philosophy. By Robert Wilkinson. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2009. vii + 175 pp.Robert Wilkinson is a comparative philosopher who teaches at Open University in Edinburgh and has worked for years in the areas of comparative philosophy of mind and comparative aesthetics. This book should be read as part of a larger discussion of the philosophy of Nishida Kitarō (1870–1945), which began with (...) Keiji Nishitani (Nishida Kitarō, trans. S. Yamamoto and J. W. Heisig, University of California Press, 1991) and continues with Robert E. Carter (The Nothingness Beyond God: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Nishida Kitaro, Paragon House, 1997) and Robert J.Wargo (The Logic of Nothingness: A Study of Nishida Kitarō, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005), among others. Going beyond his predecessors, however—even though it is unfortunate that Wilkinson does not interact much with them explicitly—Nishida and Western Philosophy prosecutes a clear even if perhaps controversial thesis: that in the end, Nishida’s philosophy of self-contradictory identity was, as a natural outgrowth of his Buddhist and Zen experience of satori (awakening), fundamentally incommensurable with the philosophy of identity that has characterized the major trajectory of the Western philosophical tradition.There are four chapters to the book (besides the introduction and then the summary and conclusions). The first focuses on Nishida’s starting point, the Zen Buddhist experience of enlightenment regarding the ultimate emptiness (mu), which albeit a difficult term to translate can be understood at least in part as referring to the nonduality, or even the interrelatedness, of all reality. Nishida’s work can be seen as a lifelong quest to formalize this experiential insight systematically in dialogue with the Western philosophical tradition. In a sense, this can be understood as a spirituality in search of a metaphysic, and given the emergence of Japan on the world stage at the beginning of the twentieth century, it is not surprising that up-and-coming Japanese philosophers like Nishida sought to legitimate their own insights in the Western idiom. But precisely for the same reason, however, Nishida rarely appealed to Asian sources, even within the Buddhist tradition, especially in his earlier work.Chapter 2 explicates Nishida’s early philosophy of pure experience, particularly as summarized in his Inquiry into the Good (1911; English translation: Yale University Press, 1990). The major dialogue partner at this point was William James and his notion of radical empiricism, which provided Nishida with Western conceptual resources to think through the primordial base from out of which conscious experience emerged. Thus did pure experience point to the nondual dimension of consciousness before the split between subject and object. Nishida never repudiated his Jamesian connection, although his ongoing work pushed him further and deeper into the metaphysical and ontological dimensions of consciousness that eventually left behind James’s more psychologically driven formulations.Next Wilkinson turns to Nishida’s second major book, Intuition and Reflection in [End Page 231] Self-Consciousness (1917; English translation: State University of New York Press, 1987), and focuses primarily on the Japanese philosopher’s interactions with the Neo-Kantian school of philosophy, Fichte, and Bergson. Each of these provided specific resources for this stage of Nishida’s philosophical project. The Neo-Kantians helped him to think about how the noumena-phenomena and fact-value distinctions contrasted with his own philosophical intuitions regarding their primordial unity in historicity. Fichte enabled the forging of a philosophy of action-consciousness, which promised to go beyond the subject-object distinction, even if in the end (for Nishida), the Fichtean ego remained “trapped” within the logic of identity rather than becoming “delivered” by or within the Zen logic of no-thingness. Bergson, meanwhile, was attractive precisely because of his dynamic (rather than static) philosophy of elan vital or conscious becoming even if Nishida was already discerning at this time that the Bergsonian elan both presumed an ontological togetherness that succumbed to the Western logic of identity on the one hand, and was not sufficiently attentive to the contrary of becoming—death, or the lapsing back into no-thingness—which was a prominent feature of historical reality on the other hand. Yet these Western interlocutors... (shrink)

The rhetoric of Amos includes a wonderful mixture of humour and threat, sarcasm and irony, hyperbole and prediction. Holding the fabric of this conversation together is Amos's place within the prophetic minority - the Yahweh-only party. Making use of sociolinguistics, and particularly the idea of anti-language, I take a closer look at Amos, including his use of overlexicalisation, insider-humour and all the shades of irony one might expect. Typically of a member of an anti-society, Amos exaggerates (...) the differences between insider and outsider, in this case, speaking of 'ivory houses', 'the cattle of Bashan' while appealing to his successful attempts to save the rich from the wrath of God. The offenses of the outsiders are sometimes crystal clear and at other times shrouded in metaphor, and so too is the fate of these people. In reading Amos, we are constantly in danger of falling victim to the persuasive power of his rhetoric. We are drawn into the world of Amos, quickly accepting his boundaries and the ideology of his anti-society, his depiction of reality and his stark caricature of the rich. The rhetoric is persuasive and the irony is divisive forcing a choice of black and white, believer and unbeliever, rich and poor, oppressors and oppressed. We struggle to swim against the current and instead long to respond to Amos's invitation to live - perhaps even to discover that elusive hope at which the book hints: Most of history has been the forging of structures of security and appropriate loyalty symbols, to announce and defend one's personal identity, one's group, and one's gender issues and identity. (shrink)

Background Licensed nurses working in long-term care facilities experience ethical challenges if not resolved can lead to moral distress. There is a lack of an English-language validated tool to adequately measure moral distress in the long-term care setting. Aims To describe the modification and psychometric evaluation of the Moral Distress Questionnaire. Methods Instrument development and psychometric evaluation. Internal consistency using Cronbach’s α to establish reliability was conducted using SPSS version 27.0 while SPSS Amos version 27.0 was used to perform (...) a confirmatory factor analysis of the Moral Distress Questionnaire Participants A national sample of US-licensed nurses who provided direct resident care in long-term care settings were recruited via a targeted sampling method using Facebook from 7 December 2020 to 7 March 2021. Ethical Consideration The study was approved by the university’s human research protection program. Informed consent was provided to all participants. Results A total of 215 participants completed the surveys. Confirmatory analysis indicated that the 21-item scale with a 4-factor structure for the Moral Distress Questionnaire model met the established criteria and demonstrates an acceptable model fit (CMIN/DF = 2.0, CFI = 0.82, TLI = 0.77, RMSEA = 0.07). Factor loadings for each item depict a moderate to a strong relationship (range 0.36–0.70) with the given underlying construct. Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.87 for the overall scale and 0.60–0.74 for its subscales which demonstrate good reliabilities. Discussion This is the first English-language validated tool to adequately measure moral distress in the long-term care setting experienced by US long-term care nurses. This reliable and well-validated tool will help identify moral distress situations experienced by US long-term care nurses. Conclusion The modified 21-item English version of the Moral Distress Questionnaire is reliable tool that demonstrates good psychometric properties to validly measure sources of moral distress among direct resident care nurses. (shrink)

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

Priests and Levites in Jerusalem.—Revolution conducted by Jehoiada.—Regency of Jehoiada.—Reigns of Jehu and his son.—Dispersion of Judah and Israel.—Repairs of the Temple.—Prophecy of Joel.—Peace is bought of Hazael.—Invasion of Idumæa.—Decline of Damascus.—Victorious career of Jeroboam II.—Internal state of Israel.—Prophecy of Amos.—Uzziah’s long prophecy.—Internal state of Judæa.—Genealogies of the High Priests.

This article described three heuristics that are employed in making judgements under uncertainty: representativeness, which is usually employed when people are asked to judge the probability that an object or event A belongs to class or process B; availability of instances or scenarios, which is often employed when people are asked to assess the frequency of a class or the plausibility of a particular development; and adjustment from an anchor, which is usually employed in numerical prediction when a relevant value (...) is available. These heuristics are highly economical and usually effective, but they lead to systematic and predictable errors. A better understanding of these heuristics and of the biases to which they lead could improve judgements and decisions in situations of uncertainty. (shrink)

This collection is a festschrift prepared for Williams on his retirement from the White’s Professorship of Moral Philosophy at Oxford. The topics covered include equality, consistency, comparison between science and ethics, integrity, moral reasons, the moral system, and moral knowledge. Most of the chapters combine exegetical and critical ambitions. With contributions by J. E. J. Altham, Jon Elster, Nicholas Jardine, Ross Harrison, Christopher Hookway, John McDowell, Martin Hollis, Martha Nussbaum, Amartya Sen, and Charles Taylor, and replies by Bernard Williams.

Building Cosmopolitan Communities contributes to current cosmopolitanism debates by evaluating the justification and application of norms and human rights in different communitarian settings in order to achieve cosmopolitan ideals. Relying on a critical tradition that spans from Kant to contemporary discourse philosophy, Nascimento proposes the concept of a "multidimensional discourse community." The multidimensional model is applied and tested in various dialogues, resulting in a new cosmopolitan ideal based on a contemporary discursive paradigm. As the first scholarly text to provide an (...) interdisciplinary survey of the theories and discourses on human rights and cosmopolitanism, Building Cosmopolitan Communities is a valuable resource to scholars of philosophy, political science, social theory, and globalization studies. (shrink)

This book offers a fresh account of one of the remarkable figures in the Renaissance, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494), by focusing on a neglected aspect of his work; his reading of scholasticism and its reception in the fifteenth century.

By the time of his death in 2003, Bernard Williams was one of the greatest philosophers of his generation. Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy is not only widely acknowledged to be his most important book, but also hailed a contemporary classic of moral philosophy. Presenting a sustained critique of moral theory from Kant onwards, Williams reorients ethical theory towards ‘truth, truthfulness and the meaning of an individual life’. He explores and reflects upon the most difficult problems in contemporary philosophy (...) and identifies new ideas about central issues such as relativism, objectivity and the possibility of ethical knowledge. This edition also includes a new commentary on the text by A.W.Moore and a foreword by Jonathan Lear. (shrink)

This is the first critical study of The Logic of Sense, Gilles Deleuze's most important work on language and ethics, as well as the main source of his vital philosophy of the event.James Williams explains the originality of Deleuze's work with careful definitions of all his innovative terms and a detailed description of the complex structure he constructs. This reading makes connections to his ground-breaking work on literature, to his critical but also progressive relation to the sciences, and to his (...) controversial denial of the priority of standard logics, human values and 'meaning' in thinking.This book will open new debates and develop current ones around Deleuze's work in philosophy, politics, literature, linguistics, cultural studies and sociology. (shrink)

Noted psychologist and philosopher develops his own brand of pragmatism, based on theories of C. S. Peirce. Emphasis on "radical empiricism," versus the transcendental and rationalist tradition. One of the most important books in American philosophy. Note.

This pioneering work in the history of science, which originated in a series of three Gauss Seminars given at Princeton University in 1984, demonstrated how the roots of the scientific revolution lay in medieval scholasticism.

The book shows that discourse and community are central issues for communitarianism, feminism, postmodernism and liberation ethics, and reveals how plurality and multiculturalism have become a matter for critical philosophy.

By the time of his death in 2003, Bernard Williams was one of the greatest philosophers of his generation. Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy is not only widely acknowledged to be his most important book, but also hailed a contemporary classic of moral philosophy. Presenting a sustained critique of moral theory from Kant onwards, Williams reorients ethical theory towards ‘truth, truthfulness and the meaning of an individual life’. He explores and reflects upon the most difficult problems in contemporary philosophy (...) and identifies new ideas about central issues such as relativism, objectivity and the possibility of ethical knowledge. (shrink)

Emily Carroll and Parker Crutchfield propose a new inconsistency argument against abortion restrictivism. In response, I raised several objections to their argument. Recently Carroll and Crutchfield have replied and seem to be under the impression that I’m a restrictivist. This is puzzling, since my criticism of their view included a very thinly veiled, but purposely more charitable, anti-restrictivist inconsistency argument. In this response, I explain how Carroll and Crutchfield mischaracterize my position and that of the restrictivist.