Michel Foucault’s later concept of parrhesia presents a number of potential interpretive problems with respect to his work as a whole and his conception of truth. This article presents an alternative reading of parrhesia , which develops its concept through Foucault’s earlier pronouncements on truth and fiction. Seen this way, parrhesia becomes a means whereby one enacts useful fictions within the context of one’s life. As a practice, which demands self-mastery, orientation towards truth, and a command of one’s life, parrhesia (...) becomes crucial to an aesthetics of existence. (shrink)

The last two decades have seen two significant trends emerging within the philosophy of science: the rapid development and focus on the philosophy of the specialised sciences, and a resurgence of Aristotelian metaphysics, much of which is concerned with the possibility of emergence, as well as the ontological status and indispensability of dispositions and powers in science. Despite these recent trends, few Aristotelian metaphysicians have engaged directly with the philosophy of the specialised sciences. Additionally, the relationship between fundamental Aristotelian concepts—such (...) as "hylomorphism", "substance", and "faculties"—and contemporary science has yet to receive a critical and systematic treatment. _Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science _aims to fill this gap in the literature by bringing together essays on the relationship between Aristotelianism and science that cut across interdisciplinary boundaries. The chapters in this volume are divided into two main sections covering the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of the life sciences. Featuring original contributions from distinguished and early-career scholars, this book will be of interest to specialists in analytical metaphysics and the philosophy of science. (shrink)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Die Entwicklung des Schalenmodells, deren Skizzierung an dieser Stelle abgebrochen wird, unterteilt sich deutlich in mehrere zeitlich voneinander getrennte Phasen. Ausgangspunkt der Entstehung des Schalenmodells ist die Betrachtung der bekannten Isotope, die erst mit der Entdeckung des Neutrons die schon vorhandene Idee des Kernschalenaufbaus quantitativ erfaßbar macht, und zwar durch noch ungenau bekannte ausgezeichnete Zahlen . Wie oft in der Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften wird eine solche erste Phase durch verschiedene spekulative Annahmen begleitet, die sich auf wenige Anhaltspunkte stützen müssen. Bereits (...) 1933 setzt eine andere Entwicklung ein, die neben der Darstellung empirischer Ergebnisse durch den Versuch gekennzeichnet ist, eine theoretische Begründung des Schalenmodells mit verschiedenen Kernpotentialen zu lieform. Es gelingt jedoch nicht, alle aufgetretenen Fragen befriedigend zu klären.Deutlich getrennt von der Entwicklung der ersten Jahre beginnt erst 1948 eine weitere Entstehungsphase des Schalenmodells. Im Unterschied zur den Jahren 1932–35 liegt 1948 eine Fülle empirischen Materials vor, dessen Erklärung erneut zur Betrachtung eines Schalenmodells anregt. Damit gelingt es, die meisten der offenen Fragen im wesentlichen mit Hilfe der Kernpotentiale und einer starken Spin-Bahn-Wechselwirkung zu beantworten. (shrink)

It is often claimed that the use of depth psychology in the interpretation of ancient texts is irrelevant and methodologically unsound. Several typical Jungian archetypes, such as the shadow, the primordial mother, and the hero, were identified, interpreted and commented on from a post-Jungian perspective. The apocryphal Book of Baruch has typically been studied as a prime example of penitential prayer in the late Second Temple Period. In this study, the book was approached from the perspective of post-Jungian literary criticism. (...) While Jungian literary criticism has become unfashionable as a result of Jung’s anti-feminist and anti-Semitic ideas, the usefulness of his theory to criticise itself was demonstrated. Although Jung’s work is haunted by racism, anti-feminism, and antisemitism, his work may still be useful for literary criticism from a psychological perspective.Contribution: The article demonstrated the value of the depth psychological approach to the interpretation of biblical material. (shrink)

The seemingly innocuous description of Leah as having ‘soft’ eyes in Genesis 29:17 has captivated scholars and readers for centuries. This article advances an ironic interpretation, suggesting that Leah’s ‘soft’ eyes were not a sign of weakness but, rather, an indication of envy and malevolence, potentially contributing to fertility issues faced by her sister Rachel in terms of the ancient Near Eastern evil eye belief complex. In this context, the article delves into ancient belief systems that entwined beauty, fertility, and (...) the malevolent gaze.Contribution: Drawing from biblical texts, historical sources, and contemporary scholarship, this article reveals the intricate layers of meaning within this minor detail. (shrink)

I draw lessons from experimental economics. I argue that the lack of mathematical formalism cannot be usefully thought as the cause of the underappreciation of contextual and generalizability considerations. Instead, this lack is problematic because it hinders a clear relationship between theory and quantitative predictions. I also advocate a pragmatic policy-focused approach as a partial remedy to the generalizability problem.

It is often claimed that the use of depth psychology in the interpretation of ancient texts is irrelevant and methodologically unsound. Several typical Jungian archetypes, such as the shadow, the primordial mother, and the hero, were identified, interpreted and commented on from a post-Jungian perspective. The apocryphal Book of Baruch has typically been studied as a prime example of penitential prayer in the late Second Temple Period. In this study, the book was approached from the perspective of post-Jungian literary criticism. (...) While Jungian literary criticism has become unfashionable as a result of Jung’s anti-feminist and anti-Semitic ideas, the usefulness of his theory to criticise itself was demonstrated. Although Jung’s work is haunted by racism, anti-feminism, and antisemitism, his work may still be useful for literary criticism from a psychological perspective. Contribution: The article demonstrated the value of the depth psychological approach to the interpretation of biblical material. (shrink)

Albert Camus Albert Camus was a French-Algerian journalist, playwright, novelist, philosophical essayist, and Nobel laureate. Though he was neither by advanced training nor profession a philosopher, he nevertheless made important, forceful contributions to a wide range of issues in moral philosophy in his novels, reviews, articles, essays, and speeches—from terrorism and political violence to … Continue reading Camus, Albert →.

Albert Camus Albert Camus was a French-Algerian journalist, playwright, novelist, philosophical essayist, and Nobel laureate. Though he was neither by advanced training nor profession a philosopher, he nevertheless made important, forceful contributions to a wide range of issues in moral philosophy in his novels, reviews, articles, essays, and speeches—from terrorism and political violence to … Continue reading Camus, Albert →.

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) Blaise Pascal was a French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, inventor, and theologian. In mathematics, he was an early pioneer in the fields of game theory and probability theory. In philosophy he was an early pioneer in existentialism. As a writer on theology and religion he was a defender of Christianity. Despite chronic ill […].

The Devlin Commission Report of 1959 on the handling of the emergency in Nyasaland (Malawi) was unique in British colonial history. On no other occasion was a commission, chaired by a British judge, established to consider generally the response of a colonial government to a problem of law and order. Though now remembered mainly as an incident in decolonization, the report has a special legal significance in that it addresses the perennial problem of the relationship between respect for the rule (...) of law and the supposed need to suppress an insurrectionary movement. Documents now available make it possible to give a full account of the work of the commission, and of the processes whereby the text was modified so as to downplay Devlin's desire to publish a report which squarely faced this problem. The suppressed passages in the draft report are here published for the first time. (shrink)

Using a feminist hermeneutic, Autumn Reinhardt-Simpson attempts to set out in this article how a third- or fourth-wave intersectional reading of the stories of Hagar and Sarah and Leah, Rachel, and their maids can become a source of both truth and healing within feminist activist communities today, particularly those working for reproductive justice. Reinhardt-Simpson identifies several issues within the stories such as societal acceptance of women who seek power only within patriarchal constructs or to benefit the aims of (...) patriarchy, as well as issues that divide women both then and today such as class, race, and status and the way that women relate to each other within a patriarchal structure. Reinhardt-Simpson concludes that a liberatory reading of these stories can point us toward reconciliation with our sisters. (shrink)

Counterspeech is communication that tries to counteract potential harm brought about by other speech. Theoretical interest in counterspeech partly derives from a libertarian ideal – as captured in the claim that the solution to bad speech is more speech – and partly from a recognition that well-meaning attempts to counteract harm through speech can easily misfire or backfire. Here we survey recent work on the question of what makes counterspeech effective at remedying or preventing harm, in those cases where it (...) is effective, as well as work investigating when and why there is a duty to engage in counterspeech. We suggest that the most fruitful area for philosophical inquiry on this topic, currently, relates to the questions about efficacy. Specifically, we argue that there is a need for better frameworks for conceptualizing the efficacy of counterspeech. Philosophers have collaborative work to do, alongside social scientists, in developing these frameworks. (shrink)

A distinguished critic explores the term "situatedness" - the self's position in time and place in the world and its treatment seen in legal theory, social ...

Let $\mathcal{P}_w$ be the lattice of Muchnik degrees of nonempty $\Pi^0_1$ subsets of $2^\omega$. The lattice $\mathcal{P}$ has been studied extensively in previous publications. In this note we prove that the lattice $\mathcal{P}$ is not Brouwerian.

The possible integration of genomic sequencing (including whole‐genome and whole‐exome sequencing) into the three contexts addressed in this special report—state‐mandated screening programs, clinical care, and direct‐to‐consumer services—raises related but distinct legal issues. This essay will outline the legal issues surrounding the integration of genomic sequencing into state newborn screening programs, parental rights to refuse and access sequencing for their newborns in clinical and direct‐to‐consumer care, and privacy‐related legal issues attending the use of sequencing in newborns.

This is the English (and extended version) of an interview originally published in Estonian in October 2018. In the interview, Simpson summarizes a particular way of defending the practice of no-platforming. The varying appeal of different defences of the practice in different socio-historical contexts (i.e. the UK/US versus a post-Soviet country such as Estonia) is discussed also.

The field of 'religion and science' is exploding in popularity among academics as well as the general reading public. Spawning an increasing number of conferences and courses, this field has shown an unprecedented rate of growth in recent years. Here for the first time is a single-volume introduction to the debate, written by the leading experts. Making no pretence to encyclopaedic neutrality, each chapter defends a major intellectual position - at the heart of the book is a series of 'pro' (...) and 'con' papers, covering each of the current 'hot topics' (such as evolution versus creation, naturalism versus the supernatural). In addition to treatments of questions of methodology and implications for life and practice, the Handbook includes sections devoted to the major scientific disciplines, the major world religions, and the main sub-disciplines in this exciting and ever-expanding field of study. (shrink)

There is little empirical evidence showing a direct link between a capacity for statistical learning (SL) and proficiency with natural language. Moreover, discussion of the role of SL in language acquisition has seldom focused on literacy development. Our study addressed these issues by investigating the relationship between SL and reading ability in typically developing children and healthy adults. We tested SL using visually presented stimuli within a triplet learning paradigm and examined reading ability by administering the Wide Range Achievement Test (...) (WRAT-4; Wilkinson & Robertson, 2006). A total of 38 typically developing children (mean age of 9;5 years, range 6;4–12;5) and 37 healthy adults (mean age of 21 years, range 18–34) were assessed. In children, SL was significantly related to reading ability. Importantly, this relationship was independent of grade and also age. The adult data, too, revealed that SL was significantly related to reading ability. A regression analysis of the combined child and adult data revealed that SL accounted for a unique amount of variance in reading ability, after age and attention had been taken into consideration. For the first time, this study provides empirical evidence that a capacity for more effective SL is related to higher reading ability in the general population. (shrink)

Robert Pippin's recent study of Hegel's Logic, Hegel's Realm of Shadows, argues that we should read Hegel as rejecting the need for a Transcendental Deduction in logic because he takes Hegel, in the Phenomenology of Spirit, to have ruled out the scepticism that motivates Kant's Deduction. By contrast, I argue, we cannot understand what Pippin calls the ‘identity’ of logic and metaphysics in the Science of Logic unless we see how Hegel does provide a kind of Deduction argument in the (...) Logic, albeit one stripped of the psychologism present in the Kantian version. Accordingly, I provide a sketch of what such an ‘absolute’ Deduction must look like, and argue that Hegel's presentation of the ‘absolute idea’ functions as the conclusion of such an argument. (shrink)

Volume 28, Issue 1, January 2020, Page 207-209.

In most U.S. jurisdictions, clinicians providing informal “curbside” consults are protected from medical malpractice liability due to the absence of a doctor-patient relationship. A recent Minnesota Supreme Court case, Warren v. Dinter, offers the opportunity to reassess whether the majority rule is truly serving the best interests of patients.

This book review essay discusses Birth Rights and Wrongs: How Medicine and Technology Are Remaking Reproduction and the Law (2019), by Dov Fox.

I joined The Hastings Center this past summer, after graduating from Duke University, where I researched advancements in neuroscience and genomics and their import for law, ethics, and policy. This research required, to an extent, faith in the idea that researchers can identify pathways by which genes combine with epigenetic and environmental factors to affect neuronal activity and influence behaviors. Throughout my first months here, I have puzzled over broad critiques of “genomic hype” in recent literature, which clash with the (...) optimistic rhetoric found in the Human Genome Project and the Precision Medicine Initiative. (shrink)