In the Law and Economics literature optimizing techniques are used when a choice must be made between various legal constructions. Often, an aggregate or collective welfare measure is formulated and the legal rule is selected which generates through efficient individual behavior the aggregate welfare maximum. A problem emerges if an efficient and therefore rational decision is assumed both on the individual level and the aggregate level. The legal rules which play a part in forming the decision problem for the individual (...) efficient decision maker are treated in their turn as an efficient choice seen from the aggregate perspective. In what way then is the aggregate decision problem formulated? Again using the efficiency criterion? If we want to escape an infinite regress then we must include determining factors which cannot be proven efficient. (shrink)

Although informed consent is important in clinical research, questions persist regarding when it is necessary, what it requires, and how it should be obtained. The standard view in research ethics is that the function of informed consent is to respect individual autonomy. However, consent processes are multidimensional and serve other ethical functions as well. These functions deserve particular attention when barriers to consent exist. We argue that consent serves seven ethically important and conceptually distinct functions. The first four functions pertain (...) principally to individual participants: providing transparency; allowing control and authorization; promoting concordance with participants' values; and protecting and promoting welfare interests. Three other functions are systemic or policy focused: promoting trust; satisfying regulatory requirements; and promoting integrity in research. Reframing consent around these functions can guide approaches to consent that are context sensitive and that maximize achievable goals. (shrink)

Foreword Michael Wood xi 1 Plato Today, by R.H.S. Crossman, Spectator 3 2 English Philosophy since 1900, by G. J. Warnock, Philosophy 5 3 Thought and Action, by Stuart Hampshire, Encounter 8 4 The Theological Appearance of the Church of England: An External View, Prism 17 5 The Four Loves, by C. S. Lewis, Spectator 24 6 Discourse on Method, by René Descartes, translated by Arthur Wollaston, Spectator 26 7 The Individual Reason: L’esprit laïc, BBC Radio 3 talk, Listener 28 (...) 8 What Is Existentialism? BBC World Service talk broadcast in Vietnamese 35 9 Sketch for a Theory of the Emotions, by Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Philip Mairet, Spectator 38 10 Sense and Sensibilia, by J. L. Austin, reconstructed by G. J. Warnock; Philosophical Papers, edited by J. O. Urmson and G. J. Warnock, Oxford Magazine 40 11 The Concept of a Person, by A. J. Ayer, New Statesman 45 12 Two Faces of Science, BBC Radio 3 talk in the series Personal View, Listener 48 13 The English Moralists, by Basil Willey, New York Review of Books 52 14 Universities: Protest, Reform and Revolution, Lecture in celebration of the foundation of Birkbeck College 55 15 Has ’God’ a Meaning? Question 70 16 Russell and Moore: The Analytical Heritage, by A. J. Ayer 75 17 Immanuel Kant, by Lucien Goldmann, Cambridge Review 77 18 A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, Spectator 82 19 Beyond Freedom and Dignity, by B. F. Skinner, Observer 87 20 What Computers Can’t Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason, by Hubert L. Dreyfus, New York Review of Books 90 21 Wisdom: Twelve Essays, edited by Renford Bambrough, Times Literary Supplement 101 22 The Socialist Idea, edited by Stuart Hampshire and L. Kolakowski, Observer 104 23 Anarchy, State, and Utopia, by Robert Nozick, Political Philosophy 107 24 The Ethics of Fetal Research, by Paul Ramsey, Times LiterarySupplement 115 25 The Moral View of Politics, BBC Radio 3 talk in the series Current Trends in Philosophy, Listener 119 26 The Life of Bertrand Russell, by Ronald W. Clark; The Tamarisk Tree: My Quest for Liberty and Love, by Dora Russell; My Father Bertrand Russell, by Katharine Tait; Bertrand Russell, by A. J. Ayer, New York Review of Books 125 27 Reflections on Language, by Noam Chomsky; On Noam Chomsky: Critical Essays, edited by Gilbert Harman, New York Review of Books 133 28 The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins, New Scientist 140 29 The Fire and the Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists, by Iris Murdoch, New Statesman 142 30 The Logic of Abortion, BBC Radio 3 talk, Listener 146 31 On Thinking, by Gilbert Ryle, edited by Konstantin Kolenda, London Review of Books 152 32 Rubbish Theory, by Michael Thompson, London Review of Books 157 33 Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life, by Sissela Bok, Political Quarterly 161 34 Logic and Society and Ulysses and the Sirens, by Jon Elster, London Review of Books 165 35 The Culture of Narcissism, by Christopher Lasch; Nihilism and Culture, by Johan Goudsblom, London Review of Books 169 36 Religion and Public Doctrine in England, by Maurice Cowling, London Review of Books 173 37 Nietzsche on Tragedy, by M. S. Silk and J. P. Stern; Nietzsche: A Critical Life, by Ronald Hayman; Nietzsche, vol. 1, The Will to Power as Art, by Martin Heidegger, translated by David Farrell Krell, London Review of Books 179 38 After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, by Alasdair MacIntyre, Sunday Times 184 39 Philosophical Explanations, by Robert Nozick, New York Review of Books 187 40 The Miracle of Theism: Arguments for and against the Existence of God, by J. L. Mackie, Times Literary Supplement 197 41 Offensive Literature: Decensorship in Britain, 1960-1982, by John Sutherland, London Review of Books 200 42 Consequences of Pragmatism, by Richard Rorty, New York Review of Books 204 43 The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, vol. I, Cambridge Essays 1888-99, edited by Kenneth Blackwell and others, Observer 216 44 Reasons and Persons, by Derek Parfit, London Review of Books 218 45 Wickedness: A Philosophical Essay, by Mary Midgley, Observer 224 46 Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation, by Sissela Bok; The Secrets File: The Case for Freedom of Information in Britain Today, edited by Des Wilson, foreword by David Steel, London Review of Books 226 47 Choice and Consequence, by Thomas C. Schelling, Economics and Philosophy 231 48 Privacy: Studies in Social and Cultural History, by Barrington Moore, Jr., New York Review of Books 236 49 Ordinary Vices, by Judith Shklar; Immorality, by Ronald Milo, London Review of Books 241 50 The Right to Know: The Inside Story of the Belgrano Affair, by Clive Ponting; The Price of Freedom, by Judith Cook, Times Literary Supplement 246 51 Taking Sides: The Education of a Militant Mind, by Michael Harrington, New York Times Book Review 252 52 A Matter of Principle, by Ronald Dworkin 256 53 The View from Nowhere, by Thomas Nagel, London Review of Books 261 54 What Hope for the Humanities? Times Educational Supplement 267 55 The Society of Mind, by Marvin Minsky, New York Review of Books 274 56 Whose Justice? Which Rationality? by Alasdair MacIntyre, London Review of Books 283 57 Intellectuals, by Paul Johnson, New York Review of Books 288 58 Contingency, Irony and Solidarity, by Richard Rorty, London Review of Books 295 59 Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, by Charles Taylor, New York Review of Books 301 60 The Need to Be Sceptical, Times Literary Supplement 311 61 The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life, by Kenneth J. Gergen, New York Times Book Review 318 62 Realism with a Human Face, by Hilary Putnam, London Review of Books 320 63 Political Liberalism, by John Rawls, London Review of Books 326 64 Inequality Reexamined, by Amartya Sen, London Review of Books 332 65 The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics, by Martha Nussbaum, London Review of Books 339 66 Only Words, by Catharine MacKinnon, London Review of Books 345 67 The Limits of Interpretation, by Umberto Eco; Interpretation and Overinterpretation, by Umberto Eco, with Richard Rorty, Jonathan Culler, and Christine Brooke-Rose, edited by Stefan Collini; Six Walks in the Fictional Woods, by Umberto Eco; Apocalypse Postponed, by Umberto Eco, translated and edited by Robert Lumley; Misreadings, by Umberto Eco, translated by William Weaver; How to Travel with a Salmon & Other Essays, by Umberto Eco, translated by William Weaver, New York Review of Books 352 68 On Hating and Despising Philosophy, London Review of Books 363 69 The Last Word, by Thomas Nagel, New York Review of Books 371 70 Wagner and the Transcendence of Politics, New York Review of Books 388 71 Why Philosophy Needs History, London Review of Books 405. 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Written by a non-Jewish analytic philosopher, this book addresses the issue of whether, and to what extent, current opposition to Israel on the liberal-left embodies anti-Semitic stances. It argues that the dominant climate of liberal opinion disseminates, however inadvertently, a range of anti-Semitic assertions and motifs of the most traditional kind. It advocates a return to an unrestricted anti-racism which would allow liberals to defend Palestinian interests without demonizing Jews.

Adequate treatment of pain is essential to alleviate suffering, yet studies show that patients with terminal or serious illness receive inadequate pain relief. In the case of terminally ill patients, adequate palliation of pain may be likely to reduce requests for physician-assisted suicide. This issue of the journal addresses barriers to effective pain relief and suggests how treatment of pain can be improved. The symposium features the Pain Relief Act, which is designed to provide practitioners who prescribe controlled substances for (...) pain with protection from inappropriate legal sanctions. The Act is the product of the Project on Legal Constraints on Access to Effective Pain Relief, whose principal investigators were Nancy Neveloff Dubler, LL.B., Sandra H. Johnson, J.D., LL.M., Robert J. Levine, M.D., and Benjamin W. Moulton, J.D., M.P.H.The Project was supported by the Mayday Fund and the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation. (shrink)

Adequate treatment of pain is essential to alleviate suffering, yet studies show that patients with terminal or serious illness receive inadequate pain relief. In the case of terminally ill patients, adequate palliation of pain may be likely to reduce requests for physician-assisted suicide. This issue of the journal addresses barriers to effective pain relief and suggests how treatment of pain can be improved. The symposium features the Pain Relief Act, which is designed to provide practitioners who prescribe controlled substances for (...) pain with protection from inappropriate legal sanctions. The Act is the product of the Project on Legal Constraints on Access to Effective Pain Relief, whose principal investigators were Nancy Neveloff Dubler, LL.B., Sandra H. Johnson, J.D., LL.M., Robert J. Levine, M.D., and Benjamin W. Moulton, J.D., M.P.H.The Project was supported by the Mayday Fund and the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation. (shrink)

Bernard Nieuwentijt ist in der Mathematikgeschichte bekannt als Kritiker der Leibnizschen Differentialrechnung. Im Gegensatz zu dem, was häufig angenommen wird, war die Kritik an Leibniz' Methode kein Hauptanliegen Nieuwentijts. Das Ziel seines bedeutendsten mathematischen Werks, Analysis infinitorum , war die Systematisierung und logische Deduzierung der ihm bekannten Infinitesimalmethoden, besonders derer von den Engländern wie Barrow, Wallis u. a. Das Werk Leibnizens war ihm anfangs völlig unbekannt. In dem System, das Nieuwentijt selbständig entwarf, rechnete er nicht mit Infinitesimalen höheren Grades: (...) ihre Existenz hielt er für unmöglich. Dies brachte ihn zur Kritik der Leibnizschen Methode, als er später auf dessen Werk stieß. Später aber erkannte er die Unhaltbarkeit seiner Kritik, wie klar wird aus seinem posthumen Werk Gronden van zekerheid . Der Aufsatz gibt überdies zur Fundierung dieser Thesen einen sehr kurzen Überblick über Nieuwentijts mathematische Arbeiten und eine Besprechung neuerer Interpretationen. (shrink)