O objetivo deste texto é responder a uma objeção comum à doutrina utilitarista. Essa doutrina é comumente descrita como aquela que aceita que a ação moralmente correta é a que promove a maior felicidade possível para as pessoas envolvidas. A objeção que trabalhamos aqui nega a afirmação utilitarista de que a felicidade é o único fim da vida humana. Diferentes respostas podem ser formuladas de acordo com o modo que definimos o bem ou a felicidade. Sustentaremos que a versão da (...) lista objetiva, que não identifica felicidade com um bem particular, mas com várias coisas que podem ser desejadas como fins, é a única que pode tornar plausível a afirmação de que a felicidade é a única coisa desejável como fim. (shrink)

Antes de qualquer coisa, o leitor do presente artigo encontrará uma grande preocupação de David Asher em transmitir o pensamento filosófico de Schopenhauer para o leitor britânico da época (1871), isso fica claro, pois esse empreendimento por vezes levou o autor a fazer citações ultra extensas de Schopenhauer (das quais ele mesmo traduzia da língua alemã para o inglês). Nessas longas citações/traduções que o autor faz do filósofo, tratei de copiá-las da tradução brasileira de Jair Barboza d’O mundo como vontade (...) e como representação. Sempre especifico essas cópias em notas, por isso, meu trabalho foi de fazer uma tradução parcial: traduzir o próprio Asher e não o texto de Schopenhauer traduzido por ele. Outro ponto muitíssimo importante a ser levado em consideração é que o presente texto foi comprovadamente lido pelo próprio Charles Darwin, tal como devidamente mostro na nota de rodapé número 16. (shrink)

This article attempts to locate the solicitor-advocacy reforms in the UK in the context of wider New Right led reforms of the welfare state and suggests that such reforms are part of a broader package aimed at weakening social democracy, encouraging the use of the market as an allocation mechanism and instilling 'efficiency' within and control over the professions. On the basis of interviews with organizational clients in Scotland, it is argued that the reforms may have a significant impact upon (...) the junior Bar and that while they may ultimately benefit corporate clients they are likely to bring further disadvantage to individual clients who are already weak within the professional-client relationship. (shrink)

O espaço ritual constitui-se num locus sagrado de festa. No palco religioso, o sentimento de reconhecer-se cheio do Esp í rito Santo ou incorporado pelas Entidades reescreve, no pr ó prio corpo do sujeito, a autenticidade de sua tradiçã o mitol ó gica. Simultaneamente, a experi ê ncia religiosa reatualiza o poder dessa tradiçã o. E s ã o v á rias as formas em que a narrativa m í tica emerge, vindo à tona e tornando-se tang ível à percep (...) çã o e à emo ção. E, neste sentido, a cultura desempenha um papel fundamental: ela é o elo a promover o encontro entre as verdades da crença e as experi ê ncias religiosas. Michel Meslin assinala que a religiã o só alcan ça o homem atrav é s das mediações culturais de seu tempo. Entre essas tamb é m variadas “ media ções culturais ” está a mú sica, com seus g ê neros, ritmos e uma forç a simb ó lica capaz de funcionar como chave, abrindo as portas das sensibilidades. Para al é m dos c â nticos – mas a eles conexos –, a experi ê ncia do transe ritual é um dispositivo de mediação cultural ainda mais poderoso: um d í namo de emoções liturgicamente sacralizadas. Este sentimento religioso de alegria tem suas bases na estrutura do sistema de crenças, e, assim, at é a cantiga que coadjuva e complementa os ritos, consubstancia seu status sagrado. Musicalizando o Sagrado, essa arte expressiva de f é e també m de cultura potencializa ainda mais o sentimento social de pertenç a à comunidade religiosa do indiv íduo, que também v ê alimentada sua esperança de vida. Este trabalho se envereda na trilha da experi ê ncia religiosa, em seus percalços sinuosos. Nesse caminho, a intençã o é compreender um pouco o funcionamento das engrenagens simb ó licas que conferem sentido à s manifesta çõ es performá ticas vividas por pentecostais e umbandistas, em dois grupos religiosos espec í ficos. E, ao analisar a relação entre a din â mica ritual desses cultos e a produção de sentidos operada nas linguagens gestuais dos sujeitos da crença, refletimos sobre os di á logos sem â nticos rituais que, construindo experi ê ncias de espiritualidade, reconstroem tamb é m experi ê ncias de vida. É quando a diverg ê ncia das cosmovisõ es sucumbe à convergê ncia dos significados religiosos. (shrink)

Susan Schneider argues that the entities to be identified as part of the 'physical base' for physicalism must be in part abstract and that this fact either falsifies physicalism or renders it so problematic as to be 'no physicalism worth having'. I accept the abstractness of the entities but argue both that physicalism is consistent with such and that none of the alleged problems for Platonistic physicalism are serious.

This article examines the thoughts and works of Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain and evangelical philosopher Norman Geisler in light of their understanding of Thomas Aquinas’s view of faith and reason.

Exploratory behavior is considered under the following categories: (1) extrinsic exploration in which the animal seeks information about conventional reinforcers such as food, (2) intrinsic exploration which is directed toward stimuli which may have no biological significance, further divided into inspective and inquisitive exploration. In the former the animal inspects a particular object; in the latter, the animal performs behavior to make a change in its environment, rather than merely responding to a change. Extrinsic exploration is synonymous with the ethological (...) term, appetitive behavior. It is shown that much of the behavior indicative of frustration reported in intensively housed animals occurs when the appetitive component of a drive rather than the consummatory component, is prevented. Consideration of inspective exploration is necessary for good husbandry practice, for fear is an important competing response. Inquisitive exploration has not been widely investigated in infraprimate species, but the authors present several possible examples in the species of common agricultural animals. However, they suggest that the propensity to show this type of exploration may vary between closely related species. In environments barren to the extent of stifling exploration, animals may develop apathy, and its relevance to animal welfare is discussed. (shrink)

Christopher Miles Coope offers a letter, drafted by Helen Taylor but certified by Mill, in which Mill asserts the duty to vote, as evidence that he could not have regarded harmfulness to others as a necessary condition of moral wrongness. But it is clear that Mill regarded the duty to vote as one of imperfect obligation, and the wrongness of not fulfilling it as a matter roughly of not doing enough, in this case not doing one's fair share. He has (...) room for the common-sense harmlessness of staying at home. At the same time he grounds political duties in the harmfulness of neglecting the power of legislation and in the possibility, consistently maintained, that one can harm by inaction. Mill's view, central to his relation between morality and liberty, remains at work here, while also suggesting reflections on the peculiarity of his conception of harm. (shrink)

In these essays, we are concerned with virtue in journalism and the media but are mindful of the tension between the commercial foundations of publishing and broadcasting, on the one hand, and journalism's democratic obligations on the other. Adam outlines, first, a moral vision of journalism focusing on individualistic concepts of authorship and craft. Next, Craft attempts to bridge individual and organizational concerns by examining the obligations of organizations to the individuals working within them. Finally, Cohen discusses the importance of (...) resisting the powerful corporate logic that pervades the news media in the United States and calls on journalists to be courageous. (shrink)

This paper explores the apologetic nature of Augustine’s Confessions. It first takes a brief look at Augustine’s intricate view of the relationship between faith and reason, in order to provide a background to his employment of apologetic elements throughout Confessions. Both positive and negative apologetic elements are examined throughout the paper. Some positive apologetic elements include Augustine’s presentation of the implied ontological argument, the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, the argument from the experience of beauty, and the demonstration of the (...) coherence of the Christian conception of God (including his explorations with time and creation). His negative apologetic elements include dealing with detractors from the Christian faith such as the Manichees and their objections. Although studies in recent years have focused on the autobiographical and religious experiential dimensions of Confessions, this paper seeks to demonstrate that the apologetic dimension is also foundational to Augustine’s text. It is important to realize that the apologetic nature of Confessions does not detract from its other natures (autobiographical and religious-experiential) since objects, ideas and persons can have more than one nature – as is true with the case of Christ and a number line. It is my hope to revive a forgotten aspect of Confessions that is quite pertinent to the Church today. (shrink)

Many different aspects of science intersect with Christian spirituality. Some of these points of intersection are apparent in astronomy, cosmology, quantum physics, genetics, neuroscience, organic evolution, chemical evolution, technological advances, and environmental science. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between organic evolution and Christian spirituality. It is important to note that Christian spirituality has varying significances throughout Christendom. For the purpose of this paper, I will treat Christian spirituality as the study of the experience of Christian (...) faith and discipleship. This definition will be helpful because it is specific enough to make direct correlations with how one can understand science from a Christian spiritual (faith) perspective. (shrink)

The focus of this research paper concerns the dialogue between science and theology. The current state of the dialogue involves a wide range of points of intersection that both pose and provoke questions concerning the very viability and coherence of such a dialogue. In particular, this paper examines the physicist/theologian, Robert John Russell's 'Creative Mutual Interaction' (CMI). The significance of the CMI diagram is that it names the basic interactions between science and theology and theology and science. These interactions are (...) presented as pathways, 8 in all, 5 of which flow from science to theology and 3 of which flow from theology to science. These pathways integrate a number of philosophical assumptions. These pathways can make scientists, theologians, and philosophers more aware of the philosophical assumptions at work between both theology and science. Russell, in his CMI, provides 8 paths to this interaction; 5 pathways where science informs theology and 3 by which theology informs science. In this thesis, I examine a test case of Russell's where he interacts the concepts of cosmology, eschatology, and bodily resurrection as it applies to Jesus Christ in New Testament Studies. (shrink)

Originally published in 1972, this book is a systematic analysis of the objectives and methods of history teaching. The book considers the criticisms of the 1960s and 70s of history as a subject and the pressures for its replacement in the school curriculum. It examines the complex psychological background of learning history and suggests that historical understanding makes an important contribution to cognitive growth. It also stresses the important part played by historical material in the emotional and imaginative life of (...) the child. Concluding with a discussion of practical classroom methods, the author proposes objectives and characteristic concepts of the subject which may be embodied in all levels of teaching. (shrink)

A última década da Guerra Fria foi turbulenta. Seu início apresentou tensão comparável àquela existente nos anos 1950 e princípio dos 1960. A partir de meados dos anos 1980, entretanto, houve distensão, o fim da Guerra Fria e a desintegração do próprio sistema internacional bipolar de poder. O cinema, como outras formas de produção cultural, foi instrumento de propaganda e mobilização durante toda a Guerra Fria. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar como a Guerra Fria se apresentou nos filmes de (...) maior bilheteria nos EEUU na década de 1980. O inimigo comunista é examinado nesses longas-metragens tendo como base a retórica reaganista do período.The Cold War and the Communist Enemy on the US Movie Theater Screens in the 1980s The last decade of the Cold War was a turbulent one. Its beginning showed tension comparable to that of the 1950s and early 1960s. As of the mid-1980s, however, there was a détente, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the bipolar international power system. Movies, like other forms of cultural production, were tools for propaganda and mobilization throughout the Cold War. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the Cold War was shown in the 1980s movies with the highest box-office sales in the US. The Communist enemy is examined in these feature films according to the Reaganist rhetoric of the period. Resumen La Guerra Fría y el enemigo comunista en los cines norteamericanos de los años 1980 La última década de la Guerra Fría fue turbulenta. Su inicio presentó una tensión comparable a la existente en los años 1950 y principios de los años 1960. Sin embargo, a partir de mediados de los años 1980, hubo distensión, el fin de la Guerra Fría y la desintegración del propio sistema internacional bipolar de poder. El cine, como otras formas de producción cultural, fue instrumento de propaganda y movilización durante toda la Guerra Fría. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar cómo la Guerra Fría se presentó en las películas de mayor taquilla en EEUU en la década de los 80'. El enemigo comunista es examinado en esos largometrajes, teniendo como base la retórica reaganista del período. (shrink)

Ronald Reagan, in his inaugural address as the Governor of California on January 5th, 1967, poignantly stated the following on the fragility of freedom: -/- "Perhaps you and I have lived too long with this miracle to properly be appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a (...) people. And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again." -/- These words ring as true today as they did when they were first uttered. And yet, over 55 years later, the majority of countries throughout the world and the majority of people living in them have been quick to relinquish their rights and freedoms under the pretext of “health safety.” Since March 2020, the world has been brought to its knees by what I would argue are unscientific and unethical mandates related to the COVID-19 crisis. These mandates have had a tremendously negative impact on the world economy and the lives of countless individuals. The ‘cure’ that has been offered. (shrink)

A review of Joshua Farris's The Creation of Self: A Case for the Soul.

Human dignity has long been used as a foundational principle in policy documents and ethical guidelines intended to govern various forms of biomedical research. Despite the vast amount of literature concerning human dignity and embryonic tissues, the majority of biomedical research uses non-embryonic human tissue. Therefore, this contribution addresses a notable lacuna in the literature: the relationship, if any, between human dignity and human tissue. This paper first elaborates a multidimensional understanding of human dignity that overcomes many of the shortcomings (...) associated with the use of human dignity in other ethical debates. Second, it discusses the relationship between such an understanding of human dignity and ‘non-embryonic’ human tissue. Finally, it considers the implications of this relationship for biomedical research and practice involving human tissue. The contribution demonstrates that while human tissue cannot be said to have human dignity, human dignity is nevertheless implicated by human tissue, making what is done with human tissue and how it is done worthy of moral consideration. (shrink)

One of Hume's most well-known works and a masterpiece of philosophy, A Treatise of Human Nature is indubitably worth taking the time to read.

The concept of brain birth has assumed a position of some significance in discussions on the status of the human embryo and on the point in embryonic development prior to which experimental procedures may be undertaken on human embryos. This paper reviews previous discussions of this concept, which have placed brain birth at various points between 12 days' and 20 weeks' gestation and which have emphasised the symmetry of brain birth and brain death. Major developmental features of brain development are (...) outlined, including the gradualness with which new features generally appear, and also the electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics of premature infants. From this it is concluded that, if the concept of brain birth is a valid one, it should be placed at 24-28 weeks' gestation. More importantly, it is concluded that the differences between brain development and brain death throw doubt on the concept itself. (shrink)

In mill the principle of utility does not ascribe rightness or wrongness to anything. It governs not just morality but the whole art of life. It says that happiness is the only thing desirable as an end. But the meaning of this formulation is problematic, Since mill's theory of practical reason conceives this desirability as an end as generating reasons for action for all agents in a way implying impartiality between self and others, Whereas in the ordinary sense it does (...) not. This interpretation is supported by detailed textual analysis. (shrink)