ABSTRACT Moral hazards are ubiquitous. Green ones typically involve technological fixes: Environmentalists often see ‘technofixes’ as morally fraught because they absolve actors from taking more difficult steps toward systemic solutions. Carbon removal and especially solar geoengineering are only the latest example of such technologies. We here explore green moral hazards throughout American history. We argue that dismissing (solar) geoengineering on moral hazard grounds is often unproductive. Instead, especially those vehemently opposed to the technology should use it as an opportunity to (...) expand the attention paid to the underlying environmental problem in the first place, actively invoking its opposite: ‘inverse moral hazards’. (shrink)

As large language models (LLMs) continue to demonstrate remarkable abilities across various domains, computer scientists are developing methods to understand their cognitive processes, particularly concerning how (and if) LLMs internally represent their beliefs about the world. However, this field currently lacks a unified theoretical foundation to underpin the study of belief in LLMs. This article begins filling this gap by proposing adequacy conditions for a representation in an LLM to count as belief-like. We argue that, while the project of belief (...) measurement in LLMs shares striking features with belief measurement as carried out in decision theory and formal epistemology, it also differs in ways that should change how we measure belief. Thus, drawing from insights in philosophy and contemporary practices of machine learning, we establish four criteria that balance theoretical considerations with practical constraints. Our proposed criteria include accuracy, coherence, uniformity, and use, which together help lay the groundwork for a comprehensive understanding of belief representation in LLMs. We draw on empirical work showing the limitations of using various criteria in isolation to identify belief representations. (shrink)

With the broad interest in the concept of "self-care" within popular discourse, there is a growing focus among philosophers, scholars of religion, political theorists, and others on the idea of "spiritual exercises," the ethics of "the care of the self," and attending concepts, yet little has been written on the politics of this broad class of concerns. This book investigates the political consequences of practices of the self in the work of several key 20th-century thinkers-Pierre Hadot, Georges Friedmann, Michel Foucault, (...) Martin Luther King, Jr., and Audre Lorde. Using Hadot's working definition of spiritual exercises as "voluntary, personal practices intended to bring about a transformation of the individual, a transformation of the self," Daniel Wyche frames his argument with the questions: how, and under what conditions, can the ethics of "the care of the self" take the form of "the care of the other" in the sense of material political transformation and vice versa? Are there historical examples in which the two are coterminous? How might we articulate a genuinely holistic relationship between the two? He argues that understanding the politics of self-change necessarily entails that we reframe the practical and conceptual relationships between individual moral action and collective, systemic political life in such a way that ethics and politics can be thought together-neither prior to the other-and finds in King's political self-purification and Lorde's self-preservation forms that such a politics might take. (shrink)

There has recently been a focus on the question of statue removalism. This concerns what to do with public history statues that honour or otherwise celebrate ethically bad historical figures. The specific wrongs of these statues have been understood in terms of derogatory speech, inapt honours, or supporting bad ideologies. In this paper I understand these bad public history statues as history, and identify a distinctive class of public history-specific wrongs. Specifically, public history plays an important identity-shaping role, and bad (...) public history can commit specifically ontic injustice. Understanding bad public history in terms of ontic injustice helps understand not just to address bad public history statues, but also understand the value of public history more broadly. (shrink)

Journal of Applied Philosophy, EarlyView.

Metasemantics studies the foundations of meaning, asking what makes it the case that certain words have the meanings that they do. But what makes metasemantic theories true? This question has been all but ignored in philosophy of language. In this book, we address this issue and argue that just as in metasemantics, both internalist and externalist answers are available for this foundational question. -/- In the book, we introduce and defend _meta-internalism_, arguing that the foundations of reference and meaning are (...) anchored in the individual dispositions and psychological states of language users, offering an alternative to meta-externalist views that would appeal to broader community-based or otherwise external factors. Meta-internalism is, moreover, compatible with semantic externalism as usually understood, and provides an _explanation_ of why externalism is true. Through a critical examination of prominent theories and thought experiments, the book explores fundamental issues like reference failure, conceptual engineering, and the metaphysical implications of reference, as well as the methodology of theories of reference. (shrink)

The essay presents a historical overview and critical discussion of the debates over the relation between classical liberal and neoliberal conceptions of the relation between state and market, with particular reference to the idea of freedom. Through figures like Beveridge, Mises, and Friedman, the author explores the move from social planning to market dominance, showing the shift from citizens to consumers and from a collective to a more individual definition of freedom, and emphasizing the implications for citizenship and democracy.

R.M. Hare had an ambitious scheme of providing a unified account of meta-ethics and normative ethics by combining expressivism with Kantianism and utilitarianism. The project of this thesis is to defend Hare’s theory in its most ambitious form. This means not just showing how the expressivist, Kantian and utilitarian elements are consistent, or that the three are each correct, but also that they are interdependent. The only defensible form of expressivism is Kantian; the only defensible Kantian theory is both expressivist (...) and utilitarian; the only defensible utilitarianism is Kantian. The thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 aims to show how expressivism can provide a coherent account of moral judgement and discourse. The argument for expressivism draws on Hare’s thought that the main error of moral realism is to think of moral objectivity as requiring objects, moral properties which are really there in the world. It is shown, using an argument based on the Euthyphro and the Open Question Argument that realism is untenable because it makes this mistake, and this clears the path to expressivism. Chapter 2 is a full account of the issues surrounding the Frege-Geach problem (often pressed against Hare), showing how it can be solved and how exactly the expressivist’s embrace of minimalism about truth interacts with the solution to the Frege-Geach Problem. I include an explanation of how the expressivist is able to solve the most threatening version of the problem: Schroeder’s discussion of negation. Chapter 3 argues for the connection between expressivism and Kantianism. The argument (roughly following Korsgaard) is that Humean versions of expressivism run into a sceptical challenge of normative regress. Kant employed a transcendental argument to resolve this regress, deriving his Formula of Universal Law from the Categorical Imperative. This argument defended with expressivism playing a crucial role. This chapter thus explains how Hare is entitled to universalizability in a way that avoids the shmoralising objection: it is not justified merely by being derived from our moral concepts but rather from our inescapable nature as agents. Chapter 4 illuminates the other connection, between Kantianism and utilitarianism. The largest part of the chapter is spent defending Hare’s argument from universalizability to utilitarianism. Doing so shows how Hare’s utilitarianism depends on his Kantianism, and so also how it indirectly depends on his utilitarianism. I then go on to defend Hare’s distinctive two-level version of utilitarianism, especially against the objections of Bernard Williams. It is also argued that various difficulties for utilitarianism – utility monsters, interpersonal comparison, Korsgaard’s objections – can be met by a form of utilitarianism like Hare’s, which is Kantian, and thus that such a form of utilitarianism is indeed the most defensible. (shrink)

The aim of this thesis is to develop updated spatial solutions for the Elementary Learning Space by diving into the fields of Environmental Psychology, Educational Philosophy, and Architectural Design. The initial step will be to discuss the important factors that contribute to a suitable learning environment. This research calls these factors the 3 Learning Requirements and these are discussed and understood through presented evidence found in studies connected to Environmental Psychology, the spatial translation of Educational Philosophy, and the examination of (...) the existing learning space. Next by taking into consideration these 3 Learning Requirements, the initial design takes place by modifying the existing classroom space and coming up with a general spatial form of the new learning space. The new design is then featured and presented by describing how it brings together all 3 Learning Requirements into one space while maintaining a practical solution for the future of the learning space. (shrink)

Stanovich & West's target article undervalues the power of implicit learning (particularly reinforcement learning). Implicit learning may allow the learning of more rational responses–and sometimes even generalisation of knowledge–in contexts where explicit, abstract knowledge proves only of limited value, such as for economic decision-making. Four other comments are made.

Organoids and specifically human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are one of the most relevant novelties in the field of biomedical research. Grown either from embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells, HCOs can be used as in vitro three-dimensional models, mimicking the developmental process and organization of the developing human brain. Based on that, and despite their current limitations, it cannot be assumed that they will never at any stage of development manifest some rudimentary form of consciousness. In the absence of behavioral (...) indicators of consciousness, the theoretical neurobiology of consciousness being applied to unresponsive brain-injured patients can be considered with respect to HCOs. In clinical neurology, it is difficult to discern a capacity for consciousness in unresponsive brain-injured patients who provide no behavioral indicators of consciousness. In such scenarios, a validated neurobiological theory of consciousness, which tells us what the neural mechanisms of consciousness are, could be used to identify a capacity for consciousness. Like the unresponsive patients that provide a diagnostic difficulty for neurologists, HCOs provide no behavioral indicators of consciousness. Therefore, this article discusses how three prominent neurobiological theories of consciousness apply to human cerebral organoids. From the perspective of the Temporal Circuit Hypothesis, the Global Neuronal Workspace Theory, and the Integrated Information Theory, we discuss what neuronal structures and functions might indicate that cerebral organoids have a neurobiological capacity to be conscious. (shrink)

This paper analyzes Adam Smith's ideas about physiology and how these ideas influenced and are present in his economic-political theory through the use of the organic metaphor. To do so, firstly, I will attempt to show that such a resource was not exceptional. However, great precursors and exponents of economic-political thought, such as Hobbes, Petty, or Quesnay, frequently used such metaphor. Secondly, I will show that Adam Smith's use of the organic metaphor reveals relevant aspects of his thought concerning both (...) animal economy and political economy, as well as important metaphysical commitments. Finally, I conclude that the role of such a trope was not merely rhetorical and heuristic but an important means of reflection and inquiry. (shrink)

This book tries to look at human thought and action from a scientific perspective, and in the process, acquaints the reader with essential concepts about science and its history. It takes a broad look at our present troubles without overlooking some crucial historical, religious, and political causes but places science at the center stage. The author applies what he has learned throughout his career to go beyond science. After an introduction setting the scene and a review of the "scientific temper" (...) and the inexcusable ignorance of science by some leaders and many followers, the author turns his sharp vision to look at other issues. The most significant challenges are critical and global: climate change caused by our activities, stockpiles of nuclear weapons that are a constant threat, population growth, and increasing inequality at all levels. These problems do have a profound ethical character and threaten to end forever with our misery, producing a "catastrophic convergence". Written with rigor for all readers, with many references and infused with relevant quotations, the author's message is clear: we need to change our ways drastically and urgently, now or never. But he offers not much in terms of a solution, something done by many authors to sweeten the pill, because as he argues, beyond lofty declarations, there is no real solution as the clock runs down, leading to his dystopian view of the future. (shrink)

This volume is a tribute to Roger Schwarzschild's immense contributions in the formal semantics of nouns, focus, degrees and space, and tense and aspect. Collectively, the papers in the volume reveal parallels across ontological domains, in particular in the context of elements with internal structure, like plural sets, alternative sets, degree intervals, temporal intervals, and vectors. This research suggests that the structure of an entity could inform the semantic behavior of that entity just as much than its semantic type or (...) lexical category. And because these structures dictate the formation of semantic alternatives, it can help inform focus semantics and scalar implicature as well. Old questions on plurals, focus and degree expressions get new answers in this collection of papers in honor of Roger Schwarzchild. Roger Schwarzschild is one of the leading scholars in semantics, and the editors have been highly successful in requesting contributions by his teachers, peers and former students. Some papers have circulated in draft form for many years, and find their final home in this edited volume, which well reflects the state of the art in the field. Prof. dr. Henriëtte de Swart, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. (shrink)

Viver e brincar estão diretamente associados para a criança. Aprender e desenvolver, ainda que inconscientemente, também. Do ponto de vista da Filosofia e da Pedagogia, o brincar está diretamente relacionado comas noções de consciência, alteridade e práxis, o que significa refletir que é pelo brincar que o sujeito tem a sua primeira experiência autônoma com o prazer da vida em seu inconstante devir. Como parte de uma pesquisa qualitativa desenvolvida no biênio 2019-2020 entre pedagogos(as) em formação de uma Faculdade de (...) Educação, este artigo tem como objetivo evidenciar o brincar como uma ação que humaniza a criança, que ludicamente a ensina e que se constitui como uma prática de liberdade, pelo que, deve ser plenamente exercido e não meramente constar nos marcos legais como um direito da criança. Trata-se de uma revisão de literatura cujos resultados empíricos apresentados e discutidos são provenientes da referida pesquisa que, ancorada em uma abordagem qualitativa, valeu-se dos procedimentos de pesquisa bibliográfica, pesquisa documental e pesquisa de campo. Como desfecho principal deste texto, constata-se uma carência da exploração da temática do brincar durante o percurso formativo dos participantes, uma vez que apenas 8% do total de horas que compõem o currículo se destinam a essa discussão. Para mudar essa realidade curricular, urge, pelos elaboradores e mediadores dos currículos proclamados e praticados, a compreensão do brincar como dimensão fundamental da vida da criança. (shrink)

Resumen Este trabajo tiene como objetivo reflexionar sobre la tensión individuo-sociedad en la Crítica de la Razón dialéctica, última gran obra filosófica de Jean-Paul Sartre donde el autor intenta articular su perspectiva existencialista con la teoría marxista. Nuestro análisis empieza por reconstruir el contexto en el que esta obra vio la luz, para luego abordar la cuestión de la "socialidad", entre otras nociones clave vinculadas a la teoría sartreana de los conjuntos prácticos. Finalmente, de este análisis extraemos algunas conclusiones para (...) evaluar los alcances y limitaciones de la ontología social esbozada en la Crítica de la Razón dialéctica. ABSTRACT This work has the objective to reflect on the individual-society tension present in Critique of Dialectical Reason, Jean-Paul Sartre's last great philosophical work, where the author tries to articulate its existentialist perspective with Marxist theory. Our analysis begins by reconstructing the context in which this work saw the light and then addresses the question of "sociality", among other key notions linked to the Sartrean theory of practical ensembles. Finally, from this analysis we draw some conclusions in order to evaluate the reaches and limitations of the social ontology sketched in Critique of Dialectical Reason. (shrink)

Training artificial intelligence (AI) systems requires vast quantities of data, and AI developers face a variety of barriers to accessing the information they need. Synthetic data has captured researchers’ and industry’s imagination as a potential solution to this problem. While some of the enthusiasm for synthetic data may be warranted, in this short paper we offer critical counterweight to simplistic narratives that position synthetic data as a cost-free solution to every data-access challenge—provocations highlighting ethical, political, and governance issues the use (...) of synthetic data can create. We question the idea that synthetic data, by its nature, is exempt from privacy and related ethical concerns. We caution that framing synthetic data in binary opposition to “real” measurement data could subtly shift the normative standards to which data collectors and processors are held. And we argue that by promising to divorce data from its constituents—the people it represents and impacts—synthetic data could create new obstacles to democratic data governance. (shrink)

There are two leading theories about the ontology of dreams. One holds that dreams involve hallucinations and beliefs. The other holds that dreaming involves sensory and propositional imagining. I highlight two features of dreams which are more easily explained by the imagination theory. One is that certain things seem to be true in our dreams, even though they are not represented sensorily; this is easily explained if dreams involve propositional imagining. The other is that dream narratives can be temporally segmented, (...) involving events which take place across long spans of time; this makes sense if dreams involve sensory imagining, for we often sensorily imagine narratives during wakefulness in the same way. The two considerations are unified by the fact that both highlight forms of content determination characteristic of imagining. (shrink)

Moral distress is complex and has received varied definitions, and its distinctiveness is consequently often unclear when placed alongside related concepts like moral injury or moral stress. Buchbi...

ABSTRACT This article advances a novel way of understanding humor and stand-up comedy. I propose that the relationship between the comedian and her audience is understood by way of trust, where the comedian requires the trust of her audience for her humor to succeed. The comedian may hold the trust of the audience in two domains. She may be trusted as to the form of the humor, such as whether she is joking. She may also be trusted as to the (...) content of the joke. This approach has two distinct virtues. The first is that it makes sense of partial successes. These are cases where the humor neither completely succeeds nor fails because the audience does not fully trust the comedian. The second is that it explains intuitions about ethically dubious humor and why certain classes of humor, especially those dealing in racialized and gendered identities, are more readily accepted from humorists of those identities. (shrink)

In this book, Daniel K. Miller articulates a new vision of human and animal relationships based on the foundational love ethic within Christianity. Framed around Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, Animal Ethics and Theologythoughtfully examines the shortcomings of utilitarian and rights-based approaches to animal ethics. By considering the question of animals within the Christian concept of neighbourly love, Miller provides an alternative narrative for understanding the complex relationships that humans have with other animals. This book addresses significant theological (...) questions such as: Does being created in the image of God present a meaningful distinction between humans and other animals? What does it mean for humans to have dominion over animals? Is meat eating a moral problem for Christians? In addition to drawing out the significance of Christian theology for field of animal ethics this book also engages environmental and feminist ethics. Miller brings a theological perspective to such questions as: Should care for animals be distinguished from care for the environment, and what role should human emotions play in our ethical dealings with other animals? As the title suggests, this book provides fresh insight into the theological significance of human relationships with other animals. mental and feminist ethics. Miller brings a theological perspective to such questions as: Should care for animals be distinguished from care for the environment, and what role should human emotions play in our ethical dealings with other animals? As the title suggests, this book provides fresh insight into the theological significance of human relationships with other animals. (shrink)

James V. Schall, S.J. is unquestionably one of the wisest Catholic political thinkers of our time. For more than forty years, Fr. Schall has been an unabashed practitioner of what he does not hesitate to call Roman Catholic political philosophy. A prolific writer and renowned teacher at Georgetown University, Fr. Schall has helped to educate two generations of Catholic thinkers. The present volume brings together seventeen essays by noted scholars in honor of Fr. Schall. It is a testimony to Fr. (...) Schall's erudition and influence that the authors of these essays did not have the privilege of directly studying under him. Rather, they are the indirect but grateful beneficiaries of "Another Sort of Learning," one that Fr. Schall tirelessly defends and practices. An appendix lists all the books Schall has written. Contributors include Marc Guerra, J. Brian Benestad, Francis Canavan, S.J., Kenneth Grasso, Thomas Hibbs, John Hittinger, Mary Keys, Robert Kraynak, Douglas Kries, Rev. Matthew Lamb, Peter Augustine Lawler, Frederick Lawrence, Daniel Mahorky, Graham McAleer, Michael Novak, Tracey Rowland, and Paul Seaton. (shrink)

Does trust play a significant role in the appreciation of art? If so, how does it operate? We argue that it does, and that the mechanics of trust operate both at a general and a particular level. After outlining the general notion of ‘art-trust’—the notion sketched is consistent with most notions of trust on the market—and considering certain objections to the model proposed, we consider specific examples to show in some detail that the experience of works of art, and the (...) attribution of art-relevant properties or characterisations to works of art, very often involves the notion of trust; in such cases—perhaps most or even, implicitly, all—the question ‘Do I trust the artist (or art-maker)?’, is inescapable. (shrink)

Classic serotonergic psychedelics are experiencing a clinical revival, which has also revived ethical debates about psychedelic-assisted therapy. A particular issue here is how to prepare and protect patients from the vulnerability that the psychedelic state creates. This article first examines how this vulnerability manifests itself, revealing that it results from an impairment of autonomy: psychedelics diminish decision-making capacity, reduce controllability, and limit resistance to external influences. It then analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of five safety measures proposed in the literature, (...) what aspect of the patient’s vulnerability they seek to reduce, and how they can be optimized. The analysis shows that while preparatory sessions, advance directives, and specific training and oversight are useful, starting with a lower dosage and no therapy is less so. Finally, the article presents a safety measure that has been overlooked in the literature but could be highly effective and feasible: bringing a close person to the psychedelic session. (shrink)

Building on the work of Scheid and Svenbro regarding the political significance of weaving in Greek literature, this essay attempts to proffer the Odyssey’s political teaching through an interpretation of Penelope’s wily weaving of the burial shroud for the former king, Laertes. Homeric scholars have often noted the multiple oddities surrounding the shroud; few critics have noted the peculiarity of the dethroned Laertes. In spite of recent attempts by scholars such as Halverson, ‘The Succession Issue in the Odyssey’, to discredit (...) political interpretations of the Odyssey as well as Homer’s understanding of kingship, I contend that Homer is presenting the institution in a state of transition. The shroud for Laertes will thus provide an interpretive key for narrating both the change of office enacted by Odysseus’ rule and the new political order formed at the end of the Odyssey. (shrink)

Proverbs. An Eclectic Edition with Introduction and Textual Commentary. By Michael V. Fox. The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition, vol. 1. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015. Pp. xxii + 431, 42*. $69.95.

A fim de celebrar o bicentenário da publicação d´ O mundo como vontade e representação, rememoraremos uma polêmica de grandes proporções na filosofia alemã ao final do século XIX: a Pessimismus-Frage. Originada pela recepção da filosofia schopenhaueriana, essa polêmica suscitou – sobretudo após a morte de Schopenhauer - extensos debates entre os partidários do pessimismo filosófico e seus críticos. Iniciaremos descrevendo algumas características do horizonte intelectual alemão da época. A seguir, apresentaremos traços do pensamento de três representantes da chamada escola (...) de Schopenhauer, defensores do pessimismo filosófico. Posteriormente, elencaremos algumas das principais críticas dirigidas contra Schopenhauer e seu pessimismo, oriundas sobretudo do movimento neokantiano, ora dominante na filosofia universitária alemã. Concluiremos mostrando como a Pessimismus-Frage tinha como pressuposto uma discussão acerca da natureza e dos limites da própria filosofia, ressaltando a influência da filosofia schopenhaueriana durante a segunda metade do século XIX na Alemanha. (shrink)

Law, State, and Society in Early Imperial China: A Study with Critical Edition and Translation of the Legal Texts from Zhangjiashan Tomb No. 247. 2 vols. Translated and edited by Anthony J. Barbieri-Low and Robin D. S. Yates. Sinica Leidensia, vol. 126. Leiden: Brill, 2015. Vol. 1: pp. cxiv + 377; vol. 2: pp. xiv + 1038. €299, $389.

From its dissonant musics to its surrealist spectacles (the urinal is a violin!), Modernist art often seems to give more frustration than pleasure to its audience. In Untwisting the Serpent, Daniel Albright shows that this perception arises partly because we usually consider each art form in isolation, even though many of the most important artistic experiments of the Modernists were collaborations involving several media--Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is a ballet, Gertrude Stein's Four Saints in Three Acts is (...) an opera, and Pablo Picasso turned his cubist paintings into costumes for Parade. Focusing on collaborations with a musical component, Albright views these works as either figures of dissonance that try to retain the distinctness of their various media (e.g. Guillaume Apollinaire's Les Mamelles de Tiresias ) or figures of consonance that try to lose themselves in some total effect (e.g. Arnold Schoenberg's Erwartung ). In so doing he offers a fresh picture of Modernism, and provides a compelling model for the analysis of all artistic collaborations. Untwisting the Serpent is the recipient of the 2001 Susanne M. Glasscock Humanities Book Prize for Interdisciplinary Scholarship of the Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University. (shrink)

Orthodoxy has it that all counterpossibles are vacuously true. Yet there are strong arguments both for and against the use of non-vacuous counterpossibles in metaphysics. Even more compelling evidence may be expected from science. Arguably philosophy should defer to best scientific practice. If scientific practice comes with a commitment to non-vacuous counterpossibles, this may be the decisive reason to reject semantic orthodoxy and accept non-vacuity. I critically examine various examples of the purported scientific use of non-vacuous counterpossibles and argue that (...) they are not convincing. They neither establish that scientific practice comes with a commitment to the non-vacuity of counterpossibles, nor that incurring such a commitment would be useful in scientific practice. I illustrate a variety of counter-strategies on behalf of orthodoxy. (shrink)

This book studies geoethics in Latin America and offers comprehensive research on geoethics and geoeducation. Its respective chapters explore geoethics in relation to UNESCO geoparks, mining activities in Latin America, natural hazards and risk management. Geoethics is a key discipline in the field of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and not only includes scientific, technological, methodological and social-cultural aspects, but also addresses the need to consider appropriate protocols, scientific integrity issues and a code of good practice when studying the abiotic world. (...) The position of Latin America’s recently created geoethics associations is based on protection of the environment, together with a reassurance that the balance of nature and the rights of human beings to enjoy it will be preserved. (shrink)

The concept of participation in a transcendent domain of existence is central to the Platonic and the Judaeo- Christian traditions. The essays in this volume analyse and explore this key concept in the history of Western thought, providing a rigorous and accessible account of participation from antiquity to the modern era.

The purpose of this paper is to engage with the readers in a theoretical reflection on nursing practices in forensic psychiatric settings. In this paper, we argue that practices of exclusion in forensic psychiatric settings share some common ground with Agamben's description of sovereign power and, consequently, the possible creation of zones of exception in this environment. The concept of exception is, therefore, purposely used to shift our thinking, highlight the political forces surrounding exclusionary practices in forensic psychiatric nursing, and (...) explore the ethical tensions that arise for nurses who become entangled in the control of these zones of exception. We argue that ethical and political discussions regarding this phenomenon are necessary if we wish to further understand the complexities of this field of practice and promote constructive change. (shrink)

While comparative literature is a well-recognized field of study, the notion of comparative arts remains unfamiliar to many. In this fascinating book, Daniel Albright addresses the fundamental question of comparative arts: Are there many different arts, or is there one art which takes different forms? He considers various artistic media, especially literature, music, and painting, to discover which aspects of each medium are unique and which can be “translated” from one to another. Can a poem turn into a symphony, (...) or a symphony into a painting? Albright explores how different media interact, as in a drama, when speech, stage decor, and music are co-present, or in a musical composition that employs the collage method of the visual arts. Tracing arguments and questions about the relations among the arts from Aristotle’s _Poetics_ to the present day, he illuminates the understudied discipline of comparative arts and urges new attention to its riches. (shrink)

Can awarding migrants fewer legal rights than citizens ever be just? This paper explores this issue. I first outline an abstract argument in favor of rights differentiation. According to this argument, people’s rights ought to track their independent claims; since these claims may vary, some rights differentiation is permissible. I then suggest that this argument threatens to undermine the institution of citizenship because citizens’ claims on the state can differ in just the way migrants’ claims can, and the rights of (...) citizenship can be unbundled and awarded piecemeal. To resolve this tension, I offer a novel account of the normative functions of citizenship, which turns on the assertion that citizenship’s public conferral of equal rights promotes status equality and confers equal recognition. This account sets firm bounds on rights differentiation without ruling it out entirely. (shrink)

The topic of my dissertation is satire. This seems to excite many people, and over the past four years I have heard many variations of a similar refrain: “Oh, wow. You’re studying satire? That’s very topical. You must have a lot of material to work with.” There is a way in which this is true, though I suspect in a way that diverges from the way that most of my interlocutors believed. I suspect that the material they imagined me to (...) be working with was the output of Donald Trump, first a candidate for and now holder of the office of President of the United States. That is not the material I find interesting. More interesting to me is their statement. It evinces a number of beliefs that I find interesting, chief among them that Trump makes the current period particularly apt for satire, as if a doddery and incompetent ruling class is somehow a recent phenomenon. And I suspect that underneath this belief in the aptness of satire is a belief in the power of satire. Satire is somehow how people are going to strike back at the vice-governed fools who rule us. Those beliefs are the material I want to work with. This is my interest in satire, then: not so much what it is about satire that makes it powerful, but what is it about satire that makes people think it is powerful? And what is it about satire that makes people think it is powerful when there is pretty powerful evidence that it is not? Unfortunately, here is where I run into the problem that in a very important way I do not have a lot of material to work with. There is not an awful lot on satire within the analytic tradition: outside of a few references to satire, analytic discussions of satire are limited to two short articles. Accordingly, I have taken the task of my dissertation to be to create an account of satire that helps to bring forward why satire is a thing that people can imagine to be powerful, that they can imagine to be politically effective. My dissertation will effectively have two halves, one where I build my account and one where I begin to apply it. The purpose of applying my account, which will comprise the final two chapters, will not be to show its implications so much as how it can be used. My goal will not so much be to give definitive answers about the nature of satire, but rather to give a demonstration of how my account facilitates engaging questions about the role of satire in social and political context. (shrink)

This paper revisits Kant’s 1768 incongruent counterpart argument that space is absolute. Most commentators today dismiss Kant’s argument as begging the question against the relationalist. I argue that this dismissal is too quick, and that we have something to learn by considering what might have led him to argue as he does. My focus is on the role of geometrical intuitions and the extent to which they can provide defeasible warrant for claims about space. By “geometrical intuitions” I mean both (...) the geometrical intuitions of spatial figures in imagination as well as the claims that seem to directly follow from them. My focus includes uncovering the metaphysical assumptions that are implicated in those geometrical intuitions. Whether or not Kant’s argument ultimately succeeds, the role of geometrical intuitions is worth exploring. Moreover, Kant appeals to geometrical intuitions, and any adequate interpretation of Kant will have to take them into account. (shrink)

What makes public history more than just another hill to fight over in culture war politics? In this paper I propose a novel way of understanding the political significance of how public history creates and shapes identities: a contractarian one. I argue that public history can be sensibly understood as representing groups as a society’s contracting parties. One particular value of the contractarian approach is that it helps to elucidate the phenomenon of “signing on,” where a marginalized or oppressed group (...) is offered membership in a society without the social order being meaningfully changed. (shrink)

In this paper, I consider Peter Geach (Rew Metaphys 21:2–12, 1967) infamous argument against the existence of an “absolute” identity relation. One objection to Geach’s argument which has been raised is that Geach claims that no characterization of “absolute” identity is possible, while ignoring the model-theoretic characterization ( : x D). I reconstruct Geach’s likely attitude towards the model-theoretic characterization of identity from Geach’s views on reference and the nature of domains of discourse. I argue that, while Geach does not (...) have the resources to sustain his case for the conclusion that the relation of “absolute” identity does not exist, nevertheless, if his views about reference are correct, specifically, the view that terms can be simultaneously both singular and shared, this would still show something very interesting. It would show that, for some replacements for D, the relation ( : x D) is not a relation of identity. I then consider whether there is any support available for his account of reference. I finish by arguing that well-known examples of sentences involving copredication do provide prima facie support for Geach’s view. (shrink)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many vaccine trials which had significant purposes which participants needed to understand to validly consent. For example, participants needed to understand that the purpose of dose-escalation vaccine trials was to give incremental doses of vaccine until participants became ill. Likewise, participants needed to understand that if they received placebos, they could no later take a genuine vaccine to preserve the integrity of the trials. Yet, these intuitive judgements about what participants need to understand to (...) validly consent are rejected by recent accounts of consent. According to these accounts, as long as participants were given a good opportunity to learn these purposes, they do not need to actually understand them to consent. In this paper, I reject this consensus, and I argue that participants who failed to understand these aims associated with vaccine trials failed to provide legitimate consent. I defend this claim by developing and defending a new understanding condition for valid consent. According to this understanding condition, a participant must understand when a consent transaction has features which violate the norms which govern the medical practice with which they are acquainted. I argue that this condition is independently plausible and best explains why participants needed to understand these aims associated with vaccine trials to validly consent. (shrink)

This article explores the relationship between Karl Rahner’s well-known supralapsarian approach to the doctrine of the incarnation and the theme of social salvation. It examines his distinctive supralapsarian approach to the Incarnation of the Word and the implications that Christological emphasis has for understanding not just individual salvation, but corporate or social salvation, including the whole of creation—human and nonhuman alike. First, we situate Rahner’s supralapsarianism within the broader tradition of this Christological approach. Second, we highlight the cosmic significance of (...) Rahner’s supralapsarian argument for the divine ratio for the Incarnation through the lens of “deep incarnation” theology. Finally, we argue that Rahner’s supralapsarian Christology gestures toward a form of “social salvation” understood in a more cosmic and capacious sense. (shrink)

Philosophical accounts of humour standardly account for humour in terms of what happens within a person. On these internalist accounts, humour is to be understood in terms of cognition, perception, and sensation. These accounts, while valuable, are poorly-situated to engage the social functions of humour. They have difficulty engaging why we value humour, why we use it define ourselves and our friendships, and why it may be essential to our self-esteem. In opposition to these internal accounts, I offer a social (...) account of humour. This account approaches humour as a social practice. It foregrounds laughter and participation, and thereby gives an account of humour that helps to understand why we value humour, why we use it as we do, and why we use it to define our relationship to the world. (shrink)