This work proposes a coevolutionary theory of aesthetics that encompasses both biotic and human arts. Anthropocentric perspectives in aesthetics prevent the recognition of the ontological complexity of the aesthetics of nature, and the aesthetic agency of many non-human organisms. The process of evaluative coevolution is shared by all biotic advertisements. I propose that art consists of a form of communication that coevolves with its own evaluation. Art and art history are population phenomena. I expand Arthur Danto’s Artworld concept to any (...) aesthetic population of producers and evaluators. Current concepts of art cannot exclusively circumscribe the human arts from many forms of non-human biotic art. Without assuming an arbitrarily anthropocentric perspective, any concept of art will need to engage with biodiversity, and either recognize many instances of biotic advertisements as art, or exclude some instances of human art. Coevolutionary aesthetic theory provides a heuristic account of aesthetic change in both human and biotic artworlds, including the coevolutionary origin of aesthetic properties and aesthetic value within artworlds. Restructuring aesthetics, art criticism, and art history without human beings at the organizing centers of these disciplines stimulate new progress in our understanding of art, and the unique human contributions to aesthetics and aesthetic diversity. (shrink)

. History of the concept of economic efficiency . INTRODUCTION James Buchanan won the Nobel Prize by proving that the process by which elected officials ...

O pragmatismo é uma tradição complexa, no interior da qual se trava um debate e cujos representantes defendem posições filosóficas das mais variadas, muitas vezes incompatíveis entre si. Este artigo expõe dez temas-chave que desempenham um papel essencial no pragmatismo, assim como o concebo, e, principalmente, tal como atraem a atenção das figuras principais do movimento pragmatista. Estes temas não estão listados pela ordem de sua importância, mas segundo a maneira que me pareceu ser a melhor para mostrar seu sentido (...) e alcance, ao longo de uma apresentação breve, mas coerente. Aqui está a lista: 1) a natureza mutável, aberta e contingente da realidade; 2) o primado da ação, da prática e das intenções do ser humano até mesmo no domínio da reflexão teórica; 3) um naturalismo não redutor, que respeita o lugar do corpo; 4) uma abordagem anticartesiana, oposta à busca da certeza e ao dualismo cartesiano; 5) a necessidade da comunidade, considerada uma condição necessária para a busca do conhecimento e para o acesso aos significados; 6) uma orientação empirista que reconhece o papel da experiência e da experimentação, tanto no campo da cognição, quanto em todos os outros campos da atividade humana; 7) uma orientação que privilegia o futuro; 8) uma atitude melhorista para com a teoria e a prática; 9) um abordagem holística que enfatiza a continuidade, em vez do dualismo, e que aborda o significado e a crença em relação com as totalidades apreendidas em seu contexto; 10) um pluralismo que valoriza a diversidade das práticas, dos valores e dos significados. (shrink)

_ Ideals and Ideologies: A Reader_, 9/e, is a comprehensive compilation of original readings representing all of the major 'isms'.It offers students a generous sampling of key thinkers in different ideological traditions and places them in their historical and political contexts. Used on its own or with _Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal_, the title accounts for the different ways people use ideology and conveys the ongoing importance of ideas in politics.

Written by leading experts in the field, Stellar Spectral Classification is the only book to comprehensively discuss both the foundations and most up-to-date techniques of MK and other spectral classification systems. Definitive and encyclopedic, the book introduces the astrophysics of spectroscopy, reviews the entire field of stellar astronomy, and shows how the well-tested methods of spectral classification are a powerful discovery tool for graduate students and researchers working in astronomy and astrophysics. The book begins with a historical survey, followed by (...) chapters discussing the entire range of stellar phenomena, from brown dwarfs to supernovae. The authors account for advances in the field, including the addition of the L and T dwarf classes; the revision of the carbon star, Wolf-Rayet, and white dwarf classification schemes; and the application of neural nets to spectral classification. Copious figures illustrate the morphology of stellar spectra, and the book incorporates recent discoveries from earth-based and satellite data. Many examples of spectra are given in the red, ultraviolet, and infrared regions, as well as in the traditional blue-violet optical region, all of which are useful for researchers identifying stellar and galactic spectra. This essential reference includes a glossary, handy appendixes and tables, an index, and a Web-based resource of spectra. In addition to the authors, the contributors are Adam J. Burgasser, Margaret M. Hanson, J. Davy Kirkpatrick, and Nolan R. Walborn. (shrink)

Although the term "Bioethics" literally means "Life Ethics," there is a frequent differentiation of Christian bioethicists into those focusing on medical issues versus those focusing on environmental issues. Yet, many challenges to human and environmental health are interdependent, suggesting the need for greater collaboration. After exploring the historical trajectories that have led to these two distinct foci in Christian ethics, this essay will argue for a greater collaboration between the two specializations and make some suggestions concerning how collaboration may be (...) facilitated. As an illustration of this thesis, I examine avian influenza as a case study. (shrink)

Through the use of Bayesian probability theory and Communication theory, a formal mathematical model of a Churchmanian Dialectical Inquirer is developed. The Dialectical Inquirer is based on Professor C. West Churchman's novel interpretation and application of Hegelian dialectics to decision theory. The result is not only the empirical application of dialectical inquiry but also its empirical (i.e., scientific) investigation. The Dialectical Inquirer is seen as especially suited to problems in strategic policy formation and in decision theory. Finally, specific application of (...) the inquirer is made to Popper's notions for ‘The Test of Severity’ of a scientific theory. (shrink)

A major challenge when exploring for hydrocarbons in frontier areas is a lack of data coverage. Data may be restricted to regional-scale 2D seismic lines, from which assumptions of the 3D geometric configuration are drawn. Understanding the limitations and uncertainties when extrapolating 2D data into 3D space is crucial when assessing the requirements for acquiring additional data such as 3D seismic or exploration wells and of assigning geologically reasonable uncertainty ranges. The onshore Gulf of Corinth Rift provides an excellent analog (...) for rift-scale structural uncertainty in the context of hydrocarbon exploration. We have used seismic forward modeling to explore this area of uncertainty. Synthetic seismic sections have been generated across the rift based upon fault geometries mapped in the field. Comparisons that we made of these sections with the mapped geometries allowed quantification of uncertainties encountered when extrapolating 2D data into three dimensions. We have determined how potential column heights may be severely over and underestimated due to trap integrity, spill point depth, and fault seal ambiguities directly related to fault geometric uncertainty. In addition, fault geometries and linkages also controlled the location of hanging wall synrift reservoirs. Hence, gross reservoir volumes and sediment facies distributions were also significantly influenced by how fault geometries were extrapolated along-strike from 2D to 3D. (shrink)

Aim To ascertain the quantity and nature of gifts and items provided by the pharmaceutical industry in Australia to medical specialists and to consider whether these are appropriate in terms of justifiable ethical standards, empirical research and views expressed in the literature.

Bird songs often display musical acoustic features such as tonal pitch selection, rhythmicity, and melodic contouring. We investigated higher-order musical temporal structure in bird song using an experimental method called “music scrambling” with human subjects. Recorded songs from a phylogenetically diverse group of 20 avian taxa were split into constituent elements and recombined in original and random order. Human subjects were asked to evaluate which version sounded more “musical” on a per-species basis. Species identity and stimulus treatment were concealed from (...) subjects, and stimulus presentation order was randomized within and between taxa. Two recordings of human music were included as a control for attentiveness. Participants varied in their assessments of individual species musicality, but overall they were significantly more likely to rate bird songs with original temporal sequence as more musical than those with randomized temporal sequence. We discuss alternative hypotheses for the origins of avian musicality, including honest signaling, perceptual bias, and arbitrary aesthetic coevolution. (shrink)

This is the fourth volume of a series entitled `Current Legal Issues' that are published each Summer as a sister volume to `Current Legal Problems'. The interaction of religious practice and the law raises a number of difficult and fascinating issues. What exactly do we mean by religious faith? To what extent are the Courts competent to pass judgement on disputes arising within religious organisations? Are some religious faiths more legitimate than others? Should the law grant special privileges to religious (...) believers? - for example exemption from provisions in human rights legislation which would otherwise restrict their activities. (shrink)