Most documented extinctions of vertebrates in the last 400 years have been island endemics. In this paper, we focus on the need to develop a historical framework to establish conservation priorities for insular faunas and, in particular, to test the validity of nominal endemics. We use the example of the islands of the North Pacific Coast of North America, a region that includes approximately one-half of all mammals endemic to North American islands north of Mexico. Few of these endemics have (...) been re-evaluated since their original descriptions, although many of these islands have been heavily impacted by habitat conversion, species introductions, over-exploitation, and secondary ripple effects. Evidence from molecular genetics and paleontology suggests that many taxa arrived in the region since the last glacial advance. Some of these nominal endemics show minimal differentiation, while others comprise multiple evolutionary lineages. The NPC may also have played an important role in the in situ diversification of some taxa during the Pleistocene. Evidence, such as new fossil discoveries and numerous described endemics, lends support for refugia hypotheses. However, these ideas cannot be tested until a better understanding of geographic variation and the evolutionary relationships of the fauna and flora of the North Pacific Coast is developed. This framework would provide significant insight into the dynamic biogeographic history of the region and help prioritize conservation efforts. (shrink)

BackgroundThis paper represents a portion of the findings from one of the first research studies eliciting the lived experience of adults with an early diagnosis of Phenylketonuria living in Ireland. Ireland has one of the highest prevalence rates of PKU in Europe, however, little is known about the experience of Irish adults with PKU. Furthermore, Ireland is one of the first countries in the world to introduce neonatal screening followed by the introduction of long-term dietary therapy over 50 years ago. (...) This study presents the first comprehensive assessment of the lived experience of Irish adults with PKU on long term dietary therapy.MethodsNarrative data was collected from eleven self-selected participants, using semi-structured interviews. The interviews were divided into five sections focused on eliciting a holistic understanding of the lived experience of adults with PKU living in Ireland. Thematic analysis was guided by Colaizzi's Framework in conjunction with NVivo qualitative data analysis software.FindingsFindings from the original research encompassed a broad understanding of the lived experience of adults with PKU living in Ireland, including factors influencing dietary therapy and managing PHE blood levels. The themes being discussed within this article are those which appear to be least represented within current literature: living with PKU, including reproductive health, the importance of self-management and establishing routine, support networks in adulthood and concerns regarding aging with PKU.ConclusionIt was evident from the findings that a diagnosis of PKU can influence how adults with PKU may experience aging and their own mortality. These findings offer new insight into the vulnerability attached to the experience of aging with PKU and may be beneficial to advocacy groups and for future development of policy and practice. (shrink)

For some time, the role of culture in language education within schools, universities and professional communication has received increasing attention. This article identifies two aporias in the discourse of intercultural communication : first, that it contains an unstated movement towards a universal consciousness; second, that its claims to truth are grounded in an implicit appeal to a transcendental moral signified.These features constitute IC discourse as ‘totality’, or as ‘metaphysics of presence’.The article draws on the work of Levinas ; and Derrida (...) to propose more considered ethical grounds for intercultural praxis. Contra a Hegelian impetus towards universal consciousness,we posit an irreducible distance and separation between the self and other. In so doing, not only are we able to supersede the field’s implicit appeal to the transcendental as a source of truth but also to counter perceptibly ‘exorbitant’ claims and actions of the intercultural other. In this vein, the article proposes a discourse ethics of responsibility by which it still becomes possible for a critical intercultural praxis to make value judgements and to take potentially transformative action vis-à-vis cultural acts that challenge the limits of intercultural tolerance and hospitality. (shrink)

Peter Abelard (1079–1142 ce) was the most wide‐ranging philosopher of the twelfth century. He quickly established himself as a leading teacher of logic in and near Paris shortly after 1100. After his affair with Heloise, and his subsequent castration, Abelard became a monk, but he returned to teaching in the Paris schools until 1140, when his work was condemned by a Church Council at Sens. His logical writings were based around discussion of the “Old Logic”: Porphyry's Isagoge, aristotle'S Categories and (...) On Interpretation and boethius'S textbook on topical inference. They comprise a freestanding Dialectica (“Logic”; probably c.1116), a set of commentaries (known as the Logica [Ingredientibus], c. 1119) and a later (c. 1125) commentary on the Isagoge (Logica Nostrorum Petititoni Sociorum or Glossulae). In a work Abelard called his Theologia, issued in three main versions (between 1120 and c.1134), he attempted a logical analysis of trinitarian relations and explored the philosophical problems surrounding God's claims to omnipotence and omniscience. The Collationes (“Debates,” also known as “Dialogue between a Christian, a Philosopher and a Jew”; probably c.1130) present a rational investigation into the nature of the highest good, in which the Christian and the Philosopher (who seems to be modeled on a philosopher of pagan antiquity) are remarkably in agreement. The unfinished Scito teipsum (“Know thyself,” also known as the “Ethics”; c.1138) analyses moral action. (shrink)

This book explains the notational system NUSAP (Numeral, Unit, Spread, Assessment, Pedigree) and applies it to several examples from the environmental sciences.

Implant ethics is defined here as the study of ethical aspects of the lasting introduction of technological devices into the human body. Whereas technological implants relieve us of some of the ethical problems connected with transplantation, other difficulties arise that are in need of careful analysis. A systematic approach to implant ethics is proposed. The major specific problems are identified as those concerning end of life issues (turning off devices), enhancement of human capabilities beyond normal levels, mental changes and personal (...) identity, and cultural effects. (shrink)

The Difference between Belief and Knowledge. The assumption that knowledge can be defined in terms of belief is considered to be mistaken. Since Gettier problems are shown to be misconstrued, the question cannot arise whether his conditions for knowledge are sufficient for claiming ``knowledge is justified true belief''. Ayers' conditions for knowledge in addition with a specific stipulation proof to be instructive for elaborating the differences between knowledge and belief.

The history of the Russian Old Believers who lived in Ukraine, as well as the question of the main methods and features of the power struggle with representatives of this peculiar ethno-confessional group and the ways of their adaptation to the conditions that existed in the Russian Empire in the middle of the XIX century remain a little researched topic. So, we can talk about the scientific relevance of a particular problem.

Tout s’est passé très vite, prenant l’Église au dépourvu. Le mouvement pour la reconnaissance des mariages et des unions civiles entre personnes du même sexe a connu un succès extraordinaire. La hiérarchie de l’Église catholique oppose une fin de non-recevoir à toute reconnaissance positive des couples homosexuels, en invoquant une morale sexuelle qu’on dit ancienne et invariable,..

Extended antipaternalism means the use of antipaternalist arguments to defend activities that harm (consenting) others. As an example, a smoker’s right to smoke is often invoked in defence of the activities of tobacco companies. It can, however, be shown that antipaternalism in the proper sense does not imply such extended antipaternalism. We may therefore approve of Mill’s antipaternalist principle (namely, that the only reason to interfere with someone’s behaviour is to protect others from harm) without accepting activities that harm (consenting) (...) others. This has immediate consequences for the ethics of public health. An antipaternalist need not refrain from interfering with activities such as the marketing of tobacco or heroin, boxing promotion, driving with unbelted passengers, or buying sex from “voluntary” prostitutes. (shrink)

In this edition of two of Nietzsche's late works, Kaufmann has written a short introduction to each work and included indices for each work. There is an appendix to the Genealogy consisting of Kaufmann's translations of the aphorisms from earlier works which Nietzsche alludes to in the Genealogy. Also included is an appendix of discarded drafts of parts of Ecce Homo. In addition to a readable translation, Kaufmann has written a running commentary in the form of short footnotes which become (...) more expansive in one section of the Genealogy which deals with intellectual conscience and with truth. The Genealogy is intended by Nietzsche to be a sequel to and clarification of Beyond Good and Evil. It deals with such themes as master morality as opposed to slave morality, bad conscience, ressentiment, and ascetic ideals. Ecce Homo is Nietzsche's commentary on himself, his books, and his intellectual development. In the introductions, Kaufmann pleas for responsible scholarship when dealing with Nietzsche and rails against what he considers to be a conspiracy of malicious misinterpretations that have sought to discredit Nietzsche. He criticizes views that would disregard Ecce Homo as an insanely disfigured self-portrait. He also rejects interpretations of the Genealogy which suppose that Nietzsche would lump together as evils slave morality, bad conscience, and ascetic ideals. Kaufmann's admiration for Nietzsche is undisguised, and he admits a special fondness for Ecce Homo.—S. O. H. (shrink)

It’s a commonplace that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke draws his policies from Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz’s A Monetary History of the United States. With that in mind, this article establishes five points. First, contrary to conventional wisdom, Friedman and Schwartz merely insinuate their claim the Fed caused the Depression in MH. Second, their criticisms of Fed policy during the Depression, which turn on its refusal to adopt open market purchases, repudiate Friedman’s famed libertarianism and market fundamentalism. Third, Friedman (...) and Schwartz don’t refute the practical objections of bankers who opposed OMPs in the 1930s. Consequently, Bernanke’s policies for addressing the financial crisis risk doing precisely what Friedman’s targets warned against—encouraging financial speculation without addressing problems of unemployment. Fourth, Friedman and Schwartz’s prescriptions entail a neoliberal, not a libertarian, state, one governed by technocrats and answerable to financial markets. Finally, what accounts for and unifies Friedman’s contradictions is the beneficiary—finance. (shrink)

This volume of the Chicago series is an anthology of what might be called religious literary criticism, where 'religious' speaks of a concern for particular motifs not of any didactic intent on the part of the critics, all of whom, as in the other volumes of the series, are either alumni or faculty of Chicago Divinity School. The contributors on the whole seem to be sound secular scholars with an interest in and passion for literature as a window on life's (...) hard questions. Scott's introduction and his lead article on Saul Bellow are erudite, vast, esoteric, and exhausting. The rewards of careful, hard-work reading are high; but the price will turn many back. All the entries except one focus on recent American prose: Malamud, Heller, Pynchon, Salinger, Flannery O'Conor, J. F. Powers, Styron, and Mailer.--S. O. H. (shrink)

This study originally appeared in German in 1963. It was revised for the English edition and the translation is smooth. It is an introduction aimed at the layman. The language is simple and, except for the most important of Teilhard's terms, technical terms are scrupulously avoided. The book is organized around what Wildiers feels are Teilhard's major motivating concerns: God and the universe, or love of God vs. love of world. Wildiers explains how Teilhard sees the universe evolving from the (...) geosphere through the biosphere and noosphere and converging toward a specific end, the omega point, which Teilhard identifies with the parousia. Man has a unique position in this scheme. He represents the noosphere and is, in a sense, evolution in charge of itself. Wildiers shows how Teilhard's original concern was scientific and how he tenaciously made use of a phenomenological scientific methodology even in his most speculative theological reflections. Teilhard's christology, philosophy of history, and concept of evil are also discussed. The book does perhaps leave the reader "introduced," but there is no substitute for discovering Teilhard for oneself.--S. O. H. (shrink)

Berger goes against the prevailing intellectual currents of our age by asking after the truth of the supernatural. Taking his cue, as he has before, from the sociology of knowledge, which would suggest that the all-pervading anti-supernaturalism of our age is more a function of the social support the idea gets than of its innate worth, Berger offers up a program by which his investigation might take place. After a brief historical account of the gradual liberalizing of Protestant, Catholic, and (...) Jewish religious institutions, and after some suggestions on how to avoid following this trend on to what he calls "a surprise-free future," he predicts the indefinite continuation of some vestige of supernatural religion. He gets into the real business of the book by suggesting a "theological" approach that starts with man. By looking carefully at certain commonplace but important aspects of human experience, one can see some "signals of" transcendence. The "little effort" involves what Berger calls inductive faith. It is this radically empirical thrust that protects Berger from the charge that he is pushing for the restoration of conservative theology. Berger suggests that this book is an elaborative and corrective postscript to his The Sacred Canopy, which he felt "read like a treatise on atheism, at least in parts." As usual: Berger's engaging style.--S. O. H. (shrink)

Taken as a whole this book is not by Collingwood as much as it is about him. The selections read like extended quotations marshalled to defend and justify Rubinoff's interpretation of Collingwood which he sets forth in the introductions. Rubinoff admits, however, that the selections are arranged according to his interpretation of Collingwood which is roughly as follows: religion begins its development in a dogmatic stage characterized by feeling and emotion in which it views itself as a separate and autonomous (...) form of life claiming absolute truth for itself. From this stage of pure faith it passes to a stage of reason, the transition offering the possibility of a "philosophical rapprochement between faith and reason." In the process it turns out that art and philosophy are also engaged in this effort of mind-trying-to-know-itself and thus become identified with one another in that respect. The rapprochement between faith and reason is still inadequate at this stage as it over-emphasizes the identity of faith and reason while underplaying their differences. Thus a dialectical theory of truth and reality as overlapping modes of being is needed to show that faith and reason are distinct but not separate areas. The whole process sees religion as first a form of self-making, then in terms of the self constituting itself as a self, and finally as a form of absolute self-making. The book should not be considered as other than an exercise in historical theology. Collingwood has little to bring to current theological discussion. In fact Rubinoff's comments are often more provocative than Collingwood's, presenting what is important in Collingwood and offering interpretations that charitably enhance his relevance.--S. O. H. (shrink)

This is not a book on religious language, not an analysis or suggestion about the "logic" of God-talk. It is one of those homiletical efforts to make God relevant. But, as such it is a notch above most. Its images are fairly vivid, and its language is urbane and fresh, although occasionally new phrases are coined without sufficient development or rationale to reveal what they mean. Its approach, then, is theological not philosophical, compelled as it is to cover Christian motifs--sin, (...) salvation, resurrection, eternal life, etc. One of the frequent themes is the rejection of the medieval propositional approach to God and the rejection of the "half-baked existentialist" conceptual approach. Rather, Moore sees the discovery and understanding of God in terms of a radically loving, Christ-powered life-style.--S. O. H. (shrink)

In sound, clear, and relentless argumentation Neville makes the case for God as being-itself. God as being-itself is indeterminate. Neville explores several theories that opt for the determinacy of being-itself and exposes the weaknesses of each. As indeterminate, being-itself is the ontological unity of the various determinations of being, and as such transcends them. This transcendent, indeterminate being-itself effects the unity of the determinations of being by creating them ex nihilo. The book spends some time exploring the structure of the (...) distinction between God and the created world, concluding that that distinction is itself determinate and created. God is not only transcendent for Neville, he is also present. He has some conditional features. However, the emphasis is overwhelmingly on transcendence. Neville rejects Hartshorne and insists that God is not conditioned by the determinations of being. Part II of the book is largely methodological, showing the move from "methodological dialectic" to "constitutive dialectic" in order to demonstrate how knowledge of this God is possible. The third part is an effort to connect religious experience with the constructs of Part I. Neville has one of those welcome styles in which the book offers a running commentary on itself: where it has been, where it is, where it is going, and how its success or failure might be judged. This is an important book, but more for its thoroughness and clarity than for its originality.--S. O. H. (shrink)

This book first appeared in 1950 with a second edition in 1956. Kaufmann devotes much time to discussing secondary sources, "rival interpretations," as well as Nietzsche himself and the context of his thought. This third edition represents an expansion as well as a revision of the second. The third edition takes into account work published on Nietzsche since 1956 including new editions and translations of Nietzsche's own work. The impact of these new translations and editions is also discussed. Previously unpublished (...) letters are discussed, with one letter actually reproduced in facsimile. In the expansion Kaufmann did not include anything that would duplicate his own recent publications with the exception that he has substituted his own recent translations of Nietzsche. The bibliography, which did not appear in the second edition, and the index are expanded. There is a new twenty-eight page appendix on the "supressed" [[sic]] manuscripts in which Kaufmann discusses and pans some recent German editions of Nietzsche's works. Finally, there are numerous small additions and revisions in this third edition of a standard work.--S. O. H. (shrink)

There are sixty-two selections in this anthology. Most of them are around eight pages, none of them over eighteen pages, and a few running less than three. Although the passages are short, they are well selected. Each presents one or two provocative ideas without the laborious development and defense that so often discourages, bores, or stifles the enthusiasm of the student coming to the material for the first time. Practically all the selections are from nineteenth and twentieth century thinkers, although (...) Hume, Kant, Aquinas, Augustine, Anselm, Leibniz, and Spinoza are represented. There are seven main parts, each with a too brief introduction by the editors attempting to introduce and integrate the various selections within it. These parts cover the nature of religion, its relation to philosophy, the existence of God, the knowledge of God, religious language, the problem of evil, immortality and eschatology. Existential, analytic, confessional, and process thought are all represented. This second edition is larger and more up-to-date than the 1962 edition, with the nine deletions replaced with selections by Whitehead, Otto, van Buren, Kai Nielsen, and Ninian Smart. More attention is paid to the ontological argument. Schleiermacher's contribution has been changed, and Feuerbach's enlarged. Hartshorne now has an additional entry. The critical bibliographies of suggested readings after each section have been expanded and brought up to date.--S. O. H. (shrink)

Reprinted from the winter, 1966 issue of Religion in Life this little book contains essays by Nels Ferré, Charles Hartshorne, John Dillenberger, James C. Livingston, and Joseph Haroutunian. Ferré's article explores the strengths and weaknesses of Tillich's attitude toward the transcendent. He holds that much of Tillich's quarrel with traditionalistic theology was really a quarrel with substance metaphysics. Hartshorne examines Tillich's language especially his ascribing nontheological meaning to theological terms. Hartshorne insists that where terms like 'shepherd' and 'father' are obviously (...) symbolic, terms like 'absolute', 'relative', 'infinite', 'finite', 'contingent', 'necessary', 'omnipotent', etc. have no useful symbolic meaning but can only be understood literally. In this light he explores Tillich refusal to assert the "existence" of God. Dillenberger uses the fact that Tillich sees religion as the ultimate concern that "informs the heart of a culture" to show that for Tillich, theology cannot be done in isolation; there can only be theology of culture. Therefore, much of Tillich's work can be seen as building a theory of culture. Livingston writes on Tillich's christology and historical research. Haroutunian ends the book with a discussion of Tillich's dealings with the questions of being, finitude, and anxiety.--S. O. H. (shrink)