In the tradition of justified true belief theory, I provide an epistemic responsibility-based philosophical analysis of collective knowledge which is both coherentist and reliabilist.

Belliotti unravels the paradoxes of human existence to reveal paths for crafting meaningful, significant, valuable, even important lives. He argues that human life is not inherently absurd; examines the implications of mortality; contrasts subjective and objective meaning, and evaluates contemporary renderings of meaningful human lives.

The harm usually associated with psychopathy requires therapeutically, legally, and ethically satisfactory solutions. Scholars from different fields have, thus, examined whether empirical evidence shows that individuals with psychopathic traits satisfy concepts, such as responsibility, mental disorder, or disability, that have specific legal or ethical implications. The present paper considers the less discussed issue of whether psychopathy is a disability. As it has been shown for the cases of the responsibility and mental disorder status of psychopathic individuals, we argue that it (...) is undecided whether psychopathy is a disability. Nonetheless, based on insights from disability studies and legislations, we propose that interventions to directly modify the propensities of individuals with psychopathic tendencies should be balanced with modifications of the social and physical environments to accommodate their peculiarities. We also suggest how this social approach in some practical contexts that involve non-offender populations might be effective in addressing some of the negative effects of psychopathy. (shrink)

In some recent articles, Dr. Leigh Turner [Doffing the Mask: Why Manuscript Reviewers Ought to Be Identifiable,” Journal of Academic Ethics, 1 (2003), pp. 41–48; “Promoting F.A.I.T.H. in Peer Review: Five Core Attributes in Effective Peer Review,” Journal of Academic Ethics, 1 (2003), pp. 181–188.] makes some rather critical observations regarding the processes of peer-review in academic journals. I shall note them in turn, note wherein I concur and wherein I disagree, and discuss some of Turner's suggestions to resolve such (...) difficulties. It is hoped that my comments on Turner's much-appreciated points will engage readers of this august and well-edited journal to take more seriously Turner's arguments for the sake of the betterment of academic research. (shrink)

This paper seeks to provide some of the roles of philosophy in the field of academic ethics.

This paper seeks to provide a philosophical analysis of the features of an excellent professor, but a well-balanced one, professionally speaking. What makes for excellence in research, teaching and service is explored in some detail, with attention paid to the contexts of four-year colleges and comprehensive universities in the united states.

The presence of fetal cells has been associated with both positive and negative effects on maternal health. These paradoxical effects may be due to the fact that maternal and offspring fitness interests are aligned in certain domains and conflicting in others, which may have led to the evolution of fetal microchimeric phenotypes that can manipulate maternal tissues. We use cooperation and conflict theory to generate testable predictions about domains in which fetal microchimerism may enhance maternal health and those in which (...) it may be detrimental. This framework suggests that fetal cells may function both to contribute to maternal somatic maintenance (e.g. wound healing) and to manipulate maternal physiology to enhance resource transmission to offspring (e.g. enhancing milk production). In this review, we use an evolutionary framework to make testable predictions about the role of fetal microchimerism in lactation, thyroid function, autoimmune disease, cancer and maternal emotional, and psychological health.Also watch the Video Abstract. (shrink)

This article is a critical philosophical assessment of John Searle’s theory of human rights as it is articulated both in his earlier book, The Construction of Social Reality and especially in his more recent book, Making the Social World.

This paper examines philosophically the nature and possible moral justification of racial profiling in terms of color profiling. Precisely what is such profiling, and can it ever be morally justified? If so, under what conditions is it morally justified?

Introduction : approaching Plato's dialogues -- The mouthpiece interpretation -- The anti-mouthpiece interpretation -- A Socratic interpretation of the concept of art as mimesis -- Conclusion : appreciating Plato's dialogues.

The history of scholarship, philosophical or otherwise, about Plato and his writings reveals a quandary pertaining to the interpretation of the contents of Plato's dialogues. To understand Plato one must come to terms with this problem: how ought Plato's writings to be interpreted?

Neuromodulatory effects of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) have been extensively studied in chronic pain. A hypothetic mechanism of action would be to prevent or revert the ongoing maladaptive plasticity within the pain matrix. In this review, the authors discuss the mechanisms underlying the development of an abnormal plasticity in patients with chronic pain and the putative mechanisms of NIBS in modulating synaptic plasticity in neuropathic pain conditions.

We compute the effect of collapse models on neutrino oscillations. The effect of the collapse is to modify the evolution of the spatial part of the wave function and we will show that this indirectly amounts to a change on the flavor components. For the analysis we use the mass proportional CSL model, and perform the calculation to second order perturbation theory. As we will show, the CSL effect is very small—mainly due to the very small mass of neutrinos—and practically (...) undetectable. (shrink)

The article concerns the interpretation of Aquinas' philosophy in the thougt of the swiss theologian Hans Urs Von Balthasar.

It has recently been argued that there is probably no theory of punishment to be found in Immanuel Kant’s writings, but that “if one selects carefully among the many remarks and insights that Kant has left us about crime and punishment, one might even be able to build such an edifice from the bricks provided.” In this paper, I seek to provide part of a foundation of a Kantian theory of punishment, one which is consistent with many, if not all, (...) of Kant’s own insights on justice. Finally, I assess the plausibility of Kant’s view. (shrink)

This paper is an elaboration of my previous paper published in Philosophy, ‘Making Sense of retributivism,’ which was a criticism of John Rawls' attempt in ‘Two Concepts of Rules’ to develop a rule utilitarian theory of punishment wherein utilitarianism is best construed as a justificatory basis for the institution of punishment and retributivism is best construed as serving as a justificatory basis for particular forms of punishment. I challenge this claim, arguing that retributivism must and can provide a justification both (...) for the institution of punishment and for particular forms of punishment. In the end, I develop an analysis of the nature of desert as responsibility and proportionality. This notion of desert makes the best sense of retributivism. (shrink)

This paper is offered as a tribute to Joel Feinberg. The first section of the paper applies Feinberg's analysis of freedom of expression to a contemporary case of academic freedom. The second section engages Feinberg's work on rights and punishment. The paper ends with numerous quotations from Feinberg's vast array of writings, words that express his ideas on a number of important problems that occupied his mind throughout his fruitful and influential career.

Review of Lee Braver's 2012 book, Groundless Grounds: A Study of Wittgenstein and Heidegger.

This paper challenges the claim that the traditional Christian (Augustinian, Thomistic, Anselmian) idea of hell as a form of eternal punishment (damnation and torment) for human sin cannot be made consistent with the idea of proportionate punishment, and it raises concerns with the notion that divine justice requires divine forgiveness and mercy. It argues that divine justice entails or at least permits retribution as the meting out of punishment by God to those who deserve it in proportion to the degree (...) and amount of harm unduly and responsibly caused by sinners to others. For God to fail to punish those who deserve it in proportion to their harmful wrongdoings would imply God’s failure to be both just and omnibenevolent. (shrink)

The Editor-in-Chief wishes to extend gratitude to the following philosophers, along with members of the Distinguished Editorial Board, for their excellent service to The Journal of Ethics during the past year:Saba BazarganMarisa Diaz-WaianChristopher J. FinlayD. W. HaslettTerry HorganJoshua KnobeMichael McKennaCara NineDrk PereboomJay ReuscherJesper RybergOliver SenssenHarry S. SilversteinDavid SussmanMark TimmonsTheresa W. TobinMark van RoojenThomas VogtClark Wolf.

Given the basic tenets of just war theory and those of United States law regard- ing compensatory justice, it is argued that the U.S. invasion of Iraq from 2003-present is morally unjust and that the U.S. owes substantial reparations to Iraq.

In a recent paper in this journal Charles B. Saunders et al. argue that corporations have no social responsibility regarding alienation in the workplace in that there is no significant degree of alienation in the workplace, at least in white collar and management level positions in corporate America.Contrary to Saunders et al., this paper defines the concept of alienation. Having done that, it proceeds to show that the argument Saunders et al. make flounders on logical grounds. I conclude that Saunders (...) et al. provide no evidence for the claim that alienation is lacking (in any degree) in corporate America. (shrink)

This paper contains a philosophical explication of some of the essentials of a Marxist approach to business ethics. A Marxist approach is construed as a moral critique of capitalism. This paper hopes to lay the groundwork for a more detailed analysis of Karl Marx's critique of capitalist economies.

In a recent article in this journal, Andrew Johnson seeks to defend the “New Atheism” against several objections. We provide a philosophical assessment of his defense of contemporary atheistic arguments that are said to amount to bifurcation fallacies. This point of discussion leads to our critical discussion of the presumption of atheism and the epistemic justification of atheism.

A educação do homem interior: O cultivo da vontade em Agostinho de Hipona Resumo: O estudo aqui apresentado tem como objetivo principal a investigação da formação humana nas obras filosóficas Comentários Literal ao Gênesis, A Trindade e O livre-arbítrio, de Agostinho de Hipona. Para isso, aborda-se a noção da antropologia do referido autor; a sua compreensão de corpo e alma (dimensão humana no homem animal) e, por último, objetiva-se explicitar alguns pressupostos de uma educação do ser humano orientada a uma (...) boa formação da vontade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, exploratória e de caráter hermenêutico. Agostinho concebe a ideia de homem como um ser dotado de corpo e alma. A alma, quando bem formada, pode conduzir os indivíduos à vida com sabedoria e, portanto, a uma beata vita. A vontade é o que movimenta toda as outras dimensões do ser humano e, por isso, ela deve ser bem formada. A educação da vontade, para o pensador, consiste em realizar o jogo de utilizar os objetos que servem de meio para algo e fruir ou contemplar aquilo que é fim em si mesmo. A vontade humana difere do que se passa no reino animal e é capaz de guiar bem o homem, concedendo-lhe minimamente uma relação de desprendimento com a matéria. Conclui-se, a partir dessas linhas mestras do pensamento do autor, que a ética agostiniana ao mesmo tempo que estabelece princípios para o bem agir e lograr uma vida feliz, exige, para isso, um processo formativo que consiste na educação da vontade, uma vez que Agostinho compreende-a como livre em si, isto é, como autodeterminante, ela pode voltar-se por si àquilo que é presença constante, isto é, a objetos de foro contemplativo e afastar-se, tanto quanto possível, dos ditames de uma vida submetida ao mundo material. Palavras-chave: Formação; Vontade; Cultivo; Santo Agostinho; Alma. La educación del hombre interior: el cultivo de la voluntad en Agostinho de Hipona Resumen: El estudio aquí presentado tiene como objetivo principal la investigación de la formación humana en las obras filosóficas Comentarios Literal al Génesis, La Trinidad y El Libre-Arbitrio, de Agostinho de Hipona. Así, se trata la noción y antropología del referido autor, su comprensión de cuerpo y alma (dimensión humana en el hombre animal) y, por último, se objetiva explicitar algunos supuestos de una educación del ser humano orientada a una buena formación de la voluntad. Es una investigación bibliográfica, exploratoria y de carácter hermenéutico. Agostinho concibe la idea de hombre como un ser dotado de cuerpo y alma. El alma, cuando bien formada, puede conducir los individuos a la vida con sabiduría y, por lo tanto, a una beata vita. La voluntad es lo que conduce todas las otras dimensiones del ser humano y, de esta manera, ella debe de ser bien formada. La educación de la voluntad, para el pensador, supone realizar el juego de utilizar los objetos que sirven como medio para algo y fruir o contemplar aquello que tiene fin en sí mismo. La voluntad humana es distinta de lo que se pasa en el reino animal y es capaz de guiar bien el hombre, le permitiendo mínimamente una relación de desprendimiento con la materia. Se concluye, desde esas líneas maestras del pensamiento del autor, que la ética agostiniana al tiempo que establece principios para el bien actuar y lograr una vida feliz, exige, para eso, un proceso formativo que consiste en la educación de la voluntad, una vez que Agostinho la comprende como libre en sí, es decir, como auto determinante, ella puede volverse a lo que es presencia constante, o sea, volverse a objetos de foro contemplativo y aislarse, tanto como sea posible, de los dictados de una vida sometida al mundo material. Palabras-clave: Formación; Voluntad; Cultivo; Santo Agostinho; Alma. The education of the inner-man: The cultivation of will in Augustine of Hippo Abstract: This study is aimed at investigating human formation in the philosophical works On the literal meaning of Genesis, On the Trinity and On free choice of the will, by Augustine of Hippo. To meet that aim, the author’s notion of anthropology is addressed; his understanding of body and soul (human dimension in the human animal) and, finally, we explain some assumptions related to the education of the human being as leading to the good formation of will. This is a bibliographical, exploratory and hermeneutical study. Augustine conceives the idea of man as a being with body and soul. The soul, when well formed, can lead individuals to life with wisdom and, therefore, to a beata vita. Will moves all the other dimensions of the human being and, thus, it must be well formed. For Augustine, the education of the will consists of performing the game of using objects that work as means for something and enjoy or contemplate what is an end in itself. Human will differs from that of the animal kingdom and is capable of guiding man well, granting him a minimal relation of detachment from the material. The conclusion, based on such guidelines from Augustine’s thought, is that Augustinian ethics establishes principles for acting well and reaching a happy life and, at the same time, demands, for those aims, a formative process that consists of the education of the will, as Augustine understands it as free in itself, i.e., as self-determining, for it can turn by itself to what is a constant presence, i.e., to objects of contemplative scope and move away, as far as possible, from the dictates of a life submitted to the material world. Keywords: Formation; Will; Cultivation; Saint Augustine; Soul. Data de registro: 07/03/2020 Data de aceite: 22/09/2021. (shrink)