D. O. Thomas; XIII—Obedience to Conscience, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 64, Issue 1, 1 June 1964, Pages 243–258, https://doi.org/10.1093/ari.

D.O. Thomas; VI*—The Duty to Trust, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Volume 79, Issue 1, 1 June 1979, Pages 89–102, https://doi.org/10.1093/aristotelian.

When can one say that a new theory is truer than the old one it contradicts, even though neither is absolutely true? We are primarily concerned with the case in which the conflicting theories offer answers to the same questions, and so we do not introduce considerations of "logical width". We propose that part of the new theory is truer than part of the old one when the former part gets right whatever the latter-part got right while the former does (...) not make any new mistakes. Pragmatic considerations will determine the relative importance of whatever new mistakes the new theory does make as a whole. To avoid artificial counterexamples, we restrict the parts compared to those that are "convex". A "convex" theory is one that holds in all cases intermediate between any two cases in which it holds. (shrink)

Apocalyptic expectations of Armageddon and a New Age have been a fixture of the American cultural landscape for centuries. With the approach of the year 2000, such millennial visions seem once again to be increasing in popularity. Stephen O'Leary sheds new light on the age-old phenomenon of the End of the Age by proposing a rhetorical explanation for the appeal of millennialism. Using examples of apocalyptic argument from ancient to modern times, O'Leary identifies the recurring patterns in apocalyptic texts and (...) movements and shows how and why the Christian Apocalypse has been used to support a variety of political stances and programs. The book concludes with a critical review of the recent appearances of doomsday scenarios in our politics and culture, and a meditation on the significance of the Apocalypse in the nuclear age. Arguing the Apocalypse is the most thorough examination of its subject to date: a study of a neglected chapter of our religious and cultural history, a guide to the politics of Armageddon, and a map of millennial consciousness. (shrink)

sirIn the January 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine three articles appeared on the unapproved use of Misoprostol , which raise an interesting ethical question. The synthetic prostaglandin analogue, Misoprostol, has been successfully used by obstetricians and gynaecologists for a number of years for the induction of a medical abortion in the first or second trimester, for the induction of labour, and for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhages.1 Strangely enough the pharmaceutical company which produces and markets the (...) drug, Searle, …. (shrink)

Recently I reported in this journal1 how it became necessary for a judge to settle a dispute between the pharmaceutical industry and certain Dutch pharmacists. It considered the question of whether a pharmacist is permitted, without prior consultation, to give a patient a generic drug instead of the patent drug mentioned on the prescription.Another dispute has now arisen after the pharmaceutical industry discovered that healthcare insurers were paying general practitioners a bonus if they prescribed generic drugs, such as simvastatin or (...) omeprazol (which reduces the …. (shrink)

In September 1998 the Dutch Ministry of Health together with the Dutch Society of General Practitioners , the Royal Dutch Society of Pharmacists , and the Dutch Patient and Consumer Federation published a pamphlet entitled: The same medicine in a different coat. Drugs without a trademark, equally effective, but cheaper. Patients could obtain a copy at the local pharmacy or in the waiting room of their general practitioner. It deals with the question whether the name of the patent drug should (...) be written on the prescription or only the active component. This is important because, according to the authors, the costs of health care can be reduced without reducing the quality of the care if the doctor prescribes the generic form. It is also mentioned that another advantage of prescribing the generic form is that, contrary to the …. (shrink)

The term "Middle Platonism" is used as a classification of those who professed some form of Platonic philosophy between the end of the third Academy and the beginning of "Neoplatonism". The evidence which survives concerning the "Middle" Platonists is not on the whole of great philosophical interest, but has been given increasing attention in recent years for the reason that the Middle Platonists are to some extent heirs to the Academy and ancestors to Neoplatonism. Middle Platonism is also of interest (...) to intellectual historians as an important intellectual force in the literary and religious life of the Roman Empire. For an introduction to Middle Platonism, the English-speaking non-expert has had to turn to Merlan’s rather compressed account in The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy. He now will be able to avail of Dillon’s detailed and compendious survey. (shrink)

Richard Price argued for democratic institutions on the ground that each individual has a moral responsibility for the good government of his community. This assumption that political responsibilities are moral responsibilities was in turn derived from the belief that each individual has a continuous duty to create in his own personality and in his relations with his fellow men the conditions of the virtuous life. Popular political responsibility was thus defended by the extension of a rigorous moral athleticism into the (...) sphere of social arrangements. The dominating feature of this demand for comprehensive reform and reconstruction is the attempt to construe the moral life as a process in which the individual struggles to recreate himself in the light of his most mature conceptions. These conceptions, Price maintained, are determined rationally, and that they are so is presented in two different ways. Either as in the case of the principles of moral judgment they are held to be the objects of a rational intuition; or as in the defence of democratic institutions they are derived from an abstract construction of the demands of moral personality. (shrink)

A new annual lecture series at Villanova University is inaugurated with this attractive study. The lecture takes up a thesis originally proposed in Gilson's Gifford Lectures, that Christianity is the ultimate inspiration for certain key philosophical doctrines of the Western tradition. Gilson suggested 'freedom' and 'creation'; later Lowith and Cullman suggested 'history.' Henry finds in Christian doctrine and specifically in Augustine's writings the fountainhead for the concept of 'personality.' Scholarly and persuasive. --D. D. O.

This is a sober, balanced, well-written re-examination of the problems posed by the rules governing the 'privilege against self-incrimination.' The special merit of the study is its careful distinction of cases. The author shows that the meaning and justification for the privilege vary when claimed by a suspect, an accused, or a witness. Further distinctions are required when the privilege is invoked in preliminary investigations of a congressional committee seeking background data for new legislation. The existing rules and practices are (...) subjected to close, well-documented scrutiny issuing in suggestions for reform in each of the distinguished cases.--D. D. O. (shrink)

A selection from the voluminous journals of S. K., grouped under topical headings rather than chronologically. Though there is some overlapping with the already published Journal selections, the present volume, in the main, offers a useful complement. A good translation.--D. D. O.

In late antiquity the work On the Nature of the Cosmos and of the Soul attributed to Timaeus of Locri was thought to be a Pythagorean text used by Plato when he wrote the Timaeus. The attribution, archaizing language, and similarity of contents of the work suggest this. However, the linguistic and philosophical anachronisms to be found in it show it to be a post-Platonic forgery. It summarizes the Timaeus, simplifying and "demythologizing" the dialogue in a didactic way. It also (...) on occasion departs enough from its source to constitute an interpretation of the dialogue. Baltes in his introduction notes that this is all done along lines characteristic of Middle Platonic treatments of Plato, and he suggests that the work may have been written by a pupil of Eudorus of Alexandria since it seems to depend on Eudorus’s interpretation of the Timaeus. Having introduced the work, Baltes then provides a line-by-line commentary in which he deals with philological questions, analyzes the sequence of thought, and attempts to determine for each passage the extent to which the work echoes the Timaeus or departs from it. In the latter case, he provides helpful references to parallel and possible source texts in Hellenistic philosophy. An index of terms would have made this valuable commentary more accessible. For the original Greek text we must turn to the edition published by W. Marg in the same series. Baltes’s commentary can be recommended to anyone interested in Plato’s Academy, in Middle Platonism, and in the subjects discussed in the Timaeus as understood and developed in Hellenistic philosophy.—D.O. (shrink)