Who am I? -- How to see with new eyes -- How the mind works -- How time works -- Self-awareness -- How to fix the future -- Your problems are not the problem -- How to overcome happiness -- Memory is not intelligent -- Fixing a broken mind -- Overcoming psychological pain -- Overcoming physical pain -- The perfect relationship -- How to not-know -- When you become enlightened.

This paper argues that God may create and exist in any possible world, no matter how much suffering of any sort that world includes. It combines the traditional free will defence with the notion of an 'occasion' for good or evil action and limits God's responsibility to the creation of these occasions. Since no possible world contains occasions for more evil than good action, God is morally permitted to create any possible world. With regard to suffering that is not due (...) to free will, namely the suffering of beings who are not moral agents, the paper questions the idea that the relief of such suffering is a moral perfection. (shrink)

Excerpts from significant works by influential philosophers including Plato's Republic, Machiavelli's The Prince , and Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams , all arranged chronologically.

The progress of the molecular biosciences has been so enormous that a discipline studying how cellular functioning emerges out of the behaviors of their molecular constituents has become reality. Systems biology studies cells as spatiotemporal networks of interacting molecules using an integrative approach of theory , experimental biology , and quantitative network-wide analytical measurement . Its aim is to understand how molecules jointly bring about life. Systems biology is rapidly discovering principles governing the functioning of molecular networks and methods to (...) model and measure them. The application of the conceptual strength of systems sciences such as physics and engineering are opening up new ways of experimentally studying the design and functioning of molecular networks. Typically, in such studies models are used to highlight principles, design experiments, or to act in a predictive mode to specifically modify cellular behavior. In this trend article, theoretical approaches being applied in systems biology will be discussed. A number of books have recently appeared that deal with theoretical aspects of systems biology. In this article they are highlighted to facilitate the communication of systems biology to a broader audience. (shrink)

Although considerable research indicates that mental energy is an important factor in many domains, including athletic performance (Cook & Davis, 2006), athletic mental energy (AME) has never been conceptualized and measured. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conceptualize and develop a reliable and valid instrument to assess athletic mental energy. In Study 1, a focus group interview established the initial framework of athletic mental energy. Study 2 used a survey to collect athletes’ experiences of athletic mental energy and (...) develop a scale draft titled “Athletic Mental Energy Scale (AMES).” In Study 3, we examined the psychometric properties and the underlying structure of AMES via item analysis, internal consistency, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In Study 4, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine AMES’s factorial validity; and examined concurrent and discriminant validity by examining correlations with athletes’ life stress, positive state of mind, and burnout. In study 5, we examined the measurement invariance of the 6-factor, 18-item AMES with Taiwanese and Malaysian samples. Study 6 examined the predictive validity by comparing AMES scores of successful and unsuccessful martial artists. Across these phases, results showed a 6-factor, 18-item AMES had adequate content validity, factorial structure, nomological validity, discriminant validity, predictive validity, measurement invariance, and reliability. We suggest future studies may use AMES to examine its relationships with athletes’ cognition, affect, and performance. The application of AMES in sport psychology was also discussed. (shrink)

Breaking Barriers is a collection of invited contributions by distinguished philosophers, scientists, and religious thinkers of East and West in honor of Professor Ramakrishna Puligandla. The twenty-three essays in this volume may be divided into four groups: Philosophy of Advaita, Buddhism, Indian Philosophy and Physics, and Asian and Comparative Thought. Contributors have written on topics such as the phenomenology of consciousness, science and religion, and comparative philosophy and religion. The volume is designed to stimulate the interest of students, professors, and (...) all those who wish to explore new knowledge. In this volume, the creative thought of leading thinkers from principal universities in India and elsewhere transcends words without insight, barren arguments, and all limiting paradigms. Breaking Barriers thus represents a multi-disciplinary approach informed by cross-cultural philosophical vision. Modern physics and classical Indian philosophy exist here in unity. (shrink)

The article explores how platforms like Google and ChatGPT, which claim omniscience and wisdom-like attributes, prompt philosophical questions. It revisits religious perspectives on omniscience and their influence on the pursuit of wisdom. The article suggests that while Google may offer compartmentalized omniscience based on user preferences, ChatGPT’s factual accuracy challenges its characterization as omniscient. Nonetheless, ChatGPT can still help humans progress toward wisdom, by integrating the co-creation of knowledge between humans and the unfolding of divine knowledge from Process Thought and (...) Buddhist epistemology insights. Notably, instead of offering definitive answers, the paper is written with a sense of deep humility to encourage ongoing inquiry and investigation. (shrink)

“Dissecting Bioethics,” edited by Tuija Takala and Matti Häyry, welcomes contributions on the conceptual and theoretical dimensions of bioethics.The section is dedicated to the idea that words defined by bioethicists and others should not be allowed to imprison people's actual concerns, emotions, and thoughts. Papers that expose the many meanings of a concept, describe the different readings of a moral doctrine, or provide an alternative angle to seemingly self-evident issues are therefore particularly appreciated.The themes covered in the section so far (...) include dignity, naturalness, public interest, community, disability, autonomy, parity of reasoning, symbolic appeals, and toleration. (shrink)

We will show that there is a strong form of emergence in cell biology. Beginning with C.D. Broad's classic discussion of emergence, we distinguish two conditions sufficient for emergence. Emergence in biology must be compatible with the thought that all explanations of systemic properties are mechanistic explanations and with their sufficiency. Explanations of systemic properties are always in terms of the properties of the parts within the system. Nonetheless, systemic properties can still be emergent. If the properties of the components (...) within the system cannot be predicted, even in principle, from the behavior of the system's parts within simpler wholes then there also will be systemic properties which cannot be predicted, even in principle, on basis of the behavior of these parts. We show in an explicit case study drawn from molecular cell physiology that biochemical networks display this kind of emergence, even though they deploy only mechanistic explanations. This illustrates emergence and its place in nature. (shrink)

The Experience of Human Communication approaches everyday communication as a philosophical and psychological matter. Using insights from Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, and Foucault, Frank Macke stresses that human communication—and with it, the human body—is, first and foremost, a relational phenomenon involving friends and family.

For centuries, international trade has been seen as essential to the wealth and power of nations. More recently we have started to understand its problematic role as an engine of distributive justice. In this compelling book Frank J. Garcia proposes a new way to evaluate, construct and manage international trade - one that is based on norms of economic justice, comparative advantage and national interest. Garcia examines three ways to conceptualize the problem of trade and global justice, drawn from (...) Rawlsian liberalism, communitarianism and consent theory. These approaches illustrate specific issues of importance to the way global justice has been theorized, offering a pluralistic mode of arguing for global justice and highlighting the unique modes of discourse we employ when engaging with global justice and their implications for conceptualizing and arguing the problem. Garcia suggests a new direction for trade agreements built around truly consensual trade negotiations and the kind of international economic system they would structure. (shrink)

Chapter 4 MIND AND REBIRTH I The argument of the first three chapters is essentially that the study of early Buddhism is neither methodologically, logically, nor emotively flawed. These chapters argue for the rationality of.