Ariga Tetsutaro (1899–1977) war Professor für das Studium des Christentums an der Universität Kyoto und gehörte dort der zweiten Professoren-generation an. Er legte die Grundlagen der Patristik und der Erforschung des Christentums in Japan. In seinem Hauptwerk “Origenes” hatte er den Historismus in der Theologie erforscht, aber nachdem er seinen Dienst als Professor an der staatlichen Universität aufgenommen hatte, die die Trennung von Staat und Religion hochhielt, suchte er nach Wegen, ein ‘Studium des Christlichen’ zu etablieren, das sich von der (...) Theologie unterschied. Dabei dienten ihm Schleiermachers “Kurze Darstellung des theologischen Studiums” und die Tradition des deutschen liberalen Protestantismus als Anhaltspunkte. Anstatt der Theologie, die den Glauben als methodischen Ausgangspunkt hat, und der Religionswissenschaft, die nur die distanzierte Objektivität als Ausgangspunkt wählt, schlug er als neuen Versuch ein Christliches Studium mit akademischem Standpunkt vor, bei dem der Gelehrte eine Forschungshaltung einnimmt, die durch ein Mindestmaß an vernünftiger Kritik und ‘Ur-Sympathie’ gegenüber der Religion geprägt ist. (shrink)

The paper presents a new argument for epistemic permissivism. The version of permissivism that we defend is a moderate version that applies only to explicit doxastic attitudes. Drawing on Yalcin’s framework for modeling such attitudes, we argue that two fully rational subjects who share all their evidence, prior beliefs, and epistemic standards may still differ in the explicit doxastic attitudes that they adopt. This can happen because two such subjects may be sensitive to different questions. Thus, differing intellectual interests can (...) yield failures of uniqueness. This is not a merely pragmatic phenomenon. (shrink)

The decidability of a logical system refers to the existence of an algorithm that can determine whether any given formula in that system is a theorem. In this paper, Harrop’s lemma is used to prove the decidability of quantum modal logic.

Recent work on the application of neural networks to language modeling has shown that models based on certain neural architectures can capture syntactic information from utterances and sentences even when not given an explicitly syntactic objective. We examine whether a fully data-driven model of language development that uses a recurrent neural network encoder for utterances can track how child language utterances change over the course of language development in a way that is comparable to what is achieved using established language (...) assessment metrics that use language-specific information carefully designed by experts. Given only transcripts of child language utterances from the CHILDES Database and no pre-specified information about language, our model captures not just the structural characteristics of child language utterances, but how these structures reflect language development over time. We establish an evaluation methodology with which we can examine how well our model tracks language development compared to three known approaches: Mean Length of Utterance, the Developmental Sentence Score, and the Index of Productive Syntax. We discuss the applicability of our model to data-driven assessment of child language development, including how a fully data-driven approach supports the possibility of increased research in multilingual and cross-lingual issues. (shrink)

Interventions performed on a pregnant woman's body can affect the fetus in multiple ways. Such effects can be harmful to beneficial to the fetus. Unfortunately, the effects of new drugs and compoun...

This article aims to clarify the meaning of henology for Lacan and Žižek. Žižek apparently rejects Neoplatonic way of thinking, but by considering Lacanian Henology through its origin, Etienne Gilson, Lacanian henology and Žižek’s Hegelian reading of the One become converged. Both of them think the movement of the One from one principle and its two aspects. The principle is that the One gives something that it does not have, and it corresponds to Lacanian definition of love. Regarding its two (...) aspects, the first one is the logical necessity that generates necessarily the One, and the second is the logical contingency that generates contingently the surplus element. By this, we can clarify the theoretical development of each period of Lacan. In early Lacan, henology was a logic that ties his “the Symbolic” and Freudian Death drive. In middle Lacan, his main concern was the mathematical logic as the logic of the Id, and henology became the generative logic of the subject of enunciation or the subject of the jouissance. But at the same time, this movement produces as a co-product a inassimilable remainder, “object a” with the subject of signifiant. In late Lacan, by virtue of the “necessary” movement of the One and its “contingent” co-product, the universe of the discourse became indeterminate, undecidable, “not-all,” which means for Lacan “the contingent.” This characteristic became the logic of Lacanian “sexuation.”. (shrink)

A non-classical subsystem of orthomodular quantum logic is proposed. This system employs two basic operations: the Sasaki hook as implication and the _and-then_ operation as conjunction. These operations successfully satisfy modus ponens and the deduction theorem. In other words, they form an adjunction in terms of category theory. Two types of semantics are presented for this logic: one algebraic and one physical. The algebraic semantics deals with orthomodular lattices, as in traditional quantum logic. The physical semantics is given as a (...) procedure for deriving a final segment of a series of yes-no experiments. (shrink)

Der Band enthält die drei bislang unveröffentlichten "Krisenhefte" von Marx mit Exzerpten, Zeitungsausschnitten und Notizen, die 1857/1858 während der ersten Weltwirtschaftskrise entstanden sind. Die Materialsammlung dokumentiert Marx’ empirische Untersuchung dieser Krise, die er mit der Zusammenstellung und Systematisierung von Artikeln, Angaben und Kommentaren aus führenden Zeitungen wie "The Times", "The Morning Star", "The Standard", "The Manchester Guardian" und "The Economist" durchführte. In den Auszügen werden Wirtschafts- und Finanzfragen in den europäischen Ländern sowie den USA, China, Indien, Ägypten, Australien und Brasilien (...) behandelt, der Finanz- und Warenmarkt untersucht, sowie Daten zu Konkursen, Arbeitslosigkeit, Kurzarbeit, Lohnentwicklung und Arbeitskämpfen festgehalten. Die Krisenhefte stehen in engem Zusammenhang mit Marx’ "Grundrissen der Kritik der politischen Ökonomie", seinen Artikeln für die "New-York Tribune" und Debatten mit Engels, in denen allesamt die Krise 1857/58 analysiert wird. (shrink)

Advanced new therapies, such as stem cell and gene therapies and xenotransplantation, represent challenges for regulatory and ethical review. Major drug agencies, such as in the U.S., India, and Europe, have asserted regulatory authority and require ethics review by local ethics review committees, using the same strict requirements as those for standard drug approvals. In spite of this, unapproved and undocumented stem cell clinics flourish in all of these places, suggesting that current approaches do not offer patients sufficient protection. Japan (...) has attempted another approach, requiring approvals at local levels for all regenerative medical procedures, and a faster approval of promising new interventions. The Japanese approach has, however, also been criticized as not striking a proper balance between early access and a proper assessment of safety and effectiveness. For smaller and less-resourced countries, such as Thailand, one major challenge is limited expertise to conduct the evaluation of these advanced new therapies. This article provides an overview of the issues facing regulators and proposes that countries should restrict the early adoption of advanced new therapies to specialized clinics with appropriate scientific and ethical expertise for review. Review in these institutions should focus on expert clinical benefit assessments for individual patients being offered such interventions, independently of whether they are offered as research or therapy. (shrink)

The $$\varepsilon$$ -elimination method of Hilbert’s $$\varepsilon$$ -calculus yields the up-to-date most direct algorithm for computing the Herbrand disjunction of an extensional formula. A central advantage is that the upper bound on the Herbrand complexity obtained is independent of the propositional structure of the proof. Prior (modern) work on Hilbert’s $$\varepsilon$$ -calculus focused mainly on the pure calculus, without equality. We clarify that this independence also holds for first-order logic with equality. Further, we provide upper bounds analyses (...) of the extended first $$\varepsilon$$ -theorem, even if the formalisation incorporates so-called $$\varepsilon$$ -equality axioms. (shrink)

Amid continuing social unrest from the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident of 2011, the Japanese government announced plans for a major biobanking project in the disaster-stricken areas, to be administered by the ‘Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization’ (ToMMo). This project differs from previous biobanking projects in that it 1) was initiated mainly to boost post-disaster recovery and reconstruction; and 2) targets the area’s survivors as its primary subjects. Here, we review the ethics of the ToMMo biobanking project (...) within the wider context of disaster remediation. (shrink)

人間は「生」を得た瞬間から「死」という「滅び」に向かって生きている。そうであるからこそ「生」を尊ぶという考え方が日本の美をつくってきた。日本の美意識の基層をなし、自然に美を見いだした「優美」。演技を七 分にとどめ、完全に演じ切らないことを説いた世阿弥の「幽玄」。慢心する秀吉を戒め、侘びることを説いた利休の「侘び」。旅の途中で寂びつくして命つきることを願った芭蕉の「さび」。西欧文化の影響が背景にある「 きれい」。そして、二一世紀に世界を席巻する「かわいい」とは―。日本の美の潮流を俯瞰し、心のふるさとに耳をすます。.

In 2005 Japan completed its first census after the Personal Information Protection Law went into force in April 2005. The debate about the new law raised privacy concerns for the first time among the public. The news-media also provided several examples of possible lack of safeguards in the data collection of sensitive personal information required for the census. The result was the highest non-response rate ever for the Japanese census. Consequently, its accuracy and role as a source for the reliable (...) national statistics for health/welfare policy-making is now critically threatened. In this paper we argue the necessity to adopt specific safeguards to protect personal data in any future census if the trend of increasing non-response rates is to be reversed. We provide some suggestions for such safeguards, and criticize the Japanese government’s response of focusing exclusively on the mechanism of data collection as a means of meeting the privacy challenge. (shrink)

This study discusses the pattern of development of child-related policies, particularly in recent years. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lacks interest in public engagement in child-related issues, whereas Komeito, the recent coalition partner of the LDP, has been the driving force of recent developments. The study investigates the historical development of three child-related policies: namely, child allowance, childcare services, and the facilitation of work–life balance of employees, and discusses the role of Komeito in the recent coalition government. An analytical model (...) is provided to explain why Komeito was active in the development of child allowance, but not other policies. On the whole, the participation of Komeito in the coalition government seems to give impetus to the development of child-related polices, but the scope of that party's behavior is constrained, due to its position as a minor partner in the coalition government. (shrink)

Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is the most‐abundant neurotrophin in the brain. In mammals, it is synthesized as a precursor called proBDNF, which is proteolytically cleaved to generate mature BDNF. The BDNF gene is located on chromosome 11p13, and a functional single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of this gene has been shown to produce a valine (Val)‐to‐methionine (Met) substitution in the proBDNF protein at codon 66 (Val66Met). Several papers suggest that this SNP is related to decreased hippocampal volume and hippocampus‐mediated memory performance (...) in humans. Recently, Chen et al.1 generated a variant BDNF mouse (BDNFMet/Met) that reproduces the phenotypic hallmarks in humans with a variant Met allele. In the behavioral analysis, BDNFMet/Met mice show increased anxiety‐related behaviors. This mini‐review examines the impact of Met substitution of proBDNF on anxiety‐related behaviors. BioEssays 29: 116–119, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)