Previous research has shown that short-term fasting in healthy individuals is associated with changes in risky decision-making. The current experiment was designed to examine the influence of short-term fasting in healthy individuals on four types of impulsivity: reflection impulsivity, risky decision-making, delay aversion, and action inhibition. Participants were tested twice, once when fasted for 20 hours, and once when satiated. Participants demonstrated impaired action inhibition when fasted; committing significantly more errors of commission during a food-related Affective Shifting Task. Participants also (...) displayed decreased reflection impulsivity when fasted, opening significantly more boxes during the Information Sampling Task (IST). There were no significant differences in performance between fasted and satiated sessions for risky decision-making or delay aversion. These findings may have implications for understanding eating disorders such as Bulimia Nervosa (BN). Although BN has been characterised as a disorder of poor impulse control, inconsistent findings when comparing individuals with BN and healthy individuals on behavioural measures of impulsivity question this characterisation. Since individuals with BN undergo periods of short-term fasting, the inconsistent findings could be due to differences in the levels of satiation of participants. The current results indicate that fasting can affect performance on the IST, a measure of impulsivity previously studied in BN, whilst performance on other impulsivity measures were unaffected. However, the results from the IST were contrary to the original hypothesis and should be replicated before specific conclusions can be made. (shrink)

La philosophy of mind est le terrain principal sur lequel Gilbert Ryle a mis à l'épreuve sa réponse personnelle à la question "Qu'est-ce que la philosophie?". Il nous montre comment la philosophie peut nous remettre sur la piste d'une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes humains. Cette philosophie de l'homme est ancrée dans une méthode qui a reçu le nom d'analyse du langage ordinaire : prêter une attention particulière à la façon dont nous parlons de nous-même et des autres devrait nous (...) permettre d'atteindre des conclusions positives. Lucie Antoniol nous propose ici une interprétation originale du célèbre ouvrage La notion d'esprit (1949) : l'argument de l'erreur de catégorie repose sur des catégories sémantiques et non ontologiques. C'est là un des apports philosophiques majeurs d'un philosophe dont on commence à peine à voir l'importance. (shrink)

Most land plants associate with mycorrhizal fungi that can connect roots of neighboring plants in common mycelial networks (CMNs). Recent evidence shows that CMNs transfer warning signals of pathogen and aphid attack between plants. However, we do not know how defence‐related signaling via CMNs operates or how ubiquitous it is. Nor do we know what the ecological relevance and fitness consequences are, particularly from the perspective of the mycorrhizal fungus. Here, we focus on the potential fitness benefits for mycorrhizal fungi (...) and outline hypothetical scenarios in which signal transfer via CMNs is modulated in order to acquire the most benefit for the fungus (i.e. acquisition of carbon) for minimal cost. We speculate that the signal may be quantitative and may elicit plant defence responses on different levels depending on the distance the signal is transferred. Finally, we discuss the possibility of practical applications of this phenomenon for crop protection. (shrink)

We review the relationships between language, inner speech, and cognitive control in children and young adults, focusing on the domain of cognitive flexibility. We address the role that inner speech plays in flexibly shifting between tasks, addressing whether it is used to represent task rules, provide a reminder of task order, or aid in task retrieval. We also consider whether the development of inner speech in childhood serves to drive the development of cognitive flexibility. We conclude that there is a (...) close association between inner speech and cognitive flexibility in both adults and children. Experimental work has begun to specify in detail the role that inner speech might play in adult performance, suggesting that language plays a facilitative but not essential role in representing and activating the relevant task set, processes that occur on both switch and nonswitch trials. While developmental studies suggest an increase in the spontaneous use of verbal strategies with age, implying an increase in top-down control during shifting, experimental work is needed to specify more precisely the nature and precise role that inner speech plays in the development of cognitive control through childhood. (shrink)

The New Imperial Order : the Globalization of the U.S. Empire. It took the U.S. one century to extend their « manifest destiny » from North America to the whole world. In the aftermath of the Cold War, there still seemed to be a red line that the U.S. global empire could not tread easily, represented by the former boundaries of the ex-USSR. After September 11, this red line has been wiped out: U.S. military bases have been established in the (...) heart of the former Soviet Union. The U.S., which acts as the enforcer of capitalist globalization, has widened the gap between its military power and the rest of the world. Thus it can now envisage to establish a quasi-direct colonial rule in Baghdad in contrast with 1991 when it allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power under embargo and scrutiny for lack of an alternative suitable to its interests. (shrink)

Seule la démarche matérialiste en histoire permet de réfuter radicalement les essentialismes, tel que « l’orientalisme » en dépit de la critique infondée de Marx par Edward Said. L’attitude politique de Marx et Engels envers la religion reste d’actualité. Cependant, la tradition marxiste est déficitaire dans le domaine de la sociologie de la religion. Il faut intégrer d’autres apports, dont le concept durkheimien d’anomie, pour comprendre la résurgence du religieux contemporaine du tournant néolibéral. Tandis que le christianisme des origines se (...) prête facilement à une lecture de gauche, la théologie islamique, et notamment sa version ultraorthodoxe propagée par le royaume saoudien, favorise une lecture intégriste combattante. Il est périlleux pour les marxistes de se placer sur le terrain de l’exégèse en islam au lieu de s’en tenir à la séparation entre politique et religion. (shrink)

It took the U.S. one century to extend their « manifest destiny » from North America to the whole world. In the aftermath of the Cold War, there still seemed to be a red line that the U.S. global empire could not tread easily, represented by the former boundaries of the ex-USSR. After September 11, this red line has been wiped out: U.S. military bases have been established in the heart of the former Soviet Union. The U.S., which acts as (...) the enforcer of capitalist globalization, has widened the gap between its military power and the rest of the world. Thus it can now envisage to establish a quasi-direct colonial rule in Baghdad in contrast with 1991 when it allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power under embargo and scrutiny for lack of an alternative suitable to its interests. (shrink)

In this paper I want to examine a claim made about the kind of immunity through misidentification relative to the first person (IEM) that attaches to action self-ascriptions. In particular, I want to consider whether we have reason to think a stronger kind of immunity attaches to action self-ascriptions, than attaches to self-ascriptions of bodily movement. I assume we have an awareness of our actions – agent’s awareness – and that agent’s awareness is not a form of perceptual bodily awareness. (...) The issue here is whether agents’ awareness grounds a kind of immunity to error that bodily awareness does not. However, perhaps more importantly, I want to argue that we only get a secure difference in immunity claims if have already decided whether a source of information is essentially first personal or not and made certain, not obviously warranted assumptions, about the transparency of content and about knowledge. If we hold that a subject’s knowledge of her actions is essentially first personal, in a way that a subject’s knowledge of her body through bodily awareness may not be, then we are better off arguing for that claim directly. Or so I will suggest. (shrink)

The doctrine of the specious present holds that sensation at an instant encompasses objects as they are over an interval. Now there actually is intersubjective agreement with respect to past, present, and future determinations, and it is a necessary condition for legitimately postulating them as objective. I argue that the specious present doctrine would make this actuality an impossibility, and that the data on which the doctrine is based do not in fact support it.

Explores the ethical issues faced by GPs in their everyday practice, addressing two central themes; the uncertainty of outcomes and effectiveness in general practice and the changing pattern of general practitioners' responsibilities.

As the purpose of this book is to open dialogue, we draw no conclusions. Instead, reflecting on the theoretical and practical implications that arise from each chapter, we offer some reflection through an exploration of the ways in which Australia has broadened discussions on P4C. In addition, we situate our discussion in contemporary global issues relevant to education and schooling: gender stereotyping, bias and language; Aboriginal philosophy; environmental education; and sexuality, adolescence and discrimination. As a community of children, adolescents and (...) adults, philosophers and educators, as well as citizens, we have an opportunity to contribute educationally to an inquiring society. (shrink)

This essay addresses a version of Jerome Frank’s question – ‘Are Judges Human?’ – asking instead: are human judges necessary? It begins, in section II, by outlining the technological developments which inform the view that they are not and critically evaluates the juristic position that seemingly endorses it. That position is labelled ‘technological evangelism’ and it consists of three claims about law and adjudication: the certainty, determinacy and partiality claims. Section III shows that these three claims are utterly incompatible with (...) what it calls standard and non-standard views of adjudication and law, while section IV considers some ways in which proponents of technological evangelism might try to reject standard and non-standard views. That section concludes that no plausible efforts have so far been made by technological evangelists to reject standard and non-standard views, and that those views therefore maintain their existing explanatory and normative priority. The overall conclusion of the essay is that technological evangelism is not a critical explanatory and normative engagement with law and adjudication as we know them, but an effort to replace them: not a game-changing intervention, but a game-ending one. (shrink)

L'Action de Blondel, malgré son centenaire, n'est pas encore un texte très connu. Sa rigueur philosophique a souftert de nombreuses incompréhensions, dûes à des lectures partiales. L'intelligence philosophique tente cependant. aujoud'hui comme hier, de méditer sur le sens de l'existence et sur ce qui uniile nos vies sans les étouffer sous des formes uniformisantes. Cet article montre comment Blondel entreprend une telle méditation, en assumant la structure essentielle du "symbole". /// L'Action de Blondel, apesar do seu centenário, ainda não é (...) urn texto muito conhecido. O seu rigor filosófico sofreu numerosas incompreensões, devidas a leituras parciais. A inteligência filosófica tenta, contudo, hoje como ontem, meditar sobre o sentido da existência e sobre o que unifica as nossas vidas sem as sufocar sob formas uniformizantes. Este artigo mostra como Blondel empreende uma tal meditação, tirando dela a estrutura essencial do "símbolo". Despite the fact that it is a centenary work, Blondel's L'Action is not yet very well known. Its philosophical accuracy was misundestood through partial readings. However, now as before, philosophical intelligence attempts to meditate on the meaning of human existence, on what unifies our lives without suffocating them through uniforming forms. This paper shows how Blondel undertakes such a meditation, assuming the essential structure of "symbol". (shrink)

La question du mal est abondamment discutée dans la philosophie contemporaine, signe de Vinquiétude qui habite notre culture. L'histoire du XXème siècle a certainement aidé à prendre conscience des possibilités qui appartiennent à la raison humaine, mais elle a ègalement révélé que cette même raison ne constituepas un instrument qui, de soi, pro-duit le bien de l'humanité. La première section de l'article présente des textes de Thomas d'Aquin et de Salvatore Natoli, qui cherchent l'un et à l'autre comment bien faire (...) avec le mal. Dans la seconde section, qui lit des pages de Jean Nabert, d'Emmanuel Lévinas et de Paul Ricoeur, le mal se montre injustifiable et donc inutilisable; la conscience y fait l'expé-rience d'une transcendance éthique irréductible. La troisième section commente enfin l'ex-pression biblique "Mysterium" iniquitatis en assumant ce que la contemplation de la Croix du Sauveur enseigne du mal. /// A questão do mal encontra-se amplamente discutida no âmbito da filosofia contemporânea, sinal evidente da profunda inquietude que perpassa a nossa cultura. A história do século XX contribuiu enormemente para nos ajudar a tomar consciência das possibilidades inerentes à razão humana, ainda que ao mesmo tempo tenha também demonstrado não ser a razão um instrumento que, de si, conduza necessariamente ao bem da humanidade. Num primeiro momento, o autor discute sobretudo textos de S. Tomás de Aquino e de Salvatore Natoli, pensadores eminentemente possuídos pela preocupação de lidar bem com o mal Debruça-se depois sobre os contributos de pensadores como Jean Nabert, Emmanuel Levinas e Paul Ricoeur, os quais consideram o mal algo profundamente injustificável e, por isso, também inutilizáva. É neste contexto, aliás, que a consciência experimenta uma transcendência ética irredutível. Por fim, o artigo comenta a expressão bíblica "Mysterium iniquitatis" numa tentativa de assumir aquilo que a contemplação da Cruz de Cristo ensina acerca do mal. (shrink)

Some psychologists argue that in general we self-ascribe characteristics according to others' perceived reactions to us. In illustration michael argyle cites a case involving the self-Ascription of popularity. But popularity is what I here call a 'reaction-Determined characteristic, That is, A characteristic such that certain others' reacting to someone in a certain way is logically sufficient for his having it. The general import of cases involving such characteristics needs careful examination and I argue that in fact argyle's case does not (...) support the general thesis in question. I conclude that 'ordinary language' analysis is important for the evaluation of psychological data. (shrink)

Growing evidence, as presented by Jaswal & Akhtar, indicates that social motivation is not universally reduced in autism. Here, we evaluate and extend this argument in light of recent evidence of “compensation” in autism. We thereby argue that autistic “compensators” – exhibiting neurotypical behaviour despite persistent difficulties in social cognition – indicate intact or potentially heightened social motivation in autism.

This article tackles two issues: the nature of law's judgment and what, if anything, might be said in its favour. As to the first issue, the article reminds lawyers of the obvious, namely, that law's judgment is abstract, elucidating both what this entails and why it may be thought problematic. The main burden of the article is to consider what might be said in favour of law's abstract judgment. Only one family of arguments, part of a wider but still not (...) all-encompassing class, are considered here: arguments from the rule of law ideal. Three different arguments from the rule of law are examined, the conclusion being that two of three cannot provide unproblematic and unambiguous support for law's abstract judgment. (shrink)

What I was looking for were folk music records and the first one I saw was Odetta on the Tradition label. I went into the listening booth to hear it. Odetta was great. I had never heard of her unti...

EspañolLa iconografía de los tribunales de todo el mundo está dominada por la imagen de la Justicia. Casi invariablemente sostiene balanzas y una espada y a menudo tiene los ojos vendados porque, por supuesto, la justicia es ciega. Pero no del todo. Cuando nosotros, los destinatarios de la ley, nos encontramos en la sala del tribunal frente a la sentencia, o leemos el copioso y complejo cuerpo de "lo que se debe y lo que no se debe hacer" en materia (...) jurídica según la legislación, en las sentencias judiciales y en nuestros libros de texto jurídicos, una cosa se hace evidente: la ley no está interesada en todos los aspectos de nuestro carácter, nuestra conducta y nuestro contexto.InglésCourthouse iconography around the world is dominated by the image of Justitia. She almost invariably holds scales and a sword and she is often blindfolded because, of course, justice is blind. But not quite. Or so I argue in Law’s Judgement. For when we —the addressees of the law— stand in the court room facing judgement, or read the copious and complex body of juristic ‘do’s and don’ts’ we find in statutes, court judgements and in our legal textbooks, one thing becomes obvious: the law is certainly not interested in every aspect of our character, conduct and context.FrancésL'iconographie des tribunaux du monde entier est dominée par l'image de la justice. Presque invariablement, elle tient une balance et une épée et a souvent les yeux bandés parce que, bien sûr, on sait que la justice est aveugle, mais pas tout à fait. Lorsque nous, les destinataires de la loi, nous trouvons dans la salle d'audience face à la sentence, ou lisons le corpus copieux et complexe de "ce qui devrait être fait et ce qui ne devrait pas être fait" en matière juridique selon la législation, chez les décisions de justice et de nos manuels juridiques, une chose devient claire : la loi ne concerne pas tous les aspects de notre caractère, de notre conduite ni de notre contexte.PortuguésA iconografia dos tribunais do mundo todo é dominada pela imagem da Justiça. Quase invariavelmente, ele segura uma balança e uma espada e, muitas vezes, está com os olhos vendados porque, é claro que a justiça é cega, mas não exatamente. Quando nós, destinatários da lei, nos encontramos na sala do tribunal face à sentença, ou lemos o copioso e complexo corpo do "que deve e o que não deve ser feito" em matéria jurídica de acordo com a legislação, nas decisões judiciais e de nossos livros jurídicos, uma coisa fica clara: a lei não se preocupa com todos os aspectos de nosso caráter, nossa conduta nem nosso contexto.Chino全世界法官的肖像画以正义形象为主导。他几乎总是拿着天平和利剑，而且常常蒙着眼睛，当然因为正义是盲目的，但并不总是如此。当我们（法律的接受者）发现自己面对法庭的判决，或者阅读 法律中有关法律事项如“应该做什么和不应该做什么”的充实而复杂的内容时，从法院的裁决和我们的法律教科书中，有一件事情日趋清楚：法律对我们品格，行为和背景的所有方面都并不感兴趣。. (shrink)

This review article discusses the various conceptions of the legal person delineated and evaluated in Ngaire Naffine's recent book, Law's Meaning of Life. The article argues that, of the four conceptions Naffine examines, her treatment of one—the rationalist legal person—is perhaps the most problematic. The primary problem is an exaggeration of both the power and range of the rationalist legal person. This problem is not insignificant. However, the book as a whole is a lively and stimulating example of legal philosophy (...) that is engaged with general questions about the nature of law, while also being rooted in historic and contemporary features of particular legal systems. It is a contribution to jurisprudence which both strives to be, and actually succeeds in being, interesting. (shrink)

(2009). Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of Paul Auster's In the Country of Last Things. Angelaki: Vol. 14, Ecopoetics and Pedagogies, pp. 21-28.