Gideon Rosen (2014) has drawn our attention to cases of duress of a particularly interesting sort: the person's ‘mind is not flooded with pain or fear’, she knows exactly what she is doing, and she makes a clear-headed choice to act in, as Rosen says, ‘awful ways’. The explanation of why we excuse such actions cannot be that the action was not voluntary. In addition, although some duress cases could also be viewed as necessity cases and thus as justified, Rosen (...) wisely sets aside that complicating factor by zeroing in on those cases where the action clearly is not justified. So why do we excuse in these cases, where the action is not justified and the agent acted voluntarily?Rosen thinks the key lies in the ‘ill will’ condition, ‘the idea that an act is blameworthy only if it manifests insufficient concern or regard for those affected’. He says this is relatively uncontroversial; much of my paper is taken up with calling the ‘ill will’ condition into question. I also take issue with Rosen on just how justifications and excuses differ. I argue in favour of understanding justifications (in a context where we are asking how justifications and excuses differ) as not requiring truth, but only reasonable belief. (shrink)

Clarke A. Chambers interviews Marcia Eaton, professor in the Department of Philosophy.

It is widely agreed that the top three Model Penal Code culpability levels suffice for criminal liability, but the fourth is controversial. And it isn’t just the particular MPC wording; that negligence should be on the list at all is controversial. My question is: What makes negligence so different? What is it about negligence that gives rise to the view that it should not suffice for criminal liability? In addressing it, I draw attention to how we conduct the debate, and (...) how our framing of the issues is shaping it. My hope is to prompt thought and discussion on just what we want the element of mens rea to provide, and to draw attention to background assumptions that shape our views of what it should take for negligence to count as a species of mens rea. (shrink)

When preferences are such that there is no unique additive prior, the issue of which updating rule to use is of extreme importance. This paper presents an axiomatization of the rule which requires updating of all the priors by Bayes rule. The decision maker has conditional preferences over acts. It is assumed that preferences over acts conditional on event E happening, do not depend on lotteries received on Ec, obey axioms which lead to maxmin expected utility representation with multiple priors, (...) and have common induced preferences over lotteries. The paper shows that when all priors give positive probability to an event E, a certain coherence property between conditional and unconditional preferences is satisfied if and only if the set of subjective probability measures considered by the agent given E is obtained by updating all subjective prior probability measures using Bayes rule. (shrink)

Resumo: No presente artigo, discutimos as contribuições do gênero ensaio ao pensamento crítico feminista, identificadas nos procedimentos formais da linguagem nos textos de Lélia Gonzalez e de Marilena Chaui acerca da sociedade brasileira. Questionamos de que maneira as características do ensaio potencializam a crítica ao sexismo, racismo e autoritarismo nas concepções da “Mulher negra”, em Gonzalez, num confronto imaginário com o “Mito Fundador”, em Chaui. Objetivamos localizar na escrita das autoras os artifícios característicos do ensaio, mobilizados para estimular reflexões críticas (...) nas leitoras. Em meio ao embate da “Mulher Negra” com o “Mito Fundador”, apostamos nos sentidos erráticos do ensaio diante do discurso dogmático que violenta o corpo negro feminino. Palavras-chave: Lélia Gonzalez; Feminismo; Ensaio; Linguagem; Teoria Crítica The “Black Woman” confronts the “Founding Myth”: essay heresies in Lélia Gonzalez and Marilena Chaui Abstract: In this article, we discuss the contributions of the essay genre to feminist critical thinking, identified in the formal procedures of language in the texts of Lélia Gonzalez and Marilena Chaui regarding Brazilian society. We question how the characteristics of the essay strengthen criticism of sexism, racism and authoritarianism in the conceptions of the “Black Woman”, in Gonzalez, in an imaginary confrontation with the “Founding Myth” in Chaui. We aimed to locate, in the authors’ writing, the characteristic devices of the essay, mobilized to stimulate critical reflections in the readers. In the midst of the clash between the “Black Woman” and the “Founding Myth”, we bet on the erratic meanings of the essay faced with the dogmatic discourse that violates the female Black body. Keywords: Lélia Gonzalez; Feminism; Essay; Language; Critical Theory La “Mujer Negra” se enfrenta al “Mito Fundador”: herejías ensayísticas en Lélia González y Marilena Chaui Resumen: En este artículo, discutimos las contribuciones del género ensayo al pensamiento crítico feminista, identificadas en los procedimientos formales del lenguaje en los textos de Lélia Gonzalez y Marilena Chaui sobre la sociedad brasileña. Nos preguntamos cómo las características del ensayo potencian la crítica al sexismo, racismo y autoritarismo en las concepciones de la “Mujer Negra”, en González, en un enfrentamiento imaginario con el “Mito Fundador”, en Chaui. Nuestro objetivo es ubicar en la escritura de las autoras los dispositivos característicos del ensayo, movilizados para estimular reflexiones críticas en las lectoras. En medio del choque de la “Mujer Negra” con el “Mito Fundador”, apostamos por los significados erráticos del ensayo frente al discurso dogmático que violenta el cuerpo negro femenino. Palabras clave: Lélia Gonzalez; Feminismo; Ensayo; Lenguaje; Teoría Crítica Data de registro: 14/03/2023 Data de aceite: 10/07/2023. (shrink)

The emphasis on duly in Kant's ethics is widely held to constitute a defect. Marcia W. Baron develops and assesses the criticism, which she sees as comprising two objections: that duty plays too large a role, leaving no room for the supererogatory, and that Kant places too much value on acting from duty. Clearly written and cogently argued, Kantian Ethics Almost without Apology takes on the most philosophically intriguing objections to Kant's ethics and subjects them to a rigorous yet sympathetic (...) assessment. (shrink)

What is the relation between shame and shamelessness? It may seem obvious: shamelessness is simply the absence of shame. But on reflection, it becomes clear that the story is considerably more complicated. Michelle Mason's intriguing "On Shamelessness" prompts such reflection. Mason argues that we should be mindful of the "moral importance of shame" and "unapologetic in its defense", and she does so via an examination of shamelessness and an argument to the effect that shamelessness is a moral fault. The tacit (...) assumption is that insofar as shamelessness is a moral fault, the value of shame is vindicated. I challenge that assumption. (shrink)

Cavell elaborates the view, traceable from Wittgenstein to Davidson, that there is no thought, and thus no meaning, without language, and shows how this concurs ...

O objetivo do artigo é discutir o pensamento político de Espinosa confrontando-o, por um lado, com o que poderíamos chamar a “ideologia dominante" da época, o pensamento cristão, aqui examinado a partir da correspondência com o dinamarquês N. Stensen, e, por outro lado, com o quadro teórico em que a questão política está então a ser recolocada, o pensamento de Hobbes. Além da conhecida explicitação do que o distingue em relação a Hobbes ( Carta L, a J. Jelles), é na (...) Correspondência que Espinosa expõe a articulação entre a política e os grandes temas de sua metafísica, como são a doutrina da causa imanente e o binômio liberdade/necessidade. Lugar privilegiado de auscultação da opinião dominante e, por isso, exercício em si mesmo exemplarmente político, as cartas são também o espaço textual em que a metafísica se expõe às suas consequências políticas e a teoria se confronta com a prática, oferecendo uma visão de Espinosa que, se está longe do "positivista" hobbesiano, não está menos longe do visionário afastado da realidade que o circunda e o condiciona. (shrink)

Elena Esposito’s interview is a great opportunity to ponder on the applications of Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory to current social themes. Among these, I consider the meaning of a theory of ….

Open peer commentary on the article “The Circular Conditions of Second-order Science Sporadically Illustrated with Agent-based Experiments at the Roots of Observation” by Manfred Füllsack. Upshot: I address Füllsack’s main conclusions in his article regarding the meaning of second-order observations. Especially envisaged are the epistemological and ontological difficulties raised by his scrutiny of the merging between systemic-internal conditions of second-order reflexivity and the thematic-theoretical accounts of selection, intentionality and purposiveness in evolutionary systems.

O objetivo último deste artigo é demostrar a atualidade da crítica de Hegel ao irracionalismo. A hipótese interpretativa a ser demonstrada é que o conceito moderno de irracional, cuja origem se encontra na linguagem matemática, está diretamente relacionado com o problema do infinito. Para melhor desenvolver essa questão, pretendo mostrar o diálogo de Hegel com Schelling, cujo diagnóstico sobre o problema da oposição entre finito e infinito nos sistemas filosóficos até sua época muito influenciou a própria concepção de filosofia e (...) de razão do jovem Hegel. (shrink)

BackgroundTraumatic brachial plexus injury (TBPI) causes a sensorimotor deficit in upper limb (UL) movements.ObjectiveOur aim was to investigate the arm–forearm coordination of both the injured and uninjured UL of TBPI subjects.MethodsTBPI participants (n = 13) and controls (n = 10) matched in age, gender, and anthropometric characteristics were recruited. Kinematics from the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and index finger markers were collected, while upstanding participants transported a cup to their mouth and returned the UL to a starting position. The UL coordination (...) was measured through the relative phase (RP) between arm and forearm phase angles and analyzed as a function of the hand kinematics.ResultsFor all participants, the hand transport had a shorter time to peak velocity (p < 0.01) compared to the return. Also, for the control and the uninjured TBPI UL, the RP showed a coordination pattern that favored forearm movements in the peak velocity of the transport phase (p < 0.001). TBPI participants' injured UL showed a longer movement duration in comparison to controls (p < 0.05), but no differences in peak velocity, time to peak velocity, and trajectory length, indicating preserved hand kinematics. The RP of the injured UL revealed altered coordination in favor of arm movements compared to controls and the uninjured UL (p < 0.001). Finally, TBPI participants' uninjured UL showed altered control of arm and forearm phase angles during the deceleration of hand movements compared to controls (p < 0.05).ConclusionThese results suggest that UL coordination is reorganized after a TBPI so as to preserve hand kinematics. (shrink)

This Part II of a two‐part article illustrates how research in evolutionary biology, anthropology, archeology, and psychology illuminates questions arising in philosophy—specifically questions about René Girard's theory of aggression. Part I looked at: (i) how old the systemic practice of severe aggression is; (ii) how much of it results from humanity's mimetic/social and competitive nature and how much from ecological, resource, and cultural conditions; and (iii) if ecological, resource, and cultural conditions are important, might we adapt this information toward greater (...) cooperativity today? Part II investigates Girard's theory of ritual sacrifice—especially human sacrifice—as a societal steam valve for the systemic aggression explored in Part I. It draws on theories of play, theater, and art to examine the role and function of such ritual sacrifice. (shrink)

O presente artigo discutirá as origens e os desdobramentos do revisionismo no pensamento historiográfico sobre a Guerra do Paraguai, ressaltando a posição do político e escritor argentino Juan Bautista Alberdi como peça chave na gênese desse movimento de interpretação da guerra. Sem desvalorizar o papel de revisionistas históricos como O’Leary e Baéz, argumentamos que é nos escritos de Alberdi que encontramos a gênese mais bem definida do pensamento revisionista que iria assumir diversas cores político argumentativas ao longo dos séculos XIX (...) e XX. Concluímos que, ao interpretar a Guerra do Paraguai como uma continuidade das guerras intestinas argentinas, Alberdi inaugura um modelo interpretativo que, explorado à exaustão, definirá o Paraguai como vítima de uma agressão desmedida e baluarte da causa americana. (shrink)

O conceito de memes surgiu em 1976 com Richard Dawkins, como um análogo cultural dos genes. Deveria ser possível estudar a cultura através do processo de evolução por seleção natural de memes, ou seja, de comportamentos, ideias e conceitos. O filósofo Daniel Dennett utilizou tal conceito como central em sua teoria da consciência e pela primeira vez divulgou para o grande público a possibilidade de uma ciência dos memes chamada "memética". A pesquisadora Susan Blackmore (1999) foi quem mais se aproximou (...) de uma defesa completa de tal teoria. No entanto, a memética sofreu pesadas críticas e ainda não se constituiu como uma ciência, com métodos e uma base empírica bem definida. The concept of memes was created by Richard Dawkins in 1976 as a cultural analogue of genes. It suggests the possibility of studying culture through a process of evolution through natural selection of memes, that is, of behaviors, ideas and concepts. The concept became central for the philosopher Daniel Dennett, who employed it in his theory of consciousness and made the possibility of a science of memes, called "memetics", known to the general public. Susan Blackmore (1999) comes closest to giving a complete defense of such a theory. However, memetics has been the target of heavy criticism, and has still not established itself as a science, with specific methods and a well-defined empirical basis. (shrink)

Psychodrama is an effective psychotherapeutic model but interventions with adolescents require age-tailored techniques that maximize engagement and facilitate communication processes. This study describes a novel adaptation of a therapeutic mask technique to psychodrama with adolescents. Over the course of eight group sessions of psychodrama, five adolescents created their own mask and explored its therapeutic use. Their experiences were captured at the end of each session with the Helpful Aspects of Therapy form, and at the end of the study with the (...) Clinical Change Interview. Awareness/insight/self-understanding, empowerment and relief were the most significant aspects experienced by the adolescents, along with perceived increase of calmness and world connection, satisfaction in interpersonal communication and better emotional expression and regulation. The mask technique was experienced as a playful and engaging task that facilitated insight and interpersonal communication. Findings provide preliminary evidence on the clinical utility of mask-based psychodrama with adolescents. (shrink)

Riordan, Marcia Recent advances in genetic technology may mean that the brave new world really is almost here. Non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis could finally allow hundreds of thousands of genetic traits to be determined with just one maternal blood test. This could bring genetic screening of the unborn child to a whole new level and mean that as a society we face a new set of challenges in areas such as disability rights, abortion and informed consent.

Riordan, Marcia This report on the Victorian Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008 particularly considers the fact that it has denied health care professionals any right of conscientious objection. It sees this as part of an international attempt to deny conscientious objection against abortion, and to enforce abortion as an international human right.

Roche, Marcia Sectarianism has been defined as 'adherence or excessive devotion to a particular religious denomination or sect'.1 However, as Kildea notes, dictionary definitions of the term fail to square with its 'distinctive' meaning in the Australian context.2A more accurate representation of the Australian connotation is conveyed by Hogan, who says that it refers to 'the hostility between different churches or "sects" which has manifested itself in the wider arena of social and political conflict'.3 The social, political and economic discrimination (...) and exclusion that has existed in Australia between Catholics and Protestants was most intense from the beginning of European settlement until the 1960s, when the Catholic Church's endorsement of ecumenism offered a means of positive engagement with members of other Christian denominations. (shrink)

Uma investigação sobre o risível, a manipulação da imagem e o esteticamente correto. DA autora de Como conversar com o fascista. As cenas ridículas – e os personagens já muito conhecidos – traduzem o sentido da política em nossos dias, mas não apenas como uma bagunça feita por pessoas despreparadas para os cargos que ocupam. A Deturpação serve a uma nova política, em um sentido altamente problemático: o poder é transformado em violência, e a seriedade de certos assuntos dá lugar (...) ao cinismo. ABusadores do poder seguem sempre mais poderosos como engraçadinhos ou bufões inofensivos, muitas vezes até confiáveis, enquanto a população paga preço altíssimo por uma despolitização apresentada como o melhor dos mundos. SOltos em escala social, o fascismo, o machismo e o racismo dão o ritmo e o tom da política em nossos dias sem que pareça que algo possa ser feito. Ao introduzir a noção de “ridículo político” no debate sobre estética e política, os ensaios deste livro são uma contribuição original – e fundamental – de Marcia Tiburi para que pensemos sobre quão grave é o hábito de não tratar com seriedade as coisas políticas. (shrink)

Devido à sua adoção no Inglês, as línguas nacionais divulgaram o termo de proveniência latina medium e o seu plural media para designar formas simbólicas e materiais de comunicação da sociedade moderna. O uso do termo no plural é recente e também a atenção teórica que despertou. É sob “Teoria dos Media”, “Filosofia dos Media”, “Filosofia dos novos Media”, etc. que a investigação empírica e teórica se tem desenvolvido nas últimas décadas em uma variedade de disciplinas e encruzilhadas disciplinares. O (...) termo inglês sobrepõe‑se ao latino e assim desperta antigos ecos. Nas outras línguas nacionais a potenciação destas ressonâncias interlinguísticas poderá não ser a mesma, como acontece no Inglês. No entanto, em media o cruzamento do Inglês e do Latim revela acerca do termo aquilo que teoricamente e do ponto de vista semântico é necessário ter em conta, a saber ‑a mediação. Os termos medium e media não definem objetos isoláveis nos seus predicados materiais, mas, antes, uma polimorfia material na mediação, que está aí, no mundo da perceção, enquanto forma e/ou reproduz comunicação. Ao mesmo tempo que parecem designar formas da perceção, os media não são corpos ou organismos nem estados psíquicos. O presente trabalho dá conta dos problemas suscitados pelos nexos entre comunicação, perceção e técnica nos media, identifica a herança clássica nas Filosofias da Técnica e as viragens modernas. É uma reflexão meta‑teórica sobre teoria dos media. (shrink)

Anniversaries and funding crises prompt periodic calls to reevaluate the mission and public perceptions of the U.S. Land-Grant University system. One such call was issued by the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State Colleges and Land Grant Universities in their 1999 report, “Returning to Our Roots: the Engaged Institution.” Written by leaders of state universities and land-grant colleges, this report urges these institutions to engage more authentically and equitably in two-way relationships with their local constituents. Twenty years later, Land-Grant (...) Universities continue to struggle with building widespread public support for their missions and equitable involvement in research, teaching, and extension functions across diverse constituencies. While largely discounted by the Kellogg Commission, a fresh look at the role originally envisioned for the extension arm of the trifold land-grant mandate suggests that we may be conceiving of this system too narrowly. The establishment of statewide extension systems was once seen as a way to ensure that Land-Grant Universities would be accessible and responsive to all of a state’s residents. Extension systems continue to offer a front-door to a major public university in almost every county of the United States, but they tend to be viewed primarily as a way to translate science or distribute information from the university to the public. This discussion uses a historical and modern lens to reimagine the role that Extension could potentially play in catalyzing reciprocal, co-learning relationships between Land-Grant Universities and their diverse local constituencies. (shrink)

Omnipresent in popular culture, especially in film and literature, the theme of the 'end of the world' is often rejected from contemporary philosophy as hysterical apocalyptism. This volume attempts to show that it is vital that we address the motif of the 'end' in contemporary world – but that this cannot be done without thinking it anew.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Echoes of Grief:Tales from an Emergency Medicine and Critical Care NurseMarcia KingWell, I have 42 years of stories from working in ICU and Emergency Medicine as a registered nurse. The first situation that comes to mind on the subject of grieving on the job in healthcare happened about 37 years ago. I had a nice lady in ICU for several days in a row as a patient. She had (...) a bad myocardial infarction (MI) and was critical. We tried all the medications and pain meds, and nothing took her chest pain away. Meanwhile, her husband stayed with her all day, and all night. He doted after her 24/7. He slept in a chair and never went home for about three days, even though they lived just a few blocks from the hospital. I was amazed at what an awesome husband he was.Finally, after about three days, she fell asleep for more than 10 minutes. She had said her pain was gone. Her husband didn't want to leave her, but he asked me "if it would be okay" to go home and take a shower, eat a sandwich, and get the mail. He explained that he would be right back.I said, "Sure, now is a good time since her pain is gone and she's sleeping. You must take care of yourself too."The husband ran out in a hurry. About 10 minutes after he left, his wife suddenly had pain again and a run of ventricular tachycardia, (V-tach), which is a type of abnormal heart rhythm, or arrhythmia. Even though the V-tach stopped on its own, I called the husband and told him to come back because he wanted to be there if anything happened. A few minutes later, she had another run of V-tach, but this time, she coded and died. About two minutes after she died, the husband came running into the room—panicked and crying and talking to her dead body.He was saying, "I'm so sorry I left you! I shouldn't have left you!" I felt awful because I was the one who told him it was okay to go. Then I was crying with him and for the poor man.He then left for home, and their doctor (who was a well-known grouch-ass) appeared and saw that I was upset, and he asked me what my problem was. Why was I so sad about it? I thought, "Jerk, you are in the wrong career."Thinking about that doctor's reaction at the time, I wondered, "WTF is wrong with him!" I had known the doctor for several years because his mom was the head nurse of the surgical floor. I thought for a moment and then said to him, "How could you be a decent doctor if that death didn't bother you?" I was [End Page 74] in my 20s at the time—a fairly new nurse—and was just starting to be able to feel comfortable speaking up and being assertive.I just felt so bad for that poor man. I felt terrible that I told him it was okay to run home. He really wanted to be there if something happened to her, and from what I saw, he was an amazing husband to her. Looking back, she probably was waiting for the minute he stepped out to go.Another time, while working in the emergency department, a trauma alert was called on a patient who came in by ambulance. We were told the woman had fallen off a hayloft while pushing hay onto the floor in her barn. She hit her head bad in the fall. She wasn't my patient, but I ran into the room to help when she arrived. There was a bunch of staff around blocking my view. Without even looking at her, I grabbed her arm to put in an IV as I had done thousands of times before. Suddenly, I noticed it was weirdly quiet. I looked up, and the ER Doc and tech were looking at me funny. Then the Doc said, "Marcia, you know who this is, don't... (shrink)