Using the pooled 1998–2000 GSS data, this study examines what kinds of parents tend to select non‐public schools for their children, a question that is fundamental but lacks direct, adequate answers in the literature. The results of logistic regression analysis show that religion, socio‐economic status, age, nativity, number of children and region play significant roles in parental choice of religious schools, but race, gender, urban residence and family composition make no difference. Parental socio‐economic status is a key factor in determining (...) their choice of non‐religious private schools. Currently, no significant differences in demographic, religious, socio‐economic and family‐structure characteristics can be detected with regard to which parents are more likely to home‐school their children. Implications of the findings are considered. (shrink)

The current COVID-19 pandemic and the previous SARS/MERS outbreaks of 2003 and 2012 have resulted in a series of major global public health crises. We argue that in the interest of developing effective and safe vaccines and drugs and to better understand coronaviruses and associated disease mechenisms it is necessary to integrate the large and exponentially growing body of heterogeneous coronavirus data. Ontologies play an important role in standard-based knowledge and data representation, integration, sharing, and analysis. Accordingly, we initiated the (...) development of the community-based Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology in early 2020. -/- As an Open Biomedical Ontology (OBO) library ontology, CIDO is open source and interoperable with other existing OBO ontologies. CIDO is aligned with the Basic Formal Ontology and Viral Infectious Disease Ontology. CIDO has imported terms from over 30 OBO ontologies. For example, CIDO imports all SARS-CoV-2 protein terms from the Protein Ontology, COVID-19-related phenotype terms from the Human Phenotype Ontology, and over 100 COVID-19 terms for vaccines (both authorized and in clinical trial) from the Vaccine Ontology. CIDO systematically represents variants of SARS-CoV-2 viruses and over 300 amino acid substitutions therein, along with over 300 diagnostic kits and methods. CIDO also describes hundreds of host-coronavirus protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and the drugs that target proteins in these PPIs. CIDO has been used to model COVID-19 related phenomena in areas such as epidemiology. The scope of CIDO was evaluated by visual analysis supported by a summarization network method. CIDO has been used in various applications such as term standardization, inference, natural language processing (NLP) and clinical data integration. We have applied the amino acid variant knowledge present in CIDO to analyze differences between SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Omicron variants. CIDO's integrative host-coronavirus PPIs and drug-target knowledge has also been used to support drug repurposing for COVID-19 treatment. -/- CIDO represents entities and relations in the domain of coronavirus diseases with a special focus on COVID-19. It supports shared knowledge representation, data and metadata standardization and integration, and has been used in a range of applications. (shrink)

Four experiments examined the strategies that individuals develop in sentential reasoning. They led to the discovery of five different strategies. According to the theory proposed in the paper, each of the strategies depends on component tactics, which all normal adults possess, and which are based on mental models. Reasoners vary their use of tactics in ways that are not deterministic. This variation leads different individuals to assemble different strategies, which include the construction of incremental diagram corresponding to mental models, and (...) the pursuit of the consequences of a single model step by step. Moreover, the difficulty of a problem (i.e. the number of mental models required by the premises) predisposes reasoners towards certain strategies. Likewise, the sentential connectives in the premises also bias reasoners towards certain strategies, e.g., conditional premises tend to elicit reasoning step by step whereas disjunctive premises tend to elicit incremental diagrams. (shrink)

Anthony Brueckner and Jon Altschul suggest a version of skepticism according to which the skeptic posits a distinct skeptical hypothesis for each external world proposition that a person claims to know. In a recent issue of this journal, Eric Yang argues against this piecemeal approach. In this note, I show that Yang’s argument against piecemeal skepticism is fallacious.

Buku ini berawal dari sebuah disertasi yang ditulis Sr. Gerardette Philips, RSCJ, pengarangnya, untuk meraih gelar doktor di bidang Ilmu Filsafat di Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara, Jakarta. Penerbitannya menjadi sebuah buku oleh Interfidei—sebuah Penerbit di Indonesia yang menaruh perhatian khusus pada persoalan dialog antaragama— sungguh layak disambut baik. Penerbitan buku ini dalam bahasa Inggris memiliki segi negatif maupun positifnya tersendiri. Segi negatifnya, hal itu membuat jumlah publik pembacanya di Indonesia lebih terbatas pada mereka yang dapat memahami bahasa (...) Inggris. Jumlahnya jelas jauh lebih sedikit dibandingkan dengan jumlah pembaca buku ini kalau ditulis dalam bahasa Indonesia. Walaupun demikian, segi positifnya, dengan diterbitkannya dalam bahasa Inggris, publik pembaca yang dapat mengaksesnya secara internasional menjadi lebih banyak. Apalagi buku ini juga memuat Kata Pengantar dalam bahasa Inggris dari Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, seorang tokoh Muslim yang hendak ditampilkan pengarang buku ini sebagai pemikir sekaligus pelaku dialog Muslim-Kristen yang melampaui pendekatan pluralisme. Tokoh dari pihak agama Kristen yang ditampilkan oleh pengarang adalah Hans Küng. Selama ini banyak orang beranggapan bahwa pluralisme merupakan paham hubungan antaragama, yang memiliki bentuk pendekatan yang paling tepat dalam melakukan dialog antaragama, termasuk di dalamnya dialog antara umat Muslim dan Kristen. Memang, dibandingkan dengan pendekatan eksklusivisme maupun inklusivisme, seperti ditegaskan oleh pengarang buku ini (hlm. 1; 60–63; 67), pluralisme memiliki kelebihan tersendiri. Namun, pluralisme mengandung beberapa kelemahan yang layak dikritik. Paling tidak ada tiga kelemahan pokok dari pendekatan pluralisme yang dicoba ditunjukkan dalam buku ini. Pertama, pluralisme mengandung bahaya tidak mengambil serius identitas keagamaan yang khas dan berbeda untuk setiap agama karena ingin menekankan keselarasan antara semua agama, agar tidak terjadi konflik antara pemeluk agama yang berbeda. Guna menguatkan pendapatnya, pengarang mengutip pernyataan Paul Knitter (hlm. 64) yang berbunyi: “Karena begitu terpesona oleh keindahan sebuah simfoni, kaum pluralis melupakan perbedaan dan kekhasan dari masing-masing alat musik yang dipakai.” Pendekatan pluralisme juga mengandung bahaya jatuh ke dalam relativisme, karena— terdorong oleh kehendak untuk mau bersikap terbuka terhadap penganut agama yang lain dan mau menghormati perbedaan keyakinan mereka— para pluralis lalu cenderung merelatifkan klaim kebenaran agamanya sendiri. Tanpa harus menjadi seorang eksklusivis—yang memutlakkan klaim kebenaran keyakinan agamanya sendiri seraya menganggap sesat keyakinan agama yang lain—keseriusan untuk sungguh meyakini kebenaran iman agama yang dipeluknya, sangat diperlukan dalam berdialog agar tidak menjadi kompromistis dan jatuh ke dalam relativisme. Sikap terbuka terhadap para pemeluk agama yang lain—yang berbeda dengan agamanya sendiri—memang diperlukan dalam sebuah dialog antaragama yang sejati. Namun, hal itu perlu dilakukan tanpa kehilangan jatidirinya sendiri sebagai pemeluk agama tertentu yang diyakini kebenarannya. Kelemahan ketiga dari pluralisme adalah bahaya menjadi imperialis tanpa disengaja. Kembali mengutip pernyataan Knitter (hlm.68), pengarang menyebut adanya dua kemungkinan seorang pluralis yang berniat baik tanpa disengaja menjadi seorang imperialis. Pertama, dengan terlalu cepat seorang pluralis menarik kesimpulan tentang adanya suatu dasar pijak atau platform yang sama dari macam-macam agama yang ada yang dapat mempersatukan semuanya. Kedua, ia dengan terlalu mudah merumuskan panduan umum bersama untuk melakukan dialog antaragama-agama yang berbeda................ Salah satu kelemahan buku ini—sebagai sebuah buku yang dimaksud- kan untuk dibaca oleh publik pembaca umum—adalah bahwa formatnya masih mempertahankan format aslinya sebagai sebuah disertasi dan belum cukup diolah untuk dijadikan buku yang lebih dapat diakses dan lebih enak dibaca oleh publik pembaca umum. Bahkan di dalamnya masih dapat ditemukan kata “disertasi” dan belum diganti dengan kata “buku” (lihat hlm. 11). Semboyan dalam bahasa Latin “Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus,” artinya “Di luar Gereja tidak ada keselamatan,” yang dalam teks asli disertasi salah ditulis “Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Sales!” masih terulang kesalahannya dalam buku ini (lihat hlm. 90). Lepas dari kelemahan kecil di atas, penerbitan buku ini sekali lagi sungguh layak dihargai dan jelas menambah khasanah intelektual yang dapat memperkaya wawasan maupun memberi inspirasi yang berguna bagi siapa saja yang bermaksud mengembangkan dialog antaragama pada umumnya dan khususnya dialog Muslim-Kristen yang menjadi fokus perhatian dalam buku ini. Sr. Gerardette Philips, RSCJ, Ph.D., penulis buku ini, bukan hanya menjadi seorang akademikus yang telah meneliti pemikiran Hans Küng dan Seyyed Hosein Nasr, tetapi ia sendiri sudah cukup lama terlibat dalam upaya mengembangkan dialog Muslim- Kristen. Beliau bahkan sempat menjadi anggota tim penasihat Paus Benedictus XVI dalam Komisi Kepausan dalam Bidang Hubungan dengan Islam. Pengalamannya yang cukup banyak dalam mewujudkan dialog hidup antara umat Islam dan umat Katolik jelas ikut memperkaya wawasan dalam buku ini. (J. Sudarminta, Program Pascasarjana, Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara, Jakarta). (shrink)

In Philip J. Ivanhoe’s introduction to his Readings from the Lu-Wang School of Neo-Confucianism, he argues convincingly that the Ming-era Neo-Confucian philosopher Wang Yang-ming (1472–1529) was much more influenced by Buddhism (especially Zen’s Platform Sutra) than has generally been recognized. In light of this influence, and the centrality of questions of selfhood in Buddhism, in this article I will explore the theme of selfhood in Wang’s Neo-Confucianism. Put as a mantra, for Wang “self-awareness is world-awareness.” My central image (...) for this mantra is the entire cosmos anthropomorphized as a doctor engaged in constant self-diagnosis, in which effort s/he is assisted by an entire staff of the nerves/nurses—individual humans enlightened as Wangian sages. In short, I will argue that the world for Wang could be meaningfully understood as a mindful, self-healing body within which humans are the sensitive nerves, using our mindful awareness to direct attention to the affected areas when injury or disease occurs. We are, and must thus recognize that we are, the bold but sensitive nervous system of the cosmos, sharing (like neurons) our loving excitement, carrying out (like a medical nurse) the doctor’s orders for the self-care of our cosmic body/medical corps. (shrink)

The COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 has changed the conventional learning mode for most students at schools all over the world, and the e-learning at home has become a new trend. Taking Chinese college students as the research subject and drawing on the stimulus–organism–response model, this paper examines the relationship between the peer referent, perceived closeness, and perceived control and the learning engagement. Using data from 377 college students who have used e-learning, this study shows that perceived closeness, (...) perceived control, and peer referents in e-learning have a positive effect on the self-efficacy and well-being of students, thus improving students’ enthusiasm for learning. Our intent is to assist researchers, instructors, designers, and others in identifying effective methods to conceptualize and measure student engagement in e-learning. (shrink)

Hilbert's program attempts to show that our mathematical knowledge can be certain because we are able to know for certain the truths of elementary arithmetic. I argue that, in the absence of a theory of mathematical truth, Hilbert does not have a complete theory of our arithmetical knowledge. Further, while his deployment of a Kantian notion of intuition seems to promise an answer to scepticism, there is no way to complete Hilbert's epistemology which would answer to his avowed aims.

Arendt Contra Sociology re-assesses the relationship between Hannah Arendt's work and the theoretical foundations of sociology, bringing her insights to bear on key themes within contemporary theoretical sociology. Departing from the view of Arendt as a political theorist who sought to rescue politics from society, and political theory from the social sciences, this book re-examines her distinctions between labour, fabrication and action as a theory of the fundamental ontology of human societies, revisiting her criticism of the tendency of many sociological (...) paradigms to conflate the activity of fabrication with that of action. (shrink)

We show that assuming modest large cardinals, there is a definable class of ordinals, closed and unbounded beneath every uncountable cardinal, so that for any closed and unbounded subclasses $P, Q, {\langle L[P],\in,P \rangle }$ and ${\langle L[Q],\in,Q \rangle }$ possess the same reals, satisfy the Generalised Continuum Hypothesis, and moreover are elementarily equivalent. Examples of such P are Card, the class of uncountable cardinals, I the uniform indiscernibles, or for any n the class $C^{n}{=_{{\operatorname {df}}}}\{ \lambda \, | \, (...) V_{\lambda } \prec _{{\Sigma }_{n}}V\}$ ; moreover the theory of such models is invariant under ZFC-preserving extensions. They also all have a rich structure satisfying many of the usual combinatorial principles and a definable wellorder of the reals. The inner model constructed using definability in the language augmented by the Härtig quantifier is thus also characterized. (shrink)

In "Constitutional Goods" Alan Brudner presents novel conception of justice that will inform the content of the ideal liberal constitution. The content of this novel conception of justice is constituted by what Brudner describes as an inclusive conception of liberalism, and its justification is grounded on an account of public reason that is presented in opposition to that of John Rawls. I argue that we should reject both the content and justification of Brudner's conception ofjustice. Brudner is unable to construct (...) an inclusive conception of liberalism from elements of libertarianism, egalitarianism, and communitarianism, and his account of public reason lacks the properties of fairness and reciprocity that differentiate a reasonable agreement from a modus vivendi. This paper therefore defends a Rawlsian political conception ofjustice and justification from Brudner's criticisms and proposed alternatives. (shrink)

This pioneering study of Bertrand Russell's social and political thought deals with the years 1896 to 1938, and is the first book to embark on a thorough investigation of the intellectual and cultural context out of which Russell's ideas emerged. Maintaining a sympathetic but critical stance towards Russell's almost innumerable political postures, and focusing in particular on his concern with the intellectual elite, the author renders that thought both plausible and coherent by placing its development against a significant historical background. (...) As well as giving attention to the aspects of Russell's private life which helped determine the direction of his thought, Dr Ironside undertakes an enlightening exploration of the individuals, groups and beliefs by which he was successively influenced. The result is a wide-ranging and highly original view of an important and enduring figure. (shrink)

Robert Nozick has shown in which ways the theory of natural law (in John Locke, for instance) can be invoked to defend a libertarian theory of State. This paper suggests that Nozick does not prove that invoking natural rights may be a proof against the consequentionalist challenge. An overview of no..

Since Euclid defined a point as “that which has no part” it has been widely assumed that points are necessarily unextended. It has also been assumed that this is equivalent to saying that points or, more properly speaking, degenerate segments, have length zero. We challenge these assumptions by providing models of Euclidean geometry where the points are extended despite the fact that the degenerate segments have null lengths, and observe that whereas the extended natures of the points are not recognizable (...) in the given models, they can be recognized and characterized by structures that are suitable expansions of the models. (shrink)

Can it make sense for someone who appreciates the explanatory power of modern science to continue believing in a traditional religious account of the ultimate nature and purpose of our universe?

The purpose of this paper is to sound two notes of caution about a beguiling argument for the negative answer: for the Humean view that desires cannot be beliefs, or cognitive states more generally.

Consider syllogisms in which fraction (percentage) quantifiers are permitted in addition to universal and particular quantificrs, and then include further quantifiers which are modifications of such fractions (such as "almost ½ the S are P" and "Much more than ½ the S are P"). Could a syllogistic system containing such additional categorical forms be coherent? Thompson's attempt (1986) to give rules for determining validity of such syllogisms has failed; cf. Carnes & Peterson (forthcoming) for proofs of the unsoundness and incompleteness (...) of Thompson's rules. Building on Peterson (1985), the coherence of such a syllogistic can, however, be demonstrated with an algebra which provides its semantics; e.g., "almost ¾ the S arc P'" is represented as " -(3(SP) » SP)". (shrink)

Although Joyce was losing his sight when he wrote Ulysses, Stephen's and Bloom's visual experiences are extraordinarily rich and complex. Absorbing the influences of popular visual attractions such as dioramas, stereoscopes and mutoscopes, their perceptions of Dublin are shaped by what Walter Benjamin calls 'unconscious optics'. Analyzing closely the texture of their impressions and of Joyce's prismatic narrative styles, Philip Sicker explores the phenomenon of sight from a wide-ranging set of perspectives: eighteenth-century epistemology, theories of the flaneur, Italian Futurist (...) art, photography, and the silent films Joyce watched in Dublin and Trieste. The concept of 'spectacle' as a mechanically-constructed visual experience informs Sicker's examination of mediated perception and emerges as a hallmark of modernist culture itself. This study is an important contribution to the growing interest in how deeply the philosophy and science of visual perception influenced modernism. (shrink)