This essay investigates thought as an event of “multiplicity.” French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Alain Badiou pose this as a concept of change (political and otherwise). Both philosophers propose that multiplicity means thinking happens as an event by engaging a theoretical impasse, or “un-thought.” Un-thought opens up and changes ideas into complex varieties or multiplicities. This dynamic is examined through the example of May ‘68, an actual event that gives context to how multiplicity expresses “radical change.” The aim of this (...) article is to see how both thinkers’ theories overlap. For Badiou, multiplicities are “truths” that happen whilst making a decision, engaging a notion of “point.” For Deleuze, multiplicities are concepts that happen materially in life as metaphysical forces, or “lines.” Multiplicity is critically approached as a complex variety of ideas that change in the forms of art, politics, and science. (shrink)

Robert John Ackermann deals decisively with the problem of relativism that has plagued post-empiricist philosophy of science. Recognizing that theory and data are mediated by data domains (bordered data sets produced by scientific instruments), he argues that the use of instruments breaks the dependency of observation on theory and thus creates a reasoned basis for scientific objectivity. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished (...) backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. (shrink)

Robert Zafft presents the too-often abstract language of business ethics in straight-forward language, laying out two themes commonly ignored: in the real world, it is often easy to lay out an ethical path but often very difficult to implement and encourage adherence to that path, and reputation is the single most important asset in business.

Explores the predominant themes in the work of Albert Camus and what they reveal about his character, portraying the author as a clear-eyed moralist who favored principled, if ultimately hopeless, rebellion.

This book argues that the primary function of human thinking in language is to make judgments, which are logical-normative connections of concepts. Robert Abele points out that this presupposes cognitive conditions that cannot be accounted for by empirical-linguistic analyses of language content or social conditions alone. Judgments rather assume both reason and a unified subject, and this requires recognition of a Kantian-type of transcendental dimension to them. Judgments are related to perception in that both are syntheses, defined as the (...) unity of representations according to a rule/form. Perceptual syntheses are simultaneously pre-linguistic and proto-rational, and the understanding makes these syntheses conceptually and thus self-consciously explicit. Abele concludes with a transcendental critique of postmodernism and what its deflationary view of ontological categories—such as the unified and reasoning subject—has done to political thinking. He presents an alternative that calls for a return to normativity and a recognition of reason, objectivity, and the universality of principles. (shrink)

Partant de la “ définition provisoire ” que N. Frye dans Le Grand Code donne du littéraire qui serait “ une structure verbale qui existe pour elle-même ”, Robert Alter pense que cette théorie, qui reste au centre de l'ouvrage, est vulnérable du point de vue de la théorie de la littérature et par rapport à la description de la nature de la Bible. Dans les deux parties de cet article, R. Alter entend montrer comment la conception imaginative de (...) Frye est fondée sur toute une série d'interprétations plus ou moins systématiquement erronées des textes bibliques. Il rappelle que malgré la présence de la métaphore dans sa poésie, la Bible laisse cette poésie dans un “ genre minoritaire ” par rapport à l'emploi de la prose, principal outil de narration typique du projet biblique.Starting with the “Provisory definition” that N.Frye, in The Great Code. The Bible and Literature, , gives to literary: "a verbal structure that exists for itself, Robert Alter thinks that this theory, which is basic to Frye's work, is vulnerable from the point of view of literary theory and in relation to the description of the nature of the Bible. In the two parts of this article, M Alter wants to show how the imaginative conception of Frye is founded on a series of interpretations of biblical texts more or less systematically wrong. He reminds us that despite the Presence of metaphor in its poetry, the Bible leaves this poetry in a "minority genre" in comparison with prose, the principal tool of narration typical of the biblical project. (shrink)

The ATM protein kinase is centrally involved in the cellular response to ionizing radiation (IR) and other DNA double‐strand‐break‐inducing insults. Although it has been well established that IR exposure activates the ATM kinase domain, the actual mechanism by which ATM responds to damaged DNA has remained enigmatic. Now, a landmark paper provides strong evidence that DNA‐strand breaks trigger widespread activation of ATM through changes in chromatin structure.1 This review discusses a checkpoint activation model in which chromatin perturbations lead to the (...) conversion of inactive ATM domains to phosphorylated, active ATM monomers. The new findings underscore the critical importance of epigenetic events in genome function and surveillance in mammalian cells. BioEssays 25:627–630, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Recent influential interpreters have argued that the philosophy of body that prevails in Leibniz's writings from the 1680' s to about 1704 is both more Aristotelian and less idealistic than the ' monadology' of his last years. It is argued here that the Aristotelian terminology of matter and form which is undoubtedly prominent in the work of Leibniz's ' middle years' was understood by him in a sense that is consistent with the monadology. The monadology is foreshadowed, moreover, in important (...) arguments against the Cartesian thesis that extension is the essence of corporeal substance. Leibniz can be seen as a sort of realist in physics, in contrast with occasionalists. But what is important in that contrast is not so much the reality of matter, as the reality of form, which Leibniz interpreted in terms of the active powers of soul-like substances. (shrink)

Leibniz’s religious cosmopolitanism is one of the main ways in which his thought foreshadows the Enlightenment. Of the controversial issues of his time, it is the one on which he was boldest. His commitment to it is discussed here in relation to both the Chinese Rites Controversy and the reunion of Christendom, and the main features of his conception of religion are discussed. (1) It is a religious and normative conception. (2) Its main principle is “the love of God above (...) all things.” (3) It involves a principled pragmatism on many, perhaps most, religious issues. The implications of this pragmatism are traced for (4) Leibniz’s ecclesiology and (5) his strategies for interpreting religious concepts. (6) The relatively abstract and ahistorical character of religious essentials on Leibniz’s view is acknowledged. (shrink)

The relation between primitive and derivative forces may be the hardest problem about the relation between Leibniz's physics and his metaphysics. He holds that derivative forces are modifications of primitive forces, but also that physical forces, which he classifies as derivative forces, belong to bodies, which are aggregates, whereas primitive forces belong to unextended perceiving substances and constitute their essence. This chapter addresses this problem, arguing that a major part of it can be solved on the supposition that physical events (...) are only phenomena, and hence ultimately determined by modifications of the primitive forces of perceiving substances. (shrink)

Leibniz held that even if we had no proof of the possibility premise of the ontological argument, a presumption would justify accepting it. He had an extensive theory of presumptions, as a part of practical philosophy, originating in his jurisprudence. He even proposed a formal proof that presumption favors possibility. This chapter examines ways of trying to overcome the difficulty that in the case of a necessary being, where possibility of existence and possibility of nonexistence exclude each other, presumptions of (...) possibility seem to cancel each other out, but concludes that prospects of escape from the problem are not promising. (shrink)

This paper is a reply to hoffman's piece "almeder on truth and evidence" ("philosophical quarterly", Volume 25, January 1975). In "truth and evidence" ("philosophical quarterly", Volume 24, October 1974) I had argued that gettier-Type counterexamples to the classical definition of knowledge as completely justified true belief are defective because they assume the false proposition that a person can be completely justified in believing a false proposition. Hoffman objected to my reasons for saying as much and in this paper I reply (...) to his objections. (shrink)

This chapter provides an introduction to The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy. South Park is one of the most important series on TV, because the show isn't afraid to lampoon the extremist fanatics that are associated with any social, ethical, economical, or religious position. This is extremely important and necessary in our diverse society of free and autonomous persons who hold a plurality of beliefs and values. Fanatics usually stop thinking issues through and, ultimately, they're primed to cause harm to (...) others through their actions. Religious fanatics get hit pretty hard by the creators of South Park and rightly so. Philosophy deals with the love and pursuit of wisdom, and this quest makes us ask what kinds of things really exist, what we're justified in believing, what we ought to do, and how we ought to be living, among other things. (shrink)

This chapter focuses on one of the common fallacies in Western philosophy called 'sunk cost'. In economics, a sunk cost is an investment that can never be recovered. Prime examples include money spent on research and development or advertising for a product. However, there is a way to think of cost in terms of time, energy, and even emotion. The way to avoid this fallacy is to not allow the fear of losing what was already invested in something to influence (...) one's rational, objective decision about a present or future investment. In Eric Nielsen's words, when making any decision, economic or otherwise, it “makes no sense to factor in sunk costs precisely because they are sunk; no present action can change them. No matter what happens, the sunk costs are always there”. (shrink)

The aim of this paper is to offer a framework for discussing the connections between ethics and religion and to propose some broad substantive theses about how they may be related philosophically, politically, and psychologically. Section I outlines some ontological, epistemological and conceptual connections between ethics and religion, focusing particularly on the question of whether either is dependent on the other. Section II mainly addresses the motivational capacities of religious as opposed to secular ethics. In Section III the main concern (...) is to assess the extent to which conflict between religious and secular ethics should be expected, given certain plausible assumptions about the grounds of both. The final section makes some proposals for reducing conflict between religious and secular standards for structuring democratic societies and for the conduct of their citizens. (shrink)

Offering a comprehensive account of the work of Hedley Bull, Ayson analyses the breadth of Bull's work as a Foreign Office official for Harold Wilson's government, the complexity of his views, including Bull's unpublished papers, and ...

"Among the foremost Catholic philosophers of his generation. He has utilized the fullness of the Catholic intellectual tradition to brilliantly take the measure of modern philosophical thought... This volume is an expression of Robert Wood's singular philosophical outlook." -Jude Dougherty, dean emeritus, school of philosophy, The Catholic University of America.

In this paper, I reflect on the assumptions implicit in the psychophysical explanatory gap metaphor. There are clearly gaps in our current understanding of the psycho-physical link, but how great are they? Are they different in kind from other gaps in our understanding of the world that cause us less metaphysical and epistemological distress? Further, why are we supposed to regard the gaps in our psychological understanding differently? Rather than assess such theories of why a special gap exists, I want (...) to take a somewhat skeptical look at the underlying assumption that the gap is all that special. (shrink)