This book offers an important study of Aristotle's theory of the sense-organs. It aims to answer two questions central to Aristotle's psychology and biology: why does Aristotle think we have sense-organs, and why does he describe the sense-organs in the way he does? The author looks at all the Aristotelian evidence for the five senses and shows how pervasively Aristotle's accounts of the sense-organs are motivated by his interest in form and function. The book also engages with the celebrated problem (...) of whether perception for Aristotle requires material changes in the perceiver. It argues that, surprisingly to the modern philosopher, nothing in Aristotle's description of the sense-organs requires us to believe in such changes. (shrink)

The Gouldian argument for evolutionary contingency found in Wonderful Life can be dissected into three premises: palaeontological, macro-evolutionary, and developmental. Discussions of evolutionary contingency have revolved primarily around the developmental. However, a shift in methodological practice and new palaeontological evidence subsequent to the book’s publication appears to threaten the palaeontological premise that asserts high Cambrian disparity, or, roughly, that morphological differences between the Cambrian species were high. This presents a prima facie problem: Did the Cambrian consist of enough anatomical variety (...) to fuel a different outcome upon a replay of the tape of life? I investigate the role that disparity plays in the Gouldian argument for evolutionary contingency and conclude that the reduced disparity view does not undermine the argument, per se. As for the macro-evolutionary premise, Gould never offers any explicit justification for the idea that species sorting was indiscriminate or ‘lottery-like’ (though he certainly gestures at it). Putting aside the exegetical, I consider certain empirical avenues for underwriting the macro-evolutionary premise and argue that the most plausible route is to appeal to the special status of mass extinctions, a move that is not entirely unfamiliar to macro-evolutionists. That is, mass extinctions can be good sources of contingency due to their being ‘chancy’ in at least three respects. In sum, I update the palaeontological and macro-evolutionary premises as to reconstrue the Gouldian argument for evolutionary contingency in its strongest form. (shrink)

Transplantation is a medically successful and cost-effective way to treat people whose organs have failed--but not enough organs are available to meet demand. T. M. Wilkinson explores the major ethical problems raised by policies for acquiring organs. Key topics include the rights of the dead, the role of the family, and the sale of organs.

The term “mental illness” implies that persons with such illnesses are more likely to be dangerous to themselves and/or others than are persons without such illnesses. This is the source of the psychiatrist’s traditional social obligation to control “harm to self and/or others,” that is, suicide and crime. The ethical dilemmas of psychiatry cannot be resolved as long as the contradictory functions of healing persons and protecting society are united in a single discipline.Life is full of dangers. Our highly developed (...) consciousness makes us, of all living forms in the universe, the most keenly aware of, and the most adept at protecting ourselves from, dangers. Magic and religion are mankind’s earliest warning systems. Science arrived on the scene only about 400 years ago, and scientific medicine only 200 years ago. Some time ago I suggested that “formerly, when religion was strong and science weak, men mistook magic for medicine; now, when science is strong and religion weak, men mistake medicine for magic”.1We flatter and deceive ourselves if we believe that we have outgrown the apotropaic use of language .Many people derive comfort from magical objects , and virtually everyone finds reassurance in magical words . The classic example of an apotropaic is the word “abracadabra,” which The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines as “a magical charm or incantation having the power to ward off disease or disaster”. In the ancient world, abracadabra was a magic word, the letters of which were arranged in an inverted pyramid and worn as an amulet around the neck to protect the wearer against disease or trouble. One fewer letter appeared in each line of the pyramid, until only the letter “a” remained to form the vertex of the triangle. As …. (shrink)

. Ill BERGSONS THEORY OF ART . . .141 THE PHILOSOPHY OF INTENSIVE MANIFOLDS I I CINDERS ..... 215 APPENDICES A. REFLECTIONS ON VIOLENCE . . 249 B. PLAN FOR A ...

En sus Escolios, Nicolás Gómez Dávila hace manifiesta la relación existente entre las antiguas nociones gnósticas y las pretensiones ilustradas de la modernidad. Al determinar los fundamentos del gnosticismo en un conocimiento que se eleva sobre la fe, ubica rasgos análogos en el pensamiento moderno..

Saint-Pierre's European Union, an alternative to the balance of power system and a safeguard against universal monarchy, was based on abolition of state sovereignty. Beyond the law of nations, the Union was to ensure European domination of the world and the use of the world's resources in Europe's own interest. A first step towards this goal was a universal crusade to ‘chase the Turk out of Europe and even out of Asia and Africa’. In this, Saint-Pierre followed the logic of (...) Western irenism. (shrink)

In a famous debate on jurisprudence held in 1958 between H. L. A. Hart and Lon Fuller, the protagonists argued about the nature of the law. On one side was H. L. A. Hart, who was a staunch defender of two ideas, first, that law was to be separated from morals, and secondly, that law as it is should be separated from law as it ought to be. These two ideas are subtly different. On the other side, is Fuller, who (...) argues that law cannot be understood apart from its reason for being formulated in the first place. In relation to Hart's two ideas, the paper shows how both rest upon an unstated hidden motivating assumptions, clues to which can be found in both "Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals" and 'The Concept of Law'. This assumption is that Hart is committed to a distinctively liberal account of morality which finds expression in the rule of law. The paper argues that the project of finding a purely descriptive account of law is impossible in the Hartian sense since the descriptive/evaluative dichotomy is a false dichotomy. This is achieved by means of the Kovesian analysis of concept formation. (shrink)

Personality development in Indian philosophical system; a study.

Encyclopedia of words and phrases of Hindu religion and philosophy.