bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Value Based on Preferences
Authors: Rabinowicz Wlodek , Österberg Jan
Published: July 2009

What distinguishes preference utilitarianism (PU) from other utilitarian positions is the axiological component: the view concerning what is intrinsically valuable. According to PU, intrinsic value is based on preferences. Intrinsically valuable states are connected to our preferences (wants, desires) being satisfied.
Let them Eat Chances: Probability and Distributive Justice
Authors: Wasserman David
Published: July 2009

Jon Elster reports that in 1940, and again in 1970, the U.S. draft lottery was challenged for falling short of the legally mandated ‘random selection’ (1989, pp. 45–6). On both occasions, the physical mixing of the lots appeared to be incomplete, since the birth dates were clustered in a way that would have been extremely unlikely if the lots were fully mixed. There appears to have been no suspicion on either occasion that the deficiency in the mixing was intended, known, or believed to favor or disfavor any identifiable group. If the selection was non-random in the way charged, Elster asks, was it unfair?
Human Needs, Consumption, and Social Policy
Authors: Buğra Ayşe , Irzik Gürol
Published: July 2009

From its early origins to the present, the development of mainstream economic theory has taken a direction which has excluded the analysis of human needs as a basis for social policy. The problems associated with this orientation are increasingly recognized both by economists and non-economists. As Sen (1985) points out, it is indeed strange for a discipline concerned with the well-being of people to neglect the question of needs. Currently, some writers such as Doyal and Gough (1991), post-Keynesian economists such as Lavoie (1994), and those such as Davis and O'Boyle (1994) who work in the newly emerging school of social economics have begun to address the question of human needs, especially in relation to problems of policy assessment and evaluation. The approaches of some development economists who have dealt with similar issues were also instrumental in drawing attention to the significance of the long-neglected concept of needs (Stewart, 1985; Cole and Miles, 1984).
Symposium on the Coase Theorem: Legal Fiction: The Place of the Coase Theorem in Law and Economics
Authors: Medema Steven G.
Published: July 2009

Modern law and economics received much of its impetus from Ronald Coase's analysis in ‘The Problem of Social Cost,’ and a goodly amount of that comes from the Coase theorem, which states that, absent transaction costs, externalities will be efficiently resolved through bargaining. The fact that the analysis that came to be codified in the Coase theorem was (intentionally) an exercise in pure fiction on Coase's part did not deter the erection of a substantial edifice of positive and normative analysis on this foundation, nor, for that matter, has subsequent elaboration of Coase's intent done anything to abate the interest in the theorem and its implications.
Taking the Coase Theorem Seriously
Authors: McKelvey Richard D. , Page Talbot
Published: July 2009

It is sometimes believed that technical apects of a theorem have little to do with the policy implications of the theorem. On the contrary, in this paper we argue that for the Coase Theorem, the technical details are very important in understanding the potential policy implications, since the two interact in a way that leads to a dilemma: a formally correct version of the theorem that yields the usual conclusions requires assumptions that are too restrictive to give the theorem much policy relevance. On the other hand, relaxing the assumptions of the theorem to be sufficiently plausible to be applicable in real world settings modifies the conclusions of the theorem.
Knowledge, Belief and Counterfactual Reasoning in Games
Authors: Stalnaker Robert
Published: July 2009

Deliberation about what to do in any context requires reasoning about what will or would happen in various alternative situations, including situations that the agent knows will never in fact be realized. In contexts that involve two or more agents who have to take account of each others' deliberation, the counterfactual reasoning may become quite complex. When I deliberate, I have to consider not only what the causal effects would be of alternative choices that I might make, but also what other agents might believe about the potential effects of my choices, and how their alternative possible actions might affect my beliefs. Counterfactual possibilities are implicit in the models that game theorists and decision theorists have developed – in the alternative branches in the trees that model extensive form games and the different cells of the matrices of strategic form representations – but much of the reasoning about those possibilities remains in the informal commentary on and motivation for the models developed. Puzzlement is sometimes expressed by game theorists about the relevance of what happens in a game ‘off the equilibrium path’: of what would happen if what is (according to the theory) both true and known by the players to be true were instead false.
Expected Utility, Ordering, and Context Freedom
Authors: Rawling Piers
Published: July 2009

The context-free weak ordering principle (that rational preferences are weakly ordered, and that subtracting members from the domain of alternatives does not alter the ordering of the original domain, see, for example, Savage, 1972, pp. 205–6; McClennen, 1990, pp. 29–30) is viewed by many as a cornerstone of rational choice theory. McClennen, for example, claims (1990, p. 1) that this principle is one of a pair on which '[t]he theory of rational choice and preference, as it has been developed in the past few decades by economists and decision theorists, rests', and Sen (1970, p. 17) characterizes a version of context freedom (the ‘independence of irrelevant alternatives’, or ‘property α’) as ‘a very basic requirement of rational choice’. But this principle is certainly not uncontroversial: there are examples of (putative) principle is certainly not apper irrational.
Sacrificing the Patrol: Utilitarianism, Future Generations and Infinity
Authors: Van Liedekerke Luc , Lauwers Luc
Published: July 2009

Many people believe that we have responsibility towards the distant future, but exactly how far this responsibility reaches and how we can find a reasonable ethical foundation for it has not been answered in any definitive manner. Future people have no power over us, they form no part of our moral community and it is unclear how we can represent them in a possible original position. All these problems can be circumvented when you take an impersonal decision criterion like maximizing total or average utility. Such a sum-ranking criterion is neutral with respect to distance in time or space: my utility, my neighbour's and that of our descendants all carry the same weight. This makes future people an integral part of present decisions. Time-neutrality was defended by, among others, Sidgwick, Pigou and Ramsey.
UNCITRAL's hard non-law: the legal guide on drawing up international contracts for construction of industrial works
Authors: Wallace Don
Published: July 2009

In a matter of weeks or months, the United Nations will publish the Legal Guide on Drawing Up International Contracts for Construction of Industrial Works (‘Legal Guide’ or ‘Guide’). The preparation of the Guide had been formally decided upon by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (‘UNCITRAL’ or ‘Commission’) in 1981, and the completed Guide approved for publication by the Commission in August 1987 in Vienna.
The Concept Of International Crimes of States: Walking the Thin Line Between Progressive Development and Disintegration of the International Legal Order
Authors: Ten Napel Hans-Martten
Published: July 2009

Consideration is given of the ‘classical’ view on state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts and the reasons why, at least according to the International Law Commission of the United Nations, this view no longer corresponds to the realities of international legal life. The author then focuses on the novel concept of international crimes of states. Both the constituent elements and the legal consequences of international crimes, as conceived of by the International Law Commission, are discussed. According to the author, without the simultaneous acceptance of compulsory means of pacific settlement, the potentially fruitful concept of international crimes of states might prove disastrous for the international community.
Judicial Legislation
Authors: Aylmerton Oliver
Published: July 2009

The author describes the main characteristics of the English judicial system and its methodology. A central topic is the so-called judicial legislation, as is illustrated by the developing case lawwith respect to the tort of negligence. The method has the twin advantages of flexibility and pragmatism and it also has the advantages of speed. But there is a minus side also. First, the development of the law in this way can only be achieved at the expense of certainty. Secondly, it involves the alteration of the law, sometimes a quite radical alteration, without any extensive consideration of the practical and economic results such as would take place in the course of parliamentary scrutiny and debate. Judges are not the elected representatives of the people and the methodology of English Judges which results in the development and alteration of the law without the benefit of parliamentary debate may not perhaps be altogether a satisfactory democratic process to a constitutional purist.
A Draft Treaty Concerning the Schengen Accord
Authors: Noteboom J.M. , Doebbler C.F.
Published: July 2009

Within the European Community several countries are seeking to accelerate the process of achieving free movement of persons. To this end several international forums have been created in which harmonization or coordination of matters relating to immigration is taking place. This article is concerned with the developments in one of these forums: that of the Schengen Accord. The Schengen countries involved in this forum are Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany.
Perestroyka and the European Community: A Tale of Rapid Change
Authors: van der Leeuw W.H.
Published: July 2009

When the long-frozen societies in Eastern Europe started to come back to life last year they did so with a speed that quite bewildered the average western observer. So much was, and is, happening that it was almost impossible to follow all the important events. This maelstrom of internal developments was soon reflected in an equally rapid breaking up of long-frozen international structures on the European continent.
International Organizations and Their Officials: to Tax or not to Tax?
Authors: Muixer Sam
Published: July 2009

Taking the United Nations, its specialized agencies and the EC as a focal point, this article looks at the fiscal position of international organizations and their officials vis-à-vis their host state. Firstly, the fiscal privileges are examined from a theoretical point of view, after which a number of cases are analyzed in which international organizations and their host state differed in their views on the application of the aforementioned privileges.

From a broader perspective, this study explores the watercourse of standards which have sprung on the international level down to their application in daily life. A particular type of provision -concerning the fiscal immunities of an international organization and its officialscontained in a particular type of multilateral convention, dealing with the status, privileges and immunities of international organizations and their officials, is followed down to its application on the national level.
The International Legal Status of North American Indians After 500 Years of Colonization
Authors: Wiemers Serv
Published: July 2009

Next year, the ‘discovery’ of America by Columbus, 500 years ago, will be commemorated. The discovery of America started a time of colonization for the original inhabitants, the Indians. Since the 1970s an Indian movement has emerged in North America demanding the Indians' ‘rightful place among the family of nations’. This article contains a survey of the current international legal position of Indians in North America. Wiemers holds that international legal principles, developed in the decolonization context, are applicable to the North American Indian population. The right of a people to selfdetermination is the most discussed one.
The Mountain Produced a Mouse: The CSCE Meeting of Experts on Peaceful Settlement of Disputes, Valletta 1991
Authors: Kooijmans P.H.
Published: July 2009

From the very beginning peaceful settlement of disputes has been on the agenda of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Principle V of the first chapter of the Final Act of Helsinki of 1975 (the so-called first basket) reaffirmed the obligation of the participating states to settle their disputes by peaceful means. The Final Act, however, does not provide a mechanism through which such disputes can be resolved. The Swiss delegation had submitted in 1973 a draft-convention (called the Bindschedler-proposal after its auctor intellectualis Rudolf Bindschedler, the Legal Advisor of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs), containing a detailed system of compulsory dispute settlement. A distinction was made between judiciable and non-judiciable disputes. Judiciable disputes would be submitted to a permanent Arbitral Tribunal, non-judiciable disputes to a permanent Commission of Inquiry, Mediation and Conciliation. This proposal was, however, unacceptable to the East European states (with the exception of Romania) which had always rejected the idea of compulsory third-party dispute settlement, whereas the greaterpart of the Western states, although in principle favourable to a system of compulsory dispute settlement, had serious objections against the substance of the Swiss proposal, inter alia with regard to the rather artificial distinction between judiciable and non-judiciable disputes. The Swiss delegation did not insist on its proposal and went along with a clause in the Final Act which provided for a follow-up meeting of experts with the task “to pursue the examination and elaboration of a generally acceptable method for the peaceful settlement of disputes aimed at complementing existing methods”. It was decided that this meeting of experts was to be convened by Switzerland afterthe first follow-up meeting which was planned for 1977 in Belgrade.
Ethnic Rights in a Changing World
Authors: Lerner Natan
Published: July 2009

Few periods in world history have been so crucial regarding the organization of international life as the last year (August 1990 - September 1991). The President of the now only leading superpower may have been too hasty and may have used too loose language when referring to a ‘new world order’, at the initial stages of the Iraq crisis. But the changes that took place since, in global politics and distribution of power are profound and far-reaching and may affect the legal structure of mankind.
Some International Law Aspects of the East Timor Affair
Authors: Clark Roger S.
Published: July 2009

On December 7, 1975 Indonesian forces invaded the territory of East Timor, a Portuguese colony for some four and a half centuries. Following the 1974 Portuguese revolution, East Timor, like other Portuguese non-self-governing territories had been going through a process of self determination. Portuguese authorities evacuated the territory in August 1975 during civil disorders, condoned if not fomented by the Indonesians. The Frente Revolucianaria de Timor Leste Independente (FRETILIN), a popular group which aimed at independence for the territory after a short transitional period, gained the upper hand. It declared independence on November 28, 1975, hoping this would strengthen its hand in dealing with Indonesian border incursions. A full-scale Indonesian invasion followed.
The Flame Rekindled
Authors: Muller Sam , Mus Wim
Published: July 2009

[…] risks and conflicts of interest can be overcome by rules of conduct adequate to the challenges of life if a conscious effort is made to foresee and counter the problems likely to emmerge.
A New Direction for the PCA: The Work of the Expert Group
Authors: Bleich J.L.
Published: July 2009

Until recently, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has been an institution that one reads about, if at all, principally in the background sections of international law casebooks. This article suggests, and indeed this issue of the Leiden Journal of International Law confirms, that the level of scholarly attention to the Court is changing due to recent developments in the work of the PCA. The purpose of this article is to report and reflect on an emerging effort in the international community to restore the PCA to a prominent place in international arbitration. This article describes the impetus for this effort and the actions taken to reestablish the PCA, as well as the challenges that lie ahead in that effort.
Structure, Process, Outcome: Thoughts on the ‘Essence’ of International Arbitration
Authors: Pinto M.C.W.
Published: July 2009

The Hague Peace Conference of 1899 was attended by 27 states, the Conference of 1907 by 43, the overwhelming majority being from Europe and America. Among the participants were four from Asia: China, Japan, Persia and Siam. Their delegates, trained in the best European legal and diplomatic traditions, were assisted by European experts in explaining their positions on ‘projects’ (or drafts) of European or American origin.
Outer Delimitation of the Continental Shelf Under the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea: Legal Solution or Legal Confusion?
Authors: Verwey Delano R.
Published: July 2009

Article 76 of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea was intended to create a precise definition for the continental shelf and to place a fixed limit on the open-ended provisions of Article 1 of the 1958 Convention. This article, like the rest of the 1982 Convention, was drafted on the basis of consensus. The question is whether the consensus principle has produced a workable legal document regarding the continental shelf and has brought about a legal solution. Analysis of the provisions of Article 76 leads to the conclusion that this article, although requiring some clarification, can be regarded as being practical and indeed a legal solution.
The Qatar/Bahrain Case What is a Treaty? A Framework Agreement and the Seising of the Court
Authors: Rosenne Shabtai
Published: July 2009

On 8 July 1991 Qatar filed an application instituting proceedings against Bahrain in respect of certain existing disputes between them relating to sovereignty over the Hawar islands, sovereign rights over the shoals of Dibai and Qiťat Jaradah, and the delimitation of the maritime areas of the two states. The case has been entitled by the Court the Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions Between Qatar and Bahrain case. The application is in four sections: I. Geographical and Historical Background;II. The Subject of the Disputes; III. Efforts to settle the Disputes; and IV.Jurisdiction.
Reforming the Security Council: The International Negotiation Process Within the Context of Calls to Amend the UN Charter to the New Realities of the Post-Cold War Era
Authors: Kourula Erkki , Kanninen Tapio
Published: July 2009

The expansion of the Security Council's membership is presently being seriously debated by the international community. The UN Charter is most likely to be amended if agreement is reached in negotiations now underway.At the same time, a number of other possible fundamental reforms, also requiring Charter amendments, are being discussed in various UN fora. The question arises whether the Charter could or should be amended only once during our generation or many times over a period of a few years.
The General Assembly's Request for an Advisory Opinion From the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons
Authors: Lailach Martin
Published: July 2009

On 15 December 1994, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 49/75K by which it decided:

to request the International Court of Justice urgently to render its advisory opinion on the following question: ‘Is the threat or use of nuclear weapons in any circumstance permitted under international law?’
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: Some Introductory Remarks From a Defence Point of View
Authors: Sjöcrona Jan M.
Published: July 2009

Antonio Cassese, who is now President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), once observed from an academic point of view:

[i]nternational legal control of warfare has kept pace with the developments in organized armed violence only to a limited extend. Major military Powers have not accepted sweeping restraints, with the consequence that this body of law is beset with deficiencies, loopholes, and ambiguity.
Rebirth of Chinese Legal Scholarship, With Regard To International Law
Authors: Sucharitkul Sompong
Published: July 2009

The fate of Chinese legal scholarship appears to have been closely linked to the chronological development of legal education in China. The periods of incubation of legal scholarship covered nearly three decades of internal strife and political turmoil from 1949 to 1978. The rebirth of Chinese legal scholarship did not take place immediately upon China's return to the United Nations (in 1971). This return, however, marked the first sign of a change of policy towards legal scholarship.

The author briefly describes the history, development and current status of (Chinese) legal scholarship and attitude towards international law in China.
New Thinking
Authors: De Bono Edward
Published: July 2009

Edward Do Bono argues that while traditional logical thinking of the sort developed by the ‘Gang of Three’—Socrates, Plato and Aristotle—is immensely valuable, it is, by itself, inadequate. In this article, De Bono explains why he believes other, more creative forms of thinking need to be developed as new ‘software for the brain’.
Ethics and the Bible
Authors: Rachels James
Published: July 2009

Many try to justify their moral positions — whether on murder, infanticide, homosexuality or abortion — by appealing to the Bible. But to what extent can we rely on what the Bible has to say about morality? In this paper, James Rachels, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, raises questions about the legitimacy of such Biblical justifications.
Beware cosmic porridge
Authors: Kirk Robert
Published: July 2009

Is truth ultimately made, not discovered? Is reality something we construct, by thinking about it? In this article, Robert Kirk gets to grips with the popular idea that truth and reality are, in the last analysis, our own invention.
Are we good enough for democracy?
Authors: Wolff Jonathan
Published: July 2009

Is democracy a good thing? Most of us think so. And yet, as Jonathan Wolff here explains, Plato thought democracy was a very bad idea. If you favour democracy (and I'm guessing you do), then your challenge is to explain what, if anything, is wrong with Plato's argument. So can you?
Precognition
Authors: Steinkamp Fiona
Published: July 2009

Do some people have a paranormal power to ‘see’ into the future? There are innumerable anecdotes of events foretold, of course. But is there any scientific evidence of the ability? Fiona Steinkamp, a leading investigator of the paranormal, believes there is.
The seven warning signs of voodoo science
Authors: Park Robert L.
Published: July 2009

The world is increasingly full of junk science. Pseudo-scientific claims are rife, and the public is regularly misled. Here, the physicist Robert Park points out seven warning signs of pseudo-science. Does parapsychology exhibit any of these warning signs? Read on to find out…
Parapsychology without the ‘para’ (or the psychology)
Authors: King Peter J.
Published: July 2009

Peter King asks whether parapsychologists take too much for granted when they talk of ‘pre-cognition’ and indeed ‘para-psychology’. Even if there are measurable paranormal phenomena to be explained, it is unclear whether they have much to do with either cognition or psychology. Isn't it also about time, asks King, that investigators of the paranormal started coming up with theories to explain what they observe?
Relativism and cultural studies
Authors: Mills David
Published: July 2009

Issue two contained three pieces arguing against relativism: the view that what is true from one individual's or community's perspective might be false from another, that there is no ‘absolute’ truth on any issue. Here David Mills, an anthropologist, argues that, even if we are right to reject philosophical relativism, there is still value in embracing a methodological form of relativism.
Pleasure is all that matters
Authors: Crisp Roger
Published: July 2009

Roger Crisp asks whether hedonism is quite as bad as is often supposed.
Liberals and communitarians: Whose community? which individual?
Authors: Mulhall Stephen
Published: July 2009

Stephen Mulhall explains and assesses some of the ‘communitarian’ criticisms of liberalism.
Darwin, Malthus and Professor Jones
Authors: Teichman Jenny
Published: July 2009

This article discusses some alleged flaws and peculiarities in Darwin's theory of evolution and in the thought processes of modern Darwinists.
Response to Adam Swift on private schools
Authors: Flew Antony
Published: July 2009

In Issue 6 of Think, Adam Swift argued for the abolition of private schools. Here, Antony Flew responds, arguing that an alternative and no less meritocratic solution might be to bring back state-funded grammar schools.
The Experience Machine
Authors: Hauskeller Michael
Published: July 2009

Michael Hauskeller discusses a famous thought-experiment that appears to show that we actually want far more then merely to feel happy.
The uniqueness of pragmatism
Authors: Putnam Hilary
Published: July 2009

This article was first presented as a lecture. In it, Hilary Putnam sets out what he thinks is unique about pragmatism, and also what he believes is valuable in it.
Philosophy — can't live with it, can't live without it…
Authors: Mason Marilyn
Published: July 2009

Marilyn Mason, Education Officer at the British Humanist Association, also joins the debate about the relationship between philosophy and religious education in the school curriculum.
Thinking Tools: You can Prove a negative
Authors: Hales Steven D.
Published: July 2009

Thinking Tools is a regular feature that introduces tips and pointers on thinking clearly and rigorously.
Evidence for intelligent design from biochemistry
Authors: Behe Michael
Published: July 2009

Michael Behe makes a case for intelligent design.
Dilbert and global warming
Authors: Gardiner Stephen M.
Published: July 2009

Stephen Gardiner gets to grips with the Kyoto agreement on climate change — and asks whether our lack of commitment to seriously reducing emissions is down to the fact that the bad consequences of not reducing emissions won't affect us.
Averroes as a bridge
Authors: Wahba Mourad
Published: July 2009

Professor Mourad Wahba outlines how the philosophy of Averroes, who was an important influence on the Western Enlightenment, might now offer us a much needed ‘bridge’ with the Islamic world.
Democracy
Authors: Haworth Alan
Published: July 2009

What is needed for a thriving democracy? And is it really what we want?
Is atheism a ‘faith’ position? A reply to Brendon Larvor and Marilyn Mason
Authors: Watson Brenda
Published: July 2009

The on-going debate over religious eduction in schools takes a new turn, with Brenda Watson arguing that atheism is just as much a ‘faith position’ as theism.
Science, truth and ethics
Authors: Jennings Richard C.
Published: July 2009

Richard Jennings unpacks some of the complex ethical issues surrounding scientific research.
Locke, language and Newspeak
Authors: Moore Terence
Published: July 2009

An exploration of the relationship between thought and language.
Terrorisms in Palestine
Authors: Honderich Ted
Published: July 2009

Recent events in the Middle East once again focused attention on the Israel/Palestine issue. In the following article, adapted from his recent book, Ted Honderich controversially defends the Palestinians' moral right to engage in terrorism.
The God of Eth and the God of Earth
Authors: Bergmann Michael , Brower Jeffrey E.
Published: July 2009

Stephen Law has recently argued (Think 9), using a dialogue set on the fictional planet Eth, that traditional belief in God is ‘silly’. Bergmann and Brower argue that theists on Earth should not be convinced.
The ‘Slippery Slope’ argument: Uses and misuses
Authors: Miller Arthur
Published: July 2009

We are often warned against stepping onto ‘slippery slopes’ — dangerously slick slides leading down to where the really bad stuff lies. But, as Arthur Miller here explains, these warnings often exaggerate the risk of a slip.
An argument for relativism
Authors: Kölbel Max
Published: July 2009

The question ‘Is everything relative?’ is philosophy' equivalent of a trashy horror movie. It sounds radical and deep. One is excited by the enormity of the insight one would gain were one to find out that indeed, everything is relative. Max Kölbel argues that indeed, everything is relative, but does so by presenting a ‘sensible’ form of relativism supported by a straightforward argument.
The most beautiful girl in the world
Authors: Kronqvist Camilla
Published: July 2009

What does a lover mean when he says, ‘You're the most beautiful girl in the world’?
The Psychology of French bashing
Authors: Mitchell Jeff
Published: July 2009

Are the French really ‘cheese-eating surrender monkeys’? Jeff Mitchell investigates what motivates such U.S. anti-French sentiments.
The wisest essay I ever read
Authors: Creel Richard E.
Published: July 2009

Richard Creel shares a practical gem of wisdom he discovered in the work of Hegel.
Skepticism and the democratic ideal
Authors: Talisse Robert B.
Published: July 2009

Robert Talisse argues that skepticism is required for a healthy democracy, and provides some illuminating and amusing examples of popular dismissive attitudes towards skepticism.
The optimism delusion
Authors: Benatar David
Published: July 2009

In the first of our three pieces responding to Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, David Benatar suggests that Dawkins is preaching ‘the gospel of secular optimism’.
Irrational believings
Authors: Cave Peter
Published: July 2009

Peter Cave reflects on morality and belief in God.
A short reply to Wolff's (Plato's) argument that democracy is irrational
Authors: Smith Fraser W.
Published: July 2009

Wolff suggests by way of the following argument (adapted by Wolff from Plato's Republic) that democracy appears to be irrational. Here is the argument given:

1) Ruling is a skill.

2) It is rational to leave the exercise of skills to experts [sic]

3) In a democracy the people rule.

4) The people are not experts. Therefore:

5) Democracy is irrational.
‘Doping’ and the double standard in professional sport
Authors: Thomen Carl
Published: July 2009

Carl Thoman asks what is and isn't legimate when it comes to ‘performance enhancement’?
Body and soul
Authors: Swinburne Richard
Published: July 2009

Richard Swinburne here defends the view that mind and body are distinct substances capable of independent existence. For a very different approach to the question of how mind and body are related contrast Rowland Stout's ‘Behaviourism’, which follows this article.
How not to defend private schools
Authors: Swift Adam
Published: July 2009

Private education, and whether or not it is morally defensible, is currently a focus of public debate. Here, Adam Swift explains why he believes some of the popular justifications for private schooling just won't do.
The puzzle about conditionals
Authors: Jackson Frank
Published: July 2009

Frank Jackson introduces a seemingly intractable mystery concerning ‘if…then…’ statements.
Moral panics, moral education and religion
Authors: Mason Marilyn
Published: July 2009

Marilyn Mason, education officer of the British Humanist Association, asks whether an adequate moral education must involve religion, and reflects on the way that attitudes to moral education have changed over the last fifty years.
An approach to reading Beyond Good and Evil
Authors: Jackson Roy
Published: July 2009

Roy Jackson's introduction to Neitzsche's Beyond Good and Evil will prove invaluable to those reading Neitzsche for the first time.
A misleading question?
Authors: Sidelle Alan
Published: July 2009

When people ask ‘What is the meaning of life?’ what, exactly, are they asking? And does God provide us with an answer? Alan Sidelle investigates.
The rational inescapability of value objectivism
Authors: Mawson T. J.
Published: July 2009

Tim Mawson argues that moral values hold objectively.
A distance theory of humour
Authors: Ribeiro Brian
Published: July 2009

Brian Ribeiro offers a sketch of a new theory of humour, pitched at roughly the same level of detail, and intended to have roughly the same level of inclusiveness, as the other available philosophical ‘theories’ of humour.
Pollyanna goes to the park: A case study for mental causation
Authors: Norman David A.
Published: July 2009

A dialogue on the puzzle of mental causation.
Seasonal and intraseasonal biogeochemical variability in the thermocline ridge of the southern tropical Indian Ocean
Authors: Resplandy L. , Vialard J. , Lévy M. , Aumont O. , Dandonneau Y.
Published: July 2009

The Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐view Sensor (SeaWiFS) time series shows high variability of surface chlorophyll at seasonal and intraseasonal time scales in the oligotrophic southern tropical Indian Ocean thermocline ridge called the Seychelles‐Chagos thermocline ridge (SCTR). The SCTR is characterized by an open ocean upwelling due to local Ekman pumping, which annually maintains the mixed layer (ML) shallow and is responsive to atmospheric forcing and in particular to the Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO) at an intraseasonal time scale. Here we present an overview of SCTR biogeochemistry and investigate the physical processes driving the response observed at seasonal and intraseasonal time scales. Using satellite observations and biophysical ocean simulations, we show that seasonal and intraseasonal SeaWiFS signals (in austral winter and during MJO events, respectively) correspond to wind‐induced mixing episodes. During such episodes, entrainment fertilizes the ML and allows phytoplankton production. Increased surface production is compensated by a decrease in the subsurface due to light limitation, leading to no significant change in integrated biomass and carbon export. Satellite observations and model results support the conclusion that the biogeochemical response to MJO is highly dependent on interannual variability of thermocline depth. Following Indian Ocean Dipole events, deepened nutrient‐rich waters prevent nutrient input into the ML, decreasing the biogeochemical response to MJO. These results shed light on the physical processes at work in the strong surface temperature response to MJO in this region and suggest that entrainment cooling can play a role in the temperature signature to the MJO but is highly modulated by basin‐scale interannual variability.
Wind speed trends over the contiguous United States
Authors: Pryor S. C. , Barthelmie R. J. , Young D. T. , Takle E. S. , Arritt R. W. , Flory D. , Gutowski W. J. , Nunes A. , Roads J.
Published: July 2009

A comprehensive intercomparison of historical wind speed trends over the contiguous United States is presented based on two observational data sets, four reanalysis data sets, and output from two regional climate models (RCMs). This research thus contributes to detection, quantification, and attribution of temporal trends in wind speeds within the historical/contemporary climate and provides an evaluation of the RCMs being used to develop future wind speed scenarios. Under the assumption that changes in wind climates are partly driven by variability and evolution of the global climate system, such changes should be manifest in direct observations, reanalysis products, and RCMs. However, there are substantial differences in temporal trends derived from observational wind speed data, reanalysis products, and RCMs. The two observational data sets both exhibit an overwhelming dominance of trends toward declining values of the 50th and 90th percentile and annual mean wind speeds, which is also the case for simulations conducted using MM5 with NCEP‐2 boundary conditions. However, converse trends are seen in output from the North American Regional Reanalysis, other global reanalyses (NCEP‐1 and ERA‐40), and the Regional Spectral Model. Equally, the relationship between changing annual mean wind speed and interannual variability is not consistent among the different data sets. NCEP‐1 and NARR exhibit some tendency toward declining (increasing) annual mean wind speeds being associated with decreased (increased) interannual variability, but this is not the case for the other data sets considered. Possible causes of the differences in temporal trends from the eight data sources analyzed are provided.
A brief review of “solar flare effects” on the ionosphere
Authors: Tsurutani B. T. , Verkhoglyadova O. P. , Mannucci A. J. , Lakhina G. S. , Li G. , Zank G. P.
Published: July 2009

The study of solar flare effects (SFEs) on the ionosphere is having a renaissance. The development of GPS ground and satellite data for scientific use has opened up new means for high time resolution research on SFEs. At present, without continuous flare photon spectra (X rays, EUV, UV, and visible) monitoring instrumentation, the best way to model flare spectral changes within a flare is through ionospheric GPS studies. Flare EUV photons can increase the total electron content of the subsolar ionosphere by up to 30% in ∼5 min. Energetic particles (ions) of 10 keV to GeV energies are accelerated at the flare site. Electrons with energies up to several MeV are also created. A coronal mass ejection (CME) is launched from the Sun at the time of the flare. Fast interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) have upstream shocks which accelerate ions to ∼10 keV to ∼10 MeV. Both sources of particles, when magnetically connected to the Earth's magnetosphere, enter the magnetosphere and the high‐latitude and midlatitude ionosphere. Those particles that precipitate into the ionosphere cause rapid increases in the polar atmospheric ionization, disruption of transpolar communication, and cause ozone destruction. Complicating the picture, when the ICME reaches the magnetosphere ∼1 to 4 days later, shock compression of the magnetosphere energizes preexisting 10–100 keV magnetospheric electrons and ions, causing precipitation into the dayside auroral zone (∼60°–65° MLAT) ionospheres. Shock compression can also trigger supersubstorms in the magnetotail with concomitant energetic particle precipitation into the nightside auroral zones. If the interplanetary sheath or ICME magnetic fields are southwardly directed and last for several hours, a geomagnetic storm will result. A magnetic storm is characterized by the formation of an unstable ring current with energetic particles in the range ∼10 keV to ∼500 keV. The ring current decays away by precipitation into the middle latitude ionosphere over timescales of ∼10 h. A schematic of a time line for the above SFE ionospheric effects is provided. Descriptions of where in the ionosphere and in what time sequence is provided in the body of the text. Much of the terminology presently in use describing solar, interplanetary, magnetospheric, and ionospheric SFE‐related phenomena are dated. We suggest physics‐based terms be used in the future.
Tracing biomass burning aerosol from South America to Troll Research Station, Antarctica
Authors: Fiebig M. , Lunder C. R. , Stohl A.
Published: July 2009

The atmospheric observatory at the Norwegian Research Station Troll in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica, holds, since February 2007, the first all‐year Antarctic atmospheric aerosol particle number size distribution measurements. These are colocated with measurements of the aerosol absorption and spectral scattering coefficients. In June 2007, this instrument set observed an aerosol whose properties were indicative of a biomass burning aerosol. These properties included two log‐normal size distribution modes with median particle diameters of 0.105 μm and 0.36 μm, sharply falling off to smaller and larger sizes, and peaks in scattering and absorption coefficient. With backward plume calculations of the Lagrangian transport model FLEXPART and the MODIS fire activity product, a source‐receptor relationship was established between biomass burning events in Central Brazil and the aerosol seen at Troll. This is the first direct evidence that the Antarctic continent is susceptible to emissions from as far north as Southern tropical latitudes.
Involvement of the PTEN–AKT–FOXO3a Pathway in Neuronal Apoptosis in Developing Rat Brain after Hypoxia–Ischemia
Authors: Li Deyuan , Qu Yi , Mao Meng , Zhang Xiaolan , Li Jinhui , Ferriero Donna , Mu Dezhi
Published: July 2009

The proapoptotic function of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) phosphatase has been linked to its capacity to antagonize the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase–Akt signaling pathway. Previous studies have shown that the Forkhead transcriptional factor (FOXO3a) is a critical effector of the PTEN-mediated tumor suppressor. However, whether the PTEN–Akt–FOXO3a pathway is involved in neuronal apoptosis in developing rat brain after hypoxia–ischemia (HI) is unclear. In this study, we generated an HI model using postnatal day 10 rats. Immunohistochemistry and western blot were used to detect the expression of total and phosphorylated PTEN, Akt, and FOXO3a, as well as its target gene Bim. We found that dephosphorylation of PTEN was accompanied by dephosphorylation of Akt and FOXO3a, which induced FOXO3a translocation into the nucleus and upregulated the expression of Bim. Furthermore, we found that PTEN inhibition by bisperoxovanadium significantly increased the phosphorylation of Akt and FOXO3a, decreased the nuclear translocation of FOXO3a, and inhibited Bim expression after HI. Moreover, the downregulation of Bim caused by PTEN inhibition attenuated cellular apoptosis in developing rat brain. Our findings suggest that the PTEN–Akt–FOXO3a pathway is involved in neuronal apoptosis in neonatal rat brain after HI. Agents targeting PTEN may offer a promise to rescue neurons from HI brain damage.
Enriched Environment Reduces Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) in Reactive Astrocytes and Attenuates Inflammation of the Peri-Infarct Tissue after Experimental Stroke
Authors: Ruscher Karsten , Johannesson Emelie , Brugiere Elena , Erickson Agnes , Rickhag Mattias , Wieloch Tadeusz
Published: July 2009

Apolipoprotein E (ApoE), a cholesterol transporter and an immunomodulator, is brain protective after experimental stroke and implicated in brain repair. Here, we study the involvement of ApoE in the restoration of brain function after experimental stroke, by using animal housing conditions that differentially improve recovery after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). We found that after MCAO the ApoE levels increased in the injured hemisphere over a 30 days recovery period. The exception was a proximal narrow peri-infarct rim, in which ApoE was solely localized in S100 β+/glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) negative reactive astrocytes at 4 to 7 days of recovery. Enriched housing after MCAO caused a marked decrease in ApoE levels compared with standard housing conditions, particularly in the ApoE/S100 β+ reactive astrocytes. In addition, the levels of interleukin 1 β were lower in animals housed in an enriched environment. We propose that during the subacute phase after experimental stroke a zone for tissue reorganization with low cellular ApoE levels is formed. We conclude that the strong sensori-motor stimulation provided by enriched housing conditions mitigates the inflammatory response after stroke decreasing the level of ApoE that may contribute to the observed improvement of functional recovery.
Paths and partitions: Combinatorial descriptions of the parafermionic states
Authors: Mathieu Pierre
Published: July 2009

The Zk parafermionic conformal field theories, despite the relative complexity of their modes algebra, offer the simplest context for the study of the bases of states and their different combinatorial representations. Three bases are known. The classic one is given by strings of the fundamental parafermionic operators whose sequences of modes are in correspondence with restricted partitions with parts at distance k−1 differing at least by 2. Another basis is expressed in terms of the ordered modes of the k−1 different parafermionic fields, which are in correspondence with the so-called multiple partitions. Both types of partitions have a natural (Bressoud) path representation. Finally, a third basis, formulated in terms of different paths, is inherited from the solution of the restricted solid-on-solid model of Andrews–Baxter–Forrester. The aim of this work is to review, in a unified and pedagogical exposition, these four different combinatorial representations of the states of the Zk parafermionic models. The first part of this article presents the different paths and partitions and their bijective relations; it is purely combinatorial, self-contained, and elementary; it can be read independently of the conformal-field-theory applications. The second part links this combinatorial analysis with the bases of states of the Zk parafermionic theories. With the prototypical example of the parafermionic models worked out in detail, this analysis contributes to fix some foundations for the combinatorial study of more complicated theories. Indeed, as we briefly indicate in ending, generalized versions of both the Bressoud and the Andrews–Baxter–Forrester paths emerge naturally in the description of the minimal models.