bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Shear-induced breaking of large internal solitary waves
Authors: FRUCTUS DORIAN , CARR MAGDA , GRUE JOHN , JENSEN ATLE , DAVIES PETER A.
Published: January 2009

The stability properties of 24 experimentally generated internal solitary waves (ISWs) of extremely large amplitude, all with minimum Richardson number less than 1/4, are investigated. The study is supplemented by fully nonlinear calculations in a three-layer fluid. The waves move along a linearly stratified pycnocline (depth h2) sandwiched between a thin upper layer (depth h1) and a deep lower layer (depth h3), both homogeneous. In particular, the wave-induced velocity profile through the pycnocline is measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) and obtained in computation. Breaking ISWs were found to have amplitudes (a1) in the range $a_1\,{>}\,2.24\sqrt{h_1h_2}(1+h_2/h_1)$, while stable waves were on or below this limit. Breaking ISWs were investigated for 0.27 < h2/h1 < 1 and 4.14 < h3/(h1 + h2) < 7.14 and stable waves for 0.36 < h2/h1 < 3.67 and 3.22 < h3/(h1 + h2) < 7.25. Kelvin–Helmholtz-like billows were observed in the breaking cases. They had a length of 7.9h2 and a propagation speed 0.09 times the wave speed. These measured values compared well with predicted values from a stability analysis, assuming steady shear flow with U(z) and ρ(z) taken at the wave maximum (U(z) horizontal velocity profile, ρ(z) density along the vertical z). Only unstable modes in waves of sufficient strength have the chance to grow sufficiently fast to develop breaking: the waves that broke had an estimated growth (of unstable modes) more than 3.3–3.7 times than in the strongest stable case. Evaluation of the minimum Richardson number (Rimin, in the pycnocline), the horizontal length of a pocket of possible instability, with wave-induced Ri < 14, (Lx) and the wavelength (λ), showed that all measurements fall within the range Rimin = −0.23Lx/λ + 0.298 ± 0.016 in the (Lx/λ, Rimin)-plane. Breaking ISWs were found for Lx/λ > 0.86 and stable waves for Lx/λ < 0.86. The results show a sort of threshold-like behaviour in terms of Lx/λ. The results demonstrate that the breaking threshold of Lx/λ = 0.86 was sharper than one based on a minimum Richardson number and reveal that the Richardson number was found to become almost antisymmetric across relatively thick pycnoclines, with the minimum occurring towards the top part of the pycnocline.
Steady separated flow past a circular cylinder at low Reynolds numbers
Authors: SEN SUBHANKAR , MITTAL SANJAY , BISWAS GAUTAM
Published: January 2009

The steady two-dimensional laminar flow around a stationary circular cylinder has been investigated via a stabilized finite-element method. The Reynolds numberReis based on the cylinder diameter and free-stream speed. The results have been presented for 6 ≤Re≤ 40 and the blockages between 0.000125 and 0.80. The blockageBis the ratio of the cylinder diameter to the domain width. There is large scatter in the value ofRes, reported in the literature, marking the onset of the flow separation. From the present study theResis found to be 6.29, approximately forB= 0.005. The effect of the blockage on the characteristic flow parameters is found to be insignificant forB≤ 0.01. The bubble length, separation angle andResexhibit non-monotonic variation with the blockage. It is for the first time that such a behaviour for the separation angle andResis being reported. Two types of boundary conditions at the lateral walls have been studied: the slip wall and towing tank. In general for high blockage, the results from the slip boundary condition are closer to the ones for the unbounded flow. In that sense, the use of the slip boundary condition as opposed to the towing tank boundary condition on the lateral walls is advocated. The bubble length, separation angle, base suction, total drag, pressure drag, viscous drag and maximum vorticity on the cylinder surface for the steady flow are found to vary asRe,Re−0.5,Re−1,Re−0.5,Re−0.64,Re−0.60andRe0.5, respectively. The extrapolated results for the steady flow, for higherRe, are found to match quite well with the other results from the literature.
ChineseXiquPerformance and Moving-Image Media
Authors: EVANS MEGAN
Published: January 2009

This article analyses various approaches to the transposition of Chinesexiquperformance into moving-image media in terms of preservingxiqu's aesthetic aims. Pre- and post-Cultural Revolution filmic examples, as well as contemporary television serials, are discussed. I argue that within a ‘cinema of attractions’ rather than a realist line of inquiry, ‘filmed theatre’ continues as a viable and valued stream of access toxiquperformance for contemporary audiences.
Theatre Research in the Nordic Countries (2000–2008)
Authors: SAUTER WILLMAR
Published: January 2009

This overview of theatre research in the Nordic countries presents some characteristic features that can be traced in recent scholarly publications. After explaining what ‘Nordic’ means in this context, the first section describes the marks that the general theoretical development in the field has made among notable Nordic scholars, especially in research on contemporary performances. ‘Artistic research’ is the Scandinavian equivalent to ‘practice as research’ and this branch of research has recently advanced very quickly and along various organizational lines. The writing of theatre history, especially on the controversial issues of the 1930s and 1940s, are investigated in the next section. Finally, the establishment of national theatre histories has proved to be highly political, especially in Sweden, where three histories of Swedish theatre have been published in four years. In conclusion, the author expresses his optimistic view of the future of theatre studies in the Nordic countries.
Bentham on the Public Character of Law
Authors: Postema Gerald J.
Published: January 2009

Bentham belongs to a long tradition of reflection on law according to which the nature of law can best be understood in terms of its distinctive contribution to the solution of certain deep and pervasive problems of collective action or collective rationality. I propose to take a critical look at Bentham's unique and penetrating contribution to this tradition. For this purpose I will rely on the interpretation of the main lines of Bentham's jurisprudence and its philosophical motivations which I have developed inBentham and the Common Law Tradition. will not attempt further to defend it here. I wish, rather, to reflect on themes and arguments which this interpretation of Bentham's jurisprudence has uncovered.
Welfarism and Utilitarianism: A Rehabilitation
Authors: Ng Yew-Kwang
Published: January 2009

Utilitarianism seems to be going out of fashion, amidst increasing concerns for issues of freedom, equality, and justice. At least, anti-utilitarian and non-utilitarian moral philosophers have been very active. This paper is a very modest attempt to defend utilitarianism in particular and welfarism (i.e., general utilitarianism or utilitarianism without the sum-ranking aspect) in general. Section I provides an axiomatic defence of welfarism and utilitarianism. Section II discusses the divergences between individual preferences and individual welfares and argues in favour of welfare utilitarianism. Section III criticizes some non-utilitarian principles, including knowledge as intrinsically good, rights-based ethics, and Rawls's second principle. Section IV argues that most objections to welfarism are probably based on the confusion of non-ultimate considerations with basic values. This is discussed with reference to some recent philosophical writings which abound with such confusion. Section V argues that the acceptance of utilitarianism may be facilitated by the distinction between ideal morality and self-interest which also resolves the dilemma of average versus total utility maximization in optimal population theory.
Sidgwick and Self-interest
Authors: Crisp Roger
Published: January 2009

The notion of self-interest has not received from philosophers of this century the attention it deserves. In this paper, I shall first elucidate the views on self-interest of a philosopher who nourished in the last century. It could be argued that Henry Sidgwick's views on this topic are the most considered in the history of philosophy. I shall then point to a number of misconceptions in his position, and suggest a more satisfactory account. I shall attempt also to solve a problem for this new account with the aid of a Sidgwickian distinction.
Jevons's Applications of Utilitarian Theory to Economic Policy
Authors: Peart Sandra J.
Published: January 2009

The precise nature of W. S. Jevons's utilitarianism as a guiding rule for economic policy has yet to be investigated, and that will be the first issue treated in this paper. While J. A. Schumpeter, for instance, asserted that ‘some of the most prominent exponents of marginal utility’ (including Jevons), were ‘convinced utilitarians’, he did not investigate the further implications for Jevons's policy analysis.
Beyond Malthusianism: Demography and Technology in John Stuart Mill's Stationary State
Authors: Kurfirst Robert
Published: January 2009

In his evaluation of the major social reform movements of his era, Mill chastised well-meaning reformers for their reluctance to elevate Malthusianism to a position of prominence in their efforts. He was convinced that the key to the material, mental, and moral improvement of the poor and the workers lay in a reduction of their physical numbers and in the behavioural modifications entailed by such a diminution, whereas most other reformers looked elsewhere for solutions. A favourite assumption about the proper means for effecting social reform was that economic growth served as an effective and almost automatic instrument for improving society. Then, as now, an unquestioned faith in the capacity of a progressive economy to stimulate gains in per capita income for the lower classes set the terms for the discussion.1 However, by suggesting that broader and more intensive economic development without a corresponding reduction in the rate of population increase would not generate material gains for those living in indigence, let alone the broader socio-cultural progress that was to have followed closely upon its heels, Mill casts aspersions upon the ‘false ideal’ of economic growth which informed many grand programmes for social progress.
Actual Preferences, Actual People
Authors: Goodin Robert E.
Published: January 2009

Maximizing want-satisfactionper seis a relatively unattractive aspiration, for it seems to assume that wants are somehow disembodied entities with independent moral claims all of their own. Actually, of course, they are possessed by particular people. What preference-utilitarians should be concerned with is how people's lives go—the fulfilment of their projects and the satisfaction of their desires. In an old-fashioned way of talking, it ishappy peoplerather thanhappiness per sethat utilitarians should be striving to produce.
Benthamites and Lancasterians—The Relationship between the followers of Bentham and the British and Foreign School Society during the early years of Popular Education
Authors: Bartle George F.
Published: January 2009

Much has been written about the Benthamite theories of education and their debt to monitorialism. Bentham himself, in Chrestomathia, based his blueprint for the schools of the future on the use of monitors, and James Mill, in his various articles on education, envisaged universal schooling within a monitorial framework. In more recent times, scholars, such as Burston, have discussed the influence of the theory of mutual instruction on Utilitarian educational thought. Yet in all this output, little attention has been given to relations between Benthamites and Joseph Lancaster, one of the foremost practical exponents of monitorial teaching in the early nineteenth century nor to the organization in Southwark which perpetuated his methods. When Lancaster himself has been referred to, it has usually been in unfavourable terms. Bentham expressed his contempt for the ‘self-styled Quaker’, who ‘so notoriously and scandalously abused’ his early reputation as a successful schoolmaster. Francis Place, abandoning his early enthusiasm for Lancaster, decided that he was ‘adapted to the teaching in the school and to nothing else’ and became ‘mischievous, ridiculous and childish’ after he was ‘caressed by the great’. Halévy summed him up as ‘a pure madman’.
The Groundlessness of Natural Rights
Authors: Persson Ingmar
Published: January 2009

Today talk of rights is very much in vogue both in philosophical and popular ethics; so much so that it is common to find even philosophers unabashedly going straight to discussing what rights we have without touching on what their foundation might be. This is so in spite of there being a time-honoured tradition of scepticism about rights, conceived as ‘natural’ ones, going back at least to Jeremy Bentham. The present paper is intended as a contribution to this sceptical tradition for I shall try to prove that there are no natural rights or that nobody is the holder of any such right.
Rethinking Institutions in Late Georgian England
Authors: Porter Roy
Published: January 2009

It is a great privilege to have been invited to speak on this occasion. I shall not talk about Janet Semple's life, since I did not know Janet Semple well. I first came across her work when the Oxford University Press sent me a copy of her Ph.D. thesis, asking for my opinion as to its publishability. I groaned—yet another study of the panopticon! I opened it, started reading—and read it straight through. It was so clear, insightful, powerful in its interpretation and beautifully written. I am delighted to see that it has appeared asBentham's Prison. I was, at a later stage, equally pleased to be involved in persuading Janet to publish some of her research on Bentham's medical and health interests. I shall not try to evaluate her work today. I think I might best honour her by trying to reflect upon some of the wider issues that surround Bentham's concerns with prisons and hospitals—issues raised by her work.
The Importance of Being Important: Euthanasia and Critical Interests in Dworkin's Life's Dominion
Authors: Mitchell David
Published: January 2009

Near the beginning of the last chapter of Life's Dominion, Ronald Dworkin expounds the following problem. Margo has Alzheimer's disease. She suffers from ‘serious and permanent dementia’ (p. 220). It transpires that some years ago, at a time when she was mentally fully competent, Margo executed an advance directive. In this formal document she expressed her wishes concerning what should happen to her if she were to develop Alzheimer's. Should those wishes now be acceded to? For instance, suppose that in her document Margo directed that she should not receive treatment for any life-threatening illness she might contract. Should a doctor therefore now refrain from such treatment? What if, more than this, Margo indicated in her will that after the definitive onset of Alzheimer's ‘she should be killed as soon and as painlessly as possible’ (p. 226)? Could it possibly be right to grant that request?
The Non-arbitrariness of Reasons: Reply to Lenman
Authors: Smith Michael
Published: January 2009

James Lenman is critical of my claim that moral requirements are requirements of reason. I argue that his criticisms miss their target. More importantly, I argue that the anti-rationalism that informs Lenman's criticisms is itself implausible.
Intrinsic Value and Investment
Authors: O'Day Ken
Published: January 2009

In this paper I critically evaluate Ronald Dworkin's attempt in Life's Dominion to understand sacred value as a form of intrinsic value which is grounded in investment. I argue that there are two problems with Dworkin's conception of intrinsic value. First, it does not allow him to distinguish, as he must, between incremental and sacred values. Secondly, sacred value qua intrinsic value is not the kind of value which can be grounded in investment. I argue that both of these problems are an implication of a realist conception of intrinsic value. Nevertheless, investment does seem to play a role in our judgements about intrinsic value and in light of this I aim to develop an alternative account of intrinsic value whichcan make sense of this.
Self-Defence and Innocence: Aggressors and Active Threats
Authors: Montague Phillip
Published: January 2009

Although people generally agree that innocent targets of culpable aggression are justified in harming the aggressors in self-defence, there is considerable disagreement regarding whether innocents are justified in defending themselves when their doing so would harm other innocent people. I argue in this essay that harming innocent aggressors and active innocent threats in self-defence is indeed justified under certain conditions, but that defensive actions in such cases are justified as permissions rather than as claim rights. This justification therefore differs from that of self-defence against culpable aggressors, since defensive acts of the latter type are justified as claim rights rather than mere permissions. I argue, however, that the two justifications are alike in that both rest on considerations of distributive justice.
Deserved Punishment and Benefits to Victims
Authors: Ten C. L.
Published: January 2009

Sher's notion of deserved punishment has unacceptable implications. It does not justify punishing some serious wrongdoers, who are unwilling to commit lesser wrongs, more severely than minor offenders. It requires victim-inflicted punishments which repeat the wrongdoings, with the roles reversed. But if Sher moves away from such victim-inflicted punishments, then his theory should treat wrongdoers like tort-feasors who have to pay monetary compensations to their victims.
Applied Ethics: What is Applied to What?
Authors: Norman Richard
Published: January 2009

This paper criticizes the conception of applied ethics as the top-down application of a theory to practical issues. It is argued that a theory such as utilitarianism cannot override our intuitive moral perceptions. We cannot be radically mistaken about the kinds of considerations which count as practical reasons, and it is the task of theoretical ethics to articulate the basic kinds of considerations which we appeal to in practical discussions. Dworkin's model of doing ethics ‘from the inside out’ is used to illustrate the appropriate role for theory in a broader sense. In conclusion, some sceptical questions are raised about how far theoretical ethics can contribute to public policy, especially if this requires a consensus.
Sidgwick and Common–Sense Morality
Authors: Hooker Brad
Published: January 2009

This paper begins by celebrating Sidgwick'sMethods of Ethics. It then discusses Sidgwick's moral epistemology and in particular the coherentist element introduced by his argument from common-sense morality to utilitarianism. The paper moves on to a discussion of how common-sense morality seems more appealing if its principles are formulated as picking outpro tantoconsiderations rather than all-things-considered demands. Thefinal section of the paper considers the question of which version of utilitarianism follows from Sidgwick's arguments.
Virtue Ethics, Value-centredness, and Consequentialism
Authors: Swanton Christine
Published: January 2009

This paper argues against two major features of consequentialist conceptions of virtue: Value-centredness and the Hegemony of Promotion as a mode of moral acknowledgement or responsiveness. In relation to the first feature, I argue against two ideas: (a) Value should be understood entirely independently of virtue; and (b) The only right-making respects which serve to make an action better than another is degree of value. I argue that what I call the bases of moral response are several, including also status, the good for, and bonds. Against the Hegemony of Promotion thesis I argue for several modes of moral responsiveness constitutive of virtue.
The ‘Two Hats’ Problem in Consequentialist Ethics
Authors: Goldstick D.
Published: January 2009

A largely deontological conscience will probably optimize consequences. But Bernard Williams objects to the ‘imposed and illusory dissociation’, if one therefore embraces indirect consequentialism, of ‘the theorist in oneself from the self whose dispositions are being theorized’. Admittedly the strategy is painful, and a counsel of imperfection at best. But it need not be psychologically impossible, inconsistent, or even self-deceptive, given ethical cognitivism.
Justice and the Compulsory Taking of Live Body parts
Authors: Fabre Cécile
Published: January 2009

This paper argues that, if one thinks that the needy have a right to the material resources they need in order to lead decent lives, one must be committed, in some cases, to conferring on the sick a right that the healthy give them some of the body parts they need to lead such a life. I then assess two objections against that view, to wit: to confer on the sick a right to the live body parts of the healthy (a) violates the bodily integrity of the latter; and (b) constitutes too much of an interference in their life. I conclude that although the sick sometimes have a right to some of the body parts of the healthy, the latter still retain a considerable degree of autonomy.
Principia Then and Now
Authors: Shaver Robert
Published: January 2009

Moore is taken to have followed Sidgwick in his arguments against naturalism and in his consequentialism. I argue that there are differences on both issues. Sidgwick's arguments against naturalism do not rely on a controversial view of analysis, and one of his arguments for consequentialism gives him greater resources against critics of consequentialism such as T. M. Scanlon.
Shaping the Arrow of the Will: Skorupski on Moral Feeling and Rationality
Authors: Van Willigenburg Theo
Published: January 2009

I oppose the way John Skorupski characterizes morality in terms of the blameworthy and the role he consequently assigns to punitive feelings in directing one's will and shaping one's character. Skorupski does not hold that the punishment involved in blame- and guilt-feelings grounds the normativity of moral obligation. He defends a specific view of moral psychology and moral practice in which the blame-feeling disposes to the withdrawal of recognition, which involves some sort of casting the transgressor out of the community resulting in the suffering of repentance which is necessary to make atonement (at-one-ment) possible. I argue that this picture threatens to socialize morality. I defend the Kantian idea that the will is not aligned to obligation through castigation, but through our consciousness of our vocation as takers and givers of reasons. This highlights very different feelings as essential to the typically moral stance, feelings that are not necessarily punitive, like feelings of respect and reverence.
Goldstick on the ‘Two Hats’ Problem
Authors: Jollimore Troy
Published: January 2009

The indirect-strategy consequentialist recommends that the consequentialist agent develop certain non-consequentialist feelings and dispositions. It is difficult to see, however, how such an agent could knowingly do this, given her moral beliefs. Goldstick has argued that the problem is not particular to consequentialism; deontologists, too, are obliged to admit the possibility of mental divisions of this sort. I argue, however, that the type of mental division to which the deontologist is committed appears only as a response to a type of genuinely dilemmatic situation which traditional consequentialism cannot recognize. Indeed, the ability of the deontological approach to accommodate cases of conflicting obligations in an intuitively plausible way seems to be a significant point in its favour.
John M. Robson 1927–1995: A Tribute
Authors: Burns J. H.
Published: January 2009

By the death, last summer, of Jack Robson, the world of utilitarian studies and a wider world of scholarship on both sides of the Atlantic (and indeed of the Pacific too) lost one of their most distinguished figures. It would not be appropriate here, even if it were possible now, to attempt a full and measured assessment of his work. Writing only a few months after the news of his death, while the sense of loss is still so sharp for all his many friends, two things are possible. Something can and should be said to acknowledge and celebrate Robson's achievement as a scholar; and to this can be added some personal recollections of one whose human qualities were as outstanding as his scholarship.
The Development of Platonic Studies in Britain and the Role of the Utilitarians
Authors: Demetriou Kyriacos
Published: January 2009

The British utilitarians are not generally considered explorers of classical Greek thought. This paper examines the contribution of James Mill, John Stuart Mill, and George Grote to the development of Platonic studies in nineteenth-century Britain. Their understanding of Platonic philosophy challenged prevalent interpretations, and caused a fruitful debate over long neglected aspects of Plato's thought. Grote's Platonic analysis, which comes last in order of time, cannot, of course, be considered in isolation from the relevant debates in Germany. Grote, the erudite historian of ancient Greece, paid considerable attention to the arguments of the German classicists, put forward in many cases a new point of view, and prompted a radical revaluation of Platonic political thought.
The Morality and Utility of Organ Transplantation
Authors: Audi Robert
Published: January 2009

Organ transplantation is at once a technology that raises new ethical problems and a good testing ground for various moral principles. It has become a common procedure in some countries and, at least in the United States, promises to become even more so. It poses questions about costs and benefits as well as the very large question of whether we should try to renew human life indefinitely and, if so, at what cost. It raises the problem of whether organs are thepropertyof their possessors – at least when the possessors are competent adults. It raises issues of organ sales, of what might be called donor recruitment, of informed consent, of reparations when transplant fails, of eligibility for transplant, and of competition for medical time and expertise between transplantation and other, less dramatic kinds of medical care. This essay touches on all of these topics, with the aim of identifying the broad dimensions of the ethical problems of organ transplantation and some of the moral principles that may help us solve them.
On Life, Death, and Abortion
Authors: Haslett D. W.
Published: January 2009

Morally speaking, is abortion murder? This is what I am calling the ‘abortion problem’. I claim that neither pro-life nor pro-choice advocates have the correct solution; that the correct solution is instead one considered correct by relatively few people. But if this solution really is correct, then why, after years of intense debate, is this solution not more widely accepted? Many, no doubt, are precluded from accepting it by religious dogma. But others, I think, fail to arrive at a correct solution because they have been approaching the problem from the wrong theoretical framework. Or they have been approaching it without any theoretical framework at all. That is, they have no theoretical framework beyond that of merely examining their moral intuitions and, if anything is clear so far from the abortion debate, it is that intuitions alone, which differ radically from person to person, are not sufficient to solve the problem. In short: one is unlikely to arrive at the correct solution unless one starts from a sound theoretical framework. I shall, in what follows, sketch what I take to be a sound theoretical framework. Then I shall try to show what solution to the abortion problem follows from it.
Bentham on the Identification of Interests
Authors: Schofield Philip
Published: January 2009

It has been commonly accepted that Bentham, in his theory of constitutional law, aimed to replace the natural opposition of interests which existed between rulers and subjects with an artificial identification or junction of interests. This was brought about by making it the self-interest of rulers to act in such a way as to promote the general interest. In other words, any sinister interest to which the ruler was exposed, that is any desire he might feel to sacrifice the general interest to his own particular interest, had to be nullified: this would leave that part of his interest which coincided with the general interest as the only interest by which his conduct could be determined.
Rational, Fair, and Reasonable
Authors: Wolff Jonathan
Published: January 2009

There can be no doubt that Brian Barry has made an enormous contribution to the clarification of the ideas of justice current in contemporary political thought. In Barry'sJustice as Impartialityhe explicitly distinguishes and sets in competition three models of justice: justice as mutual advantage; justice as reciprocity; and justice as impartiality (the ‘rational’, ‘fair’, and ‘reasonable’ of my title), and he argues that we should prefer the last of these. What I want to do here is to consider four questions. First, what is this competition a competition about? Second, has Barry adequately characterized the contenders? Third, can the competition be won on the grounds Barry suggests? Fourth, is it a competition that we should want to be won by a single theory? By contrast I want to argue that there are advantages in retaining a pluralist perspective in which all three approaches remain in play.
Impartiality and Liberal Neutrality
Authors: Caney Simon
Published: January 2009

It is a commonplace that in many societies people adhere to profoundly different conceptions of the good. Given this we need to know what political principles are appropriate. How can we treat people who are committed to different accounts of the good with fairness? One recent answer to this pressing question is given by Brian Barry in his important workJustice as Impartiality. This book, of course, contains much more than this. It includes a powerful and incisive discussion of several accounts of distributive justice (‘justice as mutual advantage’ and ‘justice as reciprocity’), a critique of other attempts to defend liberal neutrality and a rebuttal of those who are critical of the ideal of impartiality. In this paper I wish, however, to focus on Barry's defence of liberal neutrality. The paper falls into three parts. Section I outlines the thesis that Barry wants to defend and gives a brief sketch of the argument he employs to defend it. Barry's argument makes two claims – what I have termed the Sceptical Thesis and the Agreement Thesis. Section II therefore critically assesses Barry's defence of the sceptical thesis and Section III examines the agreement thesis.
The Good, the Bad, and the Impartial
Authors: Horton John
Published: January 2009

InJustice as ImpartialityBrian Barry seeks to present ‘a universally valid case in favour of liberal egalitarian principles’ (p. 3). It is an ambitious enterprise undertaken with originality, vigour, and wit; and containing a wealth of interesting argumentation. If, ultimately, Barry fails in the task he sets himself, as I shall argue he does, the attempt is none the less highly instructive; not only because of the many local successes in his arguments with proponents of alternative theories and his often illuminating discussions of particular issues, but also because of the lessons to be learnt from his failure. For if even Barry's formidable defence of a contractualist, neutralist liberalism does not succeed then there may be good reason to think that none will. While this larger claim will not be fully justified here, and the case against justice as impartiality does not depend upon it, one of my deeper motivating concerns is to try to show that the most important failures in Barry's argument are inextricably bound up with the nature of his undertaking. We are concerned, I believe, not just with some inevitable imperfections of execution but with a flawed project.
Taking Utilitarianism Seriously
Authors: Kelly P. J.
Published: January 2009

With a book as wide ranging and insightful as Barry'sJustice as Impartiality, it is perhaps a little churlish to criticize it for paying insufficient attention to one's own particular interests. That said, in what follows I am going to do just that and claim that in an important sense Barry does not take utilitarianism seriously. Utilitarianism does receive some discussion in Barry's book, and in an important section which I will discuss he even appears to concede that utilitarianism provides a rival though ultimately inadequate theory of justice. Nevertheless, utilitarianism is not considered a rival to ‘justice as impartiality’ in the way that ‘justice as mutual advantage’ and ‘justice as reciprocity’ are. One response, and perhaps the only adequate response, would be to construct a rival utilitarian theory. I cannot provide such a theory in this paper, and I certainly would be very cautious about claiming that I could provide such a theory elsewhere. What I want to suggest is that utilitarianismisa genuine third theory to contrast with ‘justice as mutual advantage’ and ‘justice as impartiality’ – ‘justice as reciprocity’ being merely a hybrid of ‘justice as mutual advantage’, at least as Barry presents it (pp. 46–51). I also want to argue that it poses a more significant challenge to a contractualist theory such as Barry's than his discussion of utilitarianism reveals.
Consequentialism, Distribution and Desert
Authors: Carlson Erik
Published: January 2009

This paper criticizes the ‘justice-adjusted’ consequentialist theory recently put forward by Fred Feldman. I argue that this theory violates two crucial requirements. Another theory, proposed by Peter Vallentyne, is similarly flawed. Feldman's basic ideas could, however, be developed into a more plausible theory. I suggest one possible way of doing this.
‘Opinion in Eighteenth-Century Thought: What did the Concept Purport to Explain?’
Authors: Gunn J. A. W.
Published: January 2009

We all ‘know’ that public opinion came to prominence in the political vocabulary of the late eighteenth century. It may be that this dates its rise a bit late, but it is not relevant to argue the matter here. My concern is rather that we be equally aware of the purposes for which people made use of the concept. Here I wish to consider various possible contexts for speaking or writing of public opinion, or ‘opinion’, as it was usually called prior to the mid-eighteenth century. It may be possible to define, more fully than heretofore, the work that the expression did in eighteenth-century thought. As contemporary students of public opinion have been learning, an answer to this question may not even be wholly irrelevant to the task of specifying the nature of public opinion in our own time.
The Right and the Good and W. D. Ross's Criticism of Consequentialism
Authors: Wiggins David
Published: January 2009

David Ross made the first sustained attack on Moore's agathistic utilitarianism or ethical neutralism – the first attack, that is, on a consequentialism purified of ethical naturalism. Ross started out with an important idea about the difference (in the sphere of action) between the right and the good, and a good appreciation of the dialectical situation about consequentialism. His attack, based on the personal character of duty, is greatly hampered by his imperfect account of the duty of beneficence and the supposed general prima facie duty to promote the good. In due course, duties of other kinds come to appear as exceptions to this duty – a damaging concession to consequentialism.
Grouping and the Imposition of Loss
Authors: Kamm F. M.
Published: January 2009

In this article, I critically examine Peter Unger's arguments for the claim that there is a duty to cause physical harm to oneself and others in order to save lives. This includes discussion of his view that when the method of cases involves several rather than merely two options our intuitive judgements support his radical thesis. In conclusion, I consider his attempt to reconcile his claims with common sense moral judgements.
Egalitarianism versus Utilitarianism
Authors: Binmore Ken
Published: January 2009

This paper is a comparative analysis of egalitarianism and utilitarianism from a naturalistic perspective that offers some insight into the manner in which we come to make interpersonal comparisons of welfare.
Grundlagen zur Gestagen-Komponente in der hormonalen Kontrazeption
Authors: Birkhäuser Martin
Published: January 2009

Die Wirkungen der meisten zur Kontrazeption und zur Hormonersatztherapie eingesetzten Gestagene sind nicht dieselben. Sie unterscheiden sich hinsichtlich ihrer Struktur, ihrer Metabolisierung, ihrer Bio-Verfügbarkeit und ihrer Partialwirkungen. Deshalb ist es unsinnig, die verschiedenen Gestagene mit ihren unterschiedlichen Wirkungsprofilen in eine einheitliche Klasse einzuteilen. Entsprechend ihrer Partialwirkungen werden die Gestagene heut gezielt zur Kontrazeption, zur postmenopausalen Hormontherapie oder als Anti-Androgen eingesetzt. Neuere von ihrem Wirkungsprofil her günstige Gestagene sind die Norpregnane, Dienogest und Drospirenon. Diese Übersicht fasst die Einteilung der Gestagene, deren wichtigste Merkmale und Partiaiwirkungen und deren mögliche Folgen für die Klinik zusammen.
Effekt hormonaler Kontrazeptiva auf das Endothel und neue kardiovaskuläre Risikoparameter
Authors: Merki-Feld Gabriele Susanne
Published: January 2009

Epidemiologische Studien zeigen ein erhöhtes kardiovaskuläres Risiko für kombinierte Pillen (COC), aber nicht Gestagenpräparate. Betroffen von dem erhöhten kardiovaskulären Risiko sind vor allem Frauen, die älter als 35 Jahre alt sind und weitere kardiovaskuläre Risikofaktoren aufweisen. Die Pathogenese, die diesem Risiko zugrunde liegt, bleibt weiterhin ungeklärt, da COC keinen negativen Einfluss auf den Gefäßtonus haben, wie auch neuere kardiovaskuläre Parameter zeigen. Ausgenommen davon ist ein Anstieg des CRP, welcher unter einem Gestagenimplantat nicht zu beobachten ist. Darüberhinaus ist anzunehmen, dass COC andere Effekte haben, zum Beispiel an einem durch Nikotinabusus vorgeschädigten Endothel. Hier könnte es durch die verminderte Fähigkeit zur Freisetzung des starken Vasodilatators Stickstoffmonooxid zur mangelnden Kompensation von Vasospasmen kommen.
Constraining earthquake source inversions with GPS data: 1. Resolution‐based removal of artifacts
Authors: Page Morgan T. , Custódio Susana , Archuleta Ralph J. , Carlson J. M.
Published: January 2009

We present a resolution analysis of an inversion of GPS data from the 2004 Mw 6.0 Parkfield earthquake. This earthquake was recorded at thirteen 1‐Hz GPS receivers, which provides for a truly coseismic data set that can be used to infer the static slip field. We find that the resolution of our inverted slip model is poor at depth and near the edges of the modeled fault plane that are far from GPS receivers. The spatial heterogeneity of the model resolution in the static field inversion leads to artifacts in poorly resolved areas of the fault plane. These artifacts look qualitatively similar to asperities commonly seen in the final slip models of earthquake source inversions, but in this inversion they are caused by a surplus of free parameters. The location of the artifacts depends on the station geometry and the assumed velocity structure. We demonstrate that a nonuniform gridding of model parameters on the fault can remove these artifacts from the inversion. We generate a nonuniform grid with a grid spacing that matches the local resolution length on the fault and show that it outperforms uniform grids, which either generate spurious structure in poorly resolved regions or lose recoverable information in well‐resolved areas of the fault. In a synthetic test, the nonuniform grid correctly averages slip in poorly resolved areas of the fault while recovering small‐scale structure near the surface. Finally, we present an inversion of the Parkfield GPS data set on the nonuniform grid and analyze the errors in the final model.
Oxide mineral formation during the serpentinization of a Cr‐spinel seam: Insights from rock magnetic experiments
Authors: O'Driscoll Brian , Petronis Michael S.
Published: January 2009

Serpentinization of ultramafic rocks results in the growth of serpentine and magnetite, following hydration of magmatic olivine. Cr‐spinel seams in ultramafic intrusions that also contain olivine might produce magnetite during the serpentinization process. However, hysteresis and temperature dependence of susceptibility experiments on serpentinized chromitite (>80% Cr‐spinel) from the Dawros peridotite (western Ireland) reveal the presence of small quantities of a Fe‐Ti oxide phase, likely titanomaghemite. Reflected light petrography reveals that the oxides occur as 0.1 μm to 20 μm grains that are typically intergrown with serpentine. It is suggested that the formation of the minute quantities of low‐susceptibility‐high Curie point titanomaghemite occurred by low‐temperature alteration of the magnetite produced during serpentinization. The presence of such low quantities of the oxide phase may be either a function of the very high Mg content of the magmatic olivine or the decoupling of oxide growth from the process of serpentinization, where magnetite formed later than the reaction of olivine with the infiltrating fluids. Our data highlight the usefulness of rock magnetic techniques to the investigation of oxide mineral phases in serpentinized ultramafic rocks.
Quantitative estimate of water yield reduction caused by forestation in a water‐limited area in northwest China
Authors: Yu Pengtao , Krysanova Valentina , Wang Yanhui , Xiong Wei , Mo Fei , Shi Zhongjie , Liu Hailong , Vetter Tobias , Huang Shaochun
Published: January 2009

The eco‐hydrological model SWIM was used to examine the effects of forestation on water yield in a watershed of the Liupan Mountains in northwest China. The results showed that the water yield variation caused by tree species shift among mature forests dominated by larch, poplar and birch was negligible. The vegetation type conversion from grassland to forest strongly reduced water yield. The annual water yield reduction after 10% forestation was 15.8 mm on average with a fluctuation from 3.5 to 19.3 mm. The contribution of site variation to water yield varied from a decrease of 3.5 mm to an increase of 12.3 mm after 10% forestation, which on average was nearly a half of the influence of vegetation conversion between forest and grassland. Site selection for forestation in mountainous areas could be beneficial in alleviating forest‐water conflicts and lessening the water yield reduction caused by forestation.
Statistical study of the magnetopause motion: First results from THEMIS
Authors: Plaschke F. , Glassmeier K.‐H. , Auster H. U. , Angelopoulos V. , Constantinescu O. D. , Fornaçon K.‐H. , Georgescu E. , Magnes W. , McFadden J. P. , Nakamura R.
Published: January 2009

During its early coast phase the configuration of the five Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft resembled pearls on a string. Between April and September 2007 they traversed the magnetopause boundary layer far more than 6000 times. The radial extension of the spacecraft configuration as well as the resolution due to the high number of simultaneous observation points along the orbit provided us with the unique opportunity to study the spatiotemporal evolution of the magnetopause location. In this study we present single and multiple spacecraft analyses with a special emphasis on a statistical analysis of the magnetopause motion reconstructed from crossing locations and times by spline interpolation. Our observations allow us to infer a higher stability of the magnetopause surface against deformation in field‐aligned direction. Its overall stability increases with decreasing distance to the Earth as well. Additionally, we were able to determine amplitude, velocity and period distributions of the boundary oscillations.
Source reconciliation of atmospheric dust causing visibility impairment in Class I areas of the western United States
Authors: Kavouras Ilias G. , Etyemezian Vicken , DuBois David W. , Xu Jin , Pitchford Marc
Published: January 2009

Aerosol data from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network, air mass backward trajectories, land use maps, soil characteristics maps, diagnostic ratios of elemental composition, and multivariate linear regression were utilized as part of a semiquantitative analysis. The purpose of the analysis was to determine the types of dust‐causing events that contribute to low visibility at a given site when the sum of extinction from coarse mass (CM) and fine soil (FS) was larger than any other aerosol component and the reconstructed aerosol extinction coefficient was among the 20% highest (calculated on a calendar year basis) for that site. For these “worst dust days,” the above tools were used to ascribe the cause of low visibility to one of the following types of events: (1) transcontinental transport of dust originating from Asia; (2) windblown dust events from sources located nearby the site and; (3) transport of windblown dust from sources upwind of the site. Depending on the weight of evidence, a low or high level of confidence was associated with the assignment of one of these three events. Absence of convincing evidence resulted in ascribing the worst dust day to “undetermined events.” Of the 610 worst dust days over the 2001–2003 period, 51% were associated with one of the three event types with high confidence and an additional 30% were accounted for with low confidence. Of the 496 worst dust days associated with an event (either low or high confidence), Asian dust was the assigned event on 55 days (for 2001–2002), locally generated windblown dust on 201 days, and transport from upwind source areas susceptible to wind erosion on 240 days. Events associated with windblown episodes from source areas in the United States and Mexico exhibited the highest dust concentrations. Asian dust events were associated with lower dust concentrations and a larger FS‐to‐CM ratio. Some variations between Asian dust and continental North American dust were observed in organic matter (OMC), black carbon (LAC), and nitrate (NO3−) content. None of the tools used in this study was adequate for identifying events associated with mechanically released dust by anthropogenic activities including, agriculture, construction and motor vehicle travel on paved and unpaved roads. Some of the worst dust days may have been caused by these types of activities, especially in central Arizona and northern and Southern California, where the fraction of undetermined events was higher than in other regions within the western United States. All in all, the methods and results of this study can help improve the performance of large‐scale dust emission models and provide insight into the distribution of the types of events that cause dust resultant haze in relatively remote areas of the western United States.