bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From Bondage to Freedom
Authors: Lebuffe Michael
Published: February 2010

This book defends a comprehensive interpretation of Spinoza's enlightened vision of human excellence, including his theories of good and evil, virtue, perfection, and freedom. Spinoza holds that what is fundamental to human morality is the fact that we find things to be good or evil, not what we take those designations to mean. When we come to understand the conditions under which we act—that is, when we come to understand the sorts of beings that we are and the ways in which we interact with things in the world—then we can recast traditional moral notions in ways that help us to attain more of what we find to be valuable. For Spinoza, we find value in greater activity. Two hazards impede the search for value. First, we need to know and acquire the means to be good. In this respect, Spinoza's theory is a great deal like Hobbes's: we strive to be active, and in order to do so we need food, security, health, and other necessary components of a decent life. There is another hazard, however, that is more subtle. On Spinoza's theory of the passions, we can misjudge our own natures and fail to understand the sorts of beings that we really are. So we can misjudge what is good and might even seek ends that are evil. Spinoza's account of human nature is thus much deeper and darker than Hobbes's: we are not well known to ourselves, and the self‐knowledge that is the foundation of virtue and freedom is elusive and fragile.
6 The Human Mind as an Adequate  and as an Inadequate Cause
Authors: LeBuffe Michael
Published: February 2010

Spinoza claims at Ethics 3p9 that the mind strives to persevere in being and is conscious of its striving. In this chapter it is argued that these claims do not imply a form of psychological egoism on which each person consciously desires to persevere in being to the extent that he can. Spinoza is committed to the view that each mind is conscious of its striving, but he is not committed to the view that this consciousness is veridical. Insofar as human minds strive from inadequate ideas, their desires are not restricted to the end of perseverance, which is best understood as the characteristic effect of human action as a total efficient cause.
9 Formal Theory of Value
Authors: LeBuffe Michael
Published: February 2010

This chapter defends an interpretation and assessment of Spinoza's formal definition of ‘good’ and of the other value terms prominently used in the Ethics. It is argued that Spinoza rejects the Providential Account of value and constructs his formal definitions of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ at Ethics 4d1 and 4d2 on a pragmatic basis. The Providential Account, because it based upon false claims about teleology in nature, interferes with the attainment of what human beings find valuable. The definition of the ‘good’ as what we know to be useful to us, by contrast, is based upon true claims and helps human beings to attain value. Pragmatism in Spinoza's formal theory of value helps to explain the variety of normative language in the Ethics and to build a Spinozistic response to Hume's objection that one cannot derive ‘ought’ claims from ‘is’ claims.
6 Challenging Harmony: Consistency, Conflicts, and the Status Quo
Authors: Angle Stephen C.
Published: February 2010

This chapter is organized around challenges from Martha Nussbaum, Karen Stohr, and Diana Myers. Does a commitment to harmony entail an unhealthy desire for consistency and unity in one's life and relationships? Along similar lines, can a commitment to harmony be squared with the existence of moral conflicts? Finally, does such a commitment push one toward a state of “emotional vanilla” in which one cannot mount dramatic challenges to the status quo? The chapter argues that a contemporary Neo-Confucian understanding of harmony has the resources to rebut all these concerns. In particular, the role of imagination in overcoming moral conflicts is stressed; this is illustrated through consideration of famous passages concerning potential conflicts from the Mencius. Particular attention is paid to the role of anger. The chapter argues, though, that both classical and Neo-Confucians too often leave grief out of account, even though it can fit well into their picture.
3 The Man of Many Genres in His Death
Authors: Ker James
Published: February 2010

This chapter identifies the ways in which Seneca's death can be understood as a performance of authorship, both as shaped by his literary career and as shaping his literary afterlife. It traces Senecan echoes in Tacitus, arguing for a complex intertextual relationship with multiple works of Seneca. Next it surveys Seneca's genres and uses the testimony of Quintilian to speculate on early receptions of Seneca's writings. Within his oeuvre it identifies the diverse literary approaches Seneca adopted toward the representation of mortal experience. The exitus form, for example, is deployed in the description of Cato's death in the De providentia, and this can be read alongside Seneca's other exitus descriptions in the Dialogi and elsewhere, and other portrayals of Cato in different genres.
1 Thinking about Wifehood
Authors: Kelting M. Whitney
Published: February 2010

This chapter contextualizes the book by introducing the materials examined, the key terms, the relevant background in Jainism, and the frames of analysis. Research materials span medieval and contemporary Jain literature, interviews with Jain women, observation of Jain rituals associated with wifehood, and the observation of and conversations about the sociopolitics of Jain family life. The chapter introduces the ideologies of wifehood—the dedicated wife (pativrata), the state of auspicious wifehood (saubhagya) and the true woman (sati). In particular, the Jain use of the term sati is set in the context of Hindu traditional, British colonial, and feminist discussions of this highly contested term. Gender studies discourse on agency is used as a frame for the larger claim in the volume about the importance of the perception of choice and the ways that Jain women's religious practices contribute to their selfhood.
3 Jain Satīs, Women's Agency, and Bad Marriages
Authors: Kelting M. Whitney
Published: February 2010

In chapter 3, the Jain sati narratives of Subhadra and Añjana suggest that a woman's piety and fidelity to Jainism will not only protect her saubhagya, but will also bring about marital happiness by transforming bad marriages into good or ideal ones. A variety of marital difficulties—such as bad marriage arrangements, infertility, abandonment, and rejection by one's husband or his family—are neatly resolved in these two well‐known sati stories, which portray the wife as the primary agent of rituals who ultimately secures her own marital happiness. Jain women reference these narratives and Jain rituals in their own discussions about marital difficulties. In addition to accruing karmic benefits of ritual acts, both Jain satis in their narratives and contemporary Jain women deploy strategic piety to increase their authority and perceived virtue within the community to ensure marital happiness and personal well‐being.
12 An Employee Sues Her Employer
Authors: Shuy Roger W.
Published: February 2010

An employee's resignation from her very responsible position in a company was followed by a series of ongoing contractual relationships, to which many other employees objected to her continuation. Letters widely published by the company provided the basis for the employee's defamation case against the company. At the request of counsel, the description of this case is annonymized. It also illustrates that when an expert's analysis does not help the lawyer, the expert should withdraw from the case as soon as possible.
7 Between Motive and Morality
Authors: Slote Michael
Published: February 2010

This chapter takes up a criticism that Kantians have directed at sentimentalism, namely, that the sentiments, feelings, are an unreliable basis for morally acceptable action because they sometimes point us toward the wrong actions and because, even when they do not, their force often fades before they can efficaciously ensure that we do what is right. This chapter argues that feeling and motivation based on empathy are a more reliable guide to acting morally than has been thought. However, our sentimentalist account of the meaning of moral terms does imply that actual consequences are less important to right action than non‐Kantians, at least, have tended to believe, and this chapter goes on to argue that the moral irrelevance of actual consequences is in fact commonsensically plausible.
The Rule of Law: Theoretical Principles
Authors: SARKAR RUMU
Published: February 2010

This chapter provides a brief overview of the philosophical background and history of development strategies and approaches, including a discussion of Max Weber's sociological theories and how they affect development thinking. Discourses on development theory (e.g., neoclassical economics, structuralist and dependency theorists, the Washington Consensus) and other approaches are discussed and put into historical perspective. Finally, the tension between modernization theory and dependency theory is examined, and a possible reconciliation of the two is proposed. The manner in which underlying development theories influence that pattern of governance and development approaches is reviewed. A Rule of Law matrix for designing structural legal reforms is thoroughly discussed. The chapter also includes graphics to support detailed discussions of legal reforms. The new concept of the Janus Law Principle (JLP) whereby developing countries can measure their individual need to develop a legal infrastructure is set forth. The JLP permits developing countries to determine where they stand with respect to integrating themselves into the global legal markets in the most efficacious and sustainable way. The multifaceted and practical considerations in making structural legal reforms are put into perspective.
International Development Law: Substantive Principles
Authors: SARKAR RUMU
Published: February 2010

This chapter discusses the new substantive principles of international development law with specific reference to: (1) parties (and the rights and privileges of different parties to the development process); (2) fundamental law principles of mutuality, the duty to cooperate, equitable participation in development, and transparency; (3) establishing legal norms (contextual and absolute); (4) a taxonomy of international development law (absolute norms, globalized laws, and relative norms); and (5) the institutional framework for international development is discussed in terms of enforcing legal norms. The chapter provides a new, researched template of analysis in which to structure the legal study of international development It sets forth the merits of establishing a World Bank Capital Transfer Appellate Board. The chapter proposes that capital transfers (as part of the development process) be subject to an adjudicatory process of review, thereby creating a new substantive body of public international law.
The Rule of Law: A Projectized Approach
Authors: SARKAR RUMU
Published: February 2010

This chapter examines and critiques a projectized approach to development (especially within the context of multilateral institutions such as the World Bank). It examines an analytical framework for establishing legal reform programs (e.g.,good governance, structural legal reform, and the administration of justice). This analysis takes place within the backdrop of actual development programs and projects (with their relative merits and successes) in order to provide the student with a “real world” context for this discussion. Tables for this analysis are also presented to help clarify the issues. The chapter provides an analytical framework for legal reform programs spanning good governance, structural legal reforms, and the administration of justice. The post-conflict context for such legal reforms is also reviewed with special attention given to social reconciliation strategies in support of systemic and sustainable legal reforms in post-conflict societies.
Connections of orbital cortex
Authors: Price Joseph L.
Published: February 2010

This chapter describes the connections of the orbital and medial prefrontal cortex. Intrinsic connections indicate the presence of distinct orbital and medial networks, with the orbital network concentrated in central OFC subregions, and the medial network involving medial structures, and some areas on the medial and lateral orbital surface. The medial and orbital networks show strikingly differential patterns of input and output. The orbital network receives substantial input from sensory systems including olfaction, taste, visceral, visual, and somatosensory systems, and may serve to assess sensory objects, especially food. The medial network has little direct sensory input, but provides output to the hypothalamus and periaqueductal gray, and is heavily connected with limbic regions such as the amygdala, entorhinal cortex, and hippocampus. The medial and orbital networks are also connected to distinct parts of the striatum and mediodorsal thalamic nucleus.
From associations to expectancies: orbitofrontal cortex as gateway between the limbic system and representational memory
Authors: Roesch Matthew , Schoenbaum Geoffrey
Published: February 2010

This chapter describes the role of the rodent orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in the control of associative information and its application to govern behavior. Recent findings support a critical role for OFC in affective processing as part of a circuit that includes the amygdala and other limbic structures. It is argued that the OFC allows associative information, particularly information about the value of likely outcomes, to be manipulated in representational memory and integrated with non-associative variables concerning subsequent behavior, current context and internal state. The resultant ‘expectancies’ then influence processing in downstream limbic areas as well as other prefrontal regions, thereby promoting voluntary, cognitive, and goal-directed behavior and facilitating new learning.
Neuropsychological assessment of the orbitofrontal cortex
Authors: Zald David H.
Published: February 2010

This chapter reviews the neuropsychological assessment of orbitofrontal functions. It starts by describing the major categories of neurological disorders that result in lesions of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Traditional neuropsychological test batteries are generally insensitive to OFC dysfunction. A number of experimental tasks have been proposed as tests of OFC functions. These include objection alternation and object reversal learning tasks, gambling tasks, go/nogo tasks, olfactory recognition, theory of mind and social processing measures, and self- or family-rating scales of the patient's behavior. The sensitivity and specificity of these measures are discussed, with a particular emphasis on issues of functional localization. The chapter concludes with a description of rehabilitation programs aimed at addressing problems associated with OFC dysfunction.
4 Rational Powers (Theta 2)
Authors: Beere Jonathan
Published: February 2010

This chapter analyzes the second chapter of Book Theta, which focuses on a certain important class of powers: those that consist in rational comprehension, referred to as rational powers. Such powers include the art of housebuilding and medicine. This characterization of rational powers is remarkably strong. A rational power does not merely require, or partly consist in, rational comprehension, but is rational comprehension. In order to act on one's rational comprehension, one needs a body that can do certain things. Even if the artisan does not do the things himself and tells others to do them instead, they need some means of communication. It is shown that Aristotle's conception relegates these requirements to necessary conditions for the exercise of a power, not for having the power.
Chapter 12 Emergence of complex food web structure in community evolution models
Authors: Loeuille Nicolas , Loreau Michel
Published: February 2010

Evolutionary dynamics may help us understand the structure and dynamics of food webs. The theoretical understanding of empirical food web patterns faces a dilemma, as it is difficult to account simultaneously for dynamical components (demography, evolution) and for the complexity of these systems (species number, connectance). Current knowledge of food web structures is dominated by many-species models that do not incorporate any dynamical aspects, and by models that detail demographic or evolutionary dynamics of species but consider communities composed of few species. Community evolution models incorporate both the dynamical components of food webs and the complexity that is necessary to understand empirical food web data.
Formulations of Mechanics Problems for Materials with Self-Similar Multiscale Microstructure
Authors: Picu R.C. , Soare M.A.
Published: February 2010

A broad range of natural and man-made materials, such as the trabecular bone, aerogels have hierarchical microstructure. Performing efficient design of structures made from such materials requires the ability to integrate the governing equations of the respective physics on supports with complex geometry. The traditional approach is to devise constitutive equations which are either calibrated based on experiments or on micromechanics considerations. However, traditional homogenization cannot be used in most of these cases in which scale decoupling does not exist and the structure geometry lacks translational symmetry. Several efforts have been made recently to develop new formulations of mechanics that include information about the geometry in the governing equations. This new concept is based on the idea that the geometric complexity of the domain can be incorporated in the governing equations, rather than in the definition of the boundary conditions, as usual in classical continuum mechanics. In this chapter we review the progress made to date in this direction.
From Macroscopic to Mesoscopic Models of Chromatin Folding
Authors: Schlick Tamar
Published: February 2010

An overview of the evolution of macroscale to mesoscale computer models for simulation of chromatin, the protein nucleic acid fiber that stores the DNA in higher organisms, is presented. Many biological questions concerning fiber structure remain a puzzle. The sheer size and range of spatial and temporal scales require tailored multiscale models. Our first-generation macroscopic models ignored histone tail flexibility but generated insights info preferred zigzag configurations and folding/unfolding dynamics. The second-generation mesoscale models incorporate histone tail flexibility, linker histones, and divalent ion effects to reveal the profound compaction induced by linker histones and the polymorphic fiber architecture at divalent salt environments, with a small fraction of the linker DNAs bent rather than straight for optimal compaction. Our chromatin model can be extended further to study many important biological questions concerning post-translational modifications, fiber dimension variations as a function of linker DNA length variations, and higher-order fiber topologies.
4 Word meaning in LCCM Theory
Authors: Evans Vyvyan
Published: February 2010

This chapter reviews a number of perspectives on word meaning which acknowledge the variability in word meaning described in previous chapters. One of the main difficulties with all of the perspectives reviewed is that they fail to explicitly provide a level of conceptual (i.e., non-linguistic) knowledge representation to which the sense units they posit afford access. The chapter provides an informal illustration of how LCCM Theory overcomes this difficulty.
6 Semantic structure
Authors: Evans Vyvyan
Published: February 2010

This chapter is concerned with developing an account of the nature of semantic structure relating to the linguistic system, and contrasting it with conceptual structure, the representational format of the conceptual system. Semantic structure is modelled in terms of the lexical concept. The main claim made is that lexical concepts have bipartite structure: lexical concepts encode information that can be directly encoded in and externalised via language, while a subset of lexical concepts serve as access sites to conceptual structure.
14 The Roles of Research at Universities and Public Labs in Economic Catch‐Up
Authors: Mazzoleni Roberto , Nelson Richard R.
Published: February 2010

This chapter draws upon historical evidence from several countries and contemporary studies of national innovation systems to argue that indigenous systems of academic training and public research have been, in the past, important elements of the institutional structures supporting a country's economic catch-up. Recent changes in the international economic environment and the growing scientific basis for contemporary technologies will make those systems even more important in the future. The contributions of universities and public labs to the development of indigenous technological capabilities have taken different forms in different countries and economic sectors. However, in contrast with current emphasis on university-based embryonic inventions and fundamental research, effective research programs have predominantly occurred in the application-oriented sciences and engineering, and have been oriented towards problem-solving and the advancement of technologies of interest to a well-defined user-community.
6 Hesiod in classical Athens: Rhapsodes, orators, and Platonic discourse
Authors: Graziosi Barbara
Published: February 2010

This chapter places Plato's use of Hesiod in broader contexts, from rhapsodic performances to public speeches. It argues that Hesiodic poetry formed a battleground for sexual politics in the 4th century BC, and that Plato's reception of Hesiod is fundamentally bound up with ongoing debates about education. In this context, quotable lines from Hesiod could take on a life entirely of their own.
10 Plato's Hesiod and the will of Zeus: Philosophical rhapsody in theTimaeusand theCritias
Authors: Capra Andrea
Published: February 2010

This chapter takes the Timaeus-Critias as the basis for an exploration of the way in which Plato constructs his own, philosophical ‘epic’ by developing and improving Hesiodic rhapsody. It argues that two principles in particular guide Plato's creative reception of Hesiod: the ‘moralizing’ rule (exemplified in the justice of the operation of the ‘will of Zeus’ in Plato), and the ‘broadening’ rule (exemplified in the more comprehensive nature of the creation account of the Timaeus).
11 Chaos corrected: Hesiod in Plato's creation myth
Authors: Pender E. E.
Published: February 2010

This chapter explores in detail how Plato's creation narrative in the Timaeus is presented as a ‘scientific’ reworking of the Theogony, taking up and transforming the primal figures from that work, and central polarities embodied by them (especially male/female).
14 Hesiod, Plato, and the Golden Age: Hesiodic motifs in the myth of thePoliticus
Authors: El Murr Dimitri
Published: February 2010

The central myth of the Politicus, concerning the cyclical nature of the cosmos, has been the subject of much exegetical controversy. This chapter explores the passage within the wider context of Greek Golden Age imagery (from Hesiod to Attic Comedy), and defends the view that Plato's myth describes two (not three) stages of cosmic development. Plato's message is that in neither state of the cosmos can the art of statesmanship be perfectly exemplified.
Federal Philosophies and the Structure of American Law
Authors: Schütze Robert
Published: February 2010

The constitutional battle over the nature of sovereignty and federalism in America produced a compromise in the late nineteenth century: dual federalism. The philosophy of dual federalism suggested a particular constitutional structure for the idea of duplex regimen: the tasks of government would be divided between two - mutually exclusive – spheres. The federal government and the States were seen as “equal” and “co-ordinate” within their respective spheres. This constitutional solution appeased moderate “Nationalists” and “Statists” for more than a century. The shift away from dual federalism took place in the 1930s and is linked to the American “New Deal”. Modern “New Deal” jurisprudence abandons the conceptual duality between commerce versus police power. The demise of the exclusive spheres equally takes place at the legislative level. Federal pre-emption abandons automatic field pre-emption. The principal exception to the rise of cooperative federalism is foreign affairs. The exclusion of the States from international treaty-making preserves an enclave of dual federalism.
The Decline of Legislative Exclusivity
Authors: Schütze Robert
Published: February 2010

The presence of shared competences within a federal order does not in itself signify a choice in favour of cooperative federalism. Various types of federal pre-emption have been recognized in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice: “field”, “obstacle” and “rule” pre-emption. The use of field pre-emption reflects a dual federalist rationale: the total exclusion of the national legislators supports the understanding of two mutually exclusive legislative spheres. Rule pre-emption, by way of contrast, will represent a cooperative federalist paradigm. In the search for the European Community’s federal philosophy, this chapter analyses two substantive policy areas that represent the core of the European Union: the Community’s harmonization policy and the common agricultural policy. As regards the former, the transition from the “old” to the “new” approach to harmonization is identified as a move from a dual to a cooperative federalism. The transition towards a more cooperative federal model can equally be seen in the recent reforms for the Common Agricultural Policy.
Cooperative Federalism Constitutionalized
Authors: Schütze Robert
Published: February 2010

In the last twenty years, the European Union has even constitutionalised the philosophy of cooperative federalism by means of two novel constitutional devises: the principle of subsidiarity and complementary competences. Subsidiarity was designed to safeguard legislative space for the Member States by restricting European legislation to situations, where “the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved by the Community”. The procedural dimension of subsidiarity has been the dominant perspective on recent reform proposals to strengthen the principle of subsidiarity. The darling option has thereby been to involve national parliaments as watchdogs of subsidiarity. But in addition to the procedural safeguards, European constitutionalism has already confirmed a substantive commitment for cooperative federalism. Instead of leaving the federal philosophy to the political safeguards of federalism, the European legal order has “constitutionalised” the phenomenon of co-operative federalism in the form of complementary competences.
Wanderlust: Travel, Emigration and the Movement
Authors: Major Patrick
Published: February 2010

Uses petitions to the Security section of the East German communist party to monitor the Wanderlust of East Germans seeking to take advantage of the travel reforms enacted in the wake of Ostpolitik in the early 1970s. The fact that only East Germans with western relatives could partake of these exceptions created a two‐tier mentality in the GDR, undermining egalitarian claims. The Stasi's involvement in vetting travellers is considered, and the paradox that ‘regime‐carriers' such as soldiers and teachers were least likely to be granted travel to the West, generating resentments against punishment for loyalty. The chapter then proceeds to the more serious step of applications to leave the country once and for all, and the Stasi's attempts to stifle what became a nascent civil rights movement in the 1980s. It concludes by considering the tensions which arose between emigration seekers and reformers who wanted to stay in the GDR to work from within—rifts which have left their mark in the historiography of East German dissidence.
Political Executive Power
Authors: Curtin Deirdre
Published: February 2010

This chapter focuses on the political layer, the ‘political executive’, close to the top layer of the European Council, the Council of Ministers, and the Commission and associated actors (the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy). It is here that the tides of treaty reform have been most prominent and visible, and these are detailed if relevant. In addition, an impression is given of evolving inter-institutional practices in the relationships between different bodies — especially between the political institutions and the European Parliament.
Satellite Executive Power
Authors: Curtin Deirdre
Published: February 2010

This chapter introduces a further layer in institution-building and maps those institutions and actors who, on the whole, have been delegated powers by the political actors, often with the explicit intention of placing their rule-making activities at one remove from political decision-making. Such non-majoritarian agencies, as they are often referred to, have become in recent years an important part of the overall political and legal systems of the EU, without however being reflected at the treaty level.
Making Visible the Invisible
Authors: Curtin Deirdre
Published: February 2010

This chapter looks to the overall ecology of EU executive power and its relationship with its surrounding environment. The perspective adopted is, in the final analysis, one of the compound or composite nature of this power, in the sense not only of a shared and plural executive at the EU level but also of very often the same actors performing different roles and tasks at different governance levels without this being very clearly visible or generally understood. This fact, or perspective, is then further considered in the light of a number of the so-called ‘meta-principles’ of the overall political order (such as the principles of legitimacy and of democracy) as well as the arguably lower-level ‘organizing principle’ (at least in procedural terms) of accountability as quite succinctly and precisely defined and applied. The chapter encapsulates the broader narrative of this book, that is, to further contribute and analyze the process of making the invisible visible across the wide spectrum of executive power in the EU political system as a whole.
Chapter 2 Meta‐constitutional Orientations
Authors: Flinders Matthew
Published: February 2010

The ‘Blair paradox’ reflects not a simple shift in orientations (i.e. from majoritarian power‐hoarding to consensual power‐sharing) but a multifaceted attempt to inject a new meta‐constitutional orientation, in terms of a set of core values, principles, and assumptions about the distribution of power and the relationship between political actors, within the existing version (i.e. bi‐constitutionalism).
Chapter 3 Old Labour, New Labour, ‘Blair Paradox’
Authors: Flinders Matthew
Published: February 2010

The Labour Party has traditionally been aligned with a power‐hoarding model of democracy and its rhetorical commitment to constitutional reform in the mid‐1990s was largely an act‐contingent strategy to win power.
Chapter 15 Bi‐constitutionalism
Authors: Flinders Matthew
Published: February 2010

Updating Lijphart's analysis reveals that New Labour attempted to create a multi‐level polity based upon a more consensual model of democracy within an increasingly frail conception of the Westminster Model (i.e. modified majoritarianism) at the national level. A statecraft strategy based upon constitutional co‐existence and the parallel operation of markedly different models of democracy is likely to prove highly unstable within a unitary state.
Putting Metaphysics First
Authors: Devitt Michael
Published: February 2010

The book has two parts: one metaphysical, the other epistemological. The metaphysical part is largely concerned with realism issues. It starts with realism about universals, dismissing Plato's notorious ‘one over many’ problem. Several chapters argue for a fairly uncompromisingly realist view of the external physical world of commonsense and science. Both the nonfactualism of moral noncognitivism and positivistic instrumentalism, and deflationism about truth, are found to rest on antirealisms about their subject matters that are hard to characterize. A case is presented for moral realism. Various biological realisms are considered. Finally, an argument is presented for an unfashionable biological essentialism. The epistemological part of the book argues against the a priori and for a Quinean naturalism. The intuitions that so dominate ‘armchair philosophy’ are empirical not a priori. There is an emphasis throughout the book on distinguishing metaphysical issues about what there is and what it's like from semantic issues about meaning, truth, and reference. Another central theme, captured in the title, is that we should ‘put metaphysics first’. We should approach epistemology and semantics from a metaphysical perspective rather than vice versa. The epistemological turn in modern philosophy and the linguistic turn in contemporary philosophy were something of disasters.
“Ostrich Nominalism” or “Mirage Realism”?
Authors: Devitt Michael , Devitt Michael
Published: February 2010

This chapter is concerned with the issue of realism about universals. In Nominalism and Realism, Armstrong carefully demolishes various nominalist responses to Plato's famous ‘One over Many’ problem but simply dismisses the Quinean response as ‘Ostrich Nominalism’. In response, the chapter argues for three theses. Firstly, Plato's problem is pseudo. So to ignore it is not to behave like an ostrich. Rather, to adopt realism because of this problem that isn't there is to be a ‘Mirage Realist’. Secondly, this problem is Armstrong's main reason for adopting realism but he is also motivated by some good reasons. So Armstrong is largely but not entirely a Mirage Realist. Thirdly, Quine does not ignore any real problem for nominalism and so he is not an ostrich nominalist.
Incommensurability and the Priority of Metaphysics
Authors: Devitt Michael , Devitt Michael
Published: February 2010

This chapter rejects ‘Incommensurability’ — the semantic doctrine attributed to Kuhn and Feyerabend, who also subscribe to the neo-Kantian metaphysical doctrine of ‘Constructivism’. According to Constructivism, we make ‘phenomenal’ worlds with our theories. Different theories make different worlds; the worlds we live in are theory-relative. Constructivism is clearly opposed to ‘Realism’. The chapter argues that the Incommensurability issue comes down to the Realism issue. On that issue, four arguments for Constructivism are rejected. Two Kantian arguments make the mistake of not putting metaphysics first: rather they proceed from an a priori epistemology or semantics to an a priori metaphysics. Two arguments by Hoyningen–Huene and co-authors support relativism but do nothing to support the Kantian core of Constructivism. Without Constructivism, Incommensurability is left unsupported. The chapter concludes by arguing against ‘meta-incommensurability’.
The Metaphysics of Nonfactualism
Authors: Devitt Michael
Published: February 2010

The usual characterizations of nonfactualism are unsatisfactory. The problem partly comes from focusing on nonfactualism's special semantics instead of on the antirealist metaphysics that must motivate that semantics. The problem also comes from the genuine difficulty in characterizing this metaphysics. This chapter rejects the usual implicit characterizations: that there are no properties or facts in the problematic area. Using the examples of instrumentalism, noncognitivism, and deflationary truth, it argues for the characterization that, in the problematic area, there is no reality with a nature to be explained and with a causal-explanatory role. Finally, it rejects accounts of the special semantics of nonfactualism in terms of properties, facts, and truth conditions, but accepts ones that contrast the apparently descriptive or factual function of indicative sentences in the problematic area with their alleged function as expressive, prescriptive, or whatever.
Moral Realism A Naturalistic Perspective
Authors: Devitt Michael
Published: February 2010

This chapter argues for moral realism. What is moral realism? Standard answers in terms of truth and meaning are rejected. These answers are partly motivated by the phenomenon of noncognitivism. Noncognitivism does indeed cause trouble for a straightforwardly metaphysical answer but still such an answer can be given. Moral realism should be accepted because it is prima facie plausible and its alternatives are not. But what about the arguments against moral realism? The chapter looks critically at the argument from ‘queerness’, the argument from relativity, the argument from explanation, and epistemological arguments. But there is a major worry for moral realism: How can it be accommodated in a naturalistic world view? The chapter concludes with some brief and inadequate remarks in response to this question.
Chapter 6 The Welfare State and the Politics of Social Justice
Authors: Plant Raymond
Published: February 2010

This is the first of two chapters which look at the policy implications of the neo‐liberal rejection of the social democratic ideal of social justice. This will look at the difference between rule‐based or nomocratic orders on the one hand and policy and outcome‐oriented views on the other. In order to make these ideas relevant to policy, there is an analysis of various conceptions of social justice and in the context of welfare provision, one based primarily on meeting needs. Most neo‐liberal thinkers (but not Menger) are critical of the idea that it is the job of the state to meet needs and the various reasons for this approach are analysed and explained. The chapter also looks at the way in which the provision of welfare has baleful consequences from a neo‐liberal perspective. It cannot be made compatible with the rule of law because of the degree of discretion which has to be left in the hands of welfare officials. It brings about the formation of interest groups and coalitions of such groups whose aim is to extract from government what they see from their own point of view as their just share of public provision. The chapter also looks at the extent to which neo‐liberal views also support the critique of welfare provision based on the alleged dependency which such a state creates.
Chapter 11 Social Justice and Neo‐liberalism: A Critique
Authors: Plant Raymond
Published: February 2010

We have seen that the neo-liberal sees social justice as the mistaken and illusory value distinctively pursued by Social Democrats. In this chapter the details of the neo‐liberal critique are examined in detail and again are found to be wanting. The argument of the chapter is that there is no reason at all to reject the ideal of social justice whether for philosophical reasons as set out in Chapter 4 or for reasons of its alleged baleful effects set out in Chapters 6 and 7. If the critique of social justice fails, as this chapter argues that it does, then the critique of Social Democracy is equally undermined.
Chapter 13 Concluding Reflections
Authors: Plant Raymond
Published: February 2010

This concluding chapter seeks to review the whole argument of the book to sustain the polemical claim made in the book that neo‐liberalism in fact does not possess the intellectual coherence to distinguish itself clearly from Social Democracy which in the twentieth century was one of the main aims of neo‐liberals. There is a clear distinction between neo‐liberalism and libertarianism but not between neo‐liberalism and Social Democracy. This chapter seeks to underpin this claim not just be reviewing the arguments set out thus far in the book, but also by considering further points at issue, particularly for example ideas about power and the contrast which turns out to be important between power over and power to and the relationship between power and markets in these two dimensions.
2 Some Background
Authors: Lowrie Michèle
Published: February 2010

Analysis of mediality in Callimachus, Ennius, Lucretius, and Catullus maps the traditions inherited by the Augustan poets. While Callimachus embraces song and its association with divine inspiration but still presents his writing practices realistically, the early Roman poets assume that they are writers and gradually adopt song when reaching for greater sublimity. A discussion of the reception of the disputed carmina conuiualia in Horace and Vergil concludes this section on background.
3 The Performance of Horatian Lyric: The Limits of Reference
Authors: Lowrie Michèle
Published: February 2010

The performance of Horace's Odes offers a test case for determining the interrelation between a poet's own self-definition and the actual reception of his poetry. Debate has raged in the 20th century over whether the language of song in this body of poetry is literal or metaphoric. Speech act theory starting with J. L. Austin offers a tool that helps understand the problematics of referentiality, but cannot in the end determine whether any particular utterance means what it says.
5 At the Limits of Performativity: The Carmen saeculare
Authors: Lowrie Michèle
Published: February 2010

The performance of Horace's Carmen saeculare by a chorus of youths and maidens at the ludi saeculares celebrated by Augustus in 17 BCE offers an occasion for asking why it matters if a poem was actually performed. This poem and the inscription of the acta of the festival are both highly concerned with the media of their own production and recording. Analysis and commentary emerge as acts as socially important as ritual performance. Horace's claims that the chorus' prayers will actually be answered by the gods is a gesture of performative empowerment.
15 Inscription and Testimony: Propertius 4. 11
Authors: Lowrie Michèle
Published: February 2010

In elegy 4. 11, Propertius uses the death of Cornelia, a member of Augustus' family, as an occasion to make a statement about the law and representation under Augustus. He deploys many of the strategies outlined throughout this book. He presents an impossible speech situation that spans various performance media and writing; he puns on lex and legere; he presents Cornelia as an exemplum in many ways like Augustus himself. The typical elegiac twist is that she is not the emperor, but rather a woman whose public dimension is entirely subsumed within her familial role.
16 The Pragmatics of Literature: Ovid
Authors: Lowrie Michèle
Published: February 2010

In Tristia 2, Ovid makes a case to Augustus for his return from exile. The poem's pragmatic aim ostensibly failed and the poet was never recalled. But Ovid does more than try to change his fate. His systematic punning on lex and legere invites comparison between the powerlessness of his own written discourse to the power of Augustus' ability to determine the law. But we should not end with a picture of powerful orality versus impotent writing. The end of the Metamorphoses makes it clear that the poet wins out in the end. He is the one to control Augustus' representation in his poetry — even against the emperor's will — and a future readership will retain the freedom of interpretation. Ovid's strong claim about the power of reading and writing to resist the anger of the powerful despite its pragmatic force is a fitting conclusion to this book.
Introduction
Authors: McLean Iain
Published: February 2010

The context of the problem. Doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty defined by A. V. Dicey. But Dicey did not believe in it when he really disapproved of something Parliament had done. The Scottish problem: 1707 was a treaty not a takeover. Public lawyers' and political scientists' approaches are contrasted.
8 The Impact of UK Devolution
Authors: McLean Iain
Published: February 2010

Devolution to Scotland since 1707. Church patronage 1707–1874. The Disruption 1843. The Jacobite risings. The Scottish Enlightenment. Revival of devolution since the 1960s. The shotgun conversion of Scottish Labour 1974. Failure 1974–9; success 1989–99. The Claim of Right (1689 and) 1989. Devolution to Northern Ireland since 1920. A Protestant Parliament in a Protestant state. The Troubles. The Good Friday Agreement. Constitutional framework. Devolution to Wales since 1964. ‘And to a lesser extent Wales.’ The weakest territorial department: Aberfan. Constitutional issues arising out of devolution. The Barnett Formula. The West Lothian Question, true and false. ‘English votes on English laws.’ Authority of subordinate parliaments. Formal (but empty) Diceyanism of the devolution statues. The Sewel Convention.
12 Monarchs
Authors: Mclean Iain
Published: February 2010

Purpose of a head of state. Executive and non‐executive heads of state in some democratic constitutions. Australian constitutional crisis 1975. Sir David Smith fails to wake the Queen's Private Secretary. Argument for monarchy: certainty. Arguments against: democracy; quality of head of state. The Hanoverian dynasty as UK heads of state. How to elect a head of state?. What would happen to the Royal Prerogative in a democracy. The George V—Asquith exchange of letters in autumn 1913.
The uniqueness of child health and challenges to measuring costs and consequences
Authors: Ungar Wendy J. , Gerber Andreas
Published: February 2010

This chapter considers the uniqueness of child health and provides an overview of the methodological challenges in applying current approaches to children. The unique ways in which child health may be distinguished from adult health that are relevant to economic evaluation are discussed in the first half in sections on child development, dependency, patterns of health and disease, and health resource use. Methodological challenges in conducting health economic evaluations are described in the second half. In the section on costing, the text addresses perspective and setting, child and parent productivity costs, the time horizon, and long-term costs. A section on defining health-related outcomes follows. The next section on measurement examines utility assessment, proxy measurement, measurement within the family collective and the use of cost-benefit analysis. Finally, the analysis section scrutinizes issues pertaining to modeling and discounting.
The reliability and validity of children’s and adolescents’ self-reported health
Authors: Bevans Katherine B. , Forrest Christopher B.
Published: February 2010

This chapter argues that obtaining children's direct reports of wellbeing, symptoms, strengths, and needs using developmentally appropriate strategies is an essential component of thorough and accurate health status assessment. Failure to do so devalues children's perspectives on their own health and results in the loss of essential information. Evidence is reviewed that demonstrates that children are reliable and accurate reporters of their health status when assessment methodologies are sensitive to their cognitive competencies and to their understanding of health and illness. Topics discussed include general cognitive competencies, children's understanding of health and illness concepts, assessment instruments, proxy measures of child health status, and the reliability and validity of children's self-reports of quality of life. The chapter ends with recommendations for health status assessment in children at various developmental levels.