bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can cation vacancy defects induce room temperature ferromagnetism in GaN?
Authors: Wang Xiaopeng , Zhao Mingwen , He Tao , Wang Zhenhai , Liu Xiangdong
Published: February 2013

The unique properties of gallium nitride (GaN) crystal, such as a wide band-gap and high thermal conductivity, make it ideal material for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Achieving room temperature (RT) ferromagnetism in GaN becomes crucial. In previous works, gallium vacancy (VGa) was expected to be promising for reaching this goal. However, using an accurate hybrid exchange-correlation functional, we show that the largest value of J0 is only 3.3 meV at the VGa density of 1.28 × 1021 cm−3, corresponding to a Curie temperature of 150 K. This suggests that VGa cannot induce RT ferromagnetism at the density lower than that value.
Estimation of intrinsic contribution to dielectric response of Pb0.92La0.08Zr0.52Ti0.48O3 thin films at low frequencies using high bias fields
Authors: Narayanan Manoj , Tong Sheng , Liu Shanshan , Ma Beihai , Balachandran Uthamalingam
Published: February 2013

Because most domain wall motion (extrinsic) is arrested at high bias fields, experiments were conducted to evaluate the lattice (intrinsic) contributions to the dielectric response of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) at 0-100 MV/m, 213-523 K, and 1-1000 kHz. The intrinsic contribution depended weakly on bias field and frequency, while the extrinsic contribution strongly depended on these same parameters as well as temperature. The threshold bias field required to suppress domain wall motion in PLZT thin films was ∼20-25 MV/m, and the intrinsic permittivity measured at those fields was ∼300-350, in agreement with literature values.
Effect of charge, hydrophobicity, and sequence of nucleoporins on the translocation of model particles through the nuclear pore complex
Authors: Tagliazucchi Mario , Peleg Orit , Kröger Martin , Rabin Yitzhak , Szleifer Igal
Published: February 2013

The molecular structure of the yeast nuclear pore complex (NPC) and the translocation of model particles have been studied with a molecular theory that accounts for the geometry of the pore and the sequence and anchoring position of the unfolded domains of the nucleoporin proteins (the FG-Nups), which control selective transport through the pore. The theory explicitly models the electrostatic, hydrophobic, steric, conformational, and acid-base properties of the FG-Nups. The electrostatic potential within the pore, which arises from the specific charge distribution of the FG-Nups, is predicted to be negative close to pore walls and positive along the pore axis. The positive electrostatic potential facilitates the translocation of negatively charged particles, and the free energy barrier for translocation decreases for increasing particle hydrophobicity. These results agree with the experimental observation that transport receptors that form complexes with hydrophilic/neutral or positively charged proteins to transport them through the NPC are both hydrophobic and strongly negatively charged. The molecular theory shows that the effects of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions on the translocating potential are cooperative and nonequivalent due to the interaction-dependent reorganization of the FG-Nups in the presence of the translocating particle. The combination of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions can give rise to complex translocation potentials displaying a combination of wells and barriers, in contrast to the simple barrier potential observed for a hydrophilic/neutral translocating particle. This work demonstrates the importance of explicitly considering the amino acid sequence and hydrophobic, electrostatic, and steric interactions in understanding the translocation through the NPC.
Probabilistic framework for assessing the ice sheet contribution to sea level change
Authors: Little Christopher M. , Urban Nathan M. , Oppenheimer Michael
Published: February 2013

Previous sea level rise (SLR) assessments have excluded the potential for dynamic ice loss over much of Greenland and Antarctica, and recently proposed “upper bounds” on Antarctica’s 21st-century SLR contribution are derived principally from regions where present-day mass loss is concentrated (basin 15, or B15, drained largely by Pine Island, Thwaites, and Smith glaciers). Here, we present a probabilistic framework for assessing the ice sheet contribution to sea level change that explicitly accounts for mass balance uncertainty over an entire ice sheet. Applying this framework to Antarctica, we find that ongoing mass imbalances in non-B15 basins give an SLR contribution by 2100 that: (
i
) is comparable to projected changes in B15 discharge and Antarctica’s surface mass balance, and (
ii
) varies widely depending on the subset of basins and observational dataset used in projections. Increases in discharge uncertainty, or decreases in the exceedance probability used to define an upper bound, increase the fractional contribution of non-B15 basins; even weak spatial correlations in future discharge growth rates markedly enhance this sensitivity. Although these projections rely on poorly constrained statistical parameters, they may be updated with observations and/or models at many spatial scales, facilitating a more comprehensive account of uncertainty that, if implemented, will improve future assessments.
Coping strategies: Public avoidance, migration, and marriage in the aftermath of the Osh conflict, Fergana Valley
Authors: Ismailbekova Aksana
Published: February 2013

This article examines the changing survival strategies of Uzbeks in the aftermath of mass violent conflict in Osh in June 2010. After the conflict, Osh Uzbeks were exposed to many difficulties. The Kyrgyz government used economic and political pressure to isolate minority groups from the titular nationality, and this opened the door to mistreatment of minorities in the form of the seizure of property, job losses, and even verbal and physical abuse. Despite this mistreatment, however, Uzbeks have proved reluctant to leave the Osh area. Uzbeks have a long history of living in the region of Osh; strong emotional and historical sentiments bind them to the region and its graveyards and sacred sites. Uzbeks have thus had to develop alternative ways to cope with the uncertainty and insecurity of their situation. They have adopted strategies which reinforce their vulnerability on the one hand, but provide security for their children during post-conflict reconstruction on the other. These strategies include avoidance of public spaces and public attention, marrying daughters early, and sending male family members to Russia as labor migrants. These strategies are geared to the underlying aims of protecting the honor of the community, maintaining social networks, and preserving Uzbek identity without attracting attention. Uzbeks describe this strategy of patience assabyrdu.
Comments on Gerard Toal's ‘“Republika Srpska will have a referendum': The rhetorical politics of Milorad Dodik”
Authors: Dzihic Vedran
Published: February 2013

The history of modern Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) is a history of referenda. The referendum as a tool to shape the political fate and future of a particular society has seemingly always been an integral part of the Bosnian past. The first two referenda in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the beginning of the so-called “democratic era” following the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia marked the beginning of a period of war and violence in the country. The referendum in November 1991, organized by the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) and asking participants about the status of BiH within the Yugoslav federation, was the first step toward the formation of Republika Srpska (RS). On the other side, the referendum in March 1992 about the question of independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Yugoslavia, which was attended by Bosnian Muslims and Croats and boycotted by the Serbs, plunged Bosnia into war.
Herschel limits on far-infrared emission from circumstellar dust around three nearby Type Ia supernovae
Authors: Johansson J. , Amanullah R. , Goobar A.
Published: February 2013

We report upper limits on dust emission at far-infrared (IR) wavelengths from three nearby Type Ia supernovae: SNe 2011by, 2011fe and 2012cg. Observations were carried out at 70 and 160 μm with the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer onboard the Herschel Space Observatory. None of the supernovae were detected in the far-IR, allowing us to place upper limits on the amount of pre-existing dust in the circumstellar environment. Due to its proximity, SN 2011fe provides the tightest constraints, Mdust ≲ 7 × 10−3 M⊙ at a 3σ level for dust temperatures Tdust ∼ 500 K assuming silicate or graphite dust grains of size a = 0.1 μm. For SNe 2011by and 2012cg the corresponding upper limits are less stringent, with Mdust ≲ 10−1 M⊙ for the same assumptions.
Solution to the sigma problem of pulsar wind nebulae
Authors: Porth Oliver , Komissarov Serguei S. , Keppens Rony
Published: February 2013

We present first results of 3D relativistic magnetohydrodynamical simulations of pulsar wind nebulae. They show that the kink instability and magnetic dissipation inside these nebulae may be the key processes allowing them to reconcile their observations with the theory of pulsar winds. In particular, the size of the termination shock, obtained in the simulations, agrees very well with the observations even for Poynting-dominated pulsar winds. Due to magnetic dissipation the total pressure in the simulated nebulae is particle-dominated and more or less uniform. While in the main body of the simulated nebulae the magnetic field becomes rather randomized, close to the termination shock, it is dominated by the regular toroidal field freshly injected by the pulsar wind. This field is responsible for driving polar outflows and may explain the high polarization observed in pulsar wind nebulae.
Theoretical Rationality
Authors: Audi Robert
Published: February 2013

This article presents an account of the nature and chief varieties of theoretical rationality, conceived mainly as the rationality of cognitions—especially, beliefs. It describes the essential sources of theoretically rational cognitions: perception, memory, consciousness, reason, and testimony. It also examines the role of coherence in accounting for rational belief and distinguishes the evidential and conceptual roles of coherence. In the light of its account of sources of belief and knowledge, this article describes the structure of a rational system of cognitions in persons whose beliefs reflect both direct responsiveness to basic sources of cognition—such as perception—and inferences that build on those sources. It considers conditions for rational change of belief, and it sketches structural and developmental aspects of a person's theoretical rationality. In the concluding sections, this article discusses the scope of theoretical rationality and the kind of cognitive integration it requires.
Positive Psychology: Past, Present, and Future
Authors: Diener Ed
Published: February 2013

This chapter briefly reviews the history of positive psychology, and the endeavor by scientists to answer the classic question posed by philosophers: What is the good life? One piece of evidence for the growth of positive psychology is the proliferation of measures to assess concepts such as happiness, well-being, and virtue. The chapter briefly reviews the importance of C. R. Snyder to the field of positive psychology. Several critiques of positive psychology are discussed. One valid critique is that there is too much emphasis within positive psychology on the individual, and too little focus on positive societies, institutions, and situations. We can profit from considering the various critiques because they will help us to improve the field. Positive psychology has important strengths, such as the number of young scholars and practitioners who are entering the field. The Handbook of Positive Psychology is an outstanding resource for all those who are working in this discipline, and also for others outside of the area, to gain broad knowledge of the important developments that are occurring in our understanding of positive human functioning.
Positive Psychology Within a Cultural Context
Authors: Pedrotti Jennifer Teramoto , Edwards Lisa M. , Lopez Shane J.
Published: February 2013

As our capacity for communication with nations across the globe increases through the advances of technology, our interactions with others with different worldviews also become more frequent. This exposure to diversity on so many levels requires a better understanding of the multiple contexts in which people from different cultural backgrounds live and the strengths they possess that help them experience well-being. In order to define the characteristics that may be viewed as strengths in different groups, we must make efforts to remember that cultural rules and norms often dictate what can be called a strength versus a weakness. It is imperative that we are able to recognize that strengths may look very different in different contexts and that these diverse manifestations may come from a variety of worldviews. More work must be done in order to develop a better understanding of the way that cultural context plays a role in the operationalization, manifestation, and measurement of strengths in diverse groups. The following chapter provides a history of the connections between culture and positive psychology and discusses current issues regarding the link between cultural context and various personal characteristics. Examples from culturally sensitive positive psychological theory and research are also given in order to illustrate how researchers are better exploring positive psychology within a cultural context.
Self-Efficacy: The Power of Believing You Can
Authors: Maddux James E.
Published: February 2013

The basic premise of self-efficacy theory is that “people's beliefs in their capabilities to produce desired effects by their own actions” (Bandura, 1997, p. vii) are the most important determinants of the behaviors people choose to engage in and how much they persevere in their efforts in the face of obstacles and challenges. Self-efficacy theory also maintains that these efficacy beliefs play a crucial role in psychological adjustment, psychological problems, physical health, as well as professionally guided and self-guided behavioral change strategies. This chapter provides an overview of self-efficacy theory and research by addressing three basic questions: (a) What is self-efficacy? (b) Where do self-efficacy beliefs come from? (c) Why is self-efficacy important? The chapter also discusses “collective efficacy”—group members' beliefs in their ability to collectively accomplish shared goals.
Family-Centered Positive Psychology
Authors: Sheridan Susan M. , Burt Jennifer D.
Published: February 2013

Throughout the past several decades the economic and cultural conditions of the American family have changed dramatically. These changing family dynamics create challenges for service providers to work with families in a way that supports their healthy functioning and respects their values. The presence of multiple risk factors is generally understood to create discontinuities in interaction rules between home and community environments and contribute to challenges in assuring positive family functioning. Within this chapter, we discuss the characteristics of healthy children and families and how the parent—child relationship can serve as a protective factor for young children at risk. Family-centered positive psychology (FCPP) recognizes the family as a constant in the child's life and strives to support both child well-being and healthy family functioning. Throughout this chapter, families and children are discussed from a strengths-based approach that recognizes the assets and strengths present within the family rather than the deficits or limitations. Family-centered services (FCSs) are a framework for service delivery that is based on the principles of FCPP. In FCSs, service providers strive to create a context within which families may become empowered; assist family members to identify their unique needs and acquire skills and competencies; and identify social networks to promote positive outcomes for the child and family. In this chapter, we describe the primary principles of family-centered care, discuss implications for practice, describe one model of family-centered care that illustrates FCS in practice, and discuss future research directions for FCPP.
Language Development in Williams Syndrome
Authors: Mervis Carolyn B.
Published: February 2013

This chapter begins with a brief description of Williams syndrome (WS). It then summarizes the findings from research on intellectual ability as measured by intelligence tests and considers research on early language acquisition, followed by findings from research on the language abilities of school-aged children and adolescents with WS. A central theme will be that, far from demonstrating the independence of language from cognition, WS provides strong evidence for their interdependence throughout development. The chapter ends with a short section on implications of these findings for future research and for intervention.
On Knowing More: Future Issues for Developmental Approaches to Understanding Persons with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Burack Jacob A. , Hodapp Robert M. , Iarocci Grace , Zigler Edward
Published: February 2013

In this chapter, we summarize the contributions to this volume and to the evolving field of developmental research on intellectual disability (ID). The developmental theory and methodology reviewed in this volume reflect a level of precision and sophistication that could not have been imagined in our previous volumes from 1990 and 1998. These advances have led to an increasingly nuanced understanding of syndrome-specific cognitive and social developmental pathways, gene-brain-behavior relations, and transactions of individuals with their families and environments.
Perception and Multimodality
Authors: O'Callaghan Casey
Published: February 2013

The article presents some findings concerning multimodality, and the philosophical implications of these findings. One of the findings is that crossmodal illusions show that perception involves interactions among processes associated with different modalities. Patterns of crossmodal bias and recalibration reveal the organization of multimodal perceptual processes. Multimodal interactions obey intelligible principles, they resolve conflicts, and they enhance the reliability of perception. Multimodal processes also demonstrate a concern across the senses for common features and individuals, for several reasons such as the intermodal biasing and recalibration responsible for crossmodal illusions requires that information from sensory stimulation associated with different senses be taken to be commensurable. The commensurable information from different senses shares, or traces to, a common source since conflict resolution requires a common subject matter. One important lesson of multimodal effects is that an analog of the correspondence problem within a modality holds between modalities. Spatio-temporal unity, objectual unity, and integration are tied to the capacity to detect constancies and solve correspondence problems across modalities. Solving crossmodal correspondence problems requires a common modal or multimodal code that is shared among modalities.
Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Proudfoot Diane , Copeland B. Jack
Published: February 2013

In this article the central philosophical issues concerning human-level artificial intelligence (AI) are presented. AI largely changed direction in the 1980s and 1990s, concentrating on building domain-specific systems and on sub-goals such as self-organization, self-repair, and reliability. Computer scientists aimed to construct intelligence amplifiers for human beings, rather than imitation humans. Turing based his test on a computer-imitates-human game, describing three versions of this game in 1948, 1950, and 1952. The famous version appears in a 1950 article inMind, ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’ (Turing 1950). The interpretation of Turing's test is that it provides an operational definition of intelligence (or thinking) in machines, in terms of behavior. ‘Intelligent Machinery’ sets out the thesis that whether an entity is intelligent is determined in part by our responses to the entity's behavior. Wittgenstein frequently employed the idea of a human being acting like a reliable machine. A ‘living reading-machine’ is a human being or other creature that is given written signs, for example Chinese characters, arithmetical symbols, logical symbols, or musical notation, and who produces text spoken aloud, solutions to arithmetical problems, and proofs of logical theorems. Wittgenstein mentions that an entity that manipulates symbols genuinely reads only if he or she has a particular history, involving learning and training, and participates in a social environment that includes normative constraints and further uses of the symbols.
Conceptual Development: The Case of Essentialism
Authors: Gelman Susan A. , Ware Elizabeth A.
Published: February 2013

The article focuses on conceptual development in children. There are two primary components to psychological essentialism, which include the belief that certain categories are natural kinds and the belief that there is some unobservable property. Psychologists examine the psychological representations of concepts whereas philosophers have examined essentialism with the goal of addressing a range of issues such as psychological, semantic, and metaphysical. The study of essentialism in children provides insights into children's cognition and information regarding the roots of human concepts. Essentialism includes several component beliefs, including that categories have sharp, immutable boundaries, that category members share deep, nonobvious commonalities, and that category membership has an innate, genetic, or biological basis. Kamp and Partee suggest that categories are seen with absolutely sharp boundaries only in abstract domains. Essentialism does not require that categories be treated as absolute but essentialism is the claim that category boundaries are intensified. Essentialism emerges early and consistently, does not require formal schooling, and if anything may be even stronger in early childhood than later. The detailed studies of parental input to children about categories also suggest that parents do not provide explicit instruction about essentialist beliefs.
Dualism and the Beholder's Eye: Inversional Symmetry in Chromatic Tonal Music
Authors: Tymoczko Dmitri
Published: February 2013

This article considers the theme of inversional symmetry as it manifests itself in Riemann's theoretical writings and in late-nineteenth-century chromatic music. It examines the mathematical properties of the concepts of symmetry underlying musical systems and explores how these symmetrical properties can be brought to bear in innovative ways on musical structures. Section 1 of the article provides a historical background by examining Rameau and his proposed laws of tonal harmony which are invariant under four basic operations: reordering, octave shift, note duplication, and chromatic disposition. It also discusses Weber's Roman numeral notation which develops and fulfills Rameau's ideas. Section 2 discusses Riemann's “dualism” as an attempt to incorporate inversion into the Rameau/Weber collection of symmetries. Section 3 examines whether the “second practice” of the nineteenth-century chromaticism involves inversional symmetry. Section 4 provides a Riemannian understanding of dualism and Section 5 illustrates a contrapuntal approach by examining a Brahms intermezzo.
On the Imagination of Tone in Schubert'sLiedesend(D473),Trost(D523), andGretchens Bitte(D564)
Authors: Clark Suzannah
Published: February 2013

This article examines figures 1 and 2 in Riemann's 1914–1915 article. First, it examines the different aspect of Riemann's conception of tone: his notion of Klangvertretung, that any tone may project or assume meaning as one of the three elements of a major or minor triad. Second, it explores Riemann's notion of Klangvertretung as outlined in his “Ideen zu einer ‘Lehre on den Tonvorstellungen’”. Third, the article demonstrates the analytical utility of the concept, exploring how attention to the changing triadic-functional identities of tones in three Schubert Lieder offers an enriched view of structural and chromatic third relations in the works.
Metric Freedoms in Brahms's Songs
Authors: Berry Paul
Published: February 2013

This article focuses on Riemann's thoughts on the temporal features of music, found in his article “Metric Freedoms in Brahms's Songs”. Riemann's essay is notable, first, because it presents an almost contemporary account of Brahms's music. Second, it presents what is for Riemann a rare analytical account involving vocal music—a repertoire Riemann generally considers as inferior to absolute music. And third, its dissimilarity to Riemann's more systematic theories of rhythm and meter makes his essay interesting. In this article, the aim is to demonstrate using two examples, how in an individual case, one can clarify musical structure through detailed analysis hence opening up new sources of appreciation. Two universally known songs are used as samples in this article and these are: “Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer,” op. 105/2, and “Schwalbe, sag'mir an,” op. 107/3. In addition, the article also reveals Riemann as a sensitive analyst, responding to issues of declamation, harmony, and notated meter, and offers insights not simply into the music but into Riemann's theoretical and analytical methodologies as well.
Being
Authors: Wippel John F.
Published: February 2013

Aquinas mentioned that the word ‘being’ (ens) signifies ‘that which is’ or ‘that which exists’. Aquinas recognized with Parmenides that the act of being cannot be divided by something completely outside being itself in the way a genus is divided into species by differences, for outside being there is only nonbeing and, as he also held, being is not a genus. Aquinas reasons that being can be divided by certain modes that are realized within being. These may be either certain general modes that follow upon every being, or more particularized modes that correspond to diverse modes of existing. The general modes of being (often referred to as transcendentals) are found wherever being itself is realized so that every being is also ‘one’, a ‘thing’, ‘something’ ‘good’, and ‘true’. Aquinas denied that a proper definition could be given for substance or for the other predicaments because each of them is a supreme genus and again because being itself cannot be regarded as a genus. Aquinas argued for a fundamental composition and distinction within every finite substance of two distinct ontological principles of being that include an essence that accounts for the fact that it is a being of a given kind and a distinct act of existing (esse) that accounts for the fact that it actually exists.
Causation
Authors: Rota Michael
Published: February 2013

Aquinas used the term ‘agent’ referring to a created substance or to God. Aquinas's concept of substance explains that substances are set apart from accidents by the fact that substances are subsistent things. Aquinas believed that each substance belong to a particular species and has a complete nature common to any other members of that species that there may be. He also mentioned that there is a distinctive set of causal powers corresponding to each specific nature. Aquinas called the change (or motion) produced by the agent the ‘passion’. Aquinas considered active powers as real (though not necessarily physical) components of a thing that enable it to act in certain ways. A passive power is something posited to account for the fact that a thing is capable of being acted upon in a certain way, that is, to account for the fact that a thing is capable of undergoing a certain sort of passion. Aquinas claimed that every agent (living and nonliving) acts by intending some end. Aquinas did not think that inanimate objects do things out of an awareness of some goal. Aquinas distinguished two types of inclinations that include natural and voluntary. The types of natural inclinations are fire's inclination to heat and a stone's inclination to fall. A voluntary inclination is just any act of the will.
God's Simplicity
Authors: Stump Eleonore
Published: February 2013

Aquinas explained the doctrine of divine simplicity with three claims. The first distinguished God from material objects. It is impossible that God have any spatial or temporal parts that could be distinguished from one another as here rather than there or as now rather than then. The second claims that the standard distinction between an entity's essential and intrinsic accidental properties cannot apply to God. It is impossible that God has any intrinsic accidental properties. The third claim rules out the possibility of components of any kind in the essence that is the divine nature. Even when it has been recognized that all God's intrinsic properties must be essential to him, it must be acknowledged as well. Aquinas maintained that because God is simple, human beings can know what God is not, but they cannot know anything of what God is. If the doctrine of simplicity implies that God is esse alone, then it seems that many of the standard divine attributes discussed and accepted by Aquinas cannot be applied to God. Those attributes apply only to something that is an id quod est.
God's Goodness
Authors: Honnefelder Ludger
Published: February 2013

Aquinas dealt with the science whose subject is God in his Summa theologiae. He focused on the determining of the predicates such as existence/being, simplicity, perfection, and goodness, characterizing God. He mentioned that one couldn't see God in his essence, but rather one cognizes him through creatures under the aspect of a cause, abstracting from creatures the mode of excellence. Aquinas concluded that every being desires its perfection, the perfection or form is a similitude of the agent that causes perfection by actualizing a thing's form, and the agent cause, itself must be something desirable and therefore good as stated in the previous definition. Aristotle defined ‘good’ as the ‘desirable’ (appetibile) only as regards active human desiring agents, Aquinas extends it beyond active agents, claiming that all beings have a fundamental desire, namely to reach their perfection. Aquinas argued that even non-rational creatures desire God insofar as God has given them a natural inclination to their ends. He also introduces and defined the predicate of perfection in order to demonstrate that God is ‘perfect’ (perfectus). Aquinas distinguished a twofold way in which something can be perfected with regard to the two predicates ‘true’ (verum) and ‘good’ (bonum). The intellect is perfected by its object according to its kind (species), the will according to its being (esse).
Human Freedom and Agency
Authors: Williams Thomas
Published: February 2013

Aquinas argued that every human action is for the sake of some end. Aquinas distinguished between a human action (actus humanus) and an action of a human being (action hominis). Human actions are those that proceed from human beings in virtue of their distinguishing power, which is to be in control of their own actions (dominus suorum actuum) through reason and will. Anything else that a human being does can be called the action of a human being, but not a human action. Human actions are those that are willed on the basis of rational deliberation. Aquinas argued that at any given time, a human being can have only one ultimate end. This single ultimate end can be an aggregate of goods that the agent regards as collectively constituting his perfection. This ultimate end, whether unitary or aggregate, must be (Aquinas argued) the ultimate explanation for all of a given person's actions. All human beings have the same ultimate end, for all human beings desire their own perfection, though different people will have different ideas about what perfection consists in. Consilium is an investigation of the means by which the intended end may be attained or realized. Consilium terminates with an act of iudicium, the intellect's judgment that one of the means that have received the will's consent is the best, all things considered.
Conscience andSynderesis
Authors: Hoffmann Tobias
Published: February 2013

Aquinas played a significant role in clarifying the concept of conscience and the theoretical problems connected with it. Aquinas assigned to synderesis principally a cognitive role. He argued that human beings have a fundamental grasp of right and wrong, which is infallible. Aquinas connected synderesis to natural law, identifying the first practical principles, of which synderesis is the habit, with the general principles of natural law. He occasionally replaced the word synderesis by the term understanding (intellectus), the intellectual virtue of grasping the first principles of reason in his Summa theologiae. Aquinas understood the directives of synderesis as formal principles, not as concrete moral norms. Aquinas conceived of synderesis as habitual knowledge. According to Aquinas, conscience is the consideration of a specific case in light of one's moral knowledge. Moral knowledge comprises the first principles of synderesis, as well as more particular moral directives. For Aquinas, the distinction of generally good, evil, and indifferent acts does not have any bearing on when erring conscience binds and when it does not. Aquinas argued that the binding character of conscience, whether erring or not, means that acting against conscience is always evil.
Practical Reasoning
Authors: Osborne Thomas
Published: February 2013

Aquinas argued that practical reason is distinct but not entirely insulated from speculative reason. Practical reason is distinct from speculative reason because it is ordered to some work or end. The difference between the practical and speculative intellects is that the speculative is concerned only with the truth, whereas the practical apprehends the truth for the sake of some further end. The rectitude of the speculative intellect consists solely in conformity to things. The practical intellect too must conform to the world but its rectitude consists further in an end or operation. It is not only measured by the world but also itself measures the world. Aquinas distinguished differently between the degrees of practical knowledge throughout his career. The basic problem is that practical knowledge is about something that can be done (operabile), but not everyone knows such a work with the purpose of doing it. Aquinas used the work of building a house to illustrate his point that knowledge can be divided according to the thing known, the way it is known, and the end for which it is known. Aquinas argued that speculative knowledge can also be made practical through the manner of knowing or the end such as an architectural student might also have speculative knowledge of a house as something that can be built.
Human Knowledge
Authors: Pickavé Martin
Published: February 2013

The article provides an overview on Aquinas's cognitive psychology and his views about how the things can be cognized. Aquinas's account of cognition and the acquisition of knowledge are focused on two fundamental principles: sensory perception is the starting point of human cognition and there is a significant difference between sensory powers and intellect of human beings. Aquinas mentioned that human beings are equipped with a variety of sensory powers, which can be divided into two groups, the external senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) and the internal senses (the common sense, imagination, the estimative power, memory). Aquinas concluded that human beings have a cognitive power, the intellect, which transcends the sensory powers. Aquinas described the intellect's reliance on sensation in general and the images provided by the imagination in particular with the talk of ‘connaturality’ (connaturalitas) between the intellect and the input provided by the sensory powers. Aquinas argued that cognitive acts require the reception of representational devices or ‘species’ (species). Aquinas argued that there is theological knowledge, which is a nonparadigmatic form of knowledge (scientia). The most important distinction between theological knowledge and naturally acquired knowledge is that the principles of naturally acquired knowledge are self-evident for the knowing subject, whereas the principles of theological knowledge, the articles of faith, are accepted on the basis of the light of faith, which is a gift of divine grace.
Incarnation
Authors: Gorman Michael
Published: February 2013

The article explains Aquinas's view on incarnation. Aquinas mentioned that Christ is one individual rational substance. The incarnation is not a relationship between two rational substances such as a relationship by which the Word of God makes Jesus holy. Aquinas thought that Christ could have had every possible human perfection, but at the same time Aquinas was clear that Christ did have imperfections or defects both of body and of soul. Aquinas argued that Christ took on bodily defects for three reasons. Firstly, to be able to atone for sins of human beings by taking punishment upon himself, secondly, to make his human nature more believable, and lastly, to be able to provide us with an example of patience in the face of suffering. Aquinas would say that a good test of whether one has correct views in Christology is whether one accepts the ‘communication of idioms’, that is, the sharing of properties. Aquinas argued that everything that possesses a human nature must have absolute existence as a supposit, that is, every human being must be a supposit. There can be a human nature that is humanizing but not supposit-supporting is certainly to deviate from the usual way of thinking.
The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Authors: Pinsent Andrew
Published: February 2013

Aquinas and Aristotle have different views on the types of virtues. Aquinas claimed that proper or perfect virtues are not acquired, but infused in human beings by God. These infused virtues include counterparts of many of the acquired moral and intellectual virtues. Aquinas argued that only the infused virtues are perfect and deserve to be called ‘virtues’ simply. Aquinas argued that cardinal virtues are not acquired virtues. There are seven gifts, which Aquinas appended to various theological and cardinal virtues. The cognitive gifts are understanding (Intellectus) and knowledge (Scientia) that are appended to the virtue of faith, wisdom (Sapientia), appended to the virtue of caritas, and counsel (Consilium), appended to the virtue of prudence. Aquinas claimed that the gift of knowledge enables ‘participated likeness’ of God's knowledge, knowledge that is absolute and simple rather than discursive, as for the homonymous intellectual virtue. A similar notion of participation can be found in Aquinas's descriptions of the other gifts. Aquinas's descriptions of gift-based movement therefore express two main principles. First, he described a situation in which a person's stance toward some object involves a participation in God's stance toward the same object. Second, gift-based movement involves what Aquinas described as a union or oneness of the soul with God. Aquinas was clear that anyone can possess the infused virtues and gifts.
The Development of Aquinas's Thought
Authors: Pini Giorgio
Published: February 2013

The article focuses on the evolution of Aquinas's thought during his career. A significant change can be documented with regard to Aquinas's views on the role sensory images (phantasmata) play in human intellectual cognition. In the first stage of his career, Aquinas held that there are two instances of human cognition that make exception to the general rule of the twofold function of sensory images. Later on, he rejected the view that cognitive acts occurring without abstraction from sensory images or without turning back toward sensory images can count as genuinely human acts. In his later years, Aquinas clearly adopted the view that sensory images are necessary not only to what typically counts as human cognition, but to any act of human intellectual cognition whatsoever, in any possible state. Aquinas's earlier position with regard to Christ's knowledge was that Christ had only infused, not acquired knowledge. Some years afterwards, however, Aquinas adopted the view that Christ did not have innate knowledge of all and every essence. Aquinas always held that separated souls couldn't acquire new information by abstracting intelligible species from sensory images, since separated souls are not united with their bodies and as a consequence have no access to sensory information. In his later years, he argued that human souls keep their own nature whether they are united to their bodies or are separated from them.
The Influence of Aquinas
Authors: Upham Christopher
Published: February 2013

The article aims to understand the influence of Aquinas's doctrines. The most salient effects of Aquinas's doctrines are to be found in the medieval university setting. Aquinas earned a significant authority among some Orthodox theologians, an authority that is evident not long after his passing in 1274. By the fifteenth century, Aquinas was familiar enough in Eastern Christianity that exceptional Byzantine theologians, such as George Courtesis, would study Aquinas closely and manifest open respect for his thinking. Certain Jewish rabbis such as Hillel of Verona and Judah Romano also appreciated his works. These Italian Jews sought to interpret Moses Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed without adopting the radical Averroistic Aristotelianism of some of their contemporaries. Aquinas also acquired the title Doctor in addition to his renown as the Doctor Communis. Francisco de Vitoria made some significant contributions with his own applications of Aquinas's moral and legal doctrines to the political questions of his day. Vitoria published few works during his own lifetime, but his lectures were immensely popular. Thomas de Vio Cajetan took up the Summa theologiae, and the resulting volumes remain to this day as the standard commentary on Aquinas's masterpiece, published along with the Summa theologiae in the leonine edition.
Puritanism
Authors: Shuffelton Frank
Published: February 2013

This article narrates how Transcendentalism and Puritanism, despite basic differences, are literally related. Transcendentalism was a New England phenomenon and Puritanism had deeply laid foundations there. The article explains the arguments of the Transcendentalists and Puritans and how they differed in their opinions on the similarity of both the “isms.” There were differences among Transcendentalists itself on the matter. Subjects such as the concept of God, the meaning of life and the morality of man were thoroughly defined and redefined. Though the Puritan doctrines did not hold appeal for long, the spirit of the Puritan ancestors was everywhere in New England. For the Puritans, who in other respects held very conventional notions of gender roles, saving grace was a great equalizer. The most deeply felt link between the Puritans and Transcendentalists might be less in the beliefs themselves than in the ways in which they lived out their beliefs as saints and prophets.
Unitarianism
Authors: Grodzins Dean
Published: February 2013

This article explains the connection of the New England Unitarianism to the emergence and development of Transcendentalism and the circumstances in which the emergence took place. The article states that all of the members of the Transcendentalist movement were affiliated at some point with New England Unitarian churches. Some were even Unitarians throughout their lives; some started in another faith and became Unitarians. Most of the leading male Transcendentalists spent part or all of their careers as Unitarian ministers. Transcendentalists looked upon Unitarian leaders as mentors. The religious descendants of the Unitarians, the Unitarian Universalists, take pride in Transcendentalism as part of their particular denominational heritage. The article also talks about the many dimensions of the relationship between Transcendentalists and “mainstream Unitarians”. One significant theological difference between mainstream Unitarians and Transcendentalists was their divergent views of the significance and historicity of biblical miracles, particularly the miracles of Jesus.
World Revolutions
Authors: Ziser Michael
Published: February 2013

The nineteenth century was a period of revolutions in Europe and America. This article explains how Transcendentalism responded to the revolutions. The article discusses Transcendentalism as movement in the wake of three major revolutions in the period—The American, Haiti, and French Revolutions. Most of the Transcendentalists were well acquainted with the revolutions at the initial stage itself, and this was seen in their thoughts and writings. For the Transcendentalists Haiti was a touchstone for lingering questions about the justice of the French Revolution and the proper tactics of the U.S. abolitionist movement. The article states that the French Revolution played a relatively small role in the imaginations of the Transcendentalists despite its enormous significance to European and world history. The reasons for this were various, including the historical and cultural distance of antebellum New England from eighteenth-century France.
Politics and Economics
Authors: Gougeon Len
Published: February 2013

It was during the period 1830 to 1860, which was called “the era of reform”, that the Transcendentalist movement flourished. This article talks about the political and economic changes that took place in America during that time and how they helped the Transcendentalists to prosper with their ideology. This was the time in which America experienced change on all the levels, including migration from Europe. Though the Transcendentalists had taken part in the capitalist market economy, they strongly argued to alter it in favor of the working class. They demanded political and economic reforms and spent their time projecting poverty, women's rights, and labor reform. Recognition for the honor and dignity of labor in the new market economy was widely demanded for the future felicity of American democracy. The Transcendentalists also criticized the growing materialism and capitalistic emphasis on property, which seemed to dominate America's social consciousness
Woman's Rights and Feminism
Authors: Cole Phyllis
Published: February 2013

This article outlines a tradition of women and their male supporters who addressed the status of women in a Transcendentalist vein. Transcendentalist women found influence in writers and therefore headed in that direction. Women had no Harvard regimen to boycott or nay pulpit or citizenship from which to stand aside as they were denied access to higher studies. They claimed the power of private thought and by so doing made a case for authority in church and republic. Margaret Fuller's career was one of the best examples of it and her contributions are projected throughout the article. Well-read women became writers, first in letters and diaries, but then by submitting their work to periodicals. Even book publication, though unconventional, was not barred by the formal gender prescriptions of church and state. The article states that private letters and journals were the sources that expressed the most unfiltered thoughts of Transcendentalist women.