bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Orchestration of female reproductive cycles
Authors: Stevenson Tyler John 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter considers aspects of a fundamental characteristic of all organisms, reproduction, and uses the female reproductive cycle to demonstrate that programmed changes in physiology can occur over times scales longer than a day. It describes the short-term homeostatic regulation of regulated reproductive variables, such as gonadotropins and gonadal steroids (i.e., estrogen), showing that they maintain stability using negative feedback that includes the gene kisspeptin expression in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, or direct feedback to GnRH cells in the case of birds. Finally, the chapter shows that programmed reproductive rheostasis is established by both positive feedback from ovarian estrogen triggered by the gradual rise in estrogen concentrations, which reflects follicular development and follicular granulosa cell activity, and a switch from the arcuate nucleus kisspeptin regulation to anteroventricular periventricular kisspeptin signaling.
Modeling physiological dynamics
Authors: Stevenson Tyler John 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter discusses three very different conceptual frameworks that describe homeostasis, rheostasis, and allostasis: closed-loop transfer functions based on control theory for homeostasis; various models that include time-dependent components for rheostasis; and other forms of dynamical systems for allostasis. It shows how differential equations that include multiple computations incorporating feedback, time-series, and Hopfield networks are needed to develop a single unifying model that can describe the hierarchical organization of physiological stability. The chapter also shows that developing accurate models of physiological stability is hampered by the significant lack of measured values for any regulated variable that were collected based on rheostatic and allostatic experimentation. Overcoming current limitations would require massive sample collection from individuals; analysis of not only the regulated variable but also the input and output values of the sensor, controller, and effector; and, the processing power of a quantum computer to compute the equation for the vast number of physiological values and complex computations.
Challenges to physiological anticipation
Authors: Stevenson Tyler John 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter reviews two remaining questions on rheostasis: What are the consequences of long-term disruption of rheostatic processes to animal health and well-being? How do regulated variables impact programmed or reactive responses in another regulated variable? The chapter addresses the first question by describing scenarios of disrupted rheostatic processes and uses shift work in humans and climate change as examples of detrimental effects on regulated changes in physiological stability. It then addresses the second question by describing Nicholas Mrosovsky’s concept of second order rheostasis, the modulation of rheostasis by altering the set point of the regulatory system, using examples of altered set points caused by conflicts between regulated variables to illustrate the impact of changes in one regulated variable on the set point for another, different regulated variable. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the potential consequences of adapting to the final frontier, and the impact of space exploration on the regulation of physiological processes in humans, and domesticated organisms.
Interlude From the Ivory Tower to The Street
Authors: Hunt Luke William 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
The Interlude explores methodologies for moving from theoretical concerns about policing (ideal theory) to practical concerns about policing in the existing world (nonideal theory). The Interlude suggests that addressing police injustice in the existing world requires an outline of an ideal of justice, which helps ensure that efforts to address real-world injustice have a target for which to aim. The Interlude claims that plausible, uncontroversial accounts of justice will include the values discussed in Part I of the book, including good faith, honesty, transparency, legitimacy, personhood, and their normative backdrop in universalistic positive morality (UPM). Although bright-line rules are unrealistic, the Interlude proposes a “prerogative power” framework (based in part on established commitments to personhood and the rule of law) for assessing the justification of the police’s deviation from rule-of-law principles to engage in deception, dishonesty, and bad faith that are on par with fraud.
Kings in All but Name
Authors: Conlan Thomas D. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
In the sixteenth century, the Ōuchi family were kings in all but name over much of the Japanese archipelago. Immensely wealthy, they controlled sea lanes stretching out from Japan to Korea and China, while the Ōuchi city of Yamaguchi functioned as an important regional entrepôt, with an expanding population and a host of temples and shrines. The family was unique in claiming ethnic descent from Korean kings, and—remarkably for this time—such claims were recognized in both Korea and Japan. Their position, coupled with dominance over strategic ports and mines, allowed them to facilitate trade throughout East and Southeast Asia. They played a key cultural role in disseminating Confucian texts, Buddhist sutras, ink paintings, and pottery, and in creating a distinctive, hybrid culture that fused Japanese, Korean, and Chinese beliefs, objects, and customs. This monograph reveals that Japan from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries was an ethnically diverse state, replete with extensive mines, and closely bound in trading ties to Korea and China. It focuses on the Ōuchi, a magnate family from western Japan that was overthrown shortly after the period of initial Portuguese contact. The work provides a chronological narrative of their rule, focusing on the Ōuchi rulers, and showing how rituals, policies, politics, and economics were interwoven, and that what has been thought of as a period of warfare and turmoil was actually a stable and prosperous trading state.
The Origins of the Ōuchi
Authors: Conlan Thomas D. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter discusses the Korean origins of the Ōuchi as specialists in mining and explains how they emigrated to Japan and settled in the west. It shows how different lineages settled in distinct regions and relied on rituals and religious patronage to assert their supremacy and also provides an overview of star worship, most specifically devoted to the deity Myōken, and explains how each competing lineage patronized distinctive cultic sites and destroyed those of their rivals. Finally, this chapter recounts the rise of the settlement in a place called Ōuchi by the weakest lineage of the three lineages and shows how their prospects were damaged by political turmoil in the 1330s.
The Founder Ōuchi Hiroyo
Authors: Conlan Thomas D. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter recounts how Ōuchi regional authority was established by Ōuchi Hiroyo, who destroyed his rivals during Japan’s civil wars of the fourteenth century, and explains how he conquered neighboring provinces, promoted copper mining, and founded a planned settlement at Yamaguchi. Likewise it reveals that conquest entailed military campaigns and complementary ritual assertions of authority and highlights the significance of local shrines. It also shows how the Ōuchi, by conquering a vital choke point, gained control of western sea lanes and received recognition by the Ashikaga shogunate, Japan’s second warrior government. The chapter ends by showing how Hiroyo came into conflict with the Ashikaga and, shortly before being deposed from the powerful office of shugo, or governor, of those provinces, he used his authority to make them ungovernable.
Ōuchi Yoshihiro and the Forging of Ōuchi Identity
Authors: Conlan Thomas D. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter provides a biography of Ōuchi Hiroyo’s successor, Yoshihiro. It first explains a conflict over inheritance and argues that succession was defined as much by violence as by designation. It then recounts how Yoshihiro rebelled against his father and relied on Ashikaga authority to gain power. He gained authority in Hakata, an important harbor in Kyushu, and from there, made contacts in Korea and China. Yoshihiro reached out to the tottering Koryŏ dynasty and the newly founded Chosŏn dynasty to assert descent from Korean kings, which was duly recognized. With this authority and with wealth, Yoshihiro tried to destroy the Ashikaga shogunate but was defeated and killed in 1399. Finally, the chapter explains how conquest and the transfer of deities was related.
Fraternal Succession, Expanding Trade, and Durable Administration
Authors: Conlan Thomas D. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter explores changing naming and inheritance practices, as lateral succession gave way to linear ones. It reveals Ōuchi conflicts and a weakening of their authority vis-à-vis the Ashikaga. At the same time it recounts a process of increased administrative and legal stability as governance became disassociated from the person of the Ōuchi ruler. The chapter also shows that the 1430s were a period where extensive shipping, as large trading junks allowed for large-scale trade in East Asia as Japanese shipping took off after Chinese shipping declined once the Ming admiral Zheng He’s voyages ceased. Finally, it reveals how the Ōuchi promoted worship of their newly privatized Usa Hachiman shrine.
Trader, Shogun, King, and God
Authors: Conlan Thomas D. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter explains the process whereby Ōuchi Norihiro received Korean recognition of his ethnic claims and assertion of royal descent as the scion of the Paekche kingdom. Having received wide recognition for his claims of royal ancestry, and de facto social equality with the Ashikaga shoguns, Norihiro attempted to create his own warrior government and supplant the Ashikaga regime. It also reveals how Norihiro consolidated control over a network of ports on the Japan and Inland seas and established official tally trade with Korea. Finally, the chapter recounts the deterioration of relations with the Ashikaga, the Ōuchi blockade of the Inland Sea, and the onset of civil war.
Max Weber’s Polytheism
Authors: Cavanaugh William T. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Though credited with declaring that the modern world is disenchanted, Weber himself did not really buy the disenchantment narrative. He saw how rationalization produces its own types of irrationality. This chapter explores Weber’s “unthought”: that disenchantment is not the disappearance of the sacred but the migration of the sacred from the “religious” to the “secular.” Weber worried that gods of our own making—especially the bureaucratic state and capital—have come to dominate us. This chapter argues that disenchantment is not the condition of modernity but the way we have learned to describe the condition of modernity. We need to overcome the dichotomy of enchanted/disenchanted.
Charles Taylor’s Naïveté
Authors: Cavanaugh William T. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter examines Charles Taylor’s account of the secular age as disenchanted. Taylor’s account is based in a series of questionable binaries: secular/religious, nonbelievers/believers, immanence/transcendence, natural/supernatural, disenchantment/enchantment, and so on. In every case, Taylor tries to bring the two poles closer together, but this chapter argues that Taylor does not do enough to question the terms under which the binaries are given. The chapter argues, however, that resources to question these binaries can be found in Taylor’s work itself. Taylor claims that those who confine themselves to the immanent frame in fact are “responding to transcendent reality, but misrecognizing it.” To be true to this insight, Taylor needs a theology of idolatry.
The Unsplendid Idolatry of Consumerism
Authors: Cavanaugh William T. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter examines consumer culture as a type of idolatry. Using the work of Mary Douglas and Daniel Miller, it begins with a sympathetic approach to consumerism as the search for meaning in created things. Nevertheless, the pursuit of material things becomes an end in itself. The chapter consults studies of consumer behavior as religion. It considers how and why this investing of divinity in things is accompanied by the exploitation of labor, examining Marx’s analysis of commodity fetishism. The chapter updates Marx’s analysis by showing how more recent developments in capitalism illustrate the twinned dynamic of the personification of commodities and capital on the one hand and the instrumentalization of human beings on the other. Finally, the chapter examines the dynamics of narcissism in consumer culture.
Ethics and Democracy
Authors: Audi Robert 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Most religions, and certainly Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, recognize human dignity and, often influenced by some view of human dignity, see government as properly concerned to promote the common good. But religions differ in their conceptions of human dignity and the common good. If each seeks governmental favoritism for its conceptions, then a democracy that welcomes more than one religion—and recognizes multiple Christian denominations—will encounter tensions when it comes to law-making and accommodating special religious claims, such as pacifist objections to war. This essay explains how these inescapable realities favor separating church and state. That separation goes well with government’s abiding by democratic standards that are explained in much of this book, particularly standards of religious liberty and equal treatment of both different religions and non-religious citizens and institutions.
Why Shouldn’t Public Education Endorse the Religious Values Underlying the Nation’s Culture?
Authors: Audi Robert 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Both democracy and religion call for educating the populace. But there is much controversy about what should be taught and how. If government is neutral toward religion, then, in public schools, religion should not be taught “confessionally,” as opposed to historically, philosophically, and sociologically. But is educational neutrality toward religion possible in public schools when some teaching, for example of evolution, is widely considered anti-religious? And, if parents wish to give their children religious education, may they obtain governmental support in doing it? Here vouchers usable in private schools are resources. This essay distinguishes different ways of teaching religion neutrally; it proposes ways to teach even evolutionary biology neutrally toward religion; and it appraises the use of vouchers where religious liberty may justify them.
Civil Discourse as a Challenge for Citizens and Government
Authors: Audi Robert 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Regardless of our standards for non-linguistic behavior, much that we do is done in the prevailing language we live with, say English. But there are good and bad ways to use language, and it is difficult to use it well in public discourse on controversial matters. Can we avoid misleading labels and over-simple one-liners? Can we speak with mutual respect without stumbling over matters of political correctness? Can we simplify without stereotyping? Can we use our voices and style our body language to enhance understanding and defuse tension? This essay discusses these questions and sketches various standards for achieving mutual understanding and, sometimes, thereby gaining persuasiveness.
Can America Be Christian?
Authors: Audi Robert 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
There are many ways for a nation to be religious, but only some of them are compatible with separation of church and state and other elements in America’s Constitution. There are also many ways to be Christian, and so too with other religions. Is there a possibility that America could be Christian in a sense that is rich enough to satisfy Christians of many different views and also ecumenical enough for achieving the free and just democracy that is imagined in high-minded visions of America’s mission? This depends on what is included in being a Christian nation—and the same questions can be asked about other religions that might similarly characterize a nation. The question in this essay, however, concerns America viewed historically, socioculturally, and in relation to democracy as understood in these essays. For at least one conception of central elements in Christianity, the answer seems positive though the ideal is quite distant.
Awkward Silence
Authors: Plakias Alexandra 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter explores the relationship between awkwardness and epistemic and social injustice. Awkwardness inhibits the development of hermeneutical resources, making it hard to conceptualize our experiences and communicate them to others. In this way, awkwardness can be seen as a significant source of ignorance and of epistemic injustice. But this is not the only way awkwardness complicates communication. The chapter discusses several ways in which awkwardness stops us from developing the resources we need to hold others accountable and communicate our complaints. Awkwardness thus plays an important role in constructing and maintaining silence around issues like racism, misogyny, and ableism. The chapter concludes by returning to the relationship between awkwardness and shame.
The Importance of Being Awkward
Authors: Plakias Alexandra 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter concludes the book with a normative appraisal of awkwardness as well as some practical suggestions for coping with it. On a social level, the chapter suggests, people might reconceptualize what it means to experience awkwardness, and how they might view it as an invitation to write or revise social scripts. The idea of awkwardness as an opportunity for “social improvisation” is discussed. The chapter argues that on an individual level, people should consider their own social position—their “social capital”—as a factor when deciding how to cope with a potentially awkward situation. Sometimes, awkwardness is inevitable, and voluntarily confronting it can make things less awkward for others. The chapter concludes by discussing whether and why awkwardness is sometimes preferable to the alternatives.
A Theory of Insurance and Gambling
Authors: Nyman John A. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This book holds that the demand for insurance is best understood not by focusing on risk preferences, but by focusing on the additional income, the states of the world that trigger the income transfer from the insurer, and the value of income (and consumption) in those states. It is unlikely that demand can be understood if the analyst limits the gain from insurance to coverage of the uninsured loss alone. It is also unlikely that the demand can be understood if the analyst limits the analysis to a movement along a static risk-averse utility or value function, rather than acknowledging that a shift of this function, and thus in the utility or value of additional income, often coincides with the occurrence of the event that triggers the payout. This book also holds that the demand for recreational gambling is not motivated by a desire for risk, but by a desire for additional income that does not require work. This additional work-free income is obtained because of an uncertain change in the state of the world, such as a lucky roll of the dice or spin of the roulette wheel. Although gambling motives are multifaceted, and include, for example, the desire for entertainment or social interaction, none of these alternative motivations would be able to generate the level of gambling behavior commonly observed if gamblers had to work for their winnings, like they normally would need to in order to obtain the same additional income without gambling.
Demand for Insurance
Authors: Nyman John A. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter presents the conventional theory of the demand for insurance and compares it to the quid pro quo theory. It shows how, with the same assumptions, the quid pro quo analysis of demand would lead to the same welfare gain as the conventional theory. It then shows how the conclusion from conventional theory that demanders of insurance seek certainty has led economists to ignore five important welfare gains from insurance. These gains are captured by the quid pro quo theory and change the nature of the policy issues and prescriptions. The chapter ends with a digression on how the decomposition of quantity demanded from a price reduction generated by coinsurance differs from the decomposition generated by an exogenous drop in the market price. It begins with a review of the origins of the concept of utility and of utility functions that are increasing with income at a decreasing rate.
Insurance and Gambling Supply
Authors: Nyman John A. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
In this chapter, the history of the development of the insurance and gambling industries is reviewed. The history of these industries is revealing because it shows how early firms adopted behaviors consistent with the concepts of probability and the law of large numbers, many years before these concepts were formally described by mathematicians. The story of the mathematicians who first wrote about and popularized these concepts is then also presented. The chapter ends with a discussion of the motivations of these firms. It argues that, even though measures were commonly taken in both these industries to reduce risk, any businessman or woman who owned a firm in these very risky businesses could hardly ever be regarded as being adverse to risk.
The Role of Loss Aversion in Insurance
Authors: Nyman John A. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter focuses on the loss aversion aspect of prospect theory and its role in the quid pro quo theory of the demand for insurance. It begins by describing the difference between loss aversion and risk aversion, and the empirical studies that have found this difference. Then the theories behind what causes loss aversion are reviewed. The ways in which loss aversion is measured empirically is discussed next. After that, the empirical literature on the impact of loss aversion on the demand for insurance is reviewed, as is the literature on the ways in which the relationship between loss aversion and demand for insurance can be altered. The chapter ends with a summary of the three factors covered so far that are deemed to affect the demand for insurance under the quid pro quo theory.
Conclusions
Authors: Nyman John A. 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
This chapter summarizes the main components of the quid pro quo theory compared to the corresponding components of conventional theory. After considering some of the empirical challenges that would be faced in applying the new theory, the main contributions of the theory are summarized. The chapter then illustrates the importance of the quid pro quo theory by reimagining the last 75 years of health insurance policy if it were based on the quid pro quo theory instead. The chapter, and book, concludes by reiterating the the book’s thesis. In an appendix, the acceptance among economists of two aspects of the quid pro quo theory—prospect theory’s finding that consumers prefer the risk of loss to a certain loss, and the theoretical finding that much of moral hazard is due to income effects—is shown to be far from complete. Some reasons for the reluctance to accept these aspects are suggested.