Arguments For Conclusion Research Articles

New type of elastic rotational waves in geo-medium and vortex geodynamics

Natural-science concepts of rotational movements and the ‘lumpy’ structure of medium are reviewed with a focus on key aspects. Through using torsional traps for hunting and «implementing» mechanical torque for ignition, Homo sapiens developed to man. Vortex movements «impregnated» in spiral structures of shells and torsional movements of toothy whales and fish were intuitively perceived by man as major stable movements of the environment. Based on the above, the ancient philosophy established the concept of the uniform world represented by atomic («noncuttable») structure of medium and vortex movements of ether. Based on conclusive arguments stated by R. Dekart, H. Helmgolz, Lord Kelvin and others within the framework of classical physics and in the first half of the 20th century by scientists in quantum physics and cosmogony, both «quantum structure» («lumpiness») and rotation («vorticity») are integral features of matter – space – time throughout the whole range from elementary particles to galaxies and galactic clusters. Nowadays researchers in natural sciences, particularly in the Earth sciences, call attention again to the problem of structure of matter and its movements. In the 1920s, Chinese geologist Li Siguang established fundamentals of vortex geodynamics. In the second half of the 20th century, Li Siguan’s concepts were developed by geologists O.I. Slenzak and I.V. Melekestsev. Geologist A.V. Peive, mechanic L.I. Sedov and physicist M.A. Sadovsky put forward a concept of block structure of the geo-medium (geological and geophysical medium) and proposed a justified assumption that such blocks can move by own torque. This method of movement is confirmed by results of geological and tectonophysical studies, as well as instrumental geophysical measurements obtained from a variety of stations and focal zones of strong earthquakes. Many researchers, including W. Elsasser and V.N. Nikolaevsky, develop fundamentals of nonlinear wave mechanics of the geo-medium, admitting rotational movements of blocks. According to М.V. Stovas, V.Е. Khain and other researchers, rotation of the planet around its axis is of critical importance for understating the origin of geodynamic movements. Based on the review of results from the previous comprehensive geological and geophysical studies, a conclusion is made on the torque origin of rotating block geo-medium which is termed as Peive–Sedov–Sadovsky medium. Analyses of migration of earthquake foci and volcanic eruptions and movements of edges of tectonic plates provided grounds to design a principally new model, and this rotational model is described in the present publication. Blocks and plates interacting with each other in the model are interrelated by long-range elastic fields which comprise a uniform planetary geodynamic medium, i.e. ‘self-consistent’ state of the geo-medium. Briefly reviewed are data about vortex geological structures and rotary motions of blocks and plates; such data have been detected and recorded in abundance in a variety of geophysical fields. It is stressed that similar, in principle, vortex movements / flows are solutions of the well known Dirichlet–Dedekind–Riemann problem of rotating and gravitating liquid drop that is the problem of the Earth’s equilibrium shape. According to the proposed rotational model, geodynamic solutions of the rotational model combine geodynamic flows in the solution of the problem of the Earth’s equilibrium shape and geologic-geophysical vortex structures and movements on the Earth’s surface in one and the same class of phenomena. It is proposed to apply such solutions for establishing a new geological paradigm – new torque (and/or wave / vortex) geodynamics.

The meaning of poverty

r HE BELIEF that poverty has been virtually eliminated in Britain is commonly held. It has been reiterated in parliament . and the press and has gained authority from a stream of books and papers published by economists, sociolc)gists and others in the postwar years.l In the main the proposition rests on three generalizations which are accepted as facts. The first is that full employment, combined with larger real wages and the enormous increase in the numbers of married women in paid employment, has brought prosperity to the mass of the population. The second is that there has been a marked redistribution of income from rich to poor and, indeed, a continuing equalization of income and wealth. And the third is that the introduction of a welfare state has created a net-though some prefer to use the metaphor a feather bed-which prevents nearly all those who are sick, disabled, old or unemployed from falling below a civilized standard of subsistence. Each of these generalizations needs to be examined carefully. We might, for example, ask whether a population of the present size, with 400,000 registered unemployed, constitutes a society with 'full employment'; or whether to the oicial numbers of the unemployed, we should add many thousands of married women, handicapped persons and persons of pensiollable age who do not register with employment exchanges, but who would take certain forms of paid work, particularly light or sheltered work, if it was available. Again, we might ask whether postwar Britain justifies the epithet of a 'welfare' state in relation either to contemporary needs and resources or to the social services which existed during and before the war. But perhaps the crucial concepts embedded in these three generalizations which should give us pause are those of 'prosperity', 'equality' and 'subsistence'. I cannot attempt to deal comprehensively with these elusive concepts. I shall merely try to say something about the meaning of 'subsistence', which appears to govern much contemporary thought about the subject of poverty. My main thesis is that both 'poverty' and 'subsistence' are relative concepts and that they can only be deSned in relation to the material and emotional resources available at a particular time to the members either of a particular society or different societies.

CRYOETHICS: SEEKING LIFE AFTER DEATH

Cryonic suspension is a relatively new technology that offers those who can afford it the chance to be 'frozen' for future revival when they reach the ends of their lives. This paper will examine the ethical status of this technology and whether its use can be justified. Among the arguments against using this technology are: it is 'against nature', and would change the very concept of death; no friends or family of the 'freezee' will be left alive when he is revived; the considerable expense involved for the freezee and the future society that will revive him; the environmental cost of maintaining suspension; those who wish to use cryonics might not live life to the full because they would economize in order to afford suspension; and cryonics could lead to premature euthanasia in order to maximize chances of success. Furthermore, science might not advance enough to ever permit revival, and reanimation might not take place due to socio-political or catastrophic reasons. Arguments advanced by proponents of cryonics include: the potential benefit to society; the ability to cheat death for at least a few more years; the prospect of immortality if revival is successful; and all the associated benefits that delaying or avoiding dying would bring. It emerges that it might be imprudent not to use the technology, given the relatively minor expense involved and the potential payoff. An adapted and more persuasive version of Pascal's Wager is presented and offered as a conclusive argument in favour of utilizing cryonic suspension.

Presence of in-plane anisotropy and oscillatory magnetoresistive behavior in epitaxial SrRuO 3 thin films with orthogonal equivalent axes

In-plane magnetic hysteresis measurements performed on thin films of SrRuO 3 (SRO) deposited on (001)-oriented SrTiO 3 substrates showed orthogonal equivalent axes. This finding, nevertheless, was not conclusive argument to discard the presence of in-plane anisotropy in these samples. Certainly, measurements of the in-plane magnetoresistance (MR) featured anisotropic behavior with a well-defined angular dependence. The observed 180° periodicity of the function MR( θ) corresponded to that expected for the standard anisotropic magnetoresistance phenomenon (AMR). On the other hand, the longitudinal MR (zero Lorentz force) and transverse MR (nonzero Lorentz force), recorded at low temperatures and magnetic fields, displayed positive MR with a relatively broad maximum for the first field ramp up to 4 T. For the subsequent field sweep down, MR was negative for all field orientations. The described behavior was symmetric upon reversal of the applied magnetic field leading to a strong hysteretic behavior of MR.

Failure in distinguishing colored noise from chaos using the “noise titration” technique

Identifying chaos in experimental data-noisy data-remains a challenging problem for which conclusive arguments are still very difficult to provide. In order to avoid problems usually encountered with techniques based on geometrical invariants (dimensions, Lyapunov exponent, etc.), Poon and Barahona introduced a numerical titration procedure which compares one-step-ahead predictions of linear and nonlinear models [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 98, 7107 (2001)]. We investigate the aformentioned technique in the context of colored noise or other types of nonchaotic behaviors. The main conclusion is that in several examples noise titration fails to distinguish such nonchaotic signals from low-dimensional deterministic chaos.

Hands, screws, triangles and absolute space

Hands and other incongruent counterparts are enough argument against relationist, at least Kant thought so, since some of his pre-critical writings. Arguments with incongruent counterparts are elegant and effective and they are quite attracted great attention of numerous authors who have criticized or defended the arguments in different ways. In a meanwhile discussions have gone too far from Kant's original argument, and from the spirit of that time, and received characteristics of modern philosophy and geometry. This text should show that Kant, as well as those who later defended him, did not achieve their goal - no conclusive argument against relationist have been brought by them.

Spinozas Erkenntnistheorie: Eine naturalisierte Epistemologie?

This article addresses the question whether or not, in his Ethics, Spinoza is committed to a naturalized epistemology. In the first step, the cognitive psychological principles involved in the concept of imagination are discussed. It is shown that Spinoza does indeed suggest a causal account for the contents of human thought, yet, in contrast to many psychologist views he does not privilege physicalist explanations, but allows for historical as well as for linguistic accounts. In the second section, a similar differentiation is made in regard to the theory of common notions. Whereas in claiming that human minds necessarily have adequate knowledge of certain properties of things, Spinoza does rely on certain psychological facts, his concept of common notions can better be explicated independently of psychological assumptions. A conclusive argument against a naturalist interpretation of Spinoza′s epistemology, however, is given in the third section via the analysis of the concepts of 'truth′ and 'true idea′. It shows that Spinoza not only embraces the idea of an epistemic normativity, but moreover admits the irrecucibilityof this normativity to natural properties. Since, in respect to moral normativity, Spinoza exhibits quite a different attitude, it can be assumed that he never wanted to provide naturalized epistemology.

The History of Saint Edward the King. (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 341; The French of England Translation Series, 1) by Matthew Paris, Thelma S. Fenster, Jocelyn Wogan-Browne

MLR, 104.4, 2009 1137 neglect of the feminine expression of reciprocal desire in trouvere lyric.However, the resulting equality between desirer and desired that this exposes simultaneously manages tounravel her Lacanian methodology. Dell struggles tofit thisdiscrepancy into her overall argument, describing reciprocal desire as a bland, vanilla configu ration' (p. 99) that devalorizes the chanson cVami through lack of conflict, a theme which ostensibly now enters the discussion in order to provide an answer to the difficultquestion Dell has posed herself. It is inher study of the chronotopes' of desire?a termborrowed fromBakhtin? thatDell's line of enquiry becomes harder to follow. The last of the paired chapters explore masculine and feminine relations to space and time and how these affect and inform expressions of desire. Her analysis of the feminine-voiced poetry in cludes a lengthydiscussion of Freud's case studyDora, in an attempt to provide a comparison with the position of the female trouvere. In Chapter 6Dell's treatment of 'masculine space-times' inexplicably includes a scientific formula to calculate speed in the poetry (given as time divided by distance travelled), describing the male-voiced poet as one whose 'temporal versatility ismirrored in his spatial mo bility (emblematized by his horse)' (p. 148). The final chapter concludes thework by problematizing theplace of the feminine-voiced poet, asking, in thevein of Irigary, what subject position, ifany, she can possibly occupy. In an appendix to thework, entitled 'Afterthoughts',Dell admits the lack of a conclusive argument: T have found a kind of response tomy original questions, but it will probably always remain unsatisfactory'. Dell provides several novel and imaginative readings of trouvere lyric,but readers may find themselves lost in her overcomplicated methodology. Queen's University Belfast Mariana Neilly The History of Saint Edward theKing. By Matthew Paris. Trans, and ed. by Thelma S. Fenster and Jocelyn Wogan-Browne. (Medieval and Renais sance Texts and Studies, 341; The French of England Translation Series, 1) Tempe: Arizona Centre forMedieval and Renaissance Studies. 2008. xv+ 166 pp. ?21. ISBN 978-0-86698-389-1. This is a translation of a thirteenth-century hagiographical account of the life of King Edward theConfessor, littleknown tomodern scholars because it was written in 'the French of England', or Anglo-Norman French. It is the firstpublication in thenew French of England Translation Series (FRETS), which, as the series editors explain in their preface, has 'been conceived with the intention of enriching the available corpus ofwhat has been called medieval "English" literature' (pp. ix-x). The Estoire de seintAedward le reiwas composed in the late 1230s or early 1240s in octosyllabic verse, and was dedicated toEleanor of Provence, wife ofKing Henry III ofEngland. Although anonymous, scholars generally agree that it was composed by Matthew Paris, the famous chronicler of StAlbans Abbey. Itmay seem incredible thatMatthew Paris, whose criticisms ofHenry III and his regime are well known, should have composed a text for the queen?and by extension, forher husband? H38 Reviews which praises the royal couple. But on reading theEstoire the features ofMatthew's work familiar to all readers of his Chronica majora become clear: his strongmoral condemnations, the quick and final punishment dealt out to evildoers, his political views ('whoever does not do what his people want will never be granted power by them' (p. 68); 'you [ ] cannot undertake such a thingwithout the agreement of the community of the realm' (pp. 73-74)), and his lively, interesting style. Thelma S. Fenster and Jocelyn Wogan-Browne have made available to students and scholars, in an easily accessible form, a fascinating insight into Matthew Paris's work and talents,which reveals the famous political commentator working in his own mother tongue. A comparison of the translation with Kathryn Young Wallace's edition of 1983 indicates that they have not tried to produce a precise word-for word version, but have well conveyed the overall meaning and tone of thework. For those studying thework ofMatthew Paris, the religious interests ofHenry III and Eleanor of Provence, the cult of Edward theConfessor, constructions ofmale sanctity in the thirteenth century, or the changing legend of Harold Godwinson, this translation will be invaluable. The volume includes a detailed introduction and historical notes, aswell...

Synchronous Events in By-Sentences

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Is HIV/AIDS in Africa distinct? What can we learn from an analysis of the literature?

This paper investigates, through an analysis of the published literature, the notion held by several people that HIV/AIDS in Africa is unique. Using co-word and multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses of MEDLINE-extracted HIV/AIDS records, this study used five lists of terms to investigate the related-ness of various factors and diseases to HIV/AIDS. The lists consisted of risk factors, sexually transmitted diseases, tropical diseases, opportunistic diseases, and pre-disposing factors. Data (i.e. words.txt — consisting of keywords/phrases describing the aforementioned factors and diseases; and text.txt — containing HIV/AIDS papers’ titles) were analyzed using TI computer-aided application software, developed by Leydesdorff. Results revealed that several factors and diseases that are pre-dominant in Sub-Saharan Africa exhibited strong and high pattern of co-occurrences with HIV/AIDS, implying close associated-ness with the epidemic in the region. Further areas of research, whose results will be used to make conclusive observations and arguments concerning the uniqueness of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, are recommended.

IN DEFENCE OF METAPHYSICAL ANALYTICITY

AbstractAccording to the so‐called metaphysical conception of analyticity, analytic truths are true in virtue of meaning (or content) alone and independently of (extralinguistic) facts. Quine and Boghossian have tried to present a conclusive argument against the metaphysical conception of analyticity. In effect, they tried to show that the metaphysical conception inevitably leads into a highly implausible view about the truthmakers of analytic truths. We would like to show that their argument fails, since it relies on an ambiguity of the notion of ‘independence of (extralinguistic) facts’. If one distinguishes between variation independence and existence independence, the unwelcome view about the truthmakers of analytic truths no longer follows. Thus, there is at best a challenge, but no conclusive argument. The door to the metaphysical conception of analyticity is still open.1

Burke leeft en woont in Nederland

According to many observers, contemporary politicians too often are being swayed by the issues of the day. Elected representatives are supposed to permanently monitor public opinion in general and opinion polls in particular and to act accordingly. An analysis of in-depth interviews with Dutch MPs and a content analysis of an important, long-lasting debate in Dutch Parliament indicates, however, that this popular claim is a misconception. Elected representatives disagree on the content and manifestations of ‘public opinion’ and seldom take it into consideration in their role as representatives. Moreover, public opinion is taken seriously only if it is well-considered and based on substantive knowledge and conclusive arguments.

Empirical evidence and the knowledge-that/knowledge-how distinction

In this article I have two primary goals. First, I present two recent views on the distinction between knowledge-that and knowledge-how (Stanley and Williamson, The Journal of Philosophy 98(8):411–444, 2001; Hetherington, Epistemology futures, 2006). I contend that neither of these provides conclusive arguments against the distinction. Second, I discuss studies from neuroscience and experimental psychology that relate to this distinction. Having examined these studies, I then defend a third view that explains certain relevant data from these studies by positing the double dissociation of knowledge-that and knowledge-how and that is also able to do explanatory work elsewhere.

Engineering graph clustering

A promising approach to graph clustering is based on the intuitive notion of intracluster density versus intercluster sparsity. As for the weighted case, clusters should accumulate lots of weight, in contrast to their connection to the remaining graph, which should be light. While both formalizations and algorithms focusing on particular aspects of this rather vague concept have been proposed, no conclusive argument on their appropriateness has been given. In order to deepen the understanding of particular concepts, including both quality assessment as well as designing new algorithms, we conducted an experimental evaluation of graph-clustering approaches. By combining proved techniques from graph partitioning and geometric clustering, we also introduce a new approach that compares favorably.

The Metaphysical Character of the Criticisms Raised Against the Use of Probability for Dealing with Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence

In artificial intelligence (AI), a number of criticisms were raised against the use of probability for dealing with uncertainty. All these criticisms, except what in this article we call the non-adequacy claim, have been eventually confuted. The non-adequacy claim is an exception because, unlike the other criticisms, it is exquisitely philosophical and, possibly for this reason, it was not discussed in the technical literature. A lack of clarity and understanding of this claim had a major impact on AI. Indeed, mostly leaning on this claim, some scientists developed an alternative research direction and, as a result, the AI community split in two schools: a probabilistic and an alternative one. In this article, we argue that the non-adequacy claim has a strongly metaphysical character and, as such, should not be accepted as a conclusive argument against the adequacy of probability.

Styles of Enlightenment: Taste, Politics, and Authorship in Eighteenth-Century France by Elena Russo

538 Reviews section answer that theperiod ischaracterized not somuch by the triumph of reason as by a crisis of confidence in reason. The relevance of some contributions is not entirely evident, but several articles stand out for their insight and acuity; Guillaume Pigeard de Gurbert plots a course through Leibniz and Locke, Bayle and English gardens tochallenge Michel Foucault's account of theEnlightenment's sense of time; Antony McKenna examines the diffusion of clandestine philosophy following the Revocation of theEdict ofNantes, andMichael Moriarty, focusing onMalebranche's analysis ofprejudice, convincingly argues for that theologian's place in thecritical En lightenment tradition; Kate Tunstall proposes that the controversy sparked by Carl van Loo's Sacrifice d'Iphigenie of I757 (sadly not reproduced here), which offersup Agamemnon's now unveiled face to theviewer, hinges on themajor aesthetic debates of theday-the expressivity of thebody, the relationship between painting and poetry, and the role of the spectator; and in his clear and erudite examination of themotto sapere aude, Russell Goulbourne demonstrates how Horace was used, contested, and remodelled by thephilosophes. A number of articles in thisvolume revisit theconcept of anagnorisis or recognition, a theme central to issues of subjectivity, sensibility, and interiority (though apparently not divinity) inwritings by such figures as Prevost (Alison Roberts), Sade (Alain Schorderet), Riccoboni (Emilie Cauvin and Olivier Delers), and Voltaire (Nathalie Kremer). Two articles on Diderot are of particular interest:Olivier Tonneau deftly unravels the recognition ofMlle d'Aisnon's past in Jacques lefataliste to argue that interiority is an effectnot a cause of behaviour; and Laurence Marie unpacks the recognition scene inLe Fils naturel to discuss the limits ofmimetic representation. Questions of recognition and subjectivity return in one of the volume's two articles on the history of art:Angelica Goodden proposes that Rousseau disliked Ramsay's portrait of him because the Scottish artist, despite his own sophisticated scepticism about perception, was seemingly incapable of recog nizing and presenting his subject's individual and essentially interior personhood; and in a rich analysis of twoworks by Chardin, Kate Tunstall shows how Diderot engages with and develops Pliny's account of illusion. The diversity ofmethodology and subject-matter in this volume happily attests to the interdisciplinary nature of high-quality research into eighteenth-century thought, art, and letters. UNIVERSITY OF EXETER THOMAS WYNN Styles ofEnlightenment: Taste, Politics, and Authorship inEighteenth-Century France. By ELENARusso. (Parallax Re-visions ofCulture and Society) Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2007. 346 pp. ?36.50. ISBN 978-0-80I8-8476-4. Styles ofEnlightenment puts Pierre Carlet deMarivaux (i688-I 763) at the nexus of Enlightenment debates on ethics and aesthetics. Elena Russo skips along oft-travelled routes of Enlightenment scholarship on the public sphere, taste, and gender, then strikes off into the remote area of thephilosophes' engagement with theAugustinian tradition on the question of grace and emerges with a pioneering, well-developed story about an Augustinian literary theory.The success of the book lies inRusso's ability to stitch together eighteenth-century literaryand ethical theorywith Augus tinian theology and sociology. Over eight chapters Russo surveys the clash of the goutmoderne and the gou'tan tique through an extensive discussion ofMarivaux's corpus, and the related concerns of thephilosophes. Russo's approach to her topic is literary; she outlines the decline of goutmoderne and its eclipse by the gout antique in terms of a literarywatershed. The self-referential, discursive, often ironic and always self-conscious goutmoderne ofMarivaux gave way to the grand transporting narrativemodelled on ancient liter ary forms exemplified byVoltaire and laterphilosophes of theHigh Enlightenment. MLR, I03.2, 2oo8 539 Russo fillsout this frameworkwith a cultural history of theatre (Chapter 8), a discus sion ofMontesquieu (Chapters 6 and 7), and a particularly suggestive analysis of the continuing importance ofAugustinianism toLes Lumieres. In essence, Russo argues that theHigh Enlightenment was a response toMarivaux, and viaMarivaux, to the Augustinian tradition. This isnotRusso's most conclusive argument, and itremains a sustained but secon dary concern, with the exception ofChapters 2 and 5, ofwhich it is the central focus. Despite the status of this intellectual history as secondary toRusso's more conclusive literaryand cultural analyses, her presentation of theEnlightenment encounter with Augustinianism is themost significant of her contributions to...

Analogical Reasoning in Romans 7:2-4: A Woman and the Believers in Rome

(ProQuest Information and Learning: ... denotes formulae omitted.) At beginning of Romans 7, Paul narrates a brief story about a man who, by his death, liberates a woman from law that had governed his life. Paul uses this story to illustrate his claim that believers, through death of Jesus, are dead to Mosaic law that had governed Jesus's life. Origen calls narrative an example, Clement of Alexandria an allegory, and Augustine a similitude.1 Most contemporary exegetes identify passage as some kind of comparison. Although labels differ, interpretations generally follow tradition begun with Augustine's dictum: animadvertendum est istam similitudinem in hoc differre ab ea re propter quam adhibita est, is noteworthy how this similitude differs from very subject for which it is employed (Exp. prop. Rom. 1.36). By relating a woman who is free from law because of a man's death to Christ-believers' dying to Mosaic law, Paul apparently produced an asymmetrical figure of speech.2 If indeed this is what Paul has done, then exegetes have no choice except to find methods of analysis that account for disparity.3 In this article, I suggest an alternative interpretation: Paul's reasoning is symmetrical. The keys that unlock its symmetry are hidden within ambiguous syntax of clause ... (v. 2a) and grammar of phrase ... (v. 2b). If first phrase is understood as bound to law by way of man who is alive and second as the law that governs then w. 2ab are core of Paul's argument and clarify logic of its movement from contrasting statement (v. 1), via analogy (w. 2-4), to conclusion (w. 4-6). I will trace this trajectory from beginning to end with a brief discussion of various functions of Rom 7:1, an examination of analogy, and a short analysis of concluding verses. I. CONTRAST AND ANTICIPATION (ROMANS 7:1) Throughout Romans 6, Paul's correspondence has characteristics of a lively discussion between himself and recipients of his letter. At times he even addresses them directly (6:1-3, 15, 16). In 7:1, he continues this conversational style, crafting a bidirectional appeal to hearer's understanding:4 Are ignorant, brethren-for I speak to who know law-that law rules a person as long as she/he lives? Simultaneously confronting Roman communities with a question (Are ignorant of law?) and an assertion (You know law!), Paul contrasts ignorance with knowledge about a specific concept: law rules a person as long as she/he lives. Although concept is general enough to encompass gamut of familiar legislative systems in his day,5 Paul does not presume that his hearers have specific legal knowledge.6 Rather, he writes immediately and specifically what he wants his audience to know about law; that is, iuiio has supreme governing power over domain of life.7 It is not surprising, then, that Paul reveals neither ethnicity of law-knowers he is addressing (i.e., Jews or non-Jews) nor specific law under discussion.8 He addresses members of Roman communities as law-knowing with purpose of inviting them to follow-and understand-his argument.9 Paul places his attempt to compel his hearers to agree with his argument's conclusion strategically. His statement that the law rules living persons reinforces relationship between iuiio and Roman believers, a relationship he had already declared moot (6:14-15: you are not under law). In form, this contrast echoes Paul's bidirectional appeal to his hearer's knowledge; in function, it anticipates progressive rationale of his thoughts. He continues with an analogy that features contrasting assertions regarding authority of ... over life and proceeds to explain why Mosaic law does not rule believers. II. A SYMMETRICAL NARRATIVE (ROMANS 7:2-3) Comparing Christ-believers in Rome with a woman who is under authority of a living man, Paul creates an analogy. …

Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context

Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context. By Daniel A. Bell. Princeton, New Jersey and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006. Hardcover and softcover: 379pp. The issues surrounding transferability of liberal democratic governance to non-Western societies have been at forefront of normative studies in vast literature on democratization and democratic theory, particularly since end of Cold War. This period has also coincided with U.S. foreign policies of democratic enlargement and transformation, together with robust role played by international non-government organizations in facilitating development and institutionalization of liberal democracy and civil society in societies around world. Paralleling these developments in international relations has been unprecedented economic growth and development witnessed in many East Asian societies in this age of economic globalization. It is at interface between universal spread of liberal democratic thinking and rise of East Asian economies that issue of transferability of liberal democratic governance has become a significant area of intellectual and scholarly inquiry for students of democratization, political theory and philosophy, and Asian governments, politics, and philosophy. Daniel Bell's recent work, Beyond Liberal Democracy, makes a significant contribution to this area of study and it ought to be read by scholars who are undertaking research in this area. This work is a culmination of at least a decade of thinking and writing by a scholar who has observed closely many intellectually significant issues that have arisen from political developments in East Asian societies during this period. Although some of themes in this work have been examined by Bell in his previous works, most notably in East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), this latest work covers a broad range of new issues. This combined with elegant narrative form in which Beyond Liberal Democracy is written makes for an interesting and timely piece of scholarship that should attract a wide readership. Organizationally, book is divided into three parts, each addressing of components identified by Bell to be the main hallmarks of liberal democracy--human rights, democracy, and capitalism (p. 9), in other words, constituent parts of democratic capitalism. Operationally, Bell has delineated these three areas by examining (1) Human Rights For An East Asian Context, (2) Democracy For an East Asian Context, and (3) Capitalism For An East Asian Context. Clearly ambitious in its scope, Beyond Liberal Democracy is product of Bell's efforts to consolidate in comprehensive work many issues that have arisen in recent years following counter-arguments provided by political, cultural, economic, and normative experiences of East Asian societies. In this sense, readers would benefit from being exposed to intellectual evolution of many issues raised in debates surrounding transferability of liberal democratic governance, as seen from East Asian perspective. While Bell does an adequate job of laying out these arguments in a fair and balanced way, nature of questions raised preclude any definitive or conclusive arguments that would lay these issues to rest once and for all. Indeed, could speculate that rather than to aim for latter; Bell's real contribution with this book is to raise some of fundamentally significant questions that subsequent works in this area of study would have to address and with which future scholars would have to contend. The main argument in Bell's book is that when it comes to question of transferability of liberal democratic governance, one size doesn't fit all (p. 1), and that Western advocates of universality of liberal democracy who miss this important insight often do so through an almost unconscious sense of cultural parochialism shaped by Western intellectual development of ideas associated with liberal democracy. …

How to Split Concepts: A Reply to Piccinini and Scott

In “Concepts Are Not a Natural Kind” (2005), I argued that the notion of concept in psychology and in neuropsychology fails to pick out a natural kind. Piccinini and Scott (2006, in this issue) have criticized the argument I used to support this conclusion. They also proposed two alternative arguments for a similar conclusion. In this reply, I rebut Piccinini and Scott's main objection against the argument proposed in “Concepts Are Not a Natural Kind.” Moreover, I show that the two alternative arguments developed by Piccinini and Scott are not promising for supporting the conclusion that concepts are not a natural kind.

The isolation of the nuclear lamina

The number of monikers early cell biologists attached to the nuclear lamina reflected their uncertainty about its function and architecture, and whether it was widespread or confined to a few specialized cells. Electron micrographs often disclosed a layer of varying thickness nestled against the backside of the nuclear membrane, which various researchers dubbed the “dense lamella,” “fibrous lamina,” “zona nucleum limitans,” or just plain “lamina.” Gunter Blobel (Rockefeller University, New York, NY) had his mind on the signal hypothesis, for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1999 (see “Lost in translation: the signal hypothesis” JCB 170:338), but he decided to take a crack at deciphering the lamina. Aaronson and Blobel (1974) used detergent to peel away the membranes from isolated nuclei. The husks that remained held their shape. This sturdy layer, they proposed, was the lamina, and the results suggested two of its functions—bracing the nucleus and cradling the nuclear pores. Two follow-up studies (Aaronson and Blobel, 1975; Dwyer and Blobel, 1976) provided more evidence that the layer they had identified enclosed the nucleus and wasn't just part of the membrane. Then Larry Gerace (Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA), Blobel's first Ph.D. student, picked up the analysis. He wanted to definitively describe the lamina in part because of what he viewed as the erroneous conclusions of Berezney and Coffey (1977). They had proposed that proteins not only formed the lamina but also a “nuclear matrix” that extended throughout the nucleus and intermingled with the DNA. “Our localization was a riposte to their conclusions,” Gerace says. He characterized three lamina proteins and created antibodies against them. Immunoperoxidase staining showed that the antibodies strongly labeled the rim of the nucleus; they didn't recognize anything in the interior (Gerace et al., 1978). Rather than a mesh that permeated the nucleus, the lamina was a protein polymer that hugged the nuclear membrane, the researchers concluded—and subsequent work has backed them up. The proteins Gerace identified turned out to be lamins A, B1, and C, three of the four major components that interweave to form the lamina. “We felt we had made a conclusive argument that lamins are primarily at the nuclear envelope, and the data have held up,” says Gerace. Blobel describes this series of studies as one of the first examples of molecular cell biology. Instead of being content to identify new cellular structures, researchers were now breaking down these discoveries into their molecular components to elucidate their workings. ML Figure An immunoperoxidase stain that tags one lamina protein doesn't penetrate the nucleus (“La” indicates the lamina; arrows mark nuclear pores). Aaronson, R.P., and G. Blobel. 1974. J. Cell Biol. 62:746–754. [PubMed] Aaronson, R.P., and G. Blobel. 1975. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 72:1007–1011. [PubMed] Berezney, R., and D.S. Coffey. 1977. J. Cell Biol. 73:616–637. [PubMed] Dwyer, N., and G. Blobel. 1976. J. Cell Biol. 70:581–591. [PubMed] Gerace, L., et al. 1978. J. Cell Biol. 79:546–566. [PubMed]