Ontological Distinction Research Articles

Dispositional monism and the ontological distinction between unmanifested and manifested powers

AbstractThe vast majority of metaphysicians agree that powers (in contrast to categorical properties) can exist unmanifested. This paper focuses on the ontological distinction between unmanifested and manifested powers underpinning that fact and has two main aims. First, to determine the proper relata of the distinction and second, to show that an unrestricted version of dispositional monism faces serious difficulties to accommodate it. As far as the first aim is concerned, it is argued that the distinction in question, in order to be free of irrelevant features, must hold between an unmanifested power‐instance and the same power‐instance being manifested. To the second end, the paper examines two possible candidate distinctions (actual vs. possible, being‐in‐energeia vs. being‐in‐capacity). It is argued that the former fails to be a good fit for the role that the distinction under consideration should play in a dispositional monistic context. It is also argued that a specific version of the latter can ground a promising solution to the difficulty discussed in the paper. That solution, however, presupposes the inclusion of aspects of the Aristotelian metaphysical framework for powers to the dispositional monistic context.

Morte, vida e destino em Schopenhauer e Freud: os “fins da natureza” na metafísica da vontade e na metapsicologia

Neste artigo, pretendo discutir alguns problemas que emergem da associação, já comum na literatura secundária, entre o último dualismo pulsional freudiano, baseado na oposição entre pulsões de vida e de morte, e as teses schopenhauerianas sobre a vida e a morte derivadas de sua metafísica da vontade. A partir de uma confrontação com as leituras de Marcel Zentner e Stephan Atzert, argumentarei a favor da hipótese de que a diferença mais relevante entre os modelos de Freud e de Schopenhauer não diz respeito à distinção no plano ontológico entre dualismo das pulsões e monismo da vontade, mas sim entre sentido biológico e sentido ético da suposta finalidade associada à morte, como “fim” ou “objetivo” da vida. Minha discussão, portanto, gira em torno de uma distinção quanto ao estatuto teleológico que se pode atribuir à dinâmica da relação entre vida e morte nos dois autores.

Comparative transcriptomic analysis identifies distinct molecular signatures and regulatory networks of chondroclasts and osteoclasts

BackgroundChondroclasts and osteoclasts have been previously identified as the cells capable of resorbing mineralized cartilage and bone matrices, respectively. While both cell types appear morphologically similar, contain comparable ultrastructural features, and express tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), however, no information is available about the genomic similarities and differences between osteoclasts and chondroclasts.MethodsTo address this question, we laser captured homogeneous populations of TRAP-positive cells that interact with bone (osteoclasts) and TRAP-positive cells that interact with mineralized cartilage (chondroclasts) on the same plane from murine femoral fracture callus sections. We then performed a global transcriptome profiling of chondroclasts and osteoclasts by utilizing a mouse genome Agilent GE 4X44K V2 microarray platform. Multiple computational approaches and interaction networks were used to analyze the transcriptomic landscape of osteoclasts and chondroclasts.ResultsOur systematic and comprehensive analyses using hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrate that chondroclasts and osteoclasts are transcriptionally distinct cell populations and exhibit discrete transcriptomic signatures as revealed by multivariate analysis involving scatter plot, volcano plot, and heatmap analysis. TaqMan qPCR was used to validate the microarray results. Intriguingly, the functional enrichment and integrated network analyses revealed distinct Gene Ontology terms and molecular pathways specific to chondroclasts and osteoclasts and further suggest that subsets of metabolic genes were specific to chondroclasts. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis showed an abundance of structured networks of metabolic pathways, ATP synthesis, and proteasome pathways in chondroclasts. The regulatory network analysis using transcription factor-target gene network predicted a pool of genes including ETV6, SIRT1, and ATF1 as chondroclast-specific gene signature.ConclusionsOur study provides an important genetic resource for further exploration of chondroclast function in vivo. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of genetic landscape of osteoclasts from chondroclasts identifying unique molecular signatures, functional clustering, and interaction network.

\u2018I Am that I Am\u2019 (Ex. 3.14): from Augustine to Abhishikt\u0101nanda\u2014Holy Ground Between Neoplatonism and Advaita Ved\u0101nta

We shall revisit a debate which has been going on at least since pioneering British Indologists like William Jones first encountered the ‘Brahmanic theology’ we now know as Vedānta, namely, the nature of the relationship—if any—between certain forms of ‘western’ and ‘Indian’ idealisms, and how these metaphysical systems have influenced Christian theology. Specifically, we look at the question of possible thematic and conceptual convergences between Neoplatonism and Advaita Vedānta, and argue that significant parallels can be found in their common conception of the Absolute as Being. Rather than attempt a comprehensive overview of the two systems, we take the divine ‘I AM’ revealed to Moses in Exodus 3.14 as the locus classicus of Christian philosophical interpretations of God as Being itself, and explore how four seminal figures read this passage in light of Neoplatonic and Vedāntic influences. We shall see that similarities and divergences in the readings of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart and Henri Le Saux can be understood in terms of how they negotiate the relation between the One and the many, or between ‘being’ and ‘knowing’. The more these figures allow themselves to be influenced by Neoplatonism and Advaita Vedānta, the more we see any clear ontological distinction between creature and Creator start to break down. This verse, therefore, proves to be an unusually fruitful test case for exploring the relation between the underlying Neoplatonic and Vedāntic metaphysics which structure varying Christian interpretations of it.

Grasping an Ought. Adolf Reinach’s Ontology and Epistemology of Legal and Moral Oughts

We almost every day direct our actions with reference to social, moral or legal norms and oughts. However, oughts and norms cannot be perceived through the senses: how can we “grasp” them, then? Adolf Reinach distinguishes enacted norms and oughts created through a social act of enactment, from moral norms and oughts existing in themselves independently of any act, knowledge or experience. I argue that this distinction is not a distinction between two species of oughts within a common genus: it is rather a deeper ontological distinction between two modes of existence that are quite different, even though both are objective, according to Reinach. This ontological distinction is reflected in the way in which enacted oughts and moral oughts can be grasped, respectively: in the former case, the enacted ought is grasped by going back to the underlying social act from which it springs; in the latter, a “grasping through feeling” (fühlende Erfassen) of the moral values is implied.

The phenomenon of human alienation: socio-ontological aspect

This article is dedicated to one of the key problems of social philosophy – the phenomenon of human alienation. The subject of this research is the ontological grounds of alienation. The goal consists in determination of the existential foundation of alienation as a complicated socio-ontological phenomenon, as well as differentiation of the narrow and broad sense of the concept of “alienation”. In the narrow sense, alienation implies the process, when the products of human activity and activity itself obtain the status of autonomous agents opposing to human. In a broad sense, alienation is interpreted as an ontological distinction within the structure of being. For revealing the ontological grounds of alienation, the author attracts and reconsiders the ideological arsenal of philosophical anthropology, fundamental ontology, existentialism, personalism, Marxism, and post-phenomenology. The ontological interpretation allows comprehending the anthropogenesis, historical development of human, and evolution of human mind in the context of the terms of alienation. Thus, the first is interpreted as a self-alienation of the world; the second – as alienation of human from himself; and the third – as an ideal of appeal of the world towards itself, realized through human spiritual activity. All elements of the triad form an ontological basis doe alienation in the narrow sense.

Can it be Allowed to Enhance an Animal to Its Biological Maximum? : Beyond Anthropocentrism

동물을 생물학적인 최대 수준까지 강화하는 것은 허용될 수 있는가? 동물강화(animal enhancement)에 속하는 이 문제를 본 논문은 삶의 의미(the meaning of life)라는 주제를 통해서 접근하고자 한다. 사례로는 장님 닭과 뇌사 닭 사례를 논의할 것이다. 동물윤리에 있어서 핵심적인 범주 중 하나는 알다시피, ‘인간-동물(human animal)’과 ‘비인간-동물(nonhuman animal)’이라는 구분이다. 그런데 이 구분은 종차별주의 내지는 인간중심주의를 극복하려는 목적에서 비롯된 것이지만, 그 목적을 충분히 달성하지 못 하고 있다고 필자는 주장한다. ‘인간’중심주의를 진정으로 탈피하고자 한다면, 의미론적인 그리고 존재론적인 차원에서 ‘인간-사람’과 ‘비인간-사람’이라는 구분을 도입해야 한다고 주장한다. 이 주장에 따르자면, 우리가 일상적으로 말하는 동물이란 ‘비인간 동물’이 아닌 ‘비인간 사람’이다. 필자의 이 구분을 정당화하기 위해서는 짝을 이루는 우리말들을 면밀히 고찰할 필요가 있다. 한국어에서 ‘생명’과 ‘삶’, ‘인간’과 ‘사람’은 대부분의 경우에 교환될 수 있는 말이지만, 중요한 의미상의 차이도 존재한다. 그리고 고유어인 “삶”과 “사람”은 한자어인 “生命”과 “人間”에 비해서 상대적으로 학술어로 인정받지 못 하고 있으며, 깊이 있는 이론적인 관심과 연구가 상대적으로 적었다고 생각된다. 본 논문은 이러한 고유어들에 대한 이론적 고찰을 시도하고자 한다. 결론적으로 말해서, 인간중심주의를 극복하기 위해서는 의미론적이고 존재론적인 차원에서뿐만 아니라 실천적이고 도덕적인 차원에서도 중대한 인식의 전환이 요구된다.Can it be allowed to enhance an animal to its biological maximum? In this paper, this issue is approached through the theme of the meaning of life. Examples to be discussed in this paper include blind or brain-dead chickens. One of the well-known categories of animal ethics is the distinction between ‘human-animal’ and ‘nonhuman-animal’. This distinction, however, stems from the purpose of overcoming “speciesism”, but I do not think that purpose has been fully achieved. I insist that if we really want to break away from anthropocentrism, we should introduce the semantical and ontological distinctions of ‘human-person(인간-사람)’ and ‘non-human-person(비인간-사람)’. To justify my distinction, I will look closely at the pairing of Korean words, ‘생명’ and ‘삶’, ‘인간’ and ‘사람’. These words are often used as terms that can be exchanged in everyday life, but there are also several significant semantic differences. In addition, the native languages “생명” and “사람” have not been recognized as academic jargon when compared to the Chinese characters “生命” and “人間”. This paper seeks to develop those words into theoretical terms. In conclusion, overcoming anthropocentrism and speciesism requires significant changes in human thoughts and attitudes towards animals.

Subjective Experiences of a Cisgender/Transgender Dichotomy: Implications for Occupation-Focused Research.

The subjectivity of researchers has received little attention in occupational research of trans and/or gender diverse (TGD) lives. Secondary thematic analysis of a peer ethnography was conducted to explore the meaning and epistemological significance of a cisgender/transgender dichotomy for TGD adults. The primary research comprised an occupational analysis of participation in a secret Facebook group ("Virtually Trans") for TGD adults who were assigned female at birth and live in Melbourne, Australia. Three themes were developed from this secondary analysis of the experiences of 12 group members. First, an oppositional cisgender/transgender dichotomy was salient and significant to all participants. Second, belonging norms, while profoundly felt, also obscured intragroup differences and opportunity for outgroup contact. Finally, participants recognized the need for self-reflexive allies to document the varied occupational experiences and priorities of this cohort. A cisgender/transgender dichotomy is a significant ontological distinction that must be attended to in TGD occupation-focused research.

Towards Radical Coexistence in the City: Performing the bio-urban in Bonnie Ora Sherk’s The Farm and Mierle Laderman Ukeles’s Flow City

The current dark ecological context has prompted resurgence in debate about the concepts of hope, despair, responsibility and urbanism. Both Bonnie Ora Sherk's The Farm (San Francisco 1974-1980) and Mierle Laderman Ukeles' work at the New York Sanitation Department (1976-present), revision human/more-than-human relationships and interactions, conceiving of an urban community as made up a multiple species and people. Their work provides models for radical coexistence, breaking down reductive urban/nature and nature/culture binaries. Recontextualising these formative performance works in light of contemporary developments and an intersectional ecological analysis, I argue they act as key sites for addressing critical issues of urbanisation and ecology. We are living in the urban century as global patterns of urban migration mean that more than half the world's population now live in cities. Given this growth, cities represent vital landscapes for ecological thought. However, the longstanding ontological distinction between the city and the natural world has led to the growth of cities in ways that do not always support long-term human and non-human life, health and wellbeing. My concept, the bio-urban, invokes the ecological vibrancy of the city and considers humans (and nonhuman species) in urban habitats as active participants of ecology, from an ecomaterialism position. I utilise the bio-urban as a conceptual framework to draw together expanded practices of performance from Sherk and Ukeles, to challenge the false urban/nature dichotomy and replace the clichéd image of eco performance as a reverential walk through a ‘green and pleasant land'. Both artists take an intersectional approach to urban ecology, which nuances and informs the bio-urban. In ‘dark’ times of ecological uncertainty, performance can be a site to challenge destructive thinking, bringing to light invisible relationships, blindspots, imaginative utopias and alternative possibilities for what it means to coexist today.

Towards an ontology of cognitive processes and their neural substrates: A structural equation modeling approach.

A key challenge in the field of cognitive neuroscience is to identify discriminable cognitive functions, and then map these functions to brain activity. In the current study, we set out to explore the relationships between performance arising from different cognitive tasks thought to tap different domains of cognition, and then to test whether these distinct latent cognitive abilities also are subserved by corresponding “latent” brain substrates. To this end, we tested a large sample of adults under the age of 40 on twelve cognitive tasks as they underwent fMRI scanning. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 4-factor model, dissociating tasks into processes corresponding to episodic memory retrieval, reasoning, speed of processing and vocabulary. An analysis of the topographic covariance patterns of the BOLD-response acquired during each task similarity also converged on four neural networks that corresponded to the 4 latent factors. These results suggest that distinct ontologies of cognition are subserved by corresponding distinct neural networks.

Reclaiming constructivism: towards an interpretive reading of the \u2018Social Construction Framework\u2019

The ‘Social Construction Framework’ which addresses the relationship between policy design and the construction of target groups is one of the central approaches within the field of policy theories. Yet, despite its name, the approach builds on several naturalist premises, and its analytical components are informed by principles rooted in positivist methodologies. Against this background, this article conducts a thorough critique of the framework’s constructivist shortcomings, and it develops a strictly constructivist and interpretive reading of its core arguments. The analytical value is substantiated by presenting original empirical research on the meaning of the ‘middle class’ in German welfare policy. We will show that, firstly, group construction is not only a matter of positive or negative evaluation, but more fundamentally an act of boundary-drawing, with differently constructed middle classes enabling different welfare policies. Secondly, we will show that target group constructions are always entangled with the construction of the group’s outside, leading to the stabilisation and legitimisation of hierarchies between the middle class and ‘the others’ in society. Thirdly, we demonstrate that the power of a target group is also a matter of social construction, with the middle class obtaining its hegemonic position from an order of knowledge that equates the middle with ‘the normal’ and ‘the common good’. Based on these insights, the article raises a more general plea against the translation of constructivism into a middle-range theory of the policy process and instead emphasises the ontological and epistemological distinctiveness of strict constructivism and interpretive methodologies.

Merleau-Ponty’nin Bedenlenme Fenomenolojisi

Bu çalışmanın amacı Fransız düşünür Maurice Merleau-Ponty’nin fenomenolojik yaklaşımını bir bedenlenme teorisi olarak ele almak ve düşünürün kavramsal çerçevesini bedenlenmiş özne ya da bedenlenmiş bilinç kavramı bağlamında sunmaktır. Merleau-Ponty’nin felsefesi öznenin dünya ile ilişkisini algı fenomenolojisi temelinde sunan ve bu noktada algının öznenin bedenselliğinden bağımsız değerlendirilemeyeceğini, algının öznenin bu dünyada bedenli bulunuşuna ait olduğunu söyler. Bu bağlamda düşünür algı zemininde bir beden fenomenolojisi sunar. Merleau-Ponty’nin kendisinin de sıklıkla dile getirdiği gibi, düşünürün bu yaklaşımı geleneksel felsefenin epistemolojik ve ontolojik ayrımlarına, özne ve düşünme süreçlerine dair tanımlamalarına bir karşı çıkıştır. Bununla birlikte, çağdaş ontolojik tartışmalarda, düşünürün felsefesi ve sözü edilen bağlamda sunduğu bedenlenme kavramsallaştırması felsefenin farklı alanlarında ilgi görmekte ve bu tartışmalardaki bedenlenme teorileri arasında yer almaktadır. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışmanın amacı, Merleau-Ponty’nin bedenlenme fenomenolojisini bilinç-beden bütünlüğü kavramı çerçevesinde ele almak ve düşünürün felsefesini geleneksel düalizmlere ve bu düalizmlerin çağdaş felsefedeki yansımalarına bir karşı çıkış olarak değerlendirmektir.

Peirce's Topical Continuum: A “Thicker” Theory

Although Peirce frequently insisted that continuity was a core component of his philosophical thought, his conception of it evolved considerably during his lifetime, culminating in a theory grounded primarily in topical geometry. Two manuscripts, one of which has never before been published, reveal that his formulation of this approach was both earlier and more thorough than most scholars seem to have realized. Combining these and other relevant texts with the better-known passages highlights a key ontological distinction: a collection is bottom-up, such that the parts are real and the whole is an ens rationis, while a continuum is top-down, such that the whole is real and the parts are entia rationis. Accordingly, five properties are jointly necessary and sufficient for Peirce’s topical continuum: rationality, divisibility, homogeneity, contiguity, and inexhaustibility.

Why Do We Keep Coming Back to Institutions?

The article examines contemporary philosophical and theoretical trends that lead to the dispersion and fragmentation of theories and research methodologies and even of the subject of inquiry. This process is dismantling the basic ontological distinctions that have long determined both the epistemological and the cultural characteristics of European society and science. These theoretical leanings have their own social and cultural roots in the rapidly increasing complexity of modern civilization. That civilization is relinquishing what Max Weber saw as a crucial distinguishing feature of modern society: its ability to comprehend the structure and functioning of the surrounding world. The author finds that one result is the emergence of a “new naivety” in which insurmountable difficulties in attaining rational understanding justify postulation of the ontological independence of actors, objects, etc., as well as the resurgence of various forms of metaphysics. The importance of an emotional relationship toward the world, which increasingly manifests itself as a universe of singularities, is expanding in step with the loss of a rational horizon for subjectivity in modern society. The historical perspective of the institutional approach has several epistemological advantages for dealing with these tendencies. The institutional approach maintains continuity with the project of modern historiography as such by concentrating on phenomena that have a comparable duration and sustainability and by facilitating examination of problems in the sociology of knowledge, for which a wide range of analytical techniques has been developed in order to analyze the interaction of institutions with different scales (for instance, within the framework of organizational institutionalism) among others. The historical analysis of institutions also has a significant practical value by disabusing us of a naive view of the world (including the natural world) as some kind of natural and unmediated given and by making us aware of the contingency of our historical existence. The institutional approach and modern historiography share a common mission as an emancipatory exercise in self-knowledge.

The Experience of God as Revelation and knowledge of the Triune God in the works of Dionysius Areopagite and their use in the theology of Dumitru Stăniloae

Dumitru Staniloae in his Dogmatic Theology develops the connection of the Experience of God as Revelation and knowledge of the Triune God based and on the works of Dionysius Areopagite. The divine essence remains inaccessible eternally. For this reason, the man as finite logic being should articulate a moderate thought. The knowledge of God commensurates with the ability of the finite man to know the infinite God. He doesn™t completely escape from the reality of darkness - a general characteristic of the created nature. The very fact that man was created out of nothing, and the characteristics of createdness and decay contain in his nature, this is an essential differentiation between him and his Creator. Thus, the basis for every human expression or knowledge about God is the fact for the ontological distinction between the created and the uncreated nature. The knowledge of God should be understood as the knowledge of God™s attributes and His modes of being, the direction from the œheaven to the œearth and not the opposite one. The sole ground of man™s knowledge of God is thus God™s self-revelation; it is premised on the idea of divine incomprehensibility. The term revelation signifies two things; that the knowledge of God itself by itself is impossible. However, God can be known (economically) through revelation, and a human being is capable of receiving this knowledge according to her/his capacity. Keyswords: Dumitru Staniloae, Dionysius Areopagite, knowledge of God, attributes, finite man, infinite God, commensurate.

Neo-Davidsonian ontology of events

Recent Neo-Davidsonian accounts of the semantics of progressive constructions of action verbs (‘John is building a house’) reflect an ontological distinction between processes or incomplete events on the one hand, and complete events on the other. This paper has two goals. First, it attempts to show that this putative ontological distinction is beset with problems. The second goal of this paper is to offer the beginnings of a positive proposal that seeks to show how the ontologically austere Davidsonian can account for the truth conditions of progressive constructions without the need for an enriched ontology.

Gene Expression Changes During the Allo-/Deallopolyploidization Process of Brassica napus.

Gene expression changes due to allopolyploidization have been extensively studied in plants over the past few decades. Nearly all these studies focused on comparing the changes before and after genome merger. In this study, we used the uniquely restituted Brassica rapa (RBR, AeAe, 2n = 20) obtained from Brassica napus (AnAnCnCn, 2n = 38) to analyze the gene expression changes and its potential mechanism during the process of allo-/deallopolyploidization. RNA-seq-based transcriptome profiling identified a large number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between RBR and natural B. rapa (ArAr), suggesting potential effects of allopolyploidization/domestication of AA component of B. napus at the tetrapolyploid level. Meanwhile, it was revealed that up to 20% of gene expressions were immediately altered when compared with those in the An-subgenome. Interestingly, one fifth of these changes are in fact indicative of the recovery of antecedent gene expression alternations occurring since the origin of B. napus and showed association with homoeologous expression bias between An and Cn subgenomes. Enrichment of distinct gene ontology (GO) categories of the above sets of genes further indicated potential functional cooperation of the An and Cn subgenome of B. napus. Whole genome methylation analysis revealed a small number of DEGs were identified in the differentially methylated regions.

Devastating impacts? Investigating ‘edu-quality’ discourse in early childhood policy and its implications

ABSTRACT Within the broad landscape of early childhood education and care politics and policies, calling quality reform into question is a political act. As numerous scholars have pointed out, policy structures that measure and identify what constitutes quality (and what does not) are not value-free and reflect neoliberal human capital economic agenda whose effects are rapidly changing early childhood work. This paper investigates how quality reform in the early childhood sector has reinvigorated historical distinctions between early education and early care to elevate early education as ‘quality’ via standardisation and systematisation regimes. Drawing on the Australian context as a local example relational to the global, the paper theorises that ‘edu-quality’ discourse and agenda problematically constructs early care work as intertwined with but also separate from early education inputs and outputs, attributing it unequal import and impact. The paper concludes by emphasising the need for sector stakeholders and advocates to challenge the ontological and epistemological distinctions and conflations that underpin edu-quality politics and policies.

Fundamentality, Scale, and the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect

We examine arguments for distinguishing between ontological and epistemological concepts of fundamentality, focusing in particular on the role that scale plays in these concepts. Using the fractional quantum Hall effect as a case study, we show that we can draw a distinction between ontologically fundamental and non-fundamental theories without insisting that it is only the fundamental theories that get the ontology right: there are cases where non-fundamental theories involve distinct ontologies that better characterize real systems than fundamental ones do. In order to reconcile these distinct ontologies between fundamental and non-fundamental theories, we suggest that ontology must be understood as scale-dependent.

Is Group Ontology Morally Distracting? A Natural Law Approach to Corporate Religious Liberty

Abstract In recent years, a variety of corporate litigants, from houses of worship to for-profit enterprises, have brought religious liberty suits to the US Supreme Court. Interestingly, the metaphysical status of such litigants has been subject to intense debate by judges and commentators alike. Are these litigants corporate moral persons or mere aggregates of individuals? How, if at all, does their metaphysical status affect our assignment of corporate rights to religious freedom? While many have entertained such questions, others reject them as morally distracting. This article challenges that latter position. Drawing upon the natural law tradition, I argue that group ontology can be used in the assignment of corporate rights in a morally illuminating way. I point out the tradition’s distinctive ontology, which views groups primarily as social actions, subject to moral evaluation. I then discuss how this conception moves attention away from polarizing rights-based discourse towards measured consideration of what is morally right. Finally, I show how this ontology helps practical reasoning to discover a variety of (non-rights-based) reasons and means to protect religious freedoms as well as other moral stakes. Far from causing moral distraction, a natural law group ontology facilitates careful moral deliberation.