Sole Bearer Research Articles

Consequentialist Teleology and the Valuation of States of Affairs

Elizabeth Anderson claims that states of affairs are merely extrinsically valuable, since we value them only in virtue of the intrinsically valuable (e.g.) persons in those states of affairs. Since it considers states of affairs to be the sole bearers of intrinsic value, Anderson argues that consequentialism is incoherent because it attempts to globally maximize extrinsic value. I respond to this objection by distinguishing between two forms of consequentialist teleology and arguing that Anderson's claim is either harmless or her argument for the claim is uncompelling. On the first conception of teleology, consequentialists need not hold that states of affairs are the sole bearers of intrinsic value, which allows them to deflect this criticism. On the second account of teleology, even assuming that states of affairs are the sole bearers of intrinsic value, Anderson's argument does not necessarily defeat such views.

Firewater, Desire, and the Militiamen’s Christmas Eve in San Geroónimo, Baja Verapaz, 1892

Firewater, Desire, and the Militiamen’s Christmas Eve in San Geroónimo, Baja Verapaz, 1892

Sole bearers: reflections from a Balint group

Sole bearers: reflections from a Balint group

Lysosomes in rat thoracic duct lymphocytes fractionated by zonal centrifugation.

A method of zonal centrifugation was developed which separates rat thoracic duct lymphocytes (TDL) mainly according to size. The validity of the fractionation method was supported by light microscope observations, Coulter Counter sizing, and in vivo and in vitro labeling of lymphocytes. The distributions of lysosomal acid hydrolases in TDL fractionated by zonal centrifugation are similar to the distribution obtained for the cells. This result indicates that the large lymphocyte is not the sole bearer of either lysosomes or the large amount of soluble cathepsin D found in homogenates of TDL. Both reside mainly in small lymphocytes. This point was clearly established by fractionating homogenates of purified small lymphocytes by means of differential centrifugation and isopycnic density gradient centrifugation.

Concordance and Discordance of Taxonomic Characters in Drosophila Classification

The general structure of taxonomic data sets, the alpha and beta elements of this structure, the departures of this structure from randomness, and the rationale by which departures are viewed as historical evidence have been demonstrated. An operational method for selecting character sets is illustrated, an estimate of the genealogy that produced the species is derived from these sets, and this estimate is presented as a phylogeny. In addition, I have demonstrated a method that discloses a stable structure that is relatively insensitive to distortion through addition of new data. Still further, I have shown a procedure that produced clusters of species having phenetic properties that are at least as good as those of clusters produced by direct phenetic methods. It has been demonstrated that different characters have different predictive properties, that different character states of the same character have different predictive properties, and that, in general, derivative states are the sole bearers of valid historical information. Taxonomists cannot, with propriety, weight either characters or character states. They must select and evaluate sets of character states, and this evaluation should be carried out every time new data, breaking established character sets, are incorporated into data tables.

Direct Democracy in France

When during the debate on a motion of censure in October 1962 Paul Reynaud challenged the government from the rostrum of the National Assembly with a scornful: “Here and nowhere else is France!”, the issue was well joined. To Reynaud, perennial deputy during three republican regimes, General de Gaulle's projected referendum appeared as a two-fold attack upon French republican traditions. If adopted, the proposal to elect the President of the Republic by popular suffrage would divest the Assembly of its role as the sole bearer of national sovereignty. Moreover, to seek approval for such a change of the constitution of 1958 without a prior vote of parliament deprived both houses of any participation in the amending process.In 1958, as President of the Consultative Constitutional Committee, Reynaud had insisted that the possibilities of any direct appeal to the electorate be carefully circumscribed and hedged by parliamentary controls. He had obtained official assurances that the referendum would never be used by the executive as a means of arousing popular opinion against the elected assemblies. The final text of the constitution had incorporated proposals by the Consultative Committee which strengthened the position of parliament whenever either a referendum or presidential emergency powers might create a plebiscitarian situation.

The Subject Matter and Methodology of Ethnographic Study of the Soviet Working Class

The problem of the culture and mode of life of the working class is increasingly attracting the attention of Soviet researchers. In recent years considerable progress has been made in their study. This work is also proceeding actively in the people's democracies. (1) Nevertheless, it must be recognized that this field of ethnography continues to lag. Pre-Marxist, and particularly prerevolutionary Russian ethnography, did not set itself the task of studying the working class. It regarded the working class as a uniform mass without specific ethnic characteristics, and saw the peasantry as the sole bearer of national culture. As a consequence, a substantial portion of the population of a particular nationality, not engaged in agriculture or the fishing and hunting occupations, remained outside the purview of ethnographic study. This not only impoverished but distorted the general picture of the development of the folk way of life, the folk culture.

Societies and Academies

Societies and Academies