Competing Reasons

2021 ◽  
pp. 247-268
Author(s):  
Justin Snedegar
Keyword(s):  
Normative Status ◽  
Distinct Role

One of the most important facts about the normative domain is that some considerations are contributory, rather than decisive, when it comes to determining what we ought to, must, or may do. This chapter investigates different ways that contributory reasons bearing on our options can compete with one another to determine the overall normative status of those options. Two key themes are (i) that the theory of this competition must include a distinct role for reasons against, in addition to reasons for, and (ii) that the theory must allow for comparative verdicts about which options are more strongly supported than others, rather than simply which options are required or permitted. I reject a simple and familiar balancing account of the competition, as well as an account that understands the competition in terms of giving and answering criticisms of the options. I introduce a new account that incorporates a distinct role for reasons against.

Connecting Gospels

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Second Century ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Field Of Study ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Single Field ◽  
Vantage Points ◽  
Canonical Texts ◽  
Normative Status ◽  
Two Bodies ◽  
Shed Light

By the late second century, early Christian gospels had been divided into two groups by a canonical boundary that assigned normative status to four of them while consigning their competitors to the margins. The project of this volume is to find ways to reconnect these divided texts. The primary aim is not to address the question whether the canonical/non-canonical distinction reflects substantive and objectively verifiable differences between the two bodies of texts—although that issue may arise at various points. Starting from the assumption that, in spite of their differences, all early gospels express a common belief in the absolute significance of Jesus and his earthly career, the intention is to make their interconnectedness fruitful for interpretation. The approach taken is thematic and comparative: a selected theme or topic is traced across two or more gospels on either side of the canonical boundary, and the resulting convergences and divergences shed light not least on the canonical texts themselves as they are read from new and unfamiliar vantage points. The outcome is to demonstrate that early gospel literature can be regarded as a single field of study, in contrast to the overwhelming predominance of the canonical four characteristic of traditional gospels scholarship.

scholarly journals The Problem of Unwelcome Epistemic Company

Episteme ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Joshua Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Peer Disagreement ◽  
Normative Status

Abstract Many of us are unmoved when it is objected that some morally or intellectually suspect source agrees with our belief. While we may tend to find this kind of guilt by epistemic association unproblematic, I argue that this tendency is a mistake. We sometimes face what I call the problem of unwelcome epistemic company. This is the problem of encountering agreement about the content of your belief from a source whose faults give you reason to worry about the belief's truth, normative status, etiology, or implications. On the basis of an array of cases, I elaborate four distinct kinds of problems that unwelcome epistemic company poses. Two of these are distinctly epistemic, and two are moral. I canvass possible responses, ranging from stubbornness to an epistemic prudishness that avoids unwelcome company at all costs. Finally, I offer preliminary lessons of the problem and distinguish it from the problem of peer disagreement.

scholarly journals F4/80+ Kupffer Cell-Derived Oncostatin M Sustains the Progression Phase of Liver Regeneration through Inhibition of TGF-β2 Pathway

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2231
Author(s):  
Qingjun Lu ◽  
Hao Shen ◽  
Han Yu ◽  
Jing Fu ◽  
Hui Dong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Regeneration ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Regenerative Process ◽  
Oncostatin M ◽  
Hepatocyte Proliferation ◽  
Initiation Phase ◽  
Distinct Role

The role of Kupffer cells (KCs) in liver regeneration is complicated and controversial. To investigate the distinct role of F4/80+ KCs at the different stages of the regeneration process, two-thirds partial hepatectomy (PHx) was performed in mice to induce physiological liver regeneration. In pre- or post-PHx, the clearance of KCs by intraperitoneal injection of the anti-F4/80 antibody (α-F4/80) was performed to study the distinct role of F4/80+ KCs during the regenerative process. In RNA sequencing of isolated F4/80+ KCs, the initiation phase was compared with the progression phase. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining of Ki67, HNF-4α, CD-31, and F4/80 and Western blot of the TGF-β2 pathway were performed. Depletion of F4/80+ KCs in pre-PHx delayed the peak of hepatocyte proliferation from 48 h to 120 h, whereas depletion in post-PHx unexpectedly led to persistent inhibition of hepatocyte proliferation, indicating the distinct role of F4/80+ KCs in the initiation and progression phases of liver regeneration. F4/80+ KC depletion in post-PHx could significantly increase TGF-β2 serum levels, while TGF-βRI partially rescued the impaired proliferation of hepatocytes. Additionally, F4/80+ KC depletion in post-PHx significantly lowered the expression of oncostatin M (OSM), a key downstream mediator of interleukin-6, which is required for hepatocyte proliferation during liver regeneration. In vivo, recombinant OSM (r-OSM) treatment alleviated the inhibitory effect of α-F4/80 on the regenerative progression. Collectively, F4/80+ KCs release OSM to inhibit TGF-β2 activation, sustaining hepatocyte proliferation by releasing a proliferative brake.

scholarly journals Distribution and function of carbamate hydrolase genes cehA and mcd in soils: the distinct role of soil pH

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantina Rousidou ◽  
Dionysis Karaiskos ◽  
Despoina Myti ◽  
Evangelos Karanasios ◽  
Panagiotis A Karas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Ph ◽  
And Function ◽  
Distinct Role

scholarly journals The all-too-flexible abductive method: ATOM's normative status

2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (9) ◽  
pp. 1023-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Willem Romeijn
Keyword(s):  
Normative Status
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