scholarly journals The Three Levels of Law’s Goodness and then One More: Exploring John Finnis’s Account of Good Juridical Reasons for Action

2020 ◽  
pp. 521-552
Author(s):  
Petar Popović
Keyword(s):  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Reasons For Action ◽  
Discrete Level ◽  
The Core

The article revisits, in the first section, the core arguments of John Finnis’s account of law’s «goodness». Having established that the premises of these arguments are situated in Finnis’s theses on what constitutes good juridical reasons for action, and on law’s «double life», the three levels of law’s goodness are explored in detail. In the second section, the author argues that Aquinas’s juridical philosophy contains another discrete level of juridical goodness relevant to law. This level is then presented along with a critical assessment of its harmony with Finnis’s theory.

A Particularist but Codifiable Virtue Ethics

2021 ◽  
pp. 262-281
Author(s):  
Christine Swanton
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
Reasons For Action ◽  
Moral Particularism ◽  
Right Action ◽  
Jonathan Dancy ◽  
The Core ◽  
Ethical View

Moral particularism of the kind developed by Jonathan Dancy is treated as a topic in meta-ethics. Until it is applied to a suitable type of normative theory criticisms which have assailed it are difficult to rebut. This chapter aims to apply Dancy’s particularism to target centred virtue ethics, showing how many of these criticisms are off the mark. At the core of these criticisms is that of uncodifiability. Virtue ethics is held to be codifiable through the virtue rules which encode virtue-reasons for action, reasons which are argued to be particularist in Dancy’s sense. That is it is possible even for reasons expressed through the thick virtue concepts to switch valence. In the course of the argument a virtue ethical view of right action (the target-centred view) is further developed.

scholarly journals Exile, Use, and Form-of-Life: On the Conclusion of Agamben’s Homo Sacer series

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Gert-Jan van der Heiden
Keyword(s):  
Original Problem ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Form Of Life ◽  
Homo Sacer ◽  
The Core ◽  
Ancient Cynicism ◽  
Taking Care

The last two volumes of Giorgio Agamben’s Homo Sacer series are concerned with developing a theory of use. This article offers a critical assessment of the two concepts, use and form-of-life, that form the heart of this theory: how do these two notions offer a solution to the problem of bare life that forms the core of the Homo Sacer series? First, the author describes how the original problem of bare life is taken up in The Use of Bodies and how the notion of use offers an important additional characteristic of bare life. Second, inspired by Foucault’s analysis of ancient Cynicism, the author discusses in which sense the type of ‘solution’ Agamben offers to the problem of bare life might be seen as an heir to ancient Cynicism and how this interpretation clarifies his connection of form-of-life and exile. Third, the author critically assesses the different usages of use that we can find in Agamben, by comparing how Franciscan usus, Pauline chrēsis and Platonic chrēsis are taken up in his analysis. Fourth, following Foucault, the author deepens the Platonic sense of use and its relation to taking care of justice. The article concludes with a critical assessment of Agamben’s reading of Plato’s myth of Er, in which the motifs of use, exile, and care are gathered.

At the Core of Our Capacity to Act for a Reason: The Affective System and Evaluative Model-Based Learning and Control

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Railton
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Information ◽  
Reasons For Action ◽  
Rational Deliberation ◽  
The Core ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Capacity To Act ◽  
And Control ◽  
Affective System

Recent decades have witnessed a sea change in thinking about emotion, which has gone from being seen as a disruptive force in human thought and action to being seen as an important source of situation- and goal-relevant information and evaluation, continuous with perception and cognition. Here I argue on philosophical and empirical grounds that the role of emotion in contributing to our ability to respond to reasons for action runs deeper still: The affective system is at the core of the process of evaluatively modeling situations, actions, and outcomes, which is the foundation upon which rational deliberation and action can be built. Taking up this perspective affords new approaches to long-standing problems in the theory of reason-based action.

The Oxford Handbook of Hume

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
David Hume ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Work ◽  
Clear View ◽  
The Core ◽  
Considerable Debate ◽  
English Speaking

David Hume (1711–1776) is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential of the English-speaking philosophers. The range of his contributions is considerable: covering issues of metaphysics and epistemology, mind and emotion, morality and politics, history, economics, and religion. Although there is little debate about the importance and significance of Hume’s philosophical contributions, there is, nevertheless, considerable debate about the interpretation of his overall philosophical achievement as well as his particular aims and intentions with respect to the specific topics he addresses. Beyond this, there is also considerable disagreement about the critical assessment or plausibility of the various arguments and positions that Hume advances. This collection aims to provide a comprehensive set of analyses and assessments of the key components and aspects of Hume’s philosophical work. The contributions are drawn from among the leading figures of contemporary philosophy and Hume scholarship with a view to providing readers not only with an understanding of the core themes and features of Hume’s philosophy but also with a clear view of the central debates concerning the interpretation and assessment of Hume’s philosophy at the present time. This volume constitutes the most substantial and ambitious collection devoted exclusively to Hume’s philosophy.

scholarly journals Critical assessment of pan-genomics of metagenome-assembled genomes

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tang Li ◽  
Yanbin Yin
Keyword(s):  
Genome Analysis ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gene Loss ◽  
Core Gene ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
The Core ◽  
Pan Genome ◽  
Analysis Tools

Background: Large scale metagenome assembly and binning to generate metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) has become possible in the past five years. As a result, millions of MAGs have been produced and increasingly included in pan-genomics workflow. However, pan-genome analyses of MAGs may suffer from the known issues with MAGs: fragmentation, incompleteness, and contamination, due to mis-assembly and mis-binning. Here, we conducted a critical assessment of including MAGs in pan-genome analysis, by comparing pan-genome analysis results of complete bacterial genomes and simulated MAGs. Results: We found that incompleteness led to more significant core gene loss than fragmentation. Contamination had little effect on core genome size but had major influence on accessory genomes. The core gene loss remained when using different pan-genome analysis tools and when using a mixture of MAGs and complete genomes. Importantly, the core gene loss was partially alleviated by lowering the core gene threshold and using gene prediction algorithms that consider fragmented genes, but to a less degree when incompleteness was higher than 5%. The core gene loss also led to incorrect pan-genome functional predictions and inaccurate phylogenetic trees. Conclusions: We conclude that lowering core gene threshold and predicting genes in metagenome mode (as Anvio does with Prodigal) are necessary in pan-genome analysis of MAGs to alleviate the accuracy loss. Better quality control of MAGs and development of new pan-genome analysis tools specifically designed for MAGs are needed in future studies.

scholarly journals PROSPECTS OF APPLICATION OF LIQUID-MOVING SELF-CURING MIXTURES IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIN-WALLED STEEL CASTINGS

2021 ◽  
pp. 50-52
Author(s):  
I. O. Leushin ◽  
A. N. Grachev ◽  
L. I. Leushina ◽  
P. M. Yavtushenko
Keyword(s):  
Steel Casting ◽  
Gas Permeability ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
The Core ◽  
Liquid Moving ◽  
Analytical Review ◽  
Steel Castings ◽  
Thin Walled ◽  
Prospects Of Application

The method of manufacturing casting molds and cores for steel and iron casting from liquid self-hardening mixtures has been known since the 60s of the last century. The idea of the method is very simple - after preparation, the LSS is poured into the working cavity of the core box or onto the model installed in the flask, and then it is kept for some time until the foam falls, the core or shape hardens and the gas permeability is restored to operating values. Nevertheless, the method is not widely used in existing production due to a number of disadvantages. The aim of the work is to «revive» it, taking into account modern risks and challenges. Based on the results of the information and analytical review, a critical assessment was made. The directions of improvement and prospects of its use in innovative technology for the production of thin-walled steel casting for critical purposes are determined.

Virtue Ethics, Thick Concepts, and Paradoxes of Beneficence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Swanton
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Reasons For Action ◽  
The Core ◽  
Theoretical Position ◽  
Thick Concepts ◽  
Practical Reality ◽  
Stark Contrast ◽  
Mode Of Being

Reasons of beneficence are at the core of ethics and also of many of its paradoxes. What is needed for their resolution is an appreciation of the distinctive nature of what has been called the logos of ethics; an openness to a practical reality of notably reasons. That openness constitutes the mode of being of that reality and thereby its ontology. I propose a virtue ethical understanding of the logos of ethics. Here the thick virtue and vice concepts are central. This conception of the ethical provides a stark contrast to the narrowness and thinness of the “moral” as traditionally conceived. After outlining the basic theoretical position—the chapter deploys the view to resolve paradoxes of beneficence. These are the paradox of supererogation, the “It Makes No Difference” Paradox (e.g., that of pooled beneficence), and that of the underdetermination by reasons for action (e.g., of what charity to support).

Questioning Gender through Transformative Critical Rooms

2011 ◽  
pp. 1048-1053
Author(s):  
Cecile K.M. Crutzen ◽  
Erna Kotkamp
Keyword(s):  
Object Relations ◽  
Gender Studies ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Important Condition ◽  
Feminist Analysis ◽  
The Core ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
Feminist Theories ◽  
Human Actors

Using the discourse of Gender Studies (Harding, 1986), proves to be a fruitful strategy to question methods, theories and practices of the Informatics discipline (Suchman, 1994a, 1994b). It shows the problematic notion of the binary opposition of use-design and it uncovers the objectification of both users and designers in ICT-representations in the designing process (Crutzen, 1997, 2000a, 2000b). To further this analysis of the informatics discipline the concept of the transformative critical room is a very important one. A transformative critical room creates space where the interpretation of ICT-representations can be negotiated and where doubt can occur as a constructive strategy. Creating these rooms require actors who already have a habit of causing doubt and who accept that truths are always situated. Within gender studies these concepts of situated knowledge’s and the critical assessment of subject-object relations are at the core of many feminist theories (Crutzen, 2003; Crutzen & Kotkamp, 2006). A transformative critical room where a feminist analysis is of great importance is the room where interactions take place between human actors and ICT-representations. In this interaction, the meaning of “use” needs to be reconstructed. Using ICT representations imply the (re)design of a flexible environment where the connection between human and non-human actors can always be disconnected. When introducing this possible disruption in these ICT-representations it shows that the activities of use and design occur simultaneously with a process of learning. This means that designing is always an ongoing process where change takes place and where actability becomes an important condition.

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