scholarly journals Skeptical Hypotheses and Moral Skepticism

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jimmy Alfonso Licon
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Explanation ◽  
Epistemic Closure ◽  
Moral Skepticism ◽  
Evolutionary Scenario ◽  
Imaginative Resistance ◽  
Moral Nihilism

May (2013) argues that moral skepticism is less plausible than perceptual skepticism if it’s formulated using epistemic closure (hereafter the implausibility thesis). In this paper, I argue we should be skeptical of the implausibility thesis. Moral skepticism can be formulated using closure if we combine moral nihilism with a properly formulated evolutionary scenario. Further, I argue that pace May, the phenomenon of ‘imaginative resistance’ isn’t an issue for the moral skeptic; she has an evolutionary explanation of the phenomenon. Thus, we should be skeptical of the implausibility thesis.

scholarly journals Skeptical hypotheses and moral skepticism

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua May
Keyword(s):  
External World ◽  
Moral Knowledge ◽  
Moral Skepticism ◽  
Moral Case ◽  
General Lesson ◽  
Special Force ◽  
Moral Nihilism ◽  
Promising Avenue

Moral skeptics maintain that we do not have moral knowledge. Traditionally they haven't argued via skeptical hypotheses like those provided by perceptual skeptics about the external world, such as Descartes' deceiving demon. But some believe this can be done by appealing to hypotheses like moral nihilism. Moreover, some claim that skeptical hypotheses have special force in the moral case. But I argue that skeptics have failed to specify an adequate skeptical scenario, which reveals a general lesson: such arguments are not a promising avenue for moral skeptics to take. They're ultimately weaker when applied to morality compared to perception.

scholarly journals ON THE EVOLUTION OF DIPODIUM R. BR.

REINWARDTIA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter O'byrne
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Evolutionary Explanation ◽  
Floral Structure ◽  
Evolutionary Scenario ◽  
Plant Form

Dipodium R. Br. (Orchidaceae), a genus of ca. 38 species, should be divided into an Australasian clade and a Malesian clade, based on morphological and geographic evidences. Dipodium section Dipodium and section Leopardanthus (Blume) O. Kuntze are re-defined to accommodate this change. An evolutionary scenario that explains this division is proposed. The lack of diversity of floral structure in the genus is probably caused by pollinator-specificity, while the diversity of plant form may be due to long-term environmental factors. An evolutionary explanation is suggested for the complex between Dipodium fevrellii J. J. Sm. and the hybrid D. pandanum Bailey in New Guinea. The complex in Java involving D. pictum (Lindl.) Rchb. f. and D. scandens (Bl.) J. J.Sm. is discussed, and the presence of a hybrid noted.In Borneo, the complex taxonomic situation caused by repeated inter-breeding of populations is noted.

Hinge Epistemology, Radical Skepticism, and Domain Specific Skepticism

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-133
Author(s):  
Drew Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Moral Skepticism ◽  
Radical Skepticism ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Hinge Epistemology ◽  
Moral Domain ◽  
Skeptical Problem ◽  
Domain I ◽  
Moral Nihilism

This paper explores how hinge epistemology (specifically, Duncan Pritchard’s brand of hinge epistemology) might fruitfully be applied not only to the problem of radical skepticism, but also to certain domain specific (or ‘local’) skepticisms, and in particular, moral skepticism. The paper explains the idea of a domain specific skepticism, and how domain specific skepticisms contrast with radical skepticism. I argue that a domain specific skeptical problem can be resolved in just the same way as radical skepticism, if there are hinge commitments within that domain. I then suggest that there are hinge commitments in the moral domain, and use this to address a moral skeptical problem due to our apparent inability to know moral nihilism to be false.

Sex Differences in Mass Media Preferences Across Four Asian Countries

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malini Ratnasingam ◽  
Lee Ellis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sex Differences ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
The United States ◽  
Female Students ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Evolutionary Explanation ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Media Preferences

Background. Nearly all of the research on sex differences in mass media utilization has been based on samples from the United States and a few other Western countries. Aim. The present study examines sex differences in mass media utilization in four Asian countries (Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Singapore). Methods. College students self-reported the frequency with which they accessed the following five mass media outlets: television dramas, televised news and documentaries, music, newspapers and magazines, and the Internet. Results. Two significant sex differences were found when participants from the four countries were considered as a whole: Women watched television dramas more than did men; and in Japan, female students listened to music more than did their male counterparts. Limitations. A wider array of mass media outlets could have been explored. Conclusions. Findings were largely consistent with results from studies conducted elsewhere in the world, particularly regarding sex differences in television drama viewing. A neurohormonal evolutionary explanation is offered for the basic findings.

scholarly journals A Sensibilist Explanation of Imaginative Resistance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Nils Franzén
Keyword(s):  
Actual World ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
Personal Taste ◽  
Predicates Of Personal Taste ◽  
Imaginative Resistance ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right ◽  
Evaluative Terms ◽  
The Way

Abstract This article discusses why it is the case that we refuse to accept strange evaluative claims as being true in fictions, even though we are happy to go along with other types of absurdities in such contexts. For instance, we would refuse to accept the following statement as true, even in the context of a fiction: (i) In killing her baby, Giselda did the right thing; after all, it was a girl. This article offers a sensibilist diagnosis of this puzzle, inspired by an observation first made by David Hume. According to sensibilism, the way we feel about things settles their evaluative properties. Thus, when confronted with a fictional scenario where the configuration of non-evaluative facts and properties is relevantly similar to the actual world, we refuse to go along with evaluative properties being instantiated according to a different pattern. It is the attitudes we hold in the actual world that fix the extension of evaluative terms, even in nonactual worlds. When engaging with a fiction, we (to some extent) leave our beliefs about what the world is like behind, while taking our emotional attitudes with us into the fiction. To substantiate this diagnosis, this paper outlines a sensibilist semantics for evaluative terms based on recent discussion regarding predicates of personal taste, and explains how, together with standard assumptions about the nature of fictional discourse, it makes the relevant predictions with respect to engagement with fictions.

Emotion in imaginative resistance

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-43
Author(s):  
Dylan Campbell ◽  
William Kidder ◽  
Jason D’Cruz ◽  
Brendan Gaesser
Keyword(s):  
Imaginative Resistance

scholarly journals The diversity of opsins in Lake Baikal amphipods (Amphipoda: Gammaridae)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Polina Drozdova ◽  
Alena Kizenko ◽  
Alexandra Saranchina ◽  
Anton Gurkov ◽  
Maria Firulyova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Baikal ◽  
Visual Pigments ◽  
Ancient Lake ◽  
Climate History ◽  
Habitat Depth ◽  
Long Wavelength ◽  
Evolutionary Scenario ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Evolutionary Success ◽  
Multiple Species

Abstract Background Vision is a crucial sense for the evolutionary success of many animal groups. Here we explore the diversity of visual pigments (opsins) in the transcriptomes of amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda) and conclude that it is restricted to middle (MWS) and long wavelength-sensitive (LWS) opsins in the overwhelming majority of examined species. Results We evidenced (i) parallel loss of MWS opsin expression in multiple species (including two independently evolved lineages from the deep and ancient Lake Baikal) and (ii) LWS opsin amplification (up to five transcripts) in both Baikal lineages. The number of LWS opsins negatively correlated with habitat depth in Baikal amphipods. Some LWS opsins in Baikal amphipods contained MWS-like substitutions, suggesting that they might have undergone spectral tuning. Conclusions This repeating two-step evolutionary scenario suggests common triggers, possibly the lack of light during the periods when Baikal was permanently covered with thick ice and its subsequent melting. Overall, this observation demonstrates the possibility of revealing climate history by following the evolutionary changes in protein families.

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