Existentialising existence theory and expanding the sociology of existential milestones

This paper responds to the ‘existence theory’ proposed by Baert, Morgan and Ushiyama. It considers their proposals in light of two main thematics: the general account of human existence, and the more empirical sociology of existential milestones. Both elements are appraised in light of existentialist philosophy and earlier attempts at ‘existentialist sociology’. It is suggested that the authors engage with generational theory, and also give an account of the commodification of significant life-stages by the milestones culture industry.

Taxonomic changes in the Neotropical Arctiinae, Arctiini (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) relating to the fauna of Trinidad and Tobago

In preparation for a general account of the Trinidad and Tobago Arctiini, the following taxonomic changes are made and justification provided. A lectotype is designated for Castrica sordidior Rothschild, 1909. Castrica oweni Schaus, 1896, stat rev. is returned to species rank. The following new synonyms are established: Castrica sordidior Rothschild, 1909 syn. nov. of Castrica oweni Schaus, 1896; Automolis nigroapicalis Gaede, 1923, Automolis semicostalis Rothschild, 1909, Automolis alboatra Rothschild, 1909, Automolis alboatra borussica Seitz, 1922, Sallaea unifascia Druce, 1899, Automolis hamifera Dognin, 1907, and Automolis apicata Schaus, 1905 syn. nov. of Pryteria costata Möschler, 1883; and Sphinx Adfeit. psamas Cramer, [1779] syn. nov. of Phalaena Noctua onytes Cramer, [1777]. Virbia birchi Druce, 1911 is confirmed to be a synonym of Phalaena medarda Stoll, [1781]. Pryteria tenuis (Rothschild, 1935) stat. nov. and P. intensa (Rothschild, 1935) stat. nov. are raised to species level pending clarification of the genus Pryteria in Central America.

A Theory of Political Backlash: Assessing the Religious Right’s Effects on the Religious Field

A growing body of evidence suggests that the rise in religious disaffiliation can be partly attributed to a political backlash against the Religious Right. Yet the concept of “political backlash” remains undertheorized, limiting our ability to evaluate how backlash against the Religious Right has impacted the religious field as a whole. This article develops a general account of how political backlash against a radical actor can impact participants within a given field, distinguishing between broad backlash, narrow backlash, and counter backlash. It then applies this framework to the case of the religious field. An analysis of available evidence suggests that backlash against the Religious Right has had ripple effects beyond the rise of the “nones,” including a rise in “spiritual” identification, positive attention to the “Religious Left,” depoliticization of liberal religion, and purification and radicalization within the Religious Right itself. This article encourages religion scholars to connect dots between trends that have not been understood as related, and deepens our understanding of the relational nature of religious change. More generally, it offers a framework for understanding how backlash against radical actors can shape entire fields.

Romantic Microethics

Ethical thought typically aims to provide a general account of the good. This essay explores a form of localized ethical attention through British Romantic writing that eschews that aspiration, privileging individual cases in all their detail and particularity. This form, which I term “microethics,” is small in two senses, permitting extremely close observation of individual cases and limiting itself to equally small conclusions. It is most recognizable in poetry but recurs across fiction, drama, and philosophical prose. Considering such thinking allows us to assess and extend recent arguments for the value of Romanticism's small and marginal forms. While Romantic microethics develops in opposition to emerging utilitarian thought and the politically repressive conditions of the 1790s, it anticipates a range of later forms, from Adorno's ethical fragments to deconstruction to anthropological method. At once literary and philosophical, it binds both writing and reading practices to acts of singular attention.

Supererogation and conditional obligation

There are plenty of classic paradoxes about conditional obligations, like the duty to be gentle if one is to murder, and about “supererogatory” deeds beyond the call of duty. But little has been said about the intersection of these topics. We develop the first general account of conditional supererogation, with the power to solve familiar puzzles as well as several that we introduce. Our account, moreover, flows from two familiar ideas: that conditionals restrict quantification and that supererogation emerges from a clash between justifying and requiring reasons.

A new species and taxonomic changes relating to the Notodontidae (Lepidoptera) of Trinidad, West Indies

In preparation for a general account of the Notodontidae of Trinidad and Tobago, the following taxonomic acts are required. Apella [sic] ovalis Rothschild, 1917 (Notodontidae) is transferred to the combination Lephana ovalis (Rothschild) comb. nov. (Erebidae, Anobinae). Crinodes insularis Rothschild, 1917 stat. nov. is removed from synonymy with C. fuscipennis Rothschild, 1917. Oligocentria brunnipennis Kaye, 1923 stat rev. is reinstated as a valid species. The following are new synonyms: Anoba suffusa Hampson, 1924 syn. nov. of Lephana muffula Guenée, 1852 (Erebidae, Anobinae); Farigia xenopithia Druce, 1911 syn. nov. of F. magniplaga Schaus, 1905; Oligocentria guianensis Thiaucourt, 2015 syn. nov. of Oligocentria brunnipennis Kaye, 1923; Skaphita aroensis (Schaus, 1901) and S. sexnotata (Kaye, 1925) syn. nov. of S. cubana (Grote, 1865). The holotype of S. kalodonta (Kaye, 1923) is recognised. Skaphita indirae sp. nov. is described from Trinidad.

‘Setting down experiments of the sciences’

Chapter 2: ‘Setting down experiments of the sciences: printing and the works of Thomas Willis’ starts with a brief account of Willis as a reader, identifying c.100 authors, ancient and contemporary, whom he cites in the treatises. Within a general account of the book trade in the mid-seventeenth century, the tensions relating to censorship and licensing for potential authors are described. Willis’s first books were produced by individuals closely associated with publications of the Royal Society. It is explained that after the fire of London, publication moved to Oxford under the influence of his brother-in-law, Samuel Fell. The chapter provides brief biographies of thirty-four members of the book trade involved in publishing Willis’s books in England. This is followed by a similar approach to description of the book trade in continental Europe where editions of Thomas Willis’s books were published by twenty-three individuals working in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Italy. {149 words}

Australia’s public utilities—an introduction to an era of reform

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a general account of the main economic reforms that have taken place in Australia since the 1980s and in doing so provide context for the changes that more specifically took place to the utilities sector during that period. As well as looking at the background for reform in Australia it also looks at how the prevailing economic and political environment impacted on the formulation of public policy. Finally, it touches on the impact that technological change and ideology had in formulating public policy, which in turn drove the changes that occurred to the major utilities companies in Australia.

In the Beginning

This chapter presents a general account of the pure business of being true, otherwise put, of what is so of truths and falsehoods merely by virtue of their being that. It introduces Frege’s notion of a thought and of the thought’s logical and ontological priority, the idea that whole thoughts come first and are multiply decomposable, other items in the business of being true to be understood in terms of their role in such decompositions. It also discusses his idea of winnowing the psychological from the logical, and the distinction between generalities and particular cases.