Induction and Natural Kinds Revisited

Howard Sankey reconsiders a special issue closely connected with causal powers—the problem of induction. He addresses a deep version of problem of circularity originally raised by Psillos, and argues that the circularity can be avoided. The key is recognizing certain epistemically externalist results of the Megaric consequences of the commitment to dispositional essentialism. Circularity can be avoided, Sankey argues, because it is the way the world is, rather than the inductive inference itself, that grounds the reliability of the inductive inference in his previous account. What are doing the work for Sankey here are the Megaric consequences of his adoption of Ellis’s dispositional essentialism. The uniformity in question is one that stretches across possible worlds: nature is uniform in the precise sense that there are natural kinds whose members all possess a shared set of essential properties. The significance of this commitment lies in how the possible and the temporal intersect through restrictions placed on the accessibility relation between the actual and the possible. Ipso facto, when considering questions about the future behaviours of objects, which is how Sankey understands the problem of induction to be, the uniformity of nature can ground the reliability of beliefs about those future behaviours precisely because the domain of possibility is restricted to those worlds accessible to the actual world, which is fixed by the commitments of dispositional essentialism.

Predicting surface forms in complex inflectional paradigms through phonological constraints

This paper describes a new approach to the 'cell-filling problem' in inflectional paradigms (Ackerman and Malouf 2013) that builds on an account in Rosen (2019) in the framework of Gradient Symbolic Computation ('GSC') (Smolensky and Goldrick 2016). Exponents in a paradigm are derived through (a) Faithfulness to gradiently-weighted input blends of phonological material that occur both as part of a lexeme and on a morphosyntactic feature combination and (b) a gradiently weighted constraint that rewards a candidate for identity with a principal part form (Finkel and Stump 2007) in the paradigm. The analysis is applied to complex paradigms in Ngiti and Kwerba (Finkel and Stump 2007), both of which the previous account was unable to capture, and is presented as evidence in favour of the partially-activated features and weighted constrains in the GSC model.

Risking Civilian Lives to Avoid Harm to Cultural Heritage?

This paper investigates the circumstances under which it is morally permissible to impose non-negligible risks of serious harm (including lethal harm) on innocent civilians in order not to endanger tangible cultural heritage during armed conflict. Building on a previous account of the value of cultural heritage, it is argued that tangible cultural heritage is valuable because of how it contributes to valuable and meaningful human lives. Taking this account as the point of departure I examine the claim that commanders should be prepared to risk lives of innocent civilians in order to avoid harm to tangible cultural heritage. I argue that imposing high risks of serious harm on innocent civilians without their consent constitutes a wrong that can be justified only in order to avoid a greater evil. It is then argued that damage to cultural heritage sites rarely constitutes the greater evil when weighed against the imposition of non-consensual risks of serious harm on innocent civilians, especially when the risk is substantial. Still, imposing substantial risks might be morally permissible under the condition that they are consensually imposed, even if they are not the lesser evil. However, I argue that even if one has reason to suspect that there are civilians who might consent to at least some significant risks in order to avoid damage to their cultural heritage, it is not clear that commanders should take this into account when deciding what to do. Unless all of those who are at risk consent, the fact that some of those whose lives are at risk consent to the risk of being killed do not make it morally permissible to impose this risk on the group as a whole.

Motivating Solidarity with Distant Others

It is widely acknowledged that although people show considerable concern about the well-being of family, friends, and others close to them, perhaps extending to their own national group, they most often show much less concern for the needs and rights of distant others, for example, those working in sweatshop conditions, or suffering from extreme poverty, or experiencing severe impacts from climate change. This chapter considers the motivation people might have (or might come to have) for taking the needs and rights of these distant others seriously and for standing in solidarity with them. Does this motivation arise from rational reflection on their rights and their equal moral status, as traditionally conceived, or does it require beyond this a disposition to empathy or to care? Drawing on recent philosophical analyses of empathy and on the feminist ethics of care, as well as on the author’s own previous account of transnational solidarities, the chapter analyzes some of the epistemic and motivational aspects of empathy, while also taking note of its potential dangers. It goes on to argue that rational respect can usefully be supplemented with an understanding of the perspective of the other and “feeling with” them and explores some specific ways in which empathizing can transform critical reasoning in global contexts. The chapter’s conclusion suggests some implications of this account for the current issue of how to conceive of the responsibility for fulfilling the requirements of global justice.

Reasoning with Unarticulated Thoughts

This chapter looks closely at another important aspect of the articulation process: the kind of reasoning that we engage in when we articulate a thought. Although we often articulate our thoughts without engaging in any reasoning, a certain kind of reasoning does sometimes play an ancillary role in our assessment of a formulation. In articulating a thought, we are often cognizant of various attitudes that we have in reaction to it. The thought may seem true or false, hopeful or alarming, frivolous or serious, and so on. We reject formulations that do not support such attitudes in any way. This chapter shows that these attitudes pass through a kind of “normative filter”, or a rapid normative evaluation, and goes some way toward understanding the character of this evaluation using the previous account of implicit knowledge. Understanding how we reason with unarticulated thoughts can enhance our understanding of reasoning, more generally.

Genesis 2

The creation account in Genesis 2 contains an etiology of marriage and family and is also part of the larger introduction in Genesis 1–3 to the later (literarily speaking) habitable world outside the Garden of Eden. The characteristics of the etiological account are first explored, noting the concluding emphasis that Adam and Eve form a kinship unit through a one-flesh union. This account is briefly compared to Genesis 1:1–2:3, which is also an account of creation, and it is suggested that the narrative in Genesis 2 functions as an elaboration of the previous account, now that they are placed side-by-side. The continuation of the account in Genesis 3 interprets human mortality outside the Garden of Eden, along with indications that God will continue a relationship with the human community.

Greek and Romance unagreement in Calabria

The term ‘unagreement’ describes configurations with an apparent person-mismatch between a typically definite plural subject and non-third person verbal agreement found in several null subject languages. Previous works have suggested that languages which have an obligatory definite article in adnominal pronoun constructions (APCs) allow unagreement (cf. standard modern Greek emeis oi glossologoi “we (the) linguists”), while languages that rule out definite articles in APCs do not allow unagreement constructions (cf. standard Italian noi (*i) linguisti). This article presents new evidence from Calabrian Greek (Greko), which corresponds to the predictions for other varieties of Greek, and two southern Italian Romance varieties (northern and southern Calabrese): these varieties exhibit Italian-type APCs but still allow unagreement, contrary to expectations. We discuss how the Romance data may be accommodated by extending a previous account of unagreement and propose that the hybrid pattern observed in the Italo-Romance varieties is a result of historical contact with local Greek varieties.

Improving population estimates of Swedish birds using the Breeding Bird Survey fixed routes and correction factors from Finnish line transect surveys

I estimated population size of fifty-nine common birds by using the fixed routes of the Swedish Bird Survey (SBS), which give the number of birds per kilometer. I converted this number to density, birds/km2, using the correction factors for detectability that have been developed for line transects in Finland. I compared the population estimates by this new method with those in a previous account from 2012, in which the estimates of common birds were primarily based on extrapolation of habitat-specific densities from numerous territory mapping plots. There was good agreement for the most abundant species but a clear tendency that the estimates with the new method were higher for many less common ones. As little new density data are being collected, the SBS fixed routes are likely to be the prime source of data for future national population estimates. Although the Finnish correction factors can be used to improve the Swedish estimates for suitable species it is advisable to develop factors specifically adapted to the Swedish counts for application to a wider spectrum of species.

A checklist of the mammals (Mammalia) from Durango, western Mexico

An updated list of the mammals of Durango state, Mexico was built from literature records and Museum specimens. A total of 139 species have been recorded, representing 28.3 % of the Mexican terrestrial mammals, and 25.1 % species more compared to the previous account. Two species have been extirpated from the state, 23 are endemic to Mexico. Four major ecoregions have been previously defined for the state, Arid, Valleys, Sierra, and Quebradas. Species richness is highest at the Quebradas, a tropical ecorregion, whereas the aridlands are the least species-rich. The Sierra has the highest number of endemic species (11) followed by Quebradas (7), Valleys and Arid (3). Despite the fact that Durango harbors one of the largest diversities of mammals of the country, conservation efforts are minimal, and the current protected areas do not include the most species-rich regions. The current rate of anthropogenic modification in the state makes urgent to put in practice already existing plans to protect Durango’s unique biodiversity.

The First-Perspective Alignment Effect: The Role of Environmental Complexity and Familiarity with Surroundings

People often remember relatively novel environments from the first perspective encountered or the first direction of travel. This initial perspective can determine a preferred orientation that facilitates the efficiency of spatial judgements at multiple recalled locations. The present study examined this “first-perspective alignment effect” (FPA effect). In three experiments, university students explored three-path routes through computer-simulated spaces presented on a desktop computer screen. Spatial memory was then tested employing a “judgement of relative direction” task. Contrary to the predictions of a previous account, Experiment 1 found a reliable FPA effect in barren and complex environments. Experiment 2 strongly implicated the importance of complete novelty of the space surrounding the route in producing the effect. Experiment 3 found that, while familiarity with the surrounding space greatly attenuated the FPA effect with immediate testing, the effect reemerged following a 7-day delay to testing. The implications for the encoding and retrieval of spatial reference frames are discussed.