scholarly journals Explaining Moral Knowledge

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uri D. Leibowitz

In this paper I assess the viability of a particularist explanation of moral knowledge. First, I consider two arguments by Sean McKeever and Michael Ridge that purport to show that a generalist, principle-based explanation of practical wisdom—understood as the ability to acquire moral knowledge in a wide range of situations—is superior to a particularist, non-principle-based account. I contend that both arguments are unsuccessful. Then, I propose a particularist-friendly explanation of knowledge of particular moral facts. I argue that when we are careful to keep separate the various explanatory tasks at hand we can see that a particularist-friendly explanation of the fact that (e.g.,) Jane knows that A is morally right might not be so difficult to come by. Moreover, I suggest that a particularist approach to explaining knowledge of particular moral facts may go some way towards discharging the challenge of moral scepticism.

2021 ◽  
pp. 107815522098341
Author(s):  
Kofi B Mensah ◽  
Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah ◽  
Peter Yamoah ◽  
Joseph Attakorah ◽  
Varsha Bangalee ◽  
...  

Introduction Though there are controversies, cancer screening has been suggested to decrease mortality. Over the years, the most accessible primary healthcare provider; the community pharmacist, has developed an interest in being part of cancer screening activities and prevention of a wide range of other non-communicable diseases. To achieve this, community pharmacists need a working knowledge of the basic screening test and recommendations. Also, it’s important to acknowledge the barriers that may prevent the implementation of cancer-screening efforts at the community pharmacy. This study aims to determine the knowledge and barriers to cancer screening among Ghanaian community pharmacists. Methodology Knowledge and barriers to cancer screening was assessed using an online questionnaire in 435 community pharmacists. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's chi-squared tests were used to analyze the data. Results The reliability and validity assessment of the questionnaire after data collection revealed a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.82 for knowledge on cancer screening. The SD and mean age of study participants were 2.48 ± 20.08. Only 25.7% of the participants had good knowledge. The most identified barrier was the lack of established guidelines (60.9%). There was no association between participants' demographics and their knowledge scores. Conclusions Community pharmacists can potentially have a large impact on early detection of cancer through screening. However, they have to improve their knowledge on general screening guidelines and be aware of available educational resources to increase their knowledge. It is also important for all stakeholders to come together to establish local screening modalities and recommendations for the country.


1973 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
H. G. Nicholas

Elections satisfy both the practical and the theoretical requirements of classical democratic theory if they answer one question only: Who shall rule? Judged by this test the American elections of 7 November 1972 returned as clear and unequivocal an answer as the United States Constitution permits – crystal-clear as to individuals, equivocal as to parties and political forces. But the student of politics and society cannot resist treating elections as data-gathering devices on a wide range of other questions, on the state of the public mind, on the relative potency of pressure groups, on the internal health of the political parties, and, of course, on the shape of things to come. In this ancillary role American elections, despite the generous wealth of statistical material which they throw up – so much more detailed and categorized (though often less precise) than our own – Suffer in most years from one severe limitation, a limitation which in 1972 was particularly conspicuous; they do not engage the interest of more than a moderate percentage of the American citizenry. In 1972 that percentage was as low as 55 per cent, i.e. out of an estimated eligible population of 139,642,000 only 77,000,000 went to the polls. Since this circumscribes the conclusions which can be drawn from the results themselves, as well as constituting a phenomenon of considerable intrinsic interest, it seems worthwhile to begin any examination of the 1972 elections by an analysis not of the votes counted but of those which were never cast.


2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-402
Author(s):  
Ingrid Monson ◽  
John Gennari ◽  
Travis A. Jackson

Do not miss Robin D. G. Kelley's Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original, for it will stand as the definitive biography of the great American composer and pianist for many years to come. What distinguishes Kelley's treatment of Monk's complicated and enigmatic life is the sheer depth and breadth of primary research, including, for the first time, the active cooperation and involvement of Thelonious Monk's family. In his acknowledgments, Kelley describes a long process of convincing Thelonious Monk, III to grant permission culminating in a six-hour meeting in which his knowledge, credentials, and commitment were thoroughly tested and challenged. Once he had secured “Toot's” blessings, as well as that of his wife Gale and brother-in-law Peter Grain, Kelley was introduced to Nellie Monk, Thelonious Monk's wife, and a wide range of family and friends who shared their memories and personal archives of photos, recordings, and papers. This is not an authorized biography, however, since Thelonious Monk, Jr. never demanded the right to see drafts or dictate the content. Rather Kelley was admonished to “dig deep and tell the truth.”


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1396
Author(s):  
Z. N. Diyana ◽  
R. Jumaidin ◽  
Mohd Zulkefli Selamat ◽  
Ihwan Ghazali ◽  
Norliza Julmohammad ◽  
...  

Thermoplastic starch composites have attracted significant attention due to the rise of environmental pollutions induced by the use of synthetic petroleum-based polymer materials. The degradation of traditional plastics requires an unusually long time, which may lead to high cost and secondary pollution. To solve these difficulties, more petroleum-based plastics should be substituted with sustainable bio-based plastics. Renewable and natural materials that are abundant in nature are potential candidates for a wide range of polymers, which can be used to replace their synthetic counterparts. This paper focuses on some aspects of biopolymers and their classes, providing a description of starch as a main component of biopolymers, composites, and potential applications of thermoplastics starch-based in packaging application. Currently, biopolymer composites blended with other components have exhibited several enhanced qualities. The same behavior is also observed when natural fibre is incorporated with biopolymers. However, it should be noted that the degree of compatibility between starch and other biopolymers extensively varies depending on the specific biopolymer. Although their efficacy is yet to reach the level of their fossil fuel counterparts, biopolymers have made a distinguishing mark, which will continue to inspire the creation of novel substances for many years to come.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly Trower

The study of the senses has become a rich topic in recent years. Senses of Vibration explores a wide range of sensory experience and makes a decisive new contribution to this growing field by focussing not simply on the senses as such, but on the material experience - vibration - that underpins them. This is the first book to take the theme of vibration as central, offering an interdisciplinary history of the phenomenon and its reverberations in the cultural imaginary. It tracks vibration through the work of a wide range of writers, including physiologists (who thought vibrations in the nerves delivered sensations to the brain), physicists (who claimed that light, heat, electricity and other forms of energy were vibratory), spiritualists (who figured that spiritual energies also existed in vibratory form), and poets and novelists from Coleridge to Dickens and Wells. Senses of Vibration is a work of scholarship that cuts through a range of disciplines and will reverberate for many years to come.


2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Paul MacLennan

In the winter of 2015, as this review is being written, the price of gasoline is plummeting in the United States and what this will mean for the individual, community, and country for the immediate future but also in years to come is unknown. There are a wide range of implications in politics, economics, and international relations as well as effects on what the individual pays for everyday groceries. It is therefore important that libraries provide their communities with the resources that include information and discussion on how energy and its monetary value interact with society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaia MacLeod

Hutchinson, Michael. The Case of Windy Lake. Second Story Press, 2019. Micheal Hutchinson is a citizen of the Misipawistik Cree Nation in the Treaty 5 territory and is no stranger to the Canadian media. He’s worked as a print reporter for The Calgary Straight and Aboriginal Times and became the host of APTN national news. Somehow in his busy life, he has found time to write two amazing children’s books. The Case of the Missing Auntie is Hutchinson’s second Mighty Muskrat Mystery book. It follows the cousins Chickadee, Otter, Samuel, and Atim (the Mighty Muskrats) of the Windy Lake First Nation. It takes place after the first book, but this time the Muskrats are leaving their reserve to spend time with family in the city. By setting the book in the city, the topic of urban Indigenous people arises. Hutchinson depicts a wide range of Indigenous people: nurses, students, musicians, and bullies. He doesn’t romanticize Indigenous people, opting to focus on realism and making the characters lifelike. The book makes sure to mention potential issues with moving/travelling from a reserve to a large city such as not fitting in and racism. The story has the same style as the previous Mighty Muskrat Mystery book with clear goals for the Muskrats to obtain: visit the Exhibition Fair, get Otter a ticket to see the band Wavoka’s Wail, and look for Auntie Charlotte who was taken during the 60’s scoop. One of the best parts is how realistic the story is, not everything goes the Mighty Muskrats way. This isn’t your typical “everything is going to work out just fine” story but that makes it a solid read—they need to come up with a plan B. It opens a dialogue on residential schools, the 60’s scoop, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It felt like a good introduction to those tough topics, explaining what they are without dismissing them as something that happened a long time ago or minimizing their modern impacts. Instead, the story shows the aftermath, and how it affects the younger generation without limiting characters’ identities to only be their relationship to historical trauma. As such, this book could work as a discussion starter between children and adults on these topics and could be used to promote critical discussion around themes like Indigenous identities and experiences. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kaia MacLeod Reviewers BiographyKaia MacLeod, a member of the James Smith Cree Nation, is an MLIS candidate at the University of Alberta. Her bachelor’s degree was in Film Studies, which she sometimes likes to call a degree in “movie watching,” she enjoys exploring how folklore is represented on film and in online content.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-70
Author(s):  
J. F. L.

Jerome Kassirer, in a current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, expressed the fear that: market-driven care is likely to alienate physicians, undermine patients' trusts of physicians' motives, cripple academic medical centers, [and] handicap the research establishment ... On the one hand, doctors are expected to provide a wide range of services, recommend the best treatments, and improve patients' quality of life. On the other, to keep expenses to a minimum they must limit the use of services, increase efficiency, shorten the time spent with each patient, and use specialists sparingly!


Author(s):  
Douglas A. Bayliss

The KCNK gene family encodes two-pore-domain potassium (K2P) channels, which generate the background (“leak”) K+ currents that establish a negative resting membrane potential in cells of the nervous system. A pseudotetrameric K+-selective pore is formed by pairing channel subunits, each with two pore-domains, in homo- or heterodimeric conformations. Unique features apparent from high-resolution K2P channel structures include a domain-swapped extracellular cap domain, a lateral hydrophobic-lined fenestration connecting the lipid bilayer to the channel vestibule, and an antiparallel proximal C-terminal region that links the paired subunits and provides a site for polymodal channel modulation. Individual channels transition between open and closed states, with the channel gate located at the selectivity filter. In general, K2P channels display relatively modest voltage- and time-dependent gating, together with distinct single-channel rectification properties, that conspire to yield characteristic weakly rectifying macroscopic currents over a broad range of membrane potentials (i.e., background K+ currents). Of particular note, K2P channel activity can be regulated by a wide range of physicochemical factors, neuromodulators, and clinically useful drugs; a distinct repertoire of activators and inhibitors for different K2P channel subtypes endows each with unique modulatory potential. Thus, by mediating background currents and serving as targets for multiple modulators, K2P channels are able to dynamically regulate key determinants of cell-intrinsic electroresponsive properties. The roles of specific K2P channels in various physiological processes and pathological conditions are now beginning to come into focus, and this may portend utility for these channels as potential therapeutic targets.


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-157
Author(s):  
Matteo Pacini ◽  
Icro Maremmani

Psychiatric evaluations of violent political crime were mostly performed on a case-by-case basis in a forensic environment, which made them unduly dependent on categories of presumed dangerousness and legal responsibility, rather than on a clinical definition of their mental status. In referring to such “clinical” definitions, the disorder we have in mind is not limited to the major, agitated psychotic manias or mixed states. The presence of a dominant temperament, or protracted hypomania, is enough by itself to explain an individual’s engagement in a wide range of activities, not necessarily sociopathic or violent. We put forward the hypothesis that formal and transpolitical radical choices, either in favor of an illegal lifestyle or of activities involving a high level of risk, may be linked with certain mental states, especially when considering small clandestine groups showing a high level of internal ideological consensus, and a no-return attitude toward a commitment to radical choices. Available data about the psycho(patho)logical profile of terrorists are still hard to come by. The only available studies are those on identified living terrorists (judging by the trials of those who personally admitted to having been terrorists), and statistical data imply a number of documented cases belonging to the same terrorist organization. In Italy, the period often called the “years of lead [bullets]” displays an interesting viewpoint for the study of terrorist psychology, for two main reasons: first of all, it is a historically defined period (1968–1988), and second, the number of ascertained participants in terrorist activities was quite large.


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