Brief Remarks on the Evolutionary Method

ruffin_darden ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 235-238
Author(s):  
Robert A. Phillips ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Theory ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Great Care ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Evolutionary Method

There are explicit claims to Darwinian thinking in numerous fields of study. A common temptation associated with this method across disciplines is to call some attributes “natural” and others “cultural” in origin. But this distinction can be dangerous—particularly when applied to ethics. When employing the Darwinian method, ideas should be evaluated in the same way whether the characteristics are described as natural or as cultural. We should ascertain the moral usefulness of a trait irrespective of its genetic basis or lack thereof. The nature/culture distinction is irrelevant to ethics. If Darwinian thinking connotes or implies an important difference, it is a dangerous idea to moral theory. I don’t believe the method denotes such a distinction, and in fact helps ethicists ask and answer many interesting questions that would not have arisen without it. But great care should be taken.

Is Philosophy Relevant to Applied Ethics?

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Rorty
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Applied Ethics ◽  
Moral Progress ◽  
Moral Intuitions ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Literature And Theology

Abstract:If, like Hegel and Dewey, one takes a historicist, anti-Platonist view of moral progress, one will be dubious about the idea that moral theory can be more than the systematization of the widely-shared moral intuitions of a certain time and place. One will follow Shelley, Dewey, and Patricia Werhane in emphasizing the role of the imagination in making moral progress possible. Taking this stance will lead one to conclude that although philosophy is indeed relevant to applied ethics, it is not more relevant than many other fields of study (such as history, law, political science, anthropology, literature, and theology).

scholarly journals Why structure matters

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Barton ◽  
Joachim Hermisson ◽  
Magnus Nordborg
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Human Variation ◽  
Great Care ◽  
Genome Wide

Great care is needed when interpreting claims about the genetic basis of human variation based on data from genome-wide association studies.

Molecular Basis and Clinical Aspects of Hereditary Megakaryocyte and Platelet Membrane Glycoprotein Disorders

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (02) ◽  
pp. 114-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Scharf
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Platelet Membrane ◽  
Clinical Aspects ◽  
Membrane Glycoprotein ◽  
Membrane Glycoproteins ◽  
Membrane Expression ◽  
Receptor Complexes ◽  
Platelet Membrane Glycoprotein

SummarySpecific membrane glycoproteins (GP) expressed by the megakaryocyte-platelet system, including GPIa-lla, GPIb-V-IX, GPIIb-llla, and GPIV are involved in mediat-ing platelet adhesion to the subendothelial matrix. Among these glycoproteins, GPIIb-llla plays a pivotal role since platelet aggregation is exclusively mediated by this receptor and its interaction with soluble macromolecular proteins. Inherited defects of the GPIIb-llla or GPIb-V-IX receptor complexes are associated with bleeding disorders, known as Glanzmann's thrombasthenia, Bernard-Soulier syndrome, or platelet-type von Willebrand's disease, respectively. Using immuno-chemical and molecular biology techniques, rapid advances in our understanding of the molecular genetic basis of these disorders have been made during the last few years. Moreover, analyses of patients with congenital platelet membrane glycoprotein abnormalities have provided valuable insights into molecular mechanisms that are required for structural and functional integrity, normal biosynthesis of the glycoprotein complexes and coordinated membrane expression of their constituents. The present article reviews the current state of knowledge of the major membrane glycoproteins in health and disease. The spectrum of clinical bleeding manifestations and established diagnostic criteria for each of these dis-orders are summarized. In particular, the variety of molecular defects that have been identified so far and their genetic basis will be discussed.

Anti-Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Encephalomyelitis and Extensive Longitudinal Transverse Myelitis Associated with Compound Heterozygous NLRP3 Missense Mutations in a Young Child

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deirdre O'Sullivan ◽  
Michael Moore ◽  
Susan Byrne ◽  
Andreas O. Reiff ◽  
Susanna Felsenstein
Keyword(s):  
Young Child ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Transverse Myelitis ◽  
Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis ◽  
Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein ◽  
Compound Heterozygous ◽  
Missense Mutations ◽  
Childhood Onset

AbstractAcute disseminated encephalomyelitis in association with extensive longitudinal transverse myelitis is reported in a young child with positive anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody with heterozygous NLRP3 missense mutations; p.(Arg488Lys) and p.(Ser159Ile). This case may well present an exceptional coincidence, but may describe a yet unrecognized feature of the spectrum of childhood onset cryopyrinopathies that contribute to the understanding of the genetic basis for anti-MOG antibody positive encephalomyelitis. Based on this observation, a larger scale study investigating the role of NLRP3 and other inflammasomes in this entity would provide important pathophysiological insights and potentially novel avenues for treatment.

Engineers or Lawyers? Institutions and Demand for Higher Education

2012 ◽  
pp. 30-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Natkhov ◽  
L. Polishchuk
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Transmission Channel ◽  
Demand For Education ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Quality Of Institutions ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Rules Of The Game

Law and public administration schools in Russia vastly exceed in their popularity sciences and engineering. We relate such lopsided demand for higher education to the quality of institutions setting “rules of the game” in economy and society. Cross-country and Russian interregional data indicate the quality of institutions (rule of law, protection of property rights etc.) is negatively associated with the demand for education in law, and positively — in sciences and engineering. More gifted younger people are particularly sensitive to the quality of institutions in choosing their fields of study, and such selection is an important transmission channel between institutions and economic growth.

Contamination Lab of Turin (CLabTo)

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora FIORE ◽  
Giuliano SANSONE ◽  
Chiara Lorenza REMONDINO ◽  
Paolo Marco TAMBORRINI
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Learning By Doing ◽  
Assessment Data ◽  
Entrepreneurial Skills ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Positive Effect

Interest in offering Entrepreneurship Education (EE) to all kinds of university students is increasing. Therefore, universities are increasing the number of entrepreneurship courses intended for students from different fields of study and with different education levels. Through a single case study of the Contamination Lab of Turin (CLabTo), we suggest how EE may be taught to all kinds of university students. We have combined design methods with EE to create a practical-oriented entrepreneurship course which allows students to work in transdisciplinary teams through a learning-by-doing approach on real-life projects. Professors from different departments have been included to create a multidisciplinary environment. We have drawn on programme assessment data, including pre- and post-surveys. Overall, we have found a positive effect of the programme on the students’ entrepreneurial skills. However, when the data was broken down according to the students’ fields of study and education levels, mixed results emerged.

Reading the Image of Race: Neurocriminology, Medical Imaging Technologies and Literary Intervention

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Andrews ◽  
Jonathan M. Metzl
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Wall Street Journal ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Criminal Behaviour ◽  
Dominant Model ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Behavioural Genetics ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Brain Scan

On 26 April 2013, the Wall Street Journal published an essay by neurocriminologist Adrian Raine promoting his newest book, The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime. On the newspaper’s website, an image of a black-and-white brain scan overlaid with handcuffs headed the essay. Clicking ‘play’ turned the image into a video filled with three-dimensional brain illustrations and Raine’s claims that some brains are simply more biologically prone to violence than others. Rejecting what he describes as ‘the dominant model for understanding criminal behaviour in the twentieth century’ – a model based ‘almost exclusively on social and sociological’ explanations – Raine wrote that ‘the genetic basis of criminal behaviour is now well established’ through molecular and behavioural genetics.

Reconsideration of the Research Trajectory on the Carceral State

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-207
Author(s):  
Juliette Barbera
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political Development ◽  
American Political Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Carceral State ◽  
Research Framework ◽  
Research Production ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
And Control

For decades, both incarceration and research on the topic have proliferated. Disciplines within the Western sciences have studied the topic of incarceration through their respective lenses. Decades of data reflect trends and consequences of the carceral state, and based on that data the various disciplines have put forth arguments as to how the trends and consequences are of relevance to their respective fields of study. The research trajectory of incarceration research, however, overlooks the assumptions behind punishment and control and their institutionalization that produce and maintain the carceral state and its study. This omission of assumptions facilitates a focus on outcomes that serve to reinforce Western perspectives, and it contributes to the overall stagnation in the incarceration research produced in Western disciplines. An assessment of the study of the carceral state within the mainstream of American Political Development in the political science discipline provides an example of how the research framework contributes to the overall stagnation, even though the framework of the subfield allows for an historical institutionalization perspective. The theoretical perspectives of Cedric J. Robinson reveal the limits of Western lenses to critically assess the state. The alternative framework he provides to challenge the limits imposed on research production by Western perspectives applies to the argument presented here concerning the limitations that hamper the study of the carceral state.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document