Desirability without Desire: Life Extension, Boredom and Spiritual Experience

In response to Bernard Williams’ suspicion that we would inevitably become bored with immortal life, John Martin Fischer has argued that we could continue to enjoy repeatable pleasures such as fine wine, beautiful music, and spiritual experiences. In more recent work on near-death experiences, Fischer has also explored the non-religious meaning of spiritual experiences in more depth. I join this deeper exploration of spiritual experience, and I also join Williams’ critics who question his view that character and desire are needed to explain the desirability of life, while providing additional reason for concern that Williams’ way of valuing life may itself actually be a cause of boredom with life. With an eye to spiritual experience, I indicate how we can distance ourselves even further from Williams’ view, and I suggest how the attitude that life is good but death is not bad emerges from spiritual experience, as expressed in numerous religious and secular spiritual traditions. This lends support to the conclusion that radically extended life is desirable even if not actively desired.

Milgram revisited: The role of belief in science

Belief in science is a term applied to assess the degree to which individuals see science as a positive and moral force. This allegiance to science as a guide for societal progress changes on a cultural level over time, with there being a particularly strong contrast between the widespread distrust of science in modern times and the ‘Golden Age of Futurism’ that contextualized Milgram’s infamous obedience experiments. Milgram’s experiments have been critically analyzed for their methods and conclusions, and although many factors have been proposed as possible contributors, society’s relationship with science during that era is largely overlooked. This presentation applies belief in science as a likely contributing factor in Milgram’s experiments through two primary routes: 1) the experiments took place during a timeframe characterized by a rich embracing of science through major innovations, portrayals in popular media, and celebrity scientists, and 2) the use of belief in science as a prime in a multitude of ways, including legitimizing the experiment with a scientific textbook and by advertising Yale University as the location of the experiments. Belief in science should be considered among contributing factors in discussing Milgram’s outcome, as it could contribute to obedience through an appeal to scientific progress, calling further into question Milgram’s wartime atrocity applications, and offers an additional reason as to why the obedience experiments would inevitably differ in a modern context.

Euthanasia and organ donation still firmly connected: reply to Bollen et al

Bollen et al, replying to my own article, describe, in great detail, administrative and logistical aspects of euthanasia approval and organ donation in the Netherlands. They seem to believe that no useful lessons can be drawn from experiences of related groups such as euthanasia patients (typically patients with cancer) who cannot donate organs; patients who chose assisted suicide as opposed to euthanasia; patients in intensive care units and their relatives and suicidal young people as if we can only learn about organ donation in euthanasia patients by studying this exact group and no other, no matter how closely related and obviously relevant. However, it is not only permissible but also absolutely essential to gather evidence that goes beyond immediate point of interest and carefully study groups that share important features with it. Also, groups eligible for euthanasia are constantly expanding, theoretically, legally and practically, and it would be irresponsible to not foresee what are likely future developments. Finally, myopic focus on the technicalities of the procedure misses psychological reality that drives decisions and behaviours and which rarely mimics administrative timelines. Patients proceeding through euthanasia pipeline already face substantial situational pressure and adding organ donation on top of it can make the whole process work as a commitment device. By allowing euthanasia patients to donate their organs, we are giving them additional reason to end their lives, thus creating an unbreakable connection between the two.

Comparative and contrastive analysis of French conjunctive expressions «autant que», «d'autant que and d'autant plus que» and their Spanish equivalents

The article is an attempt of a semantic and syntactic analysis of French complex conjunctions autant que, d'autant que and d'autant plus que. The author undertakes to find out which means of conjunction can be regarded as their equivalents in Spanish. The research is based on the data provided by dictionaries and translations of French fiction and press into Spanish. The article defines the grammatical status and lexical meaning of the conjunctions autant que, d'autant que and d'autant plus que and their Spanish equivalents, analyzes the conditions of their functioning in speech, reveals common features and differences in the fields of syntagmatics and paradigmatics. The conjunction autant que can denote a variety of meanings and their shades: comparison, limitation, equivalence, condition, concession. In Spanish it corresponds to tanto como, como, cuanto, hasta donde, según lo que, en lo que, todo lo que and the combination a más po + infinitive, cuando, por mucho que. French verbless constructions containing autant que can be translated by Spanish constructions containing lo que, lo mismo que, el mismo + noun + que, al mismo tiempo. French conjunctions d'autant plus que and d'autant que correspond in Spanish to tanto más cuanto que, tanto más cuanto, tanto más que. These conjunctions serve to indicate additional motivation for the action described in the mainsentence. They introduce subordinate clauses expressing additional reason and operate within constructions consisting of three components: the motivated message, the main reason, and the additional reason.

Developing a heap leaching technology for floating gold ores

The features of the technology of heap leaching with floating gold are disclosed. It was found that significant technological losses of gold in the processes of enrichment of gold-bearing ores, as a rule, are associated with its natural fine mineralization or technogenic transformation to such a state. It has been shown that flat gold flakes (even with a gold grain size of more than 1 mm) are quite well retained on the surface of technological solutions, i.e., have a certain buoyancy. The wettability of gold particles is explained by the manifestation of the surface tension forces of aqueous solutions, the mechanisms of which are determined by the van der Waals interaction. In addition, the wettability of gold grains is affected by their electric charge, which, accumulating on a convex surface, creates a negative charge that prevents the formation of a double electric field around the gold particle, which is an additional reason for the non-wettability of gold. The mechanism of the formation of gold films, which are formed at a high value of surface tension, with the formation of floating "islands" covered with a hydrophilic shell, is explained. It was revealed that the energy of interaction of a gold nanoparticle with water can serve as a quantitative indicator of the buoyancy of gold grains and "islands" of nanogold, at a value of which of 0.05427 eV, clearly pronounced hydrophilic properties appear. The theoretical substantiation of the buoyancy of gold grains and "islands" of nanogold is the van der Waals interaction. On this basis, heap leaching technology was developed, with the targeted deposition of floating gold in the most suitable places. As a result of a decrease in the surface tension of leaching solutions, nanogold loses their initial buoyancy and sink from them to the bottom, where they will be subjected to the processes of their disembarkation (collection and extraction).

The Imagined Geography in the Philology of Erich Auerbach

The purpose of the author is to find the main motive why Auerbach chose to use the non-disciplinary term “European philologists” and what he meant by that. I argue that Auerbach’s consciousness of Europe as a historical entity was formed in the 1920s, but his exile turned this consciousness into a position. A basic question is about the symbolic geography of European culture in the works of Auerbach. The synonymous use of Europe and Abendland distinctly reveals Auerbach’s dual, unifying/divisive understanding of the identity and symbolic geography of European culture. If we accept the opinion that the European has been represented for centuries by the Romance, then the tasks of Romance philology as European philology will become clearer and the cultural geography of Europe narrower. The cultural-historical identification of Europe and Abendland after the Second World War solidified the anyway existing division of Europe in to two blocs. Literary history and philology divided Europe in the way this was done by the relevant political doctrines too. The human sciences also contributed significantly to the creation of value-attitudes, and an investigation of the former from this perspective gives us additional reason to assume that the agreement on the division of Europe after the Allied victory was not based solely on strategic interests.

UV activation building sand with the dehydration factor

The analysis of the influence of ultraviolet irradiation of building sand, which is a filler in a concrete mixture, on the dependence of the strength of concrete on the content of filler is carried out. With an increase in the content of sand due to the hydrophilicity of the surface of its particles in the mixture, the amount of free water required for the hydration of cement and the formation of cement stone decreases. Along with a decrease in the content of binder cement, this factor is an additional reason for a decrease in the strength of concrete with an increase in the content of sand. Ultraviolet irradiation leads to dehydration of the surface of the sand particles and the appearance of hydrophobic centers. As the hydrophobicity of the sand in the concrete mix increases, the content of free water available for cement hydration increases, and the strength of the cement stone increases. The change in the hydrophobicity of the surface of sand particles depending on the time of irradiation is non-monotonic. Therefore, there is an optimal UV activation mode that provides the greatest increase in concrete strength.

Humour-Supported Instructional Approach: A Method for Generating and Maintaining Interest in Mathematics for Secondary School Students in South Sudan Re-settled Communities

This article reports the findings from the main study that investigated relative effects of an instructional approach aimed at generating and maintaining interest in mathematics for secondary school students living in South Sudan’s displaced and re-settled communities. The study compared interest-generating effects of two different instructional approaches on two groups of Grade 11 students over a twelve-week period. While the Humour-supported Instructional Approach (H-SIA) was applied to the experimental group (E-group; n = 53), the control group (C-group; n = 59) was taught using Regular Instructional Approach (RIA). No significant differences were found in the two approaches’ effects in generating and maintaining interest. A four (4) week pilot study conducted prior to the main study produced similar results. However, some new insights from the main study suggest that teachers’ teaching traits play a heavier and more central role in both methods than had been initially realised. This led to the conclusion that the two methods (H-SIA and RIA) have similar effects on learner interest. The equivalence appears strongly dependent on the teachers’ teaching traits, characteristics and teaching qualities for marshalling teachers’ teaching techniques or strategies which include humour into their pedagogical toolkit. H-SIA method, however, is more recommended because the literature indicates-and this is confirmed in this study-that the use of humour in the classroom setting provides students with additional reason, motivation and inspiration to learn.

Patient Isolation during Infectious Disease Outbreaks: Arguments for Physical Family Presence

This article argues that outbreak preparedness and response should implement a ‘family presence’ policy for infected patients in isolation that includes the option of physical visits and care within the isolation facility under some conditions. While such a ‘physical family presence’ (PFP) policy could increase infections during an outbreak and may raise moral dilemmas, we argue that it is ethically justified based on the least infringement principle and the need to minimize the harms and burdens of isolation as a restrictive measure. Categorical prohibition of PFP during the course of an outbreak or epidemic is likely to result in unnecessary harms to patients and families, and violate values such as the moral commitments of families to care for each other. Supporting the option of PFP under particular circumstances, on the other hand, will least infringe these moral considerations. An additional reason for a family presence policy is that it may facilitate voluntary cooperation with isolation and other restrictive measures. We provide an analysis of these considerations for supporting modes of family presence during an outbreak emergency, before defending the riskier option of PFP in the isolation facility from plausible objections and concerns.