John F. Horty
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199744077
- eISBN:
- 9780199932566
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744077.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
Although the study of reasons plays an important role in both epistemology and moral philosophy, little attention has been devoted to the question of how, exactly, reason interact to support the ...
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Although the study of reasons plays an important role in both epistemology and moral philosophy, little attention has been devoted to the question of how, exactly, reason interact to support the actions or conclusions they do. The goal of this book is to answer this question by providing a precise, concrete account of reasons and their interaction, based on the logic of default reasoning. The book begins with an intuitive, accessible introduction to default logic itself, and then argues that this logic can be adapted to serve as a foundation for a concrete theory of reasons. It then shows that the resulting theory helps to explain how the interplay among reasons can determine what we ought to do by developing two different deontic logics, capturing two different intuitions about moral conflicts. The central part of the book elaborates the basic theory to account for reasoning about the strength of our own reasons, and also about the related concepts of undercutting defeaters and exclusionary reasons. The theory is illustrated with an application to particularist arguments concerning the role of principles in moral theory. The book concludes by introducing a pair of issues new to the philosophical literature: the problem of determining the epistemic status of conclusions supported by separate but conflicting reasons, and the problem of drawing conclusions from sets of reasons that can vary aribtrarily in strength, or importance.Less
Although the study of reasons plays an important role in both epistemology and moral philosophy, little attention has been devoted to the question of how, exactly, reason interact to support the actions or conclusions they do. The goal of this book is to answer this question by providing a precise, concrete account of reasons and their interaction, based on the logic of default reasoning. The book begins with an intuitive, accessible introduction to default logic itself, and then argues that this logic can be adapted to serve as a foundation for a concrete theory of reasons. It then shows that the resulting theory helps to explain how the interplay among reasons can determine what we ought to do by developing two different deontic logics, capturing two different intuitions about moral conflicts. The central part of the book elaborates the basic theory to account for reasoning about the strength of our own reasons, and also about the related concepts of undercutting defeaters and exclusionary reasons. The theory is illustrated with an application to particularist arguments concerning the role of principles in moral theory. The book concludes by introducing a pair of issues new to the philosophical literature: the problem of determining the epistemic status of conclusions supported by separate but conflicting reasons, and the problem of drawing conclusions from sets of reasons that can vary aribtrarily in strength, or importance.
Derek Parfit
- Published in print:
- 1986
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198249085
- eISBN:
- 9780191598173
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019824908X.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Seeks to reduce the distance between Common‐Sense Morality and Consequentialism. Acts, dispositions, motives are also discussed.
Seeks to reduce the distance between Common‐Sense Morality and Consequentialism. Acts, dispositions, motives are also discussed.
Albert Casullo
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195115055
- eISBN:
- 9780199786190
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195115058.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter examines two conceptions of a priori justification: (AP1) S’s belief that p is justified a priori if and only if S’s belief that p is nonexperientially justified; and (AP2) S’s belief ...
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This chapter examines two conceptions of a priori justification: (AP1) S’s belief that p is justified a priori if and only if S’s belief that p is nonexperientially justified; and (AP2) S’s belief that p is justified a priori if and only if S’s belief that p is nonexperientially justified and cannot be defeated by experience. Two criteria are introduced to evaluate them: continuity with historical precedent, and coherence with generally accepted concepts and principles in the theory of knowledge. It is argued that although historical precedent does not favor either analysis, several theoretical considerations favor (AP1) over (AP2). (AP1) coheres better with the standard treatment of related epistemic concepts, highlights the central epistemic question raised by the theory of a priori knowledge, and satisfies a plausible criterion of adequacy regarding a priori justification; it leaves open the possibility of empirical knowledge of propositions knowable a priori.Less
This chapter examines two conceptions of a priori justification: (AP1) S’s belief that p is justified a priori if and only if S’s belief that p is nonexperientially justified; and (AP2) S’s belief that p is justified a priori if and only if S’s belief that p is nonexperientially justified and cannot be defeated by experience. Two criteria are introduced to evaluate them: continuity with historical precedent, and coherence with generally accepted concepts and principles in the theory of knowledge. It is argued that although historical precedent does not favor either analysis, several theoretical considerations favor (AP1) over (AP2). (AP1) coheres better with the standard treatment of related epistemic concepts, highlights the central epistemic question raised by the theory of a priori knowledge, and satisfies a plausible criterion of adequacy regarding a priori justification; it leaves open the possibility of empirical knowledge of propositions knowable a priori.
John F. Horty
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199744077
- eISBN:
- 9780199932566
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744077.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
The goal of this chapter is to show how default logic can be adapted to serve as a foundation for a concrete theory of reasons. The previous chapter talked loosely of a correspondence between default ...
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The goal of this chapter is to show how default logic can be adapted to serve as a foundation for a concrete theory of reasons. The previous chapter talked loosely of a correspondence between default rules and reasons. Having introduced a number of technical concepts in the course of developing our simple default logic, this chapter considers this correspondence in more detail, as well as the overall account of reasons that emerges from the underlying default logic.Less
The goal of this chapter is to show how default logic can be adapted to serve as a foundation for a concrete theory of reasons. The previous chapter talked loosely of a correspondence between default rules and reasons. Having introduced a number of technical concepts in the course of developing our simple default logic, this chapter considers this correspondence in more detail, as well as the overall account of reasons that emerges from the underlying default logic.
John F. Horty
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199744077
- eISBN:
- 9780199932566
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744077.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
This chapter addresses some of the problems confronting the simple account of defeat presented earlier, by exploring two further accounts of default reasoning with fixed priorities. The first fits ...
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This chapter addresses some of the problems confronting the simple account of defeat presented earlier, by exploring two further accounts of default reasoning with fixed priorities. The first fits within the general framework developed in this book, simply refining the earlier concept of defeat. The second shifts to an entirely different, more procedural framework, in which priorities among defaults are accommodated by controlling the order in which these defaults are applied.Less
This chapter addresses some of the problems confronting the simple account of defeat presented earlier, by exploring two further accounts of default reasoning with fixed priorities. The first fits within the general framework developed in this book, simply refining the earlier concept of defeat. The second shifts to an entirely different, more procedural framework, in which priorities among defaults are accommodated by controlling the order in which these defaults are applied.
Lloyd P. Gerson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199288670
- eISBN:
- 9780191717789
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199288670.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy
This chapter shows that in Timaeus, Philebus, and Laws, all the essentials of the account hitherto developed are maintained. The first dialogue offers a cosmology in which persons are clearly ...
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This chapter shows that in Timaeus, Philebus, and Laws, all the essentials of the account hitherto developed are maintained. The first dialogue offers a cosmology in which persons are clearly situated. In the section on Philebus, an interpretation of the defeat of hedonism is provided that shows persons to be ideally knowers. The defender of hedonism is undone by the presuppositions of his own defence. Self-transformation is preceded by self-recognition. Philebus offers an account of ideal embodied life, but does not abandon Plato's previous account of ideal disembodied life. The section on Laws shows that Plato did not abandon tripartitioning of the soul, as some have maintained. Rather, in all essentials the account of personhood remains the same.Less
This chapter shows that in Timaeus, Philebus, and Laws, all the essentials of the account hitherto developed are maintained. The first dialogue offers a cosmology in which persons are clearly situated. In the section on Philebus, an interpretation of the defeat of hedonism is provided that shows persons to be ideally knowers. The defender of hedonism is undone by the presuppositions of his own defence. Self-transformation is preceded by self-recognition. Philebus offers an account of ideal embodied life, but does not abandon Plato's previous account of ideal disembodied life. The section on Laws shows that Plato did not abandon tripartitioning of the soul, as some have maintained. Rather, in all essentials the account of personhood remains the same.
Joshua Fogel (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520220065
- eISBN:
- 9780520923515
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520220065.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The Rape of Nanjing was one of the worst atrocities committed during World War II. On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army captured the city of Nanjing, then the capital of wartime China. According ...
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The Rape of Nanjing was one of the worst atrocities committed during World War II. On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army captured the city of Nanjing, then the capital of wartime China. According to the International Military Tribunal, during the ensuing massacre 20,000 Chinese men of military age were killed and approximately 20,000 cases of rape occurred; in all, the total number of people killed in and around the city of Nanjing was about 200,000. This carefully researched, intelligent collection of original essays considers the post-World War II treatment in China of the Nanjing Massacre and of Japan. The book examines how the issue has developed as a political and diplomatic controversy in the decades since World War II. In his introduction, Joshua A. Fogel raises the significant moral and historiographical issues that frame the other essays. Mark Eykholt then provides an account of postwar Chinese responses to the massacre. Takashi Yoshida assesses the attempts to downplay the incident and its effects, providing a revealing analysis of Japanese debates over Japan's role in the world and the continuing ambivalence of many Japanese toward their defeat in World War II. In the concluding essay, Daqing Yang widens the scope of the discussion by comparing the Nanjing historiographic debates to similar debates in Germany over the nature of the Holocaust.Less
The Rape of Nanjing was one of the worst atrocities committed during World War II. On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army captured the city of Nanjing, then the capital of wartime China. According to the International Military Tribunal, during the ensuing massacre 20,000 Chinese men of military age were killed and approximately 20,000 cases of rape occurred; in all, the total number of people killed in and around the city of Nanjing was about 200,000. This carefully researched, intelligent collection of original essays considers the post-World War II treatment in China of the Nanjing Massacre and of Japan. The book examines how the issue has developed as a political and diplomatic controversy in the decades since World War II. In his introduction, Joshua A. Fogel raises the significant moral and historiographical issues that frame the other essays. Mark Eykholt then provides an account of postwar Chinese responses to the massacre. Takashi Yoshida assesses the attempts to downplay the incident and its effects, providing a revealing analysis of Japanese debates over Japan's role in the world and the continuing ambivalence of many Japanese toward their defeat in World War II. In the concluding essay, Daqing Yang widens the scope of the discussion by comparing the Nanjing historiographic debates to similar debates in Germany over the nature of the Holocaust.
MUKULIKA BANERJEE
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264515
- eISBN:
- 9780191734403
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264515.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter discusses the electoral ethnography of a campaign in the state of West Bengal. It presents a thick ethnographic description of the campaigning process and traces the numerous techniques ...
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This chapter discusses the electoral ethnography of a campaign in the state of West Bengal. It presents a thick ethnographic description of the campaigning process and traces the numerous techniques used. The political messages and organisational hierarchies at every level of the state's population help in answering why incumbent governments suffer repeated electoral defeats.Less
This chapter discusses the electoral ethnography of a campaign in the state of West Bengal. It presents a thick ethnographic description of the campaigning process and traces the numerous techniques used. The political messages and organisational hierarchies at every level of the state's population help in answering why incumbent governments suffer repeated electoral defeats.
Richard Fumerton
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199226078
- eISBN:
- 9780191594236
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226078.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter discusses disagreements in philosophy. It acknowledges that learning of peer disagreement provides a reason against a philosophical belief one holds, but argues that one can discount ...
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This chapter discusses disagreements in philosophy. It acknowledges that learning of peer disagreement provides a reason against a philosophical belief one holds, but argues that one can discount this sort of reason against one's view on the grounds that most philosophers are unreliable on the sort of issue in question, a fact that makes it likely that the philosopher with whom one disagrees is also unreliable. However, this way of out the sceptical puzzle posed by disagreements leads to another problem, since the reliability of a philosopher making such an argument is also called into question.Less
This chapter discusses disagreements in philosophy. It acknowledges that learning of peer disagreement provides a reason against a philosophical belief one holds, but argues that one can discount this sort of reason against one's view on the grounds that most philosophers are unreliable on the sort of issue in question, a fact that makes it likely that the philosopher with whom one disagrees is also unreliable. However, this way of out the sceptical puzzle posed by disagreements leads to another problem, since the reliability of a philosopher making such an argument is also called into question.
Chrisoula Andreou and Mark D. White (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195376685
- eISBN:
- 9780199776306
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376685.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
When we fail to achieve our goals, procrastination is often the culprit. But how exactly is procrastination to be understood? It has been described as imprudent, irrational, inconsistent, and even ...
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When we fail to achieve our goals, procrastination is often the culprit. But how exactly is procrastination to be understood? It has been described as imprudent, irrational, inconsistent, and even immoral, but there has been no sustained philosophical debate concerning the topic. This volume starts in on the task of integrating the problem of procrastination into philosophical inquiry. The focus is on exploring procrastination in relation to agency, rationality, and ethics—topics that philosophy is well suited to address. Theoretically and empirically informed analyses are developed and applied with the aim of shedding light on a vexing practical problem that generates a great deal of frustration, regret, and harm. Some of the key questions addressed include the following: How can we analyze procrastination in a way that does justice to both its voluntary and its self-defeating dimensions? What kind of practical failing is procrastination? Is it a form of weakness of will? Is it the product of fragmented agency? Is it a vice? Given the nature of procrastination, what are the most promising coping strategies?Less
When we fail to achieve our goals, procrastination is often the culprit. But how exactly is procrastination to be understood? It has been described as imprudent, irrational, inconsistent, and even immoral, but there has been no sustained philosophical debate concerning the topic. This volume starts in on the task of integrating the problem of procrastination into philosophical inquiry. The focus is on exploring procrastination in relation to agency, rationality, and ethics—topics that philosophy is well suited to address. Theoretically and empirically informed analyses are developed and applied with the aim of shedding light on a vexing practical problem that generates a great deal of frustration, regret, and harm. Some of the key questions addressed include the following: How can we analyze procrastination in a way that does justice to both its voluntary and its self-defeating dimensions? What kind of practical failing is procrastination? Is it a form of weakness of will? Is it the product of fragmented agency? Is it a vice? Given the nature of procrastination, what are the most promising coping strategies?
Thomas O Beebee
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195339383
- eISBN:
- 9780199867097
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195339383.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature, American, 18th Century and Early American Literature
Literature has not neglected the fact that millennial expectations have hitherto always been defeated. Leon Festinger developed his theory of cognitive dissonance in part to explain the persistence ...
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Literature has not neglected the fact that millennial expectations have hitherto always been defeated. Leon Festinger developed his theory of cognitive dissonance in part to explain the persistence of belief in the face of disconfirmed prophecy. This chapter examines numerous literary examples of defeated millennium under the hypothesis that literature replaces cognitive dissonance with what I call reflective dissonance. It analyzes fictional texts’ rhetorics of reflection vs. persuasion, the types of possible worlds they construct, and the contribution these make to millennial discourse in the Americas. Three types of millennial defeat are posited: 1) defeated millennium nearly always takes historical examples as its objects of mimesis, and thus simply documents the defeats of millennial outbreaks by real-world forces; 2) pseudo-millennium shrinks millennial activity down to a simulation exercise, as in Ahab’s elevation of a whale hunt to a “final battle” between good and evil; and 3) dystopic millennium allows the millennial movement to “succeed,” but with a result far from the joy and plenitude promised by Revelation, and with the eschatechnologies of the New Order resembling those of a prison.Less
Literature has not neglected the fact that millennial expectations have hitherto always been defeated. Leon Festinger developed his theory of cognitive dissonance in part to explain the persistence of belief in the face of disconfirmed prophecy. This chapter examines numerous literary examples of defeated millennium under the hypothesis that literature replaces cognitive dissonance with what I call reflective dissonance. It analyzes fictional texts’ rhetorics of reflection vs. persuasion, the types of possible worlds they construct, and the contribution these make to millennial discourse in the Americas. Three types of millennial defeat are posited: 1) defeated millennium nearly always takes historical examples as its objects of mimesis, and thus simply documents the defeats of millennial outbreaks by real-world forces; 2) pseudo-millennium shrinks millennial activity down to a simulation exercise, as in Ahab’s elevation of a whale hunt to a “final battle” between good and evil; and 3) dystopic millennium allows the millennial movement to “succeed,” but with a result far from the joy and plenitude promised by Revelation, and with the eschatechnologies of the New Order resembling those of a prison.
John F. Horty
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199744077
- eISBN:
- 9780199932566
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744077.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
The goal of this first chapter is to motivate and develop a very simple prioritized default logic. The chapter begins by introducing default rules as well as prioritized default theories. It then ...
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The goal of this first chapter is to motivate and develop a very simple prioritized default logic. The chapter begins by introducing default rules as well as prioritized default theories. It then moves through a series of definitions leading to the crucial notion of an extension for such a theory, and finally explores the relation between this concept of an extension and the more usual logical concept of a conclusion set.Less
The goal of this first chapter is to motivate and develop a very simple prioritized default logic. The chapter begins by introducing default rules as well as prioritized default theories. It then moves through a series of definitions leading to the crucial notion of an extension for such a theory, and finally explores the relation between this concept of an extension and the more usual logical concept of a conclusion set.
John F. Horty
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199744077
- eISBN:
- 9780199932566
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199744077.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
This chapter considers two ways in which the simple default logic defined earlier can be elaborated, leading to a more robust theory of reasons. First, the priorities among default rules have so far ...
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This chapter considers two ways in which the simple default logic defined earlier can be elaborated, leading to a more robust theory of reasons. First, the priorities among default rules have so far been taken as fixed in advance, but there are situations in which it is most natural to think of these priorities themselves as established through default reasoning. And second, the notion of defeat defined so far captures only one form, described here simply as “defeat,” but often called “rebutting defeat.” There is at least one other form, generally called “undercutting defeat,” and related to the concept of an “exclusionary reason,” in which one default defeats another, not by contradicting its conclusion, but by undermining its capacity to provide a reason at all.Less
This chapter considers two ways in which the simple default logic defined earlier can be elaborated, leading to a more robust theory of reasons. First, the priorities among default rules have so far been taken as fixed in advance, but there are situations in which it is most natural to think of these priorities themselves as established through default reasoning. And second, the notion of defeat defined so far captures only one form, described here simply as “defeat,” but often called “rebutting defeat.” There is at least one other form, generally called “undercutting defeat,” and related to the concept of an “exclusionary reason,” in which one default defeats another, not by contradicting its conclusion, but by undermining its capacity to provide a reason at all.
Erik N. Jensen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195395648
- eISBN:
- 9780199866564
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195395648.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History, European Modern History
After Germany's stunning military defeat in 1918, the physical fitness of its citizens became a national priority, and no one did more to heighten the level of self‐scrutiny and to establish ideals ...
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After Germany's stunning military defeat in 1918, the physical fitness of its citizens became a national priority, and no one did more to heighten the level of self‐scrutiny and to establish ideals more commensurate with the demands of the era than competitive athletes. Male and female athletes provided templates for an explicitly modern body — powerful, streamlined, and engineered for maximum performance — that many Germans believed would liberate the hitherto latent potential in men and women alike. Boxers, sprinters, and tennis players exuded a distinctively postwar spirit, untethered from prewar norms and focused on the aggressive pursuit of self‐interest. They demonstrated to their legions of fans how to negotiate the fast‐paced, restlessly experimental, performance‐oriented world of the Weimar Republic.Less
After Germany's stunning military defeat in 1918, the physical fitness of its citizens became a national priority, and no one did more to heighten the level of self‐scrutiny and to establish ideals more commensurate with the demands of the era than competitive athletes. Male and female athletes provided templates for an explicitly modern body — powerful, streamlined, and engineered for maximum performance — that many Germans believed would liberate the hitherto latent potential in men and women alike. Boxers, sprinters, and tennis players exuded a distinctively postwar spirit, untethered from prewar norms and focused on the aggressive pursuit of self‐interest. They demonstrated to their legions of fans how to negotiate the fast‐paced, restlessly experimental, performance‐oriented world of the Weimar Republic.
Kim L. Huhman and Aaron M. Jasnow
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195168761
- eISBN:
- 9780199865444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195168761.003.0013
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, Behavioral Neuroscience, Neuroendocrine and Autonomic
This chapter reviews some of the literature pertaining to stress/fear and defense to illustrate how both perspectives are useful in understanding the neurobiological correlates of social defeat or ...
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This chapter reviews some of the literature pertaining to stress/fear and defense to illustrate how both perspectives are useful in understanding the neurobiological correlates of social defeat or subordination. It shows that that conditioned defeat in Syrian hamsters is elicited in most males following a single or multiple exposures to social defeat. Conditioned defeat is an ecologically relevant example of fear conditioning. Many brain areas (e.g., the amygdale and the BNST) and neurochemical signals (e.g., glutamate, GABA, CRF, and CREB) that have been shown to be important in fear conditioning in artificial, but highly controllable, situations are also involved in a similar fashion in the mediation or modulation of conditioned defeat.Less
This chapter reviews some of the literature pertaining to stress/fear and defense to illustrate how both perspectives are useful in understanding the neurobiological correlates of social defeat or subordination. It shows that that conditioned defeat in Syrian hamsters is elicited in most males following a single or multiple exposures to social defeat. Conditioned defeat is an ecologically relevant example of fear conditioning. Many brain areas (e.g., the amygdale and the BNST) and neurochemical signals (e.g., glutamate, GABA, CRF, and CREB) that have been shown to be important in fear conditioning in artificial, but highly controllable, situations are also involved in a similar fashion in the mediation or modulation of conditioned defeat.
D. S. Levene
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198152958
- eISBN:
- 9780191594168
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152958.003.0004
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines Livy's battle scenes, arguing that the reader is invited to focus upon the causal sequence of events within battles, and to see the inadequacy of material explanations for their ...
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This chapter examines Livy's battle scenes, arguing that the reader is invited to focus upon the causal sequence of events within battles, and to see the inadequacy of material explanations for their results. The things that might be expected to make a difference to the battle's outcome do not in fact prove crucial: something else seems to be determining the sequence of events. This is not simply offering patriotic ‘excuses’ for Roman defeats: not merely defeats, but even victories are treated in ways that do not allow them to be explained by normal criteria of historical causation. Similarly commanders, even when apparently effective, are constantly shown to be poor judges of events, winning for reasons that are unconnected with the plans they adopt. Livy systematically shows the failure of rationality, forcing the reader to construct other terms in which these key turning points of history are to be understood.Less
This chapter examines Livy's battle scenes, arguing that the reader is invited to focus upon the causal sequence of events within battles, and to see the inadequacy of material explanations for their results. The things that might be expected to make a difference to the battle's outcome do not in fact prove crucial: something else seems to be determining the sequence of events. This is not simply offering patriotic ‘excuses’ for Roman defeats: not merely defeats, but even victories are treated in ways that do not allow them to be explained by normal criteria of historical causation. Similarly commanders, even when apparently effective, are constantly shown to be poor judges of events, winning for reasons that are unconnected with the plans they adopt. Livy systematically shows the failure of rationality, forcing the reader to construct other terms in which these key turning points of history are to be understood.
William J. Talbott
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195173482
- eISBN:
- 9780199872176
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195173482.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter shows how the main principle points the way to a solution to the two deepest mysteries in moral philosophy, one metaphysical and one epistemological. The metaphysical mystery is to ...
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This chapter shows how the main principle points the way to a solution to the two deepest mysteries in moral philosophy, one metaphysical and one epistemological. The metaphysical mystery is to explain why moral norms and principles always seem to have exceptions. The epistemological mystery is to explain how human beings could come to recognize exceptions to the very moral norms and principles that were used in their moral training. The solution to the metaphysical mystery is to see that moral reasoning has a reference class logic, modeled by conditional probability. The solution to the epistemological mystery is to see that moral training can produce practical wisdom, understood as implicit sensitivity to the main principle. The chapter also reviews the historical discovery of the paradox of direct consequentialism to explain why the main principle does not endorse a change to using it as a ground-level moral principle. The chapter then compares the book's account of legal improvement with R. Dworkin’s account of law as integrity on the issue of retroactivity in the civil law.Less
This chapter shows how the main principle points the way to a solution to the two deepest mysteries in moral philosophy, one metaphysical and one epistemological. The metaphysical mystery is to explain why moral norms and principles always seem to have exceptions. The epistemological mystery is to explain how human beings could come to recognize exceptions to the very moral norms and principles that were used in their moral training. The solution to the metaphysical mystery is to see that moral reasoning has a reference class logic, modeled by conditional probability. The solution to the epistemological mystery is to see that moral training can produce practical wisdom, understood as implicit sensitivity to the main principle. The chapter also reviews the historical discovery of the paradox of direct consequentialism to explain why the main principle does not endorse a change to using it as a ground-level moral principle. The chapter then compares the book's account of legal improvement with R. Dworkin’s account of law as integrity on the issue of retroactivity in the civil law.
Konrad H. Jarausch
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195127799
- eISBN:
- 9780199869503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195127799.003.14
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. It addresses the following questions: Why did a more crushing defeat in World War II and the attending collapse of the Nazi dictatorship lead most ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. It addresses the following questions: Why did a more crushing defeat in World War II and the attending collapse of the Nazi dictatorship lead most Germans instead to eschew war, to abjure radical nationalism, and to reject special paths of modernization in the future? How have the lessons of the National Socialist past affected the German response to the new challenges of globalization? In recent decades, postcolonial criticism has begun to question the goal of transformation—whether it is called Westernization, liberalization, or civilization. To what extent were the successive changes really a positive gain? Answering such questions requires not just a reexamination of the record but some reflection on the criteria used to pass judgment.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts. It addresses the following questions: Why did a more crushing defeat in World War II and the attending collapse of the Nazi dictatorship lead most Germans instead to eschew war, to abjure radical nationalism, and to reject special paths of modernization in the future? How have the lessons of the National Socialist past affected the German response to the new challenges of globalization? In recent decades, postcolonial criticism has begun to question the goal of transformation—whether it is called Westernization, liberalization, or civilization. To what extent were the successive changes really a positive gain? Answering such questions requires not just a reexamination of the record but some reflection on the criteria used to pass judgment.
John W. Young
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198203674
- eISBN:
- 9780191675942
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198203674.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter discusses some important concepts that were tackled in the previous chapters. The first is a summit — specifically the Geneva Summit — which was what Churchill had longed for. It then ...
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This chapter discusses some important concepts that were tackled in the previous chapters. The first is a summit — specifically the Geneva Summit — which was what Churchill had longed for. It then looks at the Cold War and détente. Churchill wanted to end the Cold War, while seeking to bring about détente. The author even argues that Churchill deserves to be remembered as the forefather of détente. The final topic discussed in this chapter is Churchill's last defeat in the East-West trade.Less
This chapter discusses some important concepts that were tackled in the previous chapters. The first is a summit — specifically the Geneva Summit — which was what Churchill had longed for. It then looks at the Cold War and détente. Churchill wanted to end the Cold War, while seeking to bring about détente. The author even argues that Churchill deserves to be remembered as the forefather of détente. The final topic discussed in this chapter is Churchill's last defeat in the East-West trade.
A. Kemp-Welch
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198278665
- eISBN:
- 9780191684227
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198278665.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter examines Bukharin, and his intellectual ability and equipment, when applied to the greatest political challenge he himself faced: the advent of Stalinism, which removed him, without much ...
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This chapter examines Bukharin, and his intellectual ability and equipment, when applied to the greatest political challenge he himself faced: the advent of Stalinism, which removed him, without much difficulty, from the political stage. First, it discusses the defeat of the ‘Right Deviation’ and then moves on to consider Bukharin's ideas, so far as they can be discerned despite censorship, regarding political defeat.Less
This chapter examines Bukharin, and his intellectual ability and equipment, when applied to the greatest political challenge he himself faced: the advent of Stalinism, which removed him, without much difficulty, from the political stage. First, it discusses the defeat of the ‘Right Deviation’ and then moves on to consider Bukharin's ideas, so far as they can be discerned despite censorship, regarding political defeat.
