Paleontology: Outrunning Time

In this paper, I discuss several temporal aspects of paleontology from a philosophical perspective. I begin by presenting the general problem of “taming” deep time to make it comprehensible at a human scale, starting with the traditional geologic time scale: an event-based, relative time scale consisting of a hierarchy of chronological units. Not only does the relative timescale provide a basis for reconstructing many of the general features of the history of life, but it is also consonant with the cognitive processes humans use to think about time. Absolute dating of rocks, fossils, and evolutionary events (such as branching events on the tree of life) can be accomplished through the use of radiometric dating, chronological signals extractable from fossil growth patterns, and the “molecular clock.” Sometimes these different methods of absolute dating, which start from largely independent assumptions and evidentiary bases, converge in their temporal estimates, resulting in a consilience of inductions. At other times they fail to agree, either because fossils and molecules are giving temporal information about different aspects of nature and should not be expected to agree, or because of flawed assumptions that give rise to an inaccurate estimate. I argue that in general, despite the fact that it can be difficult to integrate disparate kinds of evidence, the principle of total evidence should be applied to the dating of evolutionary events. As a historical science, paleontology studies past events we cannot observe directly. This raises questions of epistemic access, meaning that due to the fragmentary nature of the fossil record we may find ourselves without access to the relevant traces to adjudicate between rival hypotheses about the past. The problems and prospects of epistemic access are explored through a case study of the reconstruction of the colors of dinosaurs. The paper closes with a reflection on the Darwin- Lyell metaphor of the fossil record as a highly fragmentary history book, and a call for a reconsideration of the book metaphor in favor of a systems view of the geologic and fossil records

Modal homotopy type theory

Chapter IV of a book which looks to demonstrate what philosophy can gain from the new formal language of modal homotopy type theory. Here I explore how we should understand the addition of modalities to homotopy type theory. This chapter will sit between modified versions of http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/13448/ and http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/11809/

Poverty and social security: concepts and principles.

Author's note, 2013: Poverty and social security was published in November 1992 (though the title page states 1993). First published 1993 by Routledge, ISBN 0-415-05935-6 and 0-415-05936-4. The rights to publish have reverted to me, and I am making it freely available on the internet. The book has dated in some respects, but I have not attempted to update it. Much of what the book had to say about the idea of poverty, the contribution of social security and the methods that can be used is still relevant. After I had written the book, I came to change my views on poverty in particular, under the influence of the multidimensional, multi-faceted views that came to the fore in international organisations. By the time I came to write The idea of poverty (Policy Press, 2007) I was firmly committed to a different normative and analytical framework. I would not now even attempt to combine the treatment of poverty and social security in the same book. One of the arguments I was taken by when I wrote this book has been translated into a different framework. When budget standards were first tested, they seemed not to work in the way that I expected - the term came to stand for the kind of normative budgeting that was associated with Rowntrees household budgets. Subsequently, however, the approach - looking at what people actually do, rather than what experts suppose they might do - has yielded valuable insights into minimum income standards and the nature of a living wage. See, e.g., D Hirsch, 2013, a Minimum income standard for the UK in 2013, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. I have not changed the text in any way. Preface (1992) This book is concerned with the ways in which poverty can be defined and identified, and the responses which have been made to the problems of poverty in the development of financial assistance for people who are poor. The first part of the book is concerned with the idea of poverty, the way it has been operationalised, and the kinds of responses which might be made to it. The second part is concerned with social security: its connection with poor relief, the way in which benefit systems operate, and the extent to which such systems do effectively relieve poverty. On the face of it, this seems straightforward enough as a field for a critical study; on closer examination, though, the focus may seem difficult to justify. The definition of the subject matter depends crucially on a set of conventional interpretations about the ideas of 'poverty' and 'social security'. If the idea of 'poverty' was to be examined adequately, it probably ought to be considered in much wider terms than a consideration of financial assistance would imply; equally, any proper consideration of income maintenance touches on many topics beyond the relief of poverty. The justification for a narrower focus is in large part centred on a particular kind of problem: the discussion of what sort of benefits should be provided for the relief of poverty, and at what level they should be provided. This problem has been dominant historically in the development of services, and continues to be a major concern in the debates about social security now. The debates around this issue have to a large extent affected the way in which the issues of poverty and poor relief are discussed. The purpose of the book is, then, to discuss a set of problems and responses. It does this principally by considering a range of inter-related concepts. For reasons which I explain in the text, the book does not offer any authoritative definition of the problems, an approach which I know might drive some readers to distraction. The method has more to do with social philosophy than with social science. What it does is to outline options and ways and thinking about the issues, in the hope that it will help to establish an understanding of the relationship between poverty and social security, and inform discussion in the future. Part of the focus, too, is comparative. My own experience is from Britain. I have found it useful to draw on that experience for many of the examples, but concentration on Britain alone is not really adequate to understand either the problems of poverty or the methods which are available to respond to them. Many of the arguments made about social security in Britain - like the case for Child Benefit, or arguments against meanstesting - rely on a received wisdom based on a restricted range of policies, and the most effective way to put them into perspective is to draw on material from other countries. The book is intended mainly for an academic audience: it should be of interest to those studying social policy, sociology, politics and public administration, and there are elements which may be useful to students of economics and philosophy. On the principle that a better understanding should make for better policy - though I really ought to know differently by now - it may also be helpful for those who are involved in policy-making and administration for the poor

Social Marketing in Action

This book was written for those interested in creating social change for the greater good. In this book, we provide a wide selection of social marketing cases from which we can learn and teach. The book is intended for both academic and practitioner use. Part I of this book offers a brief yet comprehensive review of social marketing. This provides the reader with the background in social change and marketing necessary to read and analyze the subsequent cases. Parts II, III, IV, and V of this book offer a total of 24 social marketing cases, from a variety of countries, addressing many different issues. For classroom use, this book is written to serve as a stand-alone tool, with Part I providing a concise introduction to social marketing principles and theory. Chapter appendices provide links to further readings on social marketing principles for those wishing to delve deeper. If still further detail on social marketing principles and theory are desired, this book can easily be paired with another social marketing textbook as well. We have aimed the book to be accessible to undergraduate students but also offer sufficient material to challenge students at the graduate level. Advanced students should be encouraged to further explore the references and links provided, to critique the case approaches, and to offer alternative strategies for the cases provided. A separate teaching guide collection is available for the book as well. This collection contains answers to the discussion questions in the cases, as well as suggested activities for inside and outside of the classroom. Additionally, the teaching guides for many cases offer suggestions for further reading and other helpful resources. For practitioner use, Part I offers a refresher on basic social marketing principles. In addition, a variety of references are offered, allowing for further personal study. Parts II through V offer detailed information about a wide variety of actual social marketing programs. You can compare and contrast these cases with your own situation, hopefully gaining insights that will be helpful in your own social marketing efforts

Why equality? On justifying liberal egalitarianism

The debate over the nature of egalitarianism has come to dominate political philosophy. As ever more sophisticated attempts are made to describe the principles of an egalitarian distribution or to specify the good or goods that should be distributed equally, little is said about the fundamental basis of equality. In virtue of what should people be regarded as equal? Egalitarians have tended to dismiss this question of fundamental equality. In the first part of the paper I will examine some of these strategies of marginalisation and assess whether the issue of fundamental equality matters. Jeremy Waldron has criticised this strategy of avoidance in his recent book God, Locke and equality. He argues that Locke's turn to a theistic grounding for fundamental equality provides a better approach to the problem than the approach taken by contemporary liberals such as John Rawls. I will examine Waldron's critique of Rawls and show that it is wanting. I will conclude by suggesting that Rawls's approach to the issue has a bearing on the way in which equality should be understood as a political value. This argument for the primacy of a political conception of egalitarianism has a bearing on the interconnection between core liberal values and the idea of the state that has been emphasised by Rawls, Dworkin and Nagel

“Meddling in the work of another”: πολυπραγμονεῖν in Plato’s \u3cem\u3eRepublic\u3c/em\u3e

The second conjunct of the Republic’s account of justice—that justice is “not meddling in the work of another”—has been neglected in Plato literature. This paper argues that the conjunct does more work than merely reiterating the content of the first conjunct—that justice is “doing one’s own work.” I argue that Socrates develops the concept at work in this conjunct from its introduction with the Principle of Specialization in Book II to its final deployment in the finished conception of justice in Book IV. Crucial to that concept’s development is the way in which the notion of “another” comes to refer to members of distinct classes or parts, i.e. takes on an inter-part connotation beyond a mere intra-part connotation. The first conjunct—that justice is “doing one’s own work”—does not connote the same divisions, and so the conjuncts should not be understood as equivalent or mutually entailed

When I needed a neighbour, were you there?

In the book "When I needed a neighbour were you there? Christians and the Challenge of Poverty" I highlight the overwhelming evidence that involvement with poor people and the issues of poverty is a fundamental part of what it means to be Christian. The life and teaching of Jesus Christ suggest that all Christians should be seriously concerned about the plight of poor people. Why? Let me explain. Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith and role model for Christian behaviour in the world. In his life on earth he showed deep compassion for all people marginalized by society – for the poor, for widows, children, and the sick. Many of his stories and actions illustrate the extent to which he prioritized the relief of human suffering in his own ministry. The emphasis in the ministry of Jesus on compassion for marginalized people was nothing new in ancient Israel. A constant theme in the Old Testament was an imperative to show concern for marginalized people, especially widows, orphans, strangers, and poor people. As in the New Testament, caring for society’s vulnerable members was tied to the central religious obligations required of the ancient Israelites. I seek to uncover ethical values in the biblical texts that can enrich our understanding of how best to deal with poverty. This book is primarily directed at non-poor Christians to persuade them to take the plight of poor people more seriously. It also aims to present biblical perspectives on poverty that can be empowering to those who personally face the challenges of poverty

Weight Lifting through Life: A Guide to Safe Weight Training

You Can Lift Weights Withllut Getting Hurt! Have you ever injured yourself when trying to lift weights or initiate an exercise program? If so, you are not alone. Over many years of working as a physical therapist in an outpatient orthopedic and sports medicine clinic I have been surprised by the number of people that walk through the doors that are hurt by weight lifting. This really concerns me as one should not get hurt lifting weights as this is the opposite of why you are training. You are trying to improve your health--not get hurt! I am amazed by the exercises that people perform and are often taught in local gyms, schools or are self taught at home through books or even exercise videos. The problem is that many of these exercises are taught to them by people who: 1. Do not lift weights regularly themselves or 2. Do not have any formal education regarding the body and its biomechanics and anatomy. Their instructors aren\u27t ill-intentioned or trying to cause harm but simply do not know that they are teaching someone a potentially harmful exercise in the first place. Like anything else, the exercise industry is fraught with people who have just enough knowledge to be dangerous. If you want to benefit from the latest medical research, my personal experience with weight training, education and years of experience in the clinic then read on. Now, please do not misunderstand me as I have made my share of blunders in my own training as well. You can learn from my mistakes and avoid injury! Enclosed in this book are the tips and techniques that I wish I would have known from the very beginning when I started to lift weights. I want to save you from some pain! In the pages that follow I will not only point out the exercises that are safe to perform but will also highlight those which are unsafe and in many cases downright harmful. This book will educate you so that you can avoid the pitfalls of performing poor exercises which carry a predisposition for causing injury and highlight the ones that you can safely perform for a lifetime

The myth of women having it all : gender performativity in American media

The effects of the cult of domesticity, which have been fought against since the first suffragette movements, have permeated the history of the culture of the United States. In what follows, I will examine the ways the cult of true womanhood influences the media's treatment of women in the twenty-first century, and how this oppression of women, particularly oppression of women of color, has been furthered by these outlets. To do this analysis, I will use Pinterest, blogs, and books picked for book clubs.Barbara Welter's famous article from 1966, "The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860" details the rise of the cult of domesticity and gender performativity in the United States. Welter asserted that in order to have worth in American society as a woman, one must adhere to the duties of the Bible, which for many involved marriage and bearing children. Although marriage was not the only option, it was a woman's duty to have a higher purpose to uphold society the way it was constructed; if not as a wife, then a woman would help the less fortunate and the children. This meant women would do the work related to the social construct of the home, so men could continue to run society's business dealings. Much of the literature/media of the day pertaining to women was centered around upholding these gender, spiritual, and familial roles.It should be noted that Welter's explanation of the cult of domesticity and gender performativity specifically pertains to White, mostly middle- to upper-class women who were practicing or claiming to be Protestants, but that does not mean its influence did not affect women of other intersectionalities in America. Welter's article, though discussing a cultural phenomenon which in many ways led to first wave feminism in the United States, was written during the height of second wave feminism. Shari Kendall and Deborah Tannen in their chapter "Discourse and Gender" from The Handbook of Discourse Analysis explore how research has shown that America's use of language/discourse affects gender performativity and maintains normative patriarchal hierarchy in society, from the time of second-wave feminism to fourth wave feminism and postfeminism. This gender performative discourse is learned from childhood, and again, seems to be characteristic of White, middle-class Americans more than Americans of color and/or working classes. This study seeks to examine how the cult of domesticity and gender performativity continues to influence the lives of American women of all intersectionalities through social media, lifestyle blogs, and popular literature studied in book clubs, and how it particularly has a negative impact on women of color and women of lower socioeconomic status.To study this phenomenon, I will first examine the ways in which social media sites such as Pinterest portray the ideal "woman who has it all": a job, a family, and a social life. I will focus on how these sites reinforce the gender performativity of being a healthy woman, a mother, and a wife even with a career and relationships outside the family. Furthermore, I will investigate how Pinterest reinforces the cult of true womanhood to the detriment of women of all races and classes, because the "woman who has it all" stereotype is typically a White, middle-class wife and mother with a career. To do this, I will use a new Pinterest account with no prior search history to search for ideas related to health, motherhood, careers, and womanhood. I will then argue how these search results confirm how Pinterest, despite empowering many women to chase their health, career, hobby, and motherhood goals, often ignores the reality of women of color and lower socioeconomic status, thus promoting a new form of the cult of true womanhood: the woman who is the perfect career woman, wife, and mother.In Chapter Two, I will highlight how many lifestyle blogs written by Americans, while on the surface may appear to be supporting the ideas of postfeminism, often demonstrate there is still a need for feminism within their posts about being a mother, wife, and/or career woman. To find blogs to analyze, I will utilize three blogs I discovered within my Pinterest results for Chapter One that were made by Americans, regardless of gender, and cover different topics. I will then analyze three posts from each blog based on a) whether or not the creator wrote them and b) a theme related to how the blog was found on Pinterest and/or a theme related to the cult of domesticity. These analyses will aid me in emphasizing how the "ideal" woman for American society has shifted from a woman who takes care of her husband, children, and the household to a woman who maintains her own physical and mental health, has a career, and takes care of her husband, household, and children. Finally, I will explore in Chapter Three what impact book clubs have on gender performativity of American women, particularly those who have careers and children. I will utilize previous research on women's book clubs and analyze book clubs which are meeting or have met online within the past five years. I will then assert that these book clubs, while allowing women to express themselves creatively and/or intellectually outside of their career and their family, also reinforce the idea that a) women can "have it all" and b) still uphold the gender roles of the patriarchy. For control purposes, I looked at the book picks of two all-women's clubs, two all-men's clubs, and two book clubs open to everyone and analyzed their results based on the year 2021 unless otherwise necessary. Just like Pinterest and blogs from working mothers, these book clubs are important in empowering women to network among themselves and reclaim the importance of domestic work, but they also tend to leave behind women of color and/or women of lower socioeconomic status due to lack of time and financial resources, as well as lack of shared experience. As a result, those of intersectionalities besides White, middle- to upper-class married women feel as if a sort of "double standard" is placed upon them when it comes to gender performativity in America, thus furthering the need for feminism in the United States and beyond.The research done in this study affirms gender performativity in American media negatively influences women, especially women of color and of lower socioeconomic status. These findings suggest that Americans are attempting to dissolve the binary between men and women through giving women more opportunities to be successful outside of the home. However, these opportunities, rather than dissolving the binary and making women equitable to men in American society, put more pressure on women by mixing the "new" expectations of being a financial provider of the family with the "old" expectations of tending the household. Further research is needed on how gender performativity in media like Pinterest, blogs, and books studied in book clubs affects women of all intersectionalities, particularly women of the LGBTQ community

Promoting Statistical Practice and Collaboration in Developing Countries

"Rarely, but just often enough to rebuild hope, something happens to confound my pessimism about the recent unprecedented happenings in the world. This book is the most recent instance, and I think that all its readers will join me in rejoicing at the good it seeks to do. It is an example of the kind of international comity and collaboration that we could and should undertake to solve various societal problems. This book is a beautiful example of the power of the possible. [It] provides a blueprint for how the LISA 2020 model can be replicated in other fields. Civil engineers, or accountants, or nurses, or any other profession could follow this outline to share expertise and build capacity and promote progress in other countries. It also contains some tutorials for statistical literacy across several fields. The details would change, of course, but ideas are durable, and the generalizations seem pretty straightforward. This book shows every other profession where and how to stand in order to move the world. I urge every researcher to get a copy!" —David Banks from the Foreword Promoting Statistical Practice and Collaboration in Developing Countries provides new insights into the current issues and opportunities in international statistics education, statistical consulting, and collaboration, particularly in developing countries around the world. The book addresses the topics discussed in individual chapters from the perspectives of the historical context, the present state, and future directions of statistical training and practice, so that readers may fully understand the challenges and opportunities in the field of statistics and data science, especially in developing countries. Features • Reference point on statistical practice in developing countries for researchers, scholars, students, and practitioners • Comprehensive source of state-of-the-art knowledge on creating statistical collaboration laboratories within the field of data science and statistics • Collection of innovative statistical teaching and learning techniques in developing countries Each chapter consists of independent case study contributions on a particular theme that are developed with a common structure and format. The common goal across the chapters is to enhance the exchange of diverse educational and action-oriented information among our intended audiences, which include practitioners, researchers, students, and statistics educators in developing countries