A Defense of Animal Moral Cognition

Humans have long considered themselves unique in the animal kingdom. However, assumptions about human uniqueness have come increasingly under attack with discoveries in comparative psychology and animal behavior. Humans are not the only ones to socialize, communicate and use tools. Many scientists and philosophers are even now willing to attribute consciousness to non-human animals (henceforth, “animals”). Additional evidence about animals exhibiting empathic, altruistic, cooperative and fair behavior has also been observed. Such behavior is interesting by itself, but it also leads to questions about why the animals are acting in these particular ways. Mark Bekoff, Frans De Waal and Mark Rowlands have examined this issue and have proposed different theories to explain this behavior; including thinking of some of these animals as being moral to a degree. However, if philosophers agree on one thing it is that animals do not possess genuine moral cognition. Moral cognition is one of the last bastions of human uniqueness. Toppling that belief would have tremendous consequences. Societal treatment of animals is largely predicated on the perceived superiority of humans. If animals are shown to be moral, some of the justifications for human treatment of animals would be challenged. In this paper I present the historical context in which this debate of animal moral cognition takes place. I then explore the current evidence in support animal morality. I examine the current theories about animal moral cognition, present my own and then evaluate potential objections to my thesis. The thesis I will defend is that some animals are morally cognitive creatures, meaning animals are capable of empathizing with other animals and then having those emotions provide motivation (reasons) to act in altruistic ways. Additionally, I situate their morality in a system of cooperation. Animals are cooperative creatures that maintain cooperation that closely resembles a human moral system with norms governing behavior, including punishments for disobeying those norms. I do not anticipate my thesis being particularly popular; however, with the available evidence, I argue that this is an accurate assessment of some animal behavior. Before my analysis begins it is important to understand the historical context in which this debate takes place

El análisis del sector turístico en Béjar como caso de estudio de las nuevas políticas urbanas en las pequeñas ciudades

Como respuesta al declive prolongado de la industria local, la ciudad de Béjar está intentando diversificar y consolidar su economía urbana mediante la aplicación de diversas medidas que, en su conjunto, se encuadran dentro de lo que se conoce como nuevas políticas urbanas. En este sentido, el Ayuntamiento ha asignado al turismo un papel central en la búsqueda de alternativas al sector secundario y en la consiguiente revitalización del tejido socioeconómico. El artículo lleva a cabo un análisis detallado de este sector como caso de estudio de dichas políticas en las pequeñas ciudades industriales y lo compara con el papel que le asigna el marco teórico correspondiente. Así mismo, derivamos de este análisis algunas conclusiones sobre la trayectoria futura del sector turístico y sus posibilidades para sostener la economía local bejarana en el futuro

Disordered and Frustrated Magnetization in Coated MnFe₂O₄ Nanoparticles Prepared by Microwave Plasma Synthesis

Disordered and frustrated magnetization of different surface coated (Cr2O3, Co3O4, ZrO2, and SiO2) MnFe2O4 nanoparticles have been studied using SQUID-magnetometry. Magnetic measurements, such as ZFC/FC and ac-susceptibility evidence surface spin-glass behavior. ZFC/FC curves were also compared with numerical simulation to get information about effective anisotropy constants. Frequency dependent ac susceptibility results were analyzed by using Arrhenius, Vogel Fulcher and dynamic scaling laws to further confirm the spin-glass behavior. It is observed that the strength of surface spins disorder and frustration strongly depends upon the type of the coating material. All these analyses signify that disordered and frustrated surface magnetization in MnFe2O4 nanoparticles greatly depend on the type of the surface coating materials and are useful for controlling the nanoparticle’s magnetism for different practical applications

Energetic ion loss diagnostic for the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator

A diagnostic to measure the loss of energetic ions from the Wendelstein 7-AS (W7-AS) stellarator has been built. It is capable of measuring losses of both neutral beam ions and energetic ions arising from ion cyclotron resonant heating. The probe can measure losses of both clockwise and counterclockwise-going energetic ions simultaneously, and accepts a wide range of pitch angles in both directions. Initial measurements by the diagnostic are reported