Thomas Hobbes\u27 Response to the Fool: Justice and Magnanimity

I focus on Thomas Hobbes\u27 response to the moral skeptic - the Fool - who claims it is sometimes reasonable to break valid covenants (contracts). The Fool maintains that, in some circumstances, violating a covenant will be in a person\u27s best self-interest, and it will be reasonable to violate when it is. I interpret Hobbes to respond that it will never be reasonable for anyone to break a valid covenant, even in the state of nature (prior to society). In fact, everyone is obliged to keep all of his valid covenants, and it is always both reasonable and in each person\u27s best interest to keep them. Individuals who deliberately break their valid covenants for the sake of personal benefit run the risk of acquiring the vice of injustice. Such a vice would prove disadvantageous to them, and possibly even put their lives at risk. Further, people can only acquire the virtue of justice if they consistently endeavor to keep their valid covenants. Finally, it is incredibly advantageous to any person to acquire this virtue, because only those who possess it can achieve the greatest possible felicity (happiness), which every person greatly desires. Because everyone loves felicity and justice is necessary for it, justice is always in anyone\u27s self-interest, and thus, for Hobbes, reasonable as well. I focus on passages suggesting that it is always reasonable and beneficial to perform on valid covenants (i.e., L: 15.5), and I consider Hobbes\u27 suggestion that only a genuinely just person, who endeavors to keep all of his valid covenants, could ever be perfectly reasonable (L: 15.10). I also examine Hobbes\u27 claim that we are obliged to the laws of nature in foro interno even in the state of nature (i.e, DC: 3.27, L: 15.36, and L: 30.30). According to Hobbes, if a person possesses the vice of injustice, his peers will eventually discover it and treat him terribly, potentially killing him. I then change tracks and focus attention on Hobbes\u27 conception of magnanimity (i.e., L: 6.27 and EL: 9.20). By discussing the relations between magnanimity, justice, and felicity, I explain why, according to Hobbes, the virtue of justice is necessary for anyone to achieve the greatest possible felicity. Since everyone highly prizes this great felicity, it must be reasonable for anyone to pursue the virtue of justice, and it is always unreasonable and contrary to benefit for anyone to endeavor to violate a valid covenant

Cellular Growth Kinetics Distinguish a Cyclophilin Inhibitor from an HSP90 Inhibitor as a Selective Inhibitor of Hepatitis C Virus

During antiviral drug discovery, it is critical to distinguish molecules that selectively interrupt viral replication from those that reduce virus replication by adversely affecting host cell viability. In this report we investigate the selectivity of inhibitors of the host chaperone proteins cyclophilin A (CypA) and heat-shock protein 90 (HSP90) which have each been reported to inhibit replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV). By comparing the toxicity of the HSP90 inhibitor, 17-(Allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) to two known cytostatic compounds, colchicine and gemcitabine, we provide evidence that 17-AAG exerts its antiviral effects indirectly through slowing cell growth. In contrast, a cyclophilin inhibitor, cyclosporin A (CsA), exhibited selective antiviral activity without slowing cell proliferation. Furthermore, we observed that 17-AAG had little antiviral effect in a non-dividing cell-culture model of HCV replication, while CsA reduced HCV titer by more than two orders of magnitude in the same model. The assays we describe here are useful for discriminating selective antivirals from compounds that indirectly affect virus replication by reducing host cell viability or slowing cell growth

Kinesthetic Empathy, Dance, and Technology

I argue that when we use email, text messaging, or social media websites such as Facebook to interact, rather than communicating face-to-face, we do not experience the best kind of empathy, which is most conducive to experiencing benevolence for others. My arguments rely on drawing interdisciplinary connections between sources: early modern accounts of sympathy, dance theory, philosophy of technology, and neuroscience/psychology. I reflect on theories from these disciplines which, taken together, suggest that to empathize optimally, we must see or hear each other’s bodily gestures, vocal intonations, and facial expressions

John Cage, Henry David Thoreau, Wild Nature, Humility, and Music

John Cage and Henry David Thoreau draw attention to the indeterminacy of wild nature and imply humans cannot entirely control the natural world. This paper argues Cage and Thoreau each encourages his audience to recognize their own human limitations in relation to wildness, and thus each helps his audience to develop greater humility before nature. By reflecting on how Thoreau’s theory relates to Cage’s music, we can recognize how Cage’s music contributes to audiences’ environmental moral education. We can appreciate the role of music in helping audiences to develop values conducive to environmentally sustainable practices

Philosophy of Digital Art as Collaboration with an emphasis on the work of LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner

How can artists create works of computer art or Internet art in which audience members become genuine artists and collaborate with the original artists on the self-same work that they began? To answer this question, this essay will reflect on the work of philosophers who focus on questions concerning art completion and the ontology of computer art. This essay will also reflect on the artistic work of the trio LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner, whose artwork can serve as a model for creating collaborative, digital art

LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner, Digital Remix, and Group Authorship

I argue that sometimes a group can author a work of art without the work being either co-authored or multiply-authored. Sometimes the group, itself, is an author, rather than any of its members alone or together. I argue that when a group is an author like this, it has mental properties that no individual member of the group possesses. For example, we can consider the groups that authored digital remixes based on a film titled #INTRODUCTIONS created by the artists LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner. YouTubers posted their digital remixes online, and the question is: Who authored those remixes? I contend that many digital remixes are authored by groups that are capable of cognition

Thomas Hobbes on Civility, Magnanimity, and Scientific Discourse

Thomas Hobbes contends that a wise sovereign would censor books and limit verbal discourse for the majority of citizens. But this article contends that it is consistent with Hobbes’s philosophy to claim that a wise sovereign would allow a small number of citizens – those individuals who engage in scientific discourse and who are magnanimous and just – to disagree freely amongst themselves, engaging in discourse on controversial topics. This article reflects on Hobbes’s contention that these individuals can tolerate one another’s differences and engage in verbal disagreement without any risk to the commonwealth. By engaging in open discourse, these individuals can better create valuable technology and provide counsel to the sovereign that is necessary to maintain peace

Empathy and Moral Education, Theatre of the Oppressed, and \u3ci\u3eThe Laramie Project\u3c/i\u3e

Notable theorists have argued that theatre and drama play positive roles in the moral education of children and adults, including cultivating their capacity for empathy. Yet other theorists have expressed concerns that plays and educational practices involving improvisation might not lead to positive changes in real life, and might even have negative influences on actors and audiences. This paper focuses in particular on the dramatic methods employed by Theatre of the Oppressed, devised by Augusto Boal, and on the methods involved in the development of the play The Laramie Project, developed by Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theatre Project. It argues that Theatre of the Oppressed and The Laramie Project cultivate actors’ and audiences’ empathetic capacities, while overcoming many theorists’ worries about the impact of drama