Stavrogin: The Anti-Christ of Demons

Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel Demons is much more than the story of a political murder; it describes the clash of ideas in 1860s Russia as Russia battles between retaining its past national identity, rooted loosely in Eastern Orthodoxy, and Western ideas, rooted in atheism. It is a clash of politics, but even more it is a clash of religion. However, the opposing sides in the battle of religion appear far from balanced, for even Shatov, who supports Russian Orthodoxy, does not truly believe in God. Atheism seems to win out as all characters reject real, vital faith in God in some form, and havoc ensues. At the center of it all lies the enigmatic, fascinating, horrifying character Stavrogin. Though Stavrogin often lies in the background, rarely doing anything and often fading out altogether, his subtle yet powerful influence over the other characters drives the plot of the novel. Through it all, Demons sets Stavrogin up as an anti-Christ figure, hammering the dreadful consequences of replacing God with man

Love, Reasons, and Desire

This essay defends subjectivism about reasons of love. These are the normative reasons we have to treat those we love especially well, such as the reasons we have to treat our close friends or life partners better than strangers. Subjectivism about reasons of love is the view that every reason of love a person has is correctly explained by her desires. I formulate a version of subjectivism about reasons of love and defend it against three objections that have been made to this kind of view. Firstly, it has been argued that the phenomenology of our focus when we have reasons of love does not fit with subjectivism about those reasons. Secondly, it has been argued that the phenomenology of our motivations when we have reasons of love does not fit with subjectivism about those reasons. Thirdly, it has been argued that subjectivism about reasons of love has deeply counterintuitive implications about what our reasons of love are. I argue that none of these objections succeeds

Once Upon a Time on Mango Street

Undergraduate Textual or Investigativ

Analysis of best corrected visual acuity following corneal refractive surgery comparing low and standard predicted postoperative keratometry

BACKGROUND: It is a commonly held view in the ophthalmologic community that eyes with sufficiently low calculated postoperative corneal keratometry, less than 35 diopters, should not undergo corrective refractive laser surgery (CRLS) due to the increased risk of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) loss. Typical CRLS include Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK), Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK), and Laser-Assisted Sub-Epithelial Keratectomy (LASEK). Evidence for this claim in currently available literature is sparse and inconsistent. PURPOSE: To further elucidate the relationship between calculated “flat” postoperative corneal keratometry and loss of BCVA. Additionally, to investigate the role of procedure type (LASIK, ASA, or LASEK) and degree of calculated postoperative corneal flatness on visual outcomes following CRLS. METHODS: 222 eyes (111 candidates and 111 controls) were retrospectively analyzed and matched based on calculated postoperative keratometry compared to control subgroups with calculated postoperative keratometries ≥38 D and further stratified into subgroups 1b (K=38-38.99 D), 2b (K=39-39.99 D), 3b (K=40-40.9 9D), and 4b (K≥41 D). All of the eyes had undergone LASIK, PRK, or LASEK between December 2008 and November 2016 at Boston Eye Group/Boston Laser in Brookline, MA. RESULTS: Statistical analyses showed no significant differences between candidates and controls in preoperative BCVA (p=0.650) and postoperative BCVA (p=0.081). Subgroup matching showed no significant differences in the amount of tissue ablated in 1a & 1b (p=0.946), 2a & 2b (p=0.694), 3a & 3b (p=0.989), and 4a & 4b (p=0.986). There was also no significant change between preoperative and postoperative BCVA in subgroups 1a (p=0.367), 2a (p=0.297), 3a (p=0.576), 4a (p=0.669), 1b (p=0.458), 2b (p=0.227), 3b (p=0.071), or 4b (p=0.703). 3 of 111 (2.70%) candidate eyes and 1 (0.90%) control eye lost 1+ lines of BCVA following surgery. There was no statistical difference in 1+ lines of BCVA lost between these groups (p=0.313). Similarly, the type of CRLS undergone did not affect the rate of BCVA line loss (p=0.793). CONCLUSION: Our evidence suggests that in a matched comparison of flat and normal mathematically predicted postoperative keratometries, there was no increase in BCVA lost due to flat keratometry

Keel and Schroer\u27s Creation; Biblical theologies in the context of the ancient Near East (Book Review)

A review of Keel, O., & Schroer, S. (2015). Creation; Biblical theologies in the context of the ancient Near East (Peter T. Daniels, Trans.). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 244 pp. $44.99. ISBN 978157506093

Motivating Reason to Slow the Factive Turn in Epistemology

In this paper I give a novel argument for the view that epistemic normative reasons (or evidence) need not be facts. I first argue that the nature of normative reasons is uniform, such that our positions about the factivity of reasons should agree across normative realms –– whether epistemic, moral, practical, or otherwise. With that in mind, I proceed in a somewhat indirect way. I argue that if practical motivating reasons are not factive, then practical normative reasons are not factive. If it is possible to act rationally in the light of a falsehood, as I will say, then some good reasons must be falsehoods. The implication of this argument is perhaps surprising: for one to firmly establish the view that epistemic normative reasons are factive, one must discredit the view that practical motivating reasons are not factive