140 research outputs found
The Telos of Consciousness and the Telos of World History
This article explores the way in which Husserl’s transcendental idealism reverses the
thesisstemming from the naturalistic worldview, according to which the existence of
humanity in the universe is a contingent fact. It will appear that the resulting
teleological account of the world history does not interfere with the traditional
explanations provided by the empirical sciences and that it is a consequence of the
teleology inbuilt in the correlation between transcendental subjectivity and the world.
The conclusion is reached by analyzing some of Husserl’s text concerning the
transcendental role of embodiment and normality
Scientific Realism and the Contingency of the History of Science
In section 2 I will reconstruct the antirealist motivations of the
classic contingentist scenarios developed by James Cushing and by Andrew Pickering;
in section 3, by taking into account some versions of scientific realism that are more
sophisticated than those discussed by contingentists up to now, I will clarify the logical
relations of compatibility and incompatibility existing between contingentism and
inevitabilism on the one hand, and scientific realism and antirealism on the other; in
Section 4 I will try to spell out the specific contribution of contingentist historical
reconstructions to the critique of scientific realism; finally, in Section 5, I will
recapitulate the results of the article and argue that the conflict between contingentist
antirealism and scientific realism can be seen as a clash of inferences based on
interpretations of the history of science. This article will thus consist of a philosophical
meta-analysis of a controversy existing between different meta-scientific investigations
Husserl and the Truth of Hedonism
The question of the relationship between Husserl and hedonism is a broad one. One might be tempted to say that it is as broad as the question of a phenomenological ethics as such. Accordingly, the aim of this
short paper cannot be that of providing a full account—be it historical or
systematical—of such a relationship. Rather, we will try to reconstruct, as
much as this is possible in the limited space allowed, the strategy behind
Husserl’s appraisal and criticism of hedonism in his late Freiburg lectures.
We will focus in particular on the way in which Husserl redefines some core
tenets of ethical hedonism and unexpectedly integrates within the
rationalistic framework of a phenomenological ethics revolving around the
central notion of value
Edmund Husserl between Platonism and Aristotelianism
The volume contains the first collection of essays delaying with the relations between, on the one hand, Husserl's philosophy, and, on the other, the traditions of Platonism and Aristotelianism
Calibration: A Conceptual Framework Applied To Scientific Practices Which Investigate Natural Phenomena by Means of Standardized Instruments
This paper deals with calibration in scientific practices which investigate relatively well-understood natural phenomena by means of already standardized instrumental
devices. Calibration is a crucial topic, since it conditions the reliability of instrumental
procedures in science. Yet although important, calibration is a relatively neglected topic.
We think more attention should be devoted to calibration. The paper attempts to take a step
in this direction. The aims are two-fold: (1) to characterize calibration in a relatively
simple kind of scientific practices; (2) to provide conceptual and taxonomic tools of
broader scope that help to get a better understanding of calibration in more complex cases
and other kinds of scientific practices. For this purpose, we first provide indications for why
a conceptual framework is needed. Second, a bibliographic survey of works dealing with
calibration is attempted. Third, we introduce different tools to enable a better understanding of calibration. Fourth, we turn to the elaboration of what we call a ‘‘simple
exemplar’’ of calibration, illustrated through the case of the calibration of an equal-arm
balance. Fifth, the tools previously introduced, and the framework of the simple exemplar,
are applied to a more complex case of calibration: calibration procedures in X-ray
experiments. This serves to show the work accomplished by the simple exemplar and to emphasize features of more complex cases of calibration. Eventually, we revisit and
specify the nature, status, scope and value of the proposed framework
Science as It Could Have Been: Discussing the Contingency/Inevitability Problem
This collection of essay explore the different facets of the contingency/necessity debate in the philosophy of scienc
What is the crisis of Western sciences?
© 2016, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. This article is an attempt to formulate a clear definition of the concept of crisis of Western sciences introduced by Husserl in his last work. The attempt will be based on a reading of the Krisis, which will stress its underlying continuity with Husserl’s life-long concerns about the theoretical insufficiency of positive sciences, and downplay the novelty of the idea of crisis itself within Husserl’s work. After insisting on the fact that, according to Husserl, only an account of the shortcomings of the scientificity of Western sciences can justify the claim that they are undergoing a crisis, it will be argued that the common definition of the crisis of the sciences as the loss of their significance for life rests on a misunderstanding. The crisis of Western sciences will be characterized, instead, as the repercussion of the crisis of the scientificity of philosophy (and, specifically, of metaphysics) on the scientificity of positive sciences. The loss of significance of scientific knowledge for our existence will in turn appear as a further, inevitable consequence of the uprooting of the sciences from the soil of a universal philosophy culminating in metaphysics, and thus, as a phenomenon deeply intertwined with the crisis of Western sciences, but not identical to it
IL-2 Regulates SEB Induced Toxic Shock Syndrome in BALB/c Mice
BACKGROUND:Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is characterized by fever, rash, hypotension, constitutional symptoms, and multi-organ involvement and is caused by Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins such as Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B (SEB). SEB binds to the MHC-IIalpha chain and is recognized by the TCRbeta chain of the Vbeta8 TCR(+) T cells. The binding of SEB to Vbeta chain results in rapid activation of T cells and production of inflammatory cytokines, such as Interleukin-2 (IL-2), Interferon-gamma and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha which mediate TSS. Although IL2 was originally identified as the T cell growth factor and was proposed to contribute to T cell differentiation, its role in TSS remains unexplored. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Mice were injected with D-Gal (25 mg/mouse). One hour after D-Galactosamine (D-Gal) injection each mouse was injected with SEB (20 microg/mouse. Mice were then observed for 72 hrs and death was recorded at different times. We tested Interleukin-12, IFNgamma, and IL-2 deficient mice (IL-2(-/-)), but only the IL-2 deficient mice were resistant to SEB induced toxic shock syndrome. More importantly reconstitution of IL-2 in IL-2 deficient mice restored the shock. Interestingly, SEB induced IL-2 production from T cells was dependent on p38MAPK activation in macrophages as inhibition of it in macrophages significantly inhibited IL-2 production from T cells. CONCLUSION:This study shows the importance of IL -2 in TSS which has not been previously explored and it also shows that regulating macrophages function can regulate T cells and TSS
Retracing the history and planning the future of the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) in Ireland using non-invasive genetics
The Eurasian red squirrel’s (Sciurus vulgaris) history in Ireland is largely unknown, but the original population is thought to have been driven to extinction by humans in the 17th Century, and multiple records exist for its subsequent reintroduction in the 19th 4 Century. However, it is currently unknown how these reintroductions affect the red squirrel population today, or may do so in the future. In this study, we report on the development of a DNA toolkit for the non-invasive genetic study of the red squirrel. Non-invasively collected red squirrel samples were combined with other samples collected throughout Ireland and previously published mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data from Ireland, Great Britain and continental Europe to give an insight into population genetics and historical introductions of the red squirrel in Ireland. Our findings demonstrate that the Irish red squirrel population is on a national scale quite genetically diverse, but at a local level contains relatively low levels of genetic diversity and evidence of genetic structure. This is likely an artefact of the introduction of a small number of genetically similar animals to specific sites. A lack of continuous woodland cover in Ireland has prevented further mixing with animals of different origins that may have been introduced even to neighbouring sites. Consequently, some of these genetically isolated populations are or may in the future be at risk of extinction. The Irish red squirrel population contains mtDNA haplotypes of both a British and Continental European origin, the former of which are now extinct or simply not recorded in contemporary Great Britain. The Irish population is therefore important in terms of red squirrel conservation not only in Ireland, but also for Great Britain, and should be appropriately managed
Integrated Operational Taxonomic Units (IOTUs) in Echolocating Bats: A Bridge between Molecular and Traditional Taxonomy
Background: Nowadays, molecular techniques are widespread tools for the identification of biological entities. However,
until very few years ago, their application to taxonomy provoked intense debates between traditional and molecular
taxonomists. To prevent every kind of disagreement, it is essential to standardize taxonomic definitions. Along these lines,
we introduced the concept of Integrated Operational Taxonomic Unit (IOTU). IOTUs come from the concept of Operational
Taxonomic Unit (OTU) and paralleled the Molecular Operational Taxonomic Unit (MOTU). The latter is largely used as
a standard in many molecular-based works (even if not always explicitly formalized). However, while MOTUs are assigned
solely on molecular variation criteria, IOTUs are identified from patterns of molecular variation that are supported by at least
one more taxonomic characteristic.
Methodology/Principal Findings: We tested the use of IOTUs on the widest DNA barcoding dataset of Italian echolocating
bats species ever assembled (i.e. 31 species, 209 samples). We identified 31 molecular entities, 26 of which corresponded to
the morphologically assigned species, two MOTUs and three IOTUs. Interestingly, we found three IOTUs in Myotis nattereri,
one of which is a newly described lineage found only in central and southern Italy. In addition, we found a level of molecular
variability within four vespertilionid species deserving further analyses. According to our scheme two of them (i.e.
M. bechsteinii and Plecotus auritus) should be ranked as unconfirmed candidate species (UCS).
Conclusions/Significance: From a systematic point of view, IOTUs are more informative than the general concept of OTUs
and the more recent MOTUs. According to information content, IOTUs are closer to species, although it is important to
underline that IOTUs are not species. Overall, the use of a more precise panel of taxonomic entities increases the clarity in
the systematic field and has the potential to fill the gaps between modern and traditional taxonomy
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