Ecclesia According to Saint Paul

Several years ago the writer became interested in a study of the New Testament concept of the church. Since the major part of the New Testament collection dealing with this concept is made up of the writings of the apostle Paul he felt that the study should begin with these writings. In making a preliminary study it was found that the apostle\u27s concept would be too extensive and too inclusive to incorporate in its entirety within the scope of a thesis written as partial requirement for the Master of Arts Degree. Consequenty this work is limited, being primarily foundational. In order to maintain this foundational character the writer decided to make a study of a representative passage of each variant shade of Paul\u27s concept, and, that only where some form of the term (ecclesia) appears in the text. So that Paul\u27s usage of the term might be more fully understood the first and second chapters are designed to serve as a background. These chapters will show that Paul, when he had become a Christian, had inherited a word that was potent with vital significance for him and for others like him in the new religion. The remainder of the thesis is divided according to the major emphases which Paul makes upon the term \u27ecclesia\u27. This has caused a shift of the Galatian letter from its traditional date of composition which places it shortly after the writing of the Corinthian letters into a closer proximity with the Thessalonian letters. The concept of \u27ecclesia\u27 in Galatians is more in accord with that found in the Thessalonian letters than with that in Corinthians and Romans

PREDICATION AND EXTENSIONALIZATION

In his 2000 book Logical Properties Colin McGinn argues that predicates denote properties rather than sets or individuals. I support the thesis, but show that it is vulnerable to a type-incongruity objection, if properties are (modelled as) functions, unless a device for extensionalizing properties is added. Alternatively, properties may be construed as primitive intensional entities, as in George Bealer. However, I object to Bealer’s construal of predication as a primitive operation inputting two primitive entities and outputting a third primitive entity. Instead I recommend we follow Pavel Tichý in construing both predication and extensionalization as instances of the primitive operation of functional application.PhilosophyTechnology, Policy and Managemen

Central blockade of oxytocin receptors during mid-late gestation reduces amplitude of slow afterhyperpolarization in supraoptic oxytocin neurons

The neurohypophysial hormone oxytocin (OT), synthesized in magnocellular paraventricular (PVN) and supraoptic (SON) nuclei, is well known for its effects in lactation. Our previous studies showed that central OT receptor (OTR) binding is increased during gestation and that blockade of central OTRs, specifically during mid-late gestation, causes a delay in OT release during suckling and reduces weight gain in pups, suggesting decreased milk delivery. In the present study, we tested whether central OTR blockade during late gestation disrupts the gestation-related plasticity in intrinsic membrane properties. Whole cell current-clamp recordings were performed in OT neurons from pregnant rats (19-22 days in gestation) that were infused with an OTR antagonist (OTA) or artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) and from virgin rats infused with aCSF into the third ventricle via an osmotic minipump beginning on days 12-14 of gestation. The amplitudes of both Ca2+-dependent afterhyperpolarizations (AHPs), an apamin-sensitive medium AHP (mAHP) and an apamin-insensitive slow AHP (sAHP), were significantly increased during late gestation in control pregnant animals. However, the amplitude of the sAHP from pregnant rats treated with the OTA was significantly smaller than that of pregnant control rats and similar to that of virgins. These results indicate that the diminished efficiency in lactation due to OTR blockade may be partly a result of an altered sAHP that would shape OT bursting. These findings suggest that central actions of OT during late gestation are necessary for programming the plasticity of at least some of the intrinsic membrane properties in OT neurons during lactation. Copyright © 2008 the American Physiological Society

The bearable lightness of being

How are philosophical questions about what kinds of things there are to be understood and how are they to be answered? This paper defends broadly Fregean answers to these questions. Ontological categories-such as object, property, and relation-are explained in terms of a prior logical categorization of expressions, as singular terms, predicates of varying degree and level, etc. Questions about what kinds of object, property, etc., there are are, on this approach, reduce to questions about truth and logical form: for example, the question whether there are numbers is the question whether there are true atomic statements in which expressions function as singular terms which, if they have reference at all, stand for numbers, and the question whether there are properties of a given type is a question about whether there are meaningful predicates of an appropriate degree and level. This approach is defended against the objection that it must be wrong because makes what there depend on us or our language. Some problems confronting the Fregean approach-including Frege's notorious paradox of the concept horse-are addressed. It is argued that the approach results in a modest and sober deflationary understanding of ontological commitments

Can Modal Skepticism Defeat Humean Skepticism?

My topic is moderate modal skepticism in the spirit of Peter van Inwagen. Here understood, this is a conservative version of modal empiricism that severely limits the extent to which an ordinary agent can reasonably believe “exotic” possibility claims. I offer a novel argument in support of this brand of skepticism: modal skepticism grounds an attractive (and novel) reply to Humean skepticism. Thus, I propose that modal skepticism be accepted on the basis of its theoretical utility as a tool for dissolving philosophical paradox