The Fundamental Problem of Philosophy: Its Point

The fundamental problem of philosophy is whether doing it has any point, since if it does not have any point, there is no reason to do it. It is suggested that the intrinsic point of doing philosophy is to establish a rational consensus about what the answers to its main questions are. But it seems that this cannot be accomplished because philosophical arguments are bound to be inconclusive. Still, philosophical research generates an increasing number of finer grained distinctions in terms of which we try to conceptualize reality, and this is a sort of progress. But if, as is likely, our arguments do not suffice to decide between these alternatives, our personalities might slip in to do so. Our philosophy will then express our personality. This could provide philosophy with a point for us. If some of our conclusions have practical import, philosophy could have the further point of giving us something by which we can live

Autonomy and the Ethics of Biological Behaviour Modification

Much disease and disability is the result of lifestyle behaviours. For example, the contribution of imprudence in the form of smoking, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, and drug and alcohol abuse to ill-health is now well established. More importantly, some of the greatest challenges facing humanity as a whole – climate change, terrorism, global poverty, depletion of resources, abuse of children, overpopulation – are the result of human behaviour. In this chapter, we will explore the possibility of using advances in the cognitive sciences to develop strategies to intentionally manipulate human motivation and behaviour. While our arguments apply also to improving prudential motivation and behaviour in relation to health, we will focus on the more controversial instance: the deliberate targeted use of biomedicine to improve moral motivation and behaviour. We do this because the challenge of improving human morality is arguably the most important issue facing humankind (Persson and Savulescu, forthcoming). We will ask whether using the knowledge from the biological and cognitive sciences to influence motivation and behaviour erodes autonomy and, if so, whether this makes it wrong

Internal or External Grounds for the Nontransitivity of “Better/Worse than”

In his book Rethinking the Good: Moral Ideals and the Nature of PracticalReasoning Larry Temkin contrasts two views of ideals for evaluating outcomes:the Internal Aspects View and the Essentially Comparative View. He claimsthat the latter view can make the relation of being better/worse than all thingsconsidered nontransitive, while the former can’t. This paper argues that theInternal Aspects View can also be a source of nontransitivity. The gist of theargument is that perfect similarity as regards supervenient properties, likevalue, is compatible with differences as regards their subvenient propertiesand that it’s logically possible that such sets of insufficient differences add upto differences that are sufficient for supervenient differences. Thus, perfectsimilarity or identity is nontransitive as regards the supervenient property ofvalue, and this implies that the relation of being better/worse than all thingsconsidered is also nontransitive

A too restrictive basis of morality

No summary availabl

Structure and hydrogen bonding of the hydrated selenite and selenate ions in aqueous solution

The structure and hydrogen bonding of the hydrated selenite, SeO32-, and selenate, SeO42-, ions have been studied in aqueous solution by large angle X-ray scattering (LAXS), EXAFS and double difference infrared (DDIR) spectroscopy. The mean Se-O bond distances are 1.709(2) and 1.657(2) angstrom, respectively, as determined by LAXS, and 1.701(3) and 1.643(3) angstrom by EXAFS. These bond distances are slightly longer than the mean distances found in the solid state, 1.691 and 1.634 angstrom, respectively. The structures of HSeO3-, H2SeO3 and HSeO4- in aqueous solution have been determined by EXAFS giving the same Se-O bond distances as for the selenite and selenate ions, respectively. The mean Se center dot center dot center dot O-w distance to the water molecules hydrogen binding to selenite oxygens is 3.87(2) angstrom, and it is 4.36(8) angstrom to those clustered outside the lone electron-pair. The selenate ion has a symmetric hydration shell with only one Se center dot center dot center dot O-w distance, 3.94(2) angstrom. The mean Se-O center dot center dot center dot O-w angle in the hydrated selenite ion is 114.5, and the large temperature factor of the Se. Ow distance strongly indicates equilibrium between two and three water molecules hydrogen bound to the selenite oxygens. The mean Se- O. Ow angle in the hydrated selenate ion is 120 which strongly indicates that two water molecules hydrogen bind to the selenate oxygens. The DDIR spectra show peaks for the affected water bound to the selenite and selenate ions at 2491 +/- 2 and 2480 +/- 39 cm(-1), respectively, compared to 2509 cm(-1) in pure water. This shows that the selenite and selenate ions shall be regarded as weak structure makers

Short Strong Hydrogen Bonds can Hinder Complex Formation: A Stability and Structure Study of Copper(II) Alkyl-N-iminodiacetic Acid Complexes in Aqueous Systems and Solid State

In the present study the solution and coordination chemistry of copper(II)-alkyl-N-iminodiacetate systems are studied in aqueous solution by potentiometry, using ion selective copper and pH electrodes, EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure) and dye probe molecular absorption spectrophotometry. Alkyl-N-iminodiacetates with varying alkyl chain length, methyl (CH3-), n-hexyl (C6H13-), n-dodecyl (C12H25-) and n-octadecyl (C18H37-) were used to tune the amphiphilic properties of the ligands. The polar head groups have both oxygen (hard Lewis base) and nitrogen donor (border-line Lewis base) atoms. This means that metal ions with different bonding characteristics may bind these ligands differently. Furthermore, the chelating properties of the polar head group may be regulated by pH as the acid-base properties of the imine and carboxylic acid groups are different. Copper(II) forms two stable complexes with alkyl-N-iminodiacetates with short alkyl chains, present as monomers in aqueous solution, log(10)beta(1) = 11.10(2), log(10)beta(2) = 19.5(2) for methyl-N-iminodiacetate, and log(10)beta(1) = 12.22(4), log(10)beta(2) = 21.9(2) for n-hexyl-N-iminodiacetate. n-Octadecyl-N-iminodiacetic acid, present as large aggregates in acidic aqueous solution, has short strong hydrogen bonds between carboxylic acid and carboxylate groups in the surface of the aggregates, which hinder complex formation at pH values below 4, obstructs it in the pH region 4-7, while the complex formation behaves as for short-chained alkyl-N-iminodiacetates at pH > 7. The structure around copper in copper(II)-alkyl-N-iminodiacetate complexes in aqueous solution and solid state formed at different pH values and copper(II):alkyl-N-iminodiacetate ratios has been determined by EXAFS. The coordination chemistry of copper(II) shows four strong bonds in the equatorial plane, and two different Cu-O/N bond distances, ca. 0.2 angstrom apart, in the axial positions of a non-centrosymmetric tetragonally elongated octahedron

Complex Formation of Alkyl-N-iminodiacetic Acids and Hard Metal Ions in Aqueous Solution and Solid State

The calcium(II), iron(III) and chromium(III) alkyl-N-iminodiacetate systems have been studied in aqueous solution with respect to stability, acid-base properties and structure. The calcium(II) ion forms only one weak complex with methyl-N-iminodiacetic acid in water,K-1 = 12.9 (2) mol(-1).dm(3), while iron(III) and chromium(III) form very stable complexes with alkyl-N-iminodiacetic acids. The calcium(II)-methyl-N-iminodiacetate complex is octahedral in the solid state with most probably water in the remaining positions giving a mean Ca-O bond distance of ca. 2.36 angstrom. The iron(III) alkyl-N-iminodiacetate complexes have low solubility due to a strong tendency to form polymeric structures. Depending on pH in the solution at their preparation, the degree of hydrolysis in the resulting compound(s) may differ. In the solid state, the polymeric iron(III) alkyl-N-iminodiacetate compounds seem to have the mean composition Fe2O(C-x-IDA)(5); the mean Fe-O bond distances to the oxo group and the alkyl-N-iminodiacetate ligands are 1.92 and 2.02 angstrom, respectively. In these complexes the nitrogen atoms are bound at much longer bond distances, 0.1-0.2 angstrom, than the carboxylate oxygens. This distribution with short strong Fe-O bonds and much longer and weaker Fe-N bonds is also found in most other structurally characterized iron(III) carboxylated amine/polyamine complexes. The chromium(III) alkyl-N-iminodiacetate complexes are octahedral in both solution and solid state, and the low solubility of the solid compounds indicates a polymeric structure with the ligands bridging chromium(III) ions. Also, chromium(III) binds oxygen atoms in carboxylated amines at significantly shorter distance than the nitrogen stoms. The chromium(III) alkyl-N-iminodiacetate complexes display such slow kinetics at titration with strong base that the back-titration with strong acid shows completely different acid-base properties, thus the acid-base reactions are irreversible

Sorption of Bisphenol A as Model for Sorption Ability of Organoclays

The arrangement of bisphenol A molecules into organoclays and their interactions with the intercalated surfactant were studied. The organoclays were prepared via solid-state intercalation of four cationic surfactants, such as dodecyltrimethyl-, tetradecyltrimethyl-, hexadecyltrimethyl-, and didodecyldimethyl-ammonium, as bromide salts, at different loading levels into the interlayers of two natural clays. The natural clays, the prepared organoclays, and the spent organoclays were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. X-ray powder diffraction measurements showed successive interlayer expansions of the d(001) basal spacing due to the intercalation of the cationic surfactants and the bisphenol A sorption. The increased d(001) basal spacing of the organoclays after bisphenol A sorption indicates that the molecules are integrated between the alkyl chains of the surfactant in the organoclays interlayers. Infrared spectroscopy was employed to probe the intercalation of the cationic surfactants and the sorbed bisphenol A. New characteristic bands attributed to the bisphenol A phenol rings appear in the range 1518-1613 cm(-1) on the infrared spectra of the spent organoclays, proving the presence of bisphenol A in the hydrophobic interlayers. Scanning electron microscopy of the organoclays before and after BPA sorption shows that their morphology becomes fluffy and that the presence of the organic molecules expands the clay structure

Dimethyl sulfoxide solvates of the aluminium(III), gallium(III) and indium(III) ions. A crystallographic, EXAFS and vibrational spectroscopic study

The isostructural hexakis( dimethyl sulfoxide)-aluminium(III), -gallium(III) and -indium(III) iodides crystallise in the trigonal space group R(3) over bar ( no. 148), Z = 3, at 295 +/- 1 K. The metal ions are located in a (3) over bar symmetry site with M-O bond distances of 1.894(4), 1.974(4) and 2.145(3) Angstrom, and M-O-S bond angles of 127.1(3), 124.1(3) and 123.1(2)degrees, for M = Al, Ga and In, respectively. The unit cell parameters are a = 10.762(2), c = 24.599(3) Angstrom, V = 2467.2(5) Angstrom(3) for [Al(OS(CH3)(2))(6)]I-3, a = 10.927(2), c = 23.868(4) Angstrom, V = 2468.1(6) Angstrom(3) for [Ga(OS(CH3)(2))(6)]I-3, and a = 11.358(2), c = 21.512(4) Angstrom, V = 2403.5(7) Angstrom(3) for [In(OS(CH3)(2))(6)]I-3. The increasing compression of the octahedral MO6 coordination entities along one three-fold axis for M = Al, Ga and In, respectively, explains why the largest ion indium(III) has the smallest unit cell volume. EXAFS measurements on the dimethyl sulfoxide solvated gallium(III) and indium(III) ions in solution and in the solid perchlorate and trifluoromethanesulfonate salts, show similar bond distances as in the solid iodide solvates. Raman and infrared spectra have been recorded for the hexakis( dimethyl sulfoxide) metal(III) iodides and the nature of the metal-sulfoxide bond has been evaluated by normal coordinate methods. The symmetric and asymmetric M-O stretching modes correspond to the vibrational frequencies 465 and 540 cm(-1) for [Al(OS(CH3)(2))(6)]I-3, 491 and 495 cm(-1) for [Ga(OS(CH3)(2))(6)]I-3, and 444 and 440 cm(-1) for [In(OS(CH3)(2))(6)]I-3, respectively

A structural study of D-mannitolatodimolybdate(VI) complexes in aqueous solution

The structure of the D-mannitolatodimolybdate(VI) complex has been determined by means of large angle X-ray scattering (LAXS) in aqueous solution at two pH values, 2.0 and 5.5. The two complexes have in principle the same structure in aqueous solution, two face-sharing molybdate(VI) octahedra connected to one D-mannitol ligand, as previously observed in the solid state. In the deprotonated form of the complex, pH 5.5, the D-mannitol ligand has lost a proton and as a result the MoMo distance is 0.054 Å shorter than the protonated form, pH 2.0. This indicates that it is a proton on an oxygen shared by molybdate groups that leaves the complex at deprotonation and forces the molydate(VI) octahedra even closer to each other