Considering the Role Marked Variation Plays in Classifying Humans: A Normative Approach

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing analyses that aim to confront the problem of marked variation. Negatively marked differences are those natural variations that are used to cleave human beings into different categories (e.g., of disablement, of medicalized pathology, of subnormalcy, or of deviance). The problem of marked variation is: Why are some rather than other variations marked as epistemically or culturally significant or as a diagnostic of pathology, and What is the epistemic background that makes these—rather than other variations—marked as subnormal? For Wilson (2018a), critical examination of the problem of marked variation is central to understanding the epistemology of medicalized pathology that made the history of eugenics possible. My aim is to explore the role marked variation plays in eugenic and other problematic classifications and the inferences they appear to license. I pay particular attention to the normative valuations of marked variations, how these valuations affect the inferences that are made by others about those possessing the variation, and how those possessing the variation perceive themselves. In the final sections, I illustrate this by critically discussing three putative kinship conceptions of race. I rely on these to extend the scope of the puzzle of marked variation from the context of historic and current markings of an individual’s variation as disability in the eugenics movement to historic and current markings for assigning putative racial ascriptions to individuals and groups. Lastly, I suggest that the problem of marked variation is a problem that looms over any epistemic account that is dependent upon sorting or classifying

John S. Wilkins and Malte C. Ebach: The Nature of Classification: Relationships and Kinds in the Natural Sciences: Palgrave, Macmillan, 2014, pp., vii + 197, Price £60/$100.00

John Wilkins and Malte Ebach respond to the dismissal of classification as something we need not concern ourselves with because it is, as Ernest Rutherford suggested, mere ‘‘stamp collecting.’’ They contend that classification is neither derivative of explanation or of hypothesis-making but is necessarily prior and prerequisite to it. Classification comes first and causal explanations are dependent upon it. As such it is an important (but neglected) area of philosophical study. Wilkins and Ebach reject Norwood Russell Hanson’s thesis that classification relies on observation that is theory-laden and deny the need for aetiological assumptions and historical reconstruction to justify its arrangement. What they offer instead is a significant (albeit controversial) contribution to the philosophical literature on classification, a pre-theoretic natural classification based on the observation of patterns in data of ready-made phenomena. Their notion of ready-made phenomena rests on a conception of tacit knowledge or know-how. This is evident in their distinction between strong Theory-dependence and na ̈ıve theory-dependence. Their small t-theory-dependence permits patterns of observation that facilitate know-how but does not rely on a domain-specific explanatory theory of their aetiology. Wilkins and Ebach suggest classification differs from theory building in that it is passive (whereas theory building is active). Classification is possible just because it does not require the sieve of theory to capture classes that are ‘‘handed to you by your cognitive dispositions and the data that you observe’’ (p. 18). Finding regularities sans-theory is just something we do and can do without any prior theory about the underlying causes or origins of the resultant regularities. Luke Howard’s classification of clouds serves as an exemplar of a passive, theory-free classification system and the periodic table and the DSM help to illustrate this type of non-aetiological patterning. A recurrent theme is the nature of naturalness. For Wilkins and Ebach, the conception of naturalness is not one that is based on the generation or discovery of natural kind categories popular in both the traditional metaphysics of Mill and Wittgenstein as well as updated notions within philosophy of biology such as Boyd’s Homeostatic Property Cluster kinds. Instead, Wilkins and Ebach define the naturalness of classification as the falling into hierarchical patterns, aligning the search for natural arrangement with the aim of systematics, and as something that is grounded in a cognitive task or activity. However, they leave the question of realism v. antirealism open. ‘‘In natural classification...we must have real relations no matter how we might interpret ‘real’’’ (p. 70). There is tension with regard to their ontological commitments as they vacillate between constructive, operationalist, and realist approaches. Wilkins and Ebach initially define real as that which is causal and important (pp. 70–71), and later as that which ‘‘depends in no way upon a mind or observer’’ (p. 122). This makes their claim that there was ‘‘no real theory involved [in the pre-Darwinian classifications of Jussieu and Adanson]’’ (p. 64) difficult to interpret. Cont’d……

Current Flexible Rotor-Bearing System Balancing Techniques Using Computer Simulation

As the cost of machinery has risen and the need for dependability, safety and increased performance have in a similar manner increased, the needs of industry for viable flexible rotor balancing techniques has no less increased. Various flexible rotor methods have been advocated for supercritical shafting, but few studies or comparisons have appeared in the open literature. Among the procedures for balancing large and/or high speed (supercritical) rotors are the N modal method of Bishop and Gladwell, the N + B modal of Federn, the N and + B simultaneous modal method of Kellenberger, and the influence coefficient method of Lund and Rieger. Each of the aforementioned balancing techniques is examined and explained in detail. The first known modal balancing programs are listed and described. Using these programs as a basis, the influence coefficient method of Lund and Rieger is compared to the modal methods of Bishop and Gladwell, Federn, and Kellenberger. The companies are made with the aid of a Prohl based unbalance response computer program. The rotor systems used for the comparison are flexible shafts, some mounted in damped bearings, and some mounted in undamped bearings. One sample system exhibits rigid body behavior in addition to flexible behavior. These examples form the basis of the first known direct computer based comparison between a current influence balancing technique and the highly developed and distributed modal methods

Activities of kinding in scientific practice

Discussions over whether these natural kinds exist, what is the nature of their existence, and whether natural kinds are themselves natural kinds aim to not only characterize the kinds of things that exist in the world, but also what can knowledge of these categories provide. Although philosophically critical, much of the past discussions of natural kinds have often answered these questions in a way that is unresponsive to, or has actively avoided, discussions of the empirical use of natural kinds and what I dub “activities of natural kinding” and “natural kinding practices”. The natural kinds of a particular discipline are those entities, events, mechanisms, processes, relationships, and concepts that delimit investigation within it—but we might reasonably ask: How are these natural kinds discovered?, How are they made?, Are they revisable?, and Where do they come from? A turn to natural kinding practices reveals a new set of questions open for investigation: How do natural kinds explain through practice?, What are natural kinding practices and classifications and why should we care?, What is the nature of natural kinds viewed as a set of activities?, and How do practice approaches to natural kinds shape and reconfigure scientific disciplines? Natural kinds have traditionally been discussed in terms of how they classify the contents of the world. The metaphysical project has been one which identifies essences, laws, sameness relations, fundamental properties, and clusters of family resemblances and how these map out the ontological space of the world. But actually how this is done has been less important in the discussion than the resultant categories that are produced. I aim to rectify these omissions and suggest a new metaphysical project investigating kinds in practice

Ramirez solar house : a case study of early solar design

The Ramirez Solar House in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is an early historic example of passive solar design. The house was designed by Henry N. Wright, a significant contributor in solar research. Wright\u27s 1944 design with a large window wall and generous overhangs represents a significant step in solar design development. The house, now under the stewardship of National Park Service, has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The Ramirez House\u27s solar performance was a subject of this study. Instrumentation was set up to record temperatures, humidity and illumination in the unoccupied and un-heated building. The data, collected over eleven month period, clearly shows the house collects the sun\u27s energy on a sunny winter days confirming the anticipated performance based on current solar design knowledge. Comparative performance simulations indicate that improvements to the envelope and the addition of thermal mass would significantly enhance thermal performance of the house. Any renovations and changes must be considered in context of historical preservation guidelines. This study proposes adapting the house into a solar museum and study center, and making improvements to its solar performance part of the educational displays

Homologizing as kinding

Homology is a natural kind concept, but one that has been notoriously elusive to pin down. There has been sustained debate over the nature of correspondence and the units of comparison. But this continued debate over its meaning has focused on defining homology rather than on its use in practice. The aim of this chapter is to concentrate on the practices of homologizing. I define “homologizing” to be a concept-in-use. Practices of homologizing are kinds of rule following, the satisfaction of which demarcates a category—that of being a homologue. Identifying, explaining, discovering, and understanding are exchanges that connect practice to concept through the performance of a rule by practitioners. These practices are constitutive of natural kinding activities. If homologizing is a kind of kinding, consideration of these practices of discovery, tracking, and identification not only clarifies the meaning, use, and progression of the concept of homology, but provides further understanding of the processes and progression of natural kinds and kinding practices in general

Cue-Potentiated Feeding In Rats

Cue-potentiated feeding (CPF) describes the stimulation of food consumption by cues that have become associated with food. Determining under what conditions CPF occurs is important for understanding whether exposure to food cues contributes to overeating. A history presented in Chapter 1 describes how the study of CPF developed from incidental findings in early experiments to Weingarten’s (1983) influential paper, through to contemporary models that focus primarily on the neural circuits underlying CPF. There have been fewer attempts to characterise the broader nature of the effect, particularly in relation to whether CPF is ‘specific’ to the paired food. This formed the general focus of the present thesis. Chapter 2 outlines three experiments using a training procedure in which laboratory rats received intermixed exposures to a ‘Plus’ context containing palatable food and to a ‘Minus’ context containing no food. CPF was found to be specific to the training food even when testing a palatable and familiar alternative. However, contexts paired with a variety of foods enhanced consumption of other foods never eaten in that environment. Experiments in Chapter 3 explored individual differences in CPF and found that the effect did not correlate with consumption of palatable food at baseline or during training. Results also suggested that consumption of palatable food in training was not matched by an equivalent reduction in home-cage chow intake. Chapter 4 reports a series of experiments in which methodological changes hypothesised to enhance the CPF effect reversed the predicted pattern of consumption. These results are discussed with reference to theories of incentive contrast. The effects of diet-induced obesity on CPF were explored in Chapter 5. The present results are integrated with existing literature and directions for future research are outlined in Chapter 6, which discusses CPF with reference to specificity and variety; individual differences; and the sensitivity of the effect to procedural parameters

Administrator and Faculty Perceptions of Incivility and Conflict in the Workplace: A Higher Education Study

Uncivil workplace behavior in the higher education environment is counterproductive for achieving institutional goals. Prevailing uncivil behaviors frequently result in unresolved conflict, a focus of various researchers since the mid 1970\u27s (Andersson & Pearson, 1999; Martin & Hine, 2005; Pierre & Peppers, 1976; Pietersen, 2005; and Twale & DeLuca, 2008). This study was designed to examine administrator and faculty members\u27 perceptions of uncivil workplace behaviors and organizational culture. The study further examined the relationship between incivility and organizational culture. The Uncivil Workplace Behavior Questionnaire (Martin & Hine, 2005) and the K & C Organizational Culture Instrument (Kendig & Chapman, 2012) were combined and distributed to a small sample of administrators and faculty members in higher education. The respondents included 34 administrators and 151 faculty members from three similar Public 4-Year Institutions of Higher Education (Carnegie Classification, 2010). Results indicate that perceptions of incivility and organizational culture between administrators and faculty members are not different. This study can serve as a contribution to the professional development efforts of administrators and faculty members in higher education

Herbicide resistance in weeds (1996)

New 8/95, Reprinted 5/96/4M

Vine weeds of Missouri (2003)

"NEW 12/03/1M.""Integrated pest management.""Plant protection programs : College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources""This publication is part of a series of IPM Manuals prepared by the Plant Protection Programs of the University of Missouri. Topics covered in the series include an introduction to scouting, weed identification and management, plant diseases, and insects of field and horticultural crops.