In defence of the ethical evaluation of narrative art

In this paper I will evaluate two distinct models defending the ethical evaluation of narrative art – moderate moralism and ethicism. Both models can be defended against criticisms current in the philosophical literature but at some cost. Moreover, further considerations show both accounts to be deeply problematic. Nonetheless, I will argue, the insight that narratives are sometimes properly assessed as art in terms of their moral character can be adequately defended

On obscenity: the thrill and repulsion of the morally prohibited

The paper proceeds by criticising the central accounts of obscenity proffered by Feinberg, Scruton and the suggestive remarks of Nussbaum and goes on to argue for the following formal characterization of obscenity: x is appropriately judged obscene if and only if either A/ x is appropriately classified as a member of a form or class of objects whose authorized purpose is to solicit and commend to us cognitive-affective responses which are (1) internalized as morally prohibited and (2) does so in ways found to be or which are held to warrant repulsion and (3) does so in order to a/ indulge first order desires held to be morally prohibited or b/ indulge the desire to be morally transgressive or the desire to feel repulsed or c/ afford cognitive rewards or d/ any combination thereof or B/ x successfully elicits cognitive-affective responses which conform to conditions (1)-(3)

Aesthetic value: beauty, ugliness and incoherence

[FIRST PARAGRAPHS] From Plato through Aquinas to Kant and beyond beauty has traditionally been considered the paradigmatic aesthetic quality. Thus, quite naturally following Socrates' strategy in The Meno, we are tempted to generalize from our analysis of the nature and value of beauty, a particular aesthetic value, to an account of aesthetic value generally. When we look at that which is beautiful, the object gives rise to a certain kind of pleasure within us. Thus aesthetic value is characterized in terms of that which affords us pleasure. Of course, the relation cannot be merely instrumental. Many activities may lead to consequent pleasures that we would not consider to be aesthetic in any way. For example, playing tennis, going swimming or finishing a book. Rather it is in the very contemplation of the object itself that we derive pleasure. As Kant puts it: We dwell on the contemplation of the beautiful because this contemplation strengthens and reproduces itself. The case is analogous (but analogous only) to the way we linger on a charm in the representation of an object which keeps arresting the attention, the mind all the while remaining passive. Thus contemporary philosophers have, following this tradition, defined aesthetic value in terms of our delighting in and savouring an object with pleasure.* An object is of intrinsic aesthetic value if it appropriately gives rise to pleasure in our contemplation of it. Of course background knowledge of particular art movements, cate- gories or artistic intentions may be required to perceive an artwork appropriately. Nonetheless, given the relevant understanding, it is in attending to and savouring uhat is presented to us that we are afforded pleasure

Cross-cultural impact on the budgeting cycle: a preliminary analysis of Anglo-American and Libyan companies operating in Libyan oil sector

[Abstract]: Globalization is causing the rapid integration of markets, nations, and technology, which facilitates faster contact between people, corporations, and nations. However, there is a failure to notice cultural differences that exist between workforces across nations. Thus all staff needs to have cultural sensitivity, which could be helped by studying cross-cultural differences. Current understanding of how and why specific budget aspects and budgeting processes are different could be attributed to cultural differences. This study utilizes societal cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede to identify differences in budgets and budgeting process between Libyan and Anglo-American companies operating in Libyan oil sector. Some preliminary analysis is discussed

Gleason-Busch theorem for sequential measurements

Gleason's theorem is a statement that, given some reasonable assumptions, the Born rule used to calculate probabilities in quantum mechanics is essentially unique [A. M. Gleason, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 6, 885 (1957)]. We show that Gleason's theorem contains within it also the structure of sequential measurements, and along with this the state update rule. We give a small set of axioms, which are physically motivated and analogous to those in Busch's proof of Gleason's theorem [P. Busch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 120403 (2003)], from which the familiar Kraus operator form follows. An axiomatic approach has practical relevance as well as fundamental interest, in making clear those assumptions which underlie the security of quantum communication protocols. Interestingly, the two-time formalism is seen to arise naturally in this approach

Transforming mesoscale granular plasticity through particle shape

When an amorphous material is strained beyond the point of yielding it enters a state of continual reconfiguration via dissipative, avalanche-like slip events that relieve built-up local stress. However, how the statistics of such events depend on local interactions among the constituent units remains debated. To address this we perform experiments on granular material in which we use particle shape to vary the interactions systematically. Granular material, confined under constant pressure boundary conditions, is uniaxially compressed while stress is measured and internal rearrangements are imaged with x-rays. We introduce volatility, a quantity from economic theory, as a powerful new tool to quantify the magnitude of stress fluctuations, finding systematic, shape-dependent trends. For all 22 investigated shapes the magnitude $s$ of relaxation events is well-fit by a truncated power law distribution $P(s)\sim {s}^{-\tau} exp(-s/s^*)$, as has been proposed within the context of plasticity models. The power law exponent $\tau$ for all shapes tested clusters around $\tau=$ 1.5, within experimental uncertainty covering the range 1.3 - 1.7. The shape independence of $\tau$ and its compatibility with mean field models indicate that the granularity of the system, but not particle shape, modifies the stress redistribution after a slip event away from that of continuum elasticity. Meanwhile, the characteristic maximum event size $s^*$ changes by two orders of magnitude and tracks the shape dependence of volatility. Particle shape in granular materials is therefore a powerful new factor influencing the distance at which an amorphous system operates from scale-free criticality. These experimental results are not captured by current models and suggest a need to reexamine the mechanisms driving mesoscale plastic deformation in amorphous systems.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. v3 adds a new appendix and figure about event rates and changes several parts the tex

Pornographic Art

"Pornographic art” is an oxymoron. At best, pornographic representations can only be bad art and, at worst, they cannot be art at all. This is the received view.1 But what underwrites such aesthetic contempt? There are three distinct lines of thought typically held to warrant the apparent truism. Purely definitional considerations are often cited as showing that pornography, as a matter of principle, cannot be artistically valuable. The purpose of sexual arousal is sometimes adduced as rendering the production of pornographic representations artistically indifferent. It is also suggested, albeit far less often, that though we may appreciate a work both as art and as pornography, we cannot do so at one and the same time, i.e. we cannot appreciate a work as pornographic art. I will show that not only is the received view without warrant but, moreover, there are works which are valuable as pornographic art

Quantum thermometry using the ac Stark shift within the Rabi model

This work was supported by the EPSRC, the National Research Foundation and Ministry of Education, Singapore, and the Royal Society.A quantum two-level system coupled to a harmonic oscillator represents a ubiquitous physical system. New experiments in circuit QED and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) achieve unprecedented coupling strength at large detuning between qubit and oscillator, thus requiring a theoretical treatment beyond the Jaynes-Cummings model. Here we present a new method for describing the qubit dynamics in this regime, based on an oscillator correlation function expansion of a non-Markovian master equation in the polaron frame. Our technique yields a new numerical method as well as a succinct approximate expression for the qubit dynamics. These expressions are valid in the experimentally interesting regime of strong coupling at low temperature. We obtain a new expression for the ac Stark shift and show that this enables practical and precise qubit thermometry of an oscillator.Peer reviewe