Assertion, Uniqueness and Epistemic Hypocrisy

Pascal Engel (2008) has insisted that a number of notable strategies for rejecting the knowledge norm of assertion are put forward on the basis of the wrong kinds of reasons. A central aim of this paper will be to establish the contrast point: I argue that one very familiar strategy for defending the knowledge norm of assertion—viz., that it is claimed to do better in various respects than its competitors (e.g. the justification and the truth norms)— relies on a presupposition that is shown to be ultimately under motivated. That presupposition is the uniqueness thesis—that there is a unique epistemic rule for assertion, and that such a rule will govern assertions uniformly. In particular, the strategy I shall take here will be to challenge the sufficiency leg of the knowledge norm in a way that at the same time counts against Williamson’s (2000) own rationale for the uniqueness thesis. However, rather than to challenge the sufficiency leg of the knowledge norm via the familiar style of ‘expert opinion’ and, more generally, ‘second-hand knowledge’ cases (e.g. Lackey (2008)), a strategy that has recently been called into question by Benton (2014), I’ll instead advance a very different line of argument against the sufficiency thesis, one which turns on a phenomenon I call epistemic hypocrisy

Reasons, Coherence, and Group Rationality

Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, EarlyView

System support software for the Space Ultrareliable Modular Computer (SUMC)

The highly transportable programming system designed and implemented to support the development of software for the Space Ultrareliable Modular Computer (SUMC) is described. The SUMC system support software consists of program modules called processors. The initial set of processors consists of the supervisor, the general purpose assembler for SUMC instruction and microcode input, linkage editors, an instruction level simulator, a microcode grid print processor, and user oriented utility programs. A FORTRAN 4 compiler is undergoing development. The design facilitates the addition of new processors with a minimum effort and provides the user quasi host independence on the ground based operational software development computer. Additional capability is provided to accommodate variations in the SUMC architecture without consequent major modifications in the initial processors

Consequences of sexual harassment in sport for female athletes

Sexual harassment research was first undertaken in the workplace and educational settings. Research on sexual harassment in sport is scarce but has grown steadily since the mid-1980s. Even so, very little is known about the causes and/or characteristics and/or consequences of sexual harassment in sport settings. This article reports on the findings from interviews with 25 elite female athletes in Norway who indicated in a prior survey (N =572) that they had experienced sexual harassment from someone in sport. The consequences of the incidents of sexual harassment that were reported were mostly negative, but some also reported that their experiences of sexual harassment had had no consequences for them. “Thinking about the incidents”, a “destroyed relationship to the coach”, and “more negative view of men in general” were the most often negative consequences mentioned. In addition, a surprising number had chosen to move to a different sport or to drop out of elite sport altogether because of the harassment

Compact Binary Coalescences in the Band of Ground-based Gravitational-Wave Detectors

As the ground-based gravitational-wave telescopes LIGO, Virgo, and GEO 600 approach the era of first detections, we review the current knowledge of the coalescence rates and the mass and spin distributions of merging neutron-star and black-hole binaries. We emphasize the bi-directional connection between gravitational-wave astronomy and conventional astrophysics. Astrophysical input will make possible informed decisions about optimal detector configurations and search techniques. Meanwhile, rate upper limits, detected merger rates, and the distribution of masses and spins measured by gravitational-wave searches will constrain astrophysical parameters through comparisons with astrophysical models. Future developments necessary to the success of gravitational-wave astronomy are discussed.Comment: Replaced with version accepted by CQG

BCAA catabolism in brown fat controls energy homeostasis through SLC25A44.

Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA; valine, leucine and isoleucine) supplementation is often beneficial to energy expenditure; however, increased circulating levels of BCAA are linked to obesity and diabetes. The mechanisms of this paradox remain unclear. Here we report that, on cold exposure, brown adipose tissue (BAT) actively utilizes BCAA in the mitochondria for thermogenesis and promotes systemic BCAA clearance in mice and humans. In turn, a BAT-specific defect in BCAA catabolism attenuates systemic BCAA clearance, BAT fuel oxidation and thermogenesis, leading to diet-induced obesity and glucose intolerance. Mechanistically, active BCAA catabolism in BAT is mediated by SLC25A44, which transports BCAAs into mitochondria. Our results suggest that BAT serves as a key metabolic filter that controls BCAA clearance via SLC25A44, thereby contributing to the improvement of metabolic health

First measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters using neutrinos and antineutrinos by NOvA.

The NOvA experiment has seen a 4.4σ signal of ν[over ¯]_{e} appearance in a 2 GeV ν[over ¯]_{μ} beam at a distance of 810 km. Using 12.33×10^{20} protons on target delivered to the Fermilab NuMI neutrino beamline, the experiment recorded 27 ν[over ¯]_{μ}→ν[over ¯]_{e} candidates with a background of 10.3 and 102 ν[over ¯]_{μ}→ν[over ¯]_{μ} candidates. This new antineutrino data are combined with neutrino data to measure the parameters |Δm_{32}^{2}|=2.48_{-0.06}^{+0.11}×10^{-3}  eV^{2}/c^{4} and sin^{2}θ_{23} in the ranges from (0.53-0.60) and (0.45-0.48) in the normal neutrino mass hierarchy. The data exclude most values near δ_{CP}=π/2 for the inverted mass hierarchy by more than 3σ and favor the normal neutrino mass hierarchy by 1.9σ and θ_{23} values in the upper octant by 1.6σ