Four arguments for denying that lottery beliefs are justified

A ‘lottery belief’ is a belief that a particular ticket has lost a large, fair lottery, based on nothing more than the odds against it winning. The lottery paradox brings out a tension between the idea that lottery beliefs are justified and the idea that that one can always justifiably believe the deductive consequences of things that one justifiably believes – what is sometimes called the principle of closure. Many philosophers have treated the lottery paradox as an argument against the second idea – but I make a case here that it is the first idea that should be given up. As I shall show, there are a number of independent arguments for denying that lottery beliefs are justified

The logic of epistemic justification

Theories of epistemic justification are commonly assessed by exploring their predictions about particular hypothetical cases – predictions as to whether justification is present or absent in this or that case. With a few exceptions, it is much less common for theories of epistemic justification to be assessed by exploring their predictions about logical principles. The exceptions are a handful of ‘closure’ principles, which have received a lot of attention, and which certain theories of justification are well known to invalidate. But these closure principles are only a small sample of the logical principles that we might consider. In this paper, I will outline four further logical principles that plausibly hold for justification and two which plausibly do not. While my primary aim is just to put these principles forward, I will use them to evaluate some different approaches to justification and (tentatively) conclude that a ‘normic’ theory of justification best captures its logic

Memorandum on the Duty of Employers to meet and confer under Fiberboard Case, circa 1979

Memo to all WCIRA consultants, about a legal doctrine regarding the employer\u27s duty in cases that would seem to involve exclusively management prerogatives (Fiberboard Case), circa 1979

Gordon Baldwin: Objects for a Landscape

‘Gordon Baldwin: Objects for a Landscape’ was a major retrospective exhibition of the work of Gordon Baldwin designed by Smith and Tatjana Marsden. Initiated by York Museums Trust, the exhibition opened at York Art Gallery in February 2012 and toured to Gallery Oldham (2012); The National Centre for Craft and Design, Lincolnshire (2012–13); Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery (2013); and Ruthin Craft Centre (2013). During the first two months at York, 37,700 people saw the exhibition. Gordon Baldwin OBE (born 1932) is ‘one of the world’s most distinguished ceramic artists, a sculpture potter who has helped to redefine the expressive language of clay over the last fifty years’ (Whiting 2012). Internationally renowned as the UK’s most distinguished living sculptural potter, he has been influential both as an artist and teacher, and is regarded as ‘one of the last true modernists to work in clay’, moving ceramics onto a sculptural platform, away from its traditional and functional concerns (Whiting 2012). Smith’s research for the project included a series of in-depth interviews conducted with Baldwin in his studio. These explored how Baldwin conceived of his work and anticipated the way individual pieces would be presented. Smith also undertook documentary research of previous large-scale exhibitions of Baldwin’s work to develop an understanding of the motivations and aims behind previous display choices. The resulting touring exhibition of 147 individual works was the largest assemblage of Baldwin’s work ever undertaken. The unprecedented number of artworks brought together for the show gave Smith the opportunity to construct a comprehensive thematic interpretation of Baldwin’s work that foregrounded his working processes and development as an artist. Smith also gave a paper about his curation of the show, ‘Designing the landscape’, at a symposium about Baldwin and sculptural ceramics hosted by the University of York (2012)

On Staging Boojum!

Boojum! was originally performed as a stage musical a dozen or so times by State Opera of South Australia, at t he 1986 Adelaide Festival of Arts; the opening night was attended by Queen Elizabeth II. It was generally regarded as a success, but I was most unhappy with the treatment it received from the director, who rewrote large parts of the show, contrary to an agreement that this would not occur

Kinematically Detected Halo Streams

Clues to the origins and evolution of our Galaxy can be found in the kinematics of stars around us. Remnants of accreted satellite galaxies produce over- densities in velocity-space, which can remain coherent for much longer than spatial over-densities. This chapter reviews a number of studies that have hunted for these accretion relics, both in the nearby solar-neighborhood and the more-distant stellar halo. Many observational surveys have driven this field forwards, from early work with the Hipparcos mission, to contemporary surveys like RAVE & SDSS. This active field continues to flourish, providing many new discoveries, and will be revolutionised as the Gaia mission delivers precise proper motions for a billion stars in our Galaxy.Comment: 27 pages, 10 figures. Chapter from Springer ASSL Volume entitled "Tidal Streams in the Local Group and Beyond". Affluent readers may wish to purchase the full volume here: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-19336-

The end of the map?

Martin Smith and Andy Howard* explain why moving away from the printed map to a digital 3D National Geological Model is a ‘coming of age’ for William Smith’s great visio

Graduate Entrepreneurs: Intentions, Barriers & Solutions

Purpose This paper investigates the factors that influenced seven graduates in the creative and digital industries to start their own businesses in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK - an area with lack of employing establishments and locally registered businesses. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews identified the constraining and enabling factors graduates may encounter when attempting to start a business, and explored the impact of support provided. Findings Perceived constraining factors were: lack of general business knowledge, contradictory advisory support from external agencies, lack of sector-specific mentors, lack of finance, and experience of familial entrepreneurship. Perceived enabling factors were: co-mentoring from business partners, course content, financial gain, creativity and innovative ideas, control and risk taking, and the overarching package of support. Linkages between internal and external support could be improved. Research limitations/implications The study provided insights into constraints and enablers to self-employment for a small cohort of recent graduates looking to start-up in the creative and digital industries. Further studies are required to explore the suggested effect of the ‘creative identity’, and of sector-specific family entrepreneurial background. Practical implications The support provided by universities can facilitate the transition from early stage ideas to actual graduate business start-up. Issues such as provision of specialist advice and links with external parallel and follow-on support need to be considered. Originality/Value University start-up units provide an important contribution to the development of graduate entrepreneurs and their role in the growth of national and global economy. Suggestions for improvements in performance, such as closer links with external business development agencies and support providers, are discussed. Keywords Student and graduate business start-up, Regeneration, Entrepreneurship educatio

Exploring behaviour in the online environment: student perceptions of information literacy

The aim of this paper is to show how information literacy can be conceptualised as a key learning process related to discipline and academic maturity, rather than as a generic skill. Results of a small-scale study including questionnaires and observation of student behaviour are reported and analysed in relation to Bruces 'seven faces of information literacy' framework. The findings illustrate that information literacy is a highly situated practice that remains undeveloped through mandatory schooling. Some methodological issues are considered in relation to researching information literacy, including the limits of the Bruce model as a framework for analysis. We also show how decontextualised courses can foreground and privilege certain behaviours that are beneficial but that developing higher-level information literate attitudes is likely to be an iterative and contextualised process

BREEDING INCENTIVE PROGRAMS AND DEMAND FOR CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED RACING: THE TRADEOFF BETWEEN QUANTITY AND QUALITY

Both quantity of horses and quality stimulate demand for horse race gambling. This paper addresses the potential for a quantity/quality tradeoff due to breeding incentives for California thoroughbreds. Econometric analysis is used to assess the demand for quality and quantity of horses, and results suggest the likely net benefit of breeding incentives on the industry at large.Livestock Production/Industries,