"And Why Not?" Hegel, Comedy, and the End of Art

Towards the very end of his wide-ranging lectures on the philosophy of art, Hegel unexpectedly expresses a preference for comedy over tragedy. More surprisingly, given his systematic claims for his aesthetic theory, he suggests that this preference is arbitrary. This essay suggests that this arbitrariness is itself systematic, given Hegel’s broader claims about unity and necessity in art generally and his analysis of ancient as opposed to modern drama in particular. With the emergence of modern subjectivity, tragic plots lose their necessity and so their redemptive conclusions; comic plots disintegrate into mockery and entertainment. In many cases, the dramas in question consequently fail to be art. This does not, however, mean that art ends: insofar as it inspires humans to a better understanding of their unity with the divine, it will continue to meet its mandate. But the lack of necessity in modern drama means we are free to prefer happy endings. Hegel’s seemingly arbitrary preference is, in the end, systematically justified

Conflict And Satisfaction In Romantic Relationships

Past research regarding the link between conflict resolution styles and marital satisfaction have been consistent; each partner\u27s level of relationship satisfaction is positively related to the frequency with which both partners use constructive strategies to resolve conflict (such as agreement, compromise, and humor) and negatively related to the frequency with which each partner uses destructive strategies to resolve conflict (such as conflict engagement, withdrawal, and defensiveness) (Kurdek, 1995). The purpose of this research was to examine the links between conflict and satisfaction in romantic relationships that are one or more years in duration. Six self-report indices (the Relationship Assessment Scale - RAS, Conflict Resolution Styles Inventory - CRSI, Ineffective Arguing Inventory - IAI, Assessing Relationship Conflicts Questionnaire - ARCQ, Relationship Styles Questionnaire - RSQ, and Last Argument Questionnaire - LAQ) were administered to 235 participants. Several significant findings were obtained. Fifty six percent of the variance in relationship satisfaction was explained by all the conflict measures (CRSI, IAI, and RSQ). Females scored significantly higher than males on conflict engagement. For couples with more severe perpetual problems, Satisfaction was lower on the Relationship Assessment Scale. Married participants scored significantly higher than participants who were in a dating relationship on both conflict engagement and withdrawal. Post-graduates (those earning a Master\u27s degree and above) scored significantly higher than those who either attended and/or graduated from college on relationship satisfaction and positive problem solving, and lower on ineffective arguing. Participants who reported a medium income level scored significantly higher on conflict withdrawal than those who reported they earned a low income

Fight, Flight or Respect? First Encounters of the Other in Kant and Hegel

Immanuel Kant's description of humans' first encounter with each other depicts a peaceful recognition of mutual worth. G.W.F. Hegel's by contrast depicts a struggle to the death. I argue in this paper that Hegel's description of conflict results in an ethical theory that better preserves the distinctness of the other. I consider Christine Korsgaard's description of first encounters as a third alternative but conclude that Hegel's approach better accounts for the specific commitments we make--as family members, works, and citizens --in ethical life

Eco-evolutionary dynamics of Atlantic cod spatial behavior maintained after the implementation of a marine reserve

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Sea temperature effects on depth use and habitat selection in a marine fish community

Understanding the responses of aquatic animals to temperature variability is essential to predict impacts of future climate change and to inform conservation and management. Most ectotherms such as fish are expected to adjust their behaviour to avoid extreme temperatures and minimize acute changes in body temperature. In coastal Skagerrak, Norway, sea surface temperature (SST) ranges seasonally from 0 to over 20°C, representing a challenge to the fish community which includes cold-, cool- and warm-water affinity species.publishedVersio

Personalities influence spatial responses to environmental fluctuations in wild fish

Although growing evidence supports the idea that animal personality can explain plasticity in response to changes in the social environment, it remains to be tested whether it can explain spatial responses of individuals in the face of natural environmental fluctuations. This is a major challenge in ecology and evolution as spatial dynamics link individual‐ and population‐level processes. In this study, we investigated the potential of individual personalities to predict differences in fish behaviour in the wild. Specifically, our goal was to answer if individual differences in plasticity of space use to sea surface temperature could be explained by differences in personality along the reactive–proactive axis. To address this question, we first conducted repeated standard laboratory assays (i.e., open‐field test, novel object test and mirror stimulation test) to assess the personality type of 76 wild‐caught Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Next, we released the fish back into the sea and monitored their spatial behaviour over large temporal (16 months) and spatial (a whole fjord) scales, using high‐resolution acoustic tracking. We demonstrate that (a) cod personality traits are structured into a proactive–reactive syndrome (proactive fish being more bold, exploratory and aggressive), (b) mean depth use of individuals is mainly driven by sea temperature and (c) personality is a significant predictor of home range changes in the wild, where reactive, but not proactive, individuals reduced their home range as sea temperature increased. These findings expand our understanding of the ecological consequences of animal personality and the mechanisms shaping spatial dynamics of animals in nature.publishedVersio