Taking the self out of self-rule

Many philosophers believe that agents are self-ruled only when ruled by their (authentic) selves. Though this view is rarely argued for explicitly, one tempting line of thought suggests that self-rule is just obviously equivalent to rule by the self. However, the plausibility of this thought evaporates upon close examination of the logic of ‘self-rule’ and similar reflexives. Moreover, attempts to rescue the account by recasting it in negative terms are unpromising. In light of these problems, this paper instead proposes that agents are self-ruled only when not ruled by others. One reason for favouring this negative social view is its ability to yield plausible conclusions concerning various manipulation cases that are notoriously problematic for nonsocial accounts of self-rule. A second reason is that the account conforms with ordinary usage. It is concluded that self-rule may be best thought of as an essentially social concept

What Justifies Judgments of Inauthenticity?

The notion of authenticity, i.e., being “genuine,” “real,” or “true to oneself,” is sometimes held as critical to a person’s autonomy, so that inauthenticity prevents the person from making autonomous decisions or leading an autonomous life. It has been pointed out that authenticity is difficult to observe in others. Therefore, judgments of inauthenticity have been found inadequate to underpin paternalistic interventions, among other things. This article delineates what justifies judgments of inauthenticity. It is argued that for persons who wish to live according to the prevailing social and moral standards and desires that are seriously undesirable according to those standards, it is justified to judge that a desire is inauthentic to the extent that it is due to causal factors that are alien to the person and to the extent that it deviates from the person’s practical identity. The article contributes to a tradition of thinking about authenticity which is known mainly from Frankfurt and Dworkin, and bridges the gap between theoretical ideals of authenticity and real authenticity-related problems in practical biomedical settings.QC 20180822</p

Modern NMR spectroscopy of proteins and peptides in solution and its relevance to drug design

The knowledge of the three-dimensional (3D) structures and conformational dynamics of proteins and peptides is important for the understanding of biochemical and genetic data derived for these molecules. This understanding can ultimately be of help in drug design. We describe here the role of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in this process for three distinct situations: for small proteins, where relatively simple NMR methods can be used for full 3D structure determination; for larger proteins that require multinuclear multidimensional NMR but for which full 3D structures can still be obtained; and for small peptides that are studied in interaction with macromolecules (receptors) using specialized NMR techniques. A fourth situation, pertaining to large systems where only partial structural information can be obtained from NMR data, is briefly discussed. Molecules of interest to the biomedical field (C5a and stromelysin) are discussed as examples.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43356/1/11091_2005_Article_BF02174537.pd