Περφεξιονισμός και Πολιτικός Φιλελευθερισμός: Joseph Raz και John Rawls

Η παρούσα εργασία θα επιχειρήσει να παρουσιάσει την συζήτηση ανάμεσα στον περφεξιονισμό και τον πολιτικό φιλελευθερισμό, κυρίως μέσα από τα έργα Morality of Freedom (1986) του Joseph Raz και Political Liberalism (1993) του John Rawls, με επίκεντρο το ερώτημα αν το φιλελεύθερο κράτος επιτρέπεται να προωθεί ή να αποθαρρύνει δραστηριότητες, ιδανικά ή τρόπους ζωής με γνώμονα τις αντιλήψεις περί αγαθού. Εκκινώντας από τη θέση για τη φυσικότητα του περφεξιονισμού, θα επιχειρήσουμε να εξετάσουμε κριτικά ενστάσεις που αφορούν τον αντιφιλελεύθερο και αντιπλουραλιστικό χαρακτήρα του καθώς και πραγματιστικές ανησυχίες για το κατά πόσο το φιλελεύθερο κράτος είναι στρατηγικά σκόπιμο να επιδιώκει περφεξιονιστικούς στόχους. Θα εστιάσουμε στα όρια συνύπαρξης φιλελευθερισμού και περφεξιονισμού, όπως αυτά καταδεικνύονται στον ραζιανό περφεξιονισμό και στην δικαιολόγηση της ασυμμετρίας στην μεταχείριση δικαίου και αγαθού κατά τη δικαιολόγηση δημόσιων πολιτικών, την οποία επιχειρεί ο πολιτικός φιλελευθερισμός. Μερικά από τα ερωτήματα που θα μας απασχολήσουν είναι αν ο φιλελεύθερος περφεξιονισμός του Raz με βάση την αυτονομία είναι συνεκτικός και κατά πόσο ο πολιτικός φιλελευθερισμός ως ιδεώδης θεωρία δικαιολογεί την ασυμμετρία στην μεταχείριση δικαιοσύνης και αγαθού.Τhe present dissertation focuses on the debate between perfectionism and political liberalism and namely on whether the liberal state is allowed to promote or discourage activities, ideals or ways of life on the grounds of conceptions of the good. We shall thus explore the prospects and limitations of liberal perfectionism as presented in Raz’s Morality of Freedom (1986) and namely the coherence of the liberal and perfectionist premises of his theory. We shall argue that Raz’s autonomy-based perfectionism presents a solid case for the permissibility of perfectionism but that it fails to uphold its stronger premise for the necessity οf perfectionism and thus leaves Raz’s theory exposed to antiliberalism. We shall also present the most promising version of neutrality as public justification presented in John Rawls’ Political Liberalism (1993). We shall then examine a serious challenge posed on political liberalism by the asymmetry objection which highlights that reasonable citizens disagree both about justice and about conceptions of the good. Given that fact, political liberalism must explain why the former are legitimate grounds for state action whereas the latter are not. We shall explore Quong’s (2011) promising answer to the asymmetry objection based on an “internal conception” of political liberalism and argue that it cannot shun out perfectionism

Global compilation of stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope values of meso- and bathypelagic fish

Stable isotope analysis (SIA) has emerged as a valuable tool for understanding the trophic structure of the marine food web and gaining insights into trophic levels and niche. Researchers are increasingly utilizing SIA in studies focused on feeding ecology, particularly in estimating the long-term diets of meso- and bathypelagic fish. To facilitate this research, a global database of published data on stable isotopes, specifically δ13C and δ15N, of meso- and bathypelagic fish was created. The database was constructed by conducting a thorough search on Google Scholar and reviewing the references cited in the retrieved papers. The search primarily involved using popular terms such as stable isotope analysis or feeding ecology in combination with mesopelagic or bathypelagic fish. The resulting SIA database contains δ13C and δ15N values for 95 different species of meso- and bathypelagic fish, belonging to 27 families, with specimens collected between 2004 and 2015. Each entry in the database includes information on the sampling location, month and year of sample collection, taxonomic classifications (phylum, class, order, family), number of samples analyzed, as well as the reference and DOI of the original data source. This global SIA database holds significant potential as a valuable tool and data source for conducting large-scale meta-analyses

KRAS genotypic changes of circulating tumor cells during treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) could represent a non-invasive source of cancer cells used for longitudinal monitoring of the tumoral mutation status throughout the course of the disease. The aims of the present study were to investigate the detection of KRAS mutations in CTCs from patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and to compare their mutation status during treatment or disease progression with that of the corresponding primary tumors.Identification of the seven most common KRAS mutations on codons 12 and 13 was performed by Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA)-based qPCR method. The sensitivity of the assay was determined after isolation of KRAS mutant cancer cells spiked into healthy donors' blood, using the CellSearch Epithelial Cell kit. Consistent detection of KRAS mutations was achieved in samples containing at least 10 tumor cells/7.5 ml of blood.The clinical utility of the assay was assessed in 48 blood samples drawn from 31 patients with mCRC. All patients had PIK3CA and BRAF wild type primary tumors and 14 KRAS mutant tumors. CTCs were detected in 65% of specimens obtained from 74% of patients. KRAS mutation analysis in CTC-enriched specimens showed that 45% and 16.7% of patients with mutant and wild type primary tumors, respectively, had detectable mutations in their CTCs. Assessing KRAS mutations in serial blood samples revealed that individual patient's CTCs exhibited different mutational status of KRAS during treatment.The current findings support the rationale for using the CTCs as a dynamic source of tumor cells which, by re-evaluating their KRAS mutation status, could predict, perhaps more accurately, the response of mCRC patients to targeted therapy

Cross reactivity pattern of <i>KRAS</i> mutation detection assay.

<p>Cross reactivity pattern of <i>KRAS</i> mutation detection assay.</p

<i>KRAS</i> mutation status in primary tumor and corresponding CTC-enriched samples in mCRC patients.

a<p>CTC count using CellSearch system depicted as number of cells per 7.5 mL whole blood. Abbreviations: wt; wild type, NVD; no variant detected.</p