817 research outputs found
Sen's Apples: Commitment, Agent Relativity and Social Norms
This paper examines Amartya Sen's notion of 'commitment' in light of Geoffrey Brennan's recent discussion thereof. Its aim is to elucidate one type of commitment which consists in following social norms. To this end, I discuss Sen's 'apples' example from his 'Rational fools' essay (section 2). In section 3, I draw some implications of commitments in Sen's work for the concept of 'agent relativity'. Section 4 discusses the distinctiveness of Sen's conception of human beings in their supposed ability to be able to bind themselves to following social norms at the expense of their own benefit.Commitment, Sen, Social Norm, Rational Choice Theory, Rationality, Sympathy, Altruism, Rule Following, Consequentialism
Financial Incentives and Healthcare: A Critique of Michael Sandel
The use of financial incentives in healthcare calls for ethical examination. Michael Sandel\u27s influential work represents such examination and is subject to critical analysis in this paper. Sandel focuses on monetary payments to persuade patients to lose weight, give up smoking etc. but also on the much-discussed case of giving drug addicts money in return for their consent to be sterilized. He offers two separate objections to financial incentives, one based on coercion, the other on corruption. I argue that Sandel\u27s corruption objection to commodification is insufficient to ground the objection he has to financial incentives in healthcare. Whatever strength his corruption objection has comes from his coercion objection
Signatures of multiple stellar populations in unresolved extragalactic globular/ young massive star clusters
We present an investigation of potential signatures of the formation of
multiple stellar populations in recently formed extragalactic star clusters.
All of the Galactic globular clusters for which good samples of individual
stellar abundances are available show evidence for multiple populations. This
appears to require that multiple episodes of star formation and light element
enrichment are the norm in the history of a globular cluster. We show that
there are detectable observational signatures of multiple formation events in
the unresolved spectra of massive, young extragalactic star clusters. We
present the results of a pilot program to search for one of the cleanest
signatures that we identify - the combined presence of emission lines from a
very recently formed population and absorption lines from a somewhat older
population. A possible example of such a system is identified in the Antennae
galaxies. This source's spectrum shows evidence of two stellar populations with
ages of 8 Myr and 80 Myr. Further investigation shows that these populations
are in fact physically separated, but only by a projected distance of 59 pc. We
show that the clusters are consistent with being bound and discuss the
possibility that their coalescence could result in a single globular cluster
hosting multiple stellar populations. While not the prototypical system
proposed by most theories of the formation of multiple populations in clusters,
the detection of this system in a small sample is both encouraging and
interesting. Our investigation suggests that expanded surveys of massive young
star clusters should detect more clusters with such signatures.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures: accepted for publication in Ap
The capacity to choose: reformulating the concept of choice in economic theory
Despite being conceived as a ‘theory of rational choice’, orthodox economics fails to ascribe to human beings the ability to choose in a meaningful sense, something philosophical approaches to economics have long noted and tried to remedy. Tony Lawson’s critical realism is one attempt at a remedy. If, following Lawson, one conceives of choice as a ‘capacity’ of human beings, critical realist analysis suggests a distinction between humans’ possession and their exercise of this capacity. If one can sustain this distinction, one should be able to distinguish cases in which agents actually exercise their capacity to choose from those in which they do not. Investigation of this distinction does not, however, lead to the desired distinction between such cases. Consequently, a reformulation of the notion of choice is required. An implication for economic theory – namely, the possibility of conceptualizing ‘exploitation’ – is discussed
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Competition and forgetting during context-based episodic memory retrieval
Recent memory models highlight the importance of contextual information for remembering episodic events. A consequence of binding event memories with their context is that contextually related memories can interfere with the retrieval of targeted memories, leading to retrieval induced forgetting (RIF) of the competing memories (Anderson et al., 2000). A model built to explain this effect describes a nonmonotonic “U shaped” relationship between memory activation and changes in memory strength (Norman et al., 2007). Specifically, competing memories that activate to a moderate degree (vs. low or high activation) are more likely to be weakened and forgotten. However, the factors governing whether and how memories will activate and compete during retrieval are not well understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that events experienced closer in time will be more likely to compete during memory retrieval, leading to RIF.Psycholog
Limits on [OIII] 5007 emission from NGC4472's globular clusters: constraints on planetary nebulae and ultraluminous black hole X-ray binaries in globular clusters
We have searched for [OIII] 5007 emission in high resolution spectroscopic
data from Flames/Giraffe VLT observations of 174 massive globular clusters
(GCs) in NGC4472. No planetary nebulae (PNe) are observed in these clusters,
constraining the number of PNe per bolometric luminosity,
\alpha<0.8*10^{-7}PN/L_{\odot}. This is significantly lower than the rate
predicted from stellar evolution, if all stars produce PNe. Comparing our
results to populations of PNe in galaxies, we find most galaxies have a higher
\alpha than these GCs (more PNe per bolometric luminosity - though some massive
early-type galaxies do have similarly low \alpha). The low \alpha required in
these GCs suggests that the number of PNe per bolometric luminosity does not
increase strongly with decreasing mass or metallicity of the stellar
population. We find no evidence for correlations between the presence of known
GC PNe and either the presence of low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) or the
stellar interaction rates in the GCs. This, and the low \alpha observed,
suggests that the formation of PNe may not be enhanced in tight binary systems.
These data do identify one [OIII] emission feature, this is the (previously
published) broad [OIII] emission from the cluster RZ 2109. This emission is
thought to originate from the LMXB in this cluster, which is accreting at
super-Eddington rates. The absence of any similar [OIII] emission from the
other clusters favors the hypothesis that this source is a black hole LMXB,
rather than a neutron star LMXB with significant geometric beaming of its X-ray
emission.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Aristotle on justice in exchange: commensurability by fiat
This essay offers an interpretation of Aristotle\u27s remarks on the commensurability of goods in Book V of the Nicomachean Ethics. It explores the term ‘by hypothesis’ (ἐξ ὑποθέσεως) which Aristotle uses to describe the institution of currency through which commensurability is established. The term implies that Aristotle conceives the origins of currency to lie in a conscious act of stipulation rather than through a spontaneous process in which currency is established via the unintended consequences of individual action. In conclusion, contemporary theories of money are considered and it is asked with which Aristotle’s conception of money aligns most closely
ALTRUISM AS A THICK CONCEPT
In this paper, we examine different forms of altruism. We commence by analysing the ‘behavioural' definition and, after clarifying its conditions for altruism, we argue that it is not in ‘reflective equilibrium' with everyday linguistic usage of the term. We therefore consider a ‘psychological' definition, which we likewise refine, and argue that it better reflects ordinary language use. Both behavioural and psychological approaches define altruism descriptively and thus fail to capture an important aspect of altruism, namely its normative component. Altruism, we argue, is a ‘thick concept', i.e. one which embodies both positive and normative components. We discuss and compare various formulations of this normative componen
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