Kant and Secular Transcendentalism

This writing argues that some embedded moral and religious linkages in Kant’s metaphysical thought have been unobserved in much recent philosophical commentary, something we may attribute to the de-emphasis of metaphysics within significant parts of the contemporary academic world, combined with a lack of awareness of the religious milieu within which he worked. Paradoxically in the light of this, and based on the religious content I find in the first Critique and elsewhere, I explore what I perceive to be Kant’s attempt to steer traditional religious doctrines and practice into a secular, individualised, scientifically congruent, completely independent and universally acceptable format. From this, I develop the idea that an appreciation of these efforts to reform earlier theological thought allows for a more complete and coherent interpretation of critical philosophy than has previously been available, with application, for example, to a heightened understanding of the employment of the idea of things in themselves. The primary notion involved in this amended reading is the primacy Kant gives to practical reason..

A Method of Controlling Hemorrhage in Cholecystectomy

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Characterization of the spatial differences in hydrological functioning in a tidal marsh, Patuxent River, MD: A framework for understanding nutrient dynamics

This study investigates spatial variations in sediment hydraulic conductivity (K), network channel shape and horizontal groundwater flux magnitude toward tidal network channels in a freshwater tidal marsh. Results showed the average value of K at zero meters from the creekbank was significantly higher than the K at both 5 and 15 meters from the network channel creekbank. Creekbank gradient did increase with increasing distance from the main channel and some data indicated that channel width-to-depth ratio (F), which is inversely related to creekbank gradient, correlates well with K. In addition, horizontal groundwater flux magnitude at a depth of 11 cm was significantly greater than flux magnitude at 22 cm below the ground surface at the first-order network channel location. Horizontal flux magnitude was also significantly higher from 5 to 0 meters than from 15 to 5 meters from the network channel creekbank at both the first- and second-order channel locations

A Free Market of Morals: Boycotting, Liberalism, and Property

The development of the practice of boycotting during the Irish Land War (1879–82), and its subsequent spread beyond Ireland to the United States, sparked outrage and concern. This was prompted by the specific intellectual challenges the practice posed for liberals on both sides of the Atlantic. In relying on a liberal defense of free speech and freedom of association, early boycotters in the 1880s were able to demonstrate the dependence of property rights on social sanction while also remaining initially impervious to legal censure. As a result, the definition and extent of property rights came under scrutiny because of the ease and simplicity by which they could be curtailed through social force. It is observed here that consequent legislation to insulate commercial wealth from boycotting’s parallel moral economy required the reinforcement and development of political justifications of the state’s right to manage economic interactions in the name of social stability and public welfare. The paper argues that boycotting was so threatening to classical visions of liberal individualism precisely because it was so firmly grounded in individualistic premises. It observes not only that boycotters used the language of “free trade” to defend the practice but also that the practice itself contained latent political assumptions about social organization. The argument also suggests that, contrary to much current academic opinion, rights-based popular resistance can be directed toward egalitarian ends.</jats:p