Towards a transcendent good : Charles Taylor and the challenge of articulating a postmodern moral identity

The theory presented by Charles Taylor in Sources of the Self, his tome on modem identity, constitutes what I consider to be an original and necessary contribution to the field of moral philosophy. I contend that Taylorian theory usurps the dominant paradigm of post-Enlightenment, modem "naturalist" philosophy wherein meaning is limited to subjectivity. In Taylorian theory moral agency depends upon making contact with the plurality of "moral sources" that populate reality, influencing the development of substantive moral identities through "engaged" rational reflection and "articulation" of these "goods". My thesis argues that in going beyond the modern paradigm of "disengaged" reason and "radical subjectivity" Taylor enters the context of postmodern philosophy identified most strongly by the work of French philosophers Jacques Derrida and Jean-Francois Lyotard. Taylor's theory shares core postmodern concerns for difference, pluralism and the experience of non-subjective reality. Further, I assert that Taylor presents a framework wherein the idea of a postmodern identity does not intuit a post- moral identity and that religious agents, those who orient their sense of the "good" towards a transcendent, completely other "moral source", are uniquely well equipped to illustrate what a postmodern moral identity can consist of, and finally that Taylor himself "articulates" just such a radical account

From Authenticity to Accountability: Re-Imagining Charles Taylor's Best Account Principle

ABSTRACT From Authenticity to Accountability: Re-Imagining Charles Taylor’s Best Account Principle Andrew Renahan, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2013 This dissertation explores the possibility of re-imagining aspects of the moral theory advanced by Charles Taylor. The framework of my study is moral discourse as it is, and has been, expressed in what is historically and culturally understood as western philosophy. What might it mean to live a good life? It is upon this question that the crux of my dissertation revolves. In his tome Sources of the Self, Charles Taylor eloquently drew the distinction between a utilitarian concept of what it is right to do, and a more substantive consideration of what it is good to be. My own work has been considerably influenced by this short dialectic. Despite my sympathy with some of Taylor’s arguments, my dissertation involves a considerable critique of his conclusions vis-à-vis authenticity and dignity. A prime focus of my analysis deals with what I contend is Taylor’s unnecessarily limited descriptions of languages and embodiment. My aim is to engage in a re-imagining of Taylor’s concept of the “best account principle”. I argue that in Taylor’s work, the “best account” evinces a genre of clairvoyance on the part of a self-reading moral agent. I critique Taylor’s portrayal of agents transitioning toward increasingly lucid expressions of their vision of the good. The basis of my critique is focused upon what I contend to be the narcissistic self-concern underlying Taylor’s concept of moral agency. In re-imagining the “best account principle”, I expand upon the description of embodiment to include a consideration of gender, and an examination of implied “normativity”. To this thickened portrait of embodiment I apply insights from the work of Emmanuel Levinas regarding the “I” and the “other(s)”. The juxtaposition of Taylor’s theory with that of Levinas’ will help us to transform the “best account”, from an expression of authenticity, to one of accountability. I employ aspects of Charles Taylor’s theory in a fashion which I do not believe would beget his blessing. Mine is not the story of the making of the self. It is, rather, an indictment of the self on the grounds of accountability

The Struggle for Iraq

The Struggle for Iraq is a vivid personal account of the Iraqi people’s fight for democracy and justice by an American political scientist. Thomas M. Renahan arrived in southern Iraq just three days before the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Later he worked in Baghdad through the dark days of the country’s sectarian violence and then in Iraqi Kurdistan. One of the few Americans to serve in all three major regions of Iraq, he spearheaded projects to develop democratic institutions, promote democracy and elections, and fight corruption.With inside accounts of two USAID projects and of a Kurdish government ministry, this engrossing and cautionary story highlights efforts to turn Baathist Iraq into a democratic country. Renahan examines the challenges faced by the Iraqi people and international development staff during this turbulent time, revealing both their successes and frustrations. Drawing on his on-the-ground civilian perspective, Renahan recounts how expatriate staff handled the hardships and dangers as well as the elaborate security required to protect them, how Iraqi staff coped with the personal security risks of working for Coalition organizations, and the street-level mayhem and violence, including the assassinations of close Iraqi friends.Although Iraq remains in crisis, it has largely defeated the ISIS terrorists who seized much of the country in 2014. Renahan emphasizes, however, that reconciliation is still the end game in Iraq. In the concluding chapters he explains how the United States can support this process and help resolve the complex problems between the Iraqi government and the independence-minded Kurds, offering hope for the future

The Dynamics of Vital Polyphenisms Dauer and Mouth Form of Pristionchus Nematodes in a Natural Context

Der dynamische Kampf um natürliche Ressourcen ist ein grundlegender Bestandteil der Biologie aller Organismen und unzählige Faktoren beeinflussen den Ausgang der Auseinandersetzungen, die auf den facettenreichen Schlachtfeldern des Lebens ausgefochten werden. Diese Form der Konkurrenz war und bleibt eine treibende Kraft in der Evolution phänotypischer Plastizität, ein unfassbares Phänomen, das die Fähigkeit eines Organismus beschreibt, als Reaktion auf verschiedene Umwelteinflüsse unterschiedliche Phänotypen von ein und demselben Genotyp zu produzieren. Folgerichtig spielt phänotypische Plastizität zwar eine unerlässliche Rolle in der Aufrechterhaltung von Konkurrenzvorteilen, allerdings werden die wichtigen Details dieses Phänomens nur sehr graduell aufgedeckt und viele Aspekte verbleiben größtenteils unklar. Der Nematode Pristionchus pacificus hat sich als essenzieller Modelorganismus zur Erforschung der genetischen, molekularen und evolutionären Grundlagen phänotypischer Plastizität herausgestellt. Dieser omnipräsente, und Blatthornkäfer-assoziierte Fadenwurm weist zwei entscheidende Polyphänismen auf: Dauer-Larven und alternative Mundformen. Letztere wurden in den vergangenen Jahren intensiv studiert und eine Vielzahl von Untersuchungen beschreibt die genetischen und ökologischen Faktoren, welche die Entwicklung zweier unterschiedlicher, irreversibler Mundformen – eurystomat und stenostomat – regulieren. Stenostomate Würmer haben einen einzelnen Zahn und sind auf eine strikt bakterielle Nahrung eingeschränkt, wohingegen eurystomate Würmer mit zwei Zähnen ausgestattet sind, die es ihnen ermöglichen Jagd auf andere Würmer zu machen, was das Nahrungsspektrum dieser Tiere erweitert. Der andere essentielle Polyphänismus von P. pacificus ist die Dauer-Larve: ein stressresistentes, langlebiges Verbreitungsstadium, welches als Alternative zum dritten Larvenstadium des direkten Lebenszyklus darstellt. Die Dauer-Larve ist besonders kritisch für die Ökologie von P. pacificus, denn das Wirtsinsekt trägt ausschließlich Würmer dieses Stadiums auf (bzw. in) sich. Sobald das Insekt stirbt, treten die Würmer aus dem Dauerstadium aus, woraufhin sie beginnen sich von der Bakterienblüte, die den Insektenkadaver verdaut, zu ernähren. In meiner Doktorarbeit untersuchte ich die Relevanz der Mundformen und deren potentielle Vernetzung mit dem Dauerstadium, in einem natürlichen Kontext. Hierzu erforschte ich die Dynamik von Pristionchus in der Wildnis und im Labor, sowohl über ausgedehnte Zeiträume als auch über weitreichende räumliche Gebiete. Ich identifizierte unterschiedliche Verbreitungsstrategien, die entweder die Präsenz von Konkurrenten oder einen Überfluss von bakterieller Nahrung widerspiegeln, überraschenderweise jedoch nicht die mikrobielle Sukzession auf dem Kadaver. Außerdem ermittelte ich, dass die Entwicklung ausschließlich räuberischer Morphen für wilde Würmer zu beobachten ist, die das Dauerstadium durchliefen; gleiches gilt jedoch nicht für domestizierte Würmer. Interessanterweise zeigen unsere Laborexperimente allerdings, dass die Tiere ein Adult-spezifisches, Populationsdichte-abhängiges Pheromon produzieren, welches die Ausbildung der räuberischen Mundform in ihren Nachkommen induziert. Zusammengenommen demonstriert meine Doktorarbeit die Feinheiten der ökologischen Faktoren, die phänotypische Plastizität beeinflussen können, und sie zeigt, dass weitere Untersuchungen zum Konkurrenzverhalten dieser Modellorganismen notwendig sind, um die Wettkämpfe auf den Schlachtfeldern des Lebens zu verstehen

A species-specific nematocide that results in terminal embryogenesis

Nematode-insect interactions are ubiquitous, complex and constantly changing as the host and nematode coevolve. The entomophilic nematode Pristionchus pacificus is found on a myriad beetle species worldwide, although the molecular dynamics of this relationship are largely unknown. To better understand how host cues affect P. pacificus embryogenesis, we characterized the threshold of sensitivity to the pheromone (Z)-7-tetradecen-2-one (ZTDO) by determining the minimum exposure duration and developmental window that results in P. pacificus embryonic lethality. We found early-stage embryos exposed to volatile ZTDO for as few as 4 h all display terminal embryogenesis, characterized by punctuated development up to 48 h later, with abnormal morphology and limited cavity formation. To determine if the pheromone arrests pre-hatching development by suffocating or permeabilizing the eggshells, we raised embryos under anoxic conditions and also examined eggshell permeability using the lipophilic dye FM4-64. We found that asphyxiating the embryos arrested embryogenesis in a reversible manner but did not phenocopy the effects of ZTDO exposure, whereas the ZTDO-induced disruption of embryogenesis did correlate with increased eggshell permeability. The effects of ZTDO are also highly specific, as other lipid insect compounds do not produce any detectable embryocidal effect. The high specificity and unusual teratogenic effect of ZTDO may be important in mediating the host-nematode relationship by regulating P. pacificus development

Multidimensional competition of nematodes affects plastic traits in a beetle ecosystem

Resource competition has driven the evolution of novel polyphenisms in numerous organisms, enhancing fitness in constantly changing environmental conditions. In natural communities, the myriad interactions among diverse species are difficult to disentangle, but the multidimensional microscopic environment of a decaying insect teeming with bacteria and fighting nematodes provides pliable systems to investigate. Necromenic nematodes of the family Diplogastridae live on beetles worldwide, innocuously waiting for their hosts' deaths to feast on the blooming bacteria. Often, more than one worm species either affiliates with the insect or joins the microbial meal; thus, competition over limited food ensues, and phenotypic plasticity provides perks for species capable of employing polyphenisms. The recently established system of cockchafer Gymnogaster bupthalma and its occasional co-infestation of Pristionchus mayeri and Acrostichus spp. has revealed that these worms will simultaneously utilize two polyphenisms to thrive in a competitive environment. While both genera maintain plastic capacities in mouth form (strictly bacterial-feeding and omnivorous predation) and developmental pathway (direct and arrested development, dauer), P. mayeri employs both when faced with competition from Acrostichus. Here, we took advantage of the malleable system and added a third competitor, model nematode Pristionchus pacificus. Intriguingly, with a third competitor, P. mayeri is quicker to exit dauer and devour available food, while Acrostichus hides in dauer, waiting for the two Pristionchus species to leave the immediate environment before resuming development. Thus, experimental manipulation of short-lived ecosystems can be used to study the roles of polyphenisms in organismal interactions and their potential significance for evolution