True‐to‐Hume Laws and the Open‐Future (Or Hypertemporal Humeanism)

Abstract:Take open‐future Humeanism to comprise the following four tenets: (T1) that truth supervenes on a mosaic of local particular matters of fact (T2) that there are no necessary connections between distinct existences (T3) that there is a dynamic present moment, and (T4) that there are no future facts; that is, contingent propositions about the future obtain truth values only when their referents are actualised (Tooley 1997). Prima facie this is a deeply problematic metaphysic for the Humean, since given that the widely accepted Humean conception (that of David Lewis 1986a) takes all truths (inclusive of nomological truths) to supervene on an omnitemporal mosaic of local particular matters of fact, if there are no future facts then the Humean can neither provide laws of nature, nor justify many everyday inductive inferences (Hüttemann 2014). However, I argue that this eternalist metaphysic is in tension with at least one of Hume’s central metaphysical claims concerning causation e.g., that causal regularities may cease to hold at any time. In this paper I propose and defend one possible open‐future Humean metaphysic which admits of ‘true‐to‐Hume’ causal and nomological facts. Furthermore, although I am happy to concede that induction is problematic for the open‐future Humean, I demonstrate that it poses no greater threat to the open‐future conception than it does to the popular Lewisian conception of natural law

Tendencies, determinism, and sporting prowess – a response to Mumford and Anjum

Abstract: In Getting Causes from Powers (2011) Stephen Mumford and Rani Anjum published a novel approach to the metaphysics of dispositional properties, according to which causal powers are to be viewed as vectors. More recently they have employed a similar system to represent prowess in sport. In this paper l discuss the Mumford/Anjum ‘tendential theory of sporting prowess’. I question their motivation for the tendencies account, concluding (contra Mumford and Anjum) that a belief in determinism would not take away from the enjoyment of spectator sports. Nonetheless, I deem the tendential theory of prowess plausible. In addition to criticising their motivation, then, I develop the Mumford/Anjum thesis, applying the multi‐dimensional aspect they themselves apply to ‘complex causal situations’, to the metaphysic of sporting prowess

Dispositions and the principle of least action revisited

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The Role of The World Bank Group in Green Financing to Enhance Green Entrepreneurship in Nigeria

The World Bank Group is one of the World’s largest sources of funding for developing countries especially in the fight against poverty. Each institution of the World Bank Group plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. This study identified poverty as one of the major problems caused by the negative impacts of climate change leading to major disasters such as flooding, erosion, desertification, etc.  in Nigeria today. It identified green entrepreneurship as one of the major strategies to adapt and mitigate climate change in Nigeria thereby eradicating poverty and ensuring sustainable economic growth. It also explored the critical role the World Bank Group can play in eradicating poverty by green financing to enhance green entrepreneurship  in Nigeria. This study recommended further research in the field of green financing and green entrepreneurs to enhance solutions to eradicate poverty in Nigeria.This study concluded by highlighting the need to enhance green   entrepreneurship   through green finance for sustainable development in Nigeria.   &nbsp

The Ultimate Argument Against Dispositional Monist Accounts of Laws

Alexander Bird (2005) presents what he takes to be a devastating argument against David Armstrong’s necessitarian conception of physical modality and laws of nature. Bird argues that Armstrong is committed to a vicious regress with respect to necessitation. We agree that Bird’s argument is a serious problem for Armstrong. What we show is that precisely the same regress afflicts Bird’s dispositional-monist theory, and indeed, related views, such as that of Mumford and Anjum (2011). The reason for this, we argue, is that dispositional monism is basically Armstrongian necessitarianism modified to allow for a thesis about property identity. There is no fundamental difference in metaphysical outlook, despite rhetoric to the contrary

Willow Cultivars

The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) presents fact sheets on Salix purpurea ‘Allegany’, Salix sachalinensis × S. miyabeana ‘Canastota’, Salix purpurea ‘Fish Creek’, Salix purpurea × S. miyabeana ‘Millbrook’, Salix purpurea × S. miyabeana ‘Oneida’, Salix purpurea ‘Onondaga’, Salix viminalis × S. miyabeana ‘Otisco’, Salix viminalis × S. miyabeana ‘Owasco’, Salix eriocephala ‘S25’, Salix caprea hybrid ‘S365’, Salix sachalinensis × S. miyabeana ‘Sherburne’, Salix × dasyclados ‘SV1’, Salix sachalinensis ‘SX61’, Salix miyabeana ‘SX64’, Salix miyabeana ‘SX67’, Salix viminalis × S. miyabeana ‘Tully Champion’

A critique of Humean and anti-Humean metaphysics of cause and law

It is my contention that physics and metaphysics (or at least the aspects of metaphysics to be considered in this thesis) broadly strive to achieve common goals: to understand what our physical system is constituted by, and both how, and why it evolves in the way that it does. Metaphysicians, as well as the scientific disciplines, play an important role in our understanding of the universe. In recent years, physicists have focussed on finding accurate mathematical formalisms of the evolution of our physical system - if a metaphysician can uncover the metaphysical underpinnings of these formalisms; that is, why these formalisms seem to consistently map the universe, then our understanding of the world and the things in it is greatly enhanced. Science, then, plays a very important role in our project, as the best scientific formalisms provide us with what we, as metaphysicians, should be trying to interpret – but these interpretations are integral to understanding the nature of natural laws and causation. In this thesis I examine existing metaphysical views of what a law is (both from a conceptual and from a metaphysical perspective), show how closely causation is linked to laws, and provide a priori arguments for and against each of these positions. Ultimately, I provide an analysis of a number of metaphysics of natural laws and causation, apply these accounts to our best scientific theories, and see how these metaphysics fit in with our concepts of cause and law. Although I do not attempt a definitive metaphysical account myself, I conclude that any successful metaphysic will be a broadly Humean one, and furthermore that given the concepts of cause and law that shall be agreed upon, Humean theories allow for there to be causal sequences and laws (in line with our concepts) in the world

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains

Human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. Increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the US Northern Great Plains (NGP), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports \u3e40% of the US colony stock. We investigated changes in biofuel crop production and grassland land covers surrounding ~18,000 registered commercial apiaries in North and South Dakota from 2006 to 2014. We then developed habitat selection models to identify remotely sensed land-cover and land-use features that influence apiary site selection by Dakota beekeepers. Our study demonstrates a continual increase in biofuel crops, totaling 1.2 Mha, around registered apiary locations in North and South Dakota. Such crops were avoided by commercial beekeepers when selecting apiary sites in this region. Furthermore, our analysis reveals how grasslands that beekeepers target when selecting commercial apiary locations are becoming less common in eastern North and South Dakota, changes that may have lasting impact on pollinator conservation efforts. Our study highlights how land-use change in the NGP is altering the landscape in ways that are seemingly less conducive to beekeeping. Our models can be used to guide future conservation efforts highlighted in the US national pollinator health strategy by identifying areas that support high densities of commercial apiaries and that have exhibited significant land-use changes