Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and Protestantism

This is a brief introduction to the origin and development of Protestant ethical works in the tradition of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

Richard Baxter and the Mechanical Philosophers

Richard Baxter, one of the most famous Puritans of the seventeenth century, is generally known as a writer of practical and devotional literature. But he also excelled in knowledge of medieval and early modern scholastic theology, and was conversant with a wide variety of seventeenth-century philosophies. Baxter was among the early English polemicists to write against the mechanical philosophy of René Descartes and Pierre Gassendi in the years immediately following the establishment of the Royal Society. At the same time, he was friends with Robert Boyle and Matthew Hale, corresponded with Joseph Glanvill, and engaged in philosophical controversy with Henry More. In this book, David Sytsma presents a chronological and thematic account of Baxter's relation to the people and concepts involved in the rise of mechanical philosophy in late-seventeenth-century England. Drawing on largely unexamined works, including Baxter's Methodus Theologiae Christianae (1681) and manuscript treatises and correspondence, Sytsma discusses Baxter's response to mechanical philosophers on the nature of substance, laws of motion, the soul, and ethics. Analysis of these topics is framed by a consideration of the growth of Christian Epicureanism in England, Baxter's overall approach to reason and philosophy, and his attempt to understand creation as an analogical reflection of God's power, wisdom, and goodness, understood as vestigia Trinitatis. Baxter's views on reason, analogical knowledge of God, and vestigia Trinitatis draw on medieval precedents and directly inform a largely hostile, though partially accommodating, response to mechanical philosophy

The Logic of the Heart: Analyzing the Affections in Early Reformed Orthodoxy

This essay examines the development of Reformed treatments of the affections in the period of early orthodoxy (ca. 1565-1640). I argue that discussion of the affections during this period grew within the broad framework of the Aristotelian psychology and certain polemical concerns initially established by early Reformed theologians. With the advent of Protestant universities and academies, Reformed ethicists and theologians treated the affections in greater detail, with a majority drawing on a generally Thomistic approach to the nature and division of the affections, although not without a dissenting Scotistic minority

Beyond Dordt and De Auxiliis The Dynamics of Protestant and Catholic Soteriology in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Beyond Dordt and ‘De Auxiliis’ explores post-Reformation inter-confessional theological exchange on soteriological topics including predestination, grace, and free choice. These doctrines remained controversial within confessional traditions after the Reformation, as Dominicans and Jesuits and later Calvinists and Arminians argued about these critical issues in the Augustinian theological heritage. Some of those involved in condemning Arminianism at the Synod of Dordt (1618-1619) were inspired by Dominican followers of Thomas Aquinas in Spain who had recently opposed the vigorous defense of free choice by Jesuit Molinists in the Congregatio de auxiliis (1598-1607). This volume, appearing on the 400th anniversary of the closing of the Synod of Dordt, brings together a group of scholars working in fields that only rarely speak to one another to address these theological debates that cross geographical and confessional boundaries

Angiosperm Phylogeny: 17 Genes, 640 Taxa

• Premise of the study : Recent analyses employing up to fi ve genes have provided numerous insights into angiosperm phylogeny, but many relationships have remained unresolved or poorly supported. In the hope of improving our understanding of angiosperm phylogeny, we expanded sampling of taxa and genes beyond previous analyses. • Methods : We conducted two primary analyses based on 640 species representing 330 families. The fi rst included 25 260 aligned base pairs (bp) from 17 genes (representing all three plant genomes, i.e., nucleus, plastid, and mitochondrion). The second included 19 846 aligned bp from 13 genes (representing only the nucleus and plastid). • Key results : Many important questions of deep-level relationships in the nonmonocot angiosperms have now been resolved with strong support. Amborellaceae, Nymphaeales, and Austrobaileyales are successive sisters to the remaining angiosperms ( Mesangiospermae ), which are resolved into Chloranthales + Magnoliidae as sister to Monocotyledoneae + [Ceratophyllaceae + Eudicotyledoneae ]. Eudicotyledoneae contains a basal grade subtending Gunneridae . Within Gunneridae , Gunnerales are sister to the remainder ( Pentapetalae ), which comprises (1) Superrosidae , consisting of Rosidae (including Vitaceae) and Saxifragales; and (2) Superasteridae , comprising Berberidopsidales, Santalales, Caryophyllales , Asteridae , and, based on this study, Dilleniaceae (although other recent analyses disagree with this placement). Within the major subclades of Pentapetalae , most deep-level relationships are resolved with strong support. • Conclusions : Our analyses confi rm that with large amounts of sequence data, most deep-level relationships within the angiosperms can be resolved. We anticipate that this well-resolved angiosperm tree will be of broad utility for many areas of biology, including physiology, ecology, paleobiology, and genomics

Angiosperm phylogeny: 17 genes, 640 taxa

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/1/ajb20704-sup-0010.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/2/ajb20704.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/3/ajb20704-sup-0001.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/4/ajb20704-sup-0016.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/5/ajb20704-sup-0017.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/6/ajb20704-sup-0021.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/7/ajb20704-sup-0003.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/8/ajb20704-sup-0002.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/9/ajb20704-sup-0011.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/10/ajb20704-sup-0019.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/11/ajb20704-sup-0015.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/12/ajb20704-sup-0006.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/13/ajb20704-sup-0020.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/14/ajb20704-sup-0013.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/15/ajb20704-sup-0004.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/16/ajb20704-sup-0012.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/17/ajb20704-sup-0005.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/18/ajb20704-sup-0018.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/19/ajb20704-sup-0009.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/20/ajb20704-sup-0014.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/21/ajb20704-sup-0007.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142064/22/ajb20704-sup-0008.pd

Supporting Spartina: Interdisciplinary perspective shows Spartina as a distinct solid genus

In 2014 a DNA-based phylogenetic study confirming the paraphyly of the grass subtribe Sporobolinae proposed the creation of a large monophyletic genus Sporobolus, including (among others) species previously included in the genera Spartina, Calamovilfa, and Sporobolus. Spartina species have contributed substantially (and continue contributing) to our knowledge in multiple disciplines, including ecology, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, biogeography, experimental ecology, environmental management, restoration ecology, history, economics, and sociology. There is no rationale so compelling to subsume the name Spartina as a subgenus that could rival the striking, global iconic history and use of the name Spartina for over 200 years. We do not agree with the arguments underlying the proposal to change Spartina to Sporobolus. We understand the importance of taxonomy and of formalized nomenclature and hope that by opening this debate we will encourage positive feedback that will strengthen taxonomic decisions with an interdisciplinary perspective. We consider the strongly distinct, monophyletic clade Spartina should simply and efficiently be treated as the genus Spartina