The Fragility of Consensus: Public Reason, Diversity and Stability

John Rawls\u27s transition from A Theory of Justice to Political Liberalism was driven by his rejection of Theory\u27s account of stability. The key to his later account of stability is the idea of public reason. We see Rawls\u27s account of stability as an attempt to solve a mutual assurance problem. We maintain that Rawls\u27s solution fails because his primary assurance mechanism, in the form of public reason, is fragile. His conception of public reason relies on a condition of consensus that we argue is unrealistic in modern, pluralistic democracies. After rejecting Rawls\u27s conception of public reason, we offer an ‘indirect alternative’ that we believe is much more robust. We cite experimental evidence to back up this claim

Major shifts in the evolution of somitogenesis: The reptile Anolis carolinensis represents a fourth type of segmentation clock among vertebrates

La prueba de Comprensión lectora ha sido construida en relación con lo que señala el Diseño Curricular Nacional (DCN) y la Propuesta Pedagógica EIB. En la ECE 2012, la prueba presenta los siguientes textos: notas, anécdotas, instructivos, cuentos, noticias y descripciones

Senses of Sen: Reflections on Amartya Sen’s Ideas of Justice

This review essay explores how Amartya Sen’s recent book, The Idea of Justice, is relevant and important for the development and assessment of transnational theories and applications to transnational justice and legal education programs. The essay captures a trans-jural dialogue of multinational scholars and teachers, discussing Sen’s contributions to moral justice theory (criticizing programs for “transcendental institutionalism” (like Rawlsian theory) and instead focusing on “comparative broadening” including empirical, relative, and comparative assessments of programs to ameliorate injustice in the world in its comparative concreteness (as in Indian social justice theory and Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments and related work). The authors are professors in the transnational legal education program, the Center for Transnational Legal Studies, sponsored by over 25 different law schools, located in London. They teach courses in a wide variety of subjects, including comparative legal theory, constitutional law, business and legal ethics, moral and legal philosophy, international and comparative law, capital markets and business law, emergency powers, international dispute resolution and a variety of other common and civil law subjects

Denying reciprocity

When individuals receive benefits as a result of the burdens assumed by other people, they are expected to make a return in similar form. To do otherwise is considered as a failure to treat those other people with appropriate respect. It is this which justifies the expectation that individuals share in the labour that is necessary to preserve just institutions and productive practices that characterise complex schemes of social cooperation. In this paper, I argue that where benefits do not meet thresholds specifying the expected function and efficacy of those benefits, this does not simply issue in a ‘downward adjustment’ in the work expectations and reciprocal demands that are made of people. Rather, it legitimates refusal to engage in productive labour even where limited benefits are still being received. Other costs and obligations emerge that contribute to the creation of disruptive political, economic and social associations. These not only replace the demands of reciprocity but actively target and disrupt the practices and exchanges that give form to reciprocity

"The dearest of our possessions": applying Floridi's information privacy concept in models of information behavior and information literacy

This conceptual paper argues for the value of an approach to privacy in the digital information environment informed by Luciano Floridi's philosophy of information and information ethics. This approach involves achieving informational privacy, through the features of anonymity and obscurity, through an optimal balance of ontological frictions. This approach may be used to modify models for information behavior and for information literacy, giving them a fuller and more effective coverage of privacy issues in the infosphere. For information behavior, the Information Seeking and Communication Model, and the Information Grounds conception, are most appropriate for this purpose. For information literacy, the metaliteracy model, using a modification a privacy literacy framework, is most suitable

The Grizzly, May 5, 1992

Smells Like Summer • Psychology Conference a Success • Whitians Recognize Honor Students • Theatre Workshop Presentations • Lily Redner Speaks: Lessons of The Holocaust • Record Review: Tori Amos • Movie Review: Death Stalker II • Senior Reflection Special: A Look Back on the Last Four Years; Most Memorable Moments at Ursinus • The Knowledge of Experience • Valete Ursini • Medinger Pottery Exhibit Opens • On Government and the People • America the Innocent • Letter: Wismer Abuses • Ursinus Joins All-Sports Conference • Breakdown on NBA \u2792 • Women\u27s LAX Snag MAC Title, End Seasonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1297/thumbnail.jp

GRB 090618: The First Example of a Neutron Star Gravitational Collapse to a Black Hole Induced by a Type Ib/c Supernova

A novel concept has been recently proposed for explaining the temporal coincidence of some Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) with an associated Supernova (SN) in terms of the gravitational collapse of a neutron star (NS) to a Black Hole (BH), induced by a type Ib/c SN explosion. We apply these considerations to the exceptional case of GRB 090618, for which there is evidence of a SN $\sim 10$ days after the GRB occurrence. We calculate the accretion rate and total accreted mass onto a NS from a SN Ib/c originated from a companion evolved star. It is shown that the NS reaches in a few seconds the critical mass and undergoes gravitational collapse to a BH leading to the emission of a GRB. We find for the mass of the NS companion, $M_{\rm NS}$, and for the SN core progenitor, $M_{\rm core}$, the following mass ranges: $1.8\lesssim M_{NS}/M_\odot \lesssim 2.1$ and $3\leq M_{\rm core}/M_\odot \leq 8$. Finally, we discuss the complementarity of these considerations to alternative processes explaining long and short GRBs.Comment: A&A Letters, accepte

The Grizzly, March 24, 1992

Sororities Honored for Participation in Blood Drive • Economist Speaks on Recession • Sailing on the Chesapeake • U.S.G.A. Minutes • Consider Women\u27s Studies Next Semester • Senior Class: Please Give • Fraternity Pledging Ends • Admitted Students Reception • Precipitation Indication • Maquette Exhibit • Movie Review: Hot Shots • New Sculpture Exhibit to Open • Movie Review: My Cousin Vinny • CAB Performers Humor and Hypnotize • Touchstone Ensemble\u27s Interpretation of Candide • Stop Complaining; Start Conserving • Letters: More Responses to Airband Controversy • (Sic)\u27em: A Concern Over Grizzly Policy • Men and Women Swimmers End Season • Derstine, Cauley at Nationals • Freshman Power and the Liberty Bell • Gymnasts Finish Seasonhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1293/thumbnail.jp

Single cell analysis reveals satellite cell heterogeneity for proinflammatory chemokine expression

Background: The expression of proinflammatory signals at the site of muscle injury are essential for efficient tissue repair and their dysregulation can lead to inflammatory myopathies. Macrophages, neutrophils, and fibroadipogenic progenitor cells residing in the muscle are significant sources of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. However, the inducibility of the myogenic satellite cell population and their contribution to proinflammatory signaling is less understood.Methods: Mouse satellite cells were isolated and exposed to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mimic sterile skeletal muscle injury and changes in the expression of proinflammatory genes was examined by RT-qPCR and single cell RNA sequencing. Expression patterns were validated in skeletal muscle injured with cardiotoxin by RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence.Results: Satellite cells in culture were able to express Tnfa, Ccl2, and Il6, within 2 h of treatment with LPS. Single cell RNA-Seq revealed seven cell clusters representing the continuum from activation to differentiation. LPS treatment led to a heterogeneous pattern of induction of C-C and C-X-C chemokines (e.g., Ccl2, Ccl5, and Cxcl0) and cytokines (e.g., Tgfb1, Bmp2, Il18, and Il33) associated with innate immune cell recruitment and satellite cell proliferation. One cell cluster was enriched for expression of the antiviral interferon pathway genes under control conditions and LPS treatment. Activation of this pathway in satellite cells was also detectable at the site of cardiotoxin induced muscle injury.Conclusion: These data demonstrate that satellite cells respond to inflammatory signals and secrete chemokines and cytokines. Further, we identified a previously unrecognized subset of satellite cells that may act as sensors for muscle infection or injury using the antiviral interferon pathway