Almost Like Waging War. Tom Regan and the Conditions for Using Violence for the Sake of Animals

This paper investigates Tom Regan’s attitude towards violence as a litmus test to understand the justifiability of the use of violence in animal rights activists (ARAs). Although Regan’s take seems uncontroversially against a recourse to violence, there is an ambiguity in his position. By comparing Regan’s conditions for the legitimate use of violence for the sake of animal liberation with the standard conditions for jus ad bellum, I show that Regan construed the conditions for the former in a specular manner as the conditions for the latter. However, since he was not an absolute pacifist, there is some contradiction, and he should have been more willing to justify some recourse to violence than he in fact does. I conclude by gesturing towards some possible changes that his thought should undergo in order to adjust this incoherence

Misadventures of sentience: animals and the basis of equality

This paper aims to put in question the all-purposes function that sentience has come to play in animal ethics. In particular, I criticize the idea that sentience can provide a sound basis of equality, as has been recently proposed by Alasdair Cochrane. Sentience seems to eschew the standard problems of egalitarian accounts that are based on range properties. By analysing the nature of range properties, I will show that sentience cannot provide such a solution because it is constructed as a sui generis range property. After criticizing the approaches seeking to ground animals' equal status, I turn to Singer's principle of equal consideration of interests. Despite its seeming non-controversiality, I argue that it cannot do without referring to the moral status of a being in order to determine the weight of a being's interests. Moreover, it outlines a weak egalitarian basis because it relies on the presumption of equality of interests in virtue of our lack of knowledge of the weight of individuals' interests. I conclude in a more positive tone by arguing that, irrespective of the troubles of range property egalitarianism, animal ethics can rely on other normative resources to defend the cause of animals

Cooperation with Animals? What Is and What Is Not

The idea of cooperation has been recently used with regard to human\u2013animal relations to justify the application of an associative theory of justice to animals. In this paper, I discuss some of these proposals and seek to provide a reformulation of the idea of cooperation suitable to human\u2013animal relations. The standard idea of cooperation, indeed, presupposes mental capacities that probably cannot be found in animals. I try to disentangle the idea of cooperation from other cognate notions and distinguish it from exploitation, use, and relationship. The upshot is a minimal taxonomy of human\u2013animal relations that covers most possibilities, from the worst type of relation (exploitation) to that which is most favourable to animals\u2019 welfare (relationship). In this taxonomy, cooperation is a form of relation where animals are used to produce a valuable good in a way that is compatible with their ethological features and without being harmed

Beyond moral efficiency: Effective altruism and theorizing about effectiveness

In this article I provide a conceptual analysis of an underexplored issue in the debate about effective altruism: its theory of effectiveness. First, I distinguish effectiveness from efficiency and claim that effective altruism understands effectiveness through the lens of efficiency. Then, I discuss the limitations of this approach in particular with respect to the charge that it is incapable of supporting structural change. Finally, I propose an expansion of the notion of effectiveness of effective altruism by referring to the debate in political philosophy about realism and the practical challenge of normative theories. I argue that effective altruism, both as a social movement and as a conceptual paradigm, would benefit from clarifying its ideal, taking into account the role of institutions, and expanding its idea of feasibility

Evaluation of the preparation of oval shaped root canals performed with mecanic instruments with different kinematics : analysis by means of computed micro tomography

Orientador: Alexandre Augusto ZaiaTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de PiracicabaResumo: Um dos principais objetivos do preparo químico-mecânico (PQM) durante o tratamento endodôntico é limpar e modelar o sistema de canais radiculares. Embora distintos, esses objetivos são alcançados simultaneamente durante o preparo do sistema de canais pelo uso de instrumentos e irrigantes. Este estudo avaliou a porcentagem de acúmulo de debris, áreas de canal não tocadas, dentina excisada e a frequência de microfraturas dentinárias após o preparo de canais com os sistemas BioRace, Reciproc, Self-Adjusting File (SAF) and TRUShape, por meio do uso de microtomografia computadorizada. Materiais e Métodos: Quarenta incisivos inferiores com canais únicos e ovalados anatomicamente pareados foram escaneados em um microtomógrafo de raios-X (SkyScan 1.173) com resolução de 14.25 ?m e divididos em 4 grupos experimentais (n=10) de acordo com o sistema utilizado para o PQM: BioRace, Reciproc, SAF and TRUShape. Após o PQM os espécimes foram então escaneados novamente e os dados de registro em µCT pré e pós- PQM foram avaliados com relação : i) porcentagem de acúmulo de debris, ii) áreas de canal não tocadas, iii) quantidade de dentina excisada e iiii) frequência de microfraturas dentinárias. Após a verificação da não aderência à curva Gaussiana, os testes de Kruskal-Wallis e Mann-Whitney com correção de Bonferroni foram usados para comparar os sistemas de preparo de acordo com as variáveis descritas, com nível de significância de 5%. Resultados: As técnicas de preparo não influenciaram a porcentagem de acúmulo de debris, uma vez que nenhuma diferença estatisticamente significante foi observada entre os grupos (P > .05). O percentual de áreas do canal não tocadas foi significantemente mais alto para o sistema BioRace (32.38%), enquanto os sistemas Reciproc (18.95%) e SAF (16.08%) apresentaram os menores resultados (P.05). Quanto à remoção de dentina, o sistema Reciproc apresentou os maiores percentuais (4.18%), sendo significativamente diferente dos sistemas BioRace (2.21%) e SAF (2.56%) (P.05). Todos os defeitos dentinários observados nas imagens de µCT pós-operatórias estavam presentes nas imagens correspondentes pré-operatórias, independentemente do grupo testado, demonstrando não haver correlação entre o PQM e a formação de defeitos. Conclusões: As técnicas de preparo avaliadas não influenciaram a porcentagem de debris acumulados e não induziram à formação de defeitos dentinários. O uso do sistema BioRace resulta em maior quantidade de paredes não tocadas, enquanto o sistema Reciproc produz o maior percentual de remoção de dentina. O sistema SAF resulta em maior percentual de paredes tocadas, porém em menor quantidade de dentina excisada. O sistema TRUShape apresenta resultados intermediários em relação às paredes não tocadas e remoção de dentina. Todos os sistemas testados deixaram paredes não tocadas após o preparo de canais ovaladosAbstract: Cleaning and shaping the root canals are one of the most important objectives of the endodontic treatment. These objectives are done simultaneously during root canal preparation using instruments and irrigants. This study evaluated the percentage of accumulated hard-tissue debris, untouched canal area, dentin removed and the frequency of dentinal micro-cracks after root canal preparation with the BioRace, Reciproc, Self-Adjusting File (SAF) and TRUShape systems through micro-computed tomographic analysis. Material and Methods: Forty anatomically matched mandibular incisors were scanned with a microtomograph XSkyScan 1.173 with 14.25 mm and assigned to four groups (n = 10), according to the preparation protocol: BioRace, Reciproc, Self-Adjusting File (SAF) and TRUShape systems. After instrumentation, the specimens were re-scanned and the registered pre- and postoperative datasets were examined to evaluate: i) the percentages of accumulated hard-tissue debris, ii) untouched canal areas, iii) quantity of dentine removed and iv) frequency of microcracks. After verification of non-adherence to the Gaussian curve the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests with Bonferroni correction were used to compare the variables in the groups with 5% significancy. Results: The preparation techniques did not affect the percentage of accumulated hard-tissue debris since no statiscal difference was observed among the groups (P>.05). The percentage of untouched canal areas was significantly higher for BioRace (32.38%) while the systems Reciproc (18.95%) and SAF (16.08%) presented the lowest results (P .05). When evaluating dentin removal, the Reciproc system removed more dentine (4.18%) with statiscally significant difference from the BioRace (2.21%) and SAF (2.56%) systems (P .05). All dentinal defects observed in the postoperative datasets were already present in the corresponding preoperative images, independently from the tested groups, no statisticall test was necessary to compare the diferent systems. Conclusions: The preparation techniques evaluated did not influenced the percentage of accumulated hard-tissue debris and did not induced the creation of dentinal micro-cracks. The BioRace resulted in more untouched canal areas, and Reciproc produced the higher level of removed dentine. Although it touched more root canal walls, SAF removed less dentine, whereas TRUShape had intermediate results for these same parameters. All of the systems tested left untouched canal walls after the preparation of oval-shaped canalsDoutoradoEndodontiaDoutor em Clínica Odontológic

Studio di una metodologia per l'applicazione dell'Allegato V del D.Lgs. 81/08 in un'industria di lavorazioni a freddo di metalli

Studio e implementazione di una metodologia per la valutazione del rischio macchine secondo l'allegato V del D.lgs.81/08. L'obbiettivo posto è di supportare il Datore di lavoro di un'azienda di medie/grandi dimensioni durante la definizione degli interventi di adeguamento definiti a seguito della valutazione del rischio macchine.ope

Studio di fattibilità di un intervento di recupero termico da fumi da gassificazione di car fluff

In questo elaborato vengono analizzate le possibilità di recupero termico attraverso la produzione di vapore o olio ad alta temperatura per la successiva produzione di energia elettrica attraverso turbine a vapore, espansori a vite o cicli ORC.ope

Sull'ambiguità della democrazia nel politico di Platone

In this paper I shall analyse in what sense in Plato's Statesman the democracy is "rehabilitated", with respect to Gorgias' and Republic's harsh critiques, insofar as the most preferable alternative in unlawful imperfect constitutions. The value of this "rehabilitation" is, though, undermined by Plato's unwavering claim that democracy is the rule of the uneducated and ignorant people. This ambiguity can be solved only by understanding in what sense Plato may hold that imperfect constitutions imitate the perfect one ruled by the true political science. Imperfect but law abiding constitutions imitate the perfect one in virtue of their capacity to pursue the unity of the polis. Unlawful regimes, instead, can be ranked only in terms of their capacity to follow the methodological criteria of unity, stability and swiftness of ruling. Democracy's scattered authority, alternating representatives and slow decision making system limit the possibility of pursuing bad policies. Lacking a paradeigma such as that of the Republic, I shall argue that the notion of imitation is to be understood in non specifically Platonic terms, that is not as the pursuit of an ideal norm, but rather as a methodological approximation