Sociobiology, universal Darwinism and their transcendence: An investigation of the history, philosophy and critique of Darwinian paradigms, especially gene-Darwinism, process-Darwinism, and their types of reductionism towards a theory of the evolution of evolutionary processes, evolutionary freedom and ecological idealism

Based on a review of different Darwinian paradigms, particularly sociobiology, this work, both, historically and philosophically, develops a metaphysic of gene-Darwinism and process-Darwinism, and then criticises and transcends these Darwinian paradigms in order to achieve a truly evolutionary theory of evolution. Part I introduces essential aspects of current sociobiology as the original challenge to this investigation. The claim of some sociobiologists that ethics should become biologized in a gene-egoistic way, is shown to be tied to certain biological views, which ethically lead to problematic results. In part II a historical investigation into sociobiology and Darwinism in general provides us, as historical epistemology', with a deeper understanding of the structure and background of these approaches. Gene-Darwinism, which presently dominates sociobiology and is linked to Dawkins' selfish gene view of evolution, is compared to Darwin's Darwinism and the evolutionary' synthesis and becomes defined more strictly. An account of the external history of Darwinism and its subparadigms shows how cultural intellectual presuppositions, like Malthusianism or the Newtonian concept of the unchangeable laws of nature, also influenced biological theory' construction. In part III universal 'process-Darwinism' is elaborated based on the historical interaction of Darwinism with non-biological subject areas. Building blocks for this are found in psychology, the theory of science and economics. Additionally, a metaphysical argument for the universality of process- Darwinism, linked to Hume's and Popper's problem of induction, is proposed. In part IV gene-Darwinism and process-Darwinism are criticised. Gene-Darwinism—despite its merits—is challenged as being one-sided in advocating 'gene-atomism', 'germ-line reductionism' and 'process-monism'. My alternative proposals develop and try to unify different criticisms often found. In respect of gene-atomism I advocate a many-level approach, opposing the necessary radical selfishness of single genes. I develop the concept of higher-level genes, propose a concept of systemic selection, which may stabilise group properties, without relying on permanent group selection and extend the applicability of a certain group selectionist model generally to small open groups. Proposals of mine linked to the critique of germ-line reductionism are: 'exformation', phenotypes as evolutionary factors and a field theoretic understanding of causa formalis (resembling Aristotelian hylemorphism). Finally the process-monism of gene-Darwinism, process-Darwinism and, if defined strictly, Darwinism in general is criticised. 1 argue that our ontology and ethics would be improved by replacing the Newtoman-Paleyian deist metaphor of an eternal and unchangeable law of nature, which lies at tire very heart of Darwinism, by a truly evolutionary understanding of evolution where new processes may gain a certain autonomy. All this results in a view that I call 'ecological idealism', which, although still very much based on Darwinism, clearly transcends a Darwinian world view

Free and green. The effect of decoupling CAP on emissions.

The Common Agricultural Policy is one of the most important policies within the European Union. However, the support from CAP have had some unexpected consequences for the environment. Major changes were made in 2003 regarding the way payments were given to farmers, in order to reduce the environmental impact of agricultural production. The support was made decoupled, which basically meant a greater freedom for European farmers. A freedom CAP was hoping would encourage more environmentally friendly practices and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study investigates whether this decoupling process managed to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases per agricultural hectare, and whether the growth of organic farming had any further influence. There are studies comparing organic versus conventional farming but there are no published studies on the link between the 2003 CAP reform and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper is an attempt to clarify the issue by doing a multiple regression analysis with data collected from FAOSTAT involving 20 European countries and 23 non-European countries during the years 2004–2010. The results point towards that the 2003 CAP reform did have a mitigating effect on emissions, whereas organic farming could not be proved to have the same impact. This suggests that a decoupled support system may have been a step towards more sustainable and less environmentally harmful agriculture within Europe

EFFECT OF EXOGENOUS ICE SLURRY ON PHYSIOLOGICAL STRAIN INDEX DURING EXERCISE IN THE HEAT

EFFECT OF EXOGENOUS ICE SLURRY ON PHYSIOLOGICAL STRAIN INDEX DURING EXERCISE IN THE HEAT. F. von Sydow, T.J. Hampton, J.S. Cuddy, B.C. Ruby, FACSM, and C.L. Dumke, FACSM. The University of Montana, Missoula, MT Ice slurry solution (IS) ingested during exercise in the heat may alleviate physiological strain index (PSI) by lessening the rise of core temperature (Tc), and heart rate (HR.) PURPOSE: To investigate IS influence on PSI during submaximal running in the heat. METHODS: Six recreationally trained subjects (60+3 ml*kg-1*min-1) participated in two running trials on an outdoor track (30+1.5˚C, 25%RH). The two trials were run at the same absolute intensity (187.6 m*min-1), and given either an ambient carbohydrate drink (25˚C) or IS (-1˚C) in random order. Subsequently, three recreationally aerobic trained subjects (59+3 ml*kg-1* min-1) participated in two running trials inside a climate chamber (34˚C, 40%RH). Subjects acclimatized in the chamber for 15 minutes then ran for 1hr with increasing speed every 20 minutes followed by an incremental time trial (TT) test to exhaustion. RESULTS: Using 2x3 ANOVA, outside runners had a significantly lower PSI (5.4+1.6 vs. 7.1+1.3; P=0.01), however HR (P=0.63), Tc (P=0.56), Tsk (P=0.55), and sweat rate (P=0.06) did not reach significance (P\u3e0.05). Chamber runners had a significantly increased TT performance when given IS compared to ambient drink (8.2+2.1 min vs 6.4+1.8 min; P=0.01). Although chamber runners did not achieve significantly lower PSI (P=0.35), HR (P=0.51), Tc (P=0.51), Tsk (P=0.43), sweat rate (P=0.21) or RPE (P=0.58) when given IS. Nevertheless, CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that IS may have a significant impact on PSI. The IS also significantly increased TT performance. These data show the potential for increased running performance when IS is given during moderate exercise in the heat

On the ignorance of group-level effects – The tragedy of personnel evaluation?

In social-dilemma situations (e.g., public-good games), people may pursue their local self- interests, thereby lowering the overall payoff of their group and, paradoxically, even their individual payoffs as a result. Likewise, in inner-individual dilemmas, even without conflict of interest between persons, people may pursue local goals at the expense of overall utility. Our experiments investigate such dissociations of individual and group-level effects in the context of personnel evaluation and selection. Participants were given the role of human resource managers selecting workers to optimize the overall payoff for the company. We investigated contexts where the individually best/worst ‘employees’ systematically caused the worst/best group performance. When workers in a team could substantially increase or decrease co-workers’ performance, most participants (albeit not all) tended to focus solely on individual performance without considering their overall contribution even when instructed to maximize group performance. This undue focus on individual information meant that employees who enhanced team performance the most often received the most negative evaluations. This may result in a ‘tragedy of personnel evaluation’ relevant to maladaptive incentive structures (personnel evaluation), job offers (personnel selection), and a substantially negative impact on organizational effectiveness. At the same time, the results suggest ways this problem may be overcome

Formal models of source reliability

The paper introduces, compares and contrasts formal models of source reliability proposed in the epistemology literature, in particular the prominent models of Bovens and Hartmann (2003) and Olsson (2011). All are Bayesian models seeking to provide normative guidance, yet they differ subtly in assumptions and resulting behavior. Models are evaluated both on conceptual grounds and through simulations, and the relationship between models is clarified. The simulations both show surprising similarities and highlight relevant differences between these models. Most importantly, however, our evaluations reveal that important normative concerns arguably remain unresolved. The philosophical implications of this for testimony are discussed