Explanation

I survey the philosophical literature on grounding explanation and its connection to metaphysical ground

The difference between epistemic and metaphysical necessity

Philosophers have observed that metaphysical necessity appears to be a true or real or genuine form of necessity while epistemic necessity does not. Similarly, natural necessity appears genuine while deontic necessity does not. But what is it for a form of necessity to be genuine? I defend an account of genuine necessity in explanatory terms. The genuine forms of necessity, I argue, are those that provide what I call necessitarianexplanation. I discuss the relationship of necessitarian explanation to ground

Hadron Spectroscopy with CLAS and CLAS12

The CLAS detector completed a highly successful data-taking lifetime in 2012. The mass range accessible with the CEBAF 6 GeV electron beam and the large solid angle of the detector made it the premier facility for studying baryon resonances. The analysis of a great number of final states with differing polarization states is underway and will lead to a greater understanding of the existing nucleon resonances. In the meantime, preparation for an upgraded detector, CLAS12, is progressing. With commissioning due to start in 2016 with a 11 GeV electron beam CLAS12 will kinematically favour the study of mesons. In particular, it will look to resolve outstanding questions as to the make-up of mesonic states in terms of hybrid states with gluonic constituents; states of pure glue; or tetraquark/molecular configurations

[Review of] David A. Hollinger, Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism

This important volume by the distinguished intellectual historian, David Hollinger, sorts through key multicultural issues and brings a much needed freshness to a very stale, angry debate. In outlining the social contours of a postethnic America, he describes a country less obsessed with race and ethnicity, and open to the forging of social bonds between people of different heritages of descent. Unlike many criticisms of multiculturalism, Hollinger\u27s postethnic vision remains attentive to ethnic difference while pointing up the relevance and value of an American national culture. Those heavily invested in shoring up racial and ethnic boundaries will surely resist the author\u27s depiction of a less fragmented postethnic America

Being Someone Else

Could I have been someone other than who I am? Philosophers from Williams to Nagel to Lewis have been tempted to answer 'yes', but how can we make sense of such a view? I argue that to say that it is contingent who I am is to say that it is contingent what perspective I have, in a distinctively metaphysical sense of perspective

Model discrimination in pseudoscalar-meson photoproduction

To learn about a physical system of interest, experimental results must be able to discriminate among models. We introduce a geometrical measure to quantify the distance between models for pseudoscalar-meson photoproduction in amplitude space. Experimental observables, with finite precision, map to probability distributions in amplitude space, and the characteristic width scale of such distributions needs to be smaller than the distance between models if the observable data are going to be useful. We therefore also introduce a method for evaluating probability distributions in amplitude space that arise as a result of one or more measurements, and show how one can use this to determine what further measurements are going to be necessary to be able to discriminate among models

Playing by the Rules: Combating Al Qaeda Within the Law of War

Although the conflict formerly known as the “war on terror” is now in its eighth year, key legal issues governing the use of force and military detention remain largely unresolved. These questions survive the Bush administration, as the United States continues to launch aerial strikes against al Qaeda and President Obama has indicated his intention to continue the use of preventative detention and military trials even after Guantánamo is closed. Military victory is not possible, but good faith application of authority from the law of war can effectively complement traditional criminal law in combating the threat. Even if the Geneva Conventions do not formally apply to this conflict, there is a large body of customary international law, including many Geneva rules, that should. If the war is limited to those adversaries authorized by Congress, and the opposition is validly classified under the law of war, the military (but not the CIA) can legally target members of al Qaeda and detain them without requiring a criminal trial. But the conditions of that detention and any trials that are held must meet international standards, which they currently do not. Good faith application of law of war rules also offers better protections for civil liberties than other proposed solutions, such as national security courts, which offer less due process than regular federal trials. Such measures start down a slippery slope of compromising legal standards on the basis of expediency that can be avoided through the faithful application of existing international law