The Alienation Objection to Consequentialism

An ethical theory is alienating if accepting the theory inhibits the agent from fitting participation in some normative ideal, such as some ideal of integrity, friendship, or community. Many normative ideals involve non-consequentialist behavior of some form or another. If such ideals are normatively authoritative, they constitute counterexamples to consequentialism unless their authority can be explained or explained away. We address a range of attempts to avoid such counterexamples and argue that consequentialism cannot by itself account for the normative authority of all plausible such ideals. At best, consequentialism can find a more modest place in an ethical theory that includes non-consequentialist principles with their own normative authority

Normative metaphysics for accountants

We use normative reasons in a bewildering variety of different ways. And yet, as many recent theorists have shown, one can discern systematic distinctions underlying this complexity. This paper is a contribution to this project of constructive normative metaphysics. We aim to bring a black sheep back into the flock: the balancing model of weighing reasons. This model is threatened by a variety of cases in which distinct reasons overlap, in the sense that they do not contribute separate weight for or against an option. Our response is to distinguish between derivative reasons and load-bearing reasons, only the latter of which contribute non-overlapping weight to an option. This distinction is close at hand for analyses of reasons in terms of the promotion of significant outcomes. But we also develop an account of this distinction for fundamentalist theories of normative reasons.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Generation of wavelength tunable optical pulses with SMSR exceeding 50 dB by self-seeding a gain-switched source containing two FP lasers

In this letter, we show the generation of shorter pulses (∼20 ps) that exhibit side mode suppression ratios (SMSR's) greater than 50 dB and wider tuning range (48.91 nm). Our technique is based on the self-seeding of a gain-switched source containing two FP lasers

Simulation of all-optical demultiplexing utilizing two-photon absorption in semiconductor devices for high-speed OTDM networks

The performance of a two-photon absorption (TPA) based demultiplexer in an OTDM communication system is modeled. The demultiplexer is evaluated by comparing the electrical BER of the demultiplexed and detected channel to the optical BER of the signal before the demultiplexer. An error-free demultiplexing of a 250 Gbit/s signal (25 × 10 Gbit/s channels) is shown, using a 30:1 control-to-signal peak power ratio, with a TPA device with a bandwidth of 20 GHz should be possible. The device that is fabricated for TPA is a GaAs/AlAs PIN microcavity photodetector grown on a GaAs substrate

The relationship between hippocampal subfield volumes and autobiographical memory persistence

Structural integrity of the human hippocampus is widely acknowledged to be necessary for the successful encoding and retrieval of autobiographical memories. However, evidence for an association between hippocampal volume and the ability to recall such memories in healthy individuals is mixed. Here we examined this issue further by combining two approaches. First, we focused on the anatomically distinct subregions of the hippocampus where more nuanced associations may be expressed compared to considering the whole hippocampal volume. A manual segmentation protocol of hippocampal subregions allowed us to separately calculate the volumes of the dentate gyrus/CA4, CA3/2, CA1, subiculum, pre/parasubiculum and uncus. Second, a critical feature of autobiographical memories is that they can span long time periods, and so we sought to consider how memory details persist over time by conducting a longitudinal study whereby participants had to recall the same autobiographical memories on two visits spaced 8 months apart. Overall, we found that there was no difference in the total number of internal (episodic) details produced at Visits 1 and 2. However, further probing of detail subcategories revealed that specifically the amount of subjective thoughts and emotions included during recall had declined significantly by the second visit. We also observed a strong correlation between left pre/parasubiculum volume and the amount of autobiographical memory internal details produced over time. This positive relationship was evident for particular facets of the memories, with remembered events, perceptual observations and thoughts and emotions benefitting from greater volume of the left pre/parasubiculum. These preliminary findings expand upon existing functional neuroimaging evidence by highlighting a potential link between left pre/parasubiculum volume and autobiographical memory. A larger pre/parasubiculum appears not only to protect against memory decay, but may possibly enhance memory persistence, inviting further scrutiny of the role of this brain region in remote autobiographical memory retrieval

Efficient Markets and Alienation

Efficient markets are alienating if they inhibit us from recognizably caring about one another in our productive activities. I argue that efficient market behaviour is both exclusionary and fetishistic. As exclusionary, the efficient marketeer cannot manifest care alongside their market behaviour. As fetishistic, the efficient marketeer cannot manifest care in their market behaviour. The conjunction entails that efficient market behavior inhibits care. It doesn’t follow that efficient market behavior is vicious: individuals might justifiably commit to efficiency because doing so serves the common good. But efficient market systems nevertheless have significant opportunity costs. The discussion yields a range of desiderata for non-alienated economic organization

The Value-Based Theory of Reasons

This paper develops the Value-Based Theory of Reasons in some detail. The central part of the paper introduces a number of theoretically puzzling features of normative reasons. These include weight, transmission, overlap, and the promiscuity of reasons. It is argued that the Value-Based Theory of Reasons elegantly accounts for these features. This paper is programmatic. Its goal is to put the promising but surprisingly overlooked Value-Based Theory of Reasons on the table in discussions of normative reasons, and to draw attention to a number of areas for fruitful further research

Segmenting subregions of the human hippocampus on structural magnetic resonance image scans: An illustrated tutorial

BACKGROUND: The hippocampus plays a central role in cognition, and understanding the specific contributions of its subregions will likely be key to explaining its wide-ranging functions. However, delineating substructures within the human hippocampus in vivo from magnetic resonance image scans is fraught with difficulties. To our knowledge, the extant literature contains only brief descriptions of segmentation procedures used to delineate hippocampal subregions in magnetic resonance imaging/functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. // METHODS: Consequently, here we provide a clear, step-by-step and fully illustrated guide to segmenting hippocampal subregions along the entire length of the human hippocampus on 3T magnetic resonance images. // RESULTS: We give a detailed description of how to segment the hippocampus into the following six subregions: dentate gyrus/Cornu Ammonis 4, CA3/2, CA1, subiculum, pre/parasubiculum and the uncus. Importantly, this in-depth protocol incorporates the most recent cyto- and chemo-architectural evidence and includes a series of comprehensive figures which compare slices of histologically stained tissue with equivalent 3T images. // CONCLUSION: As hippocampal subregion segmentation is an evolving field of research, we do not suggest this protocol is definitive or final. Rather, we present a fully explained and expedient method of manual segmentation which remains faithful to our current understanding of human hippocampal neuroanatomy. We hope that this 'tutorial'-style guide, which can be followed by experts and non-experts alike, will be a practical resource for clinical and research scientists with an interest in the human hippocampus

Simulation of a high-speed demultiplexer based on two-photon absorption in semiconductor devices

In this paper, we present a theoretical model of an all-optical demultiplexer based on two-photon absorption in a specially designed semiconductor micro-cavity for use in an optical time division multiplexed system. We show that it is possible to achieve error-free demultiplexing of a 250 Gbit/s OTDM signal (25 × 10 Gbit/s channels) using a control-to-signal peak pulse power ratios of around 30:1 with a device bandwidth of approximately 30 GHz