God and the Argument from Consciousness: A Response to Lim

Recently, Daniel Lim has published a thoughtful critique of one form of my argument for the existence of God from consciousness (hereafter, AC).1 After stating his presentation of the relevant contours of my argument, I shall present the main components of his critique, followed by my response. Since one purpose of my publications of AC has been to foster discussion about a neglected argument for God’s existence, I am thankful to lim for his interesting article and the chance to further the discussion

Oppy on the Argument from Consciousness: A Rejoinder

Graham Oppy had criticized my argument for God from consciousness (AC) in my recent book ’Consciousness and the Existence of God’ (N.Y.: Routledge, 2008). In this article I offer a rejoinder to Oppy. Specifically, I respond to his criticisms of my presentation of three forms of AC, and interact with his claims about theism, consciousness and emergent chemical properties

A conceptualist argument for a spiritual substantial soul

I advance a type of conceptualist argument for substance dualism - minimally, the view that we are spiritual substances that have bodies - based on the understandability of what it would be for something to be a spirit, e.g. what it would be for God to be a spirit. After presenting the argument formally, I clarify and defend its various premises with a special focus on what I take to be the most controversial one, namely, if thinking (i.e. conscious) matter is metaphysically possible, it is not the case that we have a distinct positive concept of God\u27s being a divine spirit

The modal argument and Bailey’s contingent physicalism: a rejoinder

Philosophy is experiencing a resurgence of property (PD) and generic substance dualism (SD). One important argument for SD that has played a role in this resurgence is some version of a modal argument. Until recently, premise (3) of the argument (Possibly, I exist, and no wholly physical objects exist.) has garnered most of the attention by critics. However, more recently, the focus has also been on (2) (Wholly physical objects are essentially, wholly, and intrinsically physical and wholly spiritual substances are essentially, wholly, and intrinsically immaterial.). Andrew Bailey has provided one of the best criticisms of (2) on offer. In what follows, I present and clarify one form of the argument and defend premise (2) by responding to important defeaters proffered by Andrew Bailey and his contingent physicalism

Nurses’ knowledge in the early detection and management of acute kidney injury in selected referral hospitals in Rwanda

INTRODUCTION: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a global health issue, and its prevalence is higher in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The knowledge of nurses in the early detection and management of AKI has rarely been explored in the current literature; thus, this study aims to assess the knowledge of nurses in the early detection and management of patients with AKI in Rwanda. METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was implemented for this study. The study setting included selected referral hospitals in Kigali. A convenience sample of 165 nurses was obtained and data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Analyses were made using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS version 21. RESULTS: Nurses' knowledge in the early detection and management of AKI was low. Receiving in-service training on AKI positively influenced their knowledge in the early detection (p-value= 0.049), whereas studying AKI in nursing school p-value = 0.035) and receiving in-service training on AKI (p-value= 0.008) were associated with knowledge of the management of AKI. CONCLUSION: AKI is a common and potentially life-threatening condition that prolongs hospital stay, increases resource utilization, and mortality risks. Nurses need to be more involved in the early identification and management of AKI as they mostly serve as frontline health care providers and their role of continuous patient monitoring

The effect of composition on the mechanism of stress-corrosion cracking of titanium alloys in nitrogen tetroxide, and aqueous and hot- salt environments Annual summary report, 1 May 1967 - 30 Apr. 1968

Stress corrosion data for titanium alloys in aqueous, hot salt, and nitrogen dioxide environment

The cubic period-distance relation for the Kater reversible pendulum

We describe the correct cubic relation between the mass configuration of a Kater reversible pendulum and its period of oscillation. From an analysis of its solutions we conclude that there could be as many as three distinct mass configurations for which the periods of small oscillations about the two pivots of the pendulum have the same value. We also discuss a real compound Kater pendulum that realizes this property.Comment: 25 pages 4figure

Are we on the same page? Knowledge boundaries and transactive memory system development in cross-functional teams

One of the key challenges that organizations face when trying to integrate knowledge across different functions is the need to overcome knowledge boundaries between team members. In cross-functional teams, these boundaries, associated with different knowledge backgrounds of people from various disciplines, create communication problems, necessitating team members to engage in complex cognitive processes when integrating knowledge toward a joint outcome. This research investigates the impact of syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic knowledge boundaries on a team’s ability to develop a transactive memory system (TMS)—a collective memory system for knowledge coordination in groups. Results from our survey show that syntactic and pragmatic knowledge boundaries negatively affect TMS development. These findings extend TMS theory beyond the information-processing view, which treats knowledge as an object that can be stored and retrieved, to the interpretive and practice-based views of knowledge, which recognize that knowledge (in particular specialized knowledge) is localized, situated, and embedded in practice

'A habitual disposition to the good': on reason, virtue and realism

Amidst the crisis of instrumental reason, a number of contemporary political philosophers including Jürgen Habermas have sought to rescue the project of a reasonable humanism from the twin threats of religious fundamentalism and secular naturalism. In his recent work, Habermas defends a post-metaphysical politics that aims to protect rationality against encroachment while also accommodating religious faith within the public sphere. This paper contends that Habermas’ post-metaphysical project fails to provide a robust alternative either to the double challenge of secular naturalism and religious fundamentalism or to the ruthless instrumentalism that underpins capitalism. By contrast with Habermas and also with the ‘new realism’ of contemporary political philosophers such as Raymond Geuss or Bernard Williams, realism in the tradition of Plato and Aristotle can defend reason against instrumental rationality and blind belief by integrating it with habit, feeling and even faith. Such metaphysical–political realism can help develop a politics of virtue that goes beyond communitarian thinking by emphasising plural modes of association (not merely ‘community’), substantive ties of sympathy and the importance of pursuing goodness and mutual flourishing