Intuitions about cases as evidence (for how we should think)

Much recent work on philosophical methodology has focused on whether we should accept evidence: the claim that philosophers use intuitive judgments about cases as evidence for/against philosophical theories. This paper outlines a new way of thinking about the philosophical method of appealing to cases such that evidence is true but not as it is typically understood. The idea proposed is that, when philosophers appeal to cases, they are engaged in a project of conceptual engineering and that, within that project, intuitions about cases provide evidence as to the normative constraints which are relevant within that project. The paper demonstrates that this is a feasible interpretation of the way that cases are appealed to in recent journal issues, and makes the case that this would be a better way to think of what philosophers are doing when they appeal to cases

Mating Frequency of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas

The frequency of mating and polyandry in natural populations are important parameters for understanding evolutionary dynamics. Mating frequency among natural populations of Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) [Lepidoptera: Crambidae] are quite variable. Showers et al. (1974) found 91.1, 73.8, and 71.3% of females had mated during the second flight over 1971-3 at one location in Iowa. During 1971, only 10% mated multiple times, with lower levels of polyandry in subsequent years. In an earlier study in Iowa, Pesho (1961) found that 65-100 % of females had mated and up to 43% had mated more than once. A population in southwestern Ontario averaged 73% mating and 37% polyandry for the 5-year period from 1971-5, a higher rate of polyandry than during the same period in Iowa (Elliot, 1977). In this note, we amplify these previously published results by reporting the mating status of female O. nubilalis captured in light traps in Minnesota, Kansas and Texas. We also provide evidence that some females in natural populations may be sperm-limited

Zebras, intransigence & semantic apocalypse: problems for dispositional metasemantics

Complete information dispositional metasemantics says that our expressions get their meaning in virtue of what our dispositions to apply those terms would be given complete information. The view has recently been advanced and argued to have a number of attractive features. I argue that that it threatens to make the meanings of our words indeterminate and doesn't do what it was that made a dispositional view attractive in the first place

A semantic solution to the problem with aesthetic testimony

There is something peculiar about aesthetic testimony. It seems more difficult to gain knowledge of aesthetic properties based solely upon testimony than it is in the case of other types of property. In this paper, I argue that we can provide an adequate explanation at the level of the semantics of aesthetic language, without defending any substantive thesis in epistemology or about aesthetic value/judgement. If aesthetic predicates are given a non-invariantist semantics, we can explain the supposed peculiar difficulty with aesthetic testimony

A partial defence of descriptive evidentialism about intuitions: a reply to Molyneux

Bernard Molyneux presents some new arguments against descriptive evidentialism about intuitions. Descriptive evidentialism is the thesis that philosophers use intuitions as evidence. Molyneux's arguments are that: (1) the propositions that intuition putatively supports are treated as having a degree and kind of certainty and justification that they could not have got from being intuited; (2) intuitions influence us in ways we cannot explain by supposing we treat them as evidence; and (3) certain strong intuitions that persuade us of their contents are treated as inadmissible in the context of justification. This article presents a partial defence of descriptive evidentialism against these new arguments

A Secure Medical Communication System for Android Smartphones

The use of smartphones within the medical field can be beneficial in numerous ways. Communication protocols and access controls ensure that the application prototype is compliant with HIPPA regulations.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/u_poster_2012/1006/thumbnail.jp

Impact of Banks’ Size and Efficiency in Financing Real Sector Growth in Nigerian Economy

In spite of the implementation of several banking sector reforms, the real sector of the Nigerian Economy is still bedevilled with inadequate access to finance especially from the deposit money banks that hold about 90% of the total financial sector assets. Nominal interest rate is high causing many firms to avoid bank-borrowing. These myriad financing challenges facing the real sector call for the assessment of finance-growth nexus in Nigeria. In this regard, this study examined the long run relationship between some selected financial development indicators and real sector growth in Nigeria over the period 1970-2014. Based on the nature of the study, correlational research design was adopted while secondary data were mainly employed. Johansen and Juselius (1990) approach to cointegration and Vector Error Correction Modelling (VECM) was used to determine the extent of the relationship between the variables. The findings of the study revealed that in the long-run and liquid liabilities of deposit money banks exert statistically significant and negative influence on real sector growth, conversely, credit to the private sector, level of investment and interest rate spread exert statistically significant and positive influence. The policy implications are these; financial reforms and policies should focus on formulating policies that liberalise the interest rate and enhance financial intermediation will result in high economic growth, moreover, government should direct their borrowing towards encouraging and financing entrepreneurs which prove to increase investment and in turn real sector growth.Keywords: Size, Efficiency, Financing, Real secto

Impact of Banks' Size and Efficiency in Financing Real Sector Growth in Nigerian Economy

In spite of the implementation of several banking sector reforms, the real sector of the Nigerian Economy is still bedevilled with inadequate access to finance especially from the deposit money banks that hold about 90% of the total financial sector assets. Nominal interest rate is high causing many firms to avoid bank-borrowing. These myriad financing challenges facing the real sector call for the assessment of finance-growth nexus in Nigeria. In this regard, this study examined the long run relationship between some selected financial development indicators and real sector growth in Nigeria over the period 1970-2014. Based on the nature of the study, correlational research design was adopted while secondary data were mainly employed. Johansen and Juselius (1990) approach to cointegration and Vector Error Correction Modelling (VECM) was used to determine the extent of the relationship between the variables. The findings of the study revealed that in the long-run and liquid liabilities of deposit money banks exert statistically significant and negative influence on real sector growth, conversely, credit to the private sector, level of investment and interest rate spread exert statistically significant and positive influence. The policy implications are these; financial reforms and policies should focus on formulating policies that liberalise the interest rate and enhance financial intermediation will result in high economic growth, moreover, government should direct their borrowing towards encouraging and financing entrepreneurs which prove to increase investment and in turn real sector growth.Keywords: Size, Efficiency, Financing, Real secto

Lay intuitions about epistemic normativity

Recent empirical work on non-philosophers’ intuitions about epistemic normativity reveals patterns that cannot be fully accounted for by direct epistemic consequentialism. On the basis of these results, one might picture participants as “epistemic deontologists.” We present the results of two new experiments that support a more nuanced picture. We examine intuitions about guesses and hypotheses, and about beliefs. Our results suggest a two-factor model of intuitions, wherein both consequentialist and non-consequentialist considerations affect participants’ judgments about epistemic permissibility

Mating Frequency of European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas

The frequency of mating and polyandry in natural populations are important parameters for understanding evolutionary dynamics. Mating frequency among natural populations of Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) [Lepidoptera: Crambidae] are quite variable. Showers et al. (1974) found 91.1, 73.8, and 71.3% of females had mated during the second flight over 1971-3 at one location in Iowa. During 1971, only 10% mated multiple times, with lower levels of polyandry in subsequent years. In an earlier study in Iowa, Pesho (1961) found that 65-100 % of females had mated and up to 43% had mated more than once. A population in southwestern Ontario averaged 73% mating and 37% polyandry for the 5-year period from 1971-5, a higher rate of polyandry than during the same period in Iowa (Elliot, 1977). In this note, we amplify these previously published results by reporting the mating status of female O. nubilalis captured in light traps in Minnesota, Kansas and Texas. We also provide evidence that some females in natural populations may be sperm-limited