Scheler, Heidegger and the Hermeneutics of Value

In this paper, the author examines two different phenomenological frameworks for values: Heidegger’s hermeneutic phenomenology and Scheler’s phenomenology. Given the popularity of hermeneutic phenomenology inspired by Heidegger’s efforts, the author openly questions if values can be accommodated in that framework. The author suggests that those paying attention to the lived-experience of values consider Scheler’s phenomenology of value as a more refined alternative to make sense of value-experience and cultural practices more generally.KeywordsEthics, Givenness, Heidegger, Scheler, Valu

The Postmodern Anti-Realism of Value in Caputo and Butler, and its Phenomenological Grounding

In this essay, I expose what I take to be implicit phenomenological commitments of both John D. Caputo and Judith Butler’s anti-realist conception of value. As anti-realists and exemplars of what some might call the postmodern tradition of ethics, I can show how their views must presuppose the very phenomenology of moral experience these thinkers would deny, and thus anyone persuaded by the elements of these philosophers should embrace the value ontologies of what I call participatory realism rather than the uncritical and untenable assumptions of anti-realism that so many in the humanities embrace

The Case for Participatory Realism in Scheler’s Ethics

might one ask how phenomenological commitments relate to value ontology. Consider Phil Blosser’s words: …the chief defect of Scheler’s phenomenology, like all philosophies of value, was the weakness of his treatment of the ontology of values. The insufficient development of this fundamental aspect of Value Theory has left it especially vulnerable in a philosophical climate that has been distinguished, since the 1930s, by the major “growth industry” of Heideggerian ontology, making this appear probably the most critical defect of Scheler’s Formalismus*. In this paper, I will argue that being-an-act (Akt-sein) will provide us with insight into Scheler’s value ontology. My efforts rest on two fundamental premises: showing how Scheler’s phenomenology opens up into ontology, and how being-an-act is understood with that opening in mind in Scheler’s Idealism and Realism essay. In Part 1, I argue how phenomenologists can reify one-side of the intentional relation and generate different ontologies, and these thoughts underlie the opening of the Idealism and Realism. In Part 2, I show how being-an-act opens up into ontology. In Part 3, I reveal how the participatory sense of realism is shown in the intentional relation, and how persons participate in value. In the final section, the “ontologization” of the intentional relation is found in the problem of reality

Beef production from feedstuffs conserved using new technologies to reduce negative environmental impacts

End of project reportMost (ca. 86%) Irish farms make some silage. Besides directly providing feed for livestock, the provision of grass silage within integrated grassland systems makes an important positive contribution to effective grazing management and improved forage utilisation by grazing animals, and to effective feed budgeting by farmers. It can also contribute to maintaining the content of desirable species in pastures, and to livestock not succumbing to parasites at sensitive times of the year. Furthermore, the optimal recycling of nutrients collected from housed livestock can often be best achieved by spreading the manures on the land used for producing the conserved feed. On most Irish farms, grass silage will remain the main conserved forage for feeding to livestock during winter for the foreseeable future. However, on some farms high yields of whole-crop (i.e. grain + straw) cereals such as wheat, barley and triticale, and of forage maize, will be an alternative option provided that losses during harvesting, storage and feedout are minimised and that input costs are restrained. These alternative forages have the potential to reliably support high levels of animal performance while avoiding the production of effluent. Their production and use however will need to advantageously integrate into ruminant production systems. A range of technologies can be employed for crop production and conservation, and for beef production, and the optimal options need to be identified. Beef cattle being finished indoors are offered concentrate feedstuffs at rates that range from modest inputs through to ad libitum access. Such concentrates frequently contain high levels of cereals such as barley or wheat. These cereals are generally between 14% to 18% moisture content and tend to be rolled shortly before being included in coarse rations or are more finely processed prior to pelleting. Farmers thinking of using ‘high-moisture grain’ techniques for preserving and processing cereal grains destined for feeding to beef cattle need to know how the yield, conservation efficiency and feeding value of such grains compares with grains conserved using more conventional techniques. European Union policy strongly encourages a sustainable and multifunctional agriculture. Therefore, in addition to providing European consumers with quality food produced within approved systems, agriculture must also contribute positively to the conservation of natural resources and the upkeep of the rural landscape. Plastics are widely used in agriculture and their post-use fate on farms must not harm the environment - they must be managed to support the enduring sustainability of farming systems. There is an absence of information on the efficacy of some new options for covering and sealing silage with plastic sheeting and tyres, and an absence of an inventory of the use, re-use and post-use fate of plastic film on farms. Irish cattle farmers operate a large number of beef production systems, half of which use dairy bred calves. In the current, continuously changing production and market conditions, new beef systems must be considered. A computer package is required that will allow the rapid, repeatable simulation and assessment of alternate beef production systems using appropriate, standardised procedures. There is thus a need to construct, evaluate and utilise computer models of components of beef production systems and to develop mathematical relationships to link system components into a network that would support their integration into an optimal system model. This will provide a framework to integrate physical and financial on-farm conditions with models for estimating feed supply and animal growth patterns. Cash flow and profit/loss results will be developed. This will help identify optimal systems, indicate the cause of failure of imperfect systems and identify areas where applied research data are currently lacking, or more basic research is required

Do synthesis centers synthesize? A semantic analysis of topical diversity in research

Synthesis centers are a form of scientific organization that catalyzes and supports research that integrates diverse theories, methods and data across spatial or temporal scales to increase the generality, parsimony, applicability, or empirical soundness of scientific explanations. Synthesis working groups are a distinctive form of scientific collaboration that produce consequential, high-impact publications. But no one has asked if synthesis working groups synthesize: are their publications substantially more diverse than others, and if so, in what ways and with what effect? We investigate these questions by using Latent Dirichlet Analysis to compare the topical diversity of papers published by synthesis center collaborations with that of papers in a reference corpus. Topical diversity was operationalized and measured in several ways, both to reflect aggregate diversity and to emphasize particular aspects of diversity (such as variety, evenness, and balance). Synthesis center publications have greater topical variety and evenness, but less disparity, than do papers in the reference corpus. The influence of synthesis center origins on aspects of diversity is only partly mediated by the size and heterogeneity of collaborations: when taking into account the numbers of authors, distinct institutions, and references, synthesis center origins retain a significant direct effect on diversity measures. Controlling for the size and heterogeneity of collaborative groups, synthesis center origins and diversity measures significantly influence the visibility of publications, as indicated by citation measures. We conclude by suggesting social processes within collaborations that might account for the observed effects, by inviting further exploration of what this novel textual analysis approach might reveal about interdisciplinary research, and by offering some practical implications of our results.publishedVersio

Non-genotoxic carcinogen exposure induces defined changes in the 5-hydroxymethylome.

BACKGROUND: Induction and promotion of liver cancer by exposure to non-genotoxic carcinogens coincides with epigenetic perturbations, including specific changes in DNA methylation. Here we investigate the genome-wide dynamics of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) as a likely intermediate of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) demethylation in a DNA methylation reprogramming pathway. We use a rodent model of non-genotoxic carcinogen exposure using the drug phenobarbital. RESULTS: Exposure to phenobarbital results in dynamic and reciprocal changes to the 5mC/5hmC patterns over the promoter regions of a cohort of genes that are transcriptionally upregulated. This reprogramming of 5mC/5hmC coincides with characteristic changes in the histone marks H3K4me2, H3K27me3 and H3K36me3. Quantitative analysis of phenobarbital-induced genes that are involved in xenobiotic metabolism reveals that both DNA modifications are lost at the transcription start site, while there is a reciprocal relationship between increasing levels of 5hmC and loss of 5mC at regions immediately adjacent to core promoters. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these experiments support the hypothesis that 5hmC is a potential intermediate in a demethylation pathway and reveal precise perturbations of the mouse liver DNA methylome and hydroxymethylome upon exposure to a rodent hepatocarcinogen.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Beef production from feedstuffs conserved using new technologies to reduce negative environmental impacts

End of Project ReportThe three separate components with parallel objectives to this programme were to: 1. Develop technologies for conserving and optimally feeding alternative/complimentary feedstuffs to grass silage. 2. Quantify the use and re-use of plastic sheeting or film used to seal ensiled feedstuffs or mulch maize, and evaluate some new options. 3. Develop computer programs that will facilitate investigating prototype models of forage-based beef production systems

Approaching the Problem of Time with a Combined Semiclassical-Records-Histories Scheme

I approach the Problem of Time and other foundations of Quantum Cosmology using a combined histories, timeless and semiclassical approach. This approach is along the lines pursued by Halliwell. It involves the timeless probabilities for dynamical trajectories entering regions of configuration space, which are computed within the semiclassical regime. Moreover, the objects that Halliwell uses in this approach commute with the Hamiltonian constraint, H. This approach has not hitherto been considered for models that also possess nontrivial linear constraints, Lin. This paper carries this out for some concrete relational particle models (RPM's). If there is also commutation with Lin - the Kuchar observables condition - the constructed objects are Dirac observables. Moreover, this paper shows that the problem of Kuchar observables is explicitly resolved for 1- and 2-d RPM's. Then as a first route to Halliwell's approach for nontrivial linear constraints that is also a construction of Dirac observables, I consider theories for which Kuchar observables are formally known, giving the relational triangle as an example. As a second route, I apply an indirect method that generalizes both group-averaging and Barbour's best matching. For conceptual clarity, my study involves the simpler case of Halliwell 2003 sharp-edged window function. I leave the elsewise-improved softened case of Halliwell 2009 for a subsequent Paper II. Finally, I provide comments on Halliwell's approach and how well it fares as regards the various facets of the Problem of Time and as an implementation of QM propositions.Comment: An improved version of the text, and with various further references. 25 pages, 4 figure