Are We Free to Break the Laws of Providence?

Can I be free to perform an action if God has decided to ensure that I do not choose that action? I show that Molinists and simple foreknowl- edge theorists are committed to answering in the affirmative. This is problematic for their status as theological incompatibilists. I suggest that strategies for preserving their theological incompatibilism in light of this result should be based on sourcehood. However, the path is not easy here either, since Leibniz has shown how theological determinists can o er an extremely robust form of sourcehood. Proponents of these views must identify a valuable form of sourcehood their theories allow that Leibniz\u27s theory doesn\u27t

Astell and Masham on Epistemic Authority and Women's Individual Judgment in Religion

In 1705, Mary Astell and Damaris Masham both published works advocating for women's use of individual judgment in matters of religion. Although both philosophers advocate for women's education and intellectual autonomy, and both are adherents of the Church of England, they differ dramatically in their attitudes to religious authority. These differences are rooted in a deeper disagreement about the nature of epistemic authority in general. Astell defends an interpersonal model of epistemic authority on which we properly trust testimony when the testifier is answerable for its truth. Masham holds an evidence model of epistemic authority on which testimony is treated as an ordinary piece of empirical evidence. Central to Masham's argument is her contention that religious beliefs based on the kind of authority recognized by Astell could never serve as a stable source of moral motivation. Because of their different theories of epistemic authority, Masham's defense of women's intellectual autonomy leads to a radical anti-clericalism, while Astell's defense is fully consistent with her insistence on deference to the established church

Effect of Inorganic and Organic Trace Mineral Supplementation on the Performance, Carcass Characteristics, and Fecal Mineral Excretion of Phase-fed, Grow-finish Swine

Concentrated livestock production has led to soil nutrient accumulation concerns. To reduce the environmental impact, it is necessary to understand current recommended livestock feeding practices. Two experiments were conducted to compare the effects of trace mineral supplementation on performance, carcass composition, and fecal mineral excretion of phase-fed, grow-finish pigs. Crossbred pigs (Experiment 1 (Exp. 1), (n = 528); Experiment 2 (Exp. 2), (n = 560)) were housed in totally-slatted, confinement barns, blocked by weight, penned by sex, and randomly assigned to pens at approximately 18 kg BW. Treatments were allocated in a randomized complete block design (12 replicate pens per treatment) with 9 to 12 pigs per pen throughout the grow-finish period. In Exp. 1, the control diet (Io100) contained Cu as CuSO4, Fe as FeSO4, and Zn (of which 25% was ZnO and 75% was ZnO4) at concentrations of 63 and 378 mg/kg, respectively. Treatment 2 (O100) contained supplemental Cu, Fe, and Zn from organic sources (Bioplex, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY) at concentrations of 19, 131, and 91 mg/kg, respectively, which are the commercially recommended dietary inclusion levels for these organic trace minerals. Organic Cu, Fe, and Zn concentrations from O100 were reduced by 25% and 50% to form treatments 3 (O75) and 4 (O50-1), respectively. In Exp. 2, treatment 5 (Io25) contained 25% of the Cu, Fe, and Zn (inorganic sources) concentrations found in Io100. Treatment 6 (O50-2) was identical to the O50-1 diet from Exp. 1. Treatment 7 (O25) contained the experimental microminerals reduced by 75% from concentrations found in O100. Treatment 8 (O0) contained no trace mineral supplementation and served as a negative control for Exp. 2. In Exp. 1, tenth-rib backfat, loin muscle area and ADG did not differ (p\u3e0.05) between treatments. Pigs fed the control diet (Io100) consumed less feed (p\u3c0.01) compared to pigs fed diets containing organic trace minerals, thus, G:F was greater (p = 0.03). In Exp. 2, there were no differences among treatment means for loin muscle area, but pigs fed the reduced organic trace mineral diets consumed less (p\u3c0.05) feed and tended (p = 0.10) to have less tenth-rib backfat compared to pigs fed the reduced inorganic trace mineral diet. Considering that performance and feed intake of pigs was not affected by lower dietary trace mineral inclusion, mineral excretion could be reduced during the grow-finish phase by reducing dietary trace mineral concentration

Accelerating tropicalization and the transformation of temperate seagrass meadows

Climate-driven changes are altering production and functioning of biotic assemblages in terrestrial and aquatic environments. In temperate coastal waters, rising sea temperatures, warm water anomalies and poleward shifts in the distribution of tropical herbivores have had a detrimental effect on algal forests. We develop generalized scenarios of this form of tropicalization and its potential effects on the structure and functioning of globally significant and threatened seagrass ecosystems, through poleward shifts in tropical seagrasses and herbivores. Initially, we expect tropical herbivorous fishes to establish in temperate seagrass meadows, followed later by megafauna. Tropical seagrasses are likely to establish later, delayed by more limited dispersal abilities. Ultimately, food webs are likely to shift from primarily seagrass-detritus to more directconsumption- based systems, thereby affecting a range of important ecosystem services that seagrasses provide, including their nursery habitat role for fishery species, carbon sequestration, and the provision of organic matter to other ecosystems in temperate regions

Object Relations in the Museum: A Psychosocial Perspective

This article theorises museum engagement from a psychosocial perspective. With the aid of selected concepts from object relations theory, it explains how the museum visitor can establish a personal relation to museum objects, making use of them as an ‘aesthetic third’ to symbolise experience. Since such objects are at the same time cultural resources, interacting with them helps the individual to feel part of a shared culture. The article elaborates an example drawn from a research project that aimed to make museum collections available to people with physical and mental health problems. It draws on the work of the British psychoanalysts Donald Winnicott and Wilfred Bion to explain the salience of the concepts of object use, potential space, containment and reverie within a museum context. It also refers to the work of the contemporary psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas on how objects can become evocative for individuals both by virtue of their intrinsic qualities and by the way they are used to express personal idiom