v. 1. Religion and the powers of the common life -- v. 2. The spirit and the modern authorities -- v. 3. Christ and the dominions of civilization -- v. 4. Globalization and grace.

Theological statements and sermons which attempt to spell out contemporary economic applications of biblical texts all too often strike those who study modern economic institutions or policies as journalistic, ideological, or simply misinformed.

The author considers the achievements of the Journal of Religious Ethics against a larger history of philosophical theology and comparative religious studies, suggesting the wisdom of modesty and raising the possibility that contemporary academic inquiry in religious ethics is actually less rich and less supple than is suggested in Green's review. Of particular concern are unproductive nondialogues between philosophical secularists and confessional "narrativists," present tendencies toward anti-institutional ab- straction, the contemporary overvaluation of suspicion and critique, and a pervasive anti theological (...) bias. (shrink)

Going back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, we trace the Xenopus oocyte microinjection experiments that led to the emergence of the concept of “modulator”. The finding that the modulator could transactivate transcription from far upstream and in either orientation suggested that a new genetic element, different from the classical prokaryotic promoter sequences, had been discovered. This particular enhancer transactivates transcription of the sea urchin early (α) histone H2A gene which is regulated in early sea urchin development. We summarise (...) the data from sea urchin microinjection experiments that confirm and extend the results obtained with Xenopus oocytes. We conclude that the H2A enhancer is bipartite, is located approx. 100 bp upstream of the TATAAATA box in the H2A gene of two sea urchin species and enhances transcription when placed at a position far upstream or far downstream of the gene unless an insulator intervenes between enhancer and promoter. Evidence from microinjection experiments with sea urchin embryos suggests that the developmental control of H2A expression resides not with the enhancer, which is constitutively active, but with a striking chromatin structure with two positioned nucleosomes near the 3′ end of the gene. Within this structure, there is an insulator element. BioEssays 24:850–857, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

The paper attempts to provide a basis for exploring the continued relevance of Catholic social teaching to business ethics, byinterpreting the historic development of a Catholic work ethic and the traditions of Catholic social teaching in light of contemporary discussions of economic globalization, notably those of Robert Reich and Peter Drucker. The paper argues that the Catholic work ethic and the Church’s tradition of social teaching has evolved dynamically in response to the structural changes involved in the history of modern (...) economic development, and thus is well poised to speak to the ethical challenges implicit in the advent of a knowledge-based society. In order to test this thesis, the author sketches an approach to the ethical challenge of corporate downsizing that he believes illustrates the continued relevance of Catholic social teaching to business ethics. (shrink)

Moral problems often prompt emotional responses that invoke intuitive judgments of right and wrong. While emotions inform judgment across many domains, they can also lead to ethical failures that could be avoided by using a more deliberative, analytical decision-making process. In this article, we describe joint evaluation as an effective tool to help decision makers manage their emotional assessments of morality.

Recent research suggests that people's understanding of the abstract domain of time is dependent on the more concrete domain of space. Boroditsky and Ramscar (2002) found that spatial context influences whether people see themselves as moving through time (ego-moving perspective) or as time moving towards them (time-moving perspective). Based on studies of the embodiment of affective experience, we examined whether affect might also influence which spatial metaphor of time people adopt. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 showed that participants (...) who imagined a negative event were more likely to report that the event was approaching them, whereas those who imagined a positive event were more likely to report that they were approaching the event. Experiments 3a and 3b showed that participants judge an event to be more positive if it is described from the ego-moving perspective than if it is described from the time-moving perspective. Results from these studies provide initial evidence that positive and negative events are associated with different spatial metaphors of time. (shrink)

The molecular signals that determine the position and timing of the furrow that forms during mammalian cell cytokinesis are presently unknown. It is apparent, however, that these signals are generated by the mitotic spindle after the onset of anaphase. Recently we have described a structure that bisects the cell during telophase at the position of the cytokinetic furrow. This structure, the telephase disc, appears to the templated by the motitc spindle during anaphase, and precedes the formation of the cytokinetic furrow. (...) The relationship of the telephase disc to the myosin and actin based furrowing mechanism is discussed here. We propose that the telophase disc may determine the position and timing of cleavage by recruitment and alignment of myosin. (shrink)

With this issue we initiate the policy of expanding the scope of Tulane Studies in Philosophy to include, in addition to the work of members of the department, contributions from philosophers who have earned advanced degrees from Tulane and who are now teaching in other colleges and universities. The Editor THE LOGIC OF OUR LANGUAGE ROBERT L. ARRINGTON Wittgenstein wrote in the Tractatus that "logic is not a body of doctrine, but a mirror-image of the world. " 1 In line (...) with his suggestion that a proposition is a 'picture', Wittgenstein argued that propositions 'show' the logical structure of the real. He was insistent, however, that "the apparent logical form of a proposition need not be its real one. " 2 As a result of this we can misunderstand the structure of fact. Philosophical problems arise just when "the logic of our language is mis understood. " 3 It is common knowledge that much of this view of logic was rejected by Wittgenstein himself in the Philosophical Investi gations. There we are told that language has no ideal or sublime 4 logic which mirrors the structure of the extra-linguistic world. Consequently, inferences from the structure of language to the structure of that extra-linguistic world are invalid. Reality can be 'cut up' in any of a number of ways by language. Wittgenstein adopted a view of philosophy which would render that discipline a non-explanatory, non-critical study of the multiple ways in which language can be used. (shrink)

Behavior, language, development, identity, and science—all of these phenomena are commonly characterized as 'social' in nature. But what does it mean to be 'social'? Is there any intrinsic 'mark' of the social shared by these phenomena? In the first book to shed light on this foundational question, twelve distinguished philosophers and social scientists from several disciplines debate the mark of the social. Their varied answers will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, psychologists, and anyone interested in the theoretical foundations (...) of the social sciences. (shrink)