Classical presentations of the Buddhist path prescribe the cultivation of various good qualities that are necessary for spiritual progress, from mindfulness and loving-kindness to faith and wisdom. Examining the way in which such qualities are described and classified in early Buddhism—with special reference to their treatment in the Visuddhimagga by the fifth-century Buddhist thinker Buddhaghosa—the present article employs a comparative method in order to identify the Buddhist catalog of virtues. The first part sketches the characteristics of virtue as analyzed by (...) neo-Aristotelian theories. Relying on these accounts, the second part considers three lists from early Buddhism as possible catalogs of virtue: the components of ethical conduct, the 37 factors that contribute to awakening, and the wholesome or beautiful mental factors. I then raise the question of why the Buddhist tradition developed several classifications of virtue, whereas the Western tradition of virtue ethics used a single category. Appealing to the connection between the virtues and living well in the eudaimonistic version of virtue ethics, I propose that one of the reasons why Buddhism developed multiple lists of virtues is its pluralistic acceptance of different modalities of living well and associated practices, in MacIntyre’s sense of the term. These modalities and practices are not equal, but are ordered hierarchically. Accordingly, I conclude that Buddhist ethics ought to be seen as a pluralist-gradualist system rather than a universalist theory. (shrink)

Social norms – rules governing which behaviours are deemed appropriate or inappropriate within a given community – are typically taken to be uniquely human. Recently, this position has been challenged by a number of philosophers, cognitive scientists, and ethologists, who have suggested that social norms may also be found in certain non-human animal communities. Such claims have elicited considerable scepticism from norm cognition researchers, who doubt that any non-human animals possess the psychological capacities necessary for normative cognition. However, there is (...) little agreement among these researchers about what these psychological prerequisites are. This makes empirical study of animal social norms difficult, since it is not clear what we are looking for and thus what should count as behavioural evidence for the presence (or absence) of social norms in animals. To break this impasse, we offer an approach that moves beyond contested psychological criteria for social norms. This approach is inspired by the animal culture research program, which has made a similar shift away from heavily psychological definitions of ‘culture’ and to become organized around a cluster of more empirically tractable concepts of culture. Here, we propose an analogous set of constructs built around the core notion of a normative regularity, which we define as a socially maintained pattern of behavioural conformity within a community. We suggest methods for studying potential normative regularities in wild and captive primates. We also discuss the broader scientific and philosophical implications of this research program with respect to questions of human uniqueness, animal welfare and conservation. (shrink)

IN/Search RE/Search' offers a unique insight into the wide range of appearances of the intersection between art, design and research. The book is organized into twelve substantive chapters: The Anthropocene Epoch; The Climate Crisis; The Coexerced Existence, The Limitations of Language; Facts and Fictions; The Fragile Human; The Instrumentalised Identity; Gender and Violence; The Question of Race; Politics of Public Space; Naked Capitalism; The Morality of a Cyborg. These themes are analysed through art and design projects. The projects (...) are further contextualised by journalistic explorations and academic reflections on similar matters, grappled by varied research outlooks. 00By bringing together various practices (arts, design and writing practices and academic research), 'IN/Search RE/Search' shows how artistic research processes are designed and performed. The kaleidoscopic convergence of the featured approaches promises an exciting shift in thinking about how knowledge within the arts comes about, and how this knowledge nurtures daily practice, and vice versa. In this way, this publication discloses methods of thinking and working through which a new generation of artists/designers/researchers is shaping scenarios for the near future.00The core of this publication is formed by various art and design projects by students of the Rietveld Academie and the Sandberg Instituut. Many of these projects confuse, blur and confront what is traditionally relevant in research practices. These young artists demonstrate what happens when ideas and practices that seem to be miles apart within the traditional domain of research, are suddenly allowed touch upon and influence each other. (shrink)

In his theory of time Aristotle does not often mention the present time and nowhere gives a detailed account of it. Nonetheless, present time plays an important role in his conception. I primarily argue for the following claims: (1) According to Aristotle there is a perception of motion and there is a perception of time. These combined perceptions can neither occur in the past nor in the future nor in an indivisible now. Thus, there must be a present time. (2) (...) Aristotle acknowledges the passage of time. This passage of time can only be understood as a passing present. And since an indivisible now cannot pass, the passage of time delivers a further argument for the basic assumption of a present time. – For the most part I simply follow Aristotle’s argument in Physics IV 10 and 11. In doing so, I distinguish present time and now in the introductory puzzles, investigate the passing present in the co-perception of change and time, discuss the relation between change and the passage of time as well as the relation between the passing present and the different nows. (shrink)

This article contends that technology has evolved into a fundamental theo‐philosophical category. Acknowledging the intricacy of technology, it advocates for an exploration of indigenous philosophies to cultivate 'response‐ability' wisdom. The concept of environmEntity is introduced as an alternative to the traditional understanding of the environment, representing a vibrant and living world. Rooted in ubuntu sensibilities, environmEntity becomes a multi‐nature locus that fosters empathy and recognises inclusive differences as expressions of the same ultimate life. By integrating the wisdom from Christ's dual (...) natures and ubuntu's relationality, the article proposes a comprehensive and empathic life wisdom to address contemporary challenges and promote a sustainable and interconnected future. (shrink)

Isaiah Berlin was one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century - a man who set ideas on fire. His defence of liberty and plurality was passionate and persuasive and inspired a generation. His ideas - especially his reasoned rejection of excessive certainty and political despotism - have become even more prescient and vital today.But who was the man behind such influential views? In Search of Isaiah Berlin tells the compelling story of a decades-long collaboration between Berlin and (...) his editor, Henry Hardy, who made it his vocation to bring Berlin's huge body of work into print. Hardy discovered that Berlin had written far more than people thought, much of it unpublished. As he describes his struggles with Berlin, who was almost on principle unwilling to have his work published, an intimate and revealing picture of the self-deprecating philosopher emerges. This is a unique portrait of a man who gave us a new way of thinking about the human predicament, and whose work had for most of his life remained largely out of view. (shrink)

_Purpose._ The author of this article aims to present and analyze the views of Józef Maria Bocheński concerning the issue of the question of life’s sense based on the text "Sens życia i inne eseje". From the philosopher’s reflections under the theme of the impossibility of life’s sense in the case of community, the author analyzes Ukrainian society and tries to find an answer to the question, can the human community’s sense exist? Among the tasks are the following: to apply (...) the views of Barry and Janae Weinhold and the polyvagal theory of Stephen Porges; to express reflections on individual and social sense; indicate the potential reasons for the failure in searching for the Ukrainian national idea before Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, as well as identify general trends in the development of the Ukrainian idea as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. _Theoretical basis._ The methodological basis of the investigation is an analysis, synthesis, generalization, and analogy. Given the interdisciplinary approach, historical and psychological methods were used. It is noted that the most important feature of any group is interaction, which unites a number of other features into a single whole. Exactly the lack of interaction in Ukraine that necessitated the search for a national idea. After a full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, there is a huge possibility to work through Ukrainian traumas, create a common identity, without an artificial division into West and East, and rebuild the state. _Originality__._ The paper combines philosophical reflections and the latest psychological developments; in their application, firstly, in the universal plane, which applies to every person, and secondly, in relation to the Ukrainian, due to its history and politics. _Conclusions._ It has been argued that the search for the authentic sense of life occurs when a person has reworked their traumas and attained a stable state of mental health, when subconscious factors do not control a person. By analogy, the thesis is put forward that Ukrainian society must undergo psychotherapy, to overcome its historical, and military traumas. As a result of the brutal war, rapid integration processes are possible, the whole Ukrainian society is aware of the need to switch exclusively to the Ukrainian language and rethink Ukrainian identity and statehood, build a new historical narrative on the heroic attitude of Ukrainian society, new Ukrainian heroes, dead and alive. It is possible to use the Russian attack as a unifying factor for all Ukrainians, creating a sense of community, creating a modern image of Ukraine in the international arena as a defender of democratic rights, Europe, rethinking its history and in particular Ukrainian-Russian and Ukrainian-Polish relations; indicate the need to process new traumatic experiences. (shrink)

Searching for God draws upon the traditional categories of systematic theology as it guides readers through the Catholic theological thought process involved in the search for God. At each step we examine the work of a past thinker from the time of the early church up to the early twentieth century, and a present thinker whose works are often required reading in theology courses. Not only do readers have the opportunity to critically evaluate several important theological works in the (...) Catholic tradition, they can also enter into dialogue with those works as they engage in their own search for God. Among the ten categories represented are: Bible: Hearing God--Past: Hugh of St. Victor, Noah's Ark (ca. 1130) Present: Sandra Schneiders, The Revelatory Text (1999) Christ II: Understanding God (Dogmatic Approach)--Past: Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ (429) Present: Roger Haight, Jesus: Symbol of God (1999) Religions of the World: Listening for God Past: Jean Daniélou, The Salvation of the Nations (1946) Present: Raimon Panikkar, The Experience of God (2006) +. (shrink)

Attempts to penetrate behind Plotinus' statements to the problem that faced his philosophy to show its function in bridging the inconsistencies that arise when existential considerations are not clearly distinguished.

This chapter contains sections titled: What is One Committed to When One Supports the Common School? What is the Common School? Minimal and Maximal Interpretations of the Comprehensive Ideal Values Underlying the Comprehensive Ideal Conclusion Notes References.

Alexander Hamilton presents his early formative years, sharing the way his engagement with the cyanotype process has informed his art practice, from his time at Edinburgh College of Art, to his program of exhibitions and residencies, through to his work within the field of public arts. This personal history is combined with essays by academics, scholars and curators who engage with the intellectual roots of his work and practice. A comprehensive selection of Hamilton’s photography, including his unique plant-based cyanotypes, completes (...) this beautiful book. (shrink)

A common teleological background : Aristotle -- Maimonides and the good life -- Aquinas and the good life -- Maimonides and Aquinas in dialogue.

This fascinating study explores the difficulties faced by modern Westerners in their search for a meaningful life. It sheds light on this enduring cultural dilemma through a close reading of four popular film and television narratives: Pixar's animated feature film, Toy Story; Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; the television romantic comedy, Sex and the City; and, finally, the mobster drama, The Sopranos. The readings are guided by a number of inter-related questions. First, in what ways do (...) these popular stories speak to the modern West's meaning dilemma? What do they have to say about contemporary culture, and its capacity to illuminate the fundamental human? What are the core problems faced by the central characters and how are they resolved? Finally, and perhaps most importantly, do the four stories that come into focus suggest hope or despair in the modern West's search for meaning? (shrink)

Introduction. Modernism as a culture -- Culture and cognition -- Culture, mythology, politics -- Culture, community, cartography -- Cultural spaces and their travelers -- The toponymical labyrinth of Russian modernist culture. Early Russian modernism and its "isms" ; The Russian domestication of the term Modernism ; New names, old problems ; Politics and cultural toponymy ; Naming the field -- The errant compass rose of Russian modernist studies. Realism as a cardinal direction ; Tradition and innovation as cardinal directions -- (...) Russian modernism in time and space. The myth of 1917 ; Culture and border patrol ; Putting late Russian modernism on the map ; Chronologies of Russian modernism -- Navigating Russia's cultures of modernity. The intelligentsia and the two avant-gardes ; The two avant-gardes and mass culture -- Russian modernism in the cultural market. The economics of Russian cultural modernity ; The formalist writer-type and the evolving institution of authorship ; The political economy of Russian modernism -- Conclusion. (shrink)

There is no agreement on whether any invertebrates are conscious and no agreement on a methodology that could settle the issue. How can the debate move forward? I distinguish three broad types of approach: theory-heavy, theory-neutral and theory-light. Theory-heavy and theory-neutral approaches face serious problems, motivating a middle path: the theory-light approach. At the core of the theory-light approach is a minimal commitment about the relation between phenomenal consciousness and cognition that is compatible with many specific theories of consciousness: the (...) hypothesis that phenomenally conscious perception of a stimulus facilitates, relative to unconscious perception, a cluster of cognitive abilities in relation to that stimulus. This “facilitation hypothesis” can productively guide inquiry into invertebrate consciousness. What is needed? At this stage, not more theory, and not more undirected data gathering. What is needed is a systematic search for consciousness-linked cognitive abilities, their relationships to each other, and their sensitivity to masking. (shrink)

오늘날 발달한 의학기술로 인해 우리는 연명치료와 호스피스 · 완화의료 등 죽음과 관련된 의료, 즉 웰다잉(Well-dying)의 문제에 관심을 가지게 되었다. 웰다잉 문제의 핵심은 임종기 환자의 삶의 질뿐만 아니라 죽음의 질의 문제이다. 이러한 문제들은 우리에게 연명치료 중단 및 호스피스・완화의료의 증대와 관련하여 법적, 제도적 과제와 함께 임종기 환자의 죽음교육의 문제를 제기한다. 이 논문은 연명치료 중단과 호스피스 · 완화의료에서 비종교인에 대한 죽음교육의 문제를 다루고 있다. 비종교인들이 내세 관념 없이도 평안한 죽음을 맞이하기 위해서 해결해야 할 과제는 죽음의 두려움을 어떻게 극복하는가의 문제이다. 이 논문은 비종교인의 죽음에 (...) 대한 두려움을 극복하는 문제를 니체와 에피쿠로스의 철학을 통해 살펴본다. 니체는 “삶을 완성시키는 죽음”, “주인으로서 당당하게 맞이하는 죽음”을 위해 이성적이고 자유로운 죽음을 강조한다. 이러한 니체의 죽음관을 통해 연명치료 중단의 철학적 근거를 살펴보고 ‘죽음의 의료화’에 의해 야기되는 현대인의 소외된 죽음에 대해 니체의 사상을 통해 대안을 제시한다. 또한 내세 관념이 없어도 죽음에 대해 두려워할 근거가 없음을 논거를 통해 제시하는 에피쿠로스의 철학을 살펴본다. 에피쿠로스는 죽음에 대한 두려움으로부터 우리를 해방시켜주고, 니체는 죽음이 삶의 끝이 아니라 삶의 완성임을 일깨워준다. 우리는 이 두 철학자의 가르침을 통해 연명치료 중단과 호스피스 · 완화의료를 선택할 때의 정신적 위안을 얻을 수 있을 것이다. 이러한 철학적 위안이 환자 및 환자 가족에 대한 의미 있는 죽음교육의 근거가 될 것이다. (shrink)

People today live within the context of a globalized world with people of many cultures and religions living together. This intermixing of peoples, cultures, societies and religions creates the opportunity for different religions and thoughts to combine into new perspectives and develop a more relevant Christianity. The basic tenets of Asian culture, religion and thought can instruct and develop theology so that theology can remain relevant to our modern world. In particular, the Asian understanding of Chi can nurture a stronger (...) theological perspective of the Holy Spirit. This paper will examine Chi and illustrate the similarities it shares with the Holy Spirit to work towards a pneumatology which will encourage people to live harmoniously and peacefully with one another. (shrink)

Commemorating the life and work of Dr John Bennett; his lifelong contribution to Early Childhood Education and Care, and his ongoing influence on policy, research and practice in this field, In Search of Social Justice is a tribute to a preeminent scholar and his vision for an equitable and high-quality start for all children. Working tirelessly to raise the profile of Early Childhood Education and Care, and prioritise the rights and well-being of children and families in national and international (...) policy, John Bennet played an invaluable role in improving the position of young children globally. In Search of Social Justice takes John's legacy as a starting point for critical examination of the changing discourse on Early Childhood Education, and argues for the continued relevance of his approach. Drawing on personal reflections, vignettes and testimonials from eminent authors who shared their professional lives with him, the book foregrounds John's insistence that we must continue to shape policy and provision through inquiry, high-quality evidence, passion and persistence, improving the early experiences of all young children. As much a celebration of John's work and achievements, as a call to collective action towards achieving his vision for equitable, quality early childhood education and care, this is a fascinating read for students, researchers and activists in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care. (shrink)

This book is for those who, like the astronauts, cannot look at this view of our planet without asking "WHY?" The search conducted within these pages is a logical journey into the fields of biology, psychology, physics, parapsychology, yogic science, and Eastern and Western religious philosophies. Are they merely viewing different aspects of the same Truth?

Marine and coastal ecosystems are crucial in maintaining human livelihood, facilitating social development, and reducing climate change impacts. Studies have examined how the benefit perception of aquatic ecosystems, knowledge, and emotion about climate change affect peoples’ support for marine protection. However, their interaction effects remain understudied. The current study explores the intricate interaction effect of the benefit perception of aquatic ecosystems, knowledge, and worry about climate change on marine protection support. Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics was employed on a dataset (...) of 709 stakeholders from 42 countries generated by MaCoBioS—a research project funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020. The statistical analysis shows that the impacts of benefit perception of ocean ecosystems, knowledge, and worry about climate change on marine protection support vary due to their interactions. Specifically, when stakeholders perceive ocean ecosystems to have little utility in mitigating climate change, greater climate change knowledge and concern are associated with a higher level of marine protection support. Nevertheless, in the scenarios where stakeholders perceive the benefits of ocean ecosystems, the effect of climate change knowledge becomes conditional on the worry level. If stakeholders are concerned about climate change, those with a greater level of climate change knowledge will associate with a higher level of marine protection support. Otherwise, greater climate change knowledge will result in lower support. These findings highlight emotion’s importance in directing climate change knowledge’s effect on marine protection support. Linking people’s “objects of care” to the consequences of climate change can help improve climate change communication effectiveness. (shrink)

This chapter contains section titled: Should We Stay or Should We Go Now? Frak the Numbers! Saving Starbuck? The Mark of Cain “Evil Men in the Gardens of Paradise?” Sacrifice Notes.

Individuals who share friendships for utility or pleasure, Aristotle says, do not love each other in themselves, but in so far as some benefit accrues to them from each other. Friendships for utility aren't limited to business transactions, though. It's possible for Data to form relationships in order to achieve some other goal. An android without emotions is incapable of caring for another. Friendships can also be formed for the sake of pleasure and mutual enjoyment during communal activities. Friendship and (...) consequentialism are psychologically incompatible, for the only states of mind relevant to assessing the value of an act's consequences are states like purposes, goals, and desires. There are multiple forms of friendship, which require emotion. There's a difference between acting out of friendship and acting for the sake of the friendship or some other goal, which suggests that genuine friendships can't be accommodated by consequentialist ways of thinking. (shrink)

In The LEGO Movie, Vitruvius's notion of the "The Special" introduces what will be a central motif for the film. As it turns out, the one who finds this "Piece of Resistance" is not quite the hero he was expected to be. Emmet Brickowoski, a construction worker, will find this "Piece of Resistance". Throughout the film, others suggest to Emmet both implicitly and explicitly that he brings nothing of value to any particular individual or to society, and that consequently he (...) himself has no value. If one interpret The LEGO Movie as being driven by Emmet's quest for discovering his value, the real philosophical turning point in the film is not when Emmet's double‐decker couch permits the Master Builders to escape from the sinking submarine and they realize that Emmet's ideas actually are useful. Rather, it is when Emmet realizes their approval is irrelevant to his value. (shrink)

With In Search of Mechanisms, Carl F. Craver and Lindley Darden offer both a descriptive and an instructional account of how biologists discover mechanisms. Drawing on examples from across the life sciences and through the centuries, Craver and Darden compile an impressive toolbox of strategies that biologists have used and will use again to reveal the mechanisms that produce, underlie, or maintain the phenomena characteristic of living things. They discuss the questions that figure in the search for mechanisms, (...) characterizing the experimental, observational, and conceptual considerations used to answer them, all the while providing examples from the history of biology to highlight the kinds of evidence and reasoning strategies employed to assess mechanisms. At a deeper level, Craver and Darden pose a systematic view of what biology is, of how biology makes progress, of how biological discoveries are and might be made, and of why knowledge of biological mechanisms is important for the future of the human species. (shrink)

This paper presents a sequential search model where consumers look for several products and multiproduct …rms compete in prices. In such a multiproduct search market, both consumer behavior and …rm behavior exhibit di¤erent features from the single-product case: a consumer often returns to previously visited …rms before running out of options; and prices can decrease with search costs and increase with the number of …rms. The framework is then extended in two directions. First, by introducing both single-product (...) and multiproduct searchers, the model can explain the phenomenon of countercyclical pricing, i.e., prices of many retail products decline during peak-demand periods. Second, by allowing …rms to use bundling strategies, the model sheds new light on how bundling a¤ects market performance. In a search environment, bundling tends to reduce consumer search intensity, which can soften competition and reverse the usual welfare assessment of competitive bundling in a perfect information setting. (shrink)

While natural law theory plays an important role for Catholic moral theology, it is true that Orthodox ethics has not endeavoured to develop its own theory of natural law. This article demonstrates the existence of the concept of natural law in Eastern Orthodox theology and argues that the main reason for this neglect is Eastern Christianity's traditional focus on faith rather than reason. In addition, the author, based on biblical and patristic grounds, highlights the necessity for a balance between the (...) two to be found and provides a way in which Orthodox moral theology could develop a natural law theory, should it ever feel the need to do so, by first redefining its relationship with the science of philosophy, after so many years of disregard. (shrink)

How should we think about the ways search engines can go wrong? Following the publication of Safiya Noble’s Algorithms of Oppression (Noble 2018), a view has emerged that racist, sexist, and other problematic results should be thought of as indicative of algorithmic bias. In this paper, I offer an alternative angle on these results, building on Noble’s suggestion that search engines are complicit in a racial contract (Mills 1990). I argue that racist and sexist results should be thought (...) of as part of the workings of the social system of white ignorance. Along the way, I will argue that we should think about search engines not as sources of testimony, but as information-classification systems, and make a preliminary case for the importance of the social epistemology of technology. (shrink)

With contributions from experts in philosophy, archaeology, primatology, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science of religion, and more, this book explores ...

Almost 400 years after his death, William Shakespeare is still acclaimed as the world's greatest writer, and yet the man himself remains shrouded in mystery. In this absorbing historical detective story, the acclaimed broadcaster and historian Michael Wood takes a fresh approach to Shakespeare's life, brilliantly recreating the turbulent times through which the poet lived: the age of the Reformation, the Spanish Armada, the Gunpowder Plot and the colonization of the Americas. Drawing on an extensive range of sources, Michael Wood (...) takes us back into Elizabethan England to reveal a man who is the product of his time - a period of tremendous upheaval that straddled the medieval and modern worlds. Using a wealth of unexplored archive evidence the author vividly conjures up the neighbourhoods of the Elizabethan London where Shakespeare lived and worked during his glittering career. Full of fresh insights and fascinating new discoveries, this book presents us with a Shakespeare for the twenty-first century: a man of the theatre, a thinking artist, playful and cunning who held up a mirror to his age, but who was also, as his friend Ben Jonson said, 'not of an age, but for all time'. (shrink)

The search for the statistical mechanical underpinning of thermodynamic irreversibility has so far focussed on the spontaneous approach to equilibrium. But this is the search for the underpinning of what Brown and Uffink have dubbed the ‘minus first law’ of thermodynamics. In contrast, the second law tells us that certain interventions on equilibrium states render the initial state ‘irrecoverable’. In this article, I discuss the unusual nature of processes in thermodynamics, and the type of irreversibility that the second (...) law embodies. I then search for the microscopic underpinning or statistical mechanical ‘reductive basis’ of the second law of thermodynamics by taking a functionalist strategy. First, I outline the functional role of the thermodynamic entropy: for a thermally isolated system, the thermodynamic entropy is constant in quasi-static processes, but increasing in non-quasi-static processes. I then search for the statistical mechanical quantity that plays this role—rather than the role of the traditional ‘holy grail’ as described by Callender. I argue that in statistical mechanics, the Gibbs entropy plays this role. (shrink)

This chapter seeks to shed light on the origins, nature and scope of Hobbesian amity. It explores Hobbes's stance on two concepts – sociability and friendship – that a long tradition of writers, inspired by Aristotle, have employed to explain why and how people form bonds and live peacefully in political associations. The association that Hobbes postulated between friendship, power, and contract filled some readers with indignation. In the Aristotelian tradition, the concept of friendship helped explain the transition from the (...) family to the village and finally to the polis. The chapter argues that the “constancy” of amity among Hobbesian citizens does not derive from reciprocity of love or care but from a shared understanding of the Leviathan's function and the joint endeavor to support its accomplishment. The Leviathan provides the conditions of mutual trust and positive disposition that make friendship possible, and not vice versa. (shrink)

v. 1. The history of philosophy and science from ancient times to the present day -- v. 2. The origin of the mental capacities and dispositions of man and their normal, abnormal and supernormal manifestations.

Using contemporary physics, narrated at a popular science level, Ransford shows why full nothingness--a nothingness within which even the disembodied laws of mathematics would not exist--cannot possibly exist, and what most likely underpins and enables reality.s reality.

Searching through semantic memory may involve the use of several retrieval cues. In a verbal fluency task, the set of available cues is limited and every candidate word is a target. Individuals exhibit clustering behavior as predicted by optimal foraging theory. In another semantic search task, the remote associates task, three cues are presented and a single target word has to be found. Whereas the task has been widely studied as a task of creativity or insight problem solving, in (...) this article, the RAT is treated as a semantic retrieval task and assessed from the perspective of information foraging theory. Experiments are presented that address the superadditive combination of cues and the anti-clustering behavior in the recall sequence. A new type of search behavior in the RAT is put forward that involves maximizing the difference in activation between target and distractors. This type of search is advantageous when the target is weak and cue patches are contaminated with strong competitors. (shrink)

Introduction -- Creative experience as the birthplace of the transcendent -- On refinding God during chemotherapy -- Reflections on moments of grace -- On the quiet virtue of humility -- Summoned to courage -- Maintaining personal dignity in the face of the mass society -- On fidelity and betrayal in love relationships -- The kiss.

In Search of a Theory of Everything is an adventurous journey in space and time in search of a unified "theory of everything" (TOE) by means of a rare and agile interplay between the natural philosophies of influential ancient Greek thinkers and the laws of modern physics. For a TOE, all the phenomena of nature share a subtle underlying commonality and are explainable by a single overarching immutable principle. Reading the past for what it is, is of tremendous (...) value, but so is its reading from the perspective of modern knowledge. Not to judge it for its flaws but to be inspired by its insights. This comparative study of the universe is the spirit of In Search of a Theory of Everything-to physics through philosophy, to the new via the old, and in a balanced way. A relatively "easier" analysis of nature, that of a major natural philosopher of antiquity, commences every chapter to fasten the bedrock for the more complex. The transition into the more complicated views of modern physics is gradual and systematic, entwining finely the two, the ancient with the new, the forgotten with the current, by unfolding a history and a philosophy of science, and connecting all the great feats of the mind and time. Those philosophers had ideas that resonate with aspects of modern science; puzzles that still baffle; and rationales that can be used to reassess completely anew fundamental but competing principles of modern physics, even to speculate about open physics problems. In Search of a Theory of Everything is a new kind of sight, is a philosophical insight of modern physics. (shrink)