James Ladyman has argued that constructive empiricism entails modal realism, and that this renders constructive empiricism untenable. We maintain that constructive empiricism is compatible with modal nominalism. Although the central term 'observable' has been analyzed in terms of counterfactuals, and in general counterfactuals do not have objective truth conditions, the property of being observable is not a modal property, and hence there are objective, non-modal facts about what is observable. Both modal nominalism and constructive empiricism require clarification in the face (...) of Ladyman's argument. But we also argue that, even if Ladyman were right that constructive empiricism entails modal realism, this would not be a problem for constructive empiricism. (shrink)

Our view is that fundamental appetitive and defensive motivation systems evolved to mediate a complex array of adaptive behaviors that support the organism’s drive to survive—defending against threat and securing resources. Activation of these motive systems engages processes that facilitate attention allocation, information intake, sympathetic arousal, and, depending on context, will prompt tactical actions that can be directed either toward or away from the strategic goal, whether defensively or appetitively determined. Research from our laboratory that measures autonomic, central, and somatic (...) reactions when processing emotional scenes is described which indicates that motivationally relevant cues, whether appetitive or defensive, capture attention preferentially, prompt enhanced perceptual processing and information gathering, and occasion metabolic arousal that mobilizes the organism for coping actions. (shrink)

The study of colour has become familiar territory in anthropology, linguistics, art history and archaeology. Classicists, however, have traditionally subordinated the study of colour to form. By drawing together evidence from contemporary philosophers, elegists, epic writers, historians and satirists, Mark Bradley reinstates colour as an essential informative unit for the classification and evaluation of the Roman world. He also demonstrates that the questions of what colour was and how it functioned - as well as how it could be misused and (...) misunderstood - were topics of intellectual debate in early imperial Rome. Suggesting strategies for interpreting Roman expressions of colour in Latin texts, Dr Bradley offers alternative approaches to understanding the relationship between perception and knowledge in Roman elite thought. In doing so, he highlights the fundamental role that colour performed in the realms of communication and information, and its intellectual contribution to contemporary discussions of society, politics and morality. (shrink)

Qualia are the elements of phenomenal consciousness -- the raw feels which constitute what it is like to be in a conscious mental state. Some claim that qualia are epiphenomenal properties -- mere by-products of brain function which are causally inert. Though this is an implausible theory, it is difficult to show that it is false. Here I present an ad hominem argument -- the argument from coincidence -- which shows that epiphenomenalism about qualia is explanatorily deficient because it leaves (...) unexplained a highly improbable state of affairs, and so we have good reason to suppose that qualitative properties must be causally efficacious, and must be so in virtue of their qualitative nature. (shrink)

This paper considers whether states have a duty to accept those who cross borders to escape environmental disasters associated with climate change. It then examines how such a responsibility might be distributed, focusing on the predicament of the citizens of small island states expected to be inundated by rising sea levels. In assessing states' responsibility to admit these individuals, I draw on Walzer's theory of mutual aid, demonstrating that even under this narrow conception of states' obligations, a duty to accept (...) displaced islanders can be established. However, the proximity principle is ill-suited to determining which states should shoulder responsibility in this situation. Drawing on Miller's account of remedial responsibility and his ‘connection theory,’ I suggest that the obligation to accept ‘environmental refugees’ should be shouldered principally by affluent states that share significant degrees of causal and moral responsibility for climate change, and also have particularly strong capacities to assist the displaced. (shrink)

The influence of Napoleon Bonaparte on the Ecole Polytechnique has long been a matter for debate. In this article, the extent of this influence is illustrated, together with resistance within the school itself to Napoleon's attempts to bend it to his own will and use it for purposes of military adventure. Manuscript material, including Napoleon's own private plans for the reorganization of the school, is reproduced to throw light on his intentions and his own attitudes to education.

Worldwide, growing numbers of refugees are pushed from their homes. At the same time, fewer and fewer are able to access so-called “durable solutions” to their displacement. This has prompted a flurry of efforts to repair the foundering refugee regime. Many such efforts attempt, implicitly or explicitly, to resolve tensions between legal principles, moral duties, and national interests surrounding refugees. As part of a roundtable on “Balancing Legal Norms, Moral Values, and National Interests,” this essay questions the drive toward oversimplification (...) that has characterized these debates, recognizing that some such tensions are “baked into” the problem of refugeehood. While debates have typically focused on the obligation to admit refugees, and on “responsibility sharing,” I advance the conversation by exploring how law, morality, and national interests are entangled in efforts to support durable solutions for refugees, focusing on voluntary repatriation. What does recognition of the intrinsic and in some senses irreconcilable tensions in the refugee regime mean for efforts to support solutions? I argue that advancing durable solutions, however imperfect, for refugees does not mean definitively overcoming these tensions, but rather navigating them to identify context-specific opportunities to reposition refugees as full and equal citizens as a critical step toward reducing their precarity. (shrink)

Political difficulties and adverse working conditions during the Restoration period obliged many French scientists and technologists to seek employment elsewhere. Lamé and Clapeyron made the most of their years of exile, and in this paper their contribution to the development of Russian engineering is studied, together with their work for the future of French industry. Their scientific and technological research is also considered. Archival sources throw new light on the significance of their ten years in Russia.

In this article an attempt is made to determine what financial support was given between 1790 and 1815 to some of the principal French scientific institutions situated in Paris. Systematic budgeting was not established until after 1815, so it has not been possible to provide a complete picture of development. The financial and economic background have been surveyed, together with some political arguments for and against investment in science and education. Eight institutions have been chosen as representative of the general (...) situation, and archive sources have been studied to provide, as far as possible, an analysis of their varying budgets. This gives an indication of government attitudes to the financing of science. (shrink)

The facilities provided for practical teaching at the Ecole Polytechnique, at the time of its foundation and during the Napoleonic period, have been the subject for much research and conjecture. Documents are discussed and presented which throw light on the actual situation, the number of laboratories, their equipment and apparatus, and the amount of practical instruction provided for the students.

A frequent objection to the fine-tuning argument has been that although certain necessary conditions for life were admittedly exceedingly improbable, still, the many possible alternative sets of conditions were all equally improbable, so that no special significance is to be attached to the realization of the conditions of life. Some authors, however, have rejected this objection as fallacious. The object of this paper is to state the objection to the fine-tuning argument in a more telling form than has been done (...) hitherto, and to meet the charge of fallacy. (shrink)

Should the Christian community engage in Christian science – doing science starting from the standpoint of the Christian evidence base? Plantinga asks this question, and I argue that the answer is ‘yes’. Moreover, this is an answer that both Christians and atheists can agree upon. Scientific progress should not be shackled by methodological naturalism; instead we need an ecumenical approach to science, which will allow for various high-level research programmes to count as science (including Christian science). If one does science (...) by giving scientific arguments for or against such research programmes, one will fulfil the goal of having science be objective, open, and universal, not constrained by a methodology that favours the naturalistic worldview. (shrink)

In the Dialogues Hume attaches great importance to an objection to the design argument which states, negatively, that from phenomena which embody evil as well as good there can be no analogical inference to the morally perfect deity of traditional theism and, positively, that the proper conclusion as regards moral character is an indifferent designer. The first section of this paper sets out Hume's points, and the next three offer an updating of Hume's objection which will apply to Swinburne's Bayesian (...) form of the design argument. The final section concludes that Hume's objection, suitably developed, holds against most of the main theistic arguments, even in their Bayesian form. (shrink)

This paper re-examines an argument of kirk's aimed at refuting quine's inference from the underdetermination of physical theory to the indeterminacy of translation. it is claimed that kirk's argument is unsuccessful; unsuccessful, at any rate, if we make what has seemed until recently the only possible assumption about quine's criterion for individuating theories. but in recent publications quine has proposed a rather different criterion, and in the light of this, it is conceded, kirk's argument may well take effect. it is (...) then argued that quine's new criterion has disastrous effects; it not merely opens a way for kirk's criticism of one of the props of the indeterminacy thesis, but puts that thesis itself at risk. (shrink)

This anthology offers an extraordinary illustration of the rich resources furnished by the philosophical tradition for anyone wishing to understand the basic and universal human concern of friendship. The book gathers together reflections from thirty different thinkers in a historically, culturally, ideologically and emotionally diverse group.

This paper is based on manuscripts found in the Archives du service historique de la marine, Vincennes, France. Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait visited England in 1790 with his colleague Daniel Lescallier , and was much impressed by England's superior naval organization. He was persuaded that the only way to defeat the old enemy was by invasion, and for several years he tried to convince Bonaparte of the necessity for action. Forfait dedicated himself to the planning and organization of an invasion fleet which (...) was never used. In the Appendix, documents are reproduced to illustrate military plans and Bonaparte's relationship with Forfait; others throw light on life in the French ports during this turbulent period of history. (shrink)

This paper is based on the discovery of illustrated reports by French engineers describing their visits to the British Isles between 1783 and 1790, a brief period of peace between France and England after the ending of the American War of Independence. The manuscript reports are in the library of the Paris École des ponts et chaussées, which began to send students to Britain in the 1780s, but the engineers studied were of mature years and already well qualified. Two of (...) them, in fact, were the marine engineers Forfait and Lescallier, who brought samples and materials back to France for testing and experiment. They all wrote in great detail of what they had seen, and this included the coastline, ports and arsenals as well as industry. The reports are significant for the wealth of information they contain, which would be of immense value to a hostile power. The reasons for their being in the Ponts et chaussées library are considered. We examine the origins of that school, the engineers who came, their careers, their particular expertise, why they came to Britain, and the reports of their findings. Tables of contents of these are provided in section 10, together with representative or especially meaningful exerpts. (shrink)

R kirk ("analysis", volume 33, 1973, pages 195-201) proposes an argument against quine's deduction of indeterminacy of translation from underdetermination of physical theory. the present paper is a reply to kirk, aimed primarily at showing that his argument is "ignoratio elenchi".

The fact of russell's changes of mind over the identity of indiscernibles is not in dispute, but what was his final view? several recent writers have portrayed the late russell as not regarding the identity of indiscernibles as necessary, or at any rate as being indecisive or restrictive about its necessity. the present paper argues that such readings of russell are untenable.

Purple Haze: The Puzzle of Consciousness, by Joseph Levine, is reviewed. The position that Levine takes in the current philosophical debate about consciousness is identified and the general approach of the essay outlined. I focus on two of the more important issues in the book - the conceivability argument against materialism, and the explanatory gap argument against dualism - and argue that Levine's argument against the former is unconvincing and his diagnosis of the source of the latter leads him into (...) problems. I suggest a more promising route. (shrink)