Why the DNA‐containing organelles, chloroplasts, and mitochondria, are inherited maternally is a long standing and unsolved question. However, recent years have seen a paradigm shift, in that the absoluteness of uniparental inheritance is increasingly questioned. Here, we review the field and propose a unifying model for organelle inheritance. We argue that the predominance of the maternal mode is a result of higher mutational load in the paternal gamete. Uniparental inheritance evolved from relaxed organelle inheritance patterns because it avoids the spread (...) of selfish cytoplasmic elements. However, on evolutionary timescales, uniparentally inherited organelles are susceptible to mutational meltdown (Muller's ratchet). To prevent this, fall‐back to relaxed inheritance patterns occurs, allowing low levels of sexual organelle recombination. Since sexual organelle recombination is insufficient to mitigate the effects of selfish cytoplasmic elements, various mechanisms for uniparental inheritance then evolve again independently. Organelle inheritance must therefore be seen as an evolutionary unstable trait, with a strong general bias to the uniparental, maternal, mode. (shrink)

Supernumerary B chromosomes are dispensable elements of the genome which can be retained in populations at high frequencies, despite being deleterious, through the ability to undergo non‐Mendelian inheritance. Their mode of origin is, however, obscure. Recent work on gynogenetic fish has demonstrated the incorporation of small, unstable, centromere‐containing microchromosomes, probably of interspecific derivation, into an asexual lineage(1). That these resemble B chromosomes both in structure and behaviour is consistent with the proposal that hybridisation between closely related species may be (...) a significant mode of origin for such selfish genetic elements. Additional work on the B chromosome of a parasitoid wasp and observations on patterns of chromosome breakage from somatic cell hybrids also support this hypothesis. (shrink)

The male gametes of most organisms lack cytoplasm. Consequently, most cytoplasmic genetic elements are maternally inherited: they cannot be transmitted patrilinnearly. The evolutionary interests of cytoplasmic elements therefore lie in transmission through the female. These elements may thus be in evolutionary conflict with nuclear genes which are transmitted by both sexes. This conflict is manifested in observations of cytoplasmically induced biased sex‐ratios. Some cytoplasmic genes avoid this fate by biasing the primary sex ratio towards (...) females, or by inducing parthenogenesis. Others kill male hosts, and either achieve transmission via dispersal, or benefit their clonal relatives in the dead male's female siblings. Still others cause the failure of zygotes resulting from pairings between males carrying specific microbes and females lacking them, causing an increase in the microbes through the sterilisation of non‐bearing females. Many, but not all, of these ‘ultra‐selfish’ microbes are closely related. Investigations of the significance of their phylogenetic affinities, or lack of them, their adaptability in terms of the methods by which they avoid, or ameliorate, the adverse effects of being in male hosts, and their importance as selective agents in the evolution of invertebrate sex determination systems, provide fertile spheres for future research. (shrink)

The origin and prevalence of transposable elements may best be understood as resulting from “selfish” evolutionary processes at the within-genome level, with relevant populations being all members of the same TE family or all potentially mobile DNAs in a species. But the maintenance of families of TEs as evolutionary drivers, if taken as a consequence of selection, might be better understood as a consequence of selection at the level of species or higher, with the relevant populations being species (...) or ecosystems varying in their possession of TEs. In 2015, Brunet and Doolittle made the case for legitimizing claims for an evolutionary role for TEs by recasting such claims as being about species selection. Here I further develop this “how possibly” argument. I note that with a forgivingly broad construal of evolution by natural selection we might come to appreciate many aspects of Life on earth as its products, and TEs as—possibly—contributors to the success of Life by selection at several levels of a biological hierarchy. Thinking broadly makes this proposition a testable Darwinian one. (shrink)

In contrast to bilaterian animals, non‐bilaterian mitochondrial genomes contain atypical genes, often attributed to horizontal gene transfer (HGT) as an ad hoc explanation. Although prevalent in plants, HGT into animal mitochondrial genomes is rare, lacking suitable explanatory models for their occurrence. HGT of the mismatch DNA repair gene (mtMutS) from giant viruses to octocoral (soft corals and their kin) mitochondrial genomes provides a model for how barriers to HGT to animal mitochondria may be overcome. A review of the available literature (...) suggests that this HGT was mediated by an alveolate endosymbiont infected with a lysogenic phycodnavirus that enabled insertion of the homing endonuclease containing mtMutS into octocoral mitochondrial genomes. We posit that homing endonuclease domains and similar selfish elements play a crucial role in such inter‐domain gene transfers. Understanding the role of selfish genetic elements in HGT has the potential to aid development of tools for manipulating animal mitochondrial DNA. (shrink)

Philosophers who study the problem of biological function often begin their deliberations by reflecting on the functions of parts of animals, or the behavior of animals. Applying theories of biological function to unconventional or borderline cases can help us to better evaluate and refine those theories. This is the case when we consider whether parts of transposable elements —bits of “selfish” DNA that move about within a host genome—have functions of their own, that is, whether the parts of (...) TEs have the function of helping the TE move about within the genome. Here I argue that whether or not the parts of TEs have functions depends crucially on whether collections of TEs form “populations,” by which I mean, here, a group of individuals of the same type that impact one another’s chances of persistence or multiplication, by impacting one another’s access to a shared resource. I think there is suggestive, but not conclusive, evidence that some TEs have functions of their own. Considering the problem of TE functionality, then, has value both for philosophy and for biology. (shrink)

Autonomous transposable elements, generally considered as junk and selfish, encode transposition proteins that can bind, copy, break, join or degrade nucleic acids as well as process or interact with other proteins. Such a repertoire of activities might be of interest for the host cell. There is indeed substantial evidence that mobile DNA can serve as a dynamic reservoir for new cellular functions. Transposable element genes encoding transposase, integrase, reverse transcriptase as well as structural and envelope proteins have been (...) repeatedly recruited by their host during evolution in most eukaryotic lineages. Such domesticated sequences protect us against infections, are necessary for our reproduction, allow the replication of our chromosomes and control cell proliferation and death; others are essential for plant development. Many new candidates for domesticated sequences have been revealed by sequencing projects. Their functional analysis will uncover new aspects of evolutionary alchemy, the turning of junk into gold within genomes. BioEssays 28: 913–922, 2006. © 2006 Wiley periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Disjunctivism, as a theory of visual experience, claims that the mental states involved in a “good case” experience of veridical perception and a “bad case” experience of hallucination differ, even in those cases in which the two experiences are indistinguishable for their subject. Consider the veridical perception of a bar stool and an indistinguishable hallucination; both of these experiences might be classed together as experiences (as) of a bar stool or experiences of seeming to see a bar stool. This might (...) lead us to think that the experiences we undergo in the two cases must be of the same kind, the difference being that the former, but not the latter, is connected to the world in the right kind of way. Such a conjecture has been called a “highest common factor” or “common kind” assumption. At heart, disjunctivism consists in the rejection of this assumption. According the disjunctivist, veridical experiences and hallucinations do not share a common component. There are a host of interesting questions surrounding disjunctivism including: What is involved in the claims that good case and bad case experiences differ? Why might one might want to be a disjunctivist? What kinds of claims can the disjunctivist make about hallucination and illusion? These questions, and problems for the thesis, will be discussed as we proceed. (shrink)

Gene drives are selfish genetic elements that use a variety of mechanisms to ensure they are transmitted to subsequent generations at greater than expected frequencies. Synthetic gene drives based on the clustered regularly interspersed palindromic repeats genome editing system have been proposed as a way to alter the genetic characteristics of natural populations of organisms relevant to the goals of public health, conservation, and agriculture. Here, we review the principles and potential applications of CRISPR drives, as well as (...) means proposed to prevent their uncontrolled spread. We also focus on recent work suggesting that factors such as natural genetic variation and inbreeding may represent substantial impediments to the propagation of CRISPR drives. CRISPR-based synthetic selfish genetic elements, or gene drives, have been proposed as a means by which to genetically alter natural populations to address issues in agriculture, conservation, and public health. We describe key concepts of CRISPR gene drives and limitations that must be addressed before their use in the wild. (shrink)

Sex is determined by non‐Mendelian genetic elements overriding the sex factors carried by the heterochromosomes in some species of terrestrial isopods. A bacterium Wolbachia and a non‐bacterial feminizing factor (f) can both force chromosomal males of Armadillidium vulgare to become phenotypic functional females. The f factor is believed to be a genetic element derived from the Wolbachia genome that becomes inserted into the host nuclear genome. The feminizing factors can be considered to be selfish genetic elements because (...) they bias their host's sex ratio to increase their own transmission. New sex‐determining genes are selected (genes resisting the feminizing effects, or the transmission of feminizing elements) as a consequence of the conflict between these elements and the rest of the host's genome. These events drive the sex‐determining mechanisms to evolve, and may explain the polymorphism of sex factors and the poor differentiation of the heterochromosomes in isopods. (shrink)

It is tempting to invoke organismal selection as perpetually optimizing the function of any given gene. However, natural selection can drive genic functional change without improvement of biochemical activity, even to the extinction of gene activity. Detrimental mutations can creep in owing to linkage with other selectively favored loci. Selection can promote functional degradation, irrespective of genetic drift, when adaptation occurs by loss of gene function. Even stabilizing selection on a trait can lead to divergence of the underlying molecular constituents. (...) Selfish genetic elements can also proliferate independent of any functional benefits to the host genome. Here we review the logic and evidence for these diverse processes acting in genome evolution. This collection of distinct evolutionary phenomena – while operating through easily understandable mechanisms – all contribute to the seemingly counterintuitive notion that maintenance or improvement of a gene's biochemical function sometimes do not determine its evolutionary fate. (shrink)

Corporate scandals have assumed epidemic proportions. All around the globe, even renowned organizations have been felled from their high pedestals by the misdeeds of their leaders. This raises an intriguing question: How do such resourceful organizations end up with crass ‹impostors’ as leaders in the first place? The answer perhaps lies in the misplaced emphasis on certain qualities we associate with leadership. True leadership requires a balance among three elemental pre-requisites: Energy, Expertise and Integrity. When they are synchronized, they unleash (...) the latent potential in any organization. Out of these three interacting gears of leadership, it is Integrity that ensures that an organization is run in the right direction – with a view towards collective good rather than selfish motives. Therefore, it is the most non-negotiable of the three elements. Henceforth, leaders ought not to be selected on the basis of the superficial qualities that have blinded us in the past. They must first pass the acid test of Integrity. This article suggests a ‹decision tree’ and a ‹checklist’ to help in the selection process. (shrink)

There is growing evidence of evolutionary genome plasticity. The evolution of repetitive DNA elements, the major components of most eukaryotic genomes, involves the amplification of various classes of mobile genetic elements, the expansion of satellite DNA, the transfer of fragments or entire organellar genomes and may have connections with viruses. In addition to various repetitive DNA elements, a plethora of large and small RNAs migrate within and between cells during individual development as well as during evolution and (...) contribute to changes of genome structure and function. Such migration of DNA and RNA molecules often results in horizontal gene transfer, thus shaping the whole genomic network of interconnected species. Here, we propose that a high evolutionary dynamism of repetitive genome components is often related to the migration/movement of DNA or RNA molecules. We speculate that the cytoplasm is probably an ideal compartment for such evolutionary experiments. (shrink)

Long‐term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synapses is a leading model to explain the concept of information storage in the brain. Multiple mechanisms contribute to LTP, but central amongst them is an increased sensitivity of the postsynaptic membrane to neurotransmitter release. This sensitivity is predominantly determined by the abundance and localization of AMPA‐type glutamate receptors (AMPARs). A combination of AMPAR structural data, super‐resolution imaging of excitatory synapses, and an abundance of electrophysiological studies are providing an ever‐clearer picture of how AMPARs are (...) recruited and organized at synaptic junctions. Here, we review the latest insights into this process, and discuss how both cytoplasmic and extracellular receptor elements cooperate to tune the AMPAR response at the hippocampal CA1 synapse. (shrink)

The extended dual-aspect monism framework of consciousness, based on neuroscience, consists of five components: (1) dual-aspect primal entities; (2) neural-Darwinism: co-evolution and co-development of subjective experiences (SEs) and associated neural-nets from the mental aspect (that carries the SEs/proto-experiences (PEs) in superposed and unexpressed form) and the material aspect (mass, charge, spin and space-time) of fundamental entities (elementary particles), respectively and co-tuning via sensorimotor interaction; (3) matching and selection processes: interaction of two modes, namely, (a) the non-tilde mode that is the (...) material and mental aspect of cognition (memory and attention) related feedback signals in a neural-network, which is the cognitive nearest past approaching towards present; and (b) the tilde mode that is the material and mental aspect of the feed forward signals due to external environmental input and internal endogenous input, which is the nearest future approaching towards present and is a entropy-reversed representation of non-tilde mode; (4) the segregation and integration of information, and (5) the necessary ingredients of SEs (such as wakefulness, attention, re-entry, working memory, stimulus at or above threshold level, and neural-net PEs). This framework leads to structural and functional coherence between the mind and the brain, bridges the explanatory gap (the gap between SEs and their neural-correlates), and leads to our mundane subjective experiences. This extended dual-aspect monism (eDAM) framework (Vimal, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015a, 2015b) could be the fundamental basis of various religions and philosophies. This is a Western perspective. On the other hand, Eastern perspectives emphasize the practical methods for achieving altered experience at samadhi state. An important corollary of these methods (such as yogic method) is the sublimation of negative aspects of seven groups of self-protective energy system (desire, anger, ego, greed, attachment, jealousy, and selfish-love) into their positive aspects. Their negative aspects create war and suffering, whereas their positive aspects advance science and technology, family values, peace, and happiness. Here, the Western perspective framework is extended to include the concepts of the sublimation process to encompass Eastern perspectives. The four elements (war, suffering, peace, and happiness) are ubiquitous in both space and time because they are essential contributors to the variations for natural selection in our evolutionary system. The sublimation process optimizes the system: minimizes war and suffering, maximizes peace and happiness, and enhances family values and individual progress. This is consistent with both Eastern and Western perspectives. (shrink)

Dawkins in his The Selfish Gene(1) quite aptly applies the term “selfish” to parasitic repetitive DNA sequences endemic to eukaryotic genomes, especially vertebrates. Doolittle and Sapienza(2) as well as Orgel and Crick(3) enlivened this notion of selfish DNA with the identification of such repetitive sequences as remnants of mobile elements such as transposons. In addition, Orgel and Crick(3) associated parasitic DNA with a potential to outgrow their host genomes by propagating both vertically via conventional genome replication (...) as well as infectiously by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) to other genomes. Still later, Doolittle(4) speculated that unchecked HGT between unrelated genomes so complicates phylogeny that the conventional representation of a tree of life would have to be replaced by a thicket or a web of life.(4) In contrast, considerable data now show that reconstructions based on whole genome sequences are consistent with the conventional “tree of life”.(5–10) Here, we identify natural barriers that protect modern genome populations from the inroads of rampant HGT. BioEssays 27:741–747, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

With historical hindsight, it can be little questioned that the view of protozoa as unicellular organisms was important for the development of the discipline of protozoology. In the early years of this century, the assumption of unicellularity provided a sound justification for the study of protists: it linked them to the metazoa and supported the claim that the study of these “simple” unicellular organisms could shed light on the organization of the metazoan cell. This prospect was significant, given the state (...) of cytology circa 1910. In the wake of the major gains made in understanding nuclear division in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, cytology was suddenly confronted with many, seemingly less penetrable, problems. Several aspects of nuclear organization still remained unexplained, and recent research had revealed the presence in the cytoplasm of structures whose functions in cell life were unknown. Classical methods of cytology, relying on descriptive, morphological analysis, seemed ill equipped to resolve these questions.Hertwig's program for protozoology, grounded in the assumption of the fundamental unity of organization in protozoa and metazoa, offered a potential means for investigating these and other problems of cell theory. Linked to mainstream cytology, protozoology was advocated as a means of experimentally investigating key biolobical processes — reproduction, metabolism, and organelle morphology and physiology — less accessible in higher organisms. Protozoa were hailed as prime experimental organisms, in which cell structure and function could be more easily studied. Unlike the metazoan cell, they could be subjected to controlled experiments in which the external environment was modified and the effects monitored. Protozoa offered, in other words, a promising experimental means by which to investigate the cell — its structures and its processes.The success of this program within Germany was soon apparent. In contrast to the rather neglected state of the discipline in 1900, protozoology began to be recognized as more than a somewhat obscure area of study for specialists. In practical terms, this translated into greater numbers of students attracted to the field, increased institutional support for the discipline, and its elevation in status within the biological sciences as new developments, particularly in connection with medical applications, began to draw attention to the field.64The unicellular hypothesis also promoted the internal development of the science. It provided a rationale for introducing the various techniques used in cytology, embryology, physiology, and the new field of biochemistry as suitable research tools for protozoology as well. This vastly extended the research possibilities and facilitated the understanding of, among other things, protozoan organization, modes of reproduction, and evolutionary relationships. The new experimental grounding of the discipline in turn fitted in well with developments in biology at large: in contrast to the descriptive methodology that had predominated in the nineteenth century, this new experimental program placed protozoology at the forefront of the early twentieth-century movement to make biology an experimental science comparable to physics and chemistry.Yet the criticism of the unicellular hypothesis can also be seen as having served a valuable function within the development of the discipline. It focused attention on the study of protists as organisms in their own right, not simply as models for metazoan cells. More generally, it helped to remind biologists of the particular evolutionary assumptions that supported this conception. Dobell and other British critics pointed out, among other things, the association between the theory of recapitulation and the interpretation of protozoa as unicellular organisms. At the time when the recapitulation theory and the germ-layer doctrine were in decline, it was important to stress how these evolutionary ideas also entered into the contemporary concepts of subsidiary specialties. This was as true for protozoology as it was for cell theory itself. The chromidial theory, in its various guises, and the binuclearity hypothesis did in fact contain elements of recapitulationist reasoning, and they were open to criticism for the same kind of overly speculative theorizing that characterized this evolution theory. Dobell's critique forced protozoologists and cell theorists alike to review the theoretical postulates guiding their investigations.In the absence of further historical studies, it is hard to evaluate the consequences of this debate in later years. The issue was not whether protozoa were the precursors of metazoa — both sides accepted this. They disagreed over which particular protozoon had served as the ancestral form, and this, in turn, influenced their stance on the question of unicellularity. The situation is little changed today. Because the former question is still an open one, the latter remains so too. Both of the models for the origin of multicellular organisms — colonies of ciliates versus multinucleate protists — are still presented as possible mechanisms in modern textbooks of evolution. Unable to judge the dispute in terms of the ultimate validity of the competing conceptions, the historian requires other criteria. It perhaps becomes more important to evaluate the issues in the context of the internal and external stimulus they provided the discipline.65 In these terms, and from the present historical vantage point, Hertwig's research program for protozoology, based upon the unicellular hypothesis, appears to have been a successful one. (shrink)

Abstract3′ untranslated regions (3′ UTRs) of mRNAs have many functions, including mRNA processing and transport, translational regulation, and mRNA degradation and stability. These different functions require cis‐elements in 3′ UTRs that can be either sequence motifs or RNA structures. Here we review the role of secondary structures in the functioning of 3′ UTRs and discuss some of the trans‐acting factors that interact with these secondary structures in eukaryotic organisms. We propose potential participation of 3′‐UTR secondary structures in cytoplasmic (...) polyadenylation in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Because the secondary structures of 3′ UTRs are essential for post‐transcriptional regulation of gene expression, their disruption leads to a wide range of disorders, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Trans‐acting factors, such as STAU1 and nucleolin, which interact with 3′‐UTR secondary structures of target transcripts, influence the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and tumor metastasis, suggesting that they are possible therapeutic targets. (shrink)

One distinguishing feature of vertebrate oocyte meiosis is its discontinuity; oocytes are released from their prophase I arrest, usually by hormonal stimulation, only to again halt at metaphase II, where they await fertilization. The product of the c‐mos proto‐oncogene, Mos, is a key regulator of this maturation process. Mos is a serine‐threonine kinase that activates and/or stabilizes maturation‐promoting factor (MPF), the master cell cycle switch, through a pathway that involves the mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade. Oocytes arrested at prophase I (...) lack detectable levels of Mos, which must be synthesized from a pool of maternal mRNAs for proper maturation. While Mos is necessary throughout maturation in Xenopus, it seems to be required only for meiosis II in the mouse. The translational activation of c‐mos mRNA at specific times during meiosis requires cytoplasmic polyadenylation. Cis‐ and trans‐acting factors for polyadenylation are, therefore, essential elements of maturation. (shrink)

Early development in many animals is programmed by maternally inherited messenger RNAs. Many of these mRNAs are translationally dormant in immature oocytes, but are recruited onto polysomes during meiotic maturation, fertilization, or early embryogenesis. In contrast, other mRNAs that are translated in oocytes are released from polysomes during these later stages of development. Recent studies have begun to define the cis and trans elements that regulate both translational repression and translational induction of maternal mRNA. The inhibition of translation of (...) some mRNAs during early development is controlled by discrete sequences residing in the 3′ and 5′ untranslated regions, respectively. The translation of other RNAs is due to polyadenylation which, at least in oocytes of the frog Xenopus laevis, is regulated by a U‐rich cytoplasmic polyadenylation element (CPE). Although similar, the CPE sequences of various mRNAs are sufficiently different to be bound by different proteins. Two of these proteins and their interactions are described here. (shrink)

Reductionism--understanding complex processes by breaking them into simpler elements--dominates scientific thinking around the world and has certainly proved a powerful tool, leading to major discoveries in every field of science. But reductionism can be taken too far, especially in the life sciences, where sociobiological thinking has bordered on biological determinism. Thus popular science writers such as Richard Dawkins, author of the highly influential The Selfish Gene, can write that human beings are just "robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve (...) the selfish molecules known as genes." Indeed, for many in science, genes have become the fundamental unit for understanding human existence: genes determine every aspect of our lives, from personal success to existential despair: genes for health and illness, genes for criminality, violence, and sexual orientation. Others would say that this is reductionism with a vengeance. In Lifelines, biologist Steven Rose offers a powerful alternative to the ultradarwinist claims of Dawkins, E.O. Wilson, Daniel Dennett and others. Rose argues against an extreme reductionist approach that would make the gene the key to understanding human nature, in favor of a more complex and richer vision of life. He urges instead that we focus on the organism and in particular on the organism's lifeline: the trajectory it takes through time and space. Our personal lifeline, Rose points out, is unique--even identical twins, with identical genes at birth, will differ over time. These differences are obviously not embedded in our genes, but come about through our developmental trajectory in which genes, as part of the biochemical orchestra of trillions of cells in each human body, have an important part--but only a part--to play. To illustrate this idea, Rose examines recent research in modern biology, and especially two disciplines--genetics (which looks at the impact of genes on form) and developmental biology (which examines the interaction between the organism and the environment)--and he explores new ideas on biological complexity proposed by scientists such as Stuart Kauffman. He shows how our lifelines are constructed through the interplay of physical forces--such as the intrinsic chemistry of lipids and proteins, and the self-organizing and stabilizing properties of complex metabolic webs--and he reaches a startling conclusion: that organisms are active players in their own fate, not simply the playthings of the gods, nature, or the inevitable workings out of gene-driven natural selection. The organism is both the weaver and the pattern it weaves. Lifelines will be a rallying point for all who seek an alternative to the currently fashionable, deeply determinist accounts which dominate popular science writing and, in fact, crowd the pages of some of the major scientific journals. Based on solid, state-of-the-art research, it not only makes important contributions to our understanding of Darwin and natural selection, but will swing the pendulum back to a richer, more complex view of human nature and of life. (shrink)

Previous literature has shown contradictory results regarding the relationship between economic liberalism at the country level and firms’ engagement in corporate social action. Because liberalism is associated with individualism, it is often assumed that firms will engage in mostly symbolic rather than substantive social and environmental actions; in other words, they will practice “greenwashing.” To understand how cultural beliefs in the virtues of liberalism affect the likelihood of greenwashing, we disentangle the effects of the distinct and co-existing beliefs in the (...) virtues of economic liberalism. We begin by conducting an exploratory qualitative analysis of managers’ sentiments on this matter, based on a focus group methodology. We then use these investigative elements to articulate a comparison of the conflicting theoretical arguments: in liberal contexts, are firms, as social entities, inherently selfish or pro-active when it comes to CSA? We empirically test our hypotheses on a large-scale dataset. Finally, we show paradoxically that in countries where beliefs in the virtues of competition are strong, firms are more likely to greenwash, while in countries where beliefs in the virtues of individual responsibility are prominent, firms are more likely to focus on concrete actions. These findings suggest that in contexts where weak governments are seen as ideal, firms might feel the need to step into fill institutional voids, in contexts in which competitive mindsets dominate, this tendency is counterbalanced. (shrink)

Western science has generally addressed human nature in its most negative aspects-the human potential for violence, the genetic and biochemical bases for selfishness, depression, and anxiety. In contrast, Tibetan Buddhism has long celebrated the human potential for compassion, and is dedicated to studying the scope, expression, and training of compassionate feeling and action. Science and Compassion examines how the views of Western behavioral science hold up to scrutiny by Tibetan Buddhists. Resulting from a meeting between the Dalai Lama, leading Western (...) scholars, and a group of Tibetan monks, the volume includes essays exploring points of difference and overlap between the two perspectives. Opening with the story of the extraordinary meeting in Dharamsala India, the book then takes the reader through the best of what Western behavioral scientific tradition has to say about altruism, ethics, empathy, and compassion-looking at how different elements of this science are challenged by cross-cultural examination. In a series of essays, the participating scientists and scholars ask not only how Tibetan and Western understandings of emotion differ, but how Western behavioral science might broaden and enrich its understanding of human nature to do justice to the study of human emotions. An essay by the Dalai Lama reveals his views on human nature, offering a useful exposition of the Buddhist point of view. Also included are direct excerpts from the dialogues themselves, which are filled with intellectual intensity, moments of convergence, and frequent humor. This extraordinary cross-cultural dialogue about our most essential natures will appeal to scientists, scholars, and the educated lay reader. (shrink)

Structurally, microtubules (MTs) are composed of protofilaments of the subunit protein. They are prominent components of the cytoplasmic matrix and perform important functions as cytoskeletal elements for the determination of cell shape and as key elements in intracellular motility such as mitosis and the translocation of cell organelles. These functions are thought to depend on the controlled assembly and disassembly of MTs in the cytoplasm and on the interaction of MTs with each other and with other (...) class='Hi'>cytoplasmic components. I think that apart from these cellular functions, MTs have the function of message transmission. Although no direct evidence is available to explain this point at present, a number of inddirect evidences have been obtained by many scientists e.g.: brain tissue has circumstantial the highest tubulin concentration, MTs have the property of self-assembly and disassembly, microtubule(MT) network is a key factor in differentiation of plant cells. (shrink)

In Switzerland, people can be granted access to assisted suicide on condition that the person whose wish is to die performs the fatal act, that he has his decisional capacity and that the assisting person’s conduct is not selfishly motivated. No restrictions relating to the ground of suffering are mentioned in the act. Existential suffering as a reason for wanting to die, however, gives raise to controversial issues. Moreover, existential suffering lacks definition and no consensus exists on how to evaluate (...) and manage it. This study explores the perspectives of care professionals and volunteers from a “right-to-die organization” on existential suffering as a motive for assisted suicide requests. A qualitative study based on face-to-face interviews was conducted with twenty-six participants: palliative care and primary care providers as well as EXIT right-to-die organization volunteers. Elements from the grounded theory approach were used. The twenty-six participants described existential suffering in a multiplicity of individual ways. In total, sixty-three stories were recounted. Their representations were grouped into eight categories: physical decline and its consequences, loneliness, fear of the future, life is over, loss of social significance, loss of hope for a better future, being a financial burden and loss of pleasurable activities. According to all participants, suffering coming from the loss of self-identity was always linked to physical decline, as if one’s image completely defined someone’s identity. Society’s perception of old people and vulnerable people were also often questioned. Another interesting point was that only four stories referring to a “pure” existential suffering were found. This suffering was related to a feeling that life has come to an end, without identification of any other related restriction or suffering. Existential suffering is multifaceted. Legislators and right-to-die organisations have to address the question of what make a AS acceptable. The plurality of existential suffering implies the need of a very personalized care. A better understanding of what it is made of could provide a “toolbox” to people concerned by these requests, helping them to explore it in order to offer suffering people a wider range of alternatives. (shrink)

A key characteristic of an animal's nervous system is that it can respond to brief environmental stimuli with lasting changes in its structure and function. These changes are triggered by specific patterns of neuronal electrical activity and are manifested as changes in the strength and patterns of synaptic connectivity between activated neurons. The biochemical mechanisms that control these changes are unclear, but cytoplasmic rises in Ca2+ levels may play a critical role, especially in regulating neuronal gene expression for making (...) activity‐induced synaptic changes permanent. Recently, two reports have explored the spatial features by which activity‐induced rises in Ca2+ levels activate transcription factors and gene expression(1,2). The reports suggest that Ca2+ influx acts both locally at the synapse and distantly within the nucleus to regulate transcription factors and gene expression. The results also show that regulatory elements within genes can respond differentially, depending on spatial differences in intracellular Ca2+ rises. These reports suggest new spatial mechanisms by which Ca2+‐dependent gene expression could contribute to activity‐dependent synaptic changes. (shrink)

Wnt proteins are involved in a large number of events during development and disease. The crucial element in the transduction of the signal elicited by Wnt is the state and activity of β-catenin. There are two pools of β-catenin, one associated with cadherins at the cell surface and a soluble one in the cytolasm, whose state and concentration are critical for Wnt signalling. In the absence of Wnt, the cytoplasmic pool is low due to targetted degradation of β-catenin. Upon (...) Wnt signalling, β-catenin is stabilized. As a consequence, it can access the nucleus where it interacts with members of the Tcf family of transcription factors to modulate the expression of defined targets. Recent reports indicate that, in addition to Tcfs, β-catenin can interact with other nuclear proteins raising the possibility that Wnt signalling has a wider modulatory effect on transcription than is mediated by its interactions with Tcfs. BioEssays 23:311–318, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Life can be defined as combining two entities that rest on completely different physico-chemical properties and on a particular way of handling information. The cell, first, is a « machine », that combines elements which are quite similar (although in a fairly fuzzy way) to those involved in a man-made factory. The machine combines two processes. First, it requires explicit compartmentalisation, including scaffolding structures similar to that of the châssis of engineered machines. In addition, cells define clearly an inside, (...) the cytoplasm, and an outside. The cell envelope is more or less complicated in bacteria, and it is much more complicated in organisms made of cells with a nucleus (eukaryotes). Second, the machine also requires dynamic chemical processes, collectively named metabolism, that can be split into intermediary metabolism, managing chemical transformations and transport of small building blocks and management of energy (often with a rotating nanomachine, ATP synthase), and the macromolecule synthesis, salvage and turnover machinery which uses a variety of nanomachines, the ribosome being the most prominent one. The second entity which needs to be associated to life is the genetic program, in the form of the genome, composed of one or several chromosomes made of DNA. This is the entity which associates most clearly to information. -/- Natural selection uses information in a particular way: it is a process that uses energy to prevent degradation of any functional entity. This process keeps building up novel information within organisms. (shrink)

True Darwinian Ethics -/- Darwin’s model for the evolution of morality as presented in Descent of Man (1871) is shown to comprise three major stages that are here referred to as empathic premorality, tribal morality, and universalizing morality. Empathy, the key component of Darwin’s “social instincts” that started moral evolution, is here recognized as the principal cognitive device that conveys epistemic credibility to moral agency. The two constitutive elements of the tribal morality are conscience that Darwin conceived of as (...) a conflict between a lasting social motive and an immediate selfish impulse, and true altruism that evolved as a result of group (community) selection. Darwin’s genius recognized the uniqueness of group selection in human evolution as being dependent on mental faculties and speech that facilitated habit formation through praise and blame form other group members, with empathy as a gauge of others’ emotional reactions. Contrary to repeated claims, Darwin did not derive morality from reciprocity that he (and his contemporaries) considered to be “a low motive”, and adduced it only as a mechanism of habit formation. The universalizing morality was brought about by the increasing powers of intellect that led to respecting individual lives (rather than group interests only) and extending humane concerns beyond one’s group, ultimately to all sentient beings, which places Darwin among the spiritual fathers of modern humanitarianism. In terms of substantive ethics, Darwin’s views support moral individualism that requires to treat each subject according to his/her individual characteristics rather than any group membership. Darwin’s moral individualism and universalism have been elaborated by Peter Singer as the principle of equal consideration of interests and the expanding circle of ethics, respectively. Darwin’s model of moral evolution, which starts with intuitive but epistemically reliable moral agency and then allows for its rational improvement, provides a way out of the moral subjectivism of evolutionary ethics that reduces morality to an adaptation to social life. The primary or core morality that relies on empathy and implements reciprocity supports welfare (wellbeing) of a group and its members. Welfare (which has been defined by Darwin) is a basic “terminal” (ultimate) value that constitutes an objective, measurable fact. Since the primary morality supports welfare, it is objectively good, which justifies an ethical reasoning that such morality ought to be extended (with appropriate adjustments) to all sentient beings. Confusion over the status of morality is largely due to the lack of appreciation of its complexity: not only had its motivational apparatus (known as the moral agency) evolved by superposition of many emotional and pure cognitive mechanisms, but it has subsequently been co-opted to implement prudential, religious and possibly other norms that are accidental and sometimes contrary to its original social function. Those secondary morality norms are now enforced by the moral agency but lack moral objectivity and thus may support the perception of moral subjectivism and relativism. In short, true Darwinian ethics is based on the scientific axiology that recognizes evolutionary origins of all values, requires respecting all values that are experienced by each and every subject according to its individual characteristics, and calls for a critical assessment of each and every received morality. (shrink)

Nuclear pre‐mRNAs must be precisely processed to give rise to mature cytoplasmic mRNAs. This maturation process, known as splicing, involves excision of intron sequences and ligation of the exon sequences. One of the major problems in understanding this process is how splice sites, the sequences which form the boundaries between introns and exons, can be accurately selected. A number of studies have defined conserved sequences within introns which were later shown to interact with small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). However, due (...) to the simplicity of these conserved sequences it has become clear that other elements must be involved and a number of studies have indicated the importance of secondary structures within pre‐mRNAs. Using various examples, we shall show that such structures can help to specify splice sites by modifying physical distances within introns or by being involved in the definition of exons and, lastly, that they can be part of the regulation of alternative splicing. (shrink)

Ciliated protozoa have separate germline and somatic nuclei, yet unlike larger organisms, both nuclei reside in the same cytoplasm. The micronuclei contain the germline and the macronucleus is the somatic nucleus. Thousands of DNA elements are normally removed from the micronuclear genome as it forms a new macronucleus during each sexual cycle. A recent study directly links the excision of these internal eliminated sequences (IESs) to mating type determination by showing that a pleiotropic mutation affecting mating type also prevents (...) the excision of an IES from a surface protein gene(1). Remarkably, once the IES is present in the old macronucleus it prevents excision of that specific IES during formation of the next macronucleus. (shrink)

This paper addresses the past, present and future aspects of African leadership and organizational ethics that have, are and will be key for any organization to sustain its systems and structures. Organizational ethics revolves around written and/or unwritten guidelines, ethical values, principles, rules and standards, that are drawn from the harmonious coexistence with the biosphere and it is how these elements are applied that dictates the style of leadership and the ethical thinking of the leaders. Africa has a wide (...) range of complexities which are compounded by, inter alia, tribal divisiveness, selfish leadership, wealth inequality, and massive unemployment. Africans tend to draw their leadership and ethical practices and reflections from the events in the environment with which they have interacted for many years. However, in order to fully address and understand the African perspective in leadership and organizational ethics, a broad comprehension of the African diverse and complex landscape is needed through unravelling of the three dimensional existence of the people. African ethics, developed over time, unifies organizations and leadership since it is part of life and is practised, sub-consciously or unconsciously, by the people as they transform from one practice to the other, and during intergenerational transitions. Globalization, liberalization, technological changes and advancement, and market changes are rapidly transforming the environment in which organizations operate. In such a situation, an effective and true leader cannot be rigid but should be flexible, with the ability to use different leadership styles whenever the situation calls for it. Only those leaders with a three-dimensional perspective live inspiring lives, live with a cause and adopt organizational ethics and leadership styles that will stand the test of time. Despite Africa being the cradle of humankind, leadership and organizational ethics is still in its infancy and wanting, even with the new generation of young leaders. The future outlook of African organizational ethics and leadership is to be found in the intersection of changes in technology, life style, demographics and geopolitics with new trends emerging in global polity and economy. (shrink)

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)‐based “active genetic” elements developed in 2015 bypassed the fundamental rules of traditional genetics. Inherited in a super‐Mendelian fashion, such selfish genetic entities offered a variety of potential applications including: gene‐drives to disseminate gene cassettes carrying desired traits throughout insect populations to control disease vectors or pest species, allelic drives biasing inheritance of preferred allelic variants, neutralizing genetic elements to delete and replace or to halt the spread of gene‐drives, split‐drives with (...) the core constituent Cas9 endonuclease and guide RNA (gRNA) components inserted at separate genomic locations to accelerate assembly of complex arrays of genetic traits or to gain genetic entry into novel organisms (vertebrates, plants, bacteria), and interhomolog based copying systems in somatic cells to develop tools for treating inherited or infectious diseases. Here, we summarize the substantial advances that have been made on all of these fronts and look forward to the next phase of this rapidly expanding and impactful field. (shrink)

The cell theory of Schleiden and Schwann is generalized to the effect that throughout the natural world, in physics, biology, and sociopsychology, there is a widespread phenomenon of the existence of organized cells, whose organization is usually protected by barriers. These barriers exist not only in space, but in time and even in other domains. These barriers typically not only protect the organization within the cell from external disturbance, but they actively participate in reducing the internal disorganization. It appears that (...) the quantum phase cell or its equivalent, the discrete quantum state, may be a physical analog of the organized biological cell. The sampling and ambiguity theorems of communication theory throw new light on phase cells. The quantum phase cell has both configuration and momentum elements, which are analogous respectively to the somatic elements in the cytoplasm of a cell and the genetic elements in the DNA. A biological cell or organism, a physical quantum state, and a human being as a sociopsychological entity each has a natural individuality. A natural individuality is a somewhat mysterious thing, since in addition to specificity, it also involves stochasticity and complementarity. There are some striking and unexplained spin-analog characteristics in biology which have a relation to boson- and fermion-analog characteristics in biology that corresponds with the known relation in physics. The hypothesis suggested in our earlier paper, that quantum mechanical entropy is diminished in interaction, is clarified and sharpened in this paper. (shrink)

Iron uptake and storage in mammalian cells is at least partly regulated at a posttranscriptional level by the iron regulatory proteins (IRP‐1 and IRP‐2). These cytoplasmic regulators share 79% similarity in protein sequence and bind tightly to conserved mRNA stem‐loops, named iron‐responsive elements (IREs). The IRP:IRE interaction underlies the regulation of translation and stability of several mRNAs central to iron metabolism. The question of why the cell requires two such closely related regulatory proteins may be resloved as we (...) learn more about the expression and regulation of these proteins. It is evident so far that, despite similarities, the IRPs differ in several important respects. They are coordinately regulated by cellular iron, but whereas IRP‐1 is inactivated by high iron levels, IRP‐2 is rapidly degraded. Further differences arise in their expression and RNA‐binding specificity. The two proteins each recognise a large repertoire of IRE‐like sequences, including a small group of exclusive RNA targets. These findings hint that IRP‐1 and IRP‐2 may bind preferenitially to certain mRNAs in vivo, possibly extending their known functions beyond the regulation of intracellular iron homeostasis. (shrink)

The hemidesmosome is a complex junction containing many proteins. The keratin cytoskeleton attaches to its cytoplasmic plaque, while its transmembrane elements interact with components of the extracellular matrix. Hemidesmosome assembly involves recruitment of α6β4 integrin heterodimers, as well as cytoskeletal elements and cytoskeleton-associated proteins to the cell surface. In our cell culture models, these phenomena appear to be triggered by laminin-5 in the extracellular matrix. Cell interaction with laminin-5 apparently induces both phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of subunits of (...) α6β4 integrin. There is emerging evidence that such events are necessary for subsequent cytoskeleton anchorage to the hemidesmosome cytoplasmic plaque. Once assembled, the hemidesmosome plays an essential role in maintaining firm epithelial adhesion to the basement membrane, with hemidesmosome disruption being a hallmark of certain devastating blistering diseases. However, the hemidesmosome is more than just a stable anchor, as it may also be the site of signal transduction, mediated by its α6β4 integrin component. This review discusses our current knowledge of the structure and assembly of the hemidesmosome. BioEssays 20:488–494, 1998. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

For decades, the mobilisation of Christian missions has encountered a number of setbacks and barriers because of several factors and elements that pose severe impediments to the conduct of missionary activities. Amongst these factors and elements, the involvement of politics in the activities of the Christian missions is prominent. The goal of the Christian missions is to expand the kingdom of God, as well as the salvation and restoration of lost souls, while the goal of politics is to (...) secure power and authority through manipulation for selfish interests or gains. A Christian mission seeks spiritual and heavenly fulfilment, while politics seeks mundane and worldly gains. (shrink)

In this article, it is inquired which reasons are decisive for acting in accordance with divine commands, and whether these can be regarded as moral reasons; the emphasis lies on Christianity. To this effect, the position of God as a—basic—lawgiver is expounded, with special attention to the role His power plays. By means of an account of the grounds given (in the Bible) to obey God, the selfish motives in this respect are brought to light. It is questioned whether (...) any other elements can be discerned, particularly from a meta-ethical perspective. (shrink)

In this article, it is inquired which reasons are decisive for acting in accordance with divine commands, and whether these can be regarded as moral reasons; the emphasis lies on Christianity. To this effect, the position of God as a – basic – lawgiver is expounded, with special attention to the role His power plays. By means of an account of the grounds given to obey God, the selfish motives in this respect are brought to light. It is questioned (...) whether any other elements can be discerned, particularly from a meta-ethical perspective. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Hume's Knave and the Interests of JusticeJason Baldwin, doctoral student in philosophyHume's account of the artificial virtues of justice and promise-keeping developed in Book III, Part ii of the Treatise is among the most provocative elements of his ethics. His goal there is to tell a naturalistic story of the origin and moral standing of these virtues, a story that makes no appeal to any irreducibly moral motives (...) or properties but instead grounds even our most basic and apparently binding obligations in the same thoroughly human passions and sentiments with which Hume explains all our actions. Several modern critics, including David Gauthier and Stephen Darwall, have claimed that Hume's story of the artificial virtues is inconsistent with his account of natural human motivations, and have further claimed that Hume himself became aware of this problem in the second Enquiry, where he discussed it in the famous "sensible knave" passage in the last paragraphs of the "Conclusion." They therefore claim that Hume abandoned in the Enquiry what is usually taken to be his official Treatise account of justice and promise-keeping, and may also have intended a different account in the Treatise itself.This paper argues that the sensible knave passage neither signals nor requires any significant change in Hume's official Treatise story of the artificial virtues. Part 1 summarizes this official account, Part 2 explains the challenge Gauthier and Darwall believe the sensible knave poses to this account, and Part 3 defends the standard Humean account from this challenge. Whatever other problems Hume's account of justice and promise-keeping may have, the free rider problem, as developed by Gauthier and Darwall through the character of the sensible knave, is not among them.1. The Interest Account of Artificial Virtues1.1 Hume's Predecessor TraditionsHume makes few explicit references to the English-speaking predecessors whose work informs his thinking about the artificial virtues, and I shall follow his example. [End Page 277] But without pretending to survey that rich and varied history, we may usefully think of Hume's approach to justice and its allied virtues as an attempt to preserve the strengths of two opposed predecessor traditions.1 The first tradition, represented most prominently by Hobbes but also by Mandeville, explains the origin of virtues generally, including Humean artificial virtues, in purely naturalistic terms, without any appeal to divinely ordained ends or observer-independent moral facts. Hume shares this humanistic aspiration, but he disavows the cynical skepticism and crude egoism which are usually taken to accompany it. He wants to tell a story about justice which will allow us to admire its genuine moral worth even as we acknowledge its human pedigree.The second tradition, a reaction to the first, is the moral sense school represented by Shaftesbury, Butler, and especially Hutcheson. This tradition insists, against the cynical egoists, on a moral reality to which our sentiments or consciences give us immediate access, an access secured by God's design. Also characteristic of the moral sense theorists is the claim that human nature contains benevolent motives which are the objects of the moral sense's approval and which are just as basic to our constitution as are selfish motives. Hume avails himself of both moral sense strands, albeit in attenuated form. He agrees that justice and injustice are known by the sentiments, and he also believes that benevolent first-order motives are a part of human nature. But Hume rejects the moral sense tradition's Christian teleology, and he is also less optimistic about the potential of benevolence to explain such complex moral behaviors as are involved in our institutions of justice and promise-keeping.Hume's standard Treatise story of the origin of justice and promise-keeping, which we may call the "interest account," has two stages. In the first stage, Hume explains how the practices which constitute justice and promise-keeping arise through the working of our natural interests; in this stage Hume might be seen as working in the broadly naturalistic-egoist tradition. In the second stage, Hume explains how these practices and the motives which underlie them become the objects of moral evaluation, i.e., why... (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:DESIRE, EMULATION, AND ENVY IN THE PORTRAIT OFA LADY Lahoucine Ouzgane University ofAlberta Our heroine....wandered, as by the wrong side of the wall of a private garden, round the enclosed talents, accomplishments, aptitudes of Madame Merle. She found herself desiring to emulate them, and in twenty such ways, this lady presented herself as a model. "I should like awfullyto be50/" Isabel secretly exclaimed, more than once....It took no great (...) time indeed for her to feel, as the phrase is, under an influence. (The Portrait ofa Lady 1 63) Isabel considered [Osmond] with interest. "You seem to me to be always envying some one. Yesterday it was the Pope; today it's poor Lord Warburton." "My envy's not dangerous....I don't want to destroy the people—1 only want to be them." (The Portrait 251) Henry James' The Portrait ofa Lady (1881) chronicles the stages through which Isabel Archer of Albany moves to become Mrs. Gilbert Osmond ofRome. Most critics agree that the transition in Isabel's life is due to her natural disposition and to the influence ofthe characters around her. But while the nature ofthis influence can be traced directly to Madame Merle's machinations, Isabel's character itselfhas elicited a great deal of analysis. L.C. Knights, for instance, finds "wilfulness as well as vulnerability in the attitudes [Isabel] brings to bear on experience" (12); TonyTannerconcludesthat "[her] theories and imagined versions ofreality Lahoucine Ouzgane115 are generated behind closed doors and closed windows" (76); Juliet McMaster perceives an element ofperversity in Isabel: "On the one hand, like atrue American, she is ardently engaged in life, liberty, and the pursuit ofhappiness; but on the other she is morbidly attracted by their opposites, and devotes herself to death, and immobility, and suffering" (51); Leon Edel (1968) detects egotism in Isabel—but one "which is limited and damaging to the self (111)—unlike Osmond's, which is destructive of other people. Finally, in his essay "I Don't Like Isabel Archer," Marc Bousquet calls Isabel "selfish, naïve, ill-attuned to the feelings of others despite her education, an emblem ofcaprice and poorjudgment" (197). Since the essence ofthe romantic is desire, I suggest that in order to better understand the central event of The Portrait—Isabel's decision to marry Osmond, an action generally characterized as "perverse" or "morbid"—we see Isabel Archer as a subject of what René Girard calls "mimetic desire." According to Girard (1978), "The standard view [of imitation], derived from Plato's mimesis via Aristotle's Poetics, has always excluded one essential human behavior from the types subject to imitation—namely, desire and, more fundamentally still, appropriation" (vii). Central to Girard's thought is the theory of "mimetic" or "triangular desire," developed in his first book Mensonge romantique et vérité romanesque (1961) and elaborated in his later works:1 a character desires an object, not for itself, but for the value lent to it by the desire ofanother. Don Quixote, for instance, believes that true chivalric existence can be experienced onlythrough acareful imitation ofAmadis ofGaul, who seems to him to personify ideal knightly behavior. Don Quixote's desires are thus "mediated": the subject pursues objects determinedforhim bythe mediator of desire. In this respect, the directions taken and influences exerted by snobbery, vanity, jealousy, emulation, envy, rivalry, resentment, hatred, renunciation, and sacrifice form the center of Girard's critical thinking. "This triangle of subject, object, and mediator," Bruce Bassoff notes, "is similar to Thorstein Veblen's model of 'conspicuous consumption,' where 'keeping up with the Joneses' means desiring what they possess regardless ofthe real value ofthe object" (126). For Girard, however, it is not merely a question ofdesiring what the Joneses possess, but ofdesiring what they themselves appear to be; Girard calls this desire "metaphysical" because it is aimed at the mediator's being. Veblen describes the phenomenon in its 'See especially the third part of Things Hidden since the Foundation ofthe World and chapters 3, 4, and 5 of The Girard Reader. 1 16 Desire, Emulation, andEnvy in "The Portrait ofa Lady " economic manifestations only, but through an extensive analysis ofmajor literary works by Cervantes, Stendhal, Flaubert, Proust, and Dostoyevsky, Girard unravels the... (shrink)

This article delineates the cosmopolitan praxis of Nietzsche’s imaginary figure of “the good European.” The good European is the child and creator of Nietzsche’s ideal, postmodern, and post-Christian Europe. As Ananta Kumar Giri justifiably argued, cosmopolitanism is, amongst others things, a matter of practical experimentation, a continuous process of self-critique and border-crossing. Nietzsche’s good European is the exemplary cosmopolitan practitioner, who deliberately and literally undertakes travels to transform himself from a “chainsick” person, who is tied to old moral chains, into (...) a rootless freethinker, “artist of life,” and creator of culture.It is argued that the good European represents the individual, who is indeed liberated from an old, obsolete morality, yet who simultaneously shows himself a highly ethical being in his praxis of freedom. The good European in the Nietzschean sense can further be regarded as quite the opposite of Kant’s cosmopolitan citizen, in the sense that selfishness, competition, and the violent edges of human nature are not so much annihilated in a natural and reasonable process towards “eternal peace,” but rather postulated as vital elements of the cosmopolitan spirit. They are indispensable features of the good European as a “citizen of the world” in the Nietzschean sense. (shrink)

Machiavelli put a premium on patriotism. But the notion of love of country, with the altruism and self-sacrifice it presupposes, is at first glance irreconcilable with the inexorable anthropological pessimism that informs his political theory. Was Machiavelli egregiously inconsistent? The question has a fundamental bearing on his political teaching. Examining Machiavelli's concepts of human nature and patriotism within his overall view of politics, society and history, this paper argues that he conceived of patriotism primarily in terms of readiness to self-restraint (...) rather than readiness to self-sacrifice. Patriotism in Machiavelli is a force passive and limited enough to conform with human nature. By the same token, patriotism thrives in a political unit when the selfish passions that thwart it are satisfied, and they are best satisfied at the expense of other political units. Thus, patriotism in Machiavelli partakes of wicked human nature. But precisely for this reason it can offset some of human nature's destructive elements and help men to attain social ends. Machiavelli's patriotism, in the end, offers a redemption of sorts. (shrink)

Many political theorists think about how to make societies more just. In recent years, with interests shifting from principles to their institutional realization, there has been much debate about feasibility and the role it should play in theorizing. What has been underexplored, however, is how feasibility depends on the attitudes and perceptions of individuals, not only with regard to their own behaviour, but also with regard to the behaviour of others. This can create coordination problems, which can be described as (...) “feasibility gridlocks”. These problems are interesting from a normative perspective, not only because they arguably play an important role for the feasibility of institutions, but also because they contain a normative element themselves: individual might be willing to cooperate in order change the “feasibility frontier” Political ideals and the feasibility frontier. Econ Philos), but only if others are also willing to do their bit, which contains a judgment about the fair distribution of burdens. Beliefs about the selfish nature of human beings, however, can make feasibility gridlocks more likely. This is why what I call, for the sake of brevity, “economic ideology”, i.e. an account of human nature as fundamentally self-interested, can be harmful. Finding a way out of such equilibriums therefore is an important task for political theorists and social reformers. (shrink)

In modern literature on the nature of man, we find two main trends : a pessimistic and an optimistic interpretation. Superficially they appear to be mutually exclusive. The first, which usually accepts Machiavelli as its authority, represents human beings as fundamentally evil ; the second, of which Rousseau is the outstanding exponent, depicts man as good by nature.The author demonstrates that both trends are identical in one fundamental aspect, namely that they reject an entire set of impulses comprehensively defined as (...) egoistic. A scale of values that counsels an amenable attitude and consideration of one's neighbor and the public weal, and rejects all egoistical indifference, conditions the practical and theoretical morals of the times.The picture of man inherent in such conceptions does not, however, conform to reality. Endeavoring to explain the obvious contradiction between reality and the moral attitude in modern times, the author analyses the social-psychological situation as evidenced in several outstanding historical events. The Roman revolt of Cola di Rienzo, the movement of Savonarola, the Reformation and the French Revolution, which are described as typical, reveal distinct similarities. Rural and urban masses, whose situation has become unbearable, slide off in a revolutionary direction. This movement is then channelled off by the propertied classes in such a way as to permit them to effect the changes they want in administration, in political, legal and religious institutions. Those impulses of the masses which transgress such demands are diverted into an inner spiritual revival. This accounts largely for the similarities of such events.From such conceptions, the author develops the significance of the modern leader, the endowment of him with magic qualities, the importance of symbols and festivities, the significance of speech, the ever-recurring cry for a revival of the soul, the substitution of new for old „elites“, religious devotion, and the anchorage of poverty in the eternal essence of things. While these phenomena occupy the foreground of the scene in such movements as those described, they are also effective in everyday life. In this way, the function of the moral ideal in incorporating the masses into the framework of existing society is revealed. Asceticism, which is closely connected with these phenomena, during the entire period of individualism has exercised a potent civilizing function, and has contributed towards the development of those human and objective elements necessary for the attainment of a higher historical level. An integral part of the social mechanism of the modern epoch is the process of turning the flow of life inward into a purification of the soul.On the other hand, the depreciation of the individual's happiness, which is reflected in the moral ideal and which, under the ruling social conditions is confirmed daily through the insecurity of life, brings forth a general nihilism which finds expression in the indifference and coolness of human beings towards each other, as well as in various manifestations of barbarism in this epoch.The author maintains that selfishness as a general characteristic of the modern type of man may be traced directly to the social structure, which implies the isolation of the individual. His analysis of the historical events is intended to make the connection more concrete. Thus the study attempts to contribute towards an understanding of the present, in demonstrating that some of its terrifying psychological phenomena are not isolated and accidental, but related to the entire history of the epoch.Dans la littérature anthropologique des temps modernes, on distingue parfois deux tendances, Y une pessimiste et l'autre optimiste. La première, que Ton rapporte généralement à Machiavel, considère l'homme comme essentiellement mauvais ; pour l'autre, dont Rousseau est un représentant typique, l'homme est à l'origine bon. Horkheimer montre que les deux tendances se rencontrent en un point capital : elles rejettent une série d'impulsions naturelles que l'on peut d'un mot désigner comme égoïstes. L'anthropologie, la morale de cette époque posent comme évidente une certaine échelle des valeurs, elles réservent les éloges à une mentalité sociale faite de dévouement au prochain et à la communauté et condamnent tout égoïsme décidé à s'affirmer sans égard à autrui.Cependant ce modèle de l'homme se trouve être en opposition flagrante avec la réalité. Pour expliquer cette tension entre l'être réel et l'idéal de l'homme, H. analyse la situation psychologique et sociale lors de certains événements historiques. La révolte romaine de Cola di Rienzo, le mouvement de Savonarole, la Réforme et la Révolution française, que H. considère comme typiques, présentent certaines analogies. Des masses paysannes et urbaines, dont la situation est devenue insupportable, passent à un mouvement révolutionnaire. Ce mouvement est détourné dans une direction favorable aux classes possédantes par ces classes elles-mêmes, qui utilisent la révolte en vue de revendications bourgeoises, telles que réorganisation administrative, réorganisation des formes politiques, juridiques et religieuses. Dans la mesure où les aspirations des masses vont au delà de ces revendications, ces aspirations sont orientées vers un renouvellement moral et spirituel — elles sont intériorisées. Ainsi s'explique la similitude observée dans le dynamisme de ces événements. H. étudie surtout le rôle du chef bourgeois, les qualités magiques qu'on prête à sa personnalité, l'importance des symboles et des fêtes, la signification du discours, l'appel à la rénovation intérieure, la relève des vieilles élites par des élites nouvelles, l'émotion religieuse, la justification de la pauvreté comme inhérente à la nature éternelle des choses. L'étude de tous ces phénomènes, qui sans doute apparaissent plus nettement dans les révoltes de l'époque bourgeoise, mais qui n'en sont pas moins efficaces dans ce qu'on appelle la vie quotidienne — cette étude montre la fonction que remplit le modèle moral dans l'intégration des masses à la société existante. Le sentiment ascétique, lié à ce modèle, a exercé une puissante action civilisatrice à travers toute l'époque de l'individualisme, et il a contribué à l'évolution matérielle et humaine vers un niveau historique supérieur. L'intériorisation appartient aux mécanismes sociaux de l'époque bourgeoise. D'autre part, le sentiment, impliqué par cet idéal, que le bonheur personnel a peu de prix, sentiment, au reste confirmé chaque jour par l'incertitude de la vie dans les conditions sociales existantes, mène à un nihilisme universel, qui s'est manifesté aussi bien dans la froideur et l'indifférence des hommes les uns à l'égard des autres que dans certains phénomènes de barbarie de cette époque.D'après H., l'égoïsme dans le caractère du type moderne de l'homme, s'explique immédiatement par une structure sociale qui comporte l'isolement de l'individu ; les événements historiques qu'il analyse devraient cependant servir à rendre cette explication plus concrète. Ainsi l'étude veut contribuer à ce que le présent et ses terribles phénomènes psychiques n'apparaissent plus comme isolés et, pour ainsi dire, accidentels, mais s'insèrent au contraire dans l'ensemble historique que représente notre époque. (shrink)