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Results for 'Jon Baldwin'
Which God(s) Do You (Not) Believe In? An Interview with Christopher Watkin.Jon Baldwin - 2020 - International Journal of Baudrillard Studies 16 (1).details
An interview exploring the complexity of contemporary French philosophical atheism, in the light of Difficult Atheism: Post-Theological Thinking in Badiou, Nancy and Meillassoux (Edinburgh UP, 2011).
Book Review of A Companion to Rawls, Edited by Jon Mandle and David A. Reidy. [REVIEW]Baldwin Wong - 2016 - Journal of Moral Philosophy 13 (6):759-763.details
A Non‐Sectarian Comprehensive Confucianism?—On Kim's Public Reason Confucianism.Baldwin Wong - 2019 - Journal of Social Philosophy 50 (2):145-162.details
In Public Reason Confucianism, Kim Sungmoon presents a perfectionist theory that is based on a partially comprehensive Confucian doctrine but is non-sectarian, since the doctrine is widely shared in East Asian societies. Despite its attractiveness, I argue that this project, unfortunately, fails because it is still vulnerable to the sectarian critique. The blurred distinction between partially and fully comprehensive doctrines will create a loophole problem. Sectarian laws and policies may gain legitimacy that they do not deserve. I further defend political (...) Confucianism, which is regarded by Kim as an inadequately intelligible form of Confucianism. Kim assumes a too narrow understanding of intelligibility. Although political Confucianism may not be politically intelligible, it is civically intelligible, i.e. it is culturally intelligibly different from other political theories in terms of its implications in citizens' actions in civil society. In light of civic intelligibility, the distinctiveness of political Confucianism should not be underestimated. (shrink)
Conjecture and the Division of Justificatory Labour: A Comment on Clayton and Stevens.Baldwin Wong - 2019 - Res Publica 25 (1):119-125.details
Clayton and Stevens argue that political liberals should engage with the religiously unreasonable by offering religious responses and showing that their religious views are mistaken, instead of refusing to engage with them. Yet they recognize that political liberals will face a dilemma due to such religious responses: either their responses will alienate certain reasonable citizens, or their engagements will appear disingenuous. Thus, there should be a division of justificatory labour. The duty of engagement should be delegated to religious citizens. In (...) this comment, I will argue that the division of justificatory labour is indefensible. This dilemma can be avoided if politicians and political philosophers correctly use conjecture, a form of discourse that involves non-public reason. As a conditional response, conjecture avoids alienating any reasonable citizens. Also, if conjecture is given in a sincere and open-minded manner, then the problem of disingenuousness can be overcome. My comment concludes that while the engagement of politicians and political philosophers does not necessarily jeopardize overlapping consensus, they should be permitted, or perhaps even required, to engage with the religiously unreasonable due to the natural duty of justice. (shrink)
Accessibility, Pluralism, and Honesty: A Defense of the Accessibility Requirement in Public Justification.Baldwin Wong - 2019 - Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy:1-25.details
Political liberals assume an accessibility requirement, which means that, for ensuring civic respect and non-manipulation, public officials should offer accessible reasons during political advocacy. Recently, critics have offered two arguments to show that the accessibility requirement is unnecessary. The first is the pluralism argument: Given the pluralism in evaluative standards, when officials offer non-accessible reasons, they are not disrespectful because they may merely try to reveal their strongest reason. The second is the honesty argument: As long as officials honestly confess (...) their beliefs after offering non-accessible reasons, disrespect and non-manipulation do not occur. This paper defends the accessibility requirement and asserts that these two arguments overlook a unique feature of the political domain. While all citizens collectively own political power as a corporate body, an official does not privately own her political power. Instead, she is a trustee who has a duty to act on behalf of the corporate body, that is, she has to make decisions on grounds that are accessible to others. This duty explains why, despite pluralism, the accessibility requirement is necessary. Moreover, given that political decisions are profoundly influential to each person, requiring people to be honest is ineffective in discouraging disrespectful and manipulative acts. (shrink)
Grounding Grounding.Jon Litland - 2017 - Oxford Studies in Metaphysics 10.details
The Problem of Iterated Ground is to explain what grounds truths about ground: if Γ grounds φ, what grounds that Γ grounds φ? This paper develops a novel solution to this problem. The basic idea is to connect ground to explanatory arguments. By developing a rigorous account of explanatory arguments we can equip operators for factive and non-factive ground with natural introduction and elimination rules. A satisfactory account of iterated ground falls directly out of the resulting logic: non- factive grounding (...) claims, if true, are zero-grounded in the sense of Fine. (shrink)
Video Games as Self‐Involving Interactive Fictions.Jon Robson & Aaron Meskin - 2016 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 74 (2):165-177.details
This article explores the nature and theoretical import of a hitherto neglected class of fictions which we term 'self-involving interactive fictions'. SIIFs are interactive fictions, but they differ from standard examples of interactive fictions by being, in some important sense, about those who consume them. In order to better understand the nature of SIIFs, and the ways in which they differ from other fictions, we focus primarily on the most prominent example of the category: video-game fictions. We argue that appreciating (...) the self-involving nature of video-game fictions is key to understanding various otherwise puzzling phenomena concerning the ways in which consumers respond to them. Video-game fictions are, however, far from being the only extant example of this class; and we suggest that the recent philosophical interest in video games would be better focused on the wider class of self-involving interactive fictions. (shrink)
From Self-Determination to Offspring-Determination? Reproductive Autonomy, Procrustean Parenting, and Genetic Enhancement.Jon Rueda - forthcoming - Theoria.details
Emerging reprogenetic technologies may radically change how humans reproduce in the not-so-distant future. One foreseeable consequence of disruptive innovations in the procreative domain is an increase in the reproductive autonomy of intended parents. Regarding the prospective parental liberty of enhancing non-health–related traits of the offspring, one controversy has particularly dominated the literature. Does parents' choice of genetically enhancing the traits of their descendants compromise children's future personal autonomy? In this article, I will analyse the main arguments which posit that reprogenetic (...) enhancement could be at odds with the child's future autonomy. I will argue that these objections are ill-founded. Moreover, I will present other arguments that show that reprogenetic technologies can enhance the autonomy of future children. Autonomy enhancement is a plausible and pro tanto desirable application of emerging reprogenetic technologies. (shrink)
Why Should I Respect You? A Critique and a Suggestion for the Justification of Mutual Respect in Contractualism.Baldwin Wong - 2020 - Philosophical Forum 51 (3):261-278.details
Contractualism is a normative theory which characterizes principles of right in terms of the idea of mutual respect. In this theory, mutual respect is regarded as having deliberative priority over other values. This essay aims to examine how contractualists can provide a satisfactory justification for prioritizing mutual respect. I will argue that the 'value of mutual respect argument,' which is a justification commonly adopted by contractualists, is inadequate because an unconditional priority of mutual respect cannot be grounded on the desirability (...) of a relationship of mutual respect. Then I will suggest that a 'consistency argument' can provide a better justification of why the idea of mutual respect should have priority. Mutual respect is of special importance, not because it is highly desirable, but rather because it is required by an a priori guiding principle of consistency. Individuals become inconsistent if they ask others to respect them as reason-assessing individuals, while at the same time refusing to respect others in the same way. (shrink)
Meriting Concern and Meriting Respect.Jon Garthoff - 2010 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 5 (2):1-29.details
Recently there has been a somewhat surprising interest among Kantian theorists in the moral standing of animals, coupled with a no less surprising optimism among these theorists about the prospect of incorporating animal moral standing into Kantian theory without contorting its other attractive features. These theorists contend in particular that animal standing can be incorporated into Kantian moral theory without abandoning its logocentrism: the claim that everything that is valuable depends for its value on its relation to rationality. In this (...) essay I raise doubts about the prospects for accommodating animal moral standing within a logocentric Kantianism. I argue instead that the best way to incorporate animal moral standing into Kantian theory is to admit more radical departures from Kant's position by maintaining that consciousness is a locus of moral standing independent from rationality. I propose that we should attribute moral standing to all conscious animals because the capacity of consciousness is the criterion distinguishing individuals whose well-being generates reasons from individuals whose well-being fails to do so. We need such a criterion because we speak of the well-being of things, such as artifacts and meteorological phenomena, which clearly lack moral standing. Having already argued against the Kantian view that the criterion of moral standing is rationality, I proceed to argue that consciousness is also superior to its other principal rival for the criterion of moral standing: life. On the view that emerges from this discussion, we have obligations to show concern for conscious individuals by treating their well-being as providing us with reasons for action; the view thus endorses the criterion of moral standing typically advanced by utilitarians. On this view we also have a distinct class of obligations to show respect for conscious rational individuals; the view thus endorses the Kantian claim that persons have a distinctive moral status in virtue of their possession of rational capacities. In this essay thus begin to show how a principal insight of each leading approach to modern moral theory may be captured in a unified theory. (shrink)
Applying Evidential Pluralism to the Social Sciences.Yafeng Shan & Jon Williamson - 2021 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 11 (4):1-27.details
Evidential Pluralism maintains that in order to establish a causal claim one normally needs to establish the existence of an appropriate conditional correlation and the existence of an appropriate mechanism complex, so when assessing a causal claim one ought to consider both association studies and mechanistic studies. Hitherto, Evidential Pluralism has been applied to medicine, leading to the EBM+ programme, which recommends that evidence-based medicine should systematically evaluate mechanistic studies alongside clinical studies. This paper argues that Evidential Pluralism can also (...) be fruitfully applied to the social sciences. In particular, Evidential Pluralism provides (i) a new approach to evidence-based policy; (ii) an account of the evidential relationships in more theoretical research; and (iii) new philosophical motivation for mixed methods research. The application of Evidential Pluralism to the social sciences is also defended against two objections. (shrink)
Vagueness & Modality—An Ecumenical Approach.Jon Erling Litland & Juhani Yli-Vakkuri - 2016 - Philosophical Perspectives 30 (1):229-269.details
How does vagueness interact with metaphysical modality and with restrictions of it, such as nomological modality? In particular, how do definiteness, necessity (understood as restricted in some way or not), and actuality interact? This paper proposes a model-theoretic framework for investigating the logic and semantics of that interaction. The framework is put forward in an ecumenical spirit: it is intended to be applicable to all theories of vagueness that express vagueness using a definiteness (or: determinacy) operator. We will show how (...) epistemicists, supervaluationists, and theorists of metaphysical vagueness like Barnes and Williams (2010) can interpret the framework.  We will also present a complete axiomatization of the logic we recommend to both epistemicists and local supervaluationists. . (shrink)
An Absolutist Theory of Faultless Disagreement in Aesthetics.Carl Baker & Jon Robson - 2017 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 98 (3):429-448.details
Some philosophers writing on the possibility of faultless disagreement have argued that the only way to account for the intuition that there could be disagreements which are faultless in every sense is to accept a relativistic semantics. In this article we demonstrate that this view is mistaken by constructing an absolutist semantics for a particular domain – aesthetic discourse – which allows for the possibility of genuinely faultless disagreements. We argue that this position is an improvement over previous absolutist responses (...) to the relativist's challenge and that it presents an independently plausible account of the semantics of aesthetic discourse. (shrink)
Neuroethics 1995-2012. A Bibliometrical Analysis of the Guiding Themes of an Emerging Research Field.Jon Leefmann, Clement Levallois & Elisabeth Hildt - 2016 - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 10.details
In bioethics, the first decade of the twenty-first century was characterized by the emergence of interest in the ethical, legal, and social aspects of neuroscience research. At the same time an ongoing extension of the topics and phenomena addressed by neuroscientists was observed alongside its rise as one of the leading disciplines in the biomedical science. One of these phenomena addressed by neuroscientists and moral psychologists was the neural processes involved in moral decision-making. Today both strands of research are often (...) addressed under the label of neuroethics. To understand this development we recalled literature from 1995 to 2012 stored in the Mainz Neuroethics Database (i) to investigate the quantitative development of scientific publications in neuroethics; (ii) to explore changes in the topics of neuroethics research within the defined time interval; (iii) to illustrate the interdependence of different research topics within the neuroethics literature; (iv) to show the development of the distribution of neuroethics research on peer-reviewed journals; and (v) to display the academic background and affiliations of neuroethics Researchers ... (shrink)
Still Self-Involved: A Reply to Patridge.Jon Robson & Aaron Meskin - 2017 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 75 (2):184-187.details
Anti-Luck Epistemologies and Necessary Truths.Jeffrey Roland & Jon Cogburn - 2011 - Philosophia 39 (3):547-561.details
That believing truly as a matter of luck does not generally constitute knowing has become epistemic commonplace. Accounts of knowledge incorporating this anti-luck idea frequently rely on one or another of a safety or sensitivity condition. Sensitivity-based accounts of knowledge have a well-known problem with necessary truths, to wit, that any believed necessary truth trivially counts as knowledge on such accounts. In this paper, we argue that safety-based accounts similarly trivialize knowledge of necessary truths and that two ways of responding (...) to this problem for safety, issuing from work by Williamson and Pritchard, are of dubious success. (shrink)
Epistemic Deontologism and Role-Oughts.Jon Altschul - 2014 - Logos and Episteme 5 (3):245-263.details
William Alston's argument against epistemological deontologism rests upon two key premises: first, that we lack a suitable amount of voluntary control with respect to our beliefs, and, second, the principle that "ought" implies "can." While several responses to Alston have concerned rejecting either of these two premises, I argue that even on the assumption that both premises are true, there is room to be made for deontologism in epistemology. I begin by offering a criticism of Richard Feldman's invaluable work on (...) 'role-oughts', whereupon I development my own positive view in light of Feldman's shortcomings. The upshot is that while we as epistemic agents are not responsible for the beliefs we form, we are nonetheless responsible for the various bodily or mental activities that typically bear a causal influence on belief formation. (shrink)
Evolving Self-Taught Neural Networks: The Baldwin Effect and the Emergence of Intelligence.Nam Le - 2019 - In AISB Annual Convention 2019 -- 10th Symposium on AI & Games.details
The so-called Baldwin Effect generally says how learning, as a form of ontogenetic adaptation, can influence the process of phylogenetic adaptation, or evolution. This idea has also been taken into computation in which evolution and learning are used as computational metaphors, including evolving neural networks. This paper presents a technique called evolving self-taught neural networks – neural networks that can teach themselves without external supervision or reward. The self-taught neural network is intrinsically motivated. Moreover, the self-taught neural network is (...) the product of the interplay between evolution and learning. We simulate a multi-agent system in which neural networks are used to control autonomous agents. These agents have to forage for resources and compete for their own survival. Experimental results show that the interaction between evolution and the ability to teach oneself in self-taught neural networks outperform evolution and self-teaching alone. More specifically, the emergence of an intelligent foraging strategy is also demonstrated through that interaction. Indications for future work on evolving neural networks are also presented. (shrink)
Reliabilism and Brains in Vats.Jon Altschul - 2011 - Acta Analytica 26 (3):257-272.details
According to epistemic internalism, the only facts that determine the justificational status of a belief are facts about the subject's own mental states, like beliefs and experiences. Externalists instead hold that certain external facts, such as facts about the world or the reliability of a belief-producing mechanism, affect a belief's justificational status. Some internalists argue that considerations about evil demon victims and brains in vats provide excellent reason to reject externalism: because these subjects are placed in epistemically unfavorable settings, externalism (...) seems unable to account for the strong intuition that these subjects' beliefs are nonetheless justified. I think these considerations do not at all help the internalist cause. I argue that by appealing to the anti-individualistic nature of perception, it can be shown that skeptical scenarios provide no reason to prefer internalism to externalism. (shrink)
Videogames and the First Person.Jon Robson & Aaron Meskin - 2012 - In G. Currie, P. Kotako & M. Pokorny (eds.), Mimesis: Metaphysics, Cognition, Pragmatics. College Publishing.details
Virtual Reality and Empathy Enhancement: Ethical Aspects.Jon Rueda & Francisco Lara - 2020 - Frontiers in Robotics and AI 7.details
The history of humankind is full of examples that indicate a constant desire to make human beings more moral. Nowadays, technological breakthroughs might have a significant impact on our moral character and abilities. This is the case of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. The aim of this paper is to consider the ethical aspects of the use of VR in enhancing empathy. First, we will offer an introduction to VR, explaining its fundamental features, devices and concepts. Then, we will approach the (...) characterization of VR as an "empathy machine," showing why this medium has aroused so much interest and why, nevertheless, we do not believe it is the ideal way to enhance empathy. As an alternative, we will consider fostering empathy-related abilities through virtual embodiment in avatars. In the conclusion, however, we will, we will examine some of the serious concerns related to the ethical relevance of empathy and will defend the philosophical case for a reason-guided empathy, also suggesting specific guidelines for possible future developments of empathy enhancement projects through VR embodied experiences. (shrink)
Entitlement, Justification, and the Bootstrapping Problem.Jon Altschul - 2012 - Acta Analytica 27 (4):345-366.details
According to the bootstrapping problem, any view that allows for basic knowledge (knowledge obtained from a reliable source prior to one's knowing that that source is reliable) is forced to accept that one can utilize a track-record argument to acquire justification for believing that one's belief source is reliable; yet, we tend to think that acquiring justification in this way is too easy. In this paper I argue, first, that those who respond to the bootstrapping problem by denying basic knowledge (...) succumb to over-intellectualizing epistemology, and secondly, reliabilist views avoid over-intellectualization only at the expense of sanctioning bootstrapping as a benign procedure. Both of these outcomes are difficult to bear. To ward off each of these unsavory outcomes, I propose an alternative solution that draws on a distinction between two separate epistemic concepts: entitlement and justification. (shrink)
Wisdom Beyond Rationality: A Reply to Ryan.Iskra Fileva & Jon Tresan - 2013 - Acta Analytica 28 (2):229-235.details
We discuss Sharon Ryan's Deep Rationality Theory of wisdom, defended recently in her "Wisdom, Knowledge and Rationality." We argue that (a) Ryan's use of the term "rationality" needs further elaboration; (b) there is a problem with requiring that the wise person possess justified beliefs but not necessarily knowledge; (c) the conditions of DRT are not all necessary; (d) the conditions are not sufficient. At the end of our discussion, we suggest that there may be a problem with the very assumption (...) that an informative, non-circular set of necessary and sufficient conditions of wisdom can be given. (shrink)
Strong, Therefore Sensitive: Misgivings About Derose's Contextualism.Jon Cogburn & Jeffrey W. Roland - 2012 - Grazer Philosophische Studien 85 (1):237-253.details
According to an influential contextualist solution to skepticism advanced by Keith DeRose, denials of skeptical hypotheses are, in most contexts, strong yet insensitive. The strength of such denials allows for knowledge of them, thus undermining skepticism, while the insensitivity of such denials explains our intuition that we do not know them. In this paper we argue that, under some well-motivated conditions, a negated skeptical hypothesis is strong only if it is sensitive. We also consider how a natural response on behalf (...) of DeRose appears to be equally available to his primary rival (viz., the sensitivity theorist). (shrink)
Topics in Philosophical Logic.Jon Erling Litland - 2012 - Dissertation, Harvarddetails
In "Proof-Theoretic Justification of Logic", building on work by Dummett and Prawitz, I show how to construct use-based meaning-theories for the logical constants. The assertability-conditional meaning-theory takes the meaning of the logical constants to be given by their introduction rules; the consequence-conditional meaning-theory takes the meaning of the logical constants to be given by their elimination rules. I then consider the question: given a set of introduction rules \, what are the strongest elimination rules that are validated by an assertability (...) conditional meaning-theory based on \? I prove that the intuitionistic introduction rules are the strongest rules that are validated by the intuitionistic elimination rules. I then prove that intuitionistic logic is the strongest logic that can be given either an assertability-conditional or consequence-conditional meaning-theory. In "Grounding Grounding" I discuss the notion of grounding. My discussion revolves around the problem of iterated grounding-claims. Suppose that \ grounds \; what grounds that \ grounds that \? I argue that unless we can get a satisfactory answer to this question the notion of grounding will be useless. I discuss and reject some proposed accounts of iterated grounding claims. I then develop a new way of expressing grounding, propose an account of iterated grounding-claims and show how we can develop logics for grounding. In "Is the Vagueness Argument Valid?" I argue that the Vagueness Argument in favor of unrestricted composition isn't valid. However, if the premisses of the argument are true and the conclusion false, mereological facts fail to supervene on non-mereological facts. I argue that this failure of supervenience is an artifact of the interplay between the necessity and determinacy operators and that it does not mean that mereological facts fail to depend on non-mereological facts. I sketch a deflationary view of ontology to establish this. (shrink)
¿No es país para viejos? La edad como criterio de triaje durante la pandemia COVID-19.Jon Rueda - 2020 - Enrahonar 65:85-98.details
La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha levantado sospechas de edadismo y gerontofobia en diversas prácticas de racionamiento sanitario. La edad es un criterio de triaje controvertido. En este artículo se esclarece la relevancia ética de la edad dentro de los sistemas de triaje, analizando particularmente su rol dentro de los principios de equidad y de eficiencia. La equidad requiere dar más oportunidades a aquellos que han cumplido menos ciclos vitales. La eficiencia tiene en cuenta la edad de manera subrepticia al (...) tratar de maximizar los beneficios a corto plazo (salvar vidas) y a largo plazo (salvar años de vida). Finalmente, la edad no debe ser la última ratio de las decisiones de triaje, aunque es una variable a tener en cuenta debido a su presencia implícita en principios fundamentales de priorización. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised suspicions of ageism and gerontophobia in various health rationing practices. Age is a controversial triage criterion. This article clarifies the ethical relevance of age within triage systems, particularly its role within the principles of fairness and efficiency. Fairness requires giving more opportunities to those who have completed fewer life cycles. Efficiency takes age into account surreptitiously when trying to maximize short-term (saving lives) and long-term (saving years of life) benefits. Finally, age should not be the final rationale in triage decisions, although it is a variable to be taken into account because of its implicit presence in fundamental principles of prioritization. (shrink)
In Defence of Posthuman Vulnerability.Belen Liedo Fernandez & Jon Rueda - 2021 - Scientia et Fides 9 (1):215-239.details
Transhumanism is a challenging movement that invites us to rethink what defines humanity, including what we value and regret the most about our existence. Vulnerability is a key concept that require thorough philosophical scrutiny concerning transhumanist proposals. Vulnerability can refer to a universal condition of human life or, rather, to the specific exposure to certain harms due to particular situations. Even if we are all vulnerable in the first sense, there are also different sources and levels of vulnerability depending on (...) concrete social circumstances. Recently, Michael Hauskeller argued about a fundamental incompatibility between transhumanism and vulnerability. He understands vulnerability as an existential category, linked to woundability and mortality. This idea is akin to ontological vulnerability, but it does not notice some important features of social vulnerability. On the other side, transhumanism is a complex and non-homogeneous movement. Here we distinguish between a strong and a weak version of transhumanism. We will propose that the salience of vulnerability is only diminished in the radical one, while a moderate version can reconcile vulnerability with human enhancement. Thus, vulnerability, a concept that has recently gained much importance as an anthropological category in contemporary ethics, is not necessarily at odds with any transhumanist project. (shrink)
Climate Change, Moral Bioenhancement and the Ultimate Mostropic.Jon Rueda - 2020 - Ramon Llull Journal of Applied Ethics 11:277-303.details
Tackling climate change is one of the most demanding challenges of humanity in the 21st century. Still, the efforts to mitigate the current environmental crisis do not seem enough to deal with the increased existential risks for the human and other species. Persson and Savulescu have proposed that our evolutionarily forged moral psychology is one of the impediments to facing as enormous a problem as global warming. They suggested that if we want to address properly some of the most pressing (...) problems that cause catastrophic harm to our existence, we should enhance our moral behavior by biomedical means. The objective of this paper is, precisely, to reflect on whether a Moral Bio-Enhancement (henceforth MBE) program would be a viable option to confront the climate emergency. To meet this goal, I will propose the Ultimate Mostropic (hereafter UM) thought experiment, a hypothetical situation where we have already discovered the UM, an available, safe (without any deleterious secondary effects), extremely cheap and effective pill to enhance our cognitive, affective and motivational abilities related to morality. After briefly presenting the main argument of Persson and Savulescu regarding MBE and climate change, I will point out some of the difficulties that make MBE a daunting but exciting philosophical and scientific debate. In order to overcome these complications, I will describe the UM thought experiment, which involves two scenarios of the MBE program: (a) the state-driven, compulsory and universal enterprise, and (b) the initiative of voluntary individuals. I will show that the shortcomings of MBE programs through the UM in both scenarios make Persson and Savulescu's proposal a not appealing pathway to mitigate climate change. In the final section, I will suggest that an inaccurate attribution of responsibilities underlies their proposal and that the collective inaction problem should be redirected primarily through a reinforcement of the political nature of the solutions. (shrink)
Lightning in a Bottle: Complexity, Chaos, and Computation in Climate Science.Jon Lawhead - 2014 - Dissertation, Columbia Universitydetails
Climatology is a paradigmatic complex systems science. Understanding the global climate involves tackling problems in physics, chemistry, economics, and many other disciplines. I argue that complex systems like the global climate are characterized by certain dynamical features that explain how those systems change over time. A complex system's dynamics are shaped by the interaction of many different components operating at many different temporal and spatial scales. Examining the multidisciplinary and holistic methods of climatology can help us better understand the nature (...) of complex systems in general. -/- Questions surrounding climate science can be divided into three rough categories: foundational, methodological, and evaluative questions. "How do we know that we can trust science?" is a paradigmatic foundational question (and a surprisingly difficult one to answer). Because the global climate is so complex, questions like "what makes a system complex?" also fall into this category. There are a number of existing definitions of `complexity,' and while all of them capture some aspects of what makes intuitively complex systems distinctive, none is entirely satisfactory. Most existing accounts of complexity have been developed to work with information-theoretic objects (signals, for instance) rather than the physical and social systems studied by scientists. -/- Dynamical complexity, a concept articulated in detail in the first third of the dissertation, is designed to bridge the gap between the mathematics of contemporary complexity theory (in particular the formalism of "effective complexity" developed by Gell-Mann and Lloyd [2003]) and a more general account of the structure of science generally. Dynamical complexity provides a physical interpretation of the formal tools of mathematical complexity theory, and thus can be used as a framework for thinking about general problems in the philosophy of science, including theories, explanation, and lawhood. -/- Methodological questions include questions about how climate science constructs its models, on what basis we trust those models, and how we might improve those models. In order to answer questions about climate modeling, it's important to understand what climate models look like and how they are constructed. Climate model families are significantly more diverse than are the model families of most other sciences (even sciences that study other complex systems). Existing climate models range from basic models that can be solved on paper to staggeringly complicated models that can only be analyzed using the most advanced supercomputers in the world. I introduce some of the central concepts in climatology by demonstrating how one of the most basic climate models might be constructed. I begin with the assumption that the Earth is a simple featureless blackbody which receives energy from the sun and releases it into space, and show how to model that assumption formally. I then gradually add other factors (e.g. albedo and the greenhouse effect) to the model, and show how each addition brings the model's prediction closer to agreement with observation. After constructing this basic model, I describe the so-called "complexity hierarchy" of the rest of climate models, and argue that the sense of "complexity" used in the climate modeling community is related to dynamical complexity. -/- With a clear understanding of the basics of climate modeling in hand, I then argue that foundational issues discussed early in the dissertation suggest that computation plays an irrevocably central role in climate modeling. "Science by simulation" is essential given the complexity of the global climate, but features of the climate system--the presence of non-linearities, feedback loops, and chaotic dynamics--put principled limits on the effectiveness of computational models. This tension is at the root of the staggering pluralism of the climate model hierarchy, and suggests that such pluralism is here to stay, rather than an artifact of our ignorance. Rather than attempting to converge on a single "best fit" climate model, we ought to embrace the diversity of climate models, and view each as a specialized tool designed to predict and explain a rather narrow range of phenomena. Understanding the climate system as a whole requires examining a number of different models, and correlating their outputs. This is the most significant methodological challenge of climatology. -/- Climatology's role contemporary political discourse raises an unusually high number of evaluative questions for a physical science. The two leading approaches to crafting policy surrounding climate change center on mitigation (i.e. stopping the changes from occurring) and adaptation (making post hoc changes to ameliorate the harm caused by those changes). Crafting an effective socio-political response to the threat of anthropogenic climate change, however, requires us to integrate multiple perspectives and values: the proper response will be just as diverse and pluralistic as the climate models themselves, and will incorporate aspects of both approaches. I conclude by offering some concrete recommendations about how to integrate this value pluralism into our socio-political decision making framework. (shrink)
Getting Fundamental About Doing Physics in The Big Bang.Jon Lawhead - 2012 - In Dean Kowalski (ed.), The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy. Blackwell. pp. 99-111.details
Gilles Deleuze.Jon Roffe - 2002 - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.details
The Explanatory Challenge of Religious Diversity.Jason Marsh & Jon Marsh - 2016 - In Helen De Cruz & Ryan Nichols (eds.), Advances in Religion, Cognitive Science, and Experimental Philosophy. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 61-83.details
The challenge from religious diversity is widely thought to be one of the most important challenges facing religious belief. Despite this consensus, however, many epistemologists think that standard versions of the challenge fail because they threaten to implicate many seemingly reasonable yet highly controversial non-religious beliefs. In light of this we develop an alternative, less discussed, diversity challenge that does not generalize. This challenge concerns why so much religious diversity exists in the first place given common religious, and in particular (...) theistic, views. Although there are some interesting scientific explanations of such diversity, satisfying theistic explanations of its existence are still required. (shrink)
A Neglected Additament: Peirce on Logic, Cosmology, and the Reality of God.Jon Alan Schmidt - 2018 - Signs 9 (1):1-20.details
Two different versions of the ending of the first additament to C. S. Peirce's 1908 article, "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God," appear in the Collected Papers but were omitted from The Essential Peirce. In one, he linked the hypothesis of God's Reality to his entire theory of logic as semeiotic, claiming that proving the latter would also prove the former. In the other, he offered a final outline of his cosmology, in which the Reality of God as (...) Ens necessarium is indispensable to both the origin and order of our existing universe of Signs. Exploring these passages, as well as the unpublished manuscript drafts of the article, provides important insights into the key concepts of instinct and continuity within Peirce's comprehensive system of thought. (shrink)
Taste and Acquaintance.Aaron Meskin & Jon Robson - 2015 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 73 (2):127-139.details
The analogy between gustatory taste and critical or aesthetic taste plays a recurring role in the history of aesthetics. Our interest in this article is in a particular way in which gustatory judgments are frequently thought to be analogous to critical judgments. It appears obvious to many that to know how a particular object tastes we must have tasted it for ourselves; the proof of the pudding, we are all told, is in the eating. And it has seemed just as (...) obvious to many philosophers that aesthetic judgment requires first-person experience. In this article we argue that, despite its initial appeal, the claim that gustatory and critical judgments are analogous in this way is mistaken. The two sorts of judgments are, as a matter of fact, similar in their epistemology, but earlier theorists have got things entirely backward—neither gustatory judgment nor aesthetic judgment requires first-hand acquaintance with their objects. Our particular focus in this article is on arguing that first-person experience is not required to know how an item of food or drink tastes. In fact, there are a wide variety of ways in which we can acquire this knowledge. (shrink)
Deleuze and Merleau-Ponty: Immanence, Univocity and Phenomenology.Jack Reynolds & Jon Roffe - 2006 - Journal of the British Society of Phenomenology 37 (3):228-51.details
This paper will seek firstly to understand Deleuze's main challenges to phenomenology, particularly as they are expressed in The Logic of Sense and What is Philosophy?, although reference will also be made to Pure Immanence and Difference and Repetition. We will then turn to a discussion of one of the few passages in which Deleuze directly engages with Merleau-Ponty, which occurs in the chapter on art in What is Philosophy? In this text, he and Guattari offer a critique of what (...) they call the "final avatar" of phenomenology – that is, the "fleshism" that Merleau-Ponty proposes in his unfinished but justly famous work, The Visible and the Invisible. It will be argued that both Deleuze's basic criticisms of phenomenology, as well as he and Guattari's problems with the concept of the flesh, do not adequately come to grips with Merleau-Ponty's later philosophy. Merleau-Ponty is not obviously partisan to what Deleuze finds problematic in this tradition, despite continuing to identify himself as a phenomenologist, and is working within a surprisingly similar framework in certain key respects. In fact, in the more positive part of this paper, we will compare Merleau-Ponty's notion of flesh, and Deleuze's equally infamous univocity of being, as a means to consider the broader question of the ways in which the two philosophers consider ontological thought, its meaning and its conditions. It is our belief that through properly understanding both positions, a rapprochement, or at least the foundation for one, can be established between these two important thinkers. (shrink)
Easy's Gettin' Harder All the Time: The Computational Theory and Affective States.Jason Megill & Jon Cogburn - 2005 - Ratio 18 (3):306-316.details
We argue that A. Damasio's (1994) Somatic Marker hypothesis can explain why humans don't generally suffer from the frame problem, arguably the greatest obstacle facing the Computational Theory of Mind. This involves showing how humans with damaged emotional centers are best understood as actually suffering from the frame problem. We are then able to show that, paradoxically, these results provide evidence for the Computational Theory of Mind, and in addition call into question the very distinction between easy and hard problems (...) in the contemporary philosophy of mind. (shrink)
Moral Testimony as Higher Order Evidence.Marcus Lee, Jon Robson & Neil Sinclair - forthcoming - In Michael Klenk (ed.), Higher-Order Evidence and Moral Epistemology. Routledge.details
Are the circumstances in which moral testimony serves as evidence that our judgement-forming processes are unreliable the same circumstances in which mundane testimony serves as evidence that our mundane judgement-forming processes are unreliable? In answering this question, we distinguish two possible roles for testimony: (i) providing a legitimate basis for a judgement, (ii) providing ('higher-order') evidence that a judgement-forming process is unreliable. We explore the possibilities for a view according to which moral testimony does not, in contrast to mundane testimony (...) play role (i), but can play role (ii). We argue that standard motivations for rejecting this hybrid position are unpersuasive but suggest that a more compelling reason might be found in considering the social nature of morality. (shrink)
Psychological Altruism Vs. Biological Altruism: Narrowing the Gap with the Baldwin Effect.Mahesh Ananth - 2005 - Acta Biotheoretica 53 (3):217-239.details
This paper defends the position that the supposed gap between biological altruism and psychological altruism is not nearly as wide as some scholars (e.g., Elliott Sober) insist. Crucial to this defense is the use of James Mark Baldwin's concepts of "organic selection"and "social heredity" to assist in revealing that the gap between biological and psychological altruism is more of a small lacuna. Specifically, this paper argues that ontogenetic behavioral adjustments, which are crucial to individual survival and reproduction, are also (...) crucial to species survival. In particular, it is argued that human psychological altruism is produced and maintained by various sorts of mimicry and self-reflection in the aid of both individual and species survival. The upshot of this analysis is that it is possible to offer an account of psychological altruism that is closelytethered to biological altruism without reducing entirely the former to thelatter. (shrink)
Religion and Violence in the Horn of Africa: Trajectories of Mimetic Rivalry and Escalation Between 'Political Islam' and the State.Jon Abbink - 2020 - Politics, Religion, and Ideology 21 (2):194-215.details
Religiously inspired violence is a global phenomenon and connects to transnational narratives, necessitating comparative analysis of socio-historical context and patterns of ideological mobilization. Northeast Africa hosts several radical-extremist and terrorist groups, mostly of Muslim persuasion, tuned in to these global narratives while connecting to local interests. Christian radicalism and violence also occur but are less ideologically consistent and less widespread. I examine key aspects of the current role and ideological self-positioning of Islamist radicalism in state contexts, comparing Somalia, affected by (...) Islamist violence since the late 1990s, and Ethiopia, where Islam's mobilization followed a different path and where the state so far contained politicization and open radicalism of Muslim groups. A brief contrastive case from Nigeria is also provided. It is observed that Islam, while of course not 'equalling' violence, easily provides a militant political theology, frequently instrumentalized in conflicts and situations of (perceived) grievance, and via mimetic rivalry then becomes radically ideological. Securitized response patterns of state authorities toward militancy play a role in furthering violent radicalization. I follow a sociological-anthropological approach but also refer to key aspects of national-legal frameworks regarding state and religion, next to societal and political bases of Muslim militant mobilization for collective aims and self-presentation. (shrink)
Tecnologías socialmente disruptivas (Introducción).Jon Rueda - 2021 - Dilemata 31 (13):5-9.details
Jon Elster: una teoría amplia de la racionalidad.Agustina Borella - 2008 - In Ensayos de filosofía y metodología de las ciencias económicas. Buenos Aires: pp. 13-32.details
This paper tries to penetrate Jon Elster's contribution to ratioanlity in the frame of the problem ofmeans and ends rationality. To treat rationality in Elster, we will study the imperfect rationality and its relation to weakness of will,and the development of precommitment strategies. We will also point out the role of Emotions, false beliefs and cognitive fallacies in the consideration of rationality. We Will show the difference that the author makes between the thin theory and the broad theory of rationality. (...) Taking into account Hamlin's distinction between means, beliefs, ends and extended rationality, we will explain the relation between his belief rationality and Elster's broad theory. (shrink)
Democracy After Virtue: Toward Pragmatic Confucian Democracy. [REVIEW]Baldwin Wong - 2018 - Philosophical Quarterly 70 (279):440-442.details
Democracy after Virtue: Toward Pragmatic Confucian Democracy. Edited by Sungmoon Kim.
Is Rawls Really a Kantian Contractarian?Baldwin Wong - 2016 - Public Reason 8 (1-2).details
In most of the introductions to Rawls and contemporary contractarianism, Rawls is seen as the representative of Kantian contractarianism. He is understood as inheriting a contractarian tradition that can be traced back to Kant and which has inspired followers such as Barry and Scanlon. This paper argues that the label does not fit Rawls. While a Kantian contractarian would presuppose a monistic conception of practical reason, Rawls is a hybrid contractarian who presupposes a dual conception. I shall first argue that (...) the way in which a contractarian model is labeled is determined by its conception of practical reason. Then I show that Rawls and Kantian contractarians assume different conceptions of practical reason, and therefore should be seen as belonging to two strands of thought. I further argue that, although Rawls acknowledges his intellectual affiliation with Kant, he cannot be considered a Kantian contractarian in the commonly understood way. In his Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy, Rawls interprets Kant as endorsing a hybrid contractarian model that is similar to his. By understanding Rawls as a hybrid contractarian and not confusing his philosophical project with that of Kantian contractarians, Rawls's contribution to the history of contractarianism can be better evaluated. (shrink)
Self-Organization, Emergence, and Constraint in Complex Natural Systems.Jon Lawhead - manuscriptdetails
Contemporary complexity theory has been instrumental in providing novel rigorous definitions for some classic philosophical concepts, including emergence. In an attempt to provide an account of emergence that is consistent with complexity and dynamical systems theory, several authors have turned to the notion of constraints on state transitions. Drawing on complexity theory directly, this paper builds on those accounts, further developing the constraint-based interpretation of emergence and arguing that such accounts recover many of the features of more traditional accounts. We (...) show that the constraint-based account of emergence also leads naturally into a meaningful definition of self-organization, another concept that has received increasing attention recently. Along the way, we distinguish between order and organization, two concepts which are frequently conflated. Finally, we consider possibilities for future research in the philosophy of complex systems, as well as applications of the distinctions made in this paper. (shrink)
Religion and Politics in Africa: The Future of "The Secular".Jon Abbink - 2014 - Africa Spectrum 49 (3):83-106.details
This essay discusses the continued importance that religion holds in African life, not only in terms of numbers of believers, but also regarding the varieties of religious experience and its links with politics and the "public sphere(s)". Coinciding with the wave of democratization and economic liberalization efforts since about 1990, a notable growth of the public presence of religion and its political referents in Africa has been witnessed; alongside "development", religion will remain a hot issue in the future political trajectory (...) of the continent. Its renewed presence in public spheres has also led to new understandings of what religion means and how it figures into both "world-making" and identity politics. This will prolong the challenges associated with the role and status of religion in the "secular state model" found in most African countries. Can these states, while "besieged" by believers, maintain neutrality among diverse worldviews, and if so, how? The paper discusses these issues in a general manner with reference to African examples, some taken from fieldwork by the author, and makes a philosophical argument for the development of a new kind of "secular state" that can respect the religious commitments of African populations. (shrink)
Burge on Perception and the Disjunction Problem.Jon Altschul - 2015 - Theoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 30 (2):251-269.details
According to the Disjunction Problem, teleological theories of perceptual content are unable to explain why it is that a subject represents an F when an F causes the perception and not the disjunction F v G, given that the subject has mistaken G's for F's in the past. Without an adequate explanation these theories are stuck without an account of how non-veridical representation is possible, which would be an unsettling result. In this paper I defend Burge's teleological theory of perception (...) against the Disjunction Problem, arguing that a perceptual state's representing what I call an error-prohibiting disjunctive property is incompatible with the truth of perceptual anti-individualism. And because perceptual anti-individualism is at the heart of Burge's theory, I conclude that Burgeans need not be concerned with the Disjunction Problem. (shrink)
Review of Alex Voorhoeve, Conversations on Ethics. [REVIEW]Jon Garthoff - 2011 - Journal of Moral Philosophy 8 (4):642-645.details
Review of Christian Miller (Ed.), The Continuum Companion to Ethics. [REVIEW]Jon Garthoff - 2012 - Notre Dame Philosophical Review.details
Review of Louis Baldwin's Portraits of God: Word Pictures of the Deity From the Earliest Times Through Today. [REVIEW]Subhasis Chattopadhyay - 2020 - Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India 125 (07):573.details
This review points out how Baldwin's book is unique in that it foregrounds proto-Marxist views of God. But it misses the mark by not mentioning "Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's work on the rhizomic nature of the Buddhist 'mandala'.".
Socrates in the fMRI Scanner: The Neurofoundations of Morality and the Challenge to Ethics.Jon Rueda - 2021 - Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 30 (4):606-612.details
The neuroscience of ethics is allegedly having a double impact. First, it is transforming the view of human morality through the discovery of the neurobiological underpinnings that influence moral behavior. Secondly, some neuroscientific findings are radically challenging traditional views on normative ethics. Both claims have some truth but are also overstated. In this article, the author shows that they can be understood together, although with different caveats, under the label of 'neurofoundationalism'. Whereas the neuroscientific picture of human morality is undoubtedly (...) valuable if we avoid neuroessentialistic portraits, the empirical disruption of normative ethics seems less plausible. The neuroscience of morality, however, is providing relevant evidence that any empirically-informed ethical theory needs to critically consider. Although neuroethics is not going to bridge the is-ought divide, it may establish certain facts that require us to rethink the way we achieve our ethical aspirations. (shrink)


Who says the blues get you down?
From the Delta to Dorchester, the blues is a genre built on its most static elements: tales of love gone bad; larger-than-life personas; and its repeating three-chord, 12-bar structure, a form that provides its purveyors with a blank, relentless canvas as daunting as it is inspiring.
A mainstay of New England's roots music scene for nearly 30 years, guitarist and Acton resident BJ Magoon knows all too well how difficult those dozen measures can be to fill.
That's why he's staked his reputation on being one of the area's most versatile players, drawing not just on the blues, but on swing, early rock and the bands of the British Invasion to form his trademark sound.
"To prevent a lot of repetition after playing these years, I've found some variations possible within progressions," said Magoon, who plays at the Acton Jazz Cafe's Blue Moon Ball on Saturday.
"I guess my tastes have always been varied within the blues and roots formats....My music-listening tastes have changed over the years to styles that musically are more involved, such as the blues and roots styles that overlap into areas that have necessitated my musical knowledge and playing to grow," he added.
Magoon began his career as a teen in the mid 1960s playing in Boston clubs, and by the early '70s was gigging with guitarist Luther "Georgia Boy/Snake" Johnson, a job that not only let him cut his teeth with more seasoned players, but introduced him to masters like Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry and James Cotton.
It wasn't long before that education prompted Magoon to strike out on his own, taking center stage with his own brand of groove-heavy, genre-jumping songs that put a premium on high musicianship and classic blues storytelling.
Apart from leading his own outfit, Driving Sideways, Magoon also chairs one of the region's preeminent blues jams at the Acton Jazz Cafe, bringing the knowledge he received in his formative years full circle to players of all ages and abilities.
Next month, on July 12, the event will host its 10-year anniversary, a milestone that even a venerable blues statesman like Magoon finds hard to believe.
"(The blues jam) has ebbed and flowed over the years," he said. "I think it's always been a great influence for players - the beginners starting out or the former players getting back into playing after not playing for several (or) many years. They meet and play with other folks, develop their chops and confidence, start (and) join bands. It seems that new players and listeners will come for the first time, (then) start coming every week for several years. Then some drop back to once every two or more weeks. Some stop for longer, (and) come back again occasionally."
That ever-changing mixture of players and backgrounds makes the jam a particularly vital teaching tool, despite the fact that conventional wisdom tends to say that great bluesmen are born not made.
"Yes, you can teach people the blues," said Magoon. "But only to a degree, not entirely 'by the book.' I think you need the visceral gut feeling and interest that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and physically moves you."
What's more, he said, the jam serves as an informal focal point for the area's blues community, which in recent decades has had to fight for its place amongst rock and jazz clubs.
For a veteran like Magoon, it's a fight not unlike the one every bluesman faces to fill those 12 bars - the point is not just about being heard, but what you have to say with the time you have.
"I think it's limiting for straight blues players and venues now, compared to several years ago," said Magoon. "Especially if you have to play loud to 'get your sound.' Some players, bands are good enough that they stay popular and maintain a steady following. My thoughts are to play with a good beat and groove that folks will want to dance to!"
BJ Magoon and Driving Sideways will perform at the Blue Moon Ball on Saturday, June 30, at the Acton Jazz Cafe, 452 Great Road in Acton. For reservations call 978-263-6161 or go online to www.actonjazzcafe.com.


The cost effectiveness of when to turn off lights depends on the type of lights and the price of electricity.
The cost effectiveness of when to turn off lights depends on the type of bulb and the cost of electricity. The type of lightbulb you use is important for several reasons. All lightbulbs have a nominal or rated operating life, which is affected by how many times they are turned on and off. The more often they are switched on and off, the lower their operating life.
Incandescent lights should be turned off whenever they are not needed, because they are the least efficient type of lighting. 90% of the energy they use is given off as heat, and only about 10% results in light. Turning lights off will also keep a room cooler, an extra benefit in the summer.
While halogens are more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs, they use the same technology and are far less efficient than CFLs and LEDs. Therefore, it is best to turn these lights off whenever they are not needed.
The operating life of CFLs is more affected by the number of times they are switched on and off. You can generally extend the life of a CFL bulb more by switching it on and off less frequently than if you simply use it less.
It is a popularly held belief that CFLs use a lot of energy to get started and it is better not to turn them off for short periods. The amount of energy varies between manufacturers and models—however, ENERGY STAR© rated bulbs are required to endure rapid cycling for five-minute intervals to ensure that they can hold up to frequent switching.
In any case, the relatively higher "inrush" current required lasts for half a cycle, or 1/120th of a second. The amount of electricity consumed to supply the inrush current is equal to a few seconds or less of normal light operation. Turning off fluorescent lights for more than 5 seconds will save more energy than will be consumed in turning them back on again. Therefore, the real issue is the value of the electricity saved by turning the light off relative to the cost of changing a lightbulb. This in turn determines the shortest cost-effective period for turning off a fluorescent light.
The operating life of a light emitting diode (LED) is unaffected by turning it on and off. While lifetime is reduced for fluorescent lamps the more often they are switched on and off, there is no negative effect on LED lifetime. This characteristic gives LEDs several distinct advantages when it comes to operations. For example, LEDs have an advantage when used in conjunction with occupancy sensors or daylight sensors that rely on on-off operation. Also, in contrast to traditional technologies, LEDs turn on at full brightness almost instantly, with no delay. LEDs are also largely unaffected by vibration because they do not have filaments or glass enclosures.
Then you need to find out what you are paying for electricity per kWh (in general and during peak periods). You will need to look over your electricity bills and see what the utility charges per kWh. Multiply the rate per kWh by the amount of electricity saved, and this will give you the value of the savings. Continuing with the example above, let us say that your electric rate is 10 cents per kWh. The value of the energy savings would then be 0.4 cents ($ 0.004). The value of the savings will increase the higher the watt rating of the bulb, the greater the number of bulbs controlled by a single switch, and the higher the rate per kWh.
The most cost-effective length of time that a light (or set of lights) can be turned off before the value of the savings exceeds the cost of having to replace bulbs (due to their shortened operating life) will depend on the type and model of bulb and ballast. The cost of replacing a bulb (or ballast) depends on the cost of the bulb and the cost of labor to do it.
Lighting manufacturers should be able to supply information on the duty cycle of their products. In general, the more energy-efficient a lightbulb is, the longer you can leave it on before it is cost effective to turn it off.
In addition to turning off your lights manually, you may want to consider using sensors, timers, and other automatic lighting controls.


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Bike Rider Car Driver Needed For the Company Urgently in Dubai We are immediately looking for 15 bike riders with license and 3 car driver urgently.
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text:
How Dozens of Children Were Freed After New Abduction in Katsina — Police: Politics : Nigerialog.com - Nigeria's Premier Online Forum
Nigerialog.com - Nigeria's Premier Online Forum ≫ General Category ≫ General ≫ Politics (Moderator: dayan) ≫ How Dozens of Children Were Freed After New Abduction in Katsina — Police
How Dozens of Children Were Freed After New Abduction in Katsina — Police
By: dayan (M) |Time : December 22, 2020, 04:11:28 AM
Local vigilantes rescued dozens of schoolchildren abducted by bandits in Katsina State after a gun battle, police said, yesterday.
Gunmen had abducted about 80 children on Saturday as they returned to Mahuta village after having attended a religious ceremony, said spokesman, Gambo Isah, of Katsina State police.
The incident came barely 48 hours after the release of 344 schoolboys kidnapped from a boarding school by bandits and held for six days.
According to local residents, the number of children rescued following Saturday's attack came to 113.
When the news spread across Mahuta, residents and vigilantes mobilised and went after the kidnappers, said Abdullahi Sada, leader of a local vigilante group.
They set off in pursuit of the gunmen, who had been identified as herdsmen.
"We laid siege on the area we knew they were holding the children and also took some Fulani settlements in the area hostage, warning that if anything happened to our children, no Fulani would live in the area henceforth.
"They released 60 children around 3am, and later, they called and said they had released the remaining 53 who are now being ferried from the bush," he said.
The children, from various Islamic seminaries in the town, were travelling in the company of their teachers when they were kidnapped, said one of the teachers who gave his first name as Tijjani.
A source in the area, Sagir Dandume said his younger sister, was among the Islammiyya students kidnapped by the bandits but have since regained freedom.
Sagir said: "The students were in hundreds. They went to attend Maulud celebration in a neighbouring village. You know the tradition is during the Maulud celebration, the students reciprocate the gestures and often attend neighbouring villages' celebration. So, it was on their way returning around Unguwa Babban Audu when they ran into the bandits, who had just finished attack from a village. They kidnapped some persons from the village and now joined the children among those the kidnapped earlier.
"So calls were put across to the neighbouring villages on the fresh attack which led all the people and vigilantes to come out and put the bandits in middle. And the victims were rescued. The rustled livestock too were rescued.
"After they were rescued by the local vigilantes, they slept in the bush and it was this morning that they returned home."
Spokesperson, Katsina State Police Command, Gambo Isah, who confirmed the incident, said the security operatives and local vigilante engaged the bandits in a gun duel leading to the rescuing of 84 persons (80 students and four other persons earlier kidnapped by the bandits).
He said: "At 2200hrs on Saturday, a distress call was received by DPO Dandume that some Islamiyya Students of Hizburrahim Islamiyya, Mahuta village, Dandume LGA of Katsina State, numbering about 80, while on their way back from Maulud occasion celebrated at Unguwan Alkasim village, Dandume to Mahuta village, were accosted by bandits who had already kidnapped four persons and rustled 12 cows from Danbaure village, Funtua LGA, trying to escape into the forest.
"On receipt of the report, the DPO led Operations "Puff Adder, Sharan Daji and Vigilante group to the area and engaged the bandits into a fierce gun duel.
"Subsequently, the teams succeeded in dislodging the bandits and rescued all the 84 kidnapped victims and recovered all the 12 rustled cows. Search parties are still combing the area with a view to arrest the injured bandits and/or recover their dead bodies. Investigation is on going," Isah added.
But the Defence headquarters, yesterday, said troops of Operation Hadarin Daji in conjunction with Police and local vigilante deployed at Dandume LGA of Katsina State were responsible for the rescue of scores of Islamiya Children who were abducted on Saturday night after attending a religious ceremony.
Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche in a statement, said: "In reaction to the distress call, troops quickly mobilized to the scene, laid ambush and blocked bandits' route along Daudawa-Kadisau, Sheme Mairuwa and Unguwar Audu village.
"While patiently waiting for the bandits at the ambush and blocking position, troops established contact with bandits and engaged them.
"During the fierce battle, troops superior fire power forced bandits to abandon the children and the rustled cattle and fled in disarray into the forest.
"Troops thereafter, searched the general area and rescued the 39 kidnapped girls in addition to the recovery of 8 rustled cattle.
'"The victims have been reunited with their families while the recovered cattle handed to the owners. Troops have dominated the general area with aggressive patrol to forestall further occurrence.
'The Military High Command commends the gallant troops and other security agencies for their sustained successes. Equally the locals and vigilantes are hereby appreciated for the cooperation in tackling the insecurity in Katsina State."
Source: Vanguard
Re: How Dozens of Children Were Freed After New Abduction in Katsina — Police
See what works?
For starters, the "bandits" were Fulani herdsmen.
In Nigeria it is politically incorrect to call them by their real name.
What worked, however was that the community encircled the nearby Fulani settlement, and threatened mayhem.
That was enough to convince the terrorists that they have no monopoly to evil. They bulked and released the kidnapped kids. See how they reason?
There is a lot of lesson in this incident.
Lamentations can't stop this evil. Only concrete actions (perhaps reciprocal ones) can.
Nigeria used to be a place where no ethnic group monopolized terror and violence.
Every ethnic group knew its own lanes and stayed there.
But since 2015, the Fulani set out to monopolize terror.
The rest of the ethnic groups in Nigeria can stop them though.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Phnom Penh (FN), Aug. 10 - The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) approved four new factories in Cambodia with a total investment of approximately $100 million.
MAKRO (CAMBODIA) COMPANY LIMITED, a project that establishes a commercial center located in Siem Reap province, has an investment capital of $ 18.7 million and can generate 179 jobs.
BOONMA HENG CO., LTD, a project that build a five-star hotel with 392 rooms and supermarket located in Poipet City, Banteay Meanchey Province, with a capital of $68 million and can generate 836 jobs.
RONG WIN GARMENT CO., LTD., a project to establish a garment factory located in Meanchey district, Phnom Penh, has a capital of $9.4 million and can create 2,121 jobs.
E1 RENEWABLE ENERGY CO., LTD., a project of setting up a diesel petrochemical plant located in Khan Dangkor, Phnom Penh, has a capital of 3.6 million and can generate 2,121 jobs.


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Currently I'm using a Sony Xperia Mini Pro for almost a year now. My old one – Nokia 2660 which lasted about 5 years or so. I'm more of a flip phone person, but since there's no flip phone these days, I had to change. I don't really fancy touchscreen. Fortunately the Mini Pro comes with a sliding qwerty keyboard. The only thing about the mini pro is that the battery life doesn't last. I'm not sure what are the ratings, but I thought phones powered by lithium batteries are supposed to last longer. Perhaps the apps that were installed have been draining battery power much faster.
Anyways I'm looking forward for an opportunity to change my phone, but I need to wait till my current one dies on me.
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