The Different Modes of Existence
The Different Modes of Existence

Author: Étienne Souriau

Publisher: U of Minnesota Press

Published: 2016-03-01

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 1937561801

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What relation is there between the existence of a work of art and that of a living being? Between the existence of an atom and that of a value like solidarity? These questions become our own each time a reality—whether it is a piece of music, someone we love, or a fictional character—is established and begins to take on an importance in our lives. Like William James or Gilles Deleuze, Souriau methodically defends the thesis of an existential pluralism. There are indeed different manners of existing and even different degrees or intensities of existence: from pure phenomena to objectivized things, by way of the virtual and the “super-existent,” to which works of art and the intellect, and even morality, bear witness. Existence is polyphonic, and, as a result, the world is considerably enriched and enlarged. Beyond all that exists in the ordinary sense of the term, it is necessary to allow for all sorts of virtual and ephemeral states, transitional realms, and barely begun realities, still in the making, all of which constitute so many “inter-worlds.”

The Laboratory of the Mind
The Laboratory of the Mind

Author: James Robert Brown

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2005-09-26

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 1134865791

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Thought experiments are performed in the laboratory of the mind. Beyond this metaphor it is difficult to say just what these remarkable devices for investigating nature are or how they work. Though most scientists and philosophers would admit their great importance, there has been very little serious study of them. This volume is the first book-length investigation of thought experiments. Starting with Galileo's argument on falling bodies, Brown describes numerous examples of the most influential thought experiments from the history of science. Following this introduction to the subject, some substantial and provocative claims are made, the principle being that some thought experiments should be understood in the same way that platonists understand mathematical activity: as an intellectual grasp of an independently existing abstract realm. With its clarity of style and structure, The Laboratory of the Mind will find readers among all philosophers of science as well as scientists who have puzzled over how thought experiments work.

Birthing Justice
Birthing Justice

Author: Julia Chinyere Oparah

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-12-22

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1317277201

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There is a global crisis in maternal health care for black women. In the United States, black women are over three times more likely to perish from pregnancy-related complications than white women; their babies are half as likely to survive the first year. Many black women experience policing, coercion, and disempowerment during pregnancy and childbirth and are disconnected from alternative birthing traditions. This book places black women's voices at the center of the debate on what should be done to fix the broken maternity system and foregrounds black women's agency in the emerging birth justice movement. Mixing scholarly, activist, and personal perspectives, the book shows readers how they too can change lives, one birth at a time.

Robot Ethics
Robot Ethics

Author: Patrick Lin

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-01-10

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 026252600X

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Prominent experts from science and the humanities explore issues in robot ethics that range from sex to war. Robots today serve in many roles, from entertainer to educator to executioner. As robotics technology advances, ethical concerns become more pressing: Should robots be programmed to follow a code of ethics, if this is even possible? Are there risks in forming emotional bonds with robots? How might society—and ethics—change with robotics? This volume is the first book to bring together prominent scholars and experts from both science and the humanities to explore these and other questions in this emerging field. Starting with an overview of the issues and relevant ethical theories, the topics flow naturally from the possibility of programming robot ethics to the ethical use of military robots in war to legal and policy questions, including liability and privacy concerns. The contributors then turn to human-robot emotional relationships, examining the ethical implications of robots as sexual partners, caregivers, and servants. Finally, they explore the possibility that robots, whether biological-computational hybrids or pure machines, should be given rights or moral consideration. Ethics is often slow to catch up with technological developments. This authoritative and accessible volume fills a gap in both scholarly literature and policy discussion, offering an impressive collection of expert analyses of the most crucial topics in this increasingly important field.

Handbook of Psychosomatic Medicine
Handbook of Psychosomatic Medicine

Author: Giovanni Andrea Fava

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 808

ISBN-13:

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This volume is an essential tool for clinicians in every specialty, a comprehensive work on a highly complex subject. In its 32 review papers by leading international researchers in the field, the core of psychosomatic medicine, multicausality is investigated via the vast array of research literature discussed by the authors. The handbook discusses psychosomatic issues in relation to AIDS, cancer, gastrointestinal illness, cardiovascular disease end-state renal failure, endocrine disorders, psychooncology, dermatology, gynecology, otorhinoolaryngology chronic fatigue, temporomandibular joint pain-dysfunction, body image disorders, and psychological relations to medical procedures. In the past decade there has been an upsurge of interest in alternative medicine in North America. Probably its most distinctive feature is the attention to psychosocial aspects of medical practice. This volume provides an evidence-based analysis for such a stance, and clinicians will find it an indispensable tool for the 21st century.

Rome the Cosmopolis
Rome the Cosmopolis

Author: Catharine Edwards

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-11-02

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9780521030113

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A collection of essays exploring key aspects of the relationship between Rome and its empire.

Medical Ethics Today
Medical Ethics Today

Author: British Medical Association

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-01-31

Total Pages: 919

ISBN-13: 1444355643

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This is your source for authoritative and comprehensive guidance from the British Medical Association (BMA) Medical Ethics Department covering both routine and highly contentious medico-legal issues faced by health care professionals. The new edition updates the information from both the legal and ethical perspectives and reflects developments surrounding The Mental Capacity Act, Human Tissue Act, and revision of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

Would You Kill the Fat Man?
Would You Kill the Fat Man?

Author: David Edmonds

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2013-10-06

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1400848385

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From the bestselling coauthor of Wittgenstein's Poker, a fascinating tour through the history of moral philosophy A runaway train is racing toward five men who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. You are standing on a footbridge looking down on the unfolding disaster. However, a fat man, a stranger, is standing next to you: if you push him off the bridge, he will topple onto the line and, although he will die, his chunky body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man? The question may seem bizarre. But it's one variation of a puzzle that has baffled moral philosophers for almost half a century and that more recently has come to preoccupy neuroscientists, psychologists, and other thinkers as well. In this book, David Edmonds, coauthor of the bestselling Wittgenstein's Poker, tells the riveting story of why and how philosophers have struggled with this ethical dilemma, sometimes called the trolley problem. In the process, he provides an entertaining and informative tour through the history of moral philosophy. Most people feel it's wrong to kill the fat man. But why? After all, in taking one life you could save five. As Edmonds shows, answering the question is far more complex—and important—than it first appears. In fact, how we answer it tells us a great deal about right and wrong.