An Inchoate Universe: James's Probabilistic Underdeterminism

In this paper, I challenge the traditional narrative that William James’s arguments against determinism were primarily motivated by his personal struggles with depression. I argue that James presents an alternative argument against determinism that is motivated by his commitment to sound scientific practice. James argues that determinism illegitimately extrapolates from observations of past events to predictions about future events without acknowledging the distinct metaphysical difference between them. This occupation with futurity suggests that James’s true target is better understood as logical determinism rather than causal determinism. This has consequences for James’s proposed alternative, which I call his probabilistic underdeterminism, a conception of the universe that is built on chance, choice, and a local teleology. All of this forms part of a broader criticism of the scientific practices of his day based on their widespread failure to acknowledge the distorting effects of observation on that which is observed

Embodied Akrasia: James on Motivation and Weakness of Will

This paper presents an account of akrasia, drawn from the work of William James, that sees akrasia as neither a rational failing (as with most philosophical accounts) nor a moral failing (as with early Christian accounts), but rather a necessary by-product of our status as biological beings. By examining James’s related accounts of motivation and action, I argue that akratic actions occur when an agent attempts to act against her settled habits, but fails to do so. This makes akrasia a product of the agent’s practical failure to adequately structured her environment to bring about her desired action. Akratic action performs the vital function of revealing to the agent the exact point at which her cognitive effort was insufficient for bringing about her intended action. It also reveals that future improvement is within her control. As such, akratic action is the very foundation of James’s meliorism

Does He Protest Too Much? James's Relationship with Hegel

William James's treatment of G. W. F. Hegel is often vitriolic and hostile. James advanced arguments against virtually every aspect of Hegelian philosophy. Despite the widespread grievances James found in Hegel's work, there are a growing number of philosophers who argue that James was in actuality a latent Hegelian himself. On the other side of this debate are those who believe that James provided a final and devastating critique from which Hegel could never escape. This thesis considers both positions and renders a number of historical judgements regarding the relationship between James and Hegel. First, one ought not. to consider James a Hegelian. Any attempt to construe James as one must severely distort James's work. Second, despite the volume of arguments against Hegel James provides, the strongest argument is that of vicious abstractionism. Lastly, while vicious abstractionism may provide the basis for a strong argument against Hegel, it cannot be taken as a decisive victory over him. This is because James saw his brand of pragmatism as a mediator between different philosophies present in the philosophical discourse, a conversation from which Hegelian philosophy had all but removed itself in James's time. The concept of vicious abstractionism represents James's attempt to bring Hegelian philosophy back into the discourse through exposing an underlying flaw in its psychology. Aside from providing a resolution to the debate surrounding James's supposed Hegelian leanings, this thesis demonstrates how current pragmatists can enjoy a cautious rather than hostile relationship with Hegel.Master of Arts (MA

Refiguring class: the precariat in contemporary writing about Britain

This thesis is about social class in post-2008 writing about Britain. Focusing on the work of several contemporary writers – including John Lanchester, Mohsin Hamid, and Ali Smith – the thesis seeks to examine the ways in which neoliberalism as an economic, cultural, social and political formation produces a new class subject: the precariat. The condition of precarity has received some attention in literary studies, but this thesis offers a theorisation of the constitutive form the character type of the precariat might take in seven main texts. The purpose of this, therefore, is to posit a revitalisation of class analyses in studies of contemporary literature. After providing a theoretical mapping of neoliberalism, class, and the precariat across several disciplines in the Introduction, Chapter One interrogates Lanchester’s Capital (2012), arguing that its formal qualities both reflect the cultural concept of the classless society and anticipate its fragmentation into the precariat. The novel’s conclusion with the financial crisis as a moment of rupture signals the necessity of the subsequent chapters, which serve as literary case studies of each character type. Chapter Two reads the protagonist of Paul Ewen’s Francis Plug: How To Be A Public Author (2014) as a millennial by tracing the text’s focus on burnout, mental health, and the false promise of meritocratic ideals to identify his exploitation. Chapter Three focuses on Hari Kunzru’s Transmission (2004) and Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West (2017) and locates the figure of the migrant-refugee as characterised by a perennial mobility. Chapter Four examines Jonathan Coe’s Number 11 (2015) and identifies its engagement with austerity as economic and cultural violence. Finally, Chapter Five offers a brief, concluding discussion that brings the threads of the thesis together by considering Anthony Cartwright’s The Cut (2017) and Ali Smith’s Spring (2019) in relation to current class temporalities. Positioning precarity as existing in a ‘hyper present’, the thesis concludes by arguing the precariat is characterised by the post-crash cultural moment. Modulating Marxist and neoMarxist discourses, these chapters offer as a starting point an account of the ways in which class formation affects the novel in the 2004-2019 period

Pregnancy after tubal occlusion A 5-year study

During the 5-year period 1976 - 19809430 patients underwenttubal occlusion at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. Of these patients 24, or 2,5/1 ODD, became pregnant after the procedure. An analysis of the pregnancy rate for each method of tubal occlusion is reported. Bilateral tubal occlusion by laparotomy'or falope rings has a low failure rate; cauterization has not

'I come from' 17 November 2020 - 17 March 2021

The 'I Come From' project worked with a diverse range of people from Nottingham and beyond in order to provide a platform for their stories through creative writing and performance poetry. Through poetry and story-telling we have creatively engaged three diverse groups in a series of workshops led by Trekkah Benjamin, Ty Healy, Plentiful Poet and Joe Andrews, with guest workshops from Joshua Judson and Jake Weaver. Using the form of poem 'Where I Come From' written by world-famous poet Elizabeth Brewster, three 5-week workshops, produced a series of anthologies empowering our participant’s voices and developing their confidence. The work was then illustrated by Raphael Achache and pressed in preparation for an online showcase event, which offered a performance opportunity. By recording and presenting these stories we can address misconceptions and views that create barriers in our society. As part of the legacy for this community project digital resources packs were created from the anthologies which aimed to open up a forum of discussion between our participant's stories and the wider audiences that engage with them. These resources was targeted at groups from the Refugee forum, Framework and Outburst where these personal stories may have a most impact

The relative effects of bottom trawling, organic enrichment, and natural environmental factors on coastal seabed communities

This is the final version. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record. Data availability: Data will be made available on request.Coastal regions are under intense and growing pressure from human activities. Here, we examine how human and natural drivers interact with benthic communities, species, and life-history traits across four distinct coastal areas. Sediment organic content was a key driver of seabed community characteristics, with positive (increased benthic biomass) and strongly adverse (depauperate communities) effects observed. Similarly, environmental factors such as bottom currents were highly influential. In contrast, bottom trawling impacts varied by location. Beam trawling in areas of low organic enrichment was most damaging to seabed fauna, even in the presence of strong bottom currents. However, we did not observe any faunal impacts of trawling under chronic enrichment, despite the fishery using relatively heavy gears (e.g. otter trawls) at high intensities. Lastly, we discuss how human and natural factors interact and shape seabed ecosystems under different conditions, and how management measures can be adapted to improve coastal seabed health.European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)DTU Aqu

Measures of cardiac function in Theraphosidae spiders using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging

We report the first in vivo cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of Theraphosidae spiders. MRI scanning is performed on six spiders under isoflurane‐induced anaesthesia. Retrospective self‐gating cine‐cardiac MRI (RG‐CINE‐MRI) is used to overcome the difficulties of prospective cardiac gating in this species. The resulting RG‐CINE‐MRI images are successfully analyzed to obtain functional cardiac parameters from live spiders at rest. Cardiac ejection fraction is found to increase with animal mass (Pearson correlation 0.849, P = 0.03) at a faster rate than myocardial tissue volume, whereas heart rate remains constant across animals. This suggests the spider heart undergoes additional biomechanical loading with age. The results of the present study demonstrate the potential for retrospective gating with respect to evaluating aspects of cardiac function in a wide range of previously inaccessible species

The Common Swift Louse Fly, Crataerina pallida: An Ideal Species for Studying Host-Parasite Interactions

Little is known of the life-history of many parasitic species. This hinders a full understanding of host-parasitic interactions. The common swift louse fly, Crataerina pallida Latreille (Diptera: Hippoboscidae), an obligate haematophagous parasite of the Common Swift, Apus apus Linnaeus 1758, is one such species. No detrimental effect of its parasitism upon the host has been found. This may be because too little is known about C. pallida ecology, and therefore detrimental effects are also unknown. This is a review of what is known about the life-history of this parasite, with the aim of promoting understanding of its ecology. New, previously unreported observations about C. pallida made from personal observations at a nesting swift colony are described. Unanswered questions are highlighted, which may aid understanding of this host-parasite system. C. pallida may prove a suitable model species for the study of other host-parasite relationships

James's Account of the Phenomena and Conditions of Action

This thesis is a study of the concept of action as it relates to the work of William James. Its chief contention is that for James, ‘action’ refers to all behaviour by which an organism pursues ends in order to adapt to its environment under such conditions that it experiences a feeling of effort. This claim is defended through an analysis of James’s psychological work, especially the subjects of volition, habituation, attention, and the feeling of effort. The understanding of each of these subjects is augmented by treating James’s work as a response to and continuation of the work of his predecessors. To that end, James’s work on each subject is compared and contrasted with the work of pertinent associationist psychologists, most notably James Mill, Wilhelm Wundt, Herbert Spencer, and Alexander Bain. A curious state of affairs emerges once James’s account of action is stripped of its nineteenth century vernacular and understood in its scientific context; namely, that James’s account of action is best understood as an early precursor to the currently prevailing event-causal account of Donald Davidson, with the same strengths and weaknesses. Consequences of this development are considered, along with potential ways that this could be used to bridge the gap between the analytic and pragmatic traditions