The principle of alternate possibilities as sufficient but not necessary for moral responsibility: a way to avoid the Frankfurt counter-example

The aim of this paper is to present a version of the principle of alternate possibilities (PAP) which is not susceptible to the Frankfurt-style counter-example. I argue that PAP does not need to be endorsed as a necessary condition for moral responsibility and, in fact, presenting PAP as a sufficient condition maintains its usefulness as a maxim for moral accountability whilst avoiding Frankfurt-style counter-examples. In addition, I provide a further sufficient condition for moral responsibility – the twin world condition – and argue that this provides a means of justifying why the protagonist in Frankfurt-style scenarios (e.g., Jones) is still felt to be morally responsible. I conclude by claiming that neither the amended PAP nor the twin world condition is necessary for the ascription of moral responsibility; rather, what is necessary is simply that one of these conditions is satisfied

Selective scepticism over thought: am I ever justified in doubting that I think that thought but not this one?

In this paper, I subject a number of statements avowing selective doubt about an act of thinking to philosophical analysis (e.g., "A thought occurred just now but I do not believe that I was thinking it") to ascertain those circumstances under which they constitute a legitimate expression of scepticism. C an a case be made for epistemic discrepancy sufficient to justify the following claim : "I doubt that I think that thought but not this one"? In support of selective scepticism, I discuss the ontological and epistemic properties evident in an indirect form of Moore’s paradox which features beliefs about a thought and a thinker: notably, "I experienced a thought just now but I do not believe that I was thinking it". I argue that the conjunction above contains conjuncts which are ontologically equivalent but epistemically distinct. This difference explains not only why the statement is indirectly Moore paradoxical but how selective scepticism over thought might be justified. To further support my claim for the legitimacy of selective scepticism, I consider research on how a child acquire s beliefs about thinking , and speculate over the cause of a rare pathological condition known as thought insertion

Are there some things it is morally wrong to make-believe? An examination of imaginative resistance as a measure of the morality of pretence

This paper discusses the morality of make-believing deviant moral truths within the context of fictional narratives (e.g. make-believing that the killing of innocent people is a morally good thing to do). By examining popular explanations of imaginative resistance (one’s unwillingness to imagine certain fictitious content), the paper assesses the extent to which reasons for our unwillingness to entertain certain forms of pretence might constitute a form of moral wisdom, and so offer insight into what a normative approach to make-believe might look like (qua a sufficient condition for moral proscription). The paper concludes that while imaginative resistance may provide a psychological measure of what some may find insensitive or tasteless within the realm of pretence, it does not have the resources to be co-opted as a suitable measure of moral wisdom, and therefore cannot be used to guide, morally, what we should or should not be willing to make-believe

Ultrasonic metal etching for metallographic analysis

Ultrasonic etching delineates microstructural features not discernible in specimens prepared for metallographic analysis by standard chemical etching procedures. Cavitation bubbles in ultrasonically excited water produce preferential damage /etching/ of metallurgical phases or grain boundaries, depending on hardness of metal specimens

\u3cem\u3eYoungstown\u3c/em\u3e, \u3cem\u3eHamdan\u3c/em\u3e, and Inherent Emergency Presidential Policymaking Powers

This brief article explores the contribution that Hamdan v Rumsfeld may have made to clarifying what should happen in the large interstices of the rules created by the Youngstown case for determining the validity of claims of Presidential power. It offers its own view of the scope of Presidential powers in extreme emergencies involving the incapacitation of the legislative branch

In vivo measurement of mechanical impedance of bone

System of measurement provides indications of ulnar properties independent of characteristics of surrounding soft tissue and other bones. Mechanical modal approximated ulnar response so average bending rigidity could be determined to provide direct index of bone resistance to bending loading

Full employment maintenance in the private sector

Operationally, full employment can be accomplished by applying modern computer capabilities, game and decision concepts, and communication feedback possibilities, rather than accepted economic tools, to the problem of assuring invariant full employment. The government must provide positive direction to individual firms concerning the net number of employees that each firm must hire or refrain from hiring to assure national full employment. To preserve free enterprise and the decision making power of the individual manager, this direction must be based on each private firm's own numerical employment projections

Liquid-helium-cooled Michelson interferometer

Interferometer serves as a rocket-flight spectrometer for examination of the far infrared emission spectra of astronomical objects. The double beam interferometer is readily adapted to make spectral scans and for use as a detector of discrete line emissions