Is it always fallacious to derive values from facts?

Since the time of David Hume, many philosophers have held that there is a logical Is/Ought gap. According to the doctrine of the Is/Ought gap, there are no valid (i.e., non-fallacious) arguments from purely factual premises about whatis the case to moral or normative conclusions about whatought to be. Occasionally, this doctrine has been challenged, but frequently it has been accepted without argumentation. Charles Pigden has recently argued for a logical Is/Ought gap on the grounds of the conservativeness of logic. I offer a counter-example which shows that Pigden's argument is unsound and that there need be no logical gap between Is-premises and an Ought-conclusion. My counter-example is an argument which is logically valid, has only Is-premises and an Ought-conclusion, and does not purport to violate the conservativeness of logic. Moreover, my argument does not rely, as other alleged counter-examples do, on controversial assumptions from Aristotelian biology about natures or ends, or about institutions such as promise-making.     

Jung and Pauli

In his early theories of the structure of the psyche, psychic energy and psychodynamics, Jung was influenced by William James's understanding of the complementary insights of depth psychology and the discoveries of subatomic physics, and his concept of field in physics and the study of the subconscious. In his relationship with Freud, Jung initially struggled with a sexually-based drive theory. But he gradually came to conceive libido as a quantitative concept, a psychic analogue of physical energy. In their own languages, both C. G. Jung and Nobel physicist Wolfgang Pauli explored the evolution of scientific thought from the naive insights about process in alchemy through Newtonian causality, space-time theories of relativity to quantum mechanics. Jung had access to thirteen hundred of Pauli's dreams. The first four hundred were basis for his research into alchemical symbolism in a modern psyche. In a later collaboration, Pauli supported Jung's synchronicity principle as scientific, and Jung fostered Pauli's understanding of the archetypal and collective factors in the psyche. They each explored the interconnections between the energies of psyche and matter, and the possibilities of acausal order and synchronicity. Pauli's ground-breaking discoveries gave scientific demonstration of alchemical intuitions. Through him, alchemical and archetypal insights entered the discourse of physics. Through Jung, the apprehensions of microphysics entered our psychological language and thought.     

The Origins of Life: What One Needs to Know

Many solar systems in the universe may be expected to contain rocky planets that have accreted organic compounds. These compounds are likely to be universally found. In addition, the chemistry of sulfur, phosphorus, and iron is likely to dominate energy transductions and monomer activation, leading to the eventual emergence of polymers. Proteins and polynucleotides provide living matter with function, structure, and information. The conceptual puzzle regarding their emergence is discussed. The fitness of various elements to serve various roles is analyzed from the viewpoint of electron orbitals. Elements with d orbitals are of central importance.     

Response to ‘Transgender medicalization and the attempt to evade psychological distress’ (Withers 2020) and to Herdzik’s (2021) response to Withers

Psyche is non-binary and multiple and clinical work in the analytic container must be held in the fluidity of multiplicity. Analysts are called to bring Queer energy to analytical attitude. Queer energy is intrinsically non-conforming and desires to confront a priori concepts in service to the unfolding of the Self. A Queer analytic attitude seeks to blur narrative, deconstruct language and listen deeply for what is emergent in the field. Queer energy is also deeply activating and often results in polarizations of attitude and a failure to hold what is emergent. This response to Withers (2020) and to (Herdzik 2021) is an invitation for all of us to engage our activated complexes around work with transgender issues and the fluidity of the Queer experience. The multiplicity of the Self seeks to be known through analytic process. Consciously held authentic experience of what is emergent and thus unknown is at the core of this process. An analysis capable of holding Queer energy offers a theatre for the exploration of gender identity and its expression.     

Presence of ε-martensite as an intermediate phase during the strain-induced transformation of SUS304 stainless steel

We have investigated the formation process of α′-martensite from the γ-phase induced by external strain using in situ synchrotron diffraction experiments, combined with Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM observations. It is clearly demonstrated that ε-martensite with hexagonal symmetry appears as an intermediate structure during the plastic deformation of SUS304 stainless steel. In addition to stacking faults and dislocations, interfaces between the twin structures presumably play a key role in the formation of ε-martensite.     

Sequential and myopic: On the use of feedback to balance cost and utility in a simulated electricity efficiency task

While there is extensive research on feedback, little research is aimed at the use of feedback to optimise conflicting goals. A task modelled after In Home Displays for providing feedback about electricity cost was designed to investigate the effects of feedback frequency, detail, and stability, when participants try to balance cost and utility. Frequent feedback proved to be advantageous in a deterministic system, but feedback aggregated over time was advantageous in a system with noisy feedback. Surprisingly, performance was better with noisy feedback, where the probabilism, in effect, acted as a filter, highlighting the applications that are most important for the cost and the utility. Computational modelling suggested that the best-fitting model assumes that the participants are sequential, considering one goal at a time, first satisfying the cost budget, only thereafter trying to maximise the utility, and reflexive, myopically responding primarily to the feedback explicitly available on a given trial.     

Exposure to rf electromagnetic energy decreases aggressive behavior

It was predicted from the dopamine-opiate system hypothesis that aggression induced by light tail pressure would be modified by exposure of the animals to radiofrequency electromagnetic energy. In a series of three experiments, it was found that there was a substantial decrease in aggressive behavior during exposure to EM energy at incident power densities as low as 50 μW/cm². This is consistent with previously published reports that indicate the dopamine and opiate systems of the brain are influenced by exposure to low-intensity EM energy. It would appear that EM energy exposure could be used as a probe in the study of aggression and in relating it to brain chemistry. Since this energy has become ubiquitous in the environment, and quite uneven in distribution, there may be implications for understanding aggressive behavior from a clinical standpoint as well as from the standpoint of necessary controls in experiments.     

Révision de la loi bioéthique : les dangers de l’autoconservation des ovocytes pour convenance personnelle

Legalization of self-conservation of ovocytes for personal convenience is considered by the second article of the bioethics legislative proposal, adopted by French National Assembly. This practice is aiming to allow men and women to keep their gametes for the purpose of a subsequent medically assisted procreation. Does this new liberty risks to take away a human's individual liberty and more specifically a women's one? Indeed, to legalize self-conservation of ovocytes for personal convenience means to extend the message whereby a woman could delay her maternity. The result would be an implicit pressure: as it becomes medically possible to privilege first of all a career and then to envisage maternity, woman seeking high performance must necessarily choose it. This technique could therefore hide a clear-cut decline for women's rights, again confronted with a cornelian choice, a family or a career.     

“美即好”？颜值对工作幸福感的“过不及”效应

本文基于资源保存理论,考察职场中颜值影响工作幸福感的机制及边界,对1079份配对数据的多项式层级回归分析发现：颜值对工作幸福感有倒U型的影响,颜值中等偏上（6.88）的员工有最强的工作幸福感;不同职场类型中颜值的影响效应存在差异,在高要求-高控制的职场中,颜值对工作幸福感的曲线效应最强;分配公平感在上述影响路径和交互效应起中介作用。结论对人力资源管理和面孔吸引力理论具有积极贡献。     

Behavioral tactics control the energy costs of aggression: The example of Macropodus opercularis

Previous experiments on Betta splendens have shown that energy expenditures related to aggression are under social control. The present paper examines the biochemical energetics of social cohabitation in groups of Macropodus opercularis. The species is closely related to Betta splendens, however, dominants use somewhat different behavioral tactics against intruders. In contrast to Bettas, submissive Macropoduses are not harassed by dominants, but are confined to the bottom of the tank. This results in a reduced rate of oxygen consumption in defeated animals (Anabantid fish mainly use atmospheric oxygen). The only metabolic change, compared to isolated controls, is a reduction in hepatic glycogen content. Submissive animals have shifted carbohydrate metabolism towards anaerobic glycolysis. Substantial reductions in muscle proteins, lipids, and glycogen occurred in submissive Betta splendens. Thus, the sharp difference in behavioral strategy results in a sharp difference in the energetic consequences of aggression. A theory is presented regarding the possible role of energetic constraints in the control of behavior. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.