Search results for "Metaphysic"
showing 10 items of 231 documents
Conditions requisite for stability of polymorphic balance in Philaenus spumarius (L.) (Homoptera)
1990
Frequencies of colour morphs were recorded in 1969–74 in 5 island populations of Philaenus spumarius. The polymorphic balance was accurately maintained in three of them, but less constantly in the other two. One of the latter populations experienced a great fluctuation in size, and this was accompanied by a profound alteration in morph frequencies.
Extending Joint Models in Community Ecology : A Response to Beissinger et al.
2016
The joint modelling of many variables in community ecology is a new and technically challenging area with many opportunities for future developments. The possibility of extending joint models to deal with imperfect detection has been highlighted by Beissinger et al. as an important problem worthy of further investigation [1]. We agree, and previously pointed to this potential extension as an outstanding question [2], alongside models that can estimate phylogenetic repulsion or attraction, nonlinearity in the response to latent variables, and spatial or temporal correlation, because further developments in all these directions are needed.
How to deal with Haplotype data: An Extension to the Conceptual Schema of the Human Genome
2016
[EN] The goal of this work is to describe the advantages of the application of Conceptual Modeling (CM) in complex domains, such as genomics. Nowadays, the study and comprehension of the human genome is a major challenge due to its high level of complexity. The constant evolution in the genomic domain contributes to the generation of ever larger amounts of new data, which means that if we do not manage it correctly data quality could be compromised (i.e., problems related with heterogeneity and inconsistent data). In this paper, we propose the use of a Conceptual Schema of the Human Genome (CSHG), designed to understand and improve our ontological commitment to the domain and also extend (e…
Modeling Metaphysics: The Rise of Simulation and the Reversal of Platonism
2019
Philosophical reflection on and around Modeling and Simulation (M&S) is often focused on the ethical and epistemological implications of empirical findings or innovative methods within the field. In this paper I highlight some of the metaphysical implications of developments within M&S. I argue that the rise of simulation within and across scientific disciplines is accelerating the reversal of Platonism, whose emphasis on transcendence and reliance on hierarchical, static categories has dominated western philosophy for over two millennia. The success of M&S methodologies opens up new conceptual space for articulating a metaphysics of immanence that may provide a more adequate basis for unde…
The first COVID-19 lockdown reveals an ambivalent relation of French parents with food pleasure: the struggle to find a balance
2021
International audience; In France, a first COVID-19 lockdown took place from March-May 2020. Using an online survey including three open-ended questions, this study explored parents' experiences regarding changes in their family's eating behaviors during this lockdown. French parents (n = 498, 71% mothers) of young children were invited to describe which food-related changes they (1) perceived as positive during the lockdown, (2) perceived as negative, and (3) would like to maintain after the lockdown. A thematic analysis revealed that parents appreciated the choice of more local, fresh and high-quality foods, the time to prepare foods (homemade dishes, new recipes) and cooking and eating w…
And the World Continues to Spin…: Secularism and Demystification in Good Omens
2018
Pratchett’s narratives tend to portray not only multicultural but also multireligious societies. In contrast to earlier writers of fantasy, however, Pratchett writes from a decidedly atheistic point of view, an issue Daniel Scott explores in depth in this chapter. He argues that co-authors Pratchett and Gaiman use Good Omens to perform what, following Rosemary Jackson’s theory of fantasy literature (1989), is a dual subversion; in using biblical prophecy to hold a mirror up to society, they also show the faults and cracks in the mirror itself, sometimes overtly, but mostly by implication. By reducing it to this level of intertextuality, they strip it of its higher or absolute metaphysical v…
Rewinding Frankenstein and the body-machine: organ transplantation in the dystopian young adult fiction seriesUnwind
2016
While the separation of body and mind (and the entailing metaphor of the body as a machine) has been a cornerstone of Western medicine for a long time, reactions to organ transplantation among others challenge this clear-cut dichotomy. The limits of the machine-body have been negotiated in science fiction, most canonically in Mary Shelley9s Frankenstein (1818). Since then, Frankenstein9s monster itself has become a motif that permeates both medical and fictional discourses. Neal Shusterman9s contemporary dystology for young adults, Unwind , draws on traditional concepts of the machine-body and the Frankenstein myth. This article follows one of the young protagonists in the series, who is en…
Between Life and Existence. Heidegger’s Aristotelianism and the Question of Animality
2021
This paper starts by investigating the Aristotelian roots of Heidegger’s stance toward animal life from 1924 lecture course “Basic concepts of Aristotelian philosophy” to 1929/30 lecture course “The fundamental concepts of Metaphysics”. In following Aristotle, Heidegger displays the ontological transition from life to existence as grounded to the peculiar linguistic ability of human beings. In doing that, both Heidegger and Aristotle seem to establish a connection between an existential faculty (logos) and the apparently dominant position occupied by our species. On the other side, though, to be endowed with logos means for human beings to be able to de-centre themselves in recognizing the …