Causal loops and the independence of causal facts

According to Hugh Mellor in Real Time II (1998, Ch. 12), assuming the logical independence of causal facts and the 'law of large numbers', causal loops are impossible because if they were possible they would produce inconsistent sets of frequencies. I clarify the argument, and argue that it would be preferable to abandon the relevant independence assumption in the case of causal loops.

The advantages of theft over toil: The design inference and arguing from ignorance

Intelligent design theorist William Dembski has proposed an explanatory filter for distinguishing between events due to chance, lawful regularity or design. We show that if Dembski's filter were adopted as a scientific heuristic, some classical developments in science would not be rational, and that Dembski's assertion that the filter reliably identifies rarefied design requires ignoring the state of background knowledge. If background information changes even slightly, the filter's conclusion will vary wildly. Dembski fails to overcome Hume's objections to arguments from design.

How to be a chaste species pluralist-realist: the origins of species modes and the synapomorphic species concept

The biological species (biospecies) concept applies only to sexually reproducing species, which means that until sexual reproduction evolved, there were no biospecies. On the universal tree of life, biospecies concepts therefore apply only to a relatively small number of clades, notably plants and animals. I argue that it is useful to treat the various ways of being a species (species modes) as traits of clades. By extension from biospecies to the other concepts intended to capture the natural realities of what keeps taxa distinct, we can treat other modes as traits also, and so come to understand that the plurality of species concepts reflects the biological realities of monophyletic groups. We should expect that specialists in different organisms will tend to favour those concepts that best represent the intrinsic mechanisms that keep taxa distinct in their clades. I will address the question whether modes of reproduction such as asexual and sexual reproduction are natural classes, given that they are paraphyletic in most clades.

Childhood history of abuse and child abuse potential: the role of parent’s gender and timing of childhood abuse

It has been suggested that being physically abused leads to someone becoming a perpetrator of abuse which could be associated to parents' gender, timing of the physical abuse and specific socio-demographic variables. This study aims to investigate the role the parents' gender, timing of childhood abuse and socio-demographic variables on the relationship between parents' history of childhood physical abuse and current risk for children. The sample consisted of 920 parents (414 fathers, 506 mothers) from the Portuguese National Representative Study of Psychosocial Context of Child Abuse and Neglect who completed the Childhood History Questionnaire and the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. The results showed that fathers had lower current potential risk of becoming physical abuse perpetrators with their children than mothers although they did not differed in their physical victimization history. Moreover, the risk was higher in parents (both genders) with continuous history of victimization than in parents without victimization. Prediction models showed that for fathers and mothers separately similar socio-demographic variables (family income, number of children at home, employment status and marital status) predicted the potential risk of becoming physical abuses perpetrators. Nevertheless, the timing of victimization was different for fathers (before 13 years old) and mothers (after 13 years old). Then our study targets specific variables (timing of physical abuse, parents' gender and specific socio-demographic variables), which may enable professionals to select groups of parents at greater need of participating in abuse prevention programs.

Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London.

pt.1-2 (1830-1832)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.7=no.73-84 (1871)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.2=no.13-24 (1866)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.11=no.121-132 (1875)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.10=no.109-120 (1874)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.26=no.301-312 (1890)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.20=no.229-240 (1884)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.24=no.277-288 (1888)

Hardwicke's science-gossip : an illustrated medium of interchange and gossip for students and lovers of nature.

v.18=no.205-216 (1882)