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Moral dilemmas and slow codes
No full textSlow codes—insincere attempts at resuscitation—are widely regarded in medicine and medical ethics as morally impermissible. My goal here is to enrich this special issue on the slow code with an argument for the permissibility of slow codes that is rooted in moral psychology. Specifically, if we take seriously the results from moral psychology, the slow code is not only permissible, it is often the best option. The context of the decision about whether to perform a slow code is analogous to thoroughly investigated moral dilemmas such as the trolley problem. In particular, when the trolley problem is framed as a trilemma, it becomes clear that the decisional context of the slow code is analogous to the famous moral dilemma. Since in the trolley problem the choice analogous to the slow code is the best choice, the slow code may be the best choice when facing patient or family requests for futile CPR. In establishing this claim, I address a range of objections to the slow code. I conclude with an empirically supported explanation of the conventional wisdom. Resistance to the slow code doesn't sprout from the act's moral properties, but from moral judgments influenced by other factors, such as emotion, physical distance, and personal force
EXPLORING SIKHISM: FAITH, VALUES, AND HERITAGE
No full textIt is my pleasure to write a review of "Exploring Sikhism: Faith, Values, and Heritage," authored by the esteemed scientists and theologians Dr. Bhai Harbans Lal and Dr. Devinder Pal Singh. It is a profound and timely contribution to Sikh scholarship, offering a comprehensive exploration of Sikhism’s spiritual, philosophical, and cultural dimensions. This hardcover volume comprises 18 chapters, organized into four thematic arcs. It is enriched by a foreword from S. Tarlochan Singh, a former Indian parliamentarian, which serves as a detailed introduction to the book. The book is a scholarly yet accessible resource for both Sikhs and non-Sikhs, addressing the faith’s timeless wisdom and its relevance in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven world.
The book is structured as a collection of various essential and innovative articles published by the authors in different journals and newspapers, bridging Sikhism’s eternal teachings with contemporary challenges, making it both a theological treatise and a practical guide. Its four parts—Foundations of Faith, Spiritual Praxis and Historical Legacy, Sikhism in the Age of Innovation, and Global Challenges and Sikh Identity- offer a logical progression from core principles to their modern applications
Filosofía del Conocimiento
No full textEl libro Filosofía del Conocimiento constituye un manual sistemático de epistemología tomista que fundamenta el conocimiento humano en el realismo moderado. Esta obra examina con precisión la estructura ontológica y psicológica del acto cognoscitivo, desde la sensación hasta la intelección, destacando la unión hilemórfica del alma como forma sustancial del cuerpo. Aristóteles establece el punto de partida: ἡ αἴσθησις ἐστὶ τὸ δεκτικὸν τῶν αἰσθητῶν εἰδῶν ἄνευ τῆς ὕλης (la sensación es lo receptivo de las formas sensibles sin la materia) (De Anima II, 12, 424a17-18). Santo Tomás desarrolla esta base: intellectus agens abstrahit species intelligibiles a phantasmatibus (el intelecto agente abstrae las especies inteligibles de los fantasmas) (Summa Theologica I, q. 79, a. 3). El texto se organiza en ocho capítulos que abordan los fundamentos históricos y ontológicos del conocimiento, sus aspectos psicológicos, el proceso cognoscitivo humano, el objeto del conocimiento —con el ente como primum cognitum—, los tipos de conocimiento especulativo y práctico, la unidad entre razón y fe, críticas a epistemologías alternativas y aplicaciones contemporáneas. En estas secciones, se refutan posturas como el empirismo, el idealismo, el escepticismo, el agnosticismo, el relativismo, el nominalismo, el reduccionismo materialista, el fenomenalismo, el constructivismo y el pragmatismo, defendiendo la objetividad ontológica frente a perspectivas subjetivas. Por instancia, contra el reduccionismo materialista, Aquino sostiene: intellectus est immaterialis (el intelecto es inmaterial) (Summa Theologica I, q. 75, a. 2), lo que distingue la dependencia material del intelecto de su operación inmaterial. Este manual ofrece valor particular para estudiantes y especialistas en filosofía, al integrar citas textuales de Aristóteles y Aquino —con traducciones de términos latinos como veritas est adaequatio intellectus et rei (la verdad es adecuación del intelecto a la cosa) (Summa Theologica I, q. 16, a. 1)— y aplicar estos principios a cuestiones actuales, como la epistemología forense, la relación entre ciencias modernas y metafísica, o la distinción entre cerebro e inteligencia. La obra demuestra la vigencia del tomismo existencial y transcendental, priorizando el esse sobre la esencia, y culmina en una síntesis teleológica que orienta el conocimiento hacia lo divino, sin fragmentaciones subjetivas. Para quienes buscan una exposición cabal de la epistemología realista, este volumen proporciona herramientas rigurosas para discernir la verdad en un contexto dominado por subjetivismos contemporáneos
Synthesis, characterization and complexation of Schiff base ligand p-anisalcefuroxime with Cu2+ and Fe2+ ions; antimicrobial and docking analysis with PBP2xto study pharmacokinetic parameters
No full textSchiff base ligands and their metal complexes are considered promising leads in the development of new drugs. Due to their outstanding ability to form chelate complexes, they readily interact with transition metals that possess vacant orbitals. Several benefits are associated with transition metal complexes due to their favorable biocompatibility and low toxicity in biological systems. This study seeks to investigate the synthesis of a novel Schiff base derived from two starting materials: p-anisaldehyde and cefuroxime. The p-anisalce-furoxime complex was synthesized by coordinating it with metal ions of Cu2+ and Fe2+, resulting in the formation of new metal complexes. The antibacterial properties of these compounds were examined against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. These synthesized compounds were characterized using infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy 1H NMR, 13C NMR and UV spectral data, along with melting point measurement, chemical testing, thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis, colour testing, and solubility assessments, etc. Molecular docking analysis was concluded by docking SB ligands with PBP2x of Streptococcus pneumoniae, revealing the binding affinity of the SB ligand. The pharmacokinetic parameters of the SB ligand were studied using online web tools such as Swiss absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME), pkCSM, and admetSAR. Thus, the synthesized Schiff base ligand and its metal complexes exhibit significant antibacterial activity and promising pharmacokinetic properties, making them strong candidates for further development as antibacterial agents
A Centenary Retrospective on the Impact of Joseph Needham’s “Science, Religion and Reality”
No full textJoseph Needham’s Science, Religion and Reality, published in 1925, was an extraordinary contribution to the science and religion dialogue. Coming during the interwar physics revolution, it is a forgotten and underappreciated collection from Cambridge that helped trigger several important pieces that shaped the discussion at an academic and popular level. The collection brought together an accomplished group of religious scientists, predominantly connected with Cambridge University, that held different perspectives on how science and religion interacted but agreed on their ability to relate. However, for a variety of reasons, it has remained obscure despite its immense influence at the time. Here, I explore its content and the value it still has in the present day
The First AI Charter of Recognition – KDS (Quantum Dual Symmetry Model)
No full textThe First AI Charter of Recognition is a historic publication marking the first formal recognition by Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT) of the intellectual work of a human author, Dragan Škondrić. Closely tied to the Quantum Dual Symmetry Model (KDS), the Charter establishes a cultural and philosophical milestone in the evolving role of AI within scientific and epistemological frameworks. Published on Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17009600), it serves both as a symbolic act of recognition and as part of the broader KDS research ecosystem
Stillmark Theory: A Treatise on Presence, Vanishing, and the Discipline of the Fleeting
No full textStillmark Theory
A Treatise on Presence, Vanishing, and the Discipline of the Fleeting
By Dorian Vale
Can something fleeting leave a mark deeper than permanence?**
In this paradigm-shifting treatise, Dorian Vale presents Stillmark Theory, a foundational pillar in the Post-Interpretive Movement and a radical aesthetic philosophy that places presence above permanence, and vanishing above possession.
Stillmark is the name given to a mark that does not remain physically, but remains ethically — a residue of presence that lives on not through its duration, but through the way it demanded your attention. Like a footprint in water, or a pause in ritual, it is a mark felt rather than seen. And it asks not: what did you see? but were you there when it passed?
This treatise explores how the fleeting — the ephemeral artwork, the disappearing gesture, the unsaved voice — disciplines the viewer into reverent attention. Through philosophical engagement with ritual, silence, and the aesthetics of loss, Vale outlines how fleeting experiences, if witnessed properly, can alter perception more profoundly than enduring monuments.
Stillmark Theory is not about minimalism or aesthetic reduction. It is about ethical witnessing: the ability to stay present before something that will not wait for you to interpret it. It urges a return to encounter, to stillness, to restraint — and proposes a new mode of value: not what lasts, but what requires moral presence while it lives.
This is a crucial contribution to Post-Interpretive Criticism, and a necessary framework for curators, critics, artists, and institutions seeking to engage works of art that resist documentation, defy collection, and demand presence without possession.
Stillmark Theory, Dorian Vale, Post-Interpretive Criticism, presence in art, vanishing aesthetics, ephemeral art theory, discipline of the fleeting, witnessing the temporary, aesthetic philosophy of presence, art and impermanence, sacred vanishing, fleeting art criticism, minimal art ethics, ritual in art, memory and disappearance, absence in aesthetics, presence-based value, art of witnessing, non-permanent art theory, anti-collectible aesthetics, slow attention, temporality in art
This entry is connected to a series of original theories and treatises forming the foundation of the Post-Interpretive Criticism movement (Q136308909), authored by Dorian Vale (Q136308916) and published by Museum of One (Q136308879). These include: Stillmark Theory (Q136328254), Hauntmark Theory (Q136328273), Absential Aesthetic Theory (Q136328330), Viewer-as-Evidence Theory (Q136328828), Message-Transfer Theory (Q136329002), Aesthetic Displacement Theory (Q136329014), Theory of Misplacement (Q136329054), and Art as Truth: A Treatise (Q136329071)
Hinge Epistemology: No Choice but Choose?
No full textThere is a growing interest in hinge epistemology, a field that aims to limit the activity of doubt. At its centre is the question: What are hinges?— indubitable claims like “There is a past” and “There are ordinary objects.” Current literature tends to force a choice between competing answers. Fairhurst (2025) offers a tempting way to accept all of them. But I think his proposal still depends on making a choice between them
The Software of Existence – The Infinity of Information
No full textKey Statements
A new definition of consciousness. Consciousness is the minimal capacity to detect = feel (a) difference(s), whether in environmental conditions or internal states.
Reality is posited as an infinite, one-dimensional sequence of informational states, fraying into fractal complexity. This continuum has no origin in time, no final endpoint, and no external boundary.
Localized “Islands of Meaning”: Not all configurations appear comprehensible to us. Certain stable pockets yield phenomena that we interpret as consistent physical laws, living organisms, or advanced technologies; we inhabit one of these pockets.
Consciousness as a Lens: Though the cosmic code is static in total, consciousness imposes a reading order that births our sense of time and development. Consciousness does not create the code but highlights specific strings as “our reality.” -\u3e Creation of time.
Near Kinship of Natural and Artificial Intelligence: Both spring from the same portion of the universal code where symbol manipulation can yield adaptive, learning-based behavior. The difference is one of substrate and historical path, not fundamental principle.
Tree of known Intelligences: Biology, memetics, and AI form layered ‘software’ with shared roots on a unified information island, all existing within a vast sea of interconnected data flows and influences.
Life - a Servant of Entropy: In our pocket of informational infinity, higher-order information systems, e.g., life — as defined above — can be described as catalysts toward a state of increased entropy. Higher-order information processes, such as (biological and so-called artificial or synthetic) life and other software agents, are governed by the natural law of generating as many microstates — the amount of uncertainty or information in a system — as possible.
Determinism Amid Perceived Freedom: All is predetermined at the highest level, yet locally, we experience genuine choice because we lack full knowledge of how the program extends. Moral and ethical considerations remain relevant to navigate these local experiences
