Virus Ontology: Thing, Being, Process, or Information?

The study of viruses raises pressing conceptual and philosophical questions about their nature, their classification, (O’Malley 2014, 45–94) (Mayr 1953) and their place within the biological world. A major set of problems concerns the individuality and diachronic identity of a … Read More

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The new (liberal) eugenics

Despite the Nazi horrors, in 1953 the new eugenics was founded, when Watson and Crick postulated the double helix of DNA as the basis of chemical heredity. In 1961, scientists have deciphered the genetic code of DNA, laying the groundwork for code manipulation and the potential building of new life forms. After thirty years from the discovery of the DNA structure, the experimenters began to carry out the first clinical studies of human somatic cell therapy.
The practice of prenatal genetic tests identifies genes or unwanted genetic markers. Parents can choose to continue pregnancy or give up the fetus. Once the preimplantation genetic diagnosis occurs, potential parents can choose to use in vitro fertilization and then test early embryonic cells to identify embryos with genes they prefer or avoid. Because of concerns about eugenics, genetic counseling is based on a “non-directive” policy to ensure respect for reproductive autonomy. The argument for this counseling service is that we should balance parental autonomy with child’s autonomy in the future. Specialists have not yet given a clear answer to the question of whether these practices should be considered eugenic practices, or if they are moral practices.
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28777.95849

The new (liberal) eugenics

Life and death in a pandemic

At the beginning of the crisis, the international media called China’s strategy to combat coronavirus “tough”, “extreme”, “severe” and “controversial”, stressing that it offered “no guarantee of success”. (Qin, Myers, and Yu 2020) After the difficult experiences that other countries … Read More

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Newton’s Principia on God-mediated action

As John Henry states, Newton simply wants to reaffirm the truth of God’s omnipresence without directly involving him in the physics of the world system. Newton simply wants to distance himself from a Cartesian concept of God and convince the atheists that God is a real presence extended in the world. God must exist in space for the space to exist, but God does not only act through contact. Henry believes that Andrew Janiak and Hylarie Kochiras give us a wrong picture of a Newton who believes in opportunism. Newton, Henry asserts, has always assumed that God acted through secondary causes:
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35495.39846

Newton’s Principia on God-mediated action

What came first: the virus or the cell?

Viruses reproduce only inside the living cells of organisms, (Wu 2020) being known so far more than 6,000 species of viruses. (International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) 2020) When it infects a cell, the viruses force it to rapidly … Read More

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Unsolved problems in physics, in theory and observations

This is a list of some of the great unsolved problems in physics. During the long-term process of evolving theories according to the scientific method, there is an intermediary phase between two periods of stability where questions remain unanswered and … Read More

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