Avoiding and Alternate Possibilities

Revising the Principle of Alternate Possibilities

This paper examines the position in moral philosophy that Harry Frankfurt calls the Principle of Alternate Possibilities (PAP). The paper first describes the principle as articulated by A.J. Ayer. Subsequently, the paper examines Frankfurt’s critique and proposed revision of the principle and argues that Frankfurt’s proposal relies on an excessively simplistic account of practical reasoning, wh...

‘Ought’ implies ‘can’ and the principle of alternate possibilities

In his paper ‘What we are morally responsible for’,1 Harry Frankfurt claims, in passing, that while the ‘Frankfurt Counterexamples’2 are counterexamples to the Principle of Alternate Possibilities (PAP: An agent is morally blameworthy3 for what she has done only if she could have done otherwise), they are not counterexamples to the famous Kantian maxim that ‘Ought’ implies ‘Can’. In an Analysis...

New possibilities – avoiding bone grafting with short implants

Implant placement in the posterior regions can be limited due to anatomical conditions. One of the most problematic areas is the posterior maxilla, presenting in most cases with a limited bone height due to the pneumatisation of the maxillary sinus, and poor bone quality. Another complicating factor in posterior regions is the general exposure to greater masticatory loads than in anterior regio...

More on “Ought” Implies “Can” and the Principle of Alternate Possibilities

Distributed Algorithms for Computing Alternate Paths Avoiding Failed Nodes and Links

A recent study characterizing failures in computer networks shows that transient single element (node/link) failures are the dominant failures in large communication networks like the Internet. Thus, having the routing paths globally recomputed on a failure does not pay off since the failed element recovers fairly quickly, and the recomputed routing paths need to be discarded. In this paper, we...