In terms of social groups, “formalist” syntacticians are roughly those who follow some variant of the program of Generative Grammar (Principles & Parameters, LFG, HPSG, Minimalism, etc.). Their analyses tend to be based on assumptions of Modularity (including the “Autonomy of Syntax” as a special case) and categoriality, among other principles. In more general terms, however, it can be argued t...

We provide a brief overview of the history of brain death showing how the cardiopulmonary model (CPM) of death became problematic due to the technological innovation of mechanical ventilation beginning with its use in the 1950s. We then examine difficulties that emerged with what was to become the received view of brain death known as Whole Brain Death (WBD). We argue that these challenges were...

The scientific community often portrays science as a value-neutral enterprise that crisply demarcates facts from personal value judgments. We argue that this depiction is unrealistic and important to correct because science serves an important knowledge generation function in all modern societies. Policymakers often turn to scientists for sound advice, and it is important for the wellbeing of s...

Factors identified in investigations of trait structure (e.g., the Big Five) are sometimes understood as explanations or sources of the covariation of distinct behavioral traits, as when extraversion is suggested to underlie the covariation of assertiveness and sociability. Here, we detail how trait covariation can alternatively be understood as arising from units common to functionalist and pr...

Functionalists about consciousness identify consciousness with a role; physicalists identify consciousness with an implementer of that role. The global workspace theory of consciousness fits the functionalist perspective, but the physicalist sees consciousness as a biological phenomenon that implements global accessibility.