Some claim that moral factors affect the epistemic status of our beliefs. Call this encroachment thesis. It’s been argued thesis can explain at least part wrongness racial profiling. The predicts high stakes in cases profiling make it more difficult for these racist beliefs to be justified or constitute knowledge. This paper considers a class generalizations seem do just opposite this. we infer...

Global changes, such as increased temperatures and elevated CO2, are driving shifts in plant species distribution and dominance, like woody plant encroachment into grasslands. Local factors within these ecotones can influence the rate of regime shifts. Woody encroachment is occurring worldwide, though there has been limited research within coastal systems, where mangrove (woody shrub/tree) stan...

In many cultural landscapes, the abandonment of traditional grazing leads to encroachment of pastures by woody plants, which reduces habitat heterogeneity and impacts biodiversity typical of semi-open habitats. We developed a framework of mutually interacting spatial models to locate areas where shrub encroachment in Alpine treeline ecosystems deteriorates vulnerable species' habitat, using bla...

Does knowledge matter ? There are actually at least two questions behind this broad one. The first is whether the value of knowledge is independent from other epistemic values, such as the value of truth, or the value of having true beliefs. The second is whether knowledge, as an epistemic value is independent from other values, such as the good or freedom, which are practical or ethical values...

Since European settlement, there has been a dramatic increase in the density, cover and distribution of woody plants in former grassland and open woodland. There is a widespread belief that shrub encroachment is synonymous with declines in ecosystem functions, and often it is associated with landscape degradation or desertification. Indeed, this decline in ecosystem functioning is considered to...