Dustin Sebell has written an excellent book on Xenophon—the most thorough and comprehensive account of Book IV of the Memorabilia known to me. He develops his argument powerfully, rigorously, and his conclusions about the character, methods and goals of the Socratic education are compelling. Book IV has often been described—not without reason—as dull and insipid. Sebell succeeds in showing, however, that while Socrates’s education of the young Euthydemos is indeed a caricature, a careful reader can discover through that caricature the core of the Socratic education. In my view, the most important contribution of the book is to offer a masterful explanation of how and why Socrates often chose to educate good natures indirectly, not through dialogue but by making them the silent witnesses of the “education” of youths who could not be truly enlightened. By revealing his thought “with a view to” Euthydemos—the ungifted pupil of Memorabilia IV—Socrates was simultaneously able to adumbrate his genuine thoughts to good natures (36). And Sebell explains convincingly the reasons for Socrates’s indirect pedagogy.

We study necessary and sufficient conditions for a 4-dimensional Lefschetz fibration over the 2-disk to admit a ${\text{Pin}}^{\pm}$-structure, extending the work of A. Stipsicz in the orientable setting. As a corollary, we get existence results of ${\text{Pin}}^{+}$ and ${\text{Pin}}^-$-structures on closed non-orientable 4-manifolds and on Lefschetz fibrations over the 2-sphere. In particular, we show via three explicit examples how to read-off ${\text{Pin}}^{\pm}$-structures from the Kirby diagram of a 4-manifold. We also provide a proof of the well-known fact that any closed 3-manifold M admits a ${\text{Pin}}^-$-structure and we find a criterion to check whether or not it admits a ${\text{Pin}}^+$-structure in terms of a handlebody decomposition. We conclude the paper with a characterization of ${\text{Pin}}^+$-structures on vector bundles.

Much of the debate between naïve realism and the content view has focused on a particular aspect of perceptual phenomenology: the phenomenal immediacy that distinguishes perceptual experiences from both imagery experiences and conscious thoughts. According to a version of the argument from hallucination, we should prefer the content view to naïve realism because the former, unlike the latter, can provide a unified explanation of the fact that both hallucinatory and veridical experiences possess immediacy. However, the standard variety of the content view that can provide such an explanation is not in a position to provide a unified explanation of a distinct aspect of perceptual phenomenology: perceptual experiences possess a presentational character that they share with imagery experiences (and which distinguishes both from conscious thoughts). Accordingly, I present an argument from imagination in defense of a non-standard variety of the content view—the sensory vehicle theory. Unlike its competitors, the sensory vehicle theory can provide unified explanations of why hallucinatory and veridical perceptual experiences possess immediacy, and why perceptual and imagery experiences possess their presentational character; as such, this theory provides a better explanation of the phenomenal facts than does either naïve realism or the standard variety of the content view.

2024 marked ten years since the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) took effect. Firmly rooted in international human rights and humanitarian law, the ATT is the first legally binding instrument to regulate international arms transfers. It is a framework for national action to (i) contribute to peace and security, (ii) reduce human suffering caused by irresponsible arms transfers and (iii) promote transparency in the international arms trade. This piece exploresrecent developments in the ATT process that represent a pivot from building treaty infrastructure toward more expansive stakeholder engagement, increased information exchange centred on state practice and a sharper focus on the ATT’s human impact. Key new features are discussions on actual arms transfer decisions and the examination of the independent human rights responsibilities of industry that operate alongside government risk assessment obligations. Finally, this piece assesses the potential impact of these efforts on the achievement of the ATT’s humanitarian purpose.

Global climate change is causing glaciers to shrink, and in some cases, to vanish completely. Glaciers in Norway are no exception. Glacier inventories, archived imagery and topographic maps across Norway help trace the decadal evolution of individual glaciers. This study focuses on Breifonn (59.75°N, 6.89°E), the southernmost glacier in Norway. Using photogrammetric analyses of historical aerial photography, satellite data and uncrewed aerial vehicle data, we quantify how Breifonn has changed from its ‘pre-industrial’ Little Ice Age extent to its present size. Our geomorphology-based glacier reconstruction indicates that Breifonn covered an area of 5.8 ± 1.2 km2 during the Little Ice Age. Its main part reduced in area from 3.3 ± 0.3 km2 in 1955 to 0.17 ± 0.02 km2 in 2024 (94%) and has thinned on average by 0.4 ± 0.02 m a−1 between 1978 and 2019. Since the 1980s, the glacier has fragmented into several disconnected ice bodies. If current melt rates persist, Breifonn may disappear entirely soon.

We evaluated large language model (LLM)-based agents integrated with the electronic medical record to assess blood culture appropriateness. While sensitivity was high, specificity remained low. Performance was shaped by prompt phrasing, sycophantic behavior, and semantic triggers, reflecting both the potential and limitations of LLMs in real-world clinical decision support.

Fricker’s influential account of epistemic justice has turned feminist epistemology into one of the most vibrant and fertile subfields in feminist philosophy in recent decades. Even scholars critical of its limitations have utilized Fricker’s account as a base from which to launch their own theories of epistemic justice. I refer to theories of epistemic justice developed or inspired by Fricker Frickerian accounts of epistemic justice (FAEJ). Their influence is so wide-ranging that some now claim that these accounts can be conducive to promoting decoloniality. The aim of this paper is to critically assess this claim. To accomplish this aim, this paper starts with a conceptual clarification of “decoloniality” in accordance with Latin American decolonial theory. It then critically assesses three aspects of the claim that FAEJ can be conducive to decoloniality: first, the types of epistemic injustice in these accounts relevant to decoloniality; second, the application of these types of epistemic injustice to different stages of coloniality; and third, whether FAEJ can advance programs of decoloniality. After demonstrating that FAEJ cannot promote decoloniality, this paper concludes with a brief examination of how decoloniality can be promoted.

In a 1950 essay, Heinz Politzer provided an on-the-spot evaluation of Menotti’s opera The Consul, which had debuted that year, first in Philadelphia and then in New York City. As a Kafka scholar, and a Jewish refugee from Vienna who naturalized as a US citizen, Politzer possessed strong credentials for assessing the opera’s portrayal of the tyranny of modern border control. His essay affirmed one of the central claims of David Armitage’s final Niemeyer lecture, “Refugee Songs,” that The Consul acutely illuminates the plight of the modern refugee, and thus provides a striking example of opera’s long-standing preoccupation with individuals caught up in international rules. According to Politzer, Menotti “has an authentic modern subject … worthy of serious treatment, and capable of evoking authentic emotion … the action is contemporary: we have lived through it … the struggle for a visa to the land of freedom, good life, redemption.”1

In 1872, Hong Kong’s colonial government passed an ordinance prohibiting hawkers from crying wares in the parts of town where Europeans lived and worked. This was precipitated by a local discourse on ostensibly Chinese noise that took shape in the English-language newspapers that constructed Chinese people as intrinsically noisy and Europeans as noise averse. These ideas drew upon existing rhetoric produced in response to noise nuisance in London and a broader transatlantic discourse on the relationship between noise and civilization. The transformation of these ideas in Hong Kong established a model whereby Chinese people were producers of noise, unaffected by hearing it, while intrinsically quiet Europeans suffered from hearing noise. This process justified the differential treatment of space, enabling the creation of a privileged ‘European’ zone legally protected from ‘Chinese’ noise.

Despite Taiwan’s exclusion from many treaty regimes, Taiwan’s Constitutional Court (TCC) has at times cited international law, particularly international human rights norms. To analyse the authority and influence of these citations, this article proposes a typology along two dimensions: legal effect (whether the Court treats international norms as legally binding or merely advisory) and impact level (whether international norms are used to reaffirm or alter existing constitutional jurisprudence, or to guide future developments). Applying this framework reveals that the TCC’s traditional tendency to treat international norms as non-binding and reaffirming is evolving. In recent years, the TCC has increasingly invoked international law to articulate new rights protections and has begun to recognise its legal authority, suggesting a deeper engagement. Beyond the case study of Taiwan, this typology offers an analytical tool for distinguishing varying degrees of judicial engagement with international law and for underscoring the evolving nature of such engagement.

This study examines the status of mixed-methods research (MMR) in computer-assisted language learning (CALL). A total of 204 studies employing MMR were analyzed. Manual coding was carried out to reveal MMR purposes, designs, features, and rhetorical justifications. Findings indicate CALL authors mostly adopt MMR for triangulation and complementarity purposes. Core designs are more favored in CALL MMR research articles, compared to complex designs. Moderate size random sampling prevails in the data, where data sources are sequentially collected and analyzed using parametric tests. Symptomatic argumentative schemes are found to be the most common justification of MMR. Based on the findings, it is evident that most CALL researchers employ conventional MMR designs. The study concludes with implications for CALL stakeholders and authors.

A recent wave of survey experiments has advanced scholarly understanding of public attitudes towards the use of nuclear weapons. In this article, we address the central question: can public opinion influence decision-makers’ views on nuclear weapon use? We bridge this critical gap in the literature with a survey experiment conducted on samples of UK parliamentarians and US and UK government employees in official policy roles. We varied public support for nuclear strikes in realistic scenarios to examine participants’ responsiveness to public preferences when considering nuclear first use, nuclear retaliation, and third-party nuclear threats. We show that high public support notably increases willingness to endorse nuclear first use against non-nuclear adversaries. Furthermore, public backing shapes beliefs about national leaders’ willingness to order nuclear strikes. However, the effect of public opinion is weaker in nuclear retaliation contexts, suggesting that different considerations become prominent when the ‘nuclear taboo’ has been breached. Importantly, sympathetic public opinion strongly influences perceptions of the credibility of third-party nuclear threats, carrying implications for the practice of nuclear deterrence. Our findings highlight the role of public opinion as both an enabling and constraining force on nuclear use and provide new theoretical and empirical insights into elite decision-making in nuclear politics.

Impulsive radio signals such as fast radio bursts (FRBs) are imprinted with the signatures of multi-path propagation through ionised media in the form of frequency-dependent temporal broadening of the pulse profile, commonly referred to as scattering. The dominant source of scattering for most FRBs is expected to be within their host galaxies, an assumption which can be tested by examining potential correlations between the scattering properties of the FRBs and global properties of their hosts. Using results from the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transient (CRAFT) survey, we investigate correlations across a range of host galaxy properties against attributes of the FRB that encode propagation effects: scattering timescale $\tau$, polarisation fractions, and absolute Faraday rotation measure. From 21 host galaxy properties considered, we find three that are correlated with $\tau$, including the stellar surface density (or compactness; Pearson’s p-value p = 0.002 and Spearman’s p = 0.010), the mass-weighted age (Spearman’s p-value p = 0.009), and a weaker correlation with the gas-phase metallicity (Spearman’s $p = 0.017$). Weakly significant correlations are also found with $H\alpha$ equivalent widths and stellar gravitational potential. From 10 000 trials of reshuffled datasets, we expect two strong Spearman’s correlations only 2% of the time and three weaker correlations in 6.6% of cases. Compact host galaxies may have more ionised content which scatters the FRB further. Compact galaxies were also found to correlate with gas-phase metallicity in our sample, while H ii regions along the line-of-sight are also a potential contributing factor. No correlation is seen with host galaxy inclination, which weakens the case for an inclination bias, as previously suggested for samples of localised FRBs. A strong ($p = 0.002$) correlation is found for absolute rotation measure with optical disc axis ratio b/a; greater rotation measures are seen for edge-on host galaxies. Further high-time resolution FRB detections, coupled with localisation and detailed follow-up on their host galaxies, are necessary to corroborate these initial findings and shed further light into the FRB mechanism.

Political and economic elites often warn that taxes on the rich impair economic growth. Although such warnings have a long tradition in elite discourse, what the public believes about the effects of progressive taxation remains surprisingly understudied. This omission limits our understanding of a basic democratic mechanism, the congruence of elite and public opinion. To close this gap, we employ a conjoint experiment during the 2021 German national election on a representative quota sample. Participants compare policy packages that entail changes in income, inheritance, and corporate taxes and evaluate their impact on equality and growth. We find no evidence that the public believes that progressive taxes promote equality at the expense of growth. Instead, participants believe that progressive taxes are doubly beneficial, promoting both outcomes. Furthermore, such beliefs do not vary by ideology or economic status. Our findings suggest a more consensual view of progressive taxation that emphasizes positive synergies between economic growth and greater equality.