Basic concepts and case studies from an emerging field that investigates human capacities and pathologies at the intersection of brain and culture.OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.
First published in 1998, this was the first book to present a comprehensive summary of both the global as well as institutional issues which are involved in biotechnology sharing. It covers the controversial subject of intellectual property rights (IPR) and the patenting of new discoveries in genetic knowledge in both agriculture and the human genome. One controversial issue is the creation of …
This book addresses how sexual practices and identities are imagined and regulated through development discourses and within institutions of global governance. The underlying premise of this volume is that the global development industry plays a central role in constructing people’s sexual lives, access to citizenship, and struggles for livelihood. Despite the industry’s persistent insis…
Presented from the viewpoint of the history of mathematics, this book explores both epistemological aspects of Chinese traditional mathematical astronomy and lunisolar calendrical calculations. The following issues are addressed: (1) connections with non-Chinese cultural areas; (2) the possibility or impossibility of using mathematics to predict astronomical phenomena, a question that was const…
Active inference is a way of understanding sentient behavior—a theory that characterizes perception, planning, and action in terms of probabilistic inference. Developed by theoretical neuroscientist Karl Friston over years of groundbreaking research, active inference provides an integrated perspective on brain, cognition, and behavior that is increasingly used across multiple disciplines incl…
"Costandi explains the neuroscience behind how we view our selves and our bodies, drawing from neurological studies on our sense of agency and free will, the neural correlates of mental representations, mirror neurons, and how the brain perceives timing and sensory consequences. He explores case studies of amputees with phantom limb syndrome, people with Body Integrity Identity Disorder (who ha…
The evidential role of matter--when media records trace evidence of violence--explored through a series of cases drawn from Kosovo, Japan, Vietnam, and elsewhere. In this book, Susan Schuppli introduces a new operative concept: material witness, an exploration of the evidential role of matter as both registering external events and exposing the practices and procedures that enable matter to bea…
A thirty-year quest, from genes to pain-signaling neurons to people with a rare genetic disorder that makes them feel they are on fire. Two soldiers, both with wounds injuring the same nerve, show very different responses: one is disabled by neuropathic pain, unable to touch the injured limb because even the lightest contact triggers excruciating discomfort; the other notices numbness but no…
An argument that more people should have children with Down syndrome, written from a pro-choice, disability-positive perspective. The rate at which parents choose to terminate a pregnancy when prenatal tests indicate that the fetus has Down syndrome is between 60 and 90 percent. In Choosing Down Syndrome, Chris Kaposy offers a carefully reasoned ethical argument in favor of choosing to have …
Scholars from a variety of disciplines consider cases of convergence in lithic technology, when functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Hominins began using stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago, perhaps even 3.4 million years ago. Given the nearly ubiquitous use of stone tools by humans and their ancestors, the study of lithic technology o…