In seeking an answer, Ms. Nussbaum draws on another body of philosophical work: Aristotle’s notion of eudaimonia, a term often translated as ‘happiness,’ though she prefers ‘flourishing.’ Eudaimonia is less a matter of being in a good mood than living a complete, well-rounded life. Social arrangements are just – when they allow individuals the greatest liberty and opportunity to develop the full range of their abilities. That, in turn, means that it should be possible to work out a conception of what all people must have to flourish. In “Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach,” Ms. Nussbaum presents a list of 10 ‘Central Human Functional Capabilities,’ influenced by her years of collaboration with Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate in economics. Literacy, liberty of conscience, and the right of political participation belong on the list, as does physical integrity (‘having one’s bodily boundaries treated as sovereign’).

Not bloody likely. Turn on the TV. Then turn it off again. Thanks. Except The Sopranos. Then you can watch.

Link: Martha Nussbaum

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We explore the entanglement of the vacuum of a relativistic field by letting a pair of causally disconnected probes interact with the field.

We find that, even when the probes are initially non-entangled, they can wind up to a final entangled state.

Tell me about it.

This shows that entanglement persists between disconnected regions in the vacuum.

However the probe entanglement, unlike correlations, vanishes once the regions become sufficiently separated.

Nothing to add, here. Move along.

Take this with you: Is everything love?

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U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton’s ruling came in one of three lawsuits challenging the legislation President Bush signed last year.

She agreed with abortion rights activists that a woman’s right to choose is paramount, and that is therefore ‘irrelevant’ whether a fetus suffers pain, as abortion foes contend.

Jesus, can you hear the shit hitting that particular fan right now. “Irrelevant.” We all wince at that one.

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