Weimin Sun

In this essay, I examine the nature of Chinese logic and Chinese sciences in the history of China. I conclude that Chinese logic is essentially analogical, and that the Chinese did not have theoretical sciences. I then connect these together and explain why the Chinese failed to develop theoretical sciences, even though they enjoyed an advanced civilization and great scientific and technological innovations. This is because a deductive system of logic is necessary for the development of theoretical sciences, and analogical logic cannot provide the deductive connections between a theory and empirical observations required by a theoretical science. This also offers a more satisfactory answer to the long-standing Needham Problem.

In the Analects (13.18) we find a case that a son reported his sheep-stealing father to the authority, and Confucius and the Duke of She disagreed whether the son was upright or not. This case reflects a conflict of strong and deep intuitions, and it continues to ignite heated debates. In this paper I first try to clarify the nature of this conflict and Confucius’s position, as it has many different interpretations. Next, I examine and articulate a variety of arguments in support of Confucius’s position and classify them into five different types. Of the five arguments, two of them are especially noteworthy: the argument from Goodness and the argument from Social Utility. Both arguments can find strong support in Confucian tradition, and many historical arguments are still relevant and insightful today. These arguments also demonstrate the value of Confucian ethics in contemporary society.

The human cationic antimicrobial protein LL-37 is a multifunctional host defense peptide with a wide range of immunomodulatory activities. Previous work has shown that LL-37 exerts both pro- and anti-inflammatory effects. The role of mitochondria in the skin inflammatory effects of LL-37 has not been well studied. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the immunomodulatory effect of LL-37 in HaCaT cells and to delineate the underlying mechanisms related to mitochondrial function. Immunohistochemistry results from tissue microarrays showed strong cytoplasmic LL-37 staining in inflammatory cells in chronic dermatic inflammation. Using exogenous LL-37 stimulation and LL-37 knockdown and overexpression, LL-37 was demonstrated to dramatically reduce the mRNA levels and protein secretion of inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IL-8, IL-1α and tumor necrosis factor-α, which are induced by lipopolysaccharides. The anti-inflammatory effects of LL-37 are dependent upon its ability to increase mitochondrial biogenesis and to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis. Furthermore, we observed that LL-37 enhances the LPS-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and mammalian target of rapamycin. The mTOR inhibitor rapamycin can neutralize the protective effects of LL-37 on mitochondria. In conclusion, these results suggest that high LL-37 expression levels correlate with chronic skin inflammation; mitochondrial dysfunction occurs in HaCaT cells during inflammation; and LL-37 attenuates inflammatory impairment by stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis and protecting mitochondrial function, which are dependent upon mTOR signaling. These findings provide new insights into targeting mitochondria with LL-37 to prevent skin inflammatory reactions. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

In the Analects (13.18) we find a case that a son reported his sheep-stealing father to the authorities, and Confucius and the Duke of She disagreed whether the son was upright or not. This case reflects a conflict of strong and deep intuitions, and it continues to ignite heated debates. This essay first tries to clarify the nature of this conflict and Confucius' position, as it has many different interpretations. Next, a variety of arguments in support of Confucius' position are examined and articulated and classified into five different types. Of the five arguments, two of them are especially noteworthy: the argument from Goodness and the argument from Social Utility. Both arguments can find strong support in Confucian tradition, and many historical arguments are still relevant and insightful today. These arguments also demonstrate the value of Confucian ethics in contemporary society.

In this dissertation I aim to clarify the concept of probability. There are three kinds of interpretation of probability: the objective interpretation, the logical interpretation, and the subjective interpretation. The objective interpretation understands probability as a natural property that exists independently of our minds. I will clarify and defend one version of objective probability---the propensity interpretation of probability. I reject the logical interpretation of probability that treats probability as a logical relation between evidence and hypothesis, and maintain that probability is an empirical relation. The subjective interpretation of probability, which is quite influential in recent literature, understands probability as the subject's degree of confidence that is only concerned with the states of one's mind. There are two arguments to support the claim that partial beliefs satisfy the probability measure, the Dutch Book Argument and the Representation Theorem . I argue that the subjective probability derived from both arguments is in fact the subjective estimate of objective chance, rather than subjective uncertainty of the mind assumed by subjective interpretation. The clarification of the concept of probability, I think, is of crucial importance to the studies in the philosophy of science, epistemology, and statistics.