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Statues are in the news. Controversies are swirling around the slave trader and philanthropist Edward Colston in Bristol, Confederate generals, soldiers and leaders in the United States, and the sculpture in honour of Mary Wollstonecraft in Newington Green in North London. In some cases, the attacks have been physical as well as verbal, and such moves have provoked counter-moves in defence of certain statues or statues of a certain kind. People are paying attention to and reflecting on monuments that they might normally pass by without a glance or thought. Nor has the conversation simply been about the authorised and unauthorised relocation or dismantling of statues: there has also been considerable enthusiasm for erecting new ones. In this paper, I argue that it is healthy to have such debates and important in a functioning democracy. However, before we can consider why some statues and monuments have become so controversial, and how best to resolve the controversies, we first need to understand the many different reasons why statues might be erected in the first place, and why they might continue to be valued and preserved. We also need to consider secondary intentions in their creation, and other social functions they might serve, whether intended or not. We need to reflect on the who, how, where and when of statues before we can understand their defacement or destruction.

Hobbs examines how the expanded activities of women in the First World War and their public reception impact on the philosophy of heroism, arguing that whom and what a society regards as heroic tells us much about that society’s values, including its perception of women. After an initial definition of heroism classically conceived, she considers the various ways in which women could relate to heroism prior to 1914 and explores how the conflict opened up new spheres of female agency, and how those opportunities were viewed by women and men, both during and after the war. She goes on to ask whether the extraordinary conditions of the First World War might require a philosophical reappraisal of the very nature of heroism, and suggests that the wartime roles of women in particular urge such a rethinking.

Owen’s rejection of Horace’s dulce et decorum est pro patria mori as ‘the old lie’ prompts for me two questions: 1) Who exactly does Owen think lied? And is he justified in thinking this? 2) To what extent does Owen’s rejection of Horace’s words also amount to a critique of the classical tradition more generally, on the grounds that classical conceptions of war and heroism have proved utterly inadequate to the task of articulating the horrors of twentieth-century trench warfare? I argue that Owen’s main target is a number of poets, including Jessie Pope and Henry Newbolt, who recruited sanitized receptions of the classics to exhort young men to lay down their lives for their country. However, it is not clear that any of these, or Horace himself, is actually lying. Owen as a keen student of Roman and Greek culture employed classical themes in various poems. Although classical literature offered rich and nuanced conceptions of warfare, its emphasis on the supererogatory and named individual heroes meant that new conceptions of heroism needed to be developed in World War I to cope with the conditions of often anonymous industrialized trench warfare, in which even doing one’s duty could seem heroic.

Thrasymachus, a Greek Sophist and orator, is known principally for his role in book 1 of Plato’s Republic, in which he argues that justice is simply a social institution created by rulers to further their own interests. It is intended solely for the subjects; the rulers themselves need not practise it. Since justice thus consists in promoting another’s advantage rather than one’s own, injustice is far more profitable. Apart from issues of internal coherence, his claims raise many questions. What, for example, are our true interests? And what are the actual and ideal operations of power?

Callicles, although known only as a character in Plato’s Gorgias (the dramatic date of which is somewhere between 430 and 405 bc), was probably an actual historical person. Employing a distinction between nature (physis) and convention (nomos), he argues eloquently that the naturally superior should seize both political power and a greater share of material goods: it is only a convention of the weak majority which labels such behaviour unjust. In private life the superior should indulge their desires freely: excess and licence are true virtue and happiness.

In the fifth and fourth centuries bc a vigorous debate arose in Greece centred on the terms physis (nature) and nomos (law or custom). It became the first ethical debate in Western philosophy. Is justice simply a matter of obeying the laws, or does it have some basis in nature? If the laws conflict with my natural needs and desires, why should I submit to them? Is society itself ‘natural’, and what difference might the answer make to our evaluation of it? Both nomos and physis had their supporters, while some tried to dissolve the antithesis altogether.

Antiphon was a Greek Sophist. His most famous work, On Truth, partially survives in two substantial papyrus fragments, plus a number of purported quotations. It sets up a bold antithesis between the claims of physis (nature) and nomos (law/convention), arguing that it is more advantageous to follow nature when one can do so without detection. The antithesis suggests several important questions about the meaning of ‘nature’ and its role in ethics, the origin of social laws and their authority and the meaning and value of justice. It is disputed whether he is to be identified with the orator Antiphon of Rhamnus.

Epidemiological evidence suggests that an adverse in utero environment is associated with an increased risk for developing adult onset diseases. The molecular mechanisms for susceptibility to chronic noncommunicable diseases are not fully understood, although recent research has proposed that epigenetic modifications play an important role in fetal programming. Genetic and environmental factors contribute to interindividual and spatiotemporal tissue-specific methylation patterns. Although the diverse environments and high genetic diversity of African populations provide unparalleled potential to investigate the effects of environmental change on the epigenetic profile in humans, only a small percentage of genomic and epigenetic studies have focused on populations from this continent. This emphasizes the need to build capacity in Africa for research that leads to an understanding of the association between genetic, epigenetic and environmental risk factors for noncommunicable diseases on the continent.

Multiple questions relating to contributions of cultural and demographical factors in the process of human geographical dispersal remain largely unanswered. India, a land of early human settlement and the resulting diversity is a good place to look for some of the answers. In this study, we explored the genetic structure of India using a diverse panel of 78 males genotyped using the GenoChip. Their genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity was examined in the context of various covariates that influence Indian gene pool. Admixture analysis of genome-wide SNP data showed high proportion of the Southwest Asian component in all of the Indian samples. Hierarchical clustering based on admixture proportions revealed seven distinct clusters correlating to geographical and linguistic affiliations. Convex hull overlay of Y-chromosomal haplogroups on the genome-wide SNP principal component analysis brought out distinct non-overlapping polygons of F*-M89, H*-M69, L1-M27, O2a-M95 and O3a3c1-M117, suggesting a male-mediated migration and expansion of the Indian gene pool. Lack of similar correlation with mitochondrial DNA clades indicated a shared genetic ancestry of females. We suggest that ancient male-mediated migratory events and settlement in various regional niches led to the present day scenario and peopling of India.

Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) is an important cause of irreversible blindness in South Africa. Mutations in the MYOC gene are important in monogenic POAG. This study aimed to characterize potentially pathogenic MYOC mutations in this population.Self-identified black South African POAG patients (215) and unaffected control participants (214) had ophthalmological examinations and DNA extraction. Potentially pathogenic MYOC variants were genotyped in the study population. Family members of participants with the mutations were screened for glaucoma clinically and for the mutations using Sanger sequencing.The following mutations were genotyped: Gly374Val (2 POAG patients), Lys500Arg (3 POAG patients) and Tyr453del (5 POAG patients). None of the relatives screened for Gly374Val had the mutation or POAG. The Lys500Arg mutation did not co-segregate with the disease in an affected family. The Tyr453del mutation co-segregated with the disease, but demonstrated incomplete penetrance. POAG patients with the Tyr453del mutation had adult-onset POAG with high intraocular pressures and advanced cupping.Overall, 3.3% of black South Africans with POAG have a Gly374Val or Tyr453del MYOC mutation. The Tyr453del mutation is incompletely penetrant. That the mutation is necessary but insufficient introduces a counseling dilemma. Mutation screening can, however, identify high-risk individuals who can be monitored to detect early signs of the disease. The Gly374Val mutation is predicted to be damaging to MYOC. The Lys500Arg mutation is predicted to be benign and tolerated. This study has important implications for the management and counseling of black South African patients with POAG and their families.

Objectives Texas birth records and population projections were used to simulate pregnancy rates among women ages 15–19 years from 2005 to 2015. Methods Monte Carlo simulation based on historical rates of natural increase, contraceptive failure and sexual experience among racial/ethnic groups of teenaged women was used for numerical projections. These projections were used in a systems dynamics model which posits teen pregnancy risk as a stochastic process of contraceptive failure and sexual activity. The PRI was constructed as a logistic function of sexual experience, the weighted average contraceptive failure rates and time-varying probabilities of natural increase among racial/ethnic sub-groups of adolescent women. Results From 2005 to 2015, the number of adolescent, Hispanic females in Texas is expected to increase by 45%. During this same period, the expected pregnancy risk for 15 to 19 year old females is expected to increase to 13% or 127 per 1,000 women. This increase is due largely to the rise in the pregnancy risk among the growing population of Hispanic adolescents. Conclusions Changing population characteristics in Texas and differences in sexual activity and contraceptive failure among racial/ethnic groups indicate that teenage pregnancy will not continue to decline in the coming decade. The adolescents most at risk for pregnancy are expected to increase significantly. Pregnancy prevention programs need to be intensified and adapted to the changing Texas social climate in order to preempt dramatic increases in teenage pregnancy.

Keratolytic winter erythema (KWE), also known as Oudtshoorn skin disease, is characterised by a cyclical disruption of normal epidermal keratinisation affecting primarily the palmoplantar skin with peeling of the palms and soles, which is worse in the winter. It is a rare monogenic, autosomal dominant condition of unknown cause. However, due to a founder effect, it occurs at a prevalence of 1/7 200 among South African Afrikaans-speakers. In the mid-1980s, samples were collected from affected families for a linkage study to pinpoint the location of the KWE gene. A genome-wide linkage analysis, using microsatellite markers, identified the KWE critical region on chromosome 8p23.1-p22. Subsequent genetic studies focused on screening candidate genes in this critical region; however, no pathogenic mutations that segregated exclusively with KWE were identified. The cathepsin B (CTSB) and farnesyl-diphosphate farnesyltransferase 1 (FDFT1) genes revealed no potentially pathogenic variants, nor did they show differential gene expression in affected skin. Mutation detection in additional candidate genes also failed to identify the KWE-associated variant, suggesting that the causal variant may be in an uncharacterised functional region. Bioinformatic analysis revealed highly conserved regions within the KWE critical region and a custom tiling array was designed to cover this region and to search for copy number variation. Although the study did not identify a variant that segregates exclusively with KWE, it provided valuable insight into the complex KWE-linked region. Next-generation sequencing approaches are being used to comb the region, but the causal variant for this interesting hyperkeratotic palmoplantar phenotype still remains elusive.

Human plasma chitotriosidase activity is a commonly used diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker for non-neuronopathic Gaucher disease. Chitotriosidase deficiency is common in non-African populations and is primarily caused by a 24 bp duplication in the encoding gene (CHIT1). Allele frequencies for the 24 bp duplication range from 20–50 % outside Africa. The present study found chitotriosidase deficiency to be rare in the South African Black population (1.6 %) and the otherwise common 24 bp duplication is absent in this African population. Instead, chitotriosidase deficiency is caused by a 4 bp deletion across the exon/intron 10 boundary (E/I-10_delGAgt) of the CHIT1 gene. The exact position of this mutation was found to differ from the previously reported location. Allele frequencies for six coding variants of CHIT1 (p.G102S, p.G354R, 24 bp duplication, E/I-10_delGAgt, p.A442V/G) were determined and the 4 bp deletion was found to be in complete linkage disequilibrium (LD) with two of the coding variants (p.G354R and p.A442V). The in silico assessments of the two missense mutations in LD predict a protein-damaging nature and functional studies are needed to clarify if one or both abolish the enzyme’s activity. Overall, the low frequency of chitotriosidase deficiency in South African Blacks makes chitotriosidase activity an excellent biomarker of choice in this population.

Y-chromosome Haplogroup O is the dominant lineage of East Asians, comprising more than a quarter of all males on the world; however, its internal phylogeny remains insufficiently investigated. In this study, we determined the phylogenetic position of recently defined markers (L127, KL1, KL2, P164, and PK4) in the background of Haplogroup O. In the revised tree, subgroup O3a-M324 is divided into two main subclades, O3a1-L127 and O3a2-P201, covering about 20 and 35% of Han Chinese people, respectively. The marker P164 is corrected from a downstream site of M7 to upstream of M134 and parallel to M7 and M159. The marker PK4 is also relocated from downstream of M88 to upstream of M95, separating the former O2(*) into two parts. This revision evidently improved the resolving power of Y-chromosome phylogeny in East Asia.

In his stimulating paper, Christopher Gill explicitly asks us to consider three main questions in connection with two passages (Origen, Against Celsus 7.51 and Cicero, On Duties 1.107-121): (1) Are the two passages, one based on Chrysippus and the other on Panaetius, concerned with moral particularism? (2) Are the two passages concerned with the relation between moral particularism and moral universalism? (3) Is it, in fact, anachronistic to go searching for such things in the texts? To consider these questions, we first need a better understanding of what 'moral particularism' and 'moral universalism' might mean, and for this it will be helpful to give a brief and rough sketch of one popular version of the history of Western ethical thought since the late eighteenth century, a version based on the framework of universalism and particularism. Keywords: Christopher Gill; Cicero; Origen; Stoic Philosophy

VIRTUE AND THE VIRTUES (328d–334c) The complexity of the relation between andreia and aretē as a whole is first raised in the Protagoras at 329e. At 328d Protagoras finally brings his Great Speech to a close and Socrates offers his praise; there is, however, just one point he would like clarified. Protagoras made reference to both particular virtues, such as justice, respect and temperance, and also to virtue ( aretē ) in general; does he see the former as parts of virtue, or are they simply different names for the same single thing? Protagoras replies that they are parts. In that case, continues Socrates, are they heterogeneous in the way that eyes, ears and nose are parts of the face, or are they homogeneous like the parts of a lump of gold? Protagoras says that they are like the parts of the face. And do different people possess different virtues, or is it the case (as the analogy would seem to suggest) that if you possess one virtue you must necessarily possess them all? No, says Protagoras, many people are courageous ( andreioi ) but unjust, and many again are just but not wise (329e5–6). If we leave aside for the moment the issue of what precisely Socrates means when he suggests that the virtues are names of the same thing, the most striking features of this exchange are Protagoras' immediate citation of andreia as problematic, and his belief that justice may be divorced from wisdom.

Plato's thinking on courage, manliness and heroism is both profound and central to his work, but these areas of his thought remain under-explored. This book examines his developing critique of both the notions and embodiments of manliness prevalent in his culture (particularly those in Homer), and his attempt to redefine them in accordance with his own ethical, psychological and metaphysical principles. It further seeks to locate the discussion within the framework of his general approach to ethics, an approach which focuses on concepts of flourishing and virtue, rather than on consequences or duty. The question of why courage is necessary in the flourishing life in its turn leads to Plato's bid to unify the noble and the beneficial and the tensions this unification creates between human and divine ideals. The issue of manliness also raises problems of gender: does Plato conceive of the ethical subject as human or male?

SELF-PERPETUATING HEROES In the Republic , Socrates is in no doubt that our non-rational elements can normally only be harnessed when early education is in the hands of Philosopher-Rulers. The trouble, of course, is that this education system must somehow already be in place for Philosopher-Rulers to be created. How is the ideally just state to get off the ground? The problem is exacerbated by the fact that, as we have seen, a role model culture such as Plato's Athens has an in-built tendency to reproduce itself – an innate conservatism that Plato highlights by stressing the thumos ' desires for social esteem and success. Once the ideal state is up and running, and state-approved heroes well established, such conservative tendencies can be put to good use: properly purified literature and music, which promote the right ideals, must never be altered in any way (424b–c). In imperfect societies, on the other hand, the same tendencies will plainly work against Plato's blueprint. The obstacles such innate conservatism raises are forcefully depicted in the Symposium . Before looking at them, however, we need first to consider the radical project for educating desire that the dialogue proposes, and the role in this erotic training of the conservatively-inclined thumos . THE SYMPOSIUM : THUMOS AS INTERMEDIARY The immediate task is clearly to establish that the thumos plays any role whatsoever in the Symposium : there is after all no explicit reference to it, or indeed to a divided psuchē of any kind.

The Life of Reason and the Life of Desire In Plato's early dialogue the Gorgias , Socrates and his interlocutor Callicles debate what Socrates says is the most important question of all: how one should live. Socrates argues for the philosophic life, in which one's desires are ordered by reason; Callicles advocates the life of the forceful man of affairs, who as far as possible acts as he pleases both in public and private. Underlying their differences lies an implicit disagreement about the nature of the self. While both appear to believe that the human personality consists of two main aspects, reason and the desires, Socrates seems to identify himself with the former, whereas Callicles identifies himself with the latter. Thus for Socrates freedom and happiness depend on the desires' obedience to reason, while for Callicles freedom and happiness depend on reason's obedience to the desires. Callicles is adamant that it is his view of human nature that is correct: the philosopher is a pathetic creature who is entirely ignorant of human pleasures and desires and the characters of men. When Socrates asks whether Callicles agrees that those who need nothing are happy, Callicles scathingly replies that if that were true then stones and corpses would be happiest of all. Impasse appears to have been reached. Although Callicles later formally capitulates to Socrates, he also claims that he is only agreeing with him so that the discussion may be brought to a speedy conclusion.

Behar, Doron M. et al.-- The Genographic Consortium, Different lines of evidence point to the resettlement of much of western and central Europe by populations from the Franco-Cantabrian region during the Late Glacial and Postglacial periods. In this context, the study of the genetic diversity of contemporary Basques, a population located at the epicenter of the Franco-Cantabrian region, is particularly useful because they speak a non-Indo-European language that is considered to be a linguistic isolate. In contrast with genome-wide analysis and Y chromosome data, where the problem of poor time estimates remains, a new timescale has been established for the human mtDNA and makes this genome the most informative marker for studying European prehistory. Here, we aim to increase knowledge of the origins of the Basque people and, more generally, of the role of the Franco-Cantabrian refuge in the postglacial repopulation of Europe. We thus characterize the maternal ancestry of 908 Basque and non-Basque individuals from the Basque Country and immediate adjacent regions and, by sequencing 420 complete mtDNA genomes, we focused on haplogroup H. We identified six mtDNA haplogroups, H1j1, H1t1, H2a5a1, H1av1, H3c2a, and H1e1a1, which are autochthonous to the Franco-Cantabrian region and, more specifically, to Basque-speaking populations. We detected signals of the expansion of these haplogroups at ∼4,000 years before present (YBP) and estimated their separation from the pan-European gene pool at ∼8,000 YBP, antedating the Indo-European arrival to the region. Our results clearly support the hypothesis of a partial genetic continuity of contemporary Basques with the preceding Paleolithic/Mesolithic settlers of their homeland., This work was supported by the Institut Pasteur, National Geographic, and the Histoire des populations et variation linguistique dans les Pyrénées de l'Ouest project, which received funding from the Conseil Régional d'Aquitaine, the Conseil Général des Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the Conseil des Elus du Pays-Basque, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique interdisciplinary program Origine de l'Homme, des Langues et du Langage. This study also benefited from the support of Department of Hematology, Centre Hospitalier de la Côte Basque, in Bayonne, and Association Sang 64.