Arguing at Cross-Purposes: Discharging the Dialectical Obligations of the Coalescent Model of Argumentation

The paper addresses the manner in which the theory of Coalescent Argumentation [CA] has been received by the Argumentation Theory community. I begin (section 2) by providing a theoretical overview of the Coalescent model of argumentation as developed by Michael A. Gilbert (1997). I next engage the several objections that have been raised against CA (section 3). I contend that objectors to the Coalescent model are not properly sensitive to the theoretical consequences of the genuinely situated nature of argument. I conclude (section 4) by suggesting that the resolution to the dispute between Gilbert and his objectors hinges on the outcome of several foundational theoretical questions identified over the course of the paper.     

The problem of defective desires

This paper defends the actualist desire-satisfaction theory of welfare against a popular line of objection—namely, that it cannot accommodate the fact that, sometimes, it is bad for a person to get what he wants. Ill-informed desires, irrational desires, base desires, poorly cultivated desires, pointless desires, artificially aroused desires, and the desire to be badly off, are alleged by objectors to be defective in this way. I attempt to show that each of these kinds of desire either is not genuinely defective or else is defective in a way fully compatible with the theory.     

The Diagonal and the Demon

Reliabilism about epistemic justification – thethesis that what makes a belief epistemicallyjustified is that it was produced by a reliableprocess of belief-formation – must face twoproblems. First, what has been called ``the newevil demon problem', which arises from the ideathat the beliefs of victims of an evil demonare as justified as our own beliefs, althoughthey are not – the objector claims – reliablyproduced. And second, the problem of diagnosingwhy skepticism is so appealing despite beingfalse. I present a special version ofreliabilism, ``indexical reliabilism', based ontwo-dimensional semantics, and show how it cansolve both problems.     

Descartes: God as the Idea of Infinity

Abstract:  This article returns to Descartes' texts and correspondence and looks to recent scholarship to reveal three key elements of Descartes' distinctive epistemological structure. It shows that because objectors ignore Descartes' opposition to the 'order of being' they are led to a binary and incorrect reading of his argument. However, by correctly following Descartes' own logic, the method of doubt can be used to prove the existence of an infinite God.     

汉语词汇产生中的义、音信息提取时间进程的ERP研究

摘 要 运用事件相关电位（ERP）技术考查了在汉语词汇产生过程中,语义提取和语音提取的时间进程。在实验过程中,给被试呈现一张图片,要求他们在小声进行图片命名之前,先基于语义信息（图上画的是物体还是动物）或语音信息（如图片名称是以字母s还是以y开头）完成一个双重选择任务。在一种情况下,反应手（左手或右手按键）由语义信息决定,是否反应（GO/NOGO）由语音信息决定;在另一种情况下,反应手由语音信息决定,是否反应由语义信息决定。结果发现,当是否反应由语义信息（动物/物体）决定时,N200的潜伏期是307ms;当是否反应由语音信息（如中文名称以S/Y开头）决定时,N200的潜伏期是447ms;两者之间存在显著的差异,即由语义信息引起的N200的潜伏期早于由语音信息引起的N200的潜伏期。结果表明,在汉语词汇产生过程中,语义提取先于语音提取。     

St. Thomas Aquinas on punishing souls

The details of St. Thomas Aquinas’s anthropological view are subject to debate. Some philosophers believe he held that human persons survive their deaths. Other philosophers think he held that human persons cease to exist at their death, but come back into being at the general resurrection. In this paper, I defend the latter view against one of the most significant objections it faces, namely, that it entails that God punishes and rewards separated souls for the sins or merits of something else: the (non-existent) persons to whom those souls once belonged. The objector takes this entailment to be problematic. I argue that it fits in well with St. Thomas’s views about punishment and about persons.     

Skeptical theism and value judgments

One of the most prominent objections to skeptical theism in recent literature is that the skeptical theist is forced to deny our competency in making judgments about the all-things-considered value of any natural event. Some skeptical theists accept that their view has this implication, but argue that it is not problematic. I think that there is reason to question the implication itself. I begin by explaining the objection to skeptical theism and the standard response to it. I then identify an assumption that is prevalent in much of the literature concerning the problem of evil, and show that it is a factor in motivating commitment to the implication I mean to question. I argue that the assumption is false, and that once it is rejected there is room to endorse the skeptical theist’s strategy in responding to some arguments from evil without endorsing the putative implication that objectors find unacceptable.     

A heterodox defense of the actualist higher-order thought theory

I defend the actualist higher-order thought theory against four objections. The first objection contends that the theory is circular. The second one contends that the theory is unable to account for the alleged epistemic position we are in with respect to our own conscious mental states. The third one contends that the theory is unable to account for the evidence we have for the proposition that all conscious mental states are represented. The fourth one contends that the theory does not accommodate the intimacy we have with our own conscious mental states. To some extent, my defense will be heterodox, in the sense that I will show that some objections are satisfactorily answerable even if we concede to the objectors a point that higher-order theorists do not seem to be willing to concede, that is, that the theory is the result of conceptual analysis.

     

Frankfurt cases and the (in)significance of timing: a defense of the buffering strategy

Frankfurt cases are purported counterexamples to the Principle of Alternative Possibilities, which implies that we are not morally responsible for unavoidable actions. A major permutation of the counterexample strategy features buffered alternatives; this permutation is designed to overcome an influential defense of the Principle of Alternative Possibilities. Here we defend the buffering strategy against two recent objections, both of which stress the timing of an agent’s decision. We argue that attributions of moral responsibility aren’t time-sensitive in the way the objectors suppose. We then turn to the crucial question of when an action is relevantly avoidable—when, in the parlance of the literature, an alternative possibility is robust. We call attention to two plausible tests for robustness that merit further consideration, showing that the agents in buffered Frankfurt cases don’t pass these tests, despite being morally responsible for their actions.     

Value Tensions Between Evangelical Christians and Christian Counseling

The evangelical wing of the American Protestant church has maintained an uneasy and uncertain relationship with the recently emerged Christian counseling movement. Whereas many evangelical Christian groups have been able to assimilate Christian counseling into their panoply of ministry tools, significant sections of this faith group remain very suspicious and doubtful that Christian counseling can be trusted. Most of the stated reasons given by these objectors revolve around theological reservations. This article, however, suggests that an even more powerful barrier between the two groups stems from significantly different values held by each. The article enumerates several of these value differences.     

Objecting Morally

Just war theory entails that some wars may be morally unjustifiable, and hence citizens may be right to object morally to their government's waging of a war and to their being compelled to serve in it. Given the evils attendant upon even justified war, this fact sharply restricts any obligation to die for the state, and raises important questions about the appropriate state response to selective conscientious objectors. This paper argues that such people should be legally accommodated, and discusses objections to doing so, in particular, the possible erosion of the state's capacity to wage justified war, the unfairness of granting such exemptions from military service, and the impossibility of determining genuinely conscientious objection.     

How to Argue about Solar Geoengineering

Should high-income countries engage in solar geoengineering research and possible deployment? On the assumption that the speed of the energy transition will be insufficient to abate catastrophic climate impacts, research into solar geoengineering begins to look like a technically and socially feasible route to mitigate such impacts. But on the assumption that a rapid and relatively just energy transition is still within the realm of political possibility, research into solar geoengineering looks more like an ideological tool designed to divert time and resources from less risky climate solutions. At the heart of debates over solar geoengineering, then, is disagreement over what political actors can be expected to do in the future. In this article, I argue that both objectors to and proponents of solar geoengineering research often make background assumptions regarding expected future actions that are either (a) inaccurate or (b) inconsistent. I propose an account of expected future actions that avoids these problems and sketch what the debate over solar geoengineering looks like with these assumptions in place.     

How a Mental Health Professional Handles Referrals and Fees

Summary

The choice of referral and the relationship between referral sources can pose clinical and ethical dilemmas, due to the potential that the relationship between the psychologist and the referral source will interfere with the treatment relationship. Once the referral has been made, the referring psychologist must be sensitive to a second, and often a more problematic level of risk: conflicts that occur between the patient and the referral recipient. The situation becomes even more problematic when a psychologist is giving or receiving any form of compensation in connection with the referral. In addition to clouding the clinical relationship, the giving or receiving of such compensation, whether it is characterized as “referral fees” or otherwise, has important legal consequences, and may well result in license revocation proceedings or even criminal liability.     

Moral approval of aggression and sex role identity in officer trainees,conscientious objectors to military service,and in a female reference group

The Moral Approval of Aggression Inventory (MAAI) and Bem's Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) were administered to three experimental groups: officer trainees ( = OTs, n = 48), conscientious objectors to military service ( = COs, n = 35), and to a group of women of comparable age (n = 32). Aggression was mostly approved of among OTs and the least among COs, the women scoring in the middle somewhat closer to OTs. Differences in choice of sex role identity emerged, so that OTs often chose a masculine sex role, while for COs, the choice of an androgynous role was the most frequent one. Women chose feminine and androgynous roles with equal frequency. Moral approval of aggression could not be explained on the basis of sex role identification. The strongest determinator of moral approval of aggression was the choice of refusal to engage in military service.     

探讨三级综合医院基于信息交互体系的双向转诊

建立基于信息交互体系的双向转诊信息平台,通过大连市某三级综合医院与社区卫生服务中心双向转诊研究,着重于探索临床路径这一研究方向对双向转诊的意义。用同期非随机对照试验,收集大连市黄河路社区上转患者人次和医院下转患者人次,以及分别比较转诊费用和医患转诊认知度。结果,上转患者402人,下转患者179人,上转服务明显好于下转,试验组和对照组患者医疗费用（除诊疗费）差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）,双向转诊认知度差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）。目前双向转诊还处于单向流动状态,上转率明显高于下转率,双向转诊节省了医疗费用,在医患对其认知度方面,前者明显高于后者,制度上的支持是双向转诊顺利实施的关键。     

Anticipating Annihilation

According to Epicureans, anticipating one's own annihilation ought not to be a frightening experience. Non‐existence precludes the possibility of sensation, and hence annihilation can be neither pleasant nor unpleasant. And that which cannot be felt is unworthy of fear. Certain objectors to this claim have asserted that one's own annihilation really is a terrifying prospect. Against this assertion, I argue that those who make it are guilty of precisely the kind of confusion that Epicurus and his disciples alert us to, namely that of projecting ourselves into the thought of our own non‐existence. A further objection to Epicureanism involves the claim that, since the fear of death is merely the converse of the love of life, the one cannot be extinguished without inevitably extinguishing the other (to inevitably disastrous effect). I argue that this objection relies upon an exaggeration of thanatological fear's power and an unduly pessimistic assessment of human reason's capacity to positively modify emotional states and dispositions. I conclude that neither of the objections considered here has vindicated the fear and anxiety commonly associated with anticipating one's annihilation, and that the Epicurean attempt to deflate these debilitating emotions remains valid.     

“The Friendly Clergy”: Characteristics and Referral

Among the recommendations possible in assessment of clients' religious beliefs is that of referral to the “friendly clergy.” This article delineates guidelines for referral as well as ideal characteristics of that spiritual professional.