Is logic in the mind or in the world?

The paper presents an outline of a unified answer to five questions concerning logic: (1) Is logic in the mind or in the world? (2) Does logic need a foundation? What is the main obstacle to a foundation for logic? Can it be overcome? (3) How does logic work? What does logical form represent? Are logical constants referential? (4) Is there a criterion of logicality? (5) What is the relation between logic and mathematics?     

Dissertation research in school psychology, 1978–1980

Programs granting doctoral degrees in school psychology were surveyed to ascertain the nature of the dissertation research completed during the years 1978–1980. Dissertations were classified by program directors or the authors as to subject area of study, type of research methodology, and types of subjects. Trends in each of these areas of classification were examined by comparing the data from the present study with data from the previous efforts of Tindall (1968) and Ysseldyke and Pickholtz (1975). Also, a comparison was made between dissertation content and the professional literature, as well as an examination of the difference between PhD and EdD school psychology dissertations.     

Averaging the truth-value in Łukasiewicz logic

Chang's MV algebras are the algebras of the infinite-valued sentential calculus of ukasiewicz. We introduce finitely additive measures (called states) on MV algebras with the intent of capturing the notion of average degree of truth of a proposition. Since Boolean algebras coincide with idempotent MV algebras, states yield a generalization of finitely additive measures. Since MV algebras stand to Boolean algebras as AFC*-algebras stand to commutative AFC*-algebras, states are naturally related to noncommutativeC*-algebraic measures.     

Birobidzhan in Khrushchev’s Thaw: the soviet and the western outlook

The present article looks into the little-researched period in the nine-decade long history of the Jewish Autonomous Region (JAR), which is still present atavistically in the administrative-territorial structure of contemporary Russia. The region in the Siberian Far East, better known by the name of its main town, Birobidzhan, never turned into what it was supposed to be, namely the centre of Jewish life in the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, while being demographically and culturally insignificant, the low-statused JAR played a key and essentially detrimental role in determining the entitlements that the Jews had in the Soviet pecking order. The government consistently used the Birobidzhan-centered model of Jewish life as an instrument for justifying internationally its active assimilationist policy. In the 1950s, rumours – first about the liquidation of Jewish autonomy and then about a planned expulsion of Jews to the JAR – attracted the attention and concern of the foreign press and Jewish organizations. International pressure forced Moscow to modify its Jews-related policy, but changed little in the JAR. The 1959 census revealed 14,269 Jews in the JAR’s population. Compared with 1939, the number of Jews in the region had decreased almost by a fifth. This decline continued in the coming years.     

The transformation of the Wang Yangming scholarship in the West,ca. 1960–1980: a historical essay

Students of Ming philosophy and the thought of Wang Yangming likely know that the 1960s–1970s was a period during which many scholarships in this field of study were produced in the English language. Indeed, it has been almost half a century since a group of scholars came together at the University of Hawaii to present papers on Wang Yangming in commemoration of the fifth centenary of his birth. That group included, for example, Wing-tsit Chan, David Nivison, and Du Weiming. These scholars, along with two others not present—Julia Ching and Carsun Chang—played a transformative role in introducing Wang Yangming to an English-reading audience. But, the history behind their achievement, as well as how they interpreted him for that audience, has yet to be written. This paper provides a synopsis of that history, explaining why the scholars chose to write about him and what they said about his life and ideas.     

Religious Research in Gerontology, 1980–1994: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

This article presents results of an NIA-funded systematic review of research on religion and aging published from 1980–1994 in mainstream gerontology and religion journals, including the Journal of Religious Gerontology. Findings are summarized from 73 empirical studies, a subset of the 115 articles included in NIA's bibliography on this topic. In general, these studies use multiethnic samples, include multiple religious dimensions, and focus on age comparative analyses and on analyses of religious effects on life satisfaction, health, and well-being. Also summarized is gerontological research on patterns, predictors, outcomes, and measures of religious involvement, and an agenda for future research is proposed.     

A descriptive appraisal, 1935–1980

The writer evaluates the responses he received to causes, ideas and programs he advocated over his 45 year career as a Pastoral Theologian. He contsructs a four-fold typology of responses and discusses the concerns which have characterized his professional life, e.g. older persons, sexuality, ethics in pastoral care, theology in CPE, institutional chaplaincy, interprofessional cooperation, case study method, graduate programs in Religion and Personality, and Pastoral Theology. An evaluation of progress in these areas is followed by a concluding statement on his concerns.     

Policy Discourses on Mosques in the Netherlands 1980–2002: Contested Constructions

The establishment of mosques is an incentive for public discussions on Islam and the presence of Muslims in Western European societies. This article critically reconstructs Public Policy discourses on mosque establishment in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. It shows how urban-planning discourses, and their specific frames, which came to dominate mosque establishment as a policy issue in Rotterdam from the 1980s onwards, created their own set of meanings. The article analyses these discourses in terms of their enabling and constraining roles during a period in which local authorities became more involved in the improvement and placement of new mosques in the Rotterdam area. On the one hand, the urban renewal framework allowed for a substantial improvement in the housing of Islamic religious and cultural practice. On the other hand, urban planning policy discursive practices gave less attention to issues such as visibility and presence that are now at the heart of the heated debates about Muslim populations in Dutch society. More recent discussions on the aesthetics and location of mosques in Rotterdam illustrate how these dominant discourses are not only contestable but are also being contested from all quarters.     

‘Atmosphere’, matching,and logic in syllogistic reasoning

The frequency of error in syllogism solving suggests that not all subjects are using logic. The atmosphere and matching hypotheses suggest what they might be doing instead but predict some of the same (correct and incorrect) responses. Reexamination of the data supporting the atmosphere hypothesis (Sells, 1936) shows that the procedure employed was unsatisfactory and that the results obtained support the matching hypothesis as well as they support the atmosphere hypothesis. It is argued on theoretical grounds that the matching hypothesis should be preferred. An experiment is reported in which subjects (N=71) were required to draw conclusions from syllogistic premises and to construct premises from which given conclusions followed. It is shown that subjects may be divided into three groups: (n=16) consisting of subjects who used logic and made few errors; (n=25) of subjects whose correct and incorrect responses were in accordance with the matching hypothesis; and (n=30) of subjects who were not matching but trying to do logic and not doing it well.     

Deconfessionalisation in the Netherlands, 1964–1992

Using data from 1098 national Dutch surveys, this paper explores trends in the influence of religious denomination on votes for confessional political parties in the Netherlands from 1964 to 1992. The broad question is whether confessional voting has declined over this 29‐year period; the narrow issue is whether the declines vary with religious denomination and time. Logit analysis of the overall effect allows a downward trend in the influence of denomination. The most spectacular decays occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, among Catholics and Rereformed Protestants. Many of the shifts slowed down appreciably in the late 1970s and subsequently abated in the mid‐1980s. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.     

Recent work on Wittgenstein, 1980–1990

While Wittgenstein wrote unconventionally and denied that he was advancing philosophical theses, most of his interpreters have attributed conventional philosophical theses to him. But the best recent interpretations have taken the form of his writing and his distinctive way of doing philosophy seriously. The 1980s have also seen the emergence of a body of work on Wittgenstein that makes extensive use of the unpublished Wittgenstein papers. This work on Wittgenstein's method and his way of writing are the main themes of this literature review.Section 1 surveys Wittgenstein's conception of philosophical method and its reception. Section 2 is a review of recent work on rule-following and the methodological issues it raises. Section 3 concerns research on the WittgensteinNachlass and its implications for the interpretation of his philosophy.     

The Catholic Church,enemy of the people: The soviet secret police against the Vatican∗

Abstract

I investigate the claim that Baptists and other evangelicals in the area later to be incorporated into Yugoslavia came under the significant theological and ecclesiastical influence of Russian Baptists and other Russian evangelicals after 1918, through the influx of Russian émigrés and through the return of ethnic Yugoslavs who had served as prisoners of war in Russian captivity and had there come into contact with local Baptists and others. I analyse and classify all available sources of information, and I compile a database comprising some 80 relevant individuals. Research shows that between the two World Wars the two leading centres with arguably the strongest Russian presence were the cities of Belgrade and Zagreb, to which the city of Rijeka is to be added after the Second World War. I list major conveyers of Russian influence and outline the form of their influence. I also touch upon the role of Russian-based agencies and missionaries. I demonstrate that Russian influence was strongest between the two World Wars, then waned for a variety of reasons and ceased by the mid-1970s. My final conclusion is that although there are many more individuals than usually considered who can be cited in support of the claim that there was strong Russian influence on the Yugoslavian Baptist and evangelical population, their specifically Russian impact on that population should not be exaggerated.     

Trends in school psychology research: 1974–1980

Research articles appearing in five major journals from 1974 to 1980 were categorized in 1 of 16 categories as determined by the major theme of the paper. A chi-square analysis was used to determine whether years differed in relative distribution of observations across the categories. Spearman's rho correlation coefficients were calculated for the rank order of categories between each pair of years, allowing for comparison of the current data with O'Callaghan's (1974) data. Results indicate a significant change in content of articles published over the 7-year period. Articles concerning instrument development and validation account for the relatively largest percentage of total articles published in the 1974–1980 period and have continued to increase since the 1967–1973 period examined by O'Callaghan. Schools and agencies primarily contributing to this research are identified across the 7-year time span. Results are discussed in terms of the professional literature's potential reflection of the role of the school psychologist.     

Bringing culture to the nation: Hebraism, Yiddishism, and the dilemmas of Jewish cultural formation in Russia and Ukraine, 1917–1919

Focusing on the pivotal 1917–1919 conjuncture in Russia and Ukraine, this paper analyzes the efforts of the divided Jewish nationalist intelligentsia to disseminate new forms of Jewish culture to a mass audience, the reception of these efforts in the former Tsarist empire’s variegated Jewish population, and the intelligentsia’s parallel exploration of other forms of cultural formation less dependent on popular support. Comparing the cultural programs of Hebraism and Yiddishism, it demonstrates important parallels in their cultural visions and highlights their shared belief in the possibility of implanting a secularist, aestheticist intelligentsia culture in the whole of “the nation.” The paper reconstructs both substantial forms of popular openness to this culture and its sociocultural weaknesses. Finally, it examines experiments made by the intelligentsia with alternative routes to cultural transformation: suppression of popular culture, non-market cultural arrangements, cultural revolution through education, and the uses of the state. The paper seeks a fuller understanding both of the roots of interwar cultural programs in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, and of the Jewish nationalist intelligentsia’s underlying conception of “culture,” its own authority, and the evolving relationship between these conceptions and the realities of East European Jewish social, cultural, and political life from the 1890s onward.