THE INCOMPATIBILITY OF THE VIRTUES

The paper examines a single, apparently simple argument for the existence of incompatibilities between the virtues as traits of character. This argument appeals not to empirical truths about human psychology or human nature but to the possibility of conflict between the exercise of different virtues in action. There are, for example, situations in which we can exercise the virtue of truthfulness only at the expense of not exercising the virtue of tact, as when we are asked a question to which the straightforward answer will pain our questioner. The person who in these situations would give a straightforward answer possesses the virtue of truthfulness to a higher degree than the person who would respond more evasively, whereas the latter person possesses the virtue of tact to a higher degree than the former. But since the two responses are mutually exclusive, it follows that the degree to which we possess the virtue of truthfulness must, at least in some measure, correlate inversely with the degree to which we possess the virtue of tact. And similarly for many other pairs of virtues. My paper focusses on the two cardinal assumptions of this argument, viz., (i) that sometimes the exercise of one virtue can conflict with the exercise of another, and (ii) that the degree to which a person possesses a virtue correlates directly with the extent of its exercise, and defends both assumptions against a variety of objections which allege that, in different ways, they are insensitive to the complexity of the virtues.     

HAUERWAS AMONG THE VIRTUES

Despite the fact that Stanley Hauerwas has not taken up many of the topics normally associated with virtue ethics, has explicitly distanced himself from the enterprise known as “virtue ethics,” and throughout his career has preferred other categories of analysis, ranging from character and agency to practices and liturgy, it is nevertheless clear that his work has had a deep and transformative impact on the recovery of virtue within Christian ethics, and that this impact has largely to do with the ways in which his thought resists normalization. This essay traces the evolution of Hauerwas's reflections on virtue and the virtues over the course of his career, with special attention to how this has been bound up with an increasingly emphatic theological particularism that has remained ambivalent between what I term “comprehensive” versus “exclusive” particularism. I argue that it is important to distinguish between these, and suggest that grasping the destructive tendencies of “exclusive” particularism should cement our commitment to shouldering the responsibilities associated with comprehensive particularism.     

MORAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE UNITY OF THE VIRTUES

The ancient Greeks subscribed to the thesis of the Unity of Virtue, according to which the possession of one virtue is closely related to the possession of all the others. Yet empirical observation seems to contradict this thesis at every turn. What could the Greeks have been thinking of? The paper offers an interpretation and a tentative defence of a qualified version of the thesis. It argues that, as the Greeks recognized, virtue essentially involves knowledge – specifically, evaluative knowledge of what matters. Furthermore, such knowledge is essentially holistic. Perfect and complete possession of one virtue thus requires the knowledge that is needed for the possession of every other virtue. The enterprise of trying to reconcile the normative view embodied in this conception of virtue with empirical observation also serves as a case study for the field of moral psychology in which empirical and normative claims are often deeply and confusingly intertwined. ¹ 1 I owe thanks to audiences at the University of Arkansas, Rice University, the University of Texas, Princeton University, Yale University, Oxford University, the Australian National University, and Monash University, and more particularly to Robert Adams, John Cooper, and Jerome Schneewind for their extremely helpful and illuminating comments on an earlier version of this paper.
     

FACTOR STRUCTURE O F THE MMPI IN A PSYCHIATRIC POPULATION

A multi-stage factor analysis of the 373-item short form of the MMPI revealed six factors consistent with item-level analyses of a number of other investigators and with those previously identified by the authors in analysis of the first 168 items: (1) Somatization, (2) Feminine Interests, (3) Depression, (4) Psychotic Distortion, (5) Low Morale, and ( 6 ) Acting Out. Scoring keys for the six factors are presented along with 2'-score profile sheets and T-score equivalents of raw factor scores derived from a normal college population with clinical profiles comparable to those reported for other college groups. Factor scoring, with its more homogeneous content, promises to simplify pattern interpretation insofar as the more common code types tend to be represented in single factors. Moreover, since the MMPI-168 shows a factor structure consistent with the longer form, it seems justified to use it in situations requiring an abbreviated administration.     

ON THE RELIABILITY OF MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES

Abstract: I examine here whether reliability is a defining feature of (moral or intellectual) virtues. I argue (1) that reliability is not a defining feature of a virtue where virtues are conceived (as they often are) as “personal excellences,” but (2) that there is another (also intuitive and familiar) conception of a virtue according to which reliability is a defining feature. I also argue (3) that even on the former conception, a certain rational belief pertaining to reliability is essential and (4) that reliability itself, while not a defining feature of a virtue thus conceived, nevertheless is a concomitant of it.     

提取练习在定向遗忘中的作用

根据汉字特点采用义同、形似、音同、无关四种实验材料,采用字表范式探讨不同提取练习次数(0、1、3次)在定向遗忘中的作用及是否会受到材料关系的影响.实验结果发现: (1)对于形似、音同材料,提取练习提高了最后回忆成绩.对于义同、无关材料,提取练习对不同组别两列字表的最后回忆成绩影响不同; (2)提取练习0次时,义同、音同、无关材料都表现出定向遗忘效应.提取练习1次时,无关材料表现出定向遗忘效应.提取练习3次时,形似、音同材料下表现出定向遗忘效应.义同、无关材料定向遗忘效应随着提取练习次数的增加而消失,形似材料随着提取练习次数的增加出现定向遗忘效应; (3)对于四种材料,遗忘组被试都没有随提取练习次数的增加而更多抑制字表1回忆,即字表l的回忆成绩都没有表现出随提取练习次数的增加而降低的趋势,所以能否用提取诱发遗忘来解释定向遗忘的提取抑制还需要进一步的实验验证.     

RELIGION AND THE MODE OF PRACTICE IN MICHAEL OAKESHOTT

Michael Oakeshott's religious view of the world stands behind much of his political and philosophical writing. In this essay I first discuss Oakeshott's view of religion and the mode of practice in his own terms. I attempt next to illuminate his idea of religion by describing it in less technical language, drawing upon other thinkers such as Georg Simmel and George Santayana, who share similar views. I then evaluate Oakeshott's view as a whole, considering whether his ideas about religion can stand up to careful scrutiny and whether they have value for present-day reflection on religion.     

COUNSELING THE EMOTIONALLY TROUBLED CLIENT FOR PSYCHIATRIC REFERRAL

From time to time the employment counselor encounters applicants who need referral for psychiatric assistance in order to increase their employability and potential work adjustment. In many instances the client may feel that he has neither an emotional problem nor a need for psychiatric evaluation. The counselor can help the applicant to recognize his problem and to accept a psychiatric referral by using communication alternatives such as reflection of feeling, reflection of experience, sharing of the process experience, interpretation, and confrontation with maintenance of tension. The client can be assisted in evaluating community mental health resources and in arranging for the initial psychiatric evaluation appointment.