On Modal Logics of Partial Recursive Functions

The classical propositional logic is known to be sound and complete with respect to the set semantics that interprets connectives as set operations. The paper extends propositional language by a new binary modality that corresponds to partial recursive function type constructor under the above interpretation. The cases of deterministic and non-deterministic functions are considered and for both of them semantically complete modal logics are described and decidability of these logics is established. Presented by Melvin Fitting     

An Exactification of the Monoid of Primitive Recursive Functions

We study the monoid of primitive recursive functions and investigate a onestep construction of a kind of exact completion, which resembles that of the familiar category of modest sets, except that the partial equivalence relations which serve as objects are recursively enumerable. As usual, these constructions involve the splitting of symmetric idempotents.     

Boolos and the Metamathematics of Quine's Definitions of Logical Truth and Consequence

The paper is concerned with Quine's substitutional account of logical truth. The critique of Quine's definition tends to focus on miscellaneous odds and ends, such as problems with identity. However, in an appendix to his influential article On Second Order Logic, George Boolos offered an ingenious argument that seems to diminish Quine's account of logical truth on a deeper level. In the article he shows that Quine's substitutional account of logical truth cannot be generalized properly to the general concept of logical consequence. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to introduce the reader to the metamathematics of Quine's substitutional definition of logical truth; second, to make Boolos' result accessible to a broader audience by giving a detailed and self-contained presentation of his proof; and, finally, to discuss some of the possible implications and how a defender of the Quinean concepts might react to the challenge posed by Boolos' result.     

Roman Catholic Clericalism,Religious Duress,and Clergy Sexual Abuse

Since 1984, sexual abuse by Catholic clergy has captured public attention and resulted in a stream of criminal and civil lawsuits. The hierarchy has been defensive in the face of constant accusations and criticism. This study examines selected key aspects of the clergy sex abuse phenomenon including historical precedents and the impact of clericalism on the development of psychological and emotional duress in victims and others closely associated with sexual abuse.     

Burnout and Depression Among Roman Catholic Secular,Religious, and Monastic Clergy

Burnout and depression among Roman Catholic secular, religious order, and monastic (Cistercian) priests was investigated using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CESD) scale. Additionally, a Self-Report-Inventory (SRI) was included requesting information on demographics as well as four categories of predictor variables (vocational satisfaction, social support, spiritual activities, and physical environment) associated with burnout and depression. All participants were randomly selected. The survey yielded a return rate of 90.67%. Secular clergy reported significantly greater emotional exhaustion than did monastic clergy. Secular priests also had significantly greater depression (72%), when compared to religious (40.8%) and monastic (39.5) clergy. Overall group comparisons revealed that secular clergy experienced the highest degree of burnout and depression, monastics the least, and religious priests falling in between. The lack of social support and sense of isolation, for secular clergy, were key elements associated with their experience of both burnout and depression. Candidate in Psychology atand a Psychology Intern at the Ohio State University     

Truth,Proofs and Functions

Synthese - There are two different ways to introduce the notion of truthin constructive mathematics. The first one is to use a Tarskian definition of truth in aconstructive (meta)language....     

A brilliant jewel: sex,celibacy, and the Roman Catholic Church

As clerical sexual abuse scandals hit the news and the crisis of vocations worsens each year, debate about the merits of mandatory clerical celibacy continues to grow. The fact remains, however, that supposedly celibate priests have been sexually active in significant numbers throughout history and that their sexual activity has barely affected the power of the Church. In this article, I focus on the ‘everyday’ nature of sexual ‘incontinence’ among a group of Northeast Brazilian priests and analyse the relative systematicity with which vow-breaking is accommodated. Such systematicity, I suggest, reveals an ongoing stable-instability at the heart of the Church as an institution; a dynamic which, if better understood, can help to explain the most characteristic (but often overlooked) feature of institutions more generally: their impressive longevity.     

The Roman state and genetic pacification

Over the last 10,000 years, the human genome has changed at an accelerating rate. The change seems to reflect adaptations to new social environments, including the rise of the State and its monopoly on violence. State societies punish young men who act violently on their own initiative. In contrast, non-State societies usually reward such behavior with success, including reproductive success. Thus, given the moderate to high heritability of male aggressiveness, the State tends to remove violent predispositions from the gene pool while favoring tendencies toward peacefulness and submission. This perspective is applied here to the Roman state, specifically its long-term effort to pacify the general population. By imperial times, this effort had succeeded so well that the Romans saw themselves as being inherently less violent than the "barbarians" beyond their borders. By creating a pacified and submissive population, the empire also became conducive to the spread of Christianity-a religion of peace and submission. In sum, the Roman state imposed a behavioral change that would over time alter the mix of genotypes, thus facilitating a subsequent ideological change.     

Roman Catholic Gay Priests: Internalized Homophobia, Sexual Identity, and Psychological Well-Being

Using convenience sampling, a national sample of 156 actively ministering or retired Roman Catholic priests was obtained. One hundred and five (105) of these priests identified as gay/homosexual (67.3 %), 42 identified as heterosexual (26.9 %), and 9 identified as bisexual (5.8 %). Due to the small number of bisexual participants, the bisexual priests’ responses were excluded, and the whole sample was divided into a gay/homosexual group and a heterosexual comparison group. This confidential study yielded a response rate of 78 %. The priests were mailed self-report survey instruments, including the Scales of Psychological Well-Being, the Internalized Homonegativity Inventory, the Gay Identity Questionnaire, the Depression-Happiness Scale, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, as well as a demographics questionnaire. Results demonstrated that internalized homophobia was negatively correlated with psychological well-being and associated with depression. Internalized homophobia was also found to be related to less integration of sexual identity. There was no significant difference between the gay/homosexual and the heterosexual group in their psychological well-being and depression scores, and both groups emerged as high scorers on the measures of psychological well-being and depression-happiness (high scores on this bipolar instrument indicate happiness). Implications and limitations of the study are reviewed and discussed.     

Judaean Embassies and Cases before Roman Emperors, AD 44-66

In the two decades before the First Jewish war, litigants ordiplomats from the province of Judaea had recourse to Romanemperors on a number of occasions. In some cases the mattersat issue involved objections against actions of Roman prefectsof Judaea. Evidence about the outcomes of the hearings and diplomaticencounters shows that the emperors Claudius and Nero usuallygave decisions in favour of the Jewish side, especially whenthe Jewish party was the Jerusalem priesthood. It is arguedthat it was a consistent policy of these emperors to be fairand more than fair to the Jerusalem priests in these years—tothe point of ruling against their own procurators on a numberof occasions. It is suggested, in view of this, that when thecase of Paul of Tarsus came before Caesar in the early sixties,the decision probably went in favour of Paul's accusers.     

宗教身份与罗马人格法

宗教身份是指某宗教团体(派别)及其信徒在世俗社会中所处的地位。在基督教传入罗马前,各宗教间保持着和平共处的态势。其时,拥有某宗教身份不会影响人们的法律地位。但随着基督教的出现,这种情况改变了。帝政初期,他教信仰者因憎恶基督徒而对其迫害。因基督教身份,基督徒或被剥夺市民身份降为外邦人;或被剥夺自由身份降为奴隶。此时,宗教身份是人格变更的因素。而当基督教成为帝国国教时,信仰正统的基督教则成为完整人格的构成要素。凡信仰正统基督教则享有完整的权利能力;反之则具体权利能力受限,但不会导致身份的剥夺。