Armstrong on classes as states of affairs

Book Information Culture and Enlightenment: Essays for Gyorgy Markus. Culture and Enlightenment: Essays for Gyorgy Markus John Grumley, Paul Crittenden, and Pauline Johnson, eds., Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2002, pp. vii + 339, £47.50 (cloth). Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. Pp. vii + 339. £47.50 (cloth:),     

From states of affairs to a necessary being

I develop new paths to the existence of a concrete necessary being. These paths assume a metaphysical framework in which there are abstract states of affairs that can obtain or fail to obtain. One path begins with the following causal principle: necessarily, any contingent concrete object possibly has a cause. I mark out steps from that principle to a more complex causal principle and from there to the existence of a concrete necessary being. I offer a couple alternative causal principles and paths, too. The paths marked out rely on relatively modest causal principles and avoid many obstacles that traditional cosmological arguments face.     

On the mereological structure of complex states of affairs

The aim of this paper is to elucidate the mereological structure of complex states of affairs without relying on the problematic notion of structural universals. For this task tools from graph theory, lattice theory, and the theory of relational systems are employed. Our starting point is the mereology of similarity structures. Since similarity structures are structured sets, their mereology can be considered as a generalization of the mereology of ordinary sets. In general, the mereological systems arising from similarity structures turn out to be not Boolean but Heyting systems. Employing Armstrong??s notion of thick particulars, similarity structures are shown to capture the mereological structure of complex ??chemical states of affairs?? such as ??being butane?? or ??being isobutane??; structural universals are not needed.     

States of affairs

States of affairs are considered as ontologically basic. Different from similar accounts, these states of affairs are introduced as simple occurrences or items of a certain kind. The ontological importance of these occurrences lies in their semantical function as exemplars for the introduction of the most basic linguistic devices. The ontological basis proposed is particularist. Universals are an aspect of our routine behaviour as we neglect the differences of particular properties of things. Abstract objects are produced in our routine, language-dependent operations if we leave aside the fact that we usually operate with some definite material. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The fixed-interval scallop in human affairs

"Fixed-interval scalloping" is used to describe certain everyday patterns of behavior in textbooks and other educational communications. This is a misleading use of the term. It implies that the behavior is accounted for by the schedule, when, in fact, many other variables are operating. This paper reviews eleven such variables and the research evidence on them. These variables provide a more adequate account of complex behavior and point up areas of limited knowledge requiring further research in both laboratory and applied settings. Extrapolating from basic research on human fixed-performance suggests that there are phenomena of mutual interest to both basic and applied behavior analysts.     

A letter on the present state of affairs

The paper re-evaluates Prior??s tenets about indeterminism and relativity from the point of view of the current state of the debate. We first discuss Prior??s claims about indeterministic tense logic and about relativity separately and confront them with new technical developments. Then we combine the two topics in a discussion of indeterministic approaches to space?Ctime logics. Finally we show why Prior would not have to ??dig his heels in?? when it comes to relativity: We point out a way of combining the existential import of the distinction between past, present, and future with a frame-relative notion of the present.     

当宗教成为政治和军事的工具时——简评圣殿骑士团的命运

“十字军东征”在世界历史上把宗教矛盾以战争的形式推到了顶端．实质是当时的欧洲基督教沦为政治和军事工具的产物。圣殿骑士团作为颇具传奇色彩的军事组织．则是基督教会嬗变后与封建贵族合伙发动侵略战争的一个载体。关于圣殿骑士团从“黑色星期五”开始被遽然毁灭的原因,表面看是缘于法国国王腓力四世对圣殿骑士团巨额财富的垂涎,实质是基督教会与世俗政权之间势力对比变化的结果。结合世界范围内的史实可见,政治和军事组织不可以依赖于宗教,宗教意义不可以沦为政治和军事的工具．这在今天依然有启示意义。     

Gender differences in self-evaluations of information about current affairs

This study examines how gender is related to self-evaluations of information to discuss current social and political issues. The sample is one of predominantly white (96%) college graduates. Using alumni samples, we look at how members of four classes that span 20 years evaluate their knowledge to hold conversations on a variety of public affairs issues ranging from the Strategic Defense Initiative to government funding of abortion. We find gender differences, with men perceiving themselves more knowledgeable in conversations and women less so. We raise the possibility that they are “doing gender.” The implications of these findings are explored.     

Criterion Validity is Maintained When Items are Evaluatively Neutralized: Evidence from a Full‐scale Five‐factor Model Inventory

The original version and an evaluatively neutralized version (with items rephrased to reduce popularity) of a personality inventory were compared. The results revealed (i) similar criterion validity across three different sets of self‐rated behaviours, (ii) stronger relations to the rated social desirability of criteria for the original version and (iii) less correlation between factors for the neutralized version. We take the results to indicate that evaluative neutralization is a viable technique for reducing social desirability in self‐ratings. Implications for test construction are discussed. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology