The principle of recombination and the principle of distinctness: A puzzle for Armstrong's theory of modality

Book Information Agency and Responsibility: A Common-Sense Moral Psychology. Agency and Responsibility: A Common-Sense Moral Psychology Jeanette Kennett New York Oxford University Press 2001 viii + 229 Hardback US$45 By Jeanette Kennett. Oxford University Press. New York. Pp. viii + 229. Hardback:US$45,     

More precisely defining and measuring the order-irrelevance principle

R. Gelman and C. Gallistel (1978, Young Children's Understanding of Number, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press) use two definitions of the order-irrelevance principle interchangeably: (1) count tags do not have to be assigned in a fixed order and (2) the order in which elements of a set are enumerated does not affect the cardinal designation of the set. A study involving 107 kindergarten and first grade children indicates that the two are actually distinct concepts. Apparently, a willingness to arbitrarily assign tags is a developmentally less sophisticated ability than--and hence does not necessarily imply--an ability to predict that differently ordered counts produce the same cardinal designation. Thus it appears that evidence of the second ability is necessary to infer a full understanding of the order-irrelevance principle. The first ability alone implies what might better be termed an "order-indifferent tagging scheme." Suggestions for measuring and further researching the order-irrelevance principle are discussed.     

Further developments in the assimilation theory of geometric illusions: The adjacency,principle

It is argued that the parallel lines illusion is the basic model for many visual distortions that are produced by geometric patterns. An experiment assessed the effect of moving the contextual contour away from the standard contour in two directions—away from the center of the attentive field and toward the center of the attentive field. The degree of illusion declined as the contextual magnitude moved away from the standard magnitude, but the rate of decline was more rapid when the contextual stimulus was moved away from the center of the attentive field. The results necessitated the addition of a new postulate for the assimilation theory of geometric illusions. This postulate states that the effectiveness of a contextual magnitude decreases as the distance between the contextual magnitude and the standard magnitude increases. The postulate was translated into a mathematical form in a manner analogous to the way in which the “attentive field” postulate was quantified. The new formula was successful in predicting both the pattern of means and the pattern of variances found in this study. The formula was cross-validated with data from the Ponzo and reversed Mueller-Lyer illusions.     

A proposed typology of personality disorders based on Andras Angyal's system principles: a preliminary note

A classification of personality disorders is proposed based on a typology derived from Andras Angyal's theory of personality, which has two trends (autonomy and homonomy) and two patterns (vicarious living and noncommitment).     

The harm principle and a theory of natural rights

The Journal of Value Inquiry -     

The context principle and Wittgenstein's criticism of Russell's theory of types

In this paper, I try to uncover the role played by Wittgenstein's context principle in his criticism of Russell's theory of types. There is evidence in Wittgenstein's writings that a syntactical version of the context principle in connection with the theory of symbolism functions as a good reason for his dispensing with the theory of types.I would like to thank Michael Wrigley (UNICAMP) and Gottfried Gabriel (Universität Konstanz) as well as an anonymous journal referee for their valuable comments on a previous version of this paper.     

Aspects of psychoanalytic theory: drives, defense, and the pleasure-unpleasure principle

Freud explained certain fundamentally important aspects of mental motivation by assuming the existence of two drives, one libidinal and the other aggressive/destructive. Elements of this theory that seem invalid are identified and discussed, and revisions are proposed that appear to have more validity and greater clinical usefulness.     

The holistic presumptions of the indispensability argument

The indispensability argument is sometimes seen as weakened by its reliance on a controversial premise of confirmation holism. Recently, some philosophers working on the indispensability argument have developed versions of the argument which, they claim, do not rely on holism. Some of these writers even claim to have strengthened the argument by eliminating the controversial premise. I argue that the apparent removal of holism leaves a lacuna in the argument. Without the holistic premise, or some other premise which facilitates the transfer of evidence to mathematical portions of scientific theories, the argument is implausible.     

The influence of culture: holistic versus analytic perception

There is recent evidence that perceptual processes are influenced by culture. Westerners tend to engage in context-independent and analytic perceptual processes by focusing on a salient object independently of its context, whereas Asians tend to engage in context-dependent and holistic perceptual processes by attending to the relationship between the object and the context in which the object is located. Recent research has explored mechanisms underlying such cultural differences, which indicate that participating in different social practices leads to both chronic as well as temporary shifts in perception. These findings establish a dynamic relationship between the cultural context and perceptual processes. We suggest that perception can no longer be regarded as consisting of processes that are universal across all people at all times.     

Beyond reductionism: The emerging holistic paradigm in education

Abstract

Modern educational theory and practice are grounded in an objectivistic, reductionistic world view, particularly a “natural science” conception of human development. Holistic education is a radically non‐reductionistic approach based upon a person‐centered, ecological, global and spiritual world view. As such, the holistic paradigm is an alternative not only to the scientistic reductionism of the modern age, but also to the intellectual reductionism of postmodern thought. Holistic education is a humanistic as well as spiritual critique of the dominant culture.     

The case of Pedro: a holistic life planning approach

Traditional theories of career development are inadequate due to the complexity of today's work world. As changes occur in society and the world‐of‐work employment counselors need new ways of dealing with their clients. This article introduces employment counselors to the “leisure theory of career development” (J. J. Liptak, 2000) as an alternative to traditional trait‐and‐factor counseling approaches.