Abandoning the Buck Passing Analysis of Final Value

In this paper it is argued that the buck-passing analysis (BPA) of final value is not a plausible analysis of value and should be abandoned. While considering the influential wrong kind of reason problem and other more recent technical objections, this paper contends that there are broader reasons for giving up on buck-passing. It is argued that the BPA, even if it can respond to the various technical objections, is not an attractive analysis of final value. It is not attractive for two reasons: the first being that the BPA lacks the features typical of successful conceptual analyses and the second being that it is unable to deliver on the advantages that its proponents claim for it. While not offering a knock-down technical refutation of the BPA, this paper aims to show that there is little reason to think that the BPA is correct, and that it should therefore be given up as an analysis of final value.

Passing behavior on two-lane highways

Two-lane highways make up a substantial proportion of the road network in most of the world. Passing is among the most significant driving behaviors on two-lane highways. It substantially impacts the highway performance. Despite the importance of the problem, few studies attempted to model passing behavior. In this research, a model that attempts to capture both drivers’ desire to pass and their gap acceptance decisions to complete a desired passing maneuver is developed and estimated using data on passing maneuvers collected with a driving simulator. Sixteen different scenarios were used in the experiment in order to capture the impact of factors related to the various vehicles involved, the road geometry and the driver characteristics in the model.A passing behavior model is developed that includes choices in two levels: the desire to pass and the decision whether or not to accept an available passing gap. The probability to complete a passing maneuver is modeled as the product of the probabilities of a positive decision on both these choices. The estimation results show that modeling the drivers’ desire to pass the vehicle in front has a statistically significant contribution in explaining their passing behavior. The two sub-models incorporate variables that capture the impact of the attributes of the specific passing gap that the driver evaluates and the relevant vehicles, the geometric characteristics of the road section and the driver characteristics and account for unobserved heterogeneity in the driver population.     

Sexual Discretion: Black Masculinity and the Politics of Passing

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between religious orientation and attitudes towards two contentious issues about human sexuality in the Church of England, by studying the broad range of people found attending an Anglican cathedral carol service. A sample of 381 individuals who attended a carol service at Worcester cathedral in December 2009 thoroughly completed the New Indices of Religious Orientation (NIRO). The scales were found to be reliable for the sample. The same participants responded to two statements relating to their attitudes towards gay marriage and the appointment of homosexual men as bishops. Both men and older people are found to report higher levels of negative attitudes towards both issues. Strong positive correlations are found between intrinsic religious orientation and negative attitudes towards gay marriage and gay bishops; these remain after controlling for age and sex. After further controlling for intrinsic and extrinsic orientation, it is found that quest orientation is positively associated with favourable views towards both issues. Areas for further research are identified.     

Escaping to the Angels: A Note on the Passing of the Manic Defence

This essay examines how some psychologically adroit individuals use creativity as a manic defence against the affects that they cannot bear to experience directly. Conceived within the perspectives of Jungian psychoanalysis, manic creativity is shown to effect a defence against the subjective distress of personal complexes by means of an identification with the archetypal cores of the complexes. This defensive use of creativity, however, may ultimately play a decisive role in healing. Indeed, when considered from a prospective or teleological point of view, manic creativity, for all its insensitivity to the suffering that has inspired it, can also be understood as gradually creating a container in which affects formerly defended against may be received and suffered, felt and grieved. It is in this way that manic creativity, though clearly a defence (and at times a very costly one), participates in the reparative initiative of the self.     

A comparison of sniff bottle staircase and olfactometer-based threshold tests

Olfactometers have been gaining popularity as research tools, but they have yet to replace established testing procedures in a variety of laboratory and clinical settings, including absolute threshold tests. In this research, we designed and operated a simple olfactometer with which to assess threshold. To do this, we used a method-of-adjustment test that was compared to the three-alternative forced choice ascending sniff bottle staircase method, which is currently a standard threshold test procedure. We found that the olfactometer threshold test correlated highly with the staircase method, and that it possessed suitable test–retest reliability. The advantages of the olfactometer threshold test include faster test time and reduced cleaning and reassembly demands. Future use of the olfactometer in olfactory identification and/or detection thresholds amongst odors is also outlined.     

对历史的理解:寻求流逝时间中的绝对

人类历史经历各时代而被理解———被历史学家们、神学家们、哲学家们和普通凡人们理解———的方式本身 ,是一个历史研究的论题。笔者并无过高的意图 ,只是试图分析这种对历史的理解的一些显著的范例。本文的探讨将用“暂时”和“绝对”的观念来阐明 ,因为它们被历史编纂学家们与历史哲学家们以种种不同方式归属于历史现象。从表面看来 ,和自然科学相对比 ,历史学似乎完全属于暂时态的辖域。由于自然科学试图在确断、可定量的法则之网中把握现象之流 ,并专门致力于系统支配自然的绝对的法则 ,这种研究并无可应用于历史事件之处。在历史学中…     

爱国爱教 知恩报恩——纪念赵朴老逝世十周年

<正>过去由于工作的因缘,时常有机会见到赵朴老,当面聆听教诲。赵朴老的样子是那样的慈祥,在我心目中就是活菩萨。赵朴老弥留之际,我一直陪伴在他身边,这是刻骨铭心的记忆。转瞬间,赵朴老离开我们已经十年了。日月轮转,世事变迁,但对于赵朴老,我觉得他老人家音容宛在,德音未远。捧读他的文章,