DOES PERCEPTION OUTSTRIP OUR CONCEPTS IN FINENESS OF GRAIN?

We seem perfectly able to perceive fine‐grained shades of colour even without possessing precise concepts for them. The same might be said of shapes. I argue that this is in fact not the case. A subject can perceive a colour or shape only if she possesses a concept of that type of colour or shape. I provide new justification for this thesis, and do not rely on demonstrative concepts such as THIS SHADE or THAT SHAPE, a move first suggested by John McDowell, but rejected by Christopher Peacocke and Richard Heck among others. 1     

IS PERCEPTION A PROPOSITIONAL ATTITUDE?

It is widely agreed that perceptual experience is a form of intentionality, i.e., that it has representational content. Many philosophers take this to mean that like belief, experience has propositional content, that it can be true or false. I accept that perceptual experience has intentionality; but I dispute the claim that it has propositional content. This claim does not follow from the fact that experience is intentional, nor does it follow from the fact that experiences are accurate or inaccurate. I end by considering the relationship between this question and the question of whether experience has non-conceptual content.     

VELOCITY PERCEPTION — CENTRALLY OR RETINALLY ORGANISED?

C ohen , R. L. Velocity perception—centrally or retinally organised? Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2, 45–48.—5 subjects were asked to estimate ( a ) the relative and (6) the absolute velocities of two spots moving in a simple harmonic motion, 180° out of phase under two experimental conditions: (1) both spots projected on to bothretinas, and (2) one spot projected on to one retina and the second on to the other. Theresults were precisely the same under both conditions. This was taken as indicating that(a) the organisation of velocity perception is central rather than retinal, and ( b ) the effect of interference caused by one spot when trying to estimate the velocity of the other (the signal) is not lessened when the interference is fed into the eye other than the one receiving the signal spot.     

REWARD AND PUNISHMENT: A DETERMINANT IN FIGURE-GROUND PERCEPTION?

In a repetition of D. N. Jackson's experiment (1954) only half of 32 subjects reported previously rewarded profiles more often than punished ones. Post-experimental interviews suggest that the effect may depend upon whether or not the subject grasps the purpose of the experiment. Another alternative to the original interpretation, based on the concept of 'autism.', is that rewarded profiles are reported more frequently because they are learned better than the punished profiles. A second experiment supports the assumption that the one profile of a reversible pair which is learned most completely is also the one reported most frequently in the post-training series. The appropriateness of the experimental design for the study of figure-ground perception is questioned.     

VALIDITY OF THE PEARSON‐JOHNSON TAXONOMY OF COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

Questions constitute an important component of reading instruction and several studies suggest that the Pearson‐Johnson taxonomy of comprehension questions can be applied in classroom situations. However, the validity of the taxonomy has not been directly investigated. The present study was conducted for this purpose and involved 82 fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students. Three research questions were investigated: (1) do mean scores for the taxonomy categories correspond to theoretical expectations regarding difficulty?; (2) do response patterns to questions correspond to taxonomy categories?; and (3) are the relationships among scores on the types of questions logical and to be expected? The results of the study generally conformed to theoretically derived expectations.     

DOES SLEEPTIGHT WORK? A BEHAVIORAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SLEEPTIGHT FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF INFANT COLIC

We evaluated the effectiveness of SleepTight in the management of infant colic. SleepTight is a device that vibrates the infant's crib to simulate the action of a car traveling at 55 mph. A multiple baseline design across 6 infants was used. Data were collected on infant crying, parental use of SleepTight, and parental satisfaction. The application of SleepTight was associated with reduction in crying in 4 of the 6 infants. These outcome data notwithstanding, consideration of reported nonrecording of severe episodes and mixed reports of satisfaction suggests that SleepTight may not be a viable means of managing infant colic.     

GEORG GRODDECK: “THE PINCH OF PEPPER” OF PSYCHOANALYSIS

The life and works of Georg Groddeck are reviewed and placed in historical context as a physician and a pioneer of psychoanalysis, psychosomatic medicine, and an epistolary style of writing. His Das Es concept stimulated Freud to construct his tripartite model of the mind. Groddeck, however, used Das Es to facilitate receptivity to unconscious communication with his patients. His “maternal turn” transformed his treatment approach from an authoritarian position to a dialectical process. Groddeck was a generative influence on the development of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Erich Fromm, and Karen Horney. He was also the mid-wife of the late-life burst of creativity of his friend and patient Sándor Ferenczi. Together, Groddeck and Ferenczi provided the impetus for a paradigm shift in psychoanalysis that emphasized the maternal transference, child-like creativity, and a dialogue of the unconscious that foreshadowed contemporary interest in intersubjectivity and field theory. They were progenitors of the relational turn and tradition in psychoanalysis. Growing interest in interpsychic communication and field theory is bringing about a convergence of theorizing among pluralistic psychoanalytic schools that date back to 1923 when Freud appropriated Groddeck’s Das Es and radically altered its meaning and use.     

HOW SHOULD THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION BE WRITTEN? SOME REFLECTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE DISCIPLINE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THERECEPTION OF OUR WORK

How should history of education be written? To put the question is far more easier than to provide a concrete answer. In contemporary research, there continue to be pedagogistic complaints about finding answers to present-day educational problems via history. In our view, such an ahistorical utilitarianism as well as the legitimizing and/or mythologizing belief in a particular pedagogical system, in which the history of this field is so rich since the institutionalization of the discipline at the end of the nineteenth century, should be avoided at all costs. But the danger of presentism lurks around the corner as a sine qua non condition in any form of historical research. As can be found out via the comments on our own work, much of the criticism goes back to old conceptions of the discipline, conceived as “historical pedagogy” rather than as history of education. Apparently, in the field of pedagogy people are still convinced that the history of education, even if it does not provide edifying examples and useful lessons, must in any case have a training value for professionals – which in the light of modern, advanced research is rather a difficult idea to defend.     

THE ‘VOLATILE’ MARXIAN CONCEPT OF THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT

The thesis of this paper is that even some of the most fundamental concepts of Marxism have been used and abused to fit their advocates' purposes. More specifically, the interpretation of the concept of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" has been subject to a dual development. First, the dictatorship of the proletariat has come to denote an increasingly violent regime. Second, the term has been used to refer to a rule exercised by an ever smaller segment of society. This paper seeks to analyze and elucidate this much disputed and frequently misunderstood Marxist concept. In the first part Marx's use of the term is examined. The second section explores how the same concept was explicated in the writings of some of the most important first generation Marxist thinkers and "practitioners" like Engels, Lenin, Kautsky, Bukharin, and Stalin. Following the summary of my findings I attempt to formulate some meaningful generalizations about the usage of the concept by Marxist thinkers.     

BEHAVIORISM: PART OF THE PROBLEM OR PART OF THE SOLUTION?1

The form frequently taken by behavior-modification programs is analyzed in terms of the parent science, Behaviorism. Whereas Behaviorism assumes that behavior is the result of contingencies, and that lasting behavior change involves changing the contingencies that give rise to and support the behavior, most behavior-modification programs merely arrange special contingencies in a special environment to eliminate the “problem” behavior. Even when the problem behavior is as widespread as alcoholism and crime, behavior modifiers focus on “fixing” the alcoholic and the criminal, not on changing the societal contingencies that prevail outside the therapeutic environment and continue to produce alcoholics and criminals. The contingencies that shape this method of dealing with behavioral problems are also analyzed, and this analysis leads to a criticism of the current social structure as a behavior control system. Although applied behaviorists have frequently focused on fixing individuals, the science of Behaviorism provides the means to analyze the structures, the system, and the forms of societal control that produce the “problems”.     

DO FALLIBILIST ACCOUNTS OF THE GROWTH OF KNOWLEDGE UNDERESTIMATE AND ENDANGER SCIENCE?

All fallibilist theories may appear to be defective, because they allegedly underestimate the security of at least some scientific knowledge and thereby leave science less defensible than it otherwise might be. When they call all scientific knowledge conjectural they may seem at first blush to underestimate the superiority of science vis a vis pseudo‐science. Fallibilists apparently fail to account for the fact that science turns theory into facts, because even “facts” are held only provisionally. This impression is false: the relatively secure establishment of facts can be accounted for with a fallibilist view. After theories have been honed through sharp criticism, there is often no reason to doubt some aspects of them. These aspects are what we regard to be factual knowledge, even though these facts are also provisionally accepted as such. We then explain the newly won factual knowledge with deeper theories, which often correct our factual knowledge in spite of its apparent security. Theories of justification add nothing useful to the fallibilists' observation that science finds the best theories because it has the highest standards of criticism. Fallibilist theories today give the best account and defence of science. We may abandon the quest for some kind of assurance that goes beyond the determination that some theory can answer all known objections to it and take up more interesting problems, such as how we can find new objections and how criticism may be improved and made institutionally secure. ¹ 1 I am grateful to Joseph Agassi and an anonymous referee of this journal for comments on an earlier draft of this essay.
     

ARE EVOLUTIONARY/COGNITIVE THEORIES OF RELIGION RELEVANT FOR PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION?

Biological theories of religious belief are sometimes understood to undermine the very beliefs they are describing, proposing an alternative explanation for the causes of belief different from that given by religious believers themselves. This article surveys three categories of biological theorizing derived from evolutionary biology, cognitive science of religion, and neuroscience. Although each field raises important issues and in some cases potential challenges to the legitimacy of religious belief, in most cases the significance of these theories for the holding of religious beliefs is not very great.     

SCENIC MEMORY OF THE SHOAH—“THE ADVENTURESOME LIFE OF ALFRED SILBERMANN”

This paper addresses the late psychosocial sequelae of extreme trauma and its impact on the Second Generation in Germany. The example of the short-term analysis of a Shoah survivor and his relationship to his son conducted in his home environment shows how psychic consequences of extreme traumatization and more particularly their unconscious transgenerational transmission to the Second Generation mainly take place as part of unconscious “scenes”. The concept of “scenic memory of the Shoah” goes beyond the classical type of transference.     

STUDENTS' APPLICATIONS OF SELF‐QUESTIONING STUDY TECHNIQUES: AN INVESTIGATION OF THEIR EFFICACY

This article describes the results of a study in which college developmental reading students were taught how to use study techniques which involved self‐questioning. Over a nine‐week period, subjects were trained in the application of SQ3R (Robinson, 1961), REAP (Eanet & Manzo, 1976), and self‐questioning (Andre & Anderson, 1978‐79) to content area prose materials. Quantitative results indicated that the SQ3R group significantly outperformed the REAP group on a posttest measure of comprehension. No other significant differences were found. In addition, a qualitative analysis was conducted to determine how well subjects processed information during the application of their specific study techniques. These findings indicated that: (1) structured study techniques may be more effective for aiding students' retention of content area prose materials; (2) students are more concerned with detail or factual information than “higher level” forms of information; and (3) instructors of college developmental reading students need to instruct their students as to how to generate questions at all levels of comprehension.     

ARE ANIMALS MORAL? A THEOLOGICAL APPRAISAL OF THE EVOLUTION OF VICE AND VIRTUE

I discuss controversial claims about the status of non‐human animals as moral beings in relation to philosophical claims to the contrary. I address questions about the ontology of animals rather than ethical approaches as to how humans need to treat other animals through notions of, for example, animal rights. I explore the evolutionary origins of behavior that can be considered vices or virtues and suggest that Thomas Aquinas is closer to Darwin's view on nonhuman animals than we might suppose. An appreciation of the complexity of the emotional lives of social animals and their cooperative behaviors in light of the work of animal ethologists such as Frans de Waal and Marc Bekoff suggests that social animals can be considered moral in their own terms. I discuss the charge of anthropomorphism, drawing on the work of archaeologist Steven Mithen, and consider arguments for the evolution of conscience in the work of anthropologist Christopher Boehm. Only the biological basis for the development of conscience and religion has evolved in nonhuman animals, and this should not be confused with sophisticated moral systems of analysis or particular religious beliefs found in the human community.     

“FROM THE UTTER DEPTH OF DEGRADATION TO THE APOGEE OF BLISS”: THE GENDERINGS OF DIASPORIC ZIONISM AND JEWISH HOLOCAUST EDUCATION

This article examines some of the memories of the Holocaust produced in Holocaust education in a selection of Jewish high schools in Melbourne and New York at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It is being suggested here that the narratives about the Holocaust being taught in these schools are in part shaped by a gendered Zionist outlook. This article takes up the question of why this is, and in doing so provides an explanation of these types of narratives. In particular, this article explores the ways that this pedagogy places the story of the creation of the sovereign Jewish State of Israel at the end of a unit of study on the Holocaust, thus linking these two “events” in an important way. This article also explores what it is that makes these narratives gendered, and what work such narratives, and collective memories, do in the formulation of particular notions of diasporic Zionist thinking.     

LOGICAL ANALYSES OF VIPASSANĀ MEDITATION

ABSTRACT

In this paper we propose logical analyses of Vipassanā Meditation as modus ponens or universal instantiation, as based upon identification, analysis, and interpretation of the meditation as a (spiritual) thought experiment (STE like e.g. huàtóus and kōans in Chan and Zen).*

The analyses consist in completing the unfinished enthymematic argument of the Sutta-nipāta by explication of hidden major. We speculate the thought experiment inference might be brought about by a faculty like mindfulness. The thought experiment analyses link the meditation to global cross-cultural theories and arguments in philosophy as Ibn Sīnā’s Flying Man and, notably, René Descartes’s Cogito. Last, we will give some indications how Vipassanā Meditation may be explained with help of western theories of consciousness.