The challenges of choosing and explaining a phenomenon in epidemiological research on the “Hispanic Paradox”

According to public health data, the US Hispanic population is far healthier than would be expected for a population with low socioeconomic status. Ever since Kyriakos Markides and Jeannine Coreil highlighted this in a seminal 1986 article, public health researchers have sought to explain the so-called “Hispanic paradox.” Several candidate explanations have been offered over the years, but the debate goes on. This article offers a philosophical analysis that clarifies how two sets of obstacles make it particularly difficult to explain the Hispanic paradox. First, different research projects define the Hispanic paradox phenomenon in substantially different ways. Moreover, using Bas van Fraassen’s pragmatic theory of explanation and Sean Valles’s extension of it with the concept of “phenomenon choice,” it also becomes clear that there are also multiple ways of explaining each individual definition of the phenomenon. A second set of philosophical and methodological challenges arises during any attempt to study “Hispanic” phenomena, with one key challenge being that the “Hispanic” panethnic concept was intentionally made vague as it was developed and popularized during the 1960s–1970s. After comparing this case with similar cases in the philosophical literature, the article concludes with observations on what makes this problem unique, particularly its ethical features.     

Imagining the Truth. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”

The discussion highlights the significant role played by imagination in representing the horrors that resist representation. It is Dr. Tylim's position that imagination assists patient and analyst in overcoming the limitations of memory. Imagination is the gateway to truth. In working with survivors, the therapeutic encounter may become a stage where unspeakable experiences attain presence in their absence. The silence or the gaps are then the victim's testimony.     

From life state to ecological consciousness: on Wang Yangming’s “natural principles of order within the realm of liang zhi”

Wang Yangming argues that the life state of a virtuous person is “forming one body with Heaven, Earth and the myriad things.” For instance, in watching a child fall into a well, he cannot help feeling alarmed and commiserate; In observing the pitiful cries and frightened appearance of animals, he cannot help feeling “unable to bear” their suffering; In seeing plants destroyed or tiles shattered, he cannot help but feel pity and regret and so forth. At the same time, he also stresses that there is a natural order of values with the help of which a human being deals with the myriad things, namely the natural principles of order within the realm of liang zhi. From a practical perspective, Yangming integrated these two aspects into a spontaneously psychological self-consciousness and an intuition of judgment and choice. Under its direction and instruction, human beings cannot only generally care for the myriad things, but also make reasonable use of them. Therefore, the significant reference to “the natural principles of order within the realm of liang zhi” involves the harmony between nature and human beings from life state to ecological consciousness. __________ Translated from Tranjin Shehui Kexue 天津社会科学 (Tianjin Social Sciences), 2004 (6) by Wu Min, Proofread by Xu Xiangdong & Wu Fei     

“They Say That You Are a Danger But You Are Not”: Representations and Construction of the Moral Self in Narratives of “Dangerous Individuals” 1

This article is based on an analysis of narratives of 26 offenders with mental health problems living in the United Kingdom. It explores the impact of an ascribed dangerous status and the construction of the self as moral and responsible in response to this label with reference to the literature on denial, deviance disavowal and other “techniques of neutralization” and Goffman's presentation of self. Two dominant strands are identified in relation to the construction of moral self-hood: “Not my fault” and “Good at heart” narratives. “Techniques of neutralization” are widely drawn on, particularly denial of responsibility in the “Not my fault” narratives that seek to explain anti-social behavior with reference to external forces such as a hostile environment inhibiting their ability to control their lives. In contrast, “Good at heart” narratives draw on the essentially good and moral nature of the inner-self. Both are used as evidence of sharing and adhering to moral norms in order to present an acceptable and credible self.     

“Operationalism” in psychotherapy: A possible means of putting a sorry state of theory in better order?

It will be shown in this paper that the study of the actual conduct of psychotherapy, at least in its classical form with a patient speaking his or her mind in any way the patient desires and a therapist helping the patient pursue those thoughts and wishes and conflicts and hopes for better luck in real life than before, is more conducive to agreement among rather different therapists, to clearer reasoning over psychotherapeutic interventions, and to more promising theoretical articulations than anything available in the theoretical texts of psychotherapy.     

Which Horse do You Ride? Trauma from a Relational Perspective. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”

Discussing Dr. Robert Prince's clinical case example, the author presents a relational psychoanalytic perspective on working with the traumatized patient. She considers the presentation of his work with a Holocaust survivor from a relational perspective with particular attention to the dyadic interaction, the intersubjectivity and co-creations of patient and analyst, and finally, addresses the role of the “witness” in psychoanalytic work. The idea of the witness has particular currency in contemporary psychoanalytic thinking. The author briefly examines the dimensions of the “witness” from a relational point of view. Consideration is also given to the necessary distinction between adult onset and childhood onset trauma and the repercussions of each for the analytic couple.     

Discerning the spirit(s) in the natural world: Toward a typology of “spirit” in the religion and science conversation

Recent developments in Christian theological thinking on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (pneumatology) have raised questions about the relationship between “spirit” and science. Cursory review of the religion and science literature, however, yields a wide array of uses and understandings of the concept of spirit. Current attempts to assess the relationship of pneumatology to science require an inventory or basic classification scheme of the various notions of spirit that have been in circulation over the past generation. This essay presents a preliminary typology of such uses in order to enable scholars and researchers to chart courses for future research in this area.     

Individual differences in the vibrotactile perception of a “simple” pattern set

Discriminative capacities for vibrotactile spatiotemporal patterns were examined in 62 college students with three tasks: identification, masking, and discrimination of the letters “X” and “O” presented tactually on the Optacon, a reading machine for blind persons. Individual differences in performance and interrelations among scores within and across paradigms were explored. In identification, most persons quickly achieved consistently better than 90% performance, but others failed to identify the patterns above 80%, even after prolonged training. The same performance variance was found when the task was repeated by 23 Naval student pilots. Masking and discrimination measured susceptibility to interference when patterns followed one another closely in time. The resulting functions were typical, with poorest performance at short stimulus onset asynchronies. Again, a wide range of performance was seen. Individual performance, however, appeared to be consistent across tasks, suggesting that abilities in a variety of pattern-perception tasks might be predictable.     

Sustained Empathic Focus and the Creation of a “We Space” Revisited in the Light of Recent Findings in Neurobiology

This article is an attempt to expand our understanding of the curative process with an emphasis on the group therapy setting. It presents a self psychological approach that underlines the importance of a “sustained empathic focus” on each patient’s subjective experience and the creation of what we have referred to as shared “vulnerable moments” and a “we-space.” The relationship of our approach to recent findings in the field of neurobiology is then considered.     

Are the Votes of Ethics Committees in Germany for the Protection of Clinical Study Trial Subjects “Sovereign Acts?”

A sudden paradigm shift has resulted in governmental measures that greatly impact the scope in which the ethics committees in Germany can perform their task of providing expert opinions for clinical research. The so-called “revaluation” of the Medical Device Law Deutsches Medizinproduktegesetz—MPG) is, in our opinion, not based on sound political and professional judgment. In accordance with the changed regulations, ethics committees are now seen as being sub-organs of the state medical associations or the medical faculties and are therefore official authorities. It follows that the votes of ethics committees are then “sovereign acts” or authoritative measures! However, equality and justice speak against this misleading conclusion and its resulting consequence that an ethics committee’s vote is a sovereign act. This has, in turn, resulted in the public ethics committees obtaining their long-sought goal of having a state-sanctioned monopoly. The private ethics committees are not recognized as being authoritative bodies, nor are they to be seen as such in the future (i.e. such a status has been denied the Freiburg Ethics Commission International (FEKI) in Baden-Württemberg). This political mistake must be corrected, otherwise, conducting clinical research will become increasingly difficult.     

Examination of the “Theory of Guidance” in the View of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (a): An Exploration into the Nahj Al-Balaghah

This study examines the “Theory of Guidance” according to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (a). This theory is based on three divine covenants or fundamentals in guidance including the divine Prophet, the divine Book, and the divine human nature (fitrat). Research in this regard seems essential because this theory has not been previously considered or researched in the discipline of education. Research findings indicate that all three of the pedagogic fundamentals—namely the teacher, the student, and the subject matter—are essential elements in guidance. Education can be properly realized through the interaction of these constituents enabling attainment of a status worthy of humankind. It is important to note that the teacher, the student, and the subject matter each have their own place, and none can take the place of another. In this relationship, the teacher begins the educational process. It is the teacher who must understand the role of each of these elements and guide them wisely. In order to fulfill the process of education, the teacher must be prepared to receive guidance, understand the position and character of the student, and have a good command of the topic in a way that matches the nature and needs of the student.     

“You're all a bunch of feminists:” Categorization and the politics of terror in the Montreal Massacre

Following Sacks's model membership categorization analysis (MCA) of a suicidal person's conclusion 'I have no one to turn to,' the paper examines in MCA terms a political actor's twin conclusions that murder-suicide is a rational course of action. The case in question is the killer's reasoning in the Montreal Massacre as revealed in his reported announcement at the scene (notably 'You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists') and recovered suicide letter (for example, 'For why persevere to exist if it is only to please the government').     

Meanings of “the existential” in a Secular Country: A Survey Study

“The existential” is a concept that many people use albeit associated with different meanings. In order to increase research-based insight into the meaning of “the existential,” we conducted a questionnaire study in Denmark in 2018 in which we asked 1.106 Danes of various age, gender, educational and geographical background about personal associations linked to “the existential.” Factor analysis of the answers resulted in three different groups of meaning: (1) essential meanings of life, (2) spirituality/religiosity and (3) existential thinking. The findings show that “the existential” serves well as an overarching construct potentially including secular, spiritual and religious meaning domains, at least within the European context.

     

On the Non-Existence of Optimal Solutions and the Occurrence of “Degeneracy” in the CANDECOMP/PARAFAC Model

The CANDECOMP/PARAFAC (CP) model decomposes a three-way array into a prespecified number of R factors and a residual array by minimizing the sum of squares of the latter. It is well known that an optimal solution for CP need not exist. We show that if an optimal CP solution does not exist, then any sequence of CP factors monotonically decreasing the CP criterion value to its infimum will exhibit the features of a so-called “degeneracy”. That is, the parameter matrices become nearly rank deficient and the Euclidean norm of some factors tends to infinity. We also show that the CP criterion function does attain its infimum if one of the parameter matrices is constrained to be column-wise orthonormal.