The State of Ecological Psychology

We report on two experiments that investigated the role of facial motion in the recognition of degraded famous face images. The results of these experiments suggest that seeing a face move is advantageous for the correct recognition of identity. This effect is not solely due to the extra static-based information contained in a moving sequence but is also due to additional dynamic information available from a moving face. Furthermore, famous faces were recognized more accurately when the original dynamic characteristics of the motion were maintained (Experiment 1), compared to when either the tempo or the direction of motion were altered (Experiment 2). It is suggested that there may be general benefit for viewing naturally moving faces, not specific benefit to any particular face identity. Alternatively, individual faces may have associated characteristic motion signatures.     

The Philosophy of State Compensation

Notwithstanding that there is now widespread interest in the rights of victims, little has been written about the theoretical justification of state compensation. Here we offer an initial exploration of the field in the hope that others might venture further and examine the points at which issues of compensation connect with other general and specific themes in social and political philosophy. For example, there has been much discussion about communitarian conceptions of civil society but the practical implications of such views, other than those relating to multiculturalism, have been largely ignored. The application of theory to social policy needs to take account of existing laws and institutions and these vary from one society and jurisdiction to another. In what follows we are principally concerned with the situation obtaining in the United Kingdom but the underlying issues are general ones [1].     

The State, Marriage and Divorce

ABSTRACT This essay advances several interrelated arguments concerning the proper role of the state with regard to marriage and divorce but my main contention is that 'pure'no-fault divorce laws are unjust—or, at least, they are unjust if marriage involves a genuinely contractual element, and there seems to be very little doubt that it does. Locke, Kant and Hegel are three eminent thinkers who are alike in viewing marriage as a contract (though in the case of Hegel, it is a 'contract to transcend the standpoint of contract') and in the first two sections of the essay I consider their views on the role of contract in marriage. Whilst holding (with Hegel) that marriage is more than a contract, I also hold (with Kant) that it is not less than a contract. In section three I consider the implications of this 'not less than', the most important one being that 'pure'no-fault divorce laws are unjust. I shall contend that whilst the irretrievable breakdown of marriage may be regarded as a suitable ground for divorce, it simply cannot, and certainly ought not to, be regarded as a justificatory basis for the laying aside of rights acquired by individuals as a result of their having entered into a marital contract. However minimal one might wish the role of the state to be, or however averse one might be from allowing the state any role at all in purely personal and confidential relationships, yet to allow the expression 'the irretrievable breakdown of marriage'to be employed as a olanket to cover over the infringement of personal, contractually engendered and civilly recognised rights, is not to exercise commendable restraint but is, rather, to condone what is simply an abnegation by the state of its basic responsibility to ensure that justice prevails.     

Inside Out: The State of the Analyst and the State of the Patient

This paper presents my work with a man before and after my undergoing an emergency, life-threatening surgical episode, and subsequent experience of living with a temporary colostomy, that shifted me to a more ungrounded, bodily aware, vulnerable, nonlinear, spontaneous and risk-taking, and affectively intensified “right brain” state. My story represents one instance of how the contingent nature of the analyst's life and existential exposure, and the various chancy life circumstances governing the analyst's self-state, may constitute an impingement on clinical process with potential for inadvertent positive or negative impact on the therapeutic relationship and work. Much has been written about the causes and consequences of shifts in the analyst's self-state induced within the relational dynamics of the transference-countertransference matrix. Here I specifically consider that side of the intersubjective therapeutic equation generated by the effects of the analyst's own state on the patient and the dyad's interactive process.     

The Right to Self-Defense Against the State

Philosophia - The Second Amendment is accepted as protecting a right, but it is commonly accepted that the right is not unrestricted. I will explore the most commonly suggested restrictions...     

The State School as a Social System

Present research attempted to demonstrate the effect of response delay and the presence or absence of the experimenter on the performance of nonreinforced imitative behaviors in retarded children. A multiple baseline design, counterbalanced for conditions, was used. The results indicated that the degree of control exercised by the experimenter's presence or absence was partially determined by the response delay. Other variables that may have affected the imitative performance were (a) other nonimitative behaivors displayed by the subject(s); (b) additional stimuli generated by the experimenter; and (c) the subject's pre-experimental history with the experimenter.     

The Church in the State We're In

The state (more specifically, the British state) is in a crisis it seemingly cannot recognize. But the issue is not one of "Church and State" or even modern "religion". The issue is the Church's fidelity to its vocation to narrate, announce, and dramatize the identity of humankind as communion in God. Newman's refraction of Christ's threefold office provides a framework for the Church's identity and vocation. The Church is a school of priestly forgiveness, offering resistance to nationalism, and prophetic thought against the anti-intellectualism of the merely devout as well as the patronizing ignorance of the irreligious.     

Group Dynamics In The State Of Nature

One common interpretation of the Hobbesian state of nature views itas a social dilemma, a natural extension of the well-knownprisoner's dilemma to a group context. Kavka (1986)challenges this interpretation, suggesting that the appropriate wayto view the state of nature is as a quasi social dilemma. Iargue that Hobbes's remarks on the rationality of keeping covenantsin the state of nature indicate that the quasi social dilemma doesnot accurately represent the state of nature. One possiblesolution, I suggest, views the state of nature as a social dilemmabetween groups rather than individuals. Although thiscleanly represents the strategic problem faced in the state ofnature, it also means we should take intergroup dynamics intoaccount when putting forth a solution. I argue that Hobbes'ssolution of commonwealth by institution – the favored solution forHobbesian social contract theories – will not work in the state ofnature viewed this way.     

The Samaritan State and Social Welfare Provision

Christopher Wellman and some allied scholars argue that a ‘samaritan theory’ can justify state coercion. They also suppose that states may provide robust, social egalitarian welfare provisions for a variety of reasons that would arise within samaritan states. However, the most promising reasons—samaritanism itself, natural socialism, relational equality, and anti-crime paternalism—cannot support robust provision without discarding the strong presumption favoring individual liberty (including both personal rights and private property rights) which must motivate the samaritan theory. Consequently, a samaritan state cannot be a robust social welfare state.     

The structure of the State Hope Scale

The present research aimed to examine the factorial structure of the State Hope Scale (SHS). In Study 1, using confirmatory factorial analyses, two factorial structures were contrasted: a single-factor mode (representing a general hope construct) and a second-order factor model (with general hope characterized by agency and pathways). Results revealed that the two-factor model was more likely to be replicated. Furthermore, invariance analyses revealed that the two-factor structure applied equally across age groups and gender. In Study 2, the factorial structure of the SHS was evaluated again. Once more, results confirmed the superiority of the two-factor model. In addition, hope was positively linked to mental health.     

审美境界与道德境界

审美境界和道德境界分属美学和伦理学两个学科领域,但又都是人生的正面价值体现,也是人生的一种理想状态。二者之间不应混淆,却又有着内在的相通之处。审美境界不是纯然客观的形态,而是主体在审美对象召唤下产生的整体性心灵状态,其中包含着道德情感,古人称之为“胸襟”。人的审美活动之所之能臻于“境界”,恰恰是由于有道德价值的介入,否则无法达到境界;道德境界体现了最高的道德价值,以“至善”为其核心价值,儒家的“仁”或“诚”等都是达到了至高的道德境界。道德境界不是外在的约束而致,而是以内心的自觉来践行来达到,其中包含着精神的幸福感和悦畅感,同时,也有审美的因素在其中。     

国、国家与人权

一个国家是否采用法治或社会福利制度,取决于其国家目的是否以人权的伦理原则和正义理念安排社会关系。作者反对将人权、民主与自由市场混淆在一起,认为民主只是手段,一味推广自由市场是对自由概念的误解,会导致发达和发展中国家之间的陷阱,并姑息文化原教旨主义,应从人权演绎出国家宪法以及法律规范。作者区分了作为基本权利的人权与其他权利,尽管保障两者的方式不同,但平等原则至关重要。