Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk (Eds.), 50 Voices of Disbelief. Why We Are Atheists

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice -     

50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists. Edited by Russell Blackford and Udo Schüklenk

This article presents a narrative analysis of 18 Muslims' prayer experiences. The results of the study showed that experiences of answered prayers are structured by collective narratives and refer to other texts in the religious tradition. The narratives have important social and individualizing functions that help them remain Muslims in modern society. The informants reported that they had experienced situations when they had prayed but did not receive what they requested. They did not, however, mediate any well-formed narratives about these experiences, primarily because of a lack of collective narratives structuring the event in this way. The analysis showed, furthermore, that the informants used four strategies in order to transform the experience of unanswered prayers into answered prayers. The analysis concludes that prayer experiences are fluid phenomena "located" in the interplay between individual, text, and context.     

What Is and Why Do We Need Philosophy of Physics?

Philosophy of physics is a small but thriving research field situated at the intersection between the natural sciences and the humanities. However, what exactly distinguishes philosophy of physics from physics is rarely made explicit in much depth. We provide a detailed analysis in the form of eleven theses, delineating both the nature of the questions asked in philosophy of physics and the methodology with which they are addressed.     

Present Contemporaries and Absent Consociates: Rethinking Schütz's “We Relation” Beyond Copresence

This article analyzes the structure of the “we relation” drawing on Alfred Schütz's theoretical framework. It argues for a flexibilization of the initial framework in order to capture not only the tension, but also the variations in the relation between the lived experience of the other in lived duration and the reflection upon the other, through which meaning is constructed. In order to do so, it revisits Schütz’s claims about immersion into togetherness as part of the experience of copresence and it bridges them with the apparently opposite Sartrian view of the other as either objectifying or being objectified. This leads to certain shifts in the distinction between consociates and contemporaries and sheds light upon the ways in which the process of constructing the other as meaningful is not an added layer, but a co-constitutive element in the vivid experience of copresence and of absence.     

Do We Know How Happy We Are? On Some Limits of Affective Introspection and Recall

This paper aims to show that widespread, serious errors in the self‐assessment of affect are a genuine possibility—one worth taking very seriously. For we are subject to a variety of errors concerning the character of our present and past affective states, or “affective ignorance.” For example, some affects, particularly moods, can greatly affect the quality of our experience even when we are unable to discern them. I note several implications of these arguments. First, we may be less competent pursuers of happiness than is commonly believed, raising difficult questions for political thought. Second, some of the errors discussed ramify for our understanding of consciousness, including Ned Block's controversial distinction between access consciousness and phenomenal consciousness. Third, empirical results based on self‐reports about affect may be systematically misleading in certain ways.     

Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media: Where Are We Now and Where Should We Go?

This paper provides a commentary regarding the quantitative content analyses of gender roles in media published in the two special issues of Sex Roles (Rudy et al. 2010a, 2011). A few themes and some overarching lessons emerge from the wide variety of data presented. First, it is clear that women are under-represented across a range of media and settings. Second, when women are portrayed, it is often in a circumscribed and negative manner. Women are often sexualized??typically by showing them in scanty or provocative clothing. Women are also subordinated in various ways, as indicated by their facial expressions, body positions, and other factors. Finally, they are shown in traditionally feminine (i.e., stereotyped) roles. Women are portrayed as nonprofessionals, homemakers, wives or parents, and sexual gatekeepers. Although the studies generally support these conclusions, some interesting moderating factors are identified, such as race. It is suggested that next steps involve the development of theory and a body of empirical evidence regarding the effects of exposure to under-representation of women. Data concerning the effects of exposure to sexualized or stereotypical portrayals on young audiences is also lacking. Finally, content analyses of new media, including those created and distributed by users, are recommended as a next step. It is concluded that, while increasing the representation of women in media may be valuable, it is also critical that the manner in which they are portrayed be simultaneously considered to avoid increasing negative or stereotypical depictions that may be particularly harmful to viewers.     

Supported Supervisors Are More Supportive,but Why? A Multilevel Study of Mechanisms and Outcomes

This study examines organizational support theory as it extends to supervisor support by (1) testing two explanations for the relationship between supervisors’ perceived organizational support and their supportive supervision and (2) examining perceived supervisor support in relation to subordinate performance and commitment. Multisource survey data from a correctional facility, with a matched sample of 51 supervisors and 283 subordinates, were collected. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used for analysis. Supervisors were more supportive when they felt supportive treatment was preferred by the organization and less supportive when they felt obligated to help the organization. Perceived supervisor support was associated with subordinate performance and commitment at the subordinate level (i.e., among employees reporting to the same supervisor) but not at the supervisor level (i.e., across supervisor-follower groups). Employees who feel supported by their supervisor perform better and are more committed to their employer. To encourage supervisor support, organizations should both model support to supervisors and communicate the expectation for supervisor support. Supervisors who feel obligated to reciprocate to a supportive organization may be less inclined to support their subordinates. This study examines the prevailing, yet untested, mechanism (felt obligation) used to explain the relationship between supervisor’s perceptions of organizational support and their supportive supervision, as well as an alternative explanation based on social information processing. The study provides a nuanced multilevel analysis of perceived supervisor support as related to subordinate outcomes and extends previous models by including subordinate withdrawal and commitment.     

Why We Should Avoid the use of the Term “Post-Abortion Syndrome”: Commentary on Boulind and Edwards (2008)

Boulind and Edwards (2008) present a case study of Grace, a women suffering, in their words, from post-abortion syndrome (PAS). In this commentary I argue that while Boulind and Edwards' (2008) report is useful in terms of documenting the therapeutic processes engaged in, they would have been better served in not hanging the distress experienced by Grace on the diagnostic category of post-abortion syndrome. Reasons for this are that: PAS is not a recognised category of diagnosis, despite having been initially proposed in 1981; applying a PTSD framework to abortion is questionable; PAS focuses attention on the abortion itself in isolation from the fact that abortion occurs in the context of severely problematic pregnancies and other important socio-cultural stressors; PAS, in the very manner in which it is formulated, invokes to a very complex politics of the foetus. Boulind and Edwards (2008) are careful in their documentation of the complexities of the case, and thus their use of PAS is unfortunate.     

A Review of “CHANGE: Principles of Problem Formulation and Problem Resolution (Rev. ed.),” by Paul Watzlawick,John H. Weakland,and Richard Fisch

Abstract

Enrichment: Structured Intervention with Couples, Families and Groups, Luciano L'Abate, Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1977, $9.95, 374 pages

Daddy's Girl, Mama's Boy, J. Rue and L. Shanahan, New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1978, $8.95, 250 pages

Problem-Solving Therapy, Jay Haley, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 1976, $13.95, 275 pages

Theropy for Couples: A Clinician's Guide for Effective Treotment Billie S. Ables in collaboration with Jeffrey M. Brandsma San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 1977, $13.95, 364 pages     

The Long Good-Bye: Why B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior is Alive and Well on the 50Th Anniversary of Its Publication

The Psychological Record - The year 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of B. F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior, a book that by Skinner’s own account was his most important....