CONTEXTUALISM AND SCEPTICISM: EVEN-HANDEDNESS, FACTIVITY AND SURREPTITIOUSLY RAISING STANDARDS

The central contentions of this paper are two: first, that contextualism about knowledge cannot fulfil the eirenic promise which, for those who are drawn to it, constitutes, I believe, its main attraction; secondly, that the basic diagnosis of epistemological scepticism as somehow entrapping us, by diverting attention from a surreptitious shift to a special rarefied intellectual context, rests on inattention to the details of the principal sceptical paradoxes. These contentions are consistent with knowledge-contextualism, of some stripe or other, being true. What follows will not bear directly on that.     

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: The Truth Behind the Allegations

In response to several pejorative statements about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in a recent issue of Psychotherapy (Silverman, 1999), a point by point counter argument to these criticisms are presented. Among other contentions, Silverman (1999) disparaged empirically validated methods as being simplistic and scientifically impoverished. The validity of these statements are challenged and empirical evidence is presented to support each counter argument. The efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for a broad range of disturbances and presenting problems is presented. The future of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other empirically validated protocols are discussed, as well as recommendations for their use.     

Reply to Krellenstein on Parallel Computation

I recently argued that the position in the philosophy of mind called functionalism is undermined by the importance of recent work on parallel computation (Thagard, 1986). In reply, Krellenstein (1987) contends that parallelism does not have the philosophical significance I claimed for it. Although his contentions are plausible if one focuses on what is in principle computationally possible, they fail if one looks at real problems.     

On Two Main Themes in Gutting's What Philosophers Know

This paper addresses each of two of Gutting's three main contentions: that like anyone else, philosophers are entitled to begin with what they find obvious and that philosophy has produced a distinctive body of knowledge. I emphatically agree with the first contention and expand on it, defending a stronger claim. The second contention I dispute, in spirit if not in letter, on each of several grounds.     

What Is and Can Be Attributed to the Therapeutic Relationship?

This paper reviews findings from two studies that support the contentions of the Generic Model of Psychotherapy that therapeutic outcome must be viewed as arising from a complex interaction of common and specific factors. Patient, therapy, and relationship factors are shown to selectively add to the variance predicted in psychotherapy outcome studies. Moreover, an inspection of procedures that are common to two different therapies, and those that are unique to these approaches reveal that both contribute to outcome and do so in ways that suggest the presence of both synergistic and inhibiting effects.     

The role of the symptom in psychopathological states

Abstract.— Four approaches to the role of symptoms in psychopathological states are discussed. These are: Prepsychoanalytic psychiatry, psychoanalysis, family communication theory, and the view that symptoms as a sign of mental illness do not exist. The latter comprises labelling theory and social learning theory. Particular interest is attached to the contentions of symptom substitution and symptomatic treatment. Both are rejected as myths. A theory of action is briefly outlined, and on the basis of this, an alternative interpretationof phenomena ordinarily conceptualized as mental pathology is suggested. The concepts of "psychopathology" and "symptoms" are redefined in accordance with present knowledge, and the importance of formulating human action in an ethical frame of reference is pointed out.     

HAUERWAS'S WITH THE GRAIN OF THE UNIVERSE1 AND THE BARTHIAN OUTLOOK: A Few Observations

This article has two main divisions, the first consisting in parts 1–3, the second in parts 4–8. The purpose of the first division is to assess Hauerwas's contentions regarding what he takes to be serious debilities in modern theological culture. The objects of Hauerwas's criticism are: (1) natural theology; (2) reason as it is represented in the structure of the modern university and in the “Enlightenment Project”; and (3) liberal Protestantism—the latter particularly as it turns up, by his account, in Reinhold Niebuhr's theology. The article will offer a defense of natural theology and an alternative approach to Niebuhr's theology while showing how Hauerwas's contentions concerning these two matters are mistaken. Parts 4–8 are theological studies. These studies concentrate on selected though main aspects of Hauerwas's outlook. Part 4 concerns a problematic implication of the notion, mainly from Barth, of divinity's humanity; Part 5 a note of difficulty from William James about the idea of the theistic God and its pertinence to the Barthian or Hauerwasian God; Part 6 the relation between belief and witness; Part 7 theology's discourse and analogy; Part 8 the Barthian‐Hauerwasian theology as a metaphysics. Part 1, concerning natural theology, stands over both divisions. These observations are not in the main intended as textual studies, though in certain passages the analysis is closely attentive to Hauerwas's text. Also, the paper does not offer the sort of account that would come from a historian, intellectual biographer, or social or cultural analyst or critic. Its focus is philosophical‐theological criticism.     

The normativity of meaning and the hard problem of intentionality

This note addresses two of Gibbard's central contentions in Meaning and Normativity: first, that the concept of meaning is normative, and second, that an expressivist account of semantic concepts and statements can shed light on the hard problem of intentionality, the problem of explaining intentionality in naturalistic terms.     

Increased prevalence of sensing types in men with cluster headaches

To ascertain whether the percentage of men who suffer with cluster headaches and are classified as sensing types according to Jung's theory of psychological types was comparable to the percentage (74%) of Sensing types that was found by Gallagher, et al. among women who experience migraine headaches, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was administered to 25 male cluster-headache patients. There were 19 (76%) male Sensing types, and this was comparable to the percentage of Sensing types for migrainous women. The results are discussed as supporting previous contentions that Sensing types may be prone to developing psychosomatic symptoms related to stress.     

Seven years of the Journal: a review

This article reviews the contents of volumes 41 to 47 (1962 through 1969) of the Personnel and Guidance Journal, focusing on its composition, its authors, and several aspects of its articles such as methodology, setting, and contents. Relative emphases and trends are also identified and discussed.     

Orthodox Influences on Methodism

This article describes the influence of the Orthodox tradition on Methodism in the course of the development of the ecumenical movement. It relates the proposals made in the 1990s for an international dialogue between the traditions, proposals which have yet to be acted on. The article also describes a series of resonances between the two traditions that exist from earlier parallel developments, as well as emphases that have occurred independently but that can now be recognized as establishing commonalities that could be fruitful in later dialogue. Mention is made of commonality in the theological use of hymnody (Charles Wesley and St Symeon in particular) and of common emphases on trinitarian theology holiness/theosis, the divine image in human nature and on holistic mission.     

Graduate training in school psychology

A survey was conducted in spring of 1975 to elicit factual information concerning organizational characteristics and training emphases of the school psychology training programs in the United States and Canada. Ninety-nine training institutions responded. The result indicated a rapid growth of graduate education programs in school psychology in the past 10 years. Faculty shortage constituted a major problem in many training institutions. Overall, the school psychology programs placed strongest emphases on assessment, consultation, and other active intervention techniques in their training content. Significant differences in training emphases were found between doctoral and subdoctoral programs.     

Roles of Counseling in Enabling Persons With Disabilities

The role of counseling in enabling students with disabilities has changed over the past 10 years. Other personnel in school settings now counsel students with disabilities, in addition to school and rehabilitation counselors. Evidence to support these contentions is described through a national survey. The specific roles of other counseling-related personnel are noted, and the primacy of transition issues is highlighted. Finally, there are implications for implementation of a collaborative consultation model in special education.     

Union and Communion: Calvin's Theology of Word and Sacrament

Some scholars consider Calvin's teaching on the sacraments to be an integral part of his theology. Others have challenged the Reformer's consistency in this area, regarding Calvin's eucharistic teaching in particular as a 'foreign, uncongenial element' in his work. My argument in this article is that Calvin's eucharistic teaching, particularly in its 'more nearly patristic' emphases, is neither inimical nor secondary to his system but is in fact an essential and promising outworking of his theology. As with other perspectives, Calvin's understanding of Word and sacrament generates a particular kind of ecclesiology with emphases that remain ecumenically significant and vital for the life and mission of the church.     

Stem cell research: a target article collection: Part III--determining moral status

In this chapter, I review some of the background thinking concerning matters of moral status that I had developed in previous years and that I would now bring to the work of the Human Embryo Research Panel. Two ideas were at the forefront of my thinking. First, that biology usually offers not decisive "events" but only continuous processes of development. Second, in making status determinations we do not so much "identify" a point on a developmental continuum where moral respect should be accorded as "choose" that point. These choices are "balancing decisions" in which the community of moral agents weighs its interests in protecting an entity against the burdens of doing so. After illustrating these two contentions, I consider some of the reasons why thinkers on the "right" and "left" of our bioethics debates have resisted or missed this basic insight.     

Baiting bioethics

Various criticisms of bioethics are reported and evaluated in an effort to determine what it is reasonable to expect of this rapidly developing field and what should be its future directions. Specific charges by Renée Fox, Judith Swazey, and William Bennett are explored. Fox and Swazey contend that bioethics champions individualism and pays little attention to social relationships, that bioethicists distance themselves from the human settings where ethical issues are experienced, and that bioethics pretends to a false validity. Bennett indicts bioethics on the grounds that it promotes ethical relativism and moral indifference. Gorovitz argues the case against these contentions but urges ethicists systematically to assess their critics' statements.     

Role of perceived importance in intergroup contact

Furthering G. W. Allport's contentions for optimal contact, the authors introduce a new construct: the perceived importance of contact. They propose that perceived importance is the best proximal predictor of contact's reduction of prejudice. If individuals have opportunities for contact at work or in the neighborhood, their chances to have intergroup acquaintances and friends increase. Intergroup contact among acquaintances and friends can be perceived as more or less important, which in turn determines intergroup evaluations. A 1st study shows that the new measure of perceived importance is indeed distinct from established quantity and quality indicators. The results are cross-validated in a 2nd study that also sheds light on the meaning of importance. In 3rd and 4th studies, structural equation analyses and a meta-analysis support the hypotheses.     

Complications of Culture in Obtaining Informed Consent

In this chapter, I review some of the background thinking concerning matters of moral status that I had developed in previous years and that I would now bring to the work of the Human Embryo Research Panel. Two ideas were at the forefront of my thinking. First, that biology usually offers not decisive "events" but only continuous processes of development. Second, in making status determinations we do not so much "identify" a point on a developmental continuum where moral respect should be accorded as "choose" that point. These choices are "balancing decisions" in which the community of moral agents weighs its interests in protecting an entity against the burdens of doing so. After illustrating these two contentions, I consider some of the reasons why thinkers on the "right" and "left" of our bioethics debates have resisted or missed this basic insight.     

THE MINIATURE JOB TRAINING AND EVALUATION APPROACH: ADDITIONAL FINDINGS

Miniature job training and evaluation situations were developed and administered to 1034 "low aptitude" Navy recruits. Checklist criterion data describing the on-the-job performance of the sample were collected after the recruits were on their fleet assignments: (1) nine months, and (2) 18 months. The results confirmed prior findings relative to the predictive validity of the miniature job training and evaluation approach and supported contentions favoring the power of the concept over a paper-and-pencil testing approach.     

Social Concern and Delinquency: An Empirical Assessment of a Novel Theory

Using the Pathways to Desistance data, this study provides a test of Agnew’s social concern theory. Social concern is hypothesized to reduce criminality through four components: care about the welfare of others, desire for close ties, moral intuitions, and desire to conform. The analyses provide support for the theory’s core contentions. Care about others and moral intuitions are negatively associated with delinquency. Further, social concern partly mediates the effects of social learning, strain, social bond, self-control, and social support on delinquency. Findings indicate that social concern theory is a promising approach that merits continued theoretical refinement and empirical assessment.