Alien worlds,alien laws,and the Humean conceivability argument

Monism is our name for a range of views according to which the connection between dispositions and their categorical bases is intimate and necessary, or on which there are no categorical bases at all. In contrast, Dualist views hold that the connection between dispositions and their categorical bases is distant and contingent. This paper is a defence of Monism against an influential conceivability argument in favour of Dualism. The argument suggests that the apparent possibility of causal behaviour coming apart from categorical bases is best explained by Dualism. We argue that Monism can explain the apparent possibility as well, if we take metaphysically alien laws – namely, laws whose metaphysical nature is alien to the actual world – into account.     

Socratic Questioning in Alien Landscapes?

This commentary considers the role of Socratic questioning in Alien Landscapes? I discuss the three roles that Glover sees Socratic questioning playing in psychiatry: 1. Questioning to clarify problems, 2. Questioning to treat symptoms, 3. Questioning to reconstruct lives. Although I am broadly sympathetic to the idea that philosophical conversations can help us conceptualise, and deal with, mental distress, I raise two concerns. First, is there any way of providing courses of transformative Socratic questioning cheaply (e.g. through manualisation)? Second, how close is the connection between helping individuals to develop systems of belief and value that fit epistemic norms and helping them to live flourishing lives?     

Immigration: The “Illegal Alien” Problem

ABSTRACT

The present paper explores the “immigration crisis” both in the United States and in countries around the world. Consideration is given to what is typically absent in public discourse—that is, that immigration is inflected with race, class, ethnicity, religion, and language. Drawing on the work of several leading scholars in philosophy and linguistics, with particular attention to how metaphor shapes thinking, the “immigration problem” is unpacked to examine the issues embedded within its characterization as a “crisis” and for whom that might be so. Examined as well are the larger sociopolitical issues beyond the worldwide public outcry about securing borders. The paper rests analysis of both how the immigrant “other” is characterized and the larger sociopsychological significance of that characterization within the idea of the social unconscious. Finally, the paper explores the role of the group analyst as “citizen therapist” in expanding empathic engagement among groups affected by the huge migration flows. Included are recommendations for the role the group analyst may play in addressing the issue of immigration in our groups and communities.     

What Is It Like to Be an Alien?

This brief article is concerned with an aspect of Jonathan Glover's book, Alien Landscapes?. After reflecting a little on the book as a whole, the question that is taken up is, ‘Why might a book that seeks to help those without mental disorders understand what they are like “from the inside” be of interest to laymen and practitioners in the criminal law?’. One answer lies in part in the way that ‘what it is like from the inside’ might interact with judgements of criminal responsibility. Taking its cue from examples used by Glover the article considers, and puts pressure on, the ‘dual view’ he proposes: that when dealing with those with mental disorders we should treat them as responsible agents in the sense of not withholding from them Strawson's ‘reactive attitudes’, while nevertheless accepting that their personalities and behaviours are the results of large doses of ‘bad luck’.     

Alien psychology: Associations between extraterrestrial beliefs and paranormal ideation,superstitious beliefs,schizotypy, and the Big Five personality factors

This study examined the associations between the belief that intelligent extraterrestrial life has visited Earth and that governmental agencies have knowledge of this fact and various individual psychological difference factors. A total of 433 participants completed measures of extraterrestrial beliefs, paranormal beliefs, superstitious ideation, schizotypy, the Big Five personality factors, and demographic variables. Results showed that extraterrestrial beliefs were significantly predicted by paranormal beliefs, the unusual experience factor of schizotypy, Openness to Experience, and education. These results are discussed in relation to work suggesting that an individual differences approach may be useful to clarifying the underlying processes that give rise to extraterrestrial beliefs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Morality and Interpretation: Commentary on Jonathan Glover's Alien Landscapes?

What is required of the interpreter of disordered minds and what can we learn from the process? Jonathan Glover's book focuses on human interpretation and its role in psychiatry. His hope is that a more careful and sensitive exploration of minds that are very different from our own, will assist us to answer a range of important questions about human agency, identity and responsibility. In this commentary I will focus on the process and purpose of interpretation and expand on some of the moral issues that arise out of the interpretive challenges posed by mental disorders.     

Alien Conspiracy Theory? Exploring Ethnicity and Drug Supply in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Scholars have identified associations between ethnicity and crime. The extent to which such correlations generalize to other national domiciles, and the nuances of neighborhood criminality is unclear. Drawing upon 67 interviews with practitioners and (ex)offenders involved in drug supply, and supplemented by data sets, the article tests the validity of the generalisation, by exploring a) whether ethnicity is perceived as advantageous in the movement of drugs, and b) how indigenous organized criminal gangs (OCGs) address the encroachment of foreign OCGs on their turf. Findings suggest ‘official’ suppositions aren’t wholly supported by evidence gained from street actors connected with criminogenic environments.