Carnap’s logical empiricism,values, and American pragmatism

Value judgments are meaningless. This thesis was one of the notorious tenets of Carnap’s mature logical empiricism. Less well known is the fact that in the Aufbau values were considered as philosophically respectable entities that could be constituted from value experiences. About 1930, however, values and value judgments were banished to the realm of meaningless metaphysics, and Carnap came to endorse a strict emotivism. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the question why Carnap abandoned his originally positive attitude concerning values. It is argued that his non-cognitivist attitude was the symptom of a deep-rooted and never properly dissolved tension between conflicting inclinations towards Neokantianism and Lebensphilosophie. In America Carnap’s non-cognitivism became a major obstacle for a closer collaboration between logical empiricists and American pragmatists. Carnap’s persisting adherence to the dualism of practical life and theoretical science was the ultimate reason why he could not accept Morris’s and Kaplan’s pragmatist theses that cognitivism might well be compatible with a logical and empiricist scientific philosophy.     

African American Dance - Philosophy,Aesthetics, and ‘Beauty’

This essay considers the recuperation of beauty as a productive critical strategy in discussions of African American dance. I argue that black performance in general, and African American concert dance in particular, seeks to create aesthetic sites that allow black Americans to participate in discourses of recognition and appreciation to include concepts of beauty. In this, I suggest that beauty may indeed produce social change for its attendant audiences. I also propose that interrogating the notion of beauty may allow for social change among audiences that include dance theorists and philosophers. Through a case-study consideration of work by three African American choreographers, Donald Byrd (b. 1949), Ulysses Dove (1947 – 1996), and Abdel Salaam (b. 1949), I ultimately hope to suggest critical possibilities aligning dance performance with particular aesthetic theory relevant to its documentation and interpretation.     

What Does It Mean to Be an American? Patriotism,Nationalism, and American Identity After 9/11

The period of heightened nationalism in the United States that followed the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 provided unusual conditions for investigating issues surrounding the distinction between patriotism and nationalism and the relationship between national identification and pluralistic values. In a survey of national identity and social attitudes conducted in late September 2001, two different definitions of national unity were inserted in the introduction to the questionnaire in an attempt to prime activation of different conceptualizations of nationality. Results demonstrated that the priming conditions did have an effect on the pattern of interrelationships among measures of patriotism, nationalism, and tolerance for cultural diversity.     

Do birds of a feather flock together? The variable bases for African American, Asian American, and European American adolescents' selection of similar friends

Variability in adolescent-friend similarity is documented in a diverse sample of African American, Asian American, and European American adolescents. Similarity was greatest for substance use, modest for academic orientations, and low for ethnic identity. Compared with Asian American and European American adolescents, African American adolescents chose friends who were less similar with respect to academic orientation or substance use but more similar with respect to ethnic identity. For all three ethnic groups, personal endorsement of the dimension in question and selection of cross-ethnic-group friends heightened similarity. Similarity was a relative rather than an absolute selection criterion: Adolescents did not choose friends with identical orientations. These findings call for a comprehensive theory of friendship selection sensitive to diversity in adolescents' experiences. Implications for peer influence and self-development are discussed.     

Psychological Trauma,Christ’s Passion,and the African American Faith Tradition

This article argues that Christ’s passion/crucifixion functioned within the African American psyche as a religious narrative and symbol that uniquely addressed the severe trauma they underwent during the Middle Passage and slavery by enabling them to experience the presence of God in the depths of extreme suffering. Christ’s passion/crucifixion mirrored their experience of racial oppression and, thereby, provided a critique of the system and actors that perpetuated it. The Spiritual “Were You There?” is interpreted in this light. This correspondence between the African American’s historical experience and the narrative symbol of Christ’s passion/crucifixion helps explain their conversion to Christianity.     

American and Chinese College Students’ Anticipations of Their Postgraduate Education, Career, and Future Family Roles

American and Chinese college students’ anticipations showed no gender differences in their desires for postgraduate education, marriage, and parental status. Stereotypical gender differences emerged in both countries when caregiving roles were considered: Both men and women rated it more likely for women than for men to quit their jobs to be caregivers. Overall, male college students, the Chinese men in particular, felt less comfortable than did women in situations where their spouses were superior in earnings, achievements, and social status. More Chinese than American students planned to enter marriage and parenthood at a later age, and the Chinese students rated the importance of family lower. These findings are discussed in light of the general sociocultural model and the role distribution theory.This study was supported partially by a summer mini-grant issued by the University of St. Francis in 2000.     

Associations among African American Parents’ Beliefs,Involvement, and Measures of School Readiness

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Parents’ beliefs about school readiness have been linked to their involvement practices and children’s achievement. However, there is some evidence...     

Self-objectification and depressive symptoms: Does their association vary among Asian American and White American men and women?

Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) posits that viewing one's body as an object – i.e., self-objectification – increases depressive symptomatology. Though a handful of studies to date have found self-objectification and depressive symptoms correlated among White American women, few studies have examined whether this finding generalizes to other social groups. We examine whether self-objectification and depressive symptoms are associated among Asian Americans and White Americans in a college sample of women and men (N = 169). Self-objectification and depressive symptoms were positively associated among White American women but not among White American men or Asian American men or women. These data suggest the parameters of Objectification Theory are circumscribed by both race/ethnicity and gender and self-objectification may put White women, in particular, at risk for depressive symptoms.     

What does "being American" mean? A comparison of Asian American and European American young adults

Two studies found that the meaning of "being American" differs for Asian Americans and European Americans. In Study 1, Hmong and European American undergraduates described what "being American" meant to them. In Study 2, Chinese American and European American undergraduates described what "American culture" meant to them. Responses were coded for references to cultural exposure, customs/traditional behavior, ethnic diversity, political ideology, and patriotism. Across both studies, Asian Americans referred to American customs and traditional behavior more than European Americans. European Americans referred to patriotism more than Hmong (in Study 1) and to ethnic diversity more than Chinese Americans (in Study 2). The authors suggest that these differences reflect the distinct statuses, concerns, and experiences of Asian Americans and European Americans.     

Do special education recommendations differ for Asian American and White American students?

Social Psychology of Education - Asian American students are underrepresented in special education, a state of affairs that threatens their access to academic resources. We propose that student...     

An Examination and Interrogation of African American Males’ Racial Identity,Prosocial Behaviors and Aggression

Using multiple regression analysis and Pearson’s R, the current exploratory study of 89 African American male adolescents (M = 12.5 years old) examined relationships among REI (i.e., 20 as a socialization product of identity formation processes), prosocial behaviors (i.e., represented as supportive behavioral orientation in response to stress), and aggression (i.e., a reactive coping strategy). Significant relationships among racial public regard, age, and verbal aggression emerged. Older adolescents believed that other people have lower regard for their race, and this predicted an increase in verbal aggression. These findings demonstrate the importance of understanding contextual factors when examining outcomes.     

Attachment Style Differences and Depression in African American and European American College Women: Normative Adaptations?

This study examined ethnic differences in attachment styles and depression among African American and European American college women. African American women reported less favorable views of others, which suggests that attachment styles emphasizing caution in relationships may be normative and adaptive for these women. There were no differences between groups in views of self or reports of depressive symptoms. Implications for long‐term relationships and counseling are discussed. Este estudio examinó las diferencias étnicas en estilos de apego y depresión entre estudiantes universitarias Afroamericanas y Euroamericanas. Las mujeres Afroamericanas expresaron una visión menos favorable sobre los demás, lo que sugiere que los estilos de apego que enfatizan la precaución en las relaciones pueden ser normativos para estas mujeres, y el resultado de su adaptación. No hubo diferencias entre los grupos en cuanto a la visión de sí mismas o expresión de síntomas depresivos. Se discuten las implicaciones para las relaciones a largo plazo y la consejería.     

American and Chinese Students’ Calibration of Comprehension and Performance

In the present study we examined the ability of American and Chinese undergraduate students to calibrate their understanding of textbook passages translated into their native languages. Students read a series of texts and made predictions of their understanding of each text as well as the number of questions they would be able to answer correctly. Students also made postdictions of their test performance. Chinese students were significantly better than American students in calibrating their understanding of passages and predicting how many comprehension items they would answer correctly. Chinese students also outperformed American students on comprehension tests. All students were able to make more accurate postdictions of comprehension test scores than predictions. Results are related to possible instructional differences between American and Chinese students. Several possible directions for future research are discussed.     

Who Will Volunteer? Religiosity, Everyday Racism, and Social Participation Among African American Men

This study explores the relative importance of everyday racism, empathic concern, communalism, and religiosity as predictors of pro-social involvement (i.e., volunteerism and membership in political/social justice organizations) among a sample of African American men (N = 151). Church involvement emerged as a positive predictor of the likelihood that these men were involved in volunteer work as well as the number of hours that men dedicated to volunteer work. Communalism positively predicted the amount of time (in hours per year) that men were involved in volunteer work. Subjective religiosity and the stress of everyday racism were associated with a greater likelihood of being a member of a political–social justice organization. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

African American, White and Latino Fathers’ Activities with their Sons and Daughters in Early Childhood

We examined the activities that low-income, ethnically diverse fathers of sons versus daughters engage in with their children in the preschool years. African American, Latino, and White fathers (N?=?426) from research sites across the United States, were interviewed about their caregiving, play, literacy, and visiting activities when their children were 2?years, 3?years, and preschool age. Fathers of boys engaged more frequently in physical play than fathers of girls, whereas fathers of girls engaged more frequently in literacy activities. Moreover, gendered patterns of father engagement were already evident at the 2-year assessment, suggesting that fathers channel their children toward gender-typed activities well before their children have a clear understanding of gender roles. Ethnic differences were also found in fathers’ activities with children, and child gender moderated ethnic patterns of behavior. For example, Black fathers of sons reported the highest levels of engagement in caregiving, play and visiting activities, and both Latino and African American fathers of sons engaged in more visiting activities compared to White fathers of sons. Fathers’ education and marital status were also associated with fathers’ activities. Married fathers and those with a high school diploma more frequently engaged in literacy activities than unmarried fathers without a diploma; moreover, although Latino fathers engaged less in caregiving activities than African American and White fathers, this difference attenuated after controlling for differences in fathers’ education. The activities children share with their fathers vary by child gender, race/ethnicity, and family circumstances and offer insight into early gendered experiences in the family.     

African American and Mexican American Youths’ College Adjustment and Perceptions of Parental Academic Socialization: Interactions Between Ethnicity and Parental Education

In a sample of 283 African American and Mexican American college students, we investigated the effects of ethnicity and parental education on three dimensions of parental academic socialization (PAS), active involvement, autonomy support, and demanding hard work, and their impact on college adjustment. Controlling for parental education, African Americans reported higher parental active involvement. Academic self-efficacy mediated the effects of both demanding hard work and autonomy support on college adjustment, controlling for parental education. Moderated mediation models suggested that effects of both demanding hard work and autonomy support on academic self-efficacy were stronger for African Americans than for Mexican Americans.