In Context

‘In Context’ is aimed at giving contextualization its rightful place in the study of argumentation. First, Frans H. van Eemeren explains the crucial role of context in a reconstructive analysis of argumentative discourse. He distinguishes four levels of contextualization. Second, he situates his approach to context in the field of argumentation studies by comparing it with Walton’s approach. He emphasizes the importance of distinguishing clearly between a normatively motivated theoretical ideal model and empirically-based communicative activity types. Third, van Eemeren concentrates on the ‘macro-level’ of contextualization: contextualization in institutionalized communicative activity types. He makes clear that the macro-context of a communicative activity type can be characterized argumentatively by describing the disctinctive features of the empirical counterparts of the four stages of a critical discussion in the activity type concerned. Fourth, he points out what the consequences of the macrocontextualization of argumentative discourse in a certain communicative activity type are for the strategic maneuvering that may takes place and the identification of fallacies as derailments of strategic maneuvering. Fifth, van Eemeren draws some general conclusions regarding the role of contextualization in the analysis and evaluation of argumentative discourse.     

Harming Consent

I argue that Nafsika Athanassoulis fails to establish the main contention of her paper (“The Role of Consent in Sado-MasochisticPractices”, Res Publica 8, 2 (2002)), namely that, given liberalism, consent should be a defence to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm even when the harm is a consequence of a sado-masochistic encounter. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Harming future people

Hanser examines Derek Parfit's contention in his treatise on rationalism, Reasons and Persons (Oxford University Press; 1984) that acts that are not reproductive in nature can nonetheless predictably affect the identities of future people, and that this fact has unexpected and important consequences for ethical theory. Hanser argues tht this fact is not as significant as Parfit believes it to be. The arguments of both scholars concern the morality of choices that, while causing future persons to be badly off, do not make them worse off than they would have been if the choices had not been made. Hanser concludes his essay with a discussion of responsibility for acts that will affect the health of future offspring.     

Healing and Harming

As part of a volunteering program, a medical student learns the story of a sick infant whose survival was wholly dependent on modern medicine. The family was pacified by believing, during pregnancy, that the fetus would be healthy. Poor counseling and unethical physician behavior led to the trauma of the family's struggle to keep its baby alive, happy, and as healthy as possible. The need for adequate, thorough, and individualized counseling is a critical and still unfulfilled need in patient care.     

Harming as making worse off

Philosophical Studies - A powerful argument against the counterfactual comparative account of harm is that it cannot distinguish harming from failing to benefit. In reply to this problem, I suggest...     

Asymmetries in Benefiting, Harming and Creating

It is often said that while we have a strong reason not to create someone who will be badly off, we have no strong reason for creating someone who will be well off. In this paper I argue that this asymmetry is incompatible with a plausible principle of independence of irrelevant alternatives, and that a more general asymmetry between harming and benefiting is difficult to defend. I then argue that, contrary to what many have claimed, it is possible to harm or benefit someone by bringing her into existence.     

Harming, not aiding, and positive rights

Kamm considers the implications if the following two theses should prove true: killing and letting die are morally equivalent per se (Thesis E), as are harming and not aiding in cases where less than life is at stake (Thesis GE). She argues that each thesis has two versions, with one having broader implications than the other for deriving new rights or duties. These rights and duties are limited, however, by the need to apply the theses uniformly to cases that are equivalent in all respects. Kamm supports her arguments by exploring the notion of moral equivalence, discussing the methodology of testing for it, and broaching the subject of whether Theses E and GE are, in fact, true.     

Harming Civilians and the Associative Duties of Soldiers

According to International Humanitarian Law and many writing on just war theory, combatants who foresee that their actions will harm or kill innocent non‐combatants are required to take some steps to reduce these merely foreseen harms. However, because often reducing merely foreseen harms place burdens on combatants – including risk to their lives – this requirement has been criticised for requiring too much of combatants. One reason why this might be the case is that combatants have duties to each other and to their compatriots, such as duties to keep them safe, which are weighty enough to override their duties to foreign non‐combatants. In this article, I argue that arguments against the requirement to limit merely foreseen harms which rely on combatants' associative duties fail to establish that it is permissible for combatants to prioritise their own safety over the reduction of merely foreseen harms. Although the argument based on associative duties might work in individual cases, factors peculiar to the situation of combatants mean that such justifications are not normally available to them.     

Expressed Emotion In The Narrative Context of Family Photographs

This study aims to elucidate cognitive and contextual aspects of the EE (Expressed Emotion) concept. The EE levels of both parents of two first admission psychotic patients were rated from the Five Minute Speech Sample (FMSS), and the emotional responses were further analyzed in narratives of family photographs. The attribution model was found to provide an explanatory framework for understanding relatives' expressed emotions (EE) toward a family member suffering from psychotic disturbances. Four case reports indicated that family photographs induced parents to create narratives in which emotions, attributions, and strategies for coping with stressful aspects of the illness came forward as intertwined phenomena. The method can offer more comprehensive data for intervention strategies aiming to alter the prevailing atmosphere and interaction patterns within the high EE family.     

元认知结构在教学背景中的理解

近20年来,元认知(metacognition)成为心理学研究的热点之一,人们提出了一系列的元认知理论,试图对人的认知与学习过程作出更为深入的探讨和解释。在许多认知活动中元认知都起着重要作用,这些活动包括口头信息交流、口语理解、阅读理解、写作、语言习得、知觉、注意、记忆、问题解决、社会认知和各种形式的自我控制、自我指导等等。本文主要谈:在教学背景中,对元认知的含义及其结构的理解。     

Harming and failing to benefit: a reply to purves

Philosophical Studies - A prominent objection to the counterfactual comparative account of harm is that it classifies as harmful some events that are, intuitively, mere failures to benefit. In an...     

Teacher Efficacy In the Context of Teaching Low Achieving Students

This paper focused on the efficacy of Singapore teachers who teach low achieving adolescent students. Three dimensions of self-reported teacher efficacy—instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement—were examined in relation to teacher attributes and the teacher–student relationship. Data were obtained from the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (Teaching and Teacher Education 17:783–805, 2001) and the Teacher–Student Relationship Scale Ang (The Journal of Experimental Education 74:55–73, 2005). Significant differences between novice teachers and experienced teachers emerged in teacher efficacy beliefs in relation to instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. Conflict in teacher–student relationship was found to predict teacher efficacy for teachers of low achieving students. Implications for teachers’ professional development were discussed.     

Patient Adherence in Chronic Illness: Personality and Coping In Context

ABSTRACT Previous reviews have concluded that there is no evidence for a predictable association between person factors and regimen adherence in chronic illness. The brief current review of the literature reveals that past work has been limited by the lack of a common structural theory of personality and the failure to consider the interaction of person factors with disease and treatment context. Application of the five-factor model of personality to adherence research will reduce divergence in the field and and in the orientation and interpretation of future work. Evidence suggests that an interactive perspective recognizing the moderating influence of contextual factors on the behavioral expression of personality traits will contribute to the prediction of adherence behavior.     

Hemophilia In Context: Adjunctive Hypnosis for Families with a Hemophiliac Member

This is a report of preliminary findings of a pilot study conducted at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The study examined the use of adjunctive hypnotic techniques with families in which at least one member was a hemophiliac. It is suggested that hypnotic approaches may be more effective if they take into consideration patient-family and family-hospital relationships. Advantages of an open-systems, clinical-research model of hemophilia are presented.     

Sensory Deprivation Used In the Reduction of Cigarette Smoking: Attitude Change Experiments In an Applied Context1

A series of three studies has investigated the effects of sensory deprivation on persuasibility. Cigarette smoking was used as the target of the persuasive messages. The technique appears to have a degree of success in bringing about smoking cessation or reduction for several months after a 24-hr. sensory deprivation session. Implications for attitude experimentation and for the application of research findings are discussed.     

A Pilot Study Assessing the Relationship Between Child Harming Thoughts and Postpartum Depression

This pilot study explored relationships between postpartum mood and child harming thoughts. Fifty mothers from an outpatient pediatric office completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Postpartum Depression Predictors Inventory-Revised (PDPI-R), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Participants also completed the Child Thoughts Inventory (CTI), a modified version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (Y-BOCS) and Florida Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (FOCI). Results indicated significant positive correlations between postpartum depression and anxiety and frequency and intensity of child harming thoughts. In addition, having a poor self-view was significantly correlated with intensity of child harming thoughts and previous anxiety was correlated with both frequency and intensity of child harming thoughts. Despite the fact that mothers experiencing postpartum mood disturbances rarely harm their infants the findings of this pilot study suggest that these women may have frequent and intense ego-dystonic thoughts about harming their children. Results also suggest that postpartum depression and anxiety may share similar cognitive processes.