The salience of a recipient’s alternatives: Inter- and intrapersonal comparison in ultimatum games

The social utility model suggests that in social decision-making, both inter- and intrapersonal comparisons are important in assessing the utility of a decision outcome. In the ultimatum game both these comparisons play a role. This is especially true for recipients reacting to an unfair offer. We propose that the relative weights inter- and intrapersonal comparisons receive in ultimatum games depend on the way the decision is structured. In three studies we show that presenting recipients with a straightforward choice instead of the usual accept/reject question makes recipients more inclined to accept unfair offers. Moreover, the existence of an alternative outcome, i.e., the fact that refusal of the offer also leads to a substantial outcome, similarly raises the level of acceptances in a standard ultimatum game. Results are discussed in relation to the joint/separate evaluation disparity and the distinction between occurrences and non-occurrences.     

Minnesota clergy’s attitudes on suicide prevention and likelihood to inquire about suicidal thoughts and intent

Clergy are a recognised profession for suicide prevention and intervention in the United States. The current objective was to determine if clergy’s suicide prevention training, perceived roles in suicide prevention, and suicide prevention self-efficacy predicted likelihood to inquire about suicidal thoughts and intent. Among 367 Minnesota clergy surveyed, 30% reported a suicide in their congregation in the past year, and about one-third reported adequate training in suicide intervention strategies. The majority (85%) reported it was their role to provide education on suicide and mental health to their congregations, although 32% reported no or low ability to do so. Most (70%) stated, if concerned about a parishioner’s mental health, they would inquire about suicidal thoughts, but fewer (59%) stated they would inquire about suicidal intent. Significant, but weak, predictors of likelihood to inquire about suicide included self-efficacy and perceived role. Clergy could benefit from suicide prevention education, training, and support.     

More on Putnam’s models: a reply to Belloti

In an earlier paper, I claimed that one version of Putnam's model-theoretic argument against realism turned on a subtle, but philosophically significant, mathematical mistake. Recently, Luca Bellotti has criticized my argument for this claim. This paper responds to Bellotti's criticisms.     

Using a three-stage model of change to understand people’s use of bicycle,public transport,and car

More active ways of travelling (e.g., walking, cycling, and public transport) would benefit both individuals and society. To encourage people’s transition to more active travelling, it is important to understand the decision-making process regarding modal choice. The first aim of this study is therefore to combine a three-stage version of the transtheoretical model of change (TTM; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983) with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 1991) to advance our understanding of the nature of the TTM stages. The second aim is to examine certain characteristics (i.e., age, gender, importance of everyday exercise, importance of environmental issues, perceived accessibility, and satisfaction with travel) of these three stages of change. The study used a web-based questionnaire, an app-based questionnaire, and an app-based travel diary completed by 306 people in the Stockholm area. The observed behaviour measured using the app-based travel diary showed that the three-stage model used in this study was consistent with the participants’ self-reported travel behaviour in using bicycles, public transport, and cars. Interventions focusing on attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control appear to have potential to move people from one stage to another regardless of initial stage. To make interventions as effective as possible, the stage of change as well as the behavioural, normative, and control beliefs underpinning attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control must be considered. Finally, more research is needed to advance our knowledge of the relationship between the three stages of change and other variables.     

Altruistic values in children’s spirituality: a study of children’s responses to the terror attacks in Oslo and on Utøya and issues of education

In reactions to the terror attacks in Oslo and on Utøya on July 22, 2011, belief in an open society, hope and altruism played an important part. This has led to research on the role of such values in Norwegian democracy. The present study explores messages given by children right after the event, using an approach based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy of dialogue. Several issues of educational significance are discussed: the meaning of ritual in children’s thinking, coping with offending, death, and understanding children’s spiritual and religious thinking when confronted with a critical event. It is argued that hope and altruism seem to be natural parts of children’s spirituality, but these values are not self-evident in a society. This is a challenge to education.     

Home to men’s business and bosoms: philosophy and rhetoric in Francis Bacon’s Essayes

This article claims that today’s reading of Francis Bacon’s Essayes as a solely literary text turns upon philosophers’ having largely lost access to the renaissance culture which Bacon inherited, and the renaissance debates about the role of rhetoric in philosophy in which Bacon participated. The article has two parts. Building upon Ronald Cranes’ seminal contribution on the place of the Essayes in Bacon’s ‘great instauration’, Part 1 examines how the subjects of Bacon’s Essayes need to be understood as Baconian contributions to ‘morrall philosophye’ and ‘civile knowledge’, rather than rhetorical or poetic exercises. In Part 2, contesting the interpretations of Crane, Fish, Ferrari and others, I will argue that the Essayes’ striking rhetorical form needs to be conceptualized in light of Bacon’s renaissance account of the ‘duty and office’ of rhetoric in any moral and civil philosophy that would look to actively cure mental afflictions and cultivate the virtuous or canny conduct it extols. Bacon’s Essayes, in this light, are best understood as a legatee and transformation of the popular early modern genre of books of apothegms and maxims designed to guide conduct.     

What to Do in an Unjust State?: On Confucius’s and Socrates’s Views on Political Duty

Confucius argued for the centrality of the superior man’s political duty to his fellow human beings and to the state, while Socrates suggested that the superior man (the philosopher) may have no such political duty. However, Confucius also suggested that one not enter or stay—let alone save—a troubled state, while Socrates stayed in an unjust state, apparently fulfilling his political duty to the state by accepting an unjust verdict. In this essay, I will try to show how Confucius could solve these apparent contradictions. I will then examine the reasons Socrates directly and indirectly offers to resolve his seemingly conflicting positions in light of the discussion of the Confucian case. This article is a first step toward a deeper understanding of both Confucius and Socrates (Plato) by way of comparative studies, and of the general issue of a superior man’s political duty to a bad state.     

Legal and psychological perspectives on children’s competence to testify in court

Young children are often called as witnesses to crimes they were victims of or observed. Because of their immaturity, child witnesses are sometimes more heavily scrutinized than adult witnesses before being allowed to testify in court, for example, through competency screening. This review discusses the psychology and US law relevant to decisions about children’s testimonial competency. Legally, a child is competent to provide in-court testimony if the presiding judge finds that the child can understand and answer basic interview questions, observe and recall pertinent events, understand the difference between truths and lies, and be affected by the moral obligation to tell the truth on the stand. We review the legal foundation and current practice of testimonial competence standards and discuss issues in the current system. We then review developmental psychology literature on children’s capabilities and individual differences in each domain of testimonial competency as well as the limited body of literature on competency exams. Finally, we make empirically-based recommendations and conclusions and highlight the need for further research and policy reforms related to children’s testimonial abilities.     

What’s in a Dao?: Ontology and Semiotics in Laozi and Zhuangzi

The present essay examines the conflicting ontological assumptions that one can find behind the word dao in the texts of the Laozi and Zhuangzi and argues that the relative indifference to these texts toward whether or not dao has an ontic reality should not be considered a flaw of early Daoism. Rather, the historical process by which the term dao collects various possible ontological implications can be thought of as a philosophical stance in its own right. That is, if the terms which one is obliged to use in discussing the immaterial necessarily hide, at least as much as they explain, the nature of Being, then it is a reasonable response to decline to ground one??s ethics in an ontology, and that while the resulting philosophy may not qualify as a fully-adumbrated system, this does not diminish its potential usefulness.     

Between womanhood as ideal and womanhood as a social practice: women’s experiences in the Church organisation in Poland

Using the conceptual framework proposed by Susan Sered and institutional gender theories, this article analyses the relationship between the symbolic and idealised image of femininity with which Catholic women working in the organisations of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland identify themselves and practices of femininity in the structures of Church institutions. I locate the difficulties experienced by women in the Church in realising this symbolic image of femininity. At the same time, I identify the strategies taken by women as ways of dealing with the difficulties and as practices of achieving normative femininity in unfavourable circumstances. I analyse three types of strategies: sacralising difficulties and experienced barriers, familiarising relationships in the Church, and affirming femininity. The article examines the content of interviews conducted between 2012 and 2015 with 31 laywomen working in Church organisations in 15 dioceses in Poland and in the Episcopal Conference, who held three types of positions: office workers/secretaries, professionals, and directors.     

‘Meaning-dawning’ in Wittgenstein’s Notebooks: a Kierkegaardian reading and critique

In this paper, I am going to propose a new reading of Wittgenstein’s cryptic talk of ‘accession or loss of meaning’ (or the world ‘waxing and waning’ as a whole) in the Notebooks that draws both on Wittgenstein’s later work on aspect-perception, as well as on the thoughts of a thinker whom Wittgenstein greatly admired: Søren Kierkegaard. I will then go on to argue that, its merits apart, there is something existentially problematic about the conception that Wittgenstein is advocating. For the renunciation of the comforts of the world that Wittgenstein proposes as a way of coping with the brute contingencies of life seems only to come as far as what Kierkegaard calls ‘infinite resignation’, and this falls far short of the joyful acceptance of existence that appears necessary for inhabiting what Wittgenstein calls a happy world. That is to say, I will show that what Wittgenstein’s proposal lacks is a way of reconnecting with the finite after one has renounced it – the kind of transformation of existence achieved by the person Kierkegaard calls the ‘knight of faith’.     

Children’s Influence on Their Parent’s Adult Development: Mothers’ and Fathers’ Receptivity to Children’s Requests for Change

This mixed-method study examined parents’ experiences of their children’s influence on parent’s continuing adult development. Mothers and fathers from 30 families were separately interviewed regarding two of their children who were between 8 and 14 years old. Parents reported on recent events when their younger and older child successfully requested that parents change their preferences, attitudes, and personal behaviors. Mothers reported more direct child influence than fathers, and both parents reported that they were more receptive to influence from their older children. Thematic analyses revealed that parents were generally comfortable with child influence and constructed their children as actors and agents. Parents attributed their receptivity to agentic qualities of children’s requests, goals for empowering children, and maintaining their mutual relationship. The findings provided insight into the transactional and relational nature of children’s influence and the direct and indirect impact of children on the adult development of parents.