Revenge of the Philosophical Mole: Another Response to David Miller on Nationality

ABSTRACT David Miller has written extensively on the ethical value of the nation. A satisfactory response to Miller's ideas on nationalism requires an assessment of the whole range of his writings on the subject. After stating the outlines of Miller's conception of 'nationality', I evaluate the most important arguments for and against any attribution of ethical importance to the nation. Finally, I assess Miller's commitment to conational ethical priority in the context of duties of justributive justice. My main conclusions are as follows. (i) Miller's conservative strategy of justification is unacceptable, and a critical strategy suggests several plausible arguments for valuing national attachments. These arguments are not conclusive, however, (ii) In so far as Miller's position depends on real historical connections between persons, it is susceptible to the objection from historical myth. (iii) Miller offers an unexpected and ultimately unsuccessful response to the claim that national sentiments are partial and hence biased, (iv) Miller provides no good reason to believe that the duties of distributive justice are owed in the first instance to conationals.     

TOWARD A THEORY OF PERSONAL SPACE EXPECTATIONS AND THEIR VIOLATIONS

Proxemics literature is synthesized and placed in a theoretical framework based on norms and expectations. Two major and three subordinate propositions are supported, and a model for predicting effects of violations of proxemic expectations is advanced. A sample of hypotheses generated from the model is included.     

INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION BETWEEN INTIMATES An Integrative Review

Despite the considerable importance often attributed to interpersonal perception between married partners, family members, and other intimates, there have been few theoretical developments that address the distinctive factors affecting perception in these contexts. This article draws upon a broad literature review to suggest how interpersonal perception between intimates may be affected by such factors as familiarity, emotionality, behavioral interdependence, and ideological beliefs about intimacy. Particular attention is given to the role of perceptual bias in intimate conflict and relationship adjustment.     

Audience Activity and Soap Opera Involvement A Uses and Effects Investigation

This investigation examined the role of motives, attitudes, and audience activity in explaining the affective, cognitive, and behavioral involvement of 328 daytime soap opera viewers. Because inter correlations were found among motives, attitudes, activities, and involvement variables, canonical correlation analysis was used. There were two multivariate patterns. First, except for viewing to pass time, more salient viewing motivations (especially exciting entertainment and social utility), perceived realism, viewing intention, and attention were related to parasocial interaction, post viewing cognition, and post viewing discussion. Second, viewing for social utility, but not for voyeurism, and the lack of realism were related to post viewing discussion, but not to parasocial interaction. These audience orientations and the role of involvement in media uses and effects were discussed.