Applying Philosophy: A Response to O'Neill

abstract   I consider the putative originality of applied philosophy and seek to defend a version of it often called 'bottom up'. I review ways in which imagined cases may cause us to reconsider our normative commitments, and endorse a general attentiveness to the matter of how the world is and how it might reasonably be imagined. This is important if practical philosophers want to form the correct normative judgements, to be able to recognize the sui generis character of some moral theorising in particular domains, practically to enact their considered judgments, and properly to acknowledge how the real world, in the form of institutions, practices and a cultural framework, constrains, or facilitates, practical enactment. Throughout I illustrate my abstract claims by reference to the moral judgement and legal regulation of sexual behaviour .     

Barriers to Condom Use and Safer Sex Talk among College Dating Couples

Using an open-ended questionnaire response format, this study examined self-generated barriers to condom use and safer sex talk among 119 heterosexual college dating couples at the University of New Mexico (total N=238). Data were collected from both members of these dyads. Reasons for abstaining from intercourse were also elicited. Several general response categories emerged including no perceived risk; spontaneity; deliberate choice; negative attitudes; and a lack of perceived self-efficacy for enacting condom use and safer sex discussion. Explanations for abstinence included religious/moral prohibitions; lack of readiness for intercourse; and a fear of being emotionally hurt. Few differences emerged across gender, ethnicity (Caucasian vs Hispanic), and prior sexual experience (participant had intercourse prior to current relationship vs did not). Selected reasons for not using a condom and/or discussing safer sex (e.g. partner is monogamous) were cross-validated with the self-reported behavior of the respondent's dating partner. In general, participants reasons for perceived non-risk were not supported by their partner's reported behavior. Implications of these findings for sexual risk reduction programs include: establishing realistic goals for safer sex behavior and talk within committed relationships, acknowledging the impact of passion on safer sex, and addressing knowledge gaps in risk perception.     

Social representations and group membership: shared and diffused parental ideas in three Israeli settings

The study investigates how the characteristics of subgroups within a culture are related to the structure of parental ideas held by their members. Two subsets of social representations were suggested—shared parental ideas (SPI) which are largely common to members of a group and serve the goals of individuals as group members as well as the goals of the group itself, and—diffused parental ideas (DPI) which are dispersed within social groups, and are instrumental in achieving individual goals. The respondents were kibbutz and two subgroups of urban parents with high and low levels of education (N=299) which differed in the extent of exposure to mainstream compared to group-specific parental ideas, the desirability of the group as indicated by its social status and the permeability of group boundaries. The findings were specific to the research task: only small differences in SPI and DPI were found among groups in a sorting task of child-rearing items; but major differences were found in their responses to a similar set of items organized as a Likert-style questionnaire. Only DPI and no SPI were found in the questionnaires of urban parents with low levels of education. In contrast, two similar clusters of SPI were identified in the kibbutz and among urban parents with high education. Another set of ideas was recognized as DPI in the kibbutz. The findings suggest that the Israeli urban parents with a low education did not share the parental ideas with each other, or with urban-high and kibbutz parents, whereas similar parental ideas prevailed in the kibbutz and among middle-class urban parents. Hypotheses were formulated regarding the group characteristics that foster the construction of SPI versus DPI by group members.     

Distress about mating rivals

This research tested the evolutionary psychological hypothesis that men and women would be most distressed about threats from rivals who surpass them on sex‐linked components of mate value. Six predictions were tested in samples from three cultures, the United States (N= 208), the Netherlands (N= 349), and Korea (N= 174). Five predictions were supported in all three cultures. Korean, Dutch, and American men, more than corresponding women, report greater distress when a rival surpasses them on financial prospects, job prospects, and physical strength. Korean, Dutch, and American women, in contrast, report greater distress when a rival surpasses them on facial and bodily attractiveness. The cultures differed on some variables. Korean women and men, for example, differed from Americans and Dutch in reporting more distress over rivals who had better financial prospects, better job prospects, and higher status and prestige. Americans exceeded Koreans in reporting distress when rivals had more attractive faces and bodies, whereas the Dutch exceeded the other cultures in reporting more distress when rivals had a better sense of humor. Discussion focuses on possible proximate psychological mechanisms underlying distress over rivals and the theoretical importance of intrasexual competition.     

Knowledge Acquired in a Program for Building Employability Skills

Information is provided from studies suggesting the importance of incorporating the teaching and assessment of employability skills in a career development curriculum.