Biblical authority and the not-so strange silence of Scripture about abortion.

Biblical authority is definitive for many Protestants in matters of faith and practice. The question this essay addresses is the deafening silence of this Scriptural authority on the controversial issue of abortion, especially because Christian scholars have argued vehemently against this practice. In particular, Michael Gorman's recent article 'Why is the New Testament silent about abortion?' raises many substantive issues with implications for the very meaning of authority, faith, and the life of the community. It is contended that elective abortion poses significant substantive issues with which a woman, or couple, must struggle, and that it is inappropriate (perhaps unfaithful) to make such a profound decision according to unfeeling or out-modeled patriarchal rules.     

The effect of asymmetrical sample training on retention functions for hedonic samples in rats

Rats were trained in a symbolic delayed matching-to-sample task to discriminate sample stimuli that consisted of the presence of food or the absence of food. Asymmetrical sample training was provided in which one group was initially trained with only the food sample and the other group was initially trained with only the no-food sample. In addition, within each group half of the rats were trained with an illuminated intertrial interval (ITI) and the remaining rats with a dark ITI. While the retention functions did not differ as a function of which sample was trained first, they did differ as a function of the similarity in the illumination conditions during the ITI and the delay interval. Symmetrical retention functions were obtained when the lighting conditions were similar and slightly asymmetrical retention functions were obtained when the lighting conditions were dissimilar. Probe tests confirmed that features of the no-food sample were attended to and used to generate a memory representation for the no-food sample. The results are not consistent with the hypothesis that asymmetrical sample training encourages coding of the sample introduced initially and default responding to the subsequently introduced sample. Rats generate memory representations for both samples when asymmetrical sample training is given with hedonic samples.     

Parental Behaviors During Family Interactions Predict Changes in Depression and Anxiety Symptoms During Adolescence

This study investigated the prospective, longitudinal relations between parental behaviors observed during parent-adolescent interactions, and the development of depression and anxiety symptoms in a community-based sample of 194 adolescents. Positive and negative parental behaviors were examined, with negative behaviors operationalized to distinguish between observed parental expressions of aggression and dysphoria. Results showed that higher levels of parental aggression prospectively predicted higher levels of both depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents over two-and-a-half years, whereas higher levels of positive parental behaviors prospectively predicted lower levels of depression symptoms only. Parental dysphoric behavior was not related to changes in either symptom dimension. These results suggest that patterns of parental behaviors may be differentially associated with depressive versus anxious outcomes in adolescents, and highlight the potential role for family-focused prevention or treatment interventions aimed at reducing an escalation of depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescence.     

The Universal Principles of Evolution

Here we identify the core properties of genetic evolution with the intention of providing a unified definition of evolving systems that applies unequivocally in the natural and social sciences. Our definition is: evolution sustains organized systems through high fidelity replication of information. This definition can be broken down into five essential components: (1) high fidelity replication of information with 0% < survival rate < 100%; (2) expendable replication technology distinct from the replication information; (3) inert information that provides no kinetic energy to the replication process; (4) demonstrates a quantifiable resistance to entropy; (5) demonstrates intentionality.     

In Defense of the Moral Significance of Empathy

It is commonly suggested that empathy is a morally important quality to possess and that a failure to properly empathize with others is a kind of moral failure. This suggestion assumes that empathy involves caring for others’ well-being. Skeptics challenge the moral importance of empathy by arguing that empathy is neither necessary nor sufficient to care for others’ well-being. This challenge is misguided. Although some forms of empathy may not be morally important, empathy with another’s basic well-being concerns is both necessary and sufficient to care for another’s well-being, provided that one’s empathy is both cognitive and affective. I further defend the idea that empathy of this form is a moral virtue. In doing so, I address three challenges to empathy’s status as a virtue: (1) that empathy is unnecessary for being ethical, (2) that it is not useful for promoting ethical behavior, and (3) that an empathetic person can lack other traits central to being virtuous, such as being motivated by the moral good and being disposed to do virtuous things whenever appropriate opportunities arise. I argue that these challenges are mistaken.     

‘We shall be like him,for we shall see him’: Augustine's De Trinitate and the Purification of the Mind

Contemporary re‐examinations of Augustine's De Trinitate have made the case for the coherence and consistency of the work based on the material content of its trinitarian theology. I propose that Augustine's understanding of De Trinitate's function also ties the work together as a whole. Rather than just talking about purification, De Trinitate attempts to participate in and correspond to God's economically grounded, eschatological purification of humanity. By undertaking a close reading of Book 1, followed by a brief overview of Books 2–15, I make the case that reading De Trinitate as a participation in purification holds all 15 books together.