VAGUE PARTS AND VAGUE IDENTITY

We discuss arguments against the thesis that the world itself can be vague. The first section of the paper distinguishes dialectically effective from ineffective arguments against metaphysical vagueness. The second section constructs an argument against metaphysical vagueness that promises to be of the dialectically effective sort: an argument against objects with vague parts. Firstly, cases of vague parthood commit one to cases of vague identity. But we argue that Evans' famous argument against will not on its own enable one to complete the reductio in the present context. We provide a metaphysical premise that would complete the reductio, but note that it seems deniable. We conclude by drawing general morals from our case study.     

Conceptualization and Measurement of Interpersonal Communication Motives

The goal of this study was to develop and validate an instrument that could be used to ascertain motives individuals have for interpersonal communication. A 28-item scale is presented along with initial information about the scale's construct validity. Results indicated there were six prominent motives: pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, and control. Low communicative appre-hensives used interpersonal communication for pleasure, affection, and control while high apprehensives were more aligned with the inclusion motive. The motives of pleasure, affection, and relaxation were more closely related to communication satisfaction. In fact, communication satisfaction was best predicted by low communication apprehension, gender, and the pleasure, affection, relaxation, and escape communication motives.