Deweyan Multicultural Democracy,Rortian Solidarity,and the Popular Arts: Krumping into Presence

Curiously, while the efficacy of the arts for the development of multicultural understandings has long been theorized, empirical studies of this effect have been lacking. This essay recounts our combined empirical and philosophical study of this issue. We explicate the philosophical considerations that shaped the development of the arts course we studied, which was grounded in rather traditional humanist educational thought, informed by Deweyan considerations for pedagogy and multiculturalism. We also provide an overview of the course and of the study design: the ways in which the course worked to teach aesthetic theory through a combination of popular and canonical works, and the ways in which it sought to instill a sense of cross-cultural appreciation and solidarity among students through the inclusion of art from different cultures and generations. We then share our research findings and our return to the realm of philosophy to interpret them. Our postcolonial analysis incorporates emerging discussions of the arts as a tool for resistance and dialogue within the system of public education, and revisit and reconsider the very concept of education for pluralistic democracy. This approach problematizes traditional conceptions of pluralism, in which an attempt is made to dissolve difference in a common understanding, and instead advocates that works from among the contemporary popular arts and works drawn from the artistic “canon” alike must be considered and employed for their instrumental value to the educational process—especially for their ability to prompt an intersubjectivity that is accompanied by a heightened awareness of difference.     

Theories of Truth without Standard Models and Yablo’s Sequences

The aim of this paper is to show that it’s not a good idea to have a theory of truth that is consistent but ω-inconsistent. In order to bring out this point, it is useful to consider a particular case: Yablo’s Paradox. In theories of truth without standard models, the introduction of the truth-predicate to a first order theory does not maintain the standard ontology. Firstly, I exhibit some conceptual problems that follow from so introducing it. Secondly, I show that in second order theories with standard semantics the same procedure yields a theory that doesn’t have models. So, while having an ω- inconsistent theory is a bad thing, having an unsatisfiable theory of truth is actually worse. This casts doubts on whether the predicate in question is, after all, a truthpredicate for that language. Finally, I present some alternatives to prove an inconsistency adding plausible principles to certain theories of truth.     

Structural relaxation and rejuvenation in a metallic glass induced by shot-peening

The metallic glass Pd₄₀Cu₃₀Ni₁₀P₂₀ in as-cast or pre-annealed states was shot-peened successively at room temperature or at 77 K. The structural state of the glass was characterized by the relaxation spectrum measured in a differential scanning calorimeter. Mechanically induced relaxation of the as-cast glass and mechanically induced rejuvenation of pre-annealed samples are both more evident at 77 K than at 298 K, enabling deductions about the underlying mechanisms. The relaxation spectrum of the glass as a function of temperature displays two broad maxima, which occurring at the higher temperature is attributed to the part of the free-volume distribution associated with flow defects. In samples shot-peened at 77 K, the stored energy after deformation can be as high as 20% of the cold work. Shot-peening simultaneously generates flow defects within shear bands and destroys them in the matrix between bands: whose effect dominates is principally dependent on the initial state of relaxation of the glass. Shot-peening of partially crystallized samples appears capable of breaking up and dispersing crystallites without inducing any further significant crystallization.     

Body Boundary and Psychological Control in an Arthritic Population

This study investigated the relationship of body boundary and psychological control in a sample of 115 arthritic and connective tissue disorder patients. Barrier and penetration scores in the Rorschach were compared with ratings of outer and inner control. A positive significant relationship was found between barrier and outer control and a negative significant relationship was found between penetration and inner control. It is indicated that in this population a combination of high barrier and low penetration is associated with good psychological control while a combination of low barrier and high penetration is associated with poor psychological control. A combination of high barrier and high penetration is associated with poor inner control and a combination of low barrier and low penetration is associated with poor outer control.     

The Many Senses of Imagination and the Manifestation of Fiction: A View from Husserl’s Phenomenology of Phantasy

The systematic importance of the eidetic account of phantasy for Husserlian phenomenology in general is undisputed, but whether this account can be relevant for Aesthetics has often been put into question. In this paper I argue that Husserl’s rich phenomenology of phantasy, and in particular his account of perceptual phantasy, can nevertheless significantly enhance our understanding of how we recognize and imaginatively participate in artistic fictions. Moreover, I show how Husserl’s peculiar formulation of a non-intuitive phantasy at stake in artistic representation anticipates some uses of the imagination in Aesthetics suggested by Ernst Gombrich and Kendall Walton.     

El procesamiento cognoscitivo de las oraciones negativas

Resumen

Dentro del estudio de la comprensión de las oraciones negativas, la revisión del modelo del procesamiento de la negación de Clark ha hecho surgir dos tipos de críticas.

En primer lugar, el gran «margen de libertad» que posee dicho modelo le hace excesivamente ambiguo y difícilmente contrastable, planteando serios problemas en la interpretación de los datos experimentales, y en la formalización del mismo.

En segundo lugar, junto a los teóricos de la «función natural semántica», se ha señalado la imprescindible necesidad de introducir, en el estudio del lenguaje, los llamados factores contextuales y pragmáticos.     

Respuesta a los comentarios

RESUMEN

Crespo comienza manifestando que su propósito es sondear, aunque sea de forma elemental, la posibilidad y potencial productividad de una consideración de la racionalidad como elemento explicativo dentro de una teoría social de las actitudes. El autor explica que un concepto no exclusivamente utilitario o instrumental de la racionalidad puede ser de utilidad para comprender ciertos desarrollos de la dinámica actitudinal, en concreto, aquellos en que es posible pensar que cambiamos de actitud porque somos argumentalmente convencidos. Crespo resalta la posibilidad de considerar las actitudes, entendidas como procesos de significación evaluativa o toma de postura respecto a otros significativos, como procesos sociales susceptibles de enjuiciamiento y eventualmente necesitados de legitimación o justificación. El autor finaliza su trabajo repasando extensamente algunas características del concepto de actitud en relación con su carácter evaluativo y su vinculación a la acción. Los comentarios de Amalio Blanco, Charles Antaki y M^a Dolores Avia valorando esta exposición siguen a la misma, al igual que la respuesta de Crespo a estos autores.     

Entrevista con J. D. Frank

RESUMEN

Jerome Frank, posiblemente el autor más provocativo en la línea de considerar que las psicoterapias pueden ser placebos o que éstos deben considerarse como auténticas terapias, responde en la entrevista a algunas de las cuestiones que su reconocimiento de los factores comunes a todas las terapias han planteado a otros profesionales. Comienza explicando que desde la publicación de Persuasion and Healing se han acumulado más datos a favor de su hipótesis de la desmoralización, e introduce algunas clarificaciones terminológicas en relación con el “efecto placebo”. Seguidamente aborda, entre otras, cuestiones tales como las características que se deben considerar al diseñar un grupo control placebo, cómo deben emplearse éstos en el campo de la psicología clínica o su defensa del terapeuta ecléctico, finalizando con algunos comentarios acerca de la eficacia de varias formas de psicoterapia.