Why we need a relevant theory of conditionals

This paper presents ConR (Conditional R), a logic of conditionals based on Anderson and Belnap's system R. A Routley-Meyer-style semantics for ConR is given for the system (the completeness of ConR over this semantics is proved in E. Mares and A. Fuhrmann, A Relevant Theory of Conditionals (unpublished MS)). Moreover, it is argued that adopting a relevant theory of conditionals will improve certain theories that utilize conditionals, i.e. Lewis' theory of causation, Lewis' dyadic deontic logic, and Chellas' dyadic deontic logic.I am of course deeply indebted to André Fuhrmann, who co-wrote the paper on which the present effort is based. Perhaps I should also thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada because the original research for this project was funded by them in the form of a post-doctoral fellowship.     

Goal attainment scaling: An idiosyncratic method to assess treatment effectiveness in agoraphobia

Goal attainment scaling (GAS) is an individually tailored way to measure treatment gains, using a highly standardized procedure. An advantage of the method is that it takes into account individual characteristics of the patients, and at the same time the data are suitable for quantitative analysis and comparable across patients. Despite the wide acceptance and use of the method in the evaluation of psychotherapy, data on its psychometric properties are rather scarce. In the current study, GAS was used as one of several outcome measures in a research project on the effectiveness of various treatments for panic disorder with agoraphobia. Guidelines for GAS are presented as well as data on the reliability and validity of the procedure. Results indicate that the procedure is reliable, valid, and sensitive to the improvement of patients during treatment. Comparison of GAS with standardized measures revealed considerable concordance, although the clinical end status of patients diverged somewhat dependent on the measure considered.     

Self-regulation through goal setting

The extant literature on goal setting through 1990 has been reviewed and integrated by Locke and Latham (1990a). The result was the development of a theory of goal setting with special emphasis on its practical implications for the motivation of employees in organizational settings. The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, the theory is summarized and updated with respect to research completed since publication of the 1990 book. Second, the self-regulatory effects of goal setting are described. Emphasis is given to ways that people can use goals as a self-management technique.     

Injustice in American liberal democracy: Foundations for a Rawlsian critique

Conclusion Rawls stipulates that nonideal theory must include theories of punishment and compensatory justice, as well as a justification for the forms of opposition to unjust regimes, from civil disobedience and conscientious refusal to militant resistance, rebellion and revolution. (TOJ, p. 8) Given the Kantian interpretation of nonideal theory we now can see that each of its parts must be constructed to contribute to the teaching of justice. The preferred theory of moral development enables us to understand how persons come to adopt nonideal conceptions and practices, and how they can be convinced to change their thinking. The theory of history enables us to determine which traditions contain empirical causes of contemporary conceptions and practices.We recall that Rawls identifies the parties in the original position as we ourselves; when we ground our judgments upon its procedures, then we can perceive the world as persons in that position do. Our view need not be obscured by the economic determinism of traditional Marxism, nor does it require a psychoanalytic corrective in the manner stipulated by contemporary critical Marxists. A Rawlsian critique of American liberal democracy resolves the question of these determinants in the same way as it resolves all questions of an empirical nature, by placing them in their systematic unity according to a Kantian moral anthropology. If we can see what judgments result regarding empirical injustices and their removal we may ourselves learn something of how to redesign nonideal culture to conform to ideal principles of justice. And this prospect in turn is identical to the prospect of constructing a bridge between social theory and practice within liberal democracy.An earlier draft of this paper was read at the Tenth Interamerican Congress of Philosophy on Human Rights, Tallahassee, Fla., 1981.     

The Incompleteness of RGL

RGLis a version of the modal logic GLbased on the relevant logic R. It is shown that the class of RKframes that verify all theorems of RGLalso verify a scheme that we call (!). If RGLhas (!) as a theorem, however, it is not a relevant logic. I go on to show that not all instances of (!) are theorems of RGL, hence this logic is not complete over any class of RKframes.     

No evidence of other-race effect for Chinese faces in Malaysian non-Chinese population

The other-race effect (ORE) reflects poor recognition of faces of a different race to one's own. According to the expertise-individuation hypothesis, this phenomenon is a consequence of limited experience with other-race faces. Thus, similar experience with own and other-race faces should abolish the ORE. This study explores the ORE in a multi-racial country (i.e., Malaysia) by comparing Malaysian observers' face recognition for faces of a predominant racial group in Malaysia (i.e., Chinese) with faces from an uncommon group (i.e., Caucasian). Malaysian Chinese, Malays, and Malaysian Indians completed the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) and the CFMT-Chinese. Compared with the normative scores, Malaysian observers showed poor performance in the CFMT-Caucasian. Interestingly, Malays and Malaysian Indians observers' performance was identical to that of Malaysian Chinese in the CFMT-Chinese and to the normative scores of the test. These results demonstrate the relevance of experience in shaping the ORE.     

Competence and morality dimensions of national and ethnic stereotypes: a study in six eastern-European countries

To investigate the role of competence and morality in stereotypes, a cross-national research was set up in six eastern-European countries. Study 1 measured the perceived desirability of stereotype attributes in ingroup versus outgroup members. Across countries, biopolar Competence and Morality components emerged. It was found that the perceived desirability of ingroup attributes was primarily competence-based, while desirability perceptions of outgroup attributes were mostly morality-based. In Study 2, participants in the six countries rated the occurrence of competence- and morality-related stereotype attributes among 10 national and ethnic target groups. Study 2 also assessed general evaluative attitudes and perceptions of power and conflict in inter-nation relations. Competence and morality dimensions fully explained the evaluative structure of national and ethnic stereotypes, generating a four-fold typology of sinful–loser, sinful–winner, virtuous–loser and virtuous–winner stereotypes. This typology was strongly related to perceptions of power and conflict between national groups. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Kuhnian paradigms as representational spaces: New perspectives on the problems of incommensurability,scientific explanation,and physical necessity

This paper starts with an intuitive notion of representational spaces, which is intended to provide an improved version of Kuhn's concept of paradigms. It then proceeds to study the following topics in terms of this new notion: incommensurability, paradigm change, explanation of anomalies, explanation of regularities, explanation of irregularities, and physical necessity. In the course of the investigation, "representational space" gets clarified and defined. It is envisaged that this new concept should throw light on many issues in the philosophy of science.