Probability Propagation in Generalized Inference Forms

Probabilistic inference forms lead from point probabilities of the premises to interval probabilities of the conclusion. The probabilistic version of Modus Ponens, for example, licenses the inference from \({P(A) = \alpha}\) and \({P(B|A) = \beta}\) to \({P(B)\in [\alpha\beta, \alpha\beta + 1 - \alpha]}\) . We study generalized inference forms with three or more premises. The generalized Modus Ponens, for example, leads from \({P(A_{1}) = \alpha_{1}, \ldots, P(A_{n})= \alpha_{n}}\) and \({P(B|A_{1} \wedge \cdots \wedge A_{n}) = \beta}\) to an according interval for P(B). We present the probability intervals for the conclusions of the generalized versions of Cut, Cautious Monotonicity, Modus Tollens, Bayes’ Theorem, and some SYSTEM O rules. Recently, Gilio has shown that generalized inference forms “degrade”—more premises lead to less precise conclusions, i.e., to wider probability intervals of the conclusion. We also study Adam’s probability preservation properties in generalized inference forms. Special attention is devoted to zero probabilities of the conditioning events. These zero probabilities often lead to different intervals in the coherence and the Kolmogorov approach.     

Measuring Spiritual Needs in a Secular Society: Validation and Clinimetric Properties of the Danish 20-Item Spiritual Needs Questionnaire

Journal of Religion and Health - In secular cultures, such as Denmark, tools to measure spiritual needs are warranted to guide existential and spiritual care. We examined the clinimetric properties...     

The Word Made Speculative? John Milbank's Christological Poetics

John Milbank's The Word Made Strange serves to answer many of the points raised by critics of his earlier Theology and Social Theory, in particular by developing more fully a Trinitarian metaphysics that take seriously the poetic character of human making and knowing. However, this metaphysics raises further questions regarding the underdevelopment of Milbank's Christology, Ecclesiology and Ethics. Specifically, Milbank's thin account of Jesus and the Church indicates an aversion to particularity that risks making his theology merely speculative, and lessens its impact on concrete Christian communities.     

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Decision-Making in Offender Populations with Mental Disorder

Neuropsychology Review - Decision-making has many different definitions and is measured in varied ways using neuropsychological tasks. Offenders with mental disorder habitually make disadvantageous...     

What is a Person? And Why it Matters in Religious Ethics

Here I respond to four critics of my book, What Is a Person?, seeking to find areas of common ground and crucial disagreement. Most importantly, I explore the question of whether all human knowledge is conceptually mediated, acknowledging that, no, indeed, there are likely forms of experiential knowledge that are purely and directly acquired without conceptual mediation.