Metaphysics of quantity and the limit of phenomenal concepts

Quantities like mass and temperature are properties that come in degrees. And those degrees (e.g. 5 kg) are properties that are called the magnitudes of the quantities. Some philosophers talk about magnitudes of phenomenal qualities as if some of our phenomenal qualities are quantities. The goal of this essay is to explore the anti-physicalist implication of this apparently innocent way of conceptualizing phenomenal quantities. I will first argue for a metaphysical thesis about the nature of magnitudes based on Yablo’s proportionality requirement of causation. Then, I will show that, if some phenomenal qualities are indeed quantities, there can be no demonstrative concepts about some of our phenomenal feelings. That presents a significant restriction on the way physicalists can account for the epistemic gap between the phenomenal and the physical. I’ll illustrate the restriction by showing how that rules out a popular physicalist response to the Knowledge Argument.     

Predictors of fear of crime: general fear versus perceived risk

Much of the literature on fear of crime (FOC) has focused on the role of risk perceptions in understanding FOC, with little consideration given to psychological factors not directly related to crime, but that can impact the levels of FOC. This study introduces general fear (GF) as an explanatory factor in understanding FOC. A proportional random sample of 1,197 respondents was obtained from 406 enumeration districts across Trinidad. The results revealed GF as the strongest predictor of FOC across ethnicity, sex, age, area of residence, and victim status. Explanations and areas for further investigation are offered.     

Measuring Postural Sway in Sitting: A New Segmental Approach

Global measures of trunk sway are traditionally used even though the trunk comprises a multiple number of segments. The authors’ aim was to measure the seated sway of typically developing children using a multisegment approach. Twenty typically developing children divided into 2 groups, older and younger than 10 years old, participated in this study. The children sat unsupported for 30 s while their posture and sway were quantified using stereophotogrammetry. The tendency in both age groups was to sit with a backward tilted pelvis and a kyphotic trunk. The sitting position was most varied in the younger group. Marker sway amplitude and velocity in sitting were age dependent, with reduced sway amplitude and velocity with increased age for all segments. Anteroposterior intersegmental angular sway was not age dependent. The difference in marker sway in the anteroposterior direction for the younger group appeared to result from an equally stable trunk supported on a less stable pelvis. Mediolateral marker sway and intersegmental angular sway showed a clearer age dependency. Trunk postural control does not appear to differ between children older and younger than 10 years old, but sagittal plane pelvic stability can explain the increased sway reported in younger children.     

The Soul is Alive and Well: Non-reductive Physicalism and Emergent Mental Properties

Non-reductive physicalism denies the soul's existence, arguing that cognitive functions emerge from evolutionary processes. Focusing on Nancey Murphy, this paper argues that non-reductive physicalism has an inadequate conception of causality. Murphy defends downward causation, but like many modern and postmodern philosophers, she pays insufficient attention to the metaphysics of causality. Drawing on Thomistic philosophy, this article maintains that lower-level entities like neurotransmitters lack the causal power necessary to produce higher-level cognitive operations. In defending emergence, Murphy performs a metaphysical sleight-of-hand through which cognitive powers inexplicably appear. The paper ends by urging contemporary thinkers to develop richer metaphysical understandings of causality, and to use them to enhance the dialogue between religion and science.     

Creative restorations: Holding a mirror to the self in brief dynamic therapy

The author outlines the conceptual framework that underpins psychoanalytic self-psychology, describing the function of the selfobject in meeting the need of the child and later the adult for mirroring, idealisation and essential alikeness, and thereby sustaining the coherence of the self within a structure that takes the form of a tension arc. Drawing from more recent elaborations of the need for optimal responsiveness by the selfobject in mirroring the expansiveness of the self, the author proceeds to compare this conceptual framework with that of Winnicott and Wright, who posited the role of mirroring in the development and realisation of the self. The contribution of mirroring to the facilitation of creativity as well as the relationship between the arts and the realisation of the self are explored in the particular context of the counselling of students in the field of the performing arts. The implications of these concepts are further explored in relation to short-term counselling and this is illustrated with a case example.     

The three faces of overconfidence

Overconfidence has been studied in 3 distinct ways. Overestimation is thinking that you are better than you are. Overplacement is the exaggerated belief that you are better than others. Overprecision is the excessive faith that you know the truth. These 3 forms of overconfidence manifest themselves under different conditions, have different causes, and have widely varying consequences. It is a mistake to treat them as if they were the same or to assume that they have the same psychological origins.     

The subject of psychology: A Lacanian critique

This paper provides an overview of Jacques Lacan's views on psychology, paying particular attention to how such critiques support a distinctively Lacanian view of the subject. Lacan attacked various facets of psychology, including: psychology's objectifying (and objectivistic) tendencies; the discipline's historical attempt to model itself on the natural sciences; its conceptual and practical prioritizations of the ego and consciousness; its frequent prioritization of developmental, biological and physiological paradigms above a careful analysis of the structures and operations of language and speech. The aim of the paper is not to systematically work through Lacan's various criticisms, still less to refute them. Ultimately, Lacan's historical attacks against psychology—apposite as they are—have their greatest value in helping us to strike some distance from commonplace assumptions and psychological assumptions about the nature of the subject.     

Fear of crime and community concerns: Mediating effect of risk and pragmatic fear

This study investigates the relationship between community concerns (i.e., perceived crime, incivilities, and infrastructure) and fear of crime (FOC) while examining the mediating role of risk of victimisation and pragmatic fear. Gender and ethnic differences were also explored. Data were collected using a proportionate multistage random sample of 3,003 participants from a southern Caribbean island in 2015. The following self‐reported measures were used: risk of victimisation and FOC scales, a general (noncrime) fear scale measuring pragmatic fear, and a community concern scale. Data were analysed using path analysis, Sobel tests, and multiple group analysis. Findings revealed that perceived crime and incivilities significantly predicted FOC, whereas infrastructure was insignificant as a direct predictor. Females had higher FOC, and among ethnic groups, Indo‐Trinidadians had the highest FOC than Afro‐Trinidadians and Mixed participants. Risk of victimisation and pragmatic fear had significant mediating effects on community concerns and FOC. Findings are discussed in the context of the social psychology of social disorganisation and previous research.