On Field’s Epistemological Argument Against Platonism

Hartry Field’s formulation of an epistemological argument against platonism requires knowledge to be causally constrained. Contrary to recent claims (e.g. in [6], [7]), it thus fails the very same criterion usually taken to discredit Benacerraf’s earlier version.     

Hans Penner, Horatio and the Terminator: a review essay of Radical Interpretation in Religion

Adaptations of Donald Davidson’s meta-methodology of “radical interpretation” by Hans Penner and colleagues create more problems than they solve. Penner’s affirmation of both holistic and naturalistic approaches to the study of religion ring true. But, making the inclusion of ‘superhuman beings’—those “that do things you and I cannot do”—sufficient to the definition of religion. It is alternately counterfactual (Theravada, Chan or Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, Jainism and others), or not restrictive enough (does every such being qualify? viz. Schwarzenegger’s Terminator?), or logically ‘uninteresting’—is reference to superhuman beings alone what makes a discourse religious, or is it their being ‘worshipful’?     

Explaining Conservative Beliefs and Political Preferences: A Comparison of Social Dominance Orientation and Authoritarianism

The present study compares the predictive validity of the Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) scale and various measures of authoritarianism, conservative beliefs, and political preferences. In accordance with previous studies, SDO and authoritarianism independently predicted conservative beliefs. Political preferences and extreme right-wing voting was best predicted by SDO. Unlike previous research, high positive correlations between SDO and the various authoritarianism scales were found. The relationship between SDO and authoritarianism is discussed.     

Aversive experiences are associated with a rapid and transient activation of ERKs in the rat hippocampus.

The extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) family of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) has been shown to participate in memory formation. We recently found that a hippocampal ERK/MAPK cascade is required for memory formation of an inhibitory avoidance training in rats. Here we reported that this learning task is accompanied by a rapid increase in the phosphorylation of hippocampal p44 MAPK. A single mild foot shock produced a similar effect and three consecutive foot shocks provoked the activation of both p44 and p42 MAPKs. In contrast, a brief exposure to the training box or the habituation to an open field did not alter hippocampal ERK/MAPK levels. Together, these findings indicate that aversive behavioral experiences induced a rapid and transient activation of ERK/MAPKs in the hippocampus.     

How to tell essence (when you sense one)

How could perceptual experiences reveal matters of essentiality? Answering this question is crucial for vindicating a thesis about the epistemic import of experience, commonly known as Revelation. The thesis comes in a weak and a strong version. Only on the strong one could it make up an authoritative piece of common sense. But this version also seems to demand too much of our experiences, namely that they can reveal essentiality. However, the impression that our experiences are not suited for this turns out to be due to a non-mandatory assumption about how the revelation of essentiality would work.     

Parents’ perceptions of children’s executive functions across different cities

Culture is thought to strongly influence the development of executive functions (EF), such that ethnic groups with similar cultural origins are generally assumed to exhibit comparable levels of EF performance. However, other characteristics, such as urbanization and Westernization, may also affect EF performance in societies comprising different ethnic groups, even if the ethnic groups share a similar cultural origin. The present study aimed to compare the perceptions of parents in three cities [China–Shenzhen (ZH group), China–Hong Kong (HK group), and Singapore (SG group)] regarding the EF performances of their children, all of whom share the same genetic and cultural (i.e., Chinese) origin. The study recruited 95 children aged 5–6 years (ZH group = 32; HK group = 32; SG group = 31). Their parents were invited to complete the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF). The ZH group had significantly lower BRIEF scores compared to both the HK and SG groups. However, the BRIEF scores of the HK and SG groups only differed significantly in terms of the Organization of Materials domain. The results suggest city-related differences in parents’ perceptions of their children’s EF performances, despite their similar genetic and cultural backgrounds. We additionally discuss further interpretations of our results and the limitations of this study.     

Teaching Responsible Research and Innovation: A Phronetic Perspective

Science and Engineering Ethics - Across the European research area and beyond, efforts are being mobilized to align research and innovation processes and products with societal values and needs,...     

Unawareness of Deficits in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias: Operational Definitions and Empirical Findings

Individuals with dementia frequently demonstrate decreased awareness of their cognitive difficulties. Empirical research examining this phenomenon has addressed a number of aspects of unawareness in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, including occurrence in various disorders; possible neuroanatomical substrates; relationship to general cognitive functioning, executive functioning, and psychiatric symptomatology; and progression over time and across cognitive domains. Limitations of the current research literature are discussed, particularly issues surrounding operational definitions of unawareness and the current limited understanding of the role of the frontal lobes. A number of conclusions regarding unawareness that appear to be supported by the current body of empirical research and possible future directions are discussed.