Privacy Rights,and Why Negative Control is Not a Dead End: A Reply to Munch and Lundgren

Lauritz Munch and Björn Lundgren have recently replied to a paper published by us in this journal. In our original paper, we defended a novel version of the so-called ‘control theory’ of the moral right to privacy. We argued that control theorists should define ‘control’ as what we coined ‘Negative Control’. Munch and Lundgren have recently provided a range of interesting and challenging objections to our view. Independently of each other, they give almost identical counterexamples to our definition of Negative Control. In this comment, we show that while the counterexamples are genuine counterexamples, they do not force us to abandon the idea of Negative Control. Furthermore, we reply to two additional objections raised by Lundgren. One of these replies involves giving a new account of what the relation is between the concept of privacy and the right to privacy.

     

An investigation of weight bias against women and its associations with individual difference factors

This study explored weight bias against women from different weight categories in relation to occupational decisions, child adoption, and helping behaviour, as well as individual difference correlates of weight bias. A total of 1024 participants were randomly assigned to one of five conditions in which they were asked to select the women they would most and least likely hire, promote, or terminate, select for parental adoption, or assist following a traffic accident. They also completed measures of anti-fat attitudes, fat phobia, and attitudes toward obese persons. Results showed bias against both emaciated and obese women across conditions, and suggested that bias was strongest in relation to hiring and weakest in relation to helping behaviour. Further results showed that only greater concern about becoming fat significantly predicted weight bias. These results suggest that weight bias may affect women at both ends of the weight continuum, which require measures to reduce discrimination.     

Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale: Psychometric Properties of the Self-Report Version in a Student Sample

The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of an Icelandic translation of the self-report version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS-SR). The Y-BOCS-SR was administered to a sample of 427 Icelandic university students along with another measure of OCD symptoms (OCI-R) and measures of general anxiety and worry (GAD-Q-IV and PSWQ). The internal consistency of the Y-BOCS-SR total severity score and its obsession and compulsion subscales was very good. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the original two- factor structure of the severity dimensions but a three-factor model with obsession, compulsion and resistance/control factors fitted the data equally well. Five factors described best the latent structure of the symptom dimensions. Support was found for the convergent and divergent validity of the Y-BOCS-SR. The results indicate that the Y-BOCS-SR is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the severity of obsessions and compulsions in a student population.     

The human parahippocampal cortex subserves egocentric spatial learning during navigation in a virtual maze

BackgroundPresent evidence suggests that the hippocampus (HC) and the parahippocampal cortex (PHC) are involved in allocentric (world-centered) spatial memory. However, the putative role of the PHC in egocentric (body-centered) spatial learning has received only limited systematic investigation.MethodsTo examine the role of the PHC in egocentric learning, 19 healthy volunteers learned to find their way in a virtual maze during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The virtual maze presented a first-person view, lacked any topographical landmarks and could be learned only using egocentric navigation strategies.ResultsDuring learning, increased medial temporal lobe activity was observed in the PHC bilaterally. Activity was also observed in cortical areas known to project to the PHC and proposed to contribute to egocentric spatial navigation and memory.ConclusionsOur results point to a role of the PHC for the representation and storage of egocentric information. It seems possible that the PHC contributes to egocentric memory by its feedback projections to the posterior parietal cortex. Moreover, access to allocentric and egocentric streams of spatial information may enable the PHC to construct a global and comprehensive representation of spatial environments and to promote the construction of stable cognitive maps by translating between egocentric and allocentric frames of memory.     

Nathan Söderblom and Our Own Time1

In 1914 Professor Nathan Söderblom was elected archbishop of the Church of Sweden. His consecration took place in Uppsala Cathedral just months after the beginning of World War I. In 1925, he convened an ecumenical meeting in Stockholm that came to shape the ecumenical movement for decades to come. The peace question remained at the heart of his episcopate as long as it lasted. In this article, Antje Jackelén and Jakob Wirén explore some of the additional challenges that lay before Nathan Söderblom. Even today, there are lessons to be learned from the way Söderblom responded to issues such as questioning the relevance of the church, the need for dialogue between science and theology, the urgency of ecumenical cooperation, and the risks of nationalism.     

Religious freedom and cultural asymmetry: Some pitfalls of secularism

ABSTRACT

Disputes concerning state interference in the religious practices and traditions of citizens have created uproar in public debate in India and Europe during the past decades. The contributors to this colloquium on Europe, India, and the Limits of Secularism point to the importance of two domains in addressing these disputes: the comparative study of court decisions and the budding domain of comparative political theory. In this response, I discuss several issues that emerge from these domains and argue that the problem of cultural asymmetry continues to create major pitfalls in the debates on secularism and religious freedom.     

Scientific Uncertainty in News Coverage of Cancer Research: Effects of Hedging on Scientists’ and Journalists’ Credibility

News reports of scientific research are rarely hedged; in other words, the reports do not contain caveats, limitations, or other indicators of scientific uncertainty. Some have suggested that hedging may influence news consumers’ perceptions of scientists’ and journalists’ credibility (perceptions that may be related to support for scientific research and/or adoption of scientific recommendations). But whether hedging does affect audience perceptions is unknown. A multiple‐message experiment (N= 601) found that across five messages, both scientists and journalists were viewed as more trustworthy (a) when news coverage of cancer research was hedged (e.g., study limitations were reported) and (b) when the hedging was attributed to the scientists responsible for the research (as opposed to scientists unaffiliated with the research).     

Intervention or Involvement: A Video Observational Analysis of Bouncers in Aggressive Encounters

ABSTRACT

Little is known about how bouncer–patron interactions may influence a bouncer’s use of physical aggression. To address this gap, we offer a micro-interactional analysis examining real-life aggressive bouncer behavior captured by venue surveillance cameras. Quantitative results show that bouncer physical aggression is associated with interactions in which bouncers are directly involved as a conflict party, but not with interactions where they solely intervene as a third-party. Further, a qualitative analysis of emotional cues identifies anger as a plausible mechanism underpinning bouncer aggression. We consider the implications of these findings for night-time economy violence prevention strategies and discuss the relevance of video data for barroom research.     

The Self‐Evidencing Brain

An exciting theory in neuroscience is that the brain is an organ for prediction error minimization (PEM). This theory is rapidly gaining influence and is set to dominate the science of mind and brain in the years to come. PEM has extreme explanatory ambition, and profound philosophical implications. Here, I assume the theory, briefly explain it, and then I argue that PEM implies that the brain is essentially self‐evidencing. This means it is imperative to identify an evidentiary boundary between the brain and its environment. This boundary defines the mind‐world relation, opens the door to skepticism, and makes the mind transpire as more inferentially secluded and neurocentrically skull‐bound than many would nowadays think. Therefore, PEM somewhat deflates contemporary hypotheses that cognition is extended, embodied and enactive; however, it can nevertheless accommodate the kinds of cases that fuel these hypotheses.