Einige kritische Bemerkungen zu Stauffer's Darstellung der spätjüdischen Ketzergesetzgebung

This article discusses the possibilities for and the point of using religious and moral arguments in current public, political discourse. A solution building upon the concept of overlapping consensus is critically analyzed. The author finds that this Rawlsian idea fails to see the close relation between justifying arguments and the conclusions reached. It also emphasizes justifying reasoning too much. The article points at a need to start in concrete social practice. Related to that, a discussion between Jeffrey Stout and Stanley Hauerwas concerning the relation between religion, ethics and democratic life is analyzed. The final section of the article deals with some implications of the main arguments for an understanding of Nordic Lutheran social ethics today.     

Mortality salience and uncertainty: Similar effects but different processes?

Three experimental studies investigated whether death‐thoughts avoidance as a consequence of mortality salience and need for certainty as a consequence of uncertainty are two different motivational states. The results suggest that although death‐thought avoidance and need for certainty are different constructs, they share a great deal of variance (anxiety plays a pivotal mediational role in both). However, whereas the impact of uncertainty on negative attitudes towards an out‐group with different worldviews (Arabs) was mediated only by anxiety (measured retrospectively), the effect of mortality salience was mediated by both retrospective anxiety and death‐thought accessibility. These findings imply that similar effects that have been obtained by these two manipulations are, at least partly, the result of different processes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why are good theories good? reflections on epistemic values, confirmation, and formal epistemology

Franz Huber’s (2008a) attempt to unify inductivist and hypothetico-deductivist intuitions on confirmation by means of a single measure are examined and compared with previous work on the theory of verisimilitude or truthlikeness. The idea of connecting ‘the logic of confirmation’ with ‘the logic of acceptability’ is also critically discussed, and it is argued that ‘acceptability’ takes necessarily into account some pragmatic criteria, and that at least two normative senses of ‘acceptability’ must be distinguished: ‘acceptable’ in the sense of ‘being allowed to accept’, and ‘acceptable’ in the sense of ‘being obliged to accept’. Lastly, some connections of confirmation theory with naturalism, intertheoretic reduction, and explanation vs. understanding are explored.     

Literature and the Expressions of Being in Merleau-Ponty’s Unpublished Course Notes

In this article I examine Merleau-Ponty’s understanding of the relation between literature, being and perception. I focus especially on two of Merleau-Ponty’s courses at Collège de France: the first course, Le monde sensible et le monde de l’expression, and the unpublished course Sur le problème de la parole. In the former Merleau-Ponty presents a new understanding of perception, according to which being is expressed in perception through the style of movement of the perceived phenomenon. In the latter he advances a notion of literary writing as an expression of the being that is itself expressed to us in perception. Through a reading of Proust’s work, he discusses how the literary writer makes his experience expressive by means of a stylization of what is experienced. Hence, literature expresses perception through an enhancement of the expressiveness that it already contains. This capacity of literature will be the main focus of my investigation.     

The correlates of psychological health among the Turkish unemployed: Psychological burden of financial help during unemployment

The purpose of this study is to examine the major determinants of psychological health during unemployment. With this in mind, 438 (17% female and 83% male) unemployed individuals were contacted through Turkey's State Employment Office. It was expected that the relationship between duration of unemployment and psychological wellbeing would be nonlinear. Additionally it was hypothesized that perceived social support would moderate the relationship between length of unemployment and psychological health. Further, we suggested that self‐esteem would be related to psychological health and moderate the relationship between length of unemployment and psychological health. The results supported the curvilinearity hypothesis of the relationship between unemployment duration and psychological health as measured by General Health Questionnaire. However, social support was not found to moderate the relationship between unemployment duration and psychological health. The hypothesis that self‐esteem would moderate the relationship between length of unemployment and psychological distress was not supported, although self‐esteem was a strong negative determinant of psychological distress during unemployment. Regression analysis showed that the best predictors of psychological health were self‐esteem, perceived social support and perceived adequacy of financial aid received from relatives. Interestingly, perceived adequacy of the financial aid was negatively related to psychological health. This result was contradictory with the previous literature pointing out that financial aid reduces the effects of poverty due to unemployment. The findings of this study are important since the relationship between unemployment duration and psychological health was nonlinear, indicating that relevant services should be especially careful to intervene to increase social support and self‐esteem during these critical times. The other results and limitations are discussed.     

A Puzzle About Ineffable Propositions

I will argue for localism about credal assignments: the view that credal assignments are well-defined only relative to suitably constrained sets of possibilities. I will motivate the position by suggesting that it is the best way of addressing a puzzle devised by Roger White.     

Is it possible to be too happy? Happiness,personality, and psychopathology

The types of relationship between happiness, personality and psychopatholgy are assessed in an available sample (n = 321, adults, both sexes). Empirical results from two happiness scales and two questionnaires, one of personality (NEO-PI-R) and other of personality disorders (Loranger's scale), do not confirm the Diener's threshold hypothesis, that makes a distinction between optimum and maximum happiness; or the Seligman's supposition, that assumes that happiness has no limits; The main results are: a) negative affect (Neuroticism) is negatively related to happiness across its full range; b) Extraversion and Openness to experience are positively related to happiness across its full range; c) in the rest of the basic personality factors, relationships are not linear, though not in the sense anticipated by Diener, and d) in personality disorders, the tendencies observed diversify according to the type of disorder, and the type of happiness factor. On most occasions, the close relationship between personality disorders and the Neuroticism dimension is verified in a consistent manner. These results are discussed within the context of clinical psychology, and the general theory about happiness.     

Nationwide survey of contraceptive and sexually transmitted infection knowledge,attitudes and skills of university students in Portugal

Sexually transmitted infections and (STIs) unintended pregnancies are contemporary public health concerns. Understanding factors (e.g. knowledge, attitudes and skills) influencing sexual behaviours of university students are critical to develop targeted and tailored risk-reduction interventions for this vulnerable population. Thus, the goals of this study were to describe sexual behaviours and analyze differences between genders for sexual behaviours; to identify whether differences exist between genders and age groups regarding knowledge, attitudes and skills concerning contraceptive methods and STIs, and to evaluate the association of knowledge with attitudes and skills with sexual behaviour among university students in Portugal. The sample included 3278 students. Results show that the majority were sexually active and use condoms and oral contraceptives. In general, university students have high knowledge, positive attitudes and skills about contraception and STIs. Gender analyses indicated that women had greater knowledge, and more favourable attitudes, and higher skills toward contraceptive and STI preventive behaviour College students, in particular, face new challenges in sexual health and would benefit from more comprehensive education aimed at promoting healthy decision-making about family planning and STI prevention.