The Neuropsychology of Consciousness: The Mind-Body Problem Re-addressed

In this introductory contribution by the convenor of the 1996 Invited Presidential Symposium at the XXVI International Congress of Psychology, the recent renaissance of psychological, especially neuropsychological research into components and processes of consciousness is briefly reviewed. Conceptual dimensions of “consciousness” are distinguished, with an emphasis on consciousness in the sense of awareness, wakefulness, and control of overt behaviour, which are also central concepts in the subsequent symposium contributions.     

Sicherheit Vor,Mit Rußland? Nato-osterweiterung und Folgen

Studies in East European Thought -     

Political Animals: Luck, Love and Dignity

Human beings are both needy and dignified. How should we think about the relationship between our neediness and our worth? Card argues well that our vulnerability to luck is intertwined in the very conditions of moral agency. We can see the merit of her approach even more clearly by turning to some difficulties the Stoics have in preserving dignity while removing vulnerability. Stoicism does, however, help us to sort through the difficulties involved as we try to combine love of particular people with respect for all human life. Richardson is correct to suggest that love itself can animate the concern for all humanity; I also agree with him that institutions must play a major role in any solution to problems of inequality between nations. Although the “capabilities approach” offers an attractive account of one part of the goal of just political institutions, combining, as Moody-Adams suggests, respect for difference with a commitment to universal norms, I now believe that the capabilities account should be combined with a form of Rawlsian political liberalism that protects spaces within which citizens may pursue the good as they understand it.     

THE ACCULTURATION OF ITALIAN IMMIGRANT GIRLS IN CANADA

Several measures of acculturation reveal that Italian immigrant girls in Canada are exposed to a higher level of role specialization than non-immigrant girls. They are granted less autonomy in decision making than non-immigrant girls or Italian immigrant boys. After the first few years of North American residence immigrant girls are given more responsibility within the home. Their demands for greater autonomy outside the home are however not likely to be recognized until the second generation. The results are interpreted in terms of the female's greater salience in maintaining traditional family culture which is felt to be threatened by migration to North America.