Perceptual Error,Conjunctivism, and Husserl

Claude Romano (2012) and Andrea Staiti (2015) have recently discussed Husserl’s account of perception in relation to debates in current analytic philosophy between so-called “conjunctivists” and “disjunctivists”. Romano and Staiti offer strikingly different accounts of the nature of illusion and hallucination, and opposing readings of Husserl. Romano thinks hallucinations and illusions are fleeting, fragile phenomena, while Staiti claims they are inherently retrospective phenomena. Romano reads Husserl as being committed to a form of conjunctivism that Romano rejects in favour of a version of disjunctivism. Staiti, by contrast, claims that, from a Husserlian viewpoint, conjunctivism and disjunctivism are equally untenable. I suggest that both Romano and Staiti offer implausible accounts of illusions and hallucinations, and deliver premature verdicts on Husserl in relation to the analytic debates on perception.     

In Defense of Rawlsian Fair Equality of Opportunity

Richard Arneson argues that Fair Equality of Opportunity (FEO) should be rejected, since it is not only too weak and too strong, but also problematically meritocratic. The paper aims to defend FEO, and argues that it is not too weak, since, pace Arneson, it does apply to the problem of stunted ambition. The argument from meritocracy is shown to be based on a conflation of different senses of meritocracy. Finally, it is shown that FEO, correctly interpreted, gives intuitive answers to the examples put forward to bolster the too strong charge. It is concluded that Arneson’s refutation of FEO fails.     

Propositions,Meaning, and Names

The object of this paper is to sketch an approach to propositions, meaning, and names. The key ingredients are a Twin‐Earth‐inspired distinction between internal and external meaning, and a middle‐Wittgenstein‐inspired conception of internal meaning as role in language system. The focus here is not on working out all the details, but on outlining the approach and showing how it offers a promising solution to the problem of the meaning of proper names. This is a plea for a neglected way of thinking about these topics.     

Exploring Associations Between Therapy Factors and Post-therapy Development After Naturalistic Psychotherapies

Earlier research on what contributes to long-term outcome after psychotherapy is scarce and scattered. Responding to this, the current study explores potential associations between therapy factors reported as salient by clients in naturalistic psychotherapy and variation in post-therapy-movement. Material from different codes and categories derived from an earlier content analysis was explored in relation to post-therapy-changes on OQ-45. In the first part of the study, two overarching themes (relational aspects and therapeutic operations) were included in a regression analysis of data from 32 clients. In the second part, more nuanced associations between material from different change- or process categories and post-therapy-movement were explored using data from 20 clients that showed reliable improvement at treatment termination but varied in later development. Reports of material related to relational aspects were recurrently associated with post-therapy improvement. Material suggesting that therapy was experienced as not fully complete (e.g., changes being superficial or wish for more treatment), as well as reports of more positive affect, correlated with later deterioration after improvement at termination. Different processes and changes appreciated by clients during therapy seem to vary as predictors of lasting gains.     

The emotional male victim: Effects of presentation mode on judged credibility

The emotional victim effect (EVE, i.e., that the emotionality of a victim's demeanor affects perceived credibility) is a robust research finding for female victims of rape but much less explored for other types of victims and crimes. In this article, we investigate the EVE with a male assault complainant. In addition, we vary the presentation mode via which the complainant is shown to the assessors. A sample of law students (N = 81) participated in an experiment where they viewed and assessed credibility of a male complainant who appeared either live or on video. The complainant behaved either in an emotional or a neutral manner. Result showed that the presentation mode but not the EVE affected the assessors' credibility assessments: The complainant was perceived as more truthful when communicating live, as opposed to via video. Practical implications, as well as the generality of the EVE, are discussed.     

Dimensionality of stress experiences: Factorial structure of the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) in a population‐based Swedish sample

We investigated the factorial structure of the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ‐recent; Levenstein, Prantera, Varvo et al., 1993) in a large (N = 1516; 35–95 years) population‐based Swedish sample (Nilsson, Adolfsson, Bäckman et al., 2004; Nilsson, Bäckman, Erngrund et al., 1997). Exploratory principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted on a first, randomly drawn subsample (n = 506). Next, the model based on the PCA was tested in a second sample (n = 505). Finally, a third sample (n = 505) was used to cross‐validate the model. Five components were extracted in the PCA (eigenvalue > 1) and labeled “Demands,” “Worries/Tension,” “Lack of joy,” “Conflict,” and “Fatigue,” respectively. Twenty‐one out of the 30 original PSQ items were retained in a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model that included the five (first‐order) factors and, additionally, a general (second‐order) stress factor, not considered in prior models. The model showed reasonable goodness of fit [χ²(184) = 511.2, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.904; RMSEA = 0.059; and SRMR = 0.063]. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported the validity of the established model. The results are discussed in relation to prior investigations of the factorial structure of the PSQ.     

Conspirituality Reconsidered: How Surprising and How New is the Confluence of Spirituality and Conspiracy Theory?

Those who have followed the development of online new religiosity over the past decade will not have failed to notice that conspiracy theories and ‘New Age’ ideas are thriving together. But how new and how surprising is the phenomenon of ‘conspirituality’? In the present article, we challenge the thesis put forward by Charlotte Ward and David Voas in their article of 2011, published in the Journal of Contemporary Religion, that a confluence of spirituality and conspiracism has emerged in the past two decades as a form of New Age theodicy. Instead, we argue, on theoretical grounds, that conspirituality can be viewed as a predictable result of structural elements in the cultic milieu and, on historical grounds, that its roots stretch deep into the history of Western esotericism. Together, these two considerations allow us not only to suggest that conspirituality is old and predictable, but also to identify a large potential for further research which will contribute to the study of conspiracy culture and enable a new line of comparative research in religious studies.