论错觉的逻辑

对于有关常识和诸如“理性”、“真理”和“实在”这样的哲学思想的主要范畴来说,错觉是一种异乎寻常的检验案例。我的目标是,通过与弗洛伊德的遗产和20世纪最引人注目的精神病学研究成果进行某种交锋,分析这种错觉所具有的各种富有悖论色彩的形式,从而阐明构成了它那些特定的时间化、概念化和论证样态之基础,并且为这些样态确定方向的逻辑。就英语而言,人们也许是在“幻觉”的意义上使用delusion(错觉)这个术语的,不过,它也可以被用来表示我们在罗曼诸语言之中称之为“delirio”或者“d啨lire”(这两个外来语在这里均指“迷狂”之意,前者是…     

9.11乌托邦:为一个新世界辩护

“再过10年左右———这很短,托马斯·莫尔的《乌托邦或最佳形式政府论》(1516年)的源源不断的诠释者们,[1]将庆祝它诞生500周年———这很长。”这个文本所流淌出的墨迹,也许就像罗尔沙赫氏测试那样,使我们可以投射我们的思绪、幻想、美梦或者希望,遐想回到已经一去不复返的过去,或者憧憬那歌声飘缈却永远不会来到的黎明。[2]对这种博学论述的大合唱进行补充,显得过于不自量力。根据当代的各种事件来诠释这个文本,纯属狂妄。但笔者要对这两宗主要指控进行认罪辩护,个中缘由不是为了喜欢挑衅———我们承认这样的指控并非是无关紧要,而是为…     

现实主义与乌托邦

不可知的现实 现实问题在于我们认为对它非常了解,而事实上对它完全没有很好地理解.[1]过去,我们的过去,对我们来说似乎绝对清晰,但事实并非如此.如果我们反思通盘考虑起来是我们的过去的20世纪,我们逐渐认识到,作为20世纪主要标志性现象的共产主义和纳粹主义几乎未被给予系统化的思考.     

冯友兰中国哲学“三史”中佛教研究的方法论转向

如何在中国哲学史的框架内理解和诠释中国佛教,胡适与冯友兰用现代学术的方法分别作了佛教“化中国”和佛教“中国化”两种解读。冯友兰历经一生写成的中国哲学“三史”中,对佛教研究在叙事方式上经历了由史论结合、以史为主到史论结合、以论为先而明其学脉,在理论分析上经历了从新实在论等西方哲学到运用马克思主义观点分析中国佛教哲学而得其宗旨。其一以贯之的主线是从揭示中国佛教的本位性到用马克思主义哲学考察中国佛教哲学,这不仅反映了冯先生学术研究的方法论转换,也深刻体现了他的世界观转向。     

Scale invariance in near space: pointing under influence of context

This paper describes the results of a pointing task close to the observer. Unlike most research reported in literature, the stimuli were composed of real solid objects in an unambiguous context, free of any cue conflict. Moreover, the stimuli were either within arm-reach or just beyond arm-reach, thus having strong binocular depth cues. Surprisingly, systematic errors up to four times the standard deviation were found. These errors depended mainly on the variations in context and hardly on egocentric distance. In good first approximation, the results were scale invariant. These results are in direct conflict with classic theories about visual space. The stimuli were unambiguous real 3-D equivalents of the computer-generated stimuli we used in a previous experiment. A comparison of the results did not reveal a clear effect of a depth cue conflict between accommodation and disparity.     

Aging and rule learning: the case of the multiplicative law

This work examined the effect of age on the ability to learn multiplicative combination rules. Participants learned the multiplicative relationship between daily tobacco intake, daily alcohol intake, and risk of esophageal cancer. The hypothesis was that younger adults would learn to implement a multiplicative combination rule and older adults would not, despite feedback. Among the younger adults, complete rule learning took place. Before receiving feedback, they used an underadditive rule, a result consistent with previous studies. After only a limited amount of feedback, they learned to use a multiplicative rule. Even after receiving feedback, however, the older adults still showed difficulties in using the multiplicative rule. These results strengthen the proposition by Chasseigne, Mullet, and Stewart (1997) that the differences between younger and older adults in function learning are related mainly to flexibility of functioning.     

Aging and effect of predictability on reality monitoring

This study compared the direction of source confusions and the effect of predictability on reality monitoring for internally generated information and externally derived information in younger (mean age 19-25) and older (mean age 70-85) adults. Participants were invited to listen to the conclusions of simple stories or to generate and imagine them. Conclusions could be either highly predictable (Experiment 1) or unpredictable (Experiment 2). The change in predictability produced changes in the direction of source confusions only in older adults. When a story ended in a predictable way, older adults attributed to imagination conclusions that were actually perceived, whereas the pattern of confusions tended to reverse with unpredictable stories.     

Mathematics of forgiveness

This study was aimed at determining the integration rule--summation or averaging--underlying the forgiveness schema. The main reason for distinguishing between these structures is that they have very different practical implications regarding the influence of various factors specific to each case on the propensity to forgive. In a summative model, the impact of the different factors and the direction of the effects are constant. For example, the presence of apologies always is a positive element even when these apologies assume a very weak form. By contrast, in an averaging model, the apologies can be a positive or a negative element depending on the current level of propensity to forgive and the form of the apologies. Two experiments were conducted using the functional theory of cognition framework. Experiment 1 applied the missing information test. Experiment 2 applied the credibility of information test. In both experiments, clear evidence favored a summative rule for judging willingness to forgive from circumstantial information such as presence or absence of intent, presence of absence of apologies, and degree of cancellation of consequences.