Expanding Catholicity through Ecumenicity in the Work of Yves Congar: Ressourcement,Receptive Ecumenism and Catholic Reform

With particular reference to Yves Congar (1904–95), this article first explores the relationship between ressourcement theology and the emergence of Catholic ecumenism. A critical issue is identified concerning the coherence of Congar's ecumenical work. In support of the reading pursued here – which finds a developing articulation of what has come to be called Receptive Ecumenism – Congar's three great works of ecumenical theology are closely engaged: Chrétiens désunis (1937); Chrétiens en dialogue (1964); Diversités et Communion (1982). The conclusion indicates the abiding significance of Congar's ecumenical work, which articulates a call to the fullness of catholicity into which Catholicism has still to grow.     

The Stepparent Relationship Index: Development,validation, and associations with stepchildren’s perceptions of stepparent communication competence and closeness

There is a growing consensus among family researchers that many of the challenges facing members of stepfamilies revolve around the role of the stepparent. Using schema theory, this study extends recent research on the stepparent role by developing an empirically reliable measure for the primary dimensions that stepchildren identify as part of their stepparent relationship schemas. Participants included 522 young adult stepchildren from 4 different states who completed an inventory assessing key dimensions of the stepparent‐stepchild relationship, as well as stepchildren’s perceptions of stepparents’ communication competence and closeness. The results produced a new multidimensional measure, the Stepparent Relationship Index, as three dimensions of the stepparent‐stepchild relationship emerged from factor analytic techniques: positive regard, (step)parental authority, and affective certainty. Each subscale produced acceptable reliability estimates, and initial evidence of concurrent validity was obtained.     

What Is a Parergon?

Despite important recent work, the rehabilitation of parergon as a critical concept in the history of art has yet to be fully broached. From the time Jacques Derrida introduced the term into contemporary critical theory in The Truth in Painting, its character and function have been largely understood as referencing a threshold or boundary—in particular, that of the border of the artwork. Yet a review of the term's long history suggests a meaning that differs in significant ways from its current near‐univocal characterization as a synonym for a frame. In particular, premodern art theory and criticism identifies a parergon with matters such as the background action in a history painting, the inclusion in a landscape of picturesque embellishments, or, following Kant, the addition of ornament to a painting, a statue, or a building. This article therefore proposes we ask again: What is a parergon?     

Descartes's Theory of Distinction

In the first part of this paper I explore the relations among distinctness, separability, number, and non-identity. I argue that Descartes believes plurality in things themselves arises from distinction, so that things distinct in any of the three ways are not identical. The only exception concerns universals which, considered in things themselves, are identical to particulars. I also argue that to be distinct is to be separable. Things distinct by reason are separable only in thought by means of ideas not clear and distinct. In the second part I argue that the notion of separability in Descartes's account of real distinction between mind and body is subject to five different interpretations. I claim that the heart of Cartesian dualism concerns the separability of the attributes thought and extension. It does not require that mind and body are separable in the sense that each can exist without the other existing.     

What predicts wisdom-related performance? A first look at personality,intelligence, and facilitative experiential contexts

Wisdom has long been suggested as a desired goal of development (see e.g. Clayton and Birren, 1980; Erikson, 1959; Hall, 1922; Staudinger and Baltes, 1994). Questions concerning the empirical investigation of wisdom and its ontogeny, however, are largely still open. It is suggested that besides person characteristics, certain types of experience may facilitate wisdom-related performance. A sample of clinical psychologists (n=36) and highly educated control professionals (n=54) ranging in age from 25 to 82 years responded verbally to two wisdom-related tasks involving life planning and completed a psychometric battery of intelligence and personality measures. Three primary findings were obtained. First, training and practice in clinical psychology was the strongest predictor of wisdom-related performance (26%) and, in addition, showed some overlap with personality variables in this predictive relationship. Second, 14% of the variance in wisdom-related performance was accounted for by standard psychometric measures of personality and intelligence. Personality variables were stronger predictors than variables of intelligence. Important personality predictors were Openness to Experience and a middle-range location on the Introversion–Extraversion dimension. Third, wisdom-related performance maintained a sizable degree of measurement independence (uniqueness). Predictive relationships were consistent with research on naive conceptions of wisdom and our own theoretical account of the ontogenesis of wisdom-related performance. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An interdependence analysis of commuting decisions

The current research advances an interdependence analysis of commuting decisions (i.e. commuting by car versus public transportation), delineating the determinants of an individual's outcomes in terms of own decisions, other commuters' decisions, and the combination or interaction of own and others' decisions (Kelley & Thibaut, 1978). Consistent with hypotheses, findings revealed that a concern with comfort led to a higher overall personal preference for the car, and a lower overall preference for others to commute by public transportation, when compared to a concern with travel time. Additionally, consistent with the claim that commuter decisions are also guided by considerations broader than a concern with individual outcomes, findings revealed that individuals with prosocial orientations (i.e. those concerned with maximizing collective outcomes) in combination with high levels of trust (i.e. believing in the honesty and cooperative intentions of others) exhibited a greater overall personal preference for public transportation, and a reduced desire to avoid other commuters, relative to individuals with a prosocial orientation and low levels of trust, or a proself orientation (i.e. those concerned primarily with maximizing own outcomes), regardless of levels of trust. Finally, consistent with the current interdependence analysis, intention to commute by car was positively associated with not only overall personal preference for the car, but also with the desire to avoid other commuters. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.