Epistemological Restraint—Revisited

THOMAS NAGEL has argued that 'true liberalism' excludes appeals to conceptions of the good in political argument. According to Nagel, liberalism's impartiality is grounded not in skepticism but, rather, in its commitment to 'epistemological restraint.' As he puts it, 'We accept a kind of epistemological division between the private and the public domains: in certain contexts I am constrained to consider my beliefs merely as beliefs rather than as truths, however convinced I may be that they are true , and that I know it.' Nagel's notion of epistemological restraint has been roundly criticized by perfectionist liberals and advocates of liberal neutrality alike. In fact, even Nagel has come to reject the epistemological argument—in part, because of the epistemological asymmetry that it presupposes. In this paper, I offer an answer to Nagel's critics, one that makes the notion of epistemological asymmetry coherent. In so doing, I show how to defend liberal neutrality without embracing skepticism. I structure the paper in the following way: Section II lays out the critique of epistemological restraint; Section III defends the coherence of this notion; and Section IV considers an objection to the analysis developed in Section III.     

The impact of self-construal on aesthetic preference for angular versus rounded shapes

In this article, the authors examine the role of self-construal in aesthetic preference for angular versus rounded shapes. Previous research found an independent self-construal is associated with a confrontation approach to conflict resolution, whereas an interdependent self-construal is associated with compromise. Furthermore, the literature in empirical aesthetics suggests that angular shapes tend to generate confrontational associations, and rounded shapes tend to generate compromise associations. Accordingly, the authors propose individuals with independent self-construals should perceive angular shapes as more attractive, whereas individuals with interdependent self-construals should find rounded shapes more attractive. The authors argue this effect of self-construal should be more pronounced when people expect that their shape preferences will be evaluated by others because culturally consistent responses will be more accessible in this situation. These hypotheses were largely confirmed in a field study that classified logos from a variety of countries and two experiments in which self-construal was experimentally primed.     

Integrating experiential-phenomenological methods and neuroscience to study neural mechanisms of pain and consciousness

Understanding the nature of pain at least partly depends on recognizing its inherent first person epistemology and on using a first person experiential and third person experimental approach to study it. This approach may help to understand some of the neural mechanisms of pain and consciousness by integrating experiential-phenomenological methods with those of neuroscience. Examples that approximate this strategy include studies of second pain summation and its relationship to neural activities and brain imaging-psychophysical studies wherein sensory and affective qualities of pain are correlated with cerebral cortical activity. The experiential paradigm of offers the possibility of improved designs and methods for investigating neural mechanisms underlying pain and consciousness.     

Tattoos and ratings of personal characteristics

High school and university students viewed a photograph of one woman either with or without a visible tattoo on her upper arm. They rated the woman on 13 personal characteristics (fashionable, athletic, attractive, caring, creative, determined, motivated, honest, generous, mysterious, religious, intelligent, artistic). Analyses showed ratings of the model with the tattoo were statistically significantly lower (more negative) on 9 of the 13 personal characteristics. Ratings were not associated with whether the participants had or did not have tattoos themselves. Implications for research are discussed, including the need to explore the conditions under which negative attitudes may be translated into negative behaviors.     

Generative models, brain function and neuroimaging

The representational capacity and inherent function of any neuron, neuronal population or cortical area in the brain is dynamic and context-sensitive. Functional integration, or interactions among brain systems, that employ driving (bottom up) and backward (top-down) connections, mediate this adaptive and contextual specialisation. A critical consequence is that neuronal responses, in any given cortical area, can represent different things at different times. This can have fundamental implications for the design of brain imaging experiments and the interpretation of their results. Our arguments are developed under generative models of brain function, where higher-level systems provide a prediction of the inputs to lower-level regions. Conflict between the two is resolved by changes in the higher-level representations, which are driven by the ensuing error in lower regions, until the mismatch is "cancelled". From this perspective the specialisation of any region is determined both by bottom-up driving inputs and by top-down predictions. Specialisation is therefore not an intrinsic property of any region but depends on both forward and backward connections with other areas. Because the latter have access to the context in which the inputs are generated they are in a position to modulate the selectivity or specialisation of lower areas. The implications for classical models (e.g., classical receptive fields in electrophysiology, classical specialisation in neuroimaging and connectionism in cognitive models) are severe and suggest these models may provide incomplete accounts of real brain architectures. Here we focus on the implications for cognitive neuroscience in the context of neuroimaging.     

The Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR): A device for sampling naturalistic daily activities and conversations

A recording device called the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) is described. The EAR tape-records for 30 sec once every 12 min for 2–4 days. It is lightweight and portable, and it can be worn comfortably by participants in their natural environment. The acoustic data samples provide a nonobtrusive record of the language used and settings entered by the participant. Preliminary psychometric findings suggest that the EAR data accurately reflect individuals’ natural social, linguistic, and psychological lives. The data presented in this article were collected with a first-generation EAR system based on analog tape recording technology, but a second generation digital EAR is now available.     

Working at the social-clinical-community-criminology interface: The GMU Inmate Study

This paper describes our attempt to import social-personality theory and research on moral emotions and moral cognitions to applied problems of crime, substance abuse, and HIV risk behavior. Thus far, in an inmate sample, we have evidence that criminogenic beliefs and proneness to guilt are each predictive of re-offense after release from jail. In addition, we have evidence that jail programs and services may reduce criminogenic beliefs and enhance adaptive feelings of guilt. As our sample size increases, our next step is to test the full mediational model, examining the degree to which programs and services impact post-release desistance via their effect on moral emotions and cognitions. In addition to highlighting some of the key findings from our longitudinal study of jail inmates over the period of incarceration and post-release, we describe the origins and development of this interdisciplinary project, highlighting the challenges and rewards of such endeavors.