ARGUMENT TO BLISS: THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF THE SUMMA THEOLOGIAE

The essay examines intellectual virtue in the Summa theologiae, taking it as an interpretative key to the epistemology of the Summa theologiae as a whole. Because Aquinas blurs the line between the acquired and the theological virtues, and between virtues and the gifts of the Spirit, it becomes impossible to maintain the distinction between the realms of nature and grace, or between natural reason and revealed truth: grace permeates the most ordinary activities of human reasoning. This reading of the Summa theologiae raises questions about many contemporary debates, particularly those concerning natural law.     

Bidirectional Familial Influences in Dietary Behavior Test of a Model of Campaign Influences

Using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data spanning a decade, this article analyzes how dietary behavior of household children and adults (N = 576 households) was affected by the Stanford Five-City Project (FCP). Tests of a three-part, cumulative model of bidirectional influences within the family, which conceptualizes household members as sources of influence on each other and subject to influence by an external agent, were supported. Children and adults were influenced by both each other and the FCP campaign in changing and maintaining health behaviors. This article demonstrates that public health campaigns can be made more effective if they conceptualize both children and adults as potential sources of influence. The long-term effectiveness of such efforts can be enhanced by encouraging families, as opposed to individuals, to change health behaviors.     

A longitudinal study of pain sensitivity and blood pressure in adolescent boys: results from a 5-year follow-up.

A growing literature has observed a significant reduction in pain sensitivity among hypertensive animals and humans. It is uncertain whether a reduced sensitivity to pain can be observed in nonnotensive individuals who go on to develop high blood pressure. Blood pressure (BP) was reassessed in one hundred fifteen 19-year-old boys initially tested at age 14, when they were also presented with a pain stimulus (mechanical finger pressure). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that information regarding pain tolerance improved prediction of changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure beyond that afforded by differences in BP at age 14, parental history of hypertension, and body mass index. These analyses suggest that pain sensitivity may be associated with physiological processes involved in the development of sustained high blood pressure.