Simulation as a Method for Theological and Philosophical Inquiry

Abstract

In this paper we make the case that simulation provides an important and relatively novel tool for confronting and possibly even surmounting various epistemological hurdles. To support the claim that simulation has particular merit for approaching certain theological and philosophical problems, we suggest a number of advantages, evaluate possible objections, and make the case in a specific domain by illustrating how an actual simulation system can be used to this end.     

Presidential Debate Viewing and Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9–11: A Study of Affect-as-Transfer and Passionate Reasoning

Extant research on presidential debate viewing focuses primarily on the cognitive outcomes (e.g., knowledge gain) associated with this particular mediated communication event. This study expands effects-based research on political debate viewing by focusing on citizens' discrete emotional reactions to candidates (e.g., joy and anger). In addition, the influence of a 2004 Bush-Kerry presidential debate is analyzed in coordination with the consumption of Michael Moore's controversial film, Fahrenheit 9-11. A 2 (view Fahrenheit 9-11, did not view Fahrenheit 9-11) X 3 (low, medium, or high likelihood of elaboration) independent groups design was used for this study. The study finds evidence of both affect-as-transfer and passionate reasoning. In addition, there is clear support for goal oriented emotional reactions to candidates strongly predicting overall confidence in candidates' policy positions.     

THE RESCUE DEFENCE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Many political philosophers today think of justice as fundamentally about fairness, while those who defend capital punishment typically hold that justice is fundamentally about desert. In this paper I show that justice as fairness calls for capital punishment because the continued existence of murderers increases unfairness between themselves and their victims, increasing the harm to murdered persons. Rescuing murdered persons from increasing harm is prima facie morally required, and so capital punishment is a prima facie duty of society and sentencing judges. 1     

Solitaire

Dancing In the Flames: The Dark Goddess in the Transformation of Consciousness. 1996. By Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson. Boston: Shambala.

Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration. 1995. By Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press

Cast the First Stone: Ethics in Analytic Practice 1995. By Lena B. Ross and Manisha Roy Wilmette, IL: Chiron

Transforming Sexuality: The Archetypal World of Anima and Animus 1994. By Ann and Barry Ulanov Boston: Shambala

Fate, Love, and Ecstasy: Wisdom from the Lesser-Known Goddesses of the Greeks 1995. By John A. Sanford Wilmette, IL: Chiron

Jungian Perspectives on Clinical Supervision 1995. Edited by Paul Kugler Switzerland: Daimon

Synchronicity, Science and Soul-Making: Understanding Jungian Synchronicity through Physics, Buddhism, and Philosophy 1995. By Victor Mansfield Chicago: Open Court     

Mood and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Effects of Positive Affect on Employee Organizational Citizenship Behavior Intentions

This study, involving 139 employees from a variety of industries, organizations, and positions in Singapore, measured the effects of mood on the intentions of employees to contribute actions that are organizationally desirable but are not part of their formal job requirements (organizational citizenship behavior). After effects of established patterns of historical organizational citizenship behavior, demographic characteristics, and employee positive and negative affectivity had been controlled, stepwise regression analysis revealed that the amount of positive affect currently experienced by an employee significantly influenced the employee's intention to perform specific acts of organizational citizenship.     

Reminiscence bump in memory for public events

People tend to recall more personal events from adolescence and early adulthood than from other lifetime periods. Most evidence suggests that differential encoding causes this reminiscence bump. However, the question why personal events are encoded better in those periods is still unanswered. To shed more light on this discussion, we examined memory for public events. Since it is often impossible to ascertain that queried events are equally difficult, we circumvented the issue of equivalence by calculating deviation scores for each trial. We found that participants more frequently answered questions correctly about events that occurred in the period in which they were between 10 and 25 years old. Furthermore, we found that the reminiscence bump was more pronounced for cued recall than for recognition. We argue that these results support the biological account that events are stored better, because the memory system is working more efficiently during adolescence and early adulthood. These results do not falsify the other accounts for differential encoding, because they are not mutually exclusive.     

Gaze Patterns in a Steering-Into-Lane Task on a Straight Road: The Effect of Driving Speed,Lane, and Expertise

The tau-dot hypothesis states that when tau-dot greater than or equal to -0.5, impact will be soft; when tau-dot < -0.5, impact will be "hard." Four experiments tested the usefulness of tau-dot for observers of collisions between 2 objects (rather than collisions between the observer and an object). Observers watched collisions depicted on a computer as 1 object approaching another. Results conformed to the tau-dot hypothesis and were consistent with previous research wherein observers watched collisions as participants. Results suggest that the information specifying collision severity is the rate of the relative rate of optical variation, a quantity that remains invariant over differing collision path trajectories and over differing perceivers (i.e., spectators or participants, viewing from different vantage points, moving or stationary).     

Examining Compulsive Sexual Behavior and Psychopathology Among a Sample of Postdeployment U.S. Male and Female Military Veterans

Compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) is defined as difficulties in controlling inappropriate or excessive sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors that cause subjective distress or impairment in important areas of daily functioning. Using data from a baseline telephone interview, we examined the prevalence of CSB in a convenience sample of 820 postdeployed U.S. military male and female veterans and investigated correlates of CSB with sociodemographics and other mental health and sexual history characteristics. More men (13.8%) than women (4.3%) endorsed CSB-related symptoms. Given the limited sample size of women reporting CSB, correlational analyses were conducted only with men. After adjusting for significant sociodemographics, results indicated that gambling, suicidality, and sexually transmitted infections were significantly associated with male CSB. Current results suggest that CSB may be prevalent among U.S. military veterans post deployment and associated with significant negative health indices in men. CSB warrants attention regarding screening and intervention.