Altruism and Ambition in the Dynamic Moral Life

Some people are such impressive altruists that they seem to us to already be doing more than enough. And yet they see themselves as compelled to do even more. Can our view be reconciled with theirs? Can a moderate view of beneficence's demands be made consistent with a requirement to be ambitiously altruistic? I argue that a reconciliation is possible if we adopt a dynamic view of beneficence, which addresses the pattern that our altruism is required to take over time. This frees up theoretical space for understanding how a moral duty of self-development can intersect with the requirements of beneficence, so that the amount that we are required to sacrifice increases without our beneficence becoming immoderate.     

Assessing Reading Rate in the Primary Grades (1–3)

In this study we explore students' reading rates in grades 1–3. We begin with a short history of reading rate as an assessment measure in the early grades. Next, we share rate data from a recent study (N = 305) where children's contextual reading was assessed with a traditional passage-reading inventory. A comparison of our average grade-level rates with those rates reported in the DIBELS literature shows that they match closely. Finally, we introduce the concept of minimum grade-level rates, emphasizing its practical significance to teachers and researchers alike.     

Adorno's Aristotle Critique and Ethical Naturalism

In this paper, I do three things. First, I unpack and outline an intriguing but neglected aspect of the thought of the Frankfurt School critical theorist Theodor W. Adorno—namely, his critique of Aristotle, which can be found in two of his lecture series: the unpublished 1956 lectures on moral philosophy and the 1965 lectures published as Metaphysics: Concept and Problems. Second, I demonstrate how Adorno's Aristotle critique constitutes a powerful critique of contemporary neo‐Aristotelian ethical naturalism, of the sort advocated by thinkers such as Philippa Foot, Michael Thompson and John McDowell. Third, I expound upon where this critique leaves the prospect of formulating a robust ethical naturalism more generally.     

Implications of the Islamic revival for Christian‐Muslim dialogue in Asia

Abstract

After a review of the demographic balance between Christians and Muslims in Asia, this article looks at the different factors which influence the relations between them. A review of the growth of Christianity in Asia is then followed by an outline of the four phases of the spread of Islam and a survey of the causes of the contemporary Islamic revival in the region. Particular attention is devoted to the influence of Wahhabi ideas from what is now Saudi Arabia, the hopes engendered by the creation of Pakistan in 1947, the influence of the Palestinian struggle, the legacy of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the consequences of the Gulf War of 1991, and the impact of al‐Qa'ida and the events of 11 September 2001. Recent tensions between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia and the Philippines are discussed, and the significance of the revivalist critique of modernity and the clash of values between anthropocentric liberalism and the theocentric system of revivalist Islam is assessed.     

Increased forefoot loading is associated with an increased plantar flexion moment

The aim of this study was to identify the cascade of effects leading from alterations in force generation around the ankle joint to increased plantar pressures under the forefoot. Gait analysis including plantar pressure measurement was performed at an individually preferred and a standardized, imposed gait velocity in diabetic subjects with polyneuropathy (n = 94), without polyneuropathy (n = 39) and healthy elderly (n = 19). The plantar flexion moment at 40% of the stance phase was negatively correlated with the displacement rate of center of pressure (r = ?.749, p < .001 at the imposed, and r = ?.693, p < .001 at the preferred gait velocity). Displacement rate of center of pressure was strongly correlated with forefoot loading (r = ?.837, p < .001 at the imposed, and r = ?.731, p < .001 at the preferred gait velocity). People with a relatively high plantar flexion moment at 40% of the stance phase, have a faster forward transfer of center of pressure and consequently higher loading of the forefoot. This indicates that interventions aimed at increasing the control of the roll-off of the foot may contribute to a better plantar pressure distribution.     

Spatiotemporal competition and task-relevance shape the spatial distribution of emotional interference during rapid visual processing: Evidence from gaze-contingent eye-tracking

People’s ability to perceive rapidly presented targets can be disrupted both by voluntary encoding of a preceding target and by spontaneous attention to salient distractors. Distinctions between these sources of interference can be found when people search for a target in multiple rapid streams instead of a single stream: voluntary encoding of a preceding target often elicits subsequent perceptual lapses across the visual field, whereas spontaneous attention to emotionally salient distractors appears to elicit a spatially localized lapse, giving rise to a theoretical account suggesting that emotional distractors and subsequent targets compete spatiotemporally during rapid serial visual processing. We used gaze-contingent eye-tracking to probe the roles of spatiotemporal competition and memory encoding on the spatial distribution of interference caused by emotional distractors, while also ruling out the role of eye-gaze in driving differences in spatial distribution. Spontaneous target perception impairments caused by emotional distractors were localized to the distractor location regardless of where participants fixated. But when emotional distractors were task-relevant, perceptual lapses occurred across both streams while remaining strongest at the distractor location. These results suggest that spatiotemporal competition and memory encoding reflect a dual-route impact of emotional stimuli on target perception during rapid visual processing.     

Revisiting Harmless Discrimination

In a co-authored piece with Adam Slavny, I argued that any promising account of the wrongness of discrimination must focus not only on the harmful outcomes of discriminatory acts but also on the deliberation of the discriminator and in particular on the reasons that motivate or fail to motivate her action. In this brief paper, I defend this conclusion against an objection that has recently been pressed against our view by Richard Arneson. This task is important not only because Arneson’s objection is an intriguing one, but also -- and more importantly -- because my response sheds further light on the content and structure of an attractive theory of wrongful discrimination, as well as on more fundamental ideas in moral philosophy.

     

Forcing materialism upon metaphysics: Three approaches to Adorno's method

Recent Adorno scholarship has been shaped by the idea that his critical theory cannot account coherently for its own method. Call this the Problem of Adornian Critical Theory (PACT). In this paper, I examine three recent approaches to Adorno—the “ethics of resistance” (associated with Gordon Finlayson and Brian O'Connor), “negative naturalism” (associated with Fabian Freyenhagen), and “inverse theology” (associated with Peter E. Gordon). Individually, I argue, all three approaches are subject to a key limitation that prevents them from being able to solve the PACT. But, by synthesising them, we can see how the scholarship already—effectively—possesses a solution to it. The synthesis that results is characterised in terms of “materialist metaphysics”—a position Adorno can clearly be read as articulating in the “Meditations on Metaphysics” chapter of Negative Dialectics.     

Sex differences in ADHD trajectories across childhood and adolescence

Previous studies have hinted at sex differences in developmental trajectories in ADHD symptoms; however, little is known about the nature or cause of these differences and their implications for clinical practice. We used growth mixture modelling in a community‐ascertained cohort of n = 1,571 participants to study sex differences in ADHD symptom developmental trajectories across the elementary and secondary school years. Participants were measured at ages 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15. We found that females were more likely to show large symptom increases in early adolescence while males were more likely to show elevated symptoms from childhood. For both males and females, early adolescence represented a period of vulnerability characterized by relatively sudden symptom increases. Females affected by hyperactivity/impulsivity may be more likely to be excluded from diagnosis due to current age of onset criteria. More attention should be paid to early adolescence as a period of risk for hyperactivity/impulsivity symptom onset or worsening.