Reliability and the Value of Knowledge*

Reliabilism has come under recent attack for its alleged inability to account for the value we typically ascribe to knowledge. It is charged that a reliably‐produced true belief has no more value than does the true belief alone. I reply to these charges on behalf of reliabilism; not because I think reliabilism is the correct theory of knowledge, but rather because being reliably‐produced does add value of a sort to true beliefs. The added value stems from the fact that a reliably‐held belief is non‐accidental in a particular way. While it is widely acknowledged that accidentally true beliefs cannot count as knowledge, it is rarely questioned why this should be so. An answer to this question emerges from the discussion of the value of reliability; an answer that holds interesting implications for the value and nature of knowledge.     

Concepts and Epistemic Individuation

Christopher Peacocke has presented an original version of the perennial philosophical thesis that we can gain substantive metaphysical and epistemological insight from an analysis of our concepts. Peacocke's innovation is to look at how concepts are individuated by their possession conditions, which he believes can be specified in terms of conditions in which certain propositions containing those concepts are accepted. The ability to provide such insight is one of Peacocke's major arguments for his theory of concepts. I will critically examine this "fruitfulness" argument by looking at one philosophical problem Peacocke uses his theory to solve and treats in depth.
Peacocke (1999, 2001) defines what he calls the "Integration Challenge." The challenge is to integrate our metaphysics with our epistemology by showing that they are mutually acceptable. Peacocke's key conclusion is that the Integration Challenge can be met for "epistemically individuated concepts."A good theory of content, he believes, will close the apparent gap between an account of truth for any given subject matter and an overall account of knowledge. I shall argue that there are no epistemically individuated concepts, and shall critically analyze Peacocke's arguments for their existence. I will suggest more generally that the possession conditions of concepts and their principles of individuation shed little light on the epistemology or metaphysics of things other than concepts. My broader goal is to shed light on what concepts are by showing that they are more fundamental than the sorts of cognitive and epistemic factors a leading theory uses to define them.¹     

THE ROLE OF UPWARD INFLUENCE TACTICS IN HUMAN RESOURCE DECISIONS

A model was examined which proposes that employee influence tactics impact human resource decisions by affecting managers' perceptions of the subordinate's interpersonal skills, manager liking of subordinates, and managers' perceptions of similarity to subordinates. The human resource decisions investigated were performance ratings, promotability assessments, and salary. Data were collected from 247 subordinates and their managers and from company records. Structural equation modeling results indicated that influence tactics were related to managers' perceptions of subordinates' interpersonal skills, liking, and perceptions of similarity to subordinates. Specifically, subordinates' use of reasoning, assertiveness, and favor rendering were positively related to managers' perceptions whereas bargaining and self-promotion were negatively related to these perceptions. Finally, there was no support for direct relationships between influence tactics and HR decisions.     

Counseling Services of Southern Baptist Colleges and Universities: A Descriptive Survey

This study surveyed the counseling services offered by Southern Baptist colleges and universities. Information was gathered about the types of services offered, the credentials of the staff offering services, perceived administrative attitudes toward counseling services, specific types of problems presented by students to counselors, and the relative frequency with which those problems were presented. Reported results were discussed in light of the implied mission of the Christian college to develop the whole student.     

THE IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT BREACH ON WORK-RELATED OUTCOMES: A META-ANALYSIS

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the influence of psychological contract breach on 8 work-related outcomes. Breach was related to all outcomes except actual turnover. Based on affective events theory, we developed a causal model integrating breach, affect (violation and mistrust), attitude (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions), and individual effectiveness (actual turnover, organizational citizenship behavior, and in-role performance). Structural equation modeling was used to test the model. The results indicated that affect mediates the effect of breach on attitude and individual effectiveness. Two moderators were also examined including the type of breach measure (global vs. composite) and the content of the psychological contract breach (transactional vs. relational). Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.