The ontology of intentionality II: dependence ontology as prolegomenon to noetic modal semantics

This is the second in a sequence of three essays which axiomatize and apply Edmund Husserl's dependence ontology of parts and wholes as a non-Diodorean, non-Kantian temporal semantics for first-order predicate modal languages. The Ontology of Intentionality I introduced enough of Husserl's dependence-ontology of parts and wholes to formulate his account of order as effected by relating moments of unity, and The Ontology of Intentionality II extends that axiomatic dependence-ontology far enough to enable its semantic application. Formalizing the compatibility [Vereinbarkeit] relation implicated in Husserl's notorious doctrine of impossible meanings, the essay introduces a compatibility restriction on relations to formulate Husserl's distinction between singular [einheitliche] and plural [mehrheitliche] objects, using plural relating moments to define first-order versions of Husserl's notions of relation complexes (i.e. Sachverhalte), abstracta of n-ary relation complexes, categorial relations, abstract eide as unifications of categorial relations, semantic domains as completions of abstract eide, and material regions as semantic domains which are compatibility upper bounds of categorial relations. These concepts will enable the formal dependence-ontological noetic semantics for two-valued, first-order modal languages introduced in the sequel Two-Valued Logics of Intentionality, the third essay in the sequence.     

论中国心理学统一理论追求的终结

随着心理科学的文化品格的显现,中国心理学长期以来由于在与西方文化交流中误读所形成的追求统一理论的情结遂告终结。中国心理学将迎来多样性的时代,必将推动中国心理学的健康发展。     

Parents’ Perception of the Effects of Church Involvement on Adolescent Substance Use

The study utilized qualitative methods to study protective factors among middle school students who were at risk for substance use. Three focus groups (consisting of 6–7 parents each) were conducted to learn more about parent’s perceptions of protective factors within the neighborhood, school, family, and the individual. In terms of spirituality, parents stressed the importance of church involvement in preventing high-risk behaviors. These findings will be highlighted to provide information that may serve as a basis for further examining church involvement and spirituality as protective factors in adolescent substance use.     

Young infants' perception of unity and form in occlusion displays

Young infants have been reported to perceive the unity of a center-occluded object when the visible ends of the object are aligned and undergo common motion but not when the edges of the object are misaligned (Johnson & Aslin, 1996). Using a recognition-based paradigm, the authors investigated the possibility that past research failed to provide sufficiently sensitive assessments of infants' perception of the unity of misaligned edges in partial occlusion displays. Positive evidence was obtained in 4-month-olds for veridical perception of the motion and location of a hidden region but not its orientation, whereas 7-month-olds, in contrast to the younger infants, appeared to respond to the orientation of the hidden region. Overall, the results suggest that habituation designs tapping recognition processes may be particularly efficacious in revealing infants' perceptual organization. In addition, the findings provide corroborative evidence for the importance of both motion and orientation in young infants' object segregation and for the difficulty in achieving percepts of the global form of a partly occluded object.     

Human Dignity and the Ethics and Aesthetics of Pain and Suffering

Inasmuch as unmitigated pain and suffering areoften thought to rob human beings of theirdignity, physicians and other care providersincur a special duty to relieve pain andsuffering when they encounter it. When pain andsuffering cannot be controlled it is sometimesthought that human dignity is compromised.Death, it is sometimes argued, would bepreferred to a life without dignity.Reasoning such as this trades on certainpreconceptions of the nature of pain andsuffering, and of their relationships todignity. The purpose of this paper is to laybare these preconceptions. The duties torelieve pain and suffering are clearly mattersof moral obligation, as is the duty to respondappropriately to the dignity of other persons.However, it is argued that our understanding ofthe phenomena of pain and suffering and theirrelationships to human dignity will be expandedwhen we explore the aesthetic dimensions ofthese various concepts. On the view presentedhere the life worth living is both morally goodand aesthetically beautiful. Appropriate``suffering with' another can help to maintainand restore the dignity of the relationshipsinvolved, even as it preserves and enhances thedignity of patient and caregiver alike.     

SCIENTIFIC AND RELIGIOUS APPROACHES TO MORALITY: AN ALTERNATIVE TO MUTUAL ANATHEMAS

Abstract Many people today believe that scientific and religious approaches to morality are mutually incompatible. Militant secularists claim scientific backing for their claim that the evolution of morality discredits religious conceptions of ethics. Some of their opponents respond with unhelpful apologetics based on fundamentalist views of revelation. This article attempts to provide an alternative option. It argues that public discussion has been excessively influenced by polemics generated by the new atheists. Religious writers have too often resorted to overly simplistic arguments rooted in literalist approaches to the Bible and the religious traditions. More historically conscious methods can avoid implausible claims about both religion and science.     

Connected to the wellspring: ecclesiological capabilities of small groups of adolescents

The relationship between adolescents and institutional manifestations of church is often problematic. Nevertheless, adolescents still have a need to talk about and to experience faith together with other adolescents. When institutional activities are not available or do not satisfy the needs of the adolescents they sometimes create their own small groups and (informal) meetings to affirm their faith integrated in their (social) lives. Sociological studies also show the tendency to create their own small groups (tribes) besides existing groups of institutional organisations. In this article the question posed is how this more tribal way of being together can be seen as church. Is a (new) form of ecclesiology possible in a world of small groups, networks, social media? This article describes ecclesiological capabilities in a complex sociological environment for adolescents.     

Holiness as a mark of the Church in the writings of John Henry Newman

‘Church’ is a common word to denote ordinary, traditional, mass Christian churches. In sociology, four main characteristics are used to describe these religious organisations: a bureaucratic organisational structure, a passive relationship with their members, a positive relationship and attitude to society and the state, and a leading vision for the whole of society including a positive attitude to other religious bodies. This article states that these characteristics are under pressure in the context of globalised social relations. With examples from European churches, it is shown that these organisations are becoming less likely to conform to the ideal type of ‘church’. In the conclusion, three scenario's for the future of ‘churches’ in western society are portrayed.     

Pope Francis: a pastor according to the heart of Christ

Catholic Canon Law stipulates that the Pope is ‘the pastor of the universal Church on earth’. Pope Francis took up the challenge which this statement poses to those exercising the Petrine ministry by asking for prayers that he might be ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’. How is a Pope ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’? What particular opportunities does the Petrine ministry offer for this? What are the pastoral aspects of the papacy? What does it seem we can expect from Pope Francis in this regard? As this article shows, the task of ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’ has an impact on several aspects of the implementation of the Petrine ministry, such as using the Pope’s power in the service of unity, encouraging collegiality in communion as the visible centre of the entire Christian Church in dialogue with other religions, that the world may believe.     

Charismatics,independents, and missions: Church proliferation in Ghana

The paper traces the changing phases in the development of the African religious movement phenomenon, focusing on the newer versions, namely the charismatic churches, and analysing their activities and their impact on Ghanaian society. It observes that the motives for their proliferation are diverse but one of the main contemporary sources of proliferation is the prominence they have gained through the media and other telecommunication systems. With their strong intolerance towards African traditional religious customs, which they exhibit through the medium of tele‐vangelism, the charismatic churches have become the main opponents and source of Christian/African traditional religious conflict in contemporary Ghana.