The ego, the Other and the primal fact

Japan has absorbed many western ideas since the late nineteenth century, but Japanese philosophers have often been reluctant to accept the western idea of the “I” in its entirety. The I transgresses to the Other more easily than western philosophies think and imports what belongs to the Other as his own. How is this possible? Husserl attempted to explain the constitution of the Other by the intentionality that goes from the I to the Other, mediated by the body. However, Husserl later discovered that the constitution of both the I and the Other is more of a two-way movement. This double-movement is essential for all constitutions and departs from a deep (primal) dimension that is not yet egological. Even in the self-reflection of the I, a similar double-movement between the primal and egological dimensions can be seen. The I is supported, but at the same time threatened, by this movement.     

Adverse adolescence experiences,feeling lonely across life stages and loneliness in adulthood

Background/ObjectiveLoneliness is a mental health issue emerging over the life course. This study examines the latent structure of adult loneliness in a non-Western society and its association with adverse adolescence experiences (AAEs) as well as feeling lonely during middle school, high school, and college. Method: A cohort sample living in Northern Taiwan (N = 2,289) was analyzed from adolescence to adulthood. The de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale operationalized loneliness by a three-cluster model to present the latent structure of loneliness: emotional, serious emotional, and severe emotional/social loners. AAEs (e.g., abuse, neglect, and dysfunctional family) were measured by seven items. Multivariate multinomial logistic regression models were used to explore the longitudinal effects of AAEs and feeling lonely reported during middle school, high school, and college on adult loneliness. Results: AAEs and feeling lonely during adolescence were significantly associated with serious emotional loneliness and severe emotional/social loneliness during adulthood, even after adjusting for the individual’s characteristics. Attendance at a 4-year college was associated with decreased odds of serious emotional loneliness and severe emotional/social loneliness. Conclusions: Adults with AAEs and feelings of loneliness over life stages are more likely to report loneliness in the emotional and social domains.     

They Might Be a Liar But They’re My Liar: Source Evaluation and the Prevalence of Misinformation

Even if people acknowledge that misinformation is incorrect after a correction has been presented, their feelings towards the source of the misinformation can remain unchanged. The current study investigated whether participants reduce their support of Republican and Democratic politicians when the prevalence of misinformation disseminated by the politicians appears to be high in comparison to the prevalence of their factual statements. We presented U.S. participants either with (1) equal numbers of false and factual statements from political candidates or (2) disproportionately more false than factual statements. Participants received fact-checks as to whether items were true or false, then rerated both their belief in the statements as well as their feelings towards the candidate. Results indicated that when corrected misinformation was presented alongside equal presentations of affirmed factual statements, participants reduced their belief in the misinformation but did not reduce their feelings towards the politician. However, if there was considerably more misinformation retracted than factual statements affirmed, feelings towards both Republican and Democratic figures were reduced—although the observed effect size was extremely small.     

Learning Facts About Migration: Politically Motivated Learning of Polarizing Information About Refugees

Information processing during heated debates on asylum and immigration may often be influenced by prejudice rather than a desire to learn facts. In this article, we investigate how people process empirical evidence on the consequences of refugee arrivals through a novel survey experiment that disentangles politically motivated learning from other forms of learning and expressive responding. Specifically, we ask respondents to interpret a 2×2 table about the relationship between asylum seekers and crime rates. Crucially, respondents are randomly allocated to evaluate a conclusion that triggers their identity-protective stakes or not. In addition, we test for motivated responding as an alternative explanation by randomly providing some respondents with a response format that motivates them to report their inference truthfully. We find that information processing changes substantially when new information challenges existing asylum attitudes. Politically motivated learning is strongest among voters with strong negative prior attitudes towards asylum seekers. Our results also indicate that expressive responding can only partially account for this gap in correctly reported inferences. Our research has important implications for research on the consequences of refugee migration, theories of motivated reasoning, and survey methodology.     

The little obsessional alchemist

Using the psychoanalytic experience with an obsessional child, this paper looks at the moment of insight, that precipitation of coherence which occurs when we say that we suddenly realize something. This is contrasted with the approach of consciously trying to fit theory to the observed facts. Analogies with alchemy are drawn. In addition, the balancing process occurring in obsessional mentality is compared with strangulation by hanging, the opposing forces being comprised of prematurely solidified states of mind such as mania or paranoia which interfere with that fluid state of mind optimal for the precipitation of insight.     

Is it always fallacious to derive values from facts?

Since the time of David Hume, many philosophers have held that there is a logical Is/Ought gap. According to the doctrine of the Is/Ought gap, there are no valid (i.e., non-fallacious) arguments from purely factual premises about whatis the case to moral or normative conclusions about whatought to be. Occasionally, this doctrine has been challenged, but frequently it has been accepted without argumentation. Charles Pigden has recently argued for a logical Is/Ought gap on the grounds of the conservativeness of logic. I offer a counter-example which shows that Pigden's argument is unsound and that there need be no logical gap between Is-premises and an Ought-conclusion. My counter-example is an argument which is logically valid, has only Is-premises and an Ought-conclusion, and does not purport to violate the conservativeness of logic. Moreover, my argument does not rely, as other alleged counter-examples do, on controversial assumptions from Aristotelian biology about natures or ends, or about institutions such as promise-making.     

Validation of psychoanalytic theories: Towards a conceptualization of references

The authors discuss criteria for the validation of psychoanalytic theories and develop a heuristic and normative model of the references needed for this. Their core question in this paper is: can psychoanalytic theories be validated exclusively from within psychoanalytic theory (internal validation), or are references to sources of knowledge other than psychoanalysis also necessary (external validation)? They discuss aspects of the classic truth criteria correspondence and coherence, both from the point of view of contemporary psychoanalysis and of contemporary philosophy of science. The authors present arguments for both external and internal validation. Internal validation has to deal with the problems of subjectivity of observations and circularity of reasoning, external validation with the problem of relevance. They recommend a critical attitude towards psychoanalytic theories, which, by carefully scrutinizing weak points and invalidating observations in the theories, reduces the risk of wishful thinking. The authors conclude by sketching a heuristic model of validation. This model combines correspondence and coherence with internal and external validation into a four‐leaf model for references for the process of validating psychoanalytic theories.     

MYTHIC RELIGIOUS NATURALISM

In his book Religion Is Not About God, Loyal Rue presents an evolutionarily based explanation of religion as a means to further the personal and social fulfillment of human beings. Rue argues that religions in the form of myths, adaptive falsities, provide an account of the connection between what is (facts) and what matters (values). Myths are false because they attribute subjectively based values to valueless facts, but adaptive because they motivate personally and socially beneficial actions. He maintains that the current crises of humankind, evidenced by both social conflict and environmental degradation, indicate that the major religious traditions—all of which project values onto some transcendent reality—are failing to serve humanity. To overcome these crises, Rue maintains that we need a new, scientifically based naturalized religion, one that attributes subjectively based values to Nature instead of a transcendent reality. I accept Rue's naturalism about values but reject his subjectivist account of them. Contrary to Rue, I show that the naturalistic fallacy sets no barrier to the existence of objective moral values. Modeling my view on the selection theories used in biology and psychology, I offer a scientifically based explanation of the origin and existence of objective values and support it with empirical findings from developmental psychology. Whether this account can count as religious, I do not address.     

Normativity in Comparative Religious Ethics

This essay seeks to clarify the meaning and nature of normativity in metaethics and offers reasons why comparative religious ethics (CRE) must properly address questions about normativity. Though many comparative religious ethicists take CRE to be a normative discipline, what they say about normativity is often unclear and confusing. I argue that the third‐wave scholars face serious questions with respect to not only the justification of moral belief but also the rationality of moral belief and action. These scholars tend to view the justification of moral belief to be a matter of process (that is, discursive social practice) rather than evidence‐possession, thus overlooking crucial differences between the two. They also run the risk of confusing motivating and explanatory reasons with normative reasons for moral belief and action. Consequently, their account of normativity would be insufficient for determining the rationality of moral beliefs and actions as well as for justifying moral beliefs.     

Mathematical Abilities in Elementary School Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although clinical practitioners often express concerns about the mathematical functioning of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the field of mathematics remains a relatively unexplored topic in individuals with ASD. Moreover, research findings are fragmentary and hold inconclusive results. The present study aimed to examine whether grade 1 (aged 6–7 years) to 4 (aged 9–10 years) elementary school children with ASD scored significantly different from age‐adequate norms on mathematics. To this end, a multi‐componential approach of mathematics was used. Four domains of mathematics were assessed in 121 children with ASD: procedural calculation, number fact retrieval, word/language problems, and time‐related competences. All children attended general education classrooms, following the standard curriculum, and were coached by integrated educational services. Children with ASD showed a strength in word/language problems in second and fourth grade. There was evidence of a weakness for procedural calculation in first grade and for time‐related competences in first and third grade. In all other cases, average scores were shown. As such, results revealed a profile of strengths, average abilities, and weaknesses in mathematics and highlighted the importance of focusing on different domains of mathematics. Because a high variability in mathematical performance could be observed, we recommend an individual assessment when considering the mathematical trajectory of children with ASD. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.