Alternative Possibilities and Moral Responsibility: The Flicker of Freedom

Some defenders of the principle of alternative possibilities (PAP) have responded to the challenge of Frankfurt-style counterexamples (FSCs) to PAP by arguing that there remains a flicker of freedom -- that is, an alternative possibility for action -- left to the agent in FSCs. I argue that the flicker of freedom strategy is unsuccessful. The strategy requires the supposition that doing an act-on-one's-own is itself an action of sorts. I argue that either this supposition is confused and leads to counter-intuitive results; or, if the supposition is acceptable, then it is possible to use it to construct a FSC in which there is no flicker of freedom at all. Either way, the flicker of freedom strategy is ineffective against FSCs. Since the flicker of freedom strategy is arguably the best defense of PAP, I conclude that FSCs are successful in showing that PAP is false. An agent can act with moral responsibility without having alternative possibilities available to her.     

RALPH WENDELL BURHOE: HIS LIFE AND HIS THOUGHT

Abstract. This third installment in David Breed's intellectual biography of Ralph Wendell Burhoe focuses upon the impact of his thought on the Unitarian Universalist Association and that group's role in Burhoe's career. Dana McLean Greeley, elected president of the American Unitarian Association in 1958, was a key figure in Burhoe's eventual participation in the project, "The Free Church in a Changing World." Burhoe's emphasis on the need for doctrine that could communicate religious wisdom in terms of science stood in tension with free-church tradition. Nevertheless, the section of the project's final report, titled "Theology and the Frontiers of Learning," largely accepted Burhoe's program for a new natural theology based on science. This project brought Burhoe's program to the attention of the denomination and led to the invitation in 1964 from Malcolm Sutherland, on behalf of Meadville/Lombard Theological School in Chicago, of which he was president, for Burhoe to implement his program in the new curriculum of that school. Burhoe accepted.     

Centrality ratings,forensic relevance,and production frequency: Which one best identifies central and peripheral items?

Production frequency has often been used to identify central and peripheral information, under the assumption that high frequency implies that the item is central. However, no research to date has tested the relationship between centrality and frequency. Participants watched a video of a bank robbery and completed a free recall test, from which frequency for recalled items was computed. Two groups then watched the same video and rated centrality and forensic relevance for each item. Results showed that most, but not all, items with high frequency were rated as central and forensically relevant but that low frequency items were not diagnostic of either item centrality or forensic relevance. Forensic relevance was a better indicator of item centrality than frequency. We concluded that frequency measures should be avoided to determine centrality. Also, if centrality ratings cannot be collected, forensic relevance ratings may be more appropriate for this purpose.     

法兰克福型例和兼容论

本文首先对当代的自由意志问题进行简要概述,其次阐述法兰克福型例的论证和目的,及其他学者对该型例的批判,并提出自己的一些观点,最后通过对法兰克福型例的改进,进一步的探讨自由意志问题,维护传统的自由意志的观念,并进一步维护自由意志和决定论相兼容的立场。     

内生意图性抑制:自我控制研究的新视角

行为抑制的"停止信号"多来自内生意图行为"是否做"决策过程最后时刻内生性否定指示(即内生意图性抑制),而非环境提前设定。因无法用行为指标(错误率、反应时)评估,需将"自由选择"范式结合f MRI、EEG等技术测量与之相关的脑神经、自主神经生理特点;此外,范式中加入的刺激阈下启动、情绪信息影响了内生意图性抑制的加工过程。未来从三个方面拓展研究:(1)明确背内侧额叶皮质的心理机制;(2)探索人格特质的影响;(3)"停止信号"内生日常化。     

非稳态噪声对动物行为及心脏自由基损伤的影响

本研究用采集的多用木工机床和冲击电钻发出的噪声对 5天、1 0天和 2 0天三个噪声干扰组的动物进行干扰 ,以研究非稳态噪声对动物行为及心脏组织自由基损伤的影响。结果发现 ,非稳态噪声可引起动物旷场反应中走格数减少 ,站立及洗脸次数增加 ,并可诱发心脏组织的自由基反应 ,导致心脏组织的损害。因此得出结论 :①非稳态噪声可以对动物行为产生影响 ,并随着噪声暴露时间的延长而增强 ;②非稳态噪声可以造成心脏组织的自由基损伤。这一现象提示自由基损伤是介导噪声对心脏功能影响的重要因素之一。     

自由基与蛛网膜下腔出血后脑血管痉挛的关系及防治策略

脑血管痉挛是蛛网膜下腔出血后的严重并发症之一,可引起脑组织严重缺血或迟发性缺血性脑损伤,甚至导致脑梗死,但其病理机制仍未完全清楚,而越来越多的研究表明自由基在脑血管痉挛病理变化过程中发挥着重要作用。通过对自由基与脑血管痉挛之间关系的科学分析,探讨蛛网膜下腔出血后与自由基相关的脑血管痉挛的防治策略。     

自由基与重度颅脑外伤并发SIRS的原因及治疗研究探讨

就重型颅脑外伤由于过氧化反应后自由基产生的原因、自由基对神经细胞的继发损伤、自由基在重型颅脑外伤状态下诱发或并发全身炎性反应综合征以及两种因素所引起的神经细胞凋亡进行综述。同时就目前学者们在手术抢救、监测血液粘度、持续腰大池置管脑脊液外引流术、亚低温治疗、药物治疗、高压氧与活性氧液治疗、恒定磁场治疗等方面治疗自由基和全身炎性反应综合征对神经细胞的继发损伤进行了讨论。重型颅脑外伤后应重视自由基和全身炎性反应综合征的治疗。     

A method for describing preschoolers' activity preferences

We designed a series of analyses to develop a measurement system capable of simultaneously recording the free-play patterns of 20 children in a preschool classroom. Study 1 determined the intermittency with which the location and engagement of each child could be momentarily observed before the accuracy of the measurement was compromised. Results showed that intervals up to 120 s introduced less than 10% measurement error. Study 2 determined the extent of agreement between two observers who simultaneously collected data for 20 children using 30-, 60-, 90-, and 120-s momentary time sampling (MTS) intervals. The three larger intervals resulted in high levels of interobserver agreement (above 90%), whereas the 30-s interval resulted in unacceptably low levels of agreement (less than 80%). By allowing observers to select from among the different MTS intervals via a datasheet array and then collect data with the chosen system, Study 3 determined observers' preferences for the remaining MTS intervals. Both data collectors preferred the 90-s MTS procedure. The sensitivity of the 90-s MTS procedure, which was shown to be accurate, reliable, and preferred, was then demonstrated by its use to describe activity preferences of a classroom of children in Study 4. This system identified high- and low-preference activities for individual children and revealed interesting patterns of response allocation by the group.     

Voluntary Action and Rational Sin in Anselm of Canterbury

Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) holds that freedom of the will is a necessary condition for moral responsibility. This condition, however, turns out to be trivially fulfilled by all rational creatures at all times. In order to clarify the necessary conditions for moral responsibility, we must look more widely at his discussion of the nature of the will and of willed action. In this paper, I examine his theory of voluntariness by clarifying his account of the sin of Satan in De casu diaboli. Anselm agrees with Augustine that the sinful act cannot be given a causal explanation in terms of a distinct preceding act of will or desire or choice. He thus rejects volitionalist accounts of Satan's sin and thus of voluntary action in general. He moves beyond his predecessor, however, in insisting on the necessity of an explanation in terms of reasons, and his theory of the dual nature of the rational will is designed to meet this demand. A comparison of Satan's case with the case of the miser of De casu diaboli 3, finally, shows that Anselm's account requires that acts of the will or ‘willings’ qualify as voluntary, a suggestion as interesting as problematic.