Divine Action and the Natural Sciences

The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and the Vatican Observatory have jointly sponsored a series of conferences exploring the overarching question: How can we conceive a personal God creating and active within the universe described by the natural sciences? The volumes include significant contributions to the field, although I highlight two important weaknesses: (1) theology is not adequately respected as an active conversation partner capable of advancing the agenda under discussion; and (2) insufficient attention is paid to the many scientific and philosophical uncertainties that plague the overall project.     

Reasoning about actions and obligations in first-order logic

We describe a new way in which theories about the deontic status of actions can be represented in terms of the standard two-sorted first-order extensional predicate calculus. Some of the resulting formal theories are easy to implement in Prolog; one prototype implementation—R. M. Lee's deontic expert shell DX—is briefly described.This research was partially supported by the Esprit III Basic Research Working Group No. 8319 ModelAge.     

Can Science Help Construct a New Global Ethic? The Development and Implications of Moral Transformation Theory

This paper reports the results of a ten-year search for consensus among scientific findings on the nature of the origin and development of moral sensitivity and morality. Significant agreement on six underlying factors was found. Based on these foundations, a new theory of moral transformation and a scientific "global ethic" relating to the global ethic of Hans Kung and the Parliament of the World's Religions is proposed. Fields surveyed include psychology, sociology, political science, economics, history, and gender and feminist studies in social science; physics and biology in natural science; and brain research, archaeology, and both old and new evolutionary studies and theory, including chaos, self-organizing, and other nonlinear theories, in systems science.     

Creation, Co-operation, and Causality: A Reply to Gregersen

Niels H. Gregersen seeks to illuminate the nature of continuing divine action in the world and to show that the classical theistic doctrine of continuous creation is consonant with some recent scientific theories of self-productive ("autopoietic") systems. Central to these theories is the concept of co-operation; central to Gregersen's theological appropriation of these theories is also the notion of structuring causality developed by philosopher Fred Dretske. While supportive of Gregersen's overall aims and emphases, we find significant disanalogies between co-operation as a theological construct and as an evolutionary strategy. We also doubt the utility of Dretske's notion for his project.     

SUDDEN CHANGE IN THE WORLD

Abstract. The suddenness of phase change is examined as an example of a discontinuity in nature, in which an apparently random microscopic event can trigger a macroscopic change of state such as the crystallization of a liquid. Recent advances in nucleation theory that have helped to quantify but not eliminate this randomness are described, and analogies with the modes of God's action in the world are explored.     

The analysis of experience: John Dewey and Elsie Ripley Clapp on desire and thinking, 1911

Unpublished correspondence with Elsie Ripley Clapp, along with extensive notes for a 1911 course, The Analysis of Experience, provide the context for a consideration of John Dewey's discussion of the relation between desire and thinking. Dewey's philosophic point of view is portrayed as it was developing in his own mind. The unity of thought and desire, the necessity of making objects of inquiry, the identification of thinking and acting, are themes in these materials which would appear in their published form in such works as Essays in Experimental Logic, Democracy and Education, and Human Nature and Conduct. In the unpublished materials, Dewey is seen as a naturalist at work in his laboratory, reworking his ideas and acknowledging Clapp's assistance in getting Dewey to connect practical situations in life with the philosophic distinctions under development. The 1911 materials are an excellent connection between problematics in Dewey's earlier writings on ethics, epistemology, and logic, and his later writings, on the same subjects in the 1920's and 1930's.     

Student counsellors’ experiences of mindfulness as a component of their person-centred counselling training: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Aim

Mindfulness is increasingly integrated into counselling and psychotherapy practices, as well as being introduced to students in academic institutes with the aim of supporting them to balance the responsibilities of academic study, placements and other commitments alongside university life. Despite mindfulness routinely finding its way into counselling settings and being incorporated into counsellor training, there has yet to be any research conducted to explore the experience of student counsellors who have received mindfulness as a part of their undergraduate person-centred training. This study explored the reflections of counsellors who had attended a mindfulness module during the first year of a counselling degree.

Design

Six students completing a university-based undergraduate degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy in the North-West of England, in the UK, participated in the research. The study consisted of two students from each of the three years of the programme. Participants individually attended a semi-structured interview to explore their experiences of mindfulness as a mandatory module of their training in person-centred counselling. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the generated data.

Findings

Four superordinate themes were generated: 1) becoming a counsellor, 2) person-centred mindfulness, 3) time, and 4) learning and development.

Discussion

Experiential themes were explored including the process of professionalism, vulnerability, embodiment of person-centred theory and the core conditions and the conflict of approach.

Conclusion

Recommendations are made for mindfulness to be included in counselling training programmes with a person-centred focus. Suggestions for further research include longitudinal studies to follow the development of trainees over time.     

“When I say I'm depressed,it's like anger.” An exploration of the emotional landscape of climate change concern in Norway and its psychological,social and political implications

Climate anxiety discourse focuses predominantly on individualised and potentially mentally disturbing aspects of emotional responses to the awareness of climate change which can silence the mobilising charge of strong emotions in response to climate change. We critically examine this perspective and explore the range, context, and perceived effects of emotional responses to climate change based on 33 in-depth interviews with people self-identified as highly concerned about this issue in the context of oil-wealthy Norway. Thematic analysis revealed that lived emotional experience of concern about climate change is characterised by a complex palette of co-occurring and dynamically linked emotions reported in relation to 16 evocative themes. We analyse the perceived effects of these emotions focusing on five areas: participants' mood and wellbeing, concerns about existing and hypothetical children, feelings of alienation, responsibility for the climate situation, and positive experience in the context of climate change. We discuss the psychological, social and political implications of participants' emotional experience, considering the Norwegian context, and we conclude that it goes beyond potentially debilitating and paralysing feelings, and includes politically charged moral anger and collective guilt, as well as love for nature, and a sense of community around collective climate action.     

Activist purpose orientation: Definition and predictors

Activism is responsible for many of the positive social changes we have seen across time, and is central to pushing for continued social change. However, these positive outcomes do not come without a cost, as activism can also be draining and can lead to physical and emotional harm for those involved. Social policies and intervention programs have addressed how to help people maintain their engagement with activism aims, though few have considered the motivational role of purpose in life. As purpose in life involves a sustained commitment to one's goals, having a purpose in life centered around activism may help an individual remain committed to activism and to the creation of change in the face of these obstacles. If activist purpose can help us understand and predict who is likely to remain engaged in activism, then it is valuable to consider what factors influence the development of activist purpose, in order to continue necessary social change. Thus, in this work we define activist purpose, and theorize as to what factors may be relevant to the development of an activist purpose by situating predictors of activism and collective action within the literature on pathways to purpose in life. This work may thus provide a greater understanding of how to encourage activism or reduce the harmful effects associated with activism.