Sceptical possibilities? No worries

This paper undermines a paradigmatic form of sceptical reasoning. It does this by describing, and then dialectically dissolving, the sceptical-independence presumption, upon which that form of sceptical reasoning relies.     

The other between fear and desire – countertransference fantasy as a bridge between me and the other

This paper attempts to show how unrepresented rupture/injury of primary expectations of the early relationship is reactivated in the analytic process. This becomes perceptible especially as unconscious fear and a specific defence described as ‘living behind a glass-wall’. The author, however, postulates the existence of an inherent dialogical-dyadic principle in the psyche, which she calls archetypal hope, and shows how this principle may become active in the analytical space. These aspects of analytical treatments are sketched with two vignettes, in which unconscious processes of exchange cause the analyst to experience unrepresented states. The author describes how the analyst is gradually able to experience and understand this, and how this understanding finally – without first becoming explicit – becomes effective in the analytical space. Special attention is given to the analytic attitude. A readiness to accept and move into regression and a receptivity to attune to the early sensory experience of the analysand is regarded as essential. Through this the analyst gains access to the inner space of the analysand and, through bodily experience and pre-symbolic processes, the unrepresented may thus become figurable. The reverie and countertransference fantasies are understood as a bridge: they connect the analytic pair. However, the reverie also creates the transition between that which was not – the absent representation – and that which wants to emerge. It thus bridges the personal unconscious (implicit expectation) and the archetypal (the archetypal hope). Through this, the space of hope may become a space of possibility, and help bridge the chasm between the experienced and the hoped-for.     

Doing Ethics or Changing for the Better?

In this paper, classical pragmatism is used as a method, not as a substantial ethical theory, to develop “moral pragmatics.” Moral pragmatics offers a constructive approach for making progress where traditional ethical theories converge, and it innovates ethical deliberation. Assuming widespread agreement that real moral problems need practical solutions, the paper addresses two related problems: the missing link between ethical theories and moral practice, and the question of who is in charge of finding such solutions. It argues that “conscience” can create a link between ethical knowledge and moral practice, and that this partly discharges “the ethicist” from the task of solving problems that are not really, or not only, hers. Two specific methodological innovations are suggested that go beyond admonitions to render ethics sensitive to context. Instead, a reevaluation of “casuistry” and a sensitivity for “finding the right words” give an idea of how to achieve this goal.     

Compensating for Innovation: Extreme Product Incongruity Encourages Consumers to Affirm Unrelated Consumption Schemas

New products are often extremely incongruent with expectations. The inability to make sense of these products elevates anxiety and leads to negative evaluations. Although scholars have predominantly focused on combating the negative response to extreme incongruity, we propose that extreme incongruity may have implications that extend beyond the category. We base our predictions on the concept of fluid compensation, which suggests that when people struggle to make sense of something, they will nonconsciously reinforce highly accessible schemas in unrelated domains. Four studies confirm that extreme incongruity encourages fluid compensation, such that it elevates preference for dominant brands (study 1), green consumption (studies 2 and 4), and ethnocentric products (study 3). We isolate the causal role of anxiety using moderation tasks and biometric feedback. Furthermore, we demonstrate that compensation has an immediate dampening effect on arousal intensity. Thus, if consumers can compensate before explicitly evaluating an extremely incongruent product, their evaluations tend not to be negative. Taken together, we document that extreme innovations encourage compensation, and in compensating, consumers can become more receptive to extreme innovations.     

INSTABILITY AND DISSONANCE: PROVOCATIONS FROM SANDRA HARDING

Abstract. Sandra Harding's work is useful, not only as a critique of the scientific method and its epistemological constructs, but also in providing new energy and insights to the discussions about epistemology between theology and science. Feminist theory has been critical of the worldviews inherited from the Enlightenment. No longer is there one unambiguous way of knowing ourselves and the world around us, a single vision of reality. Feminist philosophers of science like Sandra Harding and Donna Haraway have redefined the scientific method and its analytic categories. They have contributed significantly to this discussion by moving the Enlightenment epistemological issues into the arena of politics and ethics. Feminist theory continues to remind us that what is important is not only how or what we know but what we do with that knowledge and how we use it.     

Ability and Knowing How in the Situation Calculus

Most agents can acquire information about their environments as they operate. A good plan for such an agent is one that not only achieves the goal, but is also executable, i.e., ensures that the agent has enough information at every step to know what to do next. In this paper, we present a formal account of what it means for an agent to know how to execute a plan and to be able to achieve a goal. Such a theory is a prerequisite for producing specifications of planners for agents that can acquire information at run time. It is also essential to account for cooperation among agents. Our account is more general than previous proposals, correctly handles programs containing loops, and incorporates a solution to the frame problem. It can also be used to prove programs containing sensing actions correct.     

Interpersonal Understanding Fuels Knowledge Acquisition

Beginning in infancy, humans acquire knowledge at a pace far outstripping that found in any other species. Recent evidence indicates that interpersonal understanding—in particular, skill at inferring others' intentions—plays a pivotal role in this achievement. Infants as young as 12 to 18 months actively utilize clues to others' intentions to guide their interpretation of language, emotion, and action more generally. In the language domain, for example, on hearing a new word, infants spontaneously check the speaker for intentional clues such as gaze direction, emotional expression, gestures, and body posture, and interpret the word in light of such information. By capitalizing on information about intentions, infants are able to avoid a wide range of potential errors, and to quickly learn relevant new skills. Current research is exploring the origins and developmental course of such early-emerging interpersonal skill, ultimately with an eye to understanding how disruptions in such abilities affect children's cognitive and social development.     

Metacognitive Development

Traditional developmental research in memory and reasoning, as well as current investigations in such disparate areas as theory of mind, epistemological understanding, knowledge acquisition, and problem solving, share the need to invoke a meta-level of cognition in explaining their respective phenomena. The increasingly influential construct of metacognition can be conceptualized in a developmental framework. Young children's dawning awareness of mental functions lies at one end of a developmental progression that eventuates in complex metaknowing capabilities that many adults do not master. During its extended developmental course, metacognition becomes more explicit, powerful, and effective, as it comes to operate increasingly under the individual's conscious control. Enhancing (a) metacognitive awareness of what one believes and how one knows and (b) metastrategic control in application of the strategies that process new information is an important developmental and educational goal.     

学习策略与程序性知识迁移关系的研究

本研究以学习者拥有领域知识的水平差异为基点 ,结合元认知监控手段 ,考察学习策略与程序性知识迁移之间的关系。结果表明 :(1 )以揭发意义或价值、建立新旧知识信息间实质性联结的解释策略对拥有高、低领域知识组的被试具有明显促进问题解决的作用 ;而以相似性为基础的练习策略往往在学生头脑中建立的是新旧知识间表面特征的联结 ,因而程序化技能的迁移范围不如前者。 (2 )在运用获得的认知技能碰到阻碍时 ,解释策略不仅使高知组被试能够突破无关变量的影响 ,而且也在一定程度上弥补低知组被试掌握的规则缺陷。