No,We Cannot

Marianna Bergamaschi Ganapini argues that we can believe the error theory. In this reply, I explain why I still think we cannot.     

Conservative speech

In this paper, I argue that an utterance can function to conserve or maintain the truth of its asserted content, what I call conservative speech. Conservative utterances can work to preserve the truth of their asserted content in two ways. In the first, directive conservatives, the utterance serves as an indirect directive for interlocutors to act in ways that serve to maintain the asserted content. In the second, constitutive conservatives, serve to partly constitute the truth conditions of the asserted content directly. Constitutive conservatives, I argue, are particularly important because they are a central tool for how social groups enforce and thereby maintain facts about group norms and values in the face of deviation. They thus have a central role to play in understanding the role of language in the abilities of social groups to create and maintain their norms and values.     

EMG scanning: Normative data

Surface EMG was recorded from both right and left aspects of 18 muscle groups for the purpose of establishing a data base of normative EMG levels. A scanning electrode permitted easy and rapid EMG measurement from 52 male and 51 female college students, both sitting and standing. Several a posteriori analyses of variance revealed sex differences in the masseter, occipital, posterior cervical, upper trapezius, latissimus dorsi, and anterior tibialis. Similarly, there were side differences for the anterior temporalis, occipitalis, splenius capitus, trapezius, paraspinalis, and soleus. The analyses also revealed interactions among sex, position, and side for various measures on the trapezius. The data show that females tend to muscle brace more than males in the upper extremities. The study provides data for normative comparisons and helps to plan and interpret future EMG studies.     

IMPROVING RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT SERVICES: IMPLEMENTATION AND NORM-REFERENCED EVALUATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Ensuring effective service delivery by direct-care personnel in institutional living units for persons with developmental disabilities historically has been a difficult process, despite considerable attention from researchers, service providers, and governmental regulatory agencies. In this investigation, we conducted a normative evaluation of the extent and quality of treatment services currently provided in residential living units (Experiment 1) and evaluated a comprehensive management system designed to improve such services (Experiment 2). Results of the first experiment, encompassing 22 living units in three states, indicated that on the average two thirds of observed resident behavior did not involve any therapeutic activity. The results also provided social validity for the criteria used to evaluate the quality of treatment provision based on opinions of mental retardation professionals. Results of the second experiment indicated that a behavioral management program implemented during 23 separate time periods across five living units was accompanied by consistent and durable decreases in resident nontherapeutic activity as well as increases in specifically designated habilitative activity. The results provide support for the successful incorporation of behavioral management technology into human service settings on a large-scale, long-term basis.     

Sociobiology and Human Nature: A Perspective from Catholic Theology

This paper addresses a nonspecialist audience on how sociobiological accounts of human nature might be relevant to Christian theology. I begin with some confessional remarks to clarify what I mean by Christian theology and how I understand it to be related to science. I indicate briefly why sociobiology might be of interest to theology and then move on to sketch some ways in which sociobiology might relate to theological ethics. My basic point is that sociobiology is directly relevant to theological ethics in its understanding of evolved human emotional predispositions but not in its normative reflection proper.     

Use of normative peer data as a standard for evaluating classroom treatment effects

This study illustrated the use of normative behavioral observation data as a standard for evaluating the practicality of treatment effects produced in other settings. Three groups of eight subjects each, displaying relatively low proportions of appropriate classroom behavior when compared with regular classroom peers, were selected for treatment within an experimental classroom setting. The three groups were exposed to intervention procedures designed to reinforce either direct academic performance and/or facilitative nonacademic classroom responses. The treatment was effective in changing levels of appropriate behavior (1) above baseline levels in the experimental classroom, and (2) to within normal peer-defined limits when reintegrated into the regular classroom. Further, the data reflect successful maintenance of these effects for a seven- to 12-week follow-up period. Several applications of a normative model for evaluating treatment, generalization, and maintenance effects were presented and discussed.     

Social interest,extreme response style,and implications for adjustment

As part of a series of studies examining Adler's proposition that social interest, or interest and concern for others, is a major factor facilitating personal adjustment, the research investigated the relation between social interest and Extreme Response Style (ERS). ERS was chosen as an indirect measure of maladjustment since research has confirmed Adler's contention that it is especially prevalent among neurotic individuals. In three studies involving a total of 221 subjects, inverse relations were found between a measure of social interest and ERS scores derived from four questionnaires concerning attitudes toward self, others, and a wide variety of attitudinal issues. The data also indicated that the results were not due to either apathy or repression being associated with social interest. The results provided further evidence that positive relations between social interest and adjustment are not limited to self-reports of the latter.     

On Hare's attempt to bridge the Kantian-consequentialist gap: A response to Forschler's rejoinder

In a paper in this journal (Wall 2016), the author of the present paper critiqued Scott Forschler's attempt (2013) to establish that Jens Timmermann's argument (2005) against R. M. Hare's attempt (1981) to bridge the Kantian-consequentialist gap is unsuccessful. Forschler's thesis is that Hare's utilitarianism is strictly normative, not metaethical. In Hare's ethical rationalism, which is metaethical but contains no intrinsic ends (Forschler 2013), reason determines the proper ends, and preference satisfaction has no value prior to reason's determinations (Forschler 2013). The present author responded that Hare's moral approach presupposes that preference satisfaction is the ultimate end (Wall 2016) and that an analysis of preference satisfaction in Hare's moral approach cannot be confined to normative ethics. Forschler's rejoinder (2017) suggests that Hare's moral theory was misinterpreted by the author, who now shows that such a judgment results from significant oversights concerning the foundation of Hare's moral theory and utilitarian foundations.     

Political distrust,perceived threat,and intentions to engage in normative and violent collective action: A mixed-methods study

In three studies, we examined the role of distrust and perceived threat in intentions to engage in normative and violent non-normative collective action. A field-based qualitative study of 35 pro-democracy protestors during the 2019 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition protests revealed that perceived threat to Hong Kong values alongside distrust of political institutions spurred collective action engagement and support for defensive violent collection action. In Study 2, a questionnaire (N = 639) testing pro-democracy action intentions demonstrated direct paths on both normative and violent collective action intentions from distrust and threat. In Study 3 (N = 133), experimental trust and threat manipulations demonstrated a significant association between distrust and threat on violent collective action intentions and acceptance, and a significant interaction on acceptance of violent collective action. Our results reveal the importance of distrust and threat in attitudinal support for, and engagement in, collective action and their role in transitioning from non-violent to violent collective action.