Frankfurt-Pairs and Varieties of Blameworthiness: Epistemic Morals

I start by using “Frankfurt-type” examples to cast preliminary doubt on the “Objective View” - that one is blameworthy for an action only if that action is objectively wrong, and follow by providing further arguments against this view. Then I sketch a replacement for the Objective View whose core is that one is to blame for performing an action, A, only if one has the belief that it is morally wrong for one to do A, and this belief plays an appropriate role in the etiology of one's A-ing. I next defend this core against recently advanced objections and then show how it helps with defusing a skeptical challenge from the direction of causal determinism against blameworthiness. Finally, I exploit the core to isolate an analogous epistemic core for nonmoral but “normative” varieties of blameworthiness. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Ultimate Educational Aims, Overridingness, and Personal Well-being

Discussion regarding education??s aims, especially its ultimate aims, is a key topic in the philosophy of education. These aims or values play a pivotal role in regulating and structuring moral and other types of normative education. We outline two plausible strategies to identify and justify education??s ultimate aims. The first associates these aims with a normative standpoint, such as the moral, prudential, or aesthetic, which is overriding, in a sense of ??overriding?? to be explained. The second associates education??s ultimate aims with the intrinsic value of personal well-being. We advance reasons to doubt that these strategies are successful. The shortcomings of these strategies impute yet further urgency to the issue of how we are to ascertain and validate education??s ultimate aims.     

Studies on Interfaith Relations: Latest Input for Authority Management Review (AMR) in Malaysia

Malaysia is a multi-religious society with 28.3 million people. The country had succeeded in managing religious diversity for almost fifty-seven years. This includes the promotion of interfaith relationships granted under the right to religious freedom, which is protected by the State. There are, however, emerging interfaith challenges, including conversion from one faith to another and reversion back to the original faith, these types of challenges appearing especially in the early millennium. This article reviews the ten latest research studies on interfaith issues in Malaysia and identifies useful themes for authority in exercising management review. Using the content analysis method, this study found that there are several important managerial aspects to be taken into serious consideration, including setting clear parameters for freedom of religion in Malaysia, clear procedures for managing religious conflict, managing faith with respect, and effectively promoting media advocacy. The findings also give insights on the development of interfaith studies in Malaysia.     

The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma,Combat Exposure,and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Male Veterans

The current study investigated the effects of combat exposure, childhood trauma, and depression on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity. Participants were 299 male veterans from the Korean War, World War II, Vietnam, and the first Gulf War who were being screened for admission to the PTSD unit. Participants were assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), Combat Exposure Scale (CES), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and Mississippi Scale for PTSD (MPTSD). Results of multiple regression analyses indicated that, as expected, combat exposure and depression were significant predictors of PTSD severity. When examined with combat exposure, childhood trauma has a complex relationship to PTSD severity. Examination of the interaction between the CES and CTQ suggests that when levels of combat are low and childhood trauma levels are high, the CTQ is related to higher levels of PTSD severity on the CAPS, regardless of depression. Treatment implications are discussed.     

The principle of alternate possibilities and a defeated dilemma

Famed so-called ‘Frankfurt-type examples’ have been invoked to cast doubt on the principle that a person is morally responsible for what she has done only if she could have done otherwise. Many who disagree that the examples are successful in this respect argue that these examples succumb to a deadly dilemma. I uncover and assess libertarian assumptions upon which the ‘dilemma objection’ is based. On exposing these assumptions, it becomes clear that various sorts of libertarian are no longer entitled to one or the other horns of the dilemma.