Managing the Complexity of Dialogues in Context: A Data-Driven Discovery Method for Dialectical Reply Structures

Argumentation - Current formal dialectical models postulate normative rules that enable discussants to conduct dialogical interactions without committing fallacies. Though the rules for conducting...     

Childhood Experiences and Self-Control

Survey data collected simultaneously in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Lviv, Ukraine; and a rural area of the Lviv region in Ukraine are used to examine hypothesized sources of self-control found in Gottfredson and Hirschi's self-control theory (G/H) and in coercion/social support theory (CSS). Analyses provide limited support for the G/H model and almost no support for the challenge posed by arguments concerning social support and self-control. Exploratory analyses indicate that the various parenting dimensions specified in the G/H model and sources of social support implied by CSS theory may have countervailing influences on self-control, thereby producing less than desirable outcomes. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Does Religion Suppress,Socialize, Soothe,or Support? Exploring Religiosity's Influence on Crime

A negative association between religiosity and crime is commonly documented in the United States and other Western contexts. In this study, we examine associations between religiosity and criminal probability among randomly selected survey respondents in a non‐Western Christian context (Lviv, Ukraine) and a non‐Western Islamic context (Dhaka, Bangladesh). In addition, we explore whether religiosity is associated in these contexts with various theoretical mechanisms identified in prior research, including self‐control, social control, moral beliefs, negative emotions, and social support. Results confirm that religiosity is negatively correlated with projected criminal probability in non‐Western contexts as well as among both Christian and Muslim respondents. Furthermore, net of social and demographic characteristics, religiosity appears to indirectly influence crime through moral beliefs and, to a lesser extent, through self‐control and informal social control.     

Picturing the Soul: Moral Psychology and the Recovery of the Emotions

This paper draws from the resources of Iris Murdoch's moral philosophy to analyze the ethical status of the emotions at two related levels of reflection. Methodologically, it argues that a recovery of the emotions requires a revised notion of moral theory which affirms the basic orientation of consciousness to some notion of value or the good. Such a theory challenges many of the rationalist premises which in the past have led moral theory to reject the role of emotions in ethics. In particular, it acknowledges the centrality of moral psychology to ethics and reclaims the notion of consciousness rather than the will as the primary mode of human moral being. At a second, more substantive level, the paper explores the relation between the emotions and consciousness. Specifically, it defends a cognitivist and reflexive theory of the emotions which affirms a strong relation between the emotions and our evaluative beliefs. On this view, the emotions reflexively mediate our relation to objective value. In order to earn their cognitive status, however, the emotions must be tested in relation to a critical principle in order to guard against the egoistic tendencies of consciousness to build up images of reality to serve its own purposes. Therefore, a theory of the Good must be part of the critical content of a reflexive theory of the emotions.     

The Virtues of Metaphysics: A Review of Iris Murdoch's Philosophical Writings

Iris Murdoch's moral philosophy has long influenced contemporary ethics, yet it has not, in general, received the kind of sustained critical attention that it deserves. Existentialists and Mystics and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals provide new access to most of Murdoch's philosophical writings and make possible a deeper appreciation of her contribution to current thought. After assessing the recent critical reception of Murdoch's thought, this review places her moral philosophy in the context of contemporary trends in ethics by tracing her influence on the work of Charles Taylor, highlights the distinctive features of her moral philosophy (especially her analysis of consciousness), and suggests future directions for Murdochian ethics.     

Memory and identity among post-Soviet Evangelical Christians–Baptists in contemporary Ukraine

Evangelical Christians–Baptists (ECBs) are a prominent denomination in contemporary Ukraine. They survived persecution by Soviet state atheism and are meeting the challenges of postcommunist freedom. They provide good ground for a case study on how religious communities preserve their collective memories and identities when times and conditions change. In this paper, based on various sources produced by churches and religious organisations, I analyse the ways in which ECBs maintain and reflect upon their collective memories and reinvent their traditions. Particularly I focus on historical narratives and commemorations. I argue that the ECBs develop their collective memories in transnational, local and personal perspectives. They are eager to see the history of their community as an inalienable part of the national history of Ukraine, but also consider themselves as both rooted in Russian culture and heirs of a European Protestant tradition. The main values in the core of their memory discourse are holiness, spirituality, suffering for faith and survival of the community in a hostile society. Celebrations of faith heroes and martyrs are especially popular among those who belong to the former underground wing of this denomination. A more recent trend is the celebration of the history of local congregations. As ECBs perceive threats to their traditional way of life from the West and the national liberalism of today, they become more fundamentalist and persistent in its preservation and protection. Ultimately, in order to defend their cultural space from ‘immoral’ influences, they have become more politically active and have contributed to conservative and anti-liberal agendas on the national level in Ukraine.