Causal Powers and the Necessity of Realization

Non-reductive physicalists hold that mental properties are realized by physical properties. The realization relation is typically taken to be a metaphysical necessitation relation. Here, I explore how the metaphysical necessitation feature of realization can be explained by what is known as ‘the subset view’ of realization. The subset view holds that the causal powers that are associated with a realized property are a proper subset of the causal powers that are associated with the realizer property. I argue that the said explanation of the metaphysical necessitation feature requires a careful treatment of the relationship between properties and causal powers.     

Epiphenomenal Properties

What is an epiphenomenal property? This question needs to be settled before we can decide whether higher-level properties are epiphenomenal or not. In this paper, I offer an account of what it is for a property to have some causal power. From this, I derive a characterization of the notion of an epiphenomenal property. I then argue that physically realized higher-level properties are not epiphenomenal, because laws of nature impose causal similarities on the bearers of such properties, and these similarities figure as powers in the causal profiles of these properties.     

Effects of sociocultural factors on social trends in society

We aimed to determine the effect of gender, age, marital status, number of the people in the household, number of children, and regular reading habits on social trends by using the social trends scale for adults. Economically independent 290 adults were selected on a volunteer basis by family practitioners. Our findings indicate that violence avoidance and economic status were correlated to book reading and having children; and gender, regular reading, and having children have impact on economic status. We conclude that promoting regular reading in society, efforts on protecting the institution of marriage, and counseling services that assist toward normalization of the number of children and promoting knowledge and awareness of parenthood would be beneficial to the social trends in society.     

Does Problem Focused Coping Buffer the Effects of Trait Anxiety on Depressive Symptoms of Chronic Urticaria Patients?

The present study examined the moderating role of problem-focused coping in trait anxiety—depressive symptoms' relationship in patients with chronic urticaria (CU). Eighty-eight CU patients, who applied to an outpatient clinic of Clinical Immunology and Allergic Diseases, filled out a questionnaire set including State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Ways of Coping Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory. The results suggested that CU patients high on trait anxiety reported more depressive symptoms, and the ones using more problem-focused coping (PFC) strategies reported less depressive symptoms. Also, PFC strategies moderated trait anxiety-depressive symptoms relation. Accordingly, PFC strategies did not lead to any significant difference in CU patients who were low on trait anxiety in terms of the level of depressive symptoms. However, CU patients with high trait anxiety experienced significantly less depressive symptoms if they used more PFC strategies. The findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.     

Foreign Qualification Recognition Regimes for Internationally Trained Professionals: the Case of Pharmacists

The paper aims to bridge the literatures on “immigration policy” and “sociology of professions” by offering an institutionalist perspective that focuses on the nature of foreign qualification recognition (FQR) processes and their impact on internationally trained workers’ access to employment in 11 immigrant-receiving countries—France, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. It analyzes professional regulations and immigrant selection systems and puts forward four FQR regimes—“readily accessible,” “segmented,” “moderately restrictive,” and “highly restrictive.” The central focus of the article is on FQR regimes for pharmacists since professional regulations are not uniform across all professions and jurisdictions. It would thus be more suitable to clarify country clusters for each profession. This conceptual tool, however, can also be utilized to enhance our understanding about other professions.     

Participatory Policy-Making,Participatory Civil Society: A Key for Dissolving Elite Rule in New Democracies in the Era of Globalization

The author argues that in democracies a strong state and strong civil society are not mutually exclusive. Only a democratic, legitimate, and strong state can provide the environment for civil society activities to flourish; in return, only a strong and a participatory civil society can outline the reach of state strength vis-à-vis the society. The author discusses the need for civil society organizations to collaborate with policy-making institutions, in which they can negotiate policy concerns with ministers and officials while retaining an independent distance from the state and the political parties. Further, the author argues that an environment as such would provide for the transformative capacity of human agency to manifest itself in full in a globalizing world. The author discusses how participatory state and civil society structures will enhance the role of the human agency in order to dissolve elite rule, especially in new democracies.     

When Conflict Traumas Fragment: Investigating the Sociopsychological Roots of Turkey’s Intractable Conflict

This article investigates the historical processes contributing towards the specific development of Turkey after the 1920s that in turn established the main contours of Turkey's conflict with the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (PKK). It first argues that the traumatic conflict memories of the Turkish leadership (1918–35) influenced its individual‐level patterns of actions. These memories were used by the leadership to consolidate its imagined national agency in Turkey. The leadership perceived the traditional‐conservative groups as ontological insecurity sources, jeopardizing this agency. It second claims that Turkey's military apparatus is designed to silence these ontological insecurity sources. Finally, it claims these developments informed the ways in which the PKK's narratives of rebellion were constructed. Empirically, it problematizes the impact of the Ottoman Empire's collapse on the Turkish elites. Then, through a discourse analysis of elites' speeches and legal documents, it traces their anxieties to the Ottoman Empire's traumatic end. This article contributes to the trauma literature on ontological security and the emotions literature in International Relations in two ways. It first explores the particular national context in which traumatic memories are shaped and in turn articulated through emotional performances. Secondly, it shows the interplay between sociopsychological processes of security and agency making.