Preservation Theorems Without Continuum Hypothesis

Many results concerning the equivalence between a syntactic form of formulas and a model theoretic conditions are proven directly without using any form of a continuum hypothesis. In particular, it is demonstrated that any reduced product sentence is equivalent to a Horn sentence. Moreover, in any first order language without equality one now has that a reduced product sentence is equivalent to a Horn sentence and any sentence is equivalent to a Boolean combination of Horn sentences.     

Aggressive driving: the contribution of the drivers and the situation

Aggressive driving is defined in terms of the frustration–aggression model. In that context aggressive driving is a syndrome of frustration-driven behaviors, enabled by the driver's environment. These behaviors can either take the form of instrumental aggression—that allows the frustrated driver to move ahead at the cost of infringing on other road users’ rights (e.g., by weaving and running red lights)—or hostile aggression which is directed at the object of frustration (e.g., cursing other drivers). While these behaviors may be reflective of individual differences in aggression, it is argued that the exclusive focus on the characteristics of the aggressive drivers and how to control them is short-sighted. Instead, this paper proposes a multi-factor approach to the problem. Five studies conducted so far tend to support this approach, by showing that specific aggressive behaviors—such as honking and running red lights—are associated with cultural norms, actual and perceived delays in travel, and congestion. Ergonomics-oriented approaches that involve environmental modifications are proposed.     

Personality correlates of Holland's occupational types: A cross cultural study

Recent studies have investigated the personality traits of persons in Holland's six occupational categories. In the present study the generalizability of Holland's characterizations of adults within the occupational categories was investigated in a group of 402 Mexican-Americans. Occupational Scale scores on the Kuder Occupational Interest Survey were used to classify subjects into Holland's occupational types. Multiple discriminant analysis of groups' Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey scale scores resulted in significant overall groups differentiation and two significant discriminant functions for males but no significant results for females. The personality characteristics of the male groups provide strong support for the generalizability of Holland's characterizations to Mexican-American males.     

Constructing Finite Least Kripke Models for Positive Logic Programs in Serial Regular Grammar Logics

A serial context-free grammar logic is a normal multimodal logicL characterized by the seriality axioms and a set of inclusionaxioms of the form _ts1..._sk. Such an inclusion axiom correspondsto the grammar rule t s₁... s_k. Thus the inclusion axioms ofL capture a context-free grammar . If for every modal index t, the set of words derivable fromt using is a regular language, then L is a serial regular grammar logic. In this paper, we present an algorithm that, given a positivemultimodal logic program P and a set of finite automata specifyinga serial regular grammar logic L, constructs a finite leastL-model of P. (A model M is less than or equal to model M' iffor every positive formula , if M then M' .) A least L-modelM of P has the property that for every positive formula , P iff M . The algorithm runs in exponential time and returnsa model with size 2^O(n³). We give examples of P and L, for bothof the case when L is fixed or P is fixed, such that every finiteleast L-model of P must have size 2⁽ⁿ⁾. We also prove that ifG is a context-free grammar and L is the serial grammar logiccorresponding to G then there exists a finite least L-modelof _s p iff the set of words derivable from s using G is a regularlanguage.     

An intensional epistemic logic

One of the fundamental properties inclassical equational reasoning isLeibniz's principle of substitution. Unfortunately, this propertydoes not hold instandard epistemic logic. Furthermore,Herbrand's lifting theorem which isessential to thecompleteness ofresolution andParamodulation in theclassical first order logic (FOL), turns out to be invalid in standard epistemic logic. In particular, unlike classical logic, there is no skolemization normal form for standard epistemic logic. To solve these problems, we introduce anintensional epistemic logic, based on avariation of Kripke's possible-worlds semantics that need not have a constant domain. We show how a weaker notion of substitution through indexed terms can retain the Herbrand theorem. We prove how the logic can yield a satisfibility preserving skolemization form. In particular, we present an intensional principle for unifing indexed terms. Finally, we describe asound andcomplete inference system for a Horn subset of the logic withequality, based onepistemic SLD-resolution.     

SECULARIZING DEMONS: FUNDAMENTALIST NAVIGATIONS IN RELIGION AND SECULARITY

Since the turn of the millennium, theologians and secular scholars of religion have increasingly begun exploring the relationship between transhumanism and religion. However, analyses of anti‐transhumanist apocalypticisms are still rare, and those that exist are situated mainly among broader explorations of religious and secular bioconservatism. This article addresses this lack of specificity by drawing analyses of transhumanism and religion into dialogue with explorations of contemporary demonology through a close study of the beliefs of the evangelical conspiracist Thomas Horn and the anti‐transhumanist milieu around him. Exploring the milieu's multifaceted demonology of the secular world in light of genealogies of religion and secularity, the article situates Horn's demonology as one attempt to negotiate these genealogies, using what Sean McCloud terms a “‘supernatural’ hermeneutics of suspicion” that sees spiritual forces as the structural base of reality. It argues that, while fringe, milieus like Horn's illuminate broader cultural tensions and genealogical relations surrounding the place of religion in a secular(izing) world.     

The Quantitative/Qualitative Watershed for Rules of Uncertain Inference

We chart the ways in which closure properties of consequence relations for uncertain inference take on different forms according to whether the relations are generated in a quantitative or a qualitative manner. Among the main themes are: the identification of watershed conditions between probabilistically and qualitatively sound rules; failsafe and classicality transforms of qualitatively sound rules; non-Horn conditions satisfied by probabilistic consequence; representation and completeness problems; and threshold-sensitive conditions such as ‘preface’ and ‘lottery’ rules. Special Issue Formal Epistemology I. Edited by Branden Fitelson     

Definability of Leibniz Equality

Given a structure for a first-order language L, two objects of its domain can be indiscernible relative to the properties expressible in L, without using the equality symbol, and without actually being the same. It is this relation that interests us in this paper. It is called Leibniz equality. In the paper we study systematically the problem of its definibility mainly for classes of structures that are the models of some equality-free universal Horn class in an infinitary language L_κκ, where κ is an infinite regular cardinal. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Driving in the fasting month of Ramadan: An observational study on speeding,horn honking,and using seat belts

The aim of this study was to examine how Ramadan, i.e., fasting month for believers of Islam, was associated to observable driving behaviours (i.e., speeding, horn honking, and using seat belts) as compared to non-Ramadan. Observations on speeding, horn honking, and using seat belts were held during and after Ramadan in different times of the day in the same region of the city of Ankara. Speeds of 1885 vehicles were measured by hand held radar on a two-way eight-lane road with a 50 km/h speed limit. Horn honking was recorded at a signalised intersection with a hidden camera when the light turned into green in terms of 510 traffic light cycles. Seat belt wearing of 2106 drivers was observed at the same intersection. Findings indicated that (a) mean speed was lower, (b) honked horns were higher, and (c) seat belt use was lower in Ramadan as compared to non-Ramadan, though each negative driving behaviour was prevalent in both periods. Thus this study showed that the Ramadan period had a limited role on speeding, horn honking, and using seat belts.