Expressions of emotion pose a serious challenge to the view that we perceive other people’s emotions directly. If we must perceive expressions in order to perceive emotions, then it is only ever the expressions that we are directly aware of, not emotions themselves. This paper develops a new response to this challenge by drawing an analogy between expressions of emotion and perceptual media. It is through illumination and sound, the paradigmatic examples of perceptual media, that we can see and hear (...) objects around us. Instead of screening these objects from view, however, they enable our perception while being transparent to us. With reference to perceptual constancy and transparency, I show how expressions show up in our experience of emotions in a surprisingly similar way. Given this, we can understand expressions as the media _through_ which we perceive emotions and overcome the above challenge to an otherwise attractive view. (shrink)

I argue that the direct perception of emotion (DP) is best conceived in terms of event perception, rather than fact perception or object perception. On neither of these two traditional models can the perception of emotion be as direct as its counterpart in ordinary perception; the proponent of DP must either drop the ‘direct’ claim or embrace a part-whole model of emotion perception and its problems. But our best account of how we perceive events directly can be applied to emotion (...) perception without any loss in directness. Not only this but there are good reasons to think that such a conception better respects both empirical evidence and the phenomenology of emotion perception. (shrink)

People engaged in international research projects – whether sponsors, researchers or participants – have different cultural and religious backgrounds. This can lead to quandaries over whose values should dictate the ethical basis for research. This paper addresses this issue by claiming that four core values are integral to the nature and justification of valid research and that to have integrity researchers must be committed to these values. Since the values are not specific to any particular culture or religion they constitute (...) a neutral ethical framework for the conduct of international research. It then claims that if researchers understand these values they can take responsibility for applying them to their own situation. This can help overcome problems which currently arise when researchers are not certain what to do because the specific ethical requirements of sponsors would be impractical or damaging if implemented in the circumstances in which the researchers operate. Finally, it is suggested that the four values outlined in the paper may be a basis for further work – such as developing awareness training and evolving guidance for specialist areas of research. (shrink)

Part I: Seeking ethical values for the professions -- Sources of guidance and the basis of ethics -- Seeking a foundation for ethics in the professions -- Values integral to the role of professions -- Part II: Exploring values as principles -- Seeking the best results -- Treating people justly and fairly -- Treating people justly and fairly -- Respecting autonomy -- Acting with integrity -- Part III: Applying principles to practice -- Ethical thinking in professional situations -- Dealing with (...) dilemmas -- Blame -- A guide to thinking about rights. (shrink)