Although research has examined factors influencing understanding of informed consent in biomedical and forensic research, less is known about participants' attention to details in consent documents in psychological survey research. The present study used a randomized experimental design and found the majority of participants were unable to recall information from the consent form in both in-person and online formats. Participants were also relatively poor at recognizing important aspects of the consent form including risks to participants and confidentiality procedures. Memory effects (...) and individual difference characteristics also appeared to influence recall and recognition of consent form information. (shrink)

We are pleased to present the following Review Forum of Harvey Whitehouse’s book, Arguments and Icons: Divergent Modes of Religiosity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 204 pages. ISBN 0-19- 823414-7 (cloth); 0-19-823415-5 (paper). We have given the contributors and the book’s author sufficient space to discuss its themes carefully and thus make a significant contribution to the further analysis of religion and ritual generally.

arbitrary flowchart programs by introducing a new recursive function for each tag point. In the above example, one obtains: int = int1, p..... 1 h ), w...., y2r )_.

I pose the following dilemma for Millikan's teleological theory of mental content. There is only one way that her theory can avoid Gauker's [(1995) Review of Millikan's White queen psychology and other essays for Alice, Philosophical Psychology, 8, 305-309] charge that it relies on an unexplained notion of mapping or isomorphism between mental state and world. Mental content must be explained in terms of the mapping relation that is required for mental state producing and consuming mechanisms to perform their biologically (...) proper functions, i.e. producing mental states that are consumed in systematically adaptive practical inferences. However, this proposal leads to unacceptably counterintuitive ascriptions of content to mythological beliefs and related desires: such beliefs and desires must "map onto" environmental states that make them adaptive, not onto the mythological states of affairs that (would) make them true or fulfilled. I conclude by discussing the merits and drawbacks of a potential solution to this problem: the view that the contents of mythological beliefs and desires are determined by the non-mythological concepts out of which they are constructed, rather than by the environmental states that make them adaptive. The affinities of this proposal with Pascal Boyer's recent theory of mythological concepts [(2001) Religion explained, New York: Basic Books] are also discussed. (shrink)

We argue that ownership is a highly flexible concept, shaped by both innate and learned aspects, and heavily influenced by culture. Boyer's model focuses solely on universal personal ownership, neglecting other forms such as shared ownership, fractionalized property rights, and the ownership of the meanings and memories attached to possessions. A comprehensive understanding requires considering diverse human relationships with objects.

Boyer & Petersen lay out a compelling theory for folk-economic beliefs, focusing on beliefs about markets. However, societies also allocate resources through mechanisms involving power and group decision-making, through the political economy. We encourage future work to keep folkpoliticaleconomic beliefs in mind, and sketch an example involving pollution and climate change mitigation policy.

Celem artykułu jest analiza procesu twórczego Hansa Christiana Andersena. Autorka skupia się na wczesnych latach twórczości pisarza, a następnie zestawia je z dojrzałym okresem jego twórczości. Zwraca uwagę na problemy z interpretacją utworów tłumaczonych oraz pokazuje pojawiające się w nich różnice na podstawie rożnych zakończeń Królowej Śniegu. Następnie analizuje, na czym, w jaki sposób i przy użyciu jakich środków pisał Andersen. W części poświęconej dziennikom pisarza analizuje cele i aspiracje Andersena oraz sposób, w jaki zapisy z podróży przekładają się później (...) na zapis literacki. W kolejnej części przedstawia proces twórczy widziany oczyma samego pisarza oraz jego krytyków. We wnioskach końcowych podkreśla silną sensualność utworów Andersena, związki z językiem mówionym oraz towarzyszące baśniopisarzowi pod koniec życia przekonanie, że udało mu się dobrze wykorzystać dar, który otrzymał od Boga. (shrink)

Philosophical critics standardly read behaviorism as a program for defining the concepts of folk psychology in equivalent behavioral terms. This is a misreading. Behaviorism is a program for getting rid of ill-defined mentalistic terms in favor of better defined behavioral idiom. In short, it is a program not for conceptual analysis but for verbal reform. Therefore, criticizing behaviorists for failing to define mentalistic concepts is like criticizing opponents of the Spanish Inquisition for failing to define witchcraft.

Problem relacji między jednym a drugim podmiotem jest w myśli Sartre’a zagadnieniem kluczowym. Trzon koncepcji francuskiego myśliciela opiera się na bardzo ważnym stwierdzeniu, że owa relacja nie ma charakteru poznawczego lecz egzystencjalny. Istota spotkania polega tu na doświadczeniu samej inności drugiego człowieka, zachodzącym poprzez wpływ, jaki wywiera on na moje własne istnienie. Inny postrzega mnie, więc ja jestem dla niego przedmiotem, który odkrywa granice swojej wolności. Sytuacja ta analogicznie wygląda w relacji odwrotnej, stąd wszelkie relacji ja-ty są według Sartre’a naznaczone (...) konfliktem. (shrink)

Religious beliefs and religion are usually interpreted in terms of their social functionality and motivating social cooperation, as well as in terms of their alleged truthfulness. Here I suggest interpreting religious beliefs and religion with regard to their psychological function. I claim that their pro-social function is an accidental property, reducible to some mechanisms of tribal psychology, rather than a feature of religion itself. I emphasize that the epistemic function is not the main function of religious beliefs and religion. These (...) beliefs are in some sense immune to critique due to their merely psychological function. Throughout my paper I refer to the cognitive science of religion. (shrink)

W swej pracy ks. Józef Bremer SJ zajmuje się problematyką relacji zachodzącej pomiędzy ciałem umysłem. Pytanie o ty relacji znane jest w literaturze - głównie angielsko-amerykańskiej - pod nazwą problem psychofizyczny. W dyskusji nt. tego problemu liczy się nazwisko amerykańskiego filozofa Wilfrida Sellarsa. Sellars reprezentuje materialistyczny lub, jak się ją czysto nazywa w fachowym języku filozoficznym, naturalistyczną czy fizykalną koncepcją umysłu.

W swej pracy ks. Józef Bremer SJ zajmuje się problematyką relacji zachodzącej pomiędzy ciałem umysłem. Pytanie o ty relacji znane jest w literaturze - głównie angielsko-amerykańskiej - pod nazwą problem psychofizyczny. W dyskusji nt. tego problemu liczy się nazwisko amerykańskiego filozofa Wilfrida Sellarsa. Sellars reprezentuje materialistyczny lub, jak się ją czysto nazywa w fachowym języku filozoficznym, naturalistyczną czy fizykalną koncepcją umysłu.

Gdzieś w ciemnej uliczce... Bandyta: Ej ty, dawaj portfel! Pascal: A niby dlaczego miałbym to zrobić? Bandyta: Bo w przeciwnym razie cię zastrzelę. Pascal: Ale przecież nie masz broni. Bandyta: A niech to! Wiedziałem, że zapomniałem o czymś. Pascal: No to zapomnij też o moim portfelu. Miłego wieczoru. Bandyta: Stój! Pascal: Co znowu? Bandyta: Jest interes do zrobienia... Co ty na to, żebyś jednak oddał mi portfel? W zamian obiecuję przyjść do ciebie jutro i dać ci dwukrotność kwoty, którą w (...) nim masz. Nieźle, co? 200 procent zwrotu z inwestycji w 24 godziny. (shrink)

W.V.O. Quine: Ontologická relativita W. Sellars: VĂ˝znam jako funkÄŤnĂ klasifikace D. Davidson: O samotnĂ© myšlence pojmovĂ©ho schĂ©matu N. Goodman: Slova, dĂla svÄ›ty R. Rorty: ZkoumĂnĂ jako rekontextualizace: antidualistickĂ© pojetĂ interpretace H. Putnam: Otázka realismu..

Taking Emerson as his starting point, Cornel West’s basic task in this ambitious enterprise is to chart the emergence, development, decline, and recent resurgence of American pragmatism. John Dewey is the central figure in West’s pantheon of pragmatists, but he treats as well such varied mid-century representatives of the tradition as Sidney Hook, C. Wright Mills, W. E. B. Du Bois, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Lionel Trilling. West’s "genealogy" is, ultimately, a very personal work, for it is imbued throughout with the (...) author’s conviction that a thorough reexamination of American pragmatism may help inspire and instruct contemporary efforts to remake and reform American society and culture. "West... may well be the pre-eminent African American intellectual of our generation."—The Nation "_The American Evasion of Philosophy_ is a highly intelligent and provocative book. Cornel West gives us illuminating readings of the political thought of Emerson and James; provides a penetrating critical assessment of Dewey, his central figure; and offers a brilliant interpretation—appreciative yet far from uncritical—of the contemporary philosopher and neo-pragmatist Richard Rorty.... What shines through, throughout the work, is West's firm commitment to a radical vision of a philosophic discourse as inextricably linked to cultural criticism and political engagement."—Paul S. Boyer, professor emeritus of history, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Wisconsin Project on American Writers Frank Lentricchia, General Editor. (shrink)

A complete translation of Aristotle's classic that is both faithful and readable, along with an introduction that provides the modern reader with a means of understanding this seminal work and its impact on our culture. In this volume, Joe Sachs (translator of Aristotle's _Physics, Metaphysics,_ and the _Nicomachean Ethics _)also supplements his excellent translation with well-chosen notes and glossary of important terms. Focus Philosophical Library translations are close to and are non-interpretative of the original text, with the notes and a (...) glossary intending to provide the reader with some sense of the terms and the concepts as they were understood by Aristotle’s immediate audience. (shrink)

Celem artykułu jest ukazanie podstaw prawnych i przebiegu sporu prawnego między królami Polski a władcami Hiszpanii dotyczącego praw do neapolitańskiego dziedzictwa królowej Bony, na które składały się księstwa Bari i Rossano, majątek ruchomy oraz pożyczka udzielona przez Bonę królowi Hiszpanii w wysokości 430 tys. dukatów zabezpieczona na komorze celnej w Foggii (tzw. sumy neapolitańskie). Skomplikowany i trwający półtora wieku spór dynastyczny dokumentuje kilka tysięcy różnego typu źródeł rozsianych po archiwach całej Europy od Krakowa po Simancas i od Neapolu po Sztokholm. (...) Część z nich, zwłaszcza z lat 1548–1572, została opublikowana w polskich i włoskich wydawnictwach źródłowych. Całość działań królów polskich w sprawie odzyskania spadku Bony nie doczekała się nowoczesnego opracowania, a jedynym pełnym opracowaniem jest popularnonaukowa książka Klemensa Kanteckiego wydana w 1881 r. Temat ten pojawiał się na marginesie w wielu pracach dotyczących Bony i Zygmunta Augusta, dziejów dyplomacji za ostatniego Jagiellona oraz w pracach dotyczących relacji polsko-hiszpańskich w XVI i XVII w. Punktem wyjścia analizy jest ustalenie sytuacji prawnej, w jakiej znajdowały się neapolitańskie posiadłości królowej w momencie podejmowania przez nią decyzji o wyjeździe z Polski. Na tym tle wskazano najważniejsze elementy gry dyplomatycznej, jaką Bona prowadziła z cesarzem Karolem V i królem Filipem II, oraz uwarunkowania jej powrotu do Bari. Śmierć królowej w listopadzie 1557 r. i jej testament, w którym księstwa Bari i Rossano zapisywała Filipowi II, a Zygmunt August dziedziczył jedynie dobra ruchome i sumy neapolitańskie, otworzyły nowy etap w dziejach sporu polsko-hiszpańskiego. Na potrzeby rokowań mających na celu odzyskanie całego spadku po matce Zygmunt August zbudował wyjątkowo rozległą i dobrze funkcjonującą sieć dyplomatyczną. Niepowodzenia w odzyskaniu Bari i Rossano spowodowały, że król zdecydował się na mediację cesarza w toczonym sporze z królem Hiszpanii. Arbitraż stwarzał dla Zygmunta Augusta nową sytuację prawną i modyfikował sposób i zakres działania. Wydaje się, że król nie do końca uświadamiał sobie, w jak skomplikowany labirynt prawno-administracyjny wprowadza sprawę spadku po matce i wkracza w świat odmiennych obyczajów i mentalności. Ostatecznie królowi udało się odzyskać jedynie część majątku ruchomego i zachować prawo do sum neapolitańskich, które wraz ze śmiercią Anny Jagiellonki przeszły na własność Rzeczypospolitej. W konsekwencji kolejni królowie elekcyjni aż do czasu wojny o sukcesję hiszpańską zabiegali w Madrycie i Neapolu o regularną wypłatę odsetek z sum neapolitańskich. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:VIOLENT MEMES AND SUSPICIOUS MINDS: GIRARD'S SCAPEGOAT MECHANISM IN THE LIGHT OF EVOLUTION AND MEMETICS Guömundur Ingi Markússon Reykjavik, Iceland The present article is an attempt to bring mimetic theory into dialogue with certain evolutionary approaches to human culture, i.e., evolutionarypsychology and memetics. That which immediately suggests a consonance between these approaches is a shared concern for the fundamental aspects ofhuman culture, or "fundamental anthropology." My discussion aims at (...) reconsidering Girard's startling insight concerning the significance of scapegoating in the formation of human culture, ritual and myth—or, in short, his concept of the scapegoat mechanism. Two alternative approaches will be explored: (1) On the basis of evolutionary psychology, scapegoating is considered as a cognitive side-effect; (2) with reference to memetics, it is suggested that the scapegoat mechanism is a memetic parasite. The former account is an interpretation ofPascal Boyer's ideas about group mentality and fundamentalist violence in his recent book ReligionExplained(2001). The latter consideration is inspired byTerrence W. Deacon's concept of language evolution and symbolic reference in his book The Symbolic Species (1997). It should be emphasized at the outset that neither Boyer nor Deacon are concerned with scapegoating and, needless to say, the application and interpretation oftheir ideas is entirely my own. 1. The Scapegoat Mechanism as a Cognitive Side Effect The following is an attempt to formulate a cognitive account of scapegoating based on Pascal Boyer's ideas about fundamentalism (2001, 292ff). Guömundur Ingi Markússon89 1.1. The Coalitional Reasoning ofthe Social Mind Boyer's theory of religion is firmly rooted in evolutionary psychology (2001, 118, passim)} A key concept in evolutionary psychology is the environment ofevolutionary adapteäness (EEA) which is centered around the claim that our cognitive apparatus evolved in response to ecological problems faced by our ancestors in the Pleistocene period (which lasted from ca. 2 million-10,000 years ago). In other words, the cognition of modern humans is geared to the ancestral environments of our huntergatherer past. The key issue in evolutionary psychology is to gain insight into the adaptive problems faced by our ancestors, and figure out the necessary cognitive capabilities needed to solve them. The resulting models of how the mind works can then be tested experimentally. Evolutionary psychologists also emphasize the áomain specificity of our psychological mechanisms, i.e., in simple terms, that our mind is a collection of specialized mechanisms wrought by natural selection to deal with specific features of our environment, such as detecting predators, keeping track of social relations, etc. In Boyer's account, the mixed stock of our evolutionary heritage includes a complex array of psychological mechanisms for keeping track ofa wide spectrum ofsocial relations, the social mina (2001, 122). An essential aspect of our social intelligence is "intuitive psychology" or a "theory of mind," i.e., seeing others as intentional agents, realizing what they are up to, what their beliefs and desires are, being able to predict their behavior, etc. According to evolutionary psychologists we are adapted for social exchange. We easily calculate the costs and benefits of our interactions with others. Experiments have shown that logical problems are much more transparent to people when presented as social exchange problems. In such cases, the logical rule in question is restated as a "check for cheaters" rule, i.e., the problem is to figure out whether people respect social conventions or not. Evolutionary psychologists interpretthese results to the effect that our cognition is geared to evaluate social exchange, and we have evolved a disposition to check for cheaters in social exchange situations (2001, 124f; Cosmides 1989; Cosmides & Tooby 1992).2 1 On evolutionary psychology, see Barkow et al. and Laland and Brown (ch. 5). 2 Cosmides, one of the pioneers of evolutionary psychology, characterizes "check for cheaters" thus: "cheating can be defined as the violation of a rule established, explicitly or implicitly, by acceptance ofa social contract. A social contract relatesperceived benefits to 90Violent Mêmes and Suspicious Minds Evaluation oftrust is essential to human interaction: "That humans depend on cooperation creates strategic problems, where the value (the expected benefit) of a particular move depends on whether someone else makes a particular move...." (2001, 125... (shrink)

Excerpt from The Two Bookes of Sr. Francis Bacon: Of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Humane; To the King Ifhall fay is no amplification at ail5but a pofitiue and rhea {tired truth: which is55that there hath not beene fince Chrills time any King, or temporall Monarch which hath bin {0 learned in al literature and eruditi. On, din'ne and humane. For let a man {etiou y and diligently leuolue and penile the fucce ion of the Emperours ofkeme, (...) of w hich Caftr the Draator5 who lined lomeyeares before Chrili 5 and Marcus Automate: were the bell Learned 53nd fo dcfcend to the Empet ours ofgic 245of of the: W( 1} 5 and then to the i-ines of Emma sizzefiarglafia; Scot therefi 5 and hee (nail hade his iudgement is truely made. For it feemeth much in a King5if'by the com. Pendiout extraeirons or Other mens Wits and La. Bout 5 hee can take hold of any ipeificiall Orna ments andlhewes of Learning 5 or if hee conure. Name and preferre learning and learned men But to drinke indeed of the true Fountaynes oflearning5 n3y5to haue inch 3 fountayne of learning in him felfe5 in a King, and in a King borne 5 is altitoll a Miracle. And the more5 beeaule there is met in your Maiel'ty a rare Coniunetion 5 a well of Dunn: and fatted li terature, as of prephane and humane So as your Maiefiy llandeth inuelied of that triplicity 5 which in great veneration5was afcribed to the ancient Her me: 5 the power and fortune of a King 5 the know ledgeand illumination ol'a Prie 5 and the learnirg and vniuerfaliry of a phylofoplter. This propriety5 inherent and indiuiduall attribute in your Mait y. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.". (shrink)

Global Prescriptions scrutinizes the movement to export a U.S.-oriented version of the " rule of law," found in the activities of philanthropic foundations, the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and several other developmental organizations. Yves Dezalay and Bryant G. Garth have brought together a group of scholars from a variety of disciplines--anthropology, economics, history, law, political science, and sociology--to create tools for understanding this movement. Comprised of two sections, the volume first develops theoretical perspectives key to an (...) understanding of the production and impact of new "global legal prescriptions." The second part shifts attention to the national importation of these legal orthodoxies. The scholars provide a diverse set of sophisticated approaches, both to the circumstances promoting the production of these prescriptions and to the limitations of the prescriptions in the different national settings. Thus, Global Prescriptions provides a unique treatment for readers interested in globalization generally or the potential spread of the "rule of law" in particular. This volume will intrigue scholars and students interested in a political science, economics, history, anthropology, law, and sociology. Contributors are Jeremy Adelman, Robert Boyer, Elizabeth Heger Boyle, Miguel Angel Centeno, Heinz Klug, Larissa Adler Lomnitz, John W. Meyer, Setsuo Miyazawa, Hiroshi Otsuka, Rodrigo Salazar, Kathryn Sikkink, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Catalina Smulovitz. Yves Dezalay is Director of Research, National Center for Scientific Research, Paris. Bryant G. Garth is Director of the American Bar Foundation. (shrink)

I develop an expressivist account of verbal disagreements as practical disagreements over how to use words rather than factual disagreements over what words actually mean. This account enjoys several advantages over others in the literature: it can be implemented in a neo-Stalnakerian possible worlds framework; it accounts for cases where speakers are undecided on how exactly to interpret an expression; it avoids appeals to fraught notions like subject matter, charitable interpretation, and joint-carving; and it naturally extends to an analysis of (...) metalinguistic negotiations. (shrink)