Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, 2018
Abstract: The first section of this paper outlines the major theme, that “mind” is not the label ... more Abstract: The first section of this paper outlines the major theme, that “mind” is not the label of something unitary but of a collection of things that can only be revealed by research at three different levels. The first level of enquiry is the account of mind that can be gleaned from what is often referred to as our folk psychology . Even with its limitations, it is an indispensable part of our social interactions. The second section outlines how, with the rise of experimental psychology , our account of human minds has been extended because experimental psychology often reveals a level of factors in our mental life which is not open to ordinary observation. The third section explores how our account of human minds is extended even further by the modern instrument-aided researches at the level of neuropsychology . The fourth section argues that no one level of enquiry should be described as ultimate or dominant but that each level reveals different facts about our mental life. Th...
The ultimate aim of this essay is to suggest that conscience is a very important part of human ps... more The ultimate aim of this essay is to suggest that conscience is a very important part of human psychology and of our moral point of view, not something that can be dismissed as merely ‘a part of Christian theology’. The essay begins with discussions of what might be regarded as the two most influential functional models of conscience, the classical Christian account of conscience and the Freudian account of conscience. Then, using some insights from these models, and from some comparatively recent work in psychology and especially psychiatry, the author argues for a quite different model of conscience that might be called the personal integrity account of conscience.
factors as his dispute with Kronecker and his continuing inability to prove the Continuum Hypothe... more factors as his dispute with Kronecker and his continuing inability to prove the Continuum Hypothesis. This case study certainly succeeds in shedding light on the manner in which Cantor's theory of the transfinite emerged, and in the course of showing how Cantor's thought developed it makes readily available to the English reader summaries of the content of many of Cantor's published, and some of his unpublished papers. This in itself is useful, given that only Jourdain's translation of Cantor's late and most rigorous exposition of his ideas is readily available in English. There are, however, more misprints in these summaries than one might wish. A final minor carp at an otherwise very worthwhile book: the chapter on the problems of post-Cantorian set theory contains an almost unrecognizable characterization of Russell as a strict formalist. However, this chapter does have the redeeming feature of including a useful section on the less frequently discussed French reactions to set theory and its paradoxes.
It is often considered to be a decisive argument against the possibility of a deterrent theory of... more It is often considered to be a decisive argument against the possibility of a deterrent theory of punishment standing alone that such a theory contains within itself no grounds for limiting punishment to the guilty rather than to the merely supposed guilty. For this latter category, "the ...
Many philosophers have pointed out that one of the unacceptable consequences of prescriptivism in... more Many philosophers have pointed out that one of the unacceptable consequences of prescriptivism in ethics is the impossibility of adducing good reasons for moral principles and judgments in ethics and the consequent feeling that prescriptivism thereby makes ethics irrational.' I would like to argue that prescriptivism only has this consequence in a Harean version of it and then only if Hare can be interpreted in a crucial passage as going beyond his original 'brief' of putting forward a morally neutral logical thesis. On the first page of the preface to The Language of Morals, Hare sets out his 'brief': "Ethics, as I conceive it, is the logical study of the language of morals."2 Later, in Freedom and Reason, Hare sets out his undertaking in fuller form: "Ethical theory, which determines the meanings and functions of the moral words, and thus the 'rules' of the moral 'game', provides only a clarification of the conceptual framework within which moral reasoning takes place; it is therefore, in the required sense, neutral as between different moral opinions."3 Unfortunately, by the end of Part I of The Language of Morals, one could be led into thinking that Hare has already begun to forget about his original intent when one finds him writing: "To become morally adult is to reconcile these two apparently conflicting positions by learning to make decisions of principle; it is to learn to use 'ought'sentences in the realization that they can only be verified by reference to a standard or set of principles which we have by our own decision accepted and made our own."4 This statement is at least in danger of being interpreted as a nonlogical comment
The long-term persistence of neurotic symptoms, such as anxiety, poses difficult problems for any... more The long-term persistence of neurotic symptoms, such as anxiety, poses difficult problems for any psychological theory. An attempt is made to revive the Watson-Mowrer conditioning theory and to avoid the many criticisms directed against it in the past. It is suggested that recent research has produced changes in learning theory that can be used to render this possible. In the first place, the doctrine of equipotentiality has been shown to be wrong, and some such concept as Seligman's "preparedness" is required, that is the notion that certain CS are biologically prepared to be more readily connected with anxiety responses than others. In the second place, the law of extinction has to be amended, and the law of incubation or enhancement added, according to which the exposure of the CS-only may, under certain specified conditions, have the effect of increasing the strength of the CR, rather than reducing it. The major conditions favouring incubation are (1) Pavlovian B conditioning, that is a type of conditioning in which the CR is a drive; (2) a strong UCS, and (3) short exposure of the CS-only. Personality differences are also important in this connection. It is possible, using these two recent developments of conditioning theory, to show that a conditioning paradigm can be used to explain the major facts relating to the development of neurotic disorders, and that similarly the success of methods of treatment, such as behaviour therapy, can be explained. The evidence is reviewed for the extistence of the incubation phenomenon, both in the animal laboratory and in the clinic, and also for the relevance of the parameters suggested as being implicated in its occurrence. It is concluded that these modifications are sufficient to make the conditioning theory of neurosis and treatment the only viable scientific theory in the field, particularly when attention is paid to Pavlov's and Platonov's inclusion of the second signalling system.
Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, 2018
Abstract: The first section of this paper outlines the major theme, that “mind” is not the label ... more Abstract: The first section of this paper outlines the major theme, that “mind” is not the label of something unitary but of a collection of things that can only be revealed by research at three different levels. The first level of enquiry is the account of mind that can be gleaned from what is often referred to as our folk psychology . Even with its limitations, it is an indispensable part of our social interactions. The second section outlines how, with the rise of experimental psychology , our account of human minds has been extended because experimental psychology often reveals a level of factors in our mental life which is not open to ordinary observation. The third section explores how our account of human minds is extended even further by the modern instrument-aided researches at the level of neuropsychology . The fourth section argues that no one level of enquiry should be described as ultimate or dominant but that each level reveals different facts about our mental life. Th...
The ultimate aim of this essay is to suggest that conscience is a very important part of human ps... more The ultimate aim of this essay is to suggest that conscience is a very important part of human psychology and of our moral point of view, not something that can be dismissed as merely ‘a part of Christian theology’. The essay begins with discussions of what might be regarded as the two most influential functional models of conscience, the classical Christian account of conscience and the Freudian account of conscience. Then, using some insights from these models, and from some comparatively recent work in psychology and especially psychiatry, the author argues for a quite different model of conscience that might be called the personal integrity account of conscience.
factors as his dispute with Kronecker and his continuing inability to prove the Continuum Hypothe... more factors as his dispute with Kronecker and his continuing inability to prove the Continuum Hypothesis. This case study certainly succeeds in shedding light on the manner in which Cantor's theory of the transfinite emerged, and in the course of showing how Cantor's thought developed it makes readily available to the English reader summaries of the content of many of Cantor's published, and some of his unpublished papers. This in itself is useful, given that only Jourdain's translation of Cantor's late and most rigorous exposition of his ideas is readily available in English. There are, however, more misprints in these summaries than one might wish. A final minor carp at an otherwise very worthwhile book: the chapter on the problems of post-Cantorian set theory contains an almost unrecognizable characterization of Russell as a strict formalist. However, this chapter does have the redeeming feature of including a useful section on the less frequently discussed French reactions to set theory and its paradoxes.
It is often considered to be a decisive argument against the possibility of a deterrent theory of... more It is often considered to be a decisive argument against the possibility of a deterrent theory of punishment standing alone that such a theory contains within itself no grounds for limiting punishment to the guilty rather than to the merely supposed guilty. For this latter category, "the ...
Many philosophers have pointed out that one of the unacceptable consequences of prescriptivism in... more Many philosophers have pointed out that one of the unacceptable consequences of prescriptivism in ethics is the impossibility of adducing good reasons for moral principles and judgments in ethics and the consequent feeling that prescriptivism thereby makes ethics irrational.' I would like to argue that prescriptivism only has this consequence in a Harean version of it and then only if Hare can be interpreted in a crucial passage as going beyond his original 'brief' of putting forward a morally neutral logical thesis. On the first page of the preface to The Language of Morals, Hare sets out his 'brief': "Ethics, as I conceive it, is the logical study of the language of morals."2 Later, in Freedom and Reason, Hare sets out his undertaking in fuller form: "Ethical theory, which determines the meanings and functions of the moral words, and thus the 'rules' of the moral 'game', provides only a clarification of the conceptual framework within which moral reasoning takes place; it is therefore, in the required sense, neutral as between different moral opinions."3 Unfortunately, by the end of Part I of The Language of Morals, one could be led into thinking that Hare has already begun to forget about his original intent when one finds him writing: "To become morally adult is to reconcile these two apparently conflicting positions by learning to make decisions of principle; it is to learn to use 'ought'sentences in the realization that they can only be verified by reference to a standard or set of principles which we have by our own decision accepted and made our own."4 This statement is at least in danger of being interpreted as a nonlogical comment
The long-term persistence of neurotic symptoms, such as anxiety, poses difficult problems for any... more The long-term persistence of neurotic symptoms, such as anxiety, poses difficult problems for any psychological theory. An attempt is made to revive the Watson-Mowrer conditioning theory and to avoid the many criticisms directed against it in the past. It is suggested that recent research has produced changes in learning theory that can be used to render this possible. In the first place, the doctrine of equipotentiality has been shown to be wrong, and some such concept as Seligman's "preparedness" is required, that is the notion that certain CS are biologically prepared to be more readily connected with anxiety responses than others. In the second place, the law of extinction has to be amended, and the law of incubation or enhancement added, according to which the exposure of the CS-only may, under certain specified conditions, have the effect of increasing the strength of the CR, rather than reducing it. The major conditions favouring incubation are (1) Pavlovian B conditioning, that is a type of conditioning in which the CR is a drive; (2) a strong UCS, and (3) short exposure of the CS-only. Personality differences are also important in this connection. It is possible, using these two recent developments of conditioning theory, to show that a conditioning paradigm can be used to explain the major facts relating to the development of neurotic disorders, and that similarly the success of methods of treatment, such as behaviour therapy, can be explained. The evidence is reviewed for the extistence of the incubation phenomenon, both in the animal laboratory and in the clinic, and also for the relevance of the parameters suggested as being implicated in its occurrence. It is concluded that these modifications are sufficient to make the conditioning theory of neurosis and treatment the only viable scientific theory in the field, particularly when attention is paid to Pavlov's and Platonov's inclusion of the second signalling system.
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