Philosophical Psychology Research Articles

Multilevel Modeling and the Explanatory Autonomy of Psychology

This article argues for the explanatory autonomy of psychology drawing on cases from the multilevel modeling practice. This is done by considering a multilevel linear model in personality and social psychology, and discussing its philosophical implications for the reductionism debate in philosophy of psychology. I argue that this practice challenges the reductionist position in philosophy of psychology, and supports the explanatory autonomy of psychology.

How Humeans can make normative beliefs motivating

Normative realism faces a problem concerning the practicality of normative judgment, the presumptive view that normative judgments are motivational states. Normative judgments, for the normative realist, must be beliefs. This is problematic because it is difficult to see how any belief could have the necessary connection to motivation required to account for the practicality of normative judgment. After all, the Humean theory of motivation has it that motivated action is only brought about by a belief and a desire working in tandem. Here I show how the normative realist, simply by embracing a certain philosophical psychology, can hold that normative judgments are both beliefs and motivational states, all consistent with the Humean theory of motivation. Given the plausibility of both the practicality of normative judgment and Humean psychology, a theory that allows the realist to reconcile them is preferable (ceteris paribus) to any picture in which one must be rejected. The (low) price to pay for this reconciliation is the acceptance of a strong form of cognitivism about intention, the doctrine that your intentions to act are beliefs about what you are going to do, and a small???yet highly plausible???adjustment to our theory of what it is to be a motivational state.

Scientific support of border activity

The object of this research is the border activity, while the subject is the science of border activity – borderology. The article consists of five sections. The first section views border activity as a system of preventive (border prevention and deterrence), security and control (border patrol, border search), and defense-militant measures (special activity, combat activity, operational actions). The second and third sections give detail description to these measures, as well as the typical stages of the cycles of activity. The fourth section is dedicated to description of the structure of borderology – the system of knowledge on ensuring border security, state c of border organizations, preparation and conduct of border activity, and its all-round provision. The fifth section provides a systemic formulation of principles of border activity. Within the framework of development of the concept of “border management system”, the author considers the border activity as a system of measures aimed at ensuring national security in the borders. The science of border activity includes the following disciplines: border art (border policy, border operational art, border tactics), border history, border statistics, mathematical theory of managing border security, legal framework of border security and border activity, philosophy of border security, psychology and sociology of border activity, theory of border training and education, theories of all-round support of border activity, theory of development, application of technical and special means of border activity.   

Our Inner Custodian

Current approaches to understanding shame are rooted in controversial and even radically contrasting assumptions about shame and its relevance for social interaction and individual well-being. Classical and medieval sources themselves embrace surprisingly various notions about the workings of shame. While the Aristotelian tradition prevails in late antique and medieval philosophical psychology, it is also possible to discern a parallel tradition of shame that adapts and exploits Latin Stoic and eclectic material. This article surveys this largely unexplored Latin tradition (Cicero and Ambrose) and its treatment in later moral-philosophical and pastoral debates (Gregory the Great, Richard of St. Victor, Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, and William Peraldus). Late antique and medieval Christian authors regard a positive responsiveness to shame as a constructive habit signaling the ability to live a socially harmonious life. The discussion demonstrates the inherent moral value of shame (and other self-reflexive emotions) and the constitutive role of shame for moral agency.

Javanese Traditional Songs for Early Childhood Character Education


 
 
 Character education in early childhood is not new, and character education is also not just a transfer of knowledge, but something that needs to be built early on through various stimula- tions. This study aims to develop the character of early childhood through audio-visual media with traditional Javanese songs. Using educational design-based research to develop audio-visual media from traditional songs, this media was tested in the field with an experimental design with a control group. Respondents involved 71 kindergarten students from one experimental class in one control class. The data revealed that character education in children shows the average value of the experi- mental class is higher than the control group, this means character education in children can be built through traditional songs. Further research can be done to improve the character of early childhood through a variety of media that interests children.
 Keywords: Early Childhood, Character Education, Javanese Traditional Songs Media

The Lycan–Stich Argument and the Plasticity of “Belief”

The aim of this paper is to argue against the claim that the term “belief”, as it functions in philosophical psychology, has natural-kind term semantics; this thesis is central to the famous Lycan–Stich argument against eliminative materialism. I will argue that the current debate concerning the discrepancy between the professed opinions and actions, especially the debate concerning the idea of aliefs, shows that the concept of belief is plastic and amenable to conceptual engineering. The plasticity and amenability to conceptual engineering of the concept of belief give us, in turn, a reason to doubt that “belief” functions in a way that is presupposed in the Lycan–Stich argument. Finally, I point to an alternative to both eliminativism and the natural kind view, namely the idea that we should treat belief as a human kind.

Filosofia moral moderna abans i després d’Anscombe

Aquest article argumenta que hi havia considerablement mes filosofia d’accio en teoria moral abans de 1958 (quan Anscombe es va queixar que en faltava sota el lema «filosofia de la psicologia») que la que hi ha hagut des de llavors. Aixo es deu en part al fet que Anscombe va influir en la formacio de la «teoria de la virtut» com una posicio mes dins de l’etica normativa, i el treball d’Anscombe va contribuir a la formacio de la «psicologia moral» com una branca completament diferent (i ara cada vegada mes empirica) de la filosofia moral.

Historical Review of Occupational Psychological Health Research and Philosophy

Historical review on earlier research works provides a broader perspective on the subject area to help improve on current research efforts. Santayana, a philosopher in 1905, stated that when one does not remember the past, it is likely the same mistakes will be repeated in the future. Historical perspective also allows for possible right guesses to be made for future outcomes. This study conducts a historical review on occupational psychological health research, its evolution, and key research perspectives. A comprehensive review of pertinent literature was undertaken to understand the scientific concept of occupational psychology and applications. The historical review provides a perspective that occupational psychological health research is an excellent and important area for exploring behavioural issues in organisations and one in which an original contribution to research as well as practice can be made

On the nature of indifferent lies, a reply to Rutschmann and Wiegmann

ABSTRACT In their paper published in 2017 in Philosophical Psychology, Ronja Rutschmann and Alex Wiegmann introduce a novel kind of lies, the indifferent lies. According to them, these lies are not intended to deceive simply because the liars do not care whether their audience is going to believe them or not. It seems as if indifferent lies avoid the objections raised against other kinds of lies supposedly not intended to deceive. I argue that this is not correct. Indifferent lies, too, are either intended to deceive or are not lies at all, since they do not involve genuine assertions.

МЕТАТЕОРЕТИЧНА РЕКОНСТРУКЦІЯ ПРЕДМЕТНОГО ПОЛЯ КАНОНІЧНОЇ ПСИХОЛОГІЇ

Наука як сфера пізнавальної творчості та духовного продукування раціонального знання фунду­ється на розлогій сув’язі самобутніх правил, норм, канонів (гр. капоп – правило), що вироблені й апробовані до­стойниками людства упродовж століть. Пропоноване методологічне дослідження присвячене аналі­тичному відновленню і рефлексивному обґрунтуванню предметного поля канонічної психології як одного з вершинних творчих здобутків видатного українського психолога-мислителя другої половини ХХ століття академіка Володимира Андрійовича Роменця (1926–1998). Новизна здійсненого епістемного поступу сто­сується кількох аспектів конструктивного розв’язання зазначеної проблеми: по-перше, канонічна пси­хологія розглядається як післядіяльний інтеграційний підсумок розвитку трьох базових теоретичних дже­рел або дисциплін – історії всесвітньої психології, загальної психології і численних психологічних теорій ок­ре­мих психічних феноменів-подій (установки, ставлення, несвідомого, переживання, гри, особистості та ін.), тобто вона на метатеоретичному рівні знімає (заперечує і водночас зберігає у трансформованій подобі) їхній зміст у більш ємному, синтетичному, ущільненому вигляді; по-друге, відповідно до великої складності висвітлюваної проблеми підбирається адекватний способу її розв’язання багатомодульний інструмент – циклічно-вчинковий підхід, методологічна оптика якого містить чотири принципи, шість закономір­ностей і низку похідних нормативів розгортання рефлексивної миследіяльності; по-третє, підлягають аналізу й узмістовленню чотири головних сегменти упредметнення канонічної психології: як філософсько-психологічного напряму розвитку сучасного людинознавства, як науково-світоглядний «перехід від ХХ до ХХІ століття у психологічному думанні», як метасистема фундаментальних (основоположних стосовно за­сновків і сутності людського буття) психологічних знань, як головна течія розвитку теоретичної пси­хології інтелектуальними і семантичними засобами її саморефлексії; по-четверте, канонічна психологія, зосереджуючись на вивченні та конструюванні взірцевих феноменів і подій людського життя, набуває культурної вагомості як своєрідна світоглядна постава чи метапозиція бачення та осягнення психічного. Відтак висновується, що зазначений академічний напрям має поліаспектний, багатосегментний пред­мет, що сукупно входить у предметне поле теоретичної психології. Він, як надскладна філософсько-пси­хо­логічна метатеоретична конструкція, охоплює «всі визначні теорії, що виникли в історико-психологічному дискурсі», надаючи їм справжнього, засвідченого вчинковою подієвістю, смислу пізнання. Насамкінець окрес­люється чотириіпостасний структурно-функціональний цикл будь-якого логічно зрілого психо­логічного канону, що упрозорює як тенденцію-процедуру канонізації психічних феноменів, так і збагачує теоретичний світ канонічної психології. Доводиться, що цілком аргументованим у творчому досвіді натхненного пізнання для В. А. Роменця, універсальним й абсолютно достатнім у своїх можливостях орієн­ти­ром-засобом чи навіть світоглядом є психософія вчинку як методологія дослідження джерел, сутності і канонів-узірців людського буття, як дійсне –відповідально вчинкове – взаємопроникнення психології і фі­лософії мудрості, врешті-решт як універсальний алгоритм і методологічна схема буттєвого поступу людини до повнокомпонентного вчинку, до розгорнутого, особистісно натхненного і просякнутого ла­більним розумом, учинення.

Truth in a Post-Truth World: Transcendence and the Essence of Mattering

The possibility of transcendent, objective, perdurant truth seems to have fallen on hard times lately, the very concept increasingly being called into question – if not simply dismissed outright. Indeed, some authors argue that we have entered a “post-truth world, where ‘alternative facts’ replace actual facts and feelings have more weight than evidence.” Unfortunately, transcendence itself is seldom seriously or directly addressed in contemporary psychology, despite the fact that transcendence as a construct, or, perhaps better, as an ontological presupposition, is at the heart of every account, approach, model, or explanation in psychology. This paper introduces one explicit analytical project aimed at examining transcendence itself and its role in theory and philosophy in psychology. The paper will (1) briefly address the definitional task; that is, specifying what might be meant by transcendence as it is most often understood within the scholarly literature, particularly in contrast to immanence, (2) analyze some attempts to reduce transcendence to immanence and suggest that all such are unsuccessful, and (3) present a schematic framework for locating various theories and explanatory approaches in psychology within a conceptual “topology” that runs between weak and strong transcendence on one axis, and weak and strong evaluation on the other.

On Reinstating “Part I” and “Part II” to Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations – A Supplementary Note

AbstractI have argued previously in this journal for the reinstatement of the titles “Part I” and “Part II” to Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, these having been replaced by “Philosophical Investigations” and “Philosophy of Psychology – A Fragment” by the editors of the 4th edition. My case for reinstatement was based principally on the written testimonies of Wittgenstein’s literary executors and first editors of the Investigations. Since the publication of my paper, further evidence of Wittgenstein’s publication intentions, from the diaries of his friend M. O’C. Drury, has come to my attention, which I now present. The current editors are urged to respond.

Virtues disunited and the folk psychology of character

ABSTRACTDespite the recent attention given to moral character in moral psychology and moral philosophy, there is little evidence on how the folk concept of character is structured. Virtue ethics literature suggests a number of views formalizing how different virtues or vices are structured in overall virtuous or vicious character. The Unity of Virtues View (UV) assumes that any virtue implies all other virtues through practical wisdom. On the contrary, the Disunity of Virtues View (DUV) argues that different virtues or vices do not imply one another. Finally, the Limited Unity of Virtues View (LUV) suggests that UV is true when considering specific spheres of life but DUV is true when considering overall character. Here, we report an experiment that suggests that the folk concept of moral character follows an intuitive Limited Unity of Virtues view. Also, folk beliefs about moral character differ between virtuous and vicious character. The psychological and philosophical implications of these findings are discussed. Materials (in Spanish) and data analysis scripts for all studies are available in OSF: https://osf.io/72ywp/.

Facades of morality: the role of moral disengagement in green buying behaviour

PurposeThis study aims to presents the article regarding the influential role of moral inefficacy and moral disengagement to address green intention and behaviour gap among consumers, and how they attain self-exoneration because of the moral dilemma if any exist.Design/methodology/approachThe present study is based on semi-structured interviews, using constructivist grounded theory, which offers a platform to investigate, explore and discover psychosocial mechanism that operates among the consumers regarding the dimension of morality and green practices. In-depth exhaustive dialogues with Indian green consumers are set up to stimulate dialogue on the study.FindingsFindings of the study shed light on the moral dilemma arising from internal and external inefficacy of consumers and disengagement of morality to save consumers from self-condemnation. Also, the study proffers the potential conceptual framework of moral inefficacy, moral disengagement and green buying behaviour of consumers. Eventually, the study mapped the morality matrix to explore the consequents of moral inefficacy and moral disengagement.Research limitations/implicationsThe idiographic nature of qualitative research, particularly grounded theory may be considered as a research limitation as it follows limited generalizability. Moreover, the present research work is exploratory in nature and depends on the candour of researchers’ reactivity and understanding.Practical implicationsThe study subjectively concludes the green behaviour of consumers and discusses the rationality behind green intentions and behaviour gap. Marketers can strategize consumer morality as an approach to enhance green buying behaviour of consumers by removing moral inefficacies and disengagements.Social implicationsIt is crucial for marketers and society to understand the reasons behind non-green consumerism and accordingly cope up with the situation.Originality/valueThe study has been designed in a way to discuss the philosophy of morality and psychology of consumers on green consumption. To elicit the crux and conceptualization of morality and green purchasing framework using constructivist grounded theory is the exclusivity of this study. This paper explores green consumption pattern using moral orientation and processes in detail.

„Eine irreführende Parallele“

Abstract “A Misleading Parallel”. Wittgenstein on Conceptual Confusion in Psychology and the Semantics of Psychological Concepts. After the Philosophical Investigations, except for details, were largely finished in 1945, Wittgenstein, in his final years, undertook an intensive study of the grammar of our psychological concepts and the philosophical misinterpretations we often assign to them. Anyone looking through these extensive collections of philosophical remarks will probably quite often find it difficult to understand which questions Wittgenstein was addressing with individual remarks or groups of remarks and where the philosophical problems lay for which he was trying to find a solution, whether therapeutic or otherwise appropriate. In the article at hand I do not claim to fathom the full range of Wittgenstein’s thoughts on the philosophy of psychology even in the most general way. Rather it is my intention to shed some light on a diagnosis which he made for the psychology of his time. In part 1 of this paper I would like to provide a brief sketch of what Wittgenstein considered to be the conceptual confusion prevalent in psychology and to suggest why he did not expect the methods of an experimental (natural) science to be successful in solving the problems that concern us in psychology. In part 2 I’ll attempt to analyze how psychological concepts, according to Wittgenstein, might be construed in order to avoid any type of conceptual confusion.

What is it that Wittgenstein denies in his philosophy of psychology?

AbstractTaking up some of W.’s paradoxical remarks about the existence of ‘mental things’ the paper investigates, what exactly he is criticizing. After a discussion of the mistaken idea of a private baptizing of one’s own ‘mental events’ W.’s general criticism of the ‘object-and-name model’ is treated with a view on the consequences it has for our understanding of the mental. This treatment includes a discussion of figurative kinds of language use as well as a discussion of the difference between ‘things’ and ‘objects of reference’: With respect to figurative uses of language it often makes no sense to treat constituent expressions as names of objects, and not all objects of reference are things in an unproblematic ordinary-life sense. So what at first sight appears to be a limitation of our understanding of the nature of an object and consequently seems to ask for more empirical research often turns out to be a limitation of our understanding of how we use our language. The paper concludes that one important aspect of what the later W. opposes is dualism: The mental cannot be conceived of as an additional ‘something’ a description of which could be just added to a description of a person as a physical being. Thus W.’s anti-dualism can also be read as turning against a dualism in his Tractatus: The mental realm as well as other provinces of ‘the higher’ are no longer seen as areas of entities about which we have to be silent.

On Two Foundational Principles of the Berlin School of Gestalt Psychology

In this article, I consider what I have long taken to be the two foundational principles of the Berlin School of Gestalt psychology, namely, that perceptual configurations are “distinguishable from” or “other than” the elements from which they are configured and that the identity of such “elements” is determined by their relation to other elements within perceptual configurations. Yet, while it seems clear that Max Wertheimer (1880–1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967) were all committed to the first principle, it is less clear that they were committed (or were all committed) to the second principle. This is perhaps not surprising because commitment to the second principle would seem to undermine the first principle. I note that Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) appears to have been one of few psychologists clearly committed to the second principle, which is perhaps why, despite appearances to the contrary, he does not seem to have been committed to the first principle. Finally, I discuss some questions raised by this analysis and relate it to recent developments in theoretical psychology and a perennial question in social psychology.

Disturbance of Ego-Boundary Enaction in Schizophrenia

The psychopathology of schizophrenic conditions is today often characterized merely in diverse and disjunctive symptomatic terms. Classically, however, what was understood to underpin and unify such diverse symptoms was a disturbance to the 'self' or 'ego,' especially in that ego's boundaries. As psychoanalytic and phenomenological theories have become less influential in psychiatry, concepts like 'self' or 'ego,' 'self-other distinction' or 'ego boundary,' have become less popular as psychopathological organizers, with the result that the very idea of distinctively 'schizophrenic' conditions has itself also appeared to want for validity. Yet within the philosophy of psychology, enactivism provides a new naturalistic framework for understanding the emergence and maintenance of the self-other distinction. This framework considers the distinction neither as something constituted a priori, nor as something showing up within experience, but rather as a continuously enacted achievement. The contention of this article is that an enactivist perspective provides us with the apparatus to retheorize the conception of ego boundaries, contribute to the reunification of the 'schizophrenia' concept, and inform the provision of therapies targeted at the schizophrenic diathesis itself.

EMPATHY AND THE EMOTIONAL COEXPERIENCING IN THE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE

After briefly remarking on previous treatments of empathy in the philosophical and psychological literature, I outline Stein’s treatment of this concept in On the Problem of Empathy and Philosophy of Psychology and the Humanities, illustrating the problematic breadth of her application of the term ‘empathy,’ a breadth that Stein herself calls to our attention. After a brief discussion of Stein’s treatment of empathy and the experience of value, I turn to certain features of Roman Ingarden’s analyses of aesthetic experience found in The Literary Work of Art and The Cognition of the Work of Art that deal with what he refers to as the reader’s ‘emotional coexperience’ of situations and events represented in the work of art. I conclude by comparing Stein’s account of empathy with Ingarden’s account of aesthetic experience, both of which deal at length with the subjective activities of “feeling with” and emotional coexperience.

Живое мировоззрение в современных условиях воспитания духовно-нравственной личности

The relevance of this study is underscored by the lack of comprehensive spiritual and moral education within the modern education system. Current conditions have brought anthropological knowledge — which can become a theoretical and methodological basis for pedagogy — to the forefront. This article presents the results of a historical and psychological study into the concept of a living worldview in Viktor Nesmelov’s religious and philosophical psychology. The concept of a living worldview is the central concept in his view of education. It was reliance on the Orthodox anthropological tradition that enabled him to build a comprehensive concept of individual personality. In educating such an individual, the main goal is their personal self-realization and overcoming the contradiction between their material and ideal natures. Personal self-realisation is the true goal of any educated person and can only be attained by adopting a set of spiritual and moral values. Education should not only mechanically distribute the knowledge of the world, but also educate a spiritual and moral person who is able to find a positive application for the knowledge gained, directing it into a creative endeavour. Nesmelov sees education as a tool for forming students’ worldview through self-reflection and self-realisation. It is not only a combination of scientific knowledge about the world, not only a tool of social adaptation to the norms and rules of society, but also one’s knowledge of the truth about themselves, a clear idea of student’s purpose and self-awareness as a free and rational person. Nesmelov identifies three fundamental types of knowledge — psychological, religious and philosophical — that determine our understanding of both internal and external reality. Such an understanding of the essence of education allows us to conclude that it is necessary to introduce moral pillars into professional, spiritual and moral education, which indeed make modern spiritual and moral education possible. The idea of education should not be reduced only to mechanical training, which involves solving utilitarian and practical problems, but should be guided by a life-long self-determination that promotes self-knowledge and spiritual development of a person, following the Russian anthropological tradition.