Questions about the Nature and Value of Reasoning

Reasoning ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Magdalena Balcerak Jackson ◽  
Brendan Balcerak Jackson

This chapter provides a brief and informal introduction to some of the central philosophical questions about reasoning. Among the questions discussed are: What distinguishes reasoning from other mental processes, such as free association or daydreaming? Does reasoning require a recognition that one’s premises support one’s conclusion? Is reasoning something that we do, and as such, something that we can be held responsible for? If so, how should we understand the role that sub-personal information processing plays in much of our ordinary reasoning? How can we characterize the difference between good reasoning and bad, or between correct and incorrect reasoning? Are there rules for correct reasoning? If so, do they go beyond minimal coherence constraints, such as the constraint against believing contradictions? How should we understand reasoning that departs from the paradigm of deductive reasoning? Do the same rules apply to all of us? Can two thinkers reason well from the same premises and yet arrive at incompatible conclusions? This introductory chapter provides a brief overview of how the essays in this collection address these and other questions about reasoning.

Author(s):  
Usha Goswami

‘The learning brain’ looks at the influence of personal experience on how we apply logical reasoning and how we learn to detach logic from our own experience. Schooling helps children to become ‘reflective learners’. Self-reflective learning behaviour, or meta-cognitive behaviour, refers to the ability to reflect on personal information-processing skills, to monitor personal cognitive performance, and the ability to be aware of demands from different kinds of cognitive tasks. Children also learn ‘executive function’ skills, which are processes that enable a child to gain strategic control over their own mental processes. These sorts of skills have important developmental links to success in school.


Author(s):  
Samuel Freeman

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of liberalism, which is best understood as an expansive, philosophical notion. Liberalism is a collection of political, social, and economic doctrines and institutions that encompasses classical liberalism, left liberalism, liberal market socialism, and certain central values. This chapter then introduces subsequent chapters, which are divided into three parts. Part I, “Liberalism, Libertarianism, and Economic Justice,” clarifies the distinction between classical liberalism and the high liberal tradition and their relation to capitalism, and then argues that libertarianism is not a liberal view. Part II, “Distributive Justice and the Difference Principle,” analyzes and applies John Rawls’s principles of justice to economic systems and private law. Part III, “Liberal Institutions and Distributive Justice,” focuses on the crucial role of liberal institutions and procedures in determinations of distributive justice and addresses why the first principles of a moral conception of justice should presuppose general facts in their justification.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 496-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadime Çinar*, Turgay Sirin

Background: One of the indispensable aspects of the philosophy of holistic care,and negative situations such as life-threatening illness, spiritual well-being, which isdefined as the search for a relationship with a divine soul, is a requirement that mustbe met in order to maintain the existence of the individual. The patient's need forsocial and spiritual well-being increases even more in cases of long-term treatment,such as cancer, that reduce the quality of life. Determining and meeting the spiritualneeds of the individual in the difficult times of the crisis can be realized bydetermining the spiritual well-being levels of the individuals and by providing theindividual spiritual care. This study was conducted to determine the level of thespiritual well-being of palliative care patients diagnosed with cancer. Methods: Thisis a descriptive study. The population of the study consisted of 124 patientsdiagnosed with cancer who were hospitalized in the palliative unit between Januaryand August 2018 and were treated in two state hospitals operating on the Europeanside of Istanbul. The sample consisted of 111 people with voluntary participationand communication. Personal Information Form and Spiritual Well-being Scalewere used to collect data. Data were evaluated by one-way analysis of variance (one-way anova) and significance (t-test) of the difference between the two means.Results: The total score averages from the spiritual good scale of individualsparticipating in the Study were determined to be good with x = 4,15. In terms ofthe level of education of Scale scores, only "Anomi" is significantly differentiatedbetween groups of age, with a total score of the scale, In the sub-dimension oftranscendity and the subdimension of "Harmony with Nature" according to thevariable metastasis (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Spiritual Well-being has a positive effecton the healing process of individuals with impaired health. It helps individuals whohave a crisis in life threatening diseases such as Cancer to cope with this crisis and toprovide spiritual well-being in the sense of life. In This process, spiritual careinitiatives by healthcare professionals can be transformed into a part of the healingprocess and the spiritual goodness of the individual can be increased. Furtherresearch in This area is projected to contribute to the richening of the relevantliterature in Turkey.Key words: Spiritual, spiritual well-being, palliative care, palliative care unit


Author(s):  
Pierre Rosanvallon

This introductory chapter considers the definitions of legitimacy in the context of democratic politics. Expressions such as the “great majority” or “vast majority” established the law of numbers, in contrast to the minority rule characteristic of despotic and aristocratic regimes. At first, it was the difference in the origins of power and the foundation of political obligation that was crucial. Later, the majority principle came to be recognized in a more narrowly procedural sense. The chapter traces this evolution within the history of democratic elections, positing a decentering of democracy as newer forms of political investment emerge, making democratic politics into something more than merely electing representatives.


Author(s):  
Essi Viding

What are individuals with psychopathy like and what are their defining features? ‘How can we know if someone is a psychopath or is at risk of becoming one?’ considers two case studies to give an idea of the developmental course of criminal psychopathy and what psychopathic personality traits look like. It discusses the Psychopathy Checklist, developed by Robert Hare in the 1980s, and explains the difference between antisocial personality disorder, sociopathy, and psychopathy. Research has shown that whether we look at criminal psychopaths, individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits in the general population, or children who are at risk of developing psychopathy, similar patterns of brain function and information processing are seen.


2020 ◽  
pp. 004728752093886
Author(s):  
GuoQiong Ivanka Huang ◽  
IpKin Anthony Wong ◽  
Rob Law

A comprehensive model is proposed to understand how travelers manage copious and even competing online reviews through a validation process, by examining the impact of social support, persuasive message compliance, persuasive message resistance, and metacognition on tourists’ willingness to be involved in social commerce. Based on the theories of signaling and reactance, the model explores how social forces, such as online social support and personal information-processing drivers (i.e., information processing and validating procedure), can explain customers’ social commerce intentions. A survey of tourists in 61 mid- to high-end hotels indicates that social support is positively related to persuasive message compliance, resistance, and social commerce intention. The findings indicate that persuasive message compliance and resistance mediate the relationship between social support and social commerce intention, whereas the mediation relationships are conditioned on metacognition.


Author(s):  
Margaret A. Simons

This introductory chapter presents the literary writings of Simone de Beauvoir (1908–86), the renowned French existentialist author of The Second Sex. Such insight into her own thought is often provided by Beauvoir's prefaces to works by other authors. For instance, Beauvoir's 1964 “Preface” to La Bâtarde has been described as more reflective of her philosophy than of author Violet Leduc's life. Beauvoir's confrontation with her critics is another source of drama in this study. A criticism that spans the decades of these texts is the charge that an existential novel, with its focus on action and philosophical questions, forsakes the aesthetic function of literature. Yet, for Beauvoir, the true mission of the writer is to describe in dramatic form the relationship of the individual to the world in which he stakes his freedom.


2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars-Gunnar Lundh

The present article explores possible reasons why acceptance and mindfulness techniques may be beneficial in the treatment of insomnia. First, it is argued that sleep is facilitated by cognitive deactivation, with less controlled information processing as compared with daytime functioning, and correspondingly more acceptance of spontaneously occurring physiological and mental processes. Second, it is argued that mindfulness practice, in the form of nonjudgmental observation of spontaneously occurring physical and psychological processes, may be an effective way of training the skills of cognitive deactivation. As a complement, psychoeducational methods are advocated to help the client develop a more functional schematic model of sleep and sleeplessness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Murat Turgut ◽  
Onur Mutlu Yasar

In order to achieve the expected high performance, athletes must be physically, technically, tactically and socially ready as well as being psychologically ready and strong (Erdoğan & Kocaekşi, 2015). In this context, mental training of athletes is also important. Mental training means that athletes adjust and control their own sports behavior by adopting specific ways to promote psychological state. Aim of this research was to determine the level of mental training application of professional athletes and differences according to some variables. The sample consisted of 485 professional athletes (University Students) who are still competing in 4 different sports in Turkey (football, handball, basketball and volleyball). Data collection tool consisting of two parts was used in the research. In the first part of the data collection tool, a questionnaire consisting of the personal information of the participants was used. In the second part, Developed by Benkhe et al. (2017) and adapted to Turkish by Yarayan and İlhan (2018), “Mental Training in Sports Inventory” consisting of 5 sub-dimensions and a total of 20 items was used. Non-parametric tests were used for data analysis. Mann-Whitney U was used to determine the difference between two groups, Kruskall-Wallis analysis method was used to determine the difference between more than two groups. The average of total score of Mental Training Scale of the participants was determined as X̄ = 3.97. In other words, the level of mental training of the participants was found to be high. The sub-dimension with the highest average was found to be the Interpersonal Skills sub-dimension with the average of X̄ = 4.32, and the sub-dimension with the lowest average was the Mental Performance Skills sub-dimension with the average of X̄ = 3.70. In addition, different results were determined according to gender and ritual variables.


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