The Convergence of Ricoeur’s and Von Wright’s Complex Models of History

The relationship between the structural identity of narrative and the truth claim of the historical narrative work is one of importance to Ricœur. He considers the attempts of two interwoven models of history emerging from analytic philosophy—explanatory and narrative—to articulate this relationship. This paper explores the trajectories of these models as well as the epistemological and ontological crises culminating from the “simple” theses of each model. The solution to these crises requires a more complex method to account for the nature of the connections underlying historical understanding. Georg Henrik von Wright’s provisional or “hybrid” model of explanation and understanding revises the simple explanatory model and is foundational for Ricœur’s own complex revision of narrativist models through his notion of questioning back. The present paper argues that the structure of this hybrid model was unsatisfactory for von Wright, and leads in the direction of Ricœur’s own narrative method. Keywords: Ricœur, von Wright, Narrative, History, Questioning back. Résumé La relation entre l’identité structurale du récit et la prétention à la vérité de l’œuvre de récit historique est fondamentale chez Ricœur. Il considère que les deux modèles historiographiques de provenance analytique – le modèle explicatif et le modèle narratif – peuvent s’articuler. Cet article explore les trajectoires de ces modèles autant que les crises épistémologiques et ontologiques qui culminent dans chacune des thèses prise dans un sens unilatéral. La solution pour remédier à ces crises requiert une méthode plus complexe pour tenir compte de la nature des liens qui sous-tendent la compréhension historique. Le modèle d’explication et de compréhension, provisoire et “hybride,” de Georg Henrik von Wright permet de réviser le simple modèle explicatif. Ceci est fondamental pour comprendre  la révision complexe que Ricœur apporte aux modèles narrativistes à travers la reprise de la notion de “questionnement à rebours.” La présente contribution fait valoir que la structure de ce modèle hybride n’est pas satisfaisante pour von Wright, et débouche dans le sens de la méthode narrative proposée par Ricœur.Mots-clés: Ricœur, von Wright, Narrative, Histoire, Questionnenement à rebours

A Study of the Perceived Effects of School Culture on Student Behaviors.

Research has confirmed that the behaviors of human beings are influenced by their social environments. The school is the principal social environment of adolescents; thus, the school environment necessarily influences the behaviors of students to some degree. This research project used the interview method to focus on perceptions of school personnel with regard to the elements of school culture that may negatively influence students\u27 behaviors both inside and outside the school environment. The primary influences of school culture on students\u27 behaviors were found to be peers, teachers, administrators, and parent involvlement. Governmental regulations, including those resulting from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, were found to be an indirect and sometimes negative influence on the long-term behaviors of students and their ability to function in the world. This study resulted in the discovery that teachers, administrators, and other school personnel perceive that school culture, over time, has become more tolerant of inappropriate and even aggressive acts by some students while, at the same time, the culture successfully supports the implementation of problem-solving techniques and positive behavior supports for most students. The conclusions reached in the study indicate that school culture and its relation to student behaviors must be carefully examined and that, if further research confirms the findings of this study, action should be taken to effect change. Those changes should include the expansion of efforts to provide equitable and respectful treatment and opportunities for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds as well as lobbying for changes in federal and state regulations, such as some provisions of the IDEA, that have promoted a lack of student accountability for behaviors

Resilience: Its Relationship to Forgiveness in Older Adults

This descriptive, correlational study investigated how psychological resilience might be associated with forgiveness in older adults. The population selected was a planned community in the southeastern United States; the majority of the 4,500 residents were over 50 years old, Caucasian, married, retired or semi-retired, and in reasonably good health. Having relocated to this community from all over our nation and from foreign countries and having achieved a generally high level of success on the average, these people brought with them a wide range of life’s experiences. A random sample of 900 was drawn from the community directory. Of these, 497 respondents completed a mailed survey comprised of the Resilience Scale (Wagnild & Young, 1993), the Trait Forgivingness Scale (Berry, Worthington, O’Connor, Parrott, & Wade, 2005), and an individual profile of selected demographics and self-assessment items. A series of t tests, bivariate correlations, and multiple regressions tested the relationships between resilience and forgiveness, as well as any contributing effects of age, gender, health, self-rated resilience, self-rated forgiveness, difficulty of childhood, highest educational level completed, highest annual salary earned, and current employment status. The analyses indicated a low, but statistically significant correlation between resilience and forgiveness (r = .339, p \u3c .05); as forgiveness increased, resilience tended to increase somewhat. Age was not found to be significantly associated with either resilience or forgiveness in bivariate correlations, but did prove significant when in combination with other variables. The influence of the forgiveness score in the presence of the variables listed above in explaining the variance in resilience was tested using hierarchical multiple regression techniques. The regression resulted in a model consisting of the forgiveness score, self-rated resilience, age, gender, and health status as the variables explaining about 28.1% of the variance in resilience. This research added to our knowledge about resilience, older adults and aspects of aging, and forgiveness. Findings may be generalized with caution to the community and to similar populations elsewhere. They hold implications for policy and procedures in disciplines such as adult education, workplace training and development, psychology, clinical practice, and gerontology

Teaching vocabulary through integrated curriculum improves reading comprehension

This investigation was designed to determine if teaching vocabulary through integrating English and Social Studies curricula would provide tenth grade students who are poor readers with strategies to improve their reading comprehension. The strategies used were designed to support struggling readers and English language development students to connect denotative and connotative meanings of words found in the novel Animal Farm to their social studies class\u27 content

Bipolar Disorder and Locus of Control: Implications for Treatment Compliance

Theoretically, a paradigm shift in the 1960s made community-based care and out-patient treatment an acceptable alternative to institutionalization of the chronically mentally ill. Utilizing the Levenson Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale for Psychiatric Patients, the author conducted a causal-comparative study to determine if a link exists between having bipolar disorder, a chronic mental illness, and an external locus of control, a link which might explain the inability of this population to maintain their optimal level of mental health utilizing the out-patient treatment model. Though the study failed to demonstrate any significant differences in external measures of loci of control between the control group and the bipolar disorder group, it also fa1iled to demonstrate a significant difference in measure between the groups on the internality scale. This leads the researcher to further hypothesize that the solution to improving out-patient treatment compliance may lie in strengthening and reinforcing the patient\u27s internality rather than focusing on significant measures of externality found in several other researchers\u27 findings. Additionally, the author provides a view of bipolar disorder and the barriers which conflict with activities of daily living and health maintenance for this population

Beach Quality and Recreational Values: A Pictorialized Stated Preference Analysis of Residents and Tourists

Much of Hawaii’s economy relies on its unique marine environments, which are threatened by degradation from stormwater runoff. Using a stated preference method of choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis, based on stylized photographs, this study examines both residents’ and visitors’ marginal value for levels of attributes associated with Hawaiian beach recreation. Each attribute (sand quality, water quality, congestion and water safety conditions) was significant for both residents and tourists, with water quality being the single most important attribute. There is little distinction between resident and tourist marginal value, except for a greater value lost for below average water quality among tourists.Nonmarket Valuation, WTP, Beach, Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF GRADES AND HOUSEBRAND LABELS IN THE RETAIL BEEF MARKET

The congruence of beef consumersÂ’ purchases with their stated preferences regarding internal fat content are examined. The role of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grades and housebrand labeling of beef in providing information to consumers is studied in the theoretical framework of search theory. The empirical results indicate that the current system of USDA grades and housebrand labels is not disseminating information regarding internal fat content effectively to consumers. Suggestions are made for providing consumers with better information and education necessary to increase congruence of expressed preferences regarding internal fat content and actual beef purchases.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries,

The Importance of Open-Space Value for Land Use Policy in Hawaii

It was estimated that the open-space value of 15,000 acres of former sugarcane land on Oahu would be worth more than $21 million to residents of the island, based on a 1995 survey. Only 6 percent of the Oahu residents surveyed preferred a development use over an open-space use. A formal method of accounting for open-space value needs to be developed, or more land may be zoned urban than is socially desirable

The Market for Hawaii-Grown Natural and Organic Beef

Characteristics of the organic food market with relevance to marketing Hawaii beef products are discussed