Another Approach to Consensus and Maximally Informed Opinions with Increasing Evidence

Merging of opinions results underwrite Bayesian rejoinders to complaints about the subjective nature of personal probability. Such results establish that sufficiently similar priors achieve consensus in the long run when fed the same increasing stream of evidence. Initial subjectivity, the line goes, is of mere transient significance, giving way to intersubjective agreement eventually. Here, we establish a merging result for sets of probability measures that are updated by Jeffrey conditioning. This generalizes a number of different merging results in the literature. We also show that such sets converge to a shared, maximally informed opinion. Convergence to a maximally informed opinion is a (weak) Jeffrey conditioning analogue of Bayesian “convergence to the truth” for conditional probabilities. Finally, we demonstrate the philosophical significance of our study by detailing applications to the topics of dynamic coherence, imprecise probabilities, and probabilistic opinion pooling

Persistent Disagreement and Polarization in a Bayesian Setting

For two ideally rational agents, does learning a finite amount of shared evidence necessitate agreement? No. But does it at least guard against belief polarization, the case in which their opinions get further apart? No. OK, but are rational agents guaranteed to avoid polarization if they have access to an infinite, increasing stream of shared evidence? No

Obligation, Permission, and Bayesian Orgulity

This essay has two aims. The first is to correct an increasingly popular way of misunderstanding Belot's Orgulity Argument. The Orgulity Argument charges Bayesianism with defect as a normative epistemology. For concreteness, our argument focuses on Cisewski et al.'s recent rejoinder to Belot. The conditions that underwrite their version of the argument are too strong and Belot does not endorse them on our reading. A more compelling version of the Orgulity Argument than Cisewski et al. present is available, however---a point that we make by drawing an analogy with de Finetti's argument against mandating countable additivity. Having presented the best version of the Orgulity Argument, our second aim is to develop a reply to it. We extend Elga's idea of appealing to finitely additive probability to show that the challenge posed by the Orgulity Argument can be met

On the side of the angels? Neuroscience and religious experience

The contributions made by the biological sciences to the study of religious experience cover a broad range of topics and issues including, fasting, sex, drugs, exercise, sensory deprivation, and the healing effects of prayer to name just a few. However, it is in the field of neuroscience that some of the most intriguing and controversial findings have recently been made. In an attempt to assess what progress has been made in the study of religious experience by the biological sciences this essay relates the recent work performed by neuroscientists Eugene d’Aquili and Andrew Newberg to ideas put forward previously by another biologist, Sir Alister Hardy

A Philosophical Concept of Patient Education in the Small Hospital

In recent years, many dramatic changes have occurred in the nation\u27s health care delivery system, particularly in health education. The National Consumer Health Information and Promotion Act was enacted in 1976. In response to this legislation, the nation\u27s health education efforts were greatly expanded through the creation of a Bureau of Health Education within the Center for Disease Control and establishment of the Office of Health Information and Promotion in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. A National Center for Health Education was also established. Health education was prominently included among the ten national health priorities outlined in the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act of 1974. Concurrent to these developments have been intensified demands among health organizations and the public for an expanded health education component of the health care delivery system. Health education of the hospital patient (or hospital patient education) is a significant aspect of the broader area of health education. This thesis examines the relationship between some of the national health education developments and the patient education responsibilities of small hospitals. Issues inherent in these responsibilities are identified and analyzed in an attempt to develop a philosophy (or concept) of the extent to which small hospitals should provide patient education. For purposes of this study, small hospitals are defined as general, acute-care hospitals of the 100-bed and less category. To facilitate understanding of how patient education hospitals has reached its present position, a brief history of hospital patient education is presented. This history leads to an overview of current hospital patient education activities and the identification of issues and trends in this area relative to the small hospital. This thesis examines some of the current questions raised on the appropriate role of the small hospital in meeting the health education needs of its patients. Specific aspects of hospital patient education are also discussed; for example: philosophies, planning, coordination, methodologies, financing, materials, cost effectiveness, and evaluation. After discussing the above-mentioned issues, this thesis concludes with the presentation of a concept of patient education in the small hospital and some recommendations relating to the small hospitals\u27 patient education activities. The concept presented was based on the conclusion that the philosophical and humanitarian tenets upon which small hospitals provide service demand the provision of maximal patient education which is integrated into routine patient care regimens

The Darlington Memorial Library: A Gift to the Humanities

This is a presentation given at the dedication of the University of Pittsburgh Humanities Center, located in the former Darlington Library in the Cathedral of Learning. This short paper details the history of the development of this collection by William and O'Hara Darlington and its acquisition by the University of Pittsburgh. The Darlington Collection is a very important and large collection of books, manuscripts, maps, atlases and other material related to Colonial America as well as French and English literature. The entire collection is available online as part of the University Library System's D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program

Distention for Sets of Probabilities

A prominent pillar of Bayesian philosophy is that, relative to just a few constraints, priors “wash out” in the limit. Bayesians often appeal to such asymptotic results as a defense against charges of excessive subjectivity. But, as Seidenfeld and coauthors observe, what happens in the short run is often of greater interest than what happens in the limit. They use this point as one motivation for investigating the counterintuitive short run phenomenon of dilation since, it is alleged, “dilation contrasts with the asymptotic merging of posterior probabilities reported by Savage (1954) and by Blackwell and Dubins (1962)” (Herron et al., 1994). A partition dilates an event if, relative to every cell of the partition, uncertainty concerning that event increases. The measure of uncertainty relevant for dilation, however, is not the same measure that is relevant in the context of results concerning whether priors wash out or “opinions merge.” Here, we explicitly investigate the short run behavior of the metric relevant to merging of opinions. As with dilation, it is possible for uncertainty (as gauged by this metric) to increase relative to every cell of a partition. We call this phenomenon distention. It turns out that dilation and distention are orthogonal phenomena

Integrating Chronic Illness into One\u27s Life: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Chronic illness is currently the number one health problem facing the United States; however, little is known about the experience of making chronic illness a part of one\u27s life, particularly from the perspective of the chronically ill person. If nurses are to assist people in living with chronic illness, then an understanding of this experience is essential. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological inquiry was to explore how chronically ill adults integrate chronic illness into their lives. Seventeen chronically ill adults were interviewed by the researcher, and asked to describe how they integrated chronic illness into their lives. Each interview was audio taped and transcribed. Utilizing Colaizzi\u27s method of data analysis, significant statements were extracted from each interview and then collated and analyzed for formulated meanings. The four major themes that emerged from this analysis were: confronting loss, riding a roller coaster of emotions, making changes, and gaining control of an altered life direction. Some of the major recommendations and implications for practice centered around a need for health care providers to recognize and assess factors important in integrating chronic illness into one\u27s life. These major factors included: loss as a ongoing and unending experience, and how this loss may influence participants\u27 willingness and ability to implement changes; emotional drain of living with chronic illness; dilemmas that arise between implementing treatment plans and participating in valued activities; and support of friends and family as valuable, but not always available. Further research is needed to address how these factors can be incorporated into the care of the chronically ill and the influence these might ultimately have on the course of the illness and quality of life