The Qua-Problem and Meaning Scepticism

When considering potential solutions to meaning-scepticism, Kripke (1982) did not consider a causal-theoretic approach. Kusch (2006) has argued that this is due to the qua-problem. I consider Kusch’s criticism of Maddy (1984) and McGinn (1984) before offering a different way to solve the qua-problem, one that is not susceptible to sceptical attack. If this solution is successful, at least one barrier to using a causal theory to refute Kripke’s scepticism is removed

Confronting Wartime Sexual Violence: Public Support for Survivors in Bosnia

Existing research on conflict-related sexual violence focuses on the motivations of perpetrators and effects on survivors. What remains less clear is how postconflict societies respond to the hardships survivors face. In survey experiments in Bosnia, we examine public support for financial aid, legal aid, and public recognition for survivors. First, we find a persistent ethnocentric view of sexual violence, where respondents are less supportive when the perpetrator is identified as co-ethnic and survivors are perceived as out-groups. Second, respondents are less supportive of male survivors than female survivors, which we attribute to social stigmas surrounding same-gender sexual activity. Consistent with our argument, those who are intolerant of homosexuality are especially averse to providing aid to male survivors. This study points to the long-term challenges survivors face due to ethnic divisions and social stigmatization from sexual violence

Asymptotic distribution of fixed points of pattern-avoiding involutions

For a variety of pattern-avoiding classes, we describe the limiting distribution for the number of fixed points for involutions chosen uniformly at random from that class. In particular we consider monotone patterns of arbitrary length as well as all patterns of length 3. For monotone patterns we utilize the connection with standard Young tableaux with at most $k$ rows and involutions avoiding a monotone pattern of length $k$. For every pattern of length 3 we give the bivariate generating function with respect to fixed points for the involutions that avoid that pattern, and where applicable apply tools from analytic combinatorics to extract information about the limiting distribution from the generating function. Many well-known distributions appear.Comment: 16 page

Evidence for the Spoken Language in Roman Britain: A Study of the Curse Tablets from the Sulis Minerva Sanctuary in Bath

The reconstruction of pronunciation and other linguistic features of the ancient world has always been a feature of linguistic study. Epigraphic evidence plays a key role in this, and a large amount of the research done on accent and language development has looked at graffiti. The corpus of curse tablets found at the site of the temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath presents a slightly different set of challenges to those faced by earlier studies, but also provides rare opportunities as a relatively large set of texts from a specific location in the far west of the empire. This study examines what role these curse tablets could play as evidence for the spoken language of the Bath area, explores the methodological approaches other scholars have used when looking at similar bodies of text, and finally draws some possible conclusions from the curse tablets with reference to their chronology and expected linguistic changes in the western empire

COMPARING PERSONALITY DISORDER MODELS: FFM AND DSM-IV-TR

The current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) defines personality disorders as categorical entities that are distinct from themselves and from normal personality traits. However, many scientists now believe that personality disorders can best be conceptualized using a dimensional model of traits that span normal and abnormal personality, such as the Five-Factor Model (FFM). Many research studies have indicated that the current personality disorder system can be adequately conceptualized using the FFM. However, if the FFM or any dimensional model is to be considered as a credible alternative to the current model, it must first demonstrate an increment in the validity of the assessment offered within a clinical setting. Thus, the current study extended previous research by comparing the convergent and discriminant validity of the current DSM-IV-TR model to the FFM across four assessment methodologies. Eighty-eight individuals that were currently receiving ongoing psychotherapy were assessed for the FFM and the DSM-IV-TR personality disorders using self-report, informant report, structured interview, and therapist ratings. The results indicated that the FFM had an appreciable advantage over the DSM-IV-TR in terms of discriminant validity and, at the domain level, convergent validity. Implications of the findings for future research are discussed

Are we reaching the body? : a study of social workers\u27 attitudes on the mind-body connection in trauma treatment

A national sample of 39 social workers currently treating traumatized clients in therapy in the United States responded to an anonymous, online survey designed to gauge their attitudes toward the role of the mind-body connection in trauma treatment and recovery. The study sought to ascertain whether the most recent research in the neurobiology of trauma, and the resulting developments in the theory of trauma treatment, had significantly influenced the approach taken by social workers in clinical settings. The findings suggest that social workers have largely embraced the idea of a mind-body connection in trauma, and are inclined—in theory, if less often in practice—to direct their interventions toward that connection, rather than hewing to more traditionally cognitive or psychodynamic methods

Rage, Remembrance, Redemption: The Poetic Response to AIDS

This thesis explores the works of three poets whose works offer a response to the AIDS epidemic: Thom Gunn, Paul Monette, and Mark Doty. With chapters dedicated to each poefs work individually, the thesis examines the works in terms of thematic content, formal characteristics, and sociopolitical relevance. The three central chapters are framed by personal essays that also explore general characteristics of AIDS poetry In the great tradition of the elegy and the lyric. While all three poets offer narratives alternative to the political discourse surrounding the disease, each poet\u27s response is unique - just as each poet\u27s relationship to the disease is unique. The works studied here stand as cultural artifacts of the early days of the AIDS epidemic, when the disease had yet to reach the status of a global pandemic. The deeply personal and, at times. Intensely political responses illustrate the struggle inherent in artistic activism - expressing the horrors of individual narratives while attempting to cry out collectively for recognition and response