There is a noticeable gap between results of cognitive neuroscientific research into basic mathematical abilities and philosophical and empirical investigations of mathematics as a distinct intellectual activity. The paper explores the relevance of a Wittgensteinian framework for dealing with this discrepancy.

This article provides somephilosophical ``groundwork'' for contemporary debatesabout the status of the idea(l) of critical thinking.The major part of the article consists of a discussionof three conceptions of ``criticality,'' viz., criticaldogmatism, transcendental critique (Karl-Otto Apel),and deconstruction (Jacques Derrida). It is shown thatthese conceptions not only differ in their answer tothe question what it is ``to be critical.'' They alsoprovide different justifications for critique andhence different answers to the question what giveseach of them the ``right'' to be critical. It is arguedthat (...) while transcendental critique is able to solvesome of the problems of the dogmatic approach tocriticality, deconstruction provides the most coherentand self-reflexive conception of critique. A crucialcharacteristic of the deconstructive style of critiqueis that this style is not motivated by the truth ofthe criterion (as in critical dogmatism) or by acertain conception of rationality (as intranscendental critique), but rather by a concern forjustice. It is suggested that this concern should becentral to any redescription of the idea(l) ofcritical thinking. (shrink)

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the possible effects of a forum theatre intervention on moral team atmosphere, moral reasoning, fair play attitude and on‐ and off‐field antisocial and prosocial behaviour in male adolescent soccer players from 10 to 18 years of age (n = 99). From pre‐test to post‐test, small but positive changes were found in moral atmosphere, but not in moral reasoning or fair play attitude. Changes were also found in on‐field antisocial behaviour, which showed (...) a significant decrease one month after the intervention. However, the changes in antisocial behaviour were not affected by the changes in moral team atmosphere. Off‐field antisocial behaviour and both on‐ and off‐field prosocial behaviour did not show a significant change. The results suggest that more extended efforts built on a similar approach are worth investigating. (shrink)

Stress is increasingly being recognized as one of the main factors that is negatively affecting our health, and therefore there is a need to regulate daily stress and prevent long-term stress. This need seems particularly important for adults with mild intellectual disabilities who have been shown to have more difficulties coping with stress than adults without intellectual disabilities. Hence, the development of music therapy interventions for stress reduction, particularly within populations where needs may be greater, is becoming increasingly important. In (...) order to gain more insight into the practice-based knowledge on how music therapists lower stress levels of their patients with MID during music therapy sessions, we conducted focus group interviews with music therapists working with adults with MID from different countries and clinical institutions in Europe. Results provide an overview of the most-used interventions for stress reduction within and outside of music. Data-analysis resulted in the further specification of therapeutic goals, intervention techniques, the use of musical instruments, and related therapeutic change factors. The main findings indicate that music therapists used little to no receptive interventions for stress reduction, but preferred to use active interventions, which were mainly based on musical improvisation. Results show that three therapy goals for stress relief could be distinguished. The goal of “synchronizing” can be seen as a sub goal because it often precedes working on the other two goals of “tension release” or “direct relaxation,” which can also be seen as two ways of reaching stress reduction in adults with MID through music therapy interventions. Furthermore, the tempo and the dynamics of the music are considered as the most important musical components to reduce stress in adults with MID. Practical implications for stress-reducing music therapy interventions for adults with MID are discussed as well as recommendations for future research. (shrink)

This book is a lively and provoking introduction to film theory.

At the beginning of the 21st century, biology will try to address the function of a large number of new genes. From the perspective of technologies applied today to functional genomics, this task appears to be more complex than the effort invested in the sequencing of the human genome. Conceptually, a high-throughput approach permitting correlation between newly discovered genes and functional properties of their protein products has yet to be developed. To address relationships between tens of thousands of genes and (...) their cognate proteins, novel interdisciplinary technologies need to emerge. In this paper, a new idea of immunomics is presented and an experimental strategy is outlined to circumvent some of the restrictions associated with methodologies currently in use. It is proposed that cloned segments of genomic DNA are used for genetic immunization to obtain a large collection of antibodies, and to generate microarrays of these antibodies for tracing differentially expressed cellular proteins. (shrink)

'Globalization' provides an ambiguous cliché for psychology as the North American and European version of the discipline is being exported widely. After providing a brief history of globalization and the failure of its intended effects I discuss three episodes of psychology's place in a globalized marketplace of ideas; the pre-1900 development of psychology in Germany and North America, the failure of phenomenological psychology in Europe after World War II and the current state of the professionalization of psychology. Psychology has, thus (...) far, largely followed the enthusiasms of the globalizers. While it is far too late to create 'indigenous psychologies,' theory remains a vehicle of questioning, coaxing, and resistance through which to engage the multiplicity of subjectivities that confront us. 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)

Moet de strafrechter ook de scheidsrechter zijn van het publieke debat? De scheiding der machten in het licht van de vrijheid van meningsuiting voor volksvertegenwoordigers This article contains a critical review of the provisions in the Dutch penal code regarding group defamation and hate speech. It is argued that not only these provisions themselves but also their application by the Dutch supreme court, constitutes a problem for the legitimacy and functioning of representative democracy. This is due to the tendency of (...) the supreme court to employ special constraints for offensive, hateful or discriminatory speech by politicians. Because such a special constraint is not provided or even implied by the legislator, the jurisprudence of the supreme court is likely to end up in judicial overreach and therefore constitutes a potential – if not actual – breach in the separation of powers. In order to forestall these consequences, the protection of particularly political speech should be improved, primarily by a revision of the articles 137c and 137d of the Dutch penal code or the extension of parliamentary immunity. (shrink)

We argue that Chow's defense of hypothesis-testing procedures attempts to restore an aura of objectivity to the core procedures, allowing these to take on the role of judgment that should be reserved for the researcher. We provide a brief overview of what we call the historical case against hypothesis testing and argue that the latter has led to a constrained and simplified conception of what passes for theory in psychology.

v. 1. The origins of a theoretical psychology -- v. 2. Theory and method -- v. 3. Major theoretical positions in twentieth century psychology -- v. 4. The human dilemma : social, developmental, and abnormal psychology.

This book is the first comprehensive intellectual biography of Johannes Linschoten, whose work has been credited with helping to bring down the Utrecht School of phenomenological psychology. The authors show this to be a mistaken assumption in the light of Linschoten's entire oeuvre and demonstrate his importance for an understanding of a phenomenological psychology that necessarily coexists with an experimental, scientific psychology. In the Netherlands, Linschoten is particularly appreciated for his last book, published posthumously. That volume, Idols of the Psychologist, (...) took a critical look at phenomenological psychology and its pretensions while simultaneously acknowledging that a phenomenological outlook is a necessity for beginning any kind of experimental investigation. Most commentators on this book considered Linschoten a convert from phenomenology to experimental psychology, but have either ignored his earlier, substantive work or have not seen the importance of the intellectual context for his final work. By examining his life and the full extent of his voluminous writings, this book demonstrates Linschoten's importance for the development of psychology in the Netherlands and beyond. It will shed new light on the life and work of Johannes Linschoten as well as the Dutch school of phenomenology and its postwar contributions to psychology in Europe and North America. Furthermore, for the first time, this book brings together important aspects of Linschoten's life with his prodigious output. It demonstrates how his life and work created a unique psychology that deserves to be continued and developed. (shrink)

This chapter is about Linschoten’s life. After a Timeline (Sect. 4.1), we introduce Linschoten as a young boy and his family background, including the period that he lived in the Dutch Indies and was interned in a Japanese camp (Sect. 4.2). After his return to the Netherlands (Sect 4.3), we focus on the start of his academic career as a student and assistant and associate to his professor, Buytendijk, as a professor and successor of Buytendijk, and on his friends and (...) enemies (Sect. 4.4). We end the chapter with a section on his health and his death (Sect. 4.5). (shrink)

In this chapter we focus on Utrecht University’s new department of psychology in the period before World War II (Sect. 3.1), in the 1930s, and during World War II (Sect. 3.2), as well as how the subfaculty of psychology developed after World War II (Sect. 3.3). We then focus on whether there was one or there were two Utrecht Schools (psychology and criminal justice) (Sects. 3.4 and 3.5). In Sect. 3.6 we concentrate on the psychologists’ Utrecht School, and in Sect. (...) 3.7 we conclude that there was no Utrecht School, and Linschoten was one of its members. (shrink)