ABSTRACTRecently, Cognition and Emotion published an article demonstrating that age cues affect the speed and accuracy of emotion recognition. The authors claimed that the observed effect of target age on emotion recognition is better explained by evaluative than stereotype associations. Although we agree with their conclusion, we believe that with the research method the authors employed, it was impossible to detect a stereotype effect to begin with. In the current research, we successfully replicate previous findings. Furthermore, by changing the comparative (...) context, Study 2 provides a first test of age-stereotypes affecting emotions recognition. We discuss recommendations for future studies in the domain of social categorisation and emotion recognition. (shrink)

Many research fields concerned with the processing of information contained in human faces would benefit from face stimulus sets in which specific facial characteristics are systematically varied while other important picture characteristics are kept constant. Specifically, a face database in which displayed expressions, gaze direction, and head orientation are parametrically varied in a complete factorial design would be highly useful in many research domains. Furthermore, these stimuli should be standardised in several important, technical aspects. The present article presents the freely (...) available Radboud Faces Database offering such a stimulus set, containing both Caucasian adult and children images. This face database is described both procedurally and in terms of content, and a validation study concerning its most important characteristics is presented. In the validation study, all frontal images were rated with respect to the shown facial expression, intensity of expression, clarity of expression, genuineness of expression, attractiveness, and valence. The results show very high recognition of the intended facial expressions. (shrink)

ABSTRACTAcross two studies majority group children’s perception of positive and negative emotions in ethnic in-group and disadvantaged ethnic out-group peers was examined. Study 1 (N =...

ABSTRACTFacial expressions play a central role in diverse areas of psychology. However, facial stimuli are often only validated by adults, and there are no face databases validated by school-aged c...

In The Textual Tradition of Plato's Timaeus and Critias, Gijsbert Jonkers presents a new examination of the medieval manuscripts of both Platonic dialogues, an overview of the ancient tradition and a vast collection of ancient testimonia.

De traditionele causaliteitsleer - een hoofdstuk der filosofie, - kent slechts oorzaken en gevolgen. Dit boek rekent daar mee af en voert in wetenschap de begrippen middel en doel in. Een zaak van logica. De auteur is van zeer goeden huize en de kwaliteit straalt ook van dit manuscript af. Schrijver weet waar hij het over heeft Ik acht de probleemstelling oorspronkelijk en, belangrijker nog, ook zeer relevant. Het boek kan zeer goed gebruikt worden voor onderwijsdoeleinden. Het kan ook richting (...) geven aan nieuw onderzoek. R. van Woudenberg, hoogleraar theoretische filosofie, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Het manuscript is boeiend doordat het duidelijk maakt hoezeer een strikt causale benadering (zoals in de natuurwetenschappen gebruikelijk is) ontoereikend is wanneer er sprake is van menselijk handelen. Bedoelde oorzaken en beoogde gevolgen blijven oorzaak en gevolg. G. Nienhuis, hoogleraar natuurkunde, Universiteit Leiden Dit boek is serieus en zeer origineel. Het is van belang dat het wordt uitgebracht en - vooral ook - dat het wordt gelezen. A.C. Hemerijck, decaan Faculteit der sociale wetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Table of Contents Inleiding Hoofdstuk 1. Wetenschap in vogelvlucht Hoofdstuk 2. Juiste vragen en goede antwoorden Hoofdstuk 3. Weten waardoor en weten waarvoor Hoofdstuk 4. Versta onder een doel niet een begeren Hoofdstuk 5.. Van causalisme naar finalisme Hoofdstuk 6. Verklaren, voorspellen, ontwerpen Hoofdstuk 7. Vanwaar dat odium op het doelbegrip? Hoofdstuk 8. Alle analyse is empirisch Hoofdstuk 9. Wetenschap en het onbewuste Hoofdstuk 10. Mimesis als breed verschijnsel Hoofdstuk 11, Ministerie ontwikkelt beleidsanalyse Hoofdstuk 12. Opvoeding als voorbeeld Hoofdstuk 13 Toepassingen per discipline Uitleiding Index Personen en Zaken About the Author Gijs Kuijpers is emeritus hoogleraar politicologie aan de Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam. (shrink)

Comparing cognitive functions between humans and nonhuman primates is helpful for understanding human tool use. We comment on the latest insights from comparative research on executive control functions. Based on our own work, we discuss how even a mental function in which non-human primates outperform humans might have played a key role in the development of tool use.

Iedereen komt ze weleens tegen in eigen kring of kent ze uit ondervinding: de bully op het schoolplein, de gewelddadige levenspartner, de maniakale manager, de tirannieke geestelijk leider, de crimineel. In het dagelijks spraakgebruik bestempelen we ze zonder aarzeling als 'gevaarlijke gekken'. We weten maar al te goed hoe ontwrichtend of traumatiserend zo'n gek kan zijn. Maar kan de impact van zo'n gevaarlijke gek niet ook op grotere schaal spelen? Op de schaal van de politiek, de samenleving, de wereld of (...) de geschiedenis? Met deze vraag organiseerden Gijsbert de Reuver en Stephan Sanders bij de Universiteit van Amsterdam, in samenwerking met 'De Groene Amsterdammer', een spannende collegereeks, die een vervolg heeft gekregen in het boek 'Gevaarlijke gekken?' In dit boek staan stukken van docenten uit de collegereeks, maar ook bijdragen die speciaal zijn geschreven voor de bundel, bijvoorbeeld die over Donald Trump en Vladimir Poetin. (shrink)

The view that theology represents the highest level of academic learning and the summit of human knowledge has a long history. In this article, starting from Aristotle, the genealogy of this view is excavated. Second, it is examined how and why theology lost this special status in modernity, as this appears in Immanuel Kant’s The Conflict of the Faculties. Third, it is shown in which way and for what reasons theology continued to have a place of its own in the (...) modern university since the founding of the University of Berlin. In particular, the crucial role of Friedrich Schleiermacher’s proposal is highlighted. Fourth, it is suggested that, under certain conditions, theology can still be conceived as a proper university discipline in contemporary pluralistic societies. (shrink)

It has recently been argued by both lay people, church leaders and academic philosophers that evolutionary theory – and especially the theory of common ancestry – rules out any adequate notion of human dignity (I). In this paper, this claim is examined and refuted. First of all, when spelled out in a conceptually unambiguous way, it turns out that the evolutionary argument against human dignity hinges on the belief that human uniqueness , as this was traditionally encapsulated in the doctrine (...) of the imago Dei , has been falsified (II). Secondly, therefore, a recent proposal to reinterpret this doctrine in a way which allows us to drop the notion of human uniqueness but to still uphold a robust notion of human dignity is discussed (III). It is concluded, however, that this proposal is problematic for several reasons. Thirdly, therefore, a more fruitful avenue is explored, namely the attempt to reinterpret the notions of human uniqueness and human dignity along theological rather than biological lines (IV). It will turn out that this attempt, which is inspired by both contemporary biblical scholarship and systematic theology, in fact enables us to adhere to notions of human uniqueness and human dignity (and to connect this to the doctrine of the imago Dei ) which are not at odds with evolutionary theory. Finally, some conclusions are drawn (V). (shrink)

De redactie van Philosophia Reformata heeft aan prof. Brümmer, dr. Sarot en ondergetekende gevraagd te reageren op hetgeen prof. Geertsema in twee bijdragen aan dit nummer over de zogenoemde ‘Utrechtse school’ in de wijsgerige theologie te berde brengt. Aangezien het minder gebruikelijk is om als auteurs c.q. redacteuren te reageren op een boekrecensie, gaan onze duplieken vooral in op het zelfstandige artikel dat Geertsema wijdt aan de theologie van Brümmer. Toch willen we graag ook beknopt reageren op de recensie, die (...) immers de vorm gekregen heeft van een tamelijk uitvoerige ‘kritische studie’, en daarmee toch eigenlijk ook van een min of meer zelfstandige bijdrage. (shrink)

Human death is natural from the perspective of evolutionary biology but unnatural from the vantage point of classical Christian theology. The biblical notion that death entered the world as a result of sin seems hard to square with the view that (human) death has been an integral part of the natural order all along. I suggest an ecumenical solution to this conundrum by retrieving and elaborating the Augustinian modal distinction between strong and weak immortality. It is argued on exegetical and (...) theological grounds that the human being can best be seen as being created in a state of posse mori et posse non mori, and that—when conceptual ambiguities in their writings are dissolved—this is what theologians as diverse as the prelates of the Council of Trent, John Calvin, Louis Berkhof, and Wolfhart Pannenberg had in mind. It is also argued that this solution is compatible with contemporary evolutionary science and can be accepted by creationists of various stripes. (shrink)

One of the less well-researched areas in the recent renaissance of the study of Reformed orthodoxy is anthropology. In this contribution, we investigate a core topic of Reformed orthodox theological anthropology, viz. its treatment of the human being as created in the image of God. First, we analyze the locus of the imago Dei in the Leiden Synopsis Purioris Theologiae. Second, we highlight some shifts of emphasis in Reformed orthodox treatments of this topic in response to the budding Cartesianism. In (...) particular, the close proximity of the unfallen human being and God was carefully delineated as a result of Descartes’s positing of a univocal correspondence between God and man; and the Cartesian suggestion that original righteousness functioned as a barrier for certain natural impulses, was rejected. Third, we show how, in response to the denial of this connection, the image of God was explicitly related to the concept of natural law. Tying in with similar findings on other loci, we conclude that Reformed orthodox thought on the imago Dei exhibits a variegated pattern of extensions, qualifications, and adjustments of earlier accounts within a clearly discernable overall continuity. (shrink)

This paper explores the relation between evolutionary explanations of religious belief and a core idea in both classical Christian theology and Reformed Epistemology, namely that humans have fallen into sin. In particular, it challenges the claim made by De Cruz and De Smedt that ‘ in the light of current evolutionary and cognitive theories, the Reformed epistemological view of NES [the noetic effects of sin] is in need of revision.’ Three possible solutions to this conundrum are examined, two of which (...) are shown to be plausible. (shrink)

Introduction for 'New Developments in Cognitive Science of Religion - The Rationality of Religious Belief' forthcoming with Springer. We discuss the philosophical debate over Cognitive Science of Religion and give an outline of the book.

Cognitive Science of Religion is still a rather young discipline. Depending on what one deems to be the first paper or book in the field, the discipline is now almost forty or almost thirty years old. Philosophical and theological discussion on CSR started in the late 2000s. From its onset, the main focus has been the epistemic consequences of CSR, and this focus is dominant even today. Some of those involved in the debate discussed the relevance of CSR for further (...) issues in philosophy of religion, and other have examined how CSR weighs in on various theological questions. Finally, a small number of philosophers offered criticisms or support for various CSR-theories. In this chapter, we give an overview of the debates so far and provide an outline of the book. (shrink)

It is widely thought that the cognitive science of religion may have a bearing on the epistemic status of religious beliefs and on other topics in philosophy of religion. Epistemologists have used theories from CSR to argue both for and against the rationality of religious beliefs, or they have claimed that CSR is neutral vis-à-vis the epistemic status of religious belief. However, since CSR is a rapidly evolving discipline, a great deal of earlier research on the topic has become dated. (...) Furthermore, most of the debate on the epistemic consequences of CSR has not taken into account insights from the philosophy of science, such as explanatory pluralism and explanatory levels. This volume overcomes these deficiencies. This volume brings together new philosophical reflection on CSR. It examines the influence of CSR theories on the epistemic status of religious beliefs; it discusses its impact on philosophy of religion; and it offers new insights for CSR. The book addresses the question of whether or not the plurality of theories in CSR makes epistemic conclusions about religious belief unwarranted. It also explores the impact of CSR on other topics in philosophy of religion like the cognitive consequences of sin and naturalism. Finally, the book investigates what the main theories in CSR aim to explain, and addresses the strengths and weaknesses of CSR. (shrink)

Studies in Philosophical Theology [7] Kampen, Kok Pharos, 1993.

The atomist philosopher, David Gorlaeus was a student of theology at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands when he died in 1612 at the age of 21. We know little about his short life, but two works by him, Exercitationes Philosophicae and Idea Physicae, survived and were published posthumously in 1620 and 1651 respectively. They contain the intriguing but often underdeveloped views of a budding philosopher whose ideas might have been completely forgotten but for two later perceptions of his (...) philosophical contribution: one negative and one positive.On the negative side, in 1642 the heretical implications of Gorlaeus’ philosophy were linked to René Descartes when Gijsbert Voetius, the Rector.. (shrink)

Why do creationists persist in rejecting the evidence for Darwin’s theory of evolution? This paper explores longstanding disagreements among Christians over the epistemic status of evolution. Like other studies that have tried to define the evidence for evolution, a recent analysis by Gijsbert van den Brink, Jeroen de Ridder, and René van Woudenberg does not adequately face up to antecedent commitments that play into any assessment of evolution. The scientific theory of evolution involves higher-level models that are associated with (...) a range of non-scientific factors, including theological judgments. In light of these realities, an emphasis on mutual dialogue and understanding offers promising opportunities for Christians trying to discover the truth about God’s creation. (shrink)

AbsractIn this paper, we contribute to a growing literature in the philosophy of social science cautioning social scientists against context-independent claims to objectivity, by analyzing the recent proposal of a new Basic Index of Gender Inequality by Gijsbert Stoet and David Geary. Despite the many internal problems with BIGI, Stoet and Geary have had some success in positioning the index as an important corrective to the way in which gender inequality is measured in mainstream metrics like the Global Gender (...) Gap Index. We argue that this success is facilitated at least in part by the failure of GGGI’s proponents to adequately justify the methodological choices underpinning the index in relation to the context in which the index’s findings are intended to be used. In so doing, the authors of GGGI oversell the objectivity of the metric’s assessment of the state of global gender inequality—and it is this overselling that allows Stoet and Geary to present BIGI as a metric that corrects what they claim are systematic biases within GGGI. The case of BIGI and GGGI, we argue, suggests that the kind of epistemic modesty exhibited by recent operational approaches to objectivity is particularly important for social research on highly politically contested topics. (shrink)

In een tweetal artikelen in dit tijdschrift heeft Henk Geertsema aandacht besteed aan de Utrechtse wijsgerige theologie. In het eerste artikel concentreerde hij zich op de bundel Hoe is Uw Naam?, terwijl hij in het tweede vooral ingaat op het werk van Vincent Brümmer. De scheiding is echter niet zo strikt; ook in het artikel over Brümmer komt Geertsema veelvuldig over Hoe is Uw Naam? te spreken. In deze reactie wil ik ingaan op Geertsema’s kritiek op de wijze waarop (...) class='Hi'>Gijsbert van den Brink en ondergetekende in Hoe is Uw Naam? twee criteria voor de wijsgerige theologie bespreken, en deze reactie concretiseren door de meer theoretische opmerkingen toe te passen op een voorbeeld dat Geertsema zelf ter sprake brengt, dat van het berouw van God. Daarbij zal ik uitgaan van enkele passages die Geertsema in zijn artikel over Brümmer aan Hoe is Uw Naam? wijdt. (shrink)