Though Kierkegaard's writings were intended to convey how a man is to become a Christian, his main works give no account of the content of the concept of a Christian : they treat only of its formal side. The author proposes, however, that Kierkegaard's views on the concept's content are to be found in the uncompleted manuscript, ?Armed Neutrality?. In this, aspects of pietistic veneration and of mystery combine with Kierkegaard's affirmation of humanity to constitute the idea of a Christian (...) as an individual existing in relation to the decisive truth ? an idea that is the basis of Christian Humanism. (shrink)

Identity governance is an emerging concept for fine-grained conditional disclosure of identity information and enforcement of corresponding data handling policies. Although numerous technologies underlying identity management have been developed, people still have difficulty obtaining a clear picture of how their identity information is maintained, used, and propagated. An identity management framework is described for tracking the history of how a person’s identity information is handled after it is transferred across domains of control and for enforcing meta-policies related to managing identity (...) information distributed over the Internet. With this framework, organizations that manage identity information can improve accountability for their data practices and thereby increase their trustworthiness. The framework also enables users to control and optimize the propagation of their identity information in a user-centric manner. (shrink)

Some researchers on binary choice inference have argued that people make inferences based on simple heuristics, such as recognition, fluency, or familiarity. Others have argued that people make inferences based on available knowledge. To examine the boundary between heuristic and knowledge usage, we examine binary choice inference processes in terms of attribute substitution in heuristic use (Kahneman & Frederick, 2005). In this framework, it is predicted that people will rely on heuristic or knowledge‐based inference depending on the subjective difficulty of (...) the inference task. We conducted competitive tests of binary choice inference models representing simple heuristics (fluency and familiarity heuristics) and knowledge‐based inference models. We found that a simple heuristic model (especially a familiarity heuristic model) explained inference patterns for subjectively difficult inference tasks, and that a knowledge‐based inference model explained subjectively easy inference tasks. These results were consistent with the predictions of the attribute substitution framework. Issues on usage of simple heuristics and psychological processes are discussed. (shrink)

Previous studies have shown that people often use heuristics in making inferences and that subjective memory experiences, such as recognition or familiarity of objects, can be valid cues for inferences. So far, many researchers have used the binary choice task in which two objects are presented as alternatives (e.g., “Which city has the larger population, city A or city B?”). However, objects can be presented not only as alternatives but also in a question (e.g., “Which country is city X in, (...) country A or country B?”). In such a situation, people can make inferences based on the relationship between the object in the question and each object given as an alternative. In the present study, we call this type of task a “relationships‐comparison task.” We modeled the three inference strategies that people could apply to solve it (familiarity‐matching [FM; a new heuristic we propose in this study], familiarity heuristic [FH], and knowledge‐based inference [KI]) to examine people's inference processes. Through Studies 1, 2, and 3, we found that (a) people tended to rely on heuristics, and that FM (inferences based on similarity in familiarity between objects) well explained participants' inference patterns; (b) FM could work as an ecologically rational strategy for the relationships–comparison task since it could effectively reflect environmental structures, and that the use of FM could be highly replicable and robust; and (c) people could sometimes use a decision strategy like FM, even in their daily lives (consumer behaviors). The nature of the relationships–comparison task and human cognitive processes is discussed. (shrink)

ABSTRACTBecause negative emotional memories are often disruptive, we conducted two experiments to reduce these memories by using a retroactive interference paradigm. In both experiments, participants were presented with highly negative pictures followed by highly negative, moderately negative, or neutral pictures or a rest period. Then, following a filler task, participants took a surprise free recall test, recalling pictures from List 1 in Experiment 1 and from both List 1 and List 2 in Experiment 2. In both experiments, recall of List (...) 1 was reduced by List 2, indicating that RI was present. Furthermore, in Experiment 1, RI was similar between moderately negative and highly negative List 2 whereas in Experiment 2, RI was greater for highly negative List 2 than moderately negative List 2. These results showed that RI can be used to reduce negative emotional memories by making these memories inaccessible. (shrink)

The anchoring effect is a form of cognitive bias in which exposure to some piece of information affects its subsequent numerical estimation. Previous studies have discussed which stimuli, such as numbers or semantic priming stimuli, are most likely to induce anchoring effects. However, it has not been determined whether anchoring effects will occur when a number is presented alone or when the semantic priming stimuli have an equivalent dimension between a target and the stimuli without a number. We conducted five (...) experimental studies using stimuli to induce anchoring effects. We found that anchoring effects did not occur when a number was presented alone or when phrases to induce semantic priming were used without presenting a number. These results indicate that both numerical and semantic priming stimuli must be presented for anchoring effects to occur. Our findings represent a substantial contribution to the literature on anchoring effects by offering insights into how these effects are generated. (shrink)

Apathy and depression are frequently observed as behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, respectively, and are important for ensuring adequate care. This study aims to explore effective non-pharmacological interventions for apathy and depression with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Five search engines including PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Web of Science were used to extract relevant studies. Inclusion criteria were studies that involved participants who were diagnosed with MCI or dementia, included quantitative assessments of each symptom, and employed randomized controlled (...) trials. Twenty studies were extracted, with interventions have been conducted in care facilities, the community, and hospitals. Participants in many studies had MCI or mild-to-moderate dementia but were not diagnosed with the subtypes of dementia. Few studies had set apathy and depression as the primary outcomes of non-pharmacological interventions. The findings suggested that emotional and stimulation-oriented approaches to apathy and depression would be useful for people with MCI or mild-to-moderate dementia. It would be helpful for therapists to assess the clinical features of the target symptoms for selecting suitable interventions. Additionally, increasing the number of randomized controlled trials focusing on apathy or depression as primary outcomes would offer a more definite conclusion for future systematic reviews. (shrink)

The three Ōtani Expeditions (1902–1914) constitute the first non-Western attempt to carry out systematic research in Central Asia. The mastermind behind these Japanese enterprises was Ōtani Kōzui, the 22nd lord-abbot of the Western Honganji temple in Kyoto and the patriarch of the Honpa Honganji denomination of the Jōdo Shinshū sect, which was and remains the largest Buddhist community in Japan. Kōzui’s position as a monk during the period the expeditions were carried out reveals his religious motivation as the planner and (...) sponsor of these research trips. Inspired by the 7th century traveler-monk Xuanzang, the main purpose of the Ōtani Expeditions was therefore to find the routes through which Buddhism had passed before reaching Japan. This is what makes them unique when compared with other exploration missions. (shrink)

The three Ōtani Expeditions (1902–1914) constitute the first non-Western attempt to carry out systematic research in Central Asia. The mastermind behind these Japanese enterprises was Ōtani Kōzui, the 22nd lord-abbot of the Western Honganji temple in Kyoto and the patriarch of the Honpa Honganji denomination of the Jōdo Shinshū sect, which was and remains the largest Buddhist community in Japan. Kōzui’s position as a monk during the period the expeditions were carried out reveals his religious motivation as the planner and (...) sponsor of these research trips. Inspired by the 7th century traveler-monk Xuanzang, the main purpose of the Ōtani Expeditions was therefore to find the routes through which Buddhism had passed before reaching Japan. This is what makes them unique when compared with other exploration missions. (shrink)

The Catalogue of Palm Leaf Manuscripts kept in the Otani University Library. Otani University Library, Kyoto 1995. lxxxi, 778 pp. No price given.

KIYOZAWA Manshi is one of the most important Buddhist thinkers of the Meiji period. A priest of the Ōtani denomination of Shin Buddhism, Kiyozawa studied western philosophy at Tokyo University and sought to reinterpret Buddhism by using new concepts taken from the European intellectual tradition. His Shūkyō tetsugaku gaikotsu was the first major work on religious philosophy written in Japan. Subsequently, he developed his distinctive religious thought, which he called “seishinshugi.” Kiyozawa’s seishinshugi holds that ultimate fulfillment is to be found (...) not in the pursuit of things external to oneself such as material possessions, wealth, fame, etc. but in finding peace and tranquility within oneself, that is, within one’s own spirit. (shrink)

In 1919, Nishida Kitarō delivered a speech at Ōtani University discussing the relationship between Nicolaus of Cusa’s coincidentia oppositorum (the coincidence of opposites) and love. The address, given within weeks of a disabling injury suffered by Nishida’s wife, Kotomi, gives evidence of how severe personal crisis would come to influence his philosophical work, and highlights several themes that would dominate the writings of the last twenty-five years of his life.

In 1919, Nishida Kitarō delivered a speech at Ōtani University discussing the relationship between Nicolaus of Cusa’s coincidentia oppositorum and love. The address, given within weeks of a disabling injury suffered by Nishida’s wife, Kotomi, gives evidence of how severe personal crisis would come to influence his philosophical work, and highlights several themes that would dominate the writings of the last twenty-five years of his life.

The Land of Bliss. The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light. Sanskrit and Chinese Versions of the Sukhavativyuha Sutras. Introductions and English Translations by Luis O. Gómez. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu and Higashi Honganji Shinshu Otani-ha, Kyoto, 1996. xvi, 357 pp. $40.00, $16.95. ISBN O-8248-1694-3/-1760-5.