a b s t r a c tA conventional wisdom about the progress of physics holds that successive theories wholly encompass the domains of their predecessors through a process that is often called "reduction." While certain influential accounts of inter-theory reduction in physics take reduction to require a single "global" derivation of one theory's laws from those of another, I show that global reductions are not available in all cases where the conventional wisdom requires reduction to hold. However, I argue that a weaker "local" form of reduction, which defines reduction between theories in terms of a more fundamental notion of reduction between models of a single fixed system, is available in such cases and moreover suffices to uphold the conventional wisdom. To illustrate the sort of fixed-system, inter-model reduction that grounds inter-theoretic reduction on this picture, I specialize to a particular class of cases in which both models are dynamical systems. I show that reduction in these cases is underwritten by a mathematical relationship that follows a certain liberalized construal of Nagel/Schaffner reduction, and support this claim with several examples. Moreover, I show that this broadly Nagelian analysis of inter-model reduction encompasses several cases that are sometimes cited as instances of the "physicist's" limit-based notion of reduction.
Aim: This paper sheds light on the context that leads some querulous patients to self-immolate in front of, or into, public buildings (e.g., tribunals, city halls, and employment agencies).Method: The author defines paranoid querulousness. A psychoanalytic perspective, but also a judicial and a psychiatric point of view, over querulous claimants is presented. The links between political or social claims and self-immolation are studied. The expression of suicidal thoughts voiced by four querulous subjects is analyzed. Eight examples of self-immolation are presented.Results: The querulous subjects' self-aggressive behaviors seem to be caused by a loss of hope to obtain compensation for a prejudice they allegedly suffered. Querulous individuals tend to self-immolate in front of, or into, public buildings when no answer is given to their claims. These gestures may be both a consequence of some personal distress and triggered by a difficult social or professional context.Discussion: Five sets of assumptions derived from Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytic theories are advanced. The status of the object over which the querulous claimants wish to assert their rights is clarified. The meaning of self-aggressive gestures is outlined by making reference to the concepts of instinct for mastery, symbolic other, chain of signifiers, masochism, pleasure principle, and reality principle.Conclusion: Prevention of self-immolation could involve that members of the legal professions, social workers, civil servants, and mental health professionals in contact with querulous subjects openly show their will to listen to these claimants' voice: self-aggressive gestures might be avoided by supporting the querulous person's hope to obtain compensation for the prejudice allegedly suffered.
Validating scales for clinical purposes is a common process in medicine and psychology. Using machine-learning and statistics, we revalidated the Fenigstein & Vanable Paranoia Scale and showed that these kinds of approaches could be used both to achieve construct validity and criterion validity and could thus add an additional layer of evidence to traditional validation approaches. However, there is still a lot of work needed in order to evaluate the whole range of applications, disadvantages, and potential limitations of these approaches when applied for psychometric purposes.
Abstract. This manuscript presents a single case study of a psychotically disturbed adult male (whom we call “Peter”), focusing on similarities and differences in Rorschach interpretation based on three different Rorschach approaches. Specific questions were raised as to whether the client suffered from a paranoid psychosis (paranoia) or paranoid schizophrenia. Three distinct models of psychopathology and Rorschach interpretation are initially presented. We then address Peter’s psychotic symptoms, according to the Parisian approach (specifically the Nancy French subgroup), the Lausanne Rorschach approach, and the American Rorschach approach (Comprehensive System and R-PAS). Analysis shows many convergences between the three approaches on the client’s nature of conflicts and links to reality, object relations, self-representation and anxiety, defense mechanisms, and disordered thinking, but interpretation of these variables differed somewhat despite agreement on a diagnosis within the psychotic spectrum. Concluding remarks discuss the divergences and point out the limitations of a case study method. Future research is suggested.
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