Culture is a key concept in contemporary cultural and economic geography, but geographical research on culture is thus far mainly limited to case studies. To supplement this qualitative approach with a quantitative analysis of cultural causes and effects of geographic phenomena a data set is needed that somehow measures culture. This paper presents an attempt at such a measurement at the spatial scale of Dutch municipalities. Culture as a 'map for behaviour' is measured here indirectly, by means of factor analysis. Five dimensions of Dutch regional culture were found in this way: (1) post-materialism; (2) Protestant conservatism; (3) classical individualism; (4) egalitarian anti-conservatism; and (5) dissatisfaction. Although the regional differences in these dimensions are to a considerable extent related to differences in urbanisation, income and education rather than to some historical cultural geography, the measurement is shown to be empirically relevant and can be used in further research on culture in geography. Copyright (c) 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

Episodic memory (EM) involves re-experiencing past experiences by means of mental imagery. Aphantasics (who lack mental imagery) and people with severely deficient autobiographical memory (SDAM) lack the ability to re-experience, which would imply that they don't have EM. However, aphantasics and people with SDAM have personal and affective memories, which are other defining aspects of EM (in addition to re-experiencing). This suggests that these supposed aspects of EM really are independent faculties or modules of memory, and that EM is a composite faculty rather than a natural kind. Apparent varieties of (normal and "defective") EM (as well as some closely related kinds of memory) are different combinations of these modules, and the EM construct itself adds little if any explanatory value to these modules.

If we distinguish phenomenal effects from their noumenal causes, the former being our conceptual(ized) experiences, the latter their grounds or causes in reality 'as it is' independent of our experience, then two contradictory positions with regards to the relationship between these two can be distinguished: either phenomena are identical with their noumenal causes, or they are not. Davidson is among the most influential modern defenders of the former position, metaphysical non-dualism. Dharmakīrti's strict distinction between ultimate and conventional reality, on the other hand, may be one of the most rigorously elaborated theories of the opposite position, metaphysical dualism. Despite this fundamental difference, their theories about the connection between phenomena and their noumenal causes are surprisingly similar in important respects. Both Dharmakīrti in his theory of 'apoha' and Davidson in his theory of 'triangulation' argued that the content of words or concepts depends on a process involving at least two communicating beings and shared noumenal stimuli. The main point of divergence is the nature of classification, but ultimately Dharmakīrti's and Davidson's conclusions on the noumenal-phenomenal relationship turn out to be complementary more than contradictory, and an integrative reconstruction suggests a 'middle path' between dualism and non-dualism.

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