The received theories of epistemology identify abductive inferences with the cognitive patterns of speculation (hypothesis formation) and insist that they cannot verify or confirm hypotheses. I criticize various descriptions of abduction, offer a structural analysis of abductive inference,, characterize abduction without alluding to its putative role in inquiry, and then demonstrate that some abductions do provide evidence and that not all scientific hypotheses derive from abductive inferences. This result challenges those notions of scientific k knowledge that dismiss some central scientific (...) ideas (for example, evolution) as ‘meta-physical research programs’ or ‘just theories’ when they are instead well substantiated by abductive evidence. (shrink)

. I take the APA publication A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy, along with a devoted issue of Journal of Psychology and Theology, as a paradigmatic example of a trend. Other instances include the uncritical use of “Eastern” philosophy in Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, almost normative appeal to the “Sacred” within the psychology of spirituality, talk of “God in the brain” within neurological research, the neologism entheogen referring to psychedelic drugs, and calls for new specializations such as neurotheology and (...) theobiology. In response to the legitimate ethical requirements of respect and openness regarding clients' religious worldviews, the trend is to make God an essential component in psychological theory. The argument is that God is active in the universe and especially in human affairs to such an extent that any accurate account of strictly psychological matters, not just a comprehensive, interdisciplinary purview that could include a distinct theological dimension, must include God as an explanatory factor. Less nuanced than standard theological thought about divine intervention—including a range of opinions from supernaturalism, to occasionalism, to providential and deistic naturalism—this trend would blur the epistemological differences between religion and science by appeal to claimed knowledge sources such as inspiration and revelation and thus undermine the achievements of evidence‐based science and establish particularistic religious beliefs as standard explanatory accounts. The concern to include a spiritual, in contrast to a religious or theist, dimension in psychological theory is welcome; but elaborated approaches, such as my own and those of Roberto Assagioli, Viktor Frankl, and Ken Wilber, open to varied theological applications, already exist. (shrink)

Cultural Pluralism has mostly emerged and developed in North America and Europe and as a result, other countries have also been affected by it in different levels. The most important issue that this research strives to address is Cultural Pluralism and its effects on educational systems. In the initial parts, the method of research is a description and analysis of the principal concepts like culture, diversity, Cultural Pluralism and cultural unity and in the later parts which is the study of (...) the effects of Cultural Pluralism on educational systems is through analysis, exegesis and deduction. The results that have been achieved through the research show that two main factors cause Cultural Pluralism: the first is the phenomena of migration that results in ethnic diversity; this phenomenon has various effects on educational systems, an example of which is the emergence of multi-cultural education and training in some of today’s societies. The second factor is the diversity of sciences, thoughts, inclinations and tastes which is a post-modern and post-constructionist phenomenon. If this type of diversity leads to cultural and scientific growth it is beneficial; but if it results in individualism and shakes the foundations of cultural unity and unity of thought in decision making and activities, it is not in favor of cultural and scientific activities including education and training. (shrink)