Essential Properties and Coinciding Objects

How can a parcel of matter, or collection of particles, simultaneously compose three different objects, characterized by different modal properties? If the statue is gouged it still exists, but not exactly that piece of gold which originally occupied the statue's borders, and the (mass of) gold within that piece can survive dispersal, while the piece cannot. The solution to this "problem of coinciding objects", this paper argues, is that there is, in that space, only the statue. The properties which the piece and the mass supposedly must have, to go on being, are not properties which anything can have necessarily or essentially. Not even having that origin can be essential. There is no object of which the statue is composed, though there are objects (viz., gold atoms) and a kind of stuff (viz., gold) of which it is composed.

Comparing Psychological Type and Explanatory Between Nursing Students and Clinical Faculty: A Pilot Study

Negotiation of complex collaboration and effective teamwork among health care providers is essential to patient safety and to quality of care. This study examined characteristics of nursing students and faculty influencing communication between them. Psychological type (Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) (Myers, McCaulley, Quenk, & Hammer, 1998) and explanatory style (Attributional Style Questionnaire) (ASQ) (Peterson et al., 1982) were compared for participating first year baccalaureate nursing students (N=286), and clinical nursing faculty (N=59) from both two- and four-year nursing programs. Modal student psychological type was ESFJ; modal faculty psychological type was ISTJ. The two groups demonstrated significant differences in processing information, and making decisions and judgments. Students were slightly more optimistic than faculty. Psychological type and level of optimism did not appear to correlate. Data from this pilot study provide an initial framework on which to base further research that could enhance the quality of teamwork among healthcare providers.