The Snow White problem

Synthese - The Snow White problem is introduced to demonstrate how learning something of which one could not have learnt the opposite (due to observer selection bias) can change an agent’s...     

But I'm No Bigot: How Prejudiced White Americans Maintain Unprejudiced Self‐Images

Four experiments investigate a modern paradox: White Americans harbor racial prejudice, but view themselves as unprejudiced. We hypothesized that social representations of prejudice available in American culture lead many Whites to conclude that they are relatively unprejudiced. In Experiment 1, participants primed with the bigot stereotype viewed themselves as less prejudiced. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants exposed to media representations of racists viewed themselves as less prejudiced. In Experiment 4, participants sought exposure to media representations of prejudice after a threat to their unprejudiced self‐image. These experiments suggest that representations of prejudice in American culture lead prejudiced individuals to view themselves as unprejudiced, and the effect of these representations on people's unprejudiced self‐images can be passive or intentional.     

How to Know That Time Travel Is Unlikely Without Knowing Why

What's the point of time travel? Not to change the past; no matter how carefully a time traveler plans, all of her attempts to change the past end in failure. Paul Horwich has argued that the implausibility of such failures gives us reason to doubt that there will be frequent time travel to the local past. I defend a modified version of Horwich's argument and show how we might gain evidence about the chance of there being frequent time travel in the future without having any information that explains why that chance value obtains.     

How Berkeley Corrupted His Capacity to Conceive

Berkeley’s capacity to conceive of mind-independent bodies was corrupted by his theory of representation. He thought that representation of things outside the mind depended on resemblance. Since ideas can resemble nothing than ideas, and all ideas are mind dependent, he concluded that we couldn’t form ideas of mind-independent bodies. More generally, he thought that we had no inner resembling proxies for mind-independent bodies, and so we couldn’t even form a notion of such things. Because conception is a suggestible faculty, Berkeley’s arguments actually made it the case that he himself couldn’t conceive of mind-independent bodies.

How Disadvantaged Group Members Cope With Discrimination When They Perceive That Social Support Is Available1

This experiment examined how disadvantaged group members cope with discrimination when they perceive that social support is available. Women reacted to a failing test grade after ambiguous information about the probability for discrimination. With no social support, women minimized discrimination and attributed their failure to the quality of their answers. Participants were less inclined to minimize discrimination when social support was available. When they perceived that either emotional or informational support was available, women were equally likely to blame their failure on discrimination as on the quality of their answers. The results revealed less minimization of personal discrimination when both emotional and informational support were available, in which case participants blamed their failure more on discrimination and less on themselves.     

全球联邦:是否可能与如何可能--中美价值论专家对话录

2002年6月13日,应中国社会科学院哲学所价值理论研究室之邀,美国德鲁大学哲学系主任、《价值探讨》(Value Inquiry)杂志主编托马斯·麦格内尔(Thomas Magnell)教授来到哲学所,就全球联邦的构想问题与价值理论研究室的同行们进行了一次深入的学术座谈。参加座谈的学者有李景源、李德顺、马俊峰、朱葆伟、章建刚、孙伟平、周文华、熊在高等。现将要点摘录如下,期望能引起读者的兴趣和进一步思考。     

Feeling Better About Self After Receiving Negative Feedback: When the Sense That Ability Can Be Improved Is Activated

Past studies suggest that managers and educators often consider negative feedback as a motivator for individuals to think about their shortcomings and improve their work, but delivering negative feedback does not always achieve desired results. The present study, based on incremental theory, employed an intervention method to activate the belief that a particular ability could be improved after negative feedback. Three experiments tested the intervention effect on negative self-relevant emotion. Study 1 indicated conveying suggestions for improving ability reduced negative self-relevant emotion after negative feedback. Study 2 tested whether activating the sense of possible improvement in the ability could reduce negative self-relevant emotion. Results indicated activating the belief that ability could be improved reduced negative self-relevant emotion after failure, but delivering emotion management information alone did not yield the same effect. Study 3 extended the results by affirming the effort participants made in doing the test, and found the affirmation reduced negative self-relevant emotion. Collectively, the findings indicated focusing on the belief that the ability could be improved in the future can reduce negative self-relevant emotion after negative feedback.     

他爱普及万千--读富勒神学院毛瑞祺博士新书有感

上帝的作为究竟是创造,还是拯救?是救恩为了创造,还是创造为了拯救?是否只是和救恩相关的事物才可以称得上“善”?基督徒的道德评价标准是否仅限于选民的标准?基督徒是否对文化有责任?如果有,是否仅限于批判和解救文化的责任?外在于教会的文化中是否有上帝的美意?     

灵魂何在

存在于世界上的一切事物,包括所有生物,毫无例外都是以物质为基础的.整个宇宙也是物质的,在我们的星球之外,如果还有其他生命形式存在,也必然是物质的.     

我是如何面对伪气功的

1993年,我在香河县政府办公室任副主任,有一天我们县长让我和他去北京。这个县长是大学中文系本科学生,对我赏识、支持。我们开车来到北京纺织学院,原来这里有“大自然功”在传授功法,“祖师奶奶”张香玉亲自发功,我们到时,她正在一个200人的方阵外边呜呜呀呀地向天嚎叫,据说这叫“宇宙语”,她在请神来给人治病。但见200人的方阵内,有哭有笑的,有打滚的有睡觉的,