Same-Sex Marriage and Equality

Some argue that same-sex marriage is not an equal rights issue because, where same-sex marriage is illegal, heterosexuals and homosexuals have the exact same right to marry—i.e., the right to marry one adult of the opposite sex. I dispute this argument by pointing out that while societies that prohibit same-sex marriage equally permit individual heterosexuals and homosexuals to marry one adult of the opposite sex, same-sex couples in such societies are denied an important right that opposite-sex couples enjoy—i.e., the right to marry. I argue that the right to marry is fundamentally, not an individual right, but a couple’s collective right, analogous to assembly rights.     

In Sickness and in Health: Cripping and Queering Marriage Equality

On the heels of the groundbreaking Obergefell v. Hodges ruling legalizing same‐sex marriage in the United States, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement for marriage equality has received unprecedented coverage. Few people, however, have heard of the marriage equality movement for people with disabilities (PWD). In order to understand the lack of coalition between the two movements, as well as the invisibility of the PWD marriage equality movement, I provide a conceptual analysis of both marriage movement discourses. Drawing on Cathy Cohen's work on secondary marginalization in the black community, I argue that both LGBT folks and PWD actively obscure the most needy, most dependent, and most queer members of their respective communities to gain sympathy and support from a (perceived) independent, heteronormative majority. However, bringing the two movements into dialogue can help us rethink intimate relationships, marriage, and who counts as a citizen worthy of rights.     

Naturalizing and Interpretive Turns in Epistemology

In this paper I want to suggest that causal and interpretive approaches to epistemology are in tension with one another. Drawing on the work of hermeneutic writers I suggest that epistemological justification is an interpretive process. The possibility of rational justification requires attention to our locatedness within the domain of reasons, into which we have been culturally initiated. The recognition that there is no transcendent processes of rational justification has to be addressed from within this framework and cannot be resolved in a naturalizing way. The turn to hermeneutics in the context of epistemology allows us to reassign a central role to experience within epistemological justification. Here the very features of experience which render problematic its role in empiricist accounts form the basis of its position in hermeneutic ones. This presents us with an immanent conception of rationality, in place of the transcendent conception which so many writers have problematized.     

Responses to Marriage Counselling

The experiences of clients who received marital counselling from trained volunteer marriage guidance counsellors were investigated. Fifty-one clients from 42 marriages were interviewed and questioned about why they chose the agency, what expectations they held, what happened during counselling, how they felt about the counsellor, and what if anything was achieved through counselling. They were also asked how they had fared since. Rating scales were used after the interview to evaluate satisfaction with counselling, benefit from counselling, aspects of the counselling relationship, etc. The clients were also asked to do a card-sort of statements about counselling to determine what aspects had been valuable and disappointing. Some of the preliminary results of the study are presented and discussed.     

从“自性”走向精神生命的“自由”与“平等”——庄子哲学理路解析

万事万物各具其理,其本原又与天地同归一气,气绵延统贯于万象,道承载于“天地之气”,“道体”亦即内在于主体的故有本性、规律。万事万物的本体自性俱足,无须孜孜向外求道,只需求诸于内。“自性”即主体自我反省时的迥然一念明觉,自性呈露既是“天道”,又是独具的“生成之理”,是“道”与“理”的统合。万物但能清虚自守,复归自性,“万物一体”之“道”即如如显现。纵然天地间万事万物各有所待,但当境自足,于是就形成了一个万象归复自性,又实则趋向于“道”的秩序井然的宇宙论模态与本体论体系。由自我本性之朗现,人之自性与物之自性和谐感应,故凡天下之物皆无不好,意见皆无不对,而得出万物齐同平等,主体精神生命“自由”实现的圆融哲学理路。     

Interpretive work in milieu groups

Interpretive work in milieu psychotherapy groups aims to bring concealed and hidden material to the fore so that it can be discussed openly. A host of clinically important issues thrive in the milieu, about which the patients are fully aware, but are unable to discuss. Two types of interventions are described whose goal is to overcome resistance to discussion; they are clarifying interpretations and making a parallel statement. Clarifying statements help patients understand their experience in the milieu; they are interpretive when they bring avoided material into the open. In those instances where resistance to discussion is great, the subject first appears in metaphor, is worked with, and then emerges in a displaced form. Working indirectly with metaphor and displaced material can serve to overcome transference resistance. The therapist then need only ask a direct question or make a statement in order for the avoided material to emerge. The combination of working with displaced material followed by a question or statement that is framed in terms of that theme has an interpretative function.     

Interpretive Internalism and Hermeneutic Realism

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - The aim of this paper is to outline the program of a hermeneutic theory of the way in which reality becomes disclosed and meaningfully...     

平等需要被证明——卢梭平等思想的启示

卢梭认为人人生而平等,只有平等地对待他人,才能平等地得到他人的对待。也就是说我们每个人都有平等地追求幸福的权利,每个人对一切幸福的手段也都有平等的要求。然而,我们发现,在人类社会中平等是千百年来人们所追求和赞美的理想目标,是人的一种理性的诉求,平等本身变成了一种幸福的追求,平等的追求是理想的追求。整个人类文明的发展就是一部不断追求并逐步实现平等的历史。     

Interpretive cues and ambiguity in generalized anxiety disorder

The current study investigated whether generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) individuals rely on antecedent information to interpret ambiguity and whether reliance on such preceding cues persists in the absence of potential threat. Twenty-six GAD and 23 nonanxious control college students performed a lexical decision task, using homographs (i.e. words with multiple meanings) as ambiguous primes. In half the trials, a homograph prime that possessed both threat-related, as well as neutral meanings was followed by a target word related to one of these two meanings. In addition, each ambiguous prime was immediately preceded by a series of four antecedent words that were either: (a) associated with the threatening meaning of the prime; (b) associated with the neutral meaning of the prime; or (c) unrelated to either meaning of the homograph, as well as the target. Homographs for which both meanings were neutral in valence comprised the other half of the trials. Effect size statistics suggest that GAD participants utilized the antecedent words to interpret the homograph primes with threat-related meanings, unlike their nonanxious counterparts (p<0.06). When both meanings of the homograph prime were neutral in valence, the GAD group appeared deficient in the use of preceding information to interpret the ambiguous prime.     

Modifying Threat-related Interpretive Bias in Adolescents

Socially anxious feelings sharply increase during adolescence and such feelings have been associated with interpretive biases. Studies in adults have shown that interpretive biases can be modified using Cognitive Bias Modification procedures (CBM-I) and subsequent effects on anxiety have been observed. The current study was designed to examine whether the CBM-I procedure has similar effects in adolescents. Unselected adolescents were randomly allocated to either a positive interpretation training (n = 88) or a placebo-control condition (n = 82). Results revealed that the training was successful in modifying interpretations and effects generalized to a new task. The interpretive bias effects were most pronounced in individuals with a threat-related interpretive bias at pre-test. No effects on state anxiety were observed. The current findings are promising with regard to applying bias modification procedures to adolescents, while further research is warranted regarding emotional effects.     

Interpretive sensory-access theory and conscious intentions

It is typically assumed that while we know other people's mental states by observing and interpreting their behavior, we know our own mental states by introspection, i.e., without interpreting ourselves. In his latest book, The opacity of mind: An integrative theory of self-knowledge, Peter Carruthers [2011. The opacity of mind: An integrative theory of self-knowledge. Oxford: Oxford University Press] argues against this assumption. He holds that findings from across the cognitive sciences strongly suggest that self-knowledge of conscious propositional attitudes such as intentions, judgments, and decisions involves a swift and unconscious process of self-interpretation that utilizes the same sensory channels that we employ when working out other people's mental states. I provide an overview of Carruthers’ book before discussing a pathological case that challenges his account of self-knowledge and mentioning empirical evidence that undermines his use of a particular kind of data in his case against introspection of conscious attitudes.     

Equality and Inequality in Confucianism

This essay studies equality and inequality in Confucianism. By studying Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, and other classic thinkers, I argue that Confucian equality is manifested in two forms. Numerical equality is founded in the Mencian belief that every person is born with the same moral potential and the Xunzian notion that all people have the same xing and the same potential for moral cultivation. It is also manifested in the form of role-based equality. Proportional equality, however, is the main notion of equality in Confucian philosophy. Proportional equality is realized in moral, economic, and political realms. On the basis of these notions of Confucian equality, I propose two Confucian political principles for contemporary society. The first is the inclusive principle of general election by citizenry, and the second is the exclusive principle of qualification for public offices.