Doing What is Best

If doing what is best sets the right ideal of rational agency, then rational agents should do what they believe to be best. As long as we leave open the question what makes an option best, all plausible theories of rationality willfit into this framework. Consequently, rational agents will always want to do the things they believes to be best. This claim is an instance of what David Lewis calls the desire-as-belief thesis, which he has tried to refute. I reject Lewis' argument by criticizing his treatment of belief-change in respect of propositions about degrees of goodness.     

What God might be

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion - As Plato suggested, the cosmos may exist because this is ethically necessary. It then might well consist of infinitely many minds, each itself...     

Being and Doing in the Concept of God

In this essay I use the notion of divine values, those values analytically assigned to the concept of God, as a means of understanding replies to criticisms of open theism. I begin by orienting open theism according to the divine values open theist’s embrace within the larger context of relational theology. I then present three criticisms, a theological criticism, a practical criticism and a philosophical criticism and an open theist reply to each. Finally, I attempt to show the underlying motivation which unifies the open theist’s responses and points out where progress can be made in such discussions. This paper was delivered during the APA Pacific 2007 Mini-Conference on Models of God.     

The Glory of God is a Human Being Fully Alive: Predictors of Positive Versus Negative Mental Health Among Clergy

Clergy fulfill vital societal functions as meaning makers and community builders. Partly because of their important roles, clergy frequently encounter stressful situations. Further, studies suggest that clergy experience high rates of depression. Despite this, few studies have examined protective factors for clergy that may increase their positive mental health. We invited all United Methodist clergy in North Carolina to participate in a survey. Of church‐serving clergy, 85 percent responded (n = 1,476). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to assess the predictors of three positive and four negative mental health outcomes. The three sets of predictors were: demographics, which explained 2–10 percent of the variances; variables typically related to mental health (social support, social isolation, and financial stress), which explained 14–41 percent of the variances; and clergy‐specific variables, which explained 14–20 percent of the variances, indicating the importance of measuring occupation‐specific variables. Some variables (e.g., congregation demands) significantly related to both positive and negative mental health, whereas others (e.g., positive congregations, congregation support) significantly related primarily to positive mental health. In addition to their intervention implications, these findings support separate consideration for negative versus positive mental health.     

上帝是一种幻觉——评理查德·道金斯《上帝的迷思》

道金斯,当代著名的动物行为学家,自然选择理论的辩手,坚定的无神论者,并为自己拥有彻底的无神论思想而自豪。上帝是否存在?道金斯明确表明:上帝就是一种错觉。无论是宇宙的起源与运行,生命的发生与演变,还是道德的敬畏与维护,心灵的抚慰与激励,诸如此类问题大可不必由宗教来回答或承担。从科学观出发逐一废黜上帝在人类心目中的位置。     

神就是爱

许多的时候,我们爱人是为了讨人的喜悦,得人的报答。当付出的爱得不到应有的回报时,我们会灰心、埋怨和绝望……     

信心是荣耀上帝

我们要清楚,信心的对象是耶稣基督,而不是外在的形式。同时要明白,信心与行为不可分割．没有行为的信心是死的。     

Doing Ontology and Doing Justice: What Feminist Philosophy Can Teach Us About Meta-Metaphysics

Abstract

Feminist philosophy has recently become recognised as a self-standing philosophical sub-discipline. Still, metaphysics has remained largely dismissive of feminist insights. Here I make the case for the value of feminist insights in metaphysics: taking them seriously makes a difference to our ontological theory choice and feminist philosophy can provide helpful methodological tools to regiment ontological theories. My examination goes as follows. Contemporary ontology is not done via conceptual analysis, but via quasi-scientific means. This takes different ontological positions to be competing hypotheses about reality’s fundamental structure that are then assessed with a loose battery of criteria for theory choice. Such criteria make up the constitutive values of ontology (e.g. providing a unified, coherent, non-circular, simple, parsimonious total theory). These values are distinguished from contextual values of a practice: the political and moral values embedded in the social context of inquiry. Although we may be frank about some meta-metaphysical value commitments, bringing in feminist contextual values is viewed as an unacceptable move when thinking about ontological theory choice. This paper then asks: is this move unacceptable? I think not and I aim to motivate this methodological insight here by examining recent work on grounding.     

Doing the opposite to what another person is doing

The three studies presented here aim to contribute to a better understanding of the role of the coordinate system of a person's body and of the environment in spatial organization underlying the recognition and production of gestures. The paper introduces a new approach by investigating what people consider to be opposite gestures in addition to identical gestures.     

Doing what is humanly possible

The subtle docetism which pervades orthodox discussions of the person and work of Christ can serve to vitiate the hope contained in the New Testament message. A reprise of the themes underlying the Christological controversies and modern discussions of the humanity of Christ demonstrates these contain clear implications for the practice of pastoral counseling.     

神仙也有不公

人们往往认为,一个人的命运好坏是神灵保佑的结果。其实不是这么一回事。例如在成才事上,有的人不论是自己还是培养子女,都能心想事成。而另外一些人却是处处碰壁。又例如为什么有的人不论是做生意还是办实业,一次次总是亏本。还有,在财产的增殖等多项工作,有的人碰到顺顺当当,也总是心想事成。而另外一些人不论采用何种办法,未能使自己的财产增殖。人们针对这种不同情况,往往怨命运的原因、机遇的原因,甚至埋怨老天不公,神灵不公,很少有人说是运用科学知识当否的原因。我知道这样两个家庭,一家姓王,一家姓郑。王家祖传中医,从小熟识医药知…     

Doing philosophy is doing its history

While Curley argues that we need to know the history of philosophy so as not to avoid important alternatives to contemporary proposals, I argue that philosophy is an essentially historical enterprise. Unlike science, philosophy cannot forget its history. Not to know the history of philosophy is not to understand why the questions we seek to answer are worth answering or asking.