THE WHOLE BRAIN AS THE BASIS OR THE ANALOGICAL EXPRESSION OF GOD

Abstract. As human beings we inevitably try to explain our experience. In philosophical language, we deal with transcendent assertions and aspirations. The issue, then, is: how can we talk about what matters, given the structures inherent in language and basic to the way we are made? Instead of the philosophical category of Being, I advance a case for giving the human brain privileged status as an analogical expression of God, the symbol-concept of what matters most, and then suggest the illumination which can come with using that analogical expression, especially as that analogy connects us with the environment at the limbic level and constructs our world at the cerebral level.     

THE ADOLESCENT FEMININITY IDEOLOGY SCALE

This article describes the development and validation of the Adolescent Femininity Ideology Scale (AFIS) through three studies with racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse early, middle, and late adolescent girls. Distinguished from feminine personality trait and feminine gender role, the concept of femininity ideology represents the individual-level construct that links individual females to social constructions of femininity. The AFIS measures the extent to which adolescent girls have internalized or resisted two negative conventions of femininity in two psychological domains: experience of self in relationship with others and relationship with one's body. Grounded in girls' own words, the 20-item scale is comprised of two subscales reflecting these domains. The AFIS has acceptable internal consistency and temporal stability. We demonstrate construct and concurrent validity, as well as discriminant validity from the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bern, 1981) and the Attitudes Towards Women Scale for Adolescents (Galambos, Petersen, Richards, & Gitelson, 1985). We discuss the promise and limits of this new measure of gender ideology for adolescent girls.     

CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY AND AMBIVALENT SEXISM

To assess the relationship between different facets of conservative ideology and ambivalent sexism, 246 residents of two towns in southern Michigan completed a social dominance orientation scale (SDO), a right-wing authoritarianism scale (RWA), a Protestant work ethic scale (PWE), and the Glick and Fiske (1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory via a mail survey. Zero-order correlations revealed that SDO, RWA, and PWE were each related to both components of ambivalent sexism (hostile and benevolent sexism). Hierarchical regressions revealed that SDO and PWE most strongly predicted hostile sexism, whereas RWA most strongly predicted benevolent sexism. Results are discussed with respect to different facets of conservative ideology and why SDO, RWA, and PWE each tend to be associated with prejudice toward different groups.     

PSYCHOLOGY, IDEA TECHNOLOGY, AND IDEOLOGY

Abstract— Scientific development leads to a technology of ideas—idea technology—no less than it leads to a technology of objects But idea technology can hove insidious effects that the technology of objects does not First, ideas can suffuse through a culture before people notice they are there And second, ideas can have profound effects even when they are false—when they are nothing more than ideology These effects can arise because sometimes when people act on the basis of ideology, they inadvertently arrange the very conditions that bring reality into correspondence with the ideology. This potential effect of ideology is discussed in connection with the behavioral psychology of Skinner and the claim by Herrnstein and Murray that intelligence is, far all practical purposes, unmodifiable I suggest that, in general, psychologists must be on the lookout for positive feedback loops between theory and practice that contribute to theory confirmation and thus mislead psychologists into interpreting historically and culturally contingent truths as universal ones     

RACE, IDEOLOGY, AND IDEAL THEORY

Abstract: Philosophers who have addressed the problems of enduring racial injustice have been suspicious of the role played by ideal theory in ethics and political philosophy generally, and in contemporary liberal political philosophy in particular. The theoretical marginalization of race in the work of Rawls has led some to charge that ideal theory is at the very least unhelpful in understanding one of the most significant forms of contemporary injustice, and is at worst ideological in the pejorative sense. To explore these concerns, I formulate five related criticisms of ideal theory and examine each as it would be applied to Rawls's political philosophy. My thesis is that the strongest criticisms—namely, that ideal theory is essentially ideological and cannot provide adequate grounds for justifying race-conscious, equality-securing measures—ultimately miss the mark. But other criticisms of ideal theory are more plausible, and most plausibly directed to an area of Rawls's thought often ignored in discussions of liberalism and race, namely, his account of citizenship and public reasoning.     

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF OVERSEAS CHINESE MANAGERIAL IDEOLOGY*

This study of managerial ideology focuses on the question of legitimacy and attempts to reconstruct the way in which the role of the chief executive is perceived in the context of Overseas Chinese economic cultures. The location of the study is Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and those studied were 72 chief executives in Chinese business organizations. Three determinants of present-day beliefs are traced to the socio-historical legacy of China, and these are identified as paternalism, personalism and a defensiveness derived from insecurity. The workings of their influence are traced via perceptions of the self, of relationships, of organization, and of society at large, to explain how executives rationalize their behaviour and their roles.     

EXAMINING THE BODHISATTVA'S BRAIN

Owen Flanagan's The Bodhisattva's Brain aims to introduce secular‐minded thinkers to Buddhist thought and motivate its acceptance by analytic philosophers. I argue that Flanagan provides a compelling caution against the hasty generalizations of recent “science of happiness” literature, which correlates happiness with Buddhism on the basis of certain neurological studies. I contend, however, that his positive account of Buddhist ethics is less persuasive. I question the level of engagement with Buddhist philosophical literature and challenge Flanagan's central claim, that a Buddhist version of eudaimonia is a common core conception shared by all Buddhists. I argue that this view is not only a rational reconstruction in need of argumentation but is in tension with competing Buddhist metaphysical theories of self, including the one Flanagan himself endorses.     

婴鼠丫迷津吸乳辨别学习行为的发展与脑生长和旋转行为关系的实验研究

0—20日龄Wistar婴鼠脑重增长速度曲线表示出“脑生长突发期”,并观察到曲线的高峰在10日龄附近。所完成的12—20日龄婴鼠Y迷津吸乳辨别学习行为发展的实验观察到,婴鼠学习行为水平的明显提高发生在16日龄(“脑生长突发期”的后期)。该结果表明婴鼠Y迷津学习行为的发展与脑生长之间存在密切关系。本实验证明,能被苯异丙胺(i.p.5mg/kg)诱发的旋转型婴鼠Y迷津学习行为表现优于不能被苯异丙胺诱发的非旋转型婴鼠,并发现与食物奖偿方向(R臂)相一致的R旋转型婴鼠学习行为表现最佳,此现象随婴鼠日龄的增长而明显。这暗示婴鼠左右方位辨别学习行为与大脑两半球机能不对称性有密切关系。     

THE INFLUENCE OF AGE AND SOCIAL CLASS ON AUTHORITARIAN FAMILY IDEOLOGY

The Authoritarian Family Ideology Scale (AFI,,) was administered to four hundred and thirty eight mothers towards the end of their confinement. Raw scores were analyzed by means of multiple linear regression. Chrono- logical age and social class scores were found to give substantial accounts of criterion variance. AFI,, scores tended to drop as age and social class rose. Interaction and curvilinearity did not increase R2 values to a substantial degree.     

PREFRONTAL BRAIN ASYMMETRY:

Abstract— Resting anterior brain electrical activity, self-report measures of Behavioral Approach and Inhibition System (BAS and BIS) strength, and general levels of positive and negative affect (PA and NA) were collected from 46 unselected undergraduates on two separate occasions. Electroencephalogram (EEG) measures of prefrontal asymmetry and the self-report measures showed excellent internal consistency reliability and adequate test-retest stability. Aggregate measures across the two assessments were computed for all indices. Subjects with greater relative left prefrontal activation reported higher levels of BAS strength, whereas those with greater relative right prefrontal activation reported higher levels of BIS strength. Prefrontal EEC asymmetry accounted for more than 25% of the variance in the self-report measure of relative BAS-BIS strength. Prefrontal EEG, however, was not significantly correlated with PA or NA, or the relative strength of PA versus NA Posterior asymmetry was unrelated to the self-report measures.     

BRAIN ROOTS OF THE WILL-TO-POWER

Abstract. The human brain has evolved to its great size while retaining the anatomical and chemical features of three basic formations that reflect an ancestral relationship to reptiles, early mammals, and late mammals. Such considerations must be taken into account in the origin and expression of individual and collective violence, which operationally depend on power and the orchestrated use of power. Aristotle and Friedrich Nietzsche have respectively provided paradigms of a "great-souled man" and a "superman"— both basically ruthless. In neurobehavioral investigations of the triune brain, one finds the basis for the hierarchical development of ruthless power, merciful power, and transcendental power.     

神经元活动的时相同步与脑功能整合

从大脑整合的角度分析心理的神经机制。神经元之间的交互和动态联结而构成神经集合被认为是每一个认知活动的基础。然而这一交互作用的具体性质,即脑整合的机制尚未明确。通过对有关实验结果的分析,认为神经元活动的时相同步可能是脑整合的机制。     

CRISIS OF BRAIN AND SELF

Abstract. Neuroscientific evidence requires a monistic understanding of brain/mind. Truly appropriating what this means confronts us with the vulnerability of the human condition. Ca-muss absurd and Tillich's despair are extreme expressions of a similar confrontation. This crisis demands a type of courage that is consistent with scientific truth and does not undermine the spiritual dimension of life. That dimension is not a separate substance but the process by which brain/mind meaningfully wrestles with its crisis through aesthetic symbols, religious faith, and ethical affirmation. The validity of these activities does not depend upon human autonomy but instead upon the fact that they exist. Furthermore, they constitute the self, which Dennett calls a "center of narrative gravity."     

BRAIN DEATH AND ITS ENTANGLEMENTS

The Islamic philosophical, mystical, and theological sub‐traditions have each made characteristic assumptions about the human person, including an incorporation of substance dualism in distinctive manners. Advances in the brain sciences of the last half century, which include a widespread acceptance of death as the end of essential brain function, require the abandonment of dualistic notions of the human person that assert an immaterial and incorporeal soul separate from a body. In this article, I trace classical Islamic notions of death and the soul, the modern definition of death as “brain death,” and some contemporary Islamic responses to this definition. I argue that a completely naturalistic account of human personhood in the Islamic tradition is the best and most viable alternative for the future. This corporeal monistic account of Muslim personhood as embodied consciousness incorporates the insights of pre‐modern Muslim thinkers yet rehabilitates their characteristic mistakes and thus has the advantages of neuroscientific validity and modern relevance in trans‐cultural ethical discourse; it also helps to alleviate organ shortages in countries with majority Muslim populations, a serious ethical impasse of recent years.