"This Still Remarkable Book": Franz Joseph Molitor's Judaeo-Christian Synthesis

This essay explores a variety of elements of Russian literature and culture that permeate all of the ideational and formal aspects of Gnessin's Sideways. Subject matter, narrative techniques, imagery and intertextual references, as well as the linguistic make‐up, all reverberate with significant influences of Russian literature that are contemporaneous with the Hebrew era of Revival. This essay is an analysis of the diverse Russian literary scene and an examination of the blending of the broader European literary and intellectual trends with Russian‐Jewish sensibilities. The essay inquires into the precarious mentality of the acculturated Russian Jewry at the turn of the century and examines the small‐town Russian‐Jewish intelligentsia, embodied in the character of Nachum Hagzar. Understanding of the methods of Gnessin's incorporation of Russian linguistic and literary models, as well as of his desire to make modem Hebrew literature comparable to contemporary European “high” culture, allows a new reading of Sideways. When viewed in the context of Russian literature, Nachum Hagzar acquires a new richness and vitality. He is a person with a complex inner world who possesses an intricate combination of qualities informed not only by his socio‐historical circumstances, but also by the tension between the Russian and Jewish components of his psychological identity. Gnessin problematizes and negotiates this tension, highlighting the protagonist's existential dilemma and making Hagzar an archetype for the whole generation of provincial Jewish intellectuals.     

儒家"内在超越"对当代中国人的意义

儒家以其特有的超越理念昭示了中华民族的精神特质.儒家的"内在超越"有两个基本要素与市场经济的精神生活方式的转变相适应:一是"在世超越",二是责任意识.儒家的超越观是传统社会向现代社会转型的重要思想资源.     

“地球人”模式析疑

有人在网上抛出奇文,以易经八卦为论据,创造一个“地球人”模式,极端美化美欧民主自由。本文对其作了简略的评论。     

“天地”“阴阳”易位与汉代气化宇宙论的发展

从天地与阴阳的关系角度看 ,汉代气化宇宙生成论经历了三个发展阶段 :西汉前期黄老道家首先建立气化宇宙生成系统 ,其中非无形气态的“天地”环节 ,是明显的理论缺陷。儒家思想居统治地位的两汉之际 ,为了使“卦气说”与宇宙终极力量相通 ,《易纬》作者以更复杂的宇宙生成论 ,提出了阴阳二气同时分化为天地二体与乾坤二气的说法 ,初步凿通了“天地”这个理论障碍。东汉后期黄老道家复兴中产生的社会批判思潮与早期道教 ,为安置生命的终极关怀 ,超越“天地” ,建立了简明的气化宇宙生成系统。     

"土火相乘"政治剧的重演

“尧后火德”说本是为了证明汉家天子具有君临天下的资格而炮制出来的,但在西汉和东汉的末年,此命题分别为有觊觎帝位企图的野心家所利用。本文主要考察了西汉末年的王莽和东汉末年的曹丕利用尧后火德说来制造舆论借口,以“受禅”方式篡夺汉祚、完成由“火”到“土”的德运更替的过程。     

Reviewing the Past. The Presence of Ruins

In the following text I provide my response to the three reviewers of my book titled “Reviewing the Past. The Presence of Ruins”. First I list a few elements that all the reviewers highlighted. Then, I answer the insightful comments and detailed observations brought forward by them, organised in thematic structures. In this part I start with the three main criteria and the agency of Nature in ruination. Then I investigate the issues regarding the so-called “contemporary ruins”. Ruins’ environmental character, context and sitedness are put into focus in the next section, to finally arrive to the equally inspiring questions of picturesque, sublime and to the issues of representation.

     

"绝地天通":论中国古代宗教多神性格之源

"绝地天通"是中国上古文明发展史上一件大事,本文以为:理解这一事件的关键乃在于"属神"、"属民"之"属"的意旨,证之古文献与民俗事象,"属"解为"连接"为最佳,此事件是中国古代宗教多神性格的直接来源.     

When Time Stands Still: The Non-Interactive Interaction in the Psychoanalytic Encounter

This paper strives to shed light on the patient–therapist encounter at times and places where emotional life has stopped, both within the patient and in the therapeutic dyad. The term non-interactive interaction is coined to describe a manner of being together that does not possess the essential features of interaction: movement, encounter, and change. The paper explores the characteristics and effects of such dead areas in one’s soul and the various motivations for the therapist’s willingness to surrender himself to such areas, both those of his patient’s and of his own. Among these, the paper suggests, are the therapist’s love and dedication to his or her patients; his deep-rooted struggle to cope with and give life to some of his own deadened and traumatic self-states; and, perhaps most important, a mythical, hubris-like, valiant, and perennial urge to fight death. Two clinical examples are presented.     

Necessity and Language: The Gap Is Still Very Real

In my previous paper “Has the later Wittgenstein accounted for necessity?” I argued against the conventionalist account of necessity proposed by Wittgenstein and his followers. Glock has addressed some of my objections in his paper “Necessity and Language: In Defence of Conventionalism”. This brief rejoinder considers Glock's replies to three of those objections. In the course of doing so, I revisit Wittgenstein's explanation of the special status of necessary propositions, the supposedly arbitrary nature of colour‐grammatical propositions, and the relation between rules and modality.     

MAPI-C: The Jury Is Still Out (Software)

This article examines one aspect of the potential usefulness of critical items to the: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory -Adolescent (MMPI-A). Endorsement frequency data are presented on the Koss-Butcher (1973) and the Lachar-Wrobeli (1979) critical items for Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) adult normative and clinical samples and for MMPI-A adolescent normative and clinical samples. Adolescents in both normal and clinical samples endorse critical items with a higher frequency than do normal adults. Further, results demonstrated that significant differences were uniformly found between the endorsement frequencies for normative versus clinical subjects for the MMPI-2 samples, whereas similar comparisons for the MMPI-A samples typically showed that adolescents in clinical setting did not endorse critical items more frequently than normal adolescents. These findings indicate that it may be difficult to construct critical item lists for adolescents based on the type of empirical methodology used with adults in which items are selected based on endorsement frequency differences found between comparison group. Beyond the issue of the technical difficulty in creating a critical item list for adolescents, several conceptual concerns are raised regarding the application of critical items to the MMPI-A. It was noted that the concept of "critical items" has not been we11 defined, and both the reliability and validity of critical items may be limited in adolescent populations.     

The Post-Feminist Era: Still Striving for Equality in Relationships

As for the past 30 years, Western society continues to grapple with a major sex-role revolution. Changes from the availability of contraception and persistent feminist protests disrupted the respective duties of men and women in what was called the "traditional family." Since the industrial revolution, traditional meant the patriarchal family with men holding the prominent role of breadwinner in the family. Women stayed home to raise and nurture the children. This arrangement has been questioned, especially as vast numbers of women enter the workforce and improve their education. The position taken here is that although women have made strides in developing their autonomy, they frequently do not feel that they have an equal partnership in their intimate relationships. Men also feel a growing dissatisfaction with their positions in relation to women. The paper discusses the reasons why, despite changes in both society and attitudes of men and women towards their roles, there still exists inequality between the sexes in their lives together. Discussed, as well, is how this inequality negatively affects intimate relationships. Finally, the paper will suggest ways that men and women and society can remedy the situation and encourage greater fulfillment in love.     

Still in the Mood: The Versatility of Subjunctive Markers in Modal Logic

We investigate and compare two major approaches to enhancing the expressive capacities of modal languages, namely the addition of subjunctive markers on the one hand, and the addition of scope-bearing actuality operators, on the other. It turns out that the subjunctive marker approach is not only every bit as versatile as the actuality operator approach, but that it in fact outperforms its rival in the context of cross-world predication.

     

The Perks of Being Relational: Reviewing The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This article reviews The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Halfon, Smith, Malkovich, & Chbosky, 2012), a coming-of-age film about 3 high school students attempting to survive school, find themselves, and connect with others. The authors provide a synopsis of various portions of the film and identify important aspects of relational-cultural theory (RCT) within its plot, such as growth-fostering relationships, controlling images, and relational images. Various characters’ plotlines are discussed in relation to what RCT identifies as paramount tenets of human development and mental health. The authors also briefly discuss other counseling issues touched on within the film (i.e., affectional identity, sexual assault, and relational violence).