LEIBNIZ ON BODY, MATTER AND EXTENSION

This paper explores Leibniz's conception of body and extension in the 1680s and 1690s. It is argued that one of Leibniz's central aims is to undermine the Cartesian conception of extended substance, and replace it with a conception on which what is basic to body is force. In this way, Leibniz intends to reduce extension to something metaphysically more basic in just the way that the mechanists reduce sensible qualities to size, shape and motion. It is also argued that this move is quite distinct from the reduction of body to monads and their appetitions and perceptions, so prominent in his later writings.     

MALEBRANCHE AND LEIBNIZ ON THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS

In this article I explore Leibniz's claim in the Theodicy that on the essential points Malebranche's theodicy “reduces to” his own view. This judgment may seem to be warranted given that both thinkers emphasize that evils are justified by the fact that they follow from the simple and uniform laws that govern that world which is worthy of divine creation. However, I argue that Leibniz's theodicy differs in several crucial respects from Malebranche's. I begin with a qualified endorsement of Charles Larmore's recent claim that remarks in Malebranche's correspondence with Leibniz indicate that their theodicies rely on incompatible conceptions of the moral rationality of divine action. I also attempt to go beyond Larmore's discussion in highlighting further differences concerning the sort of freedom involved in the divine act of creation. My conclusion is that these differing conceptions of divine morality and divine freedom reveal that in contrast to the case of Leibniz, Malebranche's theodicy not only does not require that God create anything at all, but also is compatible with the result that the world he decides to create is not uniquely the best possible.     

QUINTUPLE EXTENSION: MIND, BODY, HUMANISM, RELIGION, SECULARISM

Extension of the system that includes the key substrates for sensation, perception, emotion, volition, and cognition, and all representational sources for cognition, supports the view that there is an extended mind and an extended body. These intellectual views can be made practical in a humanist system based on extensions and in religious systems based on extensions. Independently, there is also an institutional extension of secularism. Hence, I maintain, there are five principal forms of extension.     

BODY, BRAIN, AND CULTURE

Abstract. Recent work in cerebral neurology should be used to fashion a new synthesis with anthropological studies. Beginning with Paul D. Madean's model of the triune brain, we explore Ralph Wendell Burhoe's question whether creative processes result from a coadaptation, perhaps in ritual itself, of genetic and cultural information. Then we examine the division of labor between right and left cerebral hemispheres and its implications for the notions of play and "ludic recombination." Intimately related to ritual, play may function in the social construction of reality analogous to mutation and variation in organic evolution. Finally, we consider how our picture of brain functioning accords with some distinctive features of the religious systems dominant in human cultures.     

THE RELATIONSHIP OF YOGA, BODY AWARENESS, AND BODY RESPONSIVENESS TO SELF-OBJECTIFICATION AND DISORDERED EATING

Study 1 tested whether yoga practice is associated with greater awareness of and responsiveness to bodily sensations, lower self-objectification, greater body satisfaction, and fewer disordered eating attitudes. Three samples of women (43 yoga, 45 aerobic, and 51 nonyoga/nonaerobic practitioners) completed questionnaire measures. As predicted, yoga practitioners reported more favorably on all measures. Body responsiveness, and, to some extent, body awareness significantly explained group differences in self-objectification, body satisfaction, and disordered eating attitudes. The mediating role of body awareness, in addition to body responsiveness, between self-objectification and disordered eating attitudes was also tested as proposed in objectification theory ( Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997 ). Body responsiveness, but not awareness, mediated the relationship between self-objectification and disordered eating attitudes. This finding was replicated in Study 2 in a sample of female undergraduate students. It is concluded that body responsiveness and, to some extent, body awareness are related to self-objectification and its consequences.     

身体正直及倾斜不同角度定位的实验研究

本文探讨了身体正直及倾斜不同角度(0°—90°)的定位。结果表明:(1)在暗室排除视觉的条件下,身体正直姿势的定位平均误差值在1.2°—1.61°范围;在亮室有视觉参与条件下,平均误差值为0.88°、不超过1°。(2)在暗室排除视觉条件下,“语言一身体”条件的各个角度定位的准确性最差,其次是“视觉—身体”条件,“身体—身体”条件的结果最好。这种情况表明,身体角度定位明显受信息的传入方式及信息转换和输出的难易程度的影响,相同感觉道在信息传入、处理和输出上具有更大的优越性。     

MATHESIS AND ANALYSIS: FINITUDE AND THE INFINITE IN THE MONADOLOGY OF LEIBNIZ

There is an infinity of figures and of movements, present and past, which enter into the efficient cause of my present writing, and in its final cause, there are an infinity of slight tendencies and dispositions of my soul, present and past. 1     

不同干预方法对应激时身心状态的影响

选取72名被试,随机分配到对照组、腹式呼吸组和忽视调节组中。采用重复一个因素的三因素混合实验设计,测量被试基线期、干预期、应激期、恢复期的指温、收缩压和应激前后的主观感受,探讨不同干预方法对应激的干预效果。结果表明,腹式呼吸能够降低男生的心血管反应,忽视调节能够降低女生的主观体验,同时也表明,个体生理反应升高并不必然伴随主观体验的升高。     

SOCIOCULTURAL, FEMINIST, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON WOMEN'S BODY SATISFACTION: A STRUCTURAL MODELING ANALYSIS

We explored sociocultural, feminist, and psychological influences on women's body dissatisfaction by examining the manner in which awareness and internalization of appearance standards, feminist ideology, and self-esteem affect body dissatisfaction. A main goal of the study was to test a model of potential protective mechanisms against internalization of appearance standards. The LISREL 8.5 program was used to perform structural modeling analyses on the proposed theoretical models. The results supported previous findings regarding the influential role of sociocultural variables on women's body dissatisfaction. In particular, internalization was found to mediate the relationship between awareness and body dissatisfaction. Feminist ideology and self-esteem were not found to serve as protective mechanisms against internalization. However, self-esteem appeared to directly affect body dissatisfaction.     

WHAT KIND OF PHILOSOPHER WAS LOCKE ON MIND AND BODY?

The wide range of conflicting interpretations that exist in regard to Locke's philosophy of mind and body (i.e. dualistic, materialist, idealistic) can be explained by the general failure of commentators to appreciate the full extent of his nominalism. Although his nominalism that focuses on specific natural kinds has been much discussed, his mind‐body nominalism remains largely neglected. This neglect, I shall argue, has given rise to the current diversity of interpretations. This paper offers a solution to this interpretative puzzle, and it attributes a view to Locke that I shall describe as nominal symmetry.     

WOMEN AND BODY HAIR

This study examines college students' attitudes toward and perceptions of a woman with body hair as a function of respondent gender and feminist attitudes. Participants reacted to a video of a White woman either with or without visible leg and underarm hair. Results supported the hypothesis that a woman with body hair will be seen as less sexually and interpersonally attractive than the same woman without body hair. Specifically, the woman with body hair was viewed as less sociable, intelligent, happy, and positive, and as more aggressive, active, and strong. Attitudes toward feminism predicted attitudes about body hair in general, which in turn predicted reactions to the model with body hair. Despite the fact that women students had more positive attitudes about body hair and more feminist attitudes than their male counterparts, there were no gender differences in reactions to the model with body hair. Implications regarding this pervasive cultural norm are discussed.