论柯恩的“纯粹”一神教

柯恩的纯粹一神教是其犹太哲学思想中的基础性概念。纯粹一神教的基础是上帝的独一性,包括上帝存在的独一性和信仰上帝的方式的纯粹性,它的表征是以色列民族的独一性。正是基于纯粹一神教,柯恩反对犹太复国主义的思想才能得到理解。     

黑塞与道家

诺贝尔文学奖获得者德国著名作家黑塞(Hermann Hesse,1877-1962)对中国古典文化的了解在西方作家中是出类拔萃的,而中国文化中他谈得最多,对他影响最大的是道家,他对道家有着相当全面的了解,对其主要代表人物老子、庄子、列     

Group Treatment in Psychotherapy by Robert G. Hinckley and Lydia Hermann

A recently completed clinical trial that investigated the effectiveness of a group-oriented, day treatment program provided an opportunity to pursue a multidimensional approach to the prediction of treatment outcome. The sample consisted of 99 psychiatric outpatients, most of whom had received diagnoses of affective and personality disorders. The predictor variables included a patient personality characteristic (psychological mindedness), a group process variable (patient work), and their interaction. Univariate analyses revealed significant direct relationships between psychological mindedness and both work and favorable outcome, and between work and favorable outcome. Multivariate analyses indicated that psychological mindedness and work had independent significant relationships (additive or interactive) with several of the outcome variables. In combination they accounted for up to a quarter of the outcome variance. The results demonstrate the benefit of using a theoretically consistent multidimensional approach. The time-efficient nature of the predictor measures used in the study make them particularly amenable for use by clinicians and researchers.     

Decomposition of Cohen's matrix R into simpler color invariants

Matrix R of linear-group tristimulus invariants, presented by Cohen and Friden (1976) and Cohen and Kappauf (1982), was decomposed into functions of simpler tristimulus volume ratios (also linear-group invariants). Such volume ratios were applied to the dual problems of color constancy and illuminant-invariant object-color recognition by an artificial trichromatic photosensor. The proof of the decomposition theorem relies on a lemma used in previous work elucidating the conditions for illuminant-invariance of clockwise/counterclockwise ordering of triads of object colors in chromaticity space.     

Carl Cohen's 'kind' arguments for animal rights and against human rights

Carl Cohen's arguments against animal rights are shown to be unsound. His strategy entails that animals have rights, that humans do not, the negations of those conclusions, and other false and inconsistent implications. His main premise seems to imply that one can fail all tests and assignments in a class and yet easily pass if one's peers are passing and that one can become a convicted criminal merely by setting foot in a prison. However, since his moral principles imply that nearly all exploitive uses of animals are wrong anyway, foes of animal rights are advised to seek philosophical consolations elsewhere. I note that some other philosophers' arguments are subject to similar objections.     

The Hermann grid illusion revisited

The Hermann grid illusion consists of smudges perceived at the intersections of a white grid presented on a black background. In 1960 the effect was first explained by a theory advanced by Baumgartner suggesting the illusory effect is due to differences in the discharge characteristics of retinal ganglion cells when their receptive fields fall along the intersections versus when they fall along non-intersecting regions of the grid. Since then, others have claimed that this theory might not be adequate, suggesting that a model based on cortical mechanisms is necessary [Lingelbach et al, 1985 Perception 14(1) A7; Spillmann, 1994 Perception 23 691 708; Geier et al, 2004 Perception 33 Supplement, 53; Westheimer, 2004 Vision Research 44 2457 2465]. We present in this paper the following evidence to show that the retinal ganglion cell theory is untenable: (i) varying the makeup of the grid in a manner that does not materially affect the putative differential responses of the ganglion cells can reduce or eliminate the illusory effect; (ii) varying the grid such as to affect the putative differential responses of the ganglion cells does not eliminate the illusory effect; and (iii) the actual spatial layout of the retinal ganglion cell receptive fields is other than that assumed by the theory. To account for the Hermann grid illusion we propose an alternative theory according to which the illusory effect is brought about by the manner in which S1 type simple cells (as defined by Schiller et al, 1976 Journal of Neurophysiology 39 1320-1333) in primary visual cortex respond to the grid. This theory adequately handles many of the facts delineated in this paper.     

Dark adaptation and the Hermann grid illusion

The latency of the perception of the dark spot at the intersection of a Hermann grid was measured before and after dark adaptation. It was found that dark adaptation significantly increased the latency of perception of the spot while light adaptation had no effect. This finding was predicted from the Jung and Spillman account of the Hermann grid illusion and from the Kuffler et al. finding that inhibitory receptive fields of the cat’s retinal ganglion ceils are reduced in size and responsiveness after dark adaptation. The significance of this finding in relation to other simultaneous contrast phenomena is discussed.     

平等的幻像——G.A.柯亨政治哲学初探

G.A.柯亨,是20世纪70年代后期出现于英美的分析学派马克思主义的代表人物之一.本文初步探讨了1990年代以来柯亨围绕平等、自由、正义等政治哲学问题的研究.柯亨的政治哲学研究源于其对马克思历史唯物主义研究的转型,通过与右派的自由至上主义者诺齐克和左派的平等的自由主义者罗尔斯的论战,展示了他的独具特色的激进的平等主义立场.这样极左的平等主义,尽管有理论上的魅力,但在现实中毕竟是一种幻像.     

Hermann von Helmholtz and the empiricist vision.

The philosophical convictions of Hermann von Helmholtz and the empiricist psychology he developed have been extensively discussed in historical literature. This literature has not usually emphasized the tacti assumptions about human physiology that underlaid these convictions nor the way in which Helmholtz's epistemology served as a methodological directive in his research. Helmholtz assumed nerve transmission between sense organs and the mind to be a passive process. Distortion in stimulus patterns occurs physically in the sense organs, which can therefore be treated through mechanical analogies. Stimuli become converted to the perceptions of consciousness through mental processes that are essentially analogous to conscious, inductive inference and that are therefore susceptible, in principle, to introspective investigation. This view of mental function reflected Helmholtz's intellectual debt to German idealism, especially to the philosophical views of J.G. Fichte.