Kierkegaard’s Analysis of Human Existence in Either/Or: There is No Choice Between Aesthetics and Ethics

Abstract

According to Alasdair MacIntyre, Kierkegaard fails to provide rational reasons to choose between an aesthetic lifestyle and an ethical lifestyle. This claim subsequently initiated a significant discussion that investigated whether one can rationally choose between ethics and aesthetics. I will be challenging both MacIntyre’s criticism and in large part the basis of the subsequent discussion by arguing that there is no choice between aesthetics and ethics at all. Specifically, I will be arguing that in Either/Or Kierkegaard demonstrates that the essence of human existence is the freedom to make choices. Given that the ethical is the existential reality of having to make choices, human existence is therefore necessarily ethical. This conclusion follows from my thesis that the essential difference between the aesthete and the ethicist in Either/Or is their opposing views on whether choices are necessary elements of experience.     

The child in time: The influence of parent–child discussion about a future experience on how it is remembered

We investigated the influence of preparation provided by parents on preschoolers’ recall. One day before children participated in a staged novel event, parents discussed the event with their child either with (verbal+photos) or without (verbal) photographs. Parents and children in a control condition read an unrelated story. Then 8–10 days later the children were interviewed about the event. Children in the verbal+photos condition recalled significantly more than those in the control condition. Parental preparation style (e.g., evaluations, hypothetical language) was associated with the child's contributions to the preparatory discussion, but no aspect of parent or child style or content was associated with children's verbal recall. Similarly, there were no significant associations between children's performance on a task of episodic future thinking, and their preparatory discussion or recall, although episodic future thinking was strongly associated with language ability. The potential underlying mechanisms and theoretical implications are discussed.     

Defending victims: What does it take to intervene in bullying and how is it rewarded by peers?

Defending is considered important in reducing bullying and victimization in schools. Yet, the prevalence of defending is quite low and there is little insight into aspects that explain why students intervene in bullying situations. The current study used a longitudinal design to simultaneously examine the antecedents and status outcomes of defending behavior. It was expected that affective and social-cognitive factors explain involvement in defending. Moreover, it was proposed that defending would be rewarded with popularity among peers, but only for defenders who were not victimized themselves. Unconflated multilevel path models were used and data came from students in grades 4–6 of Finnish elementary schools (N = 4209 students from 210 classrooms and 38 schools; M_age 11.25; 50% boys). Affective empathy and students' self-efficacy beliefs were predictive of defending behavior over time, whereas cognitive empathy was not. Additionally, defenders increased their popularity among their peers. No substantial differences between victims and non-victims were found. This pattern of results suggests that, irrespective of victim status, specific children are more likely to defend in bullying situations and are rewarded with increased popularity.     

East-West Difference in Views on Creativity: Is Howard Gardner Correct? Yes,and No

The cultural aspect of creativity has in recent years begun to attract the attention of creativity researchers both at the conceptual and empirical levels. Howard Gardner posits a performance-oriented regimental approach to creativity in China, based on his visit to the country a decade ago. He also proposes five assumptions underlying such an approach. The present study tests these conceptions empirically by contrasting the views of Singapore teachers steeped in Chinese culture with those in the Western tradition. Teachers' choices of action contradict Gardner's contention but his assumptions are largely supported.     

The Impact of Religiosity and Individual Prayer Activities on Advanced Cancer Patients’ Health: Is There Any Difference in Function of Whether or Not Receiving Palliative Anti-neoplastic Therapy?

Consecutive patients (n = 221) presenting for initial consultation at a palliative care outpatient clinic were prospectively interviewed and then followed until death. Individual prayer activity (IPA) and global religion scores were associated with quality of life, symptoms, inflammatory markers, and survival. Analyses were adjusted for whether patients were still receiving anti-neoplastic therapies (ANTs) or not. Higher religion scores were associated with lower levels of inflammation in advanced cancer patients still undergoing ANTs. Additionally, higher IPA was an independent good prognostic factor in patients on active ANTs. Further studies are necessary to confirm these findings and to investigate possible biological mechanisms involved.     

A Lesson on Courage: Monks, Martyrs, and Muslims—but Strangers No Longer in Algeria

This article uses the work of Heinz Kohut and Julia Kristeva to reflect upon and interpret the experience of nine Trappist monks—especially Brother Christian—in Algeria in the mid-1990s who shared an incredible bond of faith with the Muslim villagers living around the monastery in Tibhirine. Specifically, I examine how an understanding of Kohut’s nuclear self and Kristeva’s stranger may assist us in transforming resistance concerning interfaith dialog in seminary classes and faith communities alike when we bring these two ideas into conversation around the religious and community experiences of the monks and the villagers. I argue that if individuals are able to “make peace” or establish rapport with the stranger within they will exemplify the kind of narcissistic balance Kohut describes in his theory of a nuclear self that allows for a demonstration of courage in the face of difficulty.     

The Narratives of Shia Madurese Displaced Women on Their Religious Identity and Gender Citizenship: A Study of Women and Shi’as in Indonesia

Journal of Religion and Health - This article explores expressions in how the local Shi’as Muslim women refugees define and interpret their religious identity and gender citizenship in...     

“It is Sometimes Soul-Destroying”: Doctors’ Reflections on Unemployment and Health in Thatcher’s Britain

Journal of Medical Humanities - Through an analysis of two sets of writing in the British Medical Journal from the 1980s, this article explores relationships between unemployment and health....     

The obligation to succeed when it matters the most–The influence of skill and pressure on the success in football penalty kicks

In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the influence of skill and pressure on the success in football penalty kicks, we analyzed 1711 penalties taken over a 15-year period in major international tournaments. We conducted a multiple correspondence analysis in order to reduce six variables that are associated with skill and pressure to two dimensions that reflect our target concepts. Then, we used these two factors as independent variables in a logistic regression and fit different models using three binary dependent variables. The results show that high situational pressure significantly increases the probability of missing the goal entirely by about 6%, independent of the player’s skill level. The probability that the goalkeeper saves a penalty significantly decreases by roughly 4% when a highly skilled player takes the shot. In general, high situational pressure decreases the probability of scoring a penalty kick. Furthermore, the probability to score a penalty increases if a highly skilled player takes the kick which indicates that a high skill level can act as a kind of buffer against debilitating effects caused by performance pressure.     

Reflections on ‘<Emphasis Type="Italic">Real science: What it is,and what it means</Emphasis>’ by John Ziman

In these reflections on the recent book by John Ziman entitled 'Real Science: What it is and what it means', I have sought to review his main points and carry on the discussion that Ziman seeks to provoke. His approach to this subject arises from what exists on the ground and the way practising scientists view this area. I have taken a wider more abstract view of what is entailed by science than Ziman and have examined the implications of that choice. As we are presently being urged to effect more and more cross and multi-disciplinary activities and research, the boundaries that may be used to set aside that which is scientific are exposed to additional strains that challenge their integrity. The continuation of this discussion into the future is clearly called for; its outcome is less apparent.     

How content and co‐viewers elicit emotional discomfort in moviegoing experiences: Where does the discomfort come from and how is it handled?

Although watching movies is typically enjoyable, they also can elicit discomfort. The present studies investigated what makes some moviegoing experiences emotionally uncomfortable. Using autobiographical memory (Study 1) and scenarios/vignettes methodology (Study 2), young adults remembered watching a movie that had made them uncomfortable or responded to scenarios about watching a particular type of movie with particular co‐viewers (e.g. violent movie with one's spouse). Movies eliciting discomfort were most often dramas (39%) or comedies (26%). Discomfort most often arose from content, particularly fairly explicit sex or violence, and secondarily from the presence of co‐viewers. Often the two interacted, for example, being uncomfortable watching explicit sex with one's parents. In terms of dealing with the discomfort, women were overall more direct and men more avoidant. A sizable minority was glad they had seen the film, in spite of the discomfort, and was open to seeing it again. Arguing from converging evidence, these different methodologies produced consistent results. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Image of Disease in Religious,Medical–Astrological and Social Discourses: Old Polish Literature as an Example of Early Modern European Mentality

Journal of Religion and Health - Today, the world is struggling with a coronavirus epidemic. People explain differently the causes and sense of this disease. Old Polish literature about diseases is...     

Report on the conference on 'Men, Women, and Medicine: A New View of the Biology of Sex/Gender Differences and Aging' held in Berlin, 24–26th February 2006

The first world wide symposium on the topic of gender-specific medicine provided the latest research on differences in sex and/or gender in medicine and medical care. The presentations ranged beyond the topic of reproduction to encompass the entire human organism. This report critically reviews three issues that emerged during the Conference: gender mainstreaming, the concept of sex/gender differences and the issue of men's health. It suggests that the interdisciplinary concept of gender-specific medicine has to be mirrored by the integration of social and cultural studies into medical research and practice.     

Effects of strategy sequences and response–stimulus intervals on children’s strategy selection and strategy execution: A study in computational estimation

The present study investigates how children’s better strategy selection and strategy execution on a given problem are influenced by which strategy was used on the immediately preceding problem and by the duration between their answer to the previous problem and current problem display. These goals are pursued in the context of an arithmetic problem solving task. Third and fifth graders were asked to select the better strategy to find estimates to two-digit addition problems like 36 + 78. On each problem, children could choose rounding-down (i.e., rounding both operands down to the closest smaller decades, like doing 40 + 60 to solve 42 + 67) or rounding-up strategies (i.e., rounding both operands up to the closest larger decades, like doing 50 + 70 to solve 42 + 67). Children were tested under a short RSI condition (i.e., the next problem was displayed 900 ms after participants’ answer) or under a long RSI condition (i.e., the next problem was displayed 1,900 ms after participants’ answer). Results showed that both strategy selection (e.g., children selected the better strategy more often under long RSI condition and after selecting the poorer strategy on the immediately preceding problem) and strategy execution (e.g., children executed strategy more efficiently under long RSI condition and were slower when switching strategy over two consecutive problems) were influenced by RSI and which strategy was used on the immediately preceding problem. Moreover, data showed age-related changes in effects of RSI and strategy sequence on mean percent better strategy selection and on strategy performance. The present findings have important theoretical and empirical implications for our understanding of general and specific processes involved in strategy selection, strategy execution, and strategic development.     

On diffusion and interfacial enrichment of boron in the Laves phase: an in situ TEM-heat-treatment study on newly developed 3Co–3W–9Cr steel

Using in situ transmission-electron-microscopy (TEM) heating and subsequent energy-filtered TEM (EF-TEM) and high-resolution-TEM (HR-TEM) analysis on a newly developed 3Co–3W–9Cr steel, enrichment of boron at the Fe₂W and matrix interface has been studied for the first time. The heat treatment has been carried out at a temperature of 770°C. From the EF-TEM analysis, it is confirmed that a stacking-fault-assisted diffusion mechanism is responsible for enrichment of boron at the interface. From the HR-TEM study, it is ascertained that the diffusion behaviour of boron in the Laves phase and the extent of the enrichment at the interface is dependent on the amount of stacking faults in the Laves phase.