Calvinist Predestination and the Spirit of Capitalism: The Religious Argument of the Weber Thesis Reexamined

The paper reconsiders the Weber Thesis of a linkage between Calvinism and capitalism. It first restates this sociological Thesis in terms of the Calvinist doctrine of predestination as its theological core and premise in virtue of being treated as the crucial religious factor of the spirit of modern capitalism. Consequently, it proposes that the Weber Thesis’ validity and consistency depends on that doctrine, succeeding or failing as a sociological theory with the latter depending on whether or not it is unique in theological terms, as well as economic-social consequences. For that purpose, it reexamines and compares the Calvinist doctrine of predestination with the pre-Calvinist versions and infers that it is basically identical to or compatible with these. It then draws the implications for the Weber Thesis in respect of the degree of its validity or consistence. It concludes that the Weber Thesis likely is fail as a sociological-economic theory with the Calvinist doctrine of predestination to the extent that the latter is its theological ground and revealed not to be unique and new theologically and probably in terms of its societal effects.     

Preconditions for Normative Argumentation in a Pluralist World

A problem arises, both for philosophy and for argumentation theory, in a pluralist world where people hold widely different beliefs about what to do. Some responses to this problem, including relativism, might settle but do not provide any criteria for resolving such differences. Alternative responses seek a means of resolution in universalist, culture-neutral criteria which must be invoked in assessing all human action. A philosophically adequate account of universalism would contribute to an ideal of critical rationality, as well as to the ideas of field-invariance and of convincing, as opposed to persuasive, argumentation. The account's adequacy would require universality both in form and in content. Universality in form is secured by seeking universal preconditions for practical reasoning in general, rather than specifically for morality. Universality in content is harder, and candidates such as freedom, autonomy and health are problematic. An alternative content is provided by the proposition that the satisfaction of material preconditions is necessary for the performance of any action whatever. Neglect of these preconditions may constitute a fallacy in the extended sense found in argumentation theory, and assumptions about them should form part of the point of departure for any practical deliberation.     

全球资本主义分析及其理论意义

无论是把握时代变化的脉络从而保持对环境性质的清醒认识 ,还是批判地推动社会向更为公平合理的方向发展 ,在任何一个角度上 ,科学地分析资本主义当代变化都是马克思主义题中应有之义。随着 2 0世纪 80～ 90年代新的全球化趋势的出现 ,西方左派学者认为资本主义进入了一个新的阶段 ,即全球资本主义阶段。在这一背景下 ,一种可以称之为“全球资本主义分析”的左派理论思潮逐步凸现 ,它的核心是从资本主义的内在变化来分析和批判当代全球的权力关系 ,也因此从不同侧面揭示了当代资本主义的内在矛盾及其影响实质。就我国而言 ,随着“入世”和进…     

Global Justice, Capitalism and the Third World

ABSTRACT Reflecting on the North/South dialogue, I consider questions of global justice. I argue that questions of global justice are just as genuine as questions of domestic justice. A too narrow construal of the circumstances of justice leads to an arbitrary forestalling of questions of global justice. It isn't that we stand in conditions of reciprocal advantage that is crucial but that we stand in conditions of moral reciprocity. I first set out concerning the situation in the North and the South and the relations between them something of the facts in the case coupled with some interpretative sociology. Such investigations show massive disparities of wealth and condition between North and South and further show that these disparities have been exacerbated by the interventionist policies of the West. I then, while remaining mindful of the strains of commitment, argue that justice requires extensive redistribution between North and South but that this can be done without at all impoverishing the North, though to do so would indeed involve a radical re-ordering of the socio-economic system of the North.     

The Preconditions and Consequences of Relative Deprivation: Two Field Studies1

Two field studies assessed the preconditions and behavioral consequences of relative deprivation. A sample of single mothers receiving government assistance participated in Study 1, and a sample of working women participated in Study 2. We found general support for a 2-factor model of the preconditions of relative deprivation, in which wanting the desired state and deserving the desired state were the best predictors of discontent. In both studies, discontent regarding the status of one's group (i.e., single mothers or working women) was specifically predictive of reports of group-directed protest behaviors. In Study 2, discontent regarding one's own status was specifically predictive of willingness to engage in self-improvement behaviors. Participants in both studies reported more group discontent than personal discontent. These findings provide support from naturalistic settings for the construct of relative deprivation.     

Preconditions of predication: From qualia to quantum mechanics

Although in every inductive inference, an act of invention is requisite, the act soon slips out of notice. Although we bind together facts by superinducing upon them a new Conception, this Conception, once introduced and applied, is looked upon as inseparably connected with the facts, and necessarily implied in them. Having once had the phenomena bound together in their minds in virtue of the Conception men can no longer easily restore them back to the detached and incoherent condition in which they were before they were thus combined. The pearls once strung, they seem to form a chain by their nature. Induction has given them unity which it is so far from costing us an effort to preserve, that it requires an effort to imagine it dissolved — William Whewell, 1858. (Quoted from Butts (ed.), 1989, p. 143)     

The Virtue of Freedom in Capitalism

ABSTRACT This paper argues that the sort of liberty associated with a capitalist economic system is of particular value because it ensures moral self-responsibility. Two conceptions of freedom are considered but only one is invoked. It is contended that one, namely, positive freedom, is actually a kind of ability or power. One's positive freedom may be lost as a result of events not initiated by other human beings. Negative freedom, by contrast, is a distinctively normative notion. It is a social condition that members of a community ought to maintain out of respect for human dignity, that is, each person's responsibility to choose to live rightly.
It is argued that since 'ought' implies 'can', persons can only be morally responsible for what they can choose to do. If they lack negative freedom, then in addition to natural limitations, they will also be limited by the voluntary conduct of others. Yet this limitation could be prevented by the choices of others, including governments, to secure for all persons their negative freedom. Because of the universality of the requirement that each person be left free, such negative freedom is the quintessential public good.
Finally, the concrete expression of negative freedom is the right to private property— one's sphere of moral authority. This makes the capitalist economic system an essential aspect of the society that secures negative freedom.     

The Occupational Information Network: An Updated Dictionary of Occupational Titles

All of the articles in this issue demonstrate the richness of military research being conducted in the area of occupational analysis. Several of them also present findings and observations that have implications for the utility of an important occupational database currently being developed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Labor. This database is called the Occupational Information Network (O*Net; Peterson, Mumford, Borman, Jeanneret, & Fleishman, 1995) and is intended to supplant the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.     

In Pursuit of Generalization: An Updated Review

Stokes and Osnes (1989) outlined three principles to facilitate the generalization and maintenance of therapeutic gains. Use of functional contingencies, training diversely, and incorporating functional mediators were recommended. Our review, with most illustrations from studies of youth, updates Stokes and Osnes’s original paper with a focus on evidence-based strategies to increase generalization of therapeutic gains across settings, stimuli, and time. Research since 1989 indicates that training for generalization by increasing the frequency of naturally occurring reinforcers for positive behaviors, and altering maladaptive contingencies that inadvertently reinforce problem behaviors, are associated with favorable treatment outcomes. Training diversely by practicing therapy skills across contexts and in response to varying stimuli is also implicated in clinical outcomes for internalizing, externalizing, and neurodevelopmental disorders. Preliminary research recommends the use of internal (e.g., emotion identification) and external (e.g., coping cards) functional mediators to prompt effective coping in session and at home. Strategies for increasing generalization, including the use of technology, are examined and future research directions are identified.     

资本主义:被抗拒的与被利用的——从毛泽东早期的视角看

该文通过梳理毛泽东早年对资本主义的认识,试图阐明他在早期对资本主义所进行的现实和价值的双重批判,直接影响甚至决定了他后来对资本主义的种种态度,进而从这种考察中提出了两个既体现毛泽东独特的理论和实践品格同时又有助于我们理解并思考中国马克思主义的现状及其未来的重要问题。