Giving Each Person Her Due: Taurek Cases and Non-Comparative Justice

Taurek cases focus a choice between two views of permissible action, Can Save One and Must Save Many. It is argued that Taurek cases do illustrate the rationale for Can Save One, but existing views do not highlight the fact that this is because they are examples of claims grounded on non-comparative justice. To act to save the many solely because they form a group is to discriminate against the one for an irrelevant reason. That is a canonical form of non-comparative injustice. The error lies in taking a contingency of some presentations of some Taurek cases, namely, that they involve distribution, to introduce the claims of comparative as opposed to non-comparative justice. But cases of non-comparative justice can, contingently, also involve distribution. In order to settle which form of justice applies it is necessary to examine the nature of the distribution involved and the nature of “classes” to which individuals can be assigned.     

The Good Engineer: Giving Virtue its Due in Engineering Ethics

During the past few decades, engineering ethics has been oriented towards protecting the public from professional misconduct by engineers and from the harmful effects of technology. This "preventive ethics" project has been accomplished primarily by means of the promulgation of negative rules. However, some aspects of engineering professionalism, such as (1) sensitivity to risk (2) awareness of the social context of technology, (3) respect for nature, and (4) commitment to the public good, cannot be adequately accounted for in terms of rules, certainly not negative rules. Virtue ethics is a more appropriate vehicle for expressing these aspects of engineering professionalism. Some of the unique features of virtue ethics are the greater place it gives for discretion and judgment and also for inner motivation and commitment. Four of the many professional virtues that are important for engineers correspond to the four aspects of engineering professionalism listed above. Finally, the importance of the humanities and social sciences in promoting these virtues suggests that these disciplines are crucial in the professional education of engineers.     

From Games to Giving: Social Value Orientation Predicts Donations to Noble Causes

The central purpose of the present research is to examine the ability of social value orientation (i.e., prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientation), as measured with methods rooted in game theory (i.e., decomposed games), to predict real-life prosocial behavior. Consistent with hypotheses, results revealed that individual differences in social value orientation are predictive of various donations. Relative to individualists and competitors, prosocials reported to engage in a greater number of donations, especially donations to organizations aimed at helping the poor and the ill. Results are discussed in terms of theory and methodology regarding the individual differences in social value orientation, as well as in terms of societal implications for enhancing donations to noble causes.     

Situating System and Giving Self Its Due: A Story-Based Counseling Model

This essay explores Michael P. Nichols' criticism of certain aspects of the family systems therapeutic model, especially his concern that it takes insufficient account of the self in the family system. Building on Nichols' argument, and noting the paradigm shift occurring among family therapists from systems to story thinking, the essay sets forth a story model of counseling having four primary postulates: (a) possibilities for change are inherent in every story told; (b) characters in stories are always more than their ascribed social roles; (c) systems or dyadic and triadic relationships are a property of stories; and (d) the self is both a constituent of stories and exists independently of them. The importance of autobiographical studies to mediate pastoral theology's theoretical interest in theological anthropology and the story model of pastoral counseling is noted but not explored in depth.     

Giving the Devil His Due Process: Exorcism in the Church of England

In recent years the Church of England has renewed its interest in carrying out exorcism. The spiritual renewal manifested by the growth in the Charismatic movement, a growth based very much on healing and exorcism, is attractive to the Church, as is the idea that healing activities based on the practices of the Apostolic church will enhance the Church of England's spiritual presence. This renewal, however, carries many risks, because exorcism can be seen as superstitious behavior based on archaic beliefs contrary to modern science. Confronting Satan has physical risks for both the victim and the helper. There is a potential for wild, unrestrained, erotic, bizarre activities that can get the Church into trouble with the law and with the broader society. In its attempt to respond to these risks and opportunities, the Church has adopted practices that medicalize, bureaucratize, normalize, and restrain the process of dealing with the devil. These policies stress the compatibility between medical practices and exorcism.     

Policy Capturing: Discharge From the Israeli Army Due to Mental Difficulties

This study investigates decisions made by mental health officers in the Israeli army to recommend discharge from compulsory duty due to mental difficul- ties. It examines information cues available to the clinician that are predictive of that recommendation. The study is based on a content analysis of files on 154 soldiers who had been treated in one mental health clinic of the Israel Defense Forces. We found many cues that can predict recommended discharge. Mong with problems that became apparent during military service, significant items also related to problems prior to enlistment (e.g., in elementary and high school, social relations, mental health difficulties, and criminal activity). The overall R2 was above 73% in a stepwise hierarchical regression that entered variables in a chronological order. The findings and their implications are discussed in light of existing research.     

From Kant to Sade: a fragment of the history of philosophy in the Dialectic of Enlightenment

In this paper, I set out (1) to consider the extent to which Horkheimer and Adorno's account of the transition from Kant's philosophy to key features of the novels of the Marquis de Sade in the Second Excursus of their Dialectic of Enlightenment can be viewed as a fragment of the ‘history of philosophy’ and (2) to explain this account in a way that allows us to ask whether it succeeds in establishing a necessary connection between Kant's philosophy and Sade's novels. In connection with (2), a particular problem emerges. This problem concerns the role played by a non-instrumental form of reason in Horkheimer and Adorno's attempt to establish an essential connection between Kant's theoretical philosophy and Sade's novels, in which the practical implications of the theoretical employment of reason allegedly become explicit. It will be shown that, despite appearances to the contrary, an employment of reason of the relevant type is not identified by Kant in the Critique of Pure Reason.     

从“概念思辨”到“资本批判”——论马克思主义辩证法对传统辩证法的改造及其实质

关于马克思主义辩证法是物质辩证法还是实践辩证法的论争,是贯穿我国近30年来哲学研究的一条主线。这场论争虽然推进了问题的研究,但并没有真正取得突破性进展。这主要表现在:争论方法仍停留在直观或概念思辨层面,以至于不仅争论双方相持不下,而且未能阐明马克思颠倒黑格尔辩证法的真义。其根源就在于人们忽略了如下史实:马克思颠倒黑格尔辩证法的关键     

Marital and Existential Pain: Dialectic in Bergman's "Scenes From a Marriage"

Marital pain and existential pain are discussed in terms of the movie "Scenes From a Marriage" by the Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman.     

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: A Case of No Sex Bias in Attribution1

This study examines the effects of informational cues on the attribution of success in a masculine task. Israeli managers (subjects) first evaluated the performance of a fictitious male/female manager and then attributed a cause to his/her success in attaining the managerial position. As predicted, performance evaluation affected the attribution and manager sex did not. An unexpected association between leadership style and attribution was found. Implications of these findings for female managers and for further research are considered.     

中国城市妇女赋予丈夫吸烟行为的象征意义研究

对不同社会背景的城市妇女进行深入访谈发现,其赋予丈夫吸烟行为的人类学意义为:成瘾,坏毛病,缺乏责任感,减压,小事情,男人社交方式和男性特征.由此得出结论,就女性而言,开展预防来自于其丈夫的二手烟的健康教育,应在传播吸烟和被动吸烟危害知识的基础上,设法改变其对丈夫吸烟行为的价值判断.     

Giving Meaning to Movement: A Developmental Study

Recently, researchers have been investigating the effects of kinematics stimulus properties on pattern perception and recognition. However, the stimulus properties that are used to discriminate animate from inanimate objects have received relatively little attention. Earlier research has indicated that the external movement of artificially generated objects is perceived as animate by observers of all ages. In this investigation, children in Grades 1,4, and 7 and university adults were asked to describe what they saw after viewing computer-generated displays of two circular objects that exhibited variations of external and internal movement. We predicted that observers would incorporate and integrate the salient kinematic properties of the objects in a display into a coherent narrative and that their ability to achieve matches among the properties of objects in a display and the properties of objects described in the narrative would increase with age. Moreover, because of their relative insensitivity to the actual properties of objects in the display, we predicted that younger observers would make more animate attributions for nonmoving objects and fewer animate attributions for moving objects than would older observers. The result supported these predictions.     

Adolescent decision-making: Giving weight to age-specific values

Adults who give proxy consent for medical treatment for adolescents must decide how much weight to give to adolescents' own preferences. There is evidence that some adolescents choose treatments different from what adults see as most reasonable. It is argued that adolescents choose according to age-specific values, i.e. values they hold, as adolescents, and which fulfil important developmental needs. Because not fulfilling these needs may do serious psychological damage, it is urged that proxies give weight to these values, up to the limit where it would endanger or profoundly limit future life.A very brief version of this article has been published as Chapter 3 of Forman EN, Ladd RE.Ethical Dilemmas in Pediatrics: A Case Study Approach. New York: Springer-Verlag. 1991, reprinted by University Press of America, 1995.     

Transmission: From Experience to Awareness: Jewish Children Hidden in France and Their Children

The purpose of this research was to attempt to understand how the experience of having been a Jewish child hidden in France during the Occupation was transmitted to offspring. This analysis is based on research carried out among former hidden Jewish children, and the therapeutic follow-up provided in the setting of our clinical activities. The psychopathology of the first generation plays a role in the transmission process. The transmission of their history is also a source of ambivalence. This study shows how important it is to consider the complexity of personal histories and the distortions attendant on the transmission of these histories.     

How to Talk to Christian Clients About Their Spiritual Lives: Insights From Postmodern Family Therapy

Responding to literature calling for the integration of Christian spirituality and postmodern thinking, this article presents a more specific discussion of how postmodern family therapy approaches can be used to open therapy to the spiritual lives of Christian clients. In this article, postmodern family therapy approaches are described and the compatibility of postmodern family therapies and Christian thinking are examined. Finally, we see how a clinical practice based upon postmodern ideas can provide pastoral counselors with useful tools for talking with Christian clients about their spiritual lives. P. Gregg Blanton is Professor of Human Services at Montreat College. He is affiliated with the Pastoral Counseling and Growth Center in Asheville, NC.     

Care For Pastors: Learning From Clergy and Their Spouses

Pastors and their spouses face unique challenges because of the nature of pastoral work, and yet most manage these challenges successfully. Five studies are presented which help distinguish between intrapersonal, family, and community forms of care. Pastors rely heavily on intrapersonal forms of coping such as spiritual devotion, hobbies, exercise, and taking time away from work. The marriage relationship is also quite important for most clergy and spouses. Relationships outside the immediate family are not commonly identified as coping resources. Implications are discussed.     

Help Giving and Aggression From an Attributional Perspective: Why and When We Help or Retaliate1

Two studies were conducted to test Weiner's (1995) theory of responsibility, both in the domains of prosocial (help giving) and antisocial behavior (aggression). Experiment 1 revealed that for both behavioral domains, a positive relation exists between perceived controllability and anger, whereas a negative relation was found between controllability and sympathy. In addition, help giving is promoted by feelings of sympathy and inhibited by feelings of anger, and the reverse is true for aggression. However, the present results also reveal that for aggression, there is a direct influence of cognitions (perceived controllability) on behavioral reactions, whereas for help giving, cognitions have an indirect effect on behavior, mediated by emotions. Thus, for help giving, thoughts determine what we feel, and feelings determine what we do. In contrast, for aggression, an additional influence of thoughts on actions is present. Experiment 2, in which different scenarios were used, replicated this pattern of results.