Hidden Subjects: Rereading Eve and Mary

Abstract

Eve and Mary are two archetypes that persist within our culture at its most profound level despite world views imposed by Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment thought. Since these figures are impossible to expel from our imaginations, revisiting them in the light of contemporary ideas of identity and gender might prove to be a useful means of understanding their cultural impact. In this article extracts from the work of Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva are discussed which feature our two archetypes, framing them through the lens of gender critique. Their work clearly illuminates the status of these figures within our realities, and drawing on their observations, suggestions are made as to how we might re-figure both Eve and Mary as the true subjects of the foundation narratives they inhabit.     

Eve in early Reformation exegesis: the case of Iohannes Oecolampadius

Abstract

Iohannes Oecolampadius stood at the forefront of the Reformation in Basel. He not only worked tirelessly for the reform of the city's churches, but also authored pioneering evangelical works of theology and exegesis. The interpretation of Eve found in his late lectures on Genesis showcases both a new emphasis on Eve's goodness and original equality with Adam, as well as a parallel insistence on her subordination to her husband after the Fall. His conception of husband and wife as partners of equal dignity on the path toward salvation moves in the direction of companionate marriage, but it stops short of calling for women's equality in the public sphere.     

The Rational Choice Approach to Human Studies: A Reexamination

This article reexamines the rational choice or economic approach to human studies. Its adherents claim that its extension beyond its original domain to all human behavior can finally lead to integration of the human studies, especially social theory, and thus their elevation from what they see as a chaotic state. Specifically, they propose grounding human studies on the premise that humans are rational egoists or self-interested utility maximizers. Although this premise has been the conceptual foundation of orthodox economic theory, it has been questioned, and even in part discredited in its heterodox versions. This reexamination casts serious doubts on such claims.     

Correction to: Non-transitive Better than Relations and Rational Choice

Philosophia - There is a mistake in the definition of the covering criterion on page 6.     

The Diversity of Rational Choice Theory: A Review Note

Topoi - In this paper, I review the literature on rational choice theory (RCT) to scrutinize a number of criticisms that philosophers have voiced against its usefulness in economics. The paper has...     

Rational Choice and the Transitivity of Betterness

If A is better than B and B is better than C, then A is better than C, right? Larry Temkin and Stuart Rachels say: No! Betterness is nontransitive, they claim. In this paper, I discuss the central type of argument advanced by Temkin and Rachels for this radical idea, and argue that, given this view very likely has sceptical implications for practical reason, we would do well to identify alternative responses. I propose one such response, which employs the idea that rational agents might regard some options as incommensurate in value, and will reasonably employ a heuristic of status quo maintenance to avoid suboptimal choices from incommensurate goods.     

Underdetermination and Rational Choice of Theories

The underdetermination of theory by data argument (UD) is traditionally construed as an argument that tells us that we ought to favour an anti-realist position over a realist position. I argue that when UD is constructed as an argument saying that theory choice is to proceed between theories that are empirically equivalent and adequate to the phenomena up until now, the argument will not favour constructive empiricism over realism. A constructive empiricist cannot account for why scientists are reasonable in expecting one theory to be empirically adequate rather than another, given the criteria he suggests for theory choice.

对骨折治疗“优化选择”与“合理选择”的理解和思考

从合理化角度回顾了当前几种重要的骨折治疗理论体系的发展与演变,认为骨折治疗的最优原则是一种理想状态,现实中没有绝对最优只有相对合理。只有建立以患者为中心的思维体系,加强医疗逻辑思维能力,用多维思考的方式寻找矛盾的合理平衡点,始终坚守医学伦理道德底线,才能真正做到为每一位骨折患者进行最合理的治疗。     

Belief Revision,Rational Choice and the Unity of Reason

Hans Rott has argued, most recently in his book Change, Choice and Inference, that certain formal correspondences between belief revision and rational choice have important philosophical implications, claiming that the former strongly indicate the unity of practical and theoretical reason as well as the primacy of practical reason. In this paper, I confront Rott's argument with three serious challenges. My conclusion is that, while Rott's work is indisputable as a formal achievement, the philosophical consequences he wants to draw are not forthcoming. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A green Augustine: On learning to love nature well

Augustine of Hippo has expressed a vision of beauty in nature that could, if better known, encourage traditional Christians and secular ecologists to affirm the ground they have in common. For Augustine the ideal would be to see nature as God sees it, feeling deeply both its beauty and its impermanence, loving nature without clinging to it. With such clear seeing would come love and the motivation for sustained and skillful action. This paper discusses Augustine's paradigm and what blocks us from seeing it, and then frames principles for an authentically Augustinian response.     

患者对于医生之信任产生的机理:关系依赖与理性选择

患者对于医生之信任是医患关系建立和发展的核心与基础,是患者求医、就医行动的前提.患者信任医生的机理是关系依赖与理性选择:一方面,患者基于亲朋熟人关系而达成对医生的信任;另一方面,患者也会基于医生的声誉、医疗卫生制度等因素达成对医生的信任.在此基础上,探讨了增进患者对于医生之信任的策略与途径.     

Team Reasoning and the Rational Choice of Payoff-Dominant Outcomes in Games

Topoi - Standard game theory cannot explain the selection of payoff-dominant outcomes that are best for all players in common-interest games. Theories of team reasoning can explain why such...     

The Perspective of Islamic Fundamentalists and the Limits of Rational Choice Theory

How can we best understand Islamic fundamentalism? As fundamentalism has become an increasingly significant political force, many different interpretations have been offered, with fundamentalism explained as both a rational reaction against modernity and as a pathological retreat from reality. We argue here that part of the scholarly failure to understand and deal with the growth of religious fundamentalism results from a failure to recognize the importance of cognitive differences in worldviews held by fundamentalists. By providing an empirical analysis of how fundamentalists see the world—what we identify as a fundamentalist perspective—we hope to supply an important missing piece in the literature on fundamentalism. To do so, we utilized a narrative and survey interview technique to contrast the worldviews of fundamentalists with those of comparable Muslims who are not fundamentalists. Our analysis suggests Islamic fundamentalism attracts because it provides a basic identity, an identity which in turn provides the foundation for daily living. The fundamentalist perspective itself is best understood through reference to a worldview which makes no distinction between public and private, in which truth is revealed by revelation, and reason is subservient to religious doctrine. Religious dictates dominate on all basic issues, and only within the confines of the fundamentalist identity are choices decided by a cost/benefit calculus.     

Self,Sin, and the Sacred: Some Elements of a Select Psychology for the Care of Souls

Many pastors feel that their work in the secular sphere can best be described as an exploration of the meaning of life: as spiritual care. However, the idea that it is possible and easy to find such a thing as “the meaning of life,” as well as the concurrent idea that this meaning will help to make life more agreeable, should not be taken for granted but, rather, should be considered to be open for further exploration. To get a better understanding of the difference between spiritual care and the care of souls, I will discuss three central themes in any pastoral practice: sin, sense, and sorrow, together with three related constructs: soul, self, and the sacred. My exposition will result in a plea for revaluing two traditional but ever relevant modes of religious leadership: the modes of shepherd and teacher, of tutor and theologian, which are performed either in the context of the church or the secular institutional environment.