佛教平等观的包容精神及其伦理意义

追求人类自身内部以及人类与自然之间的和谐发展是当今时代的必然要求.佛教平等观念特别是其中体现出的包容精神,对于人类和谐观念的确立富于启发意义.文章论述了佛教平等观的包容精神,分析了佛教包容精神形成的理论原因,并探讨了这种包容精神对当今时代人们和谐观念的正面意义.     

Coercion and pragmatic presuppositions

In Category Mistakes, Magidor proposes that sortal restrictions should be viewed as pragmatic presuppositions. This contrasts with recent linguistic theories of successfully resolved category mistakes, e.g. coercions or copredication. It has been argued that for the proper treatment of such examples, sortal restrictions should be expressed by semantic presuppositions since they need to interact with compositional semantics. I explore possible ways in which Magidor’s theory could be extended to explain examples of coercion and copredication. The outcome of the discussion is that incorporation of these facts into Magidor’s pragmatic system might be possible, but ecessitates choices that are far from trivial.     

Perpetration of Sexual Coercion and Victim of Sexual Coercion Scales: development and validation

The purpose of this research was to create two scales, one to measure the tendency to perpetrate sexual coercion and one the tendency to be a victim of sexual coercion (Study 1), and to provide data validating the scales (Studies 2 and 3). Using the rational method of scale construction, two 13-item scales were constructed: the Perpetrator of Sexual Coercion Scale and the Victim of Sexual Coercion Scale. Construct validity (Study 2) was based on significant correlations with measures of engaging in promiscuous sex and abuse of alcohol. Support was found for the hypothesis (Study 3) that sexual coercion, being a victim of sexual coercion, alcohol abuse, and sexual promiscuity were associated with the pursuit of immediate pleasure through alcohol and sex.     

Indoctrination, Coercion and Freedom of Will

Manipulation by another person often undermines freedom. To explain this, a distinction is drawn between two forms of manipulation: indoctrination is defined as causing another person to respond to reasons in a pattern that serves the manipulator's ends; coercion as supplying another person with reasons that, given the pattern in which he responds to reasons, lead him to act in ways that serve the manipulator's ends. It is argued that both forms of manipulation undermine freedom because manipulators track the compliance of their victims, while neutral causal mechanisms do not. Manipulators see to it that their victims comply even in the face of forces that threaten to derail them from the manipulator's desired course. It is suggested that this has an impact on freedom because part of what we desire in wanting to be free is the availability of forms of life very different from those we actually enjoy.     

Aspectual Coercion in Eye Movements

Comprehension includes interpreting sentences in terms of aspectual categories such as processes (Harry climbed) and culminations (Harry reached the top). Adding a verbal modifier such as for many years to a culmination coerces its interpretation from one to many culminations. Previous studies have found that coercion increases lexical decision and meaning judgment time, but not eye fixation time. This study recorded eye movements as participants read sentences in which a coercive adverb increased the interpretation of multiple events. Adverbs appeared at the end of a clause and line; the post-adverb region appeared at the beginning of the next line; follow-up questions occasionally asked about aspectual meaning; and clause type varied systematically. Coercive adverbs increased eye fixation time in the post-adverb region and in the adverb and post-adverb regions combined. Factors that influence the appearance of aspectual coercion may include world knowledge, follow-up questions, and the location and ambiguity of adverbs.