McMahan on Speciesism and Deprivation

Jeff McMahan has long shown himself to be a vigorous and incisive critic of speciesism, and in his essay “Our Fellow Creatures” he has been particularly critical of speciesist arguments that draw inspiration from Wittgenstein. In this essay I consider his arguments against speciesism generally and the species‐norm account of deprivation in particular. I argue that McMahan's ethical framework (as outlined in The Ethics of Killing) is more nuanced and more open to the incorporation of speciesist intuitions regarding deprivation than he himself suggests. Specifically, I argue that, given his willingness to include a comparative dimension in his “Intrinsic Potential Account” he ought to recognize species as a legitimate comparison class. I also argue that a sensible speciesism can be pluralist and flexible enough to accommodate many of McMahan's arguments in defense of “moral individualist” intuitions. In this way, I hope to make the case for at least a partial reconciliation between McMahan and the “Wittgensteinian speciesists”, e.g. Cora Diamond, Stephen Mulhall, and Raimond Gaita.     

The Unity of Efficient and Final Causality: The Mind/Body Problem Reconsidered

In this paper, I argue that it is in the fourteenth century that the problem of the compatibility or unity of efficient and final causality emerges. William Ockham and John Buridan start to flirt with a mechanized view of nature solely explainable by efficient causality, and they hence push final causality into the human mind and use it to explain for example action, morality and the good. Their argumentation introduces the problem of how to give a unified account of the world, that is, how are nature and freedom compatible. In the paper, I set up the discussion by going through some of the problems associated with final causality in the seventeenth century and show that Ockham and Buridan's problems are similar. I then argue using a formulation from Leibniz's Monadology that the problems here traced should be seen as versions of the mind/body problem.     

Surviving without a Brain: A response to McMahan on Personal Identity

Abstract

In his Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life, Jeff McMahan defends what he calls the embodied mind view of identity, and then puts forward several arguments in support of the view that physical continuity of the brain is crucial to our survival. He ultimately denies that psychological continuity is of any importance. His strategy is to recommend, by means of thought experiments, intuitions that support the importance of physical continuity of the brain and then argue against the plausibility of the notion of psychological continuity to which psychological theorists appeal. This paper is specifically concerned with the alleged importance of physical continuity to our survival. It responds to the positive and negative aspects of McMahan’s case by arguing that thought experiments that recommend the psychological view are far more compelling than he allows them to be and that psychological theorists can make do with a notion of psychological continuity that is immune to his criticisms.     

心学视域下的天人贯通之道——孙奇逢易学思想探析

明末清初理学家孙奇逢,面对家国式微、异族入主的困境,遥契孔子通权达变妙境,老而作《易》,求解于天道而终落于人道。他深味易之天人贯通之意涵与现实人生时遇之重要,在整体天下意识之下,形成其基于心性学视野下的易学思想。其学说以心性本体论为哲学根基,以从道趋时、进德修业之人生关怀为着落,是对《周易》时的哲学的继承与发展。     

A Mission of Unity and a Unity of Mission: A Look at the Work of the Church Unity Commission

This article examines the notion and meaning of mission in United and Uniting churches; asks whether union fosters mission and, more specifically, whether United churches practise mission reflecting a commitment to unity; and finally considers some of the challenges facing the Church Unity Commission (CUC) in moving forward. It makes the claim that the CUC is not succeeding in using its strengths because it is failing to be a united witness in the world, and suggests that church unity should begin at the local level if it is to be more effective. Hence international, national, and regional structures and organizations should mobilize, empower, and enable local church communities for more effective mission and church unity. In order to succeed in the latter area, the mission should be not church, but Christ. The paper concludes that the CUC's task is to collectively and correctly read the signs of the times and faithfully proclaim, in word and deed, that God reigns supreme over our world.     

病毒:人类共同的敌人

一直以来,都是人类把动物关进笼子,而今年春节,动物却"成功"地把十几亿人关进了"笼子"。危急时刻,中国国家疾控中心对外宣布:此次病毒可能来源于野生动物。事实上,近年来大规模传染病的背后,都有着同样的四个字:"野生动物"。为了一口"野味",直接导致病从口入。一只小小的野生动物,引发了人类有史以来规模最大的"封城",并迅速演变为一场全球的风暴和危机。     

最受尊重的敌人:毛泽东视野中的美国

在毛泽东对美国的分析当中,他一直以来最为关注的问题是如何估计美国对中国共产党及1949年10以后的中华人民共和国的生存和安全的影响。然而在1972的2月21日,理查德·尼克松——第一个踏上中国土地的美国总统,却开始了他称之为“改变世界的一周”。[1](P379)这也可能是200年来中美关系史中最有意义的日子。为了这一天,尼克松广泛阅读了有关中国的背景资料,听取了专家给予他的应对其中国对手的建议,甚至练习使用筷子。尽管如此,他还是觉得紧张,担心自己会受到羞辱,就像早年那些到中华帝国游历的西方人所遭遇的一样。[2](PP.557-558,P560)尼…