Assessing the uniqueness of language: Animal grammatical abilities take center stage

Questions related to the uniqueness of language can only be addressed properly by referring to sound knowledge of the relevant cognitive abilities of nonhuman animals. A key question concerns the nature and extent of animal rule-learning abilities. I discuss two approaches used to assess these abilities. One is comparing the structures of animal vocalizations to linguistic ones, and another is addressing the grammatical rule- and pattern-learning abilities of animals through experiments using artificial grammars. Neither of these approaches has so far provided unambiguous evidence of advanced animal abilities. However, when we consider how animal vocalizations are analyzed, the types of stimuli and tasks that are used in artificial grammar learning experiments, the limited number of species examined, and the groups to which these belong, I argue that the currently available evidence is insufficient to arrive at firm conclusions concerning the limitations of animal grammatical abilities. As a consequence, the gap between human linguistic rule-learning abilities and those of nonhuman animals may be smaller and less clear than is currently assumed. This means that it is still an open question whether a difference in the rule-learning and rule abstraction abilities between animals and humans played the key role in the evolution of language.     

基于公益性的公立医院理事会型治理模式的构建

新医改方案明确强调公立医院回归公益性,并提出建立和完善医院法人治理结构。公立医院法人治理改革必须确保和强化其公益性特点,并在此基础上尝试构建我国公立医院理事会型治理模式的基本框架,以期得出有助于推进我国公立医院法人治理结构改革的结论及建议。分析了公立医院内部治理的核心,即建立权力、责任与利益相互制衡的机制;以及独立理事制度、有效的市场竞争机制、信息披露机制和社会监督体系等公益性的外部保障。构建公立医院理事会型治理模式必须完善医院内外部治理结构与机制,同时要有相应的政策法规配套。     

The Epistemology of Communitarian Bioethics:Traditions in the Public Debates

I consider the problem liberalism poses for bioethics.Liberalism is a view that advocates that the state remain neutralto views of the good life. This view is sometimes supported by askeptical moral epistemology that tends to propel liberalismtoward libertarianism. I argue that the possibilities for sharedagreement on moral matters are more promising than is sometimesappreciated by such a view of liberalism. Using two examples ofpublic debates of moral issues, I show that commonly sharedintuitions may ground moral principles even if they may be givendifferent weight by persons of different moral and religioustraditions. Nevertheless, the fact that the intuition andprinciple is widely shared may be sufficient to chart somedirections for public policy or cooperative action even if theydo not lead to complete agreement. As a result, I argue that aliberal communitarianism that presupposes a fairly minimalistepistemology is a legitimate approach to achieving sharedagreement in a pluralistic society.     

Confronting Deep Moral Disagreement: The President's Council on Bioethics,Moral Status,and Human Embryos

The report of the President's Council on Bioethics, Human Cloning and Human Dignity, addresses the central ethical, political, and policy issue in human embryonic stem cell research: the moral status of extracorporeal human embryos. The Council members were in sharp disagreement on this issue and essentially failed to adequately engage and respectfully acknowledge each others' deepest moral concerns, despite their stated commitment to do so. This essay provides a detailed critique of the two extreme views on the Council (i.e., embryos have full moral status or they have none at all) and then gives theoretical grounding for our judgment about the intermediate moral status of embryos. It also supplies an account of how to address profound moral disagreements in the public arena, especially by way of constructing a middle ground that deliberately pays sincere respect to the views of those with whom it has deep disagreements.     

Confronting deep moral disagreement: the President's Council on Bioethics, moral status, and human embryos

The report of the President's Council on Bioethics, Human Cloning and Human Dignity, addresses the central ethical, political, and policy issue in human embryonic stem cell research: the moral status of extracorporeal human embryos. The Council members were in sharp disagreement on this issue and essentially failed to adequately engage and respectfully acknowledge each others' deepest moral concerns, despite their stated commitment to do so. This essay provides a detailed critique of the two extreme views on the Council (i.e., embryos have full moral status or they have none at all) and then gives theoretical grounding for our judgment about the intermediate moral status of embryos. It also supplies an account of how to address profound moral disagreements in the public arena, especially by way of constructing a middle ground that deliberately pays sincere respect to the views of those with whom it has deep disagreements.     

Rumination and self-defining memories in the context of health concerns

Individuals with health anxiety report experiencing a strong sense of vulnerability to illness. Such beliefs may be driven by the biased recollection of past illness-related events. However, little research has explored the role of memory in health anxiety. In other disorders, rumination has also been identified as a process that leads individuals to recall memories dominated by the content of their concerns. This study examined the proposition that rumination might impact the content of “self-defining” autobiographical memories among 60 college students with varying health anxiety (35% with clinical-level health anxiety). Participants were randomised to experiential/ruminative self-focus conditions, and then they completed the Self-Defining Memory Task. Responses were coded for valence and illness-relatedness. Results indicated that rumination led participants to retrieve more illness-related self-defining memories, while higher health anxiety scores were associated with more negative, but not more illness-focused memories. Ruminative thinking appears to activate health concerns, and may play a role in maintaining ongoing health anxiety.     

Christian Engagement with Public Bioethics in Britain: The Case of Human Admixed Embryos

This paper offers an assessment of the prospects for Christianengagement with public bioethical debates in a contemporaryBritish context. One recent example, the debate provoked byproposed legislation for research involving human admixed embryos,is examined briefly. It is argued that this debate has someproblematic features that are characteristic of public ethicaldebates in this context. Next, a proposal is offered as to howsuch bioethical questions may be approached from within a Christiantheological tradition (specifically, a Reformed Protestant tradition).This proposed approach makes use of four "diagnostic questions"to assess whether technological proposals and practices suchas the creation of human admixed embryos can be consistent withthe distinctive Christian narrative of creation, sin, salvationthrough Christ, and promised future hope. The final sectionoffers some reflections on how Christians and churches mightengage, on the basis of this theological approach, with publicethical debates such as the one about admixed embryos.     

中国卫生"启蒙运动"——卫生教育会的贡献

1916年～1930年,中国医学界和基督教传教士组织卫生教育会,在中国联合举行卫生教育运动.这场运动通过举办卫生运动周,用展览、演讲、海报、幻灯片等传播卫生知识;针对学生,卫生教育会散发卫生书籍,举办卫生论文竞赛.卫生教育运动促进了卫生知识和理念的传播,对民国政府建立卫生机构也起到积极作用.     

死后生殖问题的生命伦理学思考

生物科学和医疗技术的发展使死后生殖成为可能,但是,面对世界不同地域所发生的死后生殖案例,伦理和法律的争议层出不穷。试图从生命伦理学的基本原则入手,以尊重人、行善以及公平原则为基点,结合相关问卷调查结果,探讨争议的焦点及成因,希望可以引发各个层面对相关问题的关注和讨论。     

Theoretical and applied inputs in mental health center research

Successful implementation of projects in mental health centers aimed at meeting programmatic needs and exploring theoretical issues encounter a number of difficulties. These include time, staffing and funding. While researchers may be interested in complex theoretical questions, agencies require data collected quickly, at minimum cost, and utilizing limited personnel. This paper discusses a model for conducting significant theoretical and applied research in mental health centers. A project undertaken in a mental health center is described to illustrate the model.