JOHN LOCKE AND THE PROBLEMS OF MORAL KNOWLEDGE

Abstract:  In this paper, I argue that John Locke's account of knowledge coupled with his commitments to moral ideas being voluntary constructions of our own minds and to divine voluntarism (moral rules are given by God according to his will) leads to a seriously flawed view of moral knowledge. After explicating Locke's view of moral knowledge, highlighting the specific problems that seem to arise from it, and suggesting some possible Lockean responses, I conclude that the best Locke can do is give us a trivial account of moral knowledge which cannot avoid problems with subjectivity and relativism.     

Longitudinal Effects of Television on Children's Leisure-Time Reading A Test of Three Explanatory Models

Using a sample of 1,050 Dutch elementary schoolchildren who were in Grades 2 and 4 at the outset of the research, this study investigated (a) the longitudinal effects of television viewing on the frequency with which children read books and comic books at home, and (b) the causal mechanisms that underlie television's effects on leisure-time reading. The children were surveyed three times, at 1-year intervals. Structural equations analysis suggested that television viewing reduced children's comic book reading only in the period from Year 2 to Year 3. Book reading, however, was found to be reduced by television viewing over both measurement periods. The data suggest that two causal mechanisms underlie television's reductive effect on children's book reading: (a) a television-induced deterioration of attitudes toward book reading, and (b) a television-induced deterioration of children's ability to concentrate on reading.     

Differential Motivating Factors Among Intrapreneurial and Traditional Managers?: A Look At The Influence Of Reward Systems and Structures On Performance Among Intrapreneurial and Traditional Managers

ABSTRACT This paper examines the influence of rewards and structures on the performance of managers in positions defined as intrapreneurial and those defined as traditional managerial. Results indicated that financially oriented rewards and loosely coupled structures more strongly influenced the performance of intrapreneurial managers than the performance of traditional managers. The findings suggest that such measures may be key ingredients to enhance organizational environment.     

Interactional Influence in the Structuring of Media Use in Groups Influence in Members’Perceptions of Group Decision Support System Use

The aim of this study is to examine the ways in which individuals’perceptions of media use are influenced by others. Traditional theories of media use have proposed that perceptions of media use are shaped by individuals’demographic characteristics and the media's characteristics. However, three recent theories—critical mass theory, social influence model of media use, and adaptive structuration theory—suggest that individuals’perceptions of media emerge as a result of their interaction with others in their social network. Results from a longitudinal study of 30 group decision support system (GDSS) groups and 25 non-GDSS groups over a 3-week period indicate that interactional influence was a better predictor of individuals’perceptions of media use than were individuals’demographic characteristics or characteristics of the media.