政治的优先性及其限度——对《政治自由主义》一个理论预设的反思

罗尔斯的《政治自由主义》不仅是只在政治的范围内、而且是直接在政治的范围内运作,因而除了主张政治的独立性,它事实上还同时预设了政治的优先性。但由于政治与人性的内在关联不再是现代社会的共识,疏离于政治与强调政治的优先性就成了两种对立的政治哲学思路。政治自由主义强调政治的优先性,是要优先考虑政治的背景制度和合理的政治关系,因为由此构成的政治社会是一种人们应当共享的、内在的政治之善。但政治的优先性被限制在正义问题的理论建构方法与思维方式上,它并不在实质性的正义原则中对公民课以积极参与政治的责任,这就使得《政治自由主义》在两种对立的政治哲学思路之间取得了某种平衡。     

The Validity of a Brief Risk Assessment Tool for Predicting Suicidal Behavior in Veterans Utilizing VHA Mental Health Care

Suicide risk among military veterans is an important and ongoing concern. The Veterans Administration (VA) mandates suicide risk screening of all veterans seen for mental health issues, but little is known about the effectiveness of this screening. A retrospective chart review to examine all suicide risk screens at VA San Diego between October and December 2012 (n = 3,365) was conducted to assess whether results were associated with suicidal behavior over the subsequent 12 months. Patients judged to be at increased risk for suicide were 3 to 16 times more likely to attempt suicide and 7 to 25 times more likely to engage in self‐directed violence over the next 12 months compared with others. The screening tool may be a useful addition to clinical practice.     

Experimental Test of Escape Theory: Accessibility to Implicit Suicidal Mind

This study tested the Escape Theory prediction that individuals blaming themselves for failure experience increased accessibility to implicit suicidal mind. One hundred and thirty‐eight undergraduate medical students were randomly assigned to three groups: failure‐related priming, success‐related priming, and control. Following experimental conditions, participants completed a death/suicide Implicit Association Test. Results revealed significant differences between groups in accessibility to implicit suicidal mind. Furthermore, priming manipulation interacted with individual differences in locus of control (LOC). Significant differences in accessibility to implicit suicidal mind were observed in individuals with internal LOC, while effects of priming manipulation were eliminated in individuals with external LOC.     

Risk Factors for Attempting Suicide in Heroin Addicts

In order to examine risk factors for attempting suicide in heroin dependent patients, a group of 527 abstinent opiate dependent patients had a psychiatric interview and completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Patients who had or had never attempted suicide were compared on putative suicide risk factors. It was found that 207 of the 527 heroin abusers (39.3%) had attempted suicide. Attempters were younger; more were female, reported childhood trauma, a family history of suicidal behavior, a history of aggression, treatment with antidepressant medication, and alcohol and cocaine dependence. Logistic regression revealed that a family history of suicidal behavior, alcohol dependence, cocaine dependence, and treatment with antidepressant medication were significant predictors of attempting suicide. These results suggest that attempting suicide is common among opiate dependent patients and that both distal and proximal risk factors may play a role.