Selfishness and capitalism 1

Richard Schmitt's case against the psychological defense of capitalism (Inquiry, Vol. 16, No. 2) has merit, but in stating it he attributes to a defender of capitalism the argument that capitalism suits people's innate selfishness. The position more plausibly attributed to the author in question is not only resistant to Schmitt's own arguments but is worth consideration in itself.     

Meaning in life goal pursuit moderates the effects of social influences on college student drinking

This study sought to examine whether life goal meaning serves as a protective factor against the effects of social influences on hazardous drinking. The sample consisted of 156 college drinkers who had consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. Results indicated that goal meaning moderated the relation between both injunctive norms and direct offers and heavy drinking episodes. Simple slopes' analyses showed that injunctive norms predicted heavy episodic drinking for students with low but not high levels of goal meaning. Direct offers predicted heavy episodic drinking, however, the strength of this association was reduced at high levels of goal meaning. Results suggest that higher levels of goal meaning may buffer the effects of social influences on college student hazardous drinking.     

Neuropragmatism, old and new

Recent work in neurophilosophy has either made reference to the work of John Dewey or independently developed positions similar to it. I review these developments in order first to show that Dewey was indeed doing neurophilosophy well before the Churchlands and others, thereby preceding many other mid-twentieth century European philosophers’ views on cognition to whom many present day philosophers refer (e.g., Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty). I also show that Dewey’s work provides useful tools for evading or overcoming many issues in contemporary neurophilosophy and philosophy of mind. In this introductory review, I distinguish between three waves among neurophilosophers that revolve around the import of evolution and the degree of brain-centrism. Throughout, I emphasize and elaborate upon Dewey’s dynamic view of mind and consciousness. I conclude by introducing the consciousness-as-cooking metaphor as an alternative to both the consciousness-as-digestion and consciousness-as-dancing metaphors. Neurophilosophical pragmatism—or neuropragmatism—recognizes the import of evolutionary and cognitive neurobiology for developing a science of mind and consciousness. However, as the cooking metaphor illustrates, a science of mind and consciousness cannot rely on the brain alone—just as explaining cooking entails more than understanding the gut—and therefore must establish continuity with cultural activities and their respective fields of inquiry. Neuropragmatism advances a new and promising perspective on how to reconcile the scientific and manifest images of humanity as well as how to reconstruct the relationship between science and the humanities.     

The changing relationship between people and their job – the validity of career information

ABSTRACT

An overview of the evolution of career information in light of the changing nature of the world of work is presented. Owing to the constant fundamental changes in the labour market, the distribution of paid work has been also constantly changing. In this article, a more dynamic and – often temporary – interplay between citizens and their professional context is proposed. The case of Hungary has been used to describe the changing nature between people and their jobs. The historical overview helps explain the development of career information from pre-modernity to post-modernity and justifies the need for a more dynamic model of work adjustment and individual career development.