Navajo Morals and Myths,Ethics and Ethicists

Over a century ago a Western observer recognized an effective morality among Navajo Indians in the American Southwest, yet could not locate its expression, except in mythology recounting contradictory behaviors. Through the 1900s scholars delineated contours of Navajo moral values, myths, and taxonomies upon which moral traditions were based, and situations in which Navajos have engaged in ethical decision‐making. Recently individual Navajos have manifested their role as ethical agents, not merely as recipients of moral lore. A contemporary Navajo storyteller, Sunny Dooley, enunciates narrative ethical judgments, grounded in traditional Navajo mythology and its religious milieu, as she addresses the present conditions of her people. Thus she probes the contradictions that are inherent to life. Her stories testify to the insoluble conflicts within the human condition, ultimate and immediate conundrums that must be faced, even though they surely will not be resolved.     

Philosophizing about education in a postmodern society: the role of sacred myth and ritual in education

In modern societies, educational philosophy concentrated on concept clarification and the structure of bodies of knowledge, especially science. This modernist project was found wanting, given its connections with ideologies of exploitation, violence and greed. Educational philosophy should, therefore, develop a new key for making the role of the aesthetic and ethical in cultural life and education meaningful. In particular, a study of ancient and traditional cultures reveals the centrality of sacred myths and rituals as means for creating coherent cultural patterns which are inspirational and foster well-being. Because of the postmodern aversion to theology-as-ideology and the sensitivity to diverse perspectives and populations, the reclaiming and recreation of appropriate cultural myths and rituals is especially challenging. I present, in outline, what I think are reasonable approaches to that challenge.     

Basic human values: The ethos for methodology

This paper draws on the personal experiences of part of a research project where the original methodology was flawed and needed to change to properly encompass the lives and experiences of the people who the research was for, namely users of mental health services living in supported housing. The change in methodology involved a recognition that the research could not be termed ‘value-free’; that researchers are not objective. It is argued that it was important to demonstrate that the information obtained in the research was ‘valid’, and that despite the subjective nature of the research, there are steps that can be taken to convince others that the information received is ‘real’. It is further argued that the traditional approach to research of separating theory (or knowledge) from practice was not only inappropriate in this sort of research, but is a false notion in any sort of action research that aims to promote change. The importance of the influence and power of service providers in action research is recognised, as well as the constraints placed on short-term funded projects. It was important for the methodology to be non-oppressive so that researchers adopted an open and honest approach and for researchers to become involved with the research participants. The implications of this ‘involvement’ are discussed. There is a concluding discussion about whether non-users of mental health services can be considered as allies in research. It is argued that all oppressed groups need their allies and if the research is led by basic human values, then working alongside people who depend on services can lead to emancipatory outcomes.     

An Unfinished Debate: What Are the Aims of Religion and Science?

I discuss the kinds of fundamental questions that must be addressed by people who develop theories about how religion and science are (or should be) related. After categorizing these questions as axiological, epistemological, ontological, or semantic, I focus on those that concern the goals of religion and science (the axiological issues). By distinguishing between epistemic and practical goals, individual and collective goals, and manifest and latent goals, I identify seven axiological questions. The various answers that religion/science theorists give or presuppose to these axiological questions help to explain why such deep, ongoing differences continue among them.     

自我超越价值观对持久幸福感的作用及机制

追求幸福是人类社会永恒的主题。价值观对个体的发展起引导作用,与幸福感密切相关。认同自我增强价值观,即关注个人利益,可以让人体验到波动的幸福感,表现为短暂快乐和消极情绪的交替循环;认同自我超越价值观,即切实关心他人利益和福祉,则可以让人拥有持久的幸福感,表现为一种持续的充实、和谐、宁静的状态。就作用机制而言,认同自我超越价值观的个体可能对自我威胁信息有较少的防御性反应,体验到更多的社会关系导向的情绪,激发更多的亲社会行为,从而获得持久的幸福体验。未来的研究可采用多种方法和手段考察自我超越价值观对持久幸福感的作用,系统探讨二者之间的其他潜在机制,并通过开展自我超越价值观教育形成良好的社会心态。     

Brexit and emergent politics: In search of a social psychology

In this paper, we develop a conceptual and methodological approach that psychologists and other social scientists can employ to study emergence. We consider relevant social psychological approaches and conclude that, for the most part, social psychology has tended to focus on processes of normalisation following disruptions, rather than examining emergence in itself. An exception to this is G. H. Mead, whose work we draw on to theorise emergence with a focus on contemporary “affective politics.” In the second part of the paper, we use focus group data on the European Union referendum in the UK to empirically illustrate our theoretical points. We discuss in particular three axes for exploring the emergent politics of Brexit: political values, political authority, and the authority of affect. We conclude our discussion by reflecting on some of the theoretical and political implications of our analysis.     

价值观的神经机制:另一种研究视角

神经机制分析是价值观研究的一种新视角.内稳态机制和情绪反应的固有模式可能体现出价值观的神经生物原型.社会认知神经科学试图从子价值观、价值取向、价值观结构等方面寻找价值观的神经实体证据,也对价值评价、价值决策等相关过程进行了神经活动分析.初步发现了个体价值观与部分脑区活动的相关关系,涉及前额叶-顶叶-颞叶神经网络带的众多大脑结构.未来研究可沿循静态的价值观结构和动态的价值观加工过程两条线路,整合和完善现有分散的神经生理研究,将有助于更系统地理解价值观的神经机制.     

Aesthetics as evaluative forms of agency to perceive and design reality: A reply to aesthetic realism

Following a naturalist-realist point of view, this paper attempts to contribute to the metaphysical question of whether or not reality includes aesthetics. During evolution, cognitive agents have constructed (goal-directed) regulatory abilities forming anticipatory contents in the form of feelings regarding opportunities for interaction. These feelings are considered to be the fundamental part of an evaluative or (what in this paper considered as aesthetic) behavior through which agents show a preference to aspects of their external world. Thus, ‘aesthetic’ denotes an agential behavior based on an organization of processes integrated in a form that identifies, evaluates, and compares sources of interaction-success or error in specific aspects of external reality. While agents approach the same aspects of reality as they all interact with the same world, our claim is that aesthetic normativity cannot be an objective feature of this reality. This model overcomes problems of correspondence in the sense that an agent's actions and thoughts ought to react to any pre-given (aesthetic) quality or norm, while at the same time it emphasizes the self-directedness of aesthetic behavior that enables the development of creative forms of cognition.     

Spiritual development: understanding and importance in schools: an analysis based on statements made by school directors from Valparaíso,Chile

Chile’s General Law of Education states that one of the purposes of education is the spiritual development of all its schooled population. Furthermore, guidelines in Chile’s education system place school directors as key players in student’s learning. This article presents the results of a research involving school directors from Valparaíso, Chile. The aim of this research was to identify how directors of secular and religious schools understand their students’ spiritual development. We studied this aspect in particular through semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 participants. Results show that directors understand spirituality as a typically human ability that can be strengthened in schools and, thus, they believe it to be highly important in schools. In addition, they see a strong relation between spiritual development and ethical and moral development. This study also shows differences in how secular and religious schools’ directors understand this relation. This opens the way for more in-depth analysis regarding spiritual development in Chile’s education system, especially considering that directors generally believe it to be a part of a holistic and quality education.     

Intellectual property protection,technological innovation and enterprise value—An empirical study on panel data of 80 advanced manufacturing SMEs

Study the role of intellectual property protection in advanced manufacturing SMEs. Is it to protect the growth of advanced manufacturing SMEs, or to inhibit the growth of SMEs in advanced manufacturing? the paper brings the medium variable – technological innovation to explore acting paths of intellectual property protection in enterprises’ value improvement. Through analysis of panel data of 80 SMEs of advanced manufacture collected during the period from 2013 to 2015, Research results show that as for SMEs of advanced manufacture, the inverted-U relationship still exists in the influences brought by intellectual property protection to enterprise values. Meanwhile, U-shaped relations exist between intellectual property protection and technological innovation. Increase of technological innovation investment can promote increase of enterprise values.