MIDWIFERY AS A MODEL FOR ECOLOGICAL ETHICS: EXPANDING ARTHUR PEACOCKE'S MODELS OF “MAN‐IN‐CREATION”

In Creation and the World of Science (1979) scientist‐theologian Arthur Peacocke asks what the role of humanity might be in relation to creation if conceived within the scientific perspective that favors the theological paradigm of the panentheistic God‐world relationship. Deeming roles such as dominion and steward as liable to distortion toward a hierarchical understanding of humanity's relation to the rest of creation, Peacocke proposes seven other roles to express the proper relationship of humanity to the cosmos in panentheistic relation to its Creator. Although each of these models has merit within a panentheistic paradigm, Peacocke and the paradigm itself suggest that the panentheistic model of God in relation to an evolving cosmos may be most effectively imaged through a model of female procreativity. In keeping with this proposal, I develop the understanding of humanity's ecologically ethical role in relation to the evolving cosmos in terms of the midwife to the process of procreation. I evaluate the efficacy of the midwife as a paradigm for ecological ethics by means of several criteria, including the propositions of the Earth Charter, “a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century” (Earth Initiative 2000).     

新蔡葛陵楚卜筮简中的繇辞解析

新蔡葛陵楚卜筮简中记录了战国时期楚人占筮时的卦画和繇辞,本文尝试利用卦象对繇辞进行解析,结果表明繇辞与卦象大体相符。这种解卦法,也见于《左传》和《国语》,可见战国楚地楚人的筮占是用《周易》,与春秋筮法有一脉相承的关系。竹简繇辞不见今本《周易》,当是民间的另一种传本。     

王弼"得意忘象"解《易》方法辨析

对王弼解《易》的传统理解,学者多认为是"扫象"说。结合王弼《周易略例》和《周易注》进行分析,可以发现,这种看法明显偏颇。诚然,在解《易》的方法上,王弼主张"得意忘象",但他在解《易》过程中意在强调"象"的工具性和"意"的目的性。王弼此种解《易》路数并未"尽黜象数"。实际上,王弼对汉代以来之象数既有所扫,又有所保留。与其说王弼解《易》是"尽黜象数",不如说是"扫象阐理"。王弼"得意忘象"这一解《易》方法,开启了中国传统哲学对经典的解读思路,不但开义理解《易》之先河,也发宋明义理易学之先声。本文通过分析王弼解《易》的这一方法论内容与特点,进一步揭示其在中国哲学史与易学史上的理论意义。     

Erikson’s Case of the Theological Student

This article focuses on Erik H. Erikson’s case of a theological student on the borderline of psychosis. The case, presented in a lecture published in Insight and Responsibility (1964, pp. 47–80), was important to Erikson for two important reasons: It enabled him to gain confidence in his capacity to help young adults and convinced him that he was not being disloyal to Freud by focusing on patients’ religious experiences. His presentation of the case focuses on an enigmatic dream image that caused the patient to believe that he was losing his mind but that, when interpreted, led to a breakthrough in his therapy and eventual recovery of his mental health. The springboard for his study of Martin Luther, this case illustrates the three primary religious images that Erikson identifies in Young Man Luther (1958): the maternal matrix, the paternal voice, and the pure self. It also illustrates how the timely appearance of a new person in one’s life may have enormous therapeutic value.     

Emerging adults’ perceptions of messages about physical appearance

Emerging adults receive messages about physical appearance from a range of sources, but few studies have examined the content of these messages. Undergraduates (N = 154) who identified as African American, Latino American, and European American answered 4 open-ended questions about messages they perceived about physical appearance from family, peers, school, and media. Raters coded responses for content and affect. The most common messages perceived were the importance/non-importance of appearance, positive comments about appearance, and the link between attractiveness and success. The perception of these messages frequently differed by gender and source, but rarely by ethnicity. Women perceived more frequent and more negative messages than did men. Individuals perceived the media as transmitting more negative messages and the family more healthful and positive ones.     

Body appreciation, media influence, and weight status predict consideration of cosmetic surgery among female undergraduates

The current study examined the association between consideration of cosmetic surgery, body appreciation, media influence, and participant demographics. In total, 322 female university students completed the Consider subscale of the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale, the third revision of Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Scale (SATAQ-3), the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), and provided their demographic details. Bivariate correlations showed that consideration of cosmetic surgery was significantly and positively correlated with three of the SATAQ-3 subscales and negatively correlated with BAS scores, age, and body mass index (BMI). A multiple regression showed that the only significant predictors of consideration of cosmetic surgery were greater media influence, less body appreciation, and lower BMI. These results are discussed in relation to the extant literature on attitudes towards cosmetic surgery.     

Representations of Nanotechnology in Norwegian Newspapers — Implications for Public Participation

Public participation is a prominent issue in the nanoethics literature. This paper analyses the emerging awareness of nanoscience and nanotechnology (nano S&;T) in the Norwegian public sphere, as evidenced by newspaper coverage. In particular, attention is on representations of nano S&;T and their relation to public participation. Three dominant representations are found; nano S&;T as positive, nano S&;T as important for the future and nano S&;T as under control. It is argued that the prominence of these representations is unfortunate because they can discourage public participation. The paper concludes by pointing to some broader questions about public participation as an instrument for governance of nano S&;T.     

A comparison of actual-ideal weight discrepancy, body appreciation, and media influence between street-dancers and non-dancers

Previous work on body image has tended to treat dancers as a relatively homogenous group, despite the existence of different dance styles and genres. In the current study, we examined body image among individuals involved in street-dancing (genres that typically evolved outside formal settings and are often improvisational in nature) and an age-matched comparison of non-dancers. A total of 83 street-dancers and 84 non-dancers completed scales measuring their actual-ideal weight discrepancy, body appreciation, sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, and demographics. Controlling for participant body mass index (BMI), results showed no significant between-group difference in actual-ideal weight discrepancy, although street-dancers had significantly higher body appreciation than non-dancers. In addition, media influences were implicated in body image concepts for both groups, although internalisation of athletic ideals was more important for street-dancers. These results are discussed in relation to the extant research on body image among dancers.     

Meta-analytic moderators of experimental exposure to media portrayals of women on female appearance satisfaction: Social comparisons as automatic processes

Experimental exposure to idealized media portrayals of women is thought to induce social comparisons in female viewers and thereby to be generally detrimental to female viewers’ satisfaction with their own appearance. Through meta-analysis, the present paper examines the impact of moderators of this effect, some identified and updated from a prior meta-analysis and some that have hitherto received little attention. Participants’ pre-existing appearance concerns and the processing instructions participants were given when exposed to media portrayals were found to significantly moderate effect sizes. With regard to processing instructions, a novel and counter-intuitive pattern was revealed; effect sizes were smallest when participants were instructed to focus on the appearance of women in media portrayals, and largest when participants processed the portrayals on a distracting, non-appearance dimension. These results are interpreted through a framework that suggests that social comparisons are automatic processes, the effects of which can be modified through conscious processing.     

The self and dreams during a period of transition

The content of dreams and changes to the self were investigated in students moving to University. In study 1, 20 participants completed dream diaries and memory tasks before and after they had left home and moved to university, and generated self images, “I am…” statements (e.g. I am an undergraduate), reflective of their current self. Changes in “I ams” were observed, indicating a newly-formed ‘university’ self. These self, images and related autobiographical knowledge were found to be incorporated into recent dreams but not into dreams from other periods. Study 2 replicated these findings in a different sample (N = 55). We suggest that these data reflect a period of self-consolidation in which new experiences and self images are incorporated into autobiographical memory knowledge structures representing personal goals during sleep.