RELIGION IS EASY,BUT SCIENCE IS HARD … UNDERSTANDING McCAULEY'S THESIS

Robert N. McCauley's new book Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not (2011) presents a new paradigm for investigating the relationship between science and religion by exploring the cognitive foundations of religious belief and scientific knowledge. McCauley's contention is that many of the differences and disagreements regarding religion and science are the product of distinct features of human cognition that process these two domains of knowledge very differently. McCauley's thesis provides valuable insights into this relationship while not necessarily leading to a dismissive view of theology or religious belief. His paradigm allows the research lens to focus on cognitive differences in processing scientific versus religious information and the important role of automatic, unconscious, and intuitive cognitive processes in understanding both the natural and supernatural worlds.     

DEFINING “RELIGION” AS NATURAL: A CRITICAL INVITATION TO ROBERT McCAULEY

Previous critics have argued that Robert McCauley defines religion and science selectively and arbitrarily, cutting them to fit his model in Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not. McCauley has responded that final definitions are “overrated” and that artificial distinctions can serve an important role in naturalistic investigation. I agree with this position but argue that a genealogy of the category of religion is crucial to the methodology that McCauley describes. Since the inherent ambiguity of religion will undermine any essential claims about its cognitive naturalness, I invite McCauley to consider how his research might investigate scientific and religious cognition in new terms.     

EXPLANATORY MODESTY

Although I certainly have differences with some of my commentators, I am grateful for the time, effort, and attention that each has devoted to my book, Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not. They have helpfully pointed out features of my positions that need clarification and elaboration. I am also grateful to the editor of Zygon, Willem Drees, for this opportunity to undertake that task here.     

RALPH BURHOE: RECONSIDERING THE MAN AND HIS VISION OF YOKING RELIGION AND SCIENCE

Ralph Wendell Burhoe was a leading figure in relating religion and science in the second half of the twentieth century. His autodidactic style and character as a public intellectual resulted in a vision that is comprehensive in its concern for the salvation of society. He does not fit easily into academic frameworks, even though he has been influential upon scholars who work in academia. This article discusses some conundrums posed by his work. There are also brief presentations of the concerns that motivated Burhoe, his style of work, and the content of his vision.     

ERNEST BECKER'S PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION FORTY YEARS ON: A VIEW FROM SOCIAL COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

This article distinguishes between three projects in Ernest Becker's (1924–1974) later work: his psychology of “religion,” his psychology of religion, and his psychology of Religion (with a capital R). The first is an analysis of culture and civilization as immortality projects, means by which to deny death. The second, which overlaps with the first, is a characterization of religion‐as‐practiced (e.g., by adherents of the world religions) as a particularly effective immortality project vis‐à‐vis death anxiety. The third is less social scientific and more theological; Becker argues for a view of God that is in the tradition of Søren Kierkegaard and Paul Tillich (and, arguably, Pseudo‐Dionysius, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas). Focusing on the second of these projects—as much has already been written on the first, and little can be said about the third—this article evaluates Becker's claims about religion‐as‐practiced in light of recent developments in social cognitive psychology.     

MIRACLES AND TWO ACCOUNTS OF SCIENTIFIC LAWS

Since early modernity, it has often been assumed that miracles are incompatible with the existence of the natural laws utilized in the sciences. This paper argues that this assumption is largely an artifact of empiricist accounts of laws that should be rejected for reasons internal to philosophy of science, and that no such incompatibility arises on the most important alternative interpretations, which treat laws as expressions of forces, dispositions, or causal powers.     

Levels of analysis and sources of data in sales research: a multilevel-multisource review

Sales researchers are increasingly adopting a multilevel-multisource (MLMS) approach to answer many key questions involving sales managers, salespeople and customers. MLMS research involves the acquisition and analysis of data collected from two or more sources pertaining to multiple hierarchical levels and presents a number of opportunities and challenges for sales researchers to consider. The authors highlight the benefits and the drawbacks of MLMS research and describe various approaches for implementing an MLMS collection and analysis. Additionally, a review of the MLMS studies conducted in the sales domain is provided which summarizes and delineates relationships tested in the extant literature. Based on this review, the authors advance a number of underdeveloped areas of research where MLMS approaches can be applied to further the understanding of the dynamic conditions that typify sales research.     

医院重点专科发展过程阶段论

讨论医院重点专科发展过程的阶段划分及特征,对于我们在重点专科建设中正确地把握方向、恰当地评估成效和有力地予以推进都有十分重大和现实的意义。本文把医院重点专科发展过程分为科室建设、学科建设、科学建设阶段,并从功能目标、效率效益、人才队伍、场地设施、技术设备、技术特色、教学培训、科学研究、文化氛围、能级水平十个方面对各阶段的特征进行归纳描述。三个阶段各具不同内涵特征,又存在相互内在关联,具有方向性、连续性、可加速性、交叉性和包涵性等规律。     

关于医疗、科研的一点认识

临床医疗是医院的根本使命,在权重上医疗自然重于科研.医疗实践是科研的出发点与归宿,决定了科研的基本走向.当前,科研工作受到前所未有的重视,科研作为医疗人员绩效考核的权重过大,偏离了医院的根本使命,会对科研、医疗、医护人员乃至整个社会造成伤害.SCI论文与临床关系不密切,不宜用来评价临床医师的水准.应该建立科学的考评机制,考核标准应细化、全面,对科研的奖励应适度.对于医护人员的考核应以医疗为主、科研为辅.     

A taxonomic foundation for evidence-based research on employee performance management

This study presents a taxonomic foundation for research on employee performance management practices based on a comprehensive review of the literature (198 articles and book chapters). The taxonomy consists of 50 practices organized within seven topic categories, including an evaluation of the amount of research evidence supporting each practice. This taxonomic foundation facilitates the aggregation, integration, interpretation, and explanation of performance management research based on a role-theoretic perspective derived from the behavioural approach to strategic human resource management. The proposed direct-linkage path model shows how this taxonomic foundation ties performance management practices to behaviours and results. We build on this Practice – Behaviour – Results (PBR) critical path model with moderators and mediators based on cognitive and social factors identified in the extensive previous research. This PBR model provides a foundation for orderly and structured growth for future research that will enhance the connection between research and improved organizational practices in performance management, as well as a guide to best practices in performance management.