Caring,final ends and sports

In this essay I argue that sports at their best qualify as final ends, that is, as ends whose value is such that they ground not only the practices whose ends they are, but everything else we do as human agents. The argument I provide to support my thesis is derived from Harry Frankfurt's provocative work on the importance of the things we care about, more specifically, on his claim that it is by virtue of caring about things and practices, really caring about them – even loving them – we are able to regard and treat them as final ends. Sports, I claim, are paradigmatic examples of practices cared about and loved in these deep ways, and as such deserve to be considered, rather than dismissed because of their supposed triviality, as one of those ends around which a life most worth living can be legitimately forged.     

The Naked Spirit of Sport: A Framework for Revisiting the System of Bans and Justifications in the World Anti-Doping Code

As the World Anti-Doping Code is up for revision, the paper proposes a framework for reading the Code based on a relatively literal approach and an almost exclusive focus on the ‘spirit of sport’ as a key element of the Code. The author argues that this single element can contribute to revealing the underlying rationale of the Code, as it serves to justify bans of doping substances and methods, in some cases without recurring to evidence sustaining the claims made. For a substance/method to be banned, the Code requires that two out of three criteria be met: performance enhancement, health risk and the spirit of sport. The paper demonstrates how these provisions link to other parts of the Code, (under the rules of the Code 2009) in the absence of performance-enhancing properties combined with a health risk. The paper draws implications from these findings regarding terminological (im)precision, legal certainty/predictability, transparency/accountability, limits to arbitrary exercise of power and internal/external validity.     

Before the rules are written: navigating moral ambiguity in performance enhancement

In 1984, a number of US cyclists used blood transfusions to boost their performance at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. The cyclists broke no rules and dominated the Games, yet were later maligned as cheaters and dopers—they had, it seemed, violated some important norm, albeit one which was neither an official rule nor otherwise easily identifiable. Their case illustrates the moral ambiguity that arises when a performance enhancement is employed in a sport that has not addressed it. This article takes up the crucial question posed by such moral ambiguity: is it ethical to enhance performance through a substance or technology when no rules exist to prohibit it? We first examine ordinary ethical obligations that athletes carry based on their status as moral agents. We conclude that such obligations provide some guidance, but cannot resolve the issue. We then examine arguments that take sport as a unique social practice that presents its own moral obligation not to use performance enhancers. We argue that these ‘spirit of sport’ arguments, developed by McNamee and Loland and Hoppeler cannot resolve the issue either. We conclude that when the rules governing sport are silent on the issue of performance enhancement the constraints on its ethical use are limited at best.     

Charismatic mediumship and traditional priesthood: power relations in a religious field

In the Indian Himalayas, mediums who operate as channels through which deities can communicate with their devotees, function alongside priests who serve these deities. In this article, we examine the relationship between these two religious roles with regard to the deity Mahāsū. At the individual-personal level we examine how their roles are linked to different sources of authority – whereas the priests’ source of authority is traditional, the mediums rely on charisma. At the societal level, we maintain that their different caste backgrounds are essential for understanding their public role. While the priests are Brahmins, almost all the mediums of Mahāsū are Rajputs. Thus, the medium institution enables the Rajputs, who make up the vast majority of Mahāsū’s devotees, to retain in their hands all decisions pertaining to the public sphere. Hence, they carry more political–social clout than the priests, because they can change the social-religious order or sustain it.     

Sacrifice In Hegel's Phenomenology Of Spirit

In this paper I rely on recent literature that emphasises the importance of recognition in Hegel's philosophy in order to apply the recognition-theoretic approach to the notion of sacrifice in the Phenomenology of Spirit. Firstly, I conduct a preliminary analysis by examining the general meaning of sacrifice as a form of determinate negation. Secondly, I focus on two phenomenological moments (the struggle between ‘faith’ and ‘pure insight’, and the cult) in order to answer the question, ‘Is a real (effective and unselfish) sacrifice possible?’ Finally, I argue that sacrifice should be considered as a Darstellung, and I explain the twofold connection between sacrifice and recognition. I conclude that there is no sacrifice without recognition, and the process of recognition is intrinsically sacrificial.     

What is The Red Book for analytical psychology?

Abstract: The Red Book enters the field of analytical psychology belatedly, yet presents itself as a foundational text. In this paper, I try to estimate how it will affect the field and to reflect on how it can be used by contemporary readers and clinicians. Jung's own works remain the baseline for theorizing and teaching the fundamental perspectives of analytical psychology, and yet the field has grown far beyond his own contributions. Is this late inheritance of central value or only of peripheral interest for the field? It can be used in various ways and certainly shows many interesting features that link it to Jung's later works, but does it detract or does it add? And if it adds, what does it add? In The Red Book, Jung is speaking to us from the grave. What is he saying? In this paper, I explore how it can be used as an inspirational text for keeping alive the spirit of the ancestors in the field and for linking the present to the deep past.     

我的导师是病人

从事矫形外科(骨科)30余年,主持实施各种肢体残疾、骨科疑难杂症的外科手术治疗2万多例,在矫形外科领域创造了多个国际和全国第一,形成了具有中国特色、疗效奇特、医疗费低廉的下肢残缺修复与功能重建技术体系,我的系列创新、专业发展,身心与文化成长经历证明了一个道理——患者是我的导师。     

战国侠义精神

战国时期涌现出来了众多的侠义之士,体现在他们身上的侠义精神引起了强烈的震撼和迅猛的扩展。《韩非子》认为,不要名,不为利,张扬个性,豪放肆意,蔑视权贵,敢于反抗是他们品质。司马迁认为,志向高远,仁义诚信,仗义行侠,轻死重气等是战国侠义精神的核心内涵。班固认为,战国侠义精神是充满了反抗的精神,其"温良泛爱,振穷周急,谦退不伐"等品质难得可贵。     

21世纪仍然需要大力弘扬和培育雷锋精神——纪念“向雷锋同志学习”题词发表40周年

新的时代需要雷锋精神,雷锋精神也完全能够同改革开放、发展市场经济,全面建设小康社会,加快社会主义现代化建设,开创中国特色社会主义事业新局面的时代要求结合起来。     

积极心理学视野下的孝道及心理机制

如何提高人们的幸福感是各领域积极探索的问题,孝道在几千年的历史演变和人们的幸福生活中占据重要的位置,然而其在当代市场经济环境下,具有怎样积极的时代内涵和特征,孝道与幸福感之间存在怎样的内在心理机制,以及孝道能否为提高行孝者的幸福感做出贡献等问题尚存在疑问,积极心理学为解决这些问题提供了很好的视角。这些问题的澄清为提升人们的幸福感,促进行孝者自觉自愿地行孝,解决老龄化问题以及和谐社会的构建提供了新的启示。