《周易》“元亨利贞”新解——兼论周代习贞习惯与《周易》卦爻辞的形成

《周易.乾卦》头四个字是"元亨利贞",历来有根本不同的解释。《易经.文言传》有著名的"四德"说,将"元"、"亨"、"利"和"贞"都读作单独的名词,即"善之长"、"嘉之会"、"义之和"和"事之干"。与此不同,不少注疏家将四个字分成两段,即"元亨"和"利贞",但是没有一致的理解。譬如,朱熹以为"利贞"是"利在于正"的意思,而高亨谓"利贞犹言利占也"。本文采取后一种译法,但是与朱熹和高亨又有不同。本文首先论证"亨"原文应该是"饗","元亨"或"元饗"的意思是本次贞卜的祷告被鬼神享受,然后又提出"利贞"应该读作"利于贞卜"的意思。表面看来,第一次贞卜的结果告诉贞卜者再进行贞卜似乎有违情理,然而本文论证中国古代卜法往往进行习贞。"利贞"是指导贞卜者再作习贞。     

THE VARIETY OF PANENTHEISMS

Abstract. In this article I review the efforts of eighteen scientists and theologians, recorded in this book, to describe the relation of God to the universe during a conference sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation at Windsor Castle in 2001. Theologians from several branches of Christian faith articulate their understanding of panentheism, revealing a considerable diversity. I deal with each author in relation to six issues: the way God acts, how God's intimate relation to the world is to be described, the relation of God to spacetime, whether God is dependent upon the world, what type of language is used, and the problem of dipolar panentheism. I identify significant differences between these authors, suggest where fruitful dialogue is possible, and distinguish between intelligibility and plausibility in comparing dipolar panentheism with other types.     

EVOLUTIONARY THEORY AND THEOLOGY: A MUTUALLY ILLUMINATIVE DIALOGUE

Scientific perspectives often are perceived to challenge biblically based cosmologies and theologies. Arthur Peacocke, biochemist and theologian, recognized that this challenge actually represents an opportunity for Christian theology to reenvision and reinterpret its traditions in ways that take into account scientific theories of evolution. In the course of his career, Peacocke offered a new paradigm for the dialogue between theology and science. This paper explores his proposals, in particular his theories of language, the God‐world relation, and the nature of God, and exemplifies the impact these proposals had on his theological insights.     

THE DIVINE CONJECTURES: A CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNT OF HUMAN ORIGINS AND DESTINY

Six “divine conjectures” frame the place of Theóne (The One to Whom we pray) in the creation of our universe and for its continuing development in five subsequent stages into a loving universe. The first stage, the cosmological universe, establishes the laws of nature, understood by scientists as the “standard model”. The second stage introduces life and death into the universe by a process we are only now beginning to understand. Stage 3 requires certain life forms to become conscious with a subset of those life‐forms acquiring language that results in that subset becoming self‐conscious. The next stage, Conjecture 4, identifies certain persons who become addicted to learning in their unrelenting effort to learn as much of what can be known as possible. The fifth conjecture requires individual persons to act as agents of Theóne in achieving Conjecture 6—a universe that is both loving and lawful. During the course of the exposition subsidiary discussions of the concepts of conjecture and hypothesis explicate the function of each in the advancement of knowledge and understanding. There are brief discussions of prayer and purpose in relation to the Divine.     

Spirituality and education for global citizenship: developing student teachers’ perceptions and practice

Education for Global Citizenship (E4GC) offers many opportunities to explore spirituality and a sense of how one fits into the world at a range of levels. Beyond the Curriculum Boundaries is a project that enables student teachers to consider E4GC alongside issues of multiculturalism, antiracism and democracy education, with a strong focus on religious education and geography. This paper outlines the ethos behind the project, identifies key elements and themes, appraises student responses, and evaluates key learning points. Student teachers respond to the module in a variety of ways that inform their learning and teaching, and development takes place on both personal and professional levels: as the project has developed the awareness of children’s worldviews and the sense of interconnectedness with others has grown, adding an increasingly spiritual dimension to learning. This article argues that E4GC provides an effective vehicle for supporting the often‐overlooked spiritual dimension of children development.     

Determinants of a Negotiator's Initial Opening Offer

Although the initial offer is a crucial aspect in the process of most negotiations, there is still a complete lack of empirical evidence on what underpins initial offer decisions. For this reason, the effects of different reference points on the negotiator's initial offer were examined in this study. Results from a sample of 596 managers indicate that knowledge of the opponent's best available alternative, or (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement BATNA), is by far the strongest determinant. Criteria of fairness, as reflected in an estimated market price, are also important. However, awareness of the dependency of the other party has no direct effect on the initial offer. Apparently, negotiators define the negotiation game as the management of interdependency in an extremely egocentric way and base their opening offers largely on cues regarding the power structure within the dyad.     

Technical Considerations When Handling Questions in the Initial Phase of Psychotherapy

Responding to patients' questions throughout the therapeutic process can be challenging. Questions posed at the beginning of treatment have unique features which make them especially difficult to negotiate. When handled skillfully and tactfully, questions asked during this phase can provide the therapist with important opportunities to foster engagement in treatment. Questions can provide valuable information about the patient's internal world, afford the opportunity to socialize the patient to the therapeutic process, and aid in rapport-building. This article will focus on ways to understand and handle questions patients ask during the initial phase of treatment. Vignettes will be presented and specific responses therapists can offer to patients will be discussed.     

Effects of initial choices in the prisoner's dilemma

In the two‐person prisoner's dilemma game (PDG), there is considerable evidence that the tit‐for‐tat (TFT) strategy is most effective in inducing the other person to cooperate. One of the important features of the TFT strategy is that it cooperates on the first trial. We varied the initial choices of a simulated other, and tested the effects of (a) initial choices (cooperation or defection), and (b) persistence of initial choices: unilateral cooperation (or defection) on the first trial, first two trials, or first four trials. Results showed that a cooperative strategy—one that starts with cooperative choices—induced greater cooperation than a strategy that started with defections. The results of this study clearly show that (a) a cooperative strategy—one that initiates unilateral cooperation at the outset and then adopts a TFT strategy—is very effective in inducing subsequent cooperation from the other party, (b) the effectiveness of a cooperative strategy varies directly with the cooperative orientation of the other party (a cooperative strategy is more effective against a cooperative than a competitive person), and (c) initial cooperation is more effective if it is repeated more than once. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Schrödinger's Cat and Divine Action: Some Comments on the Use of Quantum Uncertainty to Allow for God's Action in the World

I present results of recent work in the field of quantum optics and relate this work to discussions about the theory of quantum mechanics and God's divine action in the world. Experiments involving atomic decay, relevant to event uncertainty in quantum mechanics, as well as experiments aimed at elucidating the so–called Schrödinger's–cat paradox, help clarify apparent ambiguities or paradoxes that I believe are at the heart of renewed attempts to locate God within our constructed physical theories and tend to narrow the gaps proposed as an opening for divine action. Some problems arise because of imprecise use of nonmathematical language to force quantum mechanics into an intuitive "classical" framework.     

DIVINE AGENCY AND THE PRINCIPLE OF THE CONSERVATION OF ENERGY

Many contemporary thinkers seeking to integrate theistic belief and scientific thought reject what they regard as two extremes. They disavow deism in which God is understood simply to uphold the existence of the physical universe, and they exclude any view of divine influence that suggests the performance of physical work through an immaterial cause. Deism is viewed as theologically inadequate, and acceptance of direct immaterial causation of physical events is viewed as scientifically illegitimate. This desire to avoid both deism and any positing of God as directly intervening in the physical order has led to models of divine agency that seek to defend the reality of divine causal power yet affirm the causal closure of the physical. I argue, negatively, that such models are unsuccessful in their attempts to affirm both the reality of divine causal power acting in the created world and the causal closure of the physical and, positively, that the assumption that underlies these models, namely that any genuine integration of theistic and scientific belief must posit the causal closure of the physical on pain of violating well-established conservation principles, is mistaken.