Karma accounts: supplementary thoughts on Theravāda,Madhyamaka, theosophy,and Protestant Buddhism

This article supplements Jens Schlieter's discussion of the cognitive metaphor of a karmic bank-account, adding selected points on karma monetary/fiscal metaphors as preserved chiefly in Pāli and Sanskrit sources. It explores various strands of the history of South Asian religions where distinct economic metaphors for karma come closer to the late ‘bank-account of karma’: i.e., the Vedic ‘three debts,’ a Hindu concept of God as accountant, the varieties of weighing the (mis)deeds, the Buddhist monastic status of debt and fiscal transactions, the equivalence of karma and debt as discussed by Madhyamaka thinkers, and others. While endorsing Schlieter's point, it also takes into account such modern Western sources as early theosophical discourse and ‘Protestant Buddhism.’     

Affective economies of Beyoglu in Istanbul: The construction of ‘Disgust’ and ‘Fear’ in neoliberalization of nightlife

This study contributes to understanding neoliberalism in Beyoglu, by examining how neoliberal discourses create and circulate normative meanings in nightlife. I suggest that neoliberal discourses and practices inform a value structure in everyday life which identifies subject positions in terms of affiliation and marginalization in Beyoglu's nightlife scene, based on the affective economies of Beyoglu. Affiliation/marginalization distil through moments of contact, imbued with various affective dispositions. I argue that spaces of affiliation shape and are shaped by the affective dispositions of (middle-)classed night-time euphoria. Conforming to norms of desirability, attractiveness and safety, they present a cultural and economic model attuned to neoliberal rationalities. Two dominant stereotypes of ‘undesirability’ emerge in affective terms: (i) those of ‘ineligible’ dispositions which produce emotions of ‘disgust’, and (ii) those of ‘fearful’ bodies constantly moving across the night-time leisure places of Beyoglu. By examining the relationship between neoliberalism and affective economies in Beyoglu's nightlife, this study contributes to research on night-time leisure places, providing insight into linkages between emotional subjectivities and rational thinking.     

Concessive and semifactual interpretations during reasoning with multiple conditionals

The present research evaluates how people integrate factual ‘if then’ and semifactual ‘even if’ conditional premises in an inference task. The theory of mental models establishes that semifactual statements are represented by two mental models with different epistemic status: ‘A & B’ is conjectured and ‘not-A & B’ is presupposed. However, following the principle of cognitive economy in tasks with a high working memory load such as reasoning with multiple conditionals, people could simplify the deduction process in two ways, by discarding: (a) the presupposed case and/or (b) the epistemic status information. In Experiment 1 and Experiment 2, we evaluated each of these hypotheses. In Experiment 1, participants make inferences from two conditionals: two factual conditionals or one factual and one semifactual, with different representations. In Experiment 2, participants make inferences with a factual conditional followed by two different semifactual conditionals that share the same representations but differ in their epistemic status. Accuracy and latency data suggest that people think of both the conjectured and the presupposed situations, but do not codify the epistemic status of either when the task does not require it. The results are discussed through theoretical predictions about how people make inferences from different connected conditionals.     

Can We Consume Our Way Out of Climate Change? A Call for Analysis

The problem of climate change is analyzed as a manifestation of economic growth, and the steady-state economy of ecological economics is proposed as a system-wide solution. Four classes of more specific solutions are described. In the absence of analysis, cultural inertia will bias solutions in favor of green consumption as a generalized solution strategy. By itself, green consumption is a flawed solution to climate change because it perpetuates or even accelerates economic growth that is incompatible with a sustainable culture. Addressing climate change requires an integration of regulatory, energy efficiency, skill-based, and dissemination solutions. Behavioral scientists are encouraged to work with others in ecological economics and other social sciences who recognize cultural reinvention as a means of achieving sustainability.     

The Ecology of Teachers’ Experiences with Violence and Lack of Administrative Support

Teacher‐directed violence is a common, yet understudied, phenomenon. Perpetrators of violence against teachers include not just students, but also administrators, parents, and colleagues. Administrators are key stakeholders when it comes to shaping school climate and safety that can reduce or increase the negative impact of violence against teachers. In this study, 237 teachers’ qualitative responses from a larger sample of 2,431 anonymous, online survey responses were examined to better understand their experiences with incidents of violence and how administrators played a role in these experiences. Results reveal that lack of administrator support negatively impacts teachers at multiple levels, including teachers’ feelings (individual); challenges associated with addressing issues related to students, parents, and other perpetrators (interpersonal); and school systems and policies (organizational). This study highlights the importance of administrative support and illustrates how administrators’ actions and inactions can have ripple effects at each level of the school microcosm. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

PROBLEM BEHAVIOR DURING PREFERENCE ASSESSMENTS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS AND PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Preferences of 2 children with developmental disabilities, whose functional analyses indicated that their problem behavior was maintained by access to tangible items, were assessed using three formats (i.e., paired stimulus [PS], multiple‐stimulus without replacement [MSWO], and free operant [FO]). The experimenter administered each format five times and compared levels of problem behavior across formats in a multielement design. Both participants exhibited problem behavior in PS and MSWO formats but not in the FO format. Results are discussed in terms of recommendations for practitioners.     

CONFESSIONS OF A PRACTICING NATURALISTIC THEIST: A RESPONSE TO HARDWICK,PEDERSON, AND PETERSON

Abstract. In my response to the comments of Charley Hardwick, Ann Pederson, and Greg Peterson, I continue the narrative, confessional mode of my writing in Dancing with the Sacred. First, I sketch some methodological decisions underlying my naturalistic, evolutionary, practical theology. I then respond to the encouraging suggestions of my commentators by further developing my ideas about naturalism, mystery, creativity as God, the place of ecological responsibility in my thinking, sin, and eschatology. I offer suggestions as to how I might widen the practical applications of my theology beyond environmental and medical ethics to other areas of moral responsibility in relation to the creative process. I do all this with much appreciation for the care and careful critical reflection that my commentators have devoted to my thinking.     

从生态自然观的角度探讨抗生素的应用与细菌耐药性的产生

抗生素的不合理使用和细菌耐药性是当今医学界所面临的严重问题,危害着人类的健康和生存.从生态自然观的角度,剖析了抗生素的应用与细菌耐药性产生的辩证关系,目的是使人们突破传统的思维局限,认清细菌耐药性问题的实质,为制定出合理使用抗生素的原则和预防细菌耐药性的措施提供一些理论依据.     

从哲学眼界论医学、健康安全与卫生经济

从哲学眼界看,医学与健康都是多元的概念,是许多相互交叉、渗透、影响、制约的因素互相作用的结果。医学、健康保健应适应经济水平,即我们应向患者及社会提供一个安全的、科学的、用的起的、可持续的医疗与健康保健服务。较多贪婪的、不安全的医学时代,最好的计划是不断进行几元钱的预防医学投入和适当的姑息医学。