Developing Ethical Leadership in China: The Value of Confucian Virtue Ethics

Most research into ethical leadership depends on Western corporate experience, however current research findings may not fit the Chinese context. As a result, it is necessary to appeal to indigenous and traditional Chinese sources of wisdom when defining and evaluating ethical leadership in China. Both rule-following ethics and instrumental approaches, which are mainly used in recent empirical studies about ethical leadership, cannot enable people to have inner motivation to behave ethically. Accordingly, this article intends to establish an ethical leadership model in China by appealing to Confucian virtue ethics. A Confucian ethical leader possesses benevolence (ren 仁) inside and treats others in a proper way according to ritual and rites (li 禮). He/she makes self-cultivation as the first priority and is a virtuous role model, influencing others in a natural way by of his/her moral charisma. For such a person, economic profitableness is not a primary concern, where instead the goals, strategies and practices of his/her organization are defined by the principle of righteousness (yi 義).     

Cheating: One common morality for gains and losses but two components of morality itself

Previous studies show that decision makers (DMs) lie more to avoid a loss than achieve a gain. Two compelling mechanisms might explain this observation. One assumes that lying is a risky activity and relates to the shape of the monetary value function described by prospect theory, which assumes (a) increased risk taking for loss frames and (b) an asymmetry between the perceived values of losses and gains. The other relates to the importance of self-esteem functions as expressed in self-concept maintenance models, self-esteem issues being weighed against monetary issues. This alternative explanation assumes that a loss frame serves as a factor lowering moral considerations. We report an experimental study presenting sets of lotteries to DMs, once in a moral context and once in a traditional probabilistic context. The results show that DMs take less risk when lotteries are presented in a moral context. It is also shown that DMs take more risk for losses than gains, this holding for both the moral and probabilistic contexts. This latter result suggests that loss/gain asymmetry can be completely explained by prospect theory factors, and framing makes no difference to the valuing of moral considerations.     

略谈孔子"论政"——兼论先秦儒家政治、伦理相贯通的伦理政治思想

本文考察了孔子“论政”和孟子“仁政”、荀子“礼治”以及儒家经典《大学》、《礼运》、《祭义》篇与《孝经》等所体现的政治与伦理相贯通的伦理政治思想,并从理论上分析了政治与伦理的区别和联系,以及评述了西方一些著名哲学家、伦理学家对政治与伦理相互关联的认识和论述。认为对先秦儒家政治伦理相贯通的伦理政治思想应给予历史主义的科学评价,肯定其所包含的民本、民主、贵民等积极因素,借鉴其德治与法治统一、个性完善与社会完善统一、物质追求与精神追求统一、理性主义与人文精神统一的安邦治国的慧识,为建设中国特色的政治文明和精神文明服务。     

Factors in the waning of muricide in the rat. II. Digging behavior

If each mouse killed by a rat is removed from the rat's home cage and replaced immediately by another, the decline in the rate of killing within the one-hour sessions is accompanied by an increase in digging in the woodchip bedding material. Deprivation of the opportunity to dig by removal of the bedding material results in a statistically significant increase in kill rate. Since no other behaviors monitored showed a similar increase with this manipulation, it appears that digging may be a mechanism important in the waning of muricide. Furthermore, digging may be, in some sense, a functional equivalent of killing.     

The development of a Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress: From limbic structures to behavioral medicine

This paper attempts to argue for a consistent trend in a research spanning more than fifty years, starting in the exciting neuroscience environment in the Anatomical Institute at the University of Oslo, and presently to be found as an active behavioral medicine unit in Bergen. The most comprehensive theoretical result is a systematic and formalized theory of stress, referred to as the Cognitive Activation Theory of Stress, CATS for short ( Ursin & Eriksen, 2004 ). There are many roots, many related issues, and many scientists involved. There is no way to produce a complete story. However, one aspect is beyond discussion, the story started in the Neurophysiology laboratory in Oslo.     

Delimiting the concept of research: an ethical perspective

It is important to be able to offer an account of which activities count as scientific research, given our current interest in promoting research as a means to benefit humankind and in ethically regulating it. We attempt to offer such an account, arguing that we need to consider both the procedural and functional dimensions of an activity before we can establish whether it is a genuine instance of scientific research. By placing research in a broader schema of activities, the similarities and differences between research activities and other activities become visible. It is also easier to show why some activities that do not count as research can sometimes be confused with research and why some other activities can be regarded only partially as research. Although the concept of research is important to delimit a class of activities which we might be morally obliged to promote, we observe that the class of activities which are regarded as subject to ethical regulation is not exhausted by research activities. We argue that, whether they be research or not, all the activities that are likely to affect the rights and interests of the individuals involved and impact on the rights and interests of other individuals raise ethical issues and might be in need of ethical regulation.     

Being, Doing, and Knowing: Developing Ethical Competence in Health Care

There is a growing interest in ethical competence-building within nursing and health care practising. This tendency is accompanied by a remarkable growth of ethical guidelines. Ethical demands have also been laid down in laws. Present-day practitioners and researchers in health care are thereby left in a virtual cross-fire of various legislations, codes, and recommendations, all intended to guide behaviour. The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of ethical guidelines in the process of ethical competence-building within health care practice and medical research. A conceptual and critical philosophical analysis of some paragraphs of the Helsinki Declaration and of relevant literature was performed. Three major problems related to ethical guidelines were identified, namely, the interpretation problem (there is always a gap between the rule and the practice, which implies that ethical competence is needed for those who are to implement the guidelines); the multiplicity problem (the great number of codes, declarations, and laws might pull in different directions, which may confuse the health care providers who are to follow them); and the legalisation problem (ethics concerns may take on a legal form, where ethical reflection is replaced by a procedure of legal interpretations). Virtue ethics might be an alternative to a rule based approach. This position, however, can turn ethics into a tacit knowledge, leading to poorly reflected and inconsistent ethical decisions. Ethical competence must consist of both being (virtues) and doing (rules and principles), but also of knowing (critical reflection), and therefore a communicative based model is suggested.     

"心理发展与教育"的新认识——写在首届"中学和高校的趋势、机遇和挑战——教育家的会议"之后

心理发展和教育的关系涉及到如何从学生心理发展的角度出发,选择适宜的教育模式问题,它是当代发展心理学与教育心理学的一个重要课题。首届"中学和高校的趋势、机遇和挑战——教育家的会议"从自我同一感和道德教育、心理的连续型发展与教育衔接、内隐学习与实践教育出发,就心理发展和教育间的关系提出了一些全新的理解,为解决中等教育实践中的多个问题提供了宝贵的建议。     

β受体阻滞剂治疗慢性心力衰竭作用机制规律的探讨

β受体阻滞剂作为一种负性肌力药物,其在慢性心力衰竭治疗中的地位于近几十年中发生了戏剧性的改变,由禁忌药转变为指南推荐的重要药.β受体阻滞剂引发了人们对慢性心力衰竭发病机制的重新思考,使人们对疾病及其治疗有了更新更全面的认识,这其中体现了哲学与自然科学间的紧密联系,提示我们运用哲学原理可以指导自然科学的发展.     

伦理生态视阈中的医学伦理精神诠释与建构

基于本体思维的"原子式探讨"不能实现医学伦理精神的现代建构。由本体伦理思维到伦理生态思维的道德哲学范式转换为探讨医学伦理精神提供了新的思维向度和价值资源。伦理生态视阈中的医学伦理精神是一个多维、多层次的张力系统,其建构在于:重建伦理主体的自身精神生态、"医学伦理—卫生经济"政策生态、医学伦理—社会文化生态。