Terrorism,War, and The Killing of the Innocent

Commonsense moral thought holds that what makes terrorism particularly abhorrent is the fact that it tends to be directed toward innocent victims. Yet contemporary philosophers tend to doubt that the concept of innocence plays any significant role here, and to deny that prohibitions against targeting noncombatants can be justified through appeal to their moral innocence. I argue, however, that the arguments used to support these doubts are ultimately unsuccessful. Indeed, the philosophical positions in question tend to misunderstand the justification of both the prohibition against targeting noncombatants, and that of the permission to attack combatants, for which the paper offers a new account. Such misunderstandings make it all too easy to justify both terrorist actions and morally objectionable actions on the part of nations at war. Taking proper account of the role of innocence in the context of armed conflict will alter our ordinary ways of thinking about the ethics of war, with respect to both jus in bello and jus ad bellum.

Relationships between individualism-collectivism, gender, and direct or indirect aggression: a study in China, Poland, and the US

Direct and indirect aggression were studied in college students from China (women n=122; men n=97), a highly collectivistic culture; the US (women n=137; men n=136), a highly individualistic culture; and Poland (women n=105; men n=119), a culture with intermediate levels of collectivism and individualism. Consistent with a hypothesis derived from national differences in relative levels of collectivism and individualism, both direct and indirect aggression were higher in the US than in Poland and higher in Poland than in China. The theoretical implication of these results and directions for future research were discussed.     

内隐地域刻板印象的IAT和SEB比较研究

本研究以上海行政区为划分标准,探讨了"上海人"和"非上海人"群体的地域刻板印象以及"内-外群体效应"。结果发现:(1)IAT结果表明,被试在不相容条件下的反应时显著高于相容条件(t(25)=3.282,p<0.01);(2)SEB结果表明,被试对于不符合刻板印象的句子做出解释的次数显著多于符合刻板印象的句子(t(73)=2.844,p<0.01),且不同地域来源的被试做出的内、外归因也有显著差异(t(72)=3.172,p<0.01)。研究采用两种测验方法证实了地域刻板印象的存在,并且通过实践验证了SEB作为内隐社会认知研究方法的有效性。     

Ambiguity in Our Technical Society

The spiritual situation at the turn of the millennium can be interpreted through Paul Tillich's appropriation of modernity, by analysis of the determinative structures and decisive trends of our age. The methods and organization of industry determine modern society. Spiritually, this situation results in the proliferation of means without ends, the objectification of natural structures, and the reduction of persons to things. Extrapolating from Tillich's analysis, the spiritual situation at the turn of the millennium can be understood as a quasi-religious struggle between the movements of liberal individualism and multiculturalism, both of which lose the sense of ambiguity. The communitarian movement and related interpretations remain the minority voice offering a mediating position.     

Multicultural Education as Fostering Individual Autonomy

This article attempts a philosophical defense of an autonomy-based approach to multicultural education. I contend that multicultural education is necessary in order for students to be able to develop personal autonomy. This, in turn, can empower students to effectively formulate their own version of the good life. The development of autonomy need not, as many critics claim, promote atomistic individualism. Rather, contemporary liberal autonomy strives for a balance between the individual and the community. In defending multicultural education, my argument relies on Joseph Raz's notion of autonomy and Will Kymlicka's concept of a context of choice. I conclude that through multicultural education, students can expand their contexts of choice and consequently develop individual autonomy, an essential ingredient of the good life.     

American Political Culture in Comparative Perspective

In order to formulate a comparative model of political cultures, a theory that integrates psychological, sociological and economic variables is developed. Within societies dominant political cultural themes stress particular patterns of right and obligation. These patterns simultaneously undergird social solidarity and justify an unequal distribution of rewards. Differences among political cultures exist vertically on an historical dimension of increasing moral comprehensiveness and horizontally on a dimension of moral content. Internal tensions deriving from technological development and from social discourse about the moral adequacy of norms stimulate change. A case study of American political culture, with its contrasting emphases on egalitarianism and individualism, assesses the theoretical claims.     

Sacrifice and Relational Well-Being

ABSTRACT

The well-being account of sacrifice says that sacrifices are gross losses of well-being. This account is attractive because it explains the relationship between sacrifice and moral obligation. However, sacrifices made on behalf of loved ones may cause trouble for the account. Loving sacrifices occur in a context where the agent’s well-being and the beneficiary’s well-being are intertwined. They present a challenge to individualism about well-being. Drawing inspiration from feminist philosophers and bioethicists, I argue that a notion of ‘relational well-being’, analogous to ‘relational autonomy’, can help account for loving sacrifices without either undermining the well-being theory of sacrifice or minimizing the very real sacrifices made in caregiving situations.     

Positive predictors of teacher effectiveness

Some teachers are dramatically more effective than others, but traditional indicators of competence (e.g., certification) explain minimal variance in performance. The rigors of teaching suggest that positive traits that buffer against adversity might contribute to teacher effectiveness. In this prospective longitudinal study, novice teachers (N = 390) placed in under-resourced public schools completed measures of optimistic explanatory style, grit, and life satisfaction prior to the school year. At the conclusion of the school year, teacher effectiveness was measured in terms of the academic gains of students. All three positive traits individually predicted teacher performance. When entered simultaneously, however, only grit and life satisfaction remained significant predictors. These findings suggest that positive traits should be considered in the selection and training of teachers.     

Humanizing education in the Soviet Union: A plea for caution in these postmodern times

In this article, the author problematizes the process of humanizing education in the era of perestroika and glasnost. Identifying herself as a democratic socialist, Kohli invites her Soviet colleagues to acknowledge the criticisms of liberal capitalism before they move headlong in that direction. In deconstructing such taken-for-granted concepts as individualism, democracy, market economy, and community, Kohli suggests that both the West and the East could benefit from re-visiting their respective revolutionary traditions at this crucial historical time.     

The Mythic Potential of Evolution

This article focuses on therelationship between science and myth. Its author (1) suggests that the theory of evolutionpro-vides the most powerful mythic structure for our times; (2) points out the problems that arisefrom the fact that, historically, evolution became yoked to the earlier concept of material,technological "progress"; (3) argues for an interpretation of evolution that is basedon religious and psychological models of human development; and (4) proposes that such aninterpretation, in which personal and social growth is seen as the possible outcome ofevolutionary forces, may act as a corrective to a myth based on material progress.