Fred Dallmayr’s postmodern vision of Confucian democracy: a critical examination

As an advocate of ‘comparative political theory,’ Fred Dallmayr has long engaged with Confucianism with a new vision for democracy suitable in East Asia but little attention has been paid to his idea of Confucian democracy, which he presents as a specific mode of ethical or relational democracy. This paper investigates Dallmayr’s ethical vision of Confucian democracy, first, by articulating his postmodern reconceptualization of democracy in terms of post-humanism and, second, by examining his post-humanist reevaluation of Confucian virtue ethics as a critical resource for ethical democracy. It argues that the ethical vision of Confucian democracy, though morally appealing, should not dismiss the important instrumental value of democracy as a political system and, rather, find a way to integrate democracy’s instrumental and intrinsic values in a way that can enhance the qualitative relationality between people, political agents, and the common good.     

Relational Ethics of Globalization under the COVID-19 Pandemic

Globalization has been going on for a long process, although controversial, never stopping the pace of development. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 which profoundly changed human society and human life, globalization has been facing unprecedented resistance and challenges. Returning to various debates on globalization ethics, analyzing various problems that occur in the process of globalization development, this article starts from relational ethics, aiming to demonstrate the rationality of the sustainable development of globalization in the post-pandemic era. It will argue that although globalization will have new forms and contents under the new situation, the overall trend will not be reversed. It stresses the significance and urgency to explore the discourse construction of the human community with a shared future and the relational ethics of globalization in the post-pandemic era from the perspectives of history, reality, and methodology.     

An Analysis of Fundamental Issues in the Research of Artificial Intelligence Ethical Risk Prevention

While receiving widespread attention, the fundamental issues in the research of artificial intelligence (AI) ethical risk prevention need to be probed and articulated. Although the relevant research is still at an initial stage with long-term tasks, it has a very important social significance. The strategic goals of AI ethical risk prevention research are clarifying ethical risks, taking flexible and effective measures, and providing ethical support for the development of AI technology. This paper argues that key tasks must be of the top priority, such as broadening the theoretical foundation, evaluating ethical risks, realizing ethical design and solving core ethical risks. Therefore, the research of AI ethical risk prevention can be substantially promoted.     

Hume,Locke and consciousness

This is a reply to Donald Ainslie's discussion of Terence Penelhum's work on Hume, Locke and the nature of consciousness; although agree on many points about the differences between Locke and Hume, I take issue with Ainslie's views about the epistemic status Hume accords to introspective acts.     

An Exploration of the Dishonest Side of Self‐Monitoring: Links to Moral Disengagement and Unethical Business Decision Making

The majority of research on self‐monitoring has focused on the positive aspects of this personality trait. The goal of the present research was to shed some light on the potential negative side of self‐monitoring and resulting consequences in two independent studies. Study 1 demonstrated that, in addition to being higher on Extraversion, high self‐monitors are also more likely to be low on Honesty‐Humility, which is characterized by a tendency to be dishonest and driven by self‐gain. Study 2 was designed to investigate the consequences of this dishonest side of self‐monitoring using two previously unexamined outcomes: moral disengagement and unethical business decision making. Results showed that high self‐monitors are more likely to engage in unethical business decision making and that this relationship is mediated by the propensity to engage in moral disengagement. In addition, these negative effects of self‐monitoring were found to be due to its low Honesty‐Humility aspect, rather than its high Extraversion side. Further investigation showed similar effects for the Other‐Directedness and Acting (but not Extraversion) self‐monitoring subscales. These findings provide valuable insight into previously unexamined negative consequences of self‐monitoring and suggest important directions for future research on self‐monitoring. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Exercise and Movement as an Adjunct to Group Therapy for Women with Chronic Mental Illness

Abstract

Feminist therapists value the empowerment of clients and the appropriate sharing of the therapist's institutionalized power. As therapists who are also “mandated reporters,” we are obligated under certain circumstances to use our power to warn potential victims of harm, to prevent clients from harm to self or others, or make reports to institutions which have a great impact on clients' lives. Using four case examples, this paper will present clinical situations where the use of the therapist's power interfaces with homophobia, racism, and paternalism in the lives of low-income clients.     

Ethical and Legal Considerations in the Training of Mental Health Professionals

Summary

A discussion is provided regarding ethical and legal considerations that relate to the training of mental health professionals. A training program which emphasizes a proactive approach to identifying and resolving potential ethical and legal problems, and their close connection with clinical issues is described, as are the responsibilities of supervisors and supervisees in such a program. For illustrative purposes, a training vignette and a clinical vignette conclude the article.     

Touch,enjoyment and health: In infancy

The paper explores Peter Lomas's influence on the author as a therapist, and in particular his idea that therapy is inescapably an ethical endeavour, however much we try to avoid this. Less persuasive, however, is Lomas's belief in therapy as a moral influence. The author sees it more as an ethical space (after Roger Poole) where people can feel free to explore, without judgement, the difficulties that have brought them there - despair, loss, inauthenticity, unfulfilled lives. The paper also explores R.D. Laing's idea of ‘fear of the soul’ which afflicts therapists (including those who do not hold much with ideas of technique) - despite our title - as well as many of those who come to see us. This fear is, it is argued, understandable as it takes us into uncharted waters, a minefield. In other words, therapy can be dangerous. The paper draws both on the author's work with individuals, and in the Philadelphia Association's community house, with which he has been involved for many years.     

Stories of crime,stories of suffering: A narrative perspective on ethical issues in criminal justice counselling

Counsellors working with prisoners often listen to stories that are both stories of crime and stories of suffering. From a criminal justice perspective, the suffering of offenders is deliberately inflicted as punishment. From a counselling perspective, however, responding to the suffering of a client and even trying to relieve it is a basic ethical concern. So counsellors, working with offenders, may face the ethical question of how to integrate a response to the suffering of offenders with a response to crime, especially when confronted with stories of cruel, violent crimes. In this paper, it is argued that a narrative perspective on counselling offers a framework in which these responses may be integrated. Here, the principle of recognizing privileged authorship of persons is crucial. The concepts of ‘double listening for implicit others’ and ‘relationally rich stories’ are developed, which are based on concepts and ideas from narrative therapy. These serve as a first step of translating the narrative ethical framework to counselling practice.     

Abuse and religious experience: A study of religiously committed evangelical adults

Two hypotheses were tested: (1) in a sample of religiously-committed evangelical adults, past experience of abuse is related to more frequent (a) religious behaviour such as prayer, church attendance and Bible reading, and (b) religious experiences, such as religious visions, healings and speaking in tongues; (2) abuse is also associated with evidence of alienation from God, as noted in more frequent reports of God as distant and more frequent religious doubting. Survey data from 3424 adults attending one of four new evangelical movement churches were analysed. Controlling for socio-economic and religious socialization variables, a series of regression equations were calculated looking at the relationship between the experience of abuse and the dependent variables of three factor scores representing conventional religious behaviour, transcendent religious experience and feelings of distance from God. Self-report of the frequency of abuse was positively associated with frequency of reported transcendent religious experiences and with feelings of distance from God. A significant relationship between abuse and more conventional religious behaviour was not found. The findings provide mixed support for the idea that abuse results in ambivalent responses toward religion and God in religiously committed adults. The lack of relationship between abuse and conventional religious behaviours is somewhat inconsistent with prior results, and likely represents a ceiling effect. The positive correlation with transcendent religious experiences and distance from God are consistent with prior studies, but may suggest alternative explanations.