Priorities of Global Justice

One-third of all human deaths are due to poverty-related causes, to malnutrition and to diseases that can be prevented or cured cheaply. Yet our politicians, academics, and mass media show little concern for how such poverty might be reduced. They are more interested in possible military interventions to stop human rights violations in developing countries, even though such interventions – at best – produce smaller benefits at greater cost. This Western priority may be rooted in self-interest. But it engenders, and is sustained by, a deeply flawed moral presentation of global economic cooperation. The new global economic order we impose aggravates global inequality and reproduces severe poverty on a massive scale. On any plausible understanding of our moral values, the prevention of such poverty is our foremost responsibility.     

"推天道以明人事":邵雍先天易学旨趣

邵雍对其先天易学(或称先天学、先天象数学)的阐释是为推演先天而在的形上之理而展开,在此过程中,先天象数易学只是其表意的工具而不是其学术思想的全部.形式上,先天易学是邵雍通过一套阴阳消长模式构建起来的象数易学;而内容上,先天易学则是其借<易>阐发儒家的性命义理之学.邵雍在其易学思想的阐释中,力图构建一个贯穿于天地万物的最高法则--"先天"之道,而最终落脚点却是其儒学所主张的人事之用.因此,他对易学的阐释始终围绕着"推天道以明人事"的易学旨趣展开.     

“道”性、“水”性、人性、中国人人格

＂道＂性-＂水＂性-人性-中国人人格具有内在一致性,形成了一个一以贯之的有机体系。在这一有机体系中,作为＂道＂性的＂代言人＂,＂水＂性成为＂道＂性与人性及中国人人格间的＂中介者＂。以＂几于道＂的＂水＂为中介,通过对道家思想的分析,反观得到了道家思想影响下中国人的人性建构及人格特征,具体表现为：在思维上明＂道＂并懂得＂道＂的运行规律,以联系、变化和矛盾的眼光看待万事万物,情绪情感上静而不躁,意志品质上柔韧而不强作妄为,行事处世上既超脱一已之私、于物寡欲,又能待人谦退不争,并能从整体上显现出＂道＂之＂自然本真＂的根本特性。文末探讨了道家思想文化影响下,所形成的中国人独特的人格特征与现代化建设事业可能的适应情形。     

Observing ben wyckoff: from basic research to programmed instruction and social issues

L. Benjamin Wyckoff's seminal contributions to both psychological theory and application are the subject of this review. Wyckoff started his academic career as a graduate student at Indiana University, where he developed the observing-response procedure under the guidance of B. F. Skinner and C. J. Burke. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wyckoff refined his mathematical theory of secondary reinforcement. This theory was the impetus for his creation of an electronic simulation of a rat running a T maze, one of the first "computer models" of learning. Wyckoff next went to Emory University, leaving there to help create two of the most successful companies dedicated to the advancement of programmed instruction and teaching machines: Teaching Machines, Inc. and the Human Development Institute. Wyckoff's involvement in these companies epitomizes the application of basic behavior-analytic principles in the development of technology to improve education and human relationships. The emergent picture of Wyckoff is that of a man who, through his research, professional work in educational applications of behavioral principles, and active involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, was strongly committed to applying behavioral science to positively influence human behavior change.     

进化心理学中的悲观主义色彩

进化心理学作为现代西方心理学三种新取向之一,提出了一些新的心理学观点与研究方向,但其理论本身体现出了一种悲观主义色彩。例如在对男女两性在伴侣选择和婚姻维持的心理行为机制的探究上体现出的一些人类高级情感,如爱情的缺失。文章探讨了进化心理学理论中悲观主义色彩在其主要理论假设中的体现,并简要地将其与另外两种取向———后现代心理学与积极心理学进行了对比。其目的是为了通过对进化心理学的反思,以推进心理学科的深入研究。     

Associations between job burnout and self-efficacy: a meta-analysis

Background and Objectives: This study aimed at systematically reviewing and meta-analyzing the strength of associations between self-efficacy and job burnout (the global index and its components). We investigated whether these associations would be moderated by: (a) the type of measurement of burnout and self-efficacy, (b) the type of occupation, (c) the number of years of work experience and age, and (d) culture. Design and Methods: We systematically reviewed and analyzed 57 original studies (N?=?22,773) conducted among teachers (k?=?29), health-care providers (k?=?17), and other professionals (k?=?11). Results: The average effect size estimate for the association between self-efficacy and burnout was of medium size (?.33). Regarding the three burnout components, the largest estimate of the average effect (?.49) was found for the lack of accomplishment. The estimates of the average effect were similar, regardless of the type of measures of burnout and self-efficacy measurement (general vs. context-specific). Significantly larger estimates of the average effects were found among teachers (compared to health-care providers), older workers, and those with longer work experience. Conclusions: Significant self-efficacy–burnout relationships were observed across countries, although the strength of associations varied across burnout components, participants' profession, and their age.     

A JEWISH CONCEPTION OF HUMAN DIGNITY

This paper depicts the meanings of human dignity as they unfold and evolve in the Bible and the Halakhah. I posit that three distinct features of a Jewish conception of human dignity can be identified in contrast to core characteristics of a liberal conception of human dignity. First, the original source of human dignity is not intrinsic to the human being but extrinsic, namely in God. Second, it is argued that the “dignity of the people” has precedence over personal autonomy and liberty, which are core liberal pillars. The third characteristic pertains to the potential conflict between personal autonomy and liberty, and God's commandments. The theoretical analysis of human dignity is then examined in light of several Supreme Court decisions in Israel during the 1990s. I illustrate that Jewish religious and secular‐liberal conceptions pull in different directions in the rulings of liberal and religious Justices in Israel.     

The Endorsement of Minority Rights: The Role of Group Position, National Context, and Ideological Beliefs

The present research was conducted in the Netherlands and used an experimental design to examine the endorsement of minority rights among Turkish and Kurdish participants in two framed, national contexts: the Netherlands and Turkey. In the Dutch context, each group is a minority, whereas in the Turkish context the Kurds are an oppressed national minority and the Turks are the national majority. The results showed that the Turks were less in favor of minority rights in the Turkish context than in the Dutch context, whereas the Kurds were more in favor of minority rights in the Turkish than in the Dutch context. In addition, the endorsement of minority rights was related to beliefs about majority rule, state unity, and ingroup identification, as well as to cultural diversity and perceived pervasive discrimination. The associations with the former three measures differed between the two groups and the two national contexts, whereas the latter two measures had main effects on the endorsement of minority rights.     

Human and Animal Subjects of Research: The Moral Significance of Respect versus Welfare

Human beings with diminished decision-making capacities are usually thought to require greater protections from the potential harms of research than fully autonomous persons. Animal subjects of research receive lesser protections than any human beings regardless of decision-making capacity. Paradoxically, however, it is precisely animals’ lack of some characteristic human capacities that is commonly invoked to justify using them for human purposes. In other words, for humans lesser capacities correspond to greater protections but for animals the opposite is true. Without explicit justification, it is not clear why or whether this should be the case. Ethics regulations guiding human subject research include principles such as respect for persons—and related duties—that are required as a matter of justice while regulations guiding animal subject research attend only to highly circumscribed considerations of welfare. Further, the regulations guiding research on animals discount any consideration of animal welfare relative to comparable human welfare. This paper explores two of the most promising justifications for these differences␣between the two sets of regulations. The first potential justification points to lesser moral status for animals on the basis of their lesser capacities. The second potential justification relies on a claim about the permissibility of moral partiality as␣found in common morality. While neither potential justification is sufficient to justify the regulatory difference as it stands, there is possible common ground between supporters of some regulatory difference and those rejecting the current difference.