The Relationship between Cultural Values and Political Ideology, and the Role of Political Knowledge

Cultural theory maintains that four worldviews—egalitarianism, individualism, hierarchicalism, and fatalism—can be used to describe people and societies. We examine survey measures of two of those worldviews—egalitarianism and individualism—to understand their relationship with belief systems. Contrary to what one might expect based on the cultural theory literature, we find that people with low levels of political knowledge seem not to have coherent worldviews regarding these issues. In contrast, people with high levels of political knowledge respond to egalitarianism and individualism questions as if they were opposite ends of a single, liberal-conservative continuum, rather than two of four distinct worldviews. We conclude that cultural theory researchers should take account of the influence of political knowledge whenever they investigate worldviews.     

SOSA ON EPISTEMIC CIRCULARITY AND REFLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE

Abstract: Ernest Sosa has done important work on epistemic circularity, epistemic virtue, and reflective knowledge. He holds that epistemic circularity need not be vicious and need not prevent us from knowing that our ways of forming beliefs are reliable. In this article, I briefly explore Sosa's defense of this view and raise some questions about what is required for reflective knowledge.     

Sceptical possibilities? No worries

This paper undermines a paradigmatic form of sceptical reasoning. It does this by describing, and then dialectically dissolving, the sceptical-independence presumption, upon which that form of sceptical reasoning relies.     

The other between fear and desire – countertransference fantasy as a bridge between me and the other

This paper attempts to show how unrepresented rupture/injury of primary expectations of the early relationship is reactivated in the analytic process. This becomes perceptible especially as unconscious fear and a specific defence described as ‘living behind a glass-wall’. The author, however, postulates the existence of an inherent dialogical-dyadic principle in the psyche, which she calls archetypal hope, and shows how this principle may become active in the analytical space. These aspects of analytical treatments are sketched with two vignettes, in which unconscious processes of exchange cause the analyst to experience unrepresented states. The author describes how the analyst is gradually able to experience and understand this, and how this understanding finally – without first becoming explicit – becomes effective in the analytical space. Special attention is given to the analytic attitude. A readiness to accept and move into regression and a receptivity to attune to the early sensory experience of the analysand is regarded as essential. Through this the analyst gains access to the inner space of the analysand and, through bodily experience and pre-symbolic processes, the unrepresented may thus become figurable. The reverie and countertransference fantasies are understood as a bridge: they connect the analytic pair. However, the reverie also creates the transition between that which was not – the absent representation – and that which wants to emerge. It thus bridges the personal unconscious (implicit expectation) and the archetypal (the archetypal hope). Through this, the space of hope may become a space of possibility, and help bridge the chasm between the experienced and the hoped-for.     

Doing Ethics or Changing for the Better?

In this paper, classical pragmatism is used as a method, not as a substantial ethical theory, to develop “moral pragmatics.” Moral pragmatics offers a constructive approach for making progress where traditional ethical theories converge, and it innovates ethical deliberation. Assuming widespread agreement that real moral problems need practical solutions, the paper addresses two related problems: the missing link between ethical theories and moral practice, and the question of who is in charge of finding such solutions. It argues that “conscience” can create a link between ethical knowledge and moral practice, and that this partly discharges “the ethicist” from the task of solving problems that are not really, or not only, hers. Two specific methodological innovations are suggested that go beyond admonitions to render ethics sensitive to context. Instead, a reevaluation of “casuistry” and a sensitivity for “finding the right words” give an idea of how to achieve this goal.     

INSTABILITY AND DISSONANCE: PROVOCATIONS FROM SANDRA HARDING

Abstract. Sandra Harding's work is useful, not only as a critique of the scientific method and its epistemological constructs, but also in providing new energy and insights to the discussions about epistemology between theology and science. Feminist theory has been critical of the worldviews inherited from the Enlightenment. No longer is there one unambiguous way of knowing ourselves and the world around us, a single vision of reality. Feminist philosophers of science like Sandra Harding and Donna Haraway have redefined the scientific method and its analytic categories. They have contributed significantly to this discussion by moving the Enlightenment epistemological issues into the arena of politics and ethics. Feminist theory continues to remind us that what is important is not only how or what we know but what we do with that knowledge and how we use it.     

论《尘埃落定》中的道家文化蕴含

《尘埃落定》是藏族作家阿来的作品,长期以来人们对它的解读,往往从藏民族民间文化和宗教文化角度切入,其实如果我们把作家的文人身份和作品中弘扬的人文精神结合起来研读,就会发现在文本中有着浓郁的道家文化身影。     

21世纪医学教育的知识结构初探

在知识爆炸的今天,个人全面系统掌握医学基础知识只能是一个幻想,新世纪要求有关教育知识结构的变革。继续延用经典医学学科多平层型知识结构进行21世纪医学教育已不适应,可满足需求的应是以可持续发展的新知识为核心的核心－壳层型新知识结构。目前似应以细胞知识为核心重组医学教育知识结构体系,按应用基础、临床等知识壳层对冗杂的经典学科知识进行精炼与重组。     

语义知识神经表征的fMRI研究：通道特异性或类别特异性？

在同一实验中同时考虑类别与通道二个因素,并采用典型的语义提取任务应用功能磁共振成像技术探讨了语义知识的神经基础,结果发现不同类型的语义知识的脑激活模式（含左梭形回的激活）无论在范围还是强度上存在很大的相似性;而且,在严格的统计阈值下,不存在通道或是类别特异性激活的脑区。结果提示语义知识的神经表征分布于整个大脑皮层;在提取物体语义知识时都会同时激活该物体的视觉表象。另外,研究观察到的语义提取过程中BA9区的激活进一步证实并扩展了关于“汉语和表音文字在皮层组织上存在重要差异的观点”。