Of Power and Compassion

Abstract: While military and economic power are obviously central instruments of policy in international relations, there are a number of reasons why power alone is insufficient to succeed in fighting terrorism. Three central reasons are discussed in this essay: the limitations and the dilemma of power; the proposition that the most threatening form of terrorism, such as al‐Qaeda's, is conducted by nonstate actors, conventional deterrence against whom is less effective; and the role of motivation in conflicts where the distribution of power is asymmetrical. In addition to these objective reasons, it is argued that the foreign‐policy strategies pursued ultimately affect the actors' own values.     

Framing Emotional Response

Framing studies typically are concerned with how people's opinions are affected by opposing ways of presenting, or framing, an issue or event. This paper investigates whether different frames also lead to different patterns of emotional response. Cognitive appraisal models of emotion suggest that frames can alter emotional reactions. An experiment compared students' emotional responses to versions of a newspaper article that emphasized underlying social conditions as the cause of the 1992 Los Angeles riots (situational frame) or emphasized irresponsibility and criminality on the part of the rioters (dispositional frame). Few systematic framing effects were found when examining whether respondents reported experiencing a particular emotion. However, consistent with recent work showing that predispositions mediate the effect of frames on opinion, frames altered the relationship between predispositions and emotion. Patterns suggestive of framing effects also emerged in an examination of the content of people's emotional reactions. The findings are consistent with the claim that framing affects emotional responses, reinforce the claim that framing effects depend on individual predispositions, and underscore the importance of accounting for the content of people's emotional responses in the study of emotion.     

What we must Accomplish in the coming Decades

Abstract. In order to survive as a species and grow in complexity, humanity must adopt a new image of what it means to be human, rediscover a reward system beyond the merely material, and see that young people find joy in challenges and in cooperating with others.     

心理预防概念的更新及其对实践的指导意义

继Caplan的“公共卫生预防模型”之后,Gordon提出另一个综合性预防模型;美国国家科学院医学研究所绘制了“心理健康干预光谱”; 美国国家研究所和国家科学院医学院则进一步将“心理健康促进”正式纳入心理预防概念。“心理健康促进”是针对消极被动的传统预防而提出的积极主动的预防。心理预防概念的发展与更新,特别是将“心理健康促进”纳入心理预防体系,要求树立预防的全局观念,提高预防的针对性,将消极心理预防与积极心理健康促进结合起来。     

A Study of Volunteer Clients Who Experienced Live Sessions of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in Front of a Public Audience

This is a study of the responses of 100 selected subjects who gave their reactions to experiencing a live session of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) with Albert Ellis in front of a public audience. Ninety-seven of the respondents found their session helpful; only 13 felt uncomfortable discussing their problems in public; 99 of them felt that Dr. Ellis focused on their main problem; 94 of them reported that they somewhat or very much used Dr. Ellis's suggestions; 90 of them felt that the members of the audience suggestions were helpful; and 93 of them said that they would like to work with Dr. Ellis again at a public therapy session. Limitations of this study are discussed.     

Introduction to The Philosopher as Public Intellectual

This introductory essay offers a general survey of some of the conceptual and normative issues that arise with respect to the philosopher as a public intellectual, arguing that philosophers should be public intellectuals. It also briefly introduces the themes of the essays that follow.     

Model Building With Prospect Theory: A Cognitive Approach to International Relations

Despite the growing call for new models of politics grounded in the capacities of real–world decision–makers, much international relations theory still incorporates rationalist assumptions. Scholars defend such assumptions as the best way to produce parsimonious theoretical structures. Recent attempts to deploy prospect theory in the study of international politics are consistent with the call for empirically grounded models of political behavior. However, past attempts have often emphasized individualized comparisons of prospect theory with rational choice at the expense of building deductive theory. The analysis here demonstrates that prospect theory can produce deductive models for empirical comparison with those already manufactured under rational choice. The result is a new set of propositions concerning international politics securely anchored to the actual capacities of human actors.     

Trust in Government in the Aftermath of 9/11: Determinants and Consequences

Among the most notable changes in U.S. public opinion that occurred after 11 September 2001 was a significant increase in trust in the national government. This study extends existing research on the causes of such changes in public opinion to include the post–9/11 period. The results indicate that a shift in public focus from domestic to international concerns was an important factor in the decline in cynicism that occurred after 9/11, and that public support for expending resources to address issues such as homeland security will be greater if increased trust in government can be sustained.     

Shared intentions,public reason,and political autonomy

John Rawls claims that public reasoning is the reasoning of ‘equal citizens who as a corporate body impose rules on one another backed by sanctions of state power’. Drawing upon an amended version of Michael Bratman’s theory of shared intentions, I flesh out this claim by developing the ‘civic people’ account of public reason. Citizens realize ‘full’ political autonomy as members of a civic people. Full political autonomy, though, cannot be realised by citizens in societies governed by a ‘constrained proceduralist’ account of democratic self-government, or the ‘convergence’ account of public justification formulated recently by Gerald Gaus and Kevin Vallier.