Is Modernism Really Modern? Uncovering a Fallacy in Postmodernism

Some postmodernists criticize the view that the logics of Western thought can be employed universally. In doing so, they assume without adequate proof that different human societies have greatly different rationalities and employ completely different logics. This essay argues that, on the contrary, widely different cultures often share noteworthy similarities in rationality.     

权力线索

权力线索指人们判断权力所依赖各种信息,其能预测人们的思维和行为。除以视觉刺激和听觉刺激的形式直接影响人们的权力感知外,权力线索也可利用人们对其在空间和数字上的心理表征,间接影响人们的权力判断。各种权力线索的具体效应仍存争议。为此,学者已开始关注现有线索去伪存真、分类和标准化等问题,还从生理视角对其加以验证,并探求新的权力线索     

ISLAM AND BIOETHICS

Muslim theologians, jurists, and healthcare workers have been addressing the challenges of modern biotechnology for years. Major textbooks on religion and bioethics cover Islam in one or two articles, offering only a general introduction to these important discussions. The five articles in this issue of the Journal of Religious Ethics, originating from a conference at Pennsylvania State University, are unusual in the specificity of their topics—brain death, feeding tubes, sex selection, spiritual counseling, and organ transplantation—and in their engagement with complex discussions in the Muslim and non‐Muslim worlds. In this essay, I introduce the five articles and consider two larger implications: the changing definition of the human person in light of biotechnological advances and the continuing importance of religious traditions, especially Islam, in legitimizing ethical responses to these advances.     

The Human Being in the Context of Nature: Philosophical Anthropology and Natural Sciences in Hedwig Conrad-Martius

The most original aspect of Hedwig Conrad-Martius’ research is her interpretation of nature, performed through the phenomenological method. She pinpoints the very essences of the natural phenomena, discovering entelechies inside them and a trans-physical dimension. She reads the evolution of nature in a new way, against the deterministic interpretation of it. Inside nature one can discover many levels, qualitatively different. The human being participates to all of them, but his/her peculiarity is linked to the mental–spiritual life.     

Satir Model of Family Therapy and Spiritual Direction

To consider a connection between the therapy model named under Virginia Satir and the practice of spiritual direction may arouse suspicion. This paper, however, attempts to show that the link between the two is natural, sensible, and inspiring, particularly for the part of spiritual direction. The first section of the paper first addresses the fact that spiritual direction, with its unique focus, is not to be confused with psychotherapy, then, discusses the recognized need to seek a psychologically sound model of spiritual direction. The second section describes some of the useful concepts in the Satir model and then relates them to the various aspects of spiritual direction. It is believed that the Satir model of therapy can enrich the practice of spiritual direction in a number of ways. Ekman P. C. Tam is the Spiritual Director of Tao Fong Shan Christian Centre, Hong Kong.     

SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION,HEALING, AND ALTRUISM: INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM

This essay introduces the five articles that follow, whose aim is to show how altruism emerges out of spiritual transformation and is integral to healing process in four kinds of ritual healing systems—popular, folk, an indigenous religious healing tradition, and complementary and alternative medicine represented by consciousness transformation movements. In this introduction I situate these largely marginalized religious and spiritual practices within the context of the religion‐science discourse, which has focused for the most part on the relationship between the established, mainstream religions and the dominant biomedical system. Antecedents of two of these types of religious practices, Spiritism and consciousness transformation movements, were part of the development of the psychological sciences in the nineteenth century but lost ground in the twentieth. Despite discrimination and persistent negative attitudes on the part of the established religions and biomedicine, these healing traditions have not only survived through the twentieth century but appear to have gained both followers and interest in the twenty‐first. In future decades, at least for complementary and alternative medical practices and perhaps also for spirit healing centers, there may be a reversal in status through greater acceptance of their unique combination of scientific and religious perspectives.     

DISCUSSION: ALTRUISM,SPIRITUALLY MERGING WITH A FELLOW HUMAN BEING'S SUFFERING

This discussion focuses on the details of the wellsprings of altruism. The preceding articles in this section portray how spirit figures in various cultural guises appear in human lives with the gift of altruism, in a kind of seeding of the willing healer with the spirit's presence and its accompanying power of love, altruism, and healing. The word altruism is related to the French autre and autrui, “other,” with a special meaning here implying a relationship of identification.     

五岁儿童自主性与权威认知的相关研究

本研究采用实验室观察法对五岁儿童自主性与权威认知之间的关系进行探讨。结果表明:(1)五岁儿童自主性与权威认知间相关显著,权威认知水平高的儿童自主性发展水平高,权威认知水平低的儿童自主性发展水平低;(2)五岁儿童权威认知与自主性三个维度间相关均显著。权威认知水平高的儿童,其自我依靠、自我控制和自我主张水平高;权威认知水平低的儿童,其自我依靠、自我控制和自我主张水平低。     

超越心理健康：精神健康的追求

区别于一般心理概念的、狭义的精神概念有三个特征:终极关怀、内发自生以及自由意志。诸如精神信仰危机、生活目标迷茫等区别于传统心理问题的精神问题已经成为现代人的顽疾。现代心理健康标准开始关注并尝试吸纳精神健康。精神健康是21世纪的健康主题,现代人不应仅仅满足于生理和心理的健康,还应寻求更高层次的精神健康。     

PHILOSOPHERS OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: A TAXONOMY

Abstract: This essay explores various roles that philosophers occupy in relation to intellectual disability. In examining how philosophers define their object of inquiry as experts and gatekeepers, it raises critical questions concerning the nature of philosophical discourse about intellectual disability. It then goes on to consider three alternate positions, the advocate or friend, the animal, and the "intellectually disabled," each of which points to new ways of philosophizing in the face of intellectual disability.