Quality of life - three competing views

The aim of the present paper is to describe three different attempts, which have been made by philosophers, to define what quality of life is; and to spell out some of the difficulties that faces each definition. One, Perfectionism, focuses on the capacities that human beings possess: capacities for friendship, knowledge and creative activity, for instance. It says that the good life consists in the development and use of these capacities. Another account, the Preference Theory, urges that satisfying one's preferences, or desires, is what improves one's quality of life. And a third account, Hedonism, sees life-quality as consisting in the enjoyment of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. The paper describes and evaluates objections to each of these views, thereby displaying their weaknesses and strengths. Since no view comes out as the right one there is a choice to be made. At the end of the paper it is being discussed how well each of the views cohere with different methodologies used in quality of life research. Also it is suggested that considerations about what the research is to be used for are relevant.     

Wolfhart Pannenberg's Engagement with the Natural Sciences

Wolfhart Pannenberg's engagement with the natural sciences is surveyed. A critique is given of his treatment of these themes: the concept of a field; contingency; the role of the future.     

FACAIC: Model selection algorithm for the orthogonal factor model using AIC and CAIC

This paper describes the authors' FORTRAN algorithm FACAIC for choosing the number of factors for an orthogonal factor model using Akaike's Information Criterion. FACAIC utilizes the IMSL subroutine OFCOMM.The authors dedicate this algorithm to Professor Hirotugu Akaike in appreciation of his pioneering work on AIC which was originally intended for the factor analysis and other statistical model identification problems.     

Higher Education in Light of the Cross

What is the summum bonum of a university education? The much lauded “liberal” approach of Aristotle, Newman, and Roche proposes that education is for contemplating the truth—an intrinsic, joyous end in itself. This approach offers the benefits of pursuing truth, virtues, and intellectual habits, but it also carries with it the temptations of idealatry and homo incurvatus in se. Christian universities can reform this approach to education, though, with Luther's theology of the cross, reorienting it through the crucified Christ toward the highest ends of life revealed in God's word: faith in God and love for the neighbor.     

Behavior analysis/modification for everyone

This paper presents a very brief overview of people's attempt to understand and change behavior and shows how behavior analysis is different from these views. The importance of everyone knowing and using behavioral principles in their everyday life is stressed and the opposition to a behavioral approach is discussed. The aims of the organization called Behavior Analysis/Modification in the Regular Classroom is presented and some steps that this organization is following in an attempt to help to disseminate the knowledge and use of behavioral principles in the schools is presented.     

Reviews

Books reviewed:
Unsnarling the World-Knot: Consciousness, Freedom, and the Mind-Body Problem , by David Ray Griffin
Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam , by Talal Asad
This is Biology: The Science of the Living World , by Ernst Mayr
River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life , by Richard Dawkins     

On Categorical Equivalences of Commutative BCK-algebras

A commutative BCK-algebra with the relative cancellation property is a commutative BCK-algebra (X;*,0) which satisfies the condition: if a ≤ x, a ≤ y and x * a = y * a, then x = y. Such BCK-algebras form a variety, and the category of these BCK-algebras is categorically equivalent to the category of Abelian ℓ-groups whose objects are pairs (G, G ₀), where G is an Abelian ℓ-group, G ₀ is a subset of the positive cone generating G ⁺ such that if u, v ∈ G ₀, then 0 ∨ (u - v) ∈ G ₀, and morphisms are ℓ-group homomorphisms h: (G, G ₀) → (G′,G′₀) with f(G ₀) ⫅ G′₀. Our methods in particular cases give known categorical equivalences of Cornish for conical BCK-algebras and of Mundici for bounded commutative BCK-algebras (= MV-algebras). This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

门脉高压症治疗观点之辩

对立统一规律是辩证法的实质,在唯物辩证法的理论体系中占有核心地位。门脉高压症的外科治疗有分流术与断流术两种不同的手术方法,这两种方法从治疗机制上看是矛盾的,用对立统一观来认识这两种手术的联系并揭示门脉高压外科治疗发展的哲学依据。     

论《周易》的“制器尚象”

“制器尚象”,不是如孔颖达等人理解的“依卦造器”或“观象制器”,而是借助各种发明创造事例(如井、鼎),来揭示“人法自然”思想在日常生活中的广泛运用。进而从侧面角度表达《易》道的广大和周普。     

关于自我改变的心理研究

本文总结和概括了关于自我改变研究的理论成果,分析了自我改变的努力容易失败的原因,揭示了人们对自我改变失败的认知取向,以及在很可能会再度失败的情况下启动自我改变的新一轮行动的心理机制。