The Early Stoics and Aristotelian Ethics

Aristotle's philosophical legacy should be accepted as one of the historical influences that shaped Stoic moral and psychological thought,even if this influence needs to be demonstrated in each individual case rather than be taken for granted in general.Having discussed the methodological issues raised by the state of our documented evidence,I focus upon the particular philosophical agenda bequeathed by Aristotle,the issue of the structure of the human soul,and the theory of character and emotion.I argue that Aristotle's influence upon the Stoics is not only a matter of their adoption of Aristotelian themes or concepts but that,given the aporetic quality of much of Aristotle's writing,they accepted options as discussed,and actually rejected,by Aristotle.In particular,the Stoics have been influenced by deliberations in which Aristotle discusses,adapts or rejects positions associated with the philosophical hero of the Stoics,Socrates (in particular in De an.II,9-10 and EN Ⅶ,1-11).Seen in this light,the Aristotelian legacy appears to be even more relevant to explaining distinctive and in particular Socratic features of Stoic moral psychology than has been previously assumed.     

享乐适应理论的发展及应用

随着全民关注幸福的时代到来, 享乐适应理论作为研究幸福的钥匙, 引起了多学科的广泛关注。文章首先从享乐适应的内涵、与幸福感的关系、发生机制、减缓方式出发进行文献梳理与评述, 接着重点探讨享乐适应理论在消费行为学、经济学、组织行为学等领域的应用研究, 以期为个体提升幸福感及企业通过提升消费者与员工的幸福感来强化他们对企业的正面认知提供帮助。未来应不断扩展享乐适应理论的应用范围, 重点关注各领域中变动的主体及形式对享乐适应的影响。     

Pluralism and Ambivalence in the Evolution of Morality

Much good work has been done on the evolution of human morality by focusing on how “selfish genes” can give rise to altruistic human beings. A richer research program is needed, however, to take into account the ambivalence of naturally evolved biopsychological motivators and the historical pluralism of human morality in religious systems. Such a program is described here. A first step is to distinguish the ultimate cause of natural selection from proximate causes that are the results of natural selection. Next, some proximate causes are suggested as possible conditions of biological and emotional valuing as well as of customary social morality and individual rational ethical thought. Finally, different moral perspectives of Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity are briefly presented in order to illustrate how one might inquire about the selection of a variety of biopsychological and cultural proximate causes that enable the evolution of a plurality of religious moral systems.     

Happiness in Everyday Life: The Uses of Experience Sampling

This paper uses the Experience Sampling Method data drawn from a national sample of American youth. It examines the proximal environmental factors as well as behaviors and habits that correlate to personal happiness. Momentary-level scores show that reported happiness varies significantly both by day of week and time of day. Furthermore, particular activities are associated with varying degrees of happiness. School activities rate below average scores in happiness, while social, active and passive leisure activities are above average. Particular companions also correlate to differing level of happiness. Being alone rates the lowest levels of happiness, while being with friend corresponds to the highest. Person-level averages of happiness suggest that both higher social class and age correlate with lower levels of happiness, while gender and race do not. Paradoxically, youth who spend more time in school and social activities are happier than those who spend less. Unexpectedly, students who spend more time pleasure reading report lower levels of happiness. Finally, feeling good about the self, excited, proud, sociable, active as well as being in the conditions for flow experience are the strongest predictors of trait happiness.     

Arts-of-Living

The term 'art-of-living' refers to capabilities for leading a good life. Since there are different views on what a good life is, there could also be a difference in the capabilities called for. In this paper I distinguish two main views on the good life: the 'virtuous' life and the 'enjoyable' life and describe variants of each. I explore what competencies are required for living such lives and conclude that these differ indeed. So there are different arts-of-living. The set of capabilities required for leading a happy life can be identified by means of empirical research. This capability-profile comes close to the notion of 'positive mental health'. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Research Note: Happiness among Kuwaiti College Students

Happiness was assessed in 140 Kuwaiti students by means of a single item self-report. Its retest reliability after one week was good (r=+0.86). It is argued that single question suffices for measuring states like happiness. Average happiness appeared to be quite low compared to students in other countries. Possible reasons for the low level of happiness among Kuwaiti college students are discussed. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Is Reported Happiness Five Years Ago Comparable to Present Happiness? A Cautionary Note

In the United States reported happiness five years ago is not comparable to present happiness. The improvement in happiness over the last five years obtained by differencing current reports of happiness today and happiness five years ago is not significantly related to the actual improvement in happiness over the same period. The currently reported five-year change in happiness is highly sensitive to current economic conditions, varying inversely with both the inflation and unemployment rates.Ordinarily, happiness five years ago as currently reported is less than present happiness, but the worse the current economic conditions are, the better the past looks relative to the present. If current economic conditions get bad enough, past happiness will be rated higher than present. Reports of happiness five years ago are not telling us about the utility respondents actually experienced at that time; they are telling us, instead, about respondents' current decision utility–which situation, today's or that five years ago, they would opt for if given the choice today.     

The Importance of Spirituality in Well-Being for Jews and Christians

There is a well-known association between religion and happiness, although it is not known which particular aspects of religiosity correlate with life satisfaction, or if the correlates are different for people of different religions. In three studies, the correlations of different facets of religiosity with happiness or life satisfaction were explored. In different samples and with different measures, congregational support and public practice of religion appear to correlate similarly with measures of life satisfaction for members of different religions. However, spirituality, religious coping, and religious belief were better predictors of happiness and quality of life for Protestants and Catholics than for Jews. It is therefore contended that religion should be an important consideration, along with religiosity, in study of satisfaction with life, and that the link between spirituality and life satisfaction be followed up, particularly among Christians.     

Psychological well‐being and pilgrimage: Religiosity,happiness and life satisfaction of Ardh–Kumbh Mela pilgrims (Kalpvasis) at Prayag,India

Pilgrimage is an important aspect of our life and has both religious as well as spiritual significance. The present study examined the relationship of religiosity, happiness and satisfaction with life in the case of pilgrims in a very special cultural context of the Ardh‐Kumbh Mela (held in Prayag, Allahabad, India) during the months of January and February, 2007). The study specifically examined these relationships in a sample of Kalpvasis (pilgrims who stay at the banks of the Sangam for a month in the holy city of Prayag during the Mela period). One hundred and fifty‐four Kalpvasis participated in the study. Positive association between religiosity, happiness and life satisfaction was obtained. Results showed that gender did not have a significant role on these relations in the case of pilgrims. Implications of these results are discussed.     

大学生的情绪向性、表达性与心理健康关系的研究

采用量表法以170名大学生为被试研究了情绪向性(分正、负向情感变量)、情绪表达性和心理健康的关系.差异检验表明:男性的负向情感多于女性,情感表达不如女性,在正向情感、快乐感上无显著性别差异;大一学生的快乐感多于大四学生,在正、负向情感、情绪表达性上无显著年级差异.(2)相关分析表明:快乐感、正向情感与多数心理症状因子呈显著负相关,负向情感与所有心理症状因子呈显著正相关;情绪表达性与人际敏感、敌对、抑郁、焦虑等因子呈显著负相关.(3)回归分析进一步表明:负向情感对强迫、人际关系、抑郁、焦虑、敌对、偏执等因子均构成显著回归效应,情绪表达对人际敏感、敌对、抑郁、焦虑等因子构成回归效应.