A History of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate

From antiquity to the present, humans have debated whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. This presentation will survey this debate, examining the roles played in it by science, religion, philosophy, and other areas of human learning. One thesis that will be developed is that whether or not extraterrestrials exist, ideas about them have strongly influenced Western thought.     

Hume and the nominalist tradition

Many of the central theses of Hume's philosophy – his rejection of real relations, universals, abstract objects and necessary causal relations – had precedents in the later medieval nominalist tradition. Hume and his medieval predecessors developed complex semantic theories to show both how ontologies are apt to become inflated and how, if we understand carefully the processes by which meaning is generated, we can achieve greater ontological parsimony. Tracing a trajectory from those medieval traditions to Hume reveals Hume to be more radical, particularly in his rejection of abstraction and abstract ideas. Hume's denial of general, abstract ideas is consistent with his philosophical principles but fails to appreciate the more sophisticated nominalist approaches to abstraction, the result of which is a theoretically impoverished account of our capacity for generalization.     

The Owl and the Ostrich: Reply to Sami Pihlström on Ethical Unthinkabilities and Philosophical Seriousness

Sami Pihlström argues in his “Ethical Unthinkabilities and Philosophical Seriousness” that there are some philosophical views that are so dangerous that we should not discuss them. He advances this argument with special reference to my (anti‐natalist) view that being brought into existence is always a serious harm. In response I argue: (a) that there are major flaws in his argument for the conclusion that we should not think about (purportedly) unthinkable views; and (b) that my views about the harm of coming into existence are in any event neither unthinkable nor dangerous.     

Childhood memories of threatening experiences and submissiveness and its relationship to hallucination proneness and ideas of reference: The mediating role of dissociation

Recent studies have emphasized the importance of childhood memories of threatening experiences and submissiveness in a diversity of psychological disorders. The purpose of this work was to study their specific relationship with hallucination proneness and ideas of reference in healthy subjects. The ELES scale for measuring memory of adverse childhood experiences, the DES ‐II scale for measuring dissociation, the LSHS ‐R scale for measuring hallucination proneness, and the REF for ideas of reference were applied to a sample of 472 subjects. A positive association was found between childhood memories of adverse experiences and hallucination proneness and ideas of reference, on one hand, and dissociation on the other. A mediation analysis showed that dissociation was a mediator between the memory of adverse childhood experiences and hallucination proneness on one hand, and ideas of reference on the other. When the role of mediator of the types of dissociative experiences was studied, it was found that absorption and depersonalization mediated between adverse experiences and hallucination proneness. However, this mediating effect was not found between adverse experiences and ideas of reference. The relationship between these last two variables was direct. The results suggest that childhood memories of adverse experiences are a relevant factor in understanding hallucination proneness and ideas of reference. Similarly, dissociation is a specific mediator between adverse childhood experiences and hallucination proneness.     

大学生良知内隐观的调查研究

本研究采用社会效度的方法,对346名大学生的良知内隐观进行了调查研究,结果显示:1.大学生良知内隐观所涉及的范围广泛,经因素分析可以把大学生的良知内隐观概括为9个因素;2.大学生认为良知的诸特征中较重要和具有一致性的有:孝敬父母、有责任心、守信、善良、自爱、诚实、真诚、感恩、明辨是非和自尊等;3.年龄对大学生良知内隐观的影响显著,性别和专业对大学生良知内隐观的影响不显著。     

Warmth and Contingency and Their Relationship to Maternal Attitudes Toward Parenting

In this study, the authors addressed the question of whether maternal parenting behaviors in terms of sensitivity, warmth, and contingency with respect to small infants were equally represented in attitudes toward parenting. Sixty mothers from central Germany with middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds were videotaped with their 1st born 3-month-old infant in a free-play and a caregiving episode in their home. The different maternal parenting components were behaviorally analyzed. Maternal attitudes toward parenting were assessed with self-report measures. The results showed that behavioral sensitivity was significantly associated with attitudes related to contingency, whereas behavioral warmth and contingency were not associated with maternal attitudes. The authors interpreted differential associations as a reflection of intuitive and explicit parenting strategies, with only sensitivity being explicitly represented.     

论宏观经济调控和管理中的若干伦理问题

宏观经济调控和管理中的伦理问题,是一个不可忽视的领域。中国是一个发展中国家,正处在从传统经济向现代市场经济转型,政府的宏观调控不可或缺;同时政府作为经济活动的主体,其行为也必须遵守适应市场经济运作的规则。     

There is no 'truth' outside a context: implications for the teaching of analytical psychology in the 21st century

Humans are from birth embedded in a historical and contemporary context of meanings. This always constrains their theoretical and practical activities. In this paper, I will be suggesting that there are no guiding 'truths' outside such contexts. In order to understand the foundations of any concept or new idea, it is important to comprehend the context in which it is embedded. Candidates and some of their teachers have very little knowledge of the intellectual context in which Jung or any other analytic theorist wrote. As a result, the analytic 'founders' are often believed to have discovered 'truths' transcending the context of history and of everyday life. They were, however, as much creative synthesizers as pure originators. I propose that the components of all analytic theories emerge from their embeddedness. I contend, therefore, that the understandings of these components such as psychic causality, epistemology and identity formation were quite differently conceived at the time the analytic founders were working than they are today. I will give examples to show how the acceptance of this attitude is useful in inculcating a discerning approach in candidates towards traditionally accepted analytic theories and practices. This can provide them with a method to promote their individual creative development.     

儒家伦理的基德和荣格的道德观

作为中国传统文化之主体的儒家伦理,已经确立了中国传统文化的"基德"或"母德",这是在长达2000多年历史发展中形成的,经过先秦时期的百家争鸣,形成了独树一帜的儒家思想,董仲舒提出"抑黜百家、独尊儒术"的建议,确立了儒家在中国社会的统治地位。经过以后历代的兼收并蓄和对立融合,发展成为儒、道、佛融合一体的宋明理学,近代中国社会对儒家思想的批判性发展,促使人们对儒家伦理思想进行时代的反思。荣格的分析心理学思想为东西方道德观的比较提供了一种独特的研究视角。