This study explores the research paradigms of contemporary business ethics research in 2001–2008. With citation data from the top two business ethics journals included in the Social Sciences Citation Index, this study conducts citation and co-citation analysis to identify the most important publications, scholars, and research themes in the business ethics area and then maps the intellectual structure of business ethics studies between 2001 and 2008. The results show that current business ethics studies cluster around four major research themes, including (...) morality and social contract theory, ethical decision making, corporate social responsibility, and stakeholder theory. This study helps profile the invisible network of knowledge production in business ethics and provides important insights on current research paradigms of business ethics studies. (shrink)

Impact investing urges investors to weigh the social and environmental impacts of their investment decisions. However, in practice, it remains unclear whether investors in financial products are driven by ethical motivations, such as environmental considerations, and what factors influence their trust in the non-financial aspects (e.g., green attributes) of these investments. This study investigates the ethical motivations behind investors’ decisions to invest in green bonds using a machine learning-assisted causal inference framework based on data collected on all green and conventional (...) bonds issued worldwide from 2007 to 2022. It also explores the underlying factors contributing to investors’ trust in green bonds by examining four perspectives: the issuer’s environmental performance, the transparency and governance of environmental disclosure related to bonds, and the financing purpose of the bonds. The results indicate that (1) investors are willing to forgo financial gains for environmental causes, with this sacrifice quantified as an 18 basis points (bps) green premium, demonstrating a clear ethical motivation; (2) the credibility of bond information, financing purposes, and issuer’s greenhouse gas emission intensity directly influence investors’ trust in green bonds, while bond information disclosure and the issuer’s environmental (E) scores have only indirect effects; and (3) companies with weaker environmental performance often adopt proactive disclosure or certification policies to bolster investors’ green trust. This study is the first to explore the factors influencing investors’ trust in green bonds and to analyze the overall causal transmission mechanism among these factors using a causal inference framework. (shrink)

Due to fresh foods' unique characteristics, where quality, freshness, and perishability are the main concerns, consumers are more inclined to choose offline channels for purchasing foods. However, it is not well-understood how these behaviors are affected by the adverse external environment, e.g., smog pollution. Fine particulate matters on smog days would irritate the respiratory tract and pose health risks to people, triggering negative emotions such as sadness and depression. People tend to stay in a clean indoor environment on smog days. (...) An adverse external environment is causing a gradual change in people's habits and emotions. Still, its impact on shopping behaviors is a complex process in need of further study. The study fills this gap by examining the impact of smog pollution on customer channel choice. Based on data from an e-commerce retailer that operates in both online and offline channels. We find that the degree of smog pollution has a significant positive effect on online channel purchasing at aggregated store-, product-, and individual- levels; moreover, the retailer's in-store interactive activities would restrain this positive relationship; variation of product pricing and customers' healthy eating tendency would pronounce the positive association between smog and online purchasing. These results can serve as a reference for retailers to adjust channel strategies in the face of harsh external conditions. (shrink)

This study introduces destination image, nostalgic feeling, and flow experience into tea estate tourism and constructs a theoretical model that includes destination image, nostalgic feeling, flow experience, cultural identity, and tourists’ behavioral intention. Then, an empirical study is conducted with tourists at Yunling Tea Estate in Anxi, China. The results show that all hypotheses are supported except the hypothesis pertaining to the significance of the influence of flow experience on behavioral intention, which is not supported. The model includes eight mediating (...) effects and one moderating effect that is influenced by cultural memory. (shrink)

Ethical dilemmas are inescapable components of business negotiations. It is thus important for negotiators to understand the differences in what is ethically appropriate and what is not. This study explores the cross-cultural differences in business ethics between Canada and China by examining the perceived appropriateness of five categories of ethically questionable strategies often used in business negotiations. The results show that the Chinese are more likely to consider it appropriate to use ethically inappropriate negotiation strategies, but the impact of cultural (...) values on ethically inappropriate negotiation strategies is much stronger in Canada than in China when negotiators choose to use these strategies. In addition, there are more gender differences in Canada, where men are more likely to consider it appropriate to use ethically questionable strategies in all five categories than women; while in China no gender differences are found in the perceived appropriateness of using these strategies in all but one category. Implications are also discussed along with potential future research directions. (shrink)

This study provides a general overview of contemporary business ethics research of the last 10 years (1997-2006) and discusses potential future research directions in business ethics based on the overview. Using citation and co-citation analysis, this study examined the citation data of journal articles, books, and other publications collected in the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), wherein key research themes in business ethics studies in 1997—2006 and correlations between these themes were explored. The results show that major research themes in (...) business ethics have shifted in the last decade from research on ethical decision making and on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate performance to research on stakeholder theory in business ethics and on the relationship between consumer behavior and corporate social responsibility. The results of this study help map the invisible network of knowledge production in business ethics research and provide important insights on future business ethics research. (shrink)

Abstract Widespread cheating among business students has been a great concern for educators and business managers in the West, but this issue is largely unexamined in Eastern cultures. This study explores the relationship between cheating at school and cheating in the real world in an international context by investigating Chinese business students’ perception of ethicality and practicality of common business practice. The results show that many Chinese students have engaged in academic dishonesty at school. It was further found that Chinese (...) students have a good understanding of what constitutes ethical behaviors in the real business world and the need for such behaviors. They also believe that business people fail to act in an ethical manner, yet they are unwilling to compromise their ethical standards in order to get ahead in their future career, except when they have a strong need for competitive success. The findings show that Chinese business students view the ethicality of an action as being more important than its practicality in the real business world even though they hold a completely opposite view in their classrooms. Concern arises when self-centered values like competitive success become more accepted in modern Chinese society. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-14 DOI 10.1007/s13520-011-0012-2 Authors Zhenzhong Ma, Odette School of Business, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Ave, Windsor, ON, Canada N9B 3P4 Journal Asian Journal of Business Ethics Online ISSN 2210-6731 Print ISSN 2210-6723. (shrink)

This paper proposes an adaptive neural network control approach for a direct-current system with full state constraints. To guarantee that state constraints always remain in the asymmetric time-varying constraint regions, the asymmetric time-varying Barrier Lyapunov Function is employed to structure an adaptive NN controller. As we all know that the constant constraint is only a special case of the time-varying constraint, hence, the proposed control method is more general for dealing with constraint problem as compared with the existing works on (...) DC systems. As far as we know, this system is the first studied situations with time-varying constraints. Using Lyapunov analysis, all signals in the closed-loop system are proved to be bounded and the constraints are not violated. In this paper, the effectiveness of the control method is demonstrated by simulation results. (shrink)

This article explores how experienced regret and relief evoked in a risky gambling task influence subsequent intertemporal pro-social behavior. We apply a dictator game experiment with delayed rewards to investigate the effect on donating behavior by simultaneously the time delay when the recipient accepts the donation and the emotions experienced by the participant. We examine this effect using a choice titration procedure. The results reveal that independent of the prior experienced emotions, participants’ donations decrease as the time delay rises; the (...) hyperbolic model provides a better explanation of this finding. Significantly, experienced regret impacts the shape of the social discount function with delayed rewards, which is reflected in notably different discount rates. Participants who experienced regret exhibit a lower discount rate than those in the relief condition. Note that this distinct type of generosity differs significantly at the 14-day delay but not at the shortest and longest. It follows that regret can promote future altruism and intertemporal pro-social behavior, depending on the delay. (shrink)

This study integrates the resource dependence perspective and the stakeholder perspective to analyze local Chinese suppliers’ environment strategies in response to environmental requirements of different types of customers. With a sample of 1,215 local Chinese manufacturing suppliers, we examine the impact of export intensity and environmental requirements of multinational enterprises on local Chinese suppliers’ environment strategies. The results show that local Chinese suppliers with high levels of export intensity are more likely to adopt positive environment strategies to reduce environmental risks. (...) In addition, local Chinese suppliers respond actively to environmental requirements of MNE customers but not to those of local customers. The linkage between MNE customers’ environmental requirements and local Chinese suppliers’ environment strategies remains significant, even after we control for the impact of export intensity. Implications of the findings conclude the article. (shrink)

This study examines the personal values and value types of Chinese accounting practitioners and students, using the values survey questionnaire developed and validated by Schwartz (1992, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25, 1–65). A total of 454 accounting practitioners and 126 graduate accounting students participated in the study. The results show that Healthy, Family Security, Self-Respect, and Honoring of Parents and Elders are the top four values for both accounting practitioners and accounting students, although these values are not ranked in (...) the same order. Social Power, An Exciting Life, Devout, and Accepting My Portion in Life are the lowest rated four values for the accounting practitioners whereas Devout, An Exciting Life, Detachment, and Accepting My Portion in Life form the bottom four values for the accounting students. Both accounting practitioners and students ranked Security as the highest value type and Tradition as the lowest one, and the students rated Self-Direction as significantly more important than the practitioners. With respect to gender differences, both the male accounting practitioners and students rated the value type Achievement significantly higher than their female counterparts and there were several significant gender differences in personal values for both accounting practitioners and students. In addition, the perceived values are linked to social and cultural factors as well as to the influence of Western values. (shrink)

While China has experienced an unprecedented growth over the past decades, sustainability has become a major concern for policymakers and management practitioners. Consideration has been given to the convergence of mass entrepreneurship and innovation as a new economic driver and sustainability as a long-term economic objective. The focus of China’s economic development has moved from a resource-based expansion to a more entrepreneurial and socially responsible one. This is a timely and critical topic that captures the increasing concerns over sustainability and (...) Chinese firms’ increased responsibility under the new governmental initiatives in fulfilling their social mandates from stakeholders at different levels. It is also a rich area for academic research but still under studied in the Chinese context. More indigenous management research on corporate social responsibility is required to adopt Chinese perspectives in conceptualizing CSR-related problems and further formulating more contextualized CSR theories, the emergence of a new research horizon. (shrink)

A contraction-free and cut-free sequent calculus \ for semi-De Morgan algebras, and a structural-rule-free and single-succedent sequent calculus \ for De Morgan algebras are developed. The cut rule is admissible in both sequent calculi. Both calculi enjoy the decidability and Craig interpolation. The sequent calculi are applied to prove some embedding theorems: \ is embedded into \ via Gödel–Gentzen translation. \ is embedded into a sequent calculus for classical propositional logic. \ is embedded into the sequent calculus \ for intuitionistic (...) propositional logic. (shrink)

Among human and non-human animals, the ability to respond rapidly to biologically significant events in the environment is essential for survival and development. Research has confirmed that human adult listeners respond emotionally to environmental sounds by relying on the same acoustic cues that signal emotionality in speech prosody and music. However, it is unknown whether young children also respond emotionally to environmental sounds. Here, we report that changes in pitch, rate (i.e. playback speed), and intensity (i.e. amplitude) of environmental sounds (...) trigger emotional responses in 3- to 6-year-old American and Chinese children, including four sound types: sounds of human actions, animal calls, machinery, and natural phenomena such as wind and waves. Children’s responses did not differ across the four types of sounds used but developed with age – a finding observed in both American and Chinese children. Thus, the ability to respond emotionally to non-linguistic, non-music environmental sounds is evident at three years of age – an age when the ability to decode emotional prosody in language and music emerges. We argue that general mechanisms that support emotional prosody decoding are engaged by all sounds, as reflected in emotional responses to non-linguistic acoustic input such as music and environmental sounds. (shrink)

In the analysis of Shaanxi Red Tourism Development status and existing problems, based on the proposed development of red tourism strategic positioning, strategic objectives and strategic measures, through the implementation of the "1312 Project", that is to cultivate a red tourism capital, northern Shaanxi, Guanzhong , 3 large red tourism sector in southern Shaanxi, and 12 fine line, as the red following the Warriors travel to create a new ace after the Shaanxi tourism products. Based on the analysis of the (...) current situation of Shaanxi red-tourism development, strategic positioning, goals and corresponding measures of developing Shaanxi red-tourism are put forward. Through implementing the project of 1312, which stands for one red-tourism center, three red -tourism regions and twelve red-tourism routes, the red-tourism products of Shaanxi would become new trump tourism products. (shrink)

Background: We described the prevalence of anxiety and depression related to COVID-19 pandemic among different types of population and examined their potential risk factors.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect demographic characteristics, exposure histories, and many other concerns about COVID-19. The Zung's self-rating anxiety scale and self-rating depression scale, followed by a four-step multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with mental health outcomes.Results: Out of 3,303 participants, the quarantined people, community workstation staffs-policemen-volunteers and general public (...) reported higher percentages of depression than the general medical staff. Moreover, the quarantined people also showed higher prevalence of anxiety than the general public and the general medical staff. The quarantined people had the highest risk of anxiety and depression, whereas the self-rated health was negatively associated with the risks of anxiety and depression. Younger age group showed higher risks of anxiety and depression. People who had exposure history or contact from Hubei province after December 1, 2019, had family or friends engaged in front-line health care work, had confirmed case nearby were all more likely to suffer from anxiety. Moreover, the negligence or overindulgence toward the epidemic information was associated with a higher risk of depression and anxiety.Conclusions: Our findings show that the CPV and quarantined people were most at-risk population. We have identified that the young people, people with exposure histories and negligence or overindulgence toward epidemic information are in grave need of attention. (shrink)

Attending cram school has long been a trend in ethnic Chinese culture areas, including Taiwan. Despite the fact that school reform policies have been implemented in Taiwan, cram schools have continued to prosper. Therefore, in this educational culture, how to achieve a good educational effect is also a topic worthy of discussion. However, whether students really engage in those tutoring programs provided by cram schools has seldom been studied. To address this gap, this study explored how parents’ hovering attitude toward (...) life and coursework influences their children’s engagement in cram schools. This study targeted those students who attend English cram schools to test the correlates between two types of helicopter parenting, tutoring engagement and continued attendance at cram schools. A total of 320 questionnaires were sent out, and 300 were returned, giving an overall response rate of 93.75%. Excluding seven incomplete or invalid questionnaires, 293 valid questionnaires were received. The results of this study show that hovering behavior awareness is negatively related to cram school engagement, whereas cram school engagement is positively related to the intention to continue attending cram school. Moreover, the results imply that parents should alleviate their helicoptering behavior to enhance their children’s engagement in cram school tutoring programs. (shrink)

Leadership humor is widely used in management practice and has aroused extensive discussion in academia. On account of the two-sided influence of leader humor on employees, its double-edged sword effect on employee behavior has been put more emphasis. As a benign violation of organizational norms and a kind of pro-organizational violation, respectively, both Leadership humor and employee bootleg innovation have the characteristics of violating organizational norms, but few studies have examined the relationship between them. Based on benign violation theory and (...) social cognition theory, this study conducted a two-stage questionnaire survey and statistical-econometric analysis of 324 employees in 23 IT and manufacturing technology companies in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Beijing, and Shanghai, China. It not only examined the relationship between leadership humor and employee bootleg innovation but also tested a moderated mediation model. Results show that leadership humor is positively correlated with psychological empowerment and employee bootleg innovation, namely, leadership humor indirectly and positively affects employee bootleg innovation through psychological empowerment. Moreover, the indirect effect is positively regulated by leadership emotional trust. The higher the emotional trust of employees to leadership, the stronger the mediating role of psychological empowerment between leader humor and bootleg innovation behavior. The study enriches the existing path of research on the double-edged impact of leader humor on employee behavior, expands the boundary conditions of the relationship between empowered cognitive mediation and employee bootleg innovation and provides enlightenments for Chinese leaders to effectively apply the tool of leader humor. (shrink)

本书以对道德的重视和人的觉醒为二大主线, 揭示了春秋时期思想文化的转型以及这一转型对儒学的形成及其对整个中国古代思想文化基本特征确立的历史意义.

Ben shu shou ci dui ming mo qing chu zui fu sheng ming de hui zu san da han wen yi zhu jia--Wang Daiyu, Ma Zhu, Liu Zhi de zheng zhi lun li si xiang, jing ji lun li si xiang, hun yin jia ting lun li si xiang, ren xing shan e guan, dao de xiu yang guan jin xing le quan fang wei, duo jiao du de shu li, gou chen he kao cha.

Naming, according to Sebeok, constihttes the first stage of zoosemiotics. This special but common use of language acrually inaugurates more complicated procedures of human discourse on non-human kingdom, including classification of its members. Because of language's double articulation in sound and sense, as well as the grapheme's pleremic (meaning-full) rather than cenemic (meaning-empty) characteristic (according to Hjelmslev). Chinese script is capable of naming and grouping animals randomly but effectively. This paper attempts to describe the said scriptorial "necessity of naming" (Kripke) (...) in classical Chinese by citing all the creatures, real or fabulous, with a /ma/ (horse) radical. (shrink)

Resumo: Após o reinado do Imperador Jiajing, da Dinastia Ming, à medida que o problema dos piratas japoneses se tornava cada vez mais grave, começaram a ser publicados livros dedicados ao estudo do Japão. Entre eles, os mais importantes são Uma Breve Pesquisa do Japão (Ri Ben Kao Lue), Uma Compilação de Mapas Japoneses (Ri Ben Tu Zuan), O Espelho do Japão (Ri Ben Yi Jian), Uma pesquisa do Japão (Ri Ben Kao), Um registro de Costumes Japoneses (Ri Ben Fen (...) Tu) Ji) e A Biografia de Piratas Japoneses em Qiantai (Qian Tai Wo Zhuan). Entre eles, O Espelho do Japão é um especial. Além disso, há também livros especiais para apresentar a situação geral do Japão, como A Coleção de Mapas Militares Costeiros (Chou Hai Tu Bian), Resistência aos Piratas Japoneses na Dinastia Ming (Huang Ming Yu Wo Lu), a Compilação de Defesa Costeira (Hai Fang Zuan Yao) e a Continuação da Categoria de Defesa Costeira nas Regiões Zhedong e Zhexi ( Liang Zhe Hai Fang Lei Kao Xu Bian). Como Zheng Shungong, autor do livro O Espelho do Japão, visitou o Japão duas vezes, muitos conteúdos do livro são baseados em sua própria experiência e conhecimento. Portanto, sua pesquisa sobre o Japão foi além da literatura semelhante da Dinastia Ming, em amplitude, profundidade e precisão. Além disso, o registro e as análises dos piratas japoneses no livro são de grande valor de pesquisa. Antes da publicação dos Anais do Japão (Ri Ben Tu Zhi), de Huang Zunxian, O Espelho do Japão era uma das monografias de mais alto nível sobre o Japão, na China antiga. (shrink)

Comment le silence agit-il au cinéma? Qu'est-ce qui permet d'identifier ce phénomène? Implique-t-il la disparition intégrale de la matière sonore ou seulement sa minimalisation à l'intérieur d'un film? Son intervention, ponctuelle ou durable, tend à engager une raréfaction, voire une suppression, des paroles et de la musique, mais pas forcément de tout bruit. Des lieux particulièrement silencieux, ainsi que le mutisme ou la surdité d'un personnage, sont également propices à l'instauration de telles situations audiovisuelles. Cet ouvrage analyse, à travers une (...) approche généalogique et herméneutique, la présence du silence dans le cinéma contemporain sur le double principe d'héritages figuratifs et de ruptures discursives. Il s'appuie sur un corpus de films réalisés entre autres par Robert Bresson, Marguerite Duras, Andrei Tarkovski, Theo Angelopoulos, Tsaï Ming-liang, Béla Tarr, Pedro Costa ou Sharunas Bartas. Au-delà des considérations esthétiques, le livre interroge aussi les valeurs anthropologiques, morales, sociales et/ou politiques qui se glissent derrière ces manifestations concrètes du silence. Celui-ci nous invite, tant sur le plan éthique que sensible, à repenser notre rapport fondamental au monde."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Shang. Liang Shuming, Xiong Shili, Ma Yifu de jiao yi ji shi -- Xia. Liang Shuming, Xiong Shili, Ma Yifu lun Song Ming ru xue.

Ben shu cong da liang xi fang zhe xue de chuan bo fen fan xian xiang zhong xun chu ma ke si zhu yi zhe xue zai zhong guo cheng wei li shi fa zhan zhi bi ran, qi ta zhe xue si xiang dou zai zhong guo chuan bo guo, zhi you ma ke si zhu yi cai you wu bi qiang da de sheng ming li.

This two-volume set is a seminal work on contemporary New Confucianism in China, focusing on ten leading thinkers of this intellectual movement in the 20th century, discussing their divergences in thought and contemporary relevance. Contemporary New Confucianism refers to the Confucianism or Confucian thought that has emerged in China since the 1920s, which aims to revive the spirituality of Confucianism in a changing society. The first volume reviews the development of this intellectual trend and analyzes the cultural context, logical approach, (...) major themes, and problems of New Confucianism before delving into individual thinkers. It then examines and compares the philosophical thoughts of four key figures of contemporary New Confucianism, including Liang Shumin, Xiong Shili, Ma Yifu, Qian Mu. The second volume focuses on six other representative philosophers of New Confucianism, including Zhang Junmai, Feng Youlan, He Lin, Fang Dongmei, Tang Junyi, and Mou Zongsan. This set will appeal to scholars and students of modern and contemporary Confucianism, intellectual history, philosophy and thought of contemporary China, and comparative philosophy. (shrink)

The study of corporate social responsibility has been the object of much research in recent decades, although there is a need to continue investigating its benefits as a marketing tool. In the current work we adopt a multi-dimensional perspective of social responsibility, and we carry out market research to determine the perceptions of users of mobile telephone services about economic, legal, ethical and social aspects of their operating companies. With these data we determine the structure and components of the concept (...) of social responsibility. Subsequently, this is related with the overall evaluation of the service and loyalty by means of a model of structural equations, in order to determine the influence of corporate social responsibility on these concepts, and hence its benefits as a commercial tool. (shrink)

Modern technology (Technik, la technique) has constituted the gears on which the wheels of the modern world keep turning. The later Heidegger devotes sustained reflection to this unprecedented phenomenon in human history. It is notable that, compared with other figures from twentieth-century continental philosophy, Heidegger has served as the most frequent reference point in current philosophy of technology (Technikphilosophie). This field of philosophy came into being after the so-called empirical turn of “Science and Technology Studies.” While relevant scholars focus mainly (...) on “Die Frage nach der Technik” of 1953, “Das Ge-stell” of 1949,1 and some other texts written in that period,2 the time span of Heidegger’s .. (shrink)

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor vision and mission are to improve the people's living standards of Pakistan and China through bilateral investments, trade, cultural exchanges, and economic activities. To achieve this envisioned dream, Pakistan established the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority to further its completion, but Covid-19 slowed it down. This situation compelled the digitalization of CPEC. This article reviews the best practices and success stories of various digitalization and e-governance programs and, in this light, advises the implementation of the Ajman Digital (...) Governance model as a theoretical framework for CPEC digitalization. This article concludes that the Pakistani government needs to transform CPEC digitalization by setting up the CPEC Digitalization and Transformation Center at the CPECA office to attract more investors and businesses. (shrink)

Aesthetic experiences play an important role in human culture and spiritual life and are closely related to aesthetic perception and appreciation of art, music, literature and natural landscapes. With the development of neuroscience and cognitive psychology, our understanding of aesthetic experiences continues to deepen; in this context, the study of neuroplasticity has attracted widespread attention. This study explores in detail how this process affects the perception of aesthetic cognition, thereby enhancing the aesthetic experience in several key ways. The study finds (...) that neuroplasticity plays a role in the evolution of an individual’s perception and appreciation of beauty, as it facilitates adjustments in perception, attention, emotion, and cross-perceptual integration based on individual experiences. These findings provide a theoretical basis for deepening the perception and appreciation of beauty and insights to better understand and advance the aesthetic experience provided by art, music and literature. Future research will explore how to maximise the use of neuroplasticity to enhance the quality and depth of the aesthetic experience, advance the field of aesthetic psychology and art research and further enrich and satisfy individuals’ perception and experience of beauty. (shrink)

Offers the first focused study of the shifei debates of the Warring States period in ancient China and challenges the imposition of Western conceptual categories onto these debates. In recent decades, a growing concern in studies in Chinese intellectual history is that Chinese classics have been forced into systems of classification prevalent in Western philosophy and thus imperceptibly transformed into examples that echo Western philosophy. Lin Ma and Jaap van Brakel offer a methodology to counter this approach, and illustrate their (...) method by carrying out a transcultural inquiry into the complexities involved in understanding shi and fei and their cognate phrases in the Warring States texts, the Zhuangzi in particular. The authors discuss important features of Zhuangzi’s stance with regard to language-meaning, knowledge-doubt, questioning, equalizing, and his well-known deconstruction of the discourse in ancient China on shifei. Ma and van Brakel suggest that shi and fei apply to both descriptive and prescriptive languages and do not presuppose any fact/value dichotomy, and thus cannot be translated as either true/false or right/wrong. Instead, shi and feican be grasped in terms of a pre-philosophical notion of fitting. Ma and van Brakel also highlight Zhuangzi’s idea of “walking-two-roads” as the most significant component of his stance. In addition, they argue that all of Zhuangzi’s positive recommendations are presented in a language whose meaning is not fixed and that every stance he is committed to remains subject to fundamental questioning as a way of life. (shrink)