Precision targeting of specific white matter bundles that traverse the subcallosal cingulate has been linked to efficacy of deep brain stimulation for treatment resistant depression. Methods to confirm optimal target engagement in this heterogenous region are now critical to establish an objective treatment protocol. As yet unexamined are the time-frequency features of the SCC evoked potential, including spectral power and phase-clustering. We examined these spectral features—evoked power and phase clustering—in a sample of TRD patients with implanted SCC stimulators. Electroencephalogram was (...) recorded during wakeful rest. Location of electrical stimulation in the SCC target region was the experimental manipulation. EEG was analyzed at the surface level with an average reference for a cluster of frontal sensors and at a time window identified by prior study. Morlet wavelets generated indices of evoked power and inter-trial phase clustering. Enhanced phase clustering at theta frequency was observed in every subject and was significantly correlated with SCC-EP magnitude, but only during left SCC stimulation. Stimulation to dorsal SCC evinced stronger phase clustering than ventral SCC. There was a weak correlation between phase clustering and white matter density. An increase in evoked delta power was also coincident with SCC-EP, but was less consistent across participants. DBS evoked time-frequency features index mm-scale changes to the location of stimulation in the SCC target region and correlate with structural characteristics implicated in treatment optimization. Results also imply a shared generative mechanism between evoked potentials evinced by electrical stimulation and evoked potentials evinced by auditory/visual stimuli and behavioral tasks. Understanding how current injection impacts downstream cortical activity is essential to building new technologies that adapt treatment parameters to individual differences in neurophysiology. (shrink)

Abstract This study was designed to investigate the factors affecting ethical practices of public relations professionals in public relations firms. In particular, the following organizational ethics factors were examined: (1) presence of ethics code, (2) top management support for ethical practice, (3) ethical climate, and (4) perception of the association between career success and ethical practice. Analysis revealed that the presence of an ethics code along with top management support and a non-egoistic ethical climate within public relations firms significantly influenced (...) public relations professionals' ethical practices. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-19 DOI 10.1007/s13520-011-0013-1 Authors Eyun-Jung Ki, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, College of Communication and Information Sciences, The University of Alabama, Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0172, USA Junghyuk Lee, Division of Communication Arts, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea Hong-Lim Choi, School of Communication, Sun Moon University, 100, Kalsan-ri, Tangjeong-myeon, Asan-si, Chungnam 336-708, South Korea Journal Asian Journal of Business Ethics Online ISSN 2210-6731 Print ISSN 2210-6723. (shrink)

Attempting to determine solutions for unethical practices in the field, this research was designed to assess the effectiveness of public relations firms’ ethics statements in decreasing the incidence of malpractice. This study revealed an encouraging finding that practitioners working in firms with ethical parameters were significantly more likely to engage in ethical practices. Moreover, educating public relations practitioners about the content of ethics statement could positively influence their ethical practices. At the same time, this study’s findings suggest further questions for (...) consideration in future scholarship and in the application of ethics statements to practice within the field. (shrink)

THIS ESSAY PROPOSES A CONCEPTION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN art and ethics that moves away from popular causative understandings. Turning to select themes treated in the work of the literary theorist Elaine Scarry, the moral and aesthetical theology of Jonathan Edwards, and finally the philosophical reflections of Marcia Muelder Eaton, a more positive theoretical account of the moral relevance of art and various aesthetic experiences emerge. Central to this account is the observation that art objects, specifically those objects that can (...) be judged as beautiful, provoke a number of deliberative practices. These practices range from the solitary to the relational. Special emphasis on the latter practices provide the conceptual space to reflect more imaginatively about the significance of art for the building of political community and the task of Christian ethics more generally. (shrink)

This essay provides an interpretation of Jonathan Edwards's moral thought that calls attention to the motif of perception in his conception of true virtue. The aim is to illumine the extent to which Edwards's virtue ethics can be included in and contribute to prevailing approaches to virtue in contemporary theological ethics. To advance this proposal, this essay attends to the question of moral agency that Edwards's reflections on charity, the new spiritual sense, and religious affections raise. This procedure offers an (...) acute sense of the significance of perception for Edwards's virtue ethics, which in turn allows for a constructive Edwardsean entry into current theological discussions on the narrative character of virtue. (shrink)

This volume honors Lisa Cahill's 45 years of teaching Christian ethics at Boston College. With contributions from most of the doctoral students she directed during her career, it provides an interpretive overview of Cahill's specific contributions to Christian ethics.

This essay provides a brief history of how Asian American Christian ethics came to be and sketches the main themes and questions with which this new theological-ethical discipline has grappled since its inception. It then provides an account of two interrelated issues that continue to shape the development of Asian American Christian ethics: whether there is a distinctive Asian American perspective and how the racial marginalization of Asian Americans in Christian ethics and society as a whole might inform this perspective. (...) This essay proposes that as long as Asian Americans continue to be made invisible as model minorities, the goal of racial and social justice will fall short. (shrink)

Sustained reflection on multiple expressions of Asian American experience directs us to the coercive logic of racial identities. Noticing this logic is critical to identifying the limitations of several strategies to resist and transcend racial injustice, including the demand for racial recognition. Rereading the Parable of the Good Samaritan as one about the perils of racial identity and then taking cues from the nonviolent practice of truth force provide a blueprint that reimagines the liberative role racial identities can play.

The association of emotions as kinds of affections is not unusual. This essay, however, considers whether the tight association between affections and emotions is conceptually satisfactory and advantageous. Does an emphasis on the boundedness of affections and emotions inadvertently mask their distinctive natures? In turning to Gustafson, Aquinas, and, ultimately, Edwards, I propose that, while affections are not emotionless, noticing their differences can reveal the limitations of the emotions for moral deliberation and draw greater attention to the moral significance of (...) the affections. (shrink)

THIS ESSAY CONSIDERS THE COLOR-BLIND MORALITY OF POSTRACIAL discourse, whether racial identity is to be considered suspect or simply "forgotten," or whether it can play a constructive role in public life. I pursue this question by turning to two accounts of racial identity, a liberal-multicultural conception and a social perspective conception of racial identity. The latter, I argue, better meets the primary objections to the former and offers an advantageous framework within which to evaluate postracial assumptions. Racial difference does not (...) need to be considered a threat to political community but can be envisioned in a way that supports the kind of political and moral deliberation necessary to support and advance a society committed to justice. (shrink)

This book reconsiders the relationship between aesthetics and theological ethics. The primary question it seeks to answer is whether artistic creativity is a morally relevant activity. Drawing on the work of Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Aquinas, Choi argues that the arts are the cultural medium through which we can better understand what is morally possible, and that aesthetic objects can serve as snapshots of a particular community's perspectives on the good life. Art, in other words, offers glimpses not only (...) into competing moral visions within society but also the extent to which these contested moral views are understood. The arts, in Choi's view, provide a way of assessing the limits and possibilities of moral reasoning, the contextuality of moral discernment, and the need for moral thinking that is dialogical and dialectical. (shrink)

This paper aims to clarify the impact of destructive leadership on team innovation performance. It also explores the relevant conditions that maximize the above relationship. Specifically we examine how intra-team conflict organizational diversity moderate the relationship between destructive leadership team innovation performance. Finally the three-way interaction between destructive leadership intra-team conflict organizational diversity is analyzed for the worst conditions to maximize the negative effect of destructive leadership on team innovation performance. This paper used a cross-sectional design with questionnaires administered to (...) 87 teams with 479 team members working in Korean manufacturing service firms. It applied a hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypothesized relationships including three-way interaction effect among destructive leadership intra-team conflict organizational diversity on team innovation performance. This paper provided empirical insights about how destructive behaviors of team leader hindered team innovation performance. The three-way interaction effects also revealed that the higher the levels of both intra-team conflict organizational diversity the greater the negative effect of destructive leadership on team innovation performance. This paper demonstrates how team leaders’ behavior team organizational conditions result in discouraging overall innovation outcomes. This paper contributes to the innovation leadership literatures by identifying possible leadership type hindering innovation performance at team level the specific conditions their dynamic interaction strengthening the negative effect of destructive leadership on team innovation performance. (shrink)

This essay focuses on the growing disconnect between the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments of universities and their enrollment practices and considers the economic concerns buttressing this divergence. In response, this essay encourages universities—both administration and faculty—to reexamine the kinds of sacrifices necessary to recruit and support a student body that aligns with their DEI commitments.

Background Caring practice begins with awareness of the suffering of patients in a given context. Understanding the interrelationship between the perceived ethical climate of the clinical environment and the ethical sensitivity and caring efficacy of nurses is crucial for strengthening the caring competency of nurses. Research aim This study aimed to examine the associations between the ethical climate of the clinical environment and the ethical sensitivity and caring efficacy of nurses and to investigate the mediating effect of ethical sensitivity on (...) the association between ethical climate and caring efficacy. Research design This was a quantitative study with a cross-sectional descriptive correlational design. The participants completed an online survey that measured the ethical climate, ethical sensitivity and caring efficacy using the Hospital Ethical Climate Survey, Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire-Revised and Caring Efficacy Scale, respectively. Participants and research context The study recruited 293 nurses from two general hospitals that provided acute in-patient and extended care in Hong Kong. Ethical considerations Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics committee of the university and the hospitals involved. Written consent was obtained from the participants. Results Ethical climate was associated with caring efficacy ( β = 0.340, p <.001) and ethical sensitivity ( β = 0.197, p <.001). After adjusting for ethical climate, ethical sensitivity was associated with caring efficacy ( β = 0.860, p <.001). Ethical sensitivity showed a significant mediating effect on the association between ethical climate and caring efficacy (indirect effect = 0.169, 95% confidence interval: 0.097 to 0.261), which accounted for 50% of the total effect. Conclusions The study reveals the complex and interwoven relationship between contextual and personal factors that affect nurses’ caring efficacy from an ethical perspective. It provides insights into the significant roles of ethical climate and ethical sensitivity in strengthening caring efficacy. The results suggest theoretical and clinical implications for professionalisation. (shrink)

Modern schooling in Korea, which was officially established by law in 1949, is well known for its function as an engine of economic success in modern Korea. Although this fact seems to be world-wid...

조선의 성리학과 실학의 경계는 양자 간의 뚜렷한 차이점의 유무에 따라 결정된다. 그리고 그 구분은 일반적으로 경세치용·이용후생·실사구시라는 특징을 통해 나뉘어져 왔다. 이에 반해 이 논문에서는 성리학의 도덕주의가 어떻게 고통을 초래하는 억압의 기제로 작동될 수 있으며, 최한기의 실학사상은 어떻게 이 억압으로부터의 해방으로 해석될 수 있는지를 분석하여 양자의 새로운 경계를 제시한다는 점에서 차별성을 갖는다. 최한기가 주장한 통일적 인간관은 성리학의 이기(理氣)가 가지는 차별적 위상에서 야기된 분열된 자아에 대한 대안이 된다. 또한 최한기 기학(氣學)의 기통적(氣通的) 사회관은 천과 성인의 위상에 근거한 일방적이고 시대를 초월한 성리학의 사회규범이 당시의 (...) 사회구성원들에게 불합리한 억압의 기제로 작동할 수 있는 점을 해결하는 새로운 사상으로서 가치를 지닌다. (shrink)

이 글의 주된 목적은 최한기의 ‘측인’(測人)이 1) 고전의 상법적 판단에 의존하면서도, 유가적 도리(道理)의 실천 여부를 최종적 판단 근거로 제시한다는 점에서 ‘상법의 유가적 확장물’로 규정될 수 있으며, 2) ‘상호주의적 구조’를 함축, 타인과의 상관적 영향관계 속에서 수시변통할 수 있는 중요 계기로 읽힐 수 있음을 해명하는 것이다. 최한기는 ‘사람 헤아리는 법[측인]’의 단초를 열어준 고전 상법의 경험적 성과를 높이 평가하고 그것에 적극적으로 의존하면서도, 상법적 판단이 인간을 ‘관계로부터 규정되는 존재’임을, 그리고 활동변화하는 세계에 능동적으로 대응하는 행사상(行事相)을 감안하고 있지 않다는 점에서 새로운 탐구의 필요성을 제기한다. 상법적 판단이 (...) 신뢰를 얻기 위해서는 변화하는 세계에 적극적으로 대응하는 행사상의 검증이 수반되어야만 하며, 그 실천적 행위는 반드시 ‘오륜(五倫)의 실현에 부합되는 것’이어야 한다. 결국 형모(形貌)로 보는 상격의 귀천이 행사상에 드러나는 오륜의 실천 여부에 따라 최종적으로 확정될 수 있는 것이다. 이 점에서 측인은 유가적 관점에서 재해석된 ‘상법의 변용’으로 보인다. 다른 한편으로 최한기의 측인은 ‘상호주의’를 실현할 수 있는 수시변통의 중요 계기를 담고 있다. 최한기에게 ‘나’는 공동체 안에 존재하는 ‘관계-내-존재’로서 부단히 남의 호오(好惡)에 따라 내 행위를 지속적으로 ‘교정’해 가야 하는 ‘능동적 존재’로 이해된다. 결국 최한기에게 수신(修身)과 측인은 그 자체로 확정적인 내용을 담고 있지 않으며, 타인과의 상관적 영향관계 속에서 변통의 결정적 계기가 된다. 최한기의 측인이 인간을 읽는 유일한 지침은 될 수 없다. 그러나 측인은 1) 활동변화의 관점에서 세계를 인식하고, 2) 인간을 ‘세계-내-존재’ ‘관계-내-존재’로 규정, 끊임없이 상호작용하며 수시변통해야 하는 존재로 규정한다는 점에서 이전 상법과 구분되는 이론적 진전을 보여 준다. 인간이 타인을 인식하려 하는 것은 결국 ‘상호작용’을 위한 것이라는 점을 상기해본다면, 최한기의 측인은 인간의 삶에서 상호작용의 중요성을 환기시켜 준다는 점에서 의미를 지닌다. (shrink)

儒學思想의 基底를 이루고 있는 것은 經學이다. 經學이란, 해석자가 경전이라는 권위에 기대어 자신의 시대적⋅사회적⋅사상적 입장을 투영하여 재해석하여 자신의 이상과 신념을 표현하는 학문이라고 할 수 있다. 우리나라에 儒敎經典이 유입된 후 조선시대에 이르러서는 주자학적 경학이 그 주류를 형성하여 17세기까지 지속되었는데, 17세기 말부터는 주자학적 이념체계에 대한 반성과 탐색이 시도되면서 탈주자학적 경전 해석 경향이 나타나게 되었다. 이 가운데에서 필자는 運化라는 세계관을 바탕으로 하여 사상 체계를 구축한 혜강 최한기(1803∼1877)에 대해서 주목하게 되었다. 최한기의 학문을 학계에서는 흔히 ‘탈경학’이라고 표현하지만, 그가 경학에 대해서 일정한 견해를 가지고 있었다는 사실은 그의 (...) 저서 『通經』과 기타 經典에 대한 언급에서 증명된다. 그러나 그동안의 연구에서 대부분의 선행 연구자들은 최한기의 철학에 미친 經典의 영향에 대해서는 간과하는 측면이 있다. 이 논문에서는 최한기가『大學』의 八條目 중 修身⋅齊家⋅治國⋅平天下에 대해서 논술한 부분을 참고하여 그의 이상사회론에 대해 분석한다. 현존하는 그의 저서에서 『大學』 조목에 대한 부분을 보면 그는 三綱領보다는 八條目을 주로 언급하였고, 그 중에서 특히 修身⋅齊家⋅治國⋅平天下에 대해서 주로 언급하였다. 이 부분은 최한기 이전의 조선 학자들과 다른 독창적인 해석으로써 주목할 만 하다. 그러나 그의 『通經』은 序文 이외에 현존하지 않으므로, 그의 저술 가운데에서 특히 『神氣通』, 『推測錄』, 『氣學』, 『人政』에서 그의 修身⋅齊家⋅治國⋅平天下 관련 논술을 三等運化의 구조를 차용하여 분석하고, 그의 이상사회론의 근거를 찾아보았다. (shrink)

혜강 최한기의 사상적 특징은 자연과 인간의 소통 관계를 해명하는 것이다. 또한 사회의 발전 논리를 기의 운동성에서 찾고, 그 논리적 구도를 재조직하여 사회적 발전 구도를 만드는 것이다. 곧 기의 본질적 특성인 형질성과 운동성을 자연의 전형 및 합리성으로 삼아 인간 사회의 합리성과 변화를 해명하는 것이다. 나아가 자연에 기초한 사회 발전의 논리를 확대하여 사회적 건전성의 조건이 무엇인지를 탐색한다. 그는 유가의 전통적 경세론에 기초하여 이 질문에 답한다. 그것은 기의 객관성과 운동성에 기초한 사무론의 전개이다. 그리고 다양한 사무에서 발생하는 사회적 이익을 소통시키는 논리의 제시이다. 곧 운화개념에 (...) 기초한 통공역사(通功易事)의 논리를 제시한 것이다. 통공역사는 사회적 재화의 소통, 즉 사회적 부의 분배 문제에 귀결되고, 사회적 공공성을 실현하는 논리가 된다. 이것은 현대 사회의 사회복지 및 사회정의에 연결시킬 수 있다. 이 점에서 우리는 사회적 재화의 소통에 따른 사회적 건전성의 확보와 사회 구성원의 행복을 말할 수 있다. 그리고 다양한 사회 구성원이 공존할 수 있는 근거를 말할 수 있다. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Asian American Christian Ethics: Voices, Methods, Issues eds. by Grace Y. Kao and Ilsup AhnAlex MikulichAsian American Christian Ethics: Voices, Methods, Issues Edited by Grace Y. Kao and Ilsup Ahn WACO, TX: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2015. 355 PP. $44.95This volume opens new horizons in Christian ethics. Editors Grace Y. Kao and Ilsup Ahn suggest two ways of conceptualizing Asian American Christian ethics. They describe the first as "agency- (...) or advocacy-centered" and the second as "bringing Western and Asian philosophical, theological, and cultural traditions together in critical dialogue and for selective retrieval for Asian American Christian ethics" (11). While the contributors to this book rightfully develop agency and advocacy-centered approaches within complex histories of colonialism and oppression, they also emulate Michael Walzer's "connected critic" who is not naïvely or uncritically "neutral" or dispassionate. The contributors appropriately use co-critical approaches that make possible "new and creative 'traditioning'" that does not uncritically reinscribe some "purer" Asian past or "undefiled by Western contact" (15).Nearly every chapter unpacks the deeply problematic term "Asian American" that was originally employed by activists who sought a new identity as "self-determining subjects rather than as 'oriental objects' in the United States" (4). But the term obfuscates multiple diversities within richly divergent national, geographical, colonial, and cultural histories and traditions.Hoon Choi explores the complexity of gender and sexual identities through a richly textured intersectional approach, examines how these identities become intertwined in double and triple binds, and reinterprets Christ as the fullness of humanity against Western hegemony and Eastern sexism. Choi's vibrant reinterpretation of Jesus Christ is complemented by a wise and compassionate pastoral approach.Sharon M. Tan calls for a reinterpretation both of Christian and Asian traditions of marriage, family, and parenting that will "entail a bicultural approach to life" and "creative new ways of retelling their stories and imagining their futures" (42). Tan underscores the difficulty of describing a Pan-Asian approach to marriage, family, and parenting by exploring the complexities of "Tiger Mothers," multigenerational households, the "special case of refugees," transnational families, and biculturality and adaptation.Hannah Ka deconstructs a wide range of Christian approaches to environmental ethics and reinterprets Sallie McFague's Body of God ecological theology through a distinctive Asian American approach. Drawing on beautiful and challenging stories from her own family as well as Confucian and Taoist [End Page 215] thought, Ka suggests a reinterpretation both of existential and functional indebtedness between human beings and all living things. She contends that "humans cannot survive even a day without … all other inorganic and organic existents on earth, while [other existents] can flourish without humans. The life of the human species is not merely interdependent with, but utterly indebted to, all the other existents on earth, rendering humans more vulnerable than others" (221).These are only a few examples of how this volume exemplifies clear, cogent, and constructive Christian ethics. Chapters by Ilsup Ahn ("Virtue Ethics"), Keun-Joo Christine Pae ("Peace and War"), Christina A. Astorga ("Wealth and Prosperity"), Ki Joo (KC) Choi ("Racial Identity and Solidarity"), SueJeanne Koh ("Health Care"), Hak Joon Lee ("Immigration"), Irene Oh ("Education and Labor"), and Jonathan Tran ("Cosmetic Surgery") all expand the horizons of contemporary ethics. I highly recommend this text for scholars to engage new horizons of Christian ethics and to use for a wide variety of upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in Christian ethics as well as constructive and pastoral theology.Alex MikulichLoyola University New OrleansCopyright © 2017 Society of Christian Ethics... (shrink)

v.1. Yuhak ŭi parwŏn kwa wansŏng -- v. 2. Chungguk Yuhak ŭi chŏn'gae -- v. 3. Han'guk ŭi Yuhak (sang) -- v. 4. Han'guk ŭi Yuhak (ha) -- v. 5. Ilbon kwa Pet'ŭnam ŭi Yuhak.

The central theme of this paper is the dispositional/categorical distinction that has been one of the top agendas in contemporary metaphysics. I will first develop from my semantic account of dispositions what I think the correct formulation of the dispositional/categorical distinction in terms of counterfactual conditionals. It will be argued that my formulation does not have the shortcomings that have plagued previously proposed ones. Then I will turn my attention to one of its consequences, the thesis that dispositional properties are (...) not susceptible to intrinsic finks. This thesis was first advanced by me and has ever since stirred up a big controversy, endorsed by some philosophers like Handfield, Bird, and Cohen but rejected by others like Clarke and Fara. Against this background, I will remedy my defense of the impossibility of intrinsically finkable dispositions and then refute some of apparently powerful criticisms of it. And so the upshot is that it is much more reasonable to hold on to the thesis that dispositions are intrinsically unfinkable. This will have the effect of putting the dispositional/categorical distinction on firmer and more secure ground. (shrink)

Advocates of the conserved quantity (CQ) theory of causation have their own peculiar problem with conservation laws. Since they analyze causal process and interaction in terms of conserved quantities that are in turn defined as physical quantities governed by conservation laws, they must formulate conservation laws in a way that does not invoke causation, or else circularity threatens. In this paper I will propose an adequate formulation of a conservation law that serves CQ theorists' purpose.

Ki Su Kim; J. S. Mill's Concept of Maturity as the Criterion in Determining Children's Eligibility for Rights, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume 24, Is.

Background: Whenever there has been a worldwide contagious disease outbreak, there have been reports of infection and death of healthcare workers. Particularly because emergency nurses have contact with patients on the front line, they experience ethical problems in nursing while struggling with infectious diseases in an unfavorable environment. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore emergency nurses’ ethical problems and to identify factors influencing these problems during the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome–coronavirus in Korea. Design and sample: (...) For this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire survey was conducted with emergency nurses working in six hospitals selected through convenience sampling from the hospitals designated for Middle East respiratory syndrome–coronavirus patients in the capital area. Methods: Data were collected from 169 emergency nurses in Korea during August 2015. Ethical considerations: This research was approved by the Institutional Review Board of G University in Korea. Results: The findings of this study suggest that during the Middle East respiratory syndrome–coronavirus outbreak, emergency nurses experienced ethical problems tied to a mind-set of avoiding patients. Three factors were found to influence emergency nurses’ ethical problems (in order of influence): cognition of social stigmatization, level of agreement with infection control measures, and perceived risk. Conclusion: Through this study, we obtained information on emergency nurses’ ethical problems during the Middle East respiratory syndrome–coronavirus outbreak and identified the factors that influence them. As found in this study, nurses’ ethical problems were influenced most by cognitions of social stigmatization. Accordingly, to support nurses confidently care for people during future health disasters, it is most urgent to promote appropriate public consciousness that encourages healthcare workers. (shrink)

Why would God institute the practice of efficacious petitionary prayer? Why would God not simply give us what we need before we ask? I examine recently proposed solutions to this puzzle and argue that they are inadequate to explain why an omniscient and perfectly good God would act differently in response to prayer. I propose that God has reasons to not always maximize a creature’s good, even in a sinless world, and that petitionary prayer functions as a means to reward (...) those who trust God, to enable us to actively love those we cannot otherwise help, and to give the petitioner personal evidence of God’s existence and care for her, creating a virtuous cycle of increasing faith. I refine this proposal by responding to several objections involving human responsibility and the epistemology of divine action. Along the way, I offer several ways petitioners can recognize God’s having answered a prayer and how God might help us with some common obstacles to prayer. (shrink)

For the last several decades, dispositional properties have been one of the main topics in metaphysics. Still, however, there is little agreement among contemporary metaphysicians on the nature of dispositional properties. Apparently, though, the majority of them have reached the consensus that dispositional ascriptions cannot be analysed in terms of simple counterfactual conditionals. In this paper it will be brought to light that this consensus is wrong. Specifically, I will argue that the simple conditional analysis of dispositions, which is generally (...) thought to be dead, is in fact an adequate analysis of dispositions. I will go on to discuss Mumford’s view of dispositions from the perspective of the simple conditional analysis of dispositions. (shrink)

Choi and Murphy seek to analyze the key facets of the debate over PC. Until now, PC has tended to be treated in news stories, magazines articles, and reports where the examination of PC has been short and under developed--rarely have the writers looked beyond single issues. Choi and Murphy provide a comprehensive examination of PC, from its philosophical underpinnings and historical background, through the significance of post-structural philosophy and postmodern literary criticism.

Ideological indoctrination is explicit and pervasive in China, with the school curriculum used to mould the spirit and character of adolescents, fulfilling ideological and political purposes. But the exact content varies over time. Comparing two versions of textbooks published in 1997 and 2005, this paper depicts the continuities and change in the curricular discourses centred on the notion of ‘good citizen’. While keeping the official status of socialism and the Party leadership untouched, the new textbooks soften the presentation and packaging (...) of the ideological content, very much in tandem with the soft authoritarianism practised since the post‐Deng era when China has been deeply involved in the processes of marketisation, liberalisation and globalisation. The new textbooks also adopt a stance of greater reconciliation with human rights and global citizenship. While being granted more autonomy and rights, young citizens are still expected to shoulder the mission of national revival and socialist modernisation—very much derived from official policies. (shrink)

When Western Christianity came to Asia, it merged with Eastern religions and histories and developed very differently in different places. Today Asian women in each country build up very unique images of God. They practice Eastern forms of worship and liturgical rites, and do indigenized theologies. They simultaneously try to find their own ways of naming, imaging, believing in and communicating with their own God. Korean Christianity has inherited many images of God from Western Christian doctrines and theologies. However, when (...) it meets and merges with Koreanized Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shamanism, some of the images of God in Christianity are transformed and re-imagined in Korean women's social cultural and religious contexts. As an Asian woman, especially a Korean woman, I would like to introduce one of the many Asian women's theologies, Korean women's images of God. It cannot represent all Asian women's ways of doing theologies, but it will give some clues to show how Asian women do theologies in their own context. In particular, I will examine three images of God that demonstrate how Western Christianity and Eastern religions meet and are transformed in Korean Christian women's living contexts. (shrink)

The advance of medical and biological science and technology has presented us with new ethical and legal issues. Is embryonic stem cell research morally justified and legally allowed? What moral status do embryos have? Who can be a morally appropriate user of In Vitro fertilization? Who can use donated sperm and/or egg? What is the scope of reproductive liberty?” What is the meaning of a family and that of reproduction? How far does our genetic intervention go?”Scientists, lawyers, and laymen are (...) waiting for clear answers from philosophers. Unfortunately, philosophers have not seemed to give satisfactory answers to them. We may have various reasons. One of main reasons, however, seems to me that the above philosophical questions have not been the main research topics for philosophers since philosophy gave up metaphysical and/or religious questions. Thus, I argue that biomedical ethical issues urge philosophers tochange the philosopher’s attitude of doing philosophy. Those issues make them consider and rethink our fundamental concepts of life, death, family, and values pursued by human beings. In addition, it is easy to find conflicting ethical and philosophical answers to the above questions. Thus, it is very hard to reach consensus on the above ethical issues. This makes philosophers consider how we make a group decision over ethical issues showing conflicting but reasonable ethical answers in a plural society. This requires philosophers, especially scholars of ethics, develop a new ethics and its relevant concepts. This ethics must be able to work in a plural society where reasonable comprehensive belief systems coexist. In these respects, I argue that bioethics has to struggle with a newchallenge to philosophy. (shrink)