The evaluation of tourism competitiveness is an important tool for analyzing the potential of tourism in a specific context. Enshi Autonomous Prefecture in China is selected as a case through which to explore the potential of mountain tourism and its competitiveness in the tourism industry. This study develops EAP’s mountain tourism competitiveness model focusing on three criteria: core competitiveness of mountain tourism, the economic environment’s competitiveness, and infrastructure competitiveness. Context-specific customized evaluation index has been applied to data collected from EAP (...) Statistical Yearbook for 2005–2014. The study reveals that the value of EAP’s mountain tourism core competitiveness, economic and environmental competitiveness, and infrastructure competitiveness are 84.292, 13.4, and 2.308%, respectively. When tourism core competitiveness is increased by one unit, EAP’s mountain tourism competitiveness will increase by 0.84292 units. Similarly, when economic environment competitiveness is increased by one unit, EAP’s mountain tourism competitiveness will increase by 0.134 units. EAP’s mountain tourism competitiveness increases by 0.02308 units when infrastructure competitiveness increases by one unit. The major reasons for low levels of competitiveness were lack of awareness of the county authority, a low level of cooperation, and weak infrastructure. The recommendations from the study’s findings are as follows. Firstly, the county authority should appropriately improve the relationship between competition and cooperation, maintaining cooperation in competition, and competition in cooperation. Secondly, the county authority should strengthen communication by establishing an effective coordinated mechanism. Thirdly, the county authority should improve the sense of cooperation and jointly develop the mountain tourism market. Fourthly, the county authority should improve the construction of tourism infrastructure and break down the barriers to tourism cooperation. The study’s findings help develop a “win-win” cooperation mechanism within the competition and support the sustainable development of the mountain tourism industry while reducing poverty and promoting the revitalization of the mountains of China. (shrink)

The aim of this study was to investigate the applicability of the planned behavior theory model and TPB-6 model of enhanced physical exercise in college students, and to explore the role of exercise commitment in the relationship between exercise intention and behavior, so as to provide theoretical and empirical support for college students to promotion exercise. The study participants were 581 college students are investigated with Theory of Planned Behavior Scale, Exercise Commitment Scale, and Physical Activity Rating Scale. Results showed (...) that the explanatory power of the TPB to exercise intention and exercise behavior is 0.70 and 0.52, respectively, and exercise intention was the primary factor to predict exercise behavior of college students. The Model fit of TPB-6 model is acceptable, compared with TPB 5-factor model, the predictive power of TPB-6 on behavioral intention increases from 70.0 to 75.0%, and the predictive power towards behavior raises from 52.0 to 59.0%. Exercise commitment has a partial mediating effect between exercise intention and behavior, which accounts for 26.89% of the total effect, but it has no moderating effect. In conclusion, this research demonstrates the TPB-5 model has good applicability among the college students, with exercise commitment variables, exercise intention can better predict college students’ exercise behavior, which can be used as the theoretical basis for the intervention on their exercise behavior. (shrink)

"Yang Xiong is the most useless of all. He was truly a rotten Confucian."Zhu Xi (11301200 A.D.)With this comment from Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi, the work of Han Dynasty philosopher Yang Xiong (53 B.C.18 A.D.) was effectively relegated to the dustbin of Chinese intellectual history. While influential in the Later Han as the clearest expression of the Old Text Confucian school, Yang's Fa yan has received little attention from Western scholars and appears here in a rare annotated (...) English translation.Written during the transition between the Former and Later Han Dynasties, the Fa yan is a notoriously elusive text that was stylistically modeled on the Analects of Confucius. Denigrated by later Neo-Confucians for his association with Han usurper Wang Mang, Yang Xiong served both the Former Han and Xin imperial courts as a court poet and scholar, and was well known for being a reclusive personality, earning him a reputation as a "hermit at court." Most famous for his position that human nature is a mixture of good and evil, Yang Xiong's philosophy stands in clear contrast to the syncretic Confucianism of his day as a reformer's vision of proper self-cultivation and statecraft.This volume presents an annotated translation of the entire text, focusing on the passages that elucidate Yang's discussion of the core concepts of the Confucian school. The translator's commentary traces the text's major philosophical concepts to their roots in Warring States era philosophy, noting stylistic and conceptual allusions to the Analects and Mencius, among other texts. Also included are a discussion of Yang's biography and the influence of the eremitic ideal on his life and thought. (shrink)

As an important view in the epistemology of perception, dogmatism proposes that for any experience, if it has a distinctive kind of phenomenal character, then it thereby provides us with immediate justification for beliefs about the external world. This paper rejects dogmatism by looking into the epistemology of imagining. In particular, this paper first appeals to some empirical studies on perceptual experiences and imaginings to show that it is possible for imaginings to have the distinctive phenomenal character dogmatists have in (...) mind. Then this paper argues that some of these imaginings fail to provide us with immediate justification for beliefs about the external world at least partly due to their inappropriate etiology. Such imaginings constitute counterexamples to dogmatism. (shrink)

We tend to think that perceptual experiences tell us about what the external world is like without being influenced by our own mind. But recent psychological and philosophical research indicates that this might not be true. Our beliefs, expectations, knowledge, and other personal-level mental states might influence what we experience. This kind of psychological phenomena is now called “cognitive penetration.” The research of cognitive penetration not only has important consequences for psychology and the philosophy of mind, but also has interesting (...) epistemological implications. According to the Downgrade Thesis, some cognitively penetrated perceptual experiences give their subjects less justification for believing their penetrated contents than perceptual experiences that are unpenetrated to represent those contents would usually give. In this paper, I propose an innovative argument for the Downgrade Thesis. First, I develop a positive account of how some cognitive penetration works, according to which cognitive states influence perceptual experiences by triggering some imaginings. Second, I argue that imaginings do not give their subjects justification for believing their contents. I apply this epistemology of imagining to cognitive penetration, and argue that because of the role that imaginings play, some cognitively penetrated experiences also give their subjects less justification for believing their penetrated contents. (shrink)

Studying drug relationships can provide deeper information for the construction and maintenance of biomedical databases and provide more important references for disease treatment and drug development. The research model has expanded from the previous focus on a certain drug to the systematic analysis of the pharmaceutical network formed between drugs. Network model is suitable for the study of the nonlinear relationship of the pharmaceutical relationship by modeling the data learning. Association rule mining is used to find the potential correlations between (...) the various sets of massive data. Therefore, based on the network model, this research proposed an algorithm for drug interaction under improved association rules, which achieved accurate analysis and decision-making of drug relationship. Meanwhile, this research applied the established association rule algorithm to discuss the relationship between Chinese medicine and mental illness medicine and conducted the algorithm research and simulation analysis of the association relationship. The results showed the association rule algorithm based on the network model constructed was better than other association algorithms. It had reliability and superiority in decision-making in improving the drug-drug relationship. It also promoted the rational use of medicines and played a guiding role in pharmaceutical research. This provides scientific research personnel with research basis and research ideas for disease-related diagnosis. (shrink)

This study delves into the porcelain calligraphy and painting of the Ming and Qing dynasties, aiming to uncover the spiritual and cultural narratives encapsulated in these artistic expressions. During these eras, marked by the zenith of Chinese porcelain artistry, the incorporation of religious motifs was not merely decorative but a profound reflection of the prevailing religious beliefs, cultural norms, and aesthetic inclinations of the time. This paper conducts a deep analysis of the religious elements manifested in Ming and Qing dynasty (...) porcelain artworks, exploring how these elements articulate religious devotion, mirror cultural practices, and influence artistic transformations. Through detailed appreciation and interpretation of three exemplary cases—Yongle blue and white entwined flowers, Jiajing blue and white road Fu Yunhe large plate, and a blue and white seawater river cliff pattern three-legged furnace—this study reveals how these works serve as conduits for spiritual reflection and cultural transmission. Each piece not only embodies the religious and philosophical zeitgeist of its era but also highlights the dynamic interplay between art and societal evolution, thus underscoring the multifaceted roles ancient religious art plays in perpetuating cultural heritage, enchanting viewers with its artistic allure, and reflecting broader social transformations. (shrink)

In the encounter between the Western and Eastern Cultures in the 20th century, the Chinese Buddhist classic Blue Cliff Record (Biyanlu 《碧巖錄》) was widely translated in Europe, especially in Germany. In the first part, this paper introduces the various German translations as well as their translators’ evaluations and discussions of the book and Chan Buddhism. In the second part, this paper argues that Blue Cliff Record represents a dynamic ontology by interpreting the Highest Meaning. In the third part, this paper (...) will present the self-understanding and freedom addressed in Blue Cliff Record. The paper shows that Chan Buddhism is characterized by its non-duality between convention and holiness and by the self-realization in this world. (shrink)

This study offers an embodied, action-oriented perspective on metaphor. It weaves together 3 theoretical ideas: (a) Lakoff & Johnson's (1980a, 1980b, 1980c; Lakoff, 1993) idea that metaphors are cross-domain conceptual mappings, (b) Lakoff & Johnson's (1999) idea that individuals are coupled to the world through embodied interactions with the environment, on which their sense of what is real is based, and (c) Gibbs's (1999) nascent idea that metaphors can be off-loaded into the cultural world. I argue that metaphors, as cross-domain (...) mappings, can be directly realized in the coupling of the external settings that frame and sustain one's activities and what people, individually and collectively, do to and in the world. A comparison of conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual blending theory is made from this perspective. I argue that the blending theory is overly stretched when it is applied to an analysis of metaphorical activity that can be jointly explained by cross-domain mappings and the external structures that constrain and modulate the activity. As for the conceptual metaphor theory, I argue that the theory is overly restrictive if domains are construed exclusively in neural terms. (shrink)

Based on the 2017 China General Social Survey data, with 5,439 observations as research objects, this paper empirically tests the impact of flexible employment on workers’ wellbeing and introduces labor income as mediator and social security as moderator to explore the mechanism of action. The empirical results show that: flexible employment has an inverted U-shaped relationship with workers’ wellbeing, which indicates that increasing employments’ flexibility will first rise and then reduce their perceived subjective wellbeing after reaching the peak; labor income (...) plays a mediating role in the relationship of flexible employment and wellbeing of workers; social security moderates the mediating effect of labor income whereas the moderating role in the relationship between flexible employment and workers’ wellbeing is not observed. Implications and future development of flexible employment are discussed. (shrink)

Does phenomenal force, the distinctive phenomenology attributed to perceptual experience, really form an integral part of the latter? If not, what implications does it have for perceptual justification? In this paper, I first argue for a metacognitive account, according to which phenomenal force constitutes a separate, metacognitive state. This account opens up a previously unexplored path for challenging phenomenal conservatism or dogmatism, which has been a prominent theory of perceptual justification over the past two decades. Moreover, I investigate several alternative (...) possibilities in which phenomenal force might still be deemed as significant, but ultimately demonstrate that its epistemic role remains marginal at best. (shrink)

According to phenomenal conservatism or dogmatism, perceptual experiences can give us immediate justification for beliefs about the external world in virtue of having a distinctive kind of phenomenal character—namely phenomenal force. I present three cases to show that phenomenal force is neither pervasive among nor exclusive to perceptual experiences. The plausibility of such cases calls out for explanation. I argue that contrary to a long-held assumption, phenomenal force is a separate, non-perceptual state generated by some metacognitive mechanisms that monitor one’s (...) first-order mental processes and states. This new account advances our understanding of the nature of phenomenal force. (shrink)

Researchers have identified 2 distinctive types of pictorial displays, namely, pictorial metaphor and pictorial simile, and offered theoretical explanations of them. Regarding the distinction between pictorial metaphor and pictorial simile, we argue that symmetric image alignment of pictorial components depicting things at the object level is the principal design factor that sets pictorial simile apart from pictorial metaphor and links pictorial simile to pictorial grouping. Based on the idea of symmetric image alignment, an attempt is made to identify and explain (...) a further type of pictorial display, namely, pictorial oxymoron. We propose a hypothesis, called the "image grouping hypothesis," to provide an integrated account of pictorial grouping, pictorial simile, and pictorial oxymoron. The hypothesis can be summed up as follows: Symmetric image alignment of pictorial components depicting things of the same kind is apt for expressing pictorial grouping; symmetric image alignment of pictorial components depicting things of different kinds is apt for expressing pictorial simile; and symmetric image alignment of pictorial components depicting things that can be seen as incompatible with each other is apt for expressing pictorial oxymoron. (shrink)

Background The enhancement of nursing care quality is closely related to the clinical competence of nurses, making it a crucial component within health systems. Objective The present study investigated the relationship between nurses’ clinical competence, moral identity, and moral injury during the COVID-19 outbreak. Research design This cross-sectional study was carried out among frontline nurses, using the Moral Identity Questionnaire (MIQ), the Moral Injury Symptom Scale-Healthcare Professionals version (MISS-HP), and the Competency Inventory for Registered Nurse (CIRN) as data collection tools. (...) Participants and research context: The research population for this study consisted of all frontline nurses ( n = 251) employed in a hospital in southern Iran. Sampling was conducted between May 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021, during the COVID-19 outbreak. Ethical considerations The present study received approval from the research ethics committee of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, with project No. 99267 and code of ethics ID No. IR. RUMS.REC.1399.262, dated 15.02.2021. Results According to the study findings, 42.2% of the nurses demonstrated high clinical competence, while 51.4% exhibited moderate clinical competence. The results indicated a positive correlation between moral identity and clinical competence but a negative correlation between moral injury and clinical competence. Furthermore, the variables of moral identity and moral injury were found to predict 10% of the variance in clinical competence. Conclusion According to the results, moral identity and moral injury had an impact on the clinical competence of nurses. Therefore, implementing a program aimed at enhancing moral identity and providing training strategies to address moral injury during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to improvements in nurses’ clinical competence and the overall quality of care they provide. (shrink)

In research on Augustine, Peter Brown’s paradigm of ‘two Augustines’ has been widely used. According to Brown, Augustine experienced a shift from optimism to pessimism. In his earlier works, Augustine held that humans could achieve happiness in this life by reason. In contrast, in his later works, Augustine emphasised grace, original sin and the imperfection of life. Against Brown’s framework, this paper argues that Augustine does not experience a pessimistic turn. Augustine holds that humans can achieve happiness through faith, hope (...) and love.Contribution: This article explores Augustine’s theory of happiness and revises the ‘two Augustines’ paradigm. On the one hand, Augustine does not deny the freedom of will. On the other hand, Augustine is confident in happiness through faith, hope and love. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Cognitive penetrability refers to the possibility that perceptual experiences are influenced by our beliefs, expectations, emotions, or other personal-level mental states. In this paper, I focus on the epistemological implication of cognitive penetration, and examine how, exactly, aetiologies matter to the justificatory power of perceptual experiences. I examine a prominent theory, according to which some cognitively penetrated perceptual experiences are like conclusions of bad inferences. Whereas one version of this theory is psychologically implausible, the other version has sceptical consequences. (...) In the second half of the paper, I suggest an alternative theory, drawing on recent empirical research on imagining-perception interaction and the epistemology of imagining. (shrink)

Previous research has showed that Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents are at high risk for discrimination, negative emotions, and aggression. However, little is known about how discrimination, negative emotions, and aggression are interrelated and whether social support addressing the emotional needs of the adolescents would moderate the relationship of discrimination to aggression. This study attempts to fill these gaps. Based on prior research, it is proposed that perceived discrimination relates to reactive aggression by increasing negative emotions that foster aggressive responses to (...) stressful events. Considering the central role that negative emotions may play, it is also hypothesized that socioemotional support provided by family, friends, and community mitigates the impact of perceived discrimination on reactive aggression by reducing negative emotions. The results obtained from the analysis of two-wave survey data collected from a probability sample of 470 migrant students aged 11–17 in China supported these hypotheses. The findings indicate that perceived discrimination fosters negative emotions, which in turn increase reactive aggression. Additionally, socioemotional support reduces the adverse impact of perceived discrimination on reactive aggression by weakening the link between perceived discrimination and negative emotions. Practical and policy implications of these findings are discussed. (shrink)

The anecdote of Zhuangzi and Hui Shi's brief discussion on a bridge above the Hao river gives us a nice piece of reasoning in ancient Chinese texts that may serve as a platform for a productive philosophical exchange between the East and the West. The present study examines Hansen's inferential analysis of Zhuangzi and Hui Shi's discussion in this spirit. It is argued that Hansen's analysis founders. To do justice to both Hui Shi and Zhuangzi, the present study proposes that (...) we apply the logic developed in the later Mohist text, the Lesser Pick, to an analysis of their discussion. The re-analysis shows that the intricate dialectic of the reasoning in which Zhuangzi and Hui Shi engage, neatly accords with the pattern of discourse expounded in the Lesser Pick, and gives us global insight into Zhuangzi's final statement in the anecdote, which is notoriously recondite, or confusing. (shrink)

Searle's Chinese room argument is analyzed from a cognitive point of view. The analysis is based on a newly developed model of conceptual integration, the many space model proposed by Fauconnier and Turner. The main point of the analysis is that the central inference constructed in the Chinese room scenario is a result of a dynamic, cognitive activity of conceptual blending, with metaphor defining the basic features of the blending. Two important consequences follow: (1) Searle's recent contention that syntax is (...) not intrinsic to physics turns out to be a slightly modified version of the old Chinese room argument; and (2) the argument itself is still open to debate. It is persuasive but not conclusive, and at bottom it is a topological mismatch in the metaphoric conceptual integration that is responsible for the non-conclusive character of the Chinese room argument. (shrink)

Mencius, the second sage of Confucianism after Confucius, is well known for his subtle argumentative skills. Mencius did not develop his own argumentation theory, but argumentation practices, including his political argumentation, have enormously inspired later scholars in China to develop argumentation theories. In this paper, we try to reconstruct Mencius’s political argumentation from perspectives of both strategic maneuvering developed by van Eemeren et al. in argumentation theory and truth-functional logic in formal logic. The aim is to manifest the Dao, a (...) rational balance among logical, dialectical and rhetorical dimensions in Mencius’s political argumentation. The results indicate that Mencius’s political argumentation is not only logically justified but also shown to have maneuvered strategically between reasonableness and effectiveness, and that human beings have a common ground of formal and substantial logos, which makes it possible for people from different cultural groups to communicate rationally. (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)

本书力图从施特劳斯开启的古今之争的视野来研究现代西方法理学的三大论战。本书首先将三大论战置于现代政治科学的问题史脉络中进行辨析, 清理论战中的局限、疑难和乱象; 进而通过阐述现代政治科学本身面临的批判和挑战, 来理解三大论战和现代西方法理学存在的局限性, 但笔者最终采取的是一种有节制的态度.

People have been attaching increasing importance to national consciousness in recent years. Why is there a general tendency for national consciousness to become stronger in today's world? And why are even the socialist countries no exception? This is indeed an issue worth studying. My paper, "A Preliminary Analysis of ‘National Consciousness,’" was basically limited to explanation and interpretation and did not touch on the subject. In this article I intend, on the basis of the previous article, to conduct a cursory (...) analysis of the relationship between socialism and national consciousness. (shrink)