论自由主义的小说理论

自由主义理论将小说的发展归因于资产阶级和现代资本主义的兴起,以及随之而来的自由个人主义意识形态的增长.这一理论认为,"小说在其道德和心理的焦点上,在其生产与分配的工业技术上,在其所要求于读者的个人小天地、闲暇和阅读习惯上,正好同工商业资产阶级的伟大时代相适应."L.特里林与W.J.哈维的著作提出了自由主义哲学与小说形式之间存在着一种更为复杂的联系.按哈维的说法,小说有一种本能作为其支配中心,即"承认人们在社会中的丰富性、多样性和个别性,同时相信这些特征作为目的本身都是好的",而且它以生存的复杂性为乐,并容许有多种的信念和道德准则.在I.瓦特具有广泛影响的著作《小说的兴起》中,有着对自由主义理论的系统探索,它随意地将中产阶级的发展和18世纪的英国小说联系起来,使这两种看法相结合,表示这种阶级间的相互联系也体现在笛福·理查逊和菲尔丁的"形式现实主义"的作品中.瓦特从叙述技巧的角度对"形式现实主     

现代经济学泛论

一当前发生的一些事件对世界经济说来是严峻的,也给美国经济学家带来了烦恼.20年前老生常谈的繁荣与衰退问题,似乎已经得到解决;长期折磨经济学的思想分歧已经融合为一种"新古典综合论",从而把亚当·斯密的"无形的手"的古典经济学与凯恩斯的     

人的社会本质及其自然生物存在、个体与历史发展

不言而喻,研究人的前景,不可能不分析人的本质.所以,必须由之开始的第一件事,就是试着回答"什么是人"的问题.这真是个"永恒的"问题,它贯穿整个哲学史,在现代关于人及其未来的争论中也是一个中心问题.在对人的本质进行认识的历史上,已经取得了一些决定性的成果.在对科学、人类精神文化、人类社会经验加以发展的新阶段     

关于社会的研究是一门科学吗?

一、引言关于社会科学,一个主要的方法论问题是,究竟它们是不是科学.不能说这个问题已经完全清楚,也不能说对此可以作出直接、简单的回答.我认为,社会科学的成功与失败、社会科学知识的性质及其作用,这些问题的解决最终取决于对认识自然的模式和认识社会的模式之比较.而那些想把心理学、政治学、经济学、地理学和历史学置于"科学"基础之上的人,却总以为自己在研究社会事件的过程中应用了与研究自然事件相     

中国的社会学研究及老龄问题

对于社会学和人类学在中国的地位,我们应该结合建国以来影响高等教育和研究的一系列国家政策来加以认识.在建立新的教育体系方面,中国人曾十分信赖苏联人.按照苏联的说法,在马克思主义的国家里没有必要设置诸如社会学、人类学,特别是社会文化人类学这样的资产阶级课程.社会学和社会人类学在中国被作为"禁区"达二十七年之久.研究这些经历对社会学家所产生的影响是很有意义的.因为不仅有个人受挫折的一面,还潜在着积极的一面.     

文化、意识形态和媒介社会

文化与政治的关系常常是人们激烈争论的对象.今天,正在进行的资本主义的调整(正如人们所说的危机)明显导致了两方面的重大变化.首先是在人与劳动和人与闲暇时间之间出现了一种新关系;其次是人们将大量资本用于一个新出现的领域:预示着一种多媒介的、全球性的工业正在崛起.今天,对于一个20岁的失业青年来说,什么是"资产阶级文化"??根据一般常识,即指懂得并爱好美术,知识面较广,既掌握书本知识,又掌握从     

Retiree medical plan design: determining the philosophy, communicating the need

Much has been written, both in benefit-related journals and in the general press, about the recent statement, FAS 106, issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). This statement requires most employers to begin accounting for retiree health care benefit costs for active employees as well as current retirees, creating a significant negative financial impact. Most of the attention has been focused on getting the numbers that will tell the extent of the impact resulting from FAS 106. The next step has been to review retiree medical coverage to see how the affected companies can change it to reduce their liability. Although the urge is strong to adopt a quick-fix solution, employers can greatly benefit by reviewing their benefit philosophies and making plan decisions that make sense for them. This article discusses key questions that can help focus the issue on company philosophies and lays out a framework for determining suitable plan designs that can also help companies manage the retiree medical liability.     

Optimal pension funding with demographic instability and endogenous returns on investment

This paper tries to explore some optimal funding policies for pension systems in a general equilibrium setting where funding affects returns on investment and wages through its impact on capital formation. This is done in the context of irregular demographic evolutions such as those expected in developed countries for the next century. Particular attention is given to the intergenerational welfare criterion which is used for designing optimal policies. It appears that funding receives low justification with a welfare criterion which assumes a high substitutability between consumptions of successive cohorts, implying a low concern for intergenerational equity. Funding is highly justified in the opposite case where a high level of consumption for some cohorts is not considered as a compensation for low consumption by others. However the optimal patterns of transfers and savings which are found in this latter case are not straightforward. Some simpler funding rules are explored in the last section of this paper, which show that non-optimal funding may imply, on the contrary, a high level of inequality between subsequent generations.Paper presented at the ISPE-conference Fiscal implications of an ageing population, May–June 1990 at Vaalsbroek, The Netherlands. We thank Pierre Pestieau for his remarks on a first draft of this paper. We also thank for their comments our two discussants Carol Propper and Lans Bovenberg, as well as other participants to the ISPE Conference. Any errors are, of course, ours.     

Survey provides overview of profession's responsibilities

At the end of 1990, the Physician Executive Management Center, Tampa, Fla., undertook a survey of College members to determine levels of compensation and benefits and to provide a glimpse at the roles and responsibilities of physician executives. The results of the survey have recently been published by the Management Center. In this article, the roles and responsibilities of physician executives for the overall sample are summarized.     

New information from the State Committee on Statistics of the USSR

Selected data concerning the USSR are presented. They concern vital statistics by republic for 1989 for rural and urban areas, birth order, life expectancy by sex, and population change and vital statistics for cities with a population over one million.