“内在固有的尺度”与审美能力——关于“美的规律”的函义

《巴黎手稿》是马克思美学思想的诞生地。而其中“美的规律”问题一直是难度颇大且又较为关键的问题。何谓规律?从哲学高度看,规律是与本质等同的概念,“规律是本质的关系”、“规律和本质是表示人对现象、对世界等等认识深化的同一类(同一序列)概念,或者说得更确切些,是同等程度的概念”,就是说,“美的规律”实质上是从根源上、从本质上回答美之所以为美的问题,因而可以说它是一个涵盖面极为深广的命题。本文试从包含于“美的规律”这一命题中的“内在固有尺度”及其动态结构之一的主体审美能力问题,对“美的规律”的涵义略抒管见。     

人的本质及其方法论

在关于人的本质的讨论中,有一个值得注意的带有普遍性的问题,就是片面理解马克思对人的本质的论述,单纯地从人的对外关系(即外部矛盾或外因)的角度去看待人的问题,这不利于人的本质的揭示。所以,重新谈谈方法论,并从外因与内因、社会与个体、环境条件与物质本体(或物质基础)的统一中去考察人的本质就很有必要。     

从技术的含义和本质看技术的价值负荷性

技术的含义应该包含主体、客体、中介、目的四个要素,缺少任何一个都不是对技术的完整的理解,甚至可以说是错误的理解。对技术的本质的理解应该是对人为什么要有技术、技术对人到底意味着什么的理解。从这个视角我们可以看出技术的本质可以说就是人的宿命,无论从马克思主义关于人的本质观点来看,还是从西方存在主义关于人的本质观点来看,技术在本质上都是和人分不开的。技术的价值负荷性也就是对技术的含义和本质的自然的、也是必然的逻辑引申了。     

唯物史观视角:人的本质与人的自由全面发展

从实践的对象性关系来说,人的本质有四方面内容,人的自然本质、社会本质、自由本质和个体本质。从唯物史观视角,马克思将人的自然本质、社会本质和自由本质分别赋予生产力、生产关系、社会发展的价值尺度的意义,从人作为普遍性和特殊性的辩证统一来看待人的个体本质。进一步得出,人的自由全面发展是人的本质在不同历史阶段上的逐步展开,其主体是最广大的人民群众,其现实维度就是当今时代的资本主义生产方式。     

马克思置于实践中对人的本质的内在说明

人的本质问题是一个开放的哲学话题。西方传统哲学中大概可以概括出两种理解人的本质的维度:实体维度,即从某种超越现实的纯物质或纯精神的实体出发看人的本质;感性直观维度,即从人的感性存在或自然属性出发看人的本质。这两种维度都企图在人的生活世界之外寻找人之为人的根据,都预设了某种外在于人的生活世界的实体或属性作为人的本质的根据,并把人的现实生活理解为实现人的这种本质的过程,这是对人的本质的外在说明。马克思把人的本质置于实践之中,根据实践中感性的人的生活世界的内在矛盾运动展开来说明人的本质;他所理解的人的本质是在实践中历史地生成的承载着复杂而具体的社会关系的现实的个人的本质,这是对人的本质的内在说明。     

确立历史的社会价值观点——社会历史认识及其观念转变的最高视野

历史本质问题是历史哲学的最高问题。文章认为,马克思的历史观是对“历史之谜”的真正解答;而历史认识的最高视野,则是历史的社会价值观点。作者首先分析了生产实践本身的双重价值意义,认为一切社会历史实践,本质上都是人们通过对象客体价值的创造,来实现人的主体价值的活动。文章又从个人价值、群体价值的追求活动,进一步提示了社会历史的深层本质,是人对社会价值的追求、创造和实现。文章通过人的“双重生命价值”的分析,论证了社会价值的本质取决于人的类价值和类本质,其表现形式是人以“自在生命价值”为基础对“自为生命价值”的追求;而其实质内容则是人对人自身类本质的追求、创造和实现。最后,作者以马克思、恩格斯关于历史规律观点及其人和社会发展“三形态理论”为依据,进一步论述了社会历史发展的最高规律和最深层本质,是人们通过他们个体本质、群体本质的实践创造活动,去不断追求、创造和实现人之为人的类本质过程     

人的本质是劳动

目前,国内外学术界开始注重了对人的研究,纵观世界历史,人们就会发现,在突破专制主义的缺口处,第一个提出研究的问题便是人,而人的本质又是核心。本文拟就人的本质问题作一探讨。一、从人与动物的区别来看人的本质人与动物的区别我们可以举出许多方面:人在社会中生活具有社会性而动物则没有;人有意识,能运用概念进行思维而动物则不能;等等。凡此种种都可以把人与动物区别开来,但什么是本质的区别呢?马克思认为:“有意识的生命活动直接     

马克思关于人的双重本质存在探析

当代哲学日益呈现出人与实践、文化三位一体的本然关系,重新解读马克思思想,不难发现,马克思早已揭示了人的实践与文化的双重本质存在.马克思把实践视为人的生命存在方式,是人的本质的最终根源,而实践本质力量的对象化即人化、文化世界的生成才具体体现和确证了人的本质存在及过程.只有从人的实践与文化的双重本质存在中才可说明人的具体特性,并由此警觉人的实践与文化本质存在的当代问题和解决的意义.     

美的本质:从美的本源转向艺术--康德对美的本质的二重解构

康德认为,美的本源出自于人的理性能力与知性能力之间的审美判断力,但美的本源决非美的本质.美的本质是审美判断力在其判断活动中展开的涉及到质、量、关系、模态四个方面的规定性.美的本质可以深刻地应答美的本源问题.同样,对美的本质的界定只是问题的开始,美的本质问题只有在关于艺术本体的阐释中才能得到终极解决,从美的本源到美的本质,再从美的本质到艺术,康德通过对美的本质的二重解构,重新打开了美的本质之门.     

制度安排与人的本质和发展

人的问题是制度哲学研究的主题,无论从人学的视野研究制度,抑或从制度的层面讨论人学,都共同面临着人与制度的关系问题。围绕这一基本问题,本文对制度安排与人和人的本质的相关性,制度安排对人的发展的意义及其价值评价进行哲学思考,以图为制度哲学体系的建构与方法的创新提供可能的帮助。     

Considering Improvisation: Play,Transitional Space,and Discovery

This article explores the concept of improvisation in the therapeutic setting as a complex construction when elaborated in the idiom of jazz music. A composite clinical case is offered that illustrates an impasse and how improvisational thinking offers a way forward. Improvisation has recently been conceptualized through the metaphor of theater improvisation, dance, and rhythm. The therapeutic hour is considered an improvisational dialogue with the main theme (melody) and counter melodies, and harmonic possibilities that underlie the rhythmic pulse of the hour. Improvisation requires a reflective/interpretive process that draws on patterns, structures, and experiences reformulated in the relational field of the participants. The client initiates the call and response pattern, from which improvisation emerges as a mutual process of discovery. A more relaxed, receptive, and reflective posture extends Winnicott’s 1971 notion of play to integrate classic understanding and relational interaction.     

Objective Tests versus Subjective tests

objective test has only one correct answer, while subjective test has a range of possible answers. Because of this feature, reliability will not be difficult to achieve in the marking of the objective item, while the marking of the subjective items is reliable. On the whole, a good test must contain both subjective and objective test items.     

Comments on the National College English Test

College English Test is an important national test for Chinese college students, this paper introduces the distribution of scores, time of examination, and analyses the four parts in CET ,such as listening comprehension, reading comprehension, integrated testing, and writing based on testing theories.     

Social security reforms in Kenya: Towards a workerist or a citizenship‐based system?

With social security provisions in Kenya remaining under‐reported in the more recent literature, this overview covers recent reforms in key areas of the country's social security system. In the health sector and in old‐age pension provision social security is still mainly workerist (biased toward those in formal employment), and attempts to expand coverage have had limited effect only – cash transfer programmes, for instance, have been expanded but in practice they do not universally cover the entitled categories. Thus, although the Kenyan social security system now has a considerable pro‐poor social assistance component it remains biased toward those in formal employment, to the benefit of the highest income quintile.     

Abstracts of theses: Smith College School for Social Work,July 1954

Abstract

Many clients relate in ways that elicit emotional responses in practitioners and may also feel pressure to intervene when appropriate action is not yet clear. Practitioners must develop sufficient self-awareness so their own reactions do not interfere with the work they do with clients. Educators exhort their students to be self-aware, but locating methods that foster the capacity can be difficult. Infant observation is an elegant training model that helps to develop self-awareness. The method described here makes use of regular observation, supportive small groups, and repeated detailed examination of what is seen in training both generalist and specialized practitioners. It has become a prototype for the observational study of several kinds of specific populations. Because it attends to people in their own environments and demonstrates a flexible, reflective, multi-modal manner of information-gathering, infant observation is particularly useful in the education of social work practitioners.     

India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act: Assessing the quality of access and adequacy of benefits in MGNREGS public works

The extension of social protection to all has become a central policy objective, both nationally and internationally. A considerable number of middle‐ and low‐income countries have undertaken substantial efforts to extend social protection, while the international community reaffirmed its commitment to the extension of social protection through the adoption of the ILO Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, No. 202 (2012). This article reviews the legal provisions and the implementation of the Indian Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), legislated in 2005, and does so in the light of the more recent provisions of ILO Recommendation No. 202. Since its introduction ten years ago, MGNREGA has provided a source of income to rural workers, increased wage rates, achieved high female participation rates and created durable assets. India's local governance bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), have been empowered and involved in the processes of planning and monitoring. However, despite successes, there have been considerable shortcomings in implementation. This article highlights two central themes: first, the innovative policy framework of the Act, which brings together rights‐based entitlements, demand‐driven employment, and citizen‐centred monitoring. Second, it assesses the accessibility and adequacy of benefits in the implementation of MGNREGA. We conclude that MGNREGA offers potential for South‐South learning, both in terms of policy‐design and implementation.     

From “Either‐Or” to “When and How”: A Context‐Dependent Model of Culture in Action

In this article, I outline a framework for the sociological study of culture that connects three intertwined elements of human culture (cultural motivations, resources, and meanings) and demonstrates the concrete contexts under which each most critically influences actions and their subsequent outcomes. In contrast to models that cast motivations, resources, and meanings as competing explanations of how culture affects action, I argue that these are fundamental constituent elements of culture that are inseparable, interdependent, and simultaneously operative. Which element provides the strongest link to action, and how this link operates, must be understood as a function of the actor's position within wider social contexts. I argue that on average motivations have the most discernable link to action within a social strata, cultural resources provide the strongest link across strata, and meanings have the greatest direct influence when codified and sanctioned. I then offer a reframing and synthesis that reintegrates previously “competing” theories of culture into a more holistic context‐dependent model of culture in action. Finally, I use evidence from prior empirical research, as well as new data from an ongoing ethnographic study of health behaviors among the aged, to show how various elements of culture are concretely linked to action in eight different social contexts. In doing so, I provide a roadmap for the transition out of the “either‐or” logic underlying much of cultural theory and reemphasize the importance of the classical sociological concern for “when” and “how” various aspects of culture influence action and outcomes in concrete social contexts.     

The gender gap in pensions in Latin America

Lower female lifetime labour market participation rates, greater interruptions during their working lives, and wage gaps contribute to create gender gaps in pensions at the time of retirement. The design of social security systems may reinforce or attenuate these gaps. This article provides new evidence on gender gaps in access to pensions and in pension income in four Southern Cone countries in Latin America and analyses their evolution between 2000 and 2013, showing significant improvements in both gaps, with differential patterns by countries. The decrease in the gender gap in pension income has been particularly significant in Argentina and Brazil. In both cases, the largest increases in pension values during the period correspond to the lowest income percentiles, where women are overrepresented. The application of redistributive policies in these countries, aimed at reducing poverty and inequality but not necessarily focused on gender equity, has had positive and probably unintended consequences in terms of reduction in gender gaps in pensions.     

A Man Can be Destroyed but Not Defeated

Santiago,the main hero in the Old Man and the Sea is characterized as someone struggling against defeat. He has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish,the sail of his skiff resembles "the flag of permanent defeat." But the old man refuses defeat at every turn:he resolves to sail out beyond the other fishermen to where the biggest fish promise to be. He lands the marlin,tying his record of eighty-seven days after a brutal three-day fight,and he continues to ward off sharks from stealing his prey,even though he knows the battle is useless. He establishes a great hero:a man can be destroyed but not defeated.