复杂性伦理学

在下述有关莫兰论复杂性伦理学的三则译文中,第一则概述了复杂性伦理学包含的各种要素;第二则陈述了复杂性思想和伦理学之间的必然联系;在第三则中指出,未来的伦理学与政治的结合将应同时促进个人、社会和人类的发展。     

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Abstract

In the previous installment of this column, Donnice Cochenour wrote about Project Muse, Johns Hopkins University Press's project to provide electronic access to its journals. This column will explore OCLC's collaboration with publishers who are making traditional print publications available electronically. Serials Review interviewed Andrea Keyhani, Manager of Electronic Publishing at OCLC, about traditional print publishers' interests in electronic distribution of journals, OCLC's solution to publishers' migration to electronic distribution, enhancements to their Guidon software, and libraries' costs and archive concerns.     

The menstrual cycle and personal space

Sixty undergraduate women were individually tested for interpersonal distance preferences by either a male or female confederate who approached each subject from six different directions using a procedure reported by Kinzel (1970). Randomly, each participated during either the four days prior to menstrual flow (premenstrual), the four days beginning with the first day of flow (menstrual), or the four days midway between the onset of their last period and the estimated beginning of the next (midcycle). Unexpectedly, interpersonal distance preferences were greater for males than for female testers only during the midcycle phase. Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire scores were not reliably correlated with interpersonal distance preferences, nor were questionnaire items tapping extent of sexual experience, usage of birth-control pills, or concern about menstrual odor. Ratings of the attractiveness of the person doing the testing was inversely related to the preferred interpersonal distance with the exception of midcycle subjects. Both negative affect and sexual interest interpretations of the effects of menstrual cycle on personal space are discussed.Edgar C. O'Neal is professor of psychology at Tulane; he received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Missouri at Columbia. Janet Schultz is a M.S.W. candidate at Tulane's Graduate School of Social Work; she received her B.A. with honors in psychology from Newcomb College of Tulane University. Terry E. Christenson is associate professor of psychology and biology at Tulane and received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. Address reprint requests to the first author, Department of Psychology, 2007 Percival Stern Hall, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118-5698.     

“Midwife to Myself”: Birth Narratives among Women Choosing Unassisted Homebirth*

Most pregnant women in the United States today choose a normative physician‐guided pregnancy followed by a medically managed hospital birth. Some, however, choose the care of a midwife during pregnancy and birth, whether in the hospital or, more rarely, at home. Despite growing research on both these paths, a third option chosen by some women has rarely been studied: a planned birth at home with neither a doctor nor a midwife assisting. In this article, I examine the stories told by women in this under‐researched population to consider how they make and explain this highly unusual choice. Analysis of online birth stories and in‐depth interviews with women who planned and had an unassisted homebirth reveal ways in which these women rely on competing discourses of midwifery and medicine to craft a unique sense of agency in birth.     

Intersensory processing of faces and voices at 6 months predicts language outcomes at 18, 24, and 36 months of age

Intersensory processing of social events (e.g., matching sights and sounds of audiovisual speech) is a critical foundation for language development. Two recently developed protocols, the Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol (MAAP) and the Intersensory Processing Efficiency Protocol (IPEP), assess individual differences in intersensory processing at a sufficiently fine-grained level for predicting developmental outcomes. Recent research using the MAAP demonstrates 12-month intersensory processing of face-voice synchrony predicts language outcomes at 18- and 24-months, holding traditional predictors (parent language input, SES) constant. Here, we build on these findings testing younger infants using the IPEP, a more comprehensive, fine-grained index of intersensory processing. Using a longitudinal sample of 103 infants, we tested whether intersensory processing (speed, accuracy) of faces and voices at 3- and 6-months predicts language outcomes at 12-, 18-, 24-, and 36-months, holding traditional predictors constant. Results demonstrate intersensory processing of faces and voices at 6-months (but not 3-months) accounted for significant unique variance in language outcomes at 18-, 24-, and 36-months, beyond that of traditional predictors. Findings highlight the importance of intersensory processing of face-voice synchrony as a foundation for language development as early as 6-months and reveal that individual differences assessed by the IPEP predict language outcomes even 2.5-years later.     

Comparing Varieties of Agency Theory in Economics, Political Science, and Sociology: An Illustration from State Policy Implementation

As rational choice theory has moved from economics into political science and sociology, it has been dramatically transformed. The intellectual diffusion of agency theory illustrates this process. Agency theory is a general model of social relations involving the delegation of authority, and generally resulting in problems of control, which has been applied to a broad range of substantive contexts. This paper analyzes applications of agency theory to state policy implementation in economics, political science, and sociology. After documenting variations in the theory across disciplinary contexts, the strengths and weaknesses of these different varieties of agency theory are assessed. Sociological versions of agency theory, incorporating both broader microfoundations and richer models of social structure, are in many respects the most promising. This type of agency theory illustrates the potential of an emerging sociological version of rational choice theory.