The utilitarian contract: A generalization of Rawls' theory of justice

In a series of major papers culminating in A Theory of Justice, John Rawls constructs an alternative to utilitarianism by developing a social contract theory of moral and political philosophy. Unfortunately, Rawls formulates the two basic principles upon which the theory rests in such a way as to restrict (unduly) the contract theory's applicability (see Section I). In this paper we present a more general discussion of the theory of justice that avoids the problems of Rawls' formulation and yet retains the important idea of justice as fairness and the contractarian approach (Section II). Later it is argued that this more general theory constitutes a bridge between the pure utilitarian theories and the social contract doctrines (Sections V and VI). The theory's advantages are demonstrated by applying it to a problem discussed by Rawls, intergenerational equity, and comparing the two solutions (Section III). Further comparisons are made and inferences drawn in the concluding three sections.Without implicating them, we would like to thank James M. Buchanan and David Lyons for comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

---

     

Introduction: “There Is a Person Here”: An Interview with Judith Butler

In this interview, the coeditors, along with other contributors, ask Judith Butler a variety of questions regarding queer theory, gender identities, scientific and legal discourse, bodily abjection, race and class positioning, and political organizing. This range of subject matter suggests not only the breadth of Butler's work, but also its applicability to any number of people, whose relation to theory ranges from highly politicized to politically indifferent. The interview demonstrates the responsiveness of Butler's work to cultural translation and political action.     

Predicting distances using a linear model: the case of varietal distinctness

Differences between plant varieties are based on phenotypic observations, which are both space and time consuming. Moreover, the phenotypic data result from the combined effects of genotype and environment. On the contrary, molecular data are easier to obtain and give a direct access to the genotype. In order to save experimental trials and to concentrate efforts on the relevant comparisons between varieties, the relationship between phenotypic and genetic distances is studied. It appears that the classical genetic distances based on molecular data are not appropriate for predicting phenotypic distances. In the linear model framework, we define a new pseudo genetic distance, which is a prediction of the phenotypic one. The distribution of this distance given the pseudo genetic distance is established. Statistical properties of the predicted distance are derived when the parameters of the model are either given or estimated. We finally apply these results to distinguishing between 144 maize lines. This case study is very satisfactory because the use of anonymous molecular markers (RFLP) leads to saving 29% of the trials with an acceptable error risk. These results need to be confirmed on other varieties and species and would certainly be improved by using genes coding for phenotypic traits.     

论高海拔地区人类生殖能力的研究:回应霍夫

霍夫的评论表明,那些叙述高海拔缺氧影响人类生育力和生殖能力的文献中弥漫着方法论和概念的迷雾.我们去年的文章主题也谈到了这一点(见<美国人类学家>85:28-49,1983).我们的论文尽力阐述了喜马拉雅山脉的高海拔地区,藏语族群中普遍存在的不同生育力水平,是与某些文献的报道一致的.     

A GENERALIZED EMERSON RECURRENCE RELATION

The Emerson (1968, Biometrics 24 , 695–701) recurrence relation has many important applications in statistics. However, the original derivation applied only to discrete distributions. In the following, a simple derivation is given that generalizes the Emerson recurrence relation to any distribution for which the necessary expectations exist. A modern application is outlined.     

Friendships under strain: The work–personal life integration of middle managers

Middle managers in today's organisations have reported experiencing longer working hours and intensified work regimes. These increased pressures, in turn, have led to growing difficulty in addressing the integration of their work and personal lives. In an exploratory study of the daily workplace experiences of Australian middle managers and the impacts on their personal lives, one of the key themes to emerge was respondents’ concerns about the negative effects on their friendships. This paper discusses middle managers’ recognition of the value of friendships for their wellbeing, and the resultant anger and sadness reported at the strain on these relationships due to competing time demands. The significant role that friendships play in alleviating some of the stresses of work demands, while concurrently being impeded by these same demands, is an important issue for organisations to consider. These findings indicate the need for middle managers to truly have an ability to engage in activities – and friendships – which will aid them in their working lives. The study also indicates a need for further investigation into the development and maintenance of friendships for both middle managers and other groups of employees.