Medicine on the line? Computer‐mediated social support and advice for people with diabetes

The advent of thousands of Usenet groups on the Internet, covering a vast range of medical and welfare issues and ostensibly devoted to the mutual social support of participating members, has raised the potential for the development of new forms of 'virtual' health care. This article critically analyses the use by people with diabetes of one such Usenet group. It seeks to establish, first, the extent to which such a site provides some demonstrable measure of social support to its participants. This is approached by undertaking a structural analysis of the site to identify the extent of usage, and the nature of supporting interventions using a fivefold classification (instrumental, informational, esteem and social companionship and other). Second, the article attempts to identify any disparity between the lay health-knowledge in evidence and biomedical opinions proffered by the use of a panel of consultant diabetiologists. The results of the analysis suggest that the diabetes newsgroup provides an example of an active forum for largely well-informed participants who routinely use the media as an aid to the reflexive management of their medical condition. It also raises the prospect of a renegotiated relationship between medical knowledge and lay experience based upon shared learning     

Was Cicourel’s critique in Methods and Measurement in Sociology too radical?

This article is a contribution to a mini symposium on the 50th anniversary of the publication of A V Cicourel’s Method and Measurement in Sociology (1964). The central theme of the book is reviewed – the problem of the relationship between everyday language and cultural meanings, and the language of measurement in social research – and the lack of an adequate ontology of social actors is identified as being the cause of the problem. The solution offered by Alfred Schütz – that social scientific language should be derived from everyday language – is discussed and it is argued that this was probably too radical at the time the book was published, and is still generally neglected in the social sciences.     

概念、社会与规范性——黑格尔的规范性理论之争

罗尔斯等人对康德的道德哲学做出了建构论的解读,从此将建构论带入到规范性研究中。因为不满康德哲学自身的理论困境,以布兰顿、皮平为代表的社会建构论开始了对黑格尔的规范性研究,将之视为对康德哲学的社会化,把以相互承认为基础的社会视为规范的来源,这一解读方式被称之为“标准解读”。在社会建构论的影响下,斯特恩、莱蒂宁等人分别提出了对黑格尔哲学的规范性解读。一时间,对黑格尔规范性的研究产生了众多丰富的理论成果。考察这一时段理论得失,有助于我们推动黑格尔的规范性研究。     

Back to Hegel? On Gillian Rose's critique of sociological reason

Thirty‐five years ago, Gillian Rose articulated a significant critique of classical sociological reason, emphasizing its relationship to its philosophical forebears. In a series of works, but most significantly in her Hegel contra Sociology, Rose worked to specify the implications of sociology's failure, both in its critical Marxist and its ‘scientific’ forms, to move beyond Kant and to fully come to terms with the thought of Hegel. In this article, I unpack and explain the substance of her criticisms, developing the necessary Hegelian philosophical background on which she founded them. I argue that Rose's attempted recuperation of ‘speculative reason’ for social theory remains little understood, despite its continued relevance to contemporary debates concerning the nature and scope of sociological reason. As an illustration, I employ Rose to critique Chernilo's recent call for a more philosophically sophisticated sociology. From the vantage point of Rose, this particular account of a ‘philosophical sociology’ remains abstract and rooted in the neo‐Kantian contradictions that continue to characterize sociology.     

比较法视野下的人民陪审员制度改革

新一轮司法体制改革在强化职业化主审法官主导地位的同时，提出了完善人民陪审员制度、拓宽人民群众有序参与司法渠道的改革目标。比较日本、韩国的民众参与司法裁判的新制度，可知中、日、韩三国的制度改革虽然目标相近，但制度背景、制度内容及其取得的效果却有较大差异。如何平衡好司法专业性与民众参与之间的关系并确保专业性优先，是当前中国司法改革需要考虑的首要问题。参与审判并非普通民众参与司法活动的唯一形式，应当拓宽人民群众参与司法的形式和渠道，加强顶层设计，重视发挥人民陪审员提供专业知识和参与纠纷调解的作用。在今后的人民陪审制改革中要转换视角，弱化政治意义而强化司法功能，细化相应的程序实体规则，注意考虑司法审判相关主体与参与司法裁判民众之间的关系。     

The Use of Lay Assessors

This paper reports on some findings from a research study conductedby the authors for the Commission for Social Care Inspection.It examines the reasons for the involvement of lay assessorsand perceptions of the effectiveness of lay assessors in specificregulatory functions.     

略论孔子与孟子的人生哲学及启示

以孔子和孟子为杰出代表的中国儒家思想中 ,包括着“仁者爱人”、“民贵君轻”的人本精神 ,“杀身成仁”、“舍生取义”的人生价值追求和人格理想 ,“己所不欲 ,勿施于人”的处世哲学等 ,对于中华民族的思想境界、行为规范、民族精神都有着深厚的影响。挖掘并发现其积极的思想因子 ,汲取其精神养份 ,将给我们以有益的启示     

明中后期的居士佛教初探

从明代万历初期始,居士佛学兴盛。明中后期士林佛学的表现形式有两种:一种是遁入空门又不甘寂寞的上层僧人与信佛的官僚在都市的结合;另一种是厌世的文化人和劳苦大众同中下层僧侣在山林的结合,而居主导地位的是前者,正是这种结合推动了明后期佛教的复兴。明后期的居士们或念佛参禅,或诵经并潜研佛理,禅净合一的修行法门乃是最常见的修行方法。当时的居士大多当初受过良好的儒学教育,后来由信仰孔孟儒学转而信奉王氏心学,再而皈依了佛教,所以在哲学思想上反映出了禅理与心学相杂,又处处倡言儒释融通的特点。     

未完成的“自然社会”:现代社会的人性基础与规范构成

对于《自然社会》关注的现代社会的规范性秩序问题,自然状态、自然法与建国契约是三个主要环节。对该书的批评也集中在这三个方面：自然状态与人性论,自然状态的道德性质,以及政治社会与规范秩序的奠基关系。自然状态学说通过自爱与社会性建立的自然社会性是理解现代社会道德关系的出发点。在考虑现代社会丰富和充实这一道德关系的努力之前,应当先理解人是如何成为一个孤独的陌生人的。从这一自爱的社会性出发,《自然社会》将霍布斯笔下的自然状态理解为道德空间乃至法权状态,但并不同意这一空间是具有内在道德尺度或客观道德科学基础的规范性秩序。作为现代国家规范性基础的道德尺度是与政治社会同步奠立的。     

伦理规范与集体信念?——制度性事实视域中伦理规范的“事实性”与“规范性”

伦理规范与信念之间的关系不同于原始事实与信念的关系,这根源于伦理规范作为制度性事实的本体论特征。塞尔的制度性事实理论和图梅勒的集体接受理论说明,伦理规范与集体信念之间具有本质联系,集体信念是伦理规范的构成性条件,伦理规范的“事实性”及其“规范性”特征是以集体信念为基础,因而是“主体间性”(intersubjectivity)的。这一论题对伦理规范的基础以及现代性条件下伦理规范时代性问题的研究和思考具有重要理论意义。