Filial piety is the traditional virtue of Chinese nationals. Given the fact that in China family support plays a major role for the aged in their later life, this tradition has been increasingly ...confronted by the challenge posed by the ‘4-2-1’ family structure (4 grandparents-2 parents-1 child) and the egoism of ‘the only child.’ It is important to promote the culture of filial piety for improving the later life of parents and social stability. However, the negative effect of the government placing unique emphasis on ‘the filial child’ while ignoring ‘the benevolent parent’ cannot be underestimated. This paper firstly explores the existence of unbenevolent parents in reality, and then discusses conflicts caused by the law enforcement of filial piety in terms of responsibility, rights and benefits, and finally points out the plethora of moral dilemmas and the social disadvantages of placing unilateral emphasis on the filial child, while affirming the positive aspects of promoting filial piety. Empiricism is employed in examining historical materials, films and TV programs, news reporting and provisions of law.
Smith responds to G E Moore's rejection of ethical egoism. He further notes that, if generalized, the Moorean critique of egoism undermines commonsense morality because the former precludes the ...relative values necessary to explain the special obligations thought to exist among kin and associates. He ultimately suggests that commonsense morality can be vindicated on the basis of a dispositional theory of value, according to which goodness and badness are relational properties.
In the search for ways to encourage more participation in voluntary activities, more attention is being given to what motivates people to participate. Participation in voluntary activity is usually ...explained by rational choice theory, but theoretical predictions have not always concurred with empirical outcomes. We proposed a theory of volunteer opportunity and verified the theory by using a web survey. Our central hypothesis was that having access to opportunities leads to higher participation rates in voluntary activity. Our analysis of the factors involved in participation in voluntary activity supported the hypotheses based on this theory. For example, number of interests, some sources of information related to the area and specific activities, and other factors connected with participation opportunities had significant positive effects on participation. Factors related to egoistic motives, however, were either not significant or had significant negative effects, and economic models were thus not supported. It was clear that participation in voluntary activity is related to number of participation opportunities, and we suggest further development of the theory of volunteer opportunity.
The quality of disinterestedness is generally thought to be the defining feature of the moral act. As a result, much of modern moral thinking promotes some idea of self-sacrifice. It is the ...contention of the present article that this tendency is unfortunate. At the same time, it suggests that the opposite view – namely that human beings are by nature ineradicably selfish – is equally problematic. The article traces the origins of these two positions to the quarrel over pure love at the end of the 17th century and discusses the views of its two main protagonists, François Fénelon and Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet. In the final third, the article turns to the 20th century, particularly to German philosopher Robert Spaemann. It thereby includes a suggestion of how the modern paradigm of disinterestedness may be dissolved through a phenomenological analysis of love.
Using Reidenbach and Robin's (Journal of Business Ethics 7, 871-879, 1988) multi-criteria ethics instrument, we carried out the first empirical test of Robertson and Crittenden's (Strategic ...Management Journal 24, 385-392, 2003) cross-cultural map of moral philosophies to examine what ethical criteria guide business people in Russia and the U.S. in their intention to behave. Competing divergence and convergence hypotheses were advanced. Our results support a convergence hypothesis, and reveal a common emphasis on relativism. Americans are also influenced by the justice criterion while Russians tend to emphasize utilitarianism.
This article studies Durkheim's views on altruism and selfishness and, therefore, on modern individualism. In contrast to Comte and Spencer, Durkheim used these concepts in his empirical work on ...suicide and then as intellectual tools for explaining his view on the professional and political organization required in a modern democracy. Finally, the article examines how Durkheim's views were modified by the Durkheimian, notably with Marcel Mauss' emphasis on interested/desinterested behaviors in gift-giving processes which are the empirical and symbolical roots of social solidarity. Adapted from the source document.
In this book, Seth Adam Smith expands on the philosophy behind his extraordinarily popular blog post "Marriage Isn't for You"-which received over 30 million hits and has been translated into over ...twenty languages-and shares how living for others can enrich every aspect of your life, just as it has his. With a mix of humor, candor, and compassion, he reveals how, years before his marriage, his self-obsession led to a downward spiral of addiction and depression, culminating in a suicide attempt at the age of twenty. Reflecting on the love and support he experienced in the aftermath, as well as on the lessons he learned from a difficult missionary stint in Russia, his time as a youth leader in the Arizona desert, his marriage, and even a story his father read to him as a child, he shares his deep conviction that the only way you can find your life is to give it away to others.
This book is about understanding and managing patients with severe personality disorders. It covers biological, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral approaches and provides a pragmatic guide to ...best practice. As well as discussing issues of severity, treatability and the range of appropriate management options, the content explores the common elements of effective interventions and covers early prediction, countertransference, disruptions of the therapeutic alliance, suicidal crises and what to do when dealing with dangerous, refractory and stalking patients. The chapters are authored by an international cast of distinguished investigators and innovators from the field. This is a holistic, practical guide to the treatment of patients with a range of these disorders and it should be read by members of the mental health team dealing with this challenging clinical group.
Ninety-five freshmen each recruited three peers to play a "group bidding game," an N-person prisoner's dilemma in which anyone could win movie tickets depending on their scores in the game. Prior to ...playing, all participants completed a measure of prosocial value orientation. Replicating and extending earlier findings (Sheldon and McGregor 2000), our results show that prosocial participants were at a disadvantage within groups. Despite this vulnerability, prosocial participants did no worse overall than asocial participants because a counteracting group-level advantage arose for prosocials, who tended to be concentrated in groups. Implications of this assortative process for the egoism/altruism debate, and for hierarchical selection theory, are discussed.
Der Autor untersucht vier unterschiedliche Probleme, die eines gemeinsam haben: Die Mitglieder einer Gruppe verfolgen ihre egoistischen Interessen; zu dem, was einst Adam Smith annahm ...("Unsichtbare-Hand-Theorie"!) fördern sie dadurch aber nicht notwendigerweise das Wohl der Gesamtgruppe. Ein Beispiel dafür ist das Gefangenen-Dilemma. Schüßler untersucht: · Zusammenhalt kleiner Gemeinschaften, · Zusammenhalt großer Gemeinschaften, · Selbstunterminierung des Kapitalismus? · Teamproduktion ohne Arbeitsethos.
Eine Analyse mit Hilfe von Modellen strategischer Entscheidung zeigt, daß diese Dilemmata sich zwar tendenziell mit fortschreitender Entwicklung verschlimmern, aber immer lösbar bleiben. Die gegenwärtigen Probleme des globalen Umweltschutzes erreichen jedoch eine neue Qualität. Sie sind nicht nur in ihrem Ausmaß bedrohlicher, sondern auch strategisch bösartiger als alle bisherigen Dilemmata.
Neben dieser diagnostischen Perspektive liefert das Buch eine neue, formale Erklärung der Stabilität von Marktwirtschaften. Eine Computersimulation offenbart, daß die Kräfte des Marktes zur Selbststabilisierung auch in normativer Hinsicht stärker sind als erwartet, selbst wenn Anonymität und Straffreiheit Egoisten gute Chancen geben, ihre Partner auszunutzen.
