Nature Of Human Beings Research Articles

Values-intuitive rational action: the dynamic relationship of instrumental rationality and values insights as a form of social action.

This paper is concerned with the implications for conceptualizing social action which arise from a consideration of whether human beings are capable of knowing ultimate (universal, unconditionally valid) values. This issue is framed within the view that the validity of our understanding of social action is inextricably linked with the validity of our conception of humankind: the scope and variety of social action has potentialities and limitations that are inscribed by the nature of human beings qua human beings. The paper suggests an enlargement, through the addition of a proposed conceptual tool, of the framework that comprises Weber's typology of social action. It argues that the common human properties of the person in whom social action is embedded should not arbitrarily exclude questions of the genesis of values. An analytical argument is put forward through an examination of the extent to which a faculty for values insights is implicated in Weber's concept of charisma and ethical analysis of political leadership. The notion of values-intuitive rational action is then outlined and discussed. The analytical argument is supported by theorizing from developmental psychology and examples of such action are given. Methodological difficulties in investigating the latter and the interrelationship of such action with institutional and social contexts are briefly discussed.

Unexpected Interactions

Georg Simmel reflected intensively on the place of human beings in nature, developing a sociological perspective for observing natural and social changes that so far have been largely ignored. This article discusses Simmel’s theoretical starting point for observing the natural in contrast to the social. In his writings, Simmel became adept at moving back and forth between the two sides of observation - the natural and the cultural. The significance of his ideas is demonstrated by using current ecological field practices as an example.

Illusions of Sense in the Tractatus: Wittgenstein and Imaginative Understanding

Certain expositors of the Tractatus have tried to make sense of Wittegnstein’s curious revocation of its propositions by suggesting that although they lack content, they nonetheless express (“show,” but do not say) some ineffable truths about reality. Such a view Cora Dimaond labels “chickening out.” I attempt to diagnose the lingering attraction of the ‘chicken’ (in this case an attraction to an illusion of sense) by condsidering a (false) parallel with the case of perceptual illusion. To this end, I make a brief excursion into the work of Gareth Evans in order to draw out what the parallel would look like and more specifically how the chicken might be tempted to think that there is indeed such a parallel. In this way, I hope to better ‘understand’ the chicken and her seduction, and in the process make a plea for not “chickening out.” I then turn to a positive consideration of how we should in fact read this work. In particular, I consider Diamond’s idea that the Tractatus requires an “imaginative understanding” of its reader, an ability to ‘think’ oneself into certain philosophical illusions of sense in order to dismantle them from within. I explore exactly what such an imagination involves. In particular, I suggest that it presupposes a kind of ‘metaphysical’ thesis of its own about the nature of human beings and their innermost tendencies, a position, I argue, that Wittegnstein held.

Machiavelli’s Soderini and the problem of necessity

Drawing principally on a particular example discussed by Machiavelli, this article seeks to clarify the concept of necessity and assess the Machiavellian contentions that evil-doing is in politics often necessary and justified. The example indicates that claims of necessity are best construed as allegations that evil-doing is “indispensable.” The example also indicates that these allegations are often suspect because these typically reflect limited information and knowledge and often biases and rationalizations as well, although this is not stressed by Machiavelli. Instead, Machiavelli stresses the dangers and difficulties statesmen often confront when seeking to secure important political ends or avoid costly failures, dangers and difficulties which he believes are ultimately related to the nature of human beings and the character of political elites. With respect to the morality of evil-doing, Machiavelli is suggestive of different kinds and forms of justification. Five kinds are described, and all are found unsatisfactory.

Public Policy and the Ethics of Care

Considered here are Eva Feder Kittay's Love's Labor (1999) and Mona Harrington's Care and Equality (1999). Although these books are written from very different disciplinary perspectives, Kittay and Harrington share conviction that public policy in United States must be altered to give more support not only to recipients of care-the young, old, ill, or disabled-but also to those who take care of them. Each presents a thoughtful critique of individualistic premises of classical liberal philosophy, and offers a persuasive reformulation that incorporates an understanding of human dependency. Each also presents concrete policy prescriptions rooted in that new understanding. Harrington and Kittay create a wonderfully paired set of books because they support their similar perspectives with radically different materials, a diversity that makes their arguments all more thought-provoking and convincing. Kittay is a philosopher; Harrington trained as a political scientist and lawyer. At core of Kittay's work is her contention that John Rawls's theory of justice is deficient because it does not understand that dependency and need to care for dependents are inescapable aspects of human condition. The heart of Harrington's work is a provocative interpretation of many of domestic policy initiatives and political crises of Clinton administration. Despite their different focuses, authors share conviction that philosophy matters to public policy. How we understand nature of human beings and principles of justice is reflected in law and social practice, and one of ways to improve policy is to improve our understanding of principles of justice. Kittay argues that condition of dependency affects not only those persons who are weak, ill, or disabled, but also those who take care of them. Rawls's depiction of original position fails to recognize that the conditions of human development, disease, and decline are . . . unalterable, as are

Family perspectives of the factors facilitating Taiwanese pediatric recipients’ recovery from liver transplantation: one year follow-up

The purpose of this study was to reveal the most unforgettable rescue experiences of nurses at the central site of the 9-21 Taiwan earthquake during the crucial early recovery stage—the first 72 h. A purposive sample of 46 nurses was obtained (40 women and 6 men, with an average age of 28). Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed by content analysis. The negative aspects of most unforgettable experiences reported by 87% of the subjects were primarily: (a) the prevalence of psychoneurotic syndromes (50%); (b) the severe destruction of geographic treasures (43%); (c) the buried-alive bodies of whole families or village populations (33%); (d) inadequate care for the children and teenagers that were left homeless (22%); (e) deterioration of the condition of patients with chronic health problems (15%); and (f) manifestation of the greedy or selfish nature of human beings (13%). Still 76% of the subjects reported the following positive aspects of their rescue experiences: (a) feeling rewarded from helping others (43%); (b) being deeply touched by residents’ mutual support (33%); and (c) the good attitude and tangible help given by other health professionals (15%). This study highlights a need for long-term follow-up and attention of these nurse rescuers in the post-rescue stage. The implementation of a well designed “disaster reduction” course for the health professionals was also encouraged.

Classical Sociology and the Restoration of Nature

From a social science perspective, one of the central points of ecological restoration is that it implies not only acknowledgement of society’s invention of nature, but also of nature’s answers to human actions. In this article, the author argues that the reflections of the early-20th century sociologists Georg Simmel and Émile Durkheim on the place of human beings in nature could serve as a model for integrating restored and invented nature into sociological analysis, while at the same time allowing other species and nonhuman nature a measure of independence as subjects or actors in a network of relationships that includes humans. Simmel’s concept of society as a web of reciprocal interaction and reciprocal effect (Wechselwirkung), in particular, is of importance for descriptions of a community that includes nonhuman as well as human elements.

Seeing patients and life contexts: the visual arts in medical education.

In many ways, the practice of medicine has been a visual science from the time of the early Renaissance anatomists to the high-speed scanners of today. But images of patients and their anatomical parts do not necessarily lead to an understanding of their problems. Meaning must follow the sensory experience and be coupled with reflection. The visual arts, therefore, can be used to help physicians in training increase their observational and interpretive skills. Works by classic and contemporary artists can be used to increase awareness of the complex nature of human beings and their conditions, which lie beneath the appearances. In addition to painting, television, motion pictures, and printed media may also be used in classroom settings to educate. Medical schools that do not have accessible fine arts or humanities programs may form allegiances with local artists to increase communication and understanding between these disciplines.

Seeing Patients and Life Contexts: The Visual Arts in Medical Education

In many ways, the practice of medicine has been a visual science from the time of the early Renaissance anatomists to the high-speed scanners of today. But images of patients and their anatomical parts do not necessarily lead to an understanding of their problems. Meaning must follow the sensory experience and be coupled with reflection. The visual arts, therefore, can be used to help physicians in training increase their observational and interpretive skills. Works by classic and contemporary artists can be used to increase awareness of the complex nature of human beings and their conditions, which lie beneath the appearances. In addition to painting, television, motion pictures, and printed media may also be used in classroom settings to educate. Medical schools that do not have accessible fine arts or humanities programs may form allegiances with local artists to increase communication and understanding between these disciplines.

Representing Minimalism

Juan Uriagereka,Rhyme and reason. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. Pp. xliii+669.In this wide-ranging and ambitious volume, Juan Uriagereka sets as his goal both a conceptual and a technical explication of Chomsky's Minimalist Program as well as the siting of it within the broader context of scientific inquiry into the nature of human beings and the natural world. Reintroducing an old rhetorical device into modern scientific discourse, the book is framed as a series of dialogues over six days between a Chomskyan linguist and a sceptical interlocutor called ‘The Other’, a ‘hard’ scientist whose knowledge encompasses not only contemporary physics and biology, but also mathematics and philosophy.The temptation to frame a review using the same rhetorical device is considerable. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that Uriagereka has attempted to create a book about everything for anyone, and has attempted to do so in a way that is unusual, clever and interesting. That he is largely successful in this enterprise is truly remarkable. On the other hand, there is also the lingering feeling that it is fractionally too clever, and fractionally too ambitious, with the result that what could have easily been a classic of modern scientific writing does not quite fulfill its potential.

The Once and Future Group: Vicissitudes of Belonging

During this century, group therapy has seen extraordinary development and elaboration, with ramifications along a number of axes. Acknowledging that current thinking increasingly recognizes the inherent social nature of human beings, this paper contrasts the growing personal isolation and anonymity which today's growing technocracy represents with the ubiquity and importance of groups in modern society. These are seen as offering, if properly appreciated, the potential for resolution of some contemporary social ills.

The future of nature

Through the evolution of the conscious mind in the human species, nature became aware of itself and can thus, for the first time in more than three billion years of natural evolution, influence and even, to some degree, take control of its own future development according to intentional goals. Since these goals are, at the same time, inevitably our own wishful visions, our species becomes not only nature's managing agent but also morally responsible for the future of nature, including our own future. This essay tries to draw conclusions from evolutionary, ecological, cultural, anthropological and moral perspectives. It not only asks about the place of human beings in nature as some kind of alien intruder, but seeks to understand human cultural evolution as part of nature, as the consequent continuation of natural evolution having become not only self-organized but self-guided and responsibly self-controlled.

Know your Schmitt: a godfather of truth and the spectre of Nazism

In a recent article in the Review of International Studies Hans-Karl Pichler argues that Hans Morgenthau's intellectual universe was saturated by ‘typically European philosophical problems’ which he transferred to an American political context. He shows this by looking at how Morgenthau tried to overcome the value determinacy of social science, as pointed out by Weber, by grounding his political realist theory in a Schmittean understanding of the political, which defines war – the friend/enemy distinction – as the essence of the political and founds it anthropologically in the evil, dangerous nature of human beings.

Creating Local “Public Spaces” in Schools: Insights from Hannah Arendt and Maxine Greene

Hannah Arendt and Maxine Greene present similar visions of human freedom and possibility that hold great potential for the creation of more emancipatory school communities. This article argues that there are lacunae in the perspectives of both, however. By bringing Arendt and Greene together, I hope to exploit a synergy between their writings, each contributing aspects that seem missing in the writings of the other. At the same time, while Greene is cited often in the educational literature, she is often not engaged at the level she deserves as one of our most prominent comprehensive contemporary theorists of education. Taking Greene seriously requires us, I think, to engage her project critically, and as a whole —an effort toward which this article only modestly contributes. Arendt’s work provides an extremely productive standpoint from which we might grapple with her achievement. Finally, this article aims to clarify some of the complexities entailed in Arendt and Greene’s effort to promote the creation of what they call “public spaces.” Their effort to “open spaces” draws upon complex assumptions about the nature of human beings and collective action. If we truly hope to transform their theoretical musings into concrete educational actions, we must grapple with the tensions that lie at the core of each of their writings. Ultimately, this article does not attempt to provide a detailed model for the creation of public spaces in schools, however. Arendt and Greene’s visions of the “public” provide not blueprints for action but perspectives from which to rethink and retool, continually, the current practices of our myriad situated educational efforts.

Occupational Therapy: Building Skills or Transforming Selves?

This paper addresses the claim that there is increasing disparity between the profession's philosophical beliefs and core concepts and its clinical practice and research. The author of this claim, Mocellin, maintained that occupational therapy's assumptions about occupation are false and have serious consequences for the profession. He proposed that ‘occupation’ be replaced with ‘teaching skills' as the focus of intervention. To address his criticism and solution, this paper critiques what its author understands to be Mocellin's assumptions about competence and teaching/learning skills and offers reasons why his underlying assumptions of the competence model do not work. These are that the competence model limits therapists' and patients' resources to available skills; it neglects the spiritual elements of humans; it neglects the rich and influential context of the therapeutic situation; and, contrary to Mocellin's assertions, the founders of occupational therapy placed no special value on competence over occupation. Further, it is proposed that meaning making is the essential nature of human beings and that meaning making through occupation describes a more viable model of the ideal human condition. To support this thesis, a concise definition of occupation is offered and the therapeutic use of occupation, based on this definition, is contrasted with Mocellin's notions of teaching/learning skills.

Editorial

In the religious world view of Jews and Christians, ethics is connected not so much to what is but to what might be. That is, unlike Aristotelian ethics which is shaped by the nature of human beings and the demands of political life, ethics for Jews and Christians is largely shaped by an understanding of the goal for human life and creation. Within both Judaism and Christianity there are different understandings of the relationship between eschatology and ethics. And, in fact, Judaism has often distinguished itself from Christianity on precisely this point.

Socio-technical functioning and anthropogenic crises

Theoretically the barriers of human evolution can be derived from the phenomenon and rules of socio-technical functioning, its interactions with the man-made functional environment. The analysis propounds that most conflicts and crises are of anthropogenic character. The aim of this paper is to map the crises humanity may expect in the future due to its mode of functioning and development. It is not its aim to evaluate different particular aspects of evolutionary perspectives of mankind. The irreconcilable contradictions, like the one between the self-modifying nature of human beings and the self-restoration capability of nature, might become barriers on the road of cognitive evolution. But even antagonistic contradictions can be bridged by creation of specific socio-economic mechanisms. The evolutionary perspectives are epitomized and principles of politics are derived accordingly. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Second Nature of Human Beings: an Invitation for John McDowell to discuss Helmuth Plessner’s Philosophical Anthropology

John McDowell argues for minimal empiricism via using the notion of second nature of human beings. I should like to invite him to discuss Helmuth Plessner's Philosophical Anthropology in order to elaborate a more substantial conception of second nature. McDowell seems to think that it is adequate for his more epistemological aim to remind us of second nature as though it were to be taken for granted. But I think, following Plessner, that this right reminder needs a therapeutic elaboration in Kant's sense of propaedeutics. What had been called our second nature found itself being questioned in order to limit the range of ways of treating the self we can authorize.

Misinterpretive phenomenology: Heidegger, ontology and nursing research.

This paper argues that Heidegger's phenomenology does not have the methodological implications usually ascribed to it in nursing literature. The Heidegger of Being and Time is not in any sense antagonistic to science, nor does he think that everydayness is more authentic, more genuine, than scientific enquiry or theoretical cognition. It is true that social science must rest on interpretive foundations, acknowledging the self-interpreting nature of human beings, but it does not follow from this that hermeneutics exhausts all the possibilities. Positivist approaches to social science are certainly inconsistent with Heidegger's ontology, but realist approaches are not and structuration theory, in particular, can be seen as a sociological translation of his ideas. Social enquiry in nursing is not therefore confined to studies of lived experience. Indeed, lived experience research constitutes not a realization, but rather a betrayal, of Heidegger's phenomenology, being thoroughly Cartesian in spirit.

Reciprocities and realities: World views, peacefulness, and violence among Semai and Waorani

Implicit in all social relations, including those involving material transactions, are conceptions of reality that include fundamental assumptions about the nature of human beings, the relationships among them, and the world around them. This article examines economic exchange and reciprocity in two societies that are very similar in their ecological contexts, modes of subsistence, technologies, and social organizations but at opposite extremes in their attitudes toward violence. They are the Semai of Malaysia, one of the most peaceful societies known, and the Waorani of Amazonian Ecuador, the most violent society yet described. Comparison of the norms of exchange in these two societies reveals two very different views of the world: The Semai see themselves as helpless in a hostile world that is beyond their control and the Waorani see themselves as self-reliant and capable in a world that they feel fully competent to control. Understanding these culturally constructed realities as they are embodied in Semai and Waorani exchange (and in other areas of life as well, of course) contributes to an understanding of the character of sociality generally in these two societies, including their diametrically opposed dispositions toward violence in human relations. Aggr. Behav. 24:123–133, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.