Wandering the way: a eudaimonistic approach to the Zhuangzi

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The ethics of the Mohist dialogues

The ethics of the Mohist ‘Dialogues’ is largely consistent with that of the ‘Triads,’ but the Dialogues present at least four novel extensions of Mohist ethical ideas. First, they clarify the Mohist conception of dào 道 as norms that can be explicitly expressed in yán 言 (statements) and publicized and consistently followed by all with good consequences. Second, they express a series of views on moral worth, which tie it to agents’ character and intentions. Third, they fill out the Mohist view of moral motivation and indicate how the Mohists approach the problem of weakness of will. Fourth, they present a new, highly demanding ideal of moral sagehood. On the whole, the Dialogues present a more demanding conception of the moral life than the Triads do. This difference may be due partly to a general tendency in later generations of the Mohist movement to shift toward more extreme positions. But it can also explained partly by the different audiences to which the two sets of texts were directed. Whereas the Triads are addressed primarily to rulers, officials, and gentlemen, most of whom were probably not Mohist followers, the Dialogues appear to be addressed primarily to committed Mohist disciples. Hence they may depict ideals that exceed the norms to which the Mohists expected the typical member of society to conform.postprin

Knowledge and error in Early Chinese Thought

「英美哲學觀點下的中國哲學研究」國際學術研討會Drawing primarily on the Mòzǐ and Xúnzǐ, the article proposes an account of how knowledge and error are understood in classical Chinese epistemology and applies it to explain the absence of a skeptical argument from illusion in early Chinese thought. Arguments from illusion are associated with a representational conception of mind and knowledge, which allows the possibility of a comprehensive or persistent gap between appearance and reality. By contrast, early Chinese thinkers understand mind and knowledge primarily in terms of competence or ability, not representation. Cognitive error amounts to a form of incompetence. Error is not explained as a failure to accurately represent the mind-independent reality due to misleading or illusory appearances. Instead, it can be explained metaphorically by appeal to part-whole relations: cognitive error typically occurs when agents incompetently respond to only part of their situation, rather than the whole. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V.2011.postprin

Xunzi Versus Zhuangzi: Two Approaches to Death in Classical Chinese Thought

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The Mozi and Just War Theory in Pre-Han Thought

主題: 墨家思想研究的國際視野Conference Theme: International Perspectives in the Research of the Mohist ThoughtChina’s Warring States era (481–221 BCE) was marked by cruel, destructive, recurring warfare between the seven major warring states and numerous minor states. This incessant violence gave rise to an impassioned anti-aggression discourse led by the early Warring States philosopher and social activist Mozi and his followers, the most well-known critics of armed aggression. Initially, the Mohists may have simply opposed all military aggression. Later, however, they developed the more nuanced view that, although unprovoked aggression is wrong, defensive warfare—including defensive assistance to cities or states other than one’s own—and punitive aggression are sometimes justified. The writings collected in the Mozi 墨子 implicitly present an elaborate set of criteria by which to evaluate the justification for war. This article will examine these criteria and explore the extent to which they overlap with justifying conditions widely accepted in contemporary just war theory. One key finding will be that the Mohist criteria are so stringent that offensive war can be justified only very rarely and even defensive war is not always warranted.postprin

Wandering the Way: A Eudaimonistic Approach to the Zhuangzi

The paper develops a eudaimonistic reading of the Zhuāngzǐ 莊子 on which the characteristic feature of a well-lived life is the exercise of dé 德 (potency, virtuosity) in a general mode of activity labeled yóu 遊 (wandering). I argue that the Zhuāngzǐ presents a second-order conception of agents’ flourishing in which the life of dé is not devoted to predetermined substantive ends or activities with a specific substantive content. Rather, it is marked by a distinctive manner of activity and certain characteristic attitudes. Zhuangist eudaimonism differs from virtue ethics, I suggest, since dé is not moral virtue nor is it normatively basic. The paper discusses textual evidence that the Zhuāngzǐ presents eudaimonistic ideals, develops the Zhuangist conception of “wandering” in detail, and explores connections between wandering and the Zhuangist interest in skill. It surveys the justification for Zhuangist eudaimonism and sketches how the wandering ideal affects the substantive content of a good life.postprin

Predictors of adherence to a 12-week exercise program among men treated for prostate cancer: ENGAGE study

Understanding the factors that influence adherence to exercise programs is necessary to develop effective interventions for people with cancer. We examined the predictors of adherence to a supervised exercise program for participants in the ENGAGE study – a cluster randomized controlled trial that assessed the efficacy of a clinician-referred 12-week exercise program among men treated for prostate cancer. Demographic, clinical, behavioral, and psychosocial data from 52 participants in the intervention group were collected at baseline through self-report and medical records. Adherence to the supervised exercise program was assessed through objective attendance records. Adherence to the supervised exercise program was 80.3%. In the univariate analyses, cancer-specific quality of life subscales (role functioning r = 0.37, P = 0.01; sexual activity r = 0.26, P = 0.06; fatigue r = −0.26, P = 0.06, and hormonal symptoms r = −0.31, P = 0.03) and education (d = −0.60, P = 0.011) were associated with adherence. In the subsequent multivariate analysis, role functioning (B = 0.309, P = 0.019) and hormonal symptoms (B = −0.483, P = 0.054) independently predicted adherence. Men who experienced more severe hormonal symptoms had lower levels of adherence to the exercise program. Those who experienced more positive perceptions of their ability to perform daily tasks and leisure activities had higher levels of adherence to the exercise program. Hormonal symptoms and role functioning need to be considered when conducting exercise programs for men who have been treated for prostate cancer

Fitness outcomes from a randomised controlled trial of exercise training for men with prostate cancer: the ENGAGE study

Purpose The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a 12-week, clinician-referred, community-based exercise training program with supervised and unsupervised sessions for men with prostate cancer. The secondary purpose was to determine whether androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) modified responses to exercise training.Methods Secondary analysis was undertaken on data from a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial in which 15 clinicians were randomly assigned to refer eligible patients to an exercise training intervention (n = 8) or to provide usual care (n = 7). Data from 119 patients (intervention n = 53, control n = 66) were available for this analysis. Outcome measures included fitness and physical function, anthropometrics, resting heart rate, and blood pressure.Results Compared to the control condition, men in the intervention significantly improved their 6-min walk distance (Mdiff = 49.98 m, padj = 0.001), leg strength (Mdiff = 21.82 kg, padj = 0.001), chest strength (Mdiff = 6.91 kg, padj = 0.001), 30-s sit-to-stand result (Mdiff = 3.38 reps, padj = 0.001), and reach distance (Mdiff = 4.8 cm, padj = 0.024). A significant difference (unadjusted for multiplicity) in favour of men in the intervention was also found for resting heart rate (Mdiff = −3.76 beats/min, p = 0.034). ADT did not modify responses to exercise training.Conclusions Men with prostate cancer who act upon clinician referrals to community-based exercise training programs can improve their strength, physical functioning, and, potentially, cardiovascular health, irrespective of whether or not they are treated with ADT.Implications for Cancer Survivors Clinicians should inform men with prostate cancer about the benefits of exercise and refer them to appropriately qualified exercise practitioners and suitable community-based programs

Revealing lithium-silicide phase transformations in nano-structured silicon-based lithium ion batteries via in situ NMR spectroscopy.

Nano-structured silicon anodes are attractive alternatives to graphitic carbons in rechargeable Li-ion batteries, owing to their extremely high capacities. Despite their advantages, numerous issues remain to be addressed, the most basic being to understand the complex kinetics and thermodynamics that control the reactions and structural rearrangements. Elucidating this necessitates real-time in situ metrologies, which are highly challenging, if the whole electrode structure is studied at an atomistic level for multiple cycles under realistic cycling conditions. Here we report that Si nanowires grown on a conducting carbon-fibre support provide a robust model battery system that can be studied by (7)Li in situ NMR spectroscopy. The method allows the (de)alloying reactions of the amorphous silicides to be followed in the 2nd cycle and beyond. In combination with density-functional theory calculations, the results provide insight into the amorphous and amorphous-to-crystalline lithium-silicide transformations, particularly those at low voltages, which are highly relevant to practical cycling strategies.K.O acknowledges a research fellowship from Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). E.S acknowledges support by a Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme and thanks Churchill College (Cambridge, UK) for a non-stipendiary Raymond and Beverly Sackler Research fellowship. C.J.K and A.E.F acknowledge a research studentship from the Cambridge Nano Science and Technology Doctoral Training Centre (NanoDTC). A.J.M acknowledges the support from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability. S.H acknowledges funding from ERC grant InsituNANO (project number 279342). C.P.G and C.D thank the Royal Society, and C.P.G thanks European Research Council (ERC). C.P.G. acknowledges support from the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies of the U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract DE-AC02-05CH11231, subcontract 6952000.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Communications at http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/140203/ncomms4217/full/ncomms4217.html

Social interactions through the eyes of macaques and humans

Group-living primates frequently interact with each other to maintain social bonds as well as to compete for valuable resources. Observing such social interactions between group members provides individuals with essential information (e.g. on the fighting ability or altruistic attitude of group companions) to guide their social tactics and choice of social partners. This process requires individuals to selectively attend to the most informative content within a social scene. It is unclear how non-human primates allocate attention to social interactions in different contexts, and whether they share similar patterns of social attention to humans. Here we compared the gaze behaviour of rhesus macaques and humans when free-viewing the same set of naturalistic images. The images contained positive or negative social interactions between two conspecifics of different phylogenetic distance from the observer; i.e. affiliation or aggression exchanged by two humans, rhesus macaques, Barbary macaques, baboons or lions. Monkeys directed a variable amount of gaze at the two conspecific individuals in the images according to their roles in the interaction (i.e. giver or receiver of affiliation/aggression). Their gaze distribution to non-conspecific individuals was systematically varied according to the viewed species and the nature of interactions, suggesting a contribution of both prior experience and innate bias in guiding social attention. Furthermore, the monkeys’ gaze behavior was qualitatively similar to that of humans, especially when viewing negative interactions. Detailed analysis revealed that both species directed more gaze at the face than the body region when inspecting individuals, and attended more to the body region in negative than in positive social interactions. Our study suggests that monkeys and humans share a similar pattern of role-sensitive, species- and context-dependent social attention, implying a homologous cognitive mechanism of social attention between rhesus macaques and humans