Emotional Attachment and Its Limits: Mengzi, Gaozi and the Guodian Discussions

Mengzi maintained that both benevolence (ren 仁) and rightness (yi 義) are naturally-given in human nature. This view has occupied a dominant place in Confucian intellectual history. In Mencius 6A, Mengzi's interlocutor, Gaozi, contests this view, arguing that rightness is determined by (doing what is fitting, in line with) external circumstances. I discuss here some passages from the excavated Guodian texts, which lend weight to Gaozi's view. The texts reveal nuanced considerations of relational proximity and its limits, setting up requirements for moral action in scenarios where relational ties do not play a motivational role. I set out yi's complexity in these discussions, highlighting its implications for (i) the nei-wai debate; (ii) the notion of yi as "rightness," or doing the right thing; and (iii) how we can understand the connection between virtue and right action in these early Confucian debates. This material from the excavated texts not only provides new perspectives on a longstanding investigation of human nature and morality, it also challenges prevailing views on Warring States Confucian intellectual history. In the well-known debate between Mengzi and Gaozi in Mencius 6A, Mengzi maintained that both ren and yi are naturally-given 1 in human nature. The figure 1 To say that ren and yi are naturally-given is not to say that they are fully-developed from the start. I use the phrase "naturally-given" throughout the paper to indicate where a particular capacity or resource (ren or yi) may be found, rather than its final polished state

Learning to be Reliable: Confucius' Analects

In the Lunyu, Confucius remarks on the implausibility—or impossibility—of a life lacking in xin 信, reliability (2.22). In existing discussions of Confucian philosophy, this aspect of life is often eclipsed by greater emphasis on Confucian values such as ren 仁 (benevolence), li 禮 (propriety) and yi 義 (rightness). My discussion addresses this imbalance by focusing on reliability, extending current debates in two ways. First, it proposes that the common translation of xin as denoting coherence between a person’s words and deeds is inadequate. The translation fails to capture the longer-term consistency in a person’s actions and behaviours in different circumstances across time. Second, it explores how the Lunyu passages discuss the processes of learning that prepare a person for reliable action

Static analysis of a sonar dome rubber window

The application of NASTRAN (level 16.0.1) to the static analysis of a sonar dome rubber window (SDRW) was demonstrated. The assessment of the conventional model (neglecting the enclosed fluid) for the stress analysis of the SDRW was made by comparing its results to those based on a sophisticated model (including the enclosed fluid). The fluid was modeled with isoparametric linear hexahedron elements with approximate material properties whose shear modulus was much smaller than its bulk modulus. The effect of the chosen material property for the fluid is discussed

Would global patent protection be too weak without international coordination?

I extend the Grossman and Lai (2004) model to answer the question, "Would global patent protection be too weak without international coordination?" by introducing firmbiased government preferences and trade barriers in the model. I make use of the estimates of the firm-bias parameter from the political economy literature to proxy for the degree of governments' firm-bias. Then I calculate the range of trade barriers that is sufficient to give rise to under-protection of patents in the global system without international policy coordination in IPR protection. I make the judgement that the true trade barrier between countries very likely falls within this range of under-protection. Therefore, I conclude that there was probably under-protection of patents without international policy coordination in IPR protection. It means that the free-rider problem with a large number of independent players overrides the effects of firm-bias and trade barriers, giving rise to too low a rate of innovation in the world. Allowing for the possibility that countries discriminate against foreign firms in Nash equilibrium does not change this conclusion. The problem can possibly be corrected by international coordination in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.Intellectual property rights, TRIPS, Innovation

The most-favored nation rule in club enlargement negotiation

We study the effects of the Most-Favored Nation rule in an applicant's negotiation to join a club. When the applicant has to carry out a series of bilateral bargains with the existing members, we find that there are two effects of the MFN rule, viz. the hardened bargainer effect and the free-rider effect. The former effect tends to favor the applicant, while the latter effect tends to hurt the applicant. We find that the free-rider effect is stronger the more asymmetric are the members. The hardened bargainer effect is stronger the larger is the "size of the pie." As the number of members increase, it is more likely that the hardened bargainer effect would dominate.International trade ; Industrial organization (Economic theory) ; World Trade Organization

Interference and the lossless lossy beam splitter

By directing the input light into a particular mode it is possible to obtain as output all of the input light for a beam splitter that is 50% absorbing. This effect is also responsible for nonlinear quantum interference when two photons are incident on the beam splitter.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in J. Mod. Op

Surface temperature distribution along a thin liquid layer due to thermocapillary convection

The surface temperature distributions due to thermocapillary convections in a thin liquid layer with heat fluxes imposed on the free surface were investigated. The nondimensional analysis predicts that, when convection is important, the characteristics length scale in the flow direction L, and the characteristic temperature difference delta T sub o can be represented by L and delta T sub o approx. (A2Ma)/1/4 delta T sub R, respectively, where L sub R and delta sub R are the reference scales used in the conduction dominant situations with A denoting the aspect ratio and Ma the Marangoni number. Having L and delta sub o defined, the global surface temperature gradient delta sub o/L, the global thermocapillary driving force, and other interesting features can be determined. Numerical calculations involving a Gaussian heat flux distribution are presented to justify these two relations

A Theory of Government Procrastination

We present a theory to explain government procrastination as a consequence of its present-bias resulting from the political uncertainty in a two-party political system. We show that under a two-party political system the party in office tends to be present-biased. This may lead to inefficient procrastination of socially beneficial policies that carry upfront costs but yield long-term benefits. However, procrastination is often not indefinite even as we consider an infinite-horizon game. There exist equilibria in which the policy is implemented, and in many cases carried out to completion in finite time. When the net social benefit is large, there is no procrastination problem. When the net social benefit is small, the policy can be procrastinated indefinitely, though there may co-exist some gradual implementation equilibria. When the net social benefit is intermediate in magnitude, there are all sorts of procrastination equilibria, including gradual implementation. The theory predicts that a government with a more strongly predominant party tends to procrastinate less.present-bias, procrastination, policy implementation