A core value of Judaism is leading an ethical life. The Talmud, an authoritative source on Jewish law and tradition, has a number of discussions that deal with honesty in business and decision-making. One motive that can cause individuals to be unscrupulous is the presence of a conflict of interest. This paper will define, discuss, and review five Talmudic concepts relevant to conflict of interest. They are (1) Nogea B’Davar (being an interested party), (2) V’hiyitem N’keyim (behaving to ensure that (...) one is above suspicion) (3) Lifnei Iver (placing a stumbling block before the blind), (4) Shokhad (accepting a bribe), and (5) Geneivat Da’at (deception and undeserved goodwill). Case examples will be used to apply these Talmudic principles to contemporary business practice. This will include discussion of these Talmudic concepts as it applies to specific contemporary business examples relevant to the boardroom, accounting firms, investment banking, politics, and government. It may be impossible to eliminate all conflicts of interest. However, knowledge and awareness of these Talmudic principles can help individuals in business settings better address the ethical issues that they confront. (shrink)

-- William Nester, Asian Thought & Society.

In this collection of original essays, leading scholars of East Asian studies seek to define the deeply religious dimensions of Confucian and Neo-Confucian thought and practice in order to demonstrate its intellectual connections with other traditions of thought--such as Taoism, Buddhism, and Shintoism--at specific junctures in history.

Introduction Marxism did not come to China simply as one of the many waves from abroad that inundated Chinese intellectual life during the late Ch'ing ...

This volume looks at tractate Menachot, which is concerned mostly with grain offered at the Temple to atone for various misdeeds. Fogel approaches the text, page by page, commenting with doses of humor and comparisons in a manner meant to explain the text for contemporary readers.

Rabbis’ children experience unique stresses which may make them particularly susceptible to various forms of psychopathology. Fifty-three rabbis’ children completed questionnaires assessing their frequency of religious service attendance, their reactions towards being a rabbi's child, empathy levels, depressive, anxious, and disordered eating symptoms. Linear regression analyses were used for the separate outcome variables of depressive, anxiety, and disordered eating symptoms. More dissatisfaction with life as a rabbi's child was significantly associated with higher levels of depressive, Oral Control, and Bulimia and (...) Food Preoccupation symptoms. Attending services daily was associated with higher levels of anxiety and Oral Control symptoms. Higher empathy levels were associated with higher anxiety, depressive and dieting symptoms. Finally, men demonstrated higher scores for Oral Control and women for Bulimia and Food Preoccupation. Counseling may be useful to aid rabbis’ children who may be challenged with depressive, anxious and disordered eating symptoms. (shrink)

Ethical violations are becoming common in the business world. Teaching proper ethical behavior can begin in college. In this study, we surveyed 350 students to determine what affects students’ perceptions of the ethics of professors and to determine whether or not taking a course in ethics changes this perception. The most important factor in determining whether or not a professor is ethical is “fairness in grading.” Surprisingly, there was no statistically significant difference between students who took a course in ethics (...) and those who did not in their perception of what makes a professor ethical or unethical. There were some differences, however, between males and females in these perceptions. By learning ethical principle at the college-level, there may be an impact on ethical behavior when in the business world. (shrink)

Since the mid-1980s there has been a great deal of scholarly interest focused on the history of modern Shanghai. In association with the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, both the University of California at Berkeley and Cornell University were recipients of Luce Foundation grants that brought Shanghai scholars to North America, resulting in an outpouring of books and articles. In addition, there has been a simultaneous surge of interest among Japanese scholars and, on a smaller scale, French and German scholars. (...) A significant slice of this new research focuses on cultural and intellectual history. This essay examines much of that new material and suggests reasons for why such a development has taken place. (shrink)