Vigorous debate over the moral propriety of cognitive enhancement exists, but the views of the public have been largely absent from the discussion. To address this gap in our knowledge, four experiments were carried out with contrastive vignettes in order to obtain quantitative data on public attitudes towards cognitive enhancement. The data collected suggest that the public is sensitive to and capable of understanding the four cardinal concerns identified by neuroethicists, and tend to cautiously accept cognitive enhancement even as they (...) recognize its potential perils. The public is biopolitically moderate, endorses both meritocratic principles and the intrinsic value of hard work, and appears to be sensitive to the salient moral issues raised in the debate. Taken together, these data suggest that public attitudes toward enhancement are sufficiently sophisticated to merit inclusion in policy deliberations, especially if we seek to align public sentiment and policy. (shrink)

I. The Problem of ‘Truth’ in the Logic of Truth.

This paper analyzes Kant’s epistemological reorientation of ontology, explaining in what sense Kant’s complex theory of transcendental idealism and empirical realism should be understood as an ontological realism under the framework of epistemological idealism. The paper shows that Kant’s concept of existence is only applicable to empirical objects in the spatiotemporal causal framework. Accordingly, not only things in themselves, but also epistemic conditions such as the transcendental subject and the faculties of sensibility and understanding cannot be said to exist. They (...) are theoretical constructs in the transcendental discourse to account for the normative conditions of objective cognition and reality. (shrink)

One of the central claims of the neurodiversity movement is that society should accommodate the needs of autistics, rather than try to treat autism. People have variously tried to reject this accommodation thesis as applicable to all autistics. One instance is Pier Jaarsma and Stellan Welin, who argue that the thesis should apply to some but not all autistics. They do so via separating autistics into high- and low-functioning, on the basis of IQ and social effectiveness or functionings. I reject (...) their grounds for separating autistics. IQ is an irrelevant basis for separating autistics. Charitably rendering it as referring to more general capacities still leaves us mistaken about the roles they play in supporting the accommodation thesis. The appeal to social effectiveness or functionings relies on standards that are inapplicable to autistics, and which risks being deaf to the point of their claims. I then consider if their remaining argument concerning autistic culture may succeed independently of the line they draw. I argue that construing autistics' claims as beginning from culture mistakes their status, and may even detract from their aims. Via my discussion of Jaarsma and Welin, I hope to point to why the more general strategy of separating autistics, in response to the accommodation thesis, does not fully succeed. Finally, I sketch some directions for future discussions, arguing that we should instead shift our attention to consider another set of questions concerning the costs and extent of change required to accommodate all autistics. (shrink)

It is well known that Mozi criticizes the ritual practices of the Ru for being wasteful. However, another criticism has been less appreciated: These practices are merely conventional habituations and violate the Ru’s own moral ideals of ren 仁 , yi 義 and xiao 孝 . Xunzi responds to both criticisms in the Li Lun Pian 禮論篇 . Based on an account of Mozi’s arguments and Xunzi’s replies, this essay discusses the significance of ritual transformation in Xunzi’s moral philosophy.

Based on ethnographic research, this study investigates the meaning and impact of women’s involvement in South Korean evangelicalism. While recent works addressing the “paradox” of women’s participation in conservative religions have highlighted the significance of these religions as unexpected vehicles of gender empowerment and contestation, this study finds that the experiences and consequences of Korean evangelical women’s religiosity are highly contradictory; although crucial in women’s efforts to negotiate the injuries of the modern Confucian-patriarchal family, conversion, for many women, also signifies (...) their effective redomestication to this family/gender regime, which helps maintain current gender arrangements. To address this tension, the article explores the meaning of religious submission in the Korean context, focusing on the motivations behind women’s consent to patriarchy, which are rooted in women’s contradictory desires regarding the family system and the ambivalent subjectivities that they evoke. (shrink)

Blinded by heaven -- The pre-established heart-mind -- The transformation of things -- Zhen, some normative concerns -- The facts of human construction -- Metaphor in the Zhuangzi and theories of metaphor -- Self, virtue (de) and values in the Zhuangzi.

This chapter discusses the relation between Mencius and “Daoism” by taking Zhuangzi (and other authors of the Zhuangzi) as representative of the latter and seeing where each of them stood in response to the cross-current of ideas of the Warring States period. The ideas of some figures mentioned in the Mencius, such as Gaozi, Yang Zhu, and Xu Xing, are extended in the Zhuangzi. Some ideas gathered in the Zhuangzi can be seen to contrast with Mencius’s and these are referred (...) to as “Daoist tendencies” of thought. For instance: self-preservation and nourishment of one’s own life, morality as an artificial construct, moral skepticism, tian (“heaven”) as non-normative, an ideal primitive life free from hierarchy, and that there is no essential (moral) human nature. (shrink)

This book offers an introduction to the philosophy of Ham Sok Hon, an iconic figure in the intellectual and political history of modern Korea, and discusses the potential contribution of his ssial philosophy to cosmopolitanism.

BackgroundThe cognitive level of post-stroke aphasia patients is generally lower than non-aphasia patients, and cognitive impairment affects the outcome of stroke. However, for different types of PSA, what kind of cognitive assessment methods to choose is not completely clear. We investigated the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Non-language-based Cognitive Assessment to observe the evaluation effect of CI in patients with fluent aphasia and non-fluent aphasia.Methods92 stroke patients were included in this study. Demographic and clinical data of (...) the stroke group were documented. The language and cognition were evaluated by Western Aphasia Battery, MoCA, MMSE, and NLCA. PSA were divided into FA and NFA according to the Chinese aphasia fluency characteristic scale. Pearson’s product–moment correlation coefficient test and multiple linear regression analysis were performed to explore the relationship between the sub-items of WAB and cognitive scores. The classification rate of CI was tested by Pearson’s Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test.ResultsThe scores of aphasia quotient, MoCA, MMSE, and NLCA in NFA were lower than FA. AQ was positively correlated with MoCA, MMSE, and NLCA scores. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis suggested that naming explained 70.7% of variance of MoCA and 79.9% of variance of MMSE; comprehension explained 46.7% of variance of NLCA. In the same type of PSA, there was no significant difference in the classification rate. The classification rate of CI in NFA by MoCA and MMSE was higher than that in FA. There was no significant difference in the classification rate of CI between FA and NFA by NLCA.ConclusionMoCA, MMSE, and NLCA can be applied in FA. NLCA is recommended for NFA. (shrink)

다산 정약용(이하 ‘다산’)의 학문은 계속해서 여러 분야를 두고 논의되고 있지만, 국방-안보 사상에 대해서는 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있지 않다. 그의 국방안보 사상은 조선의 전통 국방안보 사상과의 비교를 통해 성격을 파악할 수 있으며, 국방안보 전략과 군사준비태세론으로 크게 나누어볼 수 있다. 조선의 국방안보 전략 사상은 ‘사대’와 ‘민본’으로 정리할 수 있다. 중국에 대한 편승으로 일관하면서 여진, 일본 등을 견제하고, 군사 분야에 대한 적극적인 투자와 계획보다는 민생과 인화(人和)를 우선했다. 이는 일정한 합리성을 담지했으나, ‘사대’가 ‘사대주의’화되며 비합리적인 국방안보 이념으로 이어지기도 했고, 군사적 약체성을 숙명처럼 지속시키는 요인이기도 했다. (...) 조선의 군사준비태세론은 병농일치제를 중심으로 했다. 그러나 실제적으로는 국민개병제를 표방하면서도 양반과 천민을 열외시켰으며, 이는 점차 대립군제를 정착시키며 열악한 군비태세와 부정부패의 만연에 따른 공적 기강 약화를 초래했다. 이에 대해, 다산은 실학적 관점에서 사대의 이념적 근거를 부정했다. 그리고 ‘인화’를 개인의 사적 욕망을 최대한 배려하는 것으로 이해했다. 이는 현실주의적인 안보론과 문(文)이 무(武)를 과도히 억제하는 당시 사회 이념에의 비판론으로 이어졌다. 또한 명실상부한 병농일치제를 주장했다. 그것은 토지제도를 정리하여 백성에게 ‘항산(恒産)’을 부여하고, 그 항산을 지키려는 의지에서 국방 정신을 이끌어내려는 것이었다. 다만 이는 단기간에 성취될 일이 아니었기에, 급박한 상황을 대비해 지은 『민보의』에서는 개인의 여러 욕망을 교묘히 이용해 전투력을 극대화하려는, 다분히 법가적인 사상을 전개하고 있다. (shrink)

I review José Medina's The Epistemology of Protest: Silencing, Epistemic Activism, and the Communicative Life of Resistance, and raise some questions about the felicity, legitimacy and civility of protest.

This is my reply to McLeod’s reply (2015a) to my (2015) paper commenting on his (2011) interpretation of Wang Chong 王充 as an alethic pluralist.

Kim-chong Chong’s 2016 book on the Zhuangzi balances the textual and historical approaches with conceptual and contemporary philosophical concerns. The focus on the early Confucian context and the philosophy of value pluralism, as well as the analysis of key concepts and creative interpretation of well-known passages, mark out Chong’s Zhuangzi from other accounts. Nevertheless, Chong faces the interpretative and philosophical challenge of reconciling value pluralism with the normative concerns and privileged ideals also present in the Zhuangzi.