The Logic of Good Social Relations

Good social relations have more or less an aspect of gift-giving which, by nature, can be neither bought nor imposed. Interaction in this respect will lead purely selfish people to an irremediably inferior state, while pure altruism and unconditional morality are very demanding on the ground of motivation. However, a satisfactory solution solely requires that an actor reciprocates the others' attitude, a much less demanding behaviour. Such reciprocity also fosters standard economic efficiency, and can be elicited by a number of widespread psychological features.     

师德困境及其重建的国家意义

师德困境是我国社会转型时期一种具有类型化的精神现象,它虽然与个体道德认知与实践能力有关,但更主要的是由于社会关系与价值秩序出现了裂隙。因此,所谓师德重建,不仅是如何更新教育方式与合理设计评价指标体系的问题,更主要的是要创造正派社会风气,尤其是要在各种职业制度之上,建立起对公共道德风险的有效预警和惩罚机制,使师德的自我引导与践行有可普遍依托的制度伦理基础。所以,师德重建的重要意义集中表现为它对国家核心价值观的增强性作用。     

Hayek on corporate social responsibility

Hayek published a piece in 1960 that criticized corporate social responsibility as a norm for economic organizations, although he regarded corporate actions to be subject to essentially the same moral rules as individual action. This article identifies and reorganizes Hayek’s criticisms of social justice, the rule of law and morality, his comparison of the open society and the closed society, and his treatment of charity and altruism. The aim is to clarify the Hayekian perspective on CSR. These considerations explain why the ‘social’ perspective on responsibility is considered dangerous in a free society, how to separate legal compliance and morality from concerns about social justice.     

Ethics and Banking

Usually moral conscience has been forgotten after the individualist and utilitarian analysis. However, many people guide their behavior by a value system that is sensitive to social problems, such as equilibrium with nature, respect of human rights, and the equality of opportunities. People have the power to change the society: As consumers and as savers. As savers, people have the opportunity to choose, in financial markets, between institutions and products. In this paper, we will summarize the economic trends that observe a moral conscience in humans. Then, we will analyze if this moral conscience can have a translation in the financial sector. Can ethical banks and investment funds survive in the competitive financial sector? Can moral conscience be incorporated into financial business?     

论会计伦理人假设

会计伦理人和经济人的内在统一构成了会计伦理人假设的伦理基础。会计伦理人是会计存在的前提条件,是建立会计科学体系的基础。会计的其他假设、原则和方法都是在这一基础上展开。会计学就是一部会计伦理学。会计人是伦理人,每个人要成为会计之前必须接受伦理学教育。诚信危机是社会现象,决不是单单会计人员问题。大规模的会计职业道德教育也许会有些意义,但这决不是问题所在,一个公平正义的法律制度才是解决问题的关键。     

Charles Darwin on human evolution

In the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin says little about human evolution, other than to assert firmly that we humans did evolve and are part of the interrelated natural world along with all other organisms. However this should not conceal Darwin's great interest in the topic, a matter to which he turned in his Descent of Man (published 12 years after the Origin), where he made very clear the natural processes leading to Homo sapiens, dwelling at length on the special role of the secondary mechanism of sexual selection. In the Descent, Darwin makes it very clear that he thinks human thinking and actions, especially in the moral realm, have an evolutionary origin just as much as our physical nature.     

Is market liberalism adaptive? Rethinking F. A. Hayek on moral evolution

Hayek’s social theory of evolution suggests that market liberal morality is adaptive for social groups. He justified the evolutionary superiority of market liberalism by asserting that groups operating under a market liberal morality would have a higher capacity to expand and reproduce than groups with alternative tribal moralities. Thus, market liberal groups would be favoured through cultural and genetic group selection. But in fact, market liberal morality reveals maladaptive tendencies and remains insufficiently powerful to create adaptive social groups. Hayek’s dismissal of moral tribalism in favour of market liberal morality is found to underestimate the importance of tribal goals in the evolutionary system.     

The Treatment of Smith's Invisible Hand

Adam Smith used the metaphor of an invisible hand to represent the instincts of human nature that direct behavior. Moderated by self-control and guided by proper institutional incentives, actions grounded in instincts can be shown to generate a beneficial social order even if not intended. Smith's concept, however, has been diluted and distorted over time through extension and misuse. Common misperceptions are that Smith unconditionally endorsed laissez-faire markets, selfish individualism, and Pareto efficiency. The author draws upon recent literature to clarify Smith's meaning and to discuss ways of improving its classroom presentation. The author argues that the invisible hand operates within a variety of institutional settings and that a number of arrangements are compatible with economic progress.     

亚文化视阈下的中国社会道德失范问题研究

中国社会正处在剧烈的转型之中，道德领域亦受到前所未有的冲击。各种问题相伴而生。“见死不救”、“见义不为”等事件屡见报端。可见道德失范现象已经成为一个社会焦点和热点问题。因此以亚文化为背景，研究道德失范现象具有重要意义。不仅能深化对道德失范现象本质的认识，而且能为道德失范现象找出根源，进而对症下药，提供相应的可行对策。     

Toward an Evolutionary and Moral Science

Thorstein Veblen asked in 1898 why economics is not an evolutionary science; he also proposed a Darwinian paradigm shift for economics. Among the implications reviewed here was his claim that Darwinian principles applied to social entities as well as to biological phenomena. It is also argued that economists have additional reasons for taking Darwinian evolution seriously. Recent work on the evolution of altruism, cooperation and morality show that we are on the brink of developing an evolutionary-grounded theory of human motivation that breaks from the selfish utility-maximizer lambasted by Veblen. This new theory accepts a biological as well as a cultural foundation for moral dispositions. As noted here, the neglected British institutional economist John A. Hobson — who was an acquaintance of Veblen — foreshadowed this approach.     

论鲁迅对传统婚姻夫妇伦理的批判

鲁迅剖析旧婚姻夫妇伦理,进行了对＂男尊女卑＂、＂妇女自身奴性＂和＂节烈道德＂的批判,来表明其对具有时代特征的夫妇平等的伦理关系的寻求。     

农村利益群体的演变及行为方式

在中国农村经济发展和制度安排中，以传统文化为基础的宗族、地缘和业缘派系正在向具有利益性质的现代传统派系转变。特别是在经济发达地区的农村，从传统派系中演化而来的新型利益派系正在与现代传统派系进行利益博弈，以获取自身利益的最大化。本文主要对村庄派系的演化机制、利益实现的手段和方法以及当前派系演化中农村社会结构要素进行分析，并时利益派系与民主村级治理、边缘化与农村社会分层、人际关系理性化与道德重构等相关问题进行了讨论。     

Charles Kingsley and the Theological Interpretation of Natural Selection

Synopsis This paper questions the common view that Darwinian biology is a straighforward extension of classical political economy. Our analysis contrasts the economists’ classification scheme – whereby all humans were presumed natural kinds, to be equally competent for economic and political decision making – with the post-Darwinian classification scheme that developed. When the tools of political economy were imported into biology, the presumption of homogeneity of competence was denied. Charles Kingsley played a significant role in the transition from one sort of classificatory scheme to another, in the overthrow of the economists’ notion that humans are the same in their capacity for trade and moral judgment. Darwin sent Kingsley a presentation copy of Origin of Species and quoted him in the second edition as the ‘celebrated author and divine’ who had sketched a theology in which Providence used natural selection in the creation process. The economists’ doctrine that all people form a natural kind had many opponents. Biologists agreed with economists that, whatever differences existed between races of people, none put a person outside the protection of law. Other opponents, e.g., Thomas Carlyle, criticized both the economists’ premise and their conclusion regarding protection under the law. Kingsley moved from a Carlylean to a Darwinian opposition to natural kinds.     

A Rawlsian Defense of the Individual Mandate: The “Collective Asset” Approach

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires individuals to get coverage or pay a fine (or “shared responsibility payment”) starting in 2014. This mandate had been at the center of a contentious political and legal debate. Although the Mandate is key to ending discriminations based on pre-existing conditions in the individual insurance market, its constitutionality had been challenged. We argue that the Obama administration's legal argument for the constitutionality of the Mandate by invoking conventional economic categories such as “negative externalities” is inadequate in addressing the economic and moral significance of the Mandate. As an alternative, we suggest a Rawlsian approach. Specifically, we will borrow the Rawlsian notion of “collective asset” to articulate the moral appeal of the Mandate and its social insurance logic.     

Relative and absolute scarcity of nature. Assessing the roles of economics and ecology for biodiversity conservation

Our aim in this essay is to identify and analyze some of the difficulties with interdisciplinary integration of economic and ecological contributions to the study of biodiversity loss. We develop our analysis from a widely accepted definition of economics which is based on the concept of scarcity. Taking a closer look at this notion, we find that economics actually limits itself to a very particular aspect of scarcity, which we denote as relative scarcity. We describe in what respect the economic approach towards biodiversity is based on this notion, and also reflect on the specific understanding of the relation of humans and nature behind the economic approach. We then turn to absolute scarcity as another notion of scarcity, and show that this is not within the scope of economics, but has been a theme of ecology and ecological economics. We describe in which way ecological and ecological–economic approaches towards biodiversity are based on the idea of absolute scarcity, and also reflect on the specific understanding of the human–nature relationship behind this notion of scarcity. Against this background, we discuss the roles of economics and ecology for nature conservation. We conclude that the interdisciplinary integration of ecology and economics requires a philosophical underpinning, and suggest a framework for further research.     

Smith's theory of actions and the moral significance of unintended consequences

Abstract

An important clue to the ambiguity in Smith's attitudes towards commercial society may lie in his disaffection with natural distributions; with distributions based on unintended consequences. The absence of proportionality between motives and outcomes dooms the morality of commercial society, not the mere absence of an ethical dimension to human character. Through the analysis of actions, we find correspondence between the three economic states of the Wealth of Nations and the three social states of the Theory of Moral Sentiments. Thus, re-distribution is important in the moral evaluation of commercial systems. Unintended consequences are neither a source of moral strength nor a safeguard against injustice.     

论“存在经济人”假设、经济机制设计与效率不减原理

经济分析的主要任务之一是分析经济运行的效率,进行经济机制设计。由于“新经济人”需要有良好经济运行机制的支撑,所以,不能作为经济分析的前提假设。面对当前我国大量存在市场机会主义行为的现实,以“存在‘经济人”’假设替代“经济人”假设和“新经济人”假设,可以既与“人都是自私的、利己的”资产阶级观念划清界限,又避免“新经济人”需要有良好经济运行机制支撑而不能作为经济分析前提假设的困境,并且可以为分析社会主义初级阶段有效防范参与者机会主义行为的市场运行机制提供逻辑起点。“效率不减原理”指出,满足“经济人”真实显示偏好的经济机制并不妨碍“利己利他经济人”,即“新经济人”利己利他偏好的真实显示,保证了“存在‘经济人…假设下所得的机制应用于社会主义初级阶段市场经济实践中效率不减,从而进一步讨论了“存在‘经济人＇”假设对于社会主义初级阶段经济理论创新的意义。     

团队生产的纳什均衡及合作博弈空间

本文在霍姆斯特姆所做贡献的基础上认为团队生产问题在本质上等同于囚徒困境问题,并指出霍姆斯特姆的实施强制契约的解决方法存在逻辑漏洞,在现实社会中一般是无效的.本文依据社会经济人个人效用最大化的条件定义了团队生产的合作战略博弈空间,合作战略博弈空间的均衡极点(即个人效用最大化点)就是团队生产收益分配博弈的纳什均衡解.如果个人收益的总和等于集体收益的最优值,那么个人理性与集体理性之间就达到统一,处于帕累托最优状态,即不存在道德风险;反之,则说明存在道德风险.并给出了在团队生产中通过改变合作战略博弈空间达到帕累托最优的一个特例,指出了科学合理地改变合作战略博弈空间在社会经济发展中的重要作用     

安全发展视域中企业自身道德修炼研究

企业道德是企业安全发展和竞争力提升的核心要素。企业道德建设,政治制度、经济体制、地域文化等外在因素不可或缺,但作为安全发展的责任主体,企业自觉的、有计划的通过多种载体用企业所信奉和必须实践的道德理念去整合员工的思想是提高企业道德水平的一种普遍手法,也是企业道德提升的内在的、根本的动因。企业自身道德修炼的着力点,包括,在企业制度和决策中融入企业的道德观,企业管理活动中对企业道德理念的渗透,探索员工认同企业道德个性的机制等。