8 Culture, Evil, and Horror

A bstract .   This chapter develops a concept of aesthetic and existential horror and suggests its importance for understanding modern and postmodern culture. It makes three distinct claims. First, the experience of horror signifies a breakdown in the symbolic categories and valuations of a culture. Second, this experience has ontological significance because in horror the human is exposed to the naked fact of being. This latter point is derived from Heidegger's comments on anxiety and Emmanuel Levinas's notion of the " il y a " or "there is." A third claim follows from these two, namely, that horror is distinct from evil. Evil is defined within a cultural matrix; horror is the undefined other of a culture. Evil represents the negation of being; horror shows the sickening presence of being as being. The essay concludes with a reflection on the possibility of a postmodern ethics that takes responsibility for the "horrors of being" generated by globalization.     

7 A Cultural Critique of Cultural Relativism

A bstract .   This chapter explores a certain line of critical analysis according to which one can proceed to undermine the claim that judgments approving freedom, and standards upholding human rights, are culturally relativistic and cannot possibly have any universal validity. This exploration begins with a scrutiny of common assumptions about the nature of culture itself. The author tries to demonstrate that common misunderstandings of culture have provided ammunition to cultural relativists. Seeking clarity helps strengthen the philosophical objections to normative cultural relativism. The author refers to such a line of analysis as the "cultural critique of cultural relativism."     

3 Rethinking Global Justice from the Perspective of All Living Nature and What Difference it Makes

A bstract .   I begin this chapter with an account of what is deserved in human ethics, an ethics that assumes without argument that only humans, or rational agents, count morally. I then take up the question of whether nonhuman living beings are also deserving, and I answer it in the affirmative. Having established that all individual living beings, as well as ecosystems, are deserving, I go on to establish what it is that they deserve and then compare the requirements of global justice when only humans are taken into account with the requirements of global justice when all living beings are taken into account. I argue that the more adequate global justice that takes into account all living beings imposes some additional obligations on us that are absent from a less defensible human-centered global justice, but not as many as one might initially think.     

11 A Rediscovery of Heaven-and-Human Oneness

A bstract .   The history of Chinese intellectual thought shows a constant and continuous probing into the chiasmatic encounters between tian (heaven or nature) and ren (humankind). This is conducive, in turn, to a core conception of tian ren heyi (heaven-and-human oneness) that largely embodies the general ethos or Geist of Chinese philosophy. Owing to its functional indication and dynamic character, the polysemy of the conception is apt to be extended along with the passage of time and according to the current situation or sociocultural context. At the present day, there is a tendency to rediscover the relevance of "heaven-and-human oneness" by reading new and even modern messages into the old conception. This has become an open-ended activity, inviting and involving a second reflection, transcultural exposition, and even creative transformation due to its hidden universality for the common good. This chapter attempts to look into the essential bearings of this "heaven-and-human oneness" concept employed as a Dao ( Tao or Way) to deal with the interaction between nature and humanity. It also explores the complex history of the concept, with a particular reference to Li Zehou's recent reinterpretation as well as my own personal understanding. Some contemporary pragmatic implications of the concept are also examined with particular reference to eco-environmental concerns.     

10 The Subject of Freedom at the End of History: Socialism Beyond Humanism

A bstract .   The postmodernist turn in theory left the status of humanism in some doubt. This chapter argues that a recuperation of a specifically socialist humanism is both possible and desirable, but only by overcoming the anthropocentrism of radical humanism. Renaissance and Enlightenment conceptions of the subject were rooted in an untenable dichotomy between the human and the animal, in ways that vitiated the idea and ideal of universal freedom. By conflating subjectivity as such with human subjectivity, humanism created a diremption in the world that placed the knower (human consciousness) on one side, and the merely known (objectified Nature) on the other. Marxism and socialist humanism reproduced this error in ways that have undermined the socialist vision of universal emancipation, misconstrued the nature of the subject, and overlooked the significance of human domination of other animals. The author advocates a new approach, what he calls metahumanism , to affirm a "two-sided" freedom in which the liberation of other animals from human oppression, and the emancipation of ourselves as animals—that is, the restoration of the sensual dimension of existence, free sexual expression, and valorization of the labor and love of the body—would become central features of a new movement for civil and cultural reform.     

Estimation of a k-monotone density: characterizations, consistency and minimax lower bounds

The classes of monotone or convex (and necessarily monotone) densities on     can be viewed as special cases of the classes of k - monotone densities on     . These classes bridge the gap between the classes of monotone (1-monotone) and convex decreasing (2-monotone) densities for which asymptotic results are known, and the class of completely monotone (∞-monotone) densities on     . In this paper we consider non-parametric maximum likelihood and least squares estimators of a k -monotone density g ₀. We prove existence of the estimators and give characterizations. We also establish consistency properties, and show that the estimators are splines of degree k −1 with simple knots. We further provide asymptotic minimax risk lower bounds for estimating the derivatives     , at a fixed point x ₀ under the assumption that     .     

The SAM and Beyond: Open,SESAME!

The revised 1993 System of National Accounts (SNA) contains a chapter on social accounting matrices (SAMs), demonstrating that the input-output approach should be extended to a matrix presentation of a wider set of national accounts. This article describes the application of that chapter to the case of Indonesia, and elaborates on the linkage of a SAM to all kinds of supplementary (non-monetary) data sets. This should yield a system of economic and social account-ing matrices and extensions (SESAME), i.e. a consistent meso-level information system from which major economic and social macro-indicators can be derived. By way of example, detailed employment figures that belong to a SESAME for Indonesia are presented.     

Simulation-Based Comparison of Existent IAS 19 Accounting Options

ABSTRACT

We focus on accounting for unfunded defined benefit pension plans according to IAS 19 and compare the option to recognise any actuarial gain or loss immediately outside profit or loss in a separate statement within equity (‘equity approach’) with the ‘corridor approach’. The objective is to detect systematic differences in long-term pure accounting effects, which can be seen by the different cumulated net-amounts not (yet) recognised in profit or loss. Due to the complexity and the probabilistic elements, human expectations on system behaviour often fail. Therefore, we have performed the first Monte-Carlo-simulation study of the accounting options. The assumptions concerning input data are based on official German statistics and, therefore, are representative at least for Germany and similar countries. As a result, the belief of long-term offsetting of cumulated actuarial gains and losses is not accurate. The former unforeseeable consequences are the following: if we apply the equity approach we identify a tendency for a quasi-permanent cumulated actuarial net-gain (regenerating workforce) or a permanent cumulated actuarial net-loss (degenerating workforce) recognised outside profit or loss. If the corridor approach is applied, a tendency for quasi-permanent cumulated unrecognised net-gains is reported while amortising any corridor excess in the case of a regenerating workforce.     

城镇生态廊道规划研究——以浙江湖州市埭溪镇为例

只有统筹城乡的城镇生态廊道规划才能真正起到保护城镇生态环境,降低城镇生态风险的作用。针对目前我国城镇生态廊道规划实践中保护目标空泛、定量控制欠缺等问题,论文提出了生态廊道识别与定量化设计的技术方法。并以浙江湖州市埭溪镇为例,根据当地生态状况与潜在生态风险,确定生态廊道的数目、构成、宽度、连续性等各要素,实现优化城乡生态格局的预定技术目标。     

基于运输通道理论的高速公路对哈大齐工业走廊影响研究

高速公路因其自身特性在国民经济中的具有重要作用。基于运输通道理论,分析了高速公路对区域社会经济和综合运输通道的影响,并以哈大齐工业走廊为例进行了实证分析。实例研究结果表明,高速公路在提高区域综合运输能力的同时,有力地推动了哈大齐工业走廊经济发展,带动了相关产业的迅猛发展。     

山地环境中廊道对人居格局及城镇体系的影响——以滇西北为例

滇西北地区山地人居环境在长期的适应性"生长"过程中,受自然廊道和人文廊道的影响较大,通过对滇西北地区独特区位特征的分析,探讨了山地环境中自然廊道和人文廊道对山地人居格局及城镇体系的影响,分析了目前滇西北山区发展中的主要问题,希望为其快速脱贫并走上可持续发展之路提供依据。     

Union suppression and union substitution strategies of multinational enterprises in Ghana

This article complements the literature by furthering the understanding of an ‘African dimension’ of multinational enterprise (MNE) union avoidance. The evidence suggests that MNEs engaged in both union suppression and union substitution strategies by (i) exploiting young employees' apathy to promote opposition and indifference for union organisation (evil stuff), (ii) implementing union member‐centred employee retrenchment (fear stuff), (iii) using enterprise‐level collective bargaining arrangement to suppress union bargaining power (fear and fatal stuff), (iv) exploiting the fragmented labour union environment to suppress union organisation (fatal and evil stuff) and (v) promoting individual employee voice and involvement mechanisms (sweet stuff). Although MNEs in Ghana engaged in both union suppression and union substitution strategies, they appear to particularly favour the adoption of ‘union suppression’ strategies and what might be termed as ‘corridor tactics’. Our article highlights four transitional issues underpinning the emerging success of ‘corridor tactics’ in union suppression in a less developed host country.     

Uncertainty, Conventional Behavior, and Economic Sociology

A bstract    This paper addresses the problem of the conceptualization of social structure and its relationship to human agency in economic sociology. The background is provided by John Maynard Keynes's writings on uncertainty and conventional behavior on the stock market, and the analysis consists of a comparison of the social ontologies of the French Intersubjectivist School and the Economics as Social Theory Project in the light of these observations. The theoretical argument is illustrated with concrete examples from a prominent study of the stock market boom of the 1990s.     

Stable Prices, Money, and the Cost of Living

A bstract .   An analysis of indexed units of account such as that proposed by Robert Hall.     

Pareto, Parsons, and the Boundary Between Economics and Sociology

A bstract .   Recent discussions of the separation bUniversity of Bremenetween economics and sociology in the United States highlight the way Talcott Parsons used Vilfredo Pareto's Trattato di Sociologia Generale to propose that economics study logical actions and sociology study nonlogical actions. This article argues instead that in Pareto's treatise: (1) sociology is a synthetic discipline concerned with the study of human society in general; (2) human behavior is nearly always logical from a subjective point of view; and (3) sociology studies both logical and nonlogical behavior judged from an objective viewpoint. Thus, Pareto is an important intellectual ancestor for economic sociology.     

Facts, Fiction, and the Fourth Estate

A bstract .   This paper examines the reaction of the market to news that the Washington Post had won a Pulitzer Prize for a story that was demonstrably false. The reaction to the stock price of the Post as well as the stock prices of other newspapers is examined using dummy variables for two days, four days, and six days. The results show that while the decline in the Post 's stock price was relatively small, the t-statistics for all of the dummy variables are significant. The paper also examines the McChesney (1987 ) hypothesis that the nature of the newspaper business is such that it is difficult for the residual claimants of the paper to receive the financial gains of important news stories. These rents, he points out, are distributed to others. We look to see whether or not residual claimants of that newspaper can be harmed if that newspaper publishes a false story and receives large amounts of bad publicity for its error.     

国内外物流通道研究综述

为反映国内外物流通道的发展现状和存在的问题,对相关研究文献进行分析总结,从物流通道的定义与内涵、物流通道的特性研究、物流通道的布局选择、专项物流通道研究、物流通道的发展趋势等五个方面进行综述。提出为进一步完善物流通道的研究体系,需要在三个方面进行更深入的研究：物流通道内各运输方式间运能的匹配、特定区域内的物流通道研究和物流通道建设中政策体制的保障。     

会计国际趋同经济因素的后霸权理论分析

本文引用社会学科前沿理论后霸权理论中有关经济的观点作为会计国际趋同的视角,从宏观的角度论述了会计国际趋同的经济因素影响。对会计国际趋同产生的经济动因、会计国际趋同的选择的经济逻辑和掌控经济实力等方面进行了分析,认为客观经济环境中资本的自由流动尤其是金融资本的盛行、世界市场的形成以及主观福利安全的驱使,是当代会计国际趋同的原因。而选择的过程则是成本与效益的利益权衡过程,背后起操纵作用的则是科技与创新经济的能力。     

变电站选址应注意的要素

变电站站址的选择和确定工作必须建立在深入细致的调查研究基础上,对负荷要求、出线走廊、环境保护、地质、交通运输等要素进行综合考虑,由此选出最合理的方案。