Biological Adaptation in Human Societies: a ‘Basic Needs’ Approach

The groundzero premise (so to speak) of the biological sciences is that survival and reproduction is the basic, continuing, inescapable problem for all living organisms; life is at bottom a survival enterprise. It follows that survival is the paradigmatic problem for human societies as well; it is a prerequisite for any other, more exalted objectives. Although the term adaptation is also familiar to social scientists, until recently it has been used only selectively, and often very imprecisely. Here a more rigorous and systematic approach to the concept of adaptation is proposed in terms of basic needs. The concept of basic human needs has a venerable history – tracing back at least to Plato and Aristotle. Yet the development of a formal theory of basic needs has lagged far behind. The reason is that the concept of objective, measurable needs is inconsistent with the theoretical assumptions that have dominated economic and social theory for most of this century, namely, valuerelativism and cultural determinism. Nevertheless, there have been a number of efforts over the past 30 years to develop more universalistic criteria for basic needs, both for use in monitoring social wellbeing (social indicators) and for public policy formulation. Here I will advance a strictly biological approach to perationalizing the concept of basic needs. It is argued that much of our economic and social life (and the motivations behind our revealed preferences and subjective utility assessments), not to mention the actions of modern governments, are either directly or indirectly related to the meeting of our basic survival needs. Furthermore, these needs can be specified to a first approximation and supported empirically to varying degrees, with the obvious caveat that there are major individual and contextual variations in their application. Equally important, complex human societies generate an array of instrumental needs which, as the term implies, serve as intermediaries between our primary needs and the specific economic, cultural and political contexts within which these needs must be satisfied. An explicit framework of Survival Indicators, including a profile of Personal Fitness and an aggregate index of Population Fitness, is briefly elucidated. Finally, it is suggested that a basic needs paradigm could provide an analytical tool (a biologic) for examining more closely the relationship between our social, economic and political behaviors and institutions and their survival consequences, as well as providing a predictive tool of some value.     

论人生价值的评价标准

一个社会所提倡的人生价值的评价标准,反映了一个社会的价值取向。在社会主义社会,金钱、权力等不能作为人生价值的评价标准,社会奉献才是人生价值的评价标准。     

论税法中公平原则的时间效应--以房产税为例

税法中的公平分为短期公平和长期公平,以房产税法为例,满足短期公平未必不是对长期公平的扭曲。由于我国一直以来存在的土地制度、城镇住房结构以及地区发展不平衡等因素均能在时间效应上影响到房产税的长期公平,因此房产税改革是一个非常综合和复杂的事项,必须将多项因素纳入考虑的范围,以实现税法的长期公平。     

公益性社会组织公信力研究

公益性社会组织公信力是公益性社会组织获得利益相关者和社会公众信任的能力,体现组织与利益相关者和社会公众的互动关系,是公益性社会组织生存和发展的生命线。我国公益性社会组织公信力缺失的原因在于法律和政策管理错位,公益性社会组织欠缺合法性和自主性,内部治理和发展能力不足,缺乏公开性和透明度,外部监督和评估机制不完善,活动偏离公益使命。为此,急需改善公益性社会组织管理的法律和政策环境,强化其信息披露和内部治理,健全社会监督和问责机制。     

中国就业歧视现象及其危害分析

近年来,由于就业人口的增多、就业压力增大等原因,中国的就业歧视现象呈现出愈演愈烈的趋势。就业歧视不仅破坏了平等竞争的就业环境,而且还将危害社会的正常发展,给社会的正常秩序带来不安定的隐患。     

马克思人的本质观探析

马克思在其思想发展的不同阶段,对人的本质有着不同的论述。以往有的论者,常常局限于马克思的某 一经典论述来探讨人的本质,未着眼于马克思完整意义上的人的本质观。马克思认识人的本质的方法论原则:实 践——社会——现实的人。     

市场经济条件下社会虚假性形成原因及对策探析

社会虚假性是市场经济在发展过程中出现的一种不良后果,其产生的原因为政治建设中对伦理道德的忽视、诚信缺失和文化的大众化倾向;其表现出来的特征为人的异化、信仰危机及理想和现实的矛盾。故唯有发展经济文化、完善社会制度、促进人的自由全面的发展才能化解这种虚假性。     

马克思主义经济学研究范式创新的理论及现实意义

本文对马克思主义经济学研究范式的创新进行了分析,提出马克思强调用“社会人”研究范式替代“经济人”研究范式,强调运用辩证法分析经济现象,恩格斯在这一研究范式的基础上针对当时资本主义经济发展的状况对马克思的经济学理论进行了重大发展。本文对马克思主义政治经济学研究范式这一创新的理论及现实意义进行了分析,认为马克恩主义经济学的这一研究范式一直延续至今,成为与西方主流经济学迥然不同的一套研究理论体系,这一研究范式能更好地揭示经济现象的本质和规律,因此这一研究范式对于当代的经济学研究仍然具有重要的理论指导意义。     

我国上市公司财务治理结构研究

我国上市公司财务治理结构存在股权结构不合理、财权配置过于集中、财务监督机制失效、财务激励失衡、所有者缺位,信息披露制度不规范等问题.本文分析了产生的后果和形成的原因,提出了置换国有股功能,优化股权结构,适当提高流通股比重、合理配置财权、提高债权人地位、界定清晰的财务主体、加强内部财务监控等建议.