This book explains the general intellectual climate of the early Ch'ing period, and the political and cultural characteristics of the Ch'ing regime at the time. Professor Huang brings to life the book's central characters, Li Fu and the three great emperors - K'ang-hsi, Yung-cheng, and Chien-lung - whom he served. Although the author's main concern is to explain the contributions of Li Fu to the Lu-Wang school of Confucianism, he also gives a clearly written account of the Lu-Wang and (...) Ch'eng-Chu schools from the twelfth century to the eighteenth. In a clear, succinct style, Huang explains the historical differences between the Ch'eng-Chu and Lu-Wang schools without sacrificing the subtleties of either. The book culminates in a discussion of the hero-emperor K'ang-hsi's appropriation of the 'Tradition of the Way' from his intellectual officials, which denied them their traditional role as moral censors and critics of the emperor's exercise of authority. (shrink)

This article discusses the arguments of chang tsai (1020-1077) against buddhism on the one hand and for reassertion of the confucian ethics on the other, With quotations translated from the chinese texts relevant to the following points: i) chang's criticism of buddhism, Ii) "the western inscription" or hsi ming, Iii) the dual concept of nature or hsing, Iv) man by nature a moral being, V) the problem of evil, Vi) the problem of moral knowledge, And vii) the religious significance (...) of li or rituals. (shrink)

An engagement between Confucianism and the philosophy of Richard Rorty.

Identification of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has been significantly improved over the past decade. On the other hand, semantic annotation of ncRNA data is facing critical challenges due to the lack of a comprehensive ontology to serve as common data elements and data exchange standards in the field. We developed the Non-Coding RNA Ontology (NCRO) to handle this situation. By providing a formally defined ncRNA controlled vocabulary, the NCRO aims to fill a specific and highly needed niche in semantic annotation of (...) large amounts of ncRNA biological and clinical data. (shrink)

Mereological theories are theories based on a binary predicate ‘being a part of’. It is believed that such a predicate must at least define a partial ordering. A mereological theory can be obtained by adding on top of the basic axioms of partial orderings some of the other axioms posited based on pertinent philosophical insights. Though mereological theories have aroused quite a few philosophers’ interest recently, not much has been said about their meta-logical properties. In this paper, I will look (...) into whether those theories are decidable or not. Besides, since theories of Boolean algebras are in some sense upper bounds of mereological theories which can be found in the literature, I shall also make some observations about the possibility of getting mereological theories beyond Boolean algebras. (shrink)

The signature of the formal language of mereology contains only one binary predicate P which stands for the relation “being a part of”. Traditionally, P must be a partial ordering, that is, ${\forall{x}Pxx, \forall{x}\forall{y}((Pxy\land Pyx)\to x=y)}$ and ${\forall{x}\forall{y}\forall{z}((Pxy\land Pyz)\to Pxz))}$ are three basic mereological axioms. The best-known mereological theory is “general extensional mereology”, which is axiomatized by the three basic axioms plus the following axiom and axiom schema: (Strong Supplementation) ${\forall{x}\forall{y}(\neg Pyx\to \exists z(Pzy\land \neg Ozx))}$ , where Oxy means ${\exists (...) z(Pzx\land Pzy)}$ , and (Fusion) ${\exists x\alpha \to \exists z\forall y(Oyz\leftrightarrow \exists x(\alpha \land Oyx))}$ , for any formula α where z and y do not occur free. In this paper, I will show that general extensional mereology is decidable, and will also point out that the decidability of the first-order approximation of the theory of complete Boolean algebras can be shown in the same way. (shrink)

The main purpose of this study is to explore and map the intellectual structure of business ethics studies during 1997–2006 by analyzing 85,000 cited references of 3,059 articles from three business ethics related journals in SSCI and SCI databases. In this article, co-citation analysis and social network analysis techniques are used to research intellectual structure of the business ethics literature. We are able to identify the important publications and the influential scholars as well as the correlations among these publications by (...) analyzing citation and co-citation. Three factors emerged in this study are: (1) ethical/unethical decision making, (2) corporate governance and firm performance, and (3) ethical principles and code of conduct. (shrink)

The signature of the formal language of mereology contains only one binary predicate which stands for the relation “being a part of” and it has been strongly suggested that such a predicate must at least define a partial ordering. Mereological theories owe their origin to Leśniewski. However, some more recent authors, such as Simons as well as Casati and Varzi, have reformulated mereology in a way most logicians today are familiar with. It turns out that any theory which can be (...) formed by using the reformulated mereological axioms or axiom schemas is in a sense a subtheory of the elementary theory of Boolean algebras or of the theory of infinite atomic Boolean algebras. It is known that the theory of partial orderings is undecidable while the elementary theory of Boolean algebras and the theory of infinite atomic Boolean algebras are decidable. In this paper, I will look into the behaviors in terms of decidability of those mereological theories located in between. More precisely, I will give a comprehensive picture of the said issue by offering solutions to the open problems which I have raised in some of my papers published previously. (shrink)

Quite a few results concerning the decidability of mereological theories have been given in my previous paper. But many mereological theories are still left unaccounted for. In this paper I will refine a general method for proving the undecidability of a theory and then by making use of it, I will show that most mereological theories that are strictly weaker than CEM are finitely inseparable and hence undecidable. The same results might be carried over to some extensions of those weak (...) theories by adding the fusion axiom schema. Most of the proofs to be presented in this paper take finite lattices as the base models when applying the refined method. However, I shall also point out the limitation of this kind of reduction and make some observations and conjectures concerning the decidability of stronger mereological theories. (shrink)

It is customary practice to define ‘x is composed of the ys’ as ‘x is a sum of the ys and the ys are pairwise disjoint ’. This predicate has played a central role in the debate on the special composition question and on related metaphysical issues concerning the mereological structure of objects. In this note we show that the customary characterization is nonetheless inadequate. We do so by constructing a mereological model where everything qualifies as composed of atoms even (...) though some elements in the domain are gunky, i.e., can be divided indefinitely into smaller and smaller proper parts. (shrink)

Mereology is the theory of the relation “being a part of”. The first exact formulation of mereology is due to the Polish logician Stanisław Leśniewski. But Leśniewski’s mereology is not first-order axiomatizable, for it requires every subset of the domain to have a fusion. In recent literature, a first-order theory named General Extensional Mereology can be thought of as a first-order approximation of Leśniewski’s theory, in the sense that GEM guarantees that every definable subset of the domain has a fusion, (...) and this has been achieved by positing an axiom schema which in effect defines infinitely many axioms. Intuitively, in order to range over every definable subset, such an axiom schema seems unavoidable. But this paper will show that GEM is finitely axiomatizable and that all we need are just finitely many instances of the said axiom schema. (shrink)

In this collection of articles, part of the Between Ignorance & Enlightenment series, Venerable Master Hsing Yun shares reflections, insights, and wisdom that are intended to inspire, enlighten, and motivate everyone to live a better life.

The aim of this book is simple: to invite readers to consider what it means to lead a good life, and to offer practical advice, based on the Buddhist teachings, as to how this can be accomplished. In each of more than thirty brief essays, Master Hsing Yun treats a specific moral or ethical issue, using quotations from the rich treasury of the Buddhist scriptures as a point of departure for his discussion. Among the topics he considers are control (...) of the body and of speech, overcoming greed, ending anger, patience under insult, how to manage wealth, how to get along with others, what it means to practice Buddhism, and the blessings and joys of that practice. The Buddhist precepts are introduced as guideposts along this path of liberation, and friendship, gratitude, and service to others are presented as essential elements of a common quest to discover and to embody our innate goodness and humanity. (shrink)

Volume five focuses on the central teaching of non-attachment to our desires. Its premise is the more we crave, the more we suffer. Venerable Master Hsing Yun points out it is not only our attachment to things, but also to our own views, that is the source of suffering.

The signature of the formal language of mereotopology contains two predicates $P$ and $C$, which stand for “being a part of” and “contact,” respectively. This paper will deal with the decidability issue of the mereotopological theories which can be formed by the axioms found in the literature. Three main results to be given are as follows: all axiomatized mereotopological theories are separable; all mereotopological theories up to $\mathbf{ACEMT}$, $\mathbf{SACEMT}$, or $\mathbf{SACEMT}^{\prime}$ are finitely inseparable; all axiomatized mereotopological theories except $\mathbf{SAX}$, $\mathbf{SAX}^{\prime}$, (...) or $\mathbf{S\overline{B}X}^{\prime}$, where $\mathbf{X}$ is strictly stronger than $\mathbf{CEMT}$, are undecidable. Then it can also be easily seen that all axiomatized mereotopological theories proved to be undecidable here are neither essentially undecidable nor strongly undecidable but are hereditarily undecidable. Result will be shown by constructing strongly undecidable mereotopological structures based on two-dimensional Euclidean space, and it will be pointed out that the same construction cannot be carried through if the language is not rich enough. (shrink)

Andrzej Pietruszczak has made a comment on my Claim 1 in hispaper entitled “Classical mereology is not elementarily axiomatizable”. His paper is a wonderful exposition of mereological structures and I think his comment is fair. However, the following are some remarks inspired by his comment.

有品社會是培養出來的！ 自《黃崑巖談教養》一書出版後，黃崑巖就成了「教養的代言人」 在《黃崑巖談有品社會》，他再度從家庭教育、大學教育、醫學教育，乃至中、美、英社會及日常生活來談有教養的社會，不僅借鏡國外良好的典範，也從文化、教育制度上的不同分析國內外教養的差異，希望我國的教養水準能 更為提升 回憶錄自傳出版不久以後，聯經出版公司的發行人林載爵先生，主編林芳瑜女士聯袂來我家裡，坐在一起從南談到北，也從天談到地，當然也談到我的《談教養》，就自然觸及該書銷售的實情。林先生及林女士異口同聲地說我為 何不寫《談教養二》一書？這事就此打斷，以後沒有再提。 等他們都走了，在空蕩蕩的家中一個人想起他們的建議，這本書的概念油然浮現。說實話，龍應台女土曾經打了一通電話，告訴我我的名字和教養兩個字連在一起了。龍女士打電話來以前，胡忠信先生也在台灣的電視說，黃某某 是位醫生又是教養的教父，現在胡志強的案件爆發了，他為什麼不講話？但當時我人在美國加州，答不上話。這兩個人都配得上稱為名嘴，兩個人都提起我的名字，可見教養兩個字已經掀起了一陣風潮。 其實，有不少高中以及大一的通識課程，舉行了《談教養》讀後感的論文比賽，高雄大學工學院的黃院長還以率團來見我當作入圍的獎品哩！ 嘉義縣政府也大量訂購，為的是要送縣府同仁共讀討論。這些都促成我寫這本書，期間還蒙吳豐山先生的鼓勵，他二○○四年二月十四日曾擔任兩位總統候選人陳水扁及連戰先生的電視辯論會歷史性的協調人。 本書仍以談教養為主，但從各種角度去檢視這個社會因為不重視教養而成了什麼樣子。我自從一九八二年回台之後，一直在觀察我們的社會，思辨其變化的原因。這本書選了約二十個現象是有關我們大眾教養不足的結果，加以申 論。目的無外乎在喚起國人的注意，並加以改善。 書裡提到「知識分子」四個字，我主張我們早日迎合世界潮流而改稱「智識分子」。智識分子有異於知識分子，是前者在處裡問題時，除了要有以前強調的 IQ 之外，現代的智識分子更應具有情緒管理的要領。情緒管理就是英文的 EQ ，是做人的教育，是真正教育的精髓，也是近代教育成敗的關鍵。 但是誰的情緒需要管理？答案是誰的情緒都得管理，包括自己的以及周遭有來往的人。中國近代社會與西歐列強接觸的結果，自敗於西洋的船堅砲利，而提出了學以致用的口號，迄至近年。國內的教育長期在這種醬缸裡浸淫的結 果，產生了畸型的教育法，國人叫做「一試定江山」，求學過程伴隨著學校老師及家長的體罰與關照，很少是不痛苦的。 美國教育部也清楚這種教育法的問題，所以有一次美國教育部的官員在訪查我們醫學系的運作時，曾經公開問過：「貴國依一試定江山的考試制度而招進醫護人員，怎能確保他或她會是個好醫生？」 前台灣駐南非末代大使陸以正曾經說過，一個社會若只強調學以致用，久了，會變得膚淺並技術化，我們社會所面對的教育問題，正是價值觀與技術化的問題。所幸國內具有慧眼的教育家已看到這問題的後果而呼籲改正，品格教 育的重要性也得到了應有的重視。 是的，追根究柢，人要有品格、要有教養，社會才會有文化以及品格內涵，住在人人盡責、利他而富於正義感的社會，就能享受幸福。.

本书作者对逻辑学、自然辩证法、科学技术哲学、科学技术社会学、科学技术与经济、知识创新、生态文明等领域的独到见解。.

Xiu zhen xu yu (wai pian) -- Tan Lao sui gan -- Yin shi yang zhen.

This paper will first introduce first-order mereotopological axioms and axiomatized theories which can be found in some recent literature and it will also give a survey of decidability, undecidability as well as other relevant notions. Then the main result to be given in this paper will be the finite inseparability of any mereotopological theory up to atomic general mereotopology (AGEMT) or strong atomic general mereotopology (SAGEMT). Besides, a more comprehensive summary will also be given via making observations about other properties (...) stronger than undecidability. (shrink)

This paper will consider some interesting mereological models and, by looking into them carefully, will clarify some important metalogical issues, such as definability, atomicity and decidability. More precisely, this paper will inquire into what kind of subsets can be defined in certain mereological models, what kind of axioms can guarantee that any member is composed of atoms and what kind of axioms are crucial, by regulating the models in a certain way, for an axiomatized mereological theory to be decidable.

Theorists who advocate worldly (metaphysical or ontological) indeterminacy—the idea that the world itself is indeterminate in one or more respects—should address how we understand the signifying nature and function of language in light of worldly indeterminacy. I first attend to Sengzhao and Jizang, two leading thinkers in Chinese Sanlun Buddhism, to reconstruct a Chinese Madhyamaka notion of ontic indeterminacy. Then, I draw on the thinkers’ views to propose a provisional (non-definitive) understanding of the nature and use of language. Under this (...) understanding, an expression signifying a thing is provisional in that the expression connotes no determinate feature of the thing. (shrink)

A number of analytical philosophers have recently endorsed the view that the world itself is indeterminate in some respect. Intriguingly, ideas similar to the view are expressed by thinkers from Chinese Madhyamaka Buddhism, which may shed light on the current discussion of worldly indeterminacy. Using as a basis Chinese Madhyamaka thought, together with Jessica Wilson’s account of indeterminacy, I develop an ontological conception of indeterminacy, termed ontic indeterminacy, which centres on two complementary ideas—conclusive indeterminability and provisional determinability. I show that (...) OI is well-equipped to tackle several issues of worldly indeterminacy. My overarching aim is to present a viable and sustainable perspective on the subject of indeterminacy to enrich analytical philosophers’ insights into the intricate nature of reality. (shrink)

Efforts to counter software piracy are an increasing focus of software publishers. This study attempts to develop a profile of those who illegally copy software by looking at undergraduate and graduate students and the extent to which they pirate software. The data indicate factors that can be used to profile the software pirater. In particular, males were found to pirate software more frequently than females and older students more than younger students, based on self-reporting.

Especially over the past twenty years, a number of analytic philosophers have embraced the idea that the world itself is vague or indeterminate in one or more respects. The issue then arises as to whether it can be the case that the world itself is indeterminate in all respects. Using as a basis Chinese Madhyamaka Buddhist thought, I offer two reasons for the coherence and intelligibility of the thesis that all concrete things are themselves indeterminate with respect to the ways (...) they are. The first reason draws on a notion reminiscent of the picture of reality as an amorphous lump, while the second reason makes use of the relativity of conceptual perspectives and determinations. Assuming that the world is the mere totality of all concrete things, I show that there is a genuine metaphysical possibility of the world’s being indeterminate in all respects. (shrink)

Selim Berker argues that epistemic consequentialism is pervasive in epistemology and that epistemic consequentialism is structurally flawed. is incorrect, however. I distinguish between epistemic consequentialism and epistemic instrumentalism and argue that most putative consequentialists should be considered instrumentalists. I also identify the structural problem of epistemic consequentialism Berker attempts to pinpoint and show that epistemic instrumentalism does not have the consequentialist problem.

Religious beliefs have often been taken either as absolutely foundational to all others or as ultimately founded on something else. This essay starts with an endorsement of the contemporary critique of foundationalism but sets its task as to search for the foundation of religious belief after foundationalism. In its third and main part, it argues for a Wittgensteinian reflective equilibrium as such a foundation. In this reflective equilibrium, religious beliefs are no more and no less foundational to, or founded by, (...) other beliefs and practices. To appreciate this perspective better, I argue,in the first part, that Kai Neilsen's charge of Wittgenstein as a fideist is not accurate, and, in the second part, that D. Z. Phillips's fideistic contentions are unWittgensteinian. (shrink)