REJOINDER TO FRACCHIA AND LEWONTIN

In their response to my article, Fracchia and Lewontin have not refuted any of my three principal objections to theirs; they have ignored altogether my suggestion that evolutionary game theory illustrates particularly clearly the benefits that neo‐Darwinian concepts and methods can bring to the human behavioral sciences; and they have attributed to me a version of “methodological individualism” to which I do not subscribe. It is, as is usual at this stage of a Kuhnian paradigm shift, too soon to say how much selectionist theory can contribute to the human behavioral sciences in general and comparative sociology in particular. But selectionism's critics achieve nothing by alleging that its proponents are committed to propositions to which they do not in fact assent and deny propositions with which they in fact agree.     

3. THE PUBLIC RELEVANCE OF HISTORICAL STUDIES: A REJOINDER TO HAYDEN WHITE1

Hayden White wants history to serve life by having it inspire an ethical consciousness, by which he means that in facing the existential questions of life, death, trauma, and suffering posed by human history, people are moved to formulate answers to them rather than to feel that they have no power to choose how they live. The ethical historian should craft narratives that inspire people to live meaningfully rather than try to provide explanations or reconstructions of past events that make them feel as if they cannot control their destiny. This Nietzschean‐inspired vision of history is inadequate because it cannot gainsay that a genocidal vision of history is immoral. White may be right that cultural relativism results in cultural pluralism and toleration, but what if most people are not cultural relativists, and believe fervently in their right to specific lands at the expense of other peoples? White does not think historiography or perhaps any moral system can provide an answer. Is he right? This rejoinder argues that the communicative rationality implicit in the human sciences does provide norms about the moral use of history because it institutionalizes an intersubjectivity in which the use of the past is governed by norms of impartiality and fair‐mindedness, and protocols of evidence based on honest research. Max Weber, equally influenced by Nietzsche, developed an alternative vision of teaching and research that is still relevant today.     

A VISIT TO YAKUTIA

This paper discusses perceived benefits and disadvantages of direct inflation targeting for economies in transition in Central Europe. It examines the experience of net inflation targeting in the Czech Republic and of CPI forecast targeting regimes in Poland, providing specific suggestions for enhancing transparency of monetary policy. Inflation targeting is compared with exchange-rate pegging and is viewed as a superior solution for facilitating the monetary convergence of central European EU candidates to the inflation level prevailing in the eurozone. Other benefits of inflation targeting for central banks in transition economies are described as well. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: E31, E52, P33. 5 figures, 2 tables, 22 references.     

科钦 一生至少一次的南印度回水游

正科钦位于印度的西南岸,面对阿拉伯海,拥有优良的海港,水上运输非常发达,被誉为"阿拉伯海之皇后",评为"全球十大乐土之一"和"一生必游的五十地之一"。这个临海的城市融合了西亚的海滨魅力和东南亚的绿色天堂,显得古朴而舒适,也因此带来无与伦比的愉快和轻松。科钦是印度西南阿拉伯海和拉克代夫海边上的一座重要港口城市,也是喀拉拉邦埃尔讷古勒姆区的一部分。10月至次年3月,是印度一年中最好的旅行季节,许多欧美的度假客开始进     

给狂欢一个理由

长期为《国家地理·旅行者》担任摄影师的David Alan Harvey说：“没有哪个国家的人比西班牙人更把节日当回事儿了。”这些节日已经“在他们的文化和精神中根深蒂固。”西班牙人的性格,也许是烟花型的;位于南部的安达卢西亚尤其如此。他们全心全意地享受着生活的每一刻,每一刻都无忧无虑得像是最后一刻。 ——《分歧的灵魂》Phaidon出版社2003年春出版