Pufendorf disciple of Hobbes: The nature of man and the state of nature: The doctrine of socialitas

No doctrine of Pufendorf's is better known than that of socialitas. The reason is that Pufendorf himself declared that socialitas was the foundation of natural law. No interpreter of Pufendorf can therefore avoid dealing with it. Moreover, Pufendorf linked the issue of socialitas to the question of the state of nature, thus raising important issues with both theological and philosophical implications.

Given the prominence and importance of this theme in Pufendorf's work, a close analysis of what he meant by it is central to the interpretation of his work, even though this means to pose again a new number of questions already discussed in the scholarly literature. In particular, this article examines the relationship between Pufendorf and Hobbes with regard to this central theme. In fact, a traditional historiographic topos is that Pufendorf and Hobbes fundamentally disagree on the doctrine of socialitas, while the former is closer to Grotius and to the Aristotelian-classic tradition that see man as a social animal.

This article takes, instead, Pufendorf to be a follower of Hobbes, and tries to explain how the more traditional view of Pufendorf as a critic of Hobbes was in some way due to Pufendorf's own attempt to distance himself from the accusations of Hobbesism (and hence of atheism and moral indifference) that the critics made against him when his work first appeared. In order to do this, Pufendorf tried to rethink his own position within the history of ethics, and put himself on the side of the Stoics, of Grotius and of Cumberland, against Epicurus and Hobbes. This retrospective ‘illusion’ has greatly influenced later scholarship, giving us a distorted image of Pufendorf's own view of socialitas. A more precise account of the latter gives a better prospective from which to look at the relationship between Pufendorf and Hobbes.     

论科学发展观的时代性与前瞻性

科学发展观具有正确的哲学前提、科学的理论渊源、坚实的实践基础和广阔的应用前景,完全符合人类发展的共同意愿,是指引中国未来发展的重要指导思想。     

Health hazards of floods: hospital admissions for Lismore

Severe unprecedented flooding of unprepared and inexperienced communities adversely affects community health, but the effect of severe flooding on well-prepared and experienced communities is less certain. An answer was sought for the New South Wales coastal town of Lismore. Parts are flooded every year with the last major flood occurring in 1974. Hospital admission and death certificates were analysed for the years before and after that flood. Using this data and information from an earlier survey two types of analysis were undertaken: a comparison of mortality and hospital admissions before and after the flood; and a comparison of health effects between different levels of flooding, including residents whose properties were located outside the flood plain. Although the flood did not appear to increase the number of hospital admissions or deaths, the ratio of male to female admissions showed a significant change. For those severely flooded, male admissions doubled while female admissions halved. Analysis of the data in relation to flood risk showed that for both pre-and post-flood periods hospital admissions were closely related to the degree of flood risk. Those whose dwellings were subject to a metre or more offloodwater over floor level are twice as likely to be admitted to hospital as residents of the flood free areas.     

Political theorising: Four conceptions of the nature of theory

This paper is focused upon the issue of the nature of political theorising. The paper presents four different conceptions of political theorising derived from literature on the subject written by those concerned with the nature of political theory or philosophy. These four different conceptions constitute alternative practices for those who designate themselves political theorists. They constitute alternative practices because they are based upon different understandings of the nature of thinking, the role of the intellectual, the function of language or the character of social science. The intention behind this paper is to map the intellectual terrain occupied by those who engage in political theorising. The final recommendation is that each of the four conceptions be accepted as legitimate alternative practices and any temptation toward designating one conception as true political theorising be resisted.     

When nature nurtures children: nature as a containing and holding space

Contemporary theories of childhood recognize children as experts in their own lives, individuals whose perspectives are worthy of study. Immigrant and refugee children riding waves of historical, geographical, political, cultural and familial changes are likewise recognized as ‘socially competent actors’, anchored in part by their capacity to express personal interests and to form opinions. In a Montreal-based 2012 phenomenological study, 19 of these socially competent actors representing 5 continents were invited to share their perspectives concerning the role of the natural world in their socio-cultural adaptation process. Data provided information concerning children's lived experiences of nature. Research findings provided strong evidence that children entered into relationship with nature. Within this relationship, nature nurtured children by providing a space not unlike that of Winnicott's ‘holding’ or Bion's ‘containment’.     

Sketching culture,sketching nature: uncovering anchors of everyday nature for urban youth

There has, historically, been considerable uncertainty over the meaning of ‘urban nature’ and, therefore, the extent to which culture and nature are bound in the urban setting. We explore, in this paper, the spatiality of everyday nature as experienced by youth in an urban setting. To do so, we draw on the results of a participatory mapping activity that was designed to elicit information about where youth felt most connected to nature while in the city. Using sketch-map survey instruments, we collected hand-drawn responses from forty-three high school students in the downtown core of Tacoma, Washington. Data were digitized and analyzed in a GIS, and results were revealing of the contingency of the ‘nature’ concept in urban space as well as the centrality of ‘loose’ space to urban experiences that are evocative of being in nature.     

浅析雷电的危害和防护

<正>雷电是伴有闪电和轰鸣的一种雄伟壮观而又有点令人恐惧的放电现象。雷电通常产生于较强对流的积雨云中,因此常伴随着大风和大雨,甚至伴随着冰雹     

Inscribing nature: Archaeological metaphors and the formation of new sciences

Abstract

Ghanaian authorities restored Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle as memorials to the transatlantic slave trade in order to draw African Americans to Ghana. While this was a positive development for a travel industry that rarely caters to diaspora African needs, the Ghanaian initiative has evoked strong criticisms from concerned African Americans who feel that the restoration has erased the monuments' associated images of slavery and has removed the desired experiential effect. I focus on the complex interplay of these concerns, African Americans' previous attempts to preserve some of these monuments and the history of structural changes to the monuments. These complex issues require several layers of analysis. I situate my discussion within the debate of whether there is any such thing as original monuments and whether there is a necessary correlation between monuments per se and the experience of historical reality. For African Americans, such a strong relationship can be established. The preservation of these monuments, of global significance, calls for an international dialogue based on respect, tolerance and sensitivity.     

Engaging with nature: nature affords well-being for families and young people in Finland

ABSTRACT

Contact with nature is increasingly being recognized as contributing to humans’ mental and physical health. This study explores how Finnish children, young people and families engage with nature during outdoor recreation. We apply a relational approach with the concept of affordance to understand better how engagement with nature affects their well-being. The study is based on thematic writings of 15- to 21-year-olds and on an ethnographic study of camping. Findings indicate that engagement with nature enables young people to calm down and to get away from the pressures of everyday life and affords close interaction for families. The relational approach makes visible that the more young people and families spend time in nature, the more they are able to perceive affordances that enhance their well-being. In future research and policy, the focus should be on how to support families’ engagement with nature by securing time and places for encountering nature.     

A long entanglement with nature: Flyfishers in the wild

Large wild areas are important for both nature conservation and nature-based recreation. Information on the reciprocal relationships between recreators and the environments in which they recreate can help both conservation and recreation management. We considered motivations, perceptions, environmental concerns, and social concerns among flyfishers who recreate within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area on the Central Plateau of Tasmania, Australia. Using semi-structured interviews with 27 participants, we established that they were motivated by a love of nature, desire for experience, escapism, connection, and challenge. On the basis of motivations and attitudes, we discriminated four groups of flyfishers: “social” (those who fish with friends), “trophy” (lone fishers who are goal-oriented), “outdoor enthusiast” (those who enjoy the outdoor experience, fishing optional), and “hunter-gatherer” (those prepared to travel long distances for catch). Nonetheless, all groups perceived environmental and social problems related to fishing and visitation behaviours, from littering to climate change. Fishers perceived environmental problems included identifying exotic weeds and pests but did not specifically include trout as a pest, despite their exotic status and adverse effects on native ecosystems. However, flyfishers were aware of most of their impacts and were willing to help mitigate them. Such insight is significant for geographers and those in associated disciplines and professions seeking to manage wild protected areas.     

The nature of the times deceas'd

The essay reflects on the nature of time as a cultural function, especially in the light of the ‘heritage industry’ of the 1980s. In trying to identify the nature of some changes in relationships between pasts and present in the 1990s, the author suggests the concept of ‘post‐heritage’, defines it, and glances at its applicability to 1994.     

On the nature of the beast: Re-charting political geographies of the European Union

This review paper begins with the premise that since the European Union remains a process of construction with no agreed or pre‐designated end‐point, its power structure is open to a diverse range of interpretations. Moreover, the apparent novelty of the EU renders it hard to characterize according to familiar taxonomies. The novelty lies in part in the complex territorial configurations of authority in the EU. Different conceptualizations of the EU are varied readings of the structure, balance and scales of authority — which thereby invoke different actions and spaces of possibility.     

Human nature: The perspective from sociobiology

Edward O. Wilson. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1975. ix + 697 pp. Illustrations, figures, tables, glossary, bibliography and index. $20.00