In the last few years, different sources pointed to a same message： industrial civilization had entered into an overshoot mode; the natural limits to growth had been already surpassed. This frontier does not wait for...In the last few years, different sources pointed to a same message： industrial civilization had entered into an overshoot mode; the natural limits to growth had been already surpassed. This frontier does not wait for us in the future; it already belongs to our past. If population and the economy are truly beyond the limits, then current visions and theories of social change would be deeply perturbed. If the development era is approaching its end, then many sociological theories on current societies will share the same destiny： sustainable development doctrines between them. It is worth to examine theories that explicitly look at the social world which at least are not incompatible with it. Four different approaches are discussed in this context： governance of complexity, post-development and alternative local development, utopian sceneries of a prosperous waydown, visions of collapse and the die-off. As a conclusion, the paper accepts an evolutionary perspective supports that there are some potentials for conscious social change, but it does not justify the belief in a particular only line of history. This conclusion does not satisfy the desire of knowing the future; nevertheless it may be the only one possible. The future is not written. Neither in history nor in evolution; not even in the mixture of history and evolution that conforms us as inhabitants of the Earth.展开更多
Sense-oriented reasoning （SOR） was analyzed by comparing the reasoning of tribal and modem societies on a specific subject, the conception and birth of a child. Tribal societies have beliefs, which are difficult to ...Sense-oriented reasoning （SOR） was analyzed by comparing the reasoning of tribal and modem societies on a specific subject, the conception and birth of a child. Tribal societies have beliefs, which are difficult to understand by modem societies. Their reasoning becomes understandable only when considering that their observations are limited to the macrocosm. Modem societies have access to the microcosm with a microscope, where different biological mechanisms for the conception of a child were discovered. Since the tribes＇ macroscopical observations were different, their conclusions became necessarily different. The inheritance problem can only be solved by genes at the microscopic level, to which tribal societies had no access. With observations limited to the macrocosm, tribes logically invoked invisible child-spirits of ancestors wanting to be reincarnated in children of the same tribe. Besides the different access to observation, the reasoning of both societies is similar and built around the investigation of a final sense. Reasoning progresses after a phase without any quest for sense through three progressive levels： （1） primary sense, （2） corrected sense, and （3） verified sense. In tribal societies, reasoning is interrupted at the primary sense level when it seems consistent with their general beliefs and traditions. This resembles coherentist theories of epistemic justification, in which justification is only a function of coherence between beliefs. Tribal societies realize the input problem of these theories, since they have no access to the microcosm and also illustrate the Gettier problem. Modem societies progress to the higher levels of corrected and verified sense reasoning, even if inconsistent with their prior beliefs. They initially imagined genes as a hypothetic missing link for inheritance, which relies on a start observation concerning the character of ancestors to the target observation, the similarity with the character of children. If the missing link is definitely verified, it shows a chain of justified beliefs between both observations, allowing the initially hypothetic missing link to be retrospectively considered as the real cause. The SOR of modem societies resembles the extemalist version of foundationalism of epistemic justification, in which the necessary non-inferential justification is represented by the target observation.展开更多
Constructivism is an important branch of cognitive theory. It is a leading theory of education at the end of 20th century and the early 21th century. Language itself is a kind of social construct, learning a language ...Constructivism is an important branch of cognitive theory. It is a leading theory of education at the end of 20th century and the early 21th century. Language itself is a kind of social construct, learning a language is construct personal knowledge. Under the guidance of constructivist learning theory, English teaching has transformed into a student-centered self-construct mode. It created a new situation that students can receive the overall development and personality development through situation setting, collaborative learning and meaning construction.展开更多
American Studies, as a dynamic field of research throughout the world, has its fair share of ebb and flow. Its emergence in the US indicates the national appeal of America, and its emergence across the world correspon...American Studies, as a dynamic field of research throughout the world, has its fair share of ebb and flow. Its emergence in the US indicates the national appeal of America, and its emergence across the world corresponds to the expansion of the USA＇s influence and power. Vertically, it is experiencing a process of subdivision; while horizontally, it has undergone changes and variations. American Studies in the US is characterized by its focus on American culture and society. American Studies in China is more of an exoscopic type of research concerning ＂the Study of America,＂ which is the research on another pohtical entity. In addition to language and economic factors, the combination of nativism and national interests determine the variation of American Studies across the globe. This article also retraces the path of development of American Studies in China since 1979, and attempts to sum up the characteristics and the weaknesses in American Studies dealt with in China.展开更多
文摘In the last few years, different sources pointed to a same message： industrial civilization had entered into an overshoot mode; the natural limits to growth had been already surpassed. This frontier does not wait for us in the future; it already belongs to our past. If population and the economy are truly beyond the limits, then current visions and theories of social change would be deeply perturbed. If the development era is approaching its end, then many sociological theories on current societies will share the same destiny： sustainable development doctrines between them. It is worth to examine theories that explicitly look at the social world which at least are not incompatible with it. Four different approaches are discussed in this context： governance of complexity, post-development and alternative local development, utopian sceneries of a prosperous waydown, visions of collapse and the die-off. As a conclusion, the paper accepts an evolutionary perspective supports that there are some potentials for conscious social change, but it does not justify the belief in a particular only line of history. This conclusion does not satisfy the desire of knowing the future; nevertheless it may be the only one possible. The future is not written. Neither in history nor in evolution; not even in the mixture of history and evolution that conforms us as inhabitants of the Earth.
文摘Sense-oriented reasoning （SOR） was analyzed by comparing the reasoning of tribal and modem societies on a specific subject, the conception and birth of a child. Tribal societies have beliefs, which are difficult to understand by modem societies. Their reasoning becomes understandable only when considering that their observations are limited to the macrocosm. Modem societies have access to the microcosm with a microscope, where different biological mechanisms for the conception of a child were discovered. Since the tribes＇ macroscopical observations were different, their conclusions became necessarily different. The inheritance problem can only be solved by genes at the microscopic level, to which tribal societies had no access. With observations limited to the macrocosm, tribes logically invoked invisible child-spirits of ancestors wanting to be reincarnated in children of the same tribe. Besides the different access to observation, the reasoning of both societies is similar and built around the investigation of a final sense. Reasoning progresses after a phase without any quest for sense through three progressive levels： （1） primary sense, （2） corrected sense, and （3） verified sense. In tribal societies, reasoning is interrupted at the primary sense level when it seems consistent with their general beliefs and traditions. This resembles coherentist theories of epistemic justification, in which justification is only a function of coherence between beliefs. Tribal societies realize the input problem of these theories, since they have no access to the microcosm and also illustrate the Gettier problem. Modem societies progress to the higher levels of corrected and verified sense reasoning, even if inconsistent with their prior beliefs. They initially imagined genes as a hypothetic missing link for inheritance, which relies on a start observation concerning the character of ancestors to the target observation, the similarity with the character of children. If the missing link is definitely verified, it shows a chain of justified beliefs between both observations, allowing the initially hypothetic missing link to be retrospectively considered as the real cause. The SOR of modem societies resembles the extemalist version of foundationalism of epistemic justification, in which the necessary non-inferential justification is represented by the target observation.
文摘Constructivism is an important branch of cognitive theory. It is a leading theory of education at the end of 20th century and the early 21th century. Language itself is a kind of social construct, learning a language is construct personal knowledge. Under the guidance of constructivist learning theory, English teaching has transformed into a student-centered self-construct mode. It created a new situation that students can receive the overall development and personality development through situation setting, collaborative learning and meaning construction.
文摘American Studies, as a dynamic field of research throughout the world, has its fair share of ebb and flow. Its emergence in the US indicates the national appeal of America, and its emergence across the world corresponds to the expansion of the USA＇s influence and power. Vertically, it is experiencing a process of subdivision; while horizontally, it has undergone changes and variations. American Studies in the US is characterized by its focus on American culture and society. American Studies in China is more of an exoscopic type of research concerning ＂the Study of America,＂ which is the research on another pohtical entity. In addition to language and economic factors, the combination of nativism and national interests determine the variation of American Studies across the globe. This article also retraces the path of development of American Studies in China since 1979, and attempts to sum up the characteristics and the weaknesses in American Studies dealt with in China.
