Can Bad Guys Have Good Gongfu?—A Preliminary Exploration of Gongfu Ethics

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 9-31
Author(s):  
Peimin Ni
Keyword(s):  
Virtue Ethics ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Moral Goodness ◽  
The Third ◽  
One Stage ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Art Of Life ◽  
The Rich

This paper tries to explore a gongfu ethics on the basis of traditional Chinese ethical theories. Used in the sense that the Song-Ming Neo-Confucians did, “gongfu” means the art of life in general and not merely the martial arts, although martial arts can be taken as a paradigm example of gongfu. The paper begins with the question “can bad guys have good gongfu,” which leads to three answers, each representing one stage of the dynamic relationship between morality and gongfu: The first is yes, since gongfu and morality belong to two different categories, i.e., the art of life and moral responsibilities. The second is no, because each moral goodness or badness corresponds to a respective gongfu virtuosity or the lack of it. The third answer is that moral persons, as long as they still have to invoke morality, are not true gongfu masters. Those who have real good gongfu transcend moral duties and become amoral. The analysis suggests a gongfu ethics that can include, but goes beyond moral goodness. The rest of the essay articulates the rich implications of this gongfu ethics by comparing it with virtue ethics, consequentialist ethics, and relativism-subjectivism.

Amiya Kumar Bagchi. The Political Economy of Underdevelopment. London: Cambridge University Press. 1982. Reprint 1983. pp.viii+276. List of books for further reading; Index. Price: £ 8.50 (paperback edition).

1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Zia Ul Haq
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Third World ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Third World

Amiya Kumar Bagchi, an eminent economist of the modern Cambridge tradition, has produced a timely treatise, in a condensed form, on the development problems of the Third World countries. The author's general thesis is that economic development in the developing societies necessarily requires a radical transformation in the economic, social and political structures. As economic development is actually a social process, economic growth should not be narrowly defined as the growth of the stock of rich capitalists. Neither can their savings be equated to capital formation whose impact on income will presumably 'trickle down' to the working classes. Economic growth strategies must not aim at creating rich elites, because, according to the author, "maximizing the surplus in the hands of the rich in the Third World is not, however, necessarily a way of maximizing the rate of growth".

No Hard Feelings

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet O'Shea
Keyword(s):  
Martial Arts ◽  
Fine Line ◽  
The Rich

This chapter continues the examination of how martial arts differ from violence by delving into the symbolism attached to sport fighting. Here, this section investigates the significance of seemingly small gestures such as handshakes and fist bumps, treating them as play markers that separate the mat or the ring from the outside world. The rich symbolism of play markers run alongside an inversion of the meaning attached to strikes: in the outside world a punch devalues, whereas in sport fighting it signals respect for an opponent’s abilities. In this sense, sport fighting differentiates but also walks a fine line between the form and the function of violence. This consideration of significance in martial arts practice includes an investigation of martial arts and combat sport’s vexed relationship to real violence.

Subaltern Migrations and the State

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Zehmisch
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Social Engineering ◽  
The State ◽  
Penal Colony ◽  
The Third ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Subaltern Agency ◽  
History Of ◽  
Media Reports

This chapter considers the history of Andaman migration from the institutionalization of a penal colony in 1858 to the present. It unpicks the dynamic relationship between the state and the population by investigating genealogies of power and knowledge. Apart from elaborating on subaltern domination, the chapter also reconstructs subaltern agency in historical processes by re-reading scholarly literature, administrative publications, and media reports as well as by interpreting fieldwork data and oral history accounts. The first part of the chapter defines migration and shows how it applies to the Andamans. The second part concentrates on colonial policies of subaltern population transfer to the islands and on the effects of social engineering processes. The third part analyses the institutionalization of the postcolonial regime in the islands and elaborates on the various types of migration since Indian Independence. The final section considers contemporary political negotiations of migration in the islands.

Lessons of the Oil Crisis for the Third World

1975 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-522
Author(s):  
György Adam
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Third World ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
World Bank Group ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Oil Crisis ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Bank Group ◽  
The Third World

The author argues that the so-called oil crisis may open out a new perspective on development aid to the Third World if the oil-producing countries, instead of allowing the giant Western banks and corporations to make a grab for their petro dollars (as the Western nations had so far made a grab for incredibly cheap oil energy), decide to pool the surplus oil revenues for self-help among the Third World countries. He suggests the setting up of an interregional Third World Bank, which, unlike the existing World Bank group (typecast as the instrument of the rich market economies), would be the instrument of the developing countries, thus breaking the monopoly of the West in international financing.

scholarly journals Abrupt Climate Chang: Time Is Tight

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Jan-Erik Lane
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Capture ◽  
Third World ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
The Third ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Global Coordination ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Rich Countries

The new theme of abrupt climate change (“Hawking tipping point”) must be taken up by global coordination – the UNFCCC, IPCC and the G20. The only policy response is to reinforce the COP21 project, and start managing its quick implementation of decarbonisation. A more decisive climate change policy – no coal or charcoal, solar power parks, and possibly carbon capture – may not guarantee the goal of + 2 degrees Celsius, but it may help avoid climate chaos. Only global coordination can break through the resistance of markets in the rich countries and governments in the Third World together with vibrant civil society. The large COP21 Secretariat must become a management agency for rapid decarbonisation with support from other global bodies (WB, IMF) and the G20.

A Puzzle of Enforceability: Why do Moral Duties Differ in their Enforceability?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Christian Barry ◽  
Emily McTernan
Keyword(s):  
Social Costs ◽  
Moral Duty ◽  
The Third ◽  
Moral Duties

Abstract When someone is poised to fail to fulfil a moral duty, we can respond in a variety of ways. We might remind them of their duty, or seek to persuade them through argument. Or we might intervene forcibly to ensure that they act in accordance with their duty. Some duties appear to be such that the duty-bearer can be liable to forcible interference when this is necessary to ensure that they comply with them. We’ll call duties that carry such liabilities enforcement-apt. Not all duties seem to be enforcement-apt. Some, for example, accept that a person in a monogamous marriage has a moral duty to refrain from infidelity, but deny that a spouse can be compelled to comply with their duty to be faithful without transgressing her rights. More controversially, some think that our duties to assist others in severe need are not enforcement-apt. What could explain the contrast between duties that are enforcement-apt while and those that are not? We’ll call this the puzzle of enforceability and our paper considers three broad strategies for responding to it. The first strategy takes the form of identifying some substantive feature or features that are necessary and/or sufficient for a duty to possess some enforcement status. We consider a range of candidate explanations of this sort but find that none are plausible. The second strategy rejects the idea that there are genuinely enforcement-inapt duties and instead seeks to explain why there can nonetheless be marked differences amongst duties concerning how they can be enforced and who can enforce them. We find that this strategy too is largely unsuccessful. The third strategy offered seeks an explanation of differences in enforcement status by appeal to the broader social costs of enforcing certain kinds of duties. We find that this approach holds some promise but note that it requires adopting a controversial set of moral commitments. We conclude by considering our options in the absence of a solution to our puzzle.

Physical Culture and Sports Preferences of Employees of Oil and Gas Producing Enterprises: Behavioral and Biological Factors

2021 ◽  
pp. 173-181
Author(s):  
Lena G. Pashchenko ◽  
◽  
Alexey.V. Korichko ◽  
Svetlana A. Davydova ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Martial Arts ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Team Sports ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Physical Culture ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The Third ◽  
Regulatory Systems

The relevance of this study is due to the need to optimize the physical activity of workers engaged in heavy physical labor, which is impossible without taking into account their physical culture and sports preferences. The aim of the study was to identify the physical culture and sports preferences of employees of oil and gas production enterprises, as well as factors that characterize the features of their motor behavior and body functioning. To analyze the subjects' physical culture and sports preferences and features of physical activity, a survey was conducted; the Attitude to Competitive Physical Culture and Sports Activities questionnaire was used; the heart rate variability was studied using the hardware and software complex “Omega”. The significance of the difference in the characteristics in the compared groups was verified using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The study involved 49 men of mature age who are engaged in professional activities at oil and gas production enterprises, using out-of-hours means of physical culture and sports of a recreational or sports orientation. The subjects were differentiated based on their physical culture and sports preferences, depending on the manifestation of rivalry in them: 1) with individual rivalry (n1=19); 2) with team rivalry (n2=15); 3) with avoiding open rivalry (n3=15). All the men who prefer martial arts did sports in the past or continue to do sports in the present. Of those who prefer team sports, this is 80%, and of those who avoid open competition, preferring individual running, recreational walking or strength training, this is 54%. All representatives of the first group systematically engage in physical culture and sports. Thirty-three per cent of men who prefer activities without rivalry and seven per cent of men doing team sports do sports from time to time. Subjective readiness to participate in physical culture and sports events is more evident in men who prefer martial arts. To a lesser extent, men from the third group are ready to participate in events with the manifestation of maximum physical capabilities. The indicator that characterizes the interest in knowledge in the field of physical culture and sports, as well as the activity of attracting other people to participate in competitions, prevails among men who prefer martial arts. The most optimal indicators of the activity of regulatory systems are observed in men who prefer team sports. In subjects who engage in martial arts in their free time, the indicators of the autonomic regulation of the heart are also within the normal range, but closer to the border that characterizes the transition from the vegetative balance to the predominance of the sympathetic department. In the representatives of the third group who refuse open competition and prefer individual activities, there is a more pronounced tension of the regulatory systems. The results obtained should be taken into account when developing corporate programs to optimize the physical activity of employees of oil and gas producing enterprises.

The Construction of the Parallel World

Sacrifice ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Orsini
Keyword(s):  
Martial Arts ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Mixed Martial Arts ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Bourgeois Society ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Sacrifice

This chapter examines how, to escape from bourgeois society, the Sacrifice comrades are trying to build a social reality in which they can demonstrate that they are courageous and that they merit honor through sacrifice, loyalty to the group, and obedience to the leaders' orders. This symbolic and cultural mission, which can be called the construction of the parallel world, is achieved in three ways. The first is through sport. One way to build the parallel world is to organize a “war.” This is the purpose of the mixed martial arts contests organized by Sacrifice, in which athletes from all over Europe participate. The second way of building the parallel world consists of creating a climate of continual tension with far-left groups. The third way is through brawling.

Moral education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John White
Keyword(s):  
Moral Education ◽  
Moral Motivation ◽  
Natural Process ◽  
Central Issue ◽  
Moral Goodness ◽  
The Third ◽  
Moral Learning ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
History Of

This entry looks at three contemporary approaches to moral learning and education, all of which have roots in the history of philosophy. The first holds that just as children grow, or develop, in a physical sense, so they also develop in their moral dispositions or judgments. A central issue here is whether the concept of development is applicable outside its biological home. The second sees moral learning not as a natural process, but as a deliberate induction into socially approved norms or values. On one version of this view, it is not enough to bring children to follow the rules enshrined in conventional moral codes as they need to learn to sift these in the light of higher-order rational principles. Problems arise here both about moral motivation and about whether morality is wholly to do with rules and principles. For other theorists moral education is more a matter of shaping children’s nature-given desires and emotions into settled dispositions or virtues on Aristotelian lines. While the ‘rational principle’ view focuses on the morally autonomous individual, this view has its roots in communal moral traditions. Despite Plato’s belief that only knowledge is teachable, and therefore that it is doubtful whether moral goodness can be taught at all, the third view of moral learning maintains that it must include the acquisition of relevant knowledge and understanding, and cover the formation of dispositions. All this bears on how moral education should feature in schools – on the role of school ethos, learning by example, and the contribution of the whole curriculum.

Contemporary Moral Apologists

2019 ◽  
pp. 198-209
Author(s):  
David Baggett ◽  
Jerry L. Walls
Keyword(s):  
Problem Of Evil ◽  
Divine Command ◽  
Moral Argument ◽  
Divine Command Theory ◽  
Moral Goodness ◽  
William Lane Craig ◽  
Natural Signs ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Moral Arguments

A. C. Ewing worked on moral goodness; Austin Farrer focused on the value and dignity of persons; George Mavrodes underscored the odd nature of binding moral duties in a naturalistic world. Robert Adams did work in theistic ethics that produced innovative variants of the moral argument; his wife, Marilyn Adams, demonstrated how God’s incommensurable goodness can address versions of the problem of evil. Linda Zagzebski identified three ways we need moral confidence. C. Stephen Evans defended divine command theory and a natural signs approach to apologetics. John Hare did landmark work on moral arguments. William Lane Craig used the moral argument to powerful effect in books and debates. C. Stephen Layman used the overriding reason thesis and conditional thesis in his variant of the argument. Scott Smith, Mark Linville, Angus Menuge, and Angus Ritchie have offered brilliant epistemic moral arguments. Paul Copan has used history to augment the moral argument.

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