Précis of The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science,Theory and Ethics of Sexual Orientation

Law and Philosophy -     

Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation as PTSD Mitigators in Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

Purpose and Potential benefits: Research, to our knowledge, has not examined the effect of demographic variables on PTSD symptoms among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). This study explores the relationship between demographic variables and scores of CSA survivors on the Impact of Scale (IES). Participants were 257 women CSA survivors entering outpatient treatment at a university-based mental health center. All participants reported a CSA history and presented with psychological difficulties associated with CSA. The demographic variables investigated were relationship status, religious affiliation, ethnicity, educational level, spousal educational level income, and sexual orientation. Significance tests were used to examine each variable and scores on the Total IES and Avoidance and Intrusion Subscales. Total IES and Intrusion scores differed for sexual orientation and ethnicity in accord with conventional standards of significance ( < .05). Self-reported asexuals indicated fewer intrusive and total PTSD symptoms than heterosexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals. Likewise, Hispanics reported less intrusive PTSD symptoms than Non-Hispanic Caucasians. Our findings invite further exploration of the relationship between ethnicity and sexual orientation and the long-term effects of CSA. A question for empirical investigation is whether asexuality shields against the triggering of CSA memories by a sexual relationship. Another possible area of inquiry is whether particular characteristics of Hispanic culture as a whole serve to moderate the detrimental effects of CSA.     

Sexual Orientation,Race, and Trauma as Predictors of Sexual Assault Recovery

Sexual minorities and racial minorities experience greater negative impact following sexual assault. We examined recovery from sexual assault among women who identified as heterosexual and bisexual across racial groups. A community sample of women (N?=?905) completed three yearly surveys about sexual victimization, recovery outcomes, race group, and sexual minority status. Bisexual women and Black women reported greater recovery problems. However, Black women improved more quickly on depression symptoms than non-Black women. Finally, repeated adult victimization uniquely undermined survivors’ recovery, even when controlling for child sexual abuse. Sexual minority and race status variables and their intersections with revictimization play roles in recovery and should be considered in treatment protocols for sexual assault survivors.     

论伯林的自由观——从两种自由概念谈起

伯林提出了“积极自由”与“消极自由”的著名区分。在深刻剖析了三种不同类型的积极自由观和二十世纪极权主义的逻辑联系的基础上,伯林认为消极自由观是“机会”、“能够”、“可能性”取向的自由观,以区别于“必须”、“应该”取向的积极自由观。但伯林的剔除了自主概念的消极自由观也蕴含了内在的危机。     

The Priority of Liberty: An Argument from Social Equality

John Rawls’s thesis that a certain package of basic liberties should be given lexical priority is of great interest for legal and political philosophy, but it has received relatively little defense from Rawls or his supporters. In this paper, I examine three arguments for the thesis: the first is based on the two ‘moral powers’; the second, on the social bases of self-respect; and the third, on a Kantian notion of autonomy. I argue none of these accounts successfully establishes 1) the distinct claim of lexical priority, 2) for the complete package of basic liberties (including the fair value of the political liberties), on the basis of reasons that are appropriately public. In turn, I propose an alternative argument, in support of those two claims, based on the social or ‘relational’ conception of equality.

     

The Case of Weak Will and Wayward Desire

In this article, I confront Garvey’s argument that a weak-willed individual deserves partial excuse for trying to resist a strong desire that pushes him toward commission of a criminal act even though in the end he unreasonably abandons his resistance and commits the crime. I attempt to refute Garvey’s argument on two counts: one, I question whether the law should indeed provide mitigation to such an offender; and two, I argue that, even if it should, this mitigation may not come in the form of a partial defense. Defenses, even partial, are desert based, and there is nothing in Garvey’s offender’s circumstances that makes him less blameworthy for the crime he committed. A court may choose to treat such an offender more leniently but it should not be mandated to do so.

自生自发的秩序?——哈耶克自由理路的迷思

哈耶克对自由秩序的论证其基本立场在于对唯理主义的批判,其理路是主张“否定性自由”。虽然哈耶克力图将英国式的经验主义与其反唯理主义的立场融合,但历史与现实的错综复杂性使得这种理路难以解释所有的社会冲突。哈耶克对自由理路的贡献除了其对于自由立场的坚定捍卫以外,还在于其从自生自发秩序入手而对制度所作的稳健、温和的建构,哈氏理路的这种建构性对于我们现实的法制建构具有借鉴意义。     

The Concept of Liberty in "A Theory of Justice" and Its Republican Version

Abstract. The Author offers three interpretations of the Rawlsian conception of liberty. At the same time he compares this formal version of civil and political liberty with the substantive version produced by the republican theory of liberty. The first question is this: Can liberties be unequal? Here the liberal concept of liberty is discussed linking human will of liberty and equality. The second question is: Can liberties be equal when their respective values are not? The Author stresses the Rawlsian distinction between liberty and the value of liberty showing the risk of reducing the less powerful to dependency. The third question is: Can political liberty be limited for the sake of personal liberties? From a republican perspective the answer to the Rawlsian instrumental conception of political liberty is that all personal liberties are necessarily founded on political liberty.*     

行政刑法属性的论争及其定位

针对长期以来国内外有关行政刑法属性上的争论,尤其是行政法说与刑事法说,系统分析了争论的主要原因及牵涉的相关因素,并对行政刑法进行了符合现实条件的基本定位。行政刑法既有刑法的性格,又有行政法的某些特征,属于行政法与刑法的交叉领域。它是规定什么是行政犯罪、犯的何种行政犯罪以及应承担何种行政刑法责任的法律规范的总和。     

How “Natural” are “Kinds” of Sexual Orientation?

Law and Philosophy -     

核准追诉低龄未成年人刑事责任的程序定位及其重要展开

从程序上看,核准追诉低龄未成年人刑事责任的行为属于侦查程序的行为,而不是立案程序或审查起诉程序的行为。因而报请核准追诉的时间应当分为两种情况:一是在需要逮捕被追诉人的案件中,侦查机关应当在提请批准逮捕的同时报请核准追诉;二是在无需逮捕被追诉人的案件中,侦查机关在确定查明的事实与收集的证据符合核准追诉条件时,就应当立即报请核准追诉。根据这种程序定位,在核准追诉的证据方面,应当根据我国《刑法》第17条第3款规定的实体法事实确定证明对象,根据审查批捕标准确定核准追诉的证明标准;在核准追诉的当事人参与权与救济权方面,应当听取未成年犯罪嫌疑人及其辩护律师的意见,还应当听取被害人及其近亲属的意见,被害人及其近亲属不服不予核准追诉决定的,不可提起自诉,但可以申请复议一次。     

从自由到平等:美国言论自由的现代转型

自1960年代开始,美国言论自由开启了从经典时期向现代的转型。在色情作品、仇恨言论和竞选经费三个领域,言论自由分别与性别平等、种族平等和财富平等正面相遇。通过把"平等"价值引入言论自由这一转型,使色情作品、仇恨言论和竞选经费从单纯的自由问题变为平等与自由间的平衡;同时,为了促进平等,它还强调法律和政策应告别形式中立,必须向弱势群体有所倾斜。这一转型相当于一场言论自由的"新政",终结了言论自由的洛克纳时代,重塑了言论自由的范式和议程,并对当代言论自由的发展产生持续和深远的影响。     

奥尼尔《榆树下的欲望》象征艺术手法探究

由于受到20世纪初期出现的现代主义艺术的影响,奥尼尔在《榆树下的欲望》中不仅以现实生活为蓝本,更揉入了许多寓意深刻的象征成分,这使得该剧本蕴涵着浓厚的神秘主义色彩,同时也是对传统现实主义作品局限于现实生活的表象描写的一次反拨。根据植根于荣格的集体无意识理论的原型批判,不难发现奥尼尔试图揭示社会外部环境与人类内心本能欲望之间日益加剧的矛盾冲突;同时,鉴于现代人所面临的重重生存危机,他试图为异化的人类摸索出一条精神出路。     

自由与权力：如何超越零和博弈?——《权利的成本》读后

《权利的成本——为什么自由依赖于税》一书,系美国当代著名政治学和宪法学者史蒂芬·霍尔姆斯(Stephen Holmes)和凯斯·桑斯坦(Cass Sunstein)合著,已由毕竞悦女士精心译成中文,自北京大学出版社自2004年首版以来,数次重印,是一本深受欢迎的学术作品。在这本不厚但颇为耐读的书中,两位