Possible Motivations (possible + motivation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


John Colet and a Lost Manuscript of 1506

HISTORY, Issue 294 2004
Jonathan Arnold
John Colet, the humanist, attempted clerical reform early in his tenure as Dean of St Paul's (1505,19), by reminding certain members of the cathedral personnel of the existing statutes and by seeking to impose some visitation injunctions upon them. A 1506 manuscript, containing details of these efforts, is now lost. This article examines the contents of the manuscript, which are known from a nineteenth-century transcription, and investigates the minor clergy, whom it concerned. It also discusses the possible whereabouts of the original manuscript; Colet's possible motivation for writing the proposals; the reaction to Colet's ideas; and how his clerical colleagues perceived Colet. The article concludes that Colet's inappropriate approach to reform hindered his success. [source]


BUDDHISM AND NEUROETHICS: THE ETHICS OF PHARMACEUTICAL COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT

DEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 2 2009
ANDREW FENTON
ABSTRACT This paper integrates some Buddhist moral values, attitudes and self-cultivation techniques into a discussion of the ethics of cognitive enhancement technologies , in particular, pharmaceutical enhancements. Many Buddhists utilize meditation techniques that are both integral to their practice and are believed to enhance the cognitive and affective states of experienced practitioners. Additionally, Mah,y,na Buddhism's teaching on skillful means permits a liberal use of methods or techniques in Buddhist practice that yield insight into our selfnature or aid in alleviating or eliminating dukha (i.e. dissatisfaction). These features of many, if not most, Buddhist traditions will inform much of the Buddhist assessment of pharmaceutical enhancements offered in this paper. Some Buddhist concerns about the effects and context of the use of pharmaceutical enhancements will be canvassed in the discussion. Also, the author will consider Buddhist views of the possible harms that may befall human and nonhuman research subjects, interference with a recipient's karma, the artificiality of pharmaceutical enhancements, and the possible motivations or intentions of healthy individuals pursuing pharmacological enhancement. Perhaps surprisingly, none of these concerns will adequately ground a reflective Buddhist opposition to the further development and continued use of pharmaceutical enhancements, either in principle or in practice. The author argues that Buddhists, from at least certain traditions , particularly Mah,y,na Buddhist traditions , should advocate the development or use of pharmaceutical enhancements if a consequence of their use is further insight into our self-nature or the reduction or alleviation of dukha. [source]


Nationalist Sources of International Economic Integration

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES QUARTERLY, Issue 3 2000
Stephen Shulman
Most scholars of international relations and nationalism presume that nationalist ideology acts uniformly to hinder international economic integration, globalization, and free trade. This article challenges the conventional wisdom by developing an analytical framework of the incentives majority and minority nationalists face in the realm of foreign economic relations. Defining nationalism as the promotion of the autonomy, unity, and identity of the nation, it argues that nationalists have strong possible motivations both for and against close economic ties with foreign nations and states. As a result, oftentimes nationalists must make trade-offs among their goals of autonomy, unity, and identity when developing foreign economic policy preferences. Case studies of nationalist organizations in Quebec, India, and Ukraine that favor a high degree of international economic integration are presented to show the usefulness of the analytical framework. [source]


"Drinking the Hot Blood of Humans": Witchcraft Confessions in a South African Pentecostal Church

ANTHROPOLOGY & HUMANISM, Issue 1 2003
Jennifer BadstuebnerArticle first published online: 28 JUN 200
Giant cats flying to America and cities under the sea off Cape Town are part of a cascade of imagery brought forth in the confessions ofbom-again witches. Now Christian, these exwitches confess stories of murder and bloodshed to packed audiences in townships in the Eastern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. The confessions reveal occult realms in deep engagement with the particular experiences of young, poor, black women in South Africa. These confessions are performances of risky agency in a country in which acts of witchcraft are severely punished. This article explores the possible motivations of these young, disenfranchised women who take up witchcraft and Christianity as one way to negotiate conditions of extreme violence and dislocation in the sprawling urban townships. [source]