Search Results (136)

This study analyses the conditions under which co-opetition improves the supply of healthcare services in Benin. Using non-centralised administrative data from a sample of public and private health centres, we apply network theory and negative binomial regression to assess the extent to which competition affects collaboration between public and private healthcare providers. We found that competition reduces the degree of collaboration between private and public health providers. However, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly mitigated this effect, highlighting the potential for competition within the healthcare system without compromising social welfare. Notwithstanding that, we show that these benefits are not sustained over time. These findings have policy implications for the sustainability of health system financing in Africa, particularly by promoting sustainable financial mechanisms for the private sector and more inclusive governance structures. Full article

This paper examines the philosophy of language in The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (六祖壇經), demonstrating its centrality to Zen Buddhism and Buddhist sinicization. The sutra emphasizes the ineffability of ultimate truth (至道無言) and the principle that words falter in encapsulating the Dao (言語道斷), framing language as a provisional “raft” (筏) that must be instrumentalized yet transcended through a dialectic of employing and abandoning (用離辯證). It ontologically grounds this view in Buddha-nature’s (佛性) pre-linguistic essence, advocating transcending reliance on words and letters (不假文字) while strategically deploying language to dismantle its own authority. Historically, this constituted a revolt against Tang scholasticism’s textual fetishism. The text adopts a dynamic dialectic, neither clinging to nor rejecting language, exemplified by Huineng’s awakening through the Diamond Sutra, where recitation catalyzes internal insight. Operationally, it utilizes negational discourse, the “Two Paths Mutually Condition” method (二道相因) embedded in the “Twelve Pairs of Dharmic Forms” (法相語言十二對) in particular, to systematically deconstruct dualisms, while promoting embodied unity of speech, mind, and action (口念心行) to critique empty recitation. Ultimately, the sutra orchestrates language as a self-subverting medium: balancing acknowledgment of its limitations with pragmatic instrumentality, it presents an Eastern paradigm where language actively disrupts conceptual fetters to facilitate direct insight into Buddha-nature, reframing it as a dynamic catalyst for “illuminating the mind and seeing one’s nature” (明心見性). Full article

This essay argues for the reciprocal benefits of joining the new theories of matter emerging out of critical posthumanism and the psychedelic drugs currently experiencing a so-called “renaissance” in global north societies. While the former’s twin emphasis on relationality and embodiment is perfectly suited to capture and ground the ontological, epistemological, and ethical implications of psychedelic experiences of interconnectedness and transformation, these substances are in turn powerful companions through which to enact a “posthuman phenomenology” that helps us with the urgent task to “access, amplify, and describe” our deep imbrication with our more-than-human environments. In other words, I argue that while the “new materialism” emerging out of posthumanism can help elaborate a psychedelic rationality, psychedelics can in turn operate as educators in materiality. It is from this materialist perspective that we can best make sense of psychedelics’ often touted potential for social transformation and the enduring suspicion that they are somehow at odds with the “ontoepistemological order” of modernity. From this point of view, I contend that a crucial critical move is to push against the common trope that this opposition is best expressed as a turn from the narrow scientific and “consumerist materialism” of modern Western societies to more expansive “spiritual” worldviews. Pushing against this science-–spirituality binary, which in fact reproduces modern “indivi/dualism” by confining psychedelic experience inside our heads, I argue instead that what is in fact needed to think through and actualize such potentials is an increased attention to our material transcorporeality. In a nutshell, if we want psychedelics to inform social change, we must be more, not less, materialist—albeit by redefining matter in a rather “weird”, non-reductive way and by redefining consciousness as embodied. By the end of the essay, attaching psychedelics to a new materialism will enable us to formulate a “material spirituality” that establishes psychedelics’ political value less in an idealistic or cognitive “politics of consciousness” and more in a “materialization of critique”. Full article

The work Xingli zhenquan tigang (Sing lii jen ciyan bithei hešen) was written in Chinese and Manchu by the French Jesuit Alexandre de la Charme (1695–1767) and published in Beijing in 1753. The first two sections of this paper provide an introduction to de la Charme’s work biography and to further textual and historical contexts, explore the peculiarities of the subsequent early German reception of the work almost 90 years later, and introduce the content from an overview perspective. The third section explores the most essential contents of Book 1 (of 3) of the Manchu version. The investigation is based on Hans Conon von der Gabelentz’s (1807–1874) German translation from 1840. Camouflaged as a Confucian educational dialogue, and by blurring his true identity in his publication, de la Charme criticizes Neo-Confucian positions from an implicitly Cartesian and hidden Christian perspective, tacitly blending Cartesian views with traditional Chinese concepts. In addition, he alludes to Manchu shamanic views in the same regard. De la Charme’s assimilating rhetoric “triangulation” of three different cultural and linguistic horizons of thought and spirituality proves that later Jesuit scholarship reached out into the inherent ethnic and spiritual diversity of the Qing intellectual and political elites. Hidden allusions to Descartes’s dualistic concepts of res cogitans and res extensa implicitly anticipate the beginnings of China’s intellectual modernization period one and a half centuries later. This work also provides an example of how the exchange of intellectual and religious elements persisted despite the Rites Controversy and demonstrates how the fading Jesuit mission influenced early German sinology. I believe that this previously underexplored work is significant in both systematic and historical respects. It is particularly relevant in the context of current comparative research fields, as well as transcultural and interreligious intellectual dialogue in East Asia and around the world. Full article

The rapid advancements in healthcare technologies are reshaping the medical landscape, prompting a reconsideration of clinical methodologies and their ethical foundations. This article explores the need for an updated approach to medical deontology, emphasizing the transition from traditional practices to a hybrid clinical methodology that integrates both human expertise and technological innovations. With the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence, data analytics, and advanced medical tools, healthcare professionals are presented with new ethical and professional challenges. These challenges demand a reevaluation of professional responsibility, highlighting the importance of scientific evidence in decision-making while mitigating the influence of economic and ideological factors. By framing medical practice within a systemic and integrated perspective, this article proposes a model that moves beyond the reductionist and anti-reductionist dualism, fostering a more realistic understanding of healthcare. This new paradigm necessitates the evolution of the Medical Code of Ethics, integrating the concept of “medical intelligence” to address the complexities of data management and its ethical implications. The article ultimately advocates for a dynamic and adaptive approach that aligns medical practice with emerging technologies, ensuring that patient care remains person-centered and ethically grounded in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. Full article

The impact of climate risk on corporations is both complex and systemic. This study finds that an increase in climate risk exposure prompts firms to restructure their strategies, primarily leading to a strengthening of their strategic defensiveness and a decline in their strategic aggressiveness. Mechanism analyses reveal that this shift is primarily driven by the intensification of financing constraints, elevated operational risks, and reduced risk-taking capacity associated with increased climatic risk exposure. These effects are especially pronounced in private firms, firms with lower environmental performance, and those undergoing aggressive digital transformation or exhibiting a high degree of internationalization. Further analysis shows that although firms tend to adopt more passive defensive strategies in response to climate risk, they also actively pursue vertically integrated strategies rather than relying on specialization. This study provides new insights into how firms can strategically adapt to the challenges posed by climate risks. Full article

This paper explores the role of forgetting in the thought of the Korean Sŏn (Chan in Chin.; Zen in Jpn. 禪) master Chinul (知訥, 1158–1210), situating it within broader East Asian philosophical and Buddhist discourses. While the concept of forgetting has often been treated negatively in Western philosophy—as a cognitive failure or loss—this study draws on recent comparative scholarship, including Youru Wang’s reading of Zhuangzi, to show how forgetting can be reframed as a conscious spiritual and philosophical practice. In particular, this paper examines how Chinul integrates the practice of forgetting into a systematic Buddhist framework grounded in no-self (anātman), emptiness (śūnyatā), and the unity of samādhi and prajñā. In Straight Talk on the True Mind (Chinsim chiksŏl 眞心直說), Chinul outlines ten distinct methods for cultivating no-mind by offering interpretations of teachings from various East Asian Chan masters. Through a detailed analysis of Chinul’s Chinsim chiksŏl, this paper argues that forgetting—when understood as the deliberate letting go of discursive thought, deluded conceptualizations, and habitual dualisms—becomes a powerful method for revealing the true mind. Ultimately, Chinul’s philosophy of forgetting offers a unique account of cognitive transformation—one that challenges conventional epistemologies and calls for a reorientation of perception itself. Therefore, Chinul’s teachings on no-mind and forgetting offer a profound understanding of how deconstructing ingrained cognitive habits can lead to the emergence of enlightened awareness, providing valuable insights into the transformative processes at the heart of East Asian Sŏn Buddhist practice. Full article

By reconstructing the concept of the “Mandate of Heaven”, the Zisi School grounded the universality of Confucian ethics in the ontological stipulations of Heaven’s Way, bridging the intellectual gap between Confucius’s practical ethics and Mencius’s theory of mind-nature. Central to their framework is the proposition that “Heaven’s mold imparts form to mankind; and imparts inherent pattern to objects”, which constructs a generative chain from the Mandate of Heaven to the nature of objects and human nature. The School posited that the Heavenly Way endows all objects with inherent patterns, while human nature, derived from the Mandate of Heaven, harbors latent moral potential activated through edification. By dialectically reconciling the “differentiation between Heaven and humans” with the “unity of Heaven and humanity”, the Zisi School emphasized both the transcendent authority of the Mandate of Heaven and human moral agency, forming an “immanent yet transcendent” ethical paradigm. However, theoretical limitations persist, including ambiguities in the certainty of innate goodness due to the separation of Heaven and human nature, mind-body dualism that risks formalizing moral practice, and latent fatalism in their concept of mandate. Despite these unresolved tensions, the Zisi School’s metaphysics laid the groundwork for Mencius’s theory of innate goodness, Xunzi’s legalist emphasis on ritual, and Song-Ming Neo-Confucian discourses on “Heaven’s inherent pattern”. As a pivotal transitional phase in Pre-Qin Confucianism, the Zisi School highlights the interplay between metaphysical grounding and pragmatic adaptability, underscoring the enduring dynamism of Confucian ethics. Full article

This study examines Eusebius of Emesa’s De arbitrio, voluntate Pauli et Domini passione (Homily I), a fourth-century homily rediscovered in the twentieth century, to elucidate its contribution to the theological debate on free will within early Christianity. While Eusebius, a bishop of the Antiochene school, has been historically overlooked, his homily offers a nuanced defence of human moral agency against the deterministic paradigms prevalent in late antiquity. Through a critical analysis of the text, focusing on key biblical episodes—the conversion of St Paul, the election of Jeremiah and Jacob, and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart—this article demonstrates how Eusebius reconciles divine sovereignty with free will by prioritising literal exegesis and emphasising humanity’s God-given capacity for self-determination. The methodology combines close textual analysis with contextualisation within broader theological controversies, particularly addressing Stoic fatalism, Gnostic predestination, and Manichaean dualism. The results reveal that Eusebius’s arguments, though pastoral in intent, are philosophically rigorous, asserting that free will underpins moral responsibility and virtue, while Christ’s voluntary Passion exemplifies divine respect for human freedom. The study concludes that Eusebius’s homily not only refutes deterministic worldviews, but also affirms free will as a theological cornerstone, bridging scriptural interpretation and doctrinal orthodoxy. Full article

Embodied, enactive cognition, which is also embedded or emplaced cognition and extended cognition through tools, including language, presents various challenges to the standard model of the cognitive science of religion. In its focus on unconscious brain mechanisms, the standard model downplays or eliminates religious meaning as epiphenomenal or illusory. It often denies that religion, once present, is adaptive or admits as adaptive only costly signaling. It regards humans’ perceptions of their environments as representations, mistaking an environment as determinate before cognition occurs. This support for indirect perception makes no sense given its emphasis on the need for sensing possible threats to survival. As brain mechanisms of individuals do all the heavy lifting, the model regards culture and its influence as nonexistent or insignificant. This stance denies how the social constitutes a huge part of our embodied preobjective and tacit engagement with the world, as well as socio-cultural realities, including religion, as self-organizing systems. The neglect of embodiment extends to its take on supernatural agents as allegedly disembodied minds. The standard model overlooks how ordinary rituals promote bonding through group presence, synchrony, and endorphin production and how some rituals increase knowledge of a particular natural environment, thus overlooking how religion can be adaptive. Full article

This study evaluates the spatial–temporal evolution of land use intensity and regional development under five shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) through prefecture-level projections in China (2020–2050). This study integrates the population–development–environment model with back propagation (BP) neural networks, a supervised learning algorithm, to analyze how differentiated development trajectories reshape land systems. Results reveal distinct pathways: SSP5 (conventional development) and SSP1 (sustainability) achieve high-income thresholds by 2025/2028 with intensive land development, while SSP3 (fragmentation) risks stagnation post-2037 accompanied by inefficient land use. Spatial analysis identifies persistent dualism across the Hu Huanyong Line—83.6% of urban land expansion concentrates in eastern regions, whereas western areas exhibit 56% lower land productivity. By 2050, regional land use efficiency differentials (0.3–4.3% Gross Domestic Product/capita growth) highlight challenges in balancing urban agglomeration and ecological conservation. These findings provide empirical evidence for optimizing land allocation policies during China’s economic transition. Full article

Providing food security has traditionally been an important motive for development cooperation. At the same time, agriculture also has a major impact on the environment, which in turn threatens food production itself. This article argues that the tension between food production and global environmental change is largely caused by a modern dualism that pits man and nature, donor and recipient, and modernity and tradition against each other. It explores whether stewardship can help Christian NGOs find a way forward. Stewardship is closely linked to a Christian view of the relationship between man and earth and the relationship of people to each other. However, it is not uncontroversial. Therefore, a reinterpretation of the concept is needed. Finally, three principles are discussed that derive from a renewed vision of stewardship and can provide strategic direction: working together with nature, empowering local communities and adaptive transformation. Stewardship does not offer ready-made solutions, but that is precisely its strength. It appeals to practical wisdom. Every context is different and requires its own balance of values and interests. Full article

The question of whether God can be given in first-hand experience is debated in the secondary literature of Michel Henry. Articulating the history and structure of interiority more deeply provides a more precise conceptualization of his interiority to emerge and thus settle the question, namely that Henry’s thought contains both a dualism and duality. Within his dualism, Henry’s interior appearing is foundational, and has no capacity to reconcile with the world’s appearing that asserts exteriority as a foundation of what is given. Yet an interior/exterior duality emerges within Henry’s foundational interiority. Experiences of things like chairs are exteriorly given in life, while experiences of affectivity like gratitude are interiorly given in life. Since interior experiences are unified with our life and are our life, they lack any phenomenological distance that reduce God to finitude. Thus interiority, when both the foundation and the experience, establishes both a possibility for a first-hand experience of God and a glimpse into God’s experience of Godself. The article closes by showing how Henry suggests a name for God when given in first-hand experience: the Holy Spirit. Full article

In the context of the worldwide quest for green and sustainable development, there is a growing importance in enhancing the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of manufacturing companies. With the rise of digital transformation and pressing environmental challenges, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a crucial tool for manufacturing organizations to gain a competitive edge in sustainability. While the role of digital technologies in driving ESG improvements has been widely discussed, there is limited scholarly exploration of the specific impact of AI on the ESG performance of manufacturing firms, as well as the underlying mechanisms at play from an AI perspective. Addressing this research gap, this study constructs a theoretical model of AI affecting manufacturing firms’ ESG performance using a sample of Chinese-listed manufacturing firms from 2012–2022. Additionally, this study examines the role of mediating mechanisms of ambidextrous green innovation as well as differences in the intrinsic mechanisms triggered by the equilibrium of ambidextrous green innovation and firm size. The findings indicate that the application of AI technology effectively promotes improvements in the ESG performance of manufacturing firms, with ambidextrous green innovation playing a positive mediating role. Furthermore, manufacturing companies with a strong balance of ambidextrous green innovation and larger scale exhibit enhanced effects of AI on ESG performance. This study serves to supplement existing literature on ESG performance enhancement, elucidate the theoretical rationale behind the non-economic performance of AI-enabled firms, and extend the application of organizational dualism theory to new contexts. Full article

Thomas Hobbes’s strict monistic materialism led many contemporaries to believe he must be an atheist—to hold God to be a corporeal being, they claimed, was effectively to deny his existence. This paper is an addition to those works suggesting that Hobbes’s belief in a corporeal God must be taken seriously. Unlike earlier studies on this theme, it emphasises the change in Hobbes’s theism from an insistence early in his career that God’s nature is utterly unknowable (exempting God from the implications of Hobbes’s materialism) to a belief, first stated in 1668, that God is indeed a corporeal being. Seeking to explain this radical change, this article suggests that Hobbes’s later theology was influenced by the Cambridge Platonist Henry More, who developed the idea that God was an extended three-dimensional being. This article briefly considers alternative accounts, suggesting the influence of ancient Stoicism and aether theories, but affirms the influence of Henry More. Full article