33、自然生存狀態與社會
Without society, we would live in a state of nature, where we each have unlimited natural freedoms. The downside of this general autonomy is that it includes the “right to all things” and thus the freedom to harm all who threaten one’s own self-preservation; there are no positive rights, only laws of nature and an endless “war of all against all”. In other words, anyone in the state of nature can do anything he likes; but this also means that everyone can do anything he likes to anyone else. To avoid this, we jointly agree to a social contract by which we each gain civil rights in return for subjecting ourselves to civil law or to political authority. In Hobbes’ formulation, the sovereign power is not a party of the contract but instead its creation; so it is not bound by it.
Alternatively, some have argued that we gain civil rights in return for accepting the obligation to respect and defend the rights of others. This alternative formulation of the duty arising from the social contract is often identified with militia, or defense activity.
34、六大基本自由
The basic liberties include:
1.Freedom of thought;
2.Liberty of conscience as it affects social relationships on the grounds of religion, philosophy, and morality;
3.Political liberties （e.g. representative democratic institutions, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom of assembly）;
4.Freedom of association;
5.Freedoms necessary for the liberty and integrity of a person （freedom from slavery, freedom of movement and a reasonable degree of freedom to choose one’s occupation）;
6.Rights and liberties covered by the rule of law.
35、思維創造性與技術
Though many reasons can be cited for the accelerating pace of technological inventions, one major cause is the role played by mental creativity in an increasing atmosphere of freedom. Political freedom and liberation from religious dogma had a powerful impact on creative thinking during the period of Enlightenment. Dogmas and superstitions had an incredibly restrictive effect on the scope for mental creativity. For example, when the astronomer Copernicus proposed a heliocentric view of the world, it was rejected because it did not conform to established religious doctrine. When Galileo perfected a telescope for viewing the planets, his invention was condemned by churchmen as an instrument of the devil as it seemed to be so unusual and hence fit to be deemed heretic. Such obscurantist fetters on freedom of thought were shattered only with the coming of the Enlightenment. From then on the spirit of experimentation began to thrive.
36、互聯網使用的四大障礙
It is already received wisdom among those who are working to bridge the digital division that providing access to technology is only one of many obstacles that must be addressed. Internet access is not enough. The Children’s Partnership argues that content is one aspect of the digital division that has been neglected. The four content-related barriers to greater Internet uptake across society are:
1.local information barriers;
2.literacy barriers;
3.language barriers;
4.cultural diversity barriers.
37、完美競爭的概念及其三大要素
The theoretical ideal developed by economists to establish the conditions under which competition would achieve maximum effectiveness is known as “perfect” competition. Although rarely possible, perfect competition, as a concept, provides a useful benchmark for evaluating performance in actual markets. Perfect competition exists when （1）an industry has a large number of business firms as well as buyers; （2）the firms on the average are small; and （3）buyers and sellers have complete knowledge of all transactions within the market. The practical significance of a large number of small firms and many buyers is that the power to influence the behavior of the participants in the market is thoroughly dispersed. In other words, no single person or business has the power to dictate the terms on which the exchange of goods and services takes place. Market results then are truly impersonal. Under conditions of perfect competition, economists contend, goods and services would be produced as efficiently as possible—that is, at the lowest possible price and cost—and consumers would get the maximum amount of the goods and services they desire.
38、不同文化社會對極端行為的態度
The social consequences considered appropriate for unacceptable behavior also vary widely between, and even within, different societies. Punishment of criminals ranges from fines or humiliation to imprisonment or exile, from beatings or mutilation to execution. The form of appropriate punishment is affected by theories of its purpose to prevent or deter the individual from repeating the crime, or to deter others from committing the crime, or simply to cause suffering for its own sake in retribution. The success of punishment in deterring crime is difficult to study, in part because of ethical limitations on experiments assigning different punishments to similar criminals, and in part because of the difficulty of holding other factors constant.
39、生活水平的概念
The standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people, and the way these goods and services are distributed within a population. It is generally measured by standards such as income inequality, poverty rate, real （i.e. inflation adjusted） income per person. Other measures such as access and quality of health care, educational standards and social rights are often used too. Examples are access to certain goods （such as number of refrigerators per 1,000people）, or measures of health such as life expectancy. It is the ease by which people living in a time or place are able to satisfy their wants.
The idea of a “standard” may be contrasted with the quality of life, which takes into account not only the material standard of living, but also other more subjective factors that contribute to human life, such as leisure, safety, cultural resources, social life, mental health, environmental quality issues etc. More complex means of measuring well-being must be employed to make such judgments, and these are very often political, thus controversial. Even among two nations or societies that have similar material standards of living, quality of life factors may in fact make one of these places more attractive to a given individual or group.
40、競爭與合作
While cooperation is the antithesis of competition, the need or desire to compete with others is a common impetus that motivates individuals to organize into a group and cooperate with each other in order to form a stronger competitive force. Cooperation in many areas such as farming and housing may be in the form of a cooperative or, alternately, in the form of a conventional business.
Many people resort to this because they may cooperate by trading with each other or by altruistic sharing.
Certain forms of cooperation are illegal in some jurisdictions because they alter the nature of access by others to economic or other resources. Thus, cooperation in the form of cartels or price-fixing may be illegal.
41、個人主義
Individualism is a term used to describe a moral, political, or social outlook that stresses human independence and the importance of individual self-reliance and liberty. Individualists promote the exercise of individual goals and desires. They oppose most external interference with an individual’s choices—whether by society, the state, or any other group or institution. Individualism is therefore opposed to holism, collectivism, fascism, communalism, statism, totalitarianism, and communitarianism, which stress that communal, group, societal, racial, or national goals should take priority over individual goals. Individualism is also opposed to the view that tradition, religion, or any other form of external moral standard should be used to limit an individual’s choice of actions.
Individualism has a controversial relationship with egoism （selfishness）. While some individualists are egoists, they usually do not argue that selfishness is inherently good. Rather, some argue that individuals are not duty-bound to any socially-imposed morality and that individuals should be free to choose to be selfish （or to choose any other lifestyle） if they so desire. Others still, such as Ayn Rand, argue against “moral relativism” and claim selfishness to be a virtue.
42、社會責任感
Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity, whether it is a government, corporation, organization or individual, has a responsibility to society.
There is a large inequality in the means and roles of different entities to fulfill their claimed responsibility. This would imply that different entities have different responsibilities, insomuch as states should ensure the civil rights of their citizens, that corporations should respect and encourage the human rights of their employees and that citizens should abide by written laws. But social responsibility can mean more than these examples. Many NGOs accept that their roles and the responsibility of their members as citizens are to help improve society by taking a proactive stance in their societal roles. It can also imply that corporations have an implicit obligation to give back to society （such as is claimed as part of corporate social responsibility and/or stakeholder theory）.
Social responsibility is voluntary; it is about going above and beyond what is called for by the law （legal responsibility）. It involves an idea that it is better to be proactive toward a problem rather than reactive to a problem. Social responsibility means eliminating corrupt, irresponsible or unethical behavior that might bring harm to the community, its people, or the environment before the behavior happens.
43、社會改革運動和社會激進運動
Reform movements—movements dedicated to changing some norms, usually legal ones. Examples of such a movement would include a trade union with a goal of increasing workers’ rights, a green movement advocating a set of ecological laws, or a movement supporting introduction of a capital punishment or right to abortion. Some reform movements may advocate a change in custom and moral norms, for example, condemnation of pornography or proliferation of some religion. The nature of such movements is not just related to the issue but also to the methods used. There could be reformist or radical methods used to achieve the same end, such as in the case of making abortion legal and readily available.
Radical movement—movements dedicated to changing value systems. Those involve fundamental changes, unlike the reform movements, examples would include the American Civil Rights Movement which demanded full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans （this movement was broad and included both radical and reformist elements）, regardless of race, and the Polish Solidarity movement which demanded the transformation of communist political and economy system into democracy and capitalism.
44、公眾知識分子的社會作用
The Public Intellectual communicates information and “truths” about issues on a variety of societal issues; however, this role is seemingly filled by others, so what makes the Public Intellectual something warranting a title? Public Intellectuals usually emerge from the educated elite. McKee has shown how the bulk of North American writers on public intellectuals assume that they will be academics—people like themselves—if never “merely” academics, and have therefore a tie to academia and the power （communication） that such a position holds alongside the ability to convey to the wider public their understandings and ideas via a range of media （books, documentaries, films, talks）. It is this converging with the public sphere which separates academics with Public Intellectuals.
Today’s public intellectuals speaking from their privileged positions have to negotiate how to simultaneously speak and act as an insider/outsider and in ways that make a difference within the moral consciousness of the population. This is achieved by the public intellectual’s role of deliberate choice—usually not a particularly fashionable one at the time, seeking to provoke debate in wider circles than just academia. They speak in the issues of the day, often trying to answer unanswerable questions and acting from a moral necessity more than a career impulse.
45、知識分子的社會作用
Intellectuals have been viewed as a distinct social class, often significantly contributing to the formation and phrasing of ideas as both creators and critics of ideology. Intellectuals as a whole may be thought of as upholding the existing order, though some intellectuals specialize in highly fashionable dissent against the Establishment.
In many definitions, intellectuals are perceived as impervious to propaganda, indoctrination, and self-deception.
Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram’s seminal series of social psychology experiments measured the willingness of people to obey an authority figure instructing them to perform acts conflicting with their personal consciences. Prof. Milgram learned that ordinary people can become agents of a destructive process, even when the destructive effects of their work become clear. Despite intelligence or intellectual capacity, when people are asked to effect actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the intellectual-moral resources needed to resist authority.