Chao Yang

Philosophical practice is a new paradigm in philosophy, which encompasses one-on-one counselling, group facilitation, organisational consultation and philosophy with children, among other modalities. It transcends practical philosophy as a vital approach connecting philosophical inquiry with everyday life. This article compares Socratic and Confucian philosophical practice styles, focusing on the application in one-to-one consultation settings. Through three illustrative case studies addressing common human experiences – work and study challenges, relationship issues and life transitions – we analyse the methodologies and competencies inherent in both traditions. Each case is examined through the lens of questioning, interpreting and understanding, highlighting how practitioners from Socratic and Confucian backgrounds approach clients’ concerns. Our comparative analysis reveals that while both traditions share fundamental principles such as self-cultivation, the development of virtues and the use of exemplars, they diverge in practice styles and underlying methodologies. The Socratic method emphasises individual self-discovery through critical questioning and dialogue, fostering personal autonomy and intellectual inquiry. In contrast, the Confucian approach underscores moral cultivation in a communal context, emphasising social harmony, adherence to rituals (li 禮) and fulfilment of societal roles. The study underscores the potential for integrating these approaches to enrich philosophical counselling practices. By blending Socratic reflective dialogue with Confucian emphasis on relationships and moral development, philosophical practitioners can offer more holistic and culturally sensitive counselling experiences. This integration not only enhances the efficacy of philosophical consultations, but also contributes to a more inclusive understanding of philosophy as a way of life that transcends cultural boundaries.

ABSTRACT It is widely acknowledged that China is much wealthier than ever before. However, many have witnessed rising cases of moral disorders and the inefficiency of school-based moral education. As one of the most widely known theoretical frameworks in the social sciences, Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory of human development can provide an insightful perspective in identifying the root causes of the problem. Based on the theory, this article argues that the longstanding trend of: (1) overstressing school-based values education and moral agency; (2) neglecting the impact of contextual factors; and (3) ignoring the significance of proximal processes that mediate the individual and contexts, have been leading to the unsuccessful problem-solving efforts in China. Moral education in China, therefore, should stress the contextual factors at all levels, promote proximal processes and finally establish moral ecology systems where individuals could flourish morally.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of Confucian and Socratic philosophical practices, emphasizing their application in one-on-one counseling sessions. The study begins with an exploration of the origins and development of both traditions, highlighting their philosophical sources, practical methodologies, social impacts, and professional advancements. Through a detailed comparison, it identifies the similarities and differences between the Confucian emphasis on ritual propriety and moral cultivation and the Socratic focus on critical inquiry and self-examination. The integration of these approaches is proposed to enrich philosophical counseling, offering a more holistic and culturally sensitive practice. By envisioning the figure of a philosophical counselor who embodies both traditions, the paper suggests a model that fosters personal growth, ethical living, and societal harmony. The study concludes by acknowledging limitations and proposing future research directions, including empirical studies on the effectiveness of integrated counseling methods, exploration of group practices, cross-cultural adaptations, professional training, and the incorporation of modern technology. This research contributes to the literature on cross-cultural philosophical engagement and its applications in contemporary counseling practices.

This paper applies Bo Mou’s Constructive-Engagement Strategy of Comparative Philosophy (CESCP) to explore philosophical practice as a novel paradigm that applies philosophy to everyday life. The study advocates for a transformative methodology that seeks truth through critical engagement, joint contributions, and diverse methodological tools, advancing the discipline towards a comprehensive world philosophy. Philosophical practice, characterized by its engagement with human experience and existential inquiries, integrates Eastern and Western philosophies to guide individuals in the art of living. It offers a philosophical alternative to psychological counseling, focusing on reasoning to address life’s challenges and ethical dilemmas. The paper examines the integration of Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucianism, into philosophical practice, highlighting its relevance for contemporary counseling. It discusses Confucianism’s impact on philosophical practice, advances in self-cultivation and gong-fu theory, and the holistic Confucian view of body-mind integration, contrasting it with some Western approaches. We conclude that the practical dimensions of Confucianism oppose Western theoretical philosophy but align with Western philosophical practice. By employing CESCP, this research enriches philosophical practice, integrating diverse philosophies while respecting each tradition’s context. The approach combines Eastern relational perspectives with Western analytical depth, enhancing philosophical counseling and contributing to a global philosophical dialogue. This fusion of horizons aims to foster cross-cultural understanding and develop universally relevant wisdom.

Nutritional deficiency is rare in developed countries, but can be acquired from decreased nutrient intake, reduced absorption, and increased gastrointestinal excretion. We report a patient with acquired acrodermatitis enteropathica who exhibited low plasma zinc levels and concurrent nutritional deficiencies. Our patient had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass 13 years prior to presentation. The rash, consistent with AE clinically and histologically, nearly resolved one week after starting IV zinc supplementation, total parenteral nutrition, and micronutrient supplements. This case highlights the importance of long-term post-operative follow-up for gastric bypass patients who are at high risk for micronutrient and macronutrient deficiencies and illustrates the potential for rapid improvement with IV supplementation.

As an unusual event, fasting can induce strong physiological and psychological reactions, but there is still no clear understanding of how previous fasting experiences affect people’s responses to current fasting. This study aimed to investigate the influence of previous fasting experiences on participants’ basic physiological and psychological responses in a fasting experiment conducted under intensive medical monitoring. For a 22-day experiment divided into four phases, a total of 13 persons participated; the participants were divided into a group with prior fasting experience and a group without prior fasting experience. The results indicate no group differences in physiological responses ; however, differences in psychological states were observed, with the Newbie group showing more negative psychological states overall throughout the experiment. Hence, previous fasting experience may be a buffer against negative feelings during current fasting. For this reason, it is important to consider fasting experiences as a vital factor in future research.

This study investigated the effect of obstructive sleep apnea on the neural mechanism of visual perception. A preliminary case-control study was conducted. Seventeen patients with moderate to severe OSA in the sleep center of Civil Aviation General Hospital and 20 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education were recruited. The participants accepted the perceptual contour integration task, compared the differences in behavioral indicators between the two groups, and compared the differences in electroencephalography data between the two groups through event-related potential technology. The groups did not differ significantly in age and gender, but they differed significantly in body mass index. The groups were not statistically different in terms of sleep structure and total sleep time. AHI, sleep efficiency, and minimal SaO2 value in the OSA group were significantly different from those of the control group. The results showed that the average reaction time of the OSA group was significantly longer than that of the healthy control group in the contour integration task. There was no significant difference in the accuracy rate. The results of EEG showed that the amplitudes of N100 of the OSA group were significantly higher than those of the control group at O1, Oz, and O2 electrodes. There was no significant difference in latency between the two groups. At the FCz electrode, the amplitudes of N200 of the OSA group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Therefore, we concluded that in the early stage of the perceptual integration task, although the neural response activity of patients with moderate and severe OSA was not accelerated, they need to call on more psychological resources, activate more neurons in the contour global recognition processing stage, and the compensatory effect of frontal lobe appeared in the stage of visual perception.

The world is experiencing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic and in the absence of an effective vaccine or drug(s), the scenario is expected to prolong. Though trials are on to identify the effective and safe vaccine/drug among the several candidates, the results are expected to be delayed. Till then preventive measures remain the best option to contain the transmission of COVID-19 virus. Hand hygiene is one of the most important and widely publicized preventive measures apart from physical distancing, cough and sneezing etiquettes, and wearing face masks. However, there are reports of increased incidence of dermatology consultations for hand eczema attributed to frequent hand washing/ sanitization in healthcare workers and the general public.

This study introduces visual cognition into Lithium-ion battery capacity estimation. The proposed method consists of four steps. First, the acquired charging current or discharge voltage data in each cycle are arranged to form a two-dimensional image. Second, the generated image is decomposed into multiple spatial-frequency channels with a set of orientation subbands by using non-subsampled contourlet transform. NSCT imitates the multichannel characteristic of the human visual system that provides multiresolution, localization, directionality, and shift invariance. Third, several time-domain indicators of the NSCT coefficients are extracted to form an initial high-dimensional feature vector. Similarly, inspired by the HVS manifold sensing characteristic, the Laplacian eigenmap manifold learning method, which is considered to reveal the evolutionary law of battery performance degradation within a low-dimensional intrinsic manifold, is used to further obtain a low-dimensional feature vector. Finally, battery capacity degradation is estimated using the geodesic distance on the manifold between the initial and the most recent features. Verification experiments were conducted using data obtained under different operating and aging conditions. Results suggest that the proposed visual cognition approach provides a highly accurate means of estimating battery capacity and thus offers a promising method derived from the emerging field of cognitive computing.