Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility

Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility CSR can be defined as an organization taking responsibility for the results of its activities upon employees, customers, the community and the environment. Usually organizations voluntarily exercise their improvements, commitments and performance reporting. CSR is the need for organizations to consider the greater good of their actions and the effect on all those around the organization from within, local community and globally. Often the effects must be thought of in terms of the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic impact or basically business decision of cost to implement versus return on investment. CSR is the process that guides company decision making and implementation activities in the areas of human rights, environmental standards, and compliance with legal requirements within its operations. PRACTICE: CSR can be thought of as the challenge organizations face to balance their social responsibilities with that of increased earnings and concerns according to shareholder and stakeholder expectations. CSR is generally applied to wherever firms operate encompassing both domestic and global economy. CSR applies to both the private sector commitments and activities then stretches beyond the just compliance with laws. Many organizations believe that focusing on new opportunities in interrelated economic, societal, or environmental demands in the marketplace provides a competitive advantage and stimulates creative solutions. PARTICULARS: CSR activities usually address many aspects of a firms behavior and key elements like health and safety, environmental community development, human rights, human resource management, community development, consumer protection, labor protection, supplier relations, business ethics, and stakeholder rights. Organizations are motivated to have stakeholders involved in their decision making process. A CSR approach is to promises the following. Improved financial performance. Improved accountability to investors. Improved employee commitment. Improved community relationships. Improved product branding. PERSONS: Bristol-Myers CEO Peter Dolan- His company has emerged from recent trouble due to issues stemming from the drug Plavix which is a blood thinner. Because of these and other past mistakes, Bristol-Myers has emerged a stronger company. An example is in the area of its environmental impact on the world, Bristol-Myers has reduced their greenhouse emission by 10% and worked towards obtaining a U.S. Green Building Council certified facility. Merck CEO Richard Clark- his company had problems with Vioxx, but has managed to solve those problems with programs that include a Corporate Responsibility Council that works to increase the number of employees involved. Transparency has been the major improvement within his company. HIP Investor CEO Paul Herman- is a corporate social responsibility consultant who believes grass roots produce the best solutions. One method is reaching out to the employees through an intranet that will give them a chance to express what improvements can be made and what community programs they will volunteer for. Korn-Ferry CEO Jay Millen- recommends a social; responsibility is not just a policy, it is a philosophy. A corporation should have a top-down strategy for CSR; if the philosophy and values are correct the rules will follow. PERIOD: Time period 1800s- CSR first started during this time period where companies that operated in rural areas build company towns. These towns including housing, stores, schools, and playground for children of their employees. Time period of 1930s- As part of President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal program, companies received tax breaks for donating money to charities. Time period of 1960s- Government steps in to regulate business with the formation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(EEOC), and the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA). This has compelled some companies to become more politically involved by contributing time and money to non-profits. Time period 2005- Surveys show that 98% of large corporations apply CSR in their strategic planning and 84% have seen their profits increase because of their actions. PLACES: Australia Established human rights laws that mandated the corporations must practice proper ethical behavior and human rights principals within their country and overseas. United States Environmental Protection Agency has enforced the standards established by the federal government for corporations in protection of the environment. United Nations This global organization has established policy for human rights throughout the world. PHRASES: CSR key terms- Charity principle- The principle that the riches people in the world should donate to the less fortunate. Stewardship Principle- mangers have an obligation to ensure benefits from their actions in society. Reputation- The essential characteristics that a corporation that influence their relations with the stakeholders. Enlightened self interest- The view that a company can be socially aware without losing its own objectives. Corporate citizenship- Apply CSR into practice. Legal obligation- The laws a company must follow established by the government. Iron law of responsibility- In the long run, those that do not use their authority in actions that society consider proper will lose it. PICTURES: Paul Hawken quote- If they (companies) believe they are in business to serve people, to help solve problems, to use and employ the ingenuity of their workers to improve the lives of people around them by learning from the nature that gives us life, we have a chance (Amaeshi, Osuji Nnodin, 2008, p.223). Karl-Henrik Robert quote- Business is the economic engine of our Western culture, and if it could be transformed to truly serve nature as well as ourselves, it could become essential to our rescue (Iankova, 2008, p.77). Mikhail Gorbachev quote We need a new system of values, a system of the organic between humankind and nature and the ethic of global responsibility (Amaeshi, Osuji Nnodin, 2008, p.223). Robert F. Kennedy quote- The future is not completely beyond our control. It is the work of our own hands (Pava, 2008, p.807). David Korten quote- to achieve true sustainability, we must reduce our garbage index that which we permanently throw away into the environment that will not be naturally recycled for reuse to near zero. Productive activities must be organized as closed systems. Minerals and other nonbiodegradeable, resources once taken from the ground, must become a part of societys permanent capital stock and be recycled in perpetuity, organic materials may be disposed into the natural ecosystems, but only in ways that assure that they are absorbed back into the natural production system (Amaeshi, Osuji Nnodin, 2008, p.223). Martin Luther King, Jr. quote- Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter (Iankova, 2008, p.77). PROSPECTS: The European Commission list of benefits for companies that adopt CSR criteria: Business ethics, the personal commitment of the companys directors, improve competitive, strengthen the companys image, prevent negative publicity, lawsuits or campaigns against the company, increase customer loyalty, stand out from the competition, improve human resources management, strengthen the loyalty of management staff, attract new employees, improve adaptation to change, cost reduction, tax breaks, less worker strikes (Fuentes-Garcia, F., Nunez-Tables, J. Veroz-Herradon, R., 2008). Research conduct my recent surveys have concluded the companies that practice CSR have increase financial success. A confirm fact from a recent customer survey the 70 % of customers indicated that they were more likely to buy from a socially responsible firm, in turn 50 % indicated that they not buy from a firm that was not socially responsible. PROBLEMS: Multinational corporations using operate outside the control of international laws. There is no international forum in which they could be prosecuted. CSR has limitations. The major limitation is that most ethical behaviors or charities which come under CSR require financial contributions. Some mangers feel their propriety should be making a profit for the stakeholders instead of giving money away to charities. PERFORMANCE: Examples of corporation that practice CSR principles. Nike has improved working conditions in their operations overseas. FedEx has begun to use hybrid trucks. General Electric has built health care centers in Africa. Employees are a key for CSR; they volunteer for community projects, are loyal to the company which results in increased profits. An organizations reputation has an effect on CSR; the impact can affect financial performance positively. Philanthropy by CSRs is interpreted positively by the public and organizations are often given the benefit of the doubt resulting steady stock prices. Sales increase CSR for corporations; cause-related marketing initiatives generates money through increased product sales and at the same time benefit charities. Poor CSR can negatively affect earnings and stock prices because of potential lawsuits and fines. PUBLICATIONS: Amaeshi, K., Osuji, O. Nnodim, P. (2008). Corporate social responsibility in supply chains of global brands: a boundaryless responsibility? Clarifications, expectations and implications. Journal of Business Ethics, 81 (1), 223-234. Fuentes-Garcia, F., Nunez-Tables, J. Veroz-Herradon, R. (2008). Applicability of corporate social responsibility to human resources management: perspective from Spain. Journal of Business Ethics, 82 (1), 27-44. Iankova, E. (2008). From corporate paternalism to corporate social responsibility in post communist Europe. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 29 (1), 75-89. Iyer, A. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and farmer suicides: a case for benign paternalism? Journal of Business Ethics, 85 (4), 429-443. Lawrence, A. Weber, J. (2008). Business Society: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy (12 ed.). New York, New York, United States of America: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Pava, M. (2008). Why corporations should not abandon social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 83 (4), 805-812. Pfau, M., Haigh, M., Sims, J. Wigley, S. (2008). The influence of corporate social responsibility campaigns on public opinion. Corporate Reputation Review, 11 (2), 145-154. Ubius, U. Alas, R. (2009). Organizational culture types as predictors of corporate social responsibility. Engineering Economics, 61 (1), 90-99. Valentine, S. Fleischman, G. (2008). Professional ethical standards, corporate social responsibility, and the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 82 (3), 657-666. National Directory of Corporate Giving. Directories Table HV80.N26. Columbia University Libraries database. http://www.columbia.edu/web/indiv/ business / refservices.html Web Sites and Internet Resources: http://search.ebscohost.com/ http://treehugger.com http://word.world-citizenship.org http://www.columbia.edu/ http://www.depauw.edu http://www.emeraldinsight.com http://www.google.com http://www.ineedmotivation.com / http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/ http://www.robertfkennedylinks.com

Wrights Native Son as Communist Manifesto? :: Native Son Essays

Wright's Native Son as Communist Manifesto? Was Richard Wright's Native Son a story about his views towards Capitalism and Communism ? Did Richard Wright want to show the good and bad points towards Capitalism and Communism ? Or was this novel just about how a young man went through life and how society made him. Richard Wright's Native Son shows that he used the Dalton's, Thomas's, and Jan Erlone to represent Capitalism and Communism . After reading Richard Wright's Native Son, many believe the author purposely placed the Thomas family in a small, run-down home . The book shows this right from the start . Bigger and his family had to sleep in the same room, and big rats were running around the house . This shows the Thomas family represented the lower class, a trademark of Capitalism . I could not even imagine living there, especially with that huge rat .The house must have been very dirty and disgusting by today's standards . The author wanted to show how some families live under these severe conditions. He made us see vividly how they lived with this quote . "A huge black rat squealed and leaped at Bigger's trouser-leg and snagged it in his teeth, hanging on." This showed how broke they were by showing that there were giant rats living with them and how it had no fear of them . Richard Wright did not just not just want to show the con sides to Capitalism, he also wanted to prove the Capitalism has its good sides to it also . For instance, Richard Wright purposely placed the Daltons in a spectacular house and made them very rich and famous . Another trademark of Capitalism, the upper class. The author showed how some of the Capitalist folks lived . The upper class is very wealthy and basically gets what they want . Mr. and Mrs. Dalton had it made. They had chauffeurs, a huge house, and cars . They had too much money . They were giving away things to the needy, though they were giving away useless things to the needy like Ping- Pong tables. Richard Wright wanted to show that the upper class were afraid of the blacks . Not afraid of their individual physical strength, but

Outsourcing Inmates :: Globalization essays, research papers

Outsourcing Inmates is a Bad Move Governor Greg Benson wants to outsource the states medium security prisoners. Outsourcing would mean send inmates in the states prisons out of state to serve their prison sentence. We would be sending these inmates who aren’t just a number; they are fathers, sons, and grandchildren to prisons in states such as Texas or Georgia. He says this will help with over crowding and will save New Hampshire tax payers money. Shipping inmates out of state will hurt the community’s of New Hampshire, it won’t save much money, and is a bad idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  About 70 protesters, calling them selves Families of New Hampshire Inmates, gathered outside the statehouse on March 15, 2004. The prison staff and families of inmates are concerned about Governor Benson’s plan to ship inmates out of state, which will also send jobs out of state (Inmate). Charlene Newman, a Massachusetts resident, insists it is irresponsible to make budget cuts to the Department of Corrections; it puts a strain on public safety. â€Å"If they send our families away, they are just warehousing them,† Newman said. â€Å"They are going to send them back to this community not reformed, and our communities are going to be unsafe† (qtd in Inmates). Another protester was Portsmouth’s mayor Evelyn Sirrell. Her son is in the state prison on a kidnapping sentence. â€Å"To sit in that room and watch the children, the wives, and the grandparents visit their loved ones is very warming,† Sirrell said. â€Å"I’ve been t aking my 8-year old grandson to visit his father regularly, and his face just lights right up. To snatch that away just isn’t right. I’ll fight this, and fight it and keep on fighting it† (qtd in Manning). â€Å"There’s still a feeling that they are a throw-away society. But everybody makes mistakes, and we should give these inmates a chance to bounce back,† Sirrell said. â€Å"Separating them from there families will make it that much harder for them† (qtd in Manning). David Michaud, an inmate at Concord state prison, said the governor’s proposal is causing â€Å"anxiety† and â€Å"uncertainty† among the inmates. (CCA) The Executive Councilor of NH, Peter Spaulding, doesn’t agree with Benson either. He notes the Governor didn’t even consult with the council or legislators before enouncing his plan. â€Å"To me it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Nobody went to the legislature or the council, and there wasn’t even much consultation with corrections officials from what I can tell,† Spaulding said.

Shedding a Different Spotlight on the Argument from Design :: Essays Papers

Shedding a Different Spotlight on the Argument from Design "Author is to book, as painter is to __________." Anyone who has taken the SAT is familiar with analogies similar to this one. The significance of analogies relies on the fact that analogies not only tell us about the meaning of words, but they tell us about the relationships of the world. In discussing our world, a well-known, much-debated topic has been the existence of God. Many arguments have been presented on both sides of this issue, the teleological argument (the argument from design) is one of the most discussed. This argument is better understood and supported using analogies. The key is to find an analogy that is grounded and plausible enough to stand up to sharp critiques. The teleological argument is a valid and plausible argument, because it allows enough evidence for the relationship of the Creator and the world to be analogous to that of a director and a musical. The basics of the teleological argument include the statement that the apparent design of the world suggests a Designer. William Paley, the populizer of this argument, uses an analogy that states the relationship of the Creator to creation is like that of a watch-maker to a watch (Rowe & Wainwright 155). The core of this argument is the claim that the design of the world suggests an intelligent designer. It further states that "something suggests intelligence if (1) it serves the sorts of ends that human minds typically propose to themselves†¦ and (2) the results are achieved in a reasonably effective manner" (Wainwright 52). This is the ground where this paper will begin to formulate an analogy that increases the plausibility of the design argument. The analogy I prefer is theatrical. The participants in a musical play include the musicians, actors, singers, dancers, stage and crew members. Each of these members is an integral piece in the body of the production. The director is the heart-beat of the production. Without the director, there would not be a musical. The director begins the formation of the musical with an end in mind-- a vision. The director uses a variety of methods to convey this vision to the players involved while guiding them in making that vision a reality. The players must cooperate with each other throughout the process and follow the director's instructions in order for the production to even resemble the director's vision.

Albert Einstein Essays -- Essay s Papers

Albert Einstein Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm Germany. He lived there with his parents, Herman and Pauline. After a year in Ulm, due to the failure of his father's electrical and engineering workshop, the Einstein family moved to Munich (the capital of Bavaria), where after a year in residence there, Einstein's mother had Maja, Einstein's sister. Despite the fact that he was Jewish, from age five until age ten, Einstein attended a Catholic School near his home. But, at age 10, Einstein was transferred to the "Luitpold Gymnasium," where Latin, Greek, History, and Geography were pounded into childrens' heads. His parents wanted him to finish school, get his diploma so he could go to a University, and then become an electrical engineer. But Einstein had other Ideas for his future. Einstein's father wanted him to attend a university but he could not because he did not have a diploma from the Gymnasium. But there was a solution to this problem over the Alps, in Zurich, there was The Swiss F ederal Institute of Technology which did not require a diploma to attend. The one thing it did require was the applicant to pass an entrance exam. But then yet another problem arose, most scholars were 18 when they entered the institute, and Einstein was only 16. Einstein took the risk, and in the autumn he was dispatched over the Alps. Einstein took the exam, but did not pass. The principal of the school was impressed with his abilities, so he was admitted to the cantontal scho... Albert Einstein Essays -- Essay s Papers Albert Einstein Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm Germany. He lived there with his parents, Herman and Pauline. After a year in Ulm, due to the failure of his father's electrical and engineering workshop, the Einstein family moved to Munich (the capital of Bavaria), where after a year in residence there, Einstein's mother had Maja, Einstein's sister. Despite the fact that he was Jewish, from age five until age ten, Einstein attended a Catholic School near his home. But, at age 10, Einstein was transferred to the "Luitpold Gymnasium," where Latin, Greek, History, and Geography were pounded into childrens' heads. His parents wanted him to finish school, get his diploma so he could go to a University, and then become an electrical engineer. But Einstein had other Ideas for his future. Einstein's father wanted him to attend a university but he could not because he did not have a diploma from the Gymnasium. But there was a solution to this problem over the Alps, in Zurich, there was The Swiss F ederal Institute of Technology which did not require a diploma to attend. The one thing it did require was the applicant to pass an entrance exam. But then yet another problem arose, most scholars were 18 when they entered the institute, and Einstein was only 16. Einstein took the risk, and in the autumn he was dispatched over the Alps. Einstein took the exam, but did not pass. The principal of the school was impressed with his abilities, so he was admitted to the cantontal scho...

Gender Stereotypes in Films Essay

Erwin Goffman (1959) in â€Å"The Presentation of Self,† asserts that â€Å"when an individual plays a part he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before him. † That is, individuals tend to behave according to the accepted norms and behaviors of the culture or society they are a part of, and in turn reinforce and reproduce these set of norms and behavior by acting according to them. Accordingly, each individual actually â€Å"believe that the character he or she sees in him/herself or in another person actually posses the attributes that he or she appears to posses† (Goffman 1959) which is how individual and collective identities are formed. Likewise, symbolic interactionism, espoused by Herbert Blumer(1969), asserts that â€Å"human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings they ascribe to those things,† wherein â€Å"the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society. † Thus, society is able to create, enforce, and reinforce gender segregation through the construction of a set of standards that define what femininity or masculinity is within a particular culture which is propagated and learned through social interaction of individuals. Unfortunately, the norms and codes for accepted behavior are mediated upon not only by the individual and the society he or she is a part of, but also by issues of power and control over the instruments of cultural production and reproduction such as the mass media. The mass media as a powerful vehicle of prevailing attitudes and norms therefore plays a tremendous role not only in the propagation of value systems but also in the creation and maintenance of oppressive and disempowering standards. An examination of gender stereotyping in the mass media, particularly in film, would reveal that the media perpetuates and continues to reinforce sexist beliefs on men and women’s experiences of romantic love and sexual desire. This is shown in the portrayal of women in music videos, where the identities of women are portrayed either as damsels in distress or sex kittens—in both ways pining and waiting for the male’s sexual desire. Some songs even carry outright masochistic tendencies, such as Shaggy’s â€Å"Hey, Sexy Lady† video which portray women as deserving of, or even asking for, undue sexual attention or violence from the male by objectifying their bodies for men’s sexual purposes. Even in songs that purportedly carry empowering messages for women, the female is still rendered subject to the loneliness and despair of looking for Mr. Right despite the illusion of giving the character the freedom to choose her partner, as illustrated in Leann Rime’s video â€Å"Something’s Gotta Give† or â€Å"Can’t Fight the Moonlight. † In the latter video, women’s hapiness is shown to be largely dependent not on herself but on the attention of the male population. On the other hand, men continue to be depicted in the media as the stronger sex, often shown as the virile and aggressive sexual animal, the predator on the prowl for his prey in contrast to the more subdued dating expectations of women. This is shown in Shaggy’s video, â€Å"It Wasn’t Me† which show graphic sexual scenes of the male character cheating on his girlfriend, which insinuates that infidelity is alright for men if they don’t get caught and perpetuates the notion that men are made macho by their promiscuity. Thus, it comes without surprise that despite the rise of feminist and gender theory, gender stereotyping remains pervasive as ever. This is due in part to the fact that stereotypical gender roles have become deeply ingrained within and to a large extent, have been established as a norm, in today’s modern culture and in part to the continuing enforcement and reinforcement of these stereotypes by the mass media, which clearly validate Goffman’s theory on identity formation as well as Blumer’s theory of how individuals only interpret things and actions from the perpective of the culture they are in . As Goffman observes, individuals are shaped not only by the impressions they create for others but also by the impressions and meanings that others create and at the same time prescribe for them. Through the images of women portrayed by the media, young girls are led to believe that they should learn to present themselves in exactly the same way as the socially contructed image of women: beautifully made-up, submissive, and often desperate for the attention of men. On the other hand, the media also mirrors and at the same time prescribes its ideas and concepts of what should constitute maleness: dominance, power, virility, and aggressive sexual desire . Music Video Links: Rimes, Leann. â€Å"Can’t Fight the Moonlight. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=YO_7XLdtaI8 Rimes, Leann. â€Å"Something’s Gotta Give. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=_tgf7MpQ0c4 Shaggy. â€Å"It Wasn’t Me. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=cQ4axo9rmJY Shaggy. â€Å"Sexy Lady. † http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=PG2h0NgJN9s&feature=related

Chinese Somatic Science Essay

In 1984 when the Japan-France symposium was held, scholars of religion, medicine and psychology were gathered from both sides, and they engaged in discussion in order to promote the movement of New Age Science. I included a suggestion, made from the Japanese side, presentations on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Parapsychology, Eastern martial arts and their demonstrations. In the martial arts demonstration there was included the performance of a technique in which a master martial artist, by emitting ki-energy (chi-energy), makes opponents, who are spatially distanced from him, fall down. This technique is called â€Å"distant hitting† [to-ate: é   Ã¥ ½â€œÃ£  ¦], and it became a conversation piece, attracting people’s attention. As a result, many q(g(ng (Chi-gong) masters came to visit me. I studied their techniques, and experienced ki-energy as a subject of their q(g(ng techniques. Afterwards, I went to China to learn about its actual situation. While I was staying in Beijing in 1997, the Chinese Society for Somatic Science (CSSS) was established. The leaders of this society came to see me with a request to make efforts to propagate q(g(ng in Japan. In the following year, I invited scholars and q(g(ng masters from China and held a symposium â€Å"Ki (Chi) and Human Science† in Tokyo.[i] At about this time, a q(g(ng boom was being generated. After this conference, I went to China many times to investigate and study q(g(ng. I will introduce its fundamental ideas, while incorporating my own opinion. Chinese Somatic Science focuses on the three fields of traditional Chinese medicine, q(g(ng and special abilities as its main objects of research. â€Å"Special abilities† refer to what parapsychology calls psi-ability (paranormal ability). A central focus in each of these fields is ki-energy as the object of research. Traditional Chinese Medicine understands the fundamentals of the human body’s organization by means of the network of meridians. Meridians are channels of energy which circulates in the interior of the human body. However, they are an invisible system which cannot be discovered by dissecting a corpse. In other words, they are a system unique to the body that is active while it is alive. I am taking this to mean, for now, like a system that organizes the subject-body (i.e. the lived body) of which Merleau-Ponty speaks. An important point, when it is seen from a theoretical point-of-view, is that the meridians are a system which does not agree with the mind-body dichotomization established since Descartes. That is to say, ki-energy is conceived to be a life-energy which has both physical and psychological characteristics. The fundamental principle of needle therapy used in traditional Chinese medicine lies in activating the circulation of ki-energy within the human body by infusing fresh ki-energy into the human body, while eliminating the stagnant and inferior flow of ki-energy. Next is q(g(ng. Q(g(ng teaches us that the activity of ki-energy can be heightened through a repeated training. Consequently, we can understand that q(g(ng, theoretically speaking, has a characteristic commensurate with the training in martial arts. It is a bodily technique with a tradition stretching from ancient times. In the case of medical therapy, a mature q(g(ng doctor guides patients to train themselves and practice q(g(ng on their own. Here we can discern a methodology different from the therapeutic method of modern medical science. While modern medical therapy leaves patients to assume a passive standpoint of simply receiving doctor’s treatment, q(g(ng lets them assume an active standpoint of training themselves. The point of this training lies in activating the natural healing power latent in the interior of one’s own body. Ki-energy is thought to be the energy that controls the foundations of life-activity. The training means to promote and purify the activity of ki-energy inside of one’s own body, and to transform it to the ki-energy of a better and higher quality. Therefore, it is a therapeutic method as well as a method of maintaining and promoting health. That is, it can become a method of maintaining health by continually training oneself daily, while it is not limited to a time of sickness. Q(g(ng is divided into internal and external q(g(ng for the purpose of convenience. The training which a patient performs after receiving guidance belongs to the inner q(g(ng, while the outer q(g(ng refers to cases in which a mature q(g(ng master performs therapy on a patient or subject. In these cases, the q(g(ng master usually touches the patient’s body with his hand, but there are cases in which a q(g(ng master, distancing himself from the patient, performs a therapeutic technique without making contact. It is probably safe to think that it is based on the same principle as the technique of therapeutic touch, which in recent years is beginning to spread in American. The third field that is called â€Å"special† ability in China, overlaps with the research of what is referred to in the West and Japan as parapsychology. On numerous occasions, I met with q(g(ng masters in China who have paranormal ability, and observed their technique, while engaging them in dialogue. I encountered people who can demonstrate a wonderful technique, not to mention clairvoyance and psycho-kinesis, which Rhine’s research problematized. Insofar as my research can confirm, there are cases of people who innately possess these abilities, and cases of people who have acquired them through training. If these abilities are used in the field of medicine, they can fulfill the same role as the external q(g(ng. Moreover, there are cases among master martial artists who can demonstrate this kind of ability, though its number is limited. One impression I have received when encountering these people is that there is a great difference between the East and the West in the foundational idea, when dealing with this kind of issue. While in the East this kind of issue has been dealt with as part of the issue related to self-cultivation, which traditionally has a cultural and religious background, there was no such historical and cultural background in the West. Consequently, parapsychological research in the West is preceded by an interest and concern from a theoretical point-of-view. This brings in the background of contemporary scholarly research where there is no concern for its relationship to daily activity. By contrast, in China’s case the practical purpose, as in the case of q(g(ng, looms in the purview of research. This kind of stance is based on the traditional ethos found in the history of science and technology in China. (Modern technology of the West emerged as an application of theory, where theoretical research does not take into account the relationship it has with the practical, daily activity of human beings.) When we examine it from a broader perspective, this kind of tendency is rooted in the philosophical tradition of the East which highly values the practical standpoint. However, there is a tradition in the East which admonishes people, as they are prone to fall into an ethically wrong tendency regarding paranormal phenomena. The tradition of East Asia such as that of China and Japan maintains that the bodily technique must conform to an ethical standpoint. Although I could hardly see such a spiritualistic stance in the contemporary situation in China and Japan, there were occasions where I met persons with such a stance, especially among the masters of martial arts, who are living among people, but not related to universities or academic institutions. In the tradition of Buddhism, this kind of â€Å"special† ability has been called â€Å"siddhi† [jints(riki; ç ¥Å¾Ã©â‚¬Å¡Ã¥Å â€º] and is considered a kind of a by-product that naturally emerges in the course of self-cultivation. Buddhism has persistently maintained that self-cultivation should not aim at acquiring this as its goal. For example, D(gen, a famous Japanese medieval Zen monk, teaches in the chapter of â€Å"Jints(† [Divine Power, i.e. paranormal power] in Sh(b(genz( that although Buddhism recognizes this kind of siddhi, it is a â€Å"small† siddhi, and the true â€Å"great† siddhi exists in the midst of such everyday activities as drinking tea and eating a meal. This reminds me of Yang Xin, a q(g(ng master, who is now actively promoting q(g(ng in America. When I saw him in Beijing some time ago, he told me that he was now studying â€Å"distant q(g(ng† [Chin. yu(g(q(g(ng; Jap., enkaku kik(, é   Ã©Å¡â€Ã¦ °â€"功]. He was accompanied by a twelve-year girl, who was his experimental subject. I asked him why he was conducting such an experiment. He replied: â€Å"I am not trying to become famous by showing off this kind of technique. As I read a description in a classic on the method of self-cultivation that one can perform this kind of technique, I just wanted to know if it is true or not.† Then he wrote on a piece of paper â€Å"Ã¥ ¤ §Ã© â€œÃ§â€ž ¡Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã¢â‚¬  [Chin., d(d(ow(y(n; Jap., daid(mugon] This phrase means that â€Å"The Great Dao remains silent and does not speak.† Herein lies, it would seem, a difference in the traditional ethos between the Eastern martial arts and Western sports. The historical origin of Western sports goes back to the Olympian events in ancient Greece. They emerged, based on the demands of a battlefield such as physical strength, stamina, running, throwing, and the handling technique of a house-drawn cart. We might say that the custom of the modern Olympics in which a record is valued more than anything else inherits this traditional idea. By contrast, in the tradition of the martial arts in the East runs an idea which emphasizes spirituality, even though the martial arts developed, like those of ancient Greece, through techniques used on the battlefield. The history of the Chinese and Japanese martial arts was nurtured through the influence of Buddhism and Shintoism. It came to develop the idea that training in martial arts has the meaning of enhancing one’s ethical personality. Consequently, the stance of respecting the opponent’s personality and capacity was sought in performing techniques. For example, Mr. Ueshiba Morihei, founder of Aikid(, states that â€Å"Martial art is love.† The ultimate goal of martial arts is not to win by defeating an opponent, but to harmonize with an opponent such that people can love each other under â€Å"that which is great† transcending humans. It would seem that â€Å"research on the prayer,† which has been recently initiated in America, incorporates this kind of spiritual idea. Incidentally, I came to realize in the course of investigating the Chinese Somatic Sciences that the standpoint of psychology was lacking. In modern China, which used Marxist materialism as its guiding principle for establishing the nation, psychology was not studied until the time of the Cultural Revolution, as anti-thetical to materialism. Even q(g(ng was an object of suppression. Today, however, the study of psychology is recognized to be legitimate, and the exchange with Japan is making an advance. I have practiced meditation since my youth, and have continued to research and study it. Meditation methods in the Chinese tradition were called â€Å"quiet q(g(ng† and stands a pairing relationship with the usual â€Å"moving q(g(ng† which mobilizes the body. However, almost no meditation methods are practiced in contemporary China. This is probably due to the fact that meditation methods such as those of Buddhism and Daoism were developed within the tradition of religious culture, and declined as a consequence of persecution after the modern period. When somatic science was established in Japan in 1991, we used for its English designation the Society for Mind-Body Science (SMBS), as I felt the importance of psychology. The fundamentals of meditation lie, after all, in promoting the circulation of ki-energy. When it is seen from the point-of-view of psychology, ki-energy designates libido. It is life-energy equipped in the unconscious and the body. The foundational idea that is placed in The Secret of the Golden Flower, a meditation text of Daoism, is to transform and sublimate ki-energy from the state of libido (Chin., j(ng; Jap., sei, ç ² ¾) to the state of â€Å"divine subtle energy† (Chin., sh(n; Jap., shin, ç ¥Å¾). Ki-energy changes into a spiritual energy, when the instinct and desire in one’s unconscious region are purified. Freud insisted that neurosis develops when conscience suppresses the activity of libido, while Jung claimed that libido is an energy related to religiosity. When one touches the activity from the dimension of primal origin, the love of others is transformed from the eros of flesh to spiritual love. To summarize the foregoing, ki-energy is an energy that controls the whole of psychology, medicine, and bodily technique, including the relationship between the environment and the human body. The philosophical guideline that comprehensively includes all of these fields is sought in the idea of the y(n-y(ng exchange of ki-energy which has its origin in the Yà ¬j(ng. According to its conceptual paradigm, nature as an environment is endowed with life, and is fostered to grow, by means of the activity of ki-energy issuing from the Dao that exists in the ultimate dimension. Human beings, along with other life activities, are receptive of this energy and are made to live. Purifying it to a sublime level brings about an enhancement of ethical personality.