H. Tristram Engelhardt,Jr., The Foundations of Christian Bioethics

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics -     

The politics of communities: a review of H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr.'s The Foundations of Bioethics

This review essay examines H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr.'s The Foundations of Bioethics, a contemporary nonfeminist text in mainstream biomedical ethics. it fo-cuses upon a central concept, Engelhardt's idea of the moral community and argues that the most serious problem in the book is its failure to take account of the political and social structures of moral communities, structures which deeply affect issues in biomedical ethics.     

A critique of Lilienfeld et al.'s (2000) "The scientific status of projective techniques"

Lilienfeld, Wood, and Garb (2000) published a largely negative critique of the validity and reliability of projective methods, concentrating on the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach (Exner, 1993), 3 systems for coding the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) cards, and human figure drawings. This article is an effort to document and correct what I perceive as errors of omission and commission in the Lilienfeld et al. article. When projective measures are viewed in the light of these corrections, the evidence for the validity and clinical usefulness of the Rorschach and TAT methods is more robust than Lilienfeld et al. represented.     

当代医学哲学的课题与历史责任--恩格尔哈特教授答杜治政教授问

2004年10月24日,本刊主编杜治政教授就<医学与哲学>杂志2004年第12期发表的<医学哲学研究纲要>及一组医学哲学方面的文章,致信美国<医学与哲学杂志>主编H. T.恩格尔哈特教授(H.Tristrm Engelhardt),提出了七个有关医学哲学研究和教育方面的问题,恩格尔哈特教授于2005年2月将答复寄给本刊,现予以发表,以飨读者.     

John W. Hinckley, Jr.: A Case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder

This article is about John W. Hinckley, Jr., whose attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981 was unsuccessful and whose trial in 1982 resulted in a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. It focuses on the view of psychiatric experts that he has a narcissistic personality disorder and on the fact that this diagnosis is the primary rationale for his continuing confinement to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. I conclude that the question of his release raises the difficult issue of the possible conflict between justice and care.     

The prostitution of psychotherapy: A feminist critique

Historically, psychotherapy has largely failed women and other marginalised people. Created by the mainstream to serve the mainstream, traditional therapy focuses on the individual and works to bring all individuals into line with the status quo. In contrast, feminist therapy (as one of the radical alternative therapies) emphasises the need for psychotherapy to be based in a socio-political philosophy which names oppression as the cause of most of the emotional and psychological distress experienced by individuals. A major emphasis is on change rather than adjustment. Traditional therapy is charged with: (1) reinforcing society's mystifications/lies/deceit; and (2) allowing itself to be used and degraded in service of the mainstream. The role of demystification, honesty and the pursuit of justice as therapeutic endeavours is discussed.     

The subject of psychology: A Lacanian critique

This paper provides an overview of Jacques Lacan's views on psychology, paying particular attention to how such critiques support a distinctively Lacanian view of the subject. Lacan attacked various facets of psychology, including: psychology's objectifying (and objectivistic) tendencies; the discipline's historical attempt to model itself on the natural sciences; its conceptual and practical prioritizations of the ego and consciousness; its frequent prioritization of developmental, biological and physiological paradigms above a careful analysis of the structures and operations of language and speech. The aim of the paper is not to systematically work through Lacan's various criticisms, still less to refute them. Ultimately, Lacan's historical attacks against psychology—apposite as they are—have their greatest value in helping us to strike some distance from commonplace assumptions and psychological assumptions about the nature of the subject.