Nishida,Agency, and the ‘Self-Contradictory’ Body

In this essay, I investigate Kitarō Nishida's characterization of what he refers to as the ‘self-contradictory’ body. First, I clarify the conceptual relation between the self-contradictory body and Nishida's notion of ‘acting-intuition’. I next look at Nishida's analysis of acting-intuition and the self-contradictory body as it pertains to our personal, sensorimotor engagement with the world and things in it, as well as to our bodily immersion within the intersubjective and social world. Along the way, I argue that Nishida develops a rich and exceedingly current way of thinking through different facets of embodiment and interpersonal relatedness. I further argue that Nishida's work provides compelling reasons to foreground the mutually implicative, co-emergent nature of embodied self and world in our theorizing about the nature of self and experience.     

‘WITH PSYCHOSIS IN MIND’ – the reverberations of the psychotic encounter

Psychoanalytic theory offers a varied conceptual system for considering psychosis by providing a coherent representation of the anxieties and processes at work in adult patients. But at the practical clinical level, it is not enough simply to ‘think about psychosis’ and have a theoretical system in place. The therapist must also ‘have psychosis in mind’, that is, get to grips with its forms of logic, gain familiarity with its workings, and learn to understand and accept the effects it has on the therapeutic relationship and on their own expectations. Clinicians engaged in this type of work must be able to tolerate getting back in touch with processes deemed archaic at the core of their own psychological functioning, which will impact their ability to listen and think. These chaotic processes demand a change of approach since they cause a ‘desymbolisation’ that perturbs the internal mental structure of the therapist. This ‘desymbolisation’ is therefore the locus of the therapeutic work, which must attempt to render it comprehensible and represent it. A case study illustrates these processes.     

Herbert Thorndike and Anglican Ecclesiology: ‘Classical’ Perspectives in Aid of Reconstruction

Abstract

The stream of theology associated with the ‘Caroline’ divines through the Stuart, Interregnum and early Restoration periods provides creative ecclesiological reflection. This is chiefly true of Herbert Thorndike who constructed the most in-depth exposition of the church during the period. Through a presentation of his method, then foundations and structures of his ecclesiology, Thorndike is shown to advance ‘Anglican’ ecclesiology in its accountability to historical data and in the correlation of church ministry and structure to the apprehension of Christian truth.     

Mary – ‘Mother of the Church’: challenging conciliar ecclesiology

On 21 November 1964, at the end of the third session of the Second Vatican Council, the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium (LG), was solemnly adopted together with its final chapter on Mary. Simultaneously, Pope Paul VI proclaimed the Marian title Mater Ecclesiae. This article will both review the Council’s debate and identify the specifics of the title Mater Ecclesiae. The Council had rejected the idea of awarding this title to Mary, even though chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium mentions her ‘function as mother’ (LG 60). In proclaiming this title, Paul VI did not follow the Council, which had located Mary within the Church. The question therefore arises as to whether Mary, as the ‘Mother of the Church’, is now placed outside the Church.     

Ramsey, ‘Universals’ and atomic propositions

In ‘Universals’ (1925), Ramsey declares that we do not, and cannot, know the forms of atomic propositions. A year later, in a symposium with Braithwaite and Joseph, he announces a change of mind: atomic propositions may, after all, be discoverable by analysis. It is clear from the 1926 paper that Ramsey intends this to be a revision of the 1925 claim. Puzzlingly, however, Ramsey does not mention analysis in 1925. My task in this article is to provide a justification for that change of mind. My argument consists of two parts. I first show what relation holds between the negative 1925 assertion and the more positive 1926 assertion which allows us to read the latter claim as a retraction of the former, as Ramsey appears to have intended it. Then I shall argue that the retraction of the 1925 claim is forced upon Ramsey by reflection on the fact that three theses, all of which he held in or around the relevant period, are, rather surprisingly, revealed to be inconsistent.     

Many Selves in One Body: Discussion of “The Entropic Body”

The discussion of Wooldridge’s paper (this issue) offers two theoretical ideas to conceptualize the psychodynamics and treatment of individuals with severe eating disorders. Multiple self-states posited by Philip Bromberg and others allows for an understanding of the often contradictory nature of eating disorder symptomatology. Pathological organizations and primitive anxieties, elaborated by Paul Williams, suggests that the deep psychotic layer of the personality must be reckoned with in order to help the patient. Wooldridge’s patient Sara is discussed from these two perspectives, and technical considerations are offered.     

Body Hair Removal: The ‘Mundane’ Production of Normative Femininity

Although womens body hair removal is strongly normative across contemporary Western cultures, only two studies of mundane depilation have been published, and they were based on data from the US (Basow, 1991) and Australia (Tiggemann & Kenyon, 1998), respectively. The present survey, comprised of a sample of 678 women, extends this work. We investigated UK practices, a wider array of body regions and removal methods, and the relationship between depilation and age. Over 99% of participants reported removing some hair, most commonly from the underarms, legs, pubic area, and eyebrows. Shaving and plucking were the most common removal methods. Significant relationships between age and leg, pubic, and facial depilation were found. Results document the normativity of hair removal, and we argue that hair removal is part of the taken-for-granted work of producing an acceptable femininity.     

The ‘Medical Body’ As Philosophy's Arena

Medicine, as Byron Good argues, reconstitutes thehuman body of our daily experience as a medical body,unfamiliar outside medicine. This reconstitution can be seen intwo ways: (i) as a salutary reminder of the extent to which thereality even of the human body is constructed; and (ii) as anarena for what Stephen Toulmin distinguishes as theintersection of natural science and history, in which many ofphilosophy's traditional (and traditionally abstract) questionsare given concrete and urgent form.This paper begins by examining a number of dualities between themedical body and the body familiar in daily experience. Toulmin's epistemological analysis of clinical medicine ascombining both universal and existential knowledge is thenconsidered. Their expression, in terms of attention,respectively, to natural science and to personal history, isexplored through the epistemological contrasts between themedical body and the familiar body, noting the traditionalphilosophical questions which they in turn illustrate.     

Seeing ‘the dark passenger’ – Reflections on the emotional trauma of conducting post-disaster research

This paper acknowledges ‘the [my] dark passenger’ of emotional vicarious trauma associated with conducting post-disaster research. Post-disaster research is tightly bounded by ethics and professional codes of conduct requiring us to be vigilant about the impact of our work on our participants. However, as a disaster researcher, I have been affected by vicarious trauma. ‘Direct personal’ vicarious trauma is where I experienced trauma associated with witnessing devastation making a professional separation from my objective subjects impossible. ‘Indirect professional’ vicarious trauma occurred when PhD students and others under my supervision that I sent to disaster affected places, experienced significant negative emotional responses and trauma as they interviewed their participants. In these situations, I became traumatised by my lack of training and reflected on how the emphasis on the participants came at the expense of the researcher in my care. Limited literature exists that focuses on the vicarious trauma experienced by researchers, and their supervisors working in post-disaster places and this paper is a contribution to that body of scholarship. In acknowledging and exploring the emotions and vicarious trauma of researchers embedded in landscapes of disaster, it becomes possible for future researchers to pre-empt this phenomenon and to consider ways that they might manage this.     

Sikh millennials of the ‘kirtan generation’ in the making of an ‘American Sikhism’

ABSTRACT

This essay focuses on the millennial generation of Sikhs in the United States. Based on extended ethnographic research in Sikh communities, the author explores the role of Sikh millennials in the making of an ‘American Sikhism’, the contours of which are taking shape having followed after the explosive growth of gurdwara communities – and the educational, social, and other resources they provide – which were largely made possible by the affluence of Sikh communities beginning with the previous ‘Brain Drain’ generation. In particular, the author discusses this ‘kirtan generation’ of Sikhs, educated in gurdwara schools, and their growing leadership of Sikh communities.     

On the Alleged Ambiguity of ‘Now’ and ‘Here’

It is argued that, in order to account for examples where the indexicals `now' and `here' do not refer to the time and location of the utterance, we do not have to assume (pace Quentin Smith) that they have different characters (reference-fixing rules), governed by a single metarule or metacharacter. The traditional, the fixed character view is defended: `now' and `here' always refer to the time and location of the utterance. It is shown that when their referent does not correspond to the time and/or location of the utterance, `now' and `here' work in an anaphoric way, inheriting their reference from another noun phrase. The latter may be explicit or implicit in the discourse. It is also shown that `now' and `here' can inherit their reference from a presupposed or tacit reference. In that case, they are coreferential with what will be labeled a `tacit initiator'. This anaphoric interpretation has the merit of fitting within the Kaplanian distinction between pure indexicals (`now', `here', `today', etc.) and demonstratives (`this', `that', `she', etc.).     

‘It’s the unknown’ – understanding anxiety: from the perspective of people with multiple sclerosis

Objective: A qualitative study of PwMS who had clinically significant levels of anxiety was conducted to gain a richer perspective on their experience. The objective was to explore PwMS’ experiences of anxiety and their perspectives on causes and outcomes. Design: Twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with PwMS consecutively recruited from the Neurology Department of a NHS University Hospital. Sixteen had a relapsing-remitting course, three had a secondary progressive course and one person had primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Although participants thought different factors had initially triggered their anxiety, being given the diagnosis of MS appeared to be the most significant factor for many participants. Difficulties in the workplace and in relationships, particularly related to perceived dependence on others were also important themes. A wide range of emotional responses and negative thinking patterns were associated with anxiety; this suggested the presence of comorbid depression. Participants were able to acknowledge the positive and negative coping strategies that impacted on their anxiety. Conclusion: This review confirms that anxiety can have many negative implications for PwMS and suggests that early detection and intervention are necessary in order to improve patient’s well-being.     

Al-Ghazali’s Position on the ‘Second Proof’ of the ‘Philosophers’ for the Eternity of the World,in the First Discussion of the Incoherence of the Philosophers

In the Incoherence of the Philosophers, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111) raised objections against the doctrine of the ‘philosophers’ (represented chiefly by al-Farabi and Ibn Sina) on 20 specific points. In the first, and longest discussion, he examines and rebuts four of their proofs of the pre-eternity of the world—that is, that the universe as a whole had no beginning but extends perpetually into the past. Al-Ghazali rejects that doctrine. But his own position on the issue does not become clear until he discusses the philosophers’ ‘second proof.’ In this paper, I will examine the relevant text of the Incoherence of the Philosophers, in order to clarify the nature of Al-Ghazali’s position in relation to the second proof. I will explain why Al-Ghazali cannot adopt what I refer to as the ‘naïve’ theological position, according to which God temporally preceded the world. Instead, Al-Ghazali concurs with the philosophers that time is the measure of motion, but he asserts that time was created with the world, both having a beginning before which there was no time. God, on the other hand, is not temporally prior to the world, but neither is he simultaneous, as the second proof supposes. As timelessly eternal, God bears no temporal relation to the world at all. In conclusion, I describe what I refer to as a naïve philosophical position, which is entailed by the second proof, but distinct from both Al-Ghazali’s position and that adopted by Ibn Rushd in his critique of Al-Ghazali in the Incoherence of the Incoherence. I argue that this naïve philosophical position (and thus, the second proof) is incoherent.     

Reiteration: The ‘Imperative of the Word’ and Echoing the ‘Significative Terms’

Abstract

The act of reiteration is viewed as a therapeutic reply that is especially responsive in the face of what Lacan (1977) and Heidegger (1927/1962) respectively refer to as “empty speech” and “idle talk.” By hearing and selecting those key signifiers and phrasings that bear the client's story of distress, the act of reiteration allows us to focus and address the “subject who speaks” rather than the commonsense storyline itself. As an active and continuing punctuation of the client's direct discourse at the level of the word, the act of reiteration is only the first moment of a more complete narrative reply. But in keeping the therapist ever grounded in the client's direct expressions, it is this first moment of reiteration that leaves the therapist positioned to be responsive to the client's discourse of “rhetorical displacements,” of intimation and allusion, as these “echo” from “elsewhere.”