Kierkegaard on the (un)happiness of faith

Hegel famously accuses Christianity of ‘unhappy consciousness’: it has a normative goal – union with the divine – that it cannot, in principle, satisfy. Kierkegaard was intimately aware of this criticism and, unlike some of Hegel’s other accusations, takes it seriously. In this paper my co-author and I investigate the way in which Kierkegaard addresses this issue in two texts published in 1843: Fear and Trembling and ‘The Expectancy of Faith’. We are especially interested in how the two texts describe faith’s relationship to finitude: for instance, whether the person of faith is permitted to expect that God will bless her in particular and concrete ways. My co-author and I offer competing interpretations. I argue that there is a deep tension in the way faith is described in the two texts; my co-author argues that there is consonance.     

Psychoanalysis and change: Between curiosity and faith1

The IPA recently announced that it now recognized three sessions per week as a valid frequency for psychoanalytic treatment. From the debate that has ensued over the problems this decision is expected to cause, important insights can be gained into the current crisis of identity affl icting psychoanalysis. Technical aspects of therapy that were once considered peripheral have gradually acquired the status of core theoretical parameters. Freud was a man of science who was concerned with universal human phenomena. His disagreements with followers such as Jung and Adler centred on the major theoretical issues of the sexual nature of the libido and the existence of the unconscious. It is also interesting to note that Freud never distinguished between psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Where he did make a distinction, it was between psychoanalysis and the consciousness‐based psychotherapies, or those that used suggestion as a major tool. When the point has been reached where the frequency of sessions or the use of a couch is used to defi ne whether a treatment is psychoanalytic, some consideration of whether the right direction is being pursued is called for. A serious risk is being run of sacrifi cing our spirit of curiosity for the sake of tradition, becoming more concerned with repeating the formal aspects of practice than with the real purpose of psychoanalysis, the investigation of the most profound workings of human nature.     

回鹘道教杂考

维 吾 尔 族 的 祖 先 回 鹘 是 我 国 古 代 北 方 地 区 具 36.4,第 212～225行 ;有 悠 久 历 史 和 灿 烂 文 明 的 民 族 之 一 , 以 善 于 兼 容 外 第 30卦 离 , 回 鹘 文 作 kün … … 编 号 : T Ⅱ Y来 文 明 而 著 称 于 世 , 宗 教 信 仰 多 种 多 样 , 先 后 信 奉 36.11,第 161～173行 ;过 的 有 萨 满 教 、佛 教 、摩 尼 教 、景 教 、袄 教 、道 教 和 伊 第 41卦 损 , 回 鹘 文…     

Psychological healing and faith in the doctrine of Karma1

The doctrine of Karma enjoys wide acceptance by all cross-sections of the Hindu population. The doctrine is frequently invoked while seeking explanations for various life crises. This study is an effort to delineate its role in the healing process. A narrative study was conducted on middle-to-late age women who had undergone major life crises. Their narratives threw light on how these women used this doctrine to make sense of their suffering and readapt to the changed reality. The belief in the doctrine facilitated acceptance of and emergence from their tragic life events. It was concluded that more systematic work is required to understand the mental representation of the doctrine and its various tenets, which affect the healing process.