On Failing to be Cartesian: Reconsidering the ‘Impurity’ of Descartes’s Meditation

Abstract

This paper begins from the observation that in the Meditations, Descartes never achieves the ‘pure’, thoroughly decontextualized kind of thinking he famously promoted. Some commentators have used this observation to promote pure inquiry more diligently and to criticize Descartes for failing to achieve it. Other commentators have simply called for greater historical fairness and urged that we renew our efforts to understand how Descartes’s inquiry actually does operate. This paper, although sympathetic with this second group of commentators, argues that in revisiting the tensions between what Descartes actually accomplished and what he said he was trying to accomplish, we should see a contemporary lesson, not just better historical understanding. It is argued that in spite of the strong presence in his writings of the imagery of the ‘Cartesian’ ideal of a perfectly presuppositionless philosophical standpoint, not only does Descartes himself never become a Cartesian, but his own practice provides perhaps the best evidence against the very possibility of the Cartesian ‘project of pure inquiry’ to which he aspired.     

How to relax and how not to relax: A re-evaluation of the work of Edmund Jacobson—I

Jacobson's method of progressive relaxation is contrasted with modified techniques that emphasize suggestion, brevity and the feeling of large contrasts between tension and relaxation. The experimental literature is reviewed, and suggests that the modifications may have been premature. The psychophysiological effects of suggestion are weaker than those of progressive relaxation. Tape-recorded instruction appears to be completely ineffective as a method for teaching relaxation as a skill that can be used across situations. Live training contributes more than simple feedback to Ss. Its effectiveness may lie in individualized adaptation of training technique. EMG biofeedback makes taped training more-effective, but contributes nothing to intensive live training. Despite its greater length, Jacobson's original technique is preferred to the modified techniques, particularly for cases where psychophysiological effects are important. Length of training does not, by itself, appear to be a critical factor.     

“Doing justice” in psychological methodology: From science and experiments to anecdotes

Methodology is intrinsically related to “object” and its quality is based on the degree to which a method is doing justice to the object, demonstrating the entanglement of ontic, epistemic, and ethical considerations. The intent of “doing justice” is at the core of methodology and is the de facto guiding principle for conducting research and for producing knowledge. Objects in psychology can range from subjectivity to science and conflicts emerge because of giving primacy to particular objects. Using this perspective, various meanings of doing justice, critics’ challenges, deviations from doing justice to an object, ethical-political dimensions and the dialectics of doing justice in relation to objects are discussed. If doing justice is at the core of methodology, then the issue becomes under what circumstances a particular method is doing justice in relation to a particular object. Contrasting the experiment with anecdotes, it is shown dialectically that the former has no privileged status in psychology, and that experiments that are not replicated only do justice as anecdotal evidence.     

The “discovery” of immigration in Spain: The politicization of immigration in the case of El Ejido

During the second half of the 1980s and the 1990s immigration in Spain raised keen interest in relatively restrictive circles (the administration, associations, academia, etc.), who shared the opinion that “Spain was experiencing a demographic transformation, turning from a country of emigration into a country of immigration”. As we enter the 21st century it is witnessing another important qualitative change. the issue is no longer a matter of administrative and “technical” concern, but political parties and society in general have begun to take it seriously. At the beginning of this decade then, this topic has become a “cuestión de Estado” (Raison d'État).A general overview based on relevant events over the period 1999–2001 shows us how immigration has definitively entered the social and political agenda. The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of this migration dynamic through a case study: the riots that took place in a market-gardening town in southeast Spain, El Ejido, in February 2000. Of all social events, El Ejido is the one that has played a pivotal role in framing the political and social debate, since it synthesises the main issues reflecting the Spanish management of immigration. These events have been the subject of many articles and books offering different and controversial interpretations. With El Ejido, Spain “discovered” immigration and began to undertake the formulation of its immigration issue. This is why it is worth focusing on this case study. The main questions I will pose are: what can we learn form the Spanish context? How can the contextual analysis of the El Ejido case study contribute to the debate on multicultural citizenship in Europe? My reasoning will move from the analysis of the particular context to subsequent theoretical reflections. In the concluding remarks I will summarize the main arguments challenging Spanish management of immigration two years after El Ejido.     

A Window in Time: A Response to “Disorders of Temporality and The Subjective Experience of Time: Unresponsive Objects and the Vacuity of the Future” by Stephen Seligman

This response to Stephen Seligman’s “Disorders of Temporality and The Subjective Experience of Time: Unresponsive Objects and the Vacuity of the Future” considers Seligman’s ideas in the context of field theory. Seligman’s notion of becoming a self in time is elaborated through the concept, derived from field theory, of how time assumes an “essential ambiguity” that may facilitate analytic change and psychological development. This response suggests further that such “essential ambiguity” in relation to time opens both the patient and analyst up to a variety of complex, bidirectional influences, such as unconsciously mediated intergenerational transmissions of trauma. In addition, this response explores Seligman’s ideas associated with an analyst’s moment-to-moment recognitions and a patient’s corresponding development of a self in time in terms of their implications for analytic participation and analytic self-care.     

A Review of: “A Guide to the Books of James Hollis”

This article provides a small, personal glimpse of what occurs in a barroom subculture, both negative and positive (e.g., the camaraderie of my Friday night “family members”). I look at life in a barroom from different angles and perspectives, ultimately discovering a great deal of sadness as I try to connect barroom life to my own personal background.     

Confusions about context in the judgment of facial expression: A reply to “the contempt expression and the relativity thesis”

A recent study of the effect of context in the judgment of contempt facial expression (Russell, 1991) was flawed by several confusions about what constitutes context. We argue that the context used should have ecological validity, through the use of many, rather than a few, facial expressions, which are spontaneous rather than posed, and which are judged by carefully selected judgment tasks, using clearly defined or well-understood emotional terms. The confusion in Russell's work between accuracy studies and agreement studies is also addressed.Paul Ekman's work is supported by a Research Scientist Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 06092). David Matsumoto's research is supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 42749).     

Depression in the Context of Disability and the “Right to Die”

Arguments in favor of legalized assisted suicide often center on issues of personal privacy and freedom of choice over one's body. Many disability advocates assert, however, that autonomy arguments neglect the complex sociopolitical determinants of despair for people with disabilities. Specifically, they argue that social approval of suicide for individuals with irreversible conditions is discriminatory and that relaxing restrictions on assisted suicide would jeopardize, not advance, the freedom of persons with disabilities to direct the lives they choose. This paper examines the idea promoted by some proponents of assisted suicide that it is reasonable to be depressed about one's diminished quality of life in cases of irreversible illness or disability and, therefore, such depression should not call into question the individual's competence to request assistance in dying. The concept of rational depression is defined and examined in the context of: four real-life cases involving individuals with disabilities who requested assistance in dying; a set of criteria commonly applied to decision-making to determine rationality; and research bearing on the emotional status of people with disabilities. It is concluded that although disability is associated with particular socially mediated stressors, there is no theoretical or empirical evidence to indicate that depression and its role in the right to die is dynamically different, more natural, or more reasonable for disabled people than for non-disabled people.     

A study on the theory of “returning to the original” and “recovering nature” in Chinese philosophy

The approach of returning to the original and recovering nature is a typical characteristic of Chinese philosophy. It was founded by the Daoist School and followed by both Daoist and Confucian schools. The precondition of returning to the original and recovering nature is the stillness and goodness within nature integrated into a whole afterwards. Its implementation includes not only returning to the original root so as to achieve the philosophical aim but also restoration to the original nature after it is injured by man’s physical nature and desire. The realization of human nature depends on the work making up for the loss of the original nature. Although there are different methods of realization concerning the return to the original nature, such as returning to the root, seeking the lost mind, extinguishing desire, being good at return, and the self-consciousness of intuitive knowledge, all of these aim at returning to the original nature of stillness and purity. The philosophical value consists in the unceasing pursuit of returning to the original nature.     

A Right to Understand Injustice: Epistemology and the “Right to the Truth” in International Human Rights Discourse

People's “right to truth” or their “right to know” about their government's human rights abuses is a growing consensus in human rights discourses and a fertile area of work in international and humanitarian law. In most discussions of this right to know the truth, it is commonly seen as requiring the state or international institutions to provide access to evidence of the violations. In this paper, I argue that such a right naturally has many epistemic aspects, and the tools of social epistemology can be helpful in elucidating what such a right entails. As a beginning for this project, I draw on those resources to argue that the right to know the truth is only meaningful if it includes a right to understand the abuses, and that such understanding can only come through the development of community epistemic capacities. Given this, I further argue that the state has a duty to support the development of these capacities, and that a critical place for beginning this process is in public schools.     

A review of: “Challenges to counselling and psychotherapy”

Alex Howard (1996) Challenges to Counselling and Psychotherapy, London: Macmillan, $11.99     

“A Singular Contribution to the Field of Religion and Aging”: Aging,Spirituality, and Religion: A Handbook

This study investigated the relative effects of structured group reminiscence on 34 seniors who were more or less religious. While similar in age, education, and self reported health, the more religious group (n = 21) reported a significantly higher level of intrinsically motivated religion (t(32) = 4.18, p < .001)     

A History of “Behavior” and “Mind”: Use of Behavioral and Cognitive Terms in the 20th Century

The Psychological Record - If we assume that the terms used in a book tend to reflect its orientation, this provides a way to compare the relative trajectories of the influences of cognitivism and...     

A Scientific Theory of the Development of Meditation in Practicing Individuals: Patañjali’s Yoga,Developmental Psychology,and Neurobiology

This article considers the psychology of meditation and other introverted forms of mystical development from a neo-Piagetian perspective, which has commonalities with biogenetic structuralist and neurotheological approaches. Evidence is found that lines of meditative development unfold through Patañjali’s stages at different rates in an echo of the unfolding of lines of cognitive development through Piaget’s stages at different rates. Similar factors predicting the degree of independence of development apply to both conventional cognitive and meditative contents. As the same brain and the same nervous system are involved in both cognitive developmental psychology and meditation there are likely to be commonalities between conventional psychological and transpersonal development. Neo-Piagetian transpersonal psychology predicts a variable landscape of spiritual development across traditions and individuals, in line with variability in the cultural learning environment.