From Pride to Cowardice: Obstacles to the Dialogical Classroom

Drawing on his own work in educational theory as well as his classroom experience, the author identifies important dialogical vices that he finds in his students: pride and cowardice. These vices are put both in the theoretical context of a greater understanding of the role of dialogue in learning and in the social context of the contemporary multicultural ethos from which the students come. In opposition to the vices, the author proposes dialogical virtues (humility, charity, and courage) and a concept of tolerance that help us to avoid pride and cowardice. In this way, we achieve genuine dialogue and multiculturalism and avoid what the author calls a pernicious multiculturalism     

The therapist's self in dialogical family therapy: some ideas about not-knowing and the therapist's inner conversation

In this article, the focus is on the therapist's self, which will be in line with Bakhtin's thinking, viewed as a dialogical self. First, the dialogical view of the self is situated in the context of psychology's traditional focus on the individual self. Then, leaning on Bakhtin and Volosinov, the self is described as a dialogue of multiple inner voices. Some of the implications of this concept for family therapy practice are examined, focusing especially on the therapist's participation in the therapeutic process and on the therapist's inner conversation. The author argues that not-knowing does not only refer to the therapist's receptivity and respect but also implies that the therapist is aware of his or her experience and reflects on how his or her inner conversation might inform and enrich the therapeutic conversation. Finally, these ideas are illustrated with a brief clinical vignette.     

Healing elements of therapeutic conversation: dialogue as an embodiment of love

From our Bakhtinian perspective, understanding requires an active process of talking and listening. Dialogue is a precondition for positive change in any form of therapy. Using the perspectives of dialogism and neurobiological development, we analyze the basic elements of dialogue, seeking to understand why dialogue becomes a healing experience in a network meeting. From the perspective of therapist as dialogical partner, we examine actions that support dialogue in conversation, shared emotional experience, creation of community, and creation of new shared language. We describe how feelings of love, manifesting powerful mutual emotional attunement in the conversation, signal moments of therapeutic change.     

The nature of science. A dialogue

In this dialogue the view of Paul Hoyningen-Huene as defended in Systematicity. The Nature of Science is presented and criticized. The approach is developed dialectically by the two interlocutors, a series of critical points are debated and an alternative view is introduced. The dialogical form is intended to honor the general philosophical approach of the author summarized in the last sentence of the book, where he states that he sees philosophy as an ongoing, open-ended dialogue.

     

‘All the Rest is Dance’: another look at Levinas

This paper begins by tracing the growing influence of Levinas’s thought in the humanities. Psychotherapy in particular has drawn on Levinas’s original contribution to ethics and is often inscribed within an existing dialogical frame of symmetry. The article discusses facets of Levinasian thought which have been neglected in psychotherapy, namely the notion of separation, in turn linked to the notions of asymmetry and of the traumatic subject, all at variance with dialogical therapy. A second, equally overlooked aspect of Levinas’s philosophy examined here concerns his politics. Some of the implications highlighted here are controversial: these relate to Levinas ‘naive Zionism’ and a prejudiced position in relation to Arab culture. Others are enlightening even if undeveloped: these relate to Levinas’s decolonial thinking of the 1970s. The paper reflects tangentially on the author’s clinical work, and calls for a more nuanced appreciation of Levinas’s philosophy which does not shy away from critique.     

Psychology as a discipline of discourse

This paper begins with a discussion of various layers of meaning now associated with the term ‘discourse’. Particular attention is paid to one aspect of discourse, namely the notion of ‘dialogue’. Some of Mikhail Bakhtin's ideas on dialogue are outlined, leading towards his emphasis on life, itself, being dialogical by its very nature. The author then articulates some of his own activities in psychotherapy,identifying various ways in which aspects of discourse are involved in his daily practice as a ‘professional conversationalist’. He then spells out an agenda for developing a psychology viewed and approached as a ‘discipline of discourse’. He finishes by indicating some of the implications of this perspective.     

Dialogue and power: a critical analysis of power in dialogical therapy

This article explores the relationship between dialogue and power in the practice of dialogue-oriented, "not-knowing" forms of therapy. It is argued that power of a dynamic and reversible kind infuses much ordinary social dialogue, and that the joint processes of power and resistance work together to render an interaction dialogical. In contrast, in dialogical therapy, overt exercises of power threaten the interaction's dialogical status, and power is deferred and denied by the therapist through not-knowing practices. A case study of Harlene Anderson's (1997) is used to illustrate that it is precisely power's presence that informs the practices of not knowing and uncertainty that characterize dialogical therapies. It is suggested that the not-knowing therapist withholds aspects of his or her voice as a condition for dialogicity. Instead, special speaking arrangements are required, in which the therapist's not-knowing is continuously communicated to the client, for the therapeutic conversation to remain dialogical. Without these speaking arrangements, I argue that therapy moves toward monologue. Therapists inherit powerful speaking positions from the institutional and sociocultural context, and the rejection of power within therapy serves only to conceal this aspect of power, which nevertheless pervades the therapeutic relationship. Finally, it is suggested that power is a "common factor"--shared by all therapies--and that our status as "inheritors" of power needs to be included in our understanding of the therapeutic process. This expanded view of therapy requires the re-theorization of dialogue, such that it includes, rather than excludes, considerations of power.     

What is this thing called love? Desire,psychotherapy and Plato’s symposium

The platonic dialogue, Symposium, is approached here through client work. This rich and complex text is not rushed through as if the point of a conversation must be its swift and clear termination, rather than how potentially fruitful, generative and transformative it is or may come to be when we reflect or engage in further conversation. This paper suggests that Symposium presents us with two ways of thinking about relating to another, and ends with some remarks about this platonic dialogue and psychotherapy that could, of course, be followed by more conversation.     

Jungian dialogism and the problem of depth

Notions of dialogical inquiry and of the dialogical self have become increasingly influential in contemporary psychology in response to the limitations of the traditional view of monologically encapsulated and radically disengaged consciousness. Conceptions of self and inquiry as intrinsically embedded in and constituted by our shared life with others seem to do better justice to the richly interconnected character of contemporary life. At the same time, our highly interconnected global world has also tended to foster a flattening of cultural and inter‐cultural horizons that undermines dialogical engagement in any deeply meaningful sense. What is needed is to enrich current conceptions of dialogue with an understanding of experiential and cultural depth. This paper seeks an understanding of the depth dimensions of dialogue through an engagement of dialogical self theory with Jungian dialogical thought. Critical to this engagement is to appreciate the expressive potential of Jungian dialogism beyond Jung's theoretical claims about dialogue.     

Differing ways, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dao</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Weg</Emphasis>: Comparative,metaphysical, and methodological considerations in Heidegger’s “Aus einem Gespräch von der Sprache”

This paper critically examines Heidegger’s 1959 dialogue, A Conversation from [von] Language – Between a Japanese and an Inquirer, across three distinct levels: as (1) a cross-cultural comparative exchange, (2) a meta-philosophical/ontological analysis of the fundamental relation between language and thought, and (3) a methodological inquiry into the phenomenology and hermeneutics of conversation. Despite the problematic nature of Heidegger’s explicit comparative engagement, I contend that his questioning of the possibility of “a conversation from house to house” provides a substantial clarification of the meta-philosophical difficulties inherent in comparative and cross-cultural philosophy. At the same time, his thinking with respect to hermeneutics provides a methodological clue to the possibility of and the normative conditions for understanding across such cultural differences.     

Criticism and conversational texts: rhetorical bases of role, audience, and style in the Buber-Rogers dialogue

This essay describes conversation as an ensemble accomplishment that can be illuminated by critics working with specific texts within a rhetorical framework. We first establish dialogue as the key concept for any criticism of conversation, specifying the rhetorical dimensions of interpersonal dialogue. Second, we show how template thinking is particularly dangerous for conversational critics and suggest a research (anti)method, based on a coauthorship, that provides a thoroughgoing dialogical access to texts. Finally, we exemplify dialogic criticism of a conversational text by analyzing the famous 1957 dialogue of philosopher Martin Buber and psychologist Carl Rogers.Portions of this essay were first developed in a presentation to the international interdisciplinary conference on Martin Buber: His Impact on the Human Sciences, San Diego State University, in October, 1991. A version of the present essay was presented at the Central States Communication Association and Southern States Communication Association Joint Conference, Lexington, Kentucky, in April, 1993. We acknowledge gratefully the assistance of Professor John Stewart in providing a copy of the audiotape of the Buber-Rogers dialogue, and also appreciate the assistance of Professor Maurice Friedman who, through interview and correspondence, shared his impressions of the event and helped us refine our analysis. We note that he disagrees strongly with us on several matters of interpretation.     

Dialectic and dialogue in the hermeneutics of Paul Ricœur and H.G. Gadamer

The present paper uses the theme of dialectic and dialogue to begin unraveling the similarities and differences between the hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur and H.G. Gadamer. Ricoeur is shown to distance himself from Heidegger by insisting on a dimension of explanation and distanciation (which he sometimes identifies with Plato's `descending dialectic') that cannot be reduced to, or absorbed by, understanding and appropriation. This same move, however, leads him to reject Platonic dialogue, with the attendant prioritizing of oral conversation over the written text, as a model for hermeneutics. Ricoeur therefore sees in Gadamer's recourse to such a model a regression to the problematic position of Heidegger. Yet the conception of philosophy as dialectical and dialogical which Gadamer finds in Plato is capable of responding to Ricoeur's objections. Where the fundamental difference between the hermeneutics of Ricoeur and Gadamer emerges is in the question of whether experience is fundamentally dialectical and whether language is inherently dialogical.     

Therapeutic moments are the key: foster children give clues to their past experience of infant trauma and neglect

Foster parents often despair over the lack of information about the past experience of the children in their care, particularly with children who have experienced infant trauma and neglect. In the context of family therapy these unknowns pose both a challenge and an opportunity. The author proposes that foster children gives clues to their past experiences in therapeutic moments, which the therapist may recognize as a result of her own inner conversation. In conjunction with a sound theoretical knowledge of infant trauma and neglect, these moments have the capacity to open a dialogue in the relationships between therapist, child and foster family. This dialogical process offers an opportunity for the child's past experience of infant trauma and neglect to be expressed in silence, and the foster parent's present experience to be heard in stillness, opening for them a way to go on beyond the family therapy sessions.     

A vision of dialogical pluralism in psychology

This paper argues for dialogical approach to pluralism in psychology. We argue that human psychology is both ontologically and epistemologically pluralistic and advocate an integrated approach to disciplinary pluralism based on mutual, dialogical engagement among psychology's diverse traditions. A framework for such dialogical engagement is developed from the standpoint of a hermeneutic understanding of pluralism. Some possibilities for implementing a dialogical approach to pluralism, in terms of intra-disciplinary boundary-work and oppositional contrasts among psychology's diverse traditions, are then considered as ways of promoting disciplinary integration through dialogue.     

Compassion with Justice: Harari’s Assault on Human Rights

Yuval Noah Harari contends that human rights are an outdated myth. He calls for replacing them with a new global ethic to meet crises as varied as environmental destruction, disruptive technologies, and extreme gaps between rich and poor. Toward that end, he outlines an ethics that exalts compassion and elides justice, an ethics that animates his trilogy: Sapiens, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I draw together the key elements in his personal ethics, tracing them to a combination of scientism, postmodernism, and Buddhism. I then argue that he misunderstands human rights, inflates the role of science in moral matters, and fails to reconcile his moral passion with his moral skepticism.     

Aging in Grace: The Spiritual Journey of Henri Nouwen

Henri Nouwen (1932–1996), author of The Wounded Healer and dozens of other books, is best known for his religious meditations and his guides to spiritual development. The Dutch-born priest was also a pioneering religious gerontologist. Early on, Nouwen recognized that the joys and vicissitudes of aging were a relatively unexplored pathway to maturity. This article explores Nouwen's increasing sophistication and candor as he probed the dimensions of aging—his own inner torments and hopes, his relationships with others (particularly his father), and his acceptance of life's finitude. The author, who considers Nouwen a mentor, insinuates his own voice into the conversation to highlight the paradoxical extent to which the particular markers of one's journey define a life ultimately give way to an identity grounded in the commonalities of human existence.     

THE VIEW OF THE SYSTEMICIST: A CONVERSATION

In this reflective dialogue, Humberto Maturana speaks about his understanding of living systems and its implications for psychotherapy. Dismissing the myth of "instructive interaction," Maturana argues that a simple causal conceptualization of therapeutic procedures producing precise and predictable effects in clients is incoherent with a theory of structure-determined systems. Instead, he contends that every therapeutic action is embedded in a network of relationships, whose dynamics must be appreciated by therapists in order for them to participate in the client's system and at the same time maintain the distance necessary to relate reflectively and in a noncontrolling fashion. Maturana contends that the profound and un­biased understanding that can follow from this stance fosters an awareness of the observer-dependent nature of "pathology," and provides grounds for a critique of larger cultural systems in shaping the distress or liberation of their members.     

Metatherapeutic communication: an exploratory analysis of therapist-reported moments of dialogue regarding the nature of the therapeutic work

The purpose of the study was to investigate the nature of metatherapeutic communication (MTC), defined as dialogue between therapists and clients on the nature of the therapeutic work and the means by which it can be of greatest help to clients. Twelve counselling psychologists, working pluralistically with 35 clients experiencing depression, described on post-session forms moments of negotiation and collaboration around the therapeutic work. Two main dimensions of MTC were identified: the subject matter of the MTC and the temporal focus of the MTC. In addition, MTC varied by the time at which it took place. These findings provide a framework for understanding the nature of MTC in counselling and psychotherapy, and the opportunities for implementing it in practice.     

Mystics and Sufi masters: Thomas Merton and dialogue between Christians and Muslims

The Cistercian, Trappist monk Thomas Merton (1915–1968), author of numerous books on Christian spirituality, monasticism and social commentary, was a forerunner in popular inter‐religious dialogue in the twentieth century. In this connection, he is best known for his sympathetic explorations of themes from Asian religions, particularly Zen and other forms of Buddhism. This article calls attention to his studies in Islam, initially under the guidance of Louis Massignon (1883–1962), and particularly in Sufism. It highlights his interactions with a number of contemporary Muslim thinkers, and describes his decade‐long correspondence with a Pakistani Muslim student of Sufi texts, a unique instance of a sustained dialogue in letters on religious themes between a Muslim and a Christian in modern times. The article also calls attention to the ways in which Merton took inspiration from Islamic sources in the development of his own spiritual teaching.     

Voices of Dialogue and Directivity in Family Therapy With Refugees: Evolving Ideas About Dialogical Refugee Care

In this article, we reflect on our evolving ideas regarding a dialogical approach to refugee care. Broadening the predominant phased trauma care model and its engaging of directive expertise in symptom reduction, meaning making, and rebuilding connectedness, these developing dialogical notions involve the negotiation of silencing and disclosure, meaning and absurdity, hope and hopelessness in a therapeutic dialogue that accepts its encounter of cultural and social difference. In locating therapeutic practice within these divergent approaches, we argue an orientation on collaborative dialogue may operate together with notions from the phased trauma care model as heuristic background in engaging a polyphonic understanding of coping with individual and family sequelae of forced displacement. This locating of therapeutic practice, as informed by each perspective, invites us to remain present to fragments of therapeutic positioning that resonate power imbalance or appropriation in a therapeutic encounter imbued with a social context that silences refugees’ suffering. In a clinical case analysis, we further explore these relational complexities of negotiating directive expertise and collaborative dialogue in the therapeutic encounter with refugee clients.