Joined-up Thomism and the 'Second Quest' for Trinitarian Renewal

Book reviewed:
Scripture and Metaphysics: Aquinas and the Renewal of Trinitarian Theology , Matthew Levering, Blackwell 2004 (Hb 1-4051-1733-8; Pb 1-4051-1734-6), pp. x + 254, Hb £55/$61.95, Pb £19.99/$32.95     

Aquinas on Biological Individuals: An Essay in Analytical Thomism

This paper presents a version of analytical Thomism that brings the principles of Aquinas into systematic and sustained contact with the sciences as opposed to contemporary philosophy. The leading idea of this version of analytical Thomism is to test the viability of scholastic principles by seeing if they provide the resources to cope with problems emerging from the natural and social sciences. If they do, then Thomism vindicates itself in the marketplace of ideas. If not, then the analytical Thomist knows where the perennial philosophy needs further development and perhaps revision. The first part of the paper sets out the rationale for this project. The remainder of the paper illustrates this approach by examining a problem emerging from evolutionary biology, namely, the provision of a theory of individuation for living entities.     

A Century of Silence

This paper addresses how crimes of genocide go beyond a need for naked power, economic aggrandizement, or territorial conquest. Such crimes involve psychogenic and psychodynamic underpinnings that can be terrifying to contemplate. Yet their psychological study is essential. The Armenian genocide has been taken as a point of reference. Because the Armenian genocide has resulted in nearly a century-long effort of perpetrator denial, it can provide an important case study of how long-standing trauma and denial reinforce each other and illuminate each other. As a result, this genocide has aptly been called the “secret genocide,” the “unremembered genocide,” and a “crime without a name.” The author holds that genocidal trauma (and trauma in general) is contagious and the contagion is likely to be insidious. All who come in contact with it can come away marked, including victim, victim families and progeny, observers, advocates, researchers, and yes, perpetrators.     

A Quarter Century of Delayed Recall

Abstract

Maier, N. R. F. Studies of Abnormal Behavior in the Rat. New York: Harper, 1939. Pp. 81. Reviewed By Peter Hampton     

Rape: A Century of Resistance

In this paper, we offer an overview of feminist contributions to the reframing and redefinition of rape over the last century. Topics of discussion include empirical research on rape prevalence that shows a consistent 15% prevalence rate despite continuing rape prevention and education efforts. The effects of sociocultural interventions focusing on legal reforms and psychosocial interventions focusing on rape prevention and education efforts are reviewed. The paper concludes with suggestions for refocusing intervention efforts to include rape prevention training for men, rape resistance training for women, and community-based legal interventions.     

Anne Viscountess Conway: A Seventeenth Century Rationalist

The work of Spinoza, Descartes and Leibniz is cited in an attempt to develop, both expositorily and critically, the philosophy of Anne Viscountess Conway. Broadly, it is contended that Conway's metaphysics, epistemology and account of the passions not only bear intriguing comparison with the work of the other well-known rationalists, but supersede them in some ways, particularly insofar as the notions of substance and ontological hierarchy are concerned. Citing the commentary of Loptson and Carolyn Merchant, and alluding to other commentary on the Cambridge Platonists whose work was done in tandem with Conway's, it is contended that Conway's conception of the “monad” preceded and influenced Leibniz's, and that her monistic vitalism was in many respects a superior metaphysics to the Cartesian system. It is concluded that we owe Conway more attention and celebration than she has thus far received.     

百年回眸:免疫学研究进展与医学

免疫学与医学有着紧密的联系。在免疫学的经验时期,中国医学家发明了人痘接种预防天花;１７９８年牛痘苗的发明,最终导致开花在地球上被消灭。在巴斯德时代,由于病原微生物的发现,人工主动免疫、人工被动免疫和三大血清学技术（沉淀、凝集、补体结合反应）使免疫学的应用扩大到对多种传染病的预防、诊断与治疗,极大地促进了医学的发展。７０年代以来,由于胸腺功能的发现,淋巴细胞功能的发现阐明了免疫系统的存在;克隆选择学     

21世纪孩子们的学校

20世纪 :我的名字叫埃弗拉伊姆·纳纳我叫埃弗拉伊姆·纳纳 ,这我已经告诉过你了 ,是在有一次你来这里时告诉你的。你来过这里好多次 ,都是在关门之前 ,和我谈起我的学校。[1 ] 据我所知 ,在我的家乡没有在这里的市场上见到的这些东西 ,只有那些土生土长的东西 :芒果、土豆、玉米、香蕉、番木瓜。我的小学老师告诉我 ,在别的一些地方 ,东西更是少得可怜 ;他说在喀土穆和苏丹 ,国家是很大 ,但在市场的货架上只有洋葱、白豆和红豆 ;虽然堆放得很好 ,但也还不过是白豆、红豆和洋葱 ;他还说 ,世界大得很 ,而我们所经历的饥饿并不是最严重的饥荒…     

亲历美国哲学50年

20世纪的哲学系生产了大量的哲学博士,许多博士日后又成为哲学教师。在这些系科中,“分析哲学”一直居于主导地位。一个正经八百的研究生也许会这样看待过去50年的历史：直至30年代某一时期,美国的哲学尚未成形。其后,随着逻辑实证主义登上历史舞台,大约50年前,多数美国哲学家都成了实证主义者。这种进展的一个特点是给哲学学科引入了“高度严格的标准”。哲学变得“清楚”,而且人人都要学点现代逻辑。     

A Century of Psychoanalysis: Critical Retrospect and Prospect

Abstract

The distinction between having mode and being mode would seem to be the basis of the Frommian clinical approach, which finds its main application in the “center-to-center” relatedness between analyst and patient. The analyst can understand the patient because he/she experiences what the patient experiences. The dialogue is based on emotional and conceptual responses and reactions which are reciprocally communicated; both identities come into play. Psychoanalytic treatment which is not inspired by biophilia can only compile an inventory of data upon data, imposing interpretations and reconstructions. Biophilia makes psychoanalysis an art because it is applied to living things. The psychoanalytic session can save itself from the having mode by addressing the patient's living memory, which represents the past relived in the present, according to the being mode. The author comments on a psychoanalytic session.