Neo-pragmatism,morality, and the specification problem

Abstract

A defender of any view of moral language must explain how people with different moral views can be be talking to each other, rather than past each other. For expressivists this problem drastically constrains the search for the specific attitude expressed by, say, ‘immoral’. But cognitivists face a similar difficulty; they need to find a specific meaning for ‘immoral’ that underwrites genuine disagreement while accommodating the fact that different speakers have very different criteria for the use of that term. This paper explains how neo-pragmatism deals with this issue while avoiding problems that arise with existing expressivist and cognitivist solutions.     

Book reviews

Abstract

Eldercare by James Kenny&;Stephen Spicer. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1988, 152 pages, $11.95 paper

Lonely All the Time: Recognizing, Understanding and Overcoming Sex Addiction, for Addicts and Co-dependents by Ralph Earle&;Gregory Crow with Kevin Osborn. New York: Pocket Books, 1989, 337 pages, $19.95

The Imperfect Therapist: Learning from Failure in Therapeutic Practice by Jeffrey A. Kotter&;Diane S. Blau. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1989, 188 pages, $19.95

Families with a Difference: Varieties of Surrogate Parenthood by Michael Humphreys&;Heather Humphreys. New York: Routledge, 1988, 177 pages, $45.00

Between Husbands and Wives: Communication in Marriage by Mary Anne Fitzpatrick. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1988, 283 pages, $35.00 hardbound, $16.50 paperback     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Jones, J. D. F., Storyteller. The Many Lives of Laurens van der Post.
Fonagy, Peter, Attachment Theory and Psychoanalysis.
Hedges, Lawrence E, Terrifying Transferences. Aftershocks of Childhood Trauma.
Fordham, Michael, The Making of an Analyst. A Memoir.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Kalsched, Donald, The Inner World of Trauma: Archetypal Defenses of the Personal Spirit.
Von Franz, Marie-Louise. The Cat: A Tale of Feminine Redemption.
Vedfelt, Ole, The Dimensions of Dreams: The Nature, Function, and Interpretation of Dreams.
Spiegelman, J. M, Psychology and Religion at the Millennium and Beyond.
Waddell, Margot, Inside Lives, Psychoanalysis and the Growth of the Personality.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Kirsch, Thomas B., The Jungians: A Comparative and Historical Perspective
Perera, Sylvia Brinton, Queen Maeve and Her Lovers.
Fonagy, Peter; Cooper, Arnold, Wallerstein, M. & Robert, S., (eds.) Psychoanalysis on the Move. The work of Joseph Sandler
Green, Andre, The Fabric of Affect in the Psychoanalytic Discourse,
Johnson, S. & Ruszcynski, S., (eds.) Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Independent Tradition
Vaidyanathan, T. G. & Kripal, J. J., (eds.) Vishnu on Freud's Desk – A Reader in Psychoanalysis and Hinduism.     

Book reviews

Kashdan, Biswas-Diener, and King (2008) provide a wide-ranging critique of eudaimonic theory and research. In this paper, I question whether the timing of their analysis is appropriate given that work on eudaimonic constructs has begun only recently. In an effort to increase the clarity regarding points at issue, both conceptual and operational definitions of hedonia and eudaimonia as two conceptions of happiness are analyzed along with definitions of four conceptions of well-being (subjective, hedonic, psychological, and eudaimonic), and both hedonism and eudaimonism as ethical philosophies. Responses are provided to numerous points in the Kashdan et al. (2008 Kashdan, TB, Biswas-Diener, R and King, LA. 2008. Reconsidering happiness: The costs of distinguishing between hedonics and eudaimonia. Journal of Positive Psychology, 3: 219–233. [Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) critique including their claims that work from a eudaimonic perspective (1) does not fully capture the philosophical roots of eudaimonia, (2) is overly abstract, (3) lacks clarity at the point of operationalization and measurement, (4) is overly complex thus preventing meaningful scientific inquiry, (5) provides evidence only for quantitative, not qualitative, differences, (6) is potentially elitist, and (7) misrepresents the moral standing of hedonia and eudaimonia. Evidence is presented in support of the view that hedonia and eudaimonia represent inter-related but reliably distinguishable and qualitatively distinct conceptions of happiness making independent contributions to an array of outcome variables. A set of recommendations is advanced as to how theory-building and empirical research can be strengthened in light of the multiple conceptualizations of happiness and well-being now current in the literature.     

Book reviews

Zinkin, Hindle, Gordon, Rosemary & Haynes, Jane (eds.). Dialogue in the Analytic Setting: Selected Papers of Louis Zinkin on Jungian and Group Analysis
Lyard, Denyse. Les Analyses d'Enfants: Une Clinique Jungienne.
Bion, W. R. Taming Wild Thoughts.
Eigen, Michael. The Psychoanalytic Mystic.
Langs, Robert. Death Anxiety and Clinical Practice.
Etkind, Alexander. The Eros of the Impossible: The History of Psychoanalysis in Russia.     

Book reviews

Shamdasani, Sonu. Cult Fictions: C. G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology
Shamdasani, Sonu. Cult Fictions: C.G. Jung and the Founding of Analytical Psychology
Sandner, Donald F. & Wong, Steven H. (eds.). The Sacred Heritage: The Influence of Shamanism on Analytical Psychology
Bion, W. R. War Memoirs 1917–1919
Mitrani, Theodore, Mitrani, Judith et al. (eds.). Encounters with Autistic States
Spensley, Sheila. Frances Tustin
Symington, Neville. The Making of a Psychotherapist.
Killick, Katherine & Schaverien, Joy (eds.). Art, Psychotherapy and Psychosis.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Zoja, E. P. Transl. by Henry Martin. Abortion: Loss and Renewal in the Search for Identity.
Bomford, Rodney. The Symmetry of God.
Fisher, James. The Uninvited Guest. Emerging from Narcissism towards Marriage.
Rutzky, Jacques. Coyote Speaks: Creative Strategies for Psychotherapists Treating Alcoholics and Addicts.     

Book reviews

Kast, Verena. Father-Daughter, Mother-Son: Freeing Ourselves from the Complexes that Bind Us
Edinger, Edward F. Melville's Moby-Dick: An American Nekyia
Edinger, Edward F. The New God Image: A Study of Jung's Key Letters Concerning the Evolution of the Western God Image
Dreifuss, Gustav & Riemer, Judith. Abraham, The Man and the Symbol
Storr, Anthony. Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus
Taylor, Eugene. William James on Consciousness Beyond the Margin
Shulman, Helene. Living at the Edge of Chaos: Complex Systems in Culture and Psyche     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Hauke, Christopher and Alister, Ian (eds.) Jung and Film: Post-Jungian Takes on the Moving Image
Meador, Betty de Shong Inanna Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna
Barnes, Fiona Palmer and Murdin, Lesley (eds.) Values and Ethics in the Practice of Psychotherapy and Counselling
Mitrani, Judith L. A Framework for the Imaginary: Clinical Explorations in Primitive States of Being
Mitrani, Judith L. Ordinary People and Extra-Ordinary Protections: A Post-Kleinian Approach to the Treatment of Primitive Mental States
Aulagnier, Piera The Violence of Interpretation: From Pictogram to Statement     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Gaillard, Christian. Le Musée Imaginaire de Carl Gustav Jung.
Young-Eisendrath, Polly & Dawson, Terence (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Jung.
Stevens, Anthony. Ariadne's Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind.
Stein, Murray. Transformation: Emergence of the Self.
Stein, Murray. Jung's Map of the Soul: An Introduction.
Christopher, Shelley (ed.). Contemporary Perspectives on Psychotherapy and Homosexualities.
Marlan, Stanton (ed.). Fire in the Stone: The Alchemy of Desire.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Mara Sidoli, When the Body Speaks: The Archetypes in the Body
Andrew Samuels, Politics on the Couch: Citizenship and the Internal Life
Karen Kaplan-Solms, & Mark Solms, Clinical Studies in Neuro-Psychoanalysis. Introduction to a Depth Neuropsychology
Christopher Clulow, (ed.) Adult Attachment and Couple Psychotherapy – The 'secure base' in practice and research.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Christopher, E. & Solomon, H. M. (eds.), Jungian Thought in the Modern World.
Goldstein, R. (ed.), Images, Meanings and Connections: Essays in Memory of Susan R. Bach.
Dieckmann, Hans, Complexes: Diagnosis and Therapy in Analytical Psychology.     

Book reviews

Palmer, Michael, Freud and Jung on Religion Kawai, Hayao, Buddhism and the Art of Psychotherapy Young-Eisendrath, P., Gender and Desire: Uncursing Pandora Hamilton, Victoria, The Analyst's Preconscious Hinshelwood, R. D., Therapy or Coercion? Does Psychoanalysis Differ from Brainwashing? Gallant, Christine, Tabooed Jung: Marginality as Power. Kulkarni, C., Lesbians and Lesbianisms     

Book reviews

This paper begins with a critical evaluation of British counselling psychology's aspirations for a scientific basis and considers some of the consequences in terms of theoretical assumptions and research practice. Through identifying certain empirical, theoretical and ideological problems inherent in the dominant tradition of quantifying inferred cognitive constructs (using the example of trainee self-talk), an alternative framework of discursive psychology is simultaneously introduced. the argument is made for a discursive study of storied meanings by trainee counselling psychologists about themselves and their work. This would potentially address two pivotal research areas. First, it affords both a personal and yet socially embedded framework for an increased understanding and more sensitive evaluation of the training process (with its acquisition of skills, knowledge, experience, competencies, etc.). Second, it offers an alternative approach to the problematic area of understanding unique and generic interactions between practitioners and their preferred psychological model(s) of therapy, thus challenging the theoretical and research cul-de-sac of competing modernist visions of purism, eclecticism and integration. Extending from these observations two research possibilities are suggested.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Schaverien, Joy The Revealing Image. Analytical Art Psychotherapy in Theory and Practice.
Raphael-Leff, J. (ed.) Ethics of Psychoanalysis.
Brooke, Roger (ed.) Pathways into the Jungian World. Phenomenology and Analytical Psychology.
Stevens, Anthony & Price, John. Evolutionary Psychiatry. A new Beginning.
Dixon, Patricia Nietzsche and Jung. Sailing a Deeper Night.
Gaillard, Christian Donne in mutazione: Saggi di Psicoanalisi dell'Arte.
Lopez-Pedraza, Rafael Dionysus in Exile. On the Repression of the Body and Emotions.
Ulanov, Ann Belford Religion and the Spiritual in Carl Jung.     

Book reviews

Ulanov, Ann & Barry., Transforming Sexuality. The Archetypal World of Anima and Animus.
Ulanov, Ann Belford., The Functioning Transcendent: A Study in Analytical Psychology.
Von Franz, Marie-Louise., Archetypische Dimensionen der Seele. [Archetypal Dimensions of the Soul.]
Stevens, Anthony & Price, John., Evolutionary Psychiatry: A New Beginning.
Field, Nathan., Breakdown and Breakthrough: Psychotherapy in a New Dimension.
Tacey, David J., Remaking Men: Jung, Spirituality and Social Change.
Lopez-Pedraza, Rafael., Anselm Kiefer: 'After the Catastrophe'.
Diamond, Stephen A., Anger, Madness and the Daimonic: The Psychological Genesis of Violence, Evil and Creativity.     

Book reviews

D. E. M. Gardner: Susan Isaacs: A First Biography. Methuen Educational Ltd., 1972. Price £1.50.

Marion Milner: On Not Being Able to Paint. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., London, 1971. Price 90p

Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins: Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children, with a foreword by Benjamin Britten. Victor Gollancz, London, 1971. Price £1.80.

The Mental Health Book Review Index: an Annual Bibliography of Books and Book Reviews in the Behavioural Sciences, Vol. 17, 1972, XXVI. Price $10.00. Published by the Council on Research in Bibliography, Inc., c/o Research Center for Mental Health, New York University, New York, N.Y. 10003. (Address orders to: Mental Health Book Review Index, c/o Paul Klapper Library, Queens College of the City University of New York, Flushing, New York 11367, U.S.A.)     

Book reviews

Wilfred Bion is regarded as a psychoanalytic purist and his austere portrayal of the analytic aim and attitude is often considered to make impossible demands on patient and analyst alike. Not surprisingly, the applicability of Bion's theory and recommended practice to once-weekly psychotherapeutic work is often questioned. Bion is thus ambivalently regarded by psychotherapists as the embodiment of an analytic ideal, whose developmental theories are important, but whose practical utility is doubted, especially in the context of the typical therapeutic setting. This paper seeks to challenge these assumptions by presenting the once-weekly therapy of a woman with attenuated mentalizing capacity and a tendency to destructive acting out. The therapy was guided by the application of central concepts, models and ‘technical’ principles emerging from my understanding of Bion's work. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that Bion's utility is not confined to formal psychoanalytic settings and that his work may be usefully applied in more modest psychotherapy contexts.