Existentialism,Self Theory and the Existential Self

Self theory is reductionistic: it brackets off “real” reality and leaves it in metaphysical realms. Existentialism views both subjective and external reality as contained in existence. Rogers' theory is deterministic to the extent that it is built on causal constructs. The non-deterministic, holistic, and teleological assumptions of the existentialists may help strengthen self theories. For example the term existential self would combine self-as-doer and self-as-object, making such constructs as self-concept, self structure, individual, and organism unnecessary. The individual's experience or perception would not have to be caused by a self-definition, but would be for the purpose of something, i.e., his intentions or goals.     

Self As System: Comparing the Grounded Theory of Protecting Self and Autopoiesis

The author compares the theoretical elements of her grounded theory, Protecting Self: Experiencing Organizational Change, with autopoiesis, a biological theory of living systems. Autopoiesis, meaning self-production, is a closed system that recursively generates the same organization, components, and network of processes from which they are produced. A cautious extrapolation of theoretical similarities between the two theories is presented, including self-referentiality, self-maintenance, circularity, individuality, and the maintenance of identity. The author concludes that this comparison provides a thought-provoking argument that supports the difficult process of individual and organizational learning, growth, and change.     

Cartesian Method and the Self

The idea that the ‘I’ of Meditation One stands for a solipsistic self is familiar enough; but is it correct? The reading proposed here does not saddle Descartes with so questionable a doctrine, and yet it does not shield him from Wittgensteinian criticism either. Descartes is still vulnerable, but on a different flank. I first consider critically the claim that Descartes is committed to solipsism. Then I take issue with the attribution to him of the idea that privacy is the mark of the mental. Finally, I consider his tendency to “first‐personalize” knowledge and to trace to “the prejudices of childhood” certain prephilosophical errors. Here is where Wittgensteinian criticism comes genuinely into its own.     

The Self in Post-Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory

This article relates a theory of the duplex self constituted by consciousness and experienced as I and me to the various post-Freudian interpretations of the self.     

Prayer and the Soul: Dialogues that Heal

Prayer is more than a bowed head and folded hands. It is the deep longing that is expressed by mute bodies and by our souls, the center of being that connects us to God. Chaplains engage in dialogues that heal, as they risk the encounter with another—soul to soul—discerning the heart of another's concern to find the healing required.     

Managing the Complexity of Dialogues in Context: A Data-Driven Discovery Method for Dialectical Reply Structures

Argumentation - Current formal dialectical models postulate normative rules that enable discussants to conduct dialogical interactions without committing fallacies. Though the rules for conducting...     

Natural piety in the Dialogues

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Self and Identity in Later Life: Protecting and Enhancing the Self

Self and identity are central concepts in the social and behavioral sciences for multiple reasons. At least three major research traditions focus on the self. First, sociologists view the self as a primary bridge between social structures and individual attitudes and behaviors, as a mechanism by which social structures and individuals affect and are affected by each other. Second, self and identity are viewed as cornerstones of well-being. Thus, social and behavioral scientists have documented important links between the self and physical and mental health, role performance, the quality of interpersonal relationships, and subjective well-being. Third, the self is conceptualized as a central motivating force in human behavior. Issues as diverse as self-selection into specific environments, defense mechanisms, and the desire and ability to break addictive behaviors have been informed by attention to the motivational force of the self. This latter tradition serves as the conceptual bedrock of this paper. This paper examines three components of the self: self-efficacy, self-esteem, and a sense of authenticity. The first two have received substantial theoretical and empirical attention; the latter, much less. I argue that this unequal distribution of scientific inquiry is a result of too much emphasis on the motivation to protect the self, to the neglect of motivation to enhance the self. I make a case for the particular importance of examining self-enhancement in late life.     

A Critical Theory of the Self: Wittgenstein,Nietzsche, Foucault

Critical thinking, considered as a version of informallogic, must consider emotions and personal attitudesin assessing assertions and conclusions in anyanalysis of discourse. It must therefore presupposesome notion of the self. Critical theory may be seenas providing a substantive and non-neutral positionfor the exercise of critical thinking. It thereforemust presuppose some notion of the self. This paperargues for a Foucauldean position on the self toextend critical theory and provide a particularposition on the self for critical thinking. Thisposition on the self is developed from moretraditional accounts of the self from Descartes toSchopenhauer, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein.     

Lacan's Theory of Self and the Story of the Last Cookie

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

荣格与后荣格学派自性观

自性（Self）是心理分析的核心概念。本文对荣格与后荣格学派关于自性的论述进行梳理,重点阐述了荣格理论中自性的特性与动力、诺伊曼的自我——自性轴说、福德汉姆的自性发展观和建构主义的自性观。在此基础上,本文从研究方法、治疗对象、治疗方法三个方面比较分析这些学说差异的原因。最后,简述自性对心理治疗的意义。     

The Fractal Self and the Organization of Nature: The Daoist Sage and Chaos Theory

The interconnections between self and surroundings in Daoist thought have been explored in the past in a variety of contexts. This paper, however, explores the Daoist version of the relational self from the general perspective of chaos theory and, more specifically, examines the role of the self in creating emergent form and dynamism in nature and society. The fractal self and world merge through the disciplined effort of the sage until the effort becomes effortless. Both self and world are transformed and become one through the emergent moment. This moment represents a new opportunity for subsequent patterns, or attractors, to emerge. We suggest that the self folds itself into the world, creating and being created by a new attractor, or pattern, in the organization of nature, which we argue is Dao . Our current investigation addresses the following aspects of chaos theory and its relation to Daoism: (1) the Daoist notion of wuwei as perfect congruence; (2) yin and yang at the edge of chaos; (3) the emergent nature of the myriad things; and (4) a Daoist warning against fractal disconnections in the world. Finally, we conclude that the self has the potential to become the world. To approach this amplified condition, the self must dedicate itself to and risk open engagement with events across the complexity of nature. Through openly engaging the world, the self is transformed, leaving the world forever changed.     

Dialogues with the dead

Serious work in history of philosophy requires doing something very difficult: conducting a hypothetical dialogue with dead philosophers. Is it worth devoting to it the time and energy required to do it well? Yes. Quite apart from the intrinsic interest of understanding the past, making progress toward solving philosophical problems requires a good grasp of the range of possible solutions to those problems and of the arguments which motivate alternative positions, a grasp we can only have if we understand well philosophy's past. Philosophers who concentrate too much on the present are apt to assume too simple a view of alternative theories and of important philosophical arguments. Ryle and Austin offer instructive examples of how it is possible to go wrong by ignoring or misrepresenting historical figures.     

Close Encounters in the Liminal Zone: Experiments in Imaginal Communication Part I

The phenomenology of the experience of being in psychic contact with another person was explored in a series of observations using a novel dyadic interaction in imaginal space. Research participants working in pairs with eyes closed received instructions to imagine being in mental contact with one another for three minutes while they observed their internal experiences. Their reports indicated that the imagined contact was experienced as real, as intimate, and aroused the ambivalences usually associated with intimacy as well as phenomena suggestive of projective identification effects. This first part demonstrated that the liminal zone, or the transitional space between individuals, can be experimentally observed through the imagination. Part II of this report will present evidence that the experienced psychic contact was more than 'just imagination', and involved transpersonal interactions, including suggestions of synchronicity and telepathy.     

Imaginal repositioning in everyday environments: effects of testing method and setting

Two experiments examined spatial knowledge access after imagined perspective switches in everyday environments. Blindfolded volunteers had to point to target objects in a well-known surrounding while imagining being repositioned into different spatial perspectives defined as self-rotations of the observer in the horizontal plane (0 degrees , 45 degrees , and 135 degrees ). Testing was either conducted in the space the target locations had been learned in (actual room testing), or while participants were away from this room, but should imagine being situated there (remote room testing). Experiment 1, in which perspective switches were tested on a trial-to-trial basis, revealed increases in pointing latency and error as a function of the amount of angular disparity between real and imagined perspective under actual and remote room conditions. Experiment 2, in which knowledge access was tested in blocks of multiple trials per perspective, showed increases in pointing latency with angular disparity for actual space testing, and to a much lesser degree for remote space testing. Implications of both findings for theoretical accounts of knowledge access after imaginal perspective switches are discussed, and recommendations for using different testing methods and settings are given.     

Individual Self,Relational Self,Collective Self: Hierarchical Ordering of the Tripartite Self

The individual self comprise unique attributes, the relational self comprises partner-shared attributes, and the collective self comprises ingroup-shared attributes. All selves are fundamental components of the self-concept, with each being important and meaningful to human experience and with each being associated with health benefits. Are the selves, however, equally important and meaningful? We review a program of research that tested four competing theoretical views suggesting that the motivational hub of human experience is (a) the individual self, (b) the relational self, (b) the collective self, or (c) determined by contextual or cultural factors. The research furnished support to the view that the individual self is the primary form of self-definition. We discuss alternative explanations and implications. We end with the introduction of a theoretical model, the boomerang model, that has the potential to integrate the diverse literature on the topic.