Myth,magic and religion in secular literature: The Canadian case

Investigation of culturally significant English‐Canadian literature suggests a pervasive and persistent preoccupation with the themes of personal, collective and national identity. Detailed exploration of Canadian writers’ treatment of these topics reveals the presence, not only of familiar Judaeo‐Christian elements, but of a pantheon of exotic hidden gods and bizarre supernatural phenomena. It is evident that, to a remarkable degree, Canadian novelists, poets and critics are preoccupied with the sacred and supernatural. Discerning signals of transcendence in a wide variety of unconventional contexts, they encounter the ultimate in the mysterious depths of personal experience no less than in the cold indifference of nature. The self‐definition of Canadian literati in terms more commonly applied to religious virtuosi raises the familiar theme of aesthetes and intellectuals as the contemporary heirs of the priests and prophets of the past. This insight, in turn, suggests a potentially profitable research project linking the Sociology of Religion with the growing field of Cultural Studies.     

Schreber'sMemoirs: Myth or personal lamentation

Lucy Bregman's approach to Schreber'sMemoirs is scrutinized and found to be based on a number of fallacious and contradictory assumptions that call her interpretation of the book as personal religious myth into question. A social constructionist approach to mythology maintained by Berger and Luckmann is advanced, suggesting that at best Schreber's work qualifies as a quasi-mythical attempt to explain the source of his personal sociopsychic suffering. The family and interpersonal dynamics of Schreber's quasi-myth are investigated. Similarities to other cases of psychotic quasi-myths are noted and a general relationship between oppressive socialization and psychotic communications is advanced, as well as a specific alternative interpretation of Schreber's work to that proposed by Bregman.Nathan Church, M.S., is currently teaching at Douglass College of Rutgers University, where he is nearing completion of his Ph.D. in sociology.     

I Will Follow Him: Myth, Reality, or Forced Choice—Job-Seeking Experiences of Dual-Career Couples

Recent PhDs in psychology and biological sciences with spouses who were also professionals were surveyed; the focus was on their joint job-seeking. Couples frequently described egalitarian decision rules. But traditional patterns were also evident, particularly among the biological-science sample. Egalitarianism decreased in the actual job decisions made, but here the traditional alternative was frequently cited as a forced choice. Responses to simulations showed egalitarian decisions to be common under low constraint conditions. Constraints such as the need for a job and time pressure produced more nonegalitarian decisions. However, under these hypothetical conditions, the constraints were as likely to produce nontradi-tional as traditional following. It is suggested that the high traditionality of actual job decisions is, at least in part, a result of institutional constraints.     

“赶鬼治病”是神迹还是迷信

宗教和巫术关系的问题,是宗教学研究中的重要的问题。我们发表这篇文章,志在引起相关的讨论。     

Guards at the gate: race,resistance, and psychic reality

Racial difference and similarity in the treatment relationship highlight the question of what is real and apparently psychological in the different racial experiences of patients and therapists.The relationship between racial material and resistance is discussed, as well as the constancy and fluidity of race as intrapsychic content and the distinction psychoanalysts draw between social and psychic reality. Race in the mind, it is argued, is determined by both internal and external factors, and both are important in the analysis of racial material in the transference.     

Prevention of child sexual abuse. Myth or reality

Programs to prevent child sexual abuse have proliferated as a result of increased public awareness and professional documentation of its incidence. We describe the content and format of these prevention programs in general and examine selected programs for effectiveness. Although there is limited evidence for an increase in knowledge for program participants, most evaluations suffer from basic design problems and present few results indicative of either primary prevention or detection. Overall, we argue that self-protection against sexual abuse is a very complex process for any child and that few, if any, prevention programs are comprehensive enough to have a meaningful impact on this process. Finally, we discuss several untested assumptions that guide these programs. We conclude that it is unclear whether prevention programs are working or even that they are more beneficial than harmful.     

神话·梦想·现实--神舟六号载人航天飞行的随想

当神州共庆神舟载人航天飞行圆满成功之际,当千年古老的神话变为现实之际,远古缔造飞天神话的先民、先贤,终于盼到了飞天梦想的实现。千年追梦,千年追仙,千年夙愿的道教界人士更是心潮澎湃,欢欣鼓舞。无须座谈,无须号召,一切都是自发和情不自禁地表达:神舟六号的成功,是我国经济实力、科学实力乃至综合国力日益强大的象征,是我们伟大祖国日益繁荣昌盛的标志,是中华民族巍然屹立世界民族之林的宣言。古老的华夏,五千年的民族,创造和演绎了无数美好的神话:妇幼皆知的嫦娥奔月;优美翱游天际的飞天;“御风而行”的列子;“乘云气御飞龙而游于六合…     

The Scandinavian Suicide Phenomenon—Myth or Reality?

ABSTRACT: This paper reexamines the “Scandinavian Suicide Phenomenon,” the observation that reported suicides are typically high in Denmark and Sweden and typically low in Norway even though these three countries seem otherwise similar. It has been suggested that in Norway more suicides are reported as accidental death or as death due to unknown causes. This paper explores this possibility by means of a detailed examination of causes of death. Nine other countries are included in the comparisons to facilitate interpretation of the findings. It was found that there were significantly higher rates of accidental and unclassified deaths in Norway than in Denmark or Sweden; if it is assumed that many of these are suicide, this could account for the reported differences in suicide rates.     

Re-Enchanting the Mind: Oracles,Reading, Myth,and Mantics

Divination and oracular speech reveal a language and a mirror that exist in the mysterious liminal realm between rational thought and the fertile chaos of the psyche, a realm that Jung called synchronicity or unus mundus. The widespread though culturally marginalized interest in this occulted language acts as a sort of strange attractor, drawing us into a place where the “Others” within have a chance to speak. It is capable, in Jung's words, of working “a profound transformation of our thought.”     

The Anarchist's Myth: Autonomy,Children, and State Legitimacy

Philosophical anarchists have made their living criticizing theories of state legitimacy and the duty to obey the law. The most prominent theories of state legitimacy have been called into doubt by the anarchists' insistence that citizens' lack of consent to the state renders the whole justificatory enterprise futile. Autonomy requires consent, they argue, and justification must respect autonomy. In this essay, I want to call into question the weight of consent in protecting our capacity for autonomy. I argue that if we care about all of the preconditions for autonomy, then we have good reasons to leave the state of nature. This leaves the philosophical anarchist with a dilemma. If she truly cares about autonomy, then she must welcome the state. But if she wants to deny the legitimacy of the state because of the value of consent, then she needs to downplay the moral significance of autonomy in people's lives. If autonomy matters, the state does too. If it doesn't, then consent doesn't. The philosophical anarchist can't have it both ways.