Myth and metaphysics

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Myth and Therapy

In the context of psychology, myth takes on a therapeutic aspect that moves it beyond the negative connotations of common usage to a position of religious significance.     

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 Divorce Myth

This article argues that counselors need to disengage themselves from the prevailing cultural attitude that divorce has inherent power to make people unhappy. Within this context, consideration is given to counseling couples with children.     

The Mediation Myth

The mediation myth is the false belief that mediation is actually estimated in the typical mediation analysis. This myth is based on a trifecta of shortcomings: (1) the typical mediation study relies on an inadequate design; (2) the researcher uses a flawed analysis strategy; and (3) there is scant attention to assumptions that are required when estimating mediation. These problems stem from overgeneralizing the classical product method for estimating mediation and overreliance on statistical significance testing as a decision criterion in mediation analysis. The goals of this article are to (1) raise awareness of these difficulties among researchers and (2) provide a roadmap about design and analysis options for a more rigorous and scientifically valid approach to mediation analysis.     

黑格尔与所与的神话

当代哲学在心灵与世界的关系这一问题上陷入了所与论与融贯论的两难境地。塞拉斯在其《经验主义与心灵哲学》中对所与论已有所批评。从康德与黑格尔的思想资源来看,康德的先验观念论需要彻底化为黑格尔的观念论,黑格尔的理论进一步驱除了所与性的框架。     

Presentism and the Myth of Passage

Presentism is held by most to be the intuitive theory of time, due in large part to the view's supposed preservation of time's passage. In this paper, I strike a blow against presentism's intuitive pull by showing how the presentist, contrary to overwhelming popular belief, is unable to establish temporal change upon which the passage of time is based. I begin by arguing that the presentist's two central ontological commitments, the Present Thesis and the Change Thesis, are incompatible. The main problem is that satisfying the Change Thesis to establish passage requires the existence of more than one moment. This conflicts with the Present Thesis that only the present moment exists. The presentist's response is to appeal to surrogates to stand proxy for the past, so as to account for the difference between what does exist and what did exist. I argue that, for this surrogate strategy to be successful, the proposed surrogates must track what actually happened. I demonstrate that there is no guarantee that this is the case. As a result, the presentist's preservation of temporal change fails, which means that there is no passage in presentism. In the end, we should rethink just how intuitive presentism happens to be.     

Pastoral Care: Myth and Reality

The increase in pastoral-care systems in secondary schools over the last fifteen years is examined. It is suggested that pastoral care is more effective in allaying the anxieties of teachers and their organisations than it is in meeting the social and personal needs of pupils. It is also suggested that pastoral-care systems assume responsibilities which are more properly those of the family, and that the best way schools can offset the effects of poor home environments is via good subject teaching and increased pupil involvement in schools.     

The Myth of Closure

Therapies for grief and loss have traditionally focused on the work of grieving. The goal was to reach an endpoint, now popularly called closure. There are, however, many people who, through no fault of their own, find a loss so unclear that there can be no end to grief. They have not failed in the work of grieving, but rather have suffered ambiguous loss, a type of loss that is inherently open ended. Instead of closure, the therapeutic goal is to help people find meaning despite the lack of definitive information and finality. Hope lies in increasing a family's tolerance for ambiguity, but first, professionals must increase their own comfort with unanswered questions. In this article, the authors, one a poet, the other a family therapist and theorist, offer a unique blending of theory, reflection, and poetry to experientially deepen the process of self‐reflection about a kind of loss that defies closure.     

Portraying Myth More Convincingly: Critical Approaches to Myth in the Classical and Romantic Periods

The article examines the treatment of myth by Moritz, Goethe, Hegel and Schelling or the so‐called ‘Goethezeit’.     

后现代性的神话

当哲学本身在两个连续的阶段中变成反身的时，会使我们回想起现代性中存在着神话结构的可能性。首先，由于康德批判的转向，哲学丧失了本身的“清白”，并且对其自身的可能性的条件发生了质疑。其次，由于“后现代的”转向，哲学研究变成了“实