The fish: A lost symbol of sexual liberation?

This essay explores the sexual symbolism of the fish and its associations with the ministry of Jesus. His unconventional relationships with women, as well as the traditional accounts of his physical healings, are viewed from a perspective of intrapsychic psychology. These activities are then compared to the work of Freud and some vocational similarities between the two men are posited. The symbolic connotations of the fish and its reflection of unconscious processes are seen as mythological vehicles of liberation from sexual repression and concomitant social oppression.For his assistance, the author wishes to thank Dr. David M. Moss of the Coventry Association for Pastoral Psychology in Atlanta, Georgia.     

The enigmatic “nature of the subject”

Freud once placed psychoanalysis in a “middle position between medicine and philosophy”. Yet, the meaning of that position has never been sufficiently clarified. The author suggests that the essence of the psychoanalytic experience is defined by the fact that its clinical practice operates within a basically relational or intersubjective frame containing the analysand's self-interpreting reflection, which here is identified as ethical in nature. It is further argued that late modernity is experiencing a crisis in the art of reflection, accompanied by a flight from this ethical dimension. A common social response is to fall back on the authority of neo-positivistic science, making psychoanalysis increasingly redundant. To meaningfully connect with the consequences of this state of affairs, psychoanalysis needs to deepen the understanding of its unique essence. To that end, a model for collaboration with philosophy is briefly sketched.     

The Development of “Vocational Interests”: I. The Organization of Likes and Dislikes in Ten-Year-Old Children

Seventy-two black, white, and Mexican-American boys and girls enrolled in the Lansing, Michigan, Head Start program were administered the Purdue Self-Concept Scale for Preschool Children (PSCS), and their teachers rated their self-esteem on Coopersmith's Behavior Rating Form (BRF). A low positive correlation was obtained between the scores on these two techniques. Analysis of variance showed no significant differences by ethnicity or sex on self-esteem measured by either the PSCS or the BRF. Although the literature on ethnic and sex differences in self-esteem is contradictory, these findings suggest that group differences may be minimal.     

Impulsive for life? The nature of long-term impulsivity in domestic dogs

Individual differences in impulsivity occur at a cognitive and/or behavioural level and are associated with differing life outcomes. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the long-term stability of these characteristics in non-human animals. This study reports on the stability of convergent measures of impulsivity in domestic dogs assessed more than 6 years apart. Measures were (1) owner assessment by means of a questionnaire, the validated ‘Dog Impulsivity Assessment Scale’ (DIAS) and (2) dogs’ performance in a delayed reward choice test. Dogs had 15-min free access to two food dispensers, one dispensing a piece of food immediately, the other dispensing three pieces after a delay, which increased by 1 s every other time the dogs sampled it. Maximum delay reached in this task reflects decision-making, or cognitive impulsivity, whereas the rate of extra presses on the delayed reward device during the delay can be considered as a measure of motor or behavioural impulsivity. DIAS scores were strongly and significantly correlated across years. The maximum delay reached in the behaviour test was also highly stable, whereas paw-pressing rate was uncorrelated between the years. These results demonstrate that cognitive but not motor impulsivity is highly consistent over time in dogs.     

Ajātasattu and the future of psychoanalytic anthropology. Part I: The promise of a culture

Conclusion Thus, we can see that Obeyesekere’s notion and usage of some psychoanalytic concepts is at variance with Freud’s formulations and with those of standard psychoanalytic theory. This divergence is also evident in Obeyesekere’s formulation of the concept of disconnection, which is arguably the most important construct in the first chapter of The work of culture. Space constraints prevent us taking-up this concept here. So let me now conclude this first part of the essay, and begin part 2 with an examination of ‘disconnection’ in the context of a discussion of Obeyesekere’s accounts of two South Asian ecstatics.     

The messianic temporality of theatre in I. L. Peretz’s At Night in the Old Marketplace

Theatre, as an art form that unfolds through time and moulds temporal experience, engages with its surrounding culture’s temporal imagination, the ways in which society conceives time, its movement, structures, and meaning. I. L. Peretz’s enigmatic and avant-garde Yiddish drama, At Night in the Old Marketplace, utilizes this potential of the theatre to tackle the question of messianic time and the ways in which it can be realized on the stage. By evoking Jewish traditions regarding the Messiah, religious nocturnal rituals, and the dynamics of Carnival, Peretz reconfigures messianic time as a radical, recurring yet fleeting, temporal experience. Theatrical temporality has affinities with messianic time because both are transitory and charged, condensed and ephemeral, and disjointed from the experience of time in everyday life. Rather than imagining messianic time as an eternal future to be awaited, Peretz’s play invites us to ponder in the theatre about the possibility of a messianically charged, albeit always fleeting, present.     

Imagining the Truth. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”

The discussion highlights the significant role played by imagination in representing the horrors that resist representation. It is Dr. Tylim's position that imagination assists patient and analyst in overcoming the limitations of memory. Imagination is the gateway to truth. In working with survivors, the therapeutic encounter may become a stage where unspeakable experiences attain presence in their absence. The silence or the gaps are then the victim's testimony.     

Witnessing and Passing. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”

The author indicates that she has two voices. One voice speaks to the patient's loneliness and detachment and her expectation to not be seen, believed, or acknowledged. This voice, housing the knowledge that events that remain unprocessed continue to have an impact, wants Dr. Prince to risk intrusion and preemption. This voice believes that it is worth it. The author's other voice considers bottomless wounds and speaks to the patient's need to build up healthy aspects of personality that is necessary to do the holocaust work. This voice holds that this is not the time for Dr. Prince to witness what happened to the patient, what the perpetrators of massive crimes did to her or what the onlookers saw and chose not to do. This voice says that the patients lead should be followed. The author elaborates on her two voices and indicates what she would have done had she been working with the patient.     

The Rôle of Clasping Activity in Adaptive Behavior of the Infant Chimpanzee: I. Delayed Response

Forty male and 40 female volunteer college students were divided into two groups. Half were exposed to actual tape recorded verbal reports of violent events, and half to similar reports of nonviolent happenings. Ss who had been angered by insult prior to being exposed to violent tapes displayed significantly more aggression than Ss in an insult, nonviolent condition and Ss in a no-insult, violent condition on a subsequent “extrasensory learning” task supposedly involving shocks for incorrect responses. An unexpected finding was that Ss who had not been insulted administered significantly higher “shocks” after exposure to nonviolent reports than Ss in the no-insult, violent group. No significant sex differences were found. Results were interpreted as failing to support the catharsis hypothesis, and comparisons with the effects of visually witnessed violence were made.     

The marginal notes of José Gaos inIdeas I

This paper is dedicated to Dr. Fernando Salmerón. I. wish to thank Mark Platts for his help with the English, and William McKenna for his kind and attentive reading.     

Towards a “Sophisticated” Model of Belief Dynamics. Part I: The General Framework

It is well-known that classical models of belief are not realistic representations of human doxastic capacity; equally, models of actions involving beliefs, such as decisions based on beliefs, or changes of beliefs, suffer from a similar inaccuracies. In this paper, a general framework is presented which permits a more realistic modelling both of instantaneous states of belief, and of the operations involving them. This framework is motivated by some of the inadequacies of existing models, which it overcomes, whilst retaining technical rigour in so far as it relies on known, natural logical and mathematical notions. The companion paper (Towards a “sophisticated” model of belief dynamics. Part II) contains an application of this framework to the particular case of belief revision. Presented by Hannes Leitgeb