Hartmann, health, and homosexuality: some clinical aspects of "Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation"

Hartmann's theories have experienced a remarkable rise and fall in popularity over the past fifty years. In this paper, an effort is made to arrive at a balanced view. The genetic and economic aspects of Hartmann's ego psychology are found to be problematic, but the dynamic aspect led to a sophisticated psychoanalytic concept of health as yet unsurpassed. Hartmann always called for the clinical application of his ideas. In this spirit, a vignette is offered from a clinical area in which questions of "health" and "illness" are particularly vexing at present.     

On the origins of contemporary structural theory: an appreciation of "Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation"

Hartmann's monograph was one of four works which produced a major revision of psychoanalytic theory. Following a brief summary of the monograph, this essay assesses its impact on contemporary psychoanalytic thinking. It considers some confusions about and revisions of Hartmann's ideas and explores terrain first broached in this work which has become very influential but which has not yet been fully exploited. Lastly, this essay will consider Hartmann's hope that psychoanalysis would become a general psychology.     

Ethical Calibration for an Intelligent Analysis Society

With the widespread application of data-driven intelligent technologies, data is increasingly used to record and influence the behavior of the world and people. Although the value rationality of dataism behind the dataization of the world has yet to be thoroughly analyzed, the new data analysis society which is characterized by an intelligent social form has quietly arrived. From a phenomenological point of view, the foundation of the operation and governance of a data analysis society is to analyze human behavior by using data and intelligent algorithms, but this kind of intelligent surveillance is speculative cognition, which may misread and improperly interfere with the agency of observed. There is an urgent need to set boundaries for possible technological abuse. At the same time, in view of the fact that data-driven social computing attempts to influence human behavior through the calculation of human behavior, the value of human behavior itself should be questioned as a problem to be solved. Further, in the face of the potential challenges of machine cognition and engineering thinking to human nature in the construction of an intelligent society, it is urgent to construct an ethical reflection arc that can restrict and correct its abuse.     

So We Need Something Else for Reason to Mean

In this paper I give considerable attention to Richard Rorty's attempt to make plausible a conception of non-rational semantic and cultural change - change which Rorty insists on describing as identical with progress - in order to show the extent to which this attempt is compromised from the start by an unjustifiably narrow and inconsistent view of reason. The point of this immanent critique is not just to make Rorty's view of non-rational change look bad. It is meant to do more justice to his claim that intellectual and moral progress is inseparable from speaking and acting differently by incorporating this claim into a philosophically enlarged picture of reason. So the value of taking Rorty's claims about change seriously lies less in showing the shortcomings of his conception of reason than it does in bringing a sense of urgency to the need to renew the project begun by Kant, Hegel, and German Idealism - the project of conceiving reason as an agency of change by reinterpreting reason in terms of self-determining freedom.     

"An analysis-of-variance model for intrasubject replicaiton design": some additional comments

The fixed effects ANOVA procedure utilized by Gentile, Roden, and Klein (1972) for single subjects is found inappropriate. Hartmann's proposal of a one-way fixed-effect ANOVA model is also considered. Time series analysis that takes serial correlation effects into account is recommended.     

Overall Freedom and Constraint

McDowell's contributions to epistemology and philosophy of mind turn centrally on his defense of the Aristotelian concept of a “rational animal”. I argue here that a clarification of how McDowell uses this concept can make more explicit his distance from Davidson regarding the nature of the minds of non-rational animals. Close examination of his responses to Davidson and to Dennett shows that McDowell is implicitly committed to avoiding the following “false trichotomy”: that animals are not bearers of semantic content at all, that they are bearers of content in the same sense we are, and that they are bearer of “as if” content. Avoiding the false trichotomy requires that we understand non-rational animals as having concepts but not as making judgments. Furthermore, we need to supplement McDowell's distinction between the logical spaces of reasons and of the realm of law with what Finkelstein calls “the logical space of animate life”. Though McDowell has taken some recent steps to embrace a view like this, I urge a more demanding conception than what McDowell has thus far suggested.     

"Where Theologians Fear to Tread"

This essay appeals to the practice of Baroque musical ornamentation as an analogy to the place of reflection on angels and demons in Christian theology. In ways left to the discretion of the performer, this reflection functions to enhance the main theological melody of God, Christ, human salvation, and, in particular, eschatology. Jonathan Edwards and Karl Barth are the text cases for this thesis. While Edwards' treatment of angels and Satan mutes his eschatology of glory by drawing attention to the humility and suffering of Christ, Barth's treatment underscores the sovereignty of God and Christ's victory over sin.     

"They recognized him; and he became invisible to them"

Marion here provides a philosophical/exegetical reflection on the Emmaus episode (Luke 24:13–25) with a view to debunking (as both inane and blasphemous) a widely entertained understanding of faith as "a deficit of intuition"—something which has to be "added" to human powers "to compensate faulty intuition". Rather, Marion argues that faith is not so much required in order to recapture a lack in intuition but more a proper response in the face of an excess of intuition in relation to "a deficiency of statements and a dearth of concepts".     

Evidence-based treatment of stuttering: III. Evidence-based practice in a clinical setting

At the heart of evidence-based practice in stuttering treatment are four issues: (1) the collection of data to inform treatment; (2) the long standing concern with maintenance of treatment gains; (3) the need to demonstrate accountability to clients, payers and our profession as service providers; and (4) the desire to advance theoretical knowledge. This article addresses the first three of these issues from a practical point of view, illustrating how data collection for stuttering treatment outcome research in a clinical setting is intimately blended with that required for clinical purposes and providing an example of a process of evaluating data for clinical and research purposes. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will learn about and be able to (1) differentiate between treatment outcome and treatment efficacy research, (2) describe models for integrating data collection for treatment outcome and clinical purposes, and (3) utilize guidelines for treatment efficacy that are applicable to outcome research to evaluate data for use in treatment outcome studies and to design outcome studies.     

Reflection in university and the employability agenda: a discourse analysis case study

In UK universities, reflection is promoted not only for its intrinsic value but also for instrumental purposes, for students to gain and demonstrate skills and attributes which are valued by employers. In this paper, I examine reflective writing produced by students seeking an award offered by the careers department of one university. By looking at the evaluative language choices made by the student writers, I shed light on some of their practices regarding self-representation and their articulations of experience. I provide a critical account of what reflective writing looks like in this particular setting, and interpret this in the broader context of the goal to foster reflection among higher education students. I argue that the reflective writing engendered by this particular context and task is different in key respects from the reflection which is commonly advocated as an element of personal, professional or academic development.     

Are high-IQ individuals deficient in common sense? A critical examination of the ‘clever sillies’ hypothesis

A controversial hypothesis [Charlton (2009). Clever sillies: Why high-IQ people tend to be deficient in common sense. Medical Hypotheses, 73, 867–870] has recently been proposed to account for why individuals of high-IQ and high social status tend to hold counter-intuitive views on social phenomena. It is claimed that these ‘clever sillies’ use their high general intelligence and Openness to Experience to overanalyze social problems for which socially intelligent/common sense responses would seemingly be more appropriate. The first three sections of this review will consider i) the relationship between general and social intelligence; ii) the role of situational effects on the direction of the correlation between IQ and political attitudes; iii) the behavioral ecology of competitive altruism. While there is no hard evidence for Charlton's hypothesis, sophisticated although ultimately non-rational subjective analyses of social phenomena (i.e. ones that are disconfirmed by data, or reject empiricism) do seem to be favored by individuals in certain high-IQ knowledge work sectors. It is suggested that these function as costly signals of altruism, and that their popularity can best be understood in light of the theory that social attitudes are fundamentally influenced by perceptions of dominance and counter-dominance, with the latter playing an especially significant role in influencing the values systems of contemporary societies where the degree of conspicuous inequality is significantly evolutionarily novel.     

Effective Challenging Through Additive Empathy

Empathy is a counseling skill that is highly regarded by most practitioners. Constant reflection of only expressed surface feelings however, may perpetuate a limited view of a client's problem. The ability to extend a client's original understanding is a valuable resource for a helper to offer. Through additive empathy, a helper challenges a client to examine a deep and broad perspective for assessing problems and then to take action. The purposes of this article are to identify some elements of additive empathy and to describe practical guidelines for using the skill in counseling and in systematic skill training.     

Does reflection lead to wise choices?

Does conscious reflection lead to good decision-making? Whereas engaging in reflection is traditionally thought to be the best way to make wise choices, recent psychological evidence undermines the role of reflection in lay and expert judgement. The literature suggests that thinking about reasons does not improve the choices people make, and that experts do not engage in reflection, but base their judgements on intuition, often shaped by extensive previous experience. Can we square the traditional accounts of wisdom with the results of these empirical studies? Should we even attempt to? I shall defend the view that philosophy and cognitive sciences genuinely interact in tackling questions such as whether reflection leads to making wise choices.     

The science, fiction, and reality of embryo cloning.

Although many scientists view cloning as a useful procedure for scientific research into early embryo development -- one that cannot currently be used to produce multiple copies of humans -- the popular literature has led some individuals to view it as sinister. To address the concerns of the public, various conceptions of cloning are distinguished and their basis in fact analyzed. The possible uses, benefits, and detriments of both embryo splitting and nuclear transplantation are explained. Once the nature and purposes of cloning are understood, and the distinctive ethical dilemmas created by embryo splitting and nuclear transplantation are sorted out, these procedures should be clinically implemented to assist in vitro fertilization treatment for those who are infertile and to further other therapeutic and investigational efforts in medicine.     

"KEEPING THE HEART": NATURAL AFFECTION IN JOSEPH BUTLER'S APPROACH TO VIRTUE

This essay considers eighteenth-century Anglican thinker Joseph Butler's view of the role of natural emotions in moral reasoning and action. Emotions such as compassion and resentment are shown to play a positive role in the moral life by motivating action and by directing agents toward certain good objects—for example, relief of misery and justice. For Butler, moral virtue is present when these natural affections are kept in proper proportion by the "superior" principles of the moral life—conscience, self-love, and benevolence—which involve the capacity for reasonable reflection. For contemporary thinkers, Butler's approach suggests that natural emotion should not be viewed as the enemy of moral reasoning; in fact, it challenges ethicists to pay attention to and account for the significant role of the emotions in the moral life.     

Optimistic Fiction as a Tool for Ethical Reflection in STEM

Greater emphasis on ethical issues is needed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The fiction for specific purposes (FSP) approach, using optimistic science fiction texts, offers a way to focus on ethical reflection that capitalizes on role models rather than negative examples. This article discusses the benefits of using FSP in STEM education more broadly, and then explains how using optimistic fictions in particular encourages students to think in ethically constructive ways. Using examples of science fiction texts with hopeful perspectives, example discussion questions are given to model how to help keep students focused on the ethical issues in a text. Sample writing prompts to elicit ethical reflection are also provided as models of how to guide students to contemplate and analyze ethical issues that are important in their field of study. The article concludes that the use of optimistic fictions, framed through the lens of professional ethics guidelines and reinforced through ethical reflection, can help students to have beneficial ethical models.

     

学生非理性学习心理分析

本文在调查研究的基础上,分析学生非理性学习心理,认为其表现形式不但千差万别,而且会随外界因素消长变化,教师必须正视这一问题,才能取得较好的教学效果。     

A social relational critique of the biomedical definition and treatment of ADHD; ethical practical and political implications

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), its existence and treatment, is a contentious matter. The dominant view in medicine considers that ADHD is a psychiatric disorder. My position is to challenge this from a social relational orientation. I explore here a critique of the psychiatric disease model of causation and treatment, particularly the use of medication. A series of prejudices based on a political and social constructionist orientation are offered to address the ethics, politics and practice implications of the practitioner critical of the biomedical model of diagnosis and treatment especially the use of medication. This device is employed in order to invite critical reflection and further debate in a field dominated by the medical and genetic arguments in support of ADHD as a psychiatric disease. The implications of more open debate are explored, together with directions for more politically and ethically informed practice with children and their families.     

Infants’ understanding of everyday social interactions: A dual process account

Six- and 12-month-old infant’s eye movements were recorded as they observed feeding actions being performed in a rational or non-rational manner. Twelve-month-olds fixated the goal of these actions before the food arrived (anticipation); the latency of these gaze shifts being dependent (r = .69) on infants life experience being feed. In addition, 6- and 12-month-olds dilated their pupil during observation of non-rational feeding actions. This effect could not be attributed to light differences or differences in familiarity, but was interpreted to reflect sympathetic-like activity and arousal caused by a violation of infant’s expectations about rationality. We argue that evaluation of rationality requires less experience than anticipations of action goals, suggesting a dual process account of preverbal infants’ everyday action understanding.     

QUANTUM COSMOLOGIES AND THE "BEGINNING"

Abstract. The cosmology proposed by Stephen Hawking has been understood as support for an atheistic stance, due mainly to its view of the nature of time in combination with the absence of explicit boundary conditions. Against such a view, this article argues that one might develop a theistic understanding of the Universe in the context of Hawking's cosmology. In addition, the quantum cosmologies of Andrej Linde and Roger Penrose are presented. The coexistence of different research programs and their implicit metaphysical views about the nature of quantum reality and time may have profound implications for philosophy and theology.