A review of “Human ability”

By C. Spearman, Ph.D. (Leipzig), Hon. LL.D. (Wittenberg), F.R.S., and Ll. Wynn Jones, M.A. (Oxon.), Ph.D. (Leipzig), D.Sc. (Wales). London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1950. Pp. vi + 198. 16s.     

A Response to My “Critics”

This essay is a response to comments made by Shane Fhelan, Cheshire Calhoun, and Naomi Scheman on my book The Play of Reason: From the Modern to the Postmodern (1999). I reiterate my belief that we best approach the issue of consensus and dissension in second’ Order justifications of social and political claims not philosophically but sociologically, politically, historically. I suggest similar approaches for dealing with the question of meaning. This mow signals an endorsement not of indifference but rather of commitment and humility.     

INVESTIGATING THE “SCIENCE” IN “EASTERN RELIGIONS”: A METHODOLOGICAL INQUIRY

This article explores some of the understandings of “science” that are often employed in the literature on “science and Eastern religions.” These understandings crucially shape the raging debates between the avid proponents and the keen detractors of the thesis that Eastern forms of spirituality are uniquely able to subsume the sciences into their metaphysical–axiological horizons. More specifically, the author discusses some of the proposed relations between “science” and “Eastern religions” by highlighting three themes: (a) the relation between science and metaphysics, (b) the relation between science and experience, and (c) the European origins of science. The analysis of these relations requires a methodological inquiry into some of the culturally freighted valences of “science,” “metaphysics,” and “experience.”     

“I am NN”: A Reconstruction of Anscombe's “The First Person”

This paper develops a way of understanding G. E. M. Anscombe's essay “The First Person” at the heart of which are the following two ideas: first, that the point of her essay is to show that it is not possible for anyone to understand what they express with “I” as an Art des Gegebenseins—a way of thinking of an object that constitutes identifying knowledge of which object is being thought of; and second, that the argument through which her essay seeks to show this is itself first personal in character. Understanding Anscombe's essay in this light has the merit of showing much of what it says to be correct. But it sets us the task of saying what it is that we understand ourselves to express with “I” if not an Art des Gegebenseins, and in particular what it is that we understand ourselves to express with sentences with “I” as subject that might seem to express identity judgments, such as “I am NN”, and “I am this body”.     

“Partial Deaths”: A Buried Resource

This article addresses the reluctance that many professional counselors and other caregivers feel when faced with the task of working with dying patients or others facing losses and grief. Although working with the dying is not an easy task, many caregivers inappropriately label themselves unqualified. They tend to play down the variety of losses they themselves have experienced. These caregivers can get in touch with their own encounters with grief and loss and benefit personally and professionally by exploring these partial deaths.     

A “Circuitous” Test of Holland's Theory

This article uses an “inverse” method to assess the validity of Holland's theory. Specifically, this study examined the degree of congruency between participants' least-characteristic Holland types and their stated least desirable college major. Implications for career counselors are briefly discussed.     

A linguist looks at “schizophrenic” language

The language of some patients diagnosed as schizophrenic is apparently caused by a disruption in the ability to order linguistic elements into meaningful structures. This disruption affects different levels of language at different times, even in the same patient, thus causing six definable characteristics of schizophrenic speech. These characteristics are discoverable only through a linguistic analysis of a corpus of such speech.     

The “Healthy Person”: A Review

Two general approaches in the analysis of a “healthy” person were identified as (1) operational and (2) conceptual. Criterion problems seem crucial in the former, while in the latter, semantic and value problems are to be resolved. Consideration might profitably be given to, first, the concept of dynamic equilibrium or active adaptation (assimilation and accommodation) and, second, to that of developmental mastery of tasks along the “dimension of depth” and toward discovery of the meaning of life and of man's position in the universe. Such a model implies client's exploration of his existence in the world in the perspective of a continuous life process. Both being and becoming can and should be of legitimate concern to mental health workers.