论自由意志的相容性：卡尔纳普与康德

自由意志与决定论的问题历来是哲学史上一个争议不断的问题。在相容论与非相容论的主张之间存在绵延的张力。在自由意志的问题上,康德论述颇丰。他拒斥了对自由的经验性理解,而去其超越性的维度,将自由等同于自由意志并归结到超验物自体的领域。确保了自由意志不被经验沾染的纯洁和崇高,但也造成了人类理智的困境,即自由意志作为超验物自体而言的不可知性。卡尔纳普以逻辑角度经由因果关系的分析力图建构自由意志与决定论的统一。一定程度上是对康德哲学的一种补充。本文试图对康德与卡尔纳普关于自由的问题做一个比较研究。     

“根本恶”或“恶魔之恶” ——“偷吃禁果”神话寓意的双向解读

《圣经》中的偷吃禁果神话历来存在事实和寓意两个阐释角度以及误用自由意志和正用自由意志两类价值判断。奥古斯丁既推崇保罗的原罪遗传说,将其看作祸延后裔的始祖犯罪,也强调意志堕落说,将其视为多重邪恶意志及罪性生命的象征;康德将"出乎道德"的充分动机视为道德行为之尺度,并推导出有关意志堕落的三大根本恶。他进而推翻了偷吃禁果的事实性起源,释之为根本恶的逻辑起源。然而,这一寓意释经同时开辟了其反向诠释的空间。相较于始祖出于诱惑或自爱而从清白守法的自由意志中堕落,他们更像是出于道德义务而偷吃禁果,抗击了以自爱动机为行动依据的根本恶,实践了自由意志的第一次正用,并因此从动物变成人;齐泽克同样持自由意志正用的观点。他激活了康德试图回避的第四种根本恶,即只为恶而作恶、将作恶抬升到伦理原则高度的"恶魔之恶",视之为偷吃禁果神话之真谛。     

“无意之罪” 何以归责?——哲学与精神分析论域下的“无意识意愿”及其伦理意蕴

从古希腊以来,行为的自愿性或有意性便被视为道德归责的依据,而经过基督教哲学对意志及其自由决断的探讨,人的道德主体性开始被明确奠基于自由意志之上。在此过程中,作为相关理论学说的试金石,并非出于自觉的意愿而导致的罪过即"无意之罪"的问题一再以不同形式被提出。无论是亚里士多德对于"不能自制"问题的分析,还是奥古斯丁对于情感最初波动之罪的考察,实际上都对意愿或意志活动的无意识维度及其伦理意蕴进行了揭示。时至现代,作为精神分析创立者的弗洛伊德通过对"无意识"的系统探究,深化了对于意志问题及其复杂性的理解,并正面勾勒出了某种"无意识意愿"的雏形。在此基础上,拉康在驳斥对欲望的自然主义解读并赋予欲望以特定伦理内涵的同时,也通过重新界定欲望、意志与理性的关系,并构想一种自愿为他者揽责而实现的自由,从而实现了对西方传统的哲学心理学与伦理观的创造性重构。     

意志自由和行动自由——基于人类欲求之等级结构的分析

当我们讨论自由这一概念时,可以将人类的自由理解为由思想自由和行动自由两部分组成。在文章《两种自由概念》①中,以赛亚.伯林论述了对行动自由的两种不同理解:积极自由和消极自由。本文在伯林两种自由概念之划分的基础上,借助哈里.弗兰克对于人的意志这一概念的构建,试图阐释和分析自由的四个相关概念:意志自由,思考的自由,积极自由和消极自由。根据伯林的区分,第一个和第三个表达是自由的积极概念;第二个和第四个表达是自由的消极概念。与此同时,我们还可以运用查尔斯.泰勒所提出的"机会概念"和"实践概念"对上述四个表达进行区分。其中,意志自由和积极自由是"实践概念",思考的自由和消极自由是"机会概念"。     

神经科学决定论与自由意志——兼论自由意志与自我是否可能?

神经科学的最新研究成果为决定论提供了科学依据,由此推断没有自由意志和恒定不变的自我。而传统生命伦理学中我们对其它生命体的伦理义务乃是基于这个生命体具备自由意志,即有自我的精神生活。神经科学技术对自由意志和自我的挑战不会对我们的伦理实践产生重要影响。只有在实践生活中人们采用了科学研究结论,从神经科学的发现到影响我们伦理实践的范式转换才会发生。从相容性与非相容性、物理系统自身的识别、神经科学的其它证据等方面探讨了怀疑的内在原因,认为不会因为神经科学家的新发现而否认自由意志和恒定自我。     

神经科学决定论与自由意志——兼论自由意志与自我是否可能?

神经科学的最新研究成果为决定论提供了科学依据,由此推断没有自由意志和恒定不变的自我.而传统生命伦理学中我们对其它生命体的伦理义务乃是基于这个生命体具备自由意志,即有自我的精神生活.神经科学技术对自由意志和自我的挑战不会对我们的伦理实践产生重要影响.只有在实践生活中人们采用了科学研究结论,从神经科学的发现到影响我们伦理实践的范式转换才会发生.从相容性与非相容性、物理系统自身的识别、神经科学的其它证据等方面探讨了怀疑的内在原因,认为不会因为神经科学家的新发现而否认自由意志和恒定自我.     

量子力学中的自由意志定理

继量子力学问世后,自由意志定理的提出再次抨击决定论,在学界引起热烈反响。定理利用SPIN、TWIN和MIN三条公理清晰地证明了粒子行为的非决定论性,为最终理解自由意志观念提供了新的途径。但学界也有质疑,认为自由意志定理证明的只是非决定性,而不是自由意志。大量生物学、神经心理学实验揭示了知觉与自由意志并非人类独有,而是从人到单细胞生物呈现出由繁至简的渐变过程。单有非决定性显然尚不足构成自由意志,具有知觉能力是粒子自由意志的必要条件,自主选择与知觉能力共同构成了粒子自由意志的基本涵义。     

阿奎那自由意志论的理智转向及其效应

自由意志问题是一个鲜有的由中世纪神学哲学家们正式提出并加以深入探究的纯粹哲学问题,也是一个重大的、备受争议的和影响深远的问题。中世纪几乎每一个重要的神学哲学家都探讨过自由意志问题,阿奎那则是其中最具转折性、综合性、开拓性和创新性的人物。在阿奎那之前,中世纪思想家们的自由意志论主要是在道德视域下、与道德善恶和道德归责等问题联系在一起。阿奎那在继承奥古斯丁主义自由意志论的基础上,综合了亚里士多德的理智选择和波埃修的理智自由意志论等观点,创立了一种完备的理智主义自由意志论,实现了中世纪自由意志论从道德主义向理智主义的转向。这种转向在经院哲学晚期和近代引发了深远效应。     

再论罪与人性——重思巴特对奥古斯丁罪与人性观的批判问题

卡尔·巴特被视为"20世纪基督教教父"。这是因为巴特不仅在教会实践上以普世运动的方式促进新教和天主教的协和,而且在教义学上不断回归教父传统,发展出自己的"教会教义学"思想体系。然而,在罪的来源、人性本质以及意志自由的根本问题上,当前学界的一种新兴观点认为,巴特拒斥奥古斯丁主义的原罪说、人性观和"意志的捆绑"理论,认为奥古斯丁由于缺乏"天性及本质存有(Wesen)"与"存在存有(Sein/Dasein)"概念区分,其"天性的扭曲"的人性观、"善的缺乏"的罪恶观以及"无能力不犯罪"的意志决定论,误导了拉丁西方神学传统在罪与人性问题上的基本进路。本文将回归巴特和奥古斯丁关于这些问题的文本诠释,重新评估当前巴特研究的这种立场。本文认为,巴特的批评并非是对传统奥古斯丁神学立场的反叛,而是在回归教父传统基础上对奥古斯丁宗教人类学视阈下的罪与人性理论的进一步深化和发展。     

自由意志视野下健康行为转变的伦理困境

虽然慢性病的危害十分巨大,预防慢性病的措施非常简单易行,但慢性病预防行动却十分缺乏。对自由意志的强调及自由意志本身的局限性,导致了促进慢性病预防行为存在伦理困境,不能有效促进慢性病预防行为。要走出两难困境以有效促进慢性病预防行为,需要对自由意志有新的认识,既不能完全放弃自由意志,也不能守住自由意志不松。     

Together – apart: in touch in a time of separation

This paper explores the experience of working as a Jungian analyst through the various phases of the global COVID-19 pandemic, examining the importance of the physical containing space alongside the analyst’s internal mind and how technology can both help and hinder understanding. A number of clinical vignettes illustrate the challenge of communicating over a distance, paying particular attention to the way countertransference phenomena can become re-attuned. Reference is made to mythology and symbols of hope, and consideration given to the meaning and purpose of the pandemic.     

The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution

Science undermines the certitude of non-naturalistic answers to the question of whether human life has meaning. I explore whether evolution can provide a naturalistic basis for existential meaning. Using the work of philosopher Daniel Dennett and scientist Ursula Goodenough, I argue that evolution is the locus of the possibility of meaning because it has produced intentionality, the matrix of consciousness. I conclude that the question of the meaning of human life is an existentialist one: existential meaning is a product of the individual and collective tasks human beings undertake.     

Phenotypic plasticity and archetype: a response to common objections to the biological theory of archetype and instinct

Since Jung’s death in 1961, scholars have attempted to integrate growing biological science data into Jungian concepts such as the collective unconscious, instincts and the archetypes. This enterprise has been challenging due to persistent false dichotomies of gene and environment occasionally arising. Recent works by Roesler (2022a, 2022b) for example, have raised objections to the biological theory of archetypes, but the objections are plagued by such dichotomies. The concept of phenotypic plasticity, however, helps to both avoid this problem as well as bridge the gap between competing theories into a more integrated model with solid biological foundations.     

When is it time to stop? When good enough becomes bad enough

This article draws on Winnicott’s concept of the good enough mother to discuss how to know whether a therapeutic situation is good enough to continue or bad enough to end. This dilemma is explored in terms of clinical syndromes, such as anorexia and pathological gambling, but focuses mainly on analyst-initiated endings, which are termed the ‘Casablanca dilemma’, based on an amplification of the ending of the film Casablanca. The author goes on to discuss such one-sided endings, drawing on interviews with 40 analysts and therapists about their clinical experience. A typology of bad enough endings is presented. The psychological differences between a good enough analysis as opposed to a bad enough one are explored through the ideas of Winnicott and Neumann.     

Kann Es Ein Argument Für Den Skeptizismus Geben? Das Epistemische Problem Der Irrtumsmöglichkeit

Summary  Is there any argument for scepticism? The epistemic problem of the possibility of error. Arguments for scepticism rest on the assumption that knowledge claims are fallible. For this reason the concept of knowledge appears to be questionable. Since it is necessary to distinguish doubts from possible doubts, the arguments for scepticism appear to be unconvincing. If we take it into account that we know something that is immune to doubt, we should draw the conclusion that, contrary to scepticism, knowledge claims have to be compatible with being fallible. Thus any knowledge claim is capable of being doubted.     

The transcendent function in Spitteler’s Prometheus and Epimetheus

In August 2020, John Beebe and Steve Myers met via Zoom to discuss their differing interpretations of psychological typology and the different sources within Jung’s writings that influenced their books: Integrity in Depth: Energies and Patterns in Psychological Type (Beebe), and Myers-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation (Myers). The discussion centred on Spitteler’s epic poem Prometheus und Epimetheus, which forms the basis of chapter V of Psychological Types. This is both the largest chapter and one of two chapters that Jung highlighted in the Argentine foreword as containing the essence of the book. Jung’s book is primarily about the transformation of personality rather than the categorization of people. Although it contains a critical psychology that deconstructs the nature of consciousness, that is only one half of the book and a stepping-stone to the other half, which is the reconciliation of opposites with particular emphasis on the relation of consciousness and the unconscious. Jung assumed that readers were already familiar with Prometheus und Epimetheus, an understanding of which sheds light on the nature of the transformation that Jung described – the development of a new attitude towards attitude itself.     

Chapter 6: Biblical Foundations for a Practical Theology of Aging

SUMMARY

This article reviews Biblical sources pertaining to the elderly, particularly the frail elderly. Founded on these sources, implications for elderly with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia are addressed through a personal perspective informed by writings of Christian mystics.     

Seeing in the Dark: A View into Dissociation and Healing

In this paper, I will explore the role of art-making, the experience of trauma and dissociation, and the process of working with self-states from an analytic and creative frame. Relevant literature on dissociation, trauma, and the use of art will be discussed. A case involving my work with an adolescent girl who had experienced sexual abuse from a family member will be shared, with an emphasis on the meaningful role images played during the therapeutic process. Both Jungian and psychoanalytic models of conceptualizing and working with dissociation are included, following Donald Kalsched’s (2013) recommendation for a “binocular stance” to treatment, including both a focus on the inner, intrapsychic world and the interpersonal, relational realm, and how art images both illuminated and expressed these realms. Within the therapeutic process, art images allowed the therapist a view into the client’s unconscious process, and created a meeting ground for dissociative barriers to be gradually seen, felt and known, by both therapist and client. The experience of dissociation, in images and in session, provided a reference point for myself and my client, Taylor, to develop a shared understanding and a framework for growth.