Bosnia—Requiem for the Vanishing Human

Taking a position informed by postcolonial thought, it is argued that Jung's concept of individuation, with its emphasis on separateness and the withdrawal of projections, is essentially modern and Western. Any group of people is regarded by Jung only as a regressive threat to the individuation process. Jung's European colonialism is evident in his trips to Africa and his response to the dreams that he had there. It is argued that traces of this colonialism remain evident as a colonialism of the psyche to the extent that opposites such as light/dark, white/black, civilized/primitive, conscious/unconscious remain as the organizing principles in our theory of psyche. The author's experience of growing up in apartheid South Africa is discussed, together with an account of a dream of a traditional Xhosa woman and another Xhosa woman's life. Thereafter, Senghor's concept of negritude is used to describe an individuating consciousness that might be closer to our shared human experience than is found in Jung's writings. Individuation is then discussed in terms of the Zulu concept of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is based on the recognition that we become persons through other persons who treat us as persons, and that the community can be imagined as facilitating our individuation. It is suggested that Ubuntu might describe our experience of growth within the Jungian community.     

Fallen or Unfallen? Christ's Human Nature and the Ontology of Human Sinfulness

Abstract: Because Christ's sinlessness is a matter of virtual consensus among Christians, debates over whether the human nature he assumed was fallen or unfallen turn on the ontological conditions of his being ‘without sin’ (Heb. 4:15). The claim that Christ assumed a fallen nature can be defended by distinguishing between fallenness and sinfulness as properties of nature and hypostasis, respectively. Moreover, by highlighting the peculiar place of the will in human nature, this christological analysis helps counter the charge that an Augustinian understanding of original sin entails a dualism inconsistent with belief in the goodness of creation and human moral accountability.     

Human Dignity as the Essence of Nussbaum’s Ethics of Human Development

Philosophia - Martha C. Nussbaum, in the context of ancient philosophy, formulated ethics of human development based on 10 basic human capabilities (and opportunities) as a precondition of...     

Keeping the “Human in the Loop” in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Science and Engineering Ethics - The benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medicine are unquestionable and it is unlikely that the pace of its development will slow down. From better...     

The Spontaneous Generation of the Human in the “Heng Xian”

This essay argues that the “Heng Xian” bridges between two distinct discourses that were both prevalent in the late fourth century. One discourse focused on the origination of the natural world through a spontaneous process of differentiation, a position familiar from the Daodejing and “Tai yi sheng shui.” The other focused on the specific ways in which different kinds of things live, a position known primarily from Ru discussions centering on the concept of xing 性, the nature or spontaneous reactions of a particular kind of thing. The “Heng Xian” attempts to account for the specificity of human life—including language and social organization—while remaining within a naturalistic view grounded in spontaneity. The essay concludes by reflecting on what the “Heng Xian” tells us about the status of human institutions.     

Human Values and Product Symbolism: Do Consumers Form Product Preference by Comparing the Human Values Symbolized by a Product to the Human Values That They Endorse?1

The present study proposes a cognitive process in which consumers form product preference by attending to and evaluating the human values symbolized by a product against the human values that they endorse. Individuals in the treatment group were informed that owners or heavy users of specific products hold certain human values. Results show that, compared with the control group, the treatment group perceived greater human value product symbolism and held more favorable attitudes toward products that symbolized the values that they endorsed. Moreover, the consistency between value endorsement and product preference was strongest for individuals in the treatment group who had a predisposition to attend to the symbolic meanings of products or believed that values in general are personally relevant.     

Is the Ambivalence a Sign of the Multiple-Self Nature of the Human Being? Interdisciplinary Remarks

Ambivalence is a constituent feature of human beings. The aim of this article is to systematise the fundamental sources of ambivalence (neuropsychic, socio-cultural and situational) and highlight that ambivalence can be considered as an external sign or manifestation of a complex and multiple internal human nature; that is, a human being constituted by multiple selves. In this paper the self is viewed as a principle of organization and integration for action, that is, as a complex neurological process and not as a static entity. The purpose is to show how by assuming ambivalence and the multiple-self, social and anthropological theories can offer a more realistic view of human beings.     

Learning from Animals? Examining the Nature of Human Uniqueness

The Psychological Record -     

Why be a good Human Being? Natural Goodness,Reason, and the Authority of Human Nature

The central claim of Aristotelian naturalism is that moral goodness is a kind of species-specific natural goodness. Aristotelian naturalism has recently enjoyed a resurgence in the work of philosophers such as Philippa Foot, Rosalind Hursthouse, and Michael Thompson. However, any view that takes moral goodness to be a type of natural goodness faces a challenge: Granting that moral goodness is natural goodness for human beings, why should we care about being good human beings? Given that we are rational creatures who can ‘step back’ from our nature, why should we see human nature as authoritative for us? This is the authority-of-nature challenge. In this essay, I state this challenge clearly, identify its deep motivation, and distinguish it from other criticisms of Aristotelian naturalism. I also articulate what I consider the best response, which I term the practical reason response. This response, however, exposes Aristotelian naturalism to a new criticism – that it has abandoned the naturalist claim that moral goodness is species-specific natural goodness. Thus, I argue, Aristotelian naturalists appear to face a dilemma: Either they cannot answer the authority-of-nature challenge, or in meeting the challenge they must abandon naturalism. Aristotelian naturalists might overcome this dilemma, but doing so is harder than some Aristotelians have supposed. In the final sections of the paper, I examine the difficulties in overcoming the dilemma, and I suggest ways that Aristotelians might answer the authority-of-nature challenge while preserving naturalism.     

Erikson’s Schedule of Human Strengths and the Childhood Origins of the Resourceful Self

This article focuses on Erik H. Erikson’s schedule of human strengths presented in his essay, “Human Strength and the Cycle of Generations” (1964). It discusses his assignment of human strengths to the eight stages of the life cycle, his view that the word “virtue” expresses their animated and spirited quality, and his view that these strengths are integral to the epigenetic developmental process. On the basis of his understanding of the human strengths as integral to the epigenetic developmental process, it proposes that the four human strengths developed in childhood are critically important to the development of the resourceful self. The article also suggests that we gain new insights into the eight human strengths when we view them as interrelated pairs, i.e., hope/will, purpose/competence, fidelity/love and care/wisdom.     

Who's the Pest? Imagining Human–Insect Futures Beyond Antagonism

Joining the effort to reimagine our relationships with insects, the Wellcome Collection's ‘Who's the Pest?’ programme attempts to challenge the stigma of insects as ill-disposed ‘bugs’. The article reviews two events in the series, the workshop ‘Insects au gratin’ and the debate ‘Insects vs. humans’, and places them in the context of recent engagements with ‘pests’ in the public realm.     

Are Human Rights Redundant in the Ethical Codes of Psychologists?

The codes of ethics and conduct of a number of psychology bodies explicitly refer to human rights, and the American Psychological Association recently expanded the use of the construct when it amended standard 1.02 of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. What is unclear is how these references to human rights should be interpreted. In this article I examine the historical development of human rights and associated constructs and the contemporary meaning of human rights. As human rights are generally associated with law, morality, or religion, I consider to which of forms of these references most likely refer. I conclude that these references in ethical codes are redundant and that it would be preferable not to refer to human rights in codes. Instead, the profession should acknowledge human rights as a separate and complimentary norm system that governs the behavior of psychologists and should ensure that they have adequate knowledge of human rights and encourage them to promote human rights.     

Human–Robot Interaction in the Context of Simulated Route Reconnaissance Missions

The goal of this research was to examine the ways in which human operators interact with simulated semiautonomous unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), semiautonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and teleoperated UGVs (Teleop). Robotic operators performed parallel route reconnaissance missions with each platform alone and with all three platforms. When given all three platforms, participants failed to detect more targets than when given only the UAV or UGV; they were also less likely to complete their mission in the allotted time. Target detection during missions was the poorest with the Teleop alone, likely because of the demands of remote driving. Spatial ability was found to be a good predictor of target-detection performance. However, slowing sensor feed video frame rate or the imposition of a short response latency (250 ms) between Teleop control and Teleop reaction failed to affect target-detection performance significantly. Nevertheless, these video image manipulations did influence assessment of system usability.     

Human inferior parietal cortex ‘programs’ the action class of grasping

If one writes with a pen grasped between the toes, or a pencil held in the mouth, the handwriting style may be of poor quality but can be identified as belonging to a particular individual. Like other actions, such as grasping or pointing, different body parts can be used to produce the movement. These findings, of reasonably consistent spatial and temporal productions by different effectors, have been used to argue for the concept of motor equivalence and the existence of motor programs abstracted from particular effectors. In this study subjects were required to perform an action (grasping a sweet) with different effectors (the mouth or the hand) while the brain was scanned. Activation of the inferior parietal lobe during real and imagined mouth grasping, and during real hand grasping actions was demonstrated. Primate neurophysiological research has implicated this region in a movement-planning role. Our results confirm the importance of the inferior parietal lobe in integrating converging multimodal sensory information for coding of general action patterns in humans.     

“Minding the Gap”: Imagination,Creativity and Human Cognition

Inquiry into the nature of mental images is a major topic in psychology where research is focused on the psychological faculties of imagination and creativity. In this paper, we draw on the work of L.S. Vygotsky to develop a cultural-historical approach to the study of imagination as central to human cognitive processes. We characterize imagination as a process of image making that resolves “gaps” arising from biological and cultural-historical constraints, and that enables ongoing time-space coordination necessary for thought and action. After presenting some basic theoretical considerations, we offer a series of examples to illustrate for the reader the diversity of processes of imagination as image making. Applying our arguments to contemporary digital media, we argue that a cultural-historical approach to image formation is important for understanding how imagination and creativity are distinct, yet inter-penetrating processes.