Benjamin Franklin and shock-induced amnesia

Shock-induced amnesia received considerable attention after Cerletti popularized electroconvulsive shock therapy in the late 1930s. Yet, often overlooked is the fact that Benjamin Franklin recognized that passing electricity through the head could affect memory for the traumatic event. Franklin described his findings on himself and others in several letters from the mid-1700s, 2 of which were published in his lifetime. What he observed was confirmed in 1783 by physician Jan Ingenhousz, who was one of his correspondents. Although Ingenhousz had lost his memory for his electrical accident and was confused immediately afterward, he felt strangely elated and unusually sharp the next morning. Hence, he called for clinical trials with patients with melancholia who were not responding to more conventional therapies. After Franklin received Ingenhousz's letter, he also called for clinical trials. Neither man, however, tied the possible new cure for melancholia to the memory loss--nor did the operators that began to treat some patients with melancholia successfully with cranial shocks. Only much later would the amnesia be thought to be associated with the cure.     

Walter Benjamin in the Age of Post-critical Pedagogy

Studies in Philosophy and Education - Post-critical pedagogy, which offers a significant alternative to the dominant trends in contemporary philosophy of education, objects to seeing education as...     

Samuel Benjamin: Unorthodox observer of the Middle East

Artist, author, diplomat, Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin's long association with the Middle East provided the raw material for much of his work. A self‐confessed ‘freelance’ in an age of increasing specialization and professionalism, he had difficulty adjusting to the myriad changes in American society. To make matters worse, Benjamin held unfashionable opinions on many subjects. Nowhere were his ideas more contentious than in his writings on the Middle East, where he set out his thoughts on Islam, on the role of missionaries, on the position of minorities, on ‘Oriental’ government. His unorthodox observations frequently elicited unfavourable reviews of his work. Yet from a late‐twentieth‐century perspective, Benjamin stands out among his contemporaries in his breadth of knowledge and understanding of the Middle East. There were, to be sure, some strange and uninformed ideas scattered here and there throughout his works, but what surprises the careful reader today is the durability of many of those views written a century ago.     

Social Innovation: Ten Cases From Benjamin Franklin

ABSTRACT: Students of creativity have examined innovation in the arts, sciences, and engineering. Social innovation, the generation and implementation of new ideas about social relationships and social organization, has received less attention. This effort uses a case study approach, drawing from the historic record provided by Benjamin Franklin, to formulate some initial hypotheses about the strategies and tactics used to generate and implement social innovations. It was found that Franklin identified problems based on practical need, analyzed causes carefully, generated contextually appropriate low-cost implementation strategies, and built the support needed for demonstration projects. The implications of these strategies and tactics for innovation in modern organizations are discussed.     

阴暗时代的语言--卡内蒂、克莱姆珀雷、本杰雅明

暴力同语言保持着什么样的关系 ?[1] 一旦暴力将语言当作主要靶子 ,会发生什么 ?也许我们应该从界定暴力的内在逻辑着手 ,然后再论述它同语言的畸形杂交问题。莱维纳斯在收入论文集《艰难的自由》的一篇文章中指出 ,暴力活动乃是“人们仿佛只有他们在独自进行的那种活动 ;仿佛宇宙的其余一切只是为了接受这样的活动才存在 ;因此 ,我们所忍受的从各方面来说不是合作者的所有活动 ,同样也都是暴力的”。[2 ] 因此 ,暴力具有两种特征。一方面 ,它从不折不扣的幻想 ,亦即从自以为超强和独立得足以独自决定“宇宙其他一切”命运的那种意志假想中…