Religion,the Royal Society,and the Rise of Science1

Accounts of the role of religion in the rise of modern science often focus on the way in which religion provided the intellectual foundations for scientific enquiry, motivated particular individuals, or provided the substantive content of approaches to nature. These relate to the origins of science and assume that, once established, modern science becomes self-justifying. However, seventeenth-century criticisms of science—attacks on the Royal Society being one example—suggest that science remained a marginal and precarious activity for some time. The rise of science to cultural prominence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was possible only because science was eventually able to establish itself as a religiously useful enterprise. Religion thus played a key role not only in the origins of modern science, but in providing the ongoing social sanctions that ensured its persistence and rise to prominence.     

Christ and the Homosexual: An Early Manifesto for an Affirming Christian Ministry to Homosexuals

In his book Christ and the Homosexual (1960), Rev. Robert Wood presented American Christians with a view of homosexuality that was revolutionary: in short, he argued that homosexuals held a rightful place in church and society and that they should abandon neither Christianity nor the church. More specifically, the author called for the advancement of civil rights for homosexuals; the construction of pro-homosexual theologies; the education, ordination, and career placement of “out” homosexuals; and marriage equality for same-sex couples. This article situates these topics within Wood’s lifelong (and ongoing) ministry of promoting the full acceptance of homosexuals in American society and in The United Church of Christ, his own denomination. The following sources from the Robert Wood Archive at The Congregational Library in Boston, MA, USA, have been used in this article: the author’s notes and early drafts of Christ and the Homosexual; his voluminous correspondence from the 1940s through the 1990s; and an unpublished biography of Wood. In addition, this article’s author draws upon an oral history interview conducted with Robert Wood in July 2012.     

Sixty years of the Interamerican Society of Psychology (SIP): Origins and development

This paper presents a historical overview of the Interamerican Society of Psychology, which was founded on December 17, 1951, in Mexico City. Firstly, the historical circumstances of the foundation period are presented, as well as the people who made this organization possible, and the state of psychology on the American continent at that time. Secondly, the most important activities that the Interamerican Society of Psychology has developed during its 60 years are mentioned, such as the publication of books and scientific journals, the creation of several task forces and the Interamerican Congresses of Psychology. Basically, the purpose of this paper is to review the history of the Interamerican Society of Psychology through the recovery and use of various documentary sources.     

Psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts in France between 1939 and 1945

France was affected by a deep psychoanalytic silence, both in theoretical and clinical fields, throughout the four years of German occupation. The psychoanalytic Institute closed its doors and the Revue française de Psychanalyse interrupted its publication as soon as the armistice was declared in 1940. Some people, e.g. Rudolf Loewenstein or Princess Marie Bonaparte emigrated, others fought, for instance, Sacha Nacht or Paul Schiff. Daniel Lagache went on with his researches under the auspices of the University of Strasbourg which had sought shelter in Clermont-Ferrand. René Laforgue cooperated with the German occupier; after the Liberation of France in 1944 he was discarded from a group in which, a few years before, he may have entertained the hope of playing an outstanding role. Quite a few of those he analysed remained faithful to him - which was to have an important bearing on the evolution of the psychoanalytic movement in France after 1945. In 1945, indeed, the new generation emerging from the last convulsions of the war, were to gather around the most influential potential leaders: Sacha Nacht and Jacques Lacan. Only after the latency of those silent years, only after those years of violent struggles and cowardice, would the psychoanalytic elaboration appear, along with the institutional feuds to which they gave rise - in a conflictual climate amounting to the scission of 1953.     

Hindu and Christian Creationism: "Transposed Passages" in the Geological Book of Life

Antievolution arguments of Christian and Hindu creationists often critique Darwin's metaphor of the geological record as an ill-preserved book of life, while highlighting the problem of anomalous fossils. For instance, Bible-based young-Earth creationists point to anomalous humanlike prints alongside authenticated dinosaur tracks to argue for the creation of all life some few thousand years ago. But Vedic-based ancient-hominid creationists view the same sort of evidence as indicating the existence of all species, including the hominids, billions of years ago. I examine the roots of this Hindu Vedic creationism and its recent elaboration among scientifically minded members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Similarities in the methods and rhetorical strategies of the two creationist groups are considered, as well as the underlying motives that have brought together such otherwise disparate religious worldviews.     

“儒学与当代社会双向互动”刍议

儒学与当代社会的双向互动是指儒学与当代社会的双向审视、双向批判、双向参与。这一问题对儒学言 ,是能否在当代社会生存与发展和如何生存与发展的问题 ,对当代社会言 ,是如何汲取儒家的智慧走向人文化成的问题。双向互动不是封闭的静态系统 ,而是动态的开放系统 ,重不在互动的效果 ,而是互动的过程。儒学借助与当代社会的互动而焕发出新的生命与活力 ,当代社会因儒学的参与而更加健全、完善。     

社会性道德视角下的市场社会道德基础探究--兼析经济学的价值判断

在个体层面上,“利己”与“道德”是人性中的两种德性,二者并不矛盾;在型构社会层面上．为了维系合作秩序的扩展,须构建与市场社会相适应的社会性道德基础。中国的传统社会缺失了社会性道德这一维度,休谟在特定的历史时期所提出的社会性道德论说对于建设中国当下的市场经济有特别的理论借鉴意义。普世性的道德准则是经济学的前提,经济学自身的价值判断准则也同样拒斥不道德的经济行为。“市场经济可以不讲道德”的命题是不成立的。     

NSGC Foundations—Then,Now, and Tomorrow

This 2004 Presidential Address was presented at the annual education conference of the National Society of Genetic Counselors in Washington DC on October 9, 2004.     

Love, psychoanalysis and destruction

The author presents the available information concerning the eminent Russian psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein, who originally developed the idea of destruction. A major part of the article, which concerns today's popular following of C. G. Jung and S. Freud, is based on documents in the Russian (Moscow) archives, and touches upon the least known periods and facts of her tragic life and of her creative activity.