Towards an understanding of the psychodynamic processes of the body

Abstract

Counselling clients frequently mention bodily symptoms, yet, within the therapy world, the body largely remains off-limits. This, in some part, is undoubtedly due to the prevailing issues around the touch taboo. However, the symptoms emanating from the body may well have profound psychodynamic meaning. This paper sets out to describe a psychodynamic perspective for how these symptoms may arise. Notions such as libido and preverbal theories, along with primal defence mechanisms, are used to show how the body becomes involved in unconscious processes. A case study is presented as illustrative of some of the psychodynamic concepts that may be implicated. It is argued that bodywork may help in providing a preverbal supportive environment from which a therapeutic alliance may develop, thus allowing for a verbalization of unconscious conflict.     

The Future of Philosophy

In this article the editor of the Philosophical Quarterly briefly outlines the editorial process at that journal; explains why it is foolhardy to attempt to predict the future of philosophy; and, finally, attempts such a prediction. Drawing on his recent book Ethics for a Broken World, he argues that climate change, or some other disaster, may lead to a broken world where the optimistic assumptions underlying contemporary philosophy no longer apply. He argues that the possibility of a broken world has deep and unexpected implications for philosophy.     

On the Mathematical Relationship Between Latent Change Score and Autoregressive Cross-Lagged Factor Approaches: Cautions for Inferring Causal Relationship Between Variables

The present paper focuses on the relationship between latent change score (LCS) and autoregressive cross-lagged (ARCL) factor models in longitudinal designs. These models originated from different theoretical traditions for different analytic purposes, yet they share similar mathematical forms. In this paper, we elucidate the mathematical relationship between these models and show that the LCS model is reduced to the ARCL model when fixed effects are assumed in the slope factor scores. Additionally, we provide an applied example using height and weight data from a gerontological study. Throughout the example, we emphasize caution in choosing which model (ARCL or LCS) to apply due to the risk of obtaining misleading results concerning the presence and direction of causal precedence between two variables. We suggest approaching model specification not only by comparing estimates and fit indices between the LCS and ARCL models (as well as other models) but also by giving appropriate weight to substantive and theoretical considerations, such as assessing the justifiability of the assumption of random effects in the slope factor scores.     

Varieties of people-place relations and place change: UK electricity transmission grid development

Abstract

With a projected increase in electricity demand and low-carbon energy generation in the UK, the increased deployment of the existing electricity network is foreseeable (DECC, 2011). Public controversy over the proposed sitting of overhead transmission lines (often termed NIMBYism) has, in some cases, led to active opposition and resulted in planning delays and financial cost for developers. In going beyond the NIMBY concept, Devine-Wright (2009) posits a place-based approach to understanding responses to energy infrastructure proposals, highlighting the importance of people's subjective emotional and symbolic associations to particular places. This paper critically reviews existing literature on varieties of people-place relations, pointing to limitations of cross-sectional studies and outlining the value of narrative interviews for establishing the dynamic nature of place orientations over time. Furthermore, the case is made for novel research that explores relationships between forms of non-attachment to place (Lewicka, 2011) and responses to a power line proposal.     

Learning As Support For Organizational Innovation: Possibilities And Limitations

Abstract

The present article tells an intervention story where two collectives, from business and academia, came together to address a business problem through collaborative action research. Among other things, the project created new ways of learning and therefore, knowing about the “business problem.” The author argues that in order to talk about an organizational intervention in a learning context, it was helpful to focus observation at the level of practice, in this case the different learning practices brought to the project by the organization and the research group. The “scientific narrative” focuses on how the two practices interacted. The present story's plot revolves around the following questions: What happens when one collective—used to a particular style of learning—decides to engage with another collective with a different approach to learning and what are the consequences for organizational innovation?     

EXAMINING A MODEL OF EVOLUTIONARY EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMIC CHANGE WITHIN EXISTING SOCIETAL SYSTEMS

Within today's emerging global society, educational systemic change is a dynamic, complex process that must seek to engage active participation of all stakeholders. This article examines alternative models of this process, providing different perspectives of the recursive and comprehensive nature of change when viewed from the vantage points of those stakeholders within the process. An envisioned school or educational system that addresses preparation of a citizenry dedicated to democratic principles and issues of social justice must consciously examine the relationships, that form and reform interconnecting and unifying diverse subsystems within the school's constructed meaning and purpose.     

SUSTAINABILITY SEEN THROUGH AN INTEGRAL LENS

The call to create a sustainable society includes many ideas that are consonant with Integral Science, including its conception of humans as part of nature, emphasis on healthy communities as fundamental building blocks, and emphasis on collaborative social organization. Integral Science expands the sustainability discussion by adding an ecological view of growth, and fractal structures to explain resilient structure. It describes the new society as a collaborative learning society that adapts appropriately to accurate signals. It also shows that the new society is already emerging.     

Information-Hierarchical Organization of Natural Systems II: Futures of Man–Biosphere Interactions and Climate Control

The informational influence of both the vegetation and human society on climate dynamics in moderate and arid zones is revealed. The stability of the Eurasia climate during the last 2,000 years was determined by the specific structure of the Christianity-Judaism sociobiosystem. The study has also revealed the potential information-hierarchical organization of human society with a 71,874-year existence. This organization includes three world religions (Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam) as subsystems and provides both the global stability of climate processes and the conservation of evolutionary developed information-hierarchical organization of the biosphere.     

Dynamics of scientific change and cognitive science. An epistemological update / Dinámica de cambio y ciencias cognitivas. Una puesta al día epistemológica

Abstract

I explore two proposals on the dynamics of scientific change in the general philosophy of science and I evaluate the extent to which they can be applied in the cognitive sciences. I do this by paying special attention to the youth and diversity which characterize this field of scientific research. Firstly, I distinguish two kinds of uses of Kuhn’s work: direct but loose applications of Kuhnean concepts to the history of cognitive science, on the one hand, and indirect applications of certain aspects of Kuhnean ideas, on the other hand. Secondly, I criticize their pertinence on the basis of the secondary role which theories play in the field. Finally, I defend the fertility of the concept of ‘research tradition’ proposed by Laudan, by focusing on the previously highlighted set of idiosyncratic characteristics of the cognitive sciences.