Embodied spirituality

This article explores the concept of embodied spirituality from early Celtic traditions through the British medieval mystic Julian of Norwich to the present day. A ‘high theology’ of the body in early Christianity and early Christian understandings of the relation among body, soul and spirit gave way to the influences of Greek thought with its bifurcation of spirit and matter and St. Augustine’s notion of Original Sin, leading to an implicit (and often explicit) emphasis on ‘dis-embodied spirituality’ in Western Christianity. This separation of the spirit from the body has affected much of Western and Middle-European cultures for centuries. Research from multidisciplinary perspectives provides insights into the role of the emotions in body–spirit connections; the interplay of body, soul and spirit is discussed from various spiritual traditions. Finally, children’s embodied spirituality is viewed in light of these various insights and understandings.     

Out of the body: embodiment and its vicissitudes

Body‐mind dualism and the consequent neglect of the body of the analyst can have important negative effects on the analytical process leading all too often to misinterpretations of the analysand's verbal and non‐verbal communications and to disturbances of analytical temporality. This is intensified when we are dealing with individuals where disembodiment and states of psychic deadness are central features. The paper explores the philosophical roots of the idea of a disembodied mind and the way in which this impacts our relationship with the world. While André Green's concept of the dead mother and disturbances in the sense of self‐agency have been held to play an important role in states of psychic deadness, I suggest that it is rather disturbances in the sense of body ownership and of the body image which are more central. The paper then discusses the particular kinds of countertransference that can be evoked in the analyst when we find ourselves dealing with this type of patient and suggests how we can use our embodied countertransference to become aware of and elaborate our own feelings of deadness in order to overcome the loss of temporality that is characteristic of such states. This is illustrated with reference to my work with a young man with a masochistic perversion and a severe disturbance of the body image with an accompanying profound sense of psychic deadness.     

具身认知视角下的概念隐喻理论

隐喻是一种常见的语言现象.概念隐喻理论认为,隐喻不仅是一种语言修辞手段,隐喻反映了人类认知的重要特征:人类的抽象概念系统是以感知觉经验和具体概念为基础发展形成的.根据概念隐喻理论,主体可以以感知运动经验对抽象概念进行体验式表征与加工.大量研究证明,抽象概念的加工同对其进行隐喻化描述的身体经验具有关联.这些研究主要涉及空间隐喻、温度隐喻、洁净隐喻、触觉隐喻等.未来的研究应探讨多重隐喻对认知的影响、探索塑造隐喻映射单向作用与相互作用的因素,并关注概念隐喻理论的应用性等问题.     

关系模式框架下的具身社会关系

具身认知受到越来越多关注, 社会心理学家认为社会关系与个体水平的认知一样都包含了具身方面, 这一问题最直接的解释框架是关系模式理论(Smith, 2008)。Fiske认为人类有4种基本关系类型：公共共享(CS)、等级排序(AR)、平等匹配(EM)和市场定价(MP), 前三种都是具身的, 与不同的具身线索存在联系, 也得到了实证支持。当前具身社会关系研究存在不足, 例如解释范围有限、缺乏整合和深入研究等。未来可以从婴幼儿的发展性研究等入手。     

Embodied self-awareness among South African social services therapist-practitioners: An exploratory study

We explored South African social service therapist-practitioners’ experiences of their own lived body in the context of practice. The participants consisted of a convenience sample of 13 therapist-practitioners registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and the South African Council for Social Service Professions, in private practice (n?=?9) or government departments (n?=?4) in the Western Cape and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa. They provided data on their embodied self-awareness by means of naïve sketches and/or drawings, experiential body awareness activities, and in-depth one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Findings from the thematic analysis of the data indicated bodily self-awareness; including experiences of bodily felt sensations while doing therapy, intuitive knowing, a sense of warning/ danger, and a sense of the body-schema-in-relation. Most of the therapist-practitioners reported a tendency to deny, suppress, or control their sensory cues or to rationalise them. Embodied self-awareness appears to be a true phenomenon among South African therapist-practitioners.     

ASTROPHYSICS AND CREATION: PERCEIVING THE UNIVERSE THROUGH SCIENCE AND PARTICIPATION

I explore how the notion of divine creation could be made understandable in a worldview dominated by empirical science. The crucial question concerns the empirical basis of belief in creation. Astronomical observations have changed our worldview in an exemplary manner. I show by an example from imaginative literature that human beings can perceive stars by means other than astronomical observation. This alternative mode may be described as “participatory perception,” in which a human experiences the world not by objectifying separation as in science, but by personal involvement. I relate such perceptions to “embodied cognitive science,” a topical interdisciplinary field of research in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience. Embodied cognitions initiate processes that can convey personal experiences of the stars. Such cognitions may involve religious apprehensions and give rise to sophisticated values. It is argued that the knowledge available through astrophysics and interpretation of the universe as divine creation represent two different ways of perceiving the same reality and should thus be seen as mutually complementary.     

二语情绪概念理解中的空间隐喻

采用空间启动范式考察二语情绪概念理解中是否激活空间信息, 即是否存在空间隐喻。实验1探讨单通道二语情绪概念理解中的空间隐喻, 实验2则探讨跨通道二语情绪概念理解中的空间隐喻。实验1中让32名母语为汉语的汉-英双语者先看一个英文情绪词, 接着进行视觉空间位置判断, 最后再让被试判断之前呈现的情绪词是积极词还是消极词。实验2中40名母语为汉语的汉-英双语者完成跟实验1类似的任务, 不同之处为英文情绪词以听觉形式呈现。两个实验的结果表明, 跨语言和跨通道的情绪词的空间隐喻受到空间位置方向的影响。垂直位置方向上, 二语情绪词在单通道和跨通道中都表现出了空间隐喻; 水平位置方向上, 二语情绪词没有表现出空间隐喻。该结果说明了情绪概念的空间隐喻会受到个体经验的影响, 进一步支持了知觉符号理论。     

反应-效应相容性范式下不同数字表征方式和身体经验对数字认知加工的影响

采用反应-效应相容性范式,探讨不同数字表征方式和身体经验对个体数字认知加工的影响。实验1首先采用木棒数字表征从知觉层面证明反应-效应相容性效应的存在;实验2采用累计手指数字表征考察手指数字表征在反应-效应相容性匹配中的优势;实验3则进一步排除了近似数量表征系统的影响,从语义层面探讨中国文化背景下语义概念手指数字表征的反应-效应相容性对数字认知加工的影响。结果发现,不同的数字表征系统中均存在反应-效应相容性效应,支持了观念运动理论;相比客体材料,手指数字表征在相容条件下具有明显的匹配优势,支持了具身数量的观点。     

从具身视角看道德判断

道德判断是个体对于某类行为的善恶好坏和是非对错所进行的评价及判断。随着具身认知理论的兴起, 道德判断的具身研究随之展开。道德判断具身性的研究主要围绕身体清洁、厌恶, 身体温度及身体动作这3个维度展开。从皮亚杰及维果茨基的心理发展观, 概念隐喻理论和进化心理学3个角度对道德判断具身效应进行了理论解释和探讨。考虑到身体变量会通过情绪、认知因素进而影响道德判断, 今后具身认知视角下的道德判断应与道德判断中已有的理论进行整合, 同时对其与道德直觉的关系需要深入探讨, 并需进一步考察具身效应发生的时效性和动态性问题, 探讨道德判断具身效应的调节变量及个体差异, 同时要对道德判断具身效应进行跨文化比较。     

厌恶的起源及其泛化:进化的观点

厌恶是人类的基本情绪之一,也是情绪心理学的研究重点。以进化论为指导的进化心理学对厌恶研究提供了一个崭新的理论视角,认为人类厌恶情绪源于抵御寄生物和保持种群规模的需要。现代人类的多种复杂的道德厌恶感与生理厌恶感有着同样的进化根源,人类的道德心理系统有部分是建立在更为古老的进化适应基础之上。