Contemporary art and Hanna Segal's thinking on aesthetics

From the point of view of the history of ideas in psychoanalysis, a major shift may be described from Freud's starting point considering art as sublimation of sexual desires on a largely objectal level to later developments emphasizing the presence in art of destructiveness and narcissistic conflicts. Segal's contribution represents a watershed in this evolution. Following Klein, Hanna Segal suggests considering art in relation to depressive anxieties and reparation in such a way that artistic activity may be seen as an attempt 'to restore and re-create the loved object outside and inside the ego' which implies a successful work of mourning accompanied by symbol formation. For Segal, these reparative processes are conveyed through formal beauty which represents the victory of reparation over destruction. Nevertheless, contemporary art demands that we consider the intervention, in art, of more raw and less symbolized/sublimated processes, including acting-out in often primitive, psychotic or perverse ways. Thus this paper unfolds in two directions: on the one hand, it examines the differences and continuities between Freud's and Segal's thinking whilst, on the other, the author presents some alternative ideas which stress the search for truth and new thinking in contemporary art.     

Social representations of democratic transition: Was the Philippine People Power a non‐violent power shift or a military coup?

This research looked at social representations of the 1986 People Power in the Philippines among Filipino civilians and the military. Using mixed qualitative–quantitative methods, the research collected military narratives, ran a survey of civilians and military personnel and reviewed newspaper accounts of People Power anniversary celebrations over 20 years. Civilians saw People Power as a strong and positive power shift, while the military viewed it as an aborted coup led by military officers that was weak and bad. The findings about the social representations of transition are linked to civilian–military social identities after 1986 and illuminate the subjective landscape of State power contests in a new democracy.     

Philosophy and reflection: A critique of Frank Welz’s sociological and “processual” criticism of Husserl and Schutz

Frank Welz’s Kritik der Lebenswelt undertakes a sociology of knowledge criticism of the work of Edmund Husserl and Alfred Schutz that construes them as developing absolutist, egological systems opposed to the “processual” worldview prominent since the modern rise of natural science. Welz, though, misunderstands the work of Schutz and Husserl and neglects how their focus on consciousness and eidetic features pertains to the kind of reflection that one must undertake if one would avoid succumbing to absolutism, that uncovers the presuppositions of the processual worldview itself, and that secures a domain distinctive of philosophy over against sociology. Finally, Welz’s charge that Schutz favors a Neo-Kantian social scientific methodology contradictory to his phenomenology neglects the levels of Schutz’s discourse and ignores how the Weberian ideal-typical approach can be subsumed within phenomenology.     

Foucault and the Imperatives of Education: Critique and Self-Creation in a Non-Foundational World

This article outlines Foucault’s conception of critique in relation to his writings on Kant. In that Kant saw Enlightenment as a process of release from the status of immaturity in that we accept someone else’s authority to lead us in areas where the use of reason is called for, it is claimed in this article that Foucault’s notion of critique reveals his own conception of maturity. Whereas Kant sees maturity as the rule of self by self through reason, Foucault sees it as an attitude towards ourselves and the present through an historical analysis of the limits, and the possibility of transgression, of going beyond. Critique is thus a permanent interrogation of the limits, an escape from normalization, and a facing-up to the challenges of self-creation while seeking to effect changes in social structures on specific regional issues of concern. The article concludes by suggesting that the problem of historical and epistemological relativism, which a conception of total critique gives rise to, may not be as insurmountable as some critics of Foucault have claimed.     

What’s wrong with contemporary philosophy?

Philosophy in the West divides into three parts: Analytic Philosophy (AP), Continental Philosophy (CP), and History of Philosophy (HP). But all three parts are in a bad way. AP is sceptical about the claim that philosophy can be a science, and hence is uninterested in the real world. CP is never pursued in a properly theoretical way, and its practice is tailor-made for particular political and ethical conclusions. HP is mostly developed on a regionalist basis: what is studied is determined by the nation or culture to which a philosopher belongs, rather than by the objective value of that philosopher’s work. Progress in philosophy can only be attained by avoiding these pitfalls.     

A Lifespan Biological Model of Menopause

This paper continues the author's theoretical reconsideration of the biology of menopause (Derry, 2002). The author's broader-biological theoretical model of menopause, the Lifespan Biological Model, asserts that menopause is best understood by considering the biology of healthy systems. The biological subfield of life history theory combined with the psychological subfield of lifespan development provides a useful starting point to understand the biology of menopause. When compared with other mammals, humans have unusual life stages, one of which is a post-reproductive stage of relatively healthy, competent adulthood. Implications of the model are discussed with regard to conceptualizing: menopause as normal versus pathological; the arc of development as childhood growth/adult stability/aging senescence versus lifespan developmental; and the relation of menopause to chronic disease, especially osteoporosis.     

现代科学技术革命与肿瘤治疗的发展

通过对肿瘤的手术、放疗、化疗以及生物治疗这四大肿瘤治疗发展史的研究,揭示出现代科学技术革命对肿瘤治疗进展的巨大推动作用,辨证地展现:未来随着新技术的出现,肿瘤的治疗将一定有重大突破。     

浅谈医生基本功对临床决策的影响

针对医生基本功在医学科学飞速发展的今天有何作用的困惑,阐述了详尽的病史采集、全面而准确的体格检查、合理而科学地选择实验室及辅助检查对临床决策的重要意义。医生只有将基本理论、基本技能、基础知识、道德修养、分析问题、解决问题的能力和水平作为立足之本,才能不断提高临床决策水平。     

多巴胺与帕金森病早期研究——生物医学研究领域的一个生动案例

多巴胺作为一种重要神经递质,其研究历史与帕金森病发展史紧密相随。早期的多巴胺功能研究直接推动了帕金森病发病神经生化机制的阐明,并带来帕金森病治疗上的重大突破——多巴胺替代治疗。这段研究历史曲折、丰富,堪称生物医学研究领域中的生动案例。对这段历史作一回顾并就其对生物医学研究启示作用略作分析。     

张功耀为何误读了科技史

张功耀研究古代科技史时,曲解了原文。“先前阔”是阿Q“自我胜利法”,不是前人的研究心态;“处阴息影”是嘲笑病态患者,更不能比为研究者;“圣教同源”与“关门见喜”也是他误解古人和民族虚无思想的充分表露。