Freedom Beyond Practical Reason: Duns Scotus on Will-Dependent Relations

Most acts of the will have a complex structure, i.e. wanting A in relation to B (e.g. as a means for an end or as a good for another person or for oneself). Duns Scotus makes the innovative claim that the will itself is responsible for the order of this complex structure. It does this by causing its own will-dependent relations, which he construes as a kind of mind-dependent relations (relationes rationis). By means of these relations, the will can arrange the terms of its will-acts independently of any arrangement proposed by the intellect. This not only allows the structure of one's will-act to diverge from the structure proposed by the intellect's final practical judgement; the structure of the will-act need not even have been considered by the intellect at all. One could, therefore, even will an inconceivable state of affairs. I argue that this theory, which scholars have virtually ignored, is fundamental to Scotus's account of divine, angelic, and human freedom, and that it follows necessarily from his voluntarist understanding of freedom. For Scotus, if the will could not structure its acts independently of the intellect, it would not be free.¹¹Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Hoger Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte (Leuven), the Cornell Summer Colloquium in Medieval Philosophy, and at UCLA. I am grateful for the discussion with those present on these occasions. Special thanks are due to Joshua Benson, Francis Feingold, Gloria Frost, Michael Gorman, Bonnie Kent, Calvin Normore, and Nick Kahm for helpful comments.     

Ferenczi's “Confusion of Tongues” Theory and the Analysis of the Incest Trauma

Abstract

The tender-mother transference of Ferenczi's humanistic analytic orientation was as important an advance in pioneering times as was Kohut's selfobject transference in contemporary psychoanalysis. Ferenczi's clinical theory and method began a focus on pre-oedipal experiences, which eventually became an alternate to the oedipal theory. Freud was critical of Ferenczi's formulation, leading a successful attempt to suppress his work and remove it from mainstream psychoanalysis because he believed it was “regressive.” In actuality, Ferenczi's “Confusion of Tongues” theory and “Relaxation Therapy” were prophetic and pioneering attempts to understand and treat the incest trauma (ironically the clinical data upon which Freud founded psychoanalysis 100 years ago). In the case of Miss T., Ferenczi's ideas are applied to the contemporary analysis of the incest trauma.     

Theoretical Orientation and Therapists' Attitudes to Important Components of Therapy: A Study Based on the Valuable Elements in Psychotherapy Questionnaire

The authors describe the inception and subsequent testing of a questionnaire on attitudes regarding how psychotherapy ought to be pursued: the Valuable Elements in Psychotherapy Questionnaire (VEP-Q). A sample of 416 Swedish therapists (161 psychodynamic, 93 cognitive, 95 cognitive behavioral, and 67 integrative/eclectic) responded to the 17-item VEP-Q. A factor analysis of these items resulted in three subscales: PDT, CBT, and Common Factor, as validated by analyses of covariance. The internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the scales were excellent. In addition to theoretical orientation, variables such as gender and basic professional training influenced how respondents answered the VEP-Q. The authors conclude that the VEP-Q seems to be an appropriate instrument for describing similarities as well as differences among practitioners of various schools of psychotherapy.     

Development of a career-enabler framework within a South African higher education institution

This study developed a preliminary career-enabler framework for use in a higher education setting. A quantitative survey was conducted with a sample of 1392 employees within a higher education institution in South Africa. Structural analysis was performed using exploratory factor analysis. The analysis yielded three enablers with acceptable psychometric properties, namely: self-transcendence, self-enhancement and self-conservation through work motives and needs. Interventions that focus on career-enablers within a higher education institution need to address these three factors.     

合成生物学治理的国外经验综述及启示

鉴于合成生物学发展的不确定性及其对人类社会带来的制度、伦理等方面的挑战,提出有效的治理框架至关重要。虽然各国在合成生物学研究领域的地位和预期可能对治理共识的形成造成巨大影响,但通过多主体协作治理,不断推进监管制度改革来应对包括合成生物学等新兴技术的发展问题,即适应性治理,已是国际共识。公共管理的TAPIC框架有助于对合成生物学等新兴领域治理的理解。分析结果表明,各国不同的治理制度、科技发展水平和愿景对其治理影响深刻,必须加强问责制,参与性和完整性因素,以提高各国对新兴技术发展的治理水平。     

家庭医生获得感概念框架及评价模型的构建

通过文献综述和专家咨询的方法构建家庭医生获得感概念框架和评价模型。研究将家庭医生获得感界定为在家庭医生签约服务制度下,家庭医生基于客观获得而产生的主观情绪体验和情感反应的综合感受,构建以获得内容、获得体验、获得途径、获得环境、获得共享五个维度的家庭医生获得感概念框架,并结合相关获得感研究编制家庭医生获得感评价模型,包括5个一级指标、13个二级指标、39个三级指标,为家庭医生获得感研究提供参考。

     

汉代象数易学的理论价值与历史地位

易学发展史上的汉代象数易学,就其理论形态、思维方式、思想特征而言,具有鲜明、典型的时代性与范导性.作为汉代经学核心的有机组成部分的汉代象数易学,对汉代哲学与文化、社会与政治等方面,都产生了广泛与深远的影响.然而,长期以来,人们对汉代象数易学在易学与哲学史上的理论价值与历史地位的认识,或者未能引起足够的重视,或者缺乏客观公允的评判.本文从"立足《周易》象数系统,确立天人之学新形态"、"深化儒家社会政治思想,强化政治指导功能"、"深化整体性和谐理念,凸显和谐价值理想终极诉求"等方面,深入地分析并揭示了汉代象数易学的理论价值与历史地位.     

Introduction

These papers were presented at the 7(th) meeting between Freudian and Jungian analysts held at the Montreal Congress of the International Association of Analytical Psychology (IAAP) in August 2010. The introduction describes the history and themes of previous meetings and discusses the choice of theme for the Montreal meeting. Both primal phantasies and archetypes imply a structural approach to psychological function but in different theoretical terms. These theoretical differences may also be emblematic of clinical differences between a focus on the sexual aspects of infancy in the Freudian tradition and a focus on ongoing emergence and transformation towards a goal of self-becoming in the Jungian tradition. The discussion aimed to test these hypotheses through the presentation of a single case history by Joseph Cambray (IAAP, USA), followed by commentaries from Eduardo Gastelumendi (IPA, Peru) and Verena Kast (IAAP, Switzerland).     

BOLD response to motion verbs in left posterior middle temporal gyrus during story comprehension

A primary focus within neuroimaging research on language comprehension is on the distribution of semantic knowledge in the brain. Studies have shown that the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LPMT), a region just anterior to area MT/V5, is important for the processing of complex action knowledge. It has also been found that motion verbs cause activation in LPMT. In this experiment we investigated whether this effect could be replicated in a setting resembling real life language comprehension, i.e. without any overt behavioral task during passive listening to a story. During fMRI participants listened to a recording of the story “The Ugly Duckling”. We incorporated a nuisance elimination regression approach for factoring out known nuisance variables both in terms of physiological noise, sound intensity, linguistic variables and emotional content. Compared to the remaining text, clauses containing motion verbs were accompanied by a robust activation of LPMT with no other significant effects, consistent with the hypothesis that this brain region is important for processing motion knowledge, even during naturalistic language comprehension conditions.