SLAVERY AND DOMINATION AS POLITICAL IDEAS IN AUGUSTINE'S CITY OF GOD

The purpose of this article is to explore the meaning of domination and slavery in the political philosophy of Augustine of Hippo (354–430), particularly in the major work of his later years, the City of God. It offers an exploration of this aspect of Augustine's thought in the light of relatively recent scholarship on the meaning of these terms for political philosophy (in particular, the work of Quentin Skinner and Philip Pettit). It finds that, in Augustine's eyes, the nature of domination or slavery in the political sphere differed from its nature in the domestic sphere.     

All of The Myriad Worlds: Life in the Akashic Plenum

This article explores some experiential implications of Laszlo's Akashic Field hypothesis as well as similar information-rich field models such as those suggested by Bohm and Sheldrake. It examines the implications of such models for both ordinary and anomalous human experience, and proposes the idea that these models allow for the possibility of alternative experiential worlds as real as ordinary “material” reality. Such alternative realities are posited by many, if not all, major mythic and religious systems, and are said to be directly experienced in certain contemplative and shamanic traditions as well as during postmortem and near-death experiences. We note that information-rich holographic fields may be able to store concentrated non-overlapping quantities of information that can be selectively activated by distinct eliciting stimuli. Individual human consciousness itself might constitute just such a stimulus, thus accounting for the individual and cultural variations on commonly shared motifs in shamanic, near death, and other experiences of alternative realities.     

Dependent Companions

My primary concern will be to cast light upon the relation between animal guardians ('pet owners') and pets as a deep relation. I will proceed with a degree of indirectness by explaining why animal guardians can have an epistemically-privileged position when it comes to end-of-life decisions concerning pets. My contention is that they are best placed to grasp the relevant narrative considerations upon which end-of-life deliberation in marginal cases ought to depend. Such narrative-appreciation is built into the practice of treating animals as pets. By virtue of having such a narrative appreciation, animal guardians can be best placed to grasp the life-role of pain and suffering.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Human Information Processing: An Introduction to Psychology. By Peter H. Lindsay and Donald A. Norman . Human Memory: Research and Theory. By L. S. Cermak . Organization of Memory. Edited by Endel Tulving and Wayne Donaldson . Associations or Addresses: a Study in Serial Verbal Learning. By F. J. Strømnes . Verbal Learning Research and the Technology of Written Instruction. Edited by Ernst Z. Rothkopf and Paul E. Johnson . Inhibition and Learning. Edited by R. A. Boakes and M. S. Halliday . Purposive Explanation in Psychology. By Margaret A. Boden . The Double Brain. By S. Dimond . Limbic System Mechanisms and Autonomic Function. Edited by C. H. Hockman . Languages of the Brain: Experimental Paradoxes and Principles in Neuropsychology. By K. H. Pribram . Perception in Everyday Life. By S. Howard Bartley . Language and Social Behaviour. By W. P. Robinson . Language Development: Structure and Function. By Philip S. Dale . Language of the Mentally Retarded. Edited by Richard L. Schiefelbusch . Studies in Dyadic Communication. Edited by A. W. Siegman and B. Pope . The Social Animal. By Elliot Aronson . Moral Learning and Development, Theory and Research. By Douglas Graham . The Social Influence Processes. Edited by J. T. Tedeschi . Perception and Cognition: a Cross-Cultural Perspective. By Barbara B. Lloyd . The Psychology of Humor. Edited by J. H. Goldstein and P. E. Mc Ghee . Males and Females. By Corinne Hutt . The Interview: Research on its Anatomy and Structure. By Joseph D. Matarazzo and Arthur N. Wiens . Inquiring Man: the Theory of Personal Constructs. By D. Bannister and Fay Fransella . Change and Continuity in Infancy. By Jerome Kagan . The Psychology of Consciousness. By R. E. Ornstein . Occupational Psychology. By Donald E. Super and Martin J. Bohn , Jr .     

Marital Conflict by Proxy After Father Kills Mother: The Family Therapist As an Expert Witness in Court

The father killing the mother leaves the children effectively without parents. The extended family from both sides will often intervene to offer a home for the children, or at least to have a say in what arrangements are made for the children and how they are to be brought up. Intensely competitive and hostile feelings between the opposing sets of relatives are commonly aroused, and the children may be caught up in a battle reminiscent of the conflict between their parents, which culminated in the death of their mother. I and my colleagues have, as a team, seen more than 300 children who have lost one parent at the hands of the other, and we have been involved in subsequent custody battles as expert witnesses. Based on this experience and using this context as an example, the issues for the family therapist as expert witness in adversarial Court proceedings are presented. A case is described that illustrates the theoretical exposition — including the effectiveness of family therapy from the witness box.