What is a Psychological Unit?

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicki L. Lee

This paper considers the question “What is a psychological unit?”. The ubiquity of units in daily life and in science is considered. The assumption that the individual human being or animal is the psychological unit is examined and rejected. The units represented by the data collected in operant laboratories are interpreted as a subset of the well-defined changes that individual human beings or animals can bring about. The departure of this interpretation from the traditional interpretation in terms of the behaviour of the organism is acknowledged. The paper concludes by noting the relation of the present interpretation of operant research to the problem of identifying psychological units.

1985 ◽  
Vol 20 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 206-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoram Dinstein

The individual human being is manifestly the object of every legal system on this planet, and consequently also of international law. The ordinary subject of international law is the international corporate entity: first and foremost (though not exclusively) the State. Yet, the corporate entity is not a tangible res that exists in reality, but an abstract notion, moulded through legal manipulation by and within the ambit of a superior legal system. When the veil is pierced, one can see that behind the legal personality of the State (or any other international corporate entity) there are natural persons: flesh-and-blood human beings. In the final analysis, Westlake was indubitably right when he stated: The duties and rights of States are only the duties and rights of the men who compose them.That is to say, in actuality, the international rights and duties of States devolve on human beings, albeit indirectly and collectively. In other words, the individual human being is not merely the object of international law, but indirectly also its subject, notwithstanding the fact that, ostensibly, the subject is the international corporate entity.


Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-260
Author(s):  
Franco Manni ◽  

From the ideas of Aristotle, De Saussure and Wittgenstein, philosopher Herbert McCabe elaborated an original anthropology. 'Meaning' means: the role played by a part towards the whole. Senses are bodily organs and sensations allow an animal to get fragments of the external world which become 'meaningful' for the behaviour of the whole animal Besides sensations, humans are ‘linguistic animals’ because through words they are able to 'communicate', that is, to share a peculiar kind of meanings: concepts. Whereas, sense-images are stored physically in our brain and cannot be shared, even though we can relate to sense-images by words (speech coincides with thought). However, concepts do not belong to the individual human being qua individual, but to an interpersonal entity: the language system. Therefore, on the one hand, to store images is a sense-power and an operation of the brain, whereas the brain (quite paradoxically!) is not in itself the organ of thought. On the other hand, concepts do not exist on their own.


Author(s):  
Juha Hämäläinen

“Pedagogue” (παιδαγογος) was originally a term for a slave who was responsible for the care of children in the household. Later the meaning of the word expanded to mean educator and teacher. A pedagogic theory deals with the nature and structure of educational action, teaching, and upbringing. Pedagogic theories are connected with belief and value systems, concepts of man and society, and philosophies of knowledge and political interests. Thus, it is rather difficult to define a pedagogic theory exactly. In general, the concept of pedagogy refers to a systematic view of organizing education. It discusses the issues of how to educate and what it means to be educated. In this sense, a pedagogic theory is a theory of educational action, or a systematic view and reflection of pedagogic practice. Pedagogic theory is a systematic conceptualization of the process of education and conditions of human development in both the individual and the societal life sphere. It deals with processes of upbringing, teaching, learning, and social and cultural development. Aims and means, values and norms, and objectives and methods of education are systematically reflected therein. Pedagogic theory building starts with two fundamental anthropologic questions: What is a human being, and what should he or she be? Combining these questions, pedagogic theory examines educational aims and means of helping human beings to develop toward what they should be. Pedagogic reflection and theory building are based on the idea that—in the words of Immanuel Kant—a human being can become human only through education. Studying childhood from the vantage point of pedagogic theories focuses on the development of a pedagogic way of thinking over the course of time.


2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-69
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Den Uyl ◽  
Douglas B. Rasmussen

Whether or not Strauss's observation is historically accurate, it does suggest two sets of questions for philosophical examination. (1) Is Strauss correct to view natural duties and natural rights as the same type of ethical concept? Do they serve the same function? Do they work on the same level, and are they necessarily in competition with each other? (2) Does saying that the individual human being is the center of the moral world require that one reject the idea of a human end, or telos? Does accepting the ethical centrality of a human telos require that one reject ethical individualism? Are they mutually exclusive?


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 143-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatjana Hörnle ◽  
Mordechai Kremnitzer

Human dignity can be a protected interest in criminal law. This paper starts with some reflections about the meaning of human dignity and then examines offense descriptions in the German Penal Code and the Israeli Penal Code. These codes are used as sources for identifying possibly relevant prohibitions. One can indeed find numerous examples of offense descriptions that can be justified by pointing to human dignity, either as a main protected interest or as a protected interest in addition to other interests. The protected interest can be either the individual victim's right to human dignity or human dignity as an objective value. Offense descriptions that can be connected to “protection of human dignity” should, for analytical purposes, be divided into three groups: violations of the dignity of individual human beings through acts other than speech; violations of the human dignity of individuals through speech; and media content that does not contain statements about individuals but shows scenes of severe humiliation (e.g., fictional child pornography). Questions that need further discussion primarily concern the second group (what role should free speech play in cases of human dignity violations?) and the third group (does the acknowledgement of human dignity as an objective value mean to endorse a re-moralization of the criminal law?).


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
I Wayan Sunampan Putra

<em><span lang="IN">Harmony in religious life is an important phenomenon to note. Considering that several different religions have developed in Indonesia, it is necessary to apply the teachings of harmony theology. Community life under religious pluralism is not always harmonious. In daily life, several cases of disharmony of religious communities often occur. This disharmony occurs because of the lack of tolerance between religious people with one another. To bring back the attitude of tolerance, one needs to explore religious teachings. Thus, there is no longer a nerrow mind against Hindus. The theology of harmony in the Hindu perspective in this case seeks to provide teachings about the unity of mankind. </span><span lang="EN">In the Hindu perspective of harmony theology, every human being should respect his fellow human beings because they come from the same source, namely God. Harmony is a religious obligation and obedience to God, it is also a cultural guideline and customs. The synergy between the two has always greatly influenced people's perspectives and attitudes regarding various matters, including efforts to create a harmonious life in the midst of plurality.</span><span lang="EN"> </span></em>


1973 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 217-219
Author(s):  
William Michelsen

Grundtvig for teaching purposes.N. F. S. Grundtvig: Tre Danne-Virke-artikler. Aarhus 1972. Studieserien, published by the Danish Teachers’ Association: Grundtvig og det folkelige (by Marianne Ju h l Christiansen and Lise Ettrup), Organisme tanken (by Aage Henriksen) and Tværsnit 1870 (by Peter Søby Kristensen). Copenhagen 1972 and 1973. Reviewed by W illiam Michelsen. These booklets show that it is not only Grundtvig’s best-known hymns and poems which are used for teaching purposes, but also the prose he wrote as a critic and a speaker. In the booklet about Grundtvig and the people, there is furthermore a definition of the idea of »det folkelige« (what pertains to the people), which accords with Grundtvig’s own ideas and which is supported by the texts that follow, which also include his imitators and critics.There is no doubt at all that Grundtvig regarded the people - the individual nation - as a living organism developing in a comparable manner to the individual human being. In this respect he was a romantic and can - in a way – be counted among the thinkers who suscribed to the »organism idea«, as Aage Henriksen expresses it. But when this idea is traced back to Spinoza and carried forward to Hegel, Marx and Freud, one must nevertheless protest against Grundtvig - along with Henrich Steffens and Paul Diderichsen - being the only Danish representative, from whose works a passage is quoted (from October 1810 – see Grundtvig-Studier 1956). He was in reality (from December 1810) an opponent of the whole of this school of thought, apart from in his acceptance of the idea of the people as an organism.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amrullah .

Humans are created from two elements, namely, physical (physical) and spiritual (psychic). Therefore man is the perfect being from various aspects of it spiritually (psychologically). Since man has been created perfectly, he has three spiritual powers: al-fikr, al-wijdaan, al-madhadah with different shades, levels and levels between individual human beings; which is expressed in the form of attitudes and behaviors as a result of efforts to meet their psychological needs. In conjunction with persuasive devotion, a da'i must understand and be aware of the spiritual potential of human being as well as object of delivery of message of dakwah, which of course must be supported by skill and skill that exist in da'i self. One of the most basic is where da'i have to master the linguistic of various aspects, so that what is conveyed is not contradictory or in line with the spiritual nature of human beings as mad'u.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Lerchner

What is a human being? Some might answer this question by referring to a biological body, growing from genetic information passed on through generations. Others refer to a mind, developed from infancy to adulthood, expressing itself self-aware and intelligently. Few will argue that a human being could exist without one or the other, but many disagree on their relative contribution. Does the conscious mind emerge solely from a single physical body? Is the developing body shaped purely by biological predetermination? I propose that the formation of individual human beings is subject to an environment that envelops both, the physical and mental realms. This environment is here referred to as story-verse of humanity. It is an ecosystem that emerged from biological activity but grew and evolved into an interactive space that includes temporal interactions, such as created by nervous system activity. The emerging story-verse gives rise to persistent hyperobjects, including individual human beings, whose stories perpetuate themselves via physical and mental representations. The story-verse is a real physics realm that includes the four fundamental interactions described by particle physics, but additionally requires higher-order fundamental forces that facilitate interactions between the physical and mental realm.


Author(s):  
Kristin Gjesdal

It is difficult to accept that Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), an influential philosopher of history, language, and culture, was a prolific preacher and clergyman. His apparent Spinoza connection, his agreement with the pre-critical Kant, and his alleged naturalism seem to contradict his unquestioning acceptance of God. But when the human being is considered as the middle point a reconstruction of Herder devoid of this dichotomy is possible. Herder’s religious anthropology understands human beings both as historical and religious beings, which gives rise to his rejection of Christianity in its actuality as the sole future religion. The church raised itself above the individual and destroyed religions, cultures, and languages, whereas Herder’s notion of human religion—for him a universal concept—allows individual nations, cultures, languages, and religions to remain particular. Central for the argument are Herder’s Christliche Schriften (1793–8), the Ideen (1801–4), and the Adrastea (1801–4).


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