Lost Opportunities, Partial Successes, and Key Questions: Some Historical Lessons

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan C. Tjeltveit
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Academic Psychology ◽  
Christian Psychology ◽  
Psychological Dimensions ◽  
Neutral Language ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions ◽  
Mainstream Psychology

To shed light on some key perennial issues, I discuss several historical efforts to discern optimal understandings of human persons that take seriously both Christian faith and academic psychology. These include Gordon Allport's disguised integrative efforts; a 1924 book, An Elementary Christian Psychology; and Paul Meehl's 1958 integration book. I conclude that opportunities are lost: when seeking respectability becomes a primary motivator for Christians interested in psychology when psychology's implicit ethical and metaphysical assumptions are not recognized and critiqued, when efforts to create a Christian Psychology are based on a particular cultural-historical understanding of Christian faith that is assumed to be the only correct view of it, when Christians fail to engage with mainstream psychology when Christians fail to address rigorously key problems in the psychology/Christian faith interface, when Christians use ambiguous or supposedly neutral language to pursue Christian goals, and when Christians fail to work through thoroughly and develop fully the implications of Christian faith for our understandings of the psychological dimensions of embodied human persons.

scholarly journals Can a microdynamic approach to sleep-onset imagery solve the overabundance problem of dreaming? Commentary on Tore Nielsen’s “Microdream neurophenomenology”

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M Windt
Keyword(s):  
Virtual World ◽  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Virtual Self ◽  
Dream Research ◽  
Dream Imagery ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions

Abstract Nielsen proposes that a microdynamic approach to experiences occurring in the earliest stages of sleep onset, which he calls microdreams, can shed light on the process of dream imagery formation. I discuss microdreams in the context of simulation views, in which dreaming is defined as the immersive experience of a virtual world centered on a virtual self. I also evaluate his proposal to expand the dimensions included in the oneiragogic spectrum by kinesis. I conclude that while a subset of microdreams might not fulfill the conditions to count as even minimal dreams, their investigation can nonetheless help address key questions in dream research and may even constitute a distinctive pathway to the generation of full-fledged dreaming.

The Revolt against Accountability to God

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-308
Author(s):  
C. Stephen Evans ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Shed Light

Philosophers such as Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud have developed “global hermeneutical perspectives” on human nature. This paper argues that Christian faith also provides such a perspective, which is termed the “no-neutrality thesis.” Humans were created to serve God, but they have rebelled against their rightful sovereign, and this rebellion may show itself in morality. If moral obligations are God’s requirements, then the human rebellion might provide motivation for rejecting objective moral obligations. Thus the noneutrality thesis may help us understand some forms of antirealism. It may even shed light on some forms of nontheistic realism.

scholarly journals Switching Tracks? Towards a Multidimensional Model of Utilitarian Psychology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Albert Charlton Everett ◽  
Guy Kahane
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Multidimensional Model ◽  
Utilitarian Approach ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Common Sense Morality ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions

Sacrificial moral dilemmas are widely used to investigate when, how, and why people make judgments that are consistent with utilitarianism. But to what extent can responses to sacrificial dilemmas shed light on utilitarian decision making? We consider two key questions: First, how meaningful is the relationship between responses to sacrificial dilemmas and what is distinctive of a utilitarian approach to morality? Second, to what extent do findings about sacrificial dilemmas generalise to other moral contexts where there is tension between utilitarianism and common-sense intuitions? We argue that sacrificial dilemmas only capture one point of conflict between utilitarianism and common-sense morality, and new paradigms are needed to investigate other key aspects of utilitarianism, such as its radical impartiality

5 Financial Products as Investments under Bilateral Investment Treaties and Other Multilateral Instruments with Consents to Arbitration

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rivkin David W ◽  
Friedman Mark W
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Sovereign Bonds ◽  
Financial Products ◽  
The Status ◽  
State Consent ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Made In ◽  
Key Questions

This chapter discusses the status of financial products as qualifying investments under bilateral and multilateral treaties that contain protections for foreign investment, including the signatory States' consent to submit investor-State disputes to international arbitration. It first describes how an investor and a State consent to proceed to arbitration under such a treaty. Second, it discusses how a qualifying investment is generally defined for purposes of investor-State treaty arbitration. Third, it addresses significant treaty and case law developments relating specifically to financial products — such as loan agreements, sovereign bonds, and derivatives — as qualifying investments. These developments shed light on the key questions of whether an investment exists; whether the investment was made in the territory of the host State; and whether the investment was made by the claimant investor. The chapter concludes with comments on the trend favouring inclusion of financial instruments within the definition of investment.

scholarly journals Consumer Behaviours Towards ECO-Cars: A Case of Mauritius

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Barry ◽  
Adjnu Damar-Ladkoo
Keyword(s):  
Response Rate ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Hybrid Vehicles ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions

AbstractMankind has always relied on transportation to move from one place to the other; be it by horse carriage or modernized vehicles. With rising environmental issues such as global warming, the transport industry had to evolve so as to provide greener means of transportation and satisfy demands for eco-friendly technologies. This study has shed light on consumer behaviours towards eco-cars, known as hybrid vehicles. This research was in the context of Mauritius and respondents who already drive a vehicle were targeted so as to prevent lack of information about key questions such as habits on fuel expenses and vehicle features. The survey method used, had 100% response rate and permitted the researcher to get fruitful insights about: the extent of introduction and penetration of hybrid vehicles, the factors influencing the purchase of eco-cars, the perceived benefits of owning a hybrid vehicle and the relationship between age and hybrid vehicles’ characteristics. One revelation of this study is that hybrid vehicles do not have the expected impacts on Mauritian consumers like they have on the international markets; though the younger generation- the leaders of tomorrow- are interested with eco-friendly automobiles.

Hidden Themes in the Frontier Thesis: an Application of Psychoanalysis to Historiography

1966 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan C. Beckman
Keyword(s):  
Psychoanalytic Theory ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Frederick Jackson Turner ◽  
Psychoanalytic Understanding ◽  
Shed Light

In 1957, when William Langer called the attention of professional historians to the “urgently needed deepening of … historical understanding” by means of the application of modern psychoanalytic theory to the problems of history, he seemed to have in mind the use of these constructs in the writing of biography and for the analysis of obviously irrational movements. In half praise, a critic found it interesting that this suggestion was not extended to the “study of the psychic foundations of civilization and the historical process as a whole”. While encompassing less grand designs than these in this paper, I would like to add a further, but simpler, extension of my own. I would like to use psychoanalytic understanding in an attempt to shed light upon some aspects of a well-known problem in American historiography, the frontier thesis of Frederick Jackson Turner.

scholarly journals “Encores me frissonne et tremble le coeur dedans sa capsule”: Rabelais’s Anatomy of Emotion and the Soul

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-58
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Lacore-Martin
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Ancient Philosophy ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Animal Spirits ◽  
Philosophie Naturelle ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

This article examines the role of anatomical references in the representation of emotion and argues that they constitute textual markers of the Rabelaisian view of the relationship between the body and the soul, and the nature of the soul itself. By analyzing the ancient models of natural philosophy and medicine on which Rabelais draws—Galen, in particular—and by contextualizing Rabelais’s thinking within contemporary debates on the faculties of the soul, the article aims to shed light on his representation of the intersection between material and immaterial processes within the human body. Instead of trying to reconcile potentially contradictory aspects of these ancient models with the Christian faith, Rabelais’s prose is informed by an intuitive understanding of ancient philosophy. His exploitation of the Galenic concept of the animal spirits gives us invaluable insights into the influence of materialist representations of the soul on Rabelais’s thinking. Cet article étudie le rôle des références anatomiques dans la représentation rabelaisienne de l’émotion et propose d’y voir les marqueurs textuels de la façon dont Rabelais conçoit les rapports entre l’âme et le corps, et la nature de l’âme elle-même. En analysant les modèles anciens de la philosophie naturelle et de la médecine — Galien en particulier — dont Rabelais s’inspire et en situant sa pensée dans le contexte des débats contemporains sur les facultés de l’âme, l’article vise à éclairer la façon dont Rabelais représente l’intersection à l’intérieur du corps humain des processus matériels et immatériels. Sans chercher à réconcilier avec la foi chrétienne certains aspects de ces anciens modèles qui peuvent être en contradiction avec elle, la prose rabelaisienne porte la marque d’une compréhension intuitive de la philosophie ancienne. En particulier, l’exploitation de la conception galénique des esprits animaux donne de précieux aperçus concernant l’influence des représentations matérialistes de l’âme sur la pensée de Rabelais.

scholarly journals Me, My (Moral) Self, and I

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Albert Charlton Everett ◽  
Joshua August Skorburg ◽  
Jordan Livingston
Keyword(s):  
Personal Identity ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Empirical Methods ◽  
Moral Self ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Philosophical Questions ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions

In this chapter we critically review interdisciplinary work from philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience to shed light on perceptions of personal identity and selfhood. We review recent research that has addressed traditional philosophical questions about personal identity using empirical methods, focusing on the “moral self effect”: the finding that morality, more so than memory, is perceived to be at the core of personal identity. We raise and respond to a number of key questions and criticisms about this work. We begin by considering the operationalization of identity concepts in the empirical literature, before turning to explore the boundary conditions of “moral self effect” and how generalizable it is, and then reflecting on how this work might be connected more deeply with other neuroscience research shedding light on the self. Throughout, we highlight connections between classical themes in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, while also suggesting new directions for interdisciplinary collaboration.

scholarly journals Behaviour, biology, and evolution of vocal learning in bats

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja C. Vernes ◽  
Gerald S. Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Vocal Learning ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Current State ◽  
Evolution Of Speech ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions

SummaryThe comparative approach can provide insight into the evolution of human speech, language, and social communication by studying relevant traits in animal systems. Bats are emerging as a model system with great potential to shed light on these processes given their learned vocalisations, close social interactions, and mammalian brains and physiology. A recent framework outlined the multiple levels of investigation needed to understand vocal learning across a broad range of non-human species including cetaceans, pinnipeds, elephants, birds and bats. Herein we apply this framework to the current state of the art in bat research. This encompasses our understanding of the abilities bats have displayed for vocal learning, what is known about the timing and social structure needed for such learning, and current knowledge about the prevalence of the trait across the order. It also addresses the biology (vocal tract morphology, neurobiology, and genetics) and phylogenetics of this trait. We conclude by highlighting some key questions that should be answered to advance our understanding of the biological encoding and evolution of speech and spoken communication.

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