The Dilemma of Psychology: Objective without an Object?

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (15) ◽  
pp. 99-110
Author(s):  
Georg Lind
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Moral Competence ◽  
Psychological Traits ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Measurement Object ◽  
The One ◽  
Competence Test ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship

Anyone who seeks the service of psychology (which translates to “science of the mind”) faces a persisting dilemma. One has to choose between two psychologies: “Subjective”, also called “qualitative”, psychologists believe that the focus on studying the internal structure of the human mind will provide important insights needed in therapy and education. Yet the human mind, they argue, can be studied only with subjective methods like clinical interview, not with standardized tests. In contrast, “objective” or “quantitative”, psychologists argue that if psychology wants to be recognized as a science, it must enlist only objective methods of measurement. Yet this excludes, they argue, the study of internal psychological factors of the human mind. While the subjective approach is based on psychological assumptions regarding the nature of the target measurement object, the objective approach is based on purely statis-tical theories. Must we really have to abandon psychological objects like intellectual and moral capaci-ties if we want our measurement to be objective? In this paper I show that both approaches are based on questionable theories about the relationship between visible behavior on the one side and psychological objects on the other. I also show that we can measure psychological traits objectively and validly if we use an experimental approach. Experimental Question-naires can be used in all fields of psychology in which testable theories about the nature of its object have been developed. We have successfully used this new approach, for example, for the construction and validation of the Moral Competence Test (MCT).

scholarly journals To write or not to write: censorship in "The Woman in the Photo" by Tia Șerbănescu and "A Censor’s Notebook" by Liliana Corobca

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-27
Author(s):  
Monica Manolachi
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Psychological Process ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
Mise En Abyme ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
The One ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Compare And Contrast

Censorship as a literary subject has sometimes been necessary in times of change, as it may show how the flaws in power relations influence, sometimes very dramatically, the access to and the production of knowledge. The Woman in the Photo: a Diary, 1987-1989 by Tia Șerbănescu and A Censor’s Notebook by Liliana Corobca are two books that deal with the issue of censorship in the 1980s (the former) and the 1970s (the latter). Both writers tackle the problem from inside the ruling system, aiming at authenticity in different ways. On the one hand, instead of writing a novel, Tia Șerbănescu kept a diary in which she contemplated the oppression and the corruption of the time and their consequences on the freedom of thought, of expression and of speech. She thoroughly described what she felt and thought about her relatives, friends and other people she met, about books and their authors, in a time when keeping a diary was hard and often perilous. On the other hand, using the technique of the mise en abyme, Liliana Corobca begins from a fictitious exchange of emails to eventually enter and explore the mind of a censor and reveal what she thought and felt about the system, her co-workers, her boss, the books she proofread, their authors and her own identity. Detailed examinations and performances of the relationship between writing and censorship, the two novels provide engaging, often tragi-comical, insights into the psychological process of producing literary texts. The intention of this article is to compare and contrast the two author’s perspectives on the act of writing and some of its functions from four points of view: literary, cultural, social and political.

scholarly journals MEREFLEKSIKAN TUHAN DALAM PERSPEKTIF METAFISIKA, DAN RELEVASINYA BAGI MULTIKULTURALISME INDONESIA

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Agustinus Wisnu Dewantara
Keyword(s):  
Human Mind ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
Analogical Approach ◽  
Human Intellect ◽  
The Relationship

Talking about God can not be separated from the activity of human thought. Activity is the heart of metaphysics. Searching religious authenticity tends to lead to a leap in harsh encounter with other religions. This interfaith encounter harsh posed a dilemma. Why? Because on the one hand religion is the peacemaker, but on the other hand it’s has of encouraging conflict and even violence. Understanding God is not quite done only by understanding the religion dogma, but to understand God rationally it is needed. It is true that humans understand the world according to his own ego, but it is not simultaneously affirm that God is only a projection of the human mind. Humans understand things outside of himself because no awareness of it. On this side of metaphysics finds itself. Analogical approach allows humans to approach and express God metaphysically. Human clearly can not express the reality of the divine in human language, but with the human intellect is able to reflect something about the relationship with God. Analogy allows humans to enter the metaphysical discussion about God. People who are at this point should come to the understanding that God is the Same One More From My mind, The Impossible is defined, the Supreme Mystery, and infinitely far above any human thoughts.

Uncentred Minds

2020 ◽  
pp. 107-117
Author(s):  
Jonardon Ganeri
Keyword(s):  
Fernando Pessoa ◽  
The World ◽  
Simone Weil ◽  
The One ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship

In this chapter I explore the relationship between Fernando Pessoa and Buddhism. I first introduce the brilliant French philosopher Simone Weil (1909–43), a contemporary of Pessoa but someone of whom he certainly had never heard. One way to read her remarks is as directed against the positional use of ‘I’, against the deployment in thought and speech of a positional conception of self. One should abandon forms of self-consciousness that are grounded in one’s thinking of oneself as the one at the centre of a landscape of sensation. For Weil, it is precisely such contact with reality as attention makes possible which holds the uncentred mind together, preventing its content being ‘a phantasmagoric fluttering with no centre or sense’. The uncentred mind would thus be a sort of conformal and aperspectival map of reality, standing in correspondence with the world without any privileged perspectival point. With these distinctions in mind, we say more of the mind of Alberto Caeiro, and address the question whether he is a Buddhist heteronym.

Moving Further Beyond Secularism: A “Lutheran” Reading of the Cosmology of Thomas Nagel

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-254
Author(s):  
Yiftach Fehige
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Thomas Nagel ◽  
Metaphysical Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Individual Consciousness ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Universe

Summary Thomas Nagel has proposed a highly speculative metaphysical theory to account for the cosmological significance that he claims the human mind to have. Nagel argues that the mind cannot be fully explained by Darwinian evolutionary theory, nor should theological accounts be accepted. What he proposes instead is an explanation in terms of cosmological non-purposive teleological principles. Our universe awakens to itself in each and every individual consciousness. What comes to light in a pronounced manner when consciousness arises, are the mental aspects of the stuff that the universe is made of. These mental aspects are always concurrently present with the physical aspects of the basic elements that constitute the universe. This paper situates Nagel’s cosmology in the context of discussions of the relationship between modern science and Christian theology. It focuses on the history of modern science’s efforts to locate the origins of humanity. The aim of the paper is to present a qualified “Lutheran” reading of Nagel’s theory of the cosmological significance of the human mind. This will unearth strong reasons to think that Nagel’s cosmology is less secular than it claims to be.

scholarly journals Possible worlds and the beauty of God

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARK IAN THOMAS ROBSON
Keyword(s):  
Possible Worlds ◽  
The Other ◽  
The One ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn this paper I explore the relationship between the idea of possible worlds and the notion of the beauty of God. I argue that there is a clear contradiction between the idea that God is utterly and completely beautiful on the one hand and the notion that He contains within himself all possible worlds on the other. Since some of the possible worlds residing in the mind of the deity are ugly, their presence seems to compromise God's complete and utter beauty.

scholarly journals MODERN RATIONALISM AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL IDEAS OF RENE DESCARTES

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-243
Author(s):  
I.P. Brekotkina
Keyword(s):  
Rene Descartes ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Thought Process ◽  
Philosophical Concept ◽  
René Descartes ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Human Thinking ◽  
Reliable Knowledge ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship

The article discusses the main aspects of the paradigm of scientific thinking, which was created by Rene Descartes in the middle of the 17th century. The author focuses on the problem of metaphysical validity of the human mind, as well as the subject-object relations in the epistemological ideas of the French thinker. These questions are explored through the consideration of the “I”-God-nature triad, which is central to Descartes' philosophical concept. The idea of a created mind was for the philosopher the fundamental basis for obtaining reliable knowledge about the world and discoveries in the scientific field. Descartes defined the mind as an instrument of knowledge and paid great attention to the problem of controlling one's own thinking using the method he invented. The thought process becomes an object of observation and reflection on the part of the “I”. The article examines the relationship between freedom and necessity in Cartesian philosophy. One of the most important tasks set by Descartes is to free thinking from prejudice and build a new philosophy. The basic principle of the Cartesian philosophical system was total doubt. The act of doubt reveals the ability of thinking to manifest freedom. Free will is considered by Descartes as one of the registers of human thinking, through which the control of the thought process is carried out.

scholarly journals Investigating the Relationship of Economic, Social and Cultural Capitals with Fatalism in Isfahan

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaveh Ehsani ◽  
Dr. Seyed Mahmoud Nejati Hosseini
Keyword(s):  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Social And Cultural Capital ◽  
The Social ◽  
Data Collection Instrument ◽  
Social Capitals ◽  
The One ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Evidence indicates that beliefs such as fortune and misfortune or how getting daily bread are typical theological fatalism in terms of Iranian religion and Islamic culture. On the one hand, although it seems that economic problems are the main factor associated with the fatalism in fatalistic nations, studies illustrate that Iranian society have suffered from mistrust, lack of social participation, knowledge and so on. Moreover, cultural crises have been embedded with their daily life nowadays. Consequently, the question is raised in the mind of the author that the fatalism might have a complicated relationship towards economic, social and cultural capital since the mistrust reduces participation and then the wheel of economic will be stopped. As a result, socio-economic and cultural capitals could have influence on the fatalism. The aim of this study is to investigate the fatalism of citizens in Isfahan according to the benefit of economic, cultural and social capitals. The theories of Marx’s alienation and Durkheim’s excessive discipline are used to study the fatalism. On the other hand, Bourdieu's perspective is used for studying the economic and cultural capitals as well as evaluating the social class and the lifestyle. The survey research has been conducted on the 300 residents of the city. A cluster sampling method is used in this study. The questionnaire is used as a data collection instrument and the Pearson Correlation Coefficient; t-test and ANOVA are used for the data analysis. Finally, it can be concluded that education, economic and cultural capitals and the lifestyle can influence on the fatalism more than other variables.

»A Line Made by Walking«

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Moser
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Alternative Form ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
The One ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Point Of Departure

Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit kulturanthropologischen und literarischen Reflexionen auf den Bewegungsmodus des Gehens. Er diskutiert die Frage, inwieweit das Gehen in diesen Diskursen als Linienpraxis aufgefasst wird. Ausgangspunkt ist die Beobachtung, dass die Kulturanthropologie, die dem aufrechten Gang eine Schlüsselfunktion für die Anthropogenese zuweist, diesen zugleich als Produkt eines ›Begradigungsprozesses‹ markiert und an die dichotomische Gegenüberstellung von Natur und Kultur koppelt. In literarischen Texten, aber auch in neueren ökoanthropologischen Ansätzen wird die Natur-Kultur-Opposition und die damit verbundene Privilegierung der geraden Linie kritisch hinterfragt. Setzt die literarische Peripatetik mithin eine alternative Form der Beziehung zwischen Mensch und Umwelt in Szene? Entwirft sie eine Ökologie des Denkens und Wahrnehmens, die sich jenseits der Natur-Kultur-Dichotomie bewegt? Diese Fragen werden an ausgewählten Fallbeispielen beleuchtet. The essay deals with the peripatetic mode of movement as reflected in cultural anthropology and literature. It asks to what extent these discourses view walking as a practice of line-making. The point of departure is the observation that cultural anthropology ascribes a key role to the upright gait within anthropogenesis while associating it with a process of rectilinearization on the one hand and a sharp dichotomy between nature and culture on the other hand. Certain literary texts and recent approaches in ecologically oriented anthropology have, however, challenged the validity of this dichotomy and the concomitant privilege of the straight line. Does literary peripatetics thus propose an alternative way to grasp the relationship between human beings and the environment? Does it outline a new ecology of the mind that supersedes the binary relation between nature and culture? These questions are discussed with reference to selected case studies.

Fugitive Figures

2020 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-84
Author(s):  
Mary Franklin-Brown
Keyword(s):  
Medieval Literature ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The World ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Gilbert Simondon ◽  
The Way

Abstract Through a study of early French romances, especially the Conte de Floire et Blancheflor and Alexandre de Paris’s Roman d’Alexandre, this essay offers a new approach to the automaton in medieval literature. Bruno Latour’s plural ontology, which elaborates on the earlier work of Gilbert Simondon and Étienne Souriau, provides a way to break down the division between the human mind and the world (and hence the mind and the machine), offering a rich understanding of the way in which the beings of technology [TEC], fiction [FIC], and religion [REL] act in concert upon us to inspire our desire for technological fictions.

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