Karl-Otto Apel

Karl-Otto Apel (b. 1922–d. 2017) was one of the most original, influential, and renowned German philosophers of the post–World War II generation. He is credited with what is known as the linguistification of Kantian transcendental philosophy, in general, and the linguistic transformation of philosophy in Germany, in particular. His name is closely associated with that of Jürgen Habermas, his junior colleague, whom he met as a graduate student in Bonn in the 1950s, and with whom he maintained a lengthy philosophical collaboration. He received his doctorate in 1950 with a dissertation titled Dasein und Erkennen: Eine erkenntnistheoretische Interpretation der Philosophie Martin Heideggers (translated as: “Dasein and knowledge: An epistemological interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy”). However, as early as the 1950s, Apel had become increasingly critical of the relativistic and historicist consequences of his phenomenological and hermeneutical work. In 1962, he presented his Habilitation at the University of Mainz, which was published in 1963 as Die Idee der Sprache in der Tradition des Humanismus von Dante bis Vico (translated as: “The idea of language in the traditions of humanism from Dante to Vico”). This book is a pioneering reconstruction of the Italian philosophy of language and how it laid the foundations for the different currents of the philosophy of language that would branch out in the modern philosophies of language. In 1965, Apel published “Die Entfaltung der ‘sprachanalytischen’ Philosophie und das Problem der ‘Geisteswissenchaften,’” which was translated into English as Analytic Philosophy of Language and the “Geisteswissenschaften” in 1967. This was the first work of Apel to be translated into English, but it is also emblematic of Apel’s pioneering engagement with “analytic” philosophy. In 1973, at the urging of Habermas, Apel published Transformation der Philosophie (Transformation of philosophy) in two volumes. A selection, mostly from the second volume, appeared in 1983 under the title Towards a Transformation of Philosophy. In this work Apel introduced the idea that would become the hallmark of his thinking: The Apriori of the Community of Communication, by which he meant that the conditions of possibility of all knowledge and interaction are already given in every natural language that belongs to a community of speakers, who are per force already entangled in normative relations, that can never be circumvented or negated lest one commit a performative self-contradiction. In 1975, Apel published Der Denkweg von Charles S. Peirce: Eine Einführung in den amerikanischen Pragmatismus (The intellectual path of Charles S. Peirce: An introduction to American pragmatism), which is made up of the lengthy introduction he had written for his two-volume German selection and translation of Peirce’s writings. His next most important book was Diskurs und Verantwortung: Das Problem des Übergangs zur postkonventionellen Moral (translated as: “Discourse and responsibility: The problem of the transition to a postconventional morality”), from 1988, a collection of essays in which Apel develops his own version of discourse ethics. Apel’s last three books are collections of essays: Auseinandersetzungen in Erprobung des transzendentalpragmatischen Ansatzes (1998) [Confrontations: Testing the transcendental-pragmatic proposal) (It should be noted that Auseinandersetzungen, one of Apel’s favorite words, could also be translated as “coming to terms” with a particular thinker. This is an important volume as in three extensive essays Apel discusses his differences with and departures from Habermas’s version of universal pragamatics.); Paradigmen der Ersten Philosophie: Zur reflexiven–transzendentalpragmatischen Rekonstruktion der Philosophiegeschichte (2011) (translated as: “Paradigms of first philosophy: Toward a reflexive-transcendental-pragmatic reconstruction of the history of philosophy”), and Transzendentale Reflexion und Geschichte (2017) (translated as: Transcendental reflection and history”).

Robert J. Stoller in the Clinic and the Village

This paper examines the historical, cultural, and biographical context of the work of the late UCLA psychoanalytic psychiatrist Robert J. Stoller, as narrated through the voice of anthropologist Gilbert Herdt, who worked with Stoller over a number of years as a postdoctoral fellow and then a junior colleague. The epistemological and professional goals of Stoller in opening up the field of psychoanalysis to the study of sexual excitement, human sexual variation, a radical revision of homosexuality dynamically, and especially the acceptance of divergent LGBT orientations is examined in the professional development and work of Stoller in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA in the 1950s–1980s. The final section of the article examines the fieldwork collaboration of Stoller and Herdt in the context of Herdt's Papua New Guinea field site among the Sambia people, with whom he has been working since 1974. Stoller was instrumental not only in supporting LGBT analytic candidates, but in encouraging a more tolerant face-to-face inclusive attitude in research, education, mentoring, and the general Weltanschauung of psychiatry.

Mentoring to Promote Professional Well-being

This article elaborates on a follow-up mentoring session conducted with a junior colleague who had frequent contact with me over a period of one year during her coursework as she considered me a senior instructor with substantial research experience. The purpose was to exploit the strategies of advising in a mentoring context utilizing intentional reflective dialogue (IRD) to encourage reflection on professional well-being. To facilitate the process and achieve an in-depth analysis of her level of professional well-being, I employed Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model, explaining professional well-being with reference to its components of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. In the article, I briefly give information on the context and background, the purpose, and the professional well-being model used. I then outline the flow of the session, and point out and discuss how the strategies of advising have been exploited through a series of IRD exchanges in an effort to stimulate an in-depth discussion. Finally, I present my personal reflections as well as the potential implications to be considered while conducting mentor-mentee sessions and improving professional well-being in educational settings.

A Collection of Letters from A. Y. Krymsky to V. R. Rozen Preserved in the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive

The article provides an insight into the collection of letters sent by the thenyoung Orientalist Agathangel Krymsky (russ. Agatangel Efimovich Krymskii, ukr. Ahatanhel Yukhimovych Kryms’kii; 1871–1942 to Professor H.E. Baron Viktor v. Rosen (russ. Viktor Romanovich Rozen; 1849–1908). Both scholars rank at the top in the Russian Orientalist studies in the last century. The collection of letters preserved at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Archive comprises 15 items. Most of the letters date back to the period between 1898 to 1906. The letters provide a vivid illustration of academic life and contacts between the scholars in the Former Russian Empire, as well as kind attention of Baron v. Rosen to his junior colleague. They equally portray Professor Krymsky’s unrivaled learning and ability to accept criticism, attention to detail, everything, which significantly contributed to his astonishing scholarly career and international reputation. The creative spirit of the Russian Orientalism at the fin de sièclepreserved in this collection is illustrated by the two letters from Krymsky to Rosen published as an appendix.

WED 028 One person can make a difference: our experience in a busy london dgh

Our Neurology unit is in a busy district general hospital; serving a deprived inner London community, providing a ward consultation service 5 days a week. The unit consists of 5 consultant Neurologists, a consultant Neuroradiologist and 2 specialist nurses. In 2016, a junior doctor was appointed. By analysing data from 10 months in 2015 and 2017; we assessed the impact on the delivery of Neurological care, before and after the appointment. The unit saw a 157% increase in number of patients seen, including a significant proportion now seen in ED and ambulatory care. This is equivalent to a minimum of 2 more patients each working day (n=872 vs. 1317). The percentage of patients seen on same day of referral (<12 hours) increased from 47% to 77%. The proportion of inpatients reviewed who were then followed up on the ward during their stay, increased from 13.9% to 35.5%, representing increased availability of continuing Neurology advice. The percentage of patients who waited more than 24 hours for Neurology input decreased from 14.9% to 5.83%. Our results support the appointment of a full time junior colleague to allow rapid, safe and ongoing Neurological input to patients and to support ED and admitting colleagues.

‘No “Sane” Person Would Have Any Idea’: Patients’ Involvement in Late Nineteenth-century British Asylum Psychiatry

In his 1895 textbook,Mental Physiology, Bethlem Royal Hospital physician Theo Hyslop acknowledged the assistance of three fellow hospital residents. One was a junior colleague. The other two were both patients: Walter Abraham Haigh and Henry Francis Harding. Haigh was also thanked in former superintendent George Savage’s bookInsanity and Allied Neuroses(1884). In neither instance were the patients identified as such. This begs the question: what role did Haigh and Harding play in asylum theory and practice? And how did these two men interpret their experiences, both within and outside the asylum? By focusing on Haigh and Harding’s unusual status, this paper argues that the notion of nineteenth-century ‘asylum patient’ needs to be investigated by paying close attention to specific national and institutional circumstances. Exploring Haigh and Harding’s active engagement with their physicians provides insight into this lesser-known aspect of psychiatry’s history. Their experience suggests that, in some instances, representations of madness at that period were the product of a two-way process of negotiation between alienist and patient. Patients, in other words, were not always mere victims of ‘psychiatric power’; they participated in the construction and circulation of medical notions by serving as active intermediaries between medical and lay perceptions of madness.

A Tale of Two Surgeons

Cardiac transplantation is one of the greatest medical marvels of the twentieth century. Performing this miraculous operation on 3rd December 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard, an unknown surgeon from the then apartheid state of South Africa suddenly became an international celebrity. Probably no single procedure in the history of medicine had attracted so much media and public attention. But there were many who thought that he didn’t deserve much of this glory. A lion share of this should have gone to somebody else. Although Barnard completed the final step in the road to transplant, it was the end product of serious research work carried out in many centers around the World. Most important was Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, California USA, where Dr. Norman Edward Shumway was engaged in transplantation related research work along with his junior colleague Dr. Richard Lower. The most of the techniques used in cardiac transplantation today were actually developed by Dr. Shumway and his team. Barnard worked in the same unit with Shumway at University of Minnesota when he came to USA. He visited USA again in 1966 when he observed the works of Shumway’s research partner Dr. Richard Lower. During both of his visits he had adopted many techniques from the research work of his American counterparts and later used in his unique accomplishment. Barnard succeeded utilizing techniques developed through Shumway’s painstaking work over the years depriving Shumway much of the glory he deserved. Both later on continued in the development of transplantation when most others left because of poor outcome. Shumway excelled the technical details and Barnard drew media and public attention to the importance of this procedure. After almost five decades the name of Barnard is still well known by the common people around the World; whereas Shumway remains unknown even to most of the cardiac surgeons as well. This was the destiny of the two main heroes credited behind this exciting medical accomplishment. Here lies a very interesting story, the tale of two surgeons.Cardiovasc. j. 2015; 8(1): 82-86

Mentoring in emergency medicine: the art and the evidence

ABSTRACTA mentor is a person who takes a special interest in the professional development of a junior colleague and provides guidance and support. Mentoring can be beneficial for students, residents, junior colleagues and researchers and can be very rewarding for the physician who provides this guidance. Although mentoring is a well-recognized topic in academic medicine, relatively little has been written about mentoring in emergency medicine (EM). Consequently, we conducted a literature review on mentoring in EM and present our findings in this paper. We discuss different models of mentoring, factors that foster the development of strong mentorship programs, the responsibilities of mentors and mentees, and issues specific to mentorship of female, minority and research physicians. We also present several case scenarios as a basis for recommendations for teachers and learners in EM.