Hermeneutics and psychopathology: Jaspers and Hillman.

The correlation between psychopathology and hermeneutics has long been at the forefront of philosophic discussion. In recent years a number of thinkers, particularly in France, have advanced the claim that all hermeneutic acts are themselves part of an intrinsic pathology which makes it impossible to arrive at neutral and binding interpretations. The so-called hermeneutics of suspicion has served to undermine those interpretive norms which guided the depth psychology coming out of Freud and Jung. This hermeneutic and semiotic anarchy derives its impetus from a misreading of the nature and scope of a general psychopathology. Rather than locating psychopathology under the more generic analysis of the self and its relation to the various modes of the encompassing, whether these modes pertain to the self or its world, the hermeneutics of suspicion equates psychopathology with the self in all of its dimensions. Any contrast between the authentic or inauthentic, or the normal and the abnormal, is held to impose a form of privileging on the vast fabric of a self which has no center or circumference. The epoch making work of Freud and Jung is distorted and their basic commitment to hermeneutic norms is undermined. This not only represents a profound misreading of the history of depth psychology but stands as a threat to the drive for transcendence which lives at the heart of the human self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heidegger as depicted by Binswanger and Boss.

The often turbulent but nevertheless short history of psychology as a science reveals a strange and often strained relationship with its parent, philosophy. Martin Heidegger played a prominent role in the developing dialogue between philosophy and psychology in this country. As such, he was identified as a principal contributor to the philosophy of existentialism. And Ludwig Binswanger was seen as being the bridge between existential philosophy and psychotherapy. Heidegger's method of inquiry, meticulously thought through and developed, has become an eloquent expression of man's never-ending search for knowledge and the clarification of what "is." This method, along with the scope of his questioning, has generated the development of a phenomenological foundation for medicine and psychology. In this paper, the author attempts to demonstrate Heidegger's work as remarkably poignant for the human condition. He shows how Binswanger, seeing and sensing these new insights, nevertheless remained captive to traditional expressions of thought. And, he shows how Medard Boss, having access to Heidegger himself in dialogue, has expressed the need for a new type of thinking in a frenetic world which tenaciously holds onto and refines one world-relationship to the neglect of others as the only avenue to truth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The utility of hermeneutic interpretation in psychotherapy.

Examines how a hermeneutic psychotherapy might be possible by adapting interpretive theory arising in the human sciences and in response to the critiques that continue to question hermeneutics proper. Based on the work of several noted researchers, including M. Foucault (1972, 1976), M. Merleau-Ponty (1962, 1964), and H. Dreyfus and P. Rabinow (1983), such topics as the relationship of psychoanalysis and phenomenology, the distinction of hermeneutics and interpretive analytics, hermeneutics and the deep self, and hermeneutics and psychoanalysis are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Re-envisioning psychology: Moral dimensions of theory and practice.

Reviews the book, Re-envisioning psychology: Moral dimensions of theory and practice by Frank C. Richardson, Blaine J. Fowers, and Charles B. Guignon (see record 1999-02563-000). Not often in the discipline of psychology does a work of genuinely praiseworthy philosophical sophistication come along that also manages to avoid not only being overly narrow in its relevance but also avoids being filled with unintelligible and pseudo-intellectual jargon. This excellent text is an example of one such work. The authors divided their text into three major sections beginning with a careful and ranging analysis of the ethical underpinnings of contemporary psychotherapy, followed by a timely and provocative discussion of individualism, social constructionism, and hermeneutics, and complete the volume with a preliminary exploration of the principle features of an interpretive psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why is multiculturalism good?

This article explores the moral sources that give multiculturalism the potency to move psychology to reassess itself. The power of the multicultural perspective appears to derive from its ability to show how psychology's tendency toward monocultural universalism has undermined its aims as a science of human behavior and promoter of human welfare. The multicultural critique also draws on Euro-American moral traditions and ideals, such as individual rights, authenticity, respect, and tolerance. In spite of the importance of these ideals, multiculturalists often criticize Euro-American culture without acknowledging their debt to it. Moreover, these particularist moral sources undercut multiculturalism's universalist appeal. There is a paradoxical tendency among some advocates of multiculturalism to encourage cultural separatism and an inarticulateness in dealing with intercultural value conflict. We present some recommendations for dealing with these dilemmas from philosophical hermeneutics, including the contextualization of multiculturalism, an approach to sifting and evaluating cultural values, and an ontological account of the dialogical nature of humans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Freud and Wittgenstein: Language and human nature.

One of the dramatic consequences of Sigmund Freud's work is its seminal role in the search for valid answers about the nature of the human mind and individual personality. His search for a scientific basis for understanding undercut nineteenth-century traditions that placed emphasis on primitive conceptions of race. Central to Freud's work is the theory of language and its function in the mind of the individual and in society. Using the historical contexts surrounding the evolution of Freud's theories from The interpretation of dreams to civilization and its discontents, his self-conception as a Jew, and the dynamics of Viennese society and politics, this essay explores the conflicts and correspondences between Freud's theories and the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein, his near-contemporary and fellow Viennese, on questions of mind, language, and identity. Freud's legacy will be assessed not in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, or hermeneutics, but explored instead in terms of its importance in politics and ethical and social theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self as an organized system of valuations: Toward a dialogue with the person.

Suggests that in describing the self as an organized system of valuations, the concept valuation refers to anything a person finds important in his/her everyday situation. A self-confrontation method is described in detail as a means of making a person's system of valuations explicit, with due regard to its affective properties. The method shows how the system is organized and reorganized over the course of time. This procedure is illustrated in a longitudinal case study of a 31-yr-old woman with an identity problem who spontaneously changed her name in the process of solving this problem. Essential for the proposed method of investigation is that the person has the position of self-investigator and reflects on his/her experiences in dialogical relationship with the psychologist. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Links between psychology and religion.

Psychology has been related to religion in 2 important ways: first in taking the data of religious life as relevant material for empirical, and later in terms of the emergence of clinical psychology and an interest in psychotherapy. "The unity of aim shown by religion and psychology is twofold: concern for the individual person and a value orientation relative to his true well-being… . What this paper is suggesting is that psychotherapy, by virtue of the obvious ethical implications involved in its 'caring' for or 'treating' persons and because of its unavoidable espousal of some view of man and some value orientation as to his true well-being, has brought psychology and religion into a contiguity and interlacing of work where it is no longer possible to distinguish neatly the psychologist from his religious colleague." Psychology and religion "are linked arm in arm in the depths and in the implications of psychotherapeutic practice." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hermeneutic inquiry in the study of human contact.

Draws upon the work of M. Heidegger (1927 [1962]) to compare hermeneutics with the other major paradigms of inquiry and explanation in psychology—rationalism (cognitivism and structuralism) and empiricism (experimentalism and behaviorism). These paradigms are compared in terms of their view of the form and origin of knowledge, notions of the proper object of study, and the type of explanation each seeks. In the process, the 3 modes of engagement distinguished by Heidegger are described: the ready-to-hand, the unready-to-hand, and the present-at-hand. A study of moral conflicts, which developed between college students during a prisoner's dilemma game, is used as an example of the form a hermeneutic inquiry can take. Advantages of the interpretive nature of the hermeneutic approach are discussed. (59 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology: 1988.

The Distinguished Scientific Award for the Applications of Psychology is presented to a person who, in the opinion of the Committee on Scientific Awards, has made distinguished theoretical or empirical advances leading to the understanding or amelioration of important practical problems. In accordance with established custom, the award winner will be invited to present an address on some phase of his or her scientific work at the 1989 APA Convention. This year's winner is Leonard Berkowitz. Berkowitz is cited for his integrative work in combining experimental and social psychology theoretically and methodologically, and a biography and selected bibliography of his works are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recentering psychoanalysis: From Heinz Hartmann to the contemporary British Kleinians.

This article is an account covering 5 decades of change in the author's understanding of, and contributions to, psychoanalytic theory and practice. The account includes emphases on ego psychology, a turn against metapsychology, action language, hermeneutics, narration, and modern Kleinian developments and is presented as a developmental progression with latent continuity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction.

The three articles presented in this issue reflect different problems encountered by psychologists as each attempted to pursue a career. All three psychologists were trail blazers, developing new applications of psychological knowledge, and each faced different challenges. Stanley Moldawsky, a pioneer in the development of professional psychology, reflects on the establishment of a private practice in the 1950s. He shares how politics had to become an important concern in order to survive, gives us a glimpse of some of the hurdles that had to be crossed to establish a professional school in New Jersey, and impresses on us that professional psychology will grow only if we advocate for it. In contrast to Moldawsky, Jonathan Cummings' career was devoted to the application of clinical and counseling psychology to the medical-surgical areas of the health field. His career was focused on working in the Veterans Administration Hospital system, where he was the first psychologist who was assigned to work outside of the mental health area. Cummings' work was instrumental in the development of the field of health psychology and of the need to focus on the whole person when treating people in these settings. John Jackson, in his poignant essay, reflects on the upward climb of minorities into professional psychology. An African American, Jackson did not have the benefit of more recent civil rights legislation to assist his career. He reflects on his involvements with the American Psychological Association and how he perceives the role of minority psychologists within organized psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organ worlds: basic principles of analytic body psychology

In this article, the author introduces the expression organ fantasies, pathological zones in the body self and organ world with the intention of formulating an analytical psychology of the body. He presents the view that a person's own body has the significance of a primary object which, under normal circumstances, enables a person to make several important basic experiences, such as the experience of being alive, of having a body, and of being separate from others. On the basis of this work with borderline patients, the author demonstrates that the pathological zones in the body self can be understood by means of a phase model and that the illness-producing effect of a pathological organ world is related to a defective symbolization of experiences. The author suspects that the analytical psychology of the body can be applied to psychosomatic illness as well.     

Military are essential.

In his outburst against Meredith Crawford's (1970) article on military psychology (see record 1970-17677-001), M. J. Saks (see record 1990-56844-001) quotes from the APA's Ethical Standards: the psychologist "protects the welfare of any person who may seek his service . . . ." He then claims that "military psychology is clearly in conflict" with this principle. Saks is, of course, entitled to his personal opinion. But evidence is amply at hand to indicate that he does not represent the overwhelming majority of his fellow citizens who believe that the military are essential for the defense of their welfare in the present-day world. In their opinion, military psychology would further, rather than violate, the above-quoted principle. It would seem wise, therefore, to express gratitude to Crawford and military psychology for the aid they give in making our armed forces more efficient in protecting the welfare of the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A critical psychology: Interpretation of the personal world.

Reviews the book, A critical psychology: Interpretation of the personal world by Edmund V. Sullivan (1984). In this book, the author gives an indication of what an alternative psychology might look like. In doing this he draws on the ideas of a number of European philosophers and social scientists whose work has been generally ignored by North American psychologists. What distinguishes Sullivan's critical psychology from other alternatives to the mainstream is his insistence that the conditions for human action be traced not simply to the intentional activity of individuals but to the social structures of domination in which individual intentions are embedded. These are the structures of ethnicity, gender, and class. What Sullivan criticizes is that "psychologists take structural relationships of power such as capital over labour, men over women, and change them into intrapsychic phenomena." This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on alternatives to mainstream psychology. It is distinguished by its intellectual sophistication and by its marshalling of perspectives that run counter to local cultural traditions. At the very least it is a volume that ought to provoke an expansion of all too narrow disciplinary horizons. Incidentally, the very concept of intellectual "horizon" is one that the author analyses in a particularly constructive way, showing its relevance in the context of psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of congitive-dissonance theory to an aspect of psychotherapeutic practice.

"The present paper is designed to link dissonance theory with one practical reality-oriented aspect of the process of psychotherapy with emotionally troubled individuals—namely, the charging of fees." Freud stated that "money matters are treated by civilized people in the same way as sexual matters—with the same inconsistency, prudishness, and hypocrisy. It is… avowed… that in order to accomplish any significant therapeutic work the patient must be charged a fee that is somewhat painful and discomforting." Dissonance theory "would predict that if a person paid nothing for something that he believed was worth nothing he would not experience cognitive dissonance. Rather his cognitive world would be in a state of harmony in this regard. My main purpose has been to stimulate greater clinical interest in the possibilities of employing general psychological theories, developed in the more traditional academic areas of psychology, to shed light upon seemingly complex issues in the field of clinical psychology." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Why British psychology is not social: Frederic Bartlett's promotion of the new academic discipline.

F. C. Bartlett's early work, rooted in social anthropology and questions of social contact and change, defined psychology as an essentially social science. Bartlett came to play a central role in the promotion and definition of British academic and applied psychology, and he never relinquished his early conviction of the fundamental importance of the social setting of human thought and action. Why, then, is not British psychology social? Bartlett astutely promoted psychology, in the light of the existing opportunities and prejudices, as a natural science of industrial and military relevance. In this process, not only did his own continued interests in social psychology become marginalized, but so too did the social concerns of British psychology itself. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Award for distinguished contributions to the international advancement of psychology: Harry C. Triandis.

Harry C. Triandis has been instrumental in establishing cross-cultural psychology as a distinct discipline within psychology. His accomplishments in this international component of the field have included major theoretical and methodological innovations as well as educational and leadership contributions. The six-volume Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology, published in 1980 under his general editorship, is widely considered an important milestone in the development of the discipline and is a testament to his stature in the field and to his unique abilities to integrate divergent perspectives from around the world. In more recent years Harry Triandis has focused on the study of cultural syndromes like individualism and collectivism. This article discusses Harry C. Triandis's life and his dedication to the field of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intersubjectivity in Wittgenstein and Freud: other minds and the foundations of psychiatry

Intersubjectivity, the cooperation of two or more minds, is basic to human behavior, yet eludes the grasp of psychiatry. This paper traces the dilemma to the "problem of other minds" assumed with the epistemologies of modern science. It presents the solution of Wittgenstein's later philosophy, known for his treatment of other minds in terms of "human agreement in language." Unlike recent studies of "Wittgenstein's psychology," this one reviews the Philosophical Investigations' "private language argument," the crux of his mature views on mind. It reads that argument as recording his shift from the modern egocentric paradigm of mind to an intersubjective one. The paper contrasts the merits of Wittgenstein's reduction of subject and object to grammar with the problems of Freud's metapsychological reduction. It shows how Wittgenstein's intersubjective method avoids the excesses of behaviorism and phenomenology, offering a specifically human way to adapt mechanistic and interpretive means to the communicative ends of psychiatry.     

John B. Watson's legacy: Learning and environment.

J. B. Watson's contribution is evaluated in relation to his own time, with respect to his historical influence, and in light of current issues in developmental psychology. A survey of a nonrandom sample of current developmental psychologists revealed no consensus with respect to Watson's legacy to developmental psychology. The influence of Watson's insistence on an objective methodology in psychology remains, although is not necessarily acknowledged. His extreme environmentalism has been rejected. His concern to understand the principles of learning is reflected in the subsequent work of the Hullians and Skinnerians. The influence of his underlying premise about the importance of environment and of learning is to be found in such work as studies of the effects of intervention programs. The author questions the possible costs to the field of the continued rejection of a Watsonian emphasis on learning as an important process in development and behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)