This text is an innovative exploration of philosophy and madness in the context of the critical engagement of Heidegger's phenomenological ontology with Freudian psychoanalysis. Included is a play in which, after a mental breakdown, Martin Heidegger undergoes psychoanalytic treatment from Dr. Medard Boss. Boss is essentially caught between two intellectual giants: his patient, Heidegger, who challenges him to evolve beyond traditional Freudian psychoanalysis, and his mentor, Freud, who acts as a "ghostly" consultant in facilitating Heidegger's return to (...) health. The dialogue of the play consists of actual quotes taken from the major thinkers themselves, which enhances the authenticity of this fictitious production. In addition, the theoretical perspectives of Freud, Heidegger, Boss, and Ludwig Binswanger are included to enhance the readers' background knowledge. In the process of disclosing these brilliant theorists, this book uncovers what each orientation has to offer the others."--Publisher's website. (shrink)

This text is an innovative exploration of philosophy and madness in the context of the critical engagement of Heidegger’s phenomenological ontology with Freudian psychoanalysis. Included is a play in which, after a mental breakdown, Martin Heidegger undergoes psychoanalytic treatment from Dr. Medard Boss. Boss is essentially caught between two intellectual giants: his patient, Heidegger, who challenges him to evolve beyond traditional Freudian psychoanalysis, and his mentor, Freud, who acts as a “ghostly” consultant in facilitating Heidegger’s return to (...) health. The dialogue of the play consists of actual quotes taken from the major thinkers themselves, which enhances the authenticity of this fictitious production. In addition, the theoretical perspectives of Freud, Heidegger, Boss, and Ludwig Binswanger are included to enhance the readers’ background knowledge. In the process of disclosing these brilliant theorists, this book uncovers what each orientation has to offer the others. (shrink)

This paper examines Medard Boss's rejection of the Freudian unconscious. Boss's position is criticized for its failure to do justice to the clinical relevance of the unconscious and to provide adequate answers to key theoretical questions. An alternative approach to the concept of the unconscious is sought in the work of the French analyst, Jacques Lacan.

El presente trabajo se propone discutir acerca de los límites entre el Análisis del Dasein de Medard Boss y la Analítica del Dasein de Martin Heidegger. Tomando como punto de partida la aparición de la dimensión orgánica en las consideraciones de Boss, se discutirá cómo es que se devela una oposición en los énfasis temáticos correspondientes a una consideración filosófica y a una psicológica del ser humano. Dicha oposición será aclarada indagando en las respectivas motivaciones de ambos (...) programas, para destacarlas como sus eminentes límites. Finalmente, comprendiendo dichas motivaciones como límites, el artículo planteará que la insistencia de lo orgánico vigente aún en Boss señalaría problemáticas que pueden competer aun a la Analítica del Dasein del mismo Heidegger. (shrink)

The article gives a detailed view of the existential psychoanalysis of Swiss philosopher and psychologist Medard Boss. Based on the fundamental ontology of M. Heidegger, M. Boss criticizes the psychodynamic theories of the human psyche and turns to the analysis of the problem of human nature. A person, from the Boss's point of view, can only be understood as a person in the world (being-in-the-world). Through human existence, being can manifest itself as such. This is the (...) destination of man. The basic existential category of M. Boss is the concept of "openness". The openness of existence allows us to get to know other people and respond to their own call to us. Existence is characterized by the Boss as joint, complicit, endowed with "presence", which is an ensemble of possibilities. M. Boss defines human existence through the existentials of spatiality, temporality, corporeality, eventfulness in the shared world, mood, historicity, and mortality. The realization of existence, according to the Boss, is possible only in the free choice that a person is initially endowed with, but which he may lose in the process of socialization. Blocking openness and freedom leads a person to neuroticism and illness. The article also analyzes the essence of the psychotherapeutic approach of M. Boss, which is based on the desire to understand a person through "highlighting" and openness. The article shows the opposition of existential analysis of the classical psychoanalytic tradition. (shrink)

El presente artículo asume por tema el fenómeno de la angustia. Tal temática es considerada a partir de la fenomenología existencial del filósofo alemán Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) y de su apropiación por parte del psicoterapeuta suizo Medard Boss (1903-1990), la cual se hizo conocida por la designación: Daseinsanalyse. Tenemos el objetivo de aclarar las diferencias de comprensión que los mismos hacen del fenómeno en cuestión, para tal, determinaremos las diferencias conceptuales existentes en la angustia y, específicamente, presentar los (...) pormenores de las posiciones defendidas por Heidegger y Boss, respectivamente, cuando se trata de abordar clínicamente tal fenómeno. Utilizando del método descriptivo, daremos a estas hipótesis la presentación adecuada y validación en el texto integral del artículo. Las ideas aquí consignadas se justifican por la relevancia que el concepto de angustia tiene en el ámbito de la analítica existencial heideggeriana y por la recurrencia de la angustia, como psicopatología, en la clínica fenomenológico-existencial de Boss. (shrink)

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. 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)

This landmark work provides a systematic introduction to systems of modal logic and stands as the first presentation of what have become central ideas in philosophy of language and metaphysics, from the "new theory of reference" and non-linguistic necessity and essentialism to "Kripke semantics.".

Moral theory -- Abortion -- Genetic engineering, cloning, and stem cell research -- Euthanasia and assisted suicide -- The death penalty -- Drug and alcohol use -- Sexual intimacy and marriage -- Feminism, motherhood, and the workplace -- Freedom of speech -- Racial discrimination and global justice.

Climate dynamics and trends have significant environmental and socioeconomic impacts; however, in the Benin Republic, they are generally studied with diverse statistical methods ignoring the nonstationarity, nonlinearity, and self-similarity characteristics contained in precipitation time series. This can lead to erroneous conclusions and an unclear understanding of climatic dynamics. Based on daily precipitation data observed in the six synoptic stations of Benin Republic, in the period from 1951 to 2010, we have proposed determining the local trends of precipitations, investigating precipitation nonlinear (...) dynamics, and assessing climatic shift in the study period by Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis method. To overcome the detrending issue in the standard MFDFA method, the EEMD algorithm is embedded into the MFDFA. The study period is subdivided into three subperiods: 1951–1970, 1971–1990, and 1991–2010. Intrinsic Mode Functions are obtained according to the climatic region in which the stations are located. Results show that precipitation variation is significantly governed by the five first IMFs, in which oscillation periods vary from 1 to 25 days. The trend curves decrease at all the synoptic stations, and their slope values vary accordingly to the subperiods. Referring to the values of the multifractal spectrum parameters, α 0, and the width of the spectrum w, consistent changes are observed regardless of the subperiods and the concerned stations. The spatial and temporal variability of precipitation indicates that the multifractal properties are good indicators for assessing changes in precipitation dynamics, and the changes in their features could be explained by the global change than by the local climate variation. Despite the observed differences in multifractal spectra properties from the three subperiods, it is not possible to verify the subdivision of 1951–2010 in three subperiods as it is done by previous studies in West Africa. Our findings can be used in the validation of global and regional climate models since a valid model should explain empirically detected scaling properties in observed data. (shrink)

This paper contributes an analysis and formalisation of Damasio’s theory on core consciousness. Three important concepts in this theory are ‘emotion’, ‘feeling’ and ‘feeling a feeling’ . In particular, a simulation model is described of the dynamics of basic mechanisms leading via emotion and feeling to core consciousness, and dynamic properties are formally specified that hold for these dynamics at a more global level. These properties have been automatically checked for the simulation model. Moreover, a formal analysis is made of (...) relevant notions of representation used by Damasio. As part of this analysis, specifications of representation relations have been verified and confirmed against the simulation model. (shrink)

Arguments against directed altruistic living organ donation are too weak to justify a ban. Potential donors who want to specify the non-related person or group of persons to receive their donated kidney should be accepted. The arguments against, based on considerations of motivation, fairness and (non-)anonymity (e.g. those recently cited by an advisory report of the Dutch Health Council), are presented and discussed, as well as the Dutch Governments response. Whereas the Government argues that individuals have authority with regard to (...) the allocation of their organs, partial considerations have not been sufficiently explored. In addition, it is argued that partial relationships govern human life, are significant and should be valued highly. These relationships are at the core of accepted living kidney donation between relatives (family members, partners, friends). Respecting the particular act of living donation goes beyond respect for autonomy; it touches upon our personal and social identity. Donation, e.g. of a kidney, is not undertaken strictly for the benefit of the recipient, but also to meet the moral standards we wish to set for ourselves. This consideration, rooted in a view of moral identity, provides the basis for many forms of directed donation that are both partial and justified. If the importance of this is not recognized, social policies can be neither adequate nor effective. (shrink)

Personal appearance and physical beauty are becoming increasingly important in our societies and, as a consequence, enter into the realm of medicine and health care. Adequate and just health care policies call for an understanding of this trend. The core question to be addressed concerns the very idea of beauty. In the following, a conceptual clarification is given in terms of beauty's meaning, value and function (i.e. beauty that is used instrumentally, and beauty that is attained). Furthermore, some relevant distinctions (...) are drawn between physical and artistic beauty, and physical beauty in a human sense. The core idea for this is formed by a Kantian notion of the beauty concept. It is argued that beauty judgements should be understood as relative to persons and their contexts. Physical beauty should be taken seriously when it is understood in this deeper sense of being related to the shaping of a person's identity. (shrink)

Aristotle wrote that "the ultimate purpose in studying ethics is not as it is in other inquiries, the attainment of theoretical knowledge; we are not conducting this inquiry in order to know what virtue is, but in order to become good, else there would be no advantage in studying it." Ethics for Life is a multicultural and interdisciplinary introductory ethics textbook that provides students with an ethics curriculum that has been shown to significantly improve students' ability to make real-life moral (...) decisions. (shrink)

Living kidney donation provides a promising opportunity in situations where the scarcity of cadaveric kidneys is widely acknowledged. While many patients and their relatives are willing to accept its benefits, others are concerned about living kidney programs; they appear to feel pressured into accepting living kidney transplantations as the only proper option for them. As we studied the attitudes and views of patients and their relatives, we considered just how actively health care professionals should encourage living donation. We argue that (...) active interference in peoples’ personal lives is justified - if not obligatory. First, we address the ambiguous ideals of non-directivity and value neutrality in counselling. We describe the main pitfalls implied in these concepts, and conclude that these concepts cannot account for the complex reality of living donation and transplantation. We depict what is required instead as truthful information and context-relative counselling. We then consider professional interference into personal belief systems. We argue that individual convictions are not necessarily strong, stable, or deep. They may be flawed in many ways. In order to justify interference in peoples’ personal lives, it is crucial to understand the structure of these convictions. Evidence suggests that both patients and their relatives have attitudes towards living kidney donation that are often open to change and, accordingly, can be influenced. We show how ethical theories can account for this reality and can help us to discern between justified and unjustified interference. We refer to Stephen Toulmin’s model of the structure of logical argument, the Rawlsian model of reflective equilibrium, and Thomas Nagel’s representation of the particularistic position. (shrink)

Appearing in English for the first time, Schelling’s 1842 lectures develop the idea that many philosophical concepts are born of religious-mythological notions.

Dans divers textes autobiographiques, Paul Tillich (1886-1965) évoque laconiquement ses années de formation comme placées sous le signe d'une renaissance de l'idéalisme allemand. En quoi cette renaissance consiste-t-clic et quel est son impact sur l'oeuvre d'un des théologiens protestants les plus lus et les plus commentés de sa génération? C'est l'enquête que mène Marc Boss dans ce livre qui fera date. Il y montre comment Tillich combine les positions systématiques de Fichte et de Schelling en une " ellipse à (...) double foyer" pour accomplir l'une des intentions fondamentales du criticisme kantien : concevoir une philosophie de la religion qui ne ferait qu'un avec le système de la liberté. Cette enquête sur les sources de la pensée de Tillich est par conséquent aussi une contribution importante à l'interprétation de ces figures majeures de la philosophie que sont Fichte et Schelling. Elle met enfin en évidence un pan encore peu connu de la réception de la philosophie allemande classique dans les premières décennies du XXe siècle. (shrink)

This paper is about an underappreciated aspect of generics: their non-specificity. Many uses of generics, utterances like ‘Seagulls swoop down to steal food’, express non-specific generalisations which do not specify their quantificational force or flavour. I consider whether this non-specificity arises as a by-product of context-sensitivity or semantic incompleteness but argue instead that generics semantically express non-specific generalisations by default as a result of quantifying existentially over more specific ones.

Needs matter; but not all needs do. Needs range from the urgent and dire to the insignificant and even trivial. Given this, a central task for the needs theorist is to give some account of which ne...

With precision and profundity born of 30 years of devoted study, John Boyle offers an essential introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas on Scripture, shedding helpful light on the goals, methods, and commitments that animate the Angelic Doctor's engagement with the sacred page. Because the genius of St. Thomas's approach to the Bible lies not so much in its novelty but rather in the fidelity and clarity with which he recapitulates the riches of the preceding interpretive Tradition, this initiation into St. (...) Thomas's vision of Scripture is itself an orientation to the Church's vision of Scripture, from the Fathers through and beyond the Middle Ages. St. Thomas's embeddedness within the Church's Tradition and his own historical context is integral to his approach to Scripture, yet it sets him at some distance from modern readers, for whom his interpretive vision may seem perplexing or even impenetrable. In this Primer, Boyle first provides an acclimation to this medieval context through a survey and explanation of pertinent technical terminology used by St. Thomas and characteristic of the scholastic theology of the time. With an eye to the medieval practice of considering Scripture according to the fourfold division of causes, Boyle builds on this initial foundation by exploring in turn St. Thomas's accounts of the end or use of Scripture (final cause), its divine and human authorship (efficient cause), its order and division (material cause), and its literary styles or genres (formal cause). Drawing on writings from across St. Thomas's corpus, but especially his work On the Commendation and Division of Sacred Scripture and the prologues to his biblical commentaries, Boyle masterfully elucidates both the hermeneutical principles and deep wisdom of the Angelic Doctor's approach to Scripture, imparting invaluable guidance not only for reading and understanding St. Thomas and other great masters of the Tradition, but also-and ultimately-for understanding Scripture in light of this Tradition and reading it with greater benefit and joy. (shrink)

The theory of needs has a political problem. Whilst contemporary theorists largely recognise that politics plays an important part in many of the processes surrounding our needs, they nevertheless hang onto the notion that our most important needs can be determined outside of the political. This article challenges that framing. It does so through a taxonomy and critique of the major contemporary approaches to needs. Considering the works of Len Doyal and Ian Gough, Martha Nussbaum, and Lawrence Hamilton, I divide (...) these into three strands: theories that attempt to avoid, solve, and improve the politics of need. Despite some major differences, these approaches share an understanding of the underlying challenges involved in discerning which needs matter. That framing, I argue, is responsible for certain intractable difficulties that leave needs theorists unable to provide the solutions they demand to the theoretical dilemma they posit. Moreover, in attempting to find those solutions, these theories end up ignoring their partisan implications. The conclusion I reach is that the political theory of needs is not very ‘political’ at all, and that this represents the root of the problem. I thus suggest an alternative, politically realist framing that conceptualises needs as constitutively political. (shrink)