This book contains twenty-seven essays prepared for a 1961 conference at Notre Dame, and also includes comments on several of the papers by participants of the conference. The essays trace the concept of matter from its origin in Greek and Medieval philosophy through its function in seventeenth-century science to its current scientific and philosophical status. The essays can stand by themselves, in some cases as useful historical surveys, in other cases as presentations of new ideas or defenses of current viewpoints. (...) However, they are also part of a larger whole; from the confrontation of a variety of philosophic approaches and specialties there emerges a surprisingly unified picture of the evolution of a concept. At the same time, the book is also a study in the different ways in which any explanatory concept can function. Inevitably, the confrontation is not wholly successful; some of the essays are so specialized that it is difficult to relate them to the rest of the book. However, the inclusion of comments and transcribed informal discussion from the conference helps to maintain a sense of dialogue, and the editor contributes a perceptive introduction in which he brings together some themes which run throughout the book.—P. F. L. (shrink)

This book is an anthology of various approaches to the dream and its significance, from neurophysiological, anthropological, religious, sociological, and psychological points of view. Articles in it range from extremely technical and sophisticated to rather nebulous and rambling. The phenomenon of dreaming has long perplexed man. Various approaches to it have been attempted, from the occult interpretation of dreams as signifying and portending future events, to the psychoanalytical interpretation as representing, in part, past occurrences in the life history of the (...) dreamer, to the neurophysiological investigations which correlate the electrical events of the present dream-state with other physiological and neural changes. All of the above approaches are represented in this volume. In addition, this book covers a wide spectrum of contemporary research into this problem. While not sufficiently comprehensive coverage is given to any particular aspect of dream research, it serves as a general guide to present avenues of dream investigations. Most of the essays contained therein are not too technical for the interested lay reader to comprehend.—L. P. K. (shrink)

This book is an extremely comprehensive review of the status of contemporary psychiatry, both in its theoretical and clinical aspects. While heavily dominated by a psychoanalytic bias, it explores other theoretical and clinical approaches. Included in its contents are the historical beginnings and later development of psychiatry, psychological testing and its utility for psychiatry, nosology of psychiatric disorders, various types of therapies currently in vogue, the organic as well as the psychotic disorders, psychopathic and sociopathic behavior, drug and alcohol addiction, (...) and the general usefulness of psychiatry to medicine, law, and society. The authors generally discuss the investigations and proposals of other behavioral scientists, and then offer their own view of the topic at issue. Of interest to students of philosophy are: considerations relevant to the mind-body problem, problems of normative statements inherent in attempts to determine criteria for distinguishing normal from abnormal behavior, and general matters of methodology, confirmation, and other problems in the philosophy of science which pervade all of behavioral science as well as physical science. The authors may have their personal axe to grind, but freely admit to the tenuous theoretical status of every psychodynamic system so far advanced. Their style is tedious and sometimes cumbersome. However, the book is an extremely contemporary survey, in some depth, of the state of psychiatry, and serves as a valuable reference for both lay and professional reader.—L. P. K. (shrink)