Philosophy Commons^™

The Origin (And Future) Of Transpersonal Psychology In An Open Scientific Naturalism, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

A number of scholars well known within transpersonal psychology appear to be converging on open scientific naturalism as a philosophically and methodologically fruitful framework for transpersonal and related fields. This builds on the nascent open naturalism evidenced in the early years of transpersonal psychology, before it entered its metaphysical phase (ca. 1975 to 2000). Since it is necessary for science to assume some kind of world within which it is possible to do science, and not every aspect of that assumed world can be subjected to processes of empirical investigation, some of these necessary background assumptions are unavoidably metaphysical. However, …

Exceptional Human Experiences Among Pilgrims On The Camino De Santiago: A Study Of Self-Reported Experiences And Transformative Aftereffects, Miran Lavrič, Snežana Brumec, Andrej Naterer

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The Camino de Santiago pilgrimage is an extraordinary endeavour that tends to trigger exceptional human experiences. Following our previous investigation of this topic, we conducted an online survey of 501 pilgrims in order to assess the frequency of different exceptional experiences (EEs) on the pilgrimage and their transformative aftereffects (TAs) in everyday life afterwards. More than 70% of the respondents reported improvement in terms of self-confidence, personal relationships and letting go of emotional “baggage”. The results show strong correlations between the observed EEs and the (consequent) TAs. We contend that walking the Camino de Santiago often produces exceptional experiences that …

Anthropocentrism: More Than Just A Misunderstood Problem, Helen Kopnina, Haydn Washington, Bron Taylor, John Piccolo

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

Anthropocentrism, in its original connotation in environmental ethics, is the belief that value is human-centered and that all other beings are means to human ends. Environmentally-concerned authors have argued that anthropocentrism is ethically wrong and at the root of ecological crises. Some environmental ethicists argue, however, that critics of anthropocentrism are misguided or even misanthropic. They contend: first that criticism of anthropocentrism can be counterproductive and misleading by failing to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate human interests. Second, that humans differ greatly in their environmental impacts, and consequently, addressing human inequalities should be a precondition for environmental protection. Third, since …

Book Review (Ije 3.1), Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

Poem: Rat Jam, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

American Letters: Mencken, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

Pseudo-Patriotism, Polemics, And Propaganda: European ‘Indianness’ And Contemporary German Populism, Dagmar Wernitznig

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

This article highlights and explores new nuances of colonialisms that can be witnessed in German populist politics in conjunction with public discourses about migration and refugeedom. In their xenophobic aversion towards aliens, ultra-nationalist organizations and parties in Germany pervert the colonial trauma of Native American peoples by projecting it onto their own existence. By drawing analogies between their own lives and the plight of Native American expulsion or forceful assimilation since the arrival of the first European settlers, right-wing individuals and groups perceive themselves as a vanishing tribe that is threatened with extinction, caused by Arabic and African newcomers …

Anthropocentric Tautologies: The Ape Who Mistook His Jabbering For A Self, George Conesa

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

Humans (Really) Are Animals: Picture-Book Reading Influences 5-Year-Old Urban Children’S Construal Of The Relation Between Humans And Non-Human Animals, Sandra Waxman, Patricia Herrmann, Jennifer Woodring, Douglas Medin

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

What is the relation between humans and non-human animals? From a biological perspective, we view humans as one species among many, but in the fables and films we create for children, we often offer an anthropocentric perspective, imbuing non-human animals with human-like characteristics. What are the consequences of these distinctly different perspectives on children’s reasoning about the natural world? Some have argued that children universally begin with an anthropocentric perspective and that acquiring a biological perspective requires a basic conceptual change (Carey, 1985). But recent work reveals that this anthropocentric perspective, evidenced in urban 5-year-olds, is not evident in 3-year-olds …

Table Of Contents Ije Volume 3 (1), Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

Editorial Introduction (Ije 3.1), Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Dr. Michael T. Caley, Editorial Board

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

Pragmatic Humanism In Csd Diversity Education: A Conceptual Framework To Engage Students Across The Political And Cultural Spectrum, Tobias A. Kroll, Ana Honnacker, Christopher Townsend

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

The purpose of this reflection on scholarly teaching is to outline the difficulties arising when critical race theory, in its misappropriated and popularized form that dominates current discourse, is deployed as the sole educational framework in CSD education. We wish to offer an alternative framework, pragmatic humanism. The latter is expounded as a paradigm that can reap the benefits of critical race theory without succumbing to the absolutist claims of its popularized variant. It will be argued that pragmatic humanism is a useful framework for diversity teachers in CSD who are faced with an overwhelmingly White, conservative student body that …

Justifying Advocacy Of Patients’ Belief Diversity W/ Support From William James’ Lectures On Pragmatism: A New Name For Some Old Ways Of Thinking, The Variety Of Religious Experiences & The Will To Believe, Sterling Courtney

The Hilltop Review

Abstract:

Predating monastic healthcare in the Middle Ages (Siraisi, 2019), spirituality and/or religion have been unified with healing, caring for the sick and consoling the dying, as documented by historical writings as early as c.3000 BCE-c.500 BCE in Mesopotamia and followed by coinciding accounts from c.750 BCE-c.280 BCE Greece and Rome (Mann, 2014). Via philosophy and science, a movement towards secularization has been perceived (as the Renaissance faded and the scientific revolution led into the Age of Enlightenment), therefore creating a dichotomy between treating the physical body separate from the metaphysical soul. In the early 1900’s, Abraham Flexner discredited any …

Wellness Review 2021, Part 1, Martin Huecker, Brian A. Ferguson, Jacob Shreffler

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: This article presents a curated selection of the wellness literature from January to June of 2021. JWellness editors offer a summary of recent publications within the wellness domain to seek an understanding of both burnout prevention and, more importantly, thriving in the medical profession.

Methods: For the interval of Jan 1 to June 30, 2021, a UofL librarian queried PubMed for empirical research studies, review articles, and editorials related to healthcare professional wellness. Excluding papers related to COVID-19 (due to extensive prior coverage) and editorials/commentaries, the editors narrowed to 43 articles (systematic reviews, meta-analyses, general reviews, and clinical trials) …

Parapsychology And Transpersonal Psychology In Dialogue: Could These Two Movements Be Brought Into Better Alignment?, Harris L. Friedman, Dean Radin, Stanley Krippner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Parapsychology and transpersonal psychology were founded independently and have evolved separately as two distinct movements, although there is considerable overlap in both their content and in the interests of a number of scholars who are active in both areas. Harris Friedman, Co-President of the Association of Transpersonal Psychology, and Dean Radin, President of the Parapsychological Association, engaged in an informal discussion on the salient commonalities and differences between the two movements, focusing on exploring ways that the two could be brought into better alignment, such as including more transpersonal approaches within parapsychological studies and vice versa. Stanley Krippner, whose seminal …

Meditation-Induced After Death Communication: A Contemporary Modality For Grief Therapy, Neda Wassie

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Meditation-induced after death communication (MI-ADC) was introduced as a potential modality for grief therapy. Traditional and contemporary approaches were compared in order to evaluate effective paradigms and theories of bereavement. The Continuing Bonds theory of attachment emerged as an adaptive framework for grief therapy, especially with attention to meaning-making and the strength of continued bonds. Considerations were implemented from research in psychomanteum, mediumship, and induced after death communication. Specifically, visual stimuli and timing of after death communications were emphasized. The discussion was encouraging for the conceptualization of MI-ADC as an effective construct and as an inquiry for empirical research.

Locating The Embodied Sense Of Self And Examining Its Relationship With Psychological Well-Being, Adam Wesley Hanley, Natalie Lecy, Robert Hanley

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Westerners tend to localize their sense of self in the head, and, to a lesser degree, in the chest. However, single-point, localization studies of the self omit direct exploration of the size and shape of the embodied self. This study explored a) beliefs about the location and spatial distribution of the embodied sense of self, and b) whether individual differences in how the embodied self was represented were associated with psychological and subjective well-being. Results from a sample of 206 American adults confirm extant reports, indicating that the embodied sense of self is most often located in the head and …

Table Of Contents—Masthead

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

N/A

Intimations Of A Spiritual New Age: V. Socio-Cultural Bases Of A Globalizing Neo-Shamanism And Its Relation To Climate Crisis: Possibilities, Inevitabilities, Barriers, Harry T. Hunt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Extending this series of papers on a futural spirituality, and considering the numinous as an inherent human capacity for an awe that confers a sense of all-inclusive meaning, communality, and humility, the question arises whether, in the face of a secularization of traditional world religions, globalization of a techno/capitalist economy of perpetual commodification of planet and person, and a widening sense of loss of meaning and higher purpose, some collective re-newal of the sense of the sacred might be possible —or not. While Jung, Toynbee, and Sorokin regarded such a movement as inevitable, bringing forward to the degree possible the …

Brain Activity During Paired And Individual Mindfulness Meditation: A Controlled Eeg Study, Hessel Engelbregt, Hugo F. Alderse Bass, Sietske De Grauw, Jan Berend Deijen

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Objective: In this study, we evaluated brain electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in healthy participants during the performance of paired and individual mindfulness meditation (MM). We hypothesized that EEG activity is differentially affected by meditation in pairs compared to individual meditation. Methods: A total of 20 healthy female university students (mean age 19.54 years, SD =1.53) with no prior experience in MM participated in this study. All participants had to perform a 5-minute MM task together and individually while the other participant was in rest or performing a concentration task (control condition). To exclude social interaction as main factor, participants were separated …

The Varieties Of Spiritual States Triggered By Sex: A Systematic Review Of The Empirical Literature, Jenny Wade

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This systematic review integrates the empirical evidence of spiritual experiences triggered by sexual activity, including studies by 10 authors. Despite venerable sexual meditative traditions of embodied spiritual practices, such as Hindu Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taoism, empirical studies of sexual spiritual experiences are in their infancy. This review presents the range of sexual altered states experiences identified to date and how they qualify as spiritual experiences phenomenologically and in terms of their lifechanging effects. Seventeen distinct sexual-spiritual states have been identified across authors, with 4 others identified at significant levels in qualitative studies by individual authors. As an emergent area …

Harris Friedman: Pioneer Of Transpersonal Psychology As A Science, Harris L. Friedman, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

N/A

Desire, Culture, And The Body, Zoey Lavallee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What is the nature of desire? In this dissertation I develop a theory of desire according to which desires are essentially enculturated states that play the role of presenting favorable outcomes that act as inputs to intention formation, and thereby intentional action. This analysis of desire debunks a common assumption shared by prominent accounts of desire in philosophy of mind, what can be called the dualist assumption: that bodily desires such as urges and appetites differ in kind from conceptual desires that are typically described as higher cognitive attitudes. I argue that the desires traditionally understood as bodily or appetitive …

Informed Consent: Foundations And Applications, Joanna Smolenski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since its advent in the 20th century, informed consent has become a cornerstone of ethical healthcare, and obtaining it a core obligation in medical contexts. In my dissertation, I aim to examine the theoretical underpinnings of informed consent and identify what values it is taken to protect. I will suggest that the fundamental motivation behind informed consent rests in something I’ll call bodily self-sovereignty, which I argue involves a coupling of two groups of values: autonomy and non-domination on the one hand, and self-ownership and personal integrity on the other. I will then go on to consider two 'case …

Must Consent Be Informed? Patient Rights, State Authority, And The Moral Basis Of The Physician's Duties Of Disclosure, D. Robert Macdougall

Publications and Research

Legal standards of disclosure in a variety of jurisdictions require physicians to inform patients about the likely consequences of treatment, as a condition for obtaining the patient’s consent. Such a duty to inform is special insofar as extensive disclosure of risks and potential benefits is not usually a condition for obtaining consent in non-medical transactions.

What could morally justify the physician’s special legal duty to inform? I argue that existing justifications have tried but failed to ground such special duties directly in basic and general rights, such as autonomy rights. As an alternative to such direct justifications, I develop an …

The Current, Scott K. Heysell

Journal of Wellness

No abstract provided.

Medical Schools Ignore The Nature Of Consciousness At Great Cost, Anoop Kumar

Journal of Wellness

The essential question of the relationship between consciousness and matter is ignored in medical school curricula, leading to a machine-like view of the human being that contributes to physician burnout and intellectual dissatisfaction. The evidence suggesting that the brain may not be the seat of consciousness is generally ignored to preserve the worldview of the primacy of matter. By investigating new frameworks detailing the nature of consciousness at different levels of hierarchy, we can bring intellectual rigor to a once opaque subject that supports a fundamental reality about our experience: We are human beings, not only human bodies.

Monetary Incentives For Producing Counterfeit, Adulterated, And Misbranded Medicine: Case Studies And Examples, Heather R. Campbell, Robert A. Lodder

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Pharmaceutical fraud can be very profitable. Those working in pharmaceuticals are in a tempting position as the nature of the product and supply is complex, making detection of fraud difficult and expensive. However, a reliable pharmaceutical supply can often be a life-or-death situation for patients. Thus, when detection of fraud occurs, a Regulator's Dilemma often emerges (recall a drug for which a supplier is the sole source, or allow a substandard product to be sold)—generally resulting in pharmaceutical companies receiving minimal penalties even for the worst acts. Despite pharmaceutical companies' unique leverage over regulators and profitability, studies are rare …

Demographics, Activities, And Environmental Factors Impact Burnout In A National Survey Of Emergency Medicine Residents, Nicole Battaglioli, Tim P. Moran, Simiao Li-Sauerwine

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: Burnout in emergency medicine and in residency training has been well-described. The impact of demographic, individual, and programmatic factors on burnout have not previously been determined in a national survey of emergency medicine residents. This study aimed to identify personal and environmental factors impacting resident burnout in a national sample of emergency medicine residents.

Methods: A prospective Emergency Medicine Resident Wellness Survey was administered in 2017. We surveyed respondents on demographic, personal, and environmental factors; each respondent also completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services Survey. Linear regressions were used to identify variables associated with the Maslach Burnout …