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Anthropos 1-2 (201-202) 2006
THE INTERNATIONAL PHILOSOPHICAL SYMPOSIUM
"PERSON AND THE GOOD"
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Cvetek Robert:
Traumatic Experience and Foundations of Person
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In psychology, the concept of person for a long time lacked its right place, since it could not be set within the context of the understanding of human being as an individual. The latter comes about by developing its inborn dispositions according to a specific program. For a considerable period of time, psychology was under the siege of unsolvable tensions between nature and nurture, the inborn and acquired, and there was no room for a radical dialogical dimension of human being as such. However, through a radical understanding of mutuality and transcending, as evinced by the actual psychical development, relational paradigm enabled the transcending of such dualisms and the opening up of a new field of scientific research, i.e. the research on relational matrix, and by doing so provided us with an intuitive insight in the depth and mystery as well as transcendence of human being.
Key words: psychology, person, nature, nurture, transcendence
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Modern man is often vulnerable in today's world. He/she is faced with improving his/her living situation as well as dealing with other constant changes. To accomplish this he/she must find some universal and basic concepts that he /she can lean on and use as guidance for thinking and acting. Such guides are values. A person has to recognize what is valuable and good in order to reach a desired goal. We believe that man is good by nature, but is able to construct his system of values only through relationships with others, through which he experiences what others perceive as valuable. We'll try to explain the connection between the concepts of values and relationships (especially the primary dyadic relationship between mother and her child) as something that is inseparable and something that does not exclude each other; where relationships must include conditions that enable the child to develop trust, faith and the idea of what is right and wrong.
Key words: values, relationships, value system, mother-child relationship, good enough mother, moral education
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The study discusses relational and systemic aspects of relationships among males in ancient Greek society, with an emphasis on Plato's early dialogues. In this context, abundant in sociocultural, philosophical and anthropological implications, which recently became the topic of vigorous scholarly debates, the dilemma between abusive narcissistic treatement of the other and mutual recognition and respectfulness of the other is underlined. Also presented is the thesis that Plato's and Socrates' vision of relationship does not recognize the radical potential embedded in the conception of relationships as a field where mutual solution of intergenerational traumas and blocades can be reached. In Phaidon Plato rejects the option of mutual openness and expression of feelings and embraces the viewpoint of a tragic human existence, together with the doctrine of immortality of the soul.
Key words: Plato's dialogues, father-son relationship, Greek homosexuality, narcissism, mutuality
PERSONAL AND TRANSPERSONAL
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Psychological health and subjective emotional well-being are central concepts in the frame of positive psychology. Both concepts are multidimensional and both seem to be connected with a variety of personality traits and aspects of selfconcept including self-esteem. The aim of this study was the investigation between dimensions of personality and self-concept and the dimensions of psychological well-being and health. A number of correlational and multivariate analyses have been carried out in order to elucidate the relationships between these variables. In general, the results show strong connection between the dimensions of personality and self-concept on the one side and the dimensions of psychological health on the other. The variance of all variables can be reduced in extent of more than 43 percent to only two major common factors. The first factor is represented by emotional stability (neuroticism) and its components (anxiety, depression) and negative affect, while the second factor loaded primarily positive aspects of selfconcept, self-esteem, positive affect, and energy or extraversion. In similar manner, the canonical variates drawn from the set of personality and self-concept dimensions explained to a great extent the variance in the set of psychological health and well-being dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis also validated the unifactor solution of the psychological health measures, and, moreover, the personality and self-concept dimensions accounted for more than 81 percent of the variance in resulting dimension of low versus high psychological health. Causal relations between personality factors, self-concept, and psychological health measures have been also confirmed in our analyses. According to the results of the study, we may conclude that the personality, self-concept, and psychological health have much in common. All three concepts are theoretically and empirically interpenetrated and the most important common dimensions of them should be reasonable attributed to personal-emotional superdimensions (closely resembling dimensions of positive and negative affect) forming the top of the multidimensional hierarchically organized psychological structure.
Key words: Personality, big five, self-concept, self-esteem, positive psychology, subjective emotional well-being, psychological health
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The present study aims to introduce the empirical research of the inspiration construal into Slovenian psychology. According to our hypothesis, the inspiration as personality trait should be related to the most general and stable dimensions of human motivation and emotionality. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed twodimensional structure of inspiration, behavioral system and affect. The results of the study confirmed the presumed significant positive connection of inspiration with Behavioral Activation System (BAS) and positive affect (PA), and significant negative connection of inspiration with Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and negative affect (NA). Thus, the results of our study are in general concordance with the previous research, while showing more clearly the relationships between major dimensions of inspiration, behavior system and emotionality.
Key words: Inspiration, Behavioral Inhibition System BIS, Behavioral Activation System BAS, positive affect, negative affect
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Ken Wilber is today deemed one of the most distinguished theoreticians of transpersonal and integral psychology. The development of his theory can be divided into two periods, the period before 1984 and the one after 1984. The present study concentrates on the first period, where he was interested primarily in transpersonal psachology. The starting point of reflection is his book "The Spectrum of Consciousness".
Key words: transpersonal psychology, spectrum of consciousness, therapy, theory of psychology and education
PHILOSOPHY
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That pure instrumental music is devoid of program and any special function, representing the true nature of music, is today deemed self-evident; furthermore, we are unlikely to even be aware of it, let alone doubt it. However, things weren't the same in the past. The concept of the absolute music witnesses the major shift in the understanding of music. The aesthetics of Peter Kivy's instrumental music originates in relations to the music of the 18th and 19th century. It is Kivy’s strong conviction that certain instrumental works of music can reasonably, or solely, be treated as nonrepresentational art. It is but such an understanding that can eventuate an adequate explication of instrumental music as a special artistic genre and cultural praxis. If we understand absolute music as non-representational art, this implies that the representational definition of art is limited in its scope. Kivy conceives instrumental music as aesthetic structure, relevant for the distinctiveness of its formal, expressive and other aesthetic qualities. It is on such a basis that the idea of pure music as decorative art comes about. In this respect, absolute music evinces a fantastic decorative sound pattern, realizing itself as a whole through the repetition of executions and variations. Here arises the question of how to pinpoint the value of music on the basis of its own conditions and possibilities. Music sets free; however, the question of the value of the decorative sound pattern remains open.
Key words: aesthetic music, instrumental music, repetition, value of music, Peter Kivy, Schopenhauer
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This article's purpose is an attempt of different reading, understanding and reasoning of the three concepts of the Descartes' philosophy: body- mind-oneness. Consequent leading thought is that Descartes' comprehension of body (res extensa) and mind (res cogitas) is not about disreputable Cartesian dualism, but for non-trivial dualism of oneness. Methodologic origin for that kind of reasoning lies in a basis of Descartes' method: discovery of analytical geometry which has changed drastically a likeness of reality on mathematical, theoretic physical and also metaphysical level.
Key words: res extensa, res cogitas, oneness, analytical geometry, non-trivial duality
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In the contribution very briefly some aspects of the opinions of T. S. Kuhn, S. Weinberg, and M. Planck about the development of physics are reviewed. In these opinions some common traits can be detected if the possibility is considered that they do not refer to single theories but to groups of theories over extende periods.
Key words: dvevelopment of physics, teory of physics, group of theories
FAMILY VALUES
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Since the early 1970s, family therapy has developed exponentially, both as a philosophy and as a treatment modality. To teach its theory and practice involves combining concepts from several scientific disciplines (medicine, psychology, psychiatry, sociology, epistemology, anthropology, traditions of psychotherapy ...). The article would like to inform non-professionals of this specific topic about the essential paradigm and treatment context of systemic family therapy to, presenting the systemic paradigm as a model for interdisciplinary knowledge with great usefulness for resolving either ones' everyday problems or even serious mental deseases.
Key words: psychotherapy, theory, practice, family therapy
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We meet with many losses in today's life (divorce, moving, illness, death, etc.). Every loss represents a change, which means considerable effort and challenge for a person and for a whole family system, which part he/she is. Adaptation to the changes and integration of loss into the life are necessary for normal living despite of loss. Acceptance of loss is the central capacity of healthy family system. In such system there is a place for normal process of mourning, where we can face with reality of loss, find contact with painful feelings and reorganize relationships in the family system. In the system, where this isn't possible, a person blocks feelings around loss; this prevents him/her to move on, because loss isn't mourned and integrated into life. In such cases a dysfunctional symptomatic behaviour occurs somewhere else. An opportunity to find blocked feelings is in a psychotherapeutic process, where past losses must be addressed.
Key words: loss, process of mourning, death anxiety, family system
SOCIOLOGY
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In this study, author has consistently applied structural historical method (dr. Bogo Grafenauer), because this study is both, analysis and synthesis of the essential facts of the economic, social – strata, political, spiritual and international development of Slovenia in the years 1945–1975. Slovenian democratic movement 1964–1972 is one of five Slovenian above – party pan – popular movements (other movements are yet popular movement (Slovene: "taborsko", the 19th century), declaration (1918), liberation (1941–1945) and committee for the protection of human rights, 1989), which all had the great support of the nation/ people, and high ethical and strategic level. Our movement was possible, because Slovene nation in the years 1953–1972 had been changed from the split dual structure into the holistic modern industrial – urban structure and because this movement was stimulated/ motivated by great political and ideasfull spiritual energy, concentrated in the liberation front of the Slovene people and in its antistalinism. Because already LF (Liberation front)was the original act, completely independent from any other foreign centre, Slovene partisans had been thinking very independently and constructed (together with Yugoslav antifascists), completely independent and, completely contrary to Stalinism, conception of human, democratic market socialism. On the political field, this conception has been, among all "socialist" countries and among all Yugoslav republics, the most consistently realised just "through" Slovene democratic movement 1964–1972. For the stable development of this movement, very important was also basic improvement between Catholic Church and Yugoslavia (Belgrade protocol). The greatest result of the movement was peaceful, velvet revolution of the assembly of the Republic of Slovenia in the years 1969–1972: from the organ of party, it became the organ of nation. The government also became organ of nation and not the organ of party. The government also became independent from the party. From the year 1968 on, there has been more of democracy also inside the party – League of communists, inside societal – political organisations, inside media and civil society. Slovene democratic movement 1964–1972 was expressively democratic, without authoritarian leadership, with the expressive five independent/ autonomous centres: the group "around" Stane Kavčič, democratic deputies of the Slovene assembly, Department of philosophy at Faculty for philosophy in Ljubljana, student organisation and university committee of the League of communists of the University of Ljubljana. This movement had the same basic direction as democracy in the Western Europe: division/ distribution of the power (parliament, government, court), pluralism of the political subjects, spiritual freedom, market economy, open frontiers. Slovene democratic movement gave the great contribution also to the actual Slovene independence, because it strongly confronted with the Yugoslav centralism and gave great contribution to the acceptance to the Yugoslav constitution – with the strong confederate elements – in 1974 (accentuated sovereignty of the republics, the right of "veto" from the side of republics and their territorial defence) and because it strongly contributed to the peaceful demontage of the world Stalinist system, to demontage, which was wholly realised by interior democratic movements in "socialist" countries.
Key words: structural method, Slovene panpopular movements, originality of the Liberation front of the Slovene people, original conception of human and market socialism, pluricentric character of the movement 1964–1972, independence of Slovene assembly, independence of Slovene government, conception of the western European democracy, the great contribution of the movement 1964–1972 to the Slovene independence and to the demontage of the world Stalinist system
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Article addresses epistemological debating in the year 1970, where the term incommensurability arose as conundrum of doubts and controversies, as well as enthusiasms. Author is suggesting term's vital importance, especially when reflected and applied to the questions, such as security/ risk, as well as ontological and institutional safety. She focuses on taxonomy and structure of specified discourses, and argues that specific paradigm is constructed, where incommensurability results as incomparability among different states of mind. She doubts if major questions in society, such as risk society and terrorism, are interpreted, and justified in a manner, where discourse is taxonomically specific and independent from political, as well as ideological bias.
Key words: incommensurability, risk, science, postmodernity, taxonomies
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Gender expectations of the West:
- There are two, and only two, genders.
- One's gender is permanent and invariant.
- Genitals are the essential sign of gender.
- Any exceptions to the two genders are not to be taken seriously.
- There are no transfers from one gender to another, except ceremonial ones.
- Everyone must be classified as pertaining to one of the two genders
- The female/male dichotomy is a natural one.
- Belonging to one or the other is natural.
(Harold Garfinkel, 1967)
The paper investigates dichotomy of "nature vs. nurture", of male and female distinctions, where criticism of social/cultural (gender) as well as natural (sex) definitions of being a human, are advocated. Human civilization symbolic system is confirmed through apparatus of ideological norms, where stigmatization is typical within each era: in our case, era of bonds, such as body-identity correlation where sex stigmatization is in case. The authors criticize the idea of gender as an independent variable in sociology in general and suggest that gender as such affects our desires, relationships, health and career choices, where everything about us is ‘gendered’. That illustrates the misleading fact where centrality of sex dichotomy is enrolled in Western cultural belief systems as a dogma. The question of belonging to a certain sex – which may not seem problematic – is, however, vital. In overcoming this dilemma, Robert Stoller is usually cited for his conception of sex and gender, developed in 1968. Sex is typically used to refer to a person's biological maleness or femaleness and as such is not socially/culturally determined. Gender, on the other hand, designates the psychological, social, and cultural aspects of maleness and femaleness. If there are more than two sexes, we are confronted with a new subversive reality of the actual societies: the introduction of a five-gender scale. Five genders (true hermaphrodites, male pseudo hermaphrodites and female pseudo hermaphrodites – intersexuals) are shrunk to the dualism of female and male sex category, which in case of intersexualism transforms itself into an artificial hegemony. Does a 'transformed independent variable' (idea of sex dichotomy), which is apparent in the case of surgicalized intersexuals, truly present methodology of objectiveness and fair statistics? It can be summarized that though "the culture enters the action, it has its' own dynamics" (Kuper, 2000). The concept of Oedipus complex is also based on sex dichotomy. The aim of this article is to show that sexual dichotomy is an artefact of Western civilizations where twofold thinking determines the hegemony of ratio and patriarchate.
Key words: sex, gender, third gender, intersex, deviance, hermapfroditism, constructionism, criticism of Oedipus complex as universality
TOPICAL
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Slovene Association T. G. Masaryk for philosophical anthropology, ethics and for humanistic and social (societal) studies, has been founded in the year 1995. In November 2006, the 6th general correspondent assembly took place. Dr. Velko S. Rus was again elected for the president of the association. Before, the association has been for almost eight years very successfully lead from the side of its first president, dr. Vojan Rus, who left this position from known reasons. Report about association's work, prepared for its 6th general assembly, is in the same time the review of scientific, cultural, (inter)national and social/ societal significant events, which are connected with association's activity. Slovene translation of the review of the book with the title "The Hawk: yesterday, today, tomorrow. Anniversaries, contributions, significance", written from the side of dr. Josef Zumer and published by the Institute T. G. Masaryk of the Academy of sciences of the Czech Republic, is also included into the article.
Key words: Slovene association T. G. Masaryk, work report, Masaryk's collection, Hawk Organization
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