We present the case of a 36-year-old woman who has experienced three lost pregnancies; during the most recent loss, a full term pregnancy, she almost died from complications of placental abruption. She is now completing the 34th week of gestation and is experiencing symptoms similar to those under which she lost the previous pregnancy. Despite a lack of specific medical indications, the patient and her husband firmly but politely request that the attending obstetrician/perinatologist perform an immediate cesarean section in order (...) to alleviate the couple’s anxiety about possibly never having a family. Discussing the case are an experienced perinatologist, a neonatologist, a regional perinatal center coordinator, and a clinical ethicist. (shrink)

Michael Winkelman, who is a senior lecturer in the department of anthropology, Arizona State University, and director of its ethnographic field school, has provided a rich overview of the neurophenomenology of shamanism in his book, Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness. Written in the tradition of Laughlin, McManus, and d'Aquili's 1992 classic, Brain, Symbol, and Experience: Toward a Neurophenomenology of Consciousness, Winkelman considers shamanism in many of its facets. He explores shamanism's social and symbolic content, and the implications of its (...) neurological underpinnings both for shamanic practitioners and for their clients. (shrink)

One WHY LOVERS CAN'T BE FRIENDS James Conlon That one's spouse is also one's closest friend is a common claim and seems innocent enough. ...

Flaubert is a major writer, as popular in England as he is in France, and of an enduring fascination. This book examines his responses to pictorial art, from classical to popular, Eastern to Western, traditional to modern. Rival and foil, pictorial art emerges as one of the most powerful driving forces behind his own work.

We argue that the rapid eye movement dream experiences owe their structure and meaning to inherent self-organizing properties of the brain itself. Thus, we offer a common meeting ground for brain based studies of dreaming and traditional psychological dream theory. Our view is that the dreaming brain is a self-organizing system highly sensitive to internally generated influences. Several lines of evidence support a process view of the brain as a system near the edge of chaos, one that is highly sensitive (...) to internal influences. Such sensitivity is due to several factors. First, the dreaming brain normally gates out external input and thus operates without the stabilizing influences of external feedback. Second, the pre-frontal cortex is only minimally activated during REM sleep, and hence the brain operates with weakened volition, reduced logic, and diminished self-reflection. Third, because the neuromodulatory inhibition mechanism is turned off during REM, the brain responds spontaneously to the least provocation. In addition, the dreaming brain is also subject to powerful intermittent cholinergic stimulation which may stimulate creative patterns of dream activity. (shrink)

An accessible yet rigorous introduction to the influential French philosopher Gilbert Simondon's philosophy of individuation. Gilbert Simondon, one of the most influential contemporary French philosophers, published only three works: L'individu et sa genèse physico-biologique and L'individuation psychique et collective, both drawn from his doctoral thesis, and Du mode d'existence des objets techniques. It is this last work that brought Simondon into the public eye; as a consequence, he has been considered a “thinker of technics” and cited often in pedagogical reports (...) on teaching technology. Yet Simondon was a philosopher whose ambitions lay in an in-depth renewal of ontology as a process of individuation—that is, how individuals come into being, persist, and transform. In this accessible yet rigorous introduction to Simondon's work, Muriel Combes helps to bridge the gap between Simondon's account of technics and his philosophy of individuation. Some thinkers have found inspiration in Simondon's philosophy of individuation, notably Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Combes's account, first published in French in 1999, is one of the only studies of Simondon to appear in English. Combes breaks new ground, exploring an ethics and politics adequate to Simondon's hypothesis of preindividual being, considering through the lens of transindividual philosophy what form a nonservile relation to technology might take today. Her book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Simondon's work. (shrink)

Consciousness is explored as a living stream of lucid experience composed of the essence of the moments of our lives. Grounded in Ken Wilber's model, consciousness is explained from many points of view: its historical evolution, its growth in the individual, its mystical dimensions, and the meaning of enlightenment"--Provided by publisher.

En novembre 1984, Christa Wolf ouvrait la première conférence de l'association des gynécologues psy-chosomaticiens de RDA réunis à Mag-Debourg. Dans son discours intitulé "Maladie et privation d'amour", elle s'interrogeait sur l'évolution de la médecine moderne dont les progrès en matière d'appareils médicaux éloignaient toujours davantage les praticiens de leurs patients. Par-delà son regard sur la relation entre l'âme et le corps, Christa Wolf informait aussi des attentes des femmes qui avaient pris au mot les promesses d'égalité des sexes en régime (...) "socialiste réel". Quelques années plus tôt Georges Canguilhem, résistant au scientisme triomphant, se proposait de continuer à penser la médecine comme un art qui devait s'adapter à chaque individu malade. Déplorant la disparition progressive de la clinique, il plaidait pour un dialogue continu entre le patient et le médecin Tandis que Sonia Combe s'appuie sur le discours de Christa Wolf pour appréhender l'expérience communiste à partir de l'étude de genre, revenant sur la double leçon de Christa Wolf et de Canguilhem, Antoine Spire se demande dans quelles conditions un retour de la médecine à la pratique clinique pourrait se faire et répondre à la demande des malades. (shrink)

In this ground-breaking work, Allan Combs presents a wide-ranging survey of the nature and origins of consciousness research, viewing consciousness as a dynamic and self-organizing process with evolutionary potential. Combs reviews the work of evolutionary theorists such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Ken Wilber, Jean Gebser, and Sri Aurobindo. What emerges is a fascinating study of consciousness that discloses itself as a rich and ongoing act of self-creation, poised at the edge of chaos between past and future.

(1993). The Evolution of consciousness: A theory of Historical and personal transformation. World Futures: Vol. 38, Theoretical Achievements and Practical Applications of General Evolutionary Theory, pp. 43-62.

The authors find it more useful to payattention to relationships than to boundaries.By focusing attention on bounded, individualpsychological issues, the metaphor ofboundaries can distract helping professionalsfrom thinking about inequities of power. Itoversimplifies a complex issue, inviting us toignore discourses around gender, race, class,culture, and the like that support injustice,abuse, and exploitation. Making boundaries acentral metaphor for ethical practice can keepus from critically examining the effects ofdistance, withdrawal, and non-participation.The authors describe how it is possible toexamine the practical, moral, and ethicaleffects (...) of our participation in relationshipsby focusing on just relationships rather thanon boundaries. They give illustrations andclinical examples of relationally-focusedethical practices that derive from a narrativeapproach to therapy. (shrink)

Clio – Quelle est votre expérience d’histoire orale en pays communiste? SC : Membre d’une association constituée auprès de la BDIC (Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine) et du CNRS, j’ai effectué plusieurs missions en Europe de l’Est dans les années 1980, puis immédiatement après le changement de régime, au tournant des années 1980-1990. L’objectif de l’association était de collecter la mémoire d’acteurs et témoins d’événements historiques – ou considérés comme tels dep...

This article explores some experiential implications of Laszlo's Akashic Field hypothesis as well as similar information-rich field models such as those suggested by Bohm and Sheldrake. It examines the implications of such models for both ordinary and anomalous human experience, and proposes the idea that these models allow for the possibility of alternative experiential worlds as real as ordinary "material" reality. Such alternative realities are posited by many, if not all, major mythic and religious systems, and are said to be (...) directly experienced in certain contemplative and shamanic traditions as well as during postmortem and near-death experiences. We note that information-rich holographic fields may be able to store concentrated non-overlapping quantities of information that can be selectively activated by distinct eliciting stimuli. Individual human consciousness itself might constitute just such a stimulus, thus accounting for the individual and cultural variations on commonly shared motifs in shamanic, near death, and other experiences of alternative realities. (shrink)

The implications of Warren McCulloch's 1945 concept of heterarchy are analyzed in terms of human value and motivational systems. The results demonstrate the near-impossibility of predicting behavior on the basis of any hierarchical scheme, or even which among a set of hierarchical schemes will be selected as the basis of a behavioral choice. Thus, for example, people regularly say one thing and do another.

Judeans in Babylonia: A Study of Deportees in the Sixth and Fifth Centuries BCE. By Tero Alstola. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 109. Leiden: Brill, 2020. Pp. xii + 353. $150.

Le point de départ de cet article est la thèse développée en 1991 par Isabelle Combès et Thierry Saignes sur la naissance de l’ethnie et l’identité chiriguano, « essentiellement » métisses. Le rapport au métissage des Chiriguano et Chané semble paradoxal. Bien qu’ils soient considérés comme un exemple paradigmatique de métissage amérindien, certains points de vue contemporains condamnent l’ethnie à la disparition en raison, précisément, du métissage avec les Blancs. Les Chiriguano et Chané, quant à eux, rejettent aujourd’hui toute idée (...) de mélange, se proclamant seulement « Guaraní ». À partir d’une double étude de cas (l’Isoso bolivien et le nord-ouest argentin), on relativise d’abord le postulat de la complète absorption des Chané dans l’ensemble chiriguano ; on analyse ensuite les différents types de métissage existants, et leur relation dans un schéma asymétrique que crée une véritable échelle de valeurs entre différentes ethnies. On suggère finalement que l’ambivalence idéologique qui entoure le métissage découle précisément du fait qu’il s’agit d’une construction elle-même métisse, produit de la fusion entre les idéologies chané et guaraní. (shrink)

In the spirit of William James, we present a process view of human consciousness. Our approach, however, follows upon Charles Tart’s original systems theory analysis of states of consciousness, although it differs in its reliance on the modern sciences of complexity, especially dynamical systems theory and its emphasis on process and evolution. We argue that consciousness experience is constructive in the sense that it is the result of ongoing self-organizing and self-creating processes in the mind and body. These processes follow (...) a broad developmental agenda already described by psychologists such as Jean Piaget. Similar constructive transformations of consciousness appear to have occurred across the course of human history. In this sense, phylogeny indeed recapitulates ontogeny. Finally, modern developmental research suggests that the most advanced levels of human growth transform consciousness in the direction of increasing selflessness and spirituality, rather than simply toward greater intelligence. (shrink)

Background Regarding controversial medical services, many have argued that if physicians cannot in good conscience provide a legal medical intervention for which a patient is a candidate, they should refer the requesting patient to an accommodating provider. This study examines what US physicians think a doctor is obligated to do when the doctor thinks it would be immoral to provide a referral. Method The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 2000 US physicians from all specialties. The (...) primary criterion variable was agreement that physicians have a professional obligation to refer patients for all legal medical services for which the patients are candidates, even if the physician believes that such a referral is immoral. Results Of 1895 eligible physicians, 1032 (55%) responded. 57% of physicians agreed that doctors must refer patients regardless of whether or not the doctor believes the referral itself is immoral. Holding this opinion was independently associated with being more theologically pluralistic, describing oneself as sociopolitically liberal, and indicating that respect for patient autonomy is the most important bioethical principle in one's practice (multivariable ORs, 1.6–2.4). Conclusions Physicians are divided about a professional obligation to refer when the physician believes that referral itself is immoral. These data suggest there is no uncontroversial way to resolve conflicts posed when patients request interventions that their physicians cannot in good conscience provide. (shrink)

This paper discusses supportive neurological and social evidence for 'collective consciousness', here understood as a shared sense of being together with others in a single or unified experience. Mirror neurons in the premotor and posterior parietal cortices respond to the intentions as well as the actions of other individuals. There are also mirror neurons in the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortices which have been implicated in empathy. Many authors have considered the likely role of such mirror systems in the (...) development of uniquely human aspects of sociality including language. Though not without criticism, Menant has made the case that mirror-neuron assisted exchanges aided the original advent of self-consciousness and intersubjectivity. Combining these ideas with social mirror theory it is not difficult to imagine the creation of similar dynamical patterns in the emotional and even cognitive neuronal activity of individuals in human groups, creating a feeling in which the participating members experience a unified sense of consciousness. Such instances pose a kind of 'binding problem' in which participating individuals exhibit a degree of 'entanglement'. (shrink)

Tenant compte du contexte postcolonial et du développement de ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler la « littérature-monde », l’article propose de procéder à la généalogie de l’idée de « littérature européenne » et d’en interroger la pertinence au regard des littératures « nationales » aussi bien que de la littérature « mondiale ».

S'appuyant sur des exemples issus de l'étude de la Seconde Guerre mondiale ainsi que de l'histoire du passé récent dans les sociétés post-communistes, cet article tente de voir dans quelle mesure les modalités d'accès aux archives publiques peuvent être tenues pour responsables de phénomènes d'amnésie - ou d'hypermnésie - de la mémoire collective, de la fabrication de mythes et de légendes. Il est certain que sans l'accès aux archives du troisième Reich, Raul Hilberg n'aurait pu entreprendre son œuvre monumentale et (...) pionnière sur la destruction des juifs d'Europe. Pour autant, il est des domaines, notam­ment celui des comportements collectifs, sur lesquels l'archive est muette - à moins de bénéficier de ces formidables corpus que constituent par exemple les archives des polices politiques comme les dossiers de la Stasi. Toutefois, l'usage public de ce type d'archives peut poser problème et générer des batailles de mémoire. Lestés d'enjeux, les conflits de mémoire ne se résolvent certes pas à coup de preuves tirées des archives, mais la rétention de ces dernières favorise incontestablement l'élaboration de récits mythiques ou de « romans nationaux ».Drawing on examples from studies of the Second World War and from the recent history of post-Com­munist societies, this article attempts to discern how far rules of access to public archives may have been responsible for collective amnesia - or hyper-amnesia - and the emergence of myths and legends. What is certain is that without access to the archives of the Third Reich, Raul Hilberg would never have been able to undertake his monumental pioneering work on the destruction of Europe's Jews. And yet, there are areas, especially where collective behaviour is concerned, that cannot be fathomed through archives - short of having access to the extraordinary material represented by political police archives such as the Stasi files. However, public use of such archives can raise problems and generate conflicts over memory. Because they embody such a weight of issues, conflicts over memory cannot be resolved merely by pulling out evidence from an archive, but withholding such records most certainly fosters the emergence of mythical narratives and "national epics". (shrink)

After a brief survey of the speculative sequence « individuation-transduction-transindividuality » which structures Simondon ’s thought, the authors focus their attention on one of its paradoxical limits: the isolation of a writer who devoted his life to thinking in terms of relations. They suggest that the type of action towards which Simondon directed his efforts could not fit with the way he characterized transindividual experiences. By pursuing the path of a speculative thinking incapable of constituting a collective form of transindividuality, (...) Simondon became caught in a logic which he himself described as that of « the act of folly. ». (shrink)

(2013). My Life in Chaos. World Futures: Vol. 69, The Complexity of Life and Lives of Complexity, pp. 248-268.

Gérard Genette occupe une « situation » intermédiaire entre les avant-gardes théoriques des années 1960 et l’histoire littéraire de la tradition lansonienne à la Sorbonne, où il avait commencé sa carrière académique, avant d’amorcer un « tournant rhétorique » dans la filiation de Valéry et de Paulhan. Enseignant la poétique à l’EPHE et à l’EHESS, il a contribué à renouveler profondément la théorie littéraire en France dans les années 1960, aux côtés de Barthes, Todorov, Jakobson et Michel Charles.

(1997). The evolution of consciousness as a self‐organizing information system in the society of other such systems. World Futures: Vol. 50, No. 1-4, pp. 609-616.

The question of whether evolutionary theories provide a useful approach to investigating the highest potentials of human consciousness and spiritual growth is addressed. Finding one-dimensional models overly simplistic, we have proposed a three-level model in which "states of mind" , "states of consciousness" , and "structures of consciousness" share a hierarchical relationship. States of consciousness contextualize various states of mind and structures of consciousness contextualize states of consciousness. Our model draws upon the "grand evolutionary synthesis," a phrase used in some (...) approaches to systems inquiry and complexity theory, and utilizes chaos theory terminology as well, rather than other evolutionary concepts. (shrink)

Even as philosophers increasingly apply their analytical acumen to other subjects of intellectual study, technology is one area relegated to the sidelines. To help dispel such prejudice, this exercise in applied ontology explains why technology invites critical examination, enumerates the generic needs and perceived wants that it fulfills, and then supplies a taxonomy of technological devices individuated in terms of the functional roles that their designers or consumers intend for them. In light of the classificatory scheme developed, I conclude that (...) everything in space and time may be used to realize technological goals, necessitating a more inclusive understanding of technology and thereby a heightened awareness of its pervasive character. (shrink)

ernard Baars’ metaphor of the theatre of consciousness has the ability to powerfully evoke and illustrate in a single image many of the functions of the mind and the brain, both conscious and unconscious. The simplicity and sheer appeal of the image of the stage, with conscious events acted out upon it by players moving under the spotlight of attention, makes it easy to visualize, to remember, and to think about. Thus, it is richly evocative, inviting further speculation as to (...) how the elements in front, behind, and on the stage, interact to yield the conscious experiences of daily life. I suspect that the ease and power of this metaphor will go a long way toward making the study of consciousness in psychology not only academically legitimate -- a battle we have just about won -- but something other than mush in the minds of most academic psychologists. I believe that this metaphor will play the role for the cognitive psychology of consciousness that the Atkinson-Shiffrin stage model of memory played for the cognitive psychology of memory some decades back . Like that model, it summarizes most current findings and organizes them in a fashion easily understood by a wide readership. My guess is that it will stimulate a broad range of research and scholarship during the coming years. (shrink)

For Erasmus, the two fountains streaming milky juice—a new mother’s breasts—represent powerful symbols of love and authority. Erasmus describes the mother’s breasts as fountains oozing love to the sucking child. Elizabeth Clinton extends the image of Mother to represent God, reminding the nursing mother that when she looks on her sucking child, she should remember that she is God’s new born babe, sucking His instruction and His word, even as the babe sucks her breast. Dorothy Leigh extends the image of (...) the nursing mother to an image of Christ himself. Mother’s love, especially a breast-feeding or “lying in” mother’s love, is one of the most authoritatively gendered representations of love. Issues of gender and authority converge often around the image of the breast-feeding mother. Drawing on the image of the nursing mother, Dorothy Leigh and other early modern writers actively engaged in the most contentious and public debates of their day, including the authority of men, preachers and kings. (shrink)