The Mind-Body Problem in the Origin of Logical Empiricism: Herbert Feigl and Psychophysical Parallelism

In the 19th century, "Psychophysical Parallelism" was the most popular solution of the mind-body problem among physiologists, psychologists and philosophers. (This is not to be mixed up with Leibnizian and other cases of "Cartesian" parallelism.) The fate of this non-Cartesian view, as founded by Gustav Theodor Fechner, is reviewed. It is shown that Feigl's "identity theory" eventually goes back to Alois Riehl who promoted a hybrid version of psychophysical parallelism and Kantian mind-body theory which was taken up by Feigl's teacher Moritz Schlick.

CROSSING THE BAR: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DOSTOEVSKIAN ELEMENTS AND INFLUENCES IN JOAQUIN’S FICTION

This paper expounds how deep the great Russian fictionist Fyodor Dostoevsky had influenced his Filipino counterpart Nick Joaquin’s own works by applying comparative method of research. Sixteen (16) “Dostoevskian” elements and influences are found evident in Joaquin’s representative works, which further validate the Russian master’s timeless and universal relevance to the literary tradition. Joaquin for his part is already a titan of Philippine Literature, in his own respect, particularly in the English medium. His magnitude, however, can be tested further through the Dostoevskian standard, which is often used in comparison to the creative powers of other writers. By and large, this study contributes to the growth of comparative literature and Philippine studies. More wittingly, it can strengthen the understanding that the creative process of literary art extends to the other spheres of human expression, such as philosophy, history, religion, and psychology, even culture

Integrating holism and reductionism in the science of art perception

The contextualist claim that universalism is irrelevant to the proper study of art can be evaluated by examining an analogous question in neuroscience. Taking the reductionist-holist debate in visual neuroscience as a model, we see that the analog of orthodox contextualism is untenable, whereas integrated approaches have proven highly effective. Given the connection between art and vision, unified approaches are likewise more germane to the scientific study of ar

Sociobiophysicality, Cold War, and Critical Theory: Human-Ecological Transformation and Contemporary Ecological Subjectivity

The United States is an important global player in resource depletion, energy use, waste production, and other indicators that contribute to economic threats to humanity’s ecological future. Critical theory provides conceptual tools that are uniquely well-suited to more fully comprehend the links between economic progress and ecological deterioration. In key regards, the present situation is the continuation as well as amplification of political-economic, social and cultural features that took hold during the Cold War, and which demand rigorous sociological focus, scrutiny and analysis. To date, however, sociology has barely begun to assess the consequences that resulted from the Cold War for the condition in which modern societies find themselves in the early twenty-first century, and for their ability to meet both persistent and new challenges. The purpose of this dissertation is to elucidate the present predicament, especially with regard to the link between modern society and natural environment, by introducing the concept of “sociobiophysicality” as a promising tool to address related issues in ways that highlight the importance of sociology today. To do so, however, the specific importance of the tradition of critical theory—especially as represented in the writings of Lukàcs, Adorno, and Postone—for sociology in general, and with regard to the link between human-ecological transformation and contemporary ecological subjectivity in particular—must be reconstructed and made explicit

Varieties of American Evangelicalism

Evangelical Protestantism has played a vital role in shaping American history, culture and religion. It is estimated that some 25-35% of the American population (c. 70-100 million) today identifies with this movement. Far from being a monolithic entity, however, the religious, ideological, and social allegiances of evangelicalism are quite diverse. In addition, evangelicals maintain a somewhat paradoxical relationship with American society, functioning simultaneously as a politically powerful interest group (insiders) and as cultural antagonists (outsiders). This course is designed to introduce students to the history of evangelicalism, its characteristic religious patterns, and its ongoing negotiations with contemporary American culture.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/advocacysyllabi/1006/thumbnail.jp

Book Review

The Hieroglyph of Tradition: Freud, Benjamin, Gadamer, Novalis, Kant (Angelika Rauch) (Reviewed by Irving Massey, SUNY at Buffalo) Stranger from Paradise: A Biography of William Blake (G. E. Bentley) (Reviewed by Kathryn Freeman, University of Miami) Disarming the Nation: Women’s Writing and the American Civil War (Elizabeth Young) (Reviewed by Joseph Helminski, University of Toledo) Women’s Holocaust Writing: Memory and Imagination (S. Lillian Kremer) (Reviewed by Meri-Jane Rochelson, Florida International University) Fables of Modernity: Literature and Culture in the English Eighteenth Century (Laura Brown) (Reviewed by Jodi L. Wyett, Xavier University) Led by Language: The Poetry and Poetics of Susan Howe (Rachel Tzvia Back) (Reviewed by Megan Simpson, Pennsylvania State University) Edward Abbey: A Life (James M. Cahalan) (Reviewed by James N. Wise, University of Missouri—Rolla) William Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt: The Continuing Dialogue (Payson G. Gates;Ed. and anno, Eleanor M. Gates) (Reviewed by Robert K. Lapp, Mount Allison University

The Struggle for Spiritual Supremacy: Dostoevsky\u27s Philosophy or History and Eschatology

Upon taking stock of the world around him, the keen twentieth century observer attains a heightened awareness of the dynamism of history; of the continual interplay among the differing strands of human faith and ideology, which give rise to the omnipresent swirls and eddies of social, political and philosophical ideas and structures. In the midst of this ceaseless flux, it is difficult to avert one\u27s gaze from Russia and her traditional European and Asiatic spheres of influence, regions of strategic import and ideological and spiritual efflorescence, where recent events emblematize the grand complex scheme of historical change. As a being potentially of broad curiosity and intellectual horizons, man often is concerned with understanding the past precedents, contemporary ramifications and future implications of the historical trends and events which he discerns. The thought and writings of Russian author and religious philosopher Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky manifest these concerns at their most fundamental levels. Dostoevsky was deeply steeped in the study of the then-current state and historical role of his contemporary nineteenth century Russian society. He perceived a Russia, which, through the distinct spiritual, cultural, nationalistic, mystical and metaphysical characteristics of its civilization, would play a pivotal part in driving universal history