Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience Philosophical Perspectives By Matthew R. Broome and Lisa Bortolotti (Editors) Review by Drozdstoj St. Stoyanov on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
This book covers most significant arena of the debate for the disciplinary status of psychiatry. Besides the ethical, phenomenological and folk-psychology considerations the main emphasis is put on the epistemological legitimacy of psychiatry as a scientific discipline. As it has been stressed in other recent studies of this issue (Stoyanov, 2009, Machamer and Stoyanov, 2009) the cognitive situation of psychiatry as inter- (or trans-) discipline is problematic because of many interconnected reasons. In prima facie psychiatry occupies a controversial area on the cross-section between medicine a Click here to read the full review!
Talking Oneself Sober The Discourse of Alcoholics Anonymous By Seán O'Halloran Review by Maria Gabrielle Swora, PhD, MPH on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
Perusing the literature on alcoholism treatment and the role Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) plays in treatment, it seems that Alcoholics Anonymous is something of a mystery to many clinicians and behavioral scientists. There have been some recent attempts to operationalize and quantify aspects of AA, such as spirituality; however, the nature of AA as an anonymous acephalous organization that keeps no membership lists or lists of groups, does not lend itself to controlled clinical trials. I hazard to say that many addiction researchers assume that AA and related 12-Step groups work by pr Click here to read the full review!
Simulation and Its Discontents By Sherry Turkle, William J. Clancy, Stefan Helmreich, Yanni A. Loukissas, and Natasha Myers Review by Olle Blomberg on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
The first half of Simulation and Its Discontents consists of Sherry Turkle's reflections on the impact of computer simulation and visualization technologies on science and architecture. Her essay is based on two research projects. In one, launched in the early 80s, Turkle investigated how personal computers changed education and learning at MIT, and then 20 years later in the other, she investigated how computer simulation and visualization had changed research, engineering and design in the intervening years. The second part of the book consists of four more narrow but detailed ethnographic c Click here to read the full review!
Putting on Virtue The Legacy of the Splendid Vices By Jennifer A. Herdt Review by Tom Grimwood on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
No less than any other approach to ethics, Christian ethics is best discussed in terms of the tensions that it attempts to reconcile. Jennifer Herdt's book focuses on one of the fundamental tensions within the development of Christian morality: the status of "mimetic" virtue. If morality consists of possessing virtue, and virtue is habituated, how do distinguish between being moral, as opposed to merely "acting out" a moral position? Can we even become virtuous, indeed, "without first acting the part?" (p. 1)
Herdt's book is thus both a history of the formation of "true virtue" as a moral co Click here to read the full review!
Embodied Minds in Action By Robert Hanna and Michelle Maiese Review by Sven Walter on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
Robert Hanna and Michelle Maiese's Embodied Minds in Action is a valuable attempt to connect two important and interesting aspects of the philosophical study of the human mind that have been intensively discussed throughout the past decades but that have so far remained largely unconnected. That Hanna and Maiese finally attempt to bring the discussions in both areas to bear on each other in a fruitful way is the most laudable aspect of their book.
First, there are a number of issues that have characteristically been the focus of what is usually refereed to as the "philosophy of mind." Among o Click here to read the full review!
In this book the author, a philosopher, develops a thesis concerning the nature of the self in relation to historical and socio-political changes. As he explains, it consists of series of interlinked essays, overlapping in content, and therefore does not lend itself to straightforward account. However, one can discern two major themes: the first deals with the nature of the Cartesian self, treated as a 'philosophical psychology', and its relation to history; the second seeks to demonstrate the relevance of the Cartesian self to our troubled times, and how it might provide pointers towards our Click here to read the full review!
On Killing The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society By Dave Grossman Review by E. James Lieberman, M.D. on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
"There are no atheists in foxholes," the saying goes, but according to this important book there are many conscientious objectors. In World War II and before, only 15 to 20 percent of soldiers fired their weapons at enemy soldiers in view, even if their own lives were endangered. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Grossman, a military historian, psychologist and teacher at West Point, builds upon the findings of Gen. S. L. A. Marshall in Men Against Fire (1978) and confirmatory evidence from Napoleonic, Civil and other wars. "Throughout history the majority of men on the battlefield would not attempt to kill the Click here to read the full review!
Cinema, Philosophy, Bergman On Film as Philosophy By Paisley Livingston Review by Manuel Bremer on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
In Cinema, Philosophy, Bergman Paisley Livingston asks whether films make their own contribution to deal with philosophical questions (Part I of the book). He defends an intentionalist stance towards film analysis (Part II of the book), and then illustrates this approach by analyzing films by the Swedish director Ingmar Bergman (Part III of the book).
Using films as philosophical material has become an established method in the teaching of philosophy. In this way films are used to illustrate some problem or some perspective on the human condition. In this perspective films make no contributio Click here to read the full review!
The New Atheism Taking a Stand for Science and Reason By Victor J. Stenger Review by Bob Lane, MA on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
The word "new" on the cover is white on a red circle of colour, several times larger than the other words in the title; and all capital letters. "Science" and "reason" in the sub-title are also large and all caps. Apparently the cover designers want us to notice that what's inside is new, and that the author will use science and reason to direct us to the new in the new atheism.
We find a clear statement of definition in the seven steps (toward enlightenment?) given on Page 160. The first five are definitions of scientific naturalism from theologian John Haught.
Apart from nature, which in Click here to read the full review!
Deception By Ziyad Marar Review by Cynthia L. Pauwels on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
Ziyad Marar's heavily documented study Deception, is the most recent in Acumen's The Art of Living series edited by Mark Vernon. For lovers of truth it is a disturbing read, positing as it does that we all lie regularly, to others and to ourselves, in order to survive. Marar starts with a statement from psychologist Jerome Bruner that "Man…is infinitely capable of belief," and sees this as the basis for our vulnerability to deception. Adopting Bruner's "Homo Credens" label, Marar spells out mankind's propensity to accept illusion -- perceptive, cognitive and narrative -- as a way of lif Click here to read the full review!
Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales is the audio version of an earlier book, published as Madiba Magic: Mandela’s Favorite Stories for Children (W. W. Norton; Tafelberg Publishers). Produced in 2009 by Artists for a New South Africa, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to alleviating the suffering of children orphaned and impacted by HIV/AIDS, the proceeds from the three-CD audiobook not only combat the effects of the deadly disease that is currently ravaging the continent of Africa, but support youth education and empowerment projects, promote human rights and democrac Click here to read the full review!
Before the Frost A Kurt and Linda Wallander Novel By Henning Mankell Review by Christian Perring on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
There is a sense of satisfaction in following a series of well written novels and seeing how the characters develop over time. There are nine previous Kurt Wallander books, showing him from his first days as a detective to when he is at the height of his career and is starting to feel his age. We have seen him go through many romances, get into trouble at work, and especially his changing relationship with his father, as the old man became more difficult and eccentric and finally died. In this latest novel of the series put on unabridged audiobook, life is changing even more Click here to read the full review!
North of Beautiful By Justina Chen Headley Review by Amy Ridley on Tue, Nov 17th 2009.
Terra has lived with stares her whole life. She was born with a port-wine stain on her cheek. Instead of receiving support from her family, they only make it worse. Her father is happy to point out how ugly she is every chance he gets, while her mother is constantly looking for new treatments to help remove or lighten her birthmark. Her two older brothers have all but abandoned her in order to escape their father's verbal abuse.
Every day in Terra's house involves fear and avoidance due to her father. He ridicules her mother endlessly about her weight, which has skyrocketed since the death o Click here to read the full review!
The Innate Mind: Volume 3 Foundations and the Future By Peter Carruthers, Stephen Laurence and Stephen Stich (Editors) Review by Timothy Bowen, B.Phil on Tue, Nov 10th 2009.
The third volume in this series on innate features of minds, Foundations and the Future confronts certain key questions in the area of nativism. Nativism is a multi-disciplinary approach to research or general viewpoint in the area of the mind. It encompasses views on thought, language, and the relationship and development of the two in disciplines ranging from philosophy to cognitive science. Given its wide range, a precise, readily agreed upon, positive definition of nativism is hard to come by. Indeed, nativism’s strongest identifying claim lies in what it opposes: is that it is not e Click here to read the full review!
Expression and the Inner By David H. Finkelstein Review by Nathanial Blower on Tue, Nov 10th 2009.
David Finkelstein's Expression and the Inner is a welcome and thoughtful contribution to two central debates in the philosophy of self-knowledge and the philosophy of psychology: (1) how to account for first-person authority, and (2) how to characterize conscious mental states. It will therefore be of interest to anyone curious about the nature of consciousness and the nature of our access to it.
Finkelstein's formulation of the phenomenon of first-person authority runs as follows: "If you want to know what I think, feel, imagine, or intend, I am a good person--indeed, usually the best Click here to read the full review!
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