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! |
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Rethinking the Western Understanding of the Self By Ulrich Steinvorth Review by Gustav Jahoda, Ph.D. on Tue, Nov 17th 2009. | 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! |  |
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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! |
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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! |  |
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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! |
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Think Confident, Be Confident A Four-Step Program to Eliminate Doubt and Achieve LifelongSelf-Esteem By Leslie Sokol and Marci G. Fox Review by Beth Cholette, Ph.D. on Tue, Nov 10th 2009. | The authors of this book, Doctors Leslie Sokol and Marci Fox, are both long-time associates of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research. As the authors explain in their introduction, cognitive therapy is an approach which postulates that how we think influences both how we feel and how we behave. In Think Confident, Be Confident, Sokol and Fox utilize the principles of cognitive therapy to target self-doubt and the detrimental effects that it can have on one's moods, actions, motivation, and ultimately, self-confidence.
The authors use a 4-step approach to conquering Click here to read the full review! |  |
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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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The Psychology of Superheroes An Unauthorized Exploration By Robin Rosenberg Review by Bruce MacDonald on Tue, Nov 3rd 2009. | On the cover of The Psychology of Superheroes a Rorschach-type bat-signal lights up the night of a comic-book sky. It's an apt image for a book that calls on a wide array of superheroes and psychological theories to forge a link between the two separate domains. In her introduction, editor Robin Rosenberg, wastes no time arguing for the validity of this link. She states that the "sagas of superheroes bring us out of ourselves and connect us with something larger than ourselves, something more universal", and that as a psychologist, she has noticed "the ways in which their stories reflect psych Click here to read the full review! |  |
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