Systems psychiatry, psychiatrie systémale; Collective and egoless
consciousness; Language and cognition; Science and spirituality; Emptiness,
shuunyataa; Inner voice experience; Stereotyped, fragmented, and disintegrated
behaviour; Dopamine hypothesis of psychosis
Interdisciplinary Psychiatry and Idealist Philosophy
CIRIP, International Center for Interdisciplinary Psychiatric
Research
A research center without walls
Centre International de Recherche Interdisciplinaire en Psychiatrie
Bygaden 24 B,Svog.DK-4000 Roskilde,Denmark (Axel Randrup)
33 Rue Lacépède, F-75005 Paris,France (Pierre Marchais)
Letters to the editor,Axel Randrup: aarandrup@myinternet.dk
For a complete list of the publications from CIRIP see:
http://hjem.wanadoo.dk/~mob79301/archives.html
For full text papers on idealist philosophy, click here: CIRIP,
Idealist Philosophy
Update September 15, 2005
Site Map
Some significant printed publications from the Center
NEW
Du rôle des techniques contemporaines sur l'évolution de
la psychiatrie
On the role of modern techniques relative to the evolution of psychiatry
Annales Médico-Psychologiques 163 (2005) 222-229
by P. Marchais
Keywords: Criteriology; Cybernetics; Epistemology; Informatics;
Methodology; Systemal approach; Systemics; Technics
Confronted with the new technics (cybernetics and informatics) psychiatry
has developed new trends. Criteriology,which originates from informatics,
intends to be pragmatic and atheoretic. In an objective way it partitions
the mental disturbances into items distributed among several axes, and in
this way it accentuates the mechanistic character of the psychic functioning.
It builds authority by trying to diminish the divergences among the classical
Schools, thus facilitating communication and research, but it neglects the
functional integration of the psychic system. Systemics, influenced by cybernetics,
directs itself towards the totality of psychic functioning and removes all
reductionism, favouring a constructivist conception of the disturbances
in a network, giving priviledge to holism at the expense of local determinism.
The systems approach integrates cybernetics and informatics and considers
the whole system as well as the local determinisms. It is based on the clinic,
from which it tries to extracf the great invariants, that permits a vital
reconstitution of the disturbances. It does this by means of logical-mathematical
matrices, both holistic and categorical, which assure the validity and the
progress of the systems approach. A synoptic picture reuniting the salient
traits of these trends exhibit their differences and concordances and shows
the underlying structures at several levels of reality.
________________________________________
NEW
Du processus décisionnel en psychiatrie clinique
The process of making decision in psychiatry
Annales Médico-Psychologiques 163 (2005) 148-155
by P. Marchais
Key-words: Action; Activation; Complexity; Decision; Inhibition;
Model
In psychiatry, the process of making decisions is a complex executive function
of thought, which cannot be reduced to a rational choice only. It also affects
perceptions, memory, emotion, affectivity, and the milieu. In a general
way, this proces is characterized by its multiple aspects, its varied objectives,
and its meaning, which leads to multiple interactions between the patient,the
observer, and the milieu.
________________________________________
D'un concept opératoire controversé: le tiers-inclus, opérateur
d'intégration
On a controversial operative concept: the third-included, an operator
of integration
Annales Médico-Psychologiques 163 (2005) 58-64
by P. Marchais
Keywords: Experiment with thought; Integration; Mixed states;
Psychotherapies; Third-excluded; Third-included
The growing complexity of our knowledge necessisates recourse to new tools
of thinking. The third-included incites to make studies of the organizing
factors of a system situated in its environment, and it allows reconsiderario
of the nature of complex clinical states (mixed states, atypic forms, schizophrenias
...). It helps to specify the links between holisme and reductionisme.
____________________________________
Le graphe en psychiatrie. Intérêt topologoque
The graph in psychiatry
Annales Médico-Psychologiques 162 (2004) 813-820
by P. Marchais
Keywords: Graph; Representation; Research; Systemal method; Topology
The growing complexity of the problems in psychiatry requires new tools
for the study. The graph is useful because of its capacity for quantitative
and qualitative exposition of the mental disorders and its role for mediating
and supporting research.
___________________________________
L'angoisse et l'anxiété. Variations conceptuelles.
Ouverture à la théorie des catégories
Anguish and anxiety. Conceptual variations. About category theory
Annales Médico-Psychologiques 162 (2004) 196-202
by P. Marchais
Key-words: Anguish; Anxiety; Epistemology; Links; Mathematics;
Category theory
Anxiety is a well-known manifestation. Its conceptual exposition has varied
in the course of history, dependent on the frame of reference and the cultural
orientations. Four different conceptions and four correspondent frames of
reference are succinctly recalled: classical, psychoanalytic, criteriological,
and holistic. The clinical conceptions can be still more refined by the
use of category theory. The properties of this theory permits clarification
of the functional structure of these troubles, particularly by analysis
of their relations, simple as well as complex, at the various successive
moments of their evolution. This theory also incites applications with the
other pathologic formations which are linked with anxiety. Finslly, the
author specifies the advantages of this conception: better appreciation
of the classical , modern, and research clinical work, more precise study
of the mobility and change of these disturbances, possibility of nosologic
extension, appreciable epistemologic interest.
______________________________________
Création artistique et sémiotique. Rapports avec
le trouble mental
Artistic creation and semiotics. Relations with mental disturbance
Annales Médico-Psychologiques 161 (2003) 596-602
by P. Marchais
Keywords: Artistic creation; Mental disturbance; Psychopathologic
art; Semiotics
The complex relations between artistic creation and mental disturbance suggest
an analysis starting with the functions of the language employed. Comparison
reveals the differences between the dynamics of the disturbance and those
of the artistic creation. The results demonstrate the absence of a causal
link between the mental disturbance and the artistic creation, even if the
trouble does not preclude this creation, and even may incite it. In this
way it is possible to conceive better the limits of the so called psychopathologic
art.
_______________________________
Mental and Behavioural Disintegration, Stereotypies, and Schizophrenia
Poster, 14th Congress of Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum
(CINP), Firenze June 1984.
by I. Munkvad and A. Randrup
In many cases stereotyped behavior also clearly represents fragmented
or disintegrated behaviour. In some examples of schizophrenic speech for
example looseness of associations (disintegration, fragmentation) appears
together with repetitions (stereotypy), the repetitions interrupting and
breaking the associations. For the comparison of animal and human observations
it is an obstacle that animal workers for experimental reasons have focused
much on stereotypy, while clinicians have paid more attention to mental
and behavioral disintegrations , as expressed i.a. by the term "schizophrenia".
_____________________________________________
Mental and Behavioural Stereotypies Elicited by Stimulant Drugs.
Relation to the Dopamine Hypothesis of Schizophrenia, Mania and Depression
Discussion: Relation of stereotypies and psychoses to brain dopamine.
by A. Randrup, I. Munkvad and R. Fog
In: Recent Advances in Neuropsycho-Pharmacology Eds. B. Angrist, G.
Burrows etc. Pergamon Press, New York, 1981.
_____________________________________________
Interdisciplinary Approach to Occupational Therapy of Psychotic
Patients
Metodology of Occupational Therapy (Japan). Vol. 2, pp. 19-36, 2000.
In English with summary in Japanese. This journal is edited by Society for
Interdisciplinary Research Works of Occupational Therapy, S.I.R.W.O.T
by Axel Randrup
[SECTION I] Stereotyped Behavior Related to Fragmented Behavior, Psychosis
and Occupational Therapy
[SECTION II] Drug Therapy, Biochemistry, Dopamine in the Brain
[SECTION III] Therapy and Prevention by Environmental and Social Means.
Cultural Factors. Ethics
Excerpt from section III. I can go back to our bank voles from section one,
those small animals in restricted cages, they developed stereotypied behavior.
Their cages were not only small, they were also without possibilities for
doing what these animals usually do when they are living in the woods. Then,
my friend, Grethe Soerensen said, "Shouldn't we for once make an experiment,
where we try to make it better for the animals?" I found that was a
good idea. She said, "In many medical experiments you do some harm
to animals." She didn't like that, she is an animal friend. "But
let's do the opposite," she said, "let's try to make better conditions
for animals." So she constructed larger cages, not much larger, twice
or three times the ordinary size. She put in some twigs and some other things
she collected in the woods, which she knew the animals were using, so they
could perform their usual activities, climb small branches, twigs, go through
holes etc. You might see that as a kind of occupational therapy. They got
the opportunity for occupation. And they had somewhat more space, but not
an extremely large space. And these changes were very effective in preventing
stereotypy. The animals, the bank voles, placed in these cages, with opportunities
for more activities, they had next to nothing in terms of stereotypy, while
control animals in the ordinary cages developed stereotypy as usual. The
voles seemed to lead more normal lives in the improved cages. This of course
immediately indicates economic problems. How much will you pay to make it
better for the animals? And that is one point, where I think there is a
contact with ethics. Some people are more concerned about animal welfare
than others. Some people are mostly concerned with economics; other people,
perhaps, mostly with animal welfare. And there is still a debate going on,
sometimes a fierce debate, because there is a lot of persistence on both
sides. So that is for animals. Then we can think about humans. Of course,
you immediately think about humans, and then again you hit ethics. How much
will you pay for better environments for humans? Some employers don't care
much about their workers. How much will we, generally pay for better conditions
for workers ? Here again, we encounter different attitudes.
_______________________________________
Commentary on "Stereotyped activities produced by amphetamine
in several animal species and man". Psychopharmacologia (1967) 11:300-310
A landmark publication from the early days of the dopamine hypothesis
Psychopharmacology vol. 162 (4), pp. 349-350, 2002.
by Rasmus Fog and Axel Randrup
A paper in the series Landmark Publications in Psychopharmacology: The
First 40 Years The paper commented on was authored by Axel Randrup and Ib
Munkvad
_________________________________________________
An Alternative to Materialism: Converging Evidence from Nature
Spirituality and Natural Science
Cybernetics & Human Knowing, Vol. 4 (4), 15-24, 1997
by Axel Randrup
Abstract By means of examples nature spirituality is described as certain
particularly intense nature-experiences, felt to be essential and important.
The author is familiar with such experiences, and I find that they influence
also my rational, scientific conception of nature, emphasizing the reality
of direct, conscious experience of both living, chemical and physical systems.
This makes it difficult to accept materialist realism (or materialism),
the view that nature exists as an external world separated from and independent
of any observer . Materialist realism is generally espoused by natural science,
but findings in several scientific disciplines in this century have led
to severe difficulties with this view. Examples are given from the disciplines
Evolutionary Epistemology, Second Order Cybernetics, Cognitive Neurophysiology,
Statistics and Physics. As a more consistent alternative to materialism
the author suggests a philosophy saying that reality consists entirely of
conscious experiences (individual, collective or egoless). On the practical
plane the recognition of spiritual values and the striving for consistency
may lead to an improved, more sustainable lifestyle for the individual and
for society. The departure from stark materialism may also help to develop
cross-cultural exchange and understanding, a topical issue right now for
both scientific and political reasons.
____________________________________________
Relations between three-dimensional, volumetric experiences,
and neural processes: Limitations of materialism
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 26 (4), 422, 2003
by Axel Randrup
Commentary to a target article by S. Lehar. Response by Lehar p. 438.
________________________________________________
NEW
Paper in progress:
Indian Philosophies and Jewish Mysticism: Significant Similarities.
Relations to Science
By Axel Randrup and Tista Bagchi
In the literature we have found important points of similarity in Jewish
mysticism to Buddhism and also non-Buddhist Indian Philosophy. Among the
similarities is the fundamental idea of emptiness, shuunyataa in
Sanskrit, ayin in Hebrew. Emptiness is seen as empty of any details
and concepts and without boundary. It has the potentiality to give rise
to all phenomena. Also similar are attempts to harmonize the idea and experience
of emptiness (nothingness) with the experience of the secular world with
its many things and concepts. Relations of these Indian and Jewish belief
systems to modern science are discussed.
________________________________
The Perennial Philosophy
The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 22, 120-121, 2003
by Axel Randrup
By "The Perennial Philosophy" I shall here understand a philosophy
of experienced spirituality saying that there is something similar or a
common core to all experiences of spirituality and mysticism - across cultures
and across the ages. In our time this idea was revived by Aldous Huxley
(1945), and has received support from a number of authors. There has also
been opposition, however, emphasizing the importance of the cultural differences
(Katz, 1978,1983).The views of Katz and associates have again been critizised
by several authors. Personally I tend to agree with the "perennialists",
though I understand that for example a Jewish mystic, who sees the "being
joined" to God (devekuth) as the essence of his spirituality, may find
spiritual experiences not including God essentially different from his own.
On the other hand, the Jewish tradition, as many other traditions, has a
general view of man ( Adam and Eve, Messiah) which could be an opening for
the perennial philosophy. Spiritual experiences are often said to be ineffable,
transverbal, and this of course makes it difficult to discuss the idea of
the perennial philosophy in words. So I must admit that my positive attitude
to this philosophy depends on intuition more than on reason. Since religion
and spirituality are important aspects of the life in our "Global Village",
I think they are important, also for finding a sustainable way of life on
this planet.
Key words: experienced spirituality; cultures; similarities; differences;
sustainable way of life.
__________________________
Meet the Researcher: Axel A. Randrup, Roskilde, Denmark
A biography dealing mostly with the research of Axel Randrup on collective
conscious experience, idealist philosophy, and spirituality. The Journal
of Transpersonal Psychology 35 (1) 65-69, 2003.
___________________________
Collective and Egoless Consciousness
Significance for Philosophy of Science and the Mind- Body Problem
The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, Vol. 18 (No.2) pp.
133-137, 1999.
by Axel Randrup
Excerpts Abstract. Collective consciousness and egoless consciousness
can be regarded as realistic alternatives or complements to individual consciousness.
This contention is supported by evidence from the literature (psychological,
philosophical, anthropological, spiritual, Buddhist) and by personal observations
and interpretations. It contradicts the idea that a philosophy which regards
reality as consisting only of conscious experiences must inevitably lead
to solipsism.
----------------------------- In a previous paper (Randrup 1997, see above,
An Alternative to Materialism) the author proposed a skepticist-idealist
philosophy, claiming that reality consists entirely of conscious experiences.
This proposal is seen as a more consistent and unified alternative to materialism.
Science is regarded as a catalog of intersubjective, conscious experiences
("observations") recognized as scientific and structured by means
of concepts and theories (also regarded as conscious experiences). Materialism
is seen as possible and useful within a certain (large) domain, but inconsistent
beyond that domain. This view is supported by examples of contradictions
and problems met in materialist science (in cognitive neurophysiology, the
evolutionary study of cognition, statistics, physics, second order cybernetics)
and by the felt reality of intense nature experiences (Randrup, 1997a).
Philosophies of this type (idealism, phenomenalism, skepticism) have been
known in the West in modern times since the work of the philosophers Berkeley
and Hume in the 18th century and have often been met with the objection
that they entail solipsism. I will argue that solipsism (individualism)
is only one possible frame of reference for consciousness. Collective consciousness
and egoless consciousness are seen as viable alternatives or complements
----------------------------- In various non-Western cultures, such as African,
Aboriginal Australian, American Indian, East Asian, and "preconquest"
cultures, views and attitudes are encountered which emphasize the collective
and relational features of human beings and their minds at least as much
as the individual features; indeed it seems that modern Western individualism
is an exceptional or unique phenomenon among the world's cultures, past
and present.
------------------------------ Although individuality is so prominent in
Western cultures and daily life, there are features of collectivity. "Objective"
science seems to be an important example of this. In order to be recognized
as scientific, an observation has to be confirmed by several scientists
- become intersubjective. An intersubjective observation is often conceived
as the same observation or experience distributed over different individual
minds or consciousnesses and then unified by means of an "objective"
materialist concept. It can, however, also be conceived (and experienced)
to be unified from the beginning as one observation constituting a part
of a collective consciousness.
---------------------------- The collective part of their consciousness
will be associated with the brains of all the persons involved and not only
with one brain (brains are here seen as heuristic structures in the scientific
catalog mentioned in the introduction).
_______________________________________
Collective Consciousness Across Time
Anthropology of Consciousness, vol.13 (1): 27-41, 2002
by Axel Randrup
Abstract The notion of collective conscious experience is here seen
as an alternative or complement to the more familiar notion of individual
conscious experience. Much evidence supports the concept of collective experience
in the present. But what about time? Can a conscious experience which, when
regarded as individual, is referred to the past be considered a collective
experience extended in both past and present ? My answer is yes, and this
answer is supported by evidence about conceptions of time and conscious
experience in various cultures, including Western culture and science, and
by evidence about the psychological Now. Egoless conscious experience is
an alternative to both individual and collective experience; it is often
connected with experience of timelessness, and is then unrestricted by time.
Key words: Conscious experience, collective and egoless, time ,
cultures See also the abstract above on Collective and Egoless Consciousnes
__________________________________
NEW
Animal Mind as Approached by the Transpersonal Notion of Collective
Conscious Experience
The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 23, 32-45, 2004
by Axel Randrup
Abstract The discussion of animal mind in this paper is based on an
idealist philosophy contending that only conscious experience is real, and
on the notion of transpersonal, collective conscious experience. The latter
has earlier been explained by me as experience referred to a group of humans
as the subject, the We. Here it is contended that also a group of humans
and animals can be seen as the subject of collective conscious experiences.
I argue that the notion of collective conscious experience provides a possibility
for studying the problems of animal mind and the related human problem of
"other minds" in a more detailed and rational way. Key words:
Collective consciouness, animals, evolution, idealist philosophy, ethics.
________________________________
More Than One Truth: Consequenses for Our World View
In Research in Progress: Advances in Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol.4
(G. Lasker, ed.)Windsor University, Windsor, Canada. 1997. ISBN 092183635X
by Axel Randrup
When you go on bicycle you have the immediate impression that the force
you apply to the pedals is proportional to the speed you obtain, and you
can use this as a working theory. This theory may appear to be contradicted
by Newtonian theory saying that force is proportional to *acceleration*.
But if you consider the friction of the wheels of the bicycle with the road,
you can reconcile the two theories. Newtonian theory covers the larger domain,
and therefore many people think that it is the real truth. But in our century,
Newtonian theory too has been shown to cover only a limited domain of empirical
observation. General Relativity covers a larger domain. My point is that
all three theories convey some truth, describing real structures in our
multitude of empirical observations. The history of science indicates that
no theory gives us the truth standing forever. The theories do not differ
only with respect to structure (relations), also some of their entities
are different. Thus gravitational force "exists" in Newtonian
theory, but in General Relattivity it is replaced by another "existant",
space-time curvature. I therefore think that these entities do not have
absolute existence , but are parts of a theory, helping to show structures
in our world of empirical observations. These views may appear unpractical
within a discipline, e.g. physics, but they are helpful for interdisciplinary
understanding.
Activities and interests of the members
Pierre Marchais
MD, psychiatrist, Cofounder and vice president of CIRIP, former president
of Sociéte Médico- Psychologique Paris. 33 Rue Lacépède,
F-75005 Paris, France. Fax: +33147079210 pmarch@club-internet.fr
Pierre Marchais is a pioneer of systems psychiatry in France (la méthode
systémale)
Representative publications:
Le nouvel esprit psychiatrique
Métamorphose et développement de la psychiatrie clinique
Pierre Marchais avec la participation d'Axel Randrup
Frisons-Roche, Paris 1996, 272 pp. This book descibes the new systems
(or systemal) thinking in psychiatry developed by P. Marchais during more
than 30 years of work in clinical psychiatry. Here follows in French a definition
of the word systemal which is central in this clinical work:
Systémal,
adj. (1977,Pierre Marchais; dérivé
de système)
Excerpt. Qui évoque le système dans une perspective d'ensemble,
fonctionnelle et dynamique, le système n'étant pas limité
à lui-même, mais se trouvant situé au sein du milieu.
La méthode systémale est une méthode d'analyse
et de synthèse recourant à cette notion, qui fut initialement
destinée à l'étude des processus psychopathologiques.
Elle se fonde sur la clinique et des démarches logico-mathématiques
modernes (d'ensembles et de logique du flou) conjugant leur universalité
et leur rigeur à l'indétermination propre au vécu individuel.
La psychiatrie systémale est une synthèse en permenent
développement des différentes données cliniques obtenues
par cette méthode. La connaissance systémale est liée
à la nature interdisciplinaire de la méthode.
_______________________________
Le processus de connaissance
Cognitive Processes
Pierre Marchais with participation of Jean-Blaise Grize
Frison-Roche, Paris, 2000, 396 pp. An extension of the work of P. Marchais
on the dynamics and systems structure of the psyche to include cognition.
J-B Grize adds his expertise in logics. Progresses from psychiatry to interdisciplinarity.
Sections on intuition, logic, language, hermeneutics, altered states, experienced
transcendences (naturel, supranaturel, surnaturel) etc. From the editor's
remarks, in French: La connaissance répond-elle à une pulsion
de l'homme pour comprendre les phénomènes et les situations
qui l'entourent ? Pour l'auteur, neuropsychiatre, cela ne fait aucune doute
et il en étude la genèse au travers des plus importantes dysrégulations
psychiques, dont on sait qu'elles peuvent impliquer des troubles du comportement,
des troubles des automatismes ou encore des troubles du fonctionnement d'ensembles
des diverses organisations. Une mise en garde de l'auteur intéresse
les théories normatives (langagières, discursives), imagières
(Freud) ou celles qui ont cherché à formaliser la connaissance
à l'aide de méthodes statististiques diagnostiques, de critères
et d'échelles. Queel est en effet le caractère objectif d'un
phénomène observé et ne faut-il pas dénoncer
le culte du nombre comme une fin en soi ? Cet ouvrage est destiné
tout particulièrement aux psychiatres, aux psychologuess, et touts
personne intéressé par le sujet.
___________________________________________________________________
NEW MEMBER
Tista Bagchi
Professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007,
INDIA
tista_b@yahoo.com
Interests and research: Linguistic theory, analytic philosophy of mind,
Indian philosophy and linguistics, social philosophy, ethics.
Representative publications:
Language and Cognition: New Dimension
eds. Tista Bagchi and R. K. Agnihotri. New Delhi/London/Thousand Oaks,
Calif.: Sage. Book expected to appear in 2005.
___________________________
Causation and tense in subordinate clauses: Conjunctive participles
and conditionals in Bangla and Hindi
In: Polymorphous Linguistics eds. Salikoko S. Mufwene, Elaine J. Francis,
and Rebecca S. Wheeler. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Forthcoming in 2005
___________________________
The Sentence in Computation and Cognitive Science
University of Delhi. The role of the sentence is examined and assessed
in a significant area of interface research between computer science and
technology , on the one hand, and the modeling of aspects of human cognitive
processes with special reference to linguistic processing, on the other.
The role of the sentence in relation to consciousness is adddressed. The
final section raises the question of which kind of ontological status the
sentence has, and provides a possible way to proceed to answer this question.
________________________
Language and Logic in the Indian Scholastic Tradition: Some Strands
Paper read and circulated at the Conference on the History of Science
in Asia, University of Chittagong, 2002. An extremely high degree of analyticity
is found in the treatment of grammar and textual-grammatical analysis in
the Indian linguistic tradition from pre-Paninian times through the early
modern period. The authors highlight the strong linguistically-based current
of *rationality* that one finds running through the Indian linguistico-philosophical
tradition along with the *mystical* approaches to the Indian scholastic
tradition. They also mention the Indian linguistic philosopher Bhart Whari,
who conducted a highly linguistically-structured approach to the bigger
questions of reality, the cognition of reality, and the cognition of language
as a conduit to the cognition of reality. Buddhist and some pre-Buddhist
Indian logic comprises the four corners A; non-A ; A and non-A; neither
A nor non-A , of which the latter two appear paradoxical to ordinary western
logic.
____________________________
The concepts of shuunya (zero, void) and shuunyataa (nothingness,
infinity) in non-Buddhist Indian Thought
In Bagchi, Tista. The Sentence in Language and Cognition. Book manuscript,
National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and
University of Delhi. In preparation. The concept of the zero in arithmetic
is widely believed to be a contribution of ancient Indian mathematicians
to mathematics as it is understood an applied in the sciences, in technology,
and in the world of business today. In Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language
used in logical and scientific reasoning, the concept of zero is expressed
by the term shuunya. One might note, however, that shuunya is also
a central concept in much of Indian philosophy. The concept of shuunya
contains both rational understanding of our world and the irratinal
or intuitive perception of the universe. In India the term is used in both
mathematics, philosophy, and mysticism. Shuunya connotes not only
the numerical notion of zero but also the cosmological notion of universe:
shuunya is thus both null and infinite: a void, but also the infinite
space in which existence can come into being and interpersomal commnion
can take place. To put it in another way, with reference to the material
world, shuunya is the space in which nothingness can flower into
living beings, and interconnections among living beings. Shuunyataa as
a concept occupies a central position in the Indian mystical tradition,
even aside from its prominent role in Buddhist philosophy. While it is often
crudely translated as emptiness, the term is complex in meaning, the term
can also be interpreted as the quality possessed by infinite space.
___________________________
Research on the Linguistic Abilities of Mentally Impaired Children:
Ethical Issues
There is a pressing need for a legally and morally coherent policy to
address the concerns of linguistic researchers towards a far greater understanding
of the problems of children with specific intellectual and learning impairments
in a complex multilingual, multicultural, and socioeconomic setup such as
the one we have in India.
___________________________
Morally Right Action under Silence and Disempowerment
Paper presented at the XXIst World Congress of Philosophy, Istanbul,
Turkey, 2003. A recognition of the fundamental universality of human morality
with culture-specific and community-specific modes of putting that morality
into practice.
NEW MEMBER
Vivian Lin Waddell
Doctor of Philosophy
2/60 Temple St., Ballina, NSW 2478, Australia
vwaddell@optusnet. com.au
Representative publications:
Social Ecology as Ontology: A Re-Search for Being
Master of Science Thesis, University of Western Sidney, Hawkesbury,
Bourke Street Richmond NSW 2753 Australia
Quotes:
Social ecology is, above all, a search for interactive being in the world
(p. 79).
If we all recognised our interbeing with one another and nature, we would
do everything to protect and care for one another (p. 270).
....a viable social ecology is dependent on the degree to which each human
being is able to uncover her or himself in relationship with all other beings
and the earth (p. 1).
....a socially ecological, responsible balance between individual being
and collective being (p. 234).
The thesis also reports on personal spiritual experiences, and in this context
discusses views of Buddhism, Tao, and some individual philosophers.
______________________________________________
A Phenomenological Study of the Inner Voice Experience
Doctoral thesis, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351 Australia
A phenomenological inquiry of the lived experience of inner voices heard
by people who are not mystics and who are not considered mentally unstable,
that is, by ordinary people living "normal" lives.
Major significant themes are :
the felt "presence" of the voice;
attributions the interviewees make to describe "what" the
voice is to them;
the different types of relationships between the voice and those
who hear it;
and the meaning of the experience of hearing a voice speak has for
the experient.
_______________________________________________
Paper in progress:
The Inner Voice Experience:
A Life Enhancing and Sane Occurrence in Ordinary People
A Phenomenological Description of the Inner Voice Experience.
The felt experience of the Inner Voice Experience.
An edition of the doctoral thesis meant for publication in a scientific
journal.
Torben Larsen
Højmevænget 24, DK-5250 Odense SV, Denmark
tla@dialogue2000.org
www.dialogue 2000.org
Cand. oecon., health-economical consultant, Fyns County, Denmark.
Torben Larsen has for many years studied meditation, yoga, biofeedback and
neuropsychologic research associated with these phenomena. Research with
chiefpsychologist J. Beckmann on the health-psychological aspects of training
of yoga in the general evening school. Lundbeckprize 1991 for a paper on
the comprehensive reform of the hospital structure in Fyn county, 1990.
Originator of VisInfo, a coordinating system for hospital referrals, based
on electronic communication with the general practitioning physicians.
Publication on VisInfo:
Health Services, Coordination and the Internet
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine 54 (1997) 123-130
by Torben Larsen
Raymond Swing
Drosselvej 81, DK-2000 Frb. Denmark
swing@mail.tele.dk
http://home20.inet.tele.dk/swing
I started a biological study but did not finish. Thereafter I functioned
as a schoolteacher for thirty years and also received some further education
in music at the conservatory in Aalborg, Denmark and at the Humbolt University
in Berlin, DDR (theory and history). I had always been interested in philosophy
and dialectics (Marx), physics, biology, economics. history, culture, and
philosophy of science. Therefore, after retiring from teaching I took these
issues up again in a more serious way. I have published some essays in DIALEKTIK
and in EUROPÄISCHE ENZYKLOPÄDIE ZU PHILOSOPHIE UND WISSENSCHAFTEN
(about termodynamics) and work on the articles: ZWEI BEMERKUNGEN ZUM BEGRIFF
DES GESELLSCHAFTLICHEN MENSCH-NATURVERHÄLTNISSES ON THE WAY TO A GENERAL
AND GENERATIVE DIALECTICS. MODELS OF DIALECTICAL GENESIS Interests: Anthropogenesis,
anticipation, dialectics, dialectical contradictions, dominium, consciousness,
emergence, generative dialectics, intentionality, language, nature, negations,
objectivity, property, society, subjectivity.
Burt Angrist
Amphetamine Psychosis: Clinical Variations of the Syndrome
In: Amphetamine and its Analogs, Academic Press, 1994, pp. 387-414.
Erik Schiørring
Psychologist, Denmark. Comprehensive interdisciplinary studies of the
effects of amphetamine and other stimulant drugs in animals and man.
Representative publications:
Psychopathology Induced by "Speed Drugs"
Pharmacol. Biochem. & Behavior 14, Suppl. 1, pp. 109-122, 1981.
_________________________________
Drugs, Agression &Violence
Presented in part at "Conference on Agression", Abrahámhegy,
Hungary, May 10-12, 1995. Printed in Hungarian: Drogok, Agresszió
és Tettlegesség in: Az Agresszió Problémái
Korunkban, I.Kappeter(Ed.), SZMA, Budapest, 1996
"General increase in human misery" - "Drug use, drug
induced aggression and violence, drug trafficking" will be the headlines
in this paper, which intends to emphasize the serious degree of aggression
and violence that is so closely connected with and produced by the Speed-Drugs.
Excerpt. There are no happy drug-addicts, and no drug-addicts come from
happy social circumstances. And do not deny this with reference to a few
important exceptions. The increased level of general misery among
both "West" and "East" populations, is the main cause
of drug addiction. Lack of hope and the world-wide problems of civil wars
(including private divorces!) contribute to this and make therapy and other
intervention more difficult. In general such factors as early childhood
injuries, abuse or neglect; socialisation experiences; lack of economic
opportunity; community disorganization; and physical reactions to specific
types of drugs are important adjuncts to the three dimmensions described
above (the psychopharmacologic, the economic and the systemic dimensions).
One point remains very clear: The problem of drugs and violence are
complex public health and social interventions. Some may despair, believing
the links between substance abuse and violence to be inseparable and complex
to a degree, where a solution cannot be found. But efforts to understand
these relationships can contribute to reduce their recent intensification.
Axel Randrup
aarandrup@@myinternet.dk
Byg. 24, Svog. DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
Dr. phil., CIRIP president. Board member of Danish Society for Human Ethology;
Member of American Philosophical Association and the International Berkeley
Society. Member of the editorial boards for The International Journal of
Transpersonal Studies and Scientific Inquiry (see Announcement below); Consulting
editor Cybernetics & Human Knowing.
Interests and research: Idealist philosophy, Collective consciousness, Spirituality,
Mind-matter relations, Amphetamine psychosis, Dopamine hypothesis of psychoses,
Interdisciplinary research.
Publications on the Internet:
Representative printed publications:
Stereotyped Behavior, Amphetamine, and Psychosis
Deals with behavioural pharmacology and neurochemistry of psychosis.
Emphasizes that psychotic patients are fellow human beings.
Current Contents, This week's citation classic, Vol. 33, #3, Jan. 15, 1990,
sections Clinical Medicine, Arts and Humanities, Social & Behavioral
Sciences, and Life Sciences.
____________________________
Role of Catecholamines in the Amphetamine Excitatory Response
An early paper in the research on the role of brain dopamine in psychoses.
A. Randrup and I. Munkvad
Nature 211, 540, !966
Grethe Sørensen
Denmark Cand.scient. in zoology, specialty: ethology (behavioural biology).
Cofounder and board member of CIRIP. Member of Danish Society for Human
Ethology.
Research on normal and abnormal behaviour of bank voles with interdisciplinary
links to psychiatry and systems science.
Representative publications:
Stereotyped Behaviour, Hyperaggressiveness and "Tyrannic"
Hierarchy induced in Bank Voles by a Restricted Cage Milieu
Prog. Neuro-Psychopharmacol. & Biol. Psychiat. 11, 9-21, 1927.
_________________________
Abnormal Behaviour of Bank Voles Reduced by an Enriched Cage Milieu.
Perspectives for the Problem of Humane Attitudes in Biological Psychiatry.
Ethol. Sociobiol. 10 , 414-415 ,1989.
Excerpt. Our experiments show,with genuinely biological methods, the importance
of the milieu factor in the study of abnormal behaviour of bank voles, a
result which usually does not emerge from biochemical and pharmacological
experiments. And while we are working on changes of the voles' milieu, we
are readily led to hypotheses about changes of human milieux, which may
be helpful in the prevention and treatment of psychiatric diseases. From
this there is only a short step to understanding and study of the importance
of humane attitudes to psychiatric patients.
_______________________
Possible Protective Value of Severe Psychopathology Against Lethal Effects
of an Unfavourable Milieu
Stress Medicine 2,103-105, 1986.
The incidence of stereotyped and hyperaggressive behaviour was significantly
greater in laboratory bred animals, and excessive water-drinking and death
significantly greater in the wild species.
Søren Brier
Ved Vandløbet 21, DK-2610 Rødovre, Denmark
sbr.lpf@cbs.dk
Master of Science in biology (ethology), Ph.D. in philosophy of science.
Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Dept. of Management, Politics and
Philosophy.
Editor of Cybernetics & Human Knowing, a journal of second-order
cybernetics autopoiesis and cyber-semiotics. Home page: www.imprint-academic.com/C&HK
On this home page there are several papers (full text or abstracts) by
members of CIRIP: Søren Brier, Pierre Marchais. and Axel Randrup.
Interests and research: A philosophy of science approach to information
science and technology; cognitive science; second order cybernetics; cyber-semiotics;
attempts to establish an interdisciplinary viewpoint focusing on development
of a non-reductionist view of psycho-biological systems.
Announcement
NEW Journal
Scientific Inquiry www.iigss.net
"Scientific Inquiry" is a forum of the highest professional
quality for both scientists and nonscientists alike to exchange ideas and
publish new discoveries on a vast array of topics and issues. This forum
aims to bring forth anything from either innovative understandings to known
theories or unexplainable discoveries not adequately studied in mainstream
science. It provides everyone opportunities to present, criticize,
and discuss their findings, theories, and ideas with others. Submission
of manuscripts to Y. Lin , 260 Elm Street, Slippery Rock, PA 16057, USA.
A special feature will be that if an unconventional paper of good quality
has been rejected (repeatedly) by known journals in traditional fields of
science with nasty comments, we will publish these comments together
with the paper, if it is judged good quality by our reviewers using a different
set of standards.
Collections, search engines, and search pages for philosophy:
Cognitive Sciences Eprint
Archive
PhilSci Archive
Humbul Humanities Hub
A service
of the UK's Resource Discovery Network. Click on the logo to get the search
engine.
Scirus
www.ephilosopher.com
Scientific and Medical Network Explorations
in Science and Human Experience, beyond a materialist worldview, an interdisciplinary
forum.
Collection for spirituality and religion:
Sincerely, Axel Randrup, CIRIP president, home page editor. aarandrup@myinternet.dk