Humanistic-Existential

What could be more important than the meaning of life? Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, Roy Baumeister, Clifford Geertz as well as Paul Wong an many existential/positive psychologists advocate a that a Need for Meaning is vital and pivotal in human consciousness and human life! Yet, the academic mainstream materialist psychology has largely bypassed these iconic psychologists!

It seems logical to argue that mobile computing technologies are intended for use "on-the-go." However, on closer inspection, the use of mobile technologies pose a number of challenges for users who are mobile, particularly moving around on foot. In engaging with such mobile technologies and their envisaged development, we argue that interaction designers must increasingly consider a multitude of perspectives that relate to walking in order to frame design problems appropriately. In this paper, we consider a number of perspectives on walking, and we discuss how these may inspire the design of mobile technologies. Drawing on insights from non-representational theory, we develop a partial vocabulary with which to engage with qualities of pedestrian mobility, and we outline how taking more mindful approaches to walking may enrich and inform the design space of handheld technologies.

Citation:
Parisa Eslambolchilar, Mads Bødker and Alan Chamberlain (2016) “Ways of Walking: Understanding Walking’s Implications for the Design of Handheld Technology via a Humanistic Ethnographic Approach”. in Human Technology: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Humans in ICT Environments - Human-Technology Choreographies: Body, Movement and Space, a special issue. DOI: 10.17011/ht/urn.201605192618

Europa als »Heimat« zu begreifen, ist eher unüblich, wenn nicht sogar ausgesprochen selten. In den letzten Jahren ist auch die Deutung »Europas« als eines gemeinsamen Zuhauses für die Einwohner jener Länder, die Mitglieder der Europäischen Union sind, problematisch geworden. Das gilt auch für viele, die dazu eingeladen sind, Mitglieder zu werden, und noch mehr natürlich für diejenigen, die in Europa nicht erwünscht sind und vor denen wir angeblich »unseres eigenes Wesen« verteidigen müssen. Aber das kann kaum das Gefühl der wesentlichen Grundlosigkeit überdecken, das den Sinn und Wert des Menschen, der Gesellschaft, ja der Welt betrifft

Oslobađanje vremena, opuštanje prostora, bijeg i otpor, otkako traje to »čovječno«. I sad smo u nedoumici, jer to prisno čovječno nikad ne traje samo kao postavljeno u vremenu, niti si osigurava svoj prostor, nego biva ispostavljeno i kao izvrgnuto obgrljuje pretežnost, pa se iz obuhvaćenosti s njom povraća na način da bi darovalo sebe drugome i svemu što biva i jest. Prebivanje kao izraz nekako objašnjava to što se na polju filozofije posljednjeg stoljeća i pol zove »autentična egzistencija«.

Medpotja so poti, ki jih ubira filozofsko mišljenje, da bi prišlo na svojo pot. Pri tem morda najde kako drugo pot. Medpotja ostajajo na poti do vprašanja, kaj je pot filozofije. Izkustvo medpotja je bistveno napotilo prebivanja. Prebivanje izpoveduje hkratnost zadrževanja in prestopanja, bližine in daljave, tradicije in transcendence, etosa in erosa. Prebivanje pa po svojem smislu hkrati zaznamuje nastanjenost v kulturi. Obravnava kulture se danes v več pogledih postavlja kot problem identitete in različnosti. Premišljanje o identiteti in različnosti ne more tajiti svojega porekla v filozofskem duhu, ki pa se zdi kot izgubljen. Ne le če izhajamo iz prostranskosti svetovnega duha, marveč tudi če se zadržujemo v slovenskem prostoru, ki se zdi ozek in utesnjujoč, kar pa nikakor ne sme biti razlog, da ga enostavno preskočimo, prej narobe. S tem bi pravzaprav prezrli svet, ki vsakokrat spregovarja v pomenjanju govorice. Pri odpiranju slovarja, prepisovanju pesmi ali iskanju stare besede sežemo od pomenov k zgodovinskemu smislu. Vprašanje o govorici zato ni le vodilo na poti premišljevanja, marveč tudi smiselno vezivo za filozofske vidike in kulturna obzorja, ki zase zahtevajo razgovor.

In Resituating Humanistic Psychology, Patrick Whitehead and Miles Groth urge psychologists to return to the aims and goals of the psychology as it first emerged. In the past 130 years, the field has veered greatly from its initial conception. To illustrate this, Whitehead and Groth trace the growth of the discipline from its conception in the late 1800s to the humanistic revolution of the 1960s to the current period of social unrest. They touch on Wilhelm Wundt’s and William James’s vision for the field; the lasting changes made to clinical psychology, methods of investigation, and psychology of learning in the 60s; and the effects of isolation, extreme connectivity, and social politics on psychology today. This book is recommended for scholars and students of psychology, history, and philosophy.

The article attempts to scrutinize problems faced by the people of Kashmir in different parts of India after Pulwama tragic event. It also tries to examine critically basic flaws between India and Kashmir bond. It claims the phenomenon of hatred and violence are ruling our societies today that has a devastating influence on human life and society at large. In this regard it proposes philosophical ideas and values to cultivate peace and harmony in our societies.

Meaninglessness is one of the biggest threats of our era. Meaninglessness is not only one of the possible symptoms of depression; meaninglessness as such is a complex experience which can be identified at a micro-dimensional felt sensed level, as a meaning gap at a meso-dimensional  narrative level, and as groundlessness at a macro-dimensional existential level. Person-centered therapies have explicitly focused on the micro- and meso-dimension of meaning; existential therapies have emphasized the macro-dimensions by helping their clients to face the existential givens such as meaninglessness and meaning. In this article we explore how experiential-existential psychotherapy could help clients in dealing with meaninglessness by addressing this experience with micro-, meso-, and macro-dimensional interventions. A case study reveals how all meaning-dimensions are important, but not at any moment. The client concludes the therapy with discovering what is most essential to him in life. From this experience he finds the courage to engage with life at the fullest, whether it is ultimately meaningful or not.

Purpose. To examine the existential anthropology of G. Marcel and E. Minkowski, in order to demonstrate the necessity of distinguishing the universal-spiritual, as human in human being, apart from the individual-existential in him, and to reveal the hierarchical correlation of biosocial, existential and spiritual spheres in personality. Theoretical basis. Within existential philosophy the author differentiates two separate traditions and proceeds from the insufficiency of the distinction of existential sphere, proposed by phenomenological tradition, showing the necessity of its correlation with the spiritual sphere as a sphere of humanity, proposed by non-phenomenological tradition of G. Marcel and E. Minkowski. Originality. The author presents the anthropological conception of G. Marcel and E. Minkowski, in which human personality is understood as unity of individual-existential and universalspiritual, which requires a special trans-empirical field of culture, which contains senses, images and symbols of humanity. Also, the author presents the recent developments of existential thinkers in distinguishing existential and spiritual dimensions, both not reducible to the physical and social dimensions. Conclusions. In both existential traditions, the specifically human was founded as a trans-biological and trans-social phenomenon, which appears as indefinable and non-predetermined. But in first tradition (M. Heidegger, J.-P. Sartre), humanity is understood as an existence, as a unique individuality, "project", variant of humanity, equivalent to other variants, and universal is
understood as a community of human condition in the world. While in the second tradition (G. Marcel, E. Minkowski, also V. Frankl), the universal is understood as spiritual. Thus, horizontal level of our private existence, as the process of movement from birth to death, is supplemented by vertical of human, universal ideals and images. Humanity appears as a task, on the way to which human being transcends beyond the limits of his individual "self" to the "super-individual", through inclusion into spiritual community, into universal culture.
Keywords: humanity; existential reality; spirituality; being; existence; personality.

ЕКЗИСТЕНЦІЙНЕ Й ДУХОВНЕ В ЕКЗИСТЕНЦІЙНІЙ АНТРОПОЛОГІЇ Г. МАРСЕЛЯ І Є. МІНКОВСЬКОГО

Мета. Спираючись на екзистенціальну антропологію Г. Марселя і Є. Мінковського, показати необхідність виділення в людині крім індивідуально-екзистенціального – універсально-духовного як людського в людині й розкрити ієрархічне співвідношення біосоціальної, екзистенційної й духовної сфер особистості. Теоретичний базис. Автор розрізняє усередині екзистенціальної філософії дві традиції й виходить із недостатності виділення екзистенційної сфери, запропонованої феноменологічної традиції, і необхідності співвіднесення її з духовною сферою як сферою людського в людині, запропонованої нефеноменологічної традиції Г. Марселя і Є. Мінковського. Наукова новизна. Автором представлена антропологічна концепція Г. Марселя і Є. Мінковського, у якій людина розуміється як єдність індивідуально-екзистенціального й універсально-духовного в людині, та позначена необхідність особливого транс емпіричного смислового поля культури, що містить образи й символи людяності. Також розглянуті останні розробки екзистенціальних мислителів в обґрунтуванні екзистенціального й духовного вимірів, як таких, що не зводяться до фізичного й соціального. Висновки. В обох екзистенціальних традиціях специфічно людське обґрунтовувалося як трансбіологічне й транссоціальне. В обох традиціях людяність постає як не задана, заздалегідь не визначена. Але в першій традиції (М. Гайдеггер, Ж.-П. Сартр) людяність розуміється як екзистенція, як неповторна індивідуальність, унікальний "проект", варіант людяності, рівноцінний іншим варіантам, а універсальне розуміється як спільність положення людини у світі. Тоді як у другій традиції (Г. Марсель і Є. Мінковський, також В. Франкл), загальнолюдське розуміється як духовне. Таким чином, горизонтальний рівень нашого часткового існування, як процесу руху від народження до смерті, – доповнюється вертикаллю загальнолюдських, універсальних ідеалів і образів, з якими людина співвідносить своє приватне існування. Тут людяність постає як завдання, на шляху до якої людина трансцендує за рамки свого індивідуального "я" до "понад-індивідуального". Здійснення себе як людини виявляється можливим лише через включення в духовну спільність, у загальнолюдську культуру.
Ключові слова: екзистенція; духовність; буття; існування; людяність; особистість.


ЭКЗИСТЕНЦИАЛЬНОЕ И ДУХОВНОЕ В ЭКЗИСТЕНЦИАЛЬНОЙ АНТРОПОЛОГИИ Г. МАРСЕЛЯ И Е. МИНКОВСКОГО

Цель. Опираясь на экзистенциальную антропологию Г. Марселя и Е. Минковского, показать необходимость выделения кроме индивидуально-экзистенциального в человеке – универсально-духовного как человеческого в человеке и раскрыть иерархическое соотношение биосоциальной, экзистенциальной и духовной сфер личности. Теоретический базис. Автор различает внутри экзистенциальной философии две традиции и исходит из недостаточности выделения экзистенциальной сферы, предложенной феноменологической традицией, и необходимости её соотнесения с духовной сферой как сферой человеческого в человеке, предложенной нефеноменологической традицией Г. Марселя и Е. Минковского. Научная новизна. Автором представлена антропологическая концепция Г. Марселя и Е. Минковского, в которой человек понимается как единство индивидуально-экзистенциального и универсально-духовного в человеке, и обозначена
необходимость особого трансэмпирического смыслового поля культуры, содержащего образы и символы человечности. Также рассмотрены последние разработки экзистенциальных мыслителей в обосновании экзистенциального и духовного измерения, как не сводимых к физическому и социальному. Выводы. В обеих экзистенциальных традициях специфически человеческое обосновывалось как трансбиологическое и транссоциальное. В обеих традициях человечность предстает как не заданная, заранее не определенная. Но если в первой традиции (М. Хайдеггер, Ж.-П. Сартр) человечность понимается как экзистенция, как неповторимая индивидуальность, уникальный "проект", вариант человечности, равноценный другим вариантам, а универсальное понимается как общность положения человека в мире, то во второй традиции (Г. Марсель, Е. Минковский, также В. Франкл), общечеловеческое понимается как духовное. Таким образом, горизонтальный уровень нашего частного существования, как процесс движения от рождения к смерти, – дополняется вертикалью общечеловеческих, универсальных идеалов и образов, с которыми человек соотносит свое частное существование. Здесь человечность предстает как задача, на пути к которой человек трансцендирует за рамки своего индивидуального "я" к "сверх-индивидуальному". Осуществление себя как человека оказывается возможным лишь через включение в духовную общность, в общечеловеческую культуру.
Ключевые слова: экзистенция; духовность; бытие; существование; человечность; личность.

“We’re doomed.” So begins the work of the philosopher whose unabashed and aphoristic indictments of the human condition have been cropping up recently in popular culture. Today we find ourselves in an increasingly inhospitable world that is, at the same time, starkly indifferent to our species-specific hopes, desires, and disappointments. In the Anthropocene, pessimism is felt everywhere but rarely given its proper place. Though pessimism may be, as Eugene Thacker says, the lowest form of philosophy, it may also contain an enigma central to understanding the horizon of the human. Written in a series of fragments, aphorisms, and prose poems, Thacker’s Cosmic Pessimism explores the varieties of pessimism and its often-conflicted relation to philosophy. “Crying, laughing, sleeping—what other responses are adequate to a life that is so indifferent?”

"We’re Doomed. Pessimism is the nightside
of thought, a melodrama of the futility of the
brain, a poetry written in the graveyard of philosophy.
Pessimism is a lyrical failure of philosophical thinking,
each attempt at clear and coherent thought,
sullen and submerged in the hidden joy of its own
futility. The closest pessimism comes to philosophical
argument is the droll and laconic “We’ll
never make it,” or simply: “We’re doomed.” Every
effort doomed to failure, every project doomed to
incompletion, every life doomed to be unlived,
every thought doomed to be unthought.

Pessimism is the lowest form of philosophy,
frequently disparaged and dismissed, merely
the symptom of a bad attitude. No one ever needs
pessimism, in the way that one needs optimism
to inspire one to great heights and to pick oneself
up, in the way one needs constructive criticism,
advice and feedback, inspirational books or a pat
on the back. No one needs pessimism (though I
like to imagine the idea of pessimist self-help). No
one needs pessimism, and yet everyone — without
exception — has, at some point in their lives, had to
confront pessimism, if not as a philosophy then as
a grievance — against one’s self or others, against
one’s surroundings or one’s life, against the state of
things or the world in general."

Die Wise does not offer seven steps for coping with death. It does not suggest ways to make dying easier. It pours no honey to make the medicine go down. Instead, with lyrical prose, deep wisdom, and stories from his two decades of working with dying people and their families, Stephen Jenkinson places death at the center of the page and asks us to behold it in all its painful beauty. Die Wise teaches the skills of dying, skills that have to be learned in the course of living deeply and well. Die Wise is for those who will fail to live forever. Dying well, Jenkinson writes, is a right and responsibility of everyone. It is a moral, political, and spiritual obligation each person owes their ancestors and their heirs. It is not a lifestyle option. It is a birthright and a debt. Die Wise dreams such a dream, and plots such an uprising. How we die, how we care for dying people, and how we carry our dead: this work makes our village life, or breaks it. Table of Contents The Ordeal of a Managed Death Stealing Meaning from Dying The Tyrant Hope The Quality of Life Yes, But Not Like This The Work So Who Are the Dying to You? Dying Facing Home What Dying Asks of Us All Kids Ah, My Friend the Enemy In the end, Jenkinson's message is not one of despair--he believes learning to love death is in fact one of the most direct ways to love life

Author Call for Future Research
I believe this article goes to the heart of our troubled times both individually and collectively, and especially challenges us as therapeutic agents to find creative ways to integrate polarizing systemic and environmental factors into the context of our guidelines for so called mental disorders.  This could entail some kind of narrative discussion of the evidence for psychosocial polarization (or what I call the "polarized mind" or fixation on a single view to the utter exclusion of competing views) as a context--where relevant--for individual "disorders," such as  depression, anxiety, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsiveness, post-traumatic stress and even autism spectrum, bipolar and schizophrenic spectrum syndromes.  I call for urgent research to expand the present DSM to include  contextual-systemic supplementation such as above.  Short of this, we will perpetually fall short of a fuller understanding of troubled lives.

Abstract
This article calls on organized psychiatry and psychology to wake up and address a major underappreciated discrepancy.  This is the discrepancy between diagnostic nomenclature for therapy clients, and the nonpathologizing or even glorifying nomenclature for many throughout history who are abusive, degrading, and massively destructive. While the former, typically clinical population, may be referred to as the “diagnosed” and the latter, typically nonclinical population, as the “undiagnosed,” I show how the compartmentalization of our current psychiatric diagnostic system prevents us from seeing the larger problems with mental health in our country and beyond, and that these problems require an alternative framework. Such a framework would address both that which we conventionally term “mental disorder” as well as the disorder of cultures, which so often forms the basis for that which we term mental disorders.  I propose that the phenomenologically based framework that I call “the polarized mind” is one such alternative that might help us more equitably treat suffering, whether individual or collective.

Here is one of the most significant section of renowned Danish critic Georg Brandes's seminal study 'Friedrich Nietzsche'. It provides the complete correspondence between these two intellectuals, who also became respectful friends. In fact, Brandes was one of the few figures who Nietzsche esteemed and cared about, as witnessed by the fact it was to Brandes he wrote one his very last letters (included here). The book as a whole also provides great insight into Nietzsche as Brandes appreciated his philosophy better than any other critic of his day. 'Friedrich Nietzsche' includes the lecture series that made Nietzsche a household name throughout Europe, the complete correspondence between Brandes and Nietzsche (provided here), plus later appraisal of Nietzsche's work, including consideration of his importance after his death. Supplementary materials featured in that volume, include an introductory essay on Brandes and several portraits of Nietzsche and Brandes. It is a fully revised version of the A.G. Chater translation with complete annotations, literary and linguistic, by Nietzsche and Brandes.