Nietzsche incontra Breuer e, assieme, avviano quella che potrebbe essere considerata la prima serie di sedute di psicanalisi. Il romanzo, partendo da un presupposto falso, ovvero l'incontro fra questi due soggetti, mai avvenuto nella realtà, è in grado di far emozionare il lettore guidandolo attraverso le tematiche fondamentali dell'animo umano, che ossessionano ciascuno di noi.

Il tutto inizia quando una sfrontata Lou Salomè, in preda alla preoccupazione per salute del suo amico Nietzsche, è spinta a richiedere a Breuer, uno stimato medico della Vienna di fine ottocento, una cura per il filosofo. Un'azione che la vera Lou Salomè, ben poco predisposta ad ammettere i propri sbagli o provare pena per Nietzsche, non avrebbe mai fatto. Breuer decide di accettare la proposta, che si rivelerà molto difficile da mettere in atto per un semplice motivo: l'orgoglio che Nietzsche prova per sè stesso, la sua incapacità a voler ammettere esplicitamente di aver bisogno di aiuto, la sua volontà di non sottomettersi a nessun altro. Motivi per colpa dei quali, Breuer, sarà costretto a mentire e a non menzionare mai la visità della ragazza. Sarà molto difficile avvicinarsi a Nietzsche e cercare di curarlo senza che lui se ne accorga, senza che in qualche modo senta sottomessa la sua potenza.

Sarà proprio in questo clima che Bruer proporrà a Nietzsche, per evitare di perderlo, di fare entrambi da pazienti e da medici: Bruer curerà al filosofo le continue emicranie e i permanenti dolori fisici mentre quest ultimo cercherà di guarire i mali interiori, legati al pensiero e all'animo, che Breuer da un po' di tempo prova. Grazie a questo accordo i due si incontreranno una volta al giorno e avranno lungo tempo per discutere fra loro, lungo tempo per intraprendere, in uno stato primordiale, una prima cura di psicanalisi. Si avvierà dunque un dibattito serrato, in cui Nietzsche metterà in chiaro le sue idee e le sue posizioni irremovibili e cercherà di guarire il medico dal male attraverso la propria filosofia.

Ed è proprio grazie a questi continui dibattiti, a queste conversazioni, a questi interrogatori che Irivin D. Yalom riesce a catturare l'attenzione del lettore. Presentando la filosofia di Nietzsche in modo chiaro e accattivante, rendendola masticabile e comprensibile ad una prima lettura. Rendendo evidenti al lettore i sentimenti repressi del filosofo, che da troppo tempo cerca di nascondere la propria paura, tristezza o solitudine per evitare di apparire umano, troppo umano.

Un dibattito che non mancherà di affascinare l'ascoltatore. Un dibattito che si prolungherà per le oltre quattrocento pagine del libro ma che, nonostante questo, non apparirà mai pesante. Un dibattito grazie a cui Breuer uscirà rinnovato, finalmente curato dai propri mali e alla fine del quale Nietzsche, oramai esausto e non più in grado di tenere i suoi pensieri all'interno del suo corpo, rivelerà tutto. In un momento in cui Breuer oramai aveva perso ogni speranza e si era definitivamente rassegnato ad essere lui il paziente e Nietzsche il medico, il filosofo irromperà in un pianto e, inaspettatamente, riverserà all'esterno i pensieri e le sofferenze che lo tormentano, il disperato bisogno di un amico vero; in altre parole tutte quei sentimenti che, per via della sua filosofia, aveva tenuto nascosti anche a sè stesso.

Panne in einem Wahlbezirk im US-Staat New York: Hunderte Briefwähler haben Unterlagen erhalten, mit denen sie ihre Stimme dem Republikaner John McCain geben können - oder aber einem gewissen "Barack Osama". [..] Quelle: SpO

AP

Viyana, 8 Mayıs

  İki ay oluyor, Londra’da, Hellenistik devreye ait ve arkeologlara göre “Narcisse”in güzel bir mermerini satın aldım. Evvelki gün, Freud’un yetmiş yaşını tamamladığını öğrenince –6 Mayıs 1856’da doğmuştur- heykeli, Narcisse’liğin kaşifine hediye olarak ve bir saygı mektubu ile gönderdim.

  Bu iyi seçilmiş hediye psikalanizin piri tarafından davet edilmeme sebep oldu. Şimdi onun yanından geliyorum. Ve görüşmemizin özünü hemen not etmek istiyorum.

  Bana biraz yorgun ve kuruntulu göründü:

  - Yıldönümü kutlamaları dedi, ölüm törenlerine çok benziyor, ölümü çok hatırlatıyor.

  Ağzının biçimi dikkatimi çekti: Etli ve şehvetli bir ağız. Biraz da faune’lerinkine benziyor ve libido kuramını açıkça ispat ediyor. Ziyaretimden memnun göründü ve “Narcisse” den dolayı hararetle tebrik etti:

  - Gelişiniz bana büyük bir teselli oluyor. Ne bir hastasınız ne bir meslektaş. Ne bir öğrencimsiniz ne de bir akraba! Bütün günlerim, bana, hemen hemen aynı saçmaları anlatan evhamlılarla isterikler, beni kıskanmadıkları zaman hor gören doktorlar ve bir kısmı ezberci papağan, bir kısmı da tutkulu birer küçük tanrı olmuş öğrencilerim arasında geçer. Sizinle, rahat rahat konuşabilirim. Ben ki, itirafın erdemlerini öğrenmekteyim, kalbimi hiçbir vakit tamamıyla açabilmiş değilim. Hayatımı anlatan küçük bir kitap yazdım, ama propaganda maksadıyla idi, içimi ancak, onu da parça parça, “Traumdeutung” isimli eserimde dökebilmişimdir. Kimse eserimin sırrına eremedi, onu bilmedi. Psikanalizin ne olduğu hakkında bilginiz var mı?

  Ona, eserlerinden bazılarını çevirilerinden okuduğumu, Viyana’ya da yalnız kendisini görmek için geldiğimi söyledim:

  - Herkes, diye devam etti, eserimin ilmi içeriğine önem verdiğimi ve başlıca gayemin akıl hastalarını iyi etmek olduğunu zannediyor. Bu yıllardır devam edegelmiş ve bir türlü ortadan kaldıramadığım bir yanlış anlayıştır. Şayet ben bir alim isem, bu, yeteneğimden değil, ihtiyaçtan doğmuştur. Benim asıl yaratılışım bir sanatkar yaratılışıdır. Gençliğimden beri en sevdiğim, gizli kahramanım, daima Goethe idi. O zamanlar şair olmak isterdim ve bir roman yazmayı daima arzulardım. Bütün istidadım, lisede hocalarımın kabul ettikleri gibi, beni edebiyata sevkediyordu. Fakat geçen asrın son yirmi yılında, Avusturya’da edebiyat mensuplarının hayat şartlarının ne olduğunu düşünürseniz, beni endişeye sevkeden şeyleri siz de anlarsınız. Ailem fakirdi ve şiir çok az ve geç verimli idi. Buna zamanımın en meşhurları da şahittir. Üstelik Yahudi idim ki, Yahudi aleyhtarı bir krallıkta, bu, beni açıktan açığa ve peşin olarak zor şartlara koyuyordu. Heine’nin sürgün edilişi ve sefalet içinde ölümü cesaretimi kırıyordu. O zaman ve daima Goethe’nin tesiriyle tabiat bilgileri ile meşgul olmaya başladım. Fakat ruhum romantik olmadan bir an geri kalmıyordu. 1884 yılında Viyana’da uzak bir yerde bulunan nişanlımı birkaç gün evvel görebilmek maksadıyla “Koka” üzerine alelacele bir araştırma hazırladım ve kokainin tıpta kullanılmak üzere uyuşturucu hassasının keşfi şerefi başkaları tarafından benden gasbedildi.

  “1885 ve 1886 yıllarını Paris’te geçirdim, 1889’da bir süre Nancy’ye gittim. Fransa’da bulunduğum zamanların üzerimde büyük ve kesin etkileri oldu. Bu Charlot ile Bernheim’den öğrendiklerimden ziyade, o devir Fransasında edebi hayatın cidden çok zengin ve hareketli oluşundandır. İyi bir romantik sıfatıyla gündüzleri Notre-Dame’ın kulelerinde saatlerle kalıyor, fakat akşamları Quartier Latin kahvelerine gidiyor ve zamanın en gürültü çıkaran kitaplarını okuyordum.

  “Edebiyat savaşı en hareketli devresindeydi. Sembolizm naturalizme karşı bayrak açmıştı. Flaubert ile Zola’nın hakim ve devamlı tesirleri gençlerde, yavaş yavaş yerlerini Mallarme ve Verlaine’e bırakıyordu. Zola’nın tarafını bırakıp dekadanlara geçen Huyaman’ın “A Rebours” isimli eseri yayınladığı tarihte Paris’e yeni gelmiştim. Verlaine’in “Jadis et Narguere”i basıldığı, Mallarme’nin şiir kitapları ile Rimbaud’nun “Illiminations”u yayınlandığı zaman da Fransa’da idim. Size bu ayrıntıyı verişimin sebebi bilgiçlik satmak değil, fakat bu üç edebi okulun –bir süre önce ölen romantizm ile tehlikeli duruma gelmiş naturalizm ve ilerlemekte olan sembolizm- çalışmalarıma ilham vermiş olmasıdır.”

  “İçgüdü ile edebiyatçı, olayların zorlaması ile doktor olan ben, tıbbın bir kolu olan psikiyatriyi edebiyat haline getirmeyi düşündüm. Böylece alim geçinmekle beraber şair ve romancı kalıyorum. Psikanaliz bir edebiyat yeteneğinin psikoloji ve patoloji sahasına devrinden başka bir şey değildir.”

  “ Gayet tabii, usulümün keşfine beni sevgili Goethe götürdü. Biliyorsunuz ki Werther’in içini kemiren bir dertten kurtulmak için yazmıştı. Edebiyat ona bir “Katharsis”, bir kurtuluş oldu. Benim tedavi usulüm hastaları, vehim ve kuruntularından kurtarmak için ‘her şeyi’ söylemeye sevketmekten gayri nedir ki? Ben hastalarımı Goethe gibi hareket etmeye zorlamadan başka bir şey yapmış değilimdir. İtiraf bir kurtuluş yani bir iyileşmedir. Katolikler bunu asırlardan beri biliyorlardı. Fakat Victor Hugo bana şairin bizzat bir rahip olduğunu öğretti, bu da bana, kendimi rahibin yerine koymam hususunda cesaret verdi. İlk adım atılmıştı.”

  “Hastalarımın itiraflarının çok kıymetli birer “insani değer” teşkil ettiklerinin derhal farkına vardım. Böylece Zola’nın yaptığı işin bir aynını yapmış oluyordum. Fakat o, bunlardan romanlar çıkartırken, ben bunları saklamaya mecbur kalıyorum. İşte o zaman şiir, rüya ile sanat eserinin arasındaki benzerliğe ve sembolik dilin önemi üzerine dikkatimin çekilmesine sebep oldu. Artık Psikanaliz doğmuştu, yalnız söylendiği gibi Brenner’in telkinlerinden veya Schopenhauer ile Nietzsche’nin teşebbüslerinden değil, fakat benim için aziz olan edebi okulların bilimsel alana devridir.”

  “Daha açık anlatayım. İhtirası her şeyin üstünde tutan ve bütün ihtirasları aşka bağlayan ortaçağ şiirinin geleneklerini yeniden ele alan romantizm bana cinsiyeti insan hayatının merkezi yapmak fikrini aşıladı. Aşka naturalist romancıların tesiri ile daha az hissi ve daha az mistik bir mana vermiş olmama rağmen sistemin esası budur.”

  “Naturalizm, bilhassa Zola ile, bana, insan hayatının en iğrenç taraflarını –ki aynı zamanda bunlar en genel ve bayağı taraflarıdır- görmeye, nezaket kuralları ve güzel hareketlerin ikiyüzlülüğü altında saklı açgözlülüğü, şehveti, özetle, insandaki hayvanı keşfetmeye alıştırdı. Öyle ki, bilinçaltının gizlediği utandırıcı sırları meydana vurmakla ben Zola’nın tarafsız suçlama hareketini yenilemekten başka bir şey yapmadım.”

  “Nihayet sembolizm bana iki şey öğretti: Şairane benzetmelerdeki rüyaların kıymeti ile sanatta yani açıklanan rüyalardaki simge, ima ve kinayeleri. Bunun üzerine, bilinçaltının açıklanması demek olan rüyaların tefsiri üzerine büyük eserimi kaleme aldım –o bilinçaltı ki, ilham kaynağıdır- ve Sembolistlerden her şairin kendine göre bir dil yaratması gereğini öğrenmiş bulunduğumdan, ben de, rüyalara özgü sembolik bir özgülük, bir rüya falı, dili yarattım.”

  “Edebi kaynaklarımın tablosunu tamamlamak üzere şunu da ilave edelim ki, yaptığım klasik eğitim –sınıfta daima birinci gelirdim- bana Oedipus ve Narcisse masallarıyla da telkinler yaptı, Eflatun’dan ilhamın, yani bilinçaltı fışkırışının fikir hayatının temeli ve Artemidor’dan da gece görülen her rüyanın gizli bir manası olduğunu öğrendim.”

  “Ve kültürümün esasının edebi oluşunu, durmaksızın Goethe’den, Grilparzer, Heine ve daha başka şairlerden örnekler getirişim gösterir. Benim düşüncem onu felsefe denemelerine, paradoksa, drama şevkedecek surette oluşmuştur, gerçek bilginlere özgü teknik ve ukala donukluktan iz yoktur. İşte size tartışma götürmez bir örnek: Psikanalizin girdiği bütün memleketlerde, o, doktorlardan ziyade yazarlar ve artistler tarafından anlaşılıp uygulanmaktadır. Şurası da doğrudur ki, kitaplarım patoloji eserlerinden ziyade hayal mahsullerine benzer. Gündelik hayat ve zeka oyunları, kelime buluşları üzerine araştırmalarım sadece ve saf edebiyattır. “Totem, Tabu” eserimde bir tarihi roman denemesi bile yaptım. En eski ve vazgeçemeyeceğim arzum doğrudan doğruya roman yazmaktır ve Allah bilir, ilk elden toplanmış öyle zengin belgelerim var ki, yüzlerce romancı için hazine teşkil eder.

Ne yazık ki, artık çok geç kaldım sanıyorum.”

  “Herhalde, değişik bir yoldan da olsa, görünüşte doktor rolü oynayarak edebiyatçı kalmak suretiyle, talihimi yendim ve hayal ettiğim şeye ulaştım.”

  “Her büyük bilginin düşgücü vardır, bu dahice sezişlerin mayasıdır. Fakat modern akımların bizlere sunduğu esin konularını benim yaptığım gibi, bilim teorileri haline sokup kullanmak içlerinden hiçbirinin aklına gelmemiştir. Böylece, psikanaliz, bilim diline değiştirilmiş, nakledilmiş olarak, on dokuzuncu asrın en mühim üç büyük edebi okulunu bir araya getirip özetlemiş oluyor, Heine, Zola, Mallerme, ihtiyar Goethe’nin gözetimi altında, bende buluşuyorlar. Bu kadar açık bir sırrın kimse farkına varamadı ve şayet bana bir Narcisse heykeli hediye etmek gibi güzel bir fikir aklınıza gelmemiş olsaydı bunu kimseye de açıklamazdım.”

  Bundan sonra söz başka kanala döküldü. Amerika’dan, Keyserling’den hatta Viyanalı kadınlardan bahis açıldı. Fakat kağıt üzerine aktarılmaya layık tek taraf bu yazdıklarımdır. Nihayet, tam bana izin vereceği sırada, Freud açıklaması hakkında sessiliğimi korumamı tavsiye etti.

  - Bereket, dedi, ne yazar, ne de gazetecesiniz ve sırrımı açıklamayacağınızdan eminim.

  Kendisine teminat verirken hiçbir gizli niyetim yoktu. Bu notları yayımlamak için almadım.

GOG – Giovanni Papini

Interpretation of Dreams
•    Patient: Irma
•    Previously day—starting point
•    Reproduction of an earlier event
•    Mind connected to past events with the ability to recall with precision
•    Fulfillment of wishes started by the events of the previous evening

The Unconscious
•    Repression lies not in annihilation, but in the preventing of ideas becoming conscious
•    572: “Freud can confidently assert that the mind, which appears so chaotic, contradictory, beyond causation, is ruled by inexorable laws.  Mental events are like pearls on an invisible chain, a chain largely invisible precisely because many of the links are unconscious.”
•    574: “In support of there being an unconscious psychical state, that at any given moment consciousness includes only a small content, so that the greater part of what we call conscious knowledge must in any case be for very considerable periods of time in a state of latency, that is to say, of being psychically unconscious.”
•    Latent memories
o    “Latent recollections can no longer be described as psychical, but that they correspond to residues of somatic processes from which what is psychical can be once more arrive.”
•    Are latent states of mental life conceived of as conscious mental or physical ones?
•    Other people’s consciousness can only be considered through analogy
•    “We understand very well how to interpret in other people the same acts which we refuse to acknowledge as being mental in ourselves.”
•    The “psychical”
•    When a thought passes from unconscious → conscious, the first reaction will be a rejection of the repressed idea
•    Unconscious is timeless—time is bound up in the conscious

Parisian homeless (sans-abri), photographed by Bernhard Cella

Providing a shelter for sleep is far from being the exclusive domain of architects. Austrian photographer Bernhard Cella shows us the Parisian sans-abri as amateur architects who arrange their sleeping place and deliberately reckon with the look of passers-by.

State Alpha, on the architecture of sleep is the first in a diptych. The second part, in collaboration with the Delft University of Technology and curated by Dirk van de Heuvel, will open at the end of October under the title Changing Ideals.

Sigmund Freud regarded the dream as the guardian of sleep. The exhibition ‘State Alpha, on the architecture of sleep’ examines to what extent the same is true of architecture. The NAI Maastricht is presenting an exhibition that offers an encyclopaedic approach to the architecture of sleep from many angles. The exhibition aims to stimulate visitors to reflect on how architecture organises our sleep.

Galerie mezzanin, 2006  Photo: Manuel Gorkiewiecz

In the video piece Research for Sleeping Positions (2006) Anna Jermolaewa experiments with a variety of possible sleeping positions on a bench of the type of a growing number of public benches constructed so as to prevent people lying down or sleeping. The bench in the video is located at Vienna’s Westbahnhof, the place where in 1989 Jermolaewa spent her first week as a refugee in the West.

In 2008 the NAI Maastricht is sketching longer lines at the interface of architecture and design, with the interior as the common thread. After a solo exhibition on the monk and architect Dom Van der Laan and the quest for an inner spiritual world, this time the theme of sleep is explored as a more psychological inner world, while the exhibition draws on such areas as film and product design to visualise the relation between architecture and that inner world.

Different aspects of sleep are examined in six chapters. Phenomenology of Sleep throws light on sleep, which is still an enigma today, by means of film fragments. Film expert Erik de Kuyper has composed a selection of fragments that show the rituals of falling asleep and getting up within their architectural context. The term Architecture of Sleep is used in medical science to describe the structure of the sleep process. In collaboration with the sleep laboratory of the Charité Clinic in Berlin, this chapter shows different kinds of observation by researchers. The chapter Science of Sleep compares how other (pseudo-scientific) expertises such as Feng Shui deal with sleep and its spatial effect on how we organise our bedrooms.

The chapter entitled Dream House presents a picture of how the market deploys the notion of dream house as a means of seduction. This chapter investigates not only the dream house within the housing market but the house as a symbol in the subconscious. The fifth chapter, Economy of Sleep, focuses on the opposition between sleep as a gift and source of vitality and sleep as a product around which an enormous market has developed – beds, scents, masks, creams, herbs, therapies, medicines… The final chapter, Sleep without Architects, presents several examples that escape the clutches of architecture. By focusing on the position of the homeless and in other ways, this chapter raises the role of architecture and the way in which it organises sleep for discussion.

The concept State Alpha, on the architecture of sleep has been developed by Liquid Frontiers, namely Sabine Dreher and Christian Muhr, in collaboration with Guus Beumer. The exhibition design is by Herman Verkerk. The graphic design is by Experimental Jetset.

Un film di Pupi Avati. Con Silvio Orlando, Francesca Neri, Ezio Greggio, Alba Rohrwacher, Serena Grandi, Manuela Morabito, Paolo Graziosi, Gianfranco Jannuzzo, Valeria Bilello. Produzione Italia 2008.

Al Liceo il mio professore di Greco insisteva molto ( non so se è ancora valida questa distinzione) sulla differenza tra i grandi autori di tragedia greca.

Eschilo descrive la tragedia degli dei; Sofocle quella degli eroi; Euripide la tragedia degli uomini.

Per questo penso che sia stato Euripide a scrivere la storia tragica di Elettra, figlia di Agamennone, che rientrato in patria, fu ucciso dalla moglie Clitennestra e dal suo amante. A tale efferato delitto assiste Elettra.

Euripide sapeva che stava scrivendo qualcosa che toccava le corde più profonde dell’animo umano; ma non poteva certo sapere che la tragedia da lui scritta sarebbe diventata ancora più famosa; non poteva certo prevedere che oltre duemila anni dopo Freud e Jung avrebbero mutuato questi nomi dai suoi scritti, per rappresentare dei concetti che son i pilastri di quella disciplina che ondeggia tra alterne fortune: la psicanalisi.

• Il complesso di Edipo ( concetto sviluppato per spiegare la maturazione del bambino maschio attraverso l'identificazione con il padre e il desiderio nei confronti della madre.)
• Il complesso di Elettra ( termine coniato per definire l'amore per il padre da parte della figlia, accompagnato da sentimenti di gelosia e di rivalità verso la madre )

Pupi Avati non poteva sapere che con il suo film ( ambientato durante il fascismo ) si sarebbe inoltrato verso una zona ancora paludosa, incerta fatta di sfumature, di colori non ben definiti.

E non poteva certo sapere che qualcuno un po’ strano ( tipo uno come me ) avrebbe considerato il rapporto tra la Neri ( mamma ) e la Rohrwacher ( figlia ) come la chiave di volta del film. Aspetto che questo tipo strano ha trovato non sviluppato, non coinvolgente, non emozionante

Avati non poteva sapere che quel qualcuno considera il padre Giovanni esente da ogni colpa; egli si comporta come ogni padre avrebbe fatto ( con tutto l’amore talvolta eccessivo talvolta soffocante che solo un padre può dare “ ).

Avati non poteva sapere che lo strano tipo considerasse importanti gli aspetti storici in cui si muove la vicenda: aspetti che sono stati trattati superficialmente ed in modo affrettato; “ una sorta di Bignami della storia d’Italia ( il caro vecchio Bignami ) con tanto di entrata in guerra, repubblica di Salò, liberazione”, resistenza con i suoi processi sommari ( ahi, che ho scritto! ).

Ma quello strano tipo ammira Pupi Avati, lo segue in tutti i suoi lavori, dove rivela sempre la sua abilità “ nel ricostruire atmosfere d'epoca con una ottima fotografia e ad offrire ritratti psicologici di perdenti o, comunque, di umili' nel senso più profondo e umano del termine”.

E lo seguirà ancora, anche se con questo film, è caduto nel primo dei sette peccati capitali: La Superbia, fino a sfiorare il delirio di onnipotenza, credendo che in pochissimo tempo ( il tempo di un film ) potesse sviluppare e coniugare due fasi essenziali dell’avventura della vita e della vicenda della storia:

• Il complesso di Edipo e di Elettra
• Il “complesso” periodo storico del fascismo.

Forse una chiacchierata con Freud ( o con qualche tipo apparentemente strano.. ) dipanerebbe quelle nebbie che attualmente ( ma sono sicuro che già ha posto rimedio ) offuscano la mente del nostro amato Pupi Avati.

Silvio Orlando è bravo ma solo in quel tipo di recitazione ( se togliete l’audio la sua performance potrebbe essere di qualsiasi film in cui ha lavorato ).

Francesca Neri è un po’ opaca; Alba Rohrwacher imita bene; Serena Grandi un piacevole ritorno; Ezio Greggio perfetto in quel ruolo.

Voto sei su dieci per affetto

Hoje eu acordei e constatei que estava frio. Com preguiça de levantar e ir ao trabalho, acabei adormecendo de novo e sonhei que era sábado. Acordei novamente numa quinta-feira atrasada e me perguntei se deveria levar o texto de Freud pra minha gerente. Dizem que Freud explica...

I just took 35 lbs. of lead to the recycler in exchange for two crisp fives. Fives so crisp you almost want to keep them just so you can marvel at how straight and fine a thing can be that's hatched from the bowels of the government. Two crisp fives that bought me a gallon of Skim milk, two boxes of generic cereal, a generic frozen pizza, and a plastic tub of grape tomatoes, with a shiny nickel and dime left over for my growing change cup.

Last Night's Dreams

I'm convinced my neighbors upstairs- the new ones, I think- cannot weigh in at less than 900 lbs. a piece. Around 11 pm they begin tromping up and down the hallway, and don't stop until about 3 in the morning. Perhaps this is their exercise regime since 900 lbs. is a bit unsightly when towed into the nearest gym?

Dream #1:

In my dream last night I went out in the hallway to confirm that my noisy neighbors were not, in fact, in my floor's hallway since the noise was just so loud. My hair was wet and I wore nothing but a small, blue bath towel, yet somehow in spite of these facts stepping out into the hallway seemed like a brilliant plan...

When I got into the hallway I saw someone else standing there; a (non-existant) neighbor of mine. He looked to be mid twenties, gelled blond hair, wife beater, kind smile, a bit white trash, and thoroughly unattractive. And I mean really and truly unattractive.

As I struggled to keep my towel on what I noticed was a far nicer version of my body than could ever exist on a non-animated person, my neighbor and I began chatting mindlessly about the neighbors upstairs, how noisy they are, how annoying it is to be woken in the night by their loud conversations and music and stomping. Suddenly it hit me that here I am, dripping wet in a too-small towel I can barely keep closed on this upgraded model of my shivering bod, and this guy doesn't even notice or care.

Now: because it was a dream I had the luxury of assurance that this wasn't a result of his being gay, or of his desire to be respectful, or anything like that. This was just some young hetero dude standing here alone with some young hetero chick in a hallway in the middle of the night, not caring in the slightest that her towel is shrinking in direct proportion to how awkward she feels at being so completely and utterly ignored in spite of the fact that she's 1) practically nude and 2) sporting a totally impossible body most women (animated or not) would kill to have.

Call it pitiful anti-feminism or whatever else you like, but then tell me how you'd feel if the best physical version imaginable of your gender was soundly and completely rejected as attractive, or even noticeable, by a similarly oriented member of your preferred sex.

What the heck am I afraid of? Am I afraid I'm invisible as a sexual being? Am I afraid there's no possibility of ever being "good enough"? Am I afraid that even if I were an ultra-hot mega-babe that I couldn't... attract...

Dangit!

"Paging Dr. Freud. Paging Dr. Freud. Your assistance in the F Wing is no longer required."

Dreams of Being Naked: "In other cases, the dreamer is aware of his or her nakedness but no one else seems to notice at all... [and] just goes on about their business and make no comments. These types of dreams are often manifestations of the dreamer's fears."

*headdesk*

In conclusion: This is why I need the company of ferrets.

Dream #2:

The much lighter end of my dream was the part in which I was hanging out with Janelle S. from college. We were the only ones still in the room at some big hotel party and I was explaining to her that I'd just lost my cell phone. We both found this situation hilarious for some reason. Even funnier to us was when she got on the room's phone with some FBI theft unit and started railing on them for not being more concerned about the loss. She'd cover the mouthpiece to mask our uproarious laughter, and then uncover it to resume her rant about "How would you like it if your phone was missing" and other arguments that only make sense when you're dead asleep.

We tried explaining what was so funny about it to other guests at the party, but mysteriously enough no one else seemed to find it nearly as amusing as we...

Dreams of Lost Objects: "Hunting or searching for something or someone is related to the symbolism of the specific thing that cannot be found. For instance, lost objects or persons may relate to lost values, aspects of your identity..., unfinished business. You may have lost sight of your goals or direction."

Other Stuff

I'm not really hungry, but I'm fairly certain that all I've eaten today was a single packet of Easy Mac. I guess when you're not doing anything you don't really need much fuel. :P

We're off book for the first half of the show this Sunday. *tugs at collar with index finger and makes "Eeee eeee eeee" face at Rachael and Marlee* I wrote down my scenes on a piece of paper so I could memorize them in chunks, but so far I'm just "really familiar" with them as opposed to "memorized." And you see how that could be a problem? One of the nice things I discovered upon doing this, however, was that I only actually speak on 50 of those 60 pages. There are another 3 or so where I'm on stage but silent (Woohoo!!), and another 7 where I'm gone daddy gone.

I haven't even begun to work on the second half of the show. Dear God above...

I picked up MST3K's Volume 4 four-pack of DVDs from the library the other afternoon. Not a bad selection. It's got Girl in Gold Boots and Hamlet which I'm just sort of *meh* about. But then it also has Overdrawn At The Memory Bank which is amusing in its badness, and Space Mutiny, my fave of the four.

The only one I have left to watch is Space Mutiny and I'm hesitating to put it in because-- well once I've watched it what's left for me to do besides read my lines over and over and over and over and over, polish up my resume and cover letter... again, maybe take a crack at the dishes piling up by the kitchen sink. But then what?

Please, somebody who's hiring and pays enough: Want Me!

And now, the adorable and talented Ms. Deschanel:

Isn't she a cutie pie?!

Suite à de premières considérations épistémologiques concernant la psychanalyse, il est à présent temps de réfléchir aux rapports de la psychanalyse et de la science. Où se situe la première par rapport à la seconde ? Quel est le lieu de l'ascience (comme science de l'objet a) par rapport à la science ?
 
Acceptons ce qui tient lieu de critère de scientificité, à savoir la réfutabilité des énoncés et théories. Pour Karl Popper, un énoncé ou une théorie est scientifique à condition que nous soyons en mesure de proposer un énoncé qui, s'il se vérifiait, réfuterait la théorie. Ainsi, la proposition A : "le soleil se lève toujours à l'Est" est un énoncé scientifique puisque je peux proposer un autre énoncé qui le réfuterait, B : "le soleil se lève au Nord, au Sud ou à l'Ouest" (il suffit que B soit validé empiriquement, au moins une fois, pour que A soit invalidé). De même, la proposition C : "le soleil se lève au Sud" est également un énoncé réfutable, et est de fait scientifique. En revanche, les propositions "Dieu existe" et "Dieu n'existe pas" ne peuvent prétendre à la scientificité. Effectivement, il est impossible ni de vérifier, ni de réfuter ces énoncés ; on ne peut proposer l'observation d'un phénomène qui, s'il survenait, viendrait réfuter l'un ou l'autre de ces énoncés.

Tentons un parallèle, espérons-le, le moins hasardeux possible. La notion popperienne de réfutabilité ne renvoie-t-elle pas à une dimension symbolique de l'énoncé scientifique ? Il s'agit en effet pour un énoncé scientifique qu'il inclue en lui (en son revers) la possibilité de son dépassement par réfutation, c'est-à-dire que son objectivité se soutient de ce que sa dénégation (Verneinung) lui est contingente. Ainsi, la proposition d'Estienne Tabourot (1547-1590) : "toutes les jeunes filles doutent de leur foi" est scientifique car propose implicitement sa réfutation objective et manifeste (il suffit de trouver une jeune fille qui ne douterait pas de sa foi pour réfuter la théorie). Cependant, toujours dans le lieu des contingences de cette proposition, il existe une trahison de l'ordre d'une réfutation subjective et latente. Cette singulière dénégation, non-popperienne, consisterait en une réfutation sur le mode de l'équivoque antistrophique... de la contrepèterie. Ainsi, la proposition de Tabourot accepte deux niveaux de réfutation : 1°) objective et manifeste (popperienne), "au moins une jeune fille ne doute pas de sa foi" ; 2°) subjective et latente (...freudienne ?), "toutes les jeunes filles foutent de leurs doigts".

Ce deuxième niveau de réfutation latente renvoie au fait que le langage humain est un langage symbolique. La communication y est donc éminemment sujette à l'équivoque, à la mésentente, un irréductible terrain de qui pro quo. Non seulement, il est possible (pour ne pas dire probable !) qu'on comprenne mal lorsque je dis qu'un facteur est arrivé à pied par la Chine, mais encore, il est possible que je mente ou que je me trompe. D'où nous notons que pour faire science, il paraît nécessaire de réduire l'ambiguïté inhérente au langage : le langage formel est donc l'outil dont se dote une science afin de se débarasser de l'excès de sens qu'implique les propositions formulées en langage naturel.

En revanche, une discipline qui se donne pour objet d'étude la dimension symbolique du langage, du rêve, de l'art, de la religion... se heurte nécessairement à l'irréductible interprétabilité, au surplus de sens, à la subjectivité (tant de l'objet d'étude, que du chercheur lui-même). L'herméneutique freudienne selon Paul Ricoeur coinciderait bien avec telle conception particulière de la science : une science du symbolique. Notons que, bien que se soustrayant à la réfutabilité popperienne, ce projet d'une science qui se donnerait pour objet d'étude le second niveau de réfutation (subjective) ne s'en dote pas moins d'un appareil logique rigoureux hypothético-déductif.

Reprenons. D'un côté, la science se soutient de ce qu'elle produit des énoncés objectivement réfutables. De l'autre, la psychanalyse, loin de pouvoir en dire autant, s'articule autour du point où le sujet (son "objet d'étude") se réfute lui-même singulièrement et subjectivement (et, corollairement, de façon non-généralisable). A présent, nous pouvons émettre la proposition selon laquelle la psychanalyse tenterait la production de théories de l'inthéorisable (et non pas de l'inthéorisé ainsi que le vise la science). Quant aux dynamiques respectives de la science et de la psychanalyse : la réfutation est pour la première le moteur de son progrès (l'irréfutabilité conduit à une stagnation dogmatique) ; la Verneinung est pour la seconde le moment où apparaît l'objet de la psychanalyse et où elle commence à se mettre en branle (la "non-dénégationnabilité" n'est pas envisageable car il semble bien que l'homme soit toujours en position de se trahir lui-même : pour employer un terme nietzschéen, le Surhomme est toujours donné comme possible).

Việc lựa chọn lý thuyết và liệu pháp nào để sử dụng trong tiến trình trị liệu là tùy thuộc vào chính bạn, nhưng bạn sẽ phải có kế hoạch để chắc chắn rằng những lý thuyết và liệu pháp đó mang lại ích lợi cho thân chủ và cung cấp cho bạn những thông tin cũng như định hướng cần thiết để hiểu và phân tích những gì thân chủ trao đổi với bạn về chính anh/ chị ta và về những nhu cầu tham vấn của họ.

Ngày nay, hầu như mọi người đều sử dụng cách tiếp cận “chiết trung” trong tham vấn và trị liệu. Khái niệm chiết trung muốn nói đến quyết định của nhà trị liệu trong việc chọn những lý thuyết và liệu pháp nào là căn bản trong tiến trình trị liệu. Những nhà trị liệu hành vi, thường rất ít dùng đến liệu pháp tâm động năng, thay vào đó họ sử dụng cách tiếp cận “ở đây và bây giờ” và những điều kiện có thể đo lường được để thiết kế một phương pháp trị liệu cho thân chủ, nhất là những thân chủ có vấn đề về sự hoảng loạn hoặc những rối loạn tránh né.

1. SIGMUND FREUD VÀ PHÂN TÂM HỌC
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), người Áo sinh tại Viên, là người đầu tiên xây dựng và phát triển việc phân tích bản thân, sau này ông gọi là Phân tâm học (Psychoanalysis), đó chính là việc phân tích tâm trí và những thành phần của nó (chẳng hạn cái Nó, cái Tôi và cái Siêu Tôi). Sinh vào thế kỷ 19, danh tiếng của ông được tạo dựng trong suốt những năm cuối thế kỷ 19 đầu thế kỷ 20. Đóng góp của ông trong việc hiểu tâm trí con người hoạt động như thế nào là vô cùng giá trị, bất chấp sự chỉ trích và hạ thấp của rất nhiều người thời bấy giờ đối với lý thuyết và quan điểm của ông, đặc biệt là những vấn đề liên quan đến người phụ nữ.

Ngày nay, hầu hết những người thực hành tâm lý trị liệu không còn sử dụng liệu pháp phân tâm nữa. Thay vào đó, lý thuyết và liệu pháp tâm động năng (Psychodynamic) được hầu hết những người này sử dụng, ít nhất là một phần trong toàn bộ tiến trình trị liệu. Các nhà trị liệu thường bắt đầu tiến trình tham vấn bằng việc xác định xem “vấn đề hiện tại” của thân chủ là gì. Sau đó nhà trị liệu sử dụng liệu pháp tâm động năng để “kiểm tra” lịch sử (quá khứ) của thân chủ, đặc biệt là hướng đến những mối quan hệ trong gia đình của thân chủ, cách riêng trong mối quan hệ với người mẹ, người cha, anh chị em và ông bà. Tuy nhiên, không phải mọi nhà trị liệu đều bắt đầu như vậy. Thỉnh thoảng nhà trị liệu muốn để thân chủ bàn đến những vấn đề của họ trước, sau đó nhà trị liệu mới khám phá gia đình (sử dụng liệu pháp tâm động năng). Đặc biệt, những nhà hành vi thường cảm thấy không cần thiết phải tìm kiếm những thông tin về lịch sử gia đình của thân chủ.

Khi nhà trị liệu đưa liệu pháp tâm động năng vào trong tiến trình tham vấn, họ thường đề nghị thân chủ nói về chính bản thân của thân chủ. Các nhà lâm sàng mong đợi những mối quan hệ gia đình có thể trở thành chìa khóa để “giải mã” những mâu thuẫn của thân chủ, hoặc những sự kiện xảy ra trong cuộc đời từ lúc nhỏ đột ngột làm biến đổi sự phát triển của thân chủ và những quan điểm của thân chủ về chính bản thân và người khác. Nhà trị liệu có thể đề nghị thân chủ mô tả những thành viên trong gia đình, nói về tình trạng khi sinh, và những tổn thương từ nhỏ hoặc tình trạng bị lạm dụng (thể xác, tinh thần, tình dục); Thân chủ quan hệ với bạn bẻ đồng trang lứa như thế nào; Những mối quan hệ thân tình đã trải qua trong thời thanh thiếu niên, trải nghiệm công việc, sau đó là mối quan hệ yêu đương và hôn nhân và những vấn đề khác.

Vấn đề quan trọng là nhà trị liệu cần có được những thông tin thích hợp để có thể đi vào bên trong những trải nghiệm của thân chủ, thể hiện sự hiểu biết và thấu cảm và tạo ra được nền tảng cho việc xây dựng mối quan hệ tin tưởng giữa thân chủ và nhà trị liệu.

2. ALFRED ADLER
Alfred Adler (1870-1937) là một môn đồ của Sigmund Freud. Tuy nhiên, cuối cùng ông đã xây dựng một lý thuyết riêng về sự phát triển của con người, có một vài quan điểm là khác biệt thật sự với quan điểm của Freud, điều đó đã gây ra một số khó khăn trong mối quan hệ giữa hai ông.

Adler đưa ra những điều khác với Freud về lý thuyết “năng lượng sống” (the life force) được tạo ra từ libido, hay là năng lượng tính dục. Ông cho rằng động lực của con người và sự thúc đẩy con người hoạt động là “cảm xúc thấp kém” (organ inferiority) hơn là tính dục (bản thân ông bị còi xương từ khi sinh và không đi được cho đến khi lên bốn). Ông lý luận rằng một cách tự nhiên đứa trẻ trải qua cảm xúc thấp kém do thể hình và sự chưa trưởng thành của chúng, và phải tìm cách vượt qua những cảm xúc không thoải mái cùng với cảm xúc thấp kém hay lòng tự tôn thấp, chúng sẽ phải đền bù bằng việc phát triển những nhận thức về sự mạnh mẽ trong chính bản thân chúng. Một người có thể vượt qua sự yếu kém của mình bằng cách cố gắng để trở nên hoàn hảo, đó là tình trạng mà đầu tiên Adler gọi là bản năng gây hấn, ông cho rằng khi một cá nhân không thể thỏa mãn những nhu cầu, họ sẽ trở nên nản chí và gây hấn. Sau này ông tin tưởng rằng sự cố gắng để trở nên hoàn hảo chính là động lực sống đằng sau tất cả những hành vi của con người. Lý thuyết của ông sau cùng được biết đến như là tâm lý học cá nhân.

Adler có hai tư tưởng về sự hoàn hảo, một là tích cực và nó cần thiết cho sự thành công, đạt được thành quả và đền bù cho những thiếu sót của chính bản thân. Tư tưởng thứ hai nói đến việc một cá nhân cảm thấy chính mình là siêu đẳng (superior) theo một cách nào đó, đó là điều mà ông cho là không khỏe mạnh hay loạn thần kinh chức năng (neurotic)

Sau cùng, Adler tin rằng thật quan trọng cho nhà trị liệu để hiểu về kiểu sống (lifestyle) của thân chủ, không chỉ là những động lực, cấu trúc và những mâu thuẫn bên trong. Kiểu sống nói đến cách mà một cá nhân sống và giải quyết những trở ngại trong những mối quan hệ liên nhân cách. Chúng ta có thể nhìn thấy ở đây cái nhận thức tiên tri về tâm lý học nhận thức, điều mà chưa được hiểu một cách chính xác vào thời này, theo cách tiếp cận trong tham vấn cho một thân chủ: Adler tập trung nhiều vào việc thân chủ giải quyết những vấn đề hiện tại của họ như thế nào (có căn cứ vào quá khứ) hơn là quá chăm chú vào việc phân tích những chi tiết trong quá khứ của thân chủ. Adler thấy rằng con người có động lực để hướng đến và đi đến tương lai, và có thể quyết định cho cuộc sống của riêng họ ở một mức độ nào đó, điều mà Freud có thể không bàn đến (theo Freud, quá khứ của thân chủ sẽ quyết định tương lai của họ).

Tư tưởng của Adler về cảm xúc thấp kém và siêu đẳng, sự cố gắng để hoàn hảo, kiểu sống và thành quả đền bù đã được công nhận và cho đến nay vẫn là những yếu tố quan trọng trong lĩnh vực phát triển con người. Những tư tưởng này của ông cuối cùng đã đưa ông đến việc xây dựng lý thuyết về quyền lợi xã hội (social interest), đó là tư tưởng cho rằng xã hội phải mang lại quyền lợi và phải có sự quan tâm đến việc trưởng thành của tất cả mọi người trong xã hội. Việc này có thể thực hiện được, Adler tin tưởng, bằng cách cha mẹ và nền văn hóa hỗ trợ và làm mẫu cho những hành vi của trẻ. Mặc dù lý thuyết của Adler không được chú ý thực hành bởi những nhà trị liệu ngày nay, tuy nhiên nó rất quan trọng để biết những công trình lý luận này của ông, bởi vì nó chi phối một cách sâu sắc đến những hiểu biết của chúng ta về hành vi con người và một cách không trực tiếp đến cái cách mà chúng ta làm tâm lý trị liệu ngày nay.
__________________________
Trích trong “Nền tảng tâm lý trị liệu, lý thuyết và kỹ năng”, tài liệu của Phòng tham vấn tâm lý IFC
Tác giả: Libby Zinman Schwartz, Ed.D., NCC.
Tiếng Việt: Ngô Minh Uy
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Liên quan:
- Các nhà tâm lý học và học thuyết của họ (2)
- Các nhà tâm lý học và học thuyết của họ (3)

"My fellow prisoners" eller "My fellow americans"?

Forsnakkelser er kongeveien til sjelen. McCain har aldri kommet ut av jungelen.

(Tips: Ben Smith)

PELA PRIMEIRA VEZ EM SÃO PAULO

CURSO LIVRE

- PSICANÁLISE: UMA INTRODUÇÃO -

01 DE NOVEMBRO DE 2008

13:00 às 18:00

ESPAÇO MAGMA NÚCLEO TERAPÊUTICO

Rua Aspicuelta, 227

Vila Madalena - São Paulo - SP

Até 31 de outubro - R$ 225,00

No evento: R$ 250,00

Outras informações:

Flávia Albuquerque

(21) 9792-8326

ou

flavia@pontolacaniano.com.br

Sábado que vem, dia 11 de outubro, discutiremos o caso de Freud: Elizabeth von R. É possível participar deste encontro sem participar do Ciclo inteiro. O valor é R$ 65,00 e deve ser pago através de depósito no Banco Bradesco, ag. 2510 c/c 2358-2. É preciso entrar em contato antes de efetuar o depósito para saber disponibilidade de vagas através do telefone (21) 9792-8326 ou e-mail flavia@pontolacaniano.com.br

Quem leu o exelente livro de José Saramago "Ensaio sobre a Cegueira" ou assistiu o filme de Fernando Meirelles sobre o livro, otimamente retratado, me acompanhe. Os personagens ao ficarem cegos, não o ficaram pela via da escuridão, mas sim do branco, que é a junção de todas as cores e que no filme apaga todas as imagens, não somente do campo visual, mas como veremos, as certezas subjetivas também, onde após esta experiência, o sujeito terá necessariamente que se perguntar quem ele é.

Pensei que esta metáfora pode me servir para falar da chamada síndrome do pânico, pois a invasão da angústia Real no momento de crise, cega o sujeito para suas sensações mais lógicas de seu corpo e este sente medo de morrer ou perder-se de sí mesmo, ficando parado na frente de um abismo onde o sujeito pode literalmente cair, deixar-se levar enquanto tal.

...

PARA LER O POST INTEIRO, ACESSE O SITE DA PSICANALISTA SILVIA MANGARAVITE: http://psicanaliseparaquem.blogspot.com/

                  Com Dr. José El-Jaick
                     Médico e Escritor

                     Maria Tereza Grey
                  Psicóloga e Psicanalista

Um escritor, José El-Jaick, com seu segundo livro: "Malditas Mulheres",
recém lançado e uma psicanalista, Maria Tereza Grey, conversam elaborando
o estreito casamento, desde as origens, entre Psicanálise e Literatura.
A Teoria Literária, a Antropologia Social, a História , a Filosofia e
outras ciências humanas convergem na  noção do nascimento paralelo da
Literatura e do sujeito moderno, substrato da Psicanálise que, inclusive
criou uma literatura específica.

Dia: 23 de outubro de 2008  - Quinta-feira
19:30 hs
Sede da Associação Psicanalítica de Nova Friburgo
Av. Alberto Braune, 99 / 504  - Centro
Tel.: (22) 2523-1019

Atividade Gratuita
Vagas Limitadas

Jung Dream

Originally uploaded by illustratorsam

Ego, Archetype and Self:
C. G. Jung and Modernity

Copyright © 2008, Michael W. Clark, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Introduction

This essay was written during a formative period as a graduate student in the department of Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa, Canada.

Submitted in May 1993, my thinking has matured since that time. I post it here, however, for its sound coverage of Jung's ideas and also for several interesting asides.

When citing this essay please use one of the standard citation styles for online sources.

--MC, October 8, 2008

Elsewhere I have indicated that the work of C. G. Jung reveals his bent for constructing elaborate psychological theory on the basis of selective data. This charge was mingled with a somewhat reluctant admiration for the creation of a fictional system that seemed to surpass the usual, and I would add, artificial dictates of scientific rationalism. Like a political leader who after safely retiring exposes party corruption, Jung retrospectively concedes to being a myth maker in what was then, modern times.(1)

To continue from previous work, I will examine Jung's concepts of ego, archetype and self to determine if the above charge of selectivity - not to preclude other potential difficulties - applies to these seminal components of his analytical model of the psyche.(2)

* * *

Jung speaks of ego as a highly continuous "complex of ideas which constitutes the centre of [one's] field of consciousness"(3) Ego is also referred to as the "point of reference"(4) of the psyche; its partly biological inheritance is offset by unconsciously acquired material.(5) Ego is not the entire psyche, but, according to Jung, it has a monumental role in the regulation and maintenance of psychic balance.(6) To illustrate precisely what is balanced by the ego, we must examine Jung's constructs of archetype and self.

Archetype. It sounds impressive: definite, timeless, metaphysical; Jung made an astute choice by modifying this essentially Platonic idea, providing a certain scholarly credibility to work that was quite avant-garde for the medical science of the time. While Jung had not fully developed a definition of archetype for entry into Psychological Types (where we find most of his terms described), a survey of various statements he makes about archetypes renders their character fairly clear.

Jung's mature thought demarcates the archetypal image from the archetype proper. As a sort of crystal-lattice structure inherent in all nature,(7) and thus a bio-culturally transmitted content of humanity's collective unconscious,(8) the essence of the archetype is not amenable to representation.(9) Of the numerous archetypal structures, their diversity is represented by so many archetypal images and ideas,(10) and is individually experienced with the evocation of corresponding feeling values, these sometimes taking the form of 'magical' heightened awareness.

This 'luminous,' 'spiritual' aspect of archetypal experience may be either healing or destructive for the overall psyche, depending on its relation to the ego.(11) When made conscious by the ego, the archetypal image is positive; if not encapsulated by ego consciousness, it may be regressive.(12) Yet we have seen that Jung stresses the archetype, itself, to not be accessible to representation. Elsewhere he says that it cannot reach ego consciousness.(13) Granted Jung introduces the archetypal images and ideas, we must still ask: if the extra feeling value of the archetypal image or idea originates from the archetype, how is ego unaware of that archetypal source which it 'feels'?

An additional function of the archetype is to organize images and ideas.

Archetypes, so far as we can observe and experience them at all, manifest themselves only through their ability to organize images and ideas, and this will always be an unconscious process which cannot be detected until afterward.(14)

From this it seems that the archetypal images and ideas are productions of the hidden, secret aspect of the archetypes. Now according to Jung, the self - our final concept to be illustrated - is itself an archetype.(15) And here Jung seems to say that the self can be anything. If an archetype, then it has an unmanifest, invisible aspect that cannot be grasped. That is, part of our own self must be inaccessible to ourselves. But that is not all. The self is alternately described as the "sum total of conscious and unconscious contents,"(16) a "complexio oppositorium,"(17) and as the "psychic totality of the individual."(18) I do not object to Jung describing the self as illimitable, I do object, however, to his use of the term individual. Individuals cannot all be infinite. There must be some mark of difference among them. And Jung seems to agree with me: he himself says that the unconscious part of the self "cannot be distinguished from that of another individual."(19)

Lets untangle this mess, and in so doing, try to be fair to Jung. It seems the problem lies in his notion of self as a "psychic totality." For Jung really offers a two-tiered model of the psyche. The conscious part is individual, the unconscious collective aspect is impersonal. Jung would have done better to dismiss the "totality" component of his definition of self. As he did not, however, "self" is ambiguous and indistinct from a strictly theoretical standpoint. Why call it self if indeed it is everyone?

As I am not one to admire muddled, confused systems, Jung's primary mentor Freud might suggest that unduly punitive washroom socialization resulted in my fixation at the latter's 'anal stage' of psychosexual development.(20) Such a psychoanalytic interpretation may not have been entirely dismissed by Jung. Part of his self includes the personal unconscious, yet for Jung and quite unlike Freud, the personal unconscious is "more or less superficial;"(21) and Jung would not necessarily have given a psychosexual etiology(22) to an obsession with order. In fact, Jung would most likely view the above paragraph as a temporary intrusion of the "trickster" archetype - a mildly evil, sometimes positive archetype - into my ego consciousness. Recall that as mediator that strives for psychic integrity (see top to endnote 12), ego must balance good and evil,(23) these polarities producing a tension that for Jung is a universal law.(24) So we see two differing analyses - Freudian and Jungian - which perhaps points more to the role of investigation and interpretation of a situation than to the supremacy of either model.(25) But perhaps not. It is possible that one system explains events better than another. And if in our uncertainty we choose to define theory as an approach to an ever-changing, relative 'reality,' as do anti-theorists Paul Feyerabend(26) and Jean Baudrillard,(see endnote 25) we cannot escape the fact that even anti-theory is a type of theory.

Jung calls all this intellectual diaphaneity 'rationalistic twaddle' and claims, as do his adherents, that the value of his system lies in its practical application. While academic analysis implicity and expressly states one should not dispense with critical reflection, Jung also does not advocate the abandonment of critique. As Naomi Goldenberg points out:

According to Jungian lore, Carl Jung once said he was glad to be Jung and not a "Jungian." As Jung he could be a thinker who tested ideas and modified theories to fit maturing insights and experiences. As a Jungian he would be pressured into defending dogma and clutching to ideas which had outlived their utility.(27)

* * *

With the basic explication of ego, archetype and self complete, I will now offer a more intensive appraisal, recalling that to be critical is to assess the positive and negative aspects of a given truth-claim. For the last half of the paper I will reverse the order and first look at self, then archetype, and lastly, ego.

Jung says the self as archetype is represented by the mandala, a sanskrit term meaning 'circle.'(28) Part of the self, as noted, cannot be represented. This "psychoid" aspect is "identical in all individuals."(29) The act of representing the self, such as in the visual mandala, brings order to chaos(30) as the tension of opposites is, if not permanently, at least to some degree reconciled.(31) Because the mandala (self) may imprison or protect the individual (ego),(32) it is like the archetypal mother--it absorbs or nurtures. Thus the mandala is also said to parallel the mother archetype.(33)

But Jung takes the mandala out of context. For mandala is an eastern construct specifically designed to both represent and aid in the abolition of the ego. Mandala refers to that beyond ego; it does not include ego as suggested by Jung. For instance, Lama Anagarika Govinda notes that the Tibetan 'Mandala of Highest Bliss' is "a vehicle of an all-embracing, imperishable wholeness, in which the limits of individual egohood do not exist any more."(34) Likewise, W. Y. Evans-Wentz says the 'Mandala of Liberation' entails a "gradual dispersion of the psychic or mental atoms of the...thought body."(35) Prior to Buddhism, the Hindu mandala refers to each of the ten books of the Rig Veda, which collectively are designed to return one to an undifferentiated original state that apparently existed prior to such dualisms as life/death, real/unreal, good/evil and, I should add, self/ego.(36) As a symbol of self and its relation to ego, Jung could have equated mandala with the absorbing, yet not the nurturing aspect of his mother archetype. This self-mother-mandala triad provides an excellent example of unwarranted and selective cross-referencing within the exposition of Jung's theory.

Previously I have argued that Jung confuses the asian atman with his definition of libido.(37) To complicate matters, Jung seems to equate atman with his concept of self.(38) Thus perhaps not in the way Jung constructs quaternities, we may draw from his work our own analogical foursome: self-mother-mandala-libido. What else will he add to the list?

Archetypes, as I have noted, have two faces. One face is forever turned away, essentially supramundane and inaccessible to women and men; the other expresses various healing and destructive images and ideas into mundane psychological reality. But archetypes need not take a human or animal form. For cohesiveness, we will look at Jung's views on Ufos, specifically on flying saucers, for in their circular shape they may be likened to the mandala symbol. In this connection we should note that for Jung flying saucers were the quintessential Ufos(39) and something of a pop phenomenon in the 1950's: the pre-Star Wars/Star Trek era of modernity in which Jung's writings on the subject are located.(40)

In flying saucers, then, we have an archetype that Jung says, by virtue of its shape, is analogous to the mandala,(41) and by implication, the self.(42) Belief in, or dreams of the saucers, like any archetypal formation, represents a double-edged desire for individuation(43) in combination with a fear for personal destruction: Alien inhabitants of the saucer could be benevolent, benign or malicious. Likewise, the journey to mandalic totality (to use Jung's selective interpretation) has potential danger in that immense and equally tumultuous psychic forces may be unleashed from the collective unconscious, which if not successfully integrated by consciousness, could lead to psychic ruin--recall the absorbing, also referred to as the 'devouring' mother archetype as the negative instance of the self.

If one, however, believed or dreamed of extraterrestrials as being neither helpful nor harmful, this for Jung would indicate a state of psychic stagnation--no loss nor advancement within the individuation process. And a belief or dream of pleasant aliens would suggest that one's 'yonder shore' of the collective unconscious is about to guide the ego toward a new, more comprehensive ontology. I noted above that critique should be balanced, and here indeed we find a good example of Jung's impressive ability to adapt his theoretical structures to the symbols and social imagination of his time. Not to imply that Jung is merely vying for popularity and personal recognition. His work is too thorough, thoughtful, and serious to be so summarily dismissed. But as suggested elsewhere, he also knew the professional legitimacy of his writing necessitated scrupulous selectivity; he thus displays great acumen for creating schematic 'meaning' out of a massive and diverse body of data, even if that data is liberally corralled into his analytic theory.(44)

This leads us to the problem of agency, identity and ego. Ego is said to emerge from the self; its relation to self is one of "moved to the mover."(45) Although it may be subsumed by the archetypes, as in inflation, ego is also the real limit of the person.(46) Ego is not to be confused with the self; although Jung claims 'ordinary' persons, in ignorance, take ego as the entire psychological being. Not so for Jung. When ego is unaware of, or attempts to deny the self's existence, the 'sleeping giant' of the unconscious(47) self may grumble mightily at any time. The result: psychic catastrophe.(48) That is, ego becomes assimilated by the self--a situation praised in eastern religious and cultural ideals, but not endorsed within the scientific materialism of western modernity.

Thus as mentioned at the outset, ego plays a tremendous role in Jung's vision of the psyche. By balancing inner and outer realities, it serves to regulate both collective unconscious and collective conscious forces(49) (and implicitly, moral opposites of good and evil residing in the psyche and expressed in the sentiments and acts of external reality). Ego is, therefore, busy. So busy that Jung sees it as the high achievement of western humanity. Unlike the so-called 'primitives,' the egos of modern individuals are more differentiated and less luminous than those of their, as Jung would have it, cruder ancestors.(50)

Concerning luminosity and ego, two points should be made. First, Jung says even modern persons have egos surrounded by a "multitude of little luminosities."(51) Their unconscious provides various shades and textures to ego consciousness. And considering everyone is variously configured as such, each possessing different 'lights' from the unconscious, we must ask how Jung is able to make sweeping statements regarding the 'normal' ego constitution of western women and men. To propose for the sake of argument two stereotypes, does an artist necessarily see and experience in the same manner as an astrophysicist? Jung would say no, of course.(52) While he humbly acknowledges being a lay-person and doctor who happens to be very well read, at times his lack of academic training (and rigour) shows. By analogy, Albert Einstein admits to being poor at math, and Jung's achievement was perhaps made possible by the fact that he was not confined by corridors of acceptable thought. But in spite of this, certain unacceptable margins of vagueness and redundancy may be discerned in his writing.

Another issue to be raised concerning luminosity and ego is in their application to Jung's so-called 'primitives.' Jung visited Africa and India, so unlike ethnocentrics such as Emile Durkheim - who never travelled to places written about - we would suspect him to be in a better position to understand the inhabitants of foreign societies. But right from the outset Jung envisions such 'native cultures' as possessing the stereotypical attributes of 'primitive man,' and while he shows some appreciation for indigenous cosmologies,(53) and even made some attempts to learn local languages prior to departures, he nevertheless seems to wear, as it were, his safari hat throughout his adventures into lands exotica. I mean to say, he never let his European side slip--perhaps because he truly showed tendencies towards racism.(54) Possibly Jung's comments on the luminous primitive ego reflect in part his own fantasy world: a projection of Jung's psychic contents to others.(55)

* * *

To conclude, in reviewing ego, archetype and self, it seems my suspicions have been further confirmed. Jung's analogic method displays an almost artistic collage of seemingly related concepts; upon close and careful examination, however, we have seen that mandala is not taken in situ, but rather as Jung - consciously or unconsciously - chooses to portray it. Regarding Ufos, Jung provides a detailed psychological exposition after professing ignorance as to their actuality.(56) While he mentions (in passing) that exclusively psychological relationships to Ufos as archetypal images would not dismiss the possibility of genuine Ufos,(57) he nonetheless proceeds to systematically squelch any tinge of ambiguity as to the latter's authenticity with an apparent certainty that makes us wonder: is Jung the open-minded investigator he claims to be, searching for knowledge on the basis of empirically demonstrable facts, or is he one of the truly great doctrinaires of modernity, holding fast to new dogma of his own design?

In all likelihood, he is probably both; and that, in Jung's own fashion, would be consistent with the 'unity of opposites' motif postulated within his system. Whether such theoretical coherence arrived with or without ethical consequence remains open to various avenues of debate.(58)

Endnotes

1) See my unpublished paper for the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa, "Plumbing the Depths: Carl Jung, Freud and Hinduism."

2) Until the entirety of Jung's work is studied, forwarded conclusions must be tentative. This critique is based mostly on C. G. Jung, The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vols. 1-11.

3) C. G. Jung, Psychological Types in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 6, 425.

4) C. G. Jung, Mandala Symbolism from The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 9/1 par. 717.

5) C. G. Jung, "Analytical Psychology and Education," The Collected Works of C. G. Jung Vol. 17, par. 169, cited in Daryl Sharp, Jung Lexicon: A Primer of Terms and Concepts (Toronto: Inner City Books, 1991: 49).

6) Jung, Mandala Symbolism, par. 563.

7) C. G. Jung, The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 8, 210.

8 ) C. G. Jung, Psychology and Religion in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 11, 50.

9) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 8, 214. Jung seems to overlook the fact that the words he writes are a type of representation.

10) Ibid, 214.

11) Ibid, 205.

12) C. G. Jung, Civilization in Transition in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 10, 237.

13) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 8, 213.

14) Ibid, 231.

15) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 11, 156.

16) Ibid, 82.

17) Here Jung refers to dialectical opposites of, for instance, good and evil, masculine and feminine, hatred and love. Ibid, 443.

18) Ibid, 156.

19) Ibid, 277.

20) As in my previous paper, "Plumbing the Depths," time restraints necessitate reference to Freud via secondary sources. In this case: Lectures on Psychoanalysis for undergraduate course conducted by Dr. Donald Carveth, 1981-1982, York University, Toronto.

21) C. G. Jung, Four Archetypes from The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 9/1 par. 3; Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 8, 291.

22) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 11, 349-350.

23) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 8, 219.

24) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 11, 197.

25) As an extreme anti-theorist, Jean Baudrillard comments that good theory should lose its own meaning when "pushed to its conclusion" at the "limits of the text." Jean Baudrillard, Forget Foucault/Forget Baudrillard (New York: Semiotext( ), 1987: 38).

26) See, for example, Paul Feyerabend, Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge (London: Humanities Press, 1975).

27) Naomi R. Goldenberg, "Reply to Barbara Chesser's Comment on 'A Feminist Critique of Jung,'" Signs (Spring 1978): 724.

28) Jung, Mandala Symbolism, par. 713.

29) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 8, 436.

30) Jung, Mandala Symbolism, par. 645.

31) Ibid, par. 637.

32) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 11, 95-96.

33) Jung, Four Archetypes, par. 156.

34) Lama Anagarika Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism (New Delhi: B.I. Publications PVT Ltd., 1960: 166-171).

35) W. Y. Evans-Wentz ed., The Tibetan Book of the Dead, trans. Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1960: 126, footnotes 1-3).

36) Troy Wilson Organ, Hinduism: Its Historical Development (London: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1974: 59, 76-77, 80).

37) Clark, "Plumbing the Depths," 10.

38) C. G. Jung, Aion in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 9/2, 144, 194, 222.

39) Jung briefly notes that he cannot determine the falsity or truthfulness of numerous Ufo accounts. See Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 10, 309.

40) Star Wars and Star Trek introduced variously shaped interstellar crafts to the popular imagination.

41) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 10, 325.

42) William McGuire & R. F. C. Hull eds., C. G. Jung Speaking, Bollingen Series XCVII (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977: 414).

43) Jung's concept that refers to the goal of psychic totality, differentiation and socio-environmental confluence. See Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 11, 258-259.

44) See Clark, "Plumbing the Depths," 8-10.

45) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 11, 259.

46) Ibid, 470.

47) Which is nonetheless conscious of itself.

48) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 9, 24.

49) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 8, 217-218.

50) Ibid, 189.

51) Ibid, 190.

52) In later work I will elaborate on Jung's 4 by 2 model of the psyche, consisting of thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition, as well as introversion and extroversion.

53) Especially with the Pueblo Indians. See Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 10, 211; and C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, revised, ed. Aniela Jaffé, trans. Richard and Clara Winston (New York: Vintage Books, 1961: 250).

54) For example, he believes individuals of all the colonies of England are "slightly inferior," and that "there are facts to support this view" (in America, this being the psychological influence of the "lax, "childlike" and "inferior" blacks). Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 10, 46-47, 121, 507-509).

55) We are indebted to Freud for the mechanism of projection; Jung also recognizes the primacy of projection and notes that archetypes are usually expressed through this process. Dr. Donald Carveth, Lectures on Psychoanalysis, 1981-1982; See also, C. G. Jung, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology in The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, ed. William McGuire et al., trans. R. F. C. Hull, Bollingen Series XX (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1954-79) Vol. 7, 95.

56) Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 10, 309.

57) He utilizes the concept of 'synchronicity' to account for this. Ibid, 313. Unfortunately it is beyond the scope of this paper to do justice to this pivotal component of Jung's schema.

58) Jung's theoretical extrapolations reveal not only racist, but strong sexist tendencies. While apparently progressive, saying women should be regarded on the basis of "merit not gender," Jung also exemplifies the expected 'men are men, women are "girls"' mentality of his day. Jung, The Collected Works, Vol.7, 25; and Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 8, 286. Concerning his sexist views on rape, and for other examples of extreme sex-role stereotyping, see Jung, The Collected Works, Vol. 9/2, 15-17; and Jung, The Collected Works Vol. 10, 117-119. On marriage, he claims i) all women desire children and ii) are attracted only to one man while married men are naturally attracted to many women; at the same time, however, iii) women aim to "loosen" the marriage structure. Ibid, 101 (i), 42 (ii), 132 (iii). Jung also assumes all lesbians are interested and/or active in gender/political issues by categorizing lesbian love as a stimulus for women to organize for increased social empowerment. Ibid, 99. Lastly, Jung's professional practice entailed having sex with at least two of his female clients. Naomi Goldenberg, "Looking at Jung Looking at Himself," Soundings, 73/2-3 (Summer/Fall 1990): 395.

Copyright © 2008, Michael W. Clark, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Well, some of those professors are still here but, honestly—and thankfully—they are not the norm. I feel that I need to ease your minds. I didn't mean to scare parents away who were thinking about sending their children here but were worried that they might be led astray. I won't say that such a thing is impossible, but when you hear the stories I have for you today, I hope you will agree that it is pretty unlikely.

I'll tell stories about some of my heroes from several different departments—some you've heard about from me before, and some not.

Psychology

If you know anything about psychology, then you have probably heard of Sigmund Freud. If you are lucky, then you have only heard enough about the father of modern psychology to know that he was wrong about everything and really didn't do any good for the field.

From the story I am about to relate, you can trust that if your students take courses from my psychological hero, then that is all they will know about him as well.

While I'm on that topic, if you want to get a PhD in psychology without learning anything more about the theories or writings of the father of modern psychology, I can recommend the school where my psychological hero got his: Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University.

Well, on to the story: My psychological hero gave a talk about his research.  He talked about different approaches and theories related to his research.  Every time he mentioned Freud—which was pretty often since Freud was the father of modern psychology—my hero rolled his eyes, laughed and explained Freud's view so clearly that it is hard to believe anyone ever took Freud seriously.

Then my psychological hero began to talk about the approach he is taking.  He talked about the fact that the researchers who developed the approach were believers.  Then he gave exactly two arguments for why their approach is better than Freud's.

1. The people who developed this approach were believers.
2. The approach confirms our evangelical world-view.

I love this because he was not only arguing for an approach to psychological research but he was modeling the proper way to evaluate new ideas.

Theology

I probably don't need to tell you that you can trust my theological hero to protect his students from the intellectual capriciousness that the secularists call "learning". But if you are like me, then you can't hear enough about this guy.

He was at a recent meeting of his department's subcommittee on "religious studies". The head of the religious studies program is one of the dangerous professors here. He casually introduces students to the tenets of other religions. He talks about those other religions in a way that makes it sound feasible that a person could believe those things just as easily as Christianity...  as if they might make as much sense as conservative evangelicalism to someone who didn't know better. He intentionally distorts these religions to make them look like there is wisdom there.

My theological hero was at this meeting and confronted this professor and told him that he needs to stop doing that. He said that what we should be doing at our University is just explaining why our religion is better. We should not be looking at other religions except when we are defining those religions clearly enough that only sociopaths would buy into them.  If we define them to students the way these religions define themselves, they are not so easy to mock and refute and the apologist's job is more difficult.

English/Honors

There is a course here at our University in which students are told to read... Wait. I'm afraid that if I tell you who they read, you will freak out and think that our University has gone to Hell already. Let me first tell you that my hero in the English department gives them a wonderful lecture to help them easily and completely dismiss the ideas of this one of the secular world's "greatest" philosophers and thinkers of all time: Karl Marx.

Yes, my English hero refutes Marx by the following argument:

1. Marxism is an ideology: a simple system that is thought to explain everything.
2. Ideologies are bad because they really cannot explain everything and they don't learn from others.
3. Therefore, Marxism is bad.
4. Christianity is not an ideology because we learn from others.

You may be surprised that it takes that many words to refute Marx. My professors never had that much trouble. I knew Marx was wrong about everything because every time my professors mentioned his name they spat and rolled their eyes.  That was good enough for me.

Perhaps because our students are actually reading Marx, which I never had to do, they require a little more detail than the refutations my professors gave.

But back to the argument.  You see, Karl Marx never learned anything from any ideology except Marxism.  Sure, he got a PhD in philosophy and studied economics.  But his ideas were not influenced by any school of thought other than Marxism.

Christianity, on the other hand, is open to truth from any source.  It's not our fault that there isn't any other truth out there for us to learn from.

Personally, I wouldn't buy Marxism even if Jesus Christ himself came down in the flesh riding on a cloud and told all of his followers to share all of their property and work together to support those who are down-trodden by society.  Of course, that would never happen.

La începutul secolului trecut, Sigmund Freud descoperea forte primitive, sexuale si agresive ascunse si îngropate adânc in subconştientul uman. Sigmund pune bazele psihanalizei si publica un tratat, Introducere Generala în Psihanaliză.

Nepotul lui Freud, Edward Bernays, care a emigrat in SUA, este angajat de guvernul american pentru a sprijini in presa efortul de război al SUA. Edward a avut succese pe toată linia si si-a propus sa folosească tehnicile de propaganda din timpul războiului pe timp de pace dar împachetate sub alta denumire deoarece cuvântul propaganda a fost "compromis" de germani in timpul primului razboi mondial. Astfel apare un mic birou pe Brodway in care trudea  Edward Bernays sub titulatura de consilier pentru relaţii cu publicul ( acuma ştiţi si de unde provine termenul Public Relationships, PR, atât de des folosit astăzi si ce reprezintă el de fapt ).

In acest birou de pe Brodway, Eddie citeşte si înţelege ce faimosul sau unchi postula in tratatele de psihanaliza si tot aici este contactat de George Hill, preşedintele Corporaţiei Americane de Tabac. Doleanţa arzătoare a acestuia? Sa convingă femeile sa fumeze deoarece pierdea jumătate din piaţa. In acei ani exista un tabu ce implica femeia si ţigareta. Fumatul era privit ca si un privilegiu exclusiv al barbaţilor. Si ce face Eddie al nostru? Ia frumos o domnişoara, o duce la un psihanalist din New York si îl pune pe acesta sa afle, prin tehnicile descoperite de unchiul Siggy, ce reprezintă ţigara si fumatul pentru subconştientul femeii. Surpriza, surpriza...ţigara reprezintă pentru femei un simbol al penisului si a dominaţiei sexuale masculine ! Psihanalistul îl sfătuieşte pe Edward sa găsească o modalitate de a convinge femeile ca fumatul reprezintă o modalitate de a contesta supremaţia sexuala a barbatului si ca pot avea propriul falus prin simplu gest al aprinderii unei ţigări, si astfel, sa vândă produsul canceros si publicului feminin.

In New York exista o parada anula, Parada Pastelui, la  care participa mii de oameni aşa cum au participat si in 1929, când prima cascadorie publicistica are loc. Înainte cu o zi de acesta parada, toată presa si fotografii din New York sunt anunţaţi ca, la parada, un grup de femei vor aprinde torte ale libertăţii. A doua zi, Bertha Hunt, secretara lui Edward, împreuna cu inca câteva domnişoare îşi aprind concomitent ţigările in mijlocul paradei sub blitzurile fotografilor si povestea apare in toate ziarele din state. Femeile încep sa fumeze si tot fumează de atunci.

What just happend ? Avem simbolul unor femei tinere, frumoase, independente fumând in public, alăturat sloganului "torte ale libertăţii". Deci, daca suporţi ideea de libertate, filozofie care îl făcea pe american sa se simtă aparte in acele vremuri, nu trebuie sa ai nici o obiecţie daca o femeie fumează sau îşi aprinde o ţigara in public. S-a creat, absolut artificial, ideea ca daca o femeie fumează este automat mai independenta, mai libera si mai puternica. Deasemenea se demonstrează ca poţi convinge oamenii sa se comporte iraţional daca reuşeşti sa faci legătura intre produsul tău si dorinţele sau sentimente adânc înrădăcinate in subconştientul uman. Faptul ca odată ce o femeie fumează ea devine mai libera, mai puternica, este o chestie total iraţionala.

Restul e istorie capitalista de succes.

Many of us are familiar with the basics of Christian love, but few of us think extendedly about how difficult it can be to love others who sin against us.  Brauns, pastor of the Red Brick Church in Stillman Valley, IL, has done so.  His book is the rich, deep meditation of a faithful shepherd who wants to help Christians practice forgiveness of both big and small sins.  If this is an area of struggle for you--and it is for many of us--buy this book.  Brauns is reformed, Piperian, and gospel-centered, and he demonstrates the ability to offer really helpful practical steps by which forgiveness is achieved rather than an amorphous theological framework that does little to actualize mercy and grace.

Here's an excerpt: "Bitterness is like mercury.  It is tempting to play with it.  We can stew for hours on end thinking about how we have been treated unfairly and how we hope that someday justice will be done.  We slide bitterness around in our minds and slip some of it into our pockets.  And we are oh so foolish because all the while it is attacking our bones (Proverbs 14:30).  Fooling around with bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping that someone else will die." (155)

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The second book of note is Al Mohler's text Atheism Remix (Crossway, 2008).  Mohler, the president of Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY, presents in this text a piercing evaluation of the thought-programs of several prominent proponents of what is called the "new atheism".  The text is an edited version of a series of lectures Mohler delivered at Southwestern Seminary a year ago and thus is not as large as some might think.  Mohler's lectures did not leave room for him to develop a substantial positive response to the new atheists like Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett.  With that said, his tracing of the development of the new atheism and his evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the key authors is priceless (well, actually, it's $15.99).  Because the book is short--108 pages--I can commend it to a wide audience.  You could read it in a couple of days and be far more informed about one of the dominant intellectua