After WWI, German psychiatrists diagnosed traumatized soldiers as having “hysteria,” othering the men to somewhat disastrous effect. For many soldiers who returned from World War I, the terror of combat never abated. Though the statistics are still fuzzy, at least one historian estimates that upwards of twenty percent of all soldiers suffered from shell shock, the early twentieth-century[…]
We talk excitedly about meeting someone with whom we ‘click’ or ‘really hit it off.’ So why do so many of us hesitate to call it love? For a lecture course I teach at Brown University called “Love Stories,” we begin at the beginning, with love at first sight. To its detractors, love at first sight must be an illusion – the[…]
The irrelevance of the heart to love has been amply demonstrated by cardiac transplant surgeons. In William Shakespeare’s comedy Merchant of Venice, the play’s heroine Portia sings: Tell me where is fancy bred,Or in the heart or in the head. If you look at Valentine’s Day cards, it’s clear fancy is bred in the heart and not in[…]
Exploring the dominant influence of religious notions in people’s worldview, providing meaning and powerfully influencing their cognitions, emotions and behaviour. By Dr. Karen van der MerweSchool of Psychosocial Behavioural SciencesNorth West University South Africa Abstract This article explored psychological perspectives on the following: the reasons for humans’ religiousness, the influence of religion on people’s perspective[…]
As important as sexuality is to being human, it is often viewed as a taboo topic for personal or scientific inquiry. By Dr. Don Lucas and Dr. Jennifer FoxLucas: Professor of PsychologyFox: Assistant Professor of PsychologyNorthwest Vista College Abstract Sexuality is one of the fundamental drives behind everyone’s feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. It defines the[…]
Positioning Problems Problems into its nineteenth-century psychological and philosophical tradition, as understood by Lewes. By Scott C. ThompsonPhD Student in LiteratureTemple University Abstract In Problems of Life and Mind (1874—79), George Henry Lewes posits his theory of “Scientific psychology,” which is founded on a synthesis between the objective study of the mind practiced in physiology[…]