Abstract: In this essay I analyze the phenomenon of boundary and the mode(s) of human experiencing of it. I claim that it is essential, or even foundational, to culture. Humans encounter boundaries positively or negatively virtually everywhere, in all forms of experience of reality and of themselves. To experience a boundary is, obviously, not identical with a simple acceptance of…
Abstract: In this essay I present culture as a realm constituted by a circular movement where progress is constantly confronted (and questioned) by different forms of reversions. By progress I mean specifically oriented changes we observe in culture. Many of them are rooted in the development of technology and science, or stem from demographical changes and intercultural influences. Reactions to these changes frequently involve…
Preview: Where should we look for an answer to the question whether a psychiatrist is an expert? In analyses of the concept of “expert”? In sociological studies? Or perhaps in opinions formulated by psychiatrists themselves? The subject is not as simple as it might first seem and the answer cannot be obvious. Certainly, psychiatrists are considered to be experts when they are called…
Preview: Anthony Quinton in 1985 in a lecture to the British Academy said that madness is a topic that should be of interest to philosophers but they have surprisingly little to say about it. Twenty years later it turned out that philosophers have surprisingly much to say about it. Philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, as well as philosophy of culture…
Abstract: The aim of my article is to analyze the concepts and phenomena of diagnosis and recognition, often considered to be semantically identical. While in psychiatric practice such an identity does not necessarily have adverse effects, in the anthropological and cultural domains identification of diagnosis and recognition may cause stigmatization, or other undesirable consequences. The article attempts…
Abstract: In the contemporary humanities there is still a problem with the understanding of the great texts of Western Mysticism – the common interpretations oscillate between taking the mysticism as the pathology or as the supernormality. Different researchers, including psychiatrists, psychologists, theologians and philosophers, are usually presenting theories that are either too narrow or not enough…