Free University of Ireland

Over a long career in the psychiatric profession spanning six decades, Thomas Szasz has forcefully argued that mental illnesses are mythical since all medical diseases are located in the body and, thus, have somatic causes. This has been accompanied by a scathing and coruscating critique of the whole mental health profession, particularly those psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychotherapists who collude in and exploit the alleged mythology of counterfeit mental disorders and often (unwittingly or deliberately) justify coercion, oppression, and pharmacological manipulation of so-called ‘mental patients’ in the name of ‘treatments’. Although there has been a measure of support for this approach in recent years – especially the emphasis on the social context of mental illness and the complexity of mind/body dualism – the main thesis has tended to be misunderstood and undervalued. However, recent critiques of the scientific materialist paradigm within philosophy of mind and consciousness studies can help to illuminate the key arguments in this sphere and provide a foundation for work in the mental health field. After examining the main tenets of Szasz’s thesis, the work of neo-idealist philosophers and scientists such as Kastrup, Hoffman, and McGilchrist will be utilised to present an alternative re-imagining of the central problems. The neo-idealist concept of consciousness as an ultimate primitive, combined with the work of McGilchrist on the ways in which the divided brain serves to shape reality, can be utilised to produce a perspective on mental health and illness supported by a solid foundation in neuroscience and philosophy of mind.

L’invasion de l’Irlande vers 1170 par des armées et des colonisateurs d’origines diverses constitue un jalon autour duquel se sont construites les études culturelles et linguistiques portant sur l’Irlande. Ce livre veut envisager la relation entre les langues française et irlandaise sur un plan à la fois plus long et plus large. Y sont examinées les preuves d’un usage du français en Irlande, ainsi que les références à l’Irlande dans des textes écrits en français du xiie au xive s. Comme cela...

A referida reflexão problematiza a formação do professor de geografia, especialmente na necessidade de dotá-lo de um mais profundo conhecimento das práticas pedagógicas, mas também relacionando essa formação ao quanto a falta de conhecimento do objeto da ciência geográfica corrobora para que a mesma seja exposta a um grau maior de deficiência. Foi justamente a confirmação desse caráter difuso da ciência geográfica que desencadeou um dos objetivos da pesquisa, ou seja, identificar como a falta de clareza de um objeto pode influenciar, ou não, no devir geográfico do graduando da licenciatura. O que se viu na supervisão do PIBID (Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência), especialmente em seu estágio inicial, foram alunos de geografia que pouco, ou nada, conheciam das reflexões epistemológicas a respeito do espaço. Além disso, poucos dotados de conhecimentos teoricos a respeito das práticas pedagógicas necessárias ao ato educativo. Constata-se que persistem os muitos problemas da geografia em formar professores que geografize seus lugares, avalie seus espaços, caminhos fundamentais para que o educador real se liberte do estigma de uma ausência de ciência no seu fazer educativo, e, para o de geografia, também no seu fazer geográfico.

James Wilson has criticised thought experiments in philosophical ethics for failing to reflect the reality of everyday life. As against this, many such experiments owe their potential value and efficacy to an abstract simplicity which gives them widespread explanatory power and application. Through the examination of two particular arguments—Peter Singer’s “Shallow Pond” and Philippa Foot’s “Trolley Problem”—a number of suggestions are made for strengthening the realism of ethical thought experiments by reference to sources drawn from literature and social science. The principal aim is to enhance the real-world relevance and cogency of the thought experiments by offering suggestions for material which can reinforce the main points of the arguments. Such supplementary support—including references to the current Coronavirus pandemic—for the ethical thought experiments is intended to enhance teaching and learning in moral education and philosophical ethics at all levels.