In this ground-breaking work, Allan Combs presents a wide-ranging survey of the nature and origins of consciousness research, viewing consciousness as a dynamic and self-organizing process with evolutionary potential. Combs reviews the work of evolutionary theorists such as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Ken Wilber, Jean Gebser, and Sri Aurobindo. What emerges is a fascinating study of consciousness that discloses itself as a rich and ongoing act of self-creation, poised at the edge of chaos between past and future.

An accessible yet rigorous introduction to the influential French philosopher Gilbert Simondon's philosophy of individuation. Gilbert Simondon, one of the most influential contemporary French philosophers, published only three works: L'individu et sa genèse physico-biologique and L'individuation psychique et collective, both drawn from his doctoral thesis, and Du mode d'existence des objets techniques. It is this last work that brought Simondon into the public eye; as a consequence, he has been considered a “thinker of technics” and cited often in pedagogical reports (...) on teaching technology. Yet Simondon was a philosopher whose ambitions lay in an in-depth renewal of ontology as a process of individuation—that is, how individuals come into being, persist, and transform. In this accessible yet rigorous introduction to Simondon's work, Muriel Combes helps to bridge the gap between Simondon's account of technics and his philosophy of individuation. Some thinkers have found inspiration in Simondon's philosophy of individuation, notably Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Combes's account, first published in French in 1999, is one of the only studies of Simondon to appear in English. Combes breaks new ground, exploring an ethics and politics adequate to Simondon's hypothesis of preindividual being, considering through the lens of transindividual philosophy what form a nonservile relation to technology might take today. Her book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand Simondon's work. (shrink)

This paper traces the use ofWhitehead’s work as a resource for the moral consideration of nonhuman animals and the relation of process thought to the environmental movement.

(1993). The Evolution of consciousness: A theory of Historical and personal transformation. World Futures: Vol. 38, Theoretical Achievements and Practical Applications of General Evolutionary Theory, pp. 43-62.

En novembre 1984, Christa Wolf ouvrait la première conférence de l'association des gynécologues psy-chosomaticiens de RDA réunis à Mag-Debourg. Dans son discours intitulé "Maladie et privation d'amour", elle s'interrogeait sur l'évolution de la médecine moderne dont les progrès en matière d'appareils médicaux éloignaient toujours davantage les praticiens de leurs patients. Par-delà son regard sur la relation entre l'âme et le corps, Christa Wolf informait aussi des attentes des femmes qui avaient pris au mot les promesses d'égalité des sexes en régime (...) "socialiste réel". Quelques années plus tôt Georges Canguilhem, résistant au scientisme triomphant, se proposait de continuer à penser la médecine comme un art qui devait s'adapter à chaque individu malade. Déplorant la disparition progressive de la clinique, il plaidait pour un dialogue continu entre le patient et le médecin Tandis que Sonia Combe s'appuie sur le discours de Christa Wolf pour appréhender l'expérience communiste à partir de l'étude de genre, revenant sur la double leçon de Christa Wolf et de Canguilhem, Antoine Spire se demande dans quelles conditions un retour de la médecine à la pratique clinique pourrait se faire et répondre à la demande des malades. (shrink)

Æstheticism.- Theosophy.- Otherism.- Faith cure.- Pessimism.- Agnosticism.- Materialism.- Spiritualism.- Liberalism.- Mormonism.- Christian science.- Socialism.

Background Regarding controversial medical services, many have argued that if physicians cannot in good conscience provide a legal medical intervention for which a patient is a candidate, they should refer the requesting patient to an accommodating provider. This study examines what US physicians think a doctor is obligated to do when the doctor thinks it would be immoral to provide a referral. Method The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 2000 US physicians from all specialties. The (...) primary criterion variable was agreement that physicians have a professional obligation to refer patients for all legal medical services for which the patients are candidates, even if the physician believes that such a referral is immoral. Results Of 1895 eligible physicians, 1032 (55%) responded. 57% of physicians agreed that doctors must refer patients regardless of whether or not the doctor believes the referral itself is immoral. Holding this opinion was independently associated with being more theologically pluralistic, describing oneself as sociopolitically liberal, and indicating that respect for patient autonomy is the most important bioethical principle in one's practice (multivariable ORs, 1.6–2.4). Conclusions Physicians are divided about a professional obligation to refer when the physician believes that referral itself is immoral. These data suggest there is no uncontroversial way to resolve conflicts posed when patients request interventions that their physicians cannot in good conscience provide. (shrink)

Michael Winkelman, who is a senior lecturer in the department of anthropology, Arizona State University, and director of its ethnographic field school, has provided a rich overview of the neurophenomenology of shamanism in his book, Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness. Written in the tradition of Laughlin, McManus, and d'Aquili's 1992 classic, Brain, Symbol, and Experience: Toward a Neurophenomenology of Consciousness, Winkelman considers shamanism in many of its facets. He explores shamanism's social and symbolic content, and the implications of its (...) neurological underpinnings both for shamanic practitioners and for their clients. (shrink)

Tenant compte du contexte postcolonial et du développement de ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler la « littérature-monde », l’article propose de procéder à la généalogie de l’idée de « littérature européenne » et d’en interroger la pertinence au regard des littératures « nationales » aussi bien que de la littérature « mondiale ».

(1997). The evolution of consciousness as a self‐organizing information system in the society of other such systems. World Futures: Vol. 50, No. 1-4, pp. 609-616.

The authors find it more useful to payattention to relationships than to boundaries.By focusing attention on bounded, individualpsychological issues, the metaphor ofboundaries can distract helping professionalsfrom thinking about inequities of power. Itoversimplifies a complex issue, inviting us toignore discourses around gender, race, class,culture, and the like that support injustice,abuse, and exploitation. Making boundaries acentral metaphor for ethical practice can keepus from critically examining the effects ofdistance, withdrawal, and non-participation.The authors describe how it is possible toexamine the practical, moral, and ethicaleffects (...) of our participation in relationshipsby focusing on just relationships rather thanon boundaries. They give illustrations andclinical examples of relationally-focusedethical practices that derive from a narrativeapproach to therapy. (shrink)

The question of whether evolutionary theories provide a useful approach to investigating the highest potentials of human consciousness and spiritual growth is addressed. Finding one-dimensional models overly simplistic, we have proposed a three-level model in which "states of mind" , "states of consciousness" , and "structures of consciousness" share a hierarchical relationship. States of consciousness contextualize various states of mind and structures of consciousness contextualize states of consciousness. Our model draws upon the "grand evolutionary synthesis," a phrase used in some (...) approaches to systems inquiry and complexity theory, and utilizes chaos theory terminology as well, rather than other evolutionary concepts. (shrink)

Consciousness is explored as a living stream of lucid experience composed of the essence of the moments of our lives. Grounded in Ken Wilber's model, consciousness is explained from many points of view: its historical evolution, its growth in the individual, its mystical dimensions, and the meaning of enlightenment"--Provided by publisher.

Through the eye of the developmentalist, human activity is everywhere characterized by evolution and growth. It is seen in the psychological makeup of individuals as well as in the lives of cultures and nations. Developmentalists from Sigmund Freud to Lawrence Kohlberg (1981), Robert Kegan (1994) and Clare Graves (1981; Beck & Cowan, 1996) have studied the growth of emotional, intellectual, and moral capabilities in individuals and extrapolated their findings to issues of cultural and international import. Ken Wilber's unique contribution, here (...) and in other recent books (e.g., Wilber, 1995; 1997; 2000a), is to synthesize many lines of scholarship into a powerful developmental model that spans the distance from persons to cultures and societies. (shrink)

The implications of Warren McCulloch's 1945 concept of heterarchy are analyzed in terms of human value and motivational systems. The results demonstrate the near-impossibility of predicting behavior on the basis of any hierarchical scheme, or even which among a set of hierarchical schemes will be selected as the basis of a behavioral choice. Thus, for example, people regularly say one thing and do another.

(2013). My Life in Chaos. World Futures: Vol. 69, The Complexity of Life and Lives of Complexity, pp. 248-268.

S'appuyant sur des exemples issus de l'étude de la Seconde Guerre mondiale ainsi que de l'histoire du passé récent dans les sociétés post-communistes, cet article tente de voir dans quelle mesure les modalités d'accès aux archives publiques peuvent être tenues pour responsables de phénomènes d'amnésie - ou d'hypermnésie - de la mémoire collective, de la fabrication de mythes et de légendes. Il est certain que sans l'accès aux archives du troisième Reich, Raul Hilberg n'aurait pu entreprendre son œuvre monumentale et (...) pionnière sur la destruction des juifs d'Europe. Pour autant, il est des domaines, notam­ment celui des comportements collectifs, sur lesquels l'archive est muette - à moins de bénéficier de ces formidables corpus que constituent par exemple les archives des polices politiques comme les dossiers de la Stasi. Toutefois, l'usage public de ce type d'archives peut poser problème et générer des batailles de mémoire. Lestés d'enjeux, les conflits de mémoire ne se résolvent certes pas à coup de preuves tirées des archives, mais la rétention de ces dernières favorise incontestablement l'élaboration de récits mythiques ou de « romans nationaux ».Drawing on examples from studies of the Second World War and from the recent history of post-Com­munist societies, this article attempts to discern how far rules of access to public archives may have been responsible for collective amnesia - or hyper-amnesia - and the emergence of myths and legends. What is certain is that without access to the archives of the Third Reich, Raul Hilberg would never have been able to undertake his monumental pioneering work on the destruction of Europe's Jews. And yet, there are areas, especially where collective behaviour is concerned, that cannot be fathomed through archives - short of having access to the extraordinary material represented by political police archives such as the Stasi files. However, public use of such archives can raise problems and generate conflicts over memory. Because they embody such a weight of issues, conflicts over memory cannot be resolved merely by pulling out evidence from an archive, but withholding such records most certainly fosters the emergence of mythical narratives and "national epics". (shrink)

Clio – Quelle est votre expérience d’histoire orale en pays communiste? SC : Membre d’une association constituée auprès de la BDIC (Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine) et du CNRS, j’ai effectué plusieurs missions en Europe de l’Est dans les années 1980, puis immédiatement après le changement de régime, au tournant des années 1980-1990. L’objectif de l’association était de collecter la mémoire d’acteurs et témoins d’événements historiques – ou considérés comme tels dep...

Discusses synchronicity as illustrated in ancient and modern mythologies.

We argue that the rapid eye movement dream experiences owe their structure and meaning to inherent self-organizing properties of the brain itself. Thus, we offer a common meeting ground for brain based studies of dreaming and traditional psychological dream theory. Our view is that the dreaming brain is a self-organizing system highly sensitive to internally generated influences. Several lines of evidence support a process view of the brain as a system near the edge of chaos, one that is highly sensitive (...) to internal influences. Such sensitivity is due to several factors. First, the dreaming brain normally gates out external input and thus operates without the stabilizing influences of external feedback. Second, the pre-frontal cortex is only minimally activated during REM sleep, and hence the brain operates with weakened volition, reduced logic, and diminished self-reflection. Third, because the neuromodulatory inhibition mechanism is turned off during REM, the brain responds spontaneously to the least provocation. In addition, the dreaming brain is also subject to powerful intermittent cholinergic stimulation which may stimulate creative patterns of dream activity. (shrink)

Cet ouvrage est une réédition numérique d’un livre paru au XXe siècle, désormais indisponible dans son format d’origine.

Trends in thought about consciousness, the mind, and the brain at the turn of the century were surprisingly similar to major trends in thinking about these topics today. For instance, some psychiatrists as well as physiologists considered all actions of the human mind, as well as all behaviours, entirely the product of the electrochemical actions of nerve cells, while others emphasized the importance of consciousness, free will, and even the soul. The action of nerve cells, and thus the brain itself, (...) was understood largely in terms of electrical activity, energy, and resistances, all leading to views of mental health and pathology based on energy and the loss of energy. Modern metaphors for understanding the brain, and along with them mental health and illness, emphasize information processing and neurochemistry. Such differences are reflected in the differences between typical treatments at the turn of the century and today. (shrink)

In the spirit of William James, we present a process view of human consciousness. Our approach, however, follows upon Charles Tart’s original systems theory analysis of states of consciousness, although it differs in its reliance on the modern sciences of complexity, especially dynamical systems theory and its emphasis on process and evolution. We argue that consciousness experience is constructive in the sense that it is the result of ongoing self-organizing and self-creating processes in the mind and body. These processes follow (...) a broad developmental agenda already described by psychologists such as Jean Piaget. Similar constructive transformations of consciousness appear to have occurred across the course of human history. In this sense, phylogeny indeed recapitulates ontogeny. Finally, modern developmental research suggests that the most advanced levels of human growth transform consciousness in the direction of increasing selflessness and spirituality, rather than simply toward greater intelligence. (shrink)

Even as philosophers increasingly apply their analytical acumen to other subjects of intellectual study, technology is one area relegated to the sidelines. To help dispel such prejudice, this exercise in applied ontology explains why technology invites critical examination, enumerates the generic needs and perceived wants that it fulfills, and then supplies a taxonomy of technological devices individuated in terms of the functional roles that their designers or consumers intend for them. In light of the classificatory scheme developed, I conclude that (...) everything in space and time may be used to realize technological goals, necessitating a more inclusive understanding of technology and thereby a heightened awareness of its pervasive character. (shrink)