Philosophy

23 Oct Will Humanity Seize the Day?

Posted at 15:41h in Applied Theatre, Clowning, Community Organizing, Creativity, Culture, Education, Events, Health Care, Human Development, Learning Environments, Outside of School, Performance Movement, Performing the World, Philosophy, Play, Politics, Psychology, Psychology of Becoming, Psychotherapy, Theatre, What's New, Youth Development 0 Comments

The tenth Performing the World (PTW) conference will be held in New York City, Friday, September 21 through Sunday, September 23, 2018. These are very uncertain days. So much is, or seems to be, falling apart – nations and government apparatus, norms of diplomacy and civil discourse, civil society, the glaciers...

05 Aug Words to Ponder # 28

Posted at 20:19h in Language, Philosophy, Psychology, Training/Classes, Wittgenstein, Words to Ponder 3 Comments

Here is a slide show of Wittgenstein quotes I put together for the online course, Investigating Wittgenstein. Happy pondering! Investigating Wittgenstein ...

02 Aug The Search for Method in STEAM Education

Posted at 18:02h in Education, Human Development, Learning Environments, Philosophy, Psychology of Becoming, Publications 0 Comments

Returning to my office this morning after a ten-day writing holiday, I found a delightful package waiting for me—several complementary copies of the new book, The Search for Method in STEAM Education by Jaime (Jim) E. Martinez. I’m sure I would have gotten one copy since I’m a close colleague...

19 Jul Improvisation and the Unknowable

Posted at 16:07h in Creativity, Events, Philosophy, Play, Psychology of Becoming, Speaking Engagements 2 Comments

It’s a delight when things you’re involved in converge and feed one another. I’ve been working on another chapter of The Overweight Brain and got momentarily stuck (like two days’ worth of stuck) in the middle of writing a section on “the unknown” and “the unknowable.” I’ve also been preparing for...

14 Jul Musings on Ways of Being Human (and Empathy)

Posted at 15:16h in Culture, Philosophy, Psychology of Becoming 5 Comments

It’s been awhile since I wrote a post. It’s not that I don’t have anything to say—far from it! I could have written about the wonderfully developmental-for-all June residency and graduation of the East Side Institute’s 13th International Class. Or what it was like to be a panelist at the New...

14 Jul Words to Ponder #27

Posted at 01:19h in Culture, Language, Philosophy, What's New, Wittgenstein, Words to Ponder 5 Comments

These days, we could all use a a little Wittgenstein. Like this gem. One is often bewitched by a word. For example, by the word "know." Ludwig Wittgenstein ...

17 Jun Talking Madness with Robert Whitaker

Posted at 17:29h in Critical psychiatry, DSM-5, Events, Human Development, Philosophy, Psychology of Becoming, Social Therapy, Speaking Engagements 0 Comments

On Friday evening, June 9 I had the privilege and pleasure of creating conversation with prize-winning journalist and prominent psychiatry critic Robert Whitaker. Our topic was “Mad in America: Drugs, Diagnosis and Development” (an event sponsored by the East Side Institute). Aided by invitingly probing questions from moderator Janet Wootten...

22 Apr Words to Ponder #25

Posted at 18:50h in Culture, Human Development, I Like This, Philosophy, What's New, Words to Ponder 5 Comments

Here's a provocative take on anger from Fred Newman (who often advises us to look in the mirror). Dialogue 52. Dealing with Anger as Activity (From Psychological Investigations: A Clinician's Guide to Social Therapy) Student 1: I understand that you believe that expressing anger is a choice. I know that if I...

26 Mar Words to Ponder #24

Posted at 23:15h in Creativity, I Like This, Philosophy, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Social Therapy, Words to Ponder 0 Comments

"Science, Spirituality and Social Therapy" is the theme of this quote from Fred Newman (from the book Psychological Investigations: A Clinician's Guide to Social Therapy, Edited by Lois Holzman & Rafael Mendez). I think there is a powerful and important connection between spirituality and human growth. For the bulk of this...

14 Feb Words to Ponder #22

Posted at 17:05h in Activity Theory, I Like This, Philosophy, Postmodern Marxism, Social Therapy, Words to Ponder 0 Comments

Groups. Individuals. Decisions. Descriptions. Science. Measurement. Therapy. Fred Newman brings them all together in "Undecidable Emotions (What is Social Therapy? And How is it Revolutionary?)". Here's an excerpt from the article published in 2003 in The Journal of Constructivist Psychology (Volume 16, pp. 215-232). You can read the article in...