Human Motivation in Question: Discussing Emotions,Motives, and Subjectivity from a Cultural‐Historical Standpoint

Vygotsky, at the end of his life, advanced a new representation of a psychological system that was ruled by a cognitive‐emotional unity, a theorization that remains inconclusive due to Vygotsky's early death. This article discusses the advances made by Vygotsky in the comprehension of human motivation through his concepts of sense and perezhivanie at the end of his work. Through these concepts, he further advanced the discussion of motivation, despite the fact that these concepts have only very recently been considered a relevant part of his legacy in both Russian and Western psychology. This paper discusses the departure from and the historical presentations of the concept of motive in the following two main approaches of Soviet psychology that were mistakenly equated in Western interpretations: Vygotsky's approach, mainly at the first as last moment of his work, and Leontiev's Activity Theory. Based on the final theoretical positions of Vygotsky and of other Soviet authors, and further developing this legacy, this article proposes a new definition of motivation as a specific quality of subjectively configured systems and defines motive as intrinsic to the functioning of all psychological function defines subjective functions as subjectively configured processes. This new proposal of human motivation within a new way of defining subjectivity defines new categories as subjective senses and subjective configurations on which the author bases a specific approach for advancing the topic of subjectivity and motivation within a cultural‐historical framework.     

价值和价值观:主客体的深层关系及规定

价值是在主客体相互作用中产生的 ,它既具有客观性 ,又具有主体性。人们在实践活动中必然形成一定的价值观。马克思主义价值观是正确、先进的价值观。价值观的核心问题是为什么人的问题。价值评价最重要的是确定合理的价值评价标准。鉴于社会中主体的多样性、多层次性和人的需要、利益的差别性 ,应该把有利于历史进步和人民群众的利益作为最高的价值标准。价值和真理既有区别又有联系 ,人们通过实践活动不断实现二者的统一     

论生产力的内在矛盾运动及其历史演变

生产力系统自我运动最深刻的源泉来自自身内在的矛盾运动,即主体的需要以及不断发展着的需要与客体不能完全满足主体需要的矛盾和人的天然器官功能的有限性与生产力发展要求的无限性的矛盾运动,推动了生产力由低级向高级的不断发展。     

Towards a Lacanian Group Psychology: The Prisoner's Dilemma and the Trans‐subjective

Revisiting Lacan's discussion of the puzzle of the prisoner's dilemma provides a means of elaborating a theory of the trans‐subjective. An illustration of this dilemma provides the basis for two important arguments. Firstly, that we need to grasp a logical succession of modes of subjectivity: from subjectivity to inter‐subjectivity, and from inter‐subjectivity to a form of trans‐subjective social logic. The trans‐subjective, thus conceptualized, enables forms of social objectivity that transcend the level of (inter)subjectivity, and which play a crucial role in consolidating given societal groupings. The paper advances, secondly, that various declarative and symbolic activities are important non‐psychological bases—trans‐subjective foundations—for psychological identifications of an inter‐subjective sort. These assertions link interesting to recent developments in the contemporary social psychology of interobjectivity, which likewise emphasize a type of objectivity that plays an indispensible part in co‐ordinating human relations and understanding.     

Disability,the Senses and Apparel: Design Considerations

Sensory experiences are an important but infrequently explored aspect of clothing and apparel for people living with disabilities. Clothing serves as a type of ‘gate keeper’ to the social realm, especially for people living with disabilities. Newly emerging inclusive design approaches are increasingly addressing issues of accessibility and adaptability in the built environment, and these design approaches can and should be applied to clothing and apparel. Two broad categories of interest include: (1) Overwhelming or “too much” sensation, in other words, situations in which people would like to lessen the intensity of what they feel and (2) Limited sensation, lack of sensation, or circumstances under which people crave sensory input, but are restricted from feeling due to a variety of (typically medical or neurological) reasons. The lack of suitable apparel can become a genuine barrier for people living with disabilities, exposing them to the risk of a marginalized status, preventing them from fully participating in society. These barriers illustrate how the work of anthropologists, apparel, textile and engineering design teams with knowledge of sensory issues can offer options to those seeking to regulate the type and intensity of sensory experience and make a positive impact on their daily lives.     

The influence of ‘topic and resource’ on some aspects of social theorising

Developments in sociological theory since the 1960s have been responses to disciplinary problems rather than changes in fashion. The problem of topic and resource—where sociology has to use everyday understandings and practices as study resources even though they are legitimate topics of enquiry—has been an important and sometimes neglected spur to many of these developments. The turn to discourse, conversation analysis and the rise of Bourdieu's reflexivity are all attempts to address the problem, but each is shown to be unsatisfactory in different ways. In summary, they seek to address the issue as requiring either a principled methodological or a principled theoretical solution, and neither approach is capable of comprehensively addressing the matter. It is argued that these ‘solutions’ depend, in turn, on one of two particular construals of what the ‘problem’ consists in, neither of which is necessary or coherent. Each, it is argued, depends on a philosophical trick: making language out to need formal improvement (the Bertrand Russell trick) or introducing inappropriate scepticism to everyday life (the René Descartes trick). It is suggested that treating topic and resource not as a problem but as something which opens up new areas of investigation successfully deflates the issue and avoids unnecessary theoretical and methodological contortions.     

Subjectivity in debate: Some reconstructed philosophical premises to advance its discussion in psychology

The topic of subjectivity has been treated peripherally by philosophy. It has appeared in philosophy not as a specific human phenomenon, but attached to other concepts without specifying its ontological definition, such as intersubjectivity, the place of the Other in the emergence of the self, consciousness and so forth. This paper reconstructs some of the overlooked moments and ideas of several classical philosophers, such as Marx, Dewey, Merleau Ponty, Cassirer and Foucault, in order to identify in their works important antecedents to advance a different concept of subjectivity. The concepts and questions which are raised by those philosophers and which are revived in this paper have remained overlooked both by philosophy and psychology because of the lack of any representation of subjectivity capable of making them more visible. The ontological monopoly of language and discourse in explaining all human phenomena, taken together with the critique of theoretical systems and of epistemology, has found in social constructionism its strongest expression in psychology. The value of theoretical systems in generating intelligibility about complex and configurational phenomena is recovered, along with the need to develop new epistemologies capable of generating intelligibility on such systems. Finally, I argue that a new theoretical and epistemological avenue is opened up for the development of psychological thought.     

The Flesh and the World: Intercorporeal Body-selves,Ageing and Dancing

ABSTRACT

In this paper I address the role that embodiment, embodied consciousness and what can be termed “extradiscursive” experiences such as body memory and ekstasis as a form of ecstatic experience assume in understanding the body-self of mature dancers. I argue that the body-self of the dancer becomes increasingly intersubjective in maturity through her/his bodily practice, and that this can be understood in terms of the notions of intercorporeity, and of the “flesh” derived from the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty. I argue that ways of manifestation of intercorporeity in bodily experience are discursively elusive, drawing on two forms of bodily experience—body memory and ekstasis—and examining experiences narrated by mature dancers who were interviewed in my Ph. D. study on ageing, gender and dancers' bodies. I contend that the experience of ekstasis is the “glue” of a corporeal subjectivity that transforms itself through momentary identification with the world, that calls on the invisible as well as the visible. Body memory also challenges Western dualist conceptions of consciousness and bodily experience, and is more easily aligned with Eastern understandings of consciousness as embodied. Finally, I suggest that the concept of body memory is useful for imbuing the body-subject with a cohesion and authenticity through the body's capacity for nonconscious remembrance of movement through a proprioceptively stored “body history,” which enables the constitution of a coherent body-self in older age.     

Staying on topic,changing the topic: language and gender in the 1995 Louisiana governor's race

This study examines the gendered use of topic shifting within an electoral community of practice of ten candidates for the governor of Louisiana (three female, seven male) during two political debates. Despite gender, the candidates shared the same communicative goals of building camaraderie with voters as well as distinguishing themselves from each other within these debates. Due to these shared goals, the debate context provided a type of baseline setting to explore whether or not previously established language and gender patterns, such as male communicative goals being generally competitive and female goals being generally collaborative, hold in a public forum. Overall, topic shifting has tended to be seen as a conversational control mechanism associated with competition and male patterns of speech. However, meta-topic shifting (i.e., shifting the topic from a particular educational plan to education in general) has been seen as a collaborative strategy associated with female speech. The findings on men's speech and topic shifting did not support previous research; however, the findings on women's speech and meta-topic shifting did support previous research.     

母职的想象：城市女性的产前检查、身体经验与主体性

现代医疗技术的变迁深刻地影响了城市女性的母职体验。在健康的重要性成为现代社会主要特点的情境之下,产前检查已经成为一项孕妇必须承担的健康新伦理,并形塑了孕妇独有的母职经验。本文基于作者在一座中等城市的妇幼保健院历时半年多的民族志观察所获资料和以阿霞的身体经验为个案的深度剖析,揭示了在健康话语占主导地位的医疗化社会中,城市女性是如何在产检过程中体验母职的。文章指出,医疗技术的干预使孕妇自身的身体经验被不断贬低,并屈从于医学话语的建构,而不是由女性自己言说,怀孕的身体亦被医学凝视所客体化并失去其自身的主体性,母职的体验也因此变成了一种经由现代医学健康方案所主导的想象。     

The sub-structure and subjectivity construction of social work development in China

ABSTRACT

Under the structural changes during the reform and opening-up, social work education has been re-established for 30-year in China with the efforts from different actors. It develops rapidly, and even the effects may be unbalanced. As the re-established subject and career, social work education and practice are sub-structures in nature. Their developments are affected strongly by the economic-social transformation and political system. The process is a sub-structural development. The re-establishment of social work is a process of multi-subjects construction: It is led by government policies while the government and academic groups collaborate for it. The groups of social work educators and practitioners facilitate the process. The overseas academic groups support and cooperate for it. These actors facilitate the development of social work education and profession. The social work develops the path with its characteristics. It is compatible with reform and development. The reflection on professional development is also be required.     

Visual impairment,sport and somatic work: the auditory experiences of blind and partially sighted cricket players

This article explores the auditory experiences of a group of visually impaired elite sportsmen and how their sporting participation provides an alternative way of being in team sport. Here, the focus is upon the constructed auditory structure of visually impaired cricket and how this vast, featureless sporting space is endowed with social value. Unlike previous research into the spatial experiences of relatively stable environments, this article is the first to detail how visually impaired people conceptualize and negotiate such a dynamic and fluid space. Drawing upon the concepts of somatic work, and auditory knowledge, this article establishes the participants’ rich sensuous experiences of this physical activity and how their negotiation of the dynamic sporting environment, through the active creation of unique sense-making strategies, subverts the dominant ocularcentric notion of the sporting body. Rather than blindness being reduced to a state of deficit, visually impaired cricket provides an embodied platform to celebrate the participants’ multifarious capabilities.     

New Labour, Old Functionalism: The Underlying Contradictions of Welfare Reform in the US and the UK

Through references to Hansard, official papers, Fabian pamphlets and pertinent texts from the fields of politics, sociology and social policy, this piece illustrates the similarities of thought behind the deliberations of New Labour and those of the early American functionalists and their modern-day counterparts. Examination of the rhetoric used by both parties shows that there are three main focal points of comparison. On one level there is a shared belief in the cohesive impetus of realistic 'aspiration' in a stratified society. On another, there is a mutual desire to balance individual 'rights' with communal 'responsibilities'. Finally, there is a common concern over the apperceived problem of the 'underclass' and how to deal with it. On the basis that these interrelated topics influenced social policy through the intensity of debate around them, the piece moves on to set the resultant American and British models of 'workfare' alongside the proposed 'New Deals' of New Labour. This has a threefold purpose. First, by detailing these examples the influence of the likes of Charles Murray and Lawrence Mead in future Labour policy may be observed. Second, the American association is particularly important in that the theoretical basis and practical experience of US social policy in the 1980s can act as an actual, realized example of the problems facing the proposed welfare policies of New Labour. Third, this comparison allows the piece to move on and discuss the failings of such authoritarian welfare programmes in the light of modern capitalism and modern society. In this way a conclusion on the effectiveness of New Labour and its unrealized 'New Deal' for Britain is broached.     

Contradictions and Confounds in Coverage of Obesity: Psychology Journals, Textbooks, and the Media

Although obesity is not listed as a psychiatric condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, psychologists focus on obesity in their research, clinical practice, and teaching. This article reviews the methods and outcomes of the weight loss research in psychology journal articles, and discusses some of the confounds. These studies focus on comparisons among treatment conditions rather than on the low amounts of weight lost, and do not use clinical criteria for evaluating outcome. Although improvement in physical health is viewed as the reason for weight loss programs, few studies assess physical health. There has been little concern about how weight loss participants feel when they regain weight. Furthermore, the journal peer review process does not encourage paradigm shifts. The article also discusses how the results of the weight loss research studies are covered in undergraduate psychology textbooks and how they are (mis)interpreted by the media. Recommendations for a paradigm shift in the peer review process, coverage in textbooks and the media, are offered.     

Sensing the skin: acne sufferers and the dermatologization of life

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we explore what we call the “dermatologization of life” and how it regulates the ways in which acne sufferers relate to their skin. We refer to these ways of relating to the skin as “skin sensing”. Through an analysis of the online narratives found on the website acne.org, we demonstrate how the skin sensing bound up with dermatologization both converges with and diverges from biomedical understandings of acne in three key contexts: the hormonal, the alimentary and the nocturnal. In doing so, we show that skin sensing involves a complex combination of pleasure and pain, excitement and exhaustion, and work and play. Ultimately, we suggest that the ways in which acne sufferers sense their skin open up a set of possibilities that not only disable but also enable them as they embark on the often all-consuming quest for a clear complexion.     

Common paths,divergent patterns: The social protection by other means approach in Australia and Japan

This article reports on a study of the welfare reform trajectories of two countries that are often identified in the literature as having institutional patterns of the ‘social protection by the other means’ approach. It is questioned in the article whether these two countries have undergone a converging reform trajectory against the increasing forces of economic liberalisation and whether their distinct ways of doing social policy have now come to an end. It argues that while both Australia and Japan have followed a similar neoliberal path in their social policy reform direction, the forms and patterns they have taken to follow have been distinct, largely aligned with the existing structure of social protection in each. Distinctive strategies of welfare adopted by each country have led to a divergent pattern in their way of doing social policy.     

Communication with parents in child welfare: skills, language and interaction

This paper reviews the literature on communication between professionals and parents/carers in health and social care. It notes that there is considerable research on doctor–patient communication and counselling, but much less on professionals who visit families in their homes. While there is a large literature on good practice and communication skills, there is little research on the actual encounters themselves. What counts as 'communication' in such publications is explored. The paper suggests that there is much to be gained by considering research in discourse analysis and sociolinguistics on professional–client encounters. Examples of some of the key concepts are discussed and an engagement with this literature is recommended.     

颠覆与虚无:莎剧《麦克白》与《哈姆莱特》中的主观性困境

本文通过对比莎士比亚四大悲剧中《麦克白》与《哈姆莱特》两剧主人公的性格,从主观性的角度入手,尝试分析麦克白与哈姆莱特这两个人物的性格特征及其缺陷如何造成其悲剧命运,并进一步揭示莎士比亚塑造这两个人物的现代性意义。麦克白受想象引发的欲望诱惑,犯下弑君罪行,在犯罪之后,又受同样源于想象的恐惧折磨,幻想掩盖罪行,确保安全,反而令自己的罪恶越发深重。麦克白用自己的行动不断颠覆现实,将自身放逐于自然秩序之外。哈姆莱特的困境在于,他用自己高度二元化的形而上学思维来把握世界,在自己的头脑中构建起思维与存在、本质与表象、理想与现实的对立,并在双方的对立冲突中令自己陷入虚无,从而无法完成报仇的使命。莎士比亚塑造的这两个人物,正是后来现代社会中高度主观抽象的现代人的真实写照。     

Longevity of EU membership and VAT practices: Dependencies,Contradictions And Implications

The research aimed to analyze the influence of the standard VAT rate and the number of existing rates on the efficiency of VAT collection in the old and new member states of the European Union. The Student's t-test was applied to assess the significance of the model coefficients. P-values< 0.05 provide evidence that the parameter under test is significant. The study's conclusion is that a tax system containing a small number of reduced VAT rates and one relatively low standard rate of this tax is a system that will be less exposed to danger from unscrupulous entities practicing tax fraud.     

The monamine hypothesis,placebos, and problems of theory construction in psychology and psychiatry

Can there be scientific theories in psychology, medicine or psychiatry? I approach this question through an in-depth analysis of a typical experiment for clinical depression involving the monoamine hypothesis, drug action, and placebos. I begin my discussion with a reconstruction of Adolf Grünbaum’s conceptual analysis of what a placebo is. I then use his notion of “intentional placebo” to discuss a typical experiment using the monoamine hypothesis, two drugs, and a placebo. I focus on the theoretical aspects of the experiment, especially on the notion of causal explanation. I then raise five conceptual and methodological problems for theory construction. These problems focus on questions of the causal efficacy of placebos and drugs; ad hoc versus ceteris paribus explanations in biomedicine and psychology; and the falsifiability of the monoamine hypothesis. I conclude by pointing out the need for further, rigorous philosophical analysis concerning the possibility of theory construction in psychology, medicine or psychiatry.