The Objectification Spectrum

"Rector introduces readers to his model by invoking a familiar story from antiquity - Plato's Allegory of the Cave - though in this case the emphasis is on how the people in the cave view the shadows as one-dimensional images (objects) without any humanity until the prisoners are lead from the cave and shown the fullness of their fellow human beings. Rector then identifies a series of dispositional and situational factors in our lives that contribute to our tendencies to objectify one another before offering some practical suggestions for transformation - beginning with ourselves and extending outward to group and community dynamics and eventually to a grander scale."--Provided by publisher.

What lies at the heart of humanity's capacity for evil? Any tenable answer to this age-old question must include an explanation of our penchant for objectifying and dehumanizing our fellow human beings. The Objectification Spectrum: Understanding and Transcending Our Diminishment and Dehumanization of Others draws upon timeless wisdom to propose a new model of objectification. Rather than offering a narrow definition of the term, the author explores objectification as a spectrum of misapprehension running from its mildest form, casual indifference, to its most extreme manifestation, dehumanization. Using vivid examples to clearly demarcate three primary levels of objectification, the author engages in a thoughtful exploration of various dispositional and situational factors contributing to this uniquely human phenomenon. These include narcissism, the ego, death denial, toxic situations, and our perceived boundaries of self, among others. Rector then gives us reason to hope by orienting his model of objectification into a broader continuum of human capability--one that includes a countervailing enlightenment spectrum. Gleaning insights from classic philosophy, the world's five most prominent religious traditions, and current social science research, he examines the best antidotes humankind has devised thus far to move us from casual concern for our fellow human beings toward interconnectedness and, ultimately, unity consciousness. Broad in scope and deeply penetrating, The Objectification Spectrum advances the conversation about the nature of human evil into personally relevant, potentially transformative territory.

Spiritual Healing from Sexual Violence: An Intersectional Guide is a collection of essays from survivors, scholars, activists, spiritual leaders, and social justice practitioners that offers numerous intersectional and culturally competent options for women, men, and non-binary conforming adults to create their own safe healing conditions and establish pathways for recovery. These chapters provide a wide range of survival stories that raise awareness of the issues involved in healing after sexual assault and also provide inspiration for reforming negative societal issues and patterns. In a classroom setting, these chapters deliver both the culturally grounded knowledge and the skillsets necessary for recovery. This is a vital guide for students and practitioners in counseling, social work, theology, and gender studies.

This book addresses both the potential negative effects and the positive effects of various forms of media, leading to the need for media literacy across all demographics. Written for psychologists, educators, researchers, and parents, this book discusses the impact of video games, popular music, television, social media and screen addiction, fake news and misinformation, representation in media, as well as the role of big tech in the lives of consumers. The text emphasises the need for a healthy media diet and focuses on the need for media literacy in all societal groups, providing empirically based approaches to teaching media literacy as well as sample media literacy lesson plans.

Readers of Implication will come away convinced that all art—regardless of historical period, context, genre, or medium—has an ecological connection to the world in which it was created Ecocriticism is an interdisciplinary mode of inquiry that examines the environmental significance of art, literature, and other creative endeavors. In Implication: An Ecocritical Dictionary for Art History, Alan C. Braddock, a pioneer in art historical ecocriticism, presents a fascinating group of key terms and case studies to demonstrate that all art is ecological in its interconnectedness with the world. The book adopts a dictionary-style format, although not in a conventional sense. Drawing inspiration from French surrealist writer Georges Bataille, this dictionary presents carefully selected words that link art history to the environmental humanities—not only ecocriticism, but also environmental history, science, politics, and critical animal studies. A wide array of creative works from different cultures and time periods reveal the import of these terms and the inescapable entanglement of art with ecology. Ancient Roman mosaics, Song dynasty Taihu rocks, a Tlaxcalan lienzo, early modern European engravings and altarpieces, a Kongo dibondo, nineteenth-century landscape paintings by African American artist Edward Mitchell Bannister, French Impressionist urban scenes, and contemporary activist art, among other works, here disclose the intrinsic ecological conditions of art.

Paths Between Head and Heart provides an accessible but comprehensive account of how science and spirituality relate, not as enemies, but as partners in the quest for a truth that is greater than either one can understand alone. While many books have been written on science and religion, not many have looked at how spirituality and science exist as complementary parts of a larger whole, and how they relate specifically to the transitional challenges that define our era. '...explains the paradox of the unity of science and spirituality. Oliver Robinson shows that these two ways of looking at the world, so often seen as opposing forces, actually come from the same source...' Jennifer Kavanagh, author of The World is Our Cloister

Psychiatry Reborn: Biopsychosocial Psychiatry in Modern Medicine is a comprehensive collection of essays by leading experts in the field, and provides a timely reassessment of the biopsychosocial approach in psychiatry. Spanning the sciences and philosophy of psychiatry, the essays offer complementary perspectives on the ever more urgent importance of the biopsychosocial approach to modern medicine. The collection brings together ideas from the series of Loebel Lectures by world leaders in the field of psychiatry and associated Workshops at the University of Oxford, including revised versions of the Lectures themselves, and a wide range of related commentaries and position pieces. With contributions from psychiatry, psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, the book provides the most comprehensive account to date of the interplay between biological, psychological, and social factors in mental health and their ethical dimensions. The 23 chapters of this multi-authored book review the history and place of the biopsychosocial model in medicine, and explore its strengths and shortcomings. In particular, it considers how understanding this interplay might lead to more effective treatments for mental health disorders, as developments in genomic and neurobiological medicine challenge traditional conceptions and approaches to the research and treatment of mental health disorders. The book explores the challenges and rewards of developing diagnostic tools and clinical interventions that take account of the inextricably intertwined bio-psycho-social domains, and the ethical implications of the conceptualization. It concludes with chapters drawing together the book's range of expertise to propose a best conception of the model, and how it might be adopted going forward in an age of exponentially increasing technological advances and of integrated/collaborative care. The volume is intended to present the BPS model as it stands today in the academy, the lab, and the clinic, and to start to address the challenges and potential that the model has for each.

In Natural Communication kritisiert der Autor das derzeitige Paradigma der Komplexitätswissenschaften, die Ziele immer spezifisch in den Blick nimmt. Er schlägt eine Alternative vor, die eine grundlegende Architektur der Kommunikation vorstellt. Sein Modell der „natürlichen Kommunikation" schließt moderne theoretische Konzepte aus Mathematik und Physik mit ein, insbesondere der Kategorietheorie und der Quantenmechanik. Er abstrahiert daraus präzise Grundbegriffe, die zu einer terminologischen Basis dieser Theorie führen und die Möglichkeit eröffnen, mit Komplexität neu umzugehen. Der Autor ist davon überzeugt, dass es nur durch einen Blick in die Vergangenheit möglich ist, eine Kontinuität und Kohärenz in unserer gegenwärtigen Denkweise herzustellen, insbesondere in Bezug auf die Komplexität.