The human image in postmodern America.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rychlak, Joseph F., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human behavior.

Imagery (Psychology).

Postmodernism.

Psychology.

Behavior.

Medical Subjects:

Behavior.

Postmodernism.

Psychology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Other Title:

APA PsycBOOKS.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 2003.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

This book is a thought-provoking critique of the basic premises underlying the explanations of human behavior frequently offered by psychologists. Despite its avowed shift away from behavioristic ways of thinking, psychology today, according to Rychlak, is essentially mechanistic. But while biological and automatic processes clearly have vital uses, they are unable to fully account for such phenomena as free will and agency--the very qualities that make us human. Rychlak has written a short, accessible book, analyzing an impressive range of social and cultural issues such as personal responsibility, individualism and collectivism, autonomy, anti-authoritarianism, postmodernism, racism, and political correctness. In each case he demonstrates the teleological or nonmechanical nature of our behavior in real-life situations. While this is not a "how-to" book in the usual sense of the word, its author does suggest that only when we come to understand what it really means to be human can we resolve the most pressing issues of our times. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)

Contents:

Chapter 1. Being Human Collectively and Individually 3

Basic Concepts to Begin With 3

Sorting Out Individual and Collective Processing 9

An Example Lifestyle 11

Human Agency via Dialectical Reasoning 13

Chapter 2. Personality Theorizing as Describing Individuals or Collectives 17

Psychoanalyzing Individuals 18

Behaviorism: Forgoing the Individual 24

From Individual to Collective Theorizing 28

Chapter 3. Collective Theorizing in the Third Millennium 33

The Emergence of Postindustrial Society 34

Postmodernism 36

Social Constructionism 40

Class Identities and the Marxian Argument 42

Society Is Process and Culture Is Content 45

Relativism and Evaluation in Reasoning 46

Chapter 4. A Missing Link in the Human Image 51

The Computer Model: Strengths and Limitations 52

Computer Explanation of Free Will 54

Overlooking Dialectical Reasoning 56

Existentialism, Oppositionality, and Behaviors That Shock or Invite Bigotry 62

Oppositionality and Levels of Consciousness 64

A Needed Change in the Human Image 66

Chapter 5. The Self Takes Over 69

Self and Self-Reflexivity 69

Self-Esteem 70

Personal Responsibility Through Autonomy 73

Politically Correcting Responsibility 74

The Myth of Individualism 75

Morality, Authoritophobia, and the Authority Within 77

Autonomy and the Political Spectrum 78

Homelessness as Autonomous Living 80

Chapter 6. Biology and Behavior 83

Brain Structure: Some Facts 84

Imaging Brain Function 87

Genes, DNA, and Choice 89

Emotions of Love and Lust in Our Time 90

Addiction 92

Racism 95

Chapter 7. Values at Every Turn 103

Values and Virtues 103

Receiving Versus Conceiving Values 106

Religious Values 107

Politics 109

Culture as Multi- and Relative 114

Confronting a "Left-Wing Conspiracy" in Academia? 119

Chapter 8. The Human Image in Postmodern America 125

Collective Versus Individual Thinking 126

The Postindustrial or Postmodern Person 127

The Postmodern Family 128

Postmodernism as Individualism or Collectivism 132

The Role of Opposition in the Postmodern Image of Humanity 134

The Challenge of Relativism 135

What Is the Basic Function of Relativism? 138

The Defeat of Blind Relativism 139

The Imperfect Human Image 141.

Notes:

Electronic reproduction. Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association, 2003. Available via the World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement. s2003 dcunns.

ISBN:

1557989869

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.