Kierkegaard as Physician of the Soul: On Self-forgiveness and Despair

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon D. Podmore
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Pastoral Identity ◽  
Self Forgiveness ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Divine Forgiveness

Despair (sickness of the spirit) and divine forgiveness are decisive psychological and theological themes essential to both Søren Kierkegaard's relational vision of ‘the self before God’ and his own personal struggles with guilt and the consciousness of sin. Reading Kierkegaard as both a physician and a patient of this struggle, therefore, this article examines The Sickness unto Death (1849) as an attempt to resolve the sinful ‘self’ by integrating a psychological perspective on despair with a theology of the forgiveness of sins. It is suggested that by presenting this integrative notion of self-knowledge through the ‘higher’ Christian pseudonym of Anti-Climacus, Kierkegaard is indicting his own resistances to accepting divine forgiveness and thereby operating—via a ‘higher’ pastoral identity—as a physician to his own soul. By diagnosing the unconscious psychological and theological relationships between sin/forgiveness, offense, and human impossibility/divine possibility, Kierkegaard finally reveals faith—as a self-surrendering recognition of acceptance before the Holy Other—to be the key to unlocking the enigma of the self in despair.

Prepared for a journey into wounded communities – and into the self

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 662-679
Author(s):  
Phia van der Watt
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Support Programme ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Healing Journey ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Development Workers ◽  
Critical Aspects

Abstract Community development workers inevitably engage with communal wounding, inflicted over generations by systemic oppression and deprivation. By ignoring this complexity and focussing on surface-level activities, we can unconsciously inflict new wounds. Or, we can consciously engage with the wounds and facilitate healing. The latter implies a complex process, because a journey into the heart of community implies that the workers look into the mirror of their own lived experiences and thereby becomes a journey into the self. Careful preparation of the workers is thus critical. The complexity of in-depth work with communities receives limited recognition in the literature; with the result that there is gap in research on the deliberate and systematic preparation of workers for such work. The aim of the article is to identify critical aspects of such preparation. A family support programme in South Africa was used as case study. The article suggests the healing journey of the workers (‘start-with-self’) as the basis of the approach. Increased self-knowledge is used to guide content and facilitation and protect workers from projecting unconscious issues onto participants’ processes, conflating the different journeys and compounding the fear-to-risk. The benefits of reflection/mirroring, metaphors, integrating the insider/outsider roles and ‘healing questions’ are discussed. The mentor plays a critical role. The article concludes that communal wounds cannot be allowed to fester; instead it is possible and critical to prepare workers to engage with integrity with intergenerational wounding, thereby limiting the unconscious inflicting of new wounds to the community and the worker.

scholarly journals “Mere” Christian Forgiveness: An Ecumenical Christian Conceptualization of Forgiveness through the Lens of Stress-And-Coping Theory

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everett Worthington ◽  
Sandra Rueger ◽  
Edward Davis ◽  
Jennifer Wortham
Keyword(s):  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Psychological Perspective ◽  
Central Theme ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Coping Theory ◽  
Self Forgiveness ◽  
Divine Forgiveness ◽  
And Coping

Forgiveness is a central theme within the Christian faith, yet Christian traditions sometimes vary in how they understand and approach the forgiveness process. Nevertheless, in this paper, we present an ecumenical model of Christian forgiveness that highlights the essential components that are shared across most Christian traditions. Importantly, rather than using a theological lens to develop and describe this model, we have primarily used a psychological lens. Specifically, we have adopted stress-and-coping theory as the psychological framework for understanding a Christian conceptualization of forgiveness. We identify four types of forgiveness (divine forgiveness, self-forgiveness, person-to-person forgiveness, and organizational–societal forgiveness) and describe a Christian conceptualization of each one, filtered through the psychological perspective of stress-and-coping theory.

scholarly journals Rethinking the Perceived Self: Samples from Facebook

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-228
Author(s):  
Anita Kasabova
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
The Self ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Active Participant ◽  
The Real ◽  
Group I ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Anglo American

Abstract How the self perceives reality is a traditional topic of research across several disciplines. I examine the perceived self on Facebook, as a case-study of self-knowledge on „classical” social media. Following Blascovich & Bailenson (2011), I consider the distinction between the real and the virtual as relative. Perceptual self-knowledge, filtered through social media, requires rethinking the perceived self in terms of social reality (Neisser, 1993). This claim dovetails Jenkins’s (2013) notion of the self as an active participant in consumption. I argue that the perceived self in social media could be conceived in terms of how it would like to be perceived and appraised by its virtual audience. Using Neisser’s (1993) typology of self-knowledge and Castañeda’s (1983) theory of I-guises, I analyse seven samples from Anglo-American and Bulgarian Facebook sites and show that the perceived self produces itself online as a captivating presence with a credible story. My samples are taken from FB community pages with negligible cultural differences across an online teenage/twens (twixter) age group. I then discuss some problematic aspects of the perceived self online, as well as recent critiques of technoconsumerism.

scholarly journals SELF-KNOWLEDGE: AN IMPORTANT FACTOR FOR IMPROVING TEACHERS' EMOTIONAL RESPONSIVENESS IN LIFELONG EDUCATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Ilga Kusnere
Keyword(s):  
Personal Growth ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Self ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Lifelong Education ◽  
Educational Work ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Emotional Responsiveness ◽  
Methodological Tool ◽  
Self Knowledge

The quality of a teacher's professional activity is closely tied to personal growth. Personal growth, however, is influenced by self-knowledge (K. G. Jung 1994, 2001; Wilber 2010, 2013; Plotkin, 2020; Dispenza, 2015, 2016). Nowadays, there is a shift in the approaches of upbringing and educational work – from a child-focused approach to a child-centered one (OECD, 2019). Therefore, one of the currently relevant skills is getting to know oneself in order to cooperate more successfully with others and be able to accept real-life situations. The results obtained confirm that through the self-knowledge process, teachers get to experience their own personality growth. Categories such as empathy, attitude, and daringness are identified in personal growth.The research shows that by experiencing the procedural activities of self-knowledge with the help of “Get to know yourself!” method and methodological tool developed by the author, teachers improve their emotional responsiveness.The results of the study show that through the experiences gained in the self-knowledge process, teachers learn to integrate new models of action into their pedagogical activities. The aim of the study was to show the importance of self-knowledge in improving teachers' emotional responsiveness in lifelong education, by using the method "Get to know yourself!" developed by the author of the study.The objectives of the study were literature examination and evaluation and work with the target audience by using the author's method and methodological tool "Get to know yourself!".Methods: Literature studies, survey, observation. 

scholarly journals The self-face captures attention without consciousness: evidence from the N2pc ERP component analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Bola ◽  
Marta Paź ◽  
Łucja Doradzińska ◽  
Anna Nowicka
Keyword(s):  
Face Image ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Face Analysis ◽  
Unconscious Processing ◽  
Familiar Face ◽  
Probe Experiment ◽  
Early Processing ◽  
Own Name ◽  
Key Questions

AbstractIt is well established that stimuli representing or associated with ourselves, like our own name or an image of our own face, benefit from preferential processing. However, two key questions concerning the self-prioritization mechanism remain to be addressed. First, does it operate in an automatic manner during the early processing, or rather in a more controlled fashion at later processing stages? Second, is it specific to the self-related stimuli, or can it be activated also by other stimuli that are familiar or salient? We conducted a dot-probe experiment to investigate the mechanism behind attentional prioritization of the selfface image and to tackle both questions. The former, by employing a backwards masking procedure to isolate the early and preconscious processing stages. The latter, by investigating whether a face that becomes visually familiar due to repeated presentations is able to capture attention in a similar manner as the self-face. Analysis of the N2pc ERP component revealed that the self-face image automatically captures attention, both when processed consciously and unconsciously. In contrast, the visually familiar face did not attract attention, neither in the conscious, nor in the unconscious condition. We conclude that the selfprioritization mechanism is early and automatic, and is not triggered by a mere visual familiarity. More generally, our results provide further evidence for efficient unconscious processing of faces, and for a dissociation between attention and consciousness.

scholarly journals Kegiatan Mengenal Diri Pada Remaja di Panti Asuhan

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 230
Author(s):  
Navi Agustina Mas'udi ◽  
Ajeng Aisyah
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Elementary School ◽  
Senior High School ◽  
The Self ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Sports Skills

Masalah yang terjadi pada remaja  panti asuhan adalah kurangnya rasa percaya diri . Tujuan Kegiatan mengenal diri ini adalah untuk meningkatkan rasa percaya diri remaja di panti asuhan. Kegiatan mengenal diri dilakukan dalam 3 sesi yaitu ceramah, games/permainan dan diskusi. Sasaran Kegiatan ini adalah 20 Remaja berusia sekolah dasar sampai Sekolah menengah atas yang tinggal di Panti Asuhan Aisyiyah dan 6 remaja di Panti Asuhan Muhammadiyah. Dari pengamatan ketika acara berlangsung, peserta sangat antusias mengikuti Kegiatan mengenal diri terutama ketika dilakukan dengan metode permainan /games. Dari Kegiatan  ini seluruh  peserta menyukai pemberian materi dengan permainan, karena terjalin komunikasi dan keakraban. Dari hasil Permainan Edukatif terungkap   100% peserta mengungkapan kelebihan  diri dalam aspek psikomotorik seperti kepandaian  menyanyi dan olahraga, 60% pada aspek kognitif  seperti suka membaca dan mudah menghafal pelajaran dan 40% pada aspek afeksi  yaitu ramah, suka menolong dan peduli pada teman. Evaluasi dilakukan setelah 3 pekan. Dari hasil Evaluasi menggunakan kuisioner, 85% peserta menjawab semakin memahami makna percaya diri dan 100%   peserta memahami bagaimana menumbuhkan rasa percaya diri dengan bersyukur dan terus menggali potensi yang mereka miliki. The problem that occurs in orphanages is a lack of self-confidence. The purpose of this self-knowledge activity is to increase the self-confidence of teenagers in the orphanage. Self-knowledge activities are carried out in 3 sessions, namely lectures, games, and discussions. The target of this activity is 20 teenagers from elementary school to senior high school who live in the Aisyiyah Orphanage and 6 teenagers at the Muhammadiyah Orphanage. From observations when the event took place, participants were very enthusiastic about participating in self-knowledge activities, especially when carried out with the game method. From this activity, all participants liked providing material with games, because communication and intimacy were established. From the results of the Educational Game, it was revealed that 100% of participants expressed their strengths in psychomotor aspects such as singing and sports skills, 60% on cognitive aspects such as reading and memorizing lessons easily and 40% on affective aspects, namely friendly, helpful, and caring for friends. Evaluation was carried out after 3 weeks. From the results of the evaluation using a questionnaire, 85% of participants answered that they understood the meaning of self-confidence more and 100% of participants understood how to grow self-confidence by being grateful and continuing to explore their potential.

scholarly journals El autoconocimiento de las creencias: una objeción al método de la transparencia

2019 ◽  
pp. 429
Author(s):  
Javier Vidal
Keyword(s):  
Practical Reasoning ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Mental Life ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
First Order ◽  
Rational Deliberation ◽  
Self Knowledge

According to the method of transparency, genuine self-knowledge is the outcome of an inference from world to mind. A. Byrne (2018) has developed a theory in which the method of transparency consists in following an epistemic rule in order to form self-verifying second-order beliefs. In this paper, I argue that Byrne’s theory does not establish sufficient conditions for having self-knowledge of first-order beliefs. Examining a case of self-deception, I strive to show that following such a rule might not result in self-knowledge when one is involved in rational deliberation. In the case under consideration, one precisely comes to believe that one believes that p without coming to believe that p. The justification for one’s not forming the belief that p with its distinctive causal pattern in mental life and behaviour, is that one already had the unconscious belief that not-p, a belief that is not sensitive to the principles governing theoretical and practical reasoning.

scholarly journals Working on dreams, from neuroscience to psychotherapy

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Caviglia
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Clinical Work ◽  
The Self ◽  
Current Clinical Practice ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Psychoanalytic Approach ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Aggressive Drive ◽  
Cultural Openness

Within the current clinical practice, the debate on the use of dream is still very topical. In this article, the author suggests to address this question with a notable scientific and cultural openness that embraces either the psychoanalytic approach (classical, modern and intersubjective), and the neurophysiological assumptions and both clinical research and cognitive hypotheses. The utility of dream - in the clinical work with patients - is supported by the author with extensive bibliographic references and personal clinical insights, drawn from his experience as a psychotherapist. Results: From an analysis of recent literature on this topic, the dream assumes a very different function and position in the clinical practice: from ‘via regia to the unconscious’ of Freudian theories - an expression of repressed infantile wishes of libidinal or aggressive drive nature - it becomes the very fulcrum of the analysis, a fundamental capacity to be developed, a necessary and decisive element for the patient’s transformation. The dream can also be use with the function of thinking and mentalization, of problem solving, of adaptation, as well as an indicator of the relationship with the therapist in the analytic dialogue or of dissociated aspects of the self. Finally, the author proposes a challenging reading of the clinical relevance of dream: through listening to the dream, the clinician can help the patient to stand in the spaces of his own self in a more open and fluid way and therefore to know himself better, to regulate his affects, to think and to integrate oneself.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document