The Healthy-Mindedness and the Sick-Soul Distinction
Healthy-mindedness and its relations to religion is a popular topic in the novel “The Varieties of the Religious Experience” by William James. The religion of the healthy-mindedness comes into light in the fourth and fifth lecture where James describes the healthy minded individuals as having a thought process that minimizes or sometimes ignores the evil of existence. James does not seem to agree with the healthy-minded ways but he does dissect them for the reader. James does a great job at showing individuals in their bare religious states. The Healthy-mindedness is only one type of individual James discovers and projects in this way. James indicates that the sick soul individuals are very much too aware of the evil in existence. In James's mind these sick-soul individuals are far better off than the healthy-minded. This may be due to the sick soul being better at coping with devastating life experiences than the healthy-minded. For example a healthy-minded individual who has a diseased relative is either forced to face death and may not be able to handle the loss, or try to keep it out of their mind.
The healthy-minded could be labeled as optimistic, happy, and hopeful. However like mentioned earlier these individuals can ignore evil. James makes this clear in this passage, “When happiness is actually in possession, the thought of evil can no more acquire the feeling of reality than the thought of good can gain reality when melancholy rules. To the man actively happy, from whatever cause, evil simply cannot then and there be believed in. He must ignore it; and to the bystander he may then seem perversely to shut his eyes to it and hush it up.”(p.88) This behavior could b...
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...thy-minded individuals, what advantage and disadvantage qualities do they both have from a psychology point of view.
Trying to understand the healthy minded and its implications on the individual in a healthy way is important to understand the thoughts of individuals and how they can either be manipulated or changed. These thoughts can cause a individual a significant amount of harm and frustration throughout their lives. It is in a psychologist best interest to research and understand these thoughts and behaviors and use the most strategic way of changing them. This is a very good way of understanding some of these thoughts processes that individuals go through and change as they grow and adapt to the world. If there are better ways of thinking and if they can be helped it is a psychologist duty to try and implement it into society for us to be better as a whole.
Additionally, Humanistic Psychology studies how people value themselves. Today’s Psychologists are often faced with problems when diagnosing patients, and utilizing a Humanistic approach to their prognosis facilitates a more broad study of what may be occurring. Taking a step back, Jake is having a tough time with his classes; his classes are now more difficult than before, and they might be affecting how Jake perceives his own values. I.e. because Jake feels more nervous, he could be losing his sense of control, which goes against his personal growth and affects his values and image of himself. Applying the humanistic approach to Jake, his fulfillment as a student is his personal growth. However as the difficulty of his classes increase, so does his own personal perception on how much he is growing. For Jake, realizing that he’s not suited for a particular difficult class is upsetting and induces anxiety. Modern day Psychologists would concur because Jake is feeling less valued and lacking a proper humanistic view of himself, he is feeling uncomfortable, and thus more
The principle of credulity, the will to believe and the role of rationality and evidence all play crucial roles while attempting to explain religious experience. The principle of credulity states that religious experiences should be taken at their face value when we have no positive reason to doubt them. William James' The will to believe suggests that perhaps proof, rationality, and scientific investigation are not the appropriate or relevant methods for deciding issues raised by religious experience. Lastly, religious experience claims direct and immediate awareness that is not dependent on direct sense experience or on reason. We will take a closer look at each of these principles as illustrated by William James and Soren Kierkegaard, to see how these concepts effect our views of religious experience.
For over a century, marijuana has been illegal in the United States and in a lot of cases it remains prohibited because it has been prohibited for so long. Laws in California and Colorado are currently popular in the media because they are legalizing and taxing marijuana production and distribution. After adding sales and excise taxes to the sales price in these states, consumers are purchasing marijuana legally for a lower price than its black market price. Revenue gained from taxes in these states is being put towards such things as education and regulation of the substance. The responsible disbursing of marijuana tax is being exemplified in California and Colorado. Be that as it may, people continue to argue against legalizing and taxing marijuana for such reasons as its negative health effects, the ability of individuals to evade taxes on cannabis, and its legalization spreading to other states. Those opposed to changing marijuana laws stand firm in their beliefs that spending tax dollars on incarcerating and policing marijuana users and distributors is beneficial to society. In turn, the current state of affairs remains unchanged, funneling billions of untaxed dollars in to the black market each year. If marijuana were legalized, the black market would see no other outcome than losing that capital to its competitor, state governments and hopefully the federal government as well. The theory that collecting taxes on marijuana, otherwise purchased untaxed through the black market, boosts state economies more than spending tax revenues on policing it as an illegal substance is a difficult theory to disprove.
An individual’s imagination of an object or place can change how they perceive the world around them. Karen Armstrong in her essay “Homo Religiosus” talks about how “a poem, a play, or indeed, a great painting has the power to change our perception in ways that we may not be able to explain logically but that seem incontestably true” (25), which is implying that it is definitely possible to change our false, impractical perceptions into accurate, practical perceptions. Daniel Gilbert extends on this idea by discussing how in order for positive views to actually be valid “they must be based on facts that we believe we have come upon honestly” (135). To what extent does an individual need to experience various situations in order to gain several perspectives of one thing? To what extent do we need to change in order to obtain a different perspective compared to someone else? An individual’s outcome from various events in their life causes them to create either an optimistic or pessimistic response to the event “by unconsciously cooking the facts and then consciously consuming them” (135). In the essays “Homo Religiosus” by Karen Armstrong and “Immune to Reality” by Daniel Gilbert, both authors discuss how change in an individual’s life by means of the psychological immune system, their emotions, and their interpretations can provide them with different perceptions which is beneficial to having an abundance of knowledge.
Religion is something that also keeps people divided and as people we cannot advance while being divided. As humans we are divided by many things, such as religion and racism. Psychology is also a house divided however psychologists tend to agree more often than people of different race or religion. Psychology is defined as a rigorous discipline that tests assumptions bringing scientific data to bear on the questions of central interest to human beings (Gravetter & Forzano, 2012; Stanovich, 2010). At the core of scientific approach also known as psychology or four attitudes the first is critical thinking the second is curiosity 3rd skeptism and the final is objectivity. Thinking is the process of thinking deeply and actively asking questions and evaluating the evidence (Bonney & Sternberg, 2011). Because critical thinking reduces likelihood that conclusions will be based on unreliable personal beliefs opinions and emotions there is no room for critical thinking in
Healthism distorts a person’s worldview to a point where rational thought diminishes. Ehrenreich discloses a story of a friend’s sister’s struggle with cancer. Her “…friend confided ‘I’m sure she’s been working out.’ Not quite enough was the implication, however, despite even the frailest connection between fibroids and muscle tone” (Ehrenreich, 2003, p.349). This example shows how healthism flaws one’s reasoning. Healthism alters Ehrenreich’s friend’s worldview to where she makes connections that do not exist. Lastly, healthism is impossible to live out in full. Ehrenreich concludes that “If we believe that health is a sign of moral purity and anything less is a species of sin, then death condemns us all as failures” (2003, p.350) Mistaking moral purity for health produces healthism. If healthism becomes prominent in one’s worldview, it develops into a lens that one understands the world through. Since death is inevitable, striving for health instead of morality will leave one with a distorted view of his/her accomplishments at the end. Healthism will overcome one’s rational thoughts and warp one’s
Molitior Nancy “The 411 on Clinical Psychologists: Here’s the Truth” Your mind your body. 20 Nov 2009. Web. 14 Feb 2014
Humanistic psychology relies on client centred therapy and the idea that each individual has the potential to achieve a position in their psyche named self actualisation. Humanistic psychology differs from psychodynamic theory in that it is optimistic about the human psyche and does not view conflict as inevitable. Humanistic psychology assumes people attach meaning to their unique perspectives on the world and that behaviour is strongly influenced by this. Carl Rogers defined the healthy personality as being one that had congruence between the perceived self and the experienced self and that the individual in question experienced unconditional positive regard from their parent or guardian. He defined an unhealthy personality as being one which lacked these components. Abraham Maslow alternatively suggested a hierarchy for which a person’s healthy personality could be measured by stages of psychological and physical needs (see diagram 2). He suggested that, for a person to achieve self actualisation and become a fully functioning person, they must first satisfy all the needs of each level in the pyramid before moving onto the next
Making rational assumptions about the human behavior is important because it guides people about how to predict, understand, explain, and control behavior (Psychology Today). In other words, an individual trained in the field of psychology gains huge insight about the human behavior. Consequently, she/he can interpret certain behaviors and detect the problematic ones. In fact, this is the main principle of psychology. I personally enjoy my knowledge on psychology to regulate my personal relationships through predicting, understanding, explaining and rarely controlling the behaviors of others. For example, when I used to work as a tutor for middle school children, regulating their behavior often allowed me to connect them on a different emotional level. I was able to help my students to focus on schoolwork without making them feel overwhelmed. Considering these reasons, it would be accurate to state that learning about psychology is really helpful in terms of making rational assumptions about the human
In conclusion The Legalization of Marijuana would benefit the U.S government and it would be more effective in controlling the drug usage. The prohibition of Marijuana has only been costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year and it hasn’t benefited the Economy. The Education and treatment would be the effective way to address Marijuana problems, whereas The Legalization of Marijuana would benefit and boost our economy especially during this economic recession; therefore the Legalization of Marijuana may be the beginning United States Economy re-form; due to the fact that Marijuana Legalization would help subsidize our Economy.
The legalization of marijuana will have a huge impact on the economics of the United States to the point that I feel that government will assist in the continuation of these companies. If it is passed in the government the selling of marijuana could generate millions of dollars in tax revenue. Colorado is the latest state that has approved the selling of marijuana for recreational use. This topic has been tossed around by the officials for years now. Legislators in Colorado have “consider excise and sales taxes on marijuana of up to 30 percent combined” (Frosch, 2013). With the rapidly growing market and marijuana industry rules and regulations had to be put into place. Even this tax charge needs to be implemented and enforced. “These taxes are set high enough to finance the administration of new laws, but not so high that customers are driven back to the black market” (Frosch, 2013). There are many financial benefits as a state can help pay for the enforcement and other fundamental issues. One bad thing about taxing so high is that you can simply crowd out the regulated market. It is important to find the right balan...
According to Rene Dubos in his book, So Human an Animal, Dubos defined health as “a quality of life, involving social, emotional, mental, spiritual, and biological fitness on the part of the individual, which results from adaptations to the environment.” This conception of health has changed my overall understanding of how I, therefore, perceive health. Many people when talking about health consider the condition of their physiques and overlook the condition of their minds. However, health is not only about enhancing one’s physical aspects of health, but it also means being healthy in mind as well. An unhealthy mind result in a damaging body. Excellent mental health helps us make the most of life and enjoy it.
This psychology perspective emphasizes individuals ' inherent drive towards self-actualization, the process of realizing and expressing one 's own capabilities and creativity. It helps the client gain the belief that all people are inherently good. It adopts a holistic approach to human existence and pays special attention to such phenomena as creativity, free will, and positive human potential. It encourages viewing ourselves as a "whole person" greater than the sum of our parts and encourages self exploration rather than the study of behavior in other people. Humanistic psychology acknowledges spiritual aspiration as an integral part of the human psyche. It is linked to the emerging field of transpersonal psychology. As per usual, there are advantages and limitations to this particular theory. One of the greatest strengths of humanistic psychology is that it emphasizes individual choice and responsibility. Humanistic psychology satisfies most people 's idea of what being human means because it values personal ideals and self-fulfillment. Finally, humanistic psychology provides researchers with a flexible framework for observing human behavior because it considers a person in the context of his environment and in conjunction with his personal perceptions and feelings. As with any viewpoint, humanistic psychology has its critics. One major criticism of humanistic psychology is that its concepts are too vague. Critics
“Arresting people for marijuana possession costs the United States between $1.19 billion and $6.03 billion annually” (Wegman). “These costs include police, judicial, legal, and corrections expenses. Incarcerating marijuana offenders costs the United States an estimated $600 million per year” (Wegmen). Less tax payer money would be going into prisons and jails, which benefits the state. The amount of money that the state uses to put people in prison or jail for marijuana possessions is outrages. “ Marijuana legalization in Washington significantly freed up law enforcement resources; marijuana possession arrests dropped from 5,531 the year before legalization to 120 the year after” (Becket). “Howard Wooldridge, a former police detective from Michigan who co-founded LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), said, ‘Marijuana prohibition is a horrible waste of good police time. Every hour spent looking for pot reduces public safety’” (Lee). Instead of arresting people for marijuana, police officers could focus on serious crimes including rape, assault and homicide. The state would be able to save countless amounts of tax payer money making the tax cost go down plus prisons are for criminals not lazy pot
Several states have allowed the sale of cannabis for medicinal purposes, but only two have done so for recreational purposes. In 2007 the U.S. Government made approximately six million dollars in tax revenue from the sale of alcohol. If marijuana was to be legalized in every state, it is estimated that the government could generate an additional 10 billion to 120 billion dollars a year. Alcohol can only be consumed in a limited amount of ways and only serves one purpose, but there are numerous possibilities for the manufacturing of cannabis. The plant is unique because it can be used to make products such as paper, rope, and clothing. One of the reasons people who oppose cannabis and alcohol do so, is because the use of the substances by minors . They are overlooking one obvious fact; minors have always found ways to consume marijuana and alcohol, regardless of restrictions. In Colorado, a pioneering state for cannabis legalization, it was found that the teen use marijuana decreased once recreational use became regulated. Alcohol and cannabis can be sold in the same manner, so they both have the potential to positively affect the economy. Both can also be illegally sold. Marijuana is generally sold in an underground black market and home made alcohol, called moonshine, is sold in a similar fashion. The ATF and DEA both serve as forces to regulate this illegal sale. If laws pertaining to