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E R Wallace

Publications and source records attributed to E R Wallace.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Mind-body and the future of psychiatry.

Philosophical perspectives are deeply relevant to psychiatric theorization, investigation, and practice. There is no better instance of this than the perennially vexing mind-body problem. This essay eschews reductionist, dualist, and identity-theory attempts to resolve this problem, and offers an ontology--"monistic dual-aspect interactionism"--for the biopsychosocial model. The profound clinical, scientific, and moral consequences of positions on the mind-body relation are examined. I prescribe a radically biological cure for psychiatry's--and all medicine's--chronic dogmatism and fragmentation.

Consciousness↗
PubMed1989

Pitfalls of a one-sided image of science: Adolf Grünbaum's Foundations of Psychoanalysis.

Adolf Grünbaum's (1984) The Foundations of Psychoanalysis has received extensive attention in psychoanalytic and philosophical circles. Aspects of Grünbaum's argument are reviewed and criticized. While his volume is an important contribution to the epistemological assessment of psychoanalysis, it reflects serious shortcomings in at least four areas: its treatment of the role of suggestion in the analytic enterprise, its scrutiny of the psychoanalytic genetic method, its appreciation of analytic methodology as actually practiced, and, above all, its predication on a unidimensional, positivistic vision of science. Alternative approaches to the philosophy of psychoanalysis are suggested.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

What is "truth"? Some philosophical contributions to psychiatric issues.

Philosophical perspectives, although eminently relevant to clinical investigation and practice, are rarely brought to bear on psychiatric topics. The author attempts to raise professional consciousness of core issues in the philosophy of science by examining the status of truth, theory, and observation in psychiatry. He evaluates prominent approaches to the problem of knowledge, particularly those of the "subjectivists" and "relativists," such as Schafer and Spence, and the "empiricists" and "inductivists," such as the proponents of DSM-III. Drawing on contemporary philosophy of science, the work of William James, and the classical Greek conviction that more truth resides in the middle than at either extreme, the author mediates between these rival points of view.

Humans↗
PubMed1988

Mind-body. Monistic dual aspect interactionism.

It is difficult to imagine a more perennially vexing topic to philosophers, scientists, and physicians than the mind-body problem. Recent literature bears out its continued vital interest for psychiatrists. This article briefly recapitulates the major perspectives on the problem, examines the relationship of meaning and mind to psychosocial and biological explanatory programs and to materiality, and promotes a monistic dual aspect interactionist approach to mind and body in health and illness. From this thesis conclusions are drawn in regard to the ultimate possibility of a psychiatric unitary field theory, the question of the autonomy of the psychological and biological explanatory programs, and the identity of the psychiatrist.

Holistic Health↗
PubMed1986

Determinism, possibility, and ethics.

This essay reexamines the age-old "determinism-free will" problem from a psychoanalytic perspective. The first section recapitulates the author's (1985) earlier argument on the nature of causation in psychoanalysis; the second part examines the compatibility of determinism and freedom; and the final section looks at the ethical ramifications of the issues at hand. The author exposits his adherence to universal determinism and attempts to answer the question, "What sort of possibility and ethics are permitted in a deterministic universe?"

Ethics, Professional↗
PubMed1977

The psychodynamic determinants of Moses and Monotheism.

Many writers have commented on the lack of Freud's usual level of logic and powers of persuasion in Moses and Monotheism. The majority attribute it to the significance of dynamic determinants in Freud himself--most notably, identification with Moses. Fromm (1972) says "one must assume that Freud's preoccupation with Moses was rooted in the deep unconscious identification with him" (p. 79). Unfortunately, the situation is much more complex. Although many pertinent observations have been made, what is needed is a detailed dissection of the text, a correlation with elements from Freud's personal life, and an overall psychoanalytic synthesis of the data. This paper makes a beginning in that direction, incorporating the ideas of other investigators with those of the author--but it is hoped that much more detailed analysis and biographical correlation will follow. There is a wealth of information about Freud in Moses and Monotheism and no one paper will exhaust it. In this examination no attempt will be made to evaluate Moses and Monotheism for its literary, psychohistorical, or scientific merit. The focus is on the psychodynamic determinants of Freud's essay.

Austria↗