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Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks

9 papers in the library · 16 citations · publishing 2005-2022

Papers

Harvard's Quixotic Pursuit of a New Science

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt 7 citations

Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how prominent social scientists in the 1930s, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, persuaded Harvard to create a new Department of Social Relations. This interdisciplinary department aimed to surpass economics, government, and history but ultimately failed to achieve that goal. Despite this, it attracted outstanding faculty, produced important work, and trained notable graduates. The narrative includes scandals: Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert giving psilocybin to students, and Henry Murray's traumatic experiment on Theodore Kaczynski. Central is Talcott Parsons' obsessive quest for a unified social science theory. The story serves as a cautionary tale of academic infighting, hubris, and scandal.

Contemporary Varieties of Religious Experience

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2005 Lynn Bridgers 7 citations

A book-length analysis examines how William James's 1902 classic, Varieties of Religious Experience, holds up against a century of subsequent research in neuro-cognitive science, neuro-hormonal studies, resiliency, temperament, and trauma. The author extends James's own investigative methods to assess his assertions about religious experience. The work argues that James's perspective remains extraordinarily valuable for religion, psychology, and spirituality today, offering insights for pastoral care and faith development. It traces James's evolution as a psychologist and philosopher, and the author's account is described as remarkably clear and well-documented, making a major contribution to contemporary research on religious experience in a globalized context.

Buddhist Philosophy and the Embodied Mind

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Matthew Mackenzie 2 citations

This book is the first to fully engage embodied, embedded, enactive, and extended (4E) accounts of mind with Buddhist philosophy, drawing on and integrating enactivism and Buddhist thought. It deepens the dialogue between Buddhist philosophy and 4E philosophy of mind and phenomenology, engaging core issues in the philosophy of mind through this cross-cultural exchange. Indian philosophers developed sophisticated accounts of mind, self, cognition, perception, and embodiment. As a work of cross-cultural philosophy, the book investigates mind and experience in dialogue with Indian and Western thinkers, articulating and defending a dynamic, non-substantialist, and embodied account of experience, subjectivity, and self.

7 The Final Unraveling

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt

Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how prominent mid-twentieth-century social scientists, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, persuaded Harvard to create a Department of Social Relations. Though the department failed to surpass Harvard's traditional disciplines, it produced notable scholarship and graduates. The narrative includes controversial episodes: Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert administering psilocybin to students, Henry Murray's traumatic experiment on Theodore Kaczynski, and Talcott Parsons's obsessive quest for a unified social-science theory. The account portrays academic infighting, hubris, and scandal.

6 The 1960s

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt

Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how prominent social scientists in the 1930s, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, persuaded Harvard to create a Department of Social Relations promising an interdisciplinary science surpassing economics, government, and history. The department failed that goal but produced notable faculty and graduates. Schmidt describes questionable research by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), who gave psilocybin to students, and Henry Murray, who traumatized undergraduate Theodore Kaczynski in a three-year experiment. Central is sociologist Talcott Parsons' obsessive quest for a unified theory of social sciences. The narrative portrays academic infighting, hubris, and scandal.

2 World War II Changes Everything

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt

Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how prominent social scientists in 1930s Harvard, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, persuaded the university to create a Department of Social Relations. The department aimed to surpass economics, government, and history but ultimately failed that goal. It nonetheless produced notable faculty and graduates. Schmidt details controversial research, including Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert administering psilocybin to students and Henry Murray's three-year experiment that traumatized undergraduate Theodore Kaczynski. Central is Talcott Parsons' obsessive quest for a unified social science theory. The narrative portrays academic infighting, hubris, and scandal.

8 Conclusion and Summary

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt

Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how mid-twentieth-century social scientists, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, persuaded Harvard to create a Department of Social Relations. Though the department failed to surpass economics, government, and history, it produced notable faculty and graduates. Controversies included Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert giving psilocybin to students, and Henry Murray's traumatic experiment on Theodore Kaczynski. Central is Talcott Parsons's quest for a unifying social-science theory. The narrative depicts academic infighting, hubris, and scandal.

5 The 1950s

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt

Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how mid-twentieth-century social scientists at Harvard, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, persuaded the university to create a new Department of Social Relations. Though it failed to surpass economics, government, and history as promised, the department produced influential faculty and graduates. Schmidt describes controversial episodes, including Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert giving psilocybin to students and Henry Murray's three-year experiment that traumatized undergraduate Theodore Kaczynski. Central to the story is Talcott Parsons' quest for a unified social-science theory. The narrative portrays academic infighting, hubris, and scandal.

1 Psychoanalytic Thought Arrives at Harvard

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers eBooks January 1, 2022 Patrick L. Schmidt

Patrick L. Schmidt recounts how social scientists at Harvard in the 1930s, marginalized for pursuing Freudian and Jungian theories, established a new Department of Social Relations with the goal of creating an interdisciplinary science surpassing economics, government, and history. The department failed to achieve this ambition but produced notable faculty and graduates. Schmidt describes controversial episodes, including Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert administering psilocybin to students and Henry Murray's three-year experiment that traumatized undergraduate Theodore Kaczynski. Central to the narrative is sociologist Talcott Parsons' obsessive pursuit of a unified theory for the social sciences.