Archive for February, 2010

Opposite extremes in psychotherapy?

I’ve both studied and experienced psychodynamic psychotherapy (“talking therapy”, like psychoanalysis) so I’m very interested in the fact that it’s gaining a good evidence base at last. Similarly, having experienced psychedelic drugs, I was interested to read that they are again being considered for therapeutic use. (This is the first time that I’ve publicly owned [...]

February 27, 2010   Posted in: announcements  No Comments

Meta-philosophy

I’ve been reading up on information, again (John Collier’s Intrinsic Information), which has nothing to do with what I’m supposed to be studying, and, probably as a consequence, thinking deep thoughts about my future in philosophy, and whether I really want to do a PhD (and if not, whether I still have reason to complete [...]

February 26, 2010   Posted in: announcements  2 Comments

Second Annual Online Consciousness Conference

This might seem a bit gimmicky (or maybe I’m just behind the times—I certainly am as regards this announcement) but some big names are taking part.

February 23, 2010   Posted in: announcements, consciousness, philosophy  No Comments

Effects of media violence ignored by media?

I’ve been reading a paper by Susan Hurley (@Wikipedia), a philosopher who sadly died a couple of years ago aged only 53, for a university course. The title is “By-passing conscious control: imitation, media violence and freedom of speech.” (In S Pockett et al, Does Consciousness Cause Behaviour, MIT Press. I might be doing an [...]

February 16, 2010   Posted in: philosophy, politics, psychology  No Comments

My study plans

After much cogitation, mainly about PhD possibilities, but also (very briefly) about whether I even want to complete the MSc, yesterday I reached some firm conclusions, which I’m publicising to confirm my commitment to them (ie for my own benefit even if nobody else is interested, which is entirely possible). The main development yesterday was [...]

February 13, 2010   Posted in: announcements, Dennett, information, philosophy  No Comments