Conscious Individual Research Articles

Pedagogical Legacy of K. D. Ushynskyi as a Factor of State and Nation Building

In the article, on the basis of a critical systematic analysis of historical and pedagogical sources, retrospective and modern socio-humanitarian studies, an attempt is made to highlight the important components of the scientific and pedagogical legacy of K. D. Ushynskyi in the context of Ukrainian and European identity and the deepening of European integration processes. The ideas and principles of dialectics, systematic, interdisciplinary approaches to pedagogical and sociocultural phenomena, and processes of retrospective and modern Ukrainian reality were used as methodological tools in the study.An important component of the cultural and historical legacy of Ukraine is the creative legacy of an outstanding educator of the second half of the 19th century. Konstantin Ushynskyi. It was the Ukrainian K. Ushynskyi who became the founder of scientific pedagogy and folk schools in the imperial era (19th – early 20th centuries). The theoretical basis of his own innovative pedagogical concept became the properly substantiated and practically implemented idea of nationhood, which involved the education of a politically conscious individual, a patriot, and a citizen in a state that is national in form and content. The educational and scientific legacy of the coruphaeus of Ukrainian pedagogy covers all the most important issues of pedagogical knowledge, in particular the forms and methods of teaching and upbringing, the theory and practice of developmental education, the problems of national-patriotic, moral, labour, and family education, and the education of women.The fruitful ideas of Konstantin Dmytrovych had a significant impact on the formation and development of Ukrainian pedagogy and socio-humanitarian studies. Relying on his considerable scientific authority, the domestic professional public, in the conditions of the ban and persecution of Ukrainian education and culture, chose the right of their own people to a national school and to the formation of a modern Ukrainian political nation. The multifaceted, intellectually powerful pedagogical legacy of the classics of Ukrainian pedagogy belongs to the treasury of European culture and therefore should become a matter of national pride for Ukrainians. Modern researchers should give a comprehensive, unbiased, and balanced assessment of the place and role of Konstantin Dmytrovych Ushynskyi in the development of modern pedagogical and psychological science, his deep innovative works as an important component of the multifaceted cultural and historical heritage of both Ukraine and Europe.

Concepts and Interrelationships of Awareness, Consciousness, Sentience, and Welfare

Concept definitions applicable to human and non-human animals should be usable for both. Awareness is a state during which concepts of environment, self, and self in relation to environment result from complex brain analysis of sensory stimuli or constructs based on memory. There are several proposed categories of awareness. The widespread usage of the term conscious is 'not unconscious' so a conscious individual is an individual that has the capability to perceive and respond to sensory stimuli. It is confusing and scientifically undesirable if conscious is also used to mean aware. Hence it is proposed that conscious should be used only as above. Fully functioning and adequately developed humans and members of many other animal species are sentient. Sentience means having the capacity, the level of awareness and cognitive ability, necessary to have feelings. The welfare of an individual is its state as regards its attempts to cope with its environment. This includes feelings, which are important coping mechanisms, and health. Since feelings involve awareness, there is overlap between welfare assessment and awareness assessment. Methods for assessing awareness, consciousness, sentience, and welfare and links to morality are briefly discussed.

Comparisons, numbers and nations: exploring national policy responses to international data via a postfoundational imagining of the policymaker

ABSTRACT The article seeks to refine two central concepts in scholarly accounts of national policy responses to international data: ‘selectivity’ and ‘instrumentalisation’. It does so by broadening, firstly, the empirical focus of research to include forms of international data other than the performance data of global learning metrics and international large-scale assessments, and secondly, its case-studies focus to embrace the Republic of Cyprus as an understudied and uniquely situated case within international power structures, but mostly, by reimagining the national policymaker as a postmodern subjectivity rather than a sovereign, fully cogitative and conscious individual. From this theoretical point of view, selectivity is conceptualised as an unintended consequence of the ambivalent attitudes of policymakers towards comparison and numbers, while instrumentalisation as a frequently problematic and ambiguous praxis. To test these two arguments, the article analyses why and how and to what extent statistical averages of teaching time allocations to curriculum subjects from EU and OECD countries are valued and integrated into the 2015 school timetables reform initiative of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus.

Individuals as Gatekeepers Against Data Misuse

This article makes a case for treating individual data subjects as gatekeepers against misuse of personal data. Imposing gatekeeper responsibility on individuals is most useful where (a) the primary wrongdoers engage in data misuse intentionally or recklessly; (b) misuse of personal data is likely to lead to serious harm; and (c) one or more individuals are able to detect and prevent data misuse at a reasonable cost. As gatekeepers, individuals should have a legal duty to take reasonable measures to prevent data misuse where they are aware of facts indicating that the person seeking personal data from them is highly likely to misuse it or to facilitate its misuse. Recognizing a legal duty to prevent data misuse provides a framework for determining the boundaries of appropriate behavior when dealing with personal data that people have legally acquired. It does not, however, abrogate the need to impose gatekeeping obligations on big technology companies. In addition, individuals should also owe a social duty to protect the personal data in their possession. Whether individuals have sufficient incentive to protect their personal data in a particular situation depends not only on the cost of the relevant security measures, but also on their expectation of the security decisions made by others who also possess that data. Even a privacy conscious individual would have little incentive to invest in privacy protective measures if he believes that his personal data is possessed by a sufficiently large number of persons who do not invest in such measures. On the flip side, an individual’s decision to protect his personal data generates positive externalities—it incentivizes others to invest in security measures. As such, promoting the norm of data security is likely to lead to a self-reinforcing virtuous cycle which helps improve the level of data security in a given community.

Human biography – the arena of democratic negotiations

The subject-matter of this paper is an attempt to outline the type of relationship that exists between democracy and the autonomous and responsible individual as a necessary pre-con dition for a real and genuine community. The author’s reflections are focused around the idea that onlya conscious, inner-directed and mature individual can guarantee a solid foundation for the rules and practice of democracy and that human biography is the actual arena of democratic negotiations constantly being undertaken.

Biografia człowieka – arena demokratycznych negocjacji

The subject-matter of this paper is an attempt to outline the type of relationship that exists between democracy and the autonomous and responsible individual as a necessary pre-condition for a real and genuine community. The author’s reflections are focused around the idea that onlya conscious, inner-directed and mature individual can guarantee a solid foundation for the rules and practice of democracy and that human biography is the actual arena of democratic negotiations constantly being undertaken.

Notas latinoamericanas para una filosofía política materialista de los derechos

Desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX la teoría social y la filosofía han desarrollado, desde perspectivas muy diversas, una crítica al sujeto soberano que encuentra en el sujeto de derechos su matriz paradigmática. El supuesto de un individuo libre y consciente, propietario de sí mismo y moralmente autónomo, se encuentra presente como premisa teórica y práctica casi exclusivamente en la esfera del derecho. Esfera que, lejos de ser restricta, se encuentra integrada a la vida social y cultural, a la política y sus instituciones. Último gran pilar de la modernidad occidental, no se mantiene incólume teóricamente, pero se sostiene como única “condición de posibilidad” para pensar un orden social racional, que, por otra parte, parece desmoronarse en procesos multicausales cada vez más acelerados.

ВРАХУВАННЯ СУЧАСНИХ ТЕНДЕНЦІЙ ПЕДАГОГІЧНОЇ ОСВІТИ В СОЦІАЛЬНО-ПСИХОЛОГІЧНОМУ СУПРОВОДІ ПРОФЕСІЙНОГО СТАНОВЛЕННЯ МАЙБУТНІХ ФАХІВЦІВ

On the basis of theoretical analysis of research the paper determines the peculiarities of social and psychological support to future specialist’s professional development in the process of professional maturity during their training at the higher educational establishments. Modern society increasingly requires creative personality, capable for a high level of adaptation and self-realization. Such personality can create their future, their way, set clear tasks for self-improvement and self-education. Psychic self-regulation is realized in its combination of energetic, dynamic, social and semantic aspects. As a conscious individual, the person is responsible for the consequences of their own choices and actions.The creativity is a characteristic feature of a creative person, capable to fulfill their potential with their own initiative and with a choice of appropriate methods. There are such components of the creative personality as motivational, intellectual, emotional and communicative. For their development it’s necessary to expand the role space of each student and to include him in a variety of activities that provide creative fulfillment and create the experience of social relations.It’s necessary to change social and psychological support of the educational process, to focus it on the development of creative environment in the educational institution. Effective means of such support is the psychological training, one of the most important functions of which is to reduce uncertainty and entropy (the amount of energy that has become available to make social change and social progress). There is a special role of humanitarian disciplines in this aspect. The combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills makes the contents of the psychological training. It is the essential resource for the living environment of a person involved in professional (educational) activities.Background of socio-psychological support combines four functions: diagnosis of the problem which has arisen; information on the nature of the problem and ways of its solution; consultations during decision-making process and strategy development the problem solving; primary care at the stage of realization of plan.A person does not automatically turn from one activity to another but doing it deliberately, taking into account the social situation, the importance of the fulfilled operations, the possible results of the actions. The main purpose of social and psychological support to the educational process at the university is a person’s fully realization assistance in the professional (academic) field. The sense of social and psychological support is to teach people to solve their problems independently. Updating the cognitive dissonance between the values of training in high school and future professional activities in the controlled conditions of social and psychological support to the educational process, namely the teaching humanities disciplines, will serve as the foundation of the formation process of individual and psychological adaptation of the students to professional crises.

ВРАХУВАННЯ СУЧАСНИХ ТЕНДЕНЦІЙ ПЕДАГОГІЧНОЇ ОСВІТИ В СОЦІАЛЬНО-ПСИХОЛОГІЧНОМУ СУПРОВОДІ ПРОФЕСІЙНОГО СТАНОВЛЕННЯ МАЙБУТНІХ ФАХІВЦІВ

On the basis of theoretical analysis of research the paper determines the peculiarities of social and psychological support to future specialist’s professional development in the process of professional maturity during their training at the higher educational establishments. Modern society increasingly requires creative personality, capable for a high level of adaptation and self-realization. Such personality can create their future, their way, set clear tasks for self-improvement and self-education. Psychic self-regulation is realized in its combination of energetic, dynamic, social and semantic aspects. As a conscious individual, the person is responsible for the consequences of their own choices and actions.The creativity is a characteristic feature of a creative person, capable to fulfill their potential with their own initiative and with a choice of appropriate methods. There are such components of the creative personality as motivational, intellectual, emotional and communicative. For their development it’s necessary to expand the role space of each student and to include him in a variety of activities that provide creative fulfillment and create the experience of social relations.It’s necessary to change social and psychological support of the educational process, to focus it on the development of creative environment in the educational institution. Effective means of such support is the psychological training, one of the most important functions of which is to reduce uncertainty and entropy (the amount of energy that has become available to make social change and social progress). There is a special role of humanitarian disciplines in this aspect. The combination of theoretical knowledge and practical skills makes the contents of the psychological training. It is the essential resource for the living environment of a person involved in professional (educational) activities.Background of socio-psychological support combines four functions: diagnosis of the problem which has arisen; information on the nature of the problem and ways of its solution; consultations during decision-making process and strategy development the problem solving; primary care at the stage of realization of plan.A person does not automatically turn from one activity to another but doing it deliberately, taking into account the social situation, the importance of the fulfilled operations, the possible results of the actions. The main purpose of social and psychological support to the educational process at the university is a person’s fully realization assistance in the professional (academic) field. The sense of social and psychological support is to teach people to solve their problems independently. Updating the cognitive dissonance between the values of training in high school and future professional activities in the controlled conditions of social and psychological support to the educational process, namely the teaching humanities disciplines, will serve as the foundation of the formation process of individual and psychological adaptation of the students to professional crises.

Copernicusing Consciousness

Empirical genetic research strongly indicates that particular proteins comprise physical substrates of the qualities which, in turn, constitute consciousness. From the perspective of a theorist, the proteins are simply molecules, but from the perspective of a conscious individual, the characteristics of the proteins constitute the basic elements of qualities that, after processing by the cognitive structures of the brain, reach the level of consciousness. As consciousness, the qualities are normally taken for granted. The development of consciousness is described as beginning with noumenal environmental objects which convey energies that give rise to sensory inputs and qualities. Qualities, in turn, are organized into phenomenal objects that are then referred to the environment as the objects of perception and consciousness. Thus, consciousness is considered to be physical and multiple, a collection of qualities, rather than a single, ill-defined, all-encompassing entity.

MBAs: cinco discursos em busca de uma nova narrativa

A indústria do management evoluiu significativamente no Brasil, desde os anos 1990, disseminando ideias e modelos de gestão. O fenômeno despertou o interesse de pesquisadores, que desenvolveram estudos sobre seus "pilares": as empresas de consultoria, a mídia de negócios, os gurus de gestão e as escolas de negócios - este último, objeto de estudo neste trabalho. Nas últimas décadas, multiplicaram-se no Brasil os programas de pós-graduação em formação gerencial: os chamados MBAs. Nos Estados Unidos e na Europa, tais programas têm sido alvo de escrutínio e de estudos científicos de natureza reflexiva e crítica. No Brasil, entretanto, poucos estudos foram realizados a respeito. Este artigo almeja preencher essa lacuna. Para isso, identificamos e apresentamos os discursos mais salientes produzidos sobre tais cursos: o discurso da crítica instrumental, o discurso da defesa instrumental, o discurso crítico de emancipação e o discurso da redenção da mídia de negócios. Além disso, também apresentamos o discurso dos alunos. Para isso, realizamos uma pesquisa com alunos de três programas brasileiros e captamos suas percepções. Concluímos que MBA pode ser visto como um campo institucional aberto, no qual diferentes agentes empregam distintas estratégias discursivas, de acordo com suas perspectivas ontológicas e seus interesses. Observamos que há pouca interação ou disputa direta entre os discursos. Entretanto, podemos identificar elementos para uma renovação da "narrativa do MBA". A nova narrativa tem como personagem um indivíduo socialmente consciente e responsável, dotado de uma ambição de mudança pessoal e profissional e que aspira a uma posição sênior de liderança ou, alternativamente, o empreendedorismo. Esse indivíduo passa por experiências que unem teoria e prática, que compreendem contextos culturais diversos e o desenvolvimento de uma visão crítica sobre as organizações e a atividade gerencial.

Ugdymas dirbant su jaunimu: jaunimo neformaliojo ugdymo kokybės paieškos

Vilniaus universitetasUniversiteto g. 9/1VilniusTel. (8 5) 266 76 25El. paštas: justina.garbauskaite@gmail.com
 
 Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas jaunimo neformaliojo ugdymo (JNU1) bruožų ir principų (ne)suderinamumas su poreikiu gerinti šio ugdymo kokybę. Laikomasi pozicijos, kad kokybės siekis liberalioje visuomenėje yra būdingas visoms sritims ir pripažįstamas legitimiu a priori, tačiau priemonės, kuriomis yra siekiama kokybės, neretai pasižymi autoritarinėmis, ribojančiomis ir formalizuojančiomis savybėmis, kurios iš esmės yra nesuderinamos su JNU vertybėmis, principais ir tikslais. Aprašomas jaunimo neformaliojo ugdymo reiškinys Europos ir Lietuvos kontekstuose, nagrinėjama jaunimo neformaliojo ugdymo kokybės samprata, kriterijai ir esamos kokybės gerinimo praktikos.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: jaunimo neformalusis ugdymas, kokybė, pripažinimas, laisvė.
 
 EDUCATION IN YOUTH WORK: IN SEARCH FOR QUALITY IN YOUTH NON-FORMAL EDUCATIONJustina Garbauskaitė-Jakimovska
 SummaryThe main focus of the article is put on the core principles of youth non-formal education (NFE) and their (non)compatibility with the need to improve and maintain the quality of NFE. The aim for quality is a priori legitimate in the liberal societies in all spheres of life. Nevertheless the means for quality improvement often have authoritarian, restrictive, formalising or standardising characteristics that are not compatible with main values, principles and aims of non-formal education: freedom, voluntarism and development of a conscious individual. The article describes the phenomenon of non-formal education in European and Lithuanian contexts, the concept and criteria of quality in non-formal education and existing practices for quality improvement are analysed.Key words: youth non-formal education, quality, recognition, liberty.
 

Comparative Analysis of Moral Action in Sociological Theories of Vytautas Kavolis and Émile Durkheim

The article analyses the moral action to reveal the elements of tension and interaction between the individual and the society by comparing theories of Vytautas Kavolis and of Emile Durkheim. Social action and moral action are different analytical categories. The problem arises when it is necessary to establish links between these concepts. The article is based on the position that moral action and social action has a relation as part and a whole, has a different study objects, but obeys the same study method. According to Durkheim‘ s definitions of social fact and of moral fact, social fact is a broader category that includes the moral facts. It is shown that the facts includes social phenomena feathuring the expediency of performed actions of individuals. Therefore, social action is interpreted by adapting the definition of a social fact, as appropriate, moral action is interpreted by definition of moral fact. The aim is to identify the characteristics, conditions, and factors of moral action. Theories of moral action of Durkheim and of Kavolis are analyzed. French sociologist distinguishes social power to encourage an individual to behave in one way or another. Durkheim indicates that the social power works in society as in individuals by using an association method. Kavolis emphasizes the inner imperative which is a basis for moral action, arising from the conscious individual, performed after internalisation of moral principle itself. However, the individual and society have different goals. An individual seeks to realize the freedom as creative potential. The society requires the individual to obey historically formed norms and rules of conduct. On the other hand, the individual performing a moral action is always influenced by the social environment and his actions always have social impact.

Ontology Theory of Consciousness

The transgenic extension of a mouse's color vision and research in which the insertion of a gene enables blind mice to see provide a much firmer basis for a materialist theory of consciousness than has hitherto been available. Such seminal research offers empirical evidence that qualities are physical. In the Ontology Theory, consciousness is described as resulting from a process beginning with energies conveyed from noumena in the environment. The energies stimulate sense receptors which in a recursive exchange with memory result in qualities. The qualities consist of proteins or other neuronal molecules which, to the mind of the conscious individual, comprise semi-independent memory items (SIMIs), or phenomenal objects which are projected to the environment and are perceived as environmental objects. Thus, in the consciousness of the individual, environmental objects consist of the ontology of particular molecules.

Tongue laceration during electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) had been used for psychiatric diseases such as depression. Recently, modified ECT is preferred, where the patient is in a state of muscle relaxation induced by muscle relaxant before the influx of electrical current. Although muscle relaxant is used, forceful jaw clenching is inevitable during ECT, since masticatory muscles, particularly the temporalis and the masseter, are directly stimulated by the electrical current. Although biting pressure in a conscious individual is usually controlled by a feedback mechanism to avoid excessive strain, this feedback mechanism does not come into action in an anesthetized patient [1]. Therefore, the teeth or other intraoral structures can be injured from biting or invagination during modified ECT. Psychiatric patients are especially vulnerable to intraoral injuries during modified ECT, because they are more likely to have drug-related dry mouth, smoking, and/or alcohol addiction. In xerostomia patients, the change in the pH and the immune function secondary to reduced salivary flow may also lead to an increased risk of intraoral infection [2]. In order to prevent intraoral injury during modified ECT, mouthguards rather than oral airways are used. Various types of gags and mouthguards have been used such as rubber bite blocks, braided guaze gags, gauze wrapped tongue blades and mouthguards. McClure devised a gag made of dental plastic, and also described about molded mouthguards [1]. But individually molded mouthguards like hard rubber bite blocks are so firm that care should be given to prevent soft tissue injuries such as tongue bites which can occur between the teeth and the mouthguard. We would like to describe a tongue laceration case which occurred during modified ECT despite using a mouthguard. A 71-year-old female patient was admitted for modified ECT under the diagnosis of depression. The mouthguard was made of silicone, immersed in hot water before use and transformed to fit the denture of the patient (Fig. 1A). After modified ECT was given, tongue laceration was found, which seemed to have occurred from biting between the mouthguard and the teeth. Tongue laceration was 1.5 cm long and 0.5 cm deep. Neither active bleeding nor hematoma was observed. After physical examination by an otolaryngologist, it was sutured simply with Vicryl 4-0 under local anesthesia (Fig. 1B). The wound recovered well without complication. Fig. 1 The mouthguard in proper position (A). Tongue laceration repaired with a simple continuous suture. The tongue has an irregular and dry fissured surface, which is a typical characteristic of dry mouth (B). Intraoral soft tissue injuries, especially tongue injuries generally recover well after simple treatment because of the abundant blood supply. Most tongue lacerations do not require sutures. Lacerations that should be repaired with suture include bisecting wounds, lateral border wounds, wounds with active hemorrhage, wounds larger than 2 cm, gaping wounds and amputation injuries [3,4]. If the patient cooperates well, tongue laceration can be sutured under local anesthesia using absorbable material such as Vicryl 4-0 [3]. Some lacerations may cause airway complications including intraoral structure swelling and difficult breathing. In the case of hematoma, blood fills the submandibular space, the floor of the mouth becomes full, and then the tongue is forced upwards and backwards, causing an elevation of the tongue and airway obstruction. If swelling and difficult breathing became severe, early nasotracheal intubation or tracheostomy should be considered for airway protection. Extubation should be performed after the swelling subsides. While active arterial bleeding requires intervention, subsequent treatments are usually conservative, such as steroids, antibiotics and reversal of any coagulopathy [5]. Before all else, one should examine the patient's dental and oral condition carefully and check whether the mouthguard fits well to the patient before performing ECT. If necessary, the patient should get dental treatment in advance to ensure his or her safety during ECT.

Junk-food, home cooking, physical activity and obesity: The effect of the fat tax and the thin subsidy

In an effort to reduce the growing prevalence of obesity, a tax on junk-foods, known as ‘fat tax’, has been proposed, the revenue from which could be used to finance a ‘thin subsidy’ for healthy foods or exercising equipment. The present paper addresses the fat tax and thin subsidy within a food-intake rational-choice model. Assuming that healthy meals are cooked at home with purchased ingredients and time input, the paper examines the effects on obesity of a tax on junk-food meals and a subsidy to cooking ingredients, distinguishing between a weight-conscious and a non-weight conscious individual, and between a weight-conscious individual who is physically active and physically inactive. The results show that for a non-weight conscious individual a fat tax will unambiguously reduce obesity, whereas a thin subsidy may increase obesity. However, for a weight-conscious individual, particularly one who is physically active, even a fat tax may increase obesity, as it may reduce not just the consumption of junk-food, but also the time devoted to physical activity. The paper explores conditions under which obesity will rise, fall, or remain intact following the introduction of a fat tax or a thin subsidy.

Energy metabolism in the brain

Publisher Summary The studies of glucose metabolism in the brain reflect a dichotomy because the complex integrating functions of the brain can only be studied in the intact, functioning brain in the conscious individual (human or animal). On the other hand, the properties of brain cells, cell-cell interactions, and mechanisms are most readily evaluated in vitro under controlled conditions using brain slices, subcellular fractions, or purified, isolated cells of different types. A variety of in vitro methods has been used to assess metabolic activities in different brain cell types and in subcellular structures. Nevertheless, by combining different methodologies and continuously maintaining the in vivo situation as the general standard to which results obtained with different cellular and subcellular techniques must be compared, a picture of cellular interactions in glucose metabolism has emerged, and information has been obtained about the identity of energy-requiring and energy-yielding processes. Perhaps even more importantly, these studies have triggered the development of in vivo methods, primarily utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy, which have confirmed and further expanded many observations made in vitro . This chapter discusses the pathways and regulation of glucose metabolism in the functioning brain in the conscious human or animal during rest and during stimulation and describes the mechanisms, which increase glucose metabolism in vitro . A combination of these two approaches allows a tentative determination of not only the quantitative contributions to glucose metabolism by some of the major cell types, but also identification of mechanisms creating a demand for metabolically generated energy and their relationships to functional activation and neurotransmission.

Pain mechanisms and pathways

The application of a thermal, mechanical or chemical injury may result in the perception of pain by a conscious individual. Complex factors govern the way in which the peripheral nociceptive stimulus undergoes transduction into electrochemical signals and then onward transmission to reach the cerebral cortex where the actual perception of pain is registered. There are no hard wired, rigid neural pathways involved in the signalling and perception of pain but instead a system which demonstrates considerable functional plasticity in response to tissue inflammation or nerve injury. Complex relationships between numerous neurotransmitters modulate the whole process. Different physiological events occur with different types of pain. Somatic pain, visceral pain and neuropathic pain are physiologically different and this has obvious implications for the clinical assessment and management of pain.

Literature and Technology ed. by Mark L. Greenberg and Lance Schachterle

624 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE is a staple ofcomic books and science fiction produced for ajuvenile audience willing to accept cardboard characterizations of the scien­ tist as a heroic explorer. By contrast, the scientist as idealist appears in works destined for a more mature and socially aware audience. This scientist, motivated by idealistic or utopian visions, is a socially conscious individual, critical of his profession and willing to modify scientific research for the public good. He is usually encountered in the higher levels of literary production and not in popular books, movies, and television shows. Except for the last two depictions, the stereotypes outlined above disclose ambiguous individuals who, if not always sinister and dan­ gerous, are nevertheless engaged in activities ultimately harmful to society. Whatever their ultimate aims, all of the stereotypical scien­ tists are male. Apart from Marie Curie, it is difficult to recall another female scientist, real or fictional, familiar to a wide audience. Haynes has adopted a chronological approach in her analysis of the six stereotypes. This raises some problems in her discussion of the early period, when a small number of individuals pursued scien­ tific interests. Therefore, Haynes fills her early chapters with ex­ tended accounts of the history of science. Unfortunately, this is a canned history ofscience, and one marred by errors offact and inter­ pretation. If the historian of science is troubled by these accounts, the historian of technology will wish that the author offered a more sophisticated treatment of the relationship between science, tech­ nology, and industry. These criticisms aside, however, readers of this book will discover many new interpretations of familiar scientific figures, and a host ofnew novels, plays, and poems that feature scien­ tists as major characters. George Basalla Dr. Basalla teaches the history of science and technology at the University of Delaware. Literature and Technology. Edited by Mark L. Greenberg and Lance Schachterle. Bethlehem, Pa., and Cranbury, N.J.: Lehigh Univer­ sity Press and Associated University Presses, 1992. Pp. 322; notes, bibliography, index. $45.00. The editors of this collection are keen to break down the antithesis that opposes literature, conceived as imaginative and subjective, to rigorous, mechanistic technology. Postmodernist approaches to lit­ erature, assumed by most of the contributors, claim to be more ana­ lytic and objective, more “technological,” while science, so David Porush concludes in “Literature as Dissipative Structure,” could well adopt, “if it is going to succeed,” the techniques of literary ex­ pression. Unfortunately, these analyses often seem as hard for the uniniti­ TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 625 ated to understand as subatomic physics. Some pieces deal with the response to particular artifacts, mostly instruments that are them­ selves intellectual constructs, or aids to the intellectualization of what our senses perceive. All too often what begins as an observant comment is overworked as a key to all manner of hidden meanings. Since medieval maps of the world show the three land masses of the Old World surrounded by a circular ocean, Sylvia Tomasch refers other circles to this image, even the circular amphitheater of Chau­ cer’s Knight’s Tale. Indeed, Chaucer describes this structure as hav­ ing three gates, but in no way associates them with the three conti­ nents of his world. In “Gazing on Technology: Theatrum Mechanorum and the As­ similation ofRenaissance Machinery,” Kenneth Knoespel speculates on the machine as image, as he finds it in the picture books of me­ chanical invention and in the fantastic gardens of contemporary ro­ mantic literature, whose depictions were influenced by the real me­ chanical automata in the grander gardens of the day. That is a good point; but again, he pushes the theatricality of these books too far. Many of the machines therein are depicted through cutaways in brickwork. Was this really to pull back the curtain on a theatrical concealment? Or did the authors just use a relatively simple back­ ground against which the components of their machines stood out more clearly? Incidentally, this article is also marred by several curi­ ous little mistakes—starting with the title, which should be “thea­ trum machinanm”\ In an account of Robert Boyle’s air pump, Robert Markley points out that the more personal and...

From Faust to Strangelove: Representations of the Scientist in Western Literature by Roslynn D. Haynes

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 623 FromFaust to Strangelove: Representations ofthe Scientist in Western Litera­ ture. By Roslynn D. Haynes. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994. Pp. ix+417; illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $55.00 (cloth); $19.95 (paper). This work presents the first book-length, historical treatment of the depiction ofscientists and science in Western literature. It covers the period from the Middle Ages to the late 20th century, draws on a wide range of traditional literary sources, and includes substantial references to science-fiction stories and popular films. The image of the scientist in Western culture owes more to books and movies than it does to the lives of actual scientists. With the exception of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Marie Curie, the achievements and characteristics ofworking scientists are largely un­ known to the general public. When real scientists are depicted popu­ larly, their images are based on stereotypes drawn from their fic­ tional counterparts. Roslynn D. Haynes has identified six recurring stereotypes of sci­ entists that deserve special attention. The earliest image is that of the obsessed or maniacal alchemist, driven to explore arcane myster­ ies in his laboratory. This figure has returned in modern garb as the sinister biologist whose specialty is genetic engineering. After the alchemist, who first appeared in the late Middle Ages, came the stupid virtuoso of the 17th century. This scientist is so de­ voted to the minutiae of his research that he has lost the ability to participate in normal social relationships. The stupid virtuoso ofear­ lier times is recognized as the absent-minded scientist/professor of today. These scientists are more comic than dangerous, yet by ignor­ ing their social responsibilities they become moral failures by de­ fault. Writers ofthe early 19th century created one ofthe most enduring scientific characters—the unfeeling scientist, who has renounced human relationships and suppressed human feelings in order to concentrate on his work. Mary Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein is the ar­ chetypical image of the inhuman scientist who brings disaster to himselfand those around him. Despite his emotional and moral fail­ ings, the unfeeling scientist has gained some sympathy in popular circles because it is assumed that his exclusive devotion to science is required of anyone who pursues a scientific career. Closely related to Dr. Frankenstein is the helpless scientist—one who, through no fault of his own, has lost control over his scientific discoveries. These discoveries quickly assume monstrous features and threaten social stability and the lives ofinnocent citizens. In this instance the dangers are generated by the nature of the scientific enterprise and not by the personal failings of the scientist. The final two images—the heroic adventurer and the scientist as idealist—are products of the 20th century and are more positive than the first four examples. The scientist as hero and adventurer 624 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE is a staple ofcomic books and science fiction produced for ajuvenile audience willing to accept cardboard characterizations of the scien­ tist as a heroic explorer. By contrast, the scientist as idealist appears in works destined for a more mature and socially aware audience. This scientist, motivated by idealistic or utopian visions, is a socially conscious individual, critical of his profession and willing to modify scientific research for the public good. He is usually encountered in the higher levels of literary production and not in popular books, movies, and television shows. Except for the last two depictions, the stereotypes outlined above disclose ambiguous individuals who, if not always sinister and dan­ gerous, are nevertheless engaged in activities ultimately harmful to society. Whatever their ultimate aims, all of the stereotypical scien­ tists are male. Apart from Marie Curie, it is difficult to recall another female scientist, real or fictional, familiar to a wide audience. Haynes has adopted a chronological approach in her analysis of the six stereotypes. This raises some problems in her discussion of the early period, when a small number of individuals pursued scien­ tific interests. Therefore, Haynes fills her early chapters with ex­ tended accounts of the history of science. Unfortunately, this is a canned history ofscience, and one marred by errors offact and inter­ pretation. If the historian of science...