All entries by this author

Beyond Scientism and Relativism

Sep 29th, 2013 | By

Here is a link to my contribution to the festschrift  celebrating Amedeo Giorgi’s career in phenomenological psychology. I pose the question: why should the scientific status of our work be a compelling issue for the next generation of qualitative psychological researchers?  I explore the criteria for science proposed by Giorgi, and discuss van Manen’s hermeneutic

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Philosophy & Psychology in Dialogue: Aalborg, Denmark

Sep 22nd, 2013 | By

Magnus Englander, Susi Ferrarello, and Marc Applebaum collaborated in presenting a panel, “Phenomenological Research: Philosophy and Psychology in Dialogue” at the 32nd annual International Human Science Research Conference in Aalborg, Denmark. Englander’s presentation was his reflection as a qualitative psychological researcher on philosophical proposals to phenomenologically “frontload” empirical experiments. He addressed philosophers Shaun Gallagher and

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Phenomenology as dialogue: A researcher’s reflection

Aug 1st, 2013 | By

The way we creatively embody and express the traditions we inherit, whether philosophical or psychological, is inevitably shaped by our own history, background, and values. In my case, before I began my study of phenomenology I had already worked as a teacher and counselor. I’ve been a teacher of one kind or another since I

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Ferrarello: The Last Concert of the Greek National Symphony Orchestra; or The Need to Become a Subject

Jun 22nd, 2013 | By

  It may be that to see yourself, it is not sufficient to look at yourself in a mirror, because you may not want to see yourself or, more likely, you aren’t able to see yourself as the subject of your seeing. It may be that you do not want to pay attention to those

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Phenomenology in Psychotherapy: An interview with Yannis Toussulis

Jun 11th, 2013 | By

This interview with Yannis Toussulis is the first in a series of conversations about the role phenomenology, both descriptive and hermeneutic, plays in clinical practice. Yannis Toussulis received his PhD in Psychology from Saybrook Graduate School in 1995. His dissertation, supervised by Amedeo Giorgi, was entitled “Faith as A Lived-Experience: A Phenomenological Study”. He is a

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Video: Mohanty and Giorgi, part two

Jun 8th, 2013 | By

This is the Q & A portion of the presentation given by philosopher J. N. Mohanty and psychologist Amedeo Giorgi participated in a panel discussion on phenomenology as part of the annual meeting of the Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists held at Ramapo College on May 25, 2013. James Morley moderated and questioners included Louis Sass and Lester

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Video: Mohanty & Giorgi on Phenomenology, part one

Jun 3rd, 2013 | By

On May 25, 2013 the philosopher J. N. Mohanty and the psychologist Amedeo Giorgi participated in a panel discussion on phenomenology as part of the annual meeting of the Interdisciplinary Coalition of North American Phenomenologists held at Ramapo College. The talk was moderated by James Morley; questioners included Louis Sass and Lester Embree. This is Part One

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Reading Badiou’s Ethics

Jun 1st, 2013 | By

This morning I’m rereading bits of Alain Badiou’s beautiful book Ethics (L’éthique: Essai sur la conscience du mal). I’m struck again by how revelatory this text is on such a range of issues, and how useful for a renewed psychology, at the same time. I mentioned to a friend recently that Badiou’s discussion of becoming-a-subject

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How to interview phenomenologically: Englander (2012)

May 14th, 2013 | By

Magnus Englander’s 2012 article, “The Interview,” is an excellent resource for students learning how to conduct phenomenological research. As Englander points out, though Steiner Kvale’s excellent work on interviewing is well known among qualitative researchers, there are important differences between Kvale’s work and a phenomenological perspective. This article clarifies issues such as how to select

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Dialogue and a tanka

Apr 12th, 2013 | By

Merleau-Ponty (1993) wrote, “For the speaker no less than for the listener, language is definitely something other than a technique for ciphering or deciphering ready-made significations” (p. 80). He is ever insistent that being-in-the-world is an embodied event, an ongoing discovery, and he relentlessly examines the ways in which experiences are given to us, prior

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