Thinking about Psychology
Here I take up some thoughts about what the DSM-5 says about depression. Next I consider what Aristotle and St Thomas say about the certitude and nobility of Psychology. Here I also consider a study that shows that over half … Continue reading Thinking about Psychology
What is Anger?
The Hagiographers
My son, keep the commandments of your father (Proverbs 6:20) The books of the Hagiographers: Joshua, Chronicles, Judith, Maccabees, Tobit, Esther, Ezra, the Psalms, Job, Wisdom, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Sirach warn us of the consequences if we do not follow the commands established in the Law which are necessary for us to follow if we are to arrive at eternal life. Here moral virtues are taught as though a father were teaching his sons: by word and by deed. Some of the books teach in one of these ways exclusively and one teaches moral virtue by both word … Continue reading The Hagiographers
The Prophets
And Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, as one of the messengers of the Lord, spoke. (Haggai 11:13) The books of the Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings… seek to induce the reader to follow the Law which established the commands … Continue reading The Prophets
Senses of Scripture
It is often difficult to discern the meaning of a particular passage of Scripture. St Thomas speaks of two different ways in which a passage of scripture can be understood: literally and spiritually, by which terms he means according as … Continue reading Senses of Scripture
The Law
‘For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King.’ (Isaiah 33:22) The books of the Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, … Continue reading The Law
What’s an Adolescent?
Adolescent is a Latin word meaning to grow up or nearing maturity. Anyone who actually has an adolescent in their house will be tickled to know that the word is … Continue reading What’s an Adolescent?
What is Emotion
The history of what we mean by the word Emotion is a fascinating example of the variety of meanings, and changing hierarchy of importance among the different meanings, a word can have. Emotion is based on a Latin conjunction of ex movere or to move out but is first used by the French in the 1700s to describe a mental disturbance. The English phrase “He’s out of his mind” is probably closer to the original meaning of the word emotion than are the more benign contemporary meaning of this word. Emotion does not come to mean a category of feelings including happy, sad, mad, and all the rest until the 1800s and … Continue reading What is Emotion
Active Recollection
Mindfulness Meditation and books like Mindsight by Dr. Dan Siegel have received, especially among psychiatric circles, much attention in recent years. Even the Simpsons and South Park … Continue reading Active Recollection
Investiture of the Letterman
Where Soto Street and Whittier Blvd meet in the City of the Angeles sits a collection of buildings which has housed the young men enrolled at Salesian High School since 1958. The year after the school was founded saw the institution of the schools Letterman Society. Every year the young men who are enrolled in this society, the schools oldest, hear in the second reading at Mass about those who persevered in the combat, those who “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 7:14). This is because it is the schools tradition to invest their … Continue reading Investiture of the Letterman