Leading ethicist/philosopher Jonathan D. Moreno makes a welcome return to Brainland to discuss his recently published and compelling book 'ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL: Bioethics and the Rules-based Order'. We talk about the history of clinical and bioethic and outline their main components in application to humans. Topics discussed include the Nuremberg trials and why it took 20 years before a consensus in the medical profession, the currently accepted 'ethical principles' and how long term and ethically flawed studies on syphilis triggered them. Jonathan also talks about the notion of 'invisible colleges', the relatively recent requirement for medics to fully inform patients of their diagnosis and prognosis, and the importance of invitro-fertilisation, plus more recently CRISPR gene editing, in reshaping guidelines and policy. We also discuss the wider application of ethics to the biosphere, including the growth of the anti-vivisection movement in the late 19th century. To conclude Jonathan reads the closing, summing up, paragraph of his book. Essential listening!

Participants:

Jonathan D. Moreno is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, of History and Sociology of Science, and of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.

https://pikprofessors.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/2021-10/moreno-cv.pdf

Ken Barrett is an artist, writer and former neuropsychiatrist

http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk

Jonathan's book 'Absolutely Essential: Bioethics and the Rules Based Order'.:https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553377/absolutely-essential/

Also discussed on the podcast:

DARPA: https://www.darpa.mil/

Jonathan's earlier book on military and intelligence funding of neuroscience: MIND WARS: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Wars-Science-Military-Century/dp/193413743X

Jonathan's last visit to Brainalnd to talk about Mind Wars: https://shows.acast.com/brainland/episodes/mind-wars

Musical extract: Prelude from Act 1 of Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown.

Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

portrait sketch by KB

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Christine Daigle, a leading figure in posthumanist philosophy and material feminism, begins by defining those terms before unpacking some of the ideas in her recent book 'Posthumanist Vulnerability: An affirmative ethics'. The humanist and Christian traditions both privilege the human, particularly the male human, in the sense of having 'dominion' over the rest of nature and, too often, women. Posthumanism breaks away from this and material feminism is concerned with the physical and material/economic constraints on women (really oversimplifying - listen to Christine's version). We move on to discuss the unusual structure of the book which, in addition to philosophy includes nine 'meanderings', more personal glimpses of her life, interactions with nature and trauma. Christine talks about her word 'transjective' used to highlight the permeability of the supposedly objective and subjective views and the origin of the term 'vulnerability' (the Latin word for wound). After brief diversion into Deleuze and Guattari, and 'joyful affirmation' we conclude with a reading of from the closing chapter of "Posthuman Vulnerability'. In short, a complex subject made digestible!

Participants:

Christine Daigle, professor of philosophy, Brock University, Ontario, Canada. https://brocku.ca/humanities/philosophy/christine-daigle/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk

Christine's books:

Posthumanist Vulnerability: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/posthumanist-vulnerability-9781350302884/

Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown.

Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Portrait sketch by KB.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Solms is a neuroscientist and psychoanalyst fluent in German, which is why in the 1990s, he agreed to take on the daunting task of collating and translating Freud's 23 years of writing on the brain and neurology pre-psychoanalysis. In this episode Marks talks in detail about Freud's early work in neuroscience, and explains how this transitioned into his theories of the mind and how to help the mentally troubled. After discussing something of his own family life, we move on to his very difficult first case as an analyst and from that to an understanding of why psychoanalysis became so prone to squabbling and factions. We discuss the way Freud's notion of the unconscious and preconscious map onto current understanding of memory - short term/long term, declarative/non-declarative ('declarative' being memories that can be put into words, a function, interestingly, that gradually develops after the age of 2; 'non-declarative' that can't be put into words, including those powerful early life experiences. Mark also talks about the things Freud got wrong before moving on to the conditions that can benefit from long term therapy (certain personality disorders and major depression in the context of early childhood loss and trauma) but emphasises that symptomatic treatments (antidepressants) may be necessary to enable a person to use therapy. We conclude with a question anout his boob's title, and an entertaining answer!

Participants:

Mark Solms, Professor, Department of Neuropsychology, University of Capetown, SA. https://neuroscience.uct.ac.za/contacts/mark-solms

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk

Mark's books:

'The Only Cure': Freud and the neuroscience of mental healing. https://www.weidenfeldandnicolson.co.uk/titles/mark-solms-2/the-only-cure/9781399623377/

Also available as an audiobook, read by Mark, and incuded in Spotify Premium.

'The Hidden Spring': https://profilebooks.com/work/the-hidden-spring/

'The Neuropsychology of dreams: https://www.karnacbooks.com/product/the-neuropsychology-of-dreams-a-clinico-anatomical-study/94585/?

If you are interested in Freud and his contemporaries as portrayed at the movies (including Meynert and Jung) check out Season 2 episode 20, a great conversation with Prof Ian Christie:

https://open.acast.com/networks/6452b6516dd22500113dc7d2/shows/6452b6516dd22500113dc7ca/episodes/68ad6fccef1a5f8b369a2316

Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown.

Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Illustration 'Young Freud observed...' by KB.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.