Having, Doing, Suffering, Being

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Having, Doing, Suffering, Being The Human Person as the Subject of Suffering: The Values of Having, Doing, vs. the Values of Being By Janet E. Smith Suffering and Hope Conference University of St. Thomas November 10-13, 2005 Human beings undergo an enormous variety of suffering and we can hardly be said to like it. It is undeniable that some of us are true wimps: we find even the least amount of suffering — such as the niggling troubles of daily life — nearly intolerable, or at least an annoying and inexplicable blight on existences that we naively and foolishly expect should be unrelentingly pleasant. Rebate forms, negotiating endless menus in seeking tech support, traffic delays, misplaced keys, runs in our nylons or stains on our ties can bring out the pathetic whining in some of us. And then there is real suffering such as disease, injury, failure, disfigurement, heartbreak, living under tyranny, false imprisonment, disappointment and failure, confusion and depression, unjust treatment, loneliness, sorrow for our sins, fear of future suffering, regret for missed opportunities, poverty and exile, death of or abandonment by loved ones — and the list could go on. Still, suffering is not associated only with what is negative; we believe that suffering sometimes enhances our sense of achievement; it accompanies some of our most meaningful and cherished experiences, such as work and childbirth, athletic activities, study and all sorts creative endeavors. We have to admit that had we not had to work so hard to win the guy or the gal, the degree, the game, the battle or the job, we might not have enjoyed our success so much. And, of course, suffering can be an enormous source of growth and knowledge; who would not say that they have learned some of the most important truths in their lives through facing and living through some significant suffering? In spite of the fact that suffering is such a common experience, it is daunting to write about. Indeed, Pope John Paul II said that suffering “intimidates.” (Salvifici Doloris 5). Obviously suffering is a complicated and profound topic — and most everyone must acknowledge that there are others who have suffered much more than we ourselves have, and before whom we shudder to utter our feeble attempts at consolation and our platitudes about finding meaning in suffering, lest we sound like Job’s ineffectual interlocutors. Actually, apart from writing this paper and going to a lot of conferences, I haven’t suffered much in my life. It is always painful to write about something one knows little about — but that has been the story of my life, so this is not so very different. Even more ironically, most often I talk about sex, which perhaps could be perceived as a source of pleasure but which for me has become a source of “suffering” whereas, giving this talk about suffering is a welcome break from what is sometime a tedious routine, and thus a source of pleasure. Since I know so little about suffering I am not tempted to speak much in my own voice, rather I shall employ the self-protective good sense to draw upon the wisdom of others. Initially I am going to draw upon what John Paul II had to say about suffering in his 1 encyclical Evangelium Vitae,1 a document that very much should shape all considerations of the suffering entailed in end of life issues and of suffering in general. I will also be drawing upon John Paul II’s apostolic letter, Salvifici Doloris2 or On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering. The Latin properly translated means “On Redemptive Suffering” and I shall be using that title for the document throughout. In Salvifici Doloris, or in “On Redemptive Suffering” John Paul II focuses on the redemptive power of suffering; on the wondrous ability of man through suffering to share in Christ’s redemptive act. The individual who truly understands and embraces suffering will be one who unites his or her suffering to the suffering of Christ. That is the ultimate destination of the journey of suffering. I am not going to say much about that destination; rather, I am going to focus on the intermediate stages in the journey. Redemptive suffering is a profound theological topic beyond my grasp; my field is more philosophical and I am content to serve as a handmaiden to the higher discipline of theology. There are certain philosophical truths about the human person, illuminated and made richer by revelation, that I shall focus on here. While I will focus more on suffering as a school of understanding and a school of various virtues, Salvifici Doloris shall nonetheless remain a key source since there is ample material about these matters there. My primary focus will be: what does suffering tell us about the human person? The title of this talk, “The Human Person as the Subject of Suffering,” invites us to think about what is happening in the interior of the human person who is suffering. Suffering is not the same thing as feeling pain — pain can be a cause of suffering and can be a result of suffering, but suffering itself is the interior experience of bearing up under something that is being experienced as negative or troubling; Salvifici Doloris defines suffering as “the undergoing of evil before which man shudders.” (18) The experience of suffering is actually extremely important for the human person; among other things it helps the human person realize he or she is a person and what it means to be a person. Salvifici Doloris says exactly that: “in [suffering] the person discovers himself, his own humanity, his own dignity, his own mission.” (31) Discovering that we are persons and something of what it means to be a person, is essential to our happiness. Servais Pinckaers speaks of suffering as the great leveler: not everyone is beautiful or intelligent or rich but everyone suffers.3 If discovery of truth and the path to happiness depended upon beauty or intelligence or wealth or power, only a very few could have access to them; but if suffering is a reliable path to the discovery of truth and the path to happiness, they are thus in the grasp of everyone. To be a person and a subject means, among other things, having the ability to think and ponder and to draw conclusions about the meaning of life; it means the ability to choose between conflicting goods and to make decisions about how to live and thereby to shape one’s interior — to become a certain kind of person with a character formed by one’s choices. Being a person means feeling various emotions such as anger, fear, sadness, joy, 1 (1995: available online at www.vatican.va) 2 (1984: available online at www.vatican.va) 3 Servais Pinckaers. The Pursuit of Happiness —God’s Way: Living the Beatitudes, trans. Sr. Mary Thomas Nobel, O.P. New York: Alba House, 1998. 82 2 delight, and love, and being aware that one experiences these feelings and having a desire to make some sense of these feelings; why do we fear what we fear or delight in what delights? Suffering is an experience that invites us to discover the “values of being,” of being a human person. In Evangelium Vitae John Paul II makes some sweeping observations about the modern world: He speaks of an “eclipse of the sense of God and of man” that “inevitably leads to a practical materialism, which breeds individualism, utilitarianism and hedonism.” The values of being are replaced by those of having. The only goal which counts is the pursuit of one’s own material well-being. The so-called “quality of life” is interpreted primarily or exclusively as economic efficiency, inordinate consumerism, physical beauty and pleasure, to the neglect of the more profound dimensions — interpersonal, spiritual and religious — of existence. In such a context suffering, an inescapable burden of human existence but also a factor of possible personal growth, is “censored”, rejected as useless, indeed opposed as an evil, always and in every way to be avoided. When it cannot be avoided and the prospect of even some future well-being vanishes, then life appears to have lost all meaning and the temptation grows in man to claim the right to suppress it ... (23, my emphasis) This text is packed with insight. The metaphor imbedded in talk of the “sense of God” being “eclipsed” suggests that it is no more possible to obliterate the sense of God than it is possible to obliterate the sun. But something can stand in the way of our basking in the light of the sun or experiencing the presence of God. Earlier in Evangelium Vitae, John Paul II had located the roots of the culture of death in the modern notion of “subjectivity” or the notion that the individual subject rather than objective reality is the arbiter of truth. This subjectivism has led to both skepticism and relativism and what is labeled a “tragic distortion of the meaning of freedom”, — or the freedom to do whatever one likes rather than the freedom to do what one knows to be good. This conjunction of distortions of reality is also of extreme concern to John Paul II’s successor, Pope Benedict XVI. He has made the flight from objective truth into the dictatorship of relativism a theme of his early pontificate. If there is no objective truth, why shouldn’t we each live by whatever values appeal to us? If there is no truth and no God, then why must the individual be concerned with anyone, but himself or herself and his or her own pleasures, and not be free to live largely however he or she likes? Why should the autonomous individual endure sufferings beyond what he or she chooses, or be at the service of others who suffer? In the passage just cited John Paul II lists some of the consequences of the eclipse of the sense of God caused by subjectivism and a distorted view of freedom joined with a practical materialism that breeds individualism, utilitarianism, and hedonism.
Recommended publications
  • Exploring the Emotional and Moral Lives of Animals
    MARC BEKOFF & JONATHAN BALCOMBE Humans have long tried to imagine what other species think and how they may feel, projecting our own perspec - tives and emotions onto the Minds of Thei r Own animal experience. The sight of Exploring the emotional and moral lives of animals a hawk spiraling effortlessly on an updraft or two horses cantering side by side in a field is enough to inspire wonder about the inner lives of other creatures. And people observ - ing their pets’ activities and moods view the existence of cat and dog emotions—in the form of joy, grief, even jealousy—as beyond question. What seems blatantly apparent to many animal lovers, however, is often chal - lenged by scientists as nothing more than sentimental anthro - pomorphism. Portrayal of ani - E M mals as lesser beings without I T S M A E thought or emotion dates at least as far back as the days of Aristotle. animals, a concept rarely considered within the scientific community . R D / N E E But ethologists engaged in the study of animal behavior are Now teaching a course on animal minds and behavior for U Q C A drawing from a growing body of evidence to build a case to the Humane Society University, the two authors have new books out this M E C U R B contrary. On the forefront of the burgeoning field are scientists and year. Bekoff’s latest, The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons for Expanding ; E M I T S authors Marc Bekoff and Jonathan Balcombe. After years of research - Our Compassion Footprint , was published in February; Balcombe’s M A E R D / ing the emotions of animals, Bekoff began exploring the concepts new book, Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals , is out in March.
    [Show full text]
  • Advances in Neuroscience Imply That Harmful Experiments in Dogs Are Unethical Jarrod Bailey,1 Shiranee Pereira2
    JME Online First, published on July 24, 2017 as 10.1136/medethics-2016-103630 Current controversy J Med Ethics: first published as 10.1136/medethics-2016-103630 on 24 July 2017. Downloaded from Advances in neuroscience imply that harmful experiments in dogs are unethical Jarrod Bailey,1 Shiranee Pereira2 1Cruelty Free International, ABSTRACT environments (common features of most laboratory London, UK Functional MRI (fMRI) of fully awake and unrestrained kennels), kennel noise and restricted sight lines are 2People for Animals, Chennai, India dog 'volunteers' has been proven an effective tool to acknowledged stressors, and together these factors understand the neural circuitry and functioning of the lead to well-characterised stereotypies—repeti- Correspondence to canine brain. Although every dog owner would vouch tive, invariant behaviour patterns with no obvious Dr Jarrod Bailey, Cruelty Free that dogs are perceptive, cognitive, intuitive and capable goal or function, which include circling, pacing, International, 16a Crane Grove, of positive emotions/empathy, as indeed substantiated whirling, jumping, wall bouncing, and repetitive London, N7 8NN, UK; by ethological studies for some time, neurological grooming or self-biting—as well as other abnormal ja rrod .bailey@ c rueltyf reeinte rnat iona l. org investigations now corroborate this. These studies show behaviours such as polydipsia or polyphagia (eating that there exists a striking similarity between dogs and drinking to a great degree), compulsive staring Received 18 April 2016 and humans in the functioning of the caudate nucleus and excessive barking, for example (see ref 5). Revised 18 May 2017 (associated with pleasure and emotion), and dogs Such welfare concerns constitute a large part of Accepted 9 June 2017 experience positive emotions, empathic-like responses the ethical objection to dog experimentation.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Feelings Stray: Sources of Affective Misforecasting in Consumer Behavior Vanessa M
    Why Feelings Stray: Sources of Affective Misforecasting in Consumer Behavior Vanessa M. Patrick, University of Georgia Deborah J. MacInnis, University of Southern California ABSTRACT drivers of AMF has considerable import for consumer behavior, Affective misforecasting (AMF) is defined as the gap between particularly in the area of consumer satisfaction, brand loyalty and predicted and experienced affect. Based on prior research that positive word-of-mouth. examines AMF, the current study uses qualitative and quantitative Figure 1 depicts the process by which affective misforecasting data to examine the sources of AMF (i.e., why it occurs) in the occurs (for greater detail see MacInnis, Patrick and Park 2005). As consumption domain. The authors find evidence supporting some Figure 1 suggests, affective forecasts are based on a representation sources of AMF identified in the psychology literature, develop a of a future event and an assessment of the possible affective fuller understanding of others, and, find evidence for novel sources reactions to this event. AMF occurs when experienced affect of AMF not previously explored. Importantly, they find consider- deviates from the forecasted affect on one or more of the following able differences in the sources of AMF depending on whether dimensions: valence, intensity and duration. feelings are worse than or better than forecast. Since forecasts can be made regarding the valence of the feelings, the specific emotions expected to be experienced, the INTRODUCTION intensity of feelings or the duration of a projected affective re- Before purchase: “I can’t wait to use this all the time, it is sponse, consequently affective misforecasting can occur along any going to be so much fun, I’m going to go out with my buddies of these dimensions.
    [Show full text]
  • What We Mean When We Talk About Suffering—And Why Eric Cassell Should Not Have the Last Word
    What We Mean When We Talk About Suffering—and Why Eric Cassell Should Not Have the Last Word Tyler Tate, Robert Pearlman Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, Volume 62, Number 1, Winter 2019, pp. 95-110 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/722412 Access provided at 26 Apr 2019 00:52 GMT from University of Washington @ Seattle What We Mean When We Talk About Suffering—and Why Eric Cassell Should Not Have the Last Word Tyler Tate* and Robert Pearlman† ABSTRACT This paper analyzes the phenomenon of suffering and its relation- ship to medical practice by focusing on the paradigmatic work of Eric Cassell. First, it explains Cassell’s influential model of suffering. Second, it surveys various critiques of Cassell. Next it outlines the authors’ concerns with Cassell’s model: it is aggressive, obscure, and fails to capture important features of the suffering experience. Finally, the authors propose a conceptual framework to help clarify the distinctive nature of sub- jective patient suffering. This framework contains two necessary conditions: (1) a loss of a person’s sense of self, and (2) a negative affective experience. The authors suggest how this framework can be used in the medical encounter to promote clinician-patient communication and the relief of suffering. *Center for Ethics in Health Care and School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland. †National Center for Ethics in Health Care, Washington, DC, and School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle. Correspondence: Tyler Tate, Oregon Health and Science University, School of Medicine, Depart- ment of Pediatrics, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239-3098.
    [Show full text]
  • Affective Neuroscience of Pleasure: Reward in Humans and Animals
    Psychopharmacology (2008) 199:457–480 DOI 10.1007/s00213-008-1099-6 REVIEW Affective neuroscience of pleasure: reward in humans and animals Kent C. Berridge & Morten L. Kringelbach Received: 3 July 2007 /Accepted: 31 January 2008 /Published online: 3 March 2008 # Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract Introduction Introduction Pleasure and reward are generated by brain circuits that are largely shared between humans and other Affective neuroscience has emerged as an exciting disci- animals. pline in recent years (Berridge 2003a; Damasio 2004; Discussion Here, we survey some fundamental topics Davidson et al. 2003; Davidson and Sutton 1995; Feldman regarding pleasure mechanisms and explicitly compare Barrett and Wager 2006; Kringelbach 2005, 2008; LeDoux humans and animals. and Phelps 2000; Leknes and Tracey 2008; Panksepp 1991; Conclusion Topics surveyed include liking, wanting, and 1998; Rolls 2005). Many important insights have been learning components of reward; brain coding versus brain gained into brain mechanisms of affect, motivation, and causing of reward; subjective pleasure versus objective emotion through studies of both animals and humans. hedonic reactions; roles of orbitofrontal cortex and related A particularly important topic for affective neuroscience cortex regions; subcortical hedonic hotspots for pleasure is to understand how brains generate pleasure and other generation; reappraisals of dopamine and pleasure-electrode psychological components of reward because reward is controversies; and the relation of pleasure to happiness. important in daily life. Pleasure is essential to a normal sense of well-being. Pathological losses of pleasure may be Keywords Reward . Pleasure . Motivation . Hedonic . a devastating part of many affective disorders ranging from Food . Addiction . Nucleus accumbens . depression to schizophrenia and addiction.
    [Show full text]
  • Solidarity As Spiritual Exercise: a Contribution to the Development of Solidarity in the Catholic Social Tradition
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by eScholarship@BC Solidarity as spiritual exercise: a contribution to the development of solidarity in the Catholic social tradition Author: Mark W. Potter Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/738 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2009 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of Theology SOLIDARITY AS SPIRITUAL EXERCISE: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOLIDARITY IN THE CATHOLIC SOCIAL TRADITION a dissertation by MARK WILLIAM POTTER submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2009 © copyright by MARK WILLIAM POTTER 2009 Solidarity as Spiritual Exercise: A Contribution to the Development of Solidarity in the Catholic Social Tradition By Mark William Potter Director: David Hollenbach, S.J. ABSTRACT The encyclicals and speeches of Pope John Paul II placed solidarity at the very center of the Catholic social tradition and contemporary Christian ethics. This disserta- tion analyzes the historical development of solidarity in the Church’s encyclical tradition, and then offers an examination and comparison of the unique contributions of John Paul II and the Jesuit theologian Jon Sobrino to contemporary understandings of solidarity. Ultimately, I argue that understanding solidarity as spiritual exercise integrates the wis- dom of John Paul II’s conception of solidarity as the virtue for an interdependent world with Sobrino’s insights on the ethical implications of Christian spirituality, orthopraxis, and a commitment to communal liberation.
    [Show full text]
  • Examining Affective Forecasting and Its Practical and Ethical Implications
    Examining Affective Forecasting and its Practical and Ethical Implications Emily Susan Brindley BSc Psychology 2009 Supervisor: Prof. David Clarke Contents Page Introduction 1 1. Affective Forecasting – What do we know? 1 2. Biases – Why people cannot predict their emotions accurately 3 2.1 Impact Bias 3 2.2 ‘Focalism’ 4 2.3 Immune Neglect 4 2.4 Dissimilar Context 4 3. The Self-Regulating Emotional System 5 4. Affective Forecasting Applied 6 4.1 Healthcare 6 4.2 Law 7 5. Can AFing be improved? 8 6. Ethics: Should people be taught to forecast more accurately? 10 Conclusions 12 References 13 Examining Affective Forecasting and its Practical and Ethical Implications Introduction Emotions are important in guiding thoughts and behaviour to the extent that they are used as heuristics (Slovic, Finucane, Peters & MacGregor, 2007), and are crucial in decision-making (Anderson, 2003). Affective forecasting (AFing) concerns an individual’s judgemental prediction of their or another’s future emotional reactions to events. It is suggested that “affective forecasts are among the guiding stars by which people chart their life courses and steer themselves into the future” (Gilbert, Pinel, Wilson, Blumberg & Wheatley, 1998; p.617), as our expected reactions to emotional events can assist in avoiding or approaching certain possibilities. We can say with certainty that we will prefer good experiences over bad (ibid); however AFing research demonstrates that humans are poor predictors of their emotional states, regularly overestimating their reactions. Further investigation of these findings shows that they may have critical implications outside of psychology. If emotions are so influential on behaviour, why are people poor at AFing? Furthermore, can and should individuals be assisted in forecasting their emotions? These issues, along with the function of AFing in practical applications, are to be considered and evaluated.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Sexuality, Volume 2: the Use of Pleasure
    The Use of Pleasure Volume 2 of The History of Sexuality Michel Foucault Translated from the French by Robert Hurley Vintage Books . A Division of Random House, Inc. New York The Use of Pleasure Books by Michel Foucault Madness and Civilization: A History oflnsanity in the Age of Reason The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences The Archaeology of Knowledge (and The Discourse on Language) The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception I, Pierre Riviere, having slaughtered my mother, my sister, and my brother. ... A Case of Parricide in the Nineteenth Century Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison The History of Sexuality, Volumes I, 2, and 3 Herculine Barbin, Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth­ Century French Hermaphrodite Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977 VINTAGE BOOKS EDlTlON, MARCH 1990 Translation copyright © 1985 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in France as L' Usage des piaisirs by Editions Gallimard. Copyright © 1984 by Editions Gallimard. First American edition published by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., in October 1985. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Foucault, Michel. The history of sexuality. Translation of Histoire de la sexualite. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Contents: v. I. An introduction-v. 2. The use of pleasure. I. Sex customs-History-Collected works.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Perspectives on Human Suffering: Implications for Medicine and Bioethics
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Sydney eScholarship Postprint This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in [Journal of Religion and Health] following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version [Fitzpatrick SJ, Kerridge IH, Jordens CFC, Zoloth L, Tollefsen C, Tsomo KL, Jensen MP, Sachedina A, Sarma D. Religious perspectives on human suffering: Implications for medicine and bioethics. Journal of Religion and Health 2016; 55:159–173] is available online at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-015-0014-9 Please cite as: Fitzpatrick SJ, Kerridge IH, Jordens CFC, Zoloth L, Tollefsen C, Tsomo KL, Jensen MP, Sachedina A, Sarma D. Religious perspectives on human suffering: Implications for medicine and bioethics. Journal of Religion and Health 2016; 55:159–173. Religious perspectives on human suffering: Implications for medicine and bioethics Scott J FitzpatrickA,B, Ian H KerridgeB, Christopher F C JordensB , Laurie ZolothC, Christopher TollefsenD, Karma Lekshe TsomoE, Michael P JensenF, Abdulaziz SachedinaG, Deepak SarmaH (2015/16) ACentre for Rural and Remote Mental Health, University of Newcastle, Orange, Australia; BCentre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine (VELiM), University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; CCentre for Bioethics, Science and Society, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA; DDepartment of Philosophy, University of South Carolina, Colombia, South Carolina, USA USA; EDepartment of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Diego, San Diego, California, USA; FMoore Theological College, Sydney, Australia; GAli Vural Ak Centre for Global Islamic Studies, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA; HReligious Studies, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holy See
    The Holy See IOANNES PAULUS PP. II EVANGELIUM VITAE To the Bishops Priests and Deacons Men and Women religious lay Faithful and all People of Good Will on the Value and Inviolability of Human Life INTRODUCTION 1. The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. Lovingly received day after day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as "good news" to the people of every age and culture. At the dawn of salvation, it is the Birth of a Child which is proclaimed as joyful news: "I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:10-11). The source of this "great joy" is the Birth of the Saviour; but Christmas also reveals the full meaning of every human birth, and the joy which accompanies the Birth of the Messiah is thus seen to be the foundation and fulfilment of joy at every child born into the world (cf. Jn 16:21). When he presents the heart of his redemptive mission, Jesus says: "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10). In truth, he is referring to that "new" and "eternal" life 2 which consists in communion with the Father, to which every person is freely called in the Son by the power of the Sanctifying Spirit. It is precisely in this "life" that all the aspects and stages of human life achieve their full significance.
    [Show full text]
  • Reverence for Life: an Ethic for High School Biology Curricula
    WellBeing International WBI Studies Repository 1980 Reverence for Life: An Ethic for High School Biology Curricula George K. Russell Adelphi University Follow this and additional works at: https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/acwp_he Part of the Educational Methods Commons, Humane Education Commons, and the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Russell, G.K. (1980). Reverence for life: An ethic for high school biology curricula. In H. McGiffin & N. Brownley (Eds.), Animals in education: Use of animals in high school biology classes and science fairs (pp. 27-34). Washington, DC: The Institute for the Study of Animal Problems. This material is brought to you for free and open access by WellBeing International. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of the WBI Studies Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. W.J. Dodd5-Learning from Animals action At the same time the reality of the serious nature of these genetic defects and Reverence for Life: An Ethic for the potential for severe illness or sudden death should be understood The student can then appreciate that the best we hope for is to make what life these animals have as High School Biology Curricula happy and meanangful as possible, while we learn from studying the natural course of their disease. The above discussion illustrates one of many specific examples where animals with inherited diseases analogous to those of man can provide a challengmg educa­ George K. Russell tional experience for the student. R eferences Abstract Bennett. W. and Ratnoff. O.D. (1973) Immunologic relationships of antihemophilic factor of different species detected by specific human and rabbit antibodies.
    [Show full text]
  • ANXIETY DISORDERS in ADULTS the Disorders, Their Treatment and Prevention
    Angstlidelser hos voksne, engelsk Information about ANXIETY DISORDERS IN ADULTS The disorders, their treatment and prevention Psykiatri og Social psykinfomidt.dk CONTENTS 03 What are anxiety disorders? 05 Why do some people suffer from anxiety disorders? 06 What happens in the brain when someone suffers from anxiety? 07 What types of anxiety disorders are there? 08 What are the symptoms of anxiety disorders? 10 Different degrees of anxiety disorders 11 How are they diagnosed? 12 What treatment is available for anxiety disorders? 15 What can be done to prevent anxiety disorders? 16 What can you do yourself if you are suffering from anxiety? 18 What can relatives do? 21 Where can you find more information? Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders in the population in the Western world. This brochure describes anxiety disorders, their specific characteristics as well as what they have in common, and their treatment. It also offers some advice to anxiety sufferers and their relatives. This brochure is for adults (age 18 and above), and it is mainly intended for people being treated for anxiety disorders by the psychiatric service in Region Midtjylland, and for their relatives. It is important for you and your relatives to learn about anxiety disorders. The more you know, the better you will be able to relate to the disorder when it occurs, and prevent relapses. Regional psychiatry in Region Midtjylland has six clinics offering outpatient treatment of anxiety disorders. We hope this brochure will help you and your relatives to become better informed about anxiety disorders. Kind regards The psychiatric service in Region Midtjylland Tingvej 15, 8800 Viborg Tel.
    [Show full text]