Papers in Peer Reviewed Journals by Otto Doerr-Zegers
Dialogues in Philosophy, Mental and Neuro Sciences
The great German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was also an immensely inventive scie... more The great German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was also an immensely inventive scientist. With the collaboration of well-known contemporaneous scientists such as Johann Wilhelm Ritter, Wolfgang Döbereiner and Thomas Johann Seebeck, he carried out many experiments in diff erent natural sciences, like anatomy, biology, geology, and mineralogy, but particularly in optics and the theory of light and colours. The authors proceed to explaining the essential elements of his theory, and they derive from it the principles of science according to Goethe. In a second part the authors compare the traditional and the emergent paradigm of sciences, focusing on: substantialist versus dialectic thinking, elements versus structures and systems, mechanics versus emergent causality, determinism versus indeterminism, and subject/object separation versus primordial unity of both. In a third part they show how Goethe's scientifi c points of view highly coincide with what current natural sciences are postulating today, as he criticised, then, the mechanistic causality principle and proposed a "reciprocal causality", in which the eff ect simultaneously has a retroactive nature and infl uences over the cause. Finally, they make some considerations about Goethe's phenomenology and its infl uence on his way of conceiving natural sciences.
Clinical phenomenology and its psychotherapeutic consequences, 2013
Can phenomenology be therapeutic in general and especially in the case of schizophrenia? This que... more Can phenomenology be therapeutic in general and especially in the case of schizophrenia? This question is advanced within the framework of the dialectical model in psychopathology whose central ideas are the following: mental pathology contains "positive" features that cannot be simply reduced to negativ-ity (abnormality or absence of mental health), and persons with mental illnesses are not merely passively thrown in their vulnerability , rather they are actively engaged in trying to cope, solve and make sense of it. The dialectical model is employed in the psychotherapy of persons with schizophrenia by applying two concepts: position-taking and perspectivism.
ANTICIPACIÓN Y MELANCOLÁI
Sutter's “anticipation” concept represents a good example of the usefulness that a concept derive... more Sutter's “anticipation” concept represents a good example of the usefulness that a concept derived from the phenomenological intuition can have in clinical practice. Backgrounds of this concept can be found both in modern philo¬sophy (Bergson, Heidegger and Sar¬tre) and neurophysiology (von Weiz¬säcker, von Auersperg and the Theory of the Circle of the Form). Furthermore, a masterly description of the pheno¬menon has been carried out by the 19th century German poet Heinrich von Kleist. The links between the con¬cept of anticipation and von Gebsattel's "Werdenshemmung" (inhibition of becoming) on one side, and Tellenbach's “remanence” on the other, are then sought. As a contribution to the study of the way in definition of this ill¬ness is attempted, starting from the ve¬rification of specific changes affecting three basic functions of the human being: being at ease of feeling inside one own's body (Befindlichkeit), the connection with the environment (Bleuler's "centrifugal functions") and funda¬mental biological rhythms. Secondly, the way in which the modification of anticipation appears in each of these phenomena or dimensions and their corresponding symptoms is analyzed.
Delusion and Mood Disorders, 2019
After a short introduction, in which definition and epidemiology of delusional ideas in mood diso... more After a short introduction, in which definition and epidemiology of delusional ideas in mood disorders are described, the author attempts to develop a psychopathology of these delusions. Next, the author tackles one of the biggest problems delusional depression poses: is it a different nosological entity respecting the non-delusional depression? European psychiatry tends to deny this independence, considering it a severe form of depression. The question should instead be why some depressive patients have delusions and others do not. Following Blankenburg, 1991, the author postulates that some depressive patients have guilt delusions, because in the past they have committed some transgressions which contradict the characteristics of their typus melancholicus personality. Some examples of this link, from the author’s own clinical experience, are presented. In the last section the author develops a phenomenology of delusional depression a propos of a case of nihilistic (Cotard’s) syndrome.
Disturbances of interpersonality in depression, mania and schizophrenia, 2019
One of the central features of the group of diseases we call "endogenous" (schizophrenia, melanch... more One of the central features of the group of diseases we call "endogenous" (schizophrenia, melancholic depression, mania) is the alteration of interpersonal relationships. This topic is here addressed from a phenomenological perspective. It is studied the way three fundamental elements of intersubjectivity, namely appresentation, temporality and intentionality, are altered in manic, depressive and schizophrenic psychoses, respectively. It is shown that in mania there is a failure of the shared appresentation of the role of persons, and that while failing in the constitution of the alter-Ego, the maniac patient also fails in the constitution of own Ego. In depression the interpersonal detachment is related to the serious alteration of the way the living time is experienced, with a self-confi nement into the own body. Finally, in schizophrenia it is a weakening of intentionality that leads to a failure in the constitution of the other and of the common and shared world.
Following the tradition of researchers of the phenomenological-anthropological school such as Str... more Following the tradition of researchers of the phenomenological-anthropological school such as Straus, von Gebsattel, Tellenbach and Blankenburg, the author attempts to approach the obsessive-compulsive disorder from a phenomenological perspective. This means setting aside any previous ideas about the phenomenon in question, in¬cluding genetic, neurobiological and clinical-statistical considerations. He takes as his starting point a clinically typical case he studied and treated with psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy for many years. After delving briefly into the interesting psychodynamic connections between the patient's symptoms and life story, he proceeds to analyze the obsessive world itself from a spatial and temporal point of view. Regarding the former, he points out that the features associated with human spatiality, according to Heidegger, the tendency to diminish distance and concede space, are specifically altered in the obsessive phenomenon. With respect to temporality, the author de¬monstrates the circularity and sterility of obsessive time (unlike that of creativity, which evolves in linear time), and the fact that the rites involved do not represent a victory over the rule of the clock, as religious rites do, but rather the deep submission to the chronological time.
TORTURE has been defined by the United Nations (declaration of December 9, 1975) as "every act by... more TORTURE has been defined by the United Nations (declaration of December 9, 1975) as "every act by which a public functionary (or another person at his instigation) intentionally inflicts on another person serious pain or suffering,... physical or mental, with the object of obtaining information or of punishing him ... or of intimidating that person or others." In Chile, from the 1973 military coup d'Etat up to the 1988 plebiscite, torture was practiced in a systematic way, as a method of interrogation and as a means of intimidation of detainees and, indirectly, of the population at large. In the beginning, torture was applied in military station units and in police stations, in the facilities of sport fields and prisoners' camps; but above all, in clandestine detention centers and prisons belonging to the secret police (Amnesty International 1977, 1983; CODEPU 1984, 1985, 1986; Lira and Weinstein 1987; Munoz 1986; Rodriguez de Ruiz-Tagle 1978). In spite of the bloodshed of the 1973 coup d'Etat, the phenomenon of torture came as a total surprise for the detainees, who had very often voluntarily surrendered themselves to the new authorities, and who, given the civil traditions of the country, expected treatment in accordance with a society subject to the law. The military government regularly denied having undertaken the practice of torture. According to Lira and Weinstein (20), this denial of such an extreme experience or horror made it even more difficult to overcome the trauma and fostered the development of chronic psychiatric pathology.
Examined the clinical antecedents of 469 epileptic patients admitted to the Psychiatric Clinic of... more Examined the clinical antecedents of 469 epileptic patients admitted to the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Heidelberg from 1960 to 1979. 50 of these cases had been diagnosed as epileptic and psychotic. Two types of psychosis were associated with epilepsy in this group: (1) symptomatic psychosis (n = 41) in which the psychotic symptoms were pathogenically related to epilepsy and (2) independent psychosis (n = 9) in which the psychotic symptoms were independent of epilepsy. Patients with acute symptomatic psychosis tended to be generalized epileptics, while patients with chronic symptomatic psychosis tended to be focal or combined epileptics. Other variables were studied, including EEG patterns, personality characteristics, and frequency of symptoms. Etiopathogenic implications are discussed. (55 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Tanto etólogos como antropólogos discuten si la conducta agresiva en el hombre es institiva, vale... more Tanto etólogos como antropólogos discuten si la conducta agresiva en el hombre es institiva, vale decir, necesaria y en cierto modo inevitable o socialmente aprendida, la que se desencadena, no por desequilibrios internos, como los instintos, sino como respuesta a una situación determinada. Se resumen los argumentos de ambas posiciones, inclinándose el autor más bien por la segunda. Sin embargo, el hecho que la agresión no sea un instinto no resuelve el problema de la violencia entre los hombres. Esta contrasta notablemente con lo que sucede en el reino animal, donde la agresividad intraespecífica está inhibida en forma refleja. Ante esta aparente contradicción el autor se plantea: a) cómo se explica la desaparición en el hombre de los mecanismos de inhibición refleja de la agresividad intraespecífica? y b) cuáles son los elementos o condiciones que favorecen la aparición de esta conducta en el hombre? La primera pregunta cree el autor poder resolverla a través del análisis del relato mítico de Caín y Abel. En él aparece el primer crimen de la humanidad vinculado claramente a un acto de libertad divina (el de preferir a Abel) que rompe el caráter necesario y neutral de las leyes naturales, incluidos los instintos. La segunda pregunta se intenta responder a través de um análisis fenomenológico de la conducta agresiva humana. Así, descubrimos que su espacialidad corresponde a una versión extrema de la "lucha por el espacio vital". Vale decir, justamente lo contrario que sucede en el amor; que su temporalidad es puntiforme e interruptora el movimiento madurativo de la existencia y sobre todo, efímera, contrastando con el carácter eterno del fenómeno amoroso. Por último descubrimos que, mientras el amor personaliza y está creando permanentemente al otro, la violencia necesita despersonalizarlo para manifestarse, y así, el quitarle al otro la condición de par a través del adjetivo descalificador, del prejuicio, o más concretamente de la uniformización de su atuendo (la ropa del preso, el capuchón del condenado a muerte) parece ser un elemento determinante en el desencadenamiento de la violencia
Palabras clave: Anorexia nervosa -Familia.
Los autores describen brevemcnte las formas de represion empleadas en Chile desde el advenimiento... more Los autores describen brevemcnte las formas de represion empleadas en Chile desde el advenimiento de un gobierna militar en 1973. Abordan el problema de las secuelas psicologicas y psiquietricas de Ia tortura. EI primer hccho es Ia apnricion regular, durante el periodo inmediatamenle posterior a la experiencia de tortura, de un cuadro angustioso aguda anrilogo al "post traumatic stress disorder" (DSM-III). Sin embargo. algunes de las vidimas de ia torture desa--rollan un cuadro psiquiatrico cronico y/o tardio, no observable en victimus de cuu tipo de desastrcs. La husqueda de u nu exphcacidn pam este Ienomeno llevo a los autores al intento de analisis Fenomenologico de la slruacion de torture. Asi, los rasgos Fenomcnologicos encontrados permiten eomprcnder la relacion exi stente entre tortura y sindromcs post-trnumaticos cronic-Os: la aslmctna y anonimidad que ceractcrlaa a la relacion entre torturador y torturadn; el tipo de eomuniear:iun de Goble vinculo cxplicaria la pcrdide de idcntidad y auto-esti rnn ohservada en estes cur-ses cronicos. La Iulsedad que rodea Ia tortura dada razon de la profunda desconfianza eon que quedan las viotimas. POl' ultimo, la dcstruccion de la temporalidad y la espacialidad lleva a transformar al torturado en un setsin pau-la.
¿Cuál es la relación entre la anorexia nerviosa y la post modernidad, fuera del hecho que ella ap... more ¿Cuál es la relación entre la anorexia nerviosa y la post modernidad, fuera del hecho que ella aparece recién en la modernidad tardía y en el comienzo de la época que estamos viviendo? Para responder esta pregunta tendríamos que revisar algunas de las características de nuestro tiempo, que a nuestro parecer pudieran hacer comprensible el surgimiento en él de esta misteriosa enfermedad. Estas son: el imperio de la técnica, la obscenidad y la pérdida del
sentido religioso de la existencia.
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Papers in Peer Reviewed Journals by Otto Doerr-Zegers
sentido religioso de la existencia.
sentido religioso de la existencia.