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Maxson J. McDowell [15]John McDowell [2]
  1. Projection and Truth in Ethics.John McDowell - unknown
    This is the text of The Lindley Lecture for 1987, given by John McDowell, a South African philosopher.
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  2. Response to Graham Macdonald.John McDowell - 2006 - In Cynthia Macdonald & Graham Macdonald (eds.), Mcdowell and His Critics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 235--239.
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  3. A Parsimonious Solution to the Hard Problem of Consciousness: Complexity and Narrative.Maxson J. McDowell - manuscript
    Three decades after Chalmers named it, the ‘hard problem’ remains. I suggest a parsimonious solution. Biological dynamic systems interact according to simple rules (while the environment provides simple constraints) and thus self-organize to become a new, more complex dynamic system at the next level. This spiral repeats several times generating a hierarchy of levels. A leap to the next level is frequently creative and surprising. From ants, themselves self-organized according to physical/chemical laws, may emerge an ant colony self-organized according to (...)
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  4. An Experiment that Tests an Interpretation: The Dream of the Six-Legged Dog.Maxson J. McDowell, Joenine E. Roberts & Rachel McRoberts - manuscript
    We present experimental evidence that an interpretation was accurate. Current wisdom notwithstanding, we could interpret from the text alone because its information is redundant: repetition provides internal checks. Knowing neither dreamer nor their associations we made falsifiable predictions that we tested by subsequently gathering information about the dreamer. Predictions were supported. Results were repeated with seven additional dreams. Each dream was tightly crafted, used humor, drama or hyperbole to penetrate the dreamer’s defenses, and furthered the emergence of personality. Our experiment (...)
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  5. Edited Transcript of the Class (Dr. of 6-L Dg).Maxson J. McDowell, Joenine E. Roberts & Rachel McRoberts - manuscript
    (NOTE: This is a transcript of the class. FOR THE FULL PAPER please click on "Maxson J McDowell" above.) An edited transcript of an experiment performed within a class on dream interpretation. Knowing only the dreamer’s age and gender, we interpreted his dream from its text. Our interpretation included predictions about the dreamer's psychological issues, and about his defenses. It also identified a series of jokes within the dream which would tend to penetrate the dreamer's defenses. When we had finished (...)
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  6. The Dream of Mercury: An Experiment that Tests an Interpretation.Maxson J. McDowell, Joenine Roberts & Omid Moadeli - manuscript
    In an online, participatory class, we interpreted The Dream of Mercury knowing nothing of the dreamer and having none of the dreamer’s associations. Our interpretation included a series of falsifiable predictions about the dreamer. When it was complete, we asked the bringer of the dream (who had until then been silent and was not visible to us) to give us more information about the dreamer. The dreamer is instructed to confront a friendship he had abandoned and, when he does so, (...)
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  7. Complete Transcript of the Class (Dr. of 6-L Dg).Maxson J. McDowell, Joenine E. Roberts & Rachel McRoberts - manuscript
    (NOTE: This is a transcript of the class. FOR THE FULL PAPER, please click on "Maxson J. McDowell".) A complete transcript of an experiment performed within a class on dream interpretation. Knowing only the dreamers age and gender, we interpreted his dream from its text. Our interpretation included predictions about the dreamer's psychological issues, and about his defenses. It also identified a series of jokes within the dream which would tend to penetrate the dreamer's defenses. When we had finished our (...)
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  8. The Dream of the Tabby Cats: An Experimental Test of Meaning.Maxson J. McDowell, Joenine E. Roberts & Susan J. Guercio - manuscript
    In an online, participatory class, we interpreted The Dream of the Tabby Cats knowing nothing of the dreamer beyond age and gender, and having none of the dreamer’s associations. Our interpretation included a series of predictions about the dreamer. When it was complete, we asked the bringer of the dream (who had until then been silent and was not visible to us) to give us more information about the dreamer. Later the dreamer herself gave us more information. Of six predictions (...)
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  9. The Dream of the Flaming Sword: An Experiment that Tests an Interpretation.Maxson J. McDowell, Joenine E. Roberts & Maria A. Lakis - manuscript
    In an online, participatory class, we interpreted The Dream of the Flaming Sword knowing nothing of the dreamer beyond age and gender, and having none of the dreamer’s associations. Our interpretation included a series of predictions about the dreamer. When it was complete, we asked the bringer of the dream (who had until then been silent and who also gave no visual feedback to our discussion) to give us more information about the dreamer. Eight months later the bringer gave us (...)
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  10. The Dream of the White House: An Experiment that Tests an Interpretation.Maxson J. Mcdowell, Joenine Roberts & Andrea Nyerges - manuscript
    In an online, participatory class, we interpreted The Dream of the White House knowing nothing of the dreamer and having none of the dreamer’s associations. Our interpretation included a series of falsifiable predictions about the dreamer. When it was complete, we asked the bringer of the dream (who had until then been silent and was not visible to us) to give us more information about the dreamer. Of 17 predictions 15 were confirmed. The dreamer suffers dislocation and loss until she (...)
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  11. The Dream of Geese Nesting in Trees: An Experiment that Tests an Interpretation.Maxson J. McDowell, Joenine E. Roberts & Nathalie Hausman - manuscript
    In an online, participatory class, we interpreted 'The Dream of Geese Nesting in Trees' knowing nothing of the dreamer beyond age and gender, and having none of the dreamer’s associations. Our interpretation included predictions about the dreamer. When it was complete, we asked the bringer of the dream (who had until then been mostly silent and who also gave no visual feedback to our discussion) to give us more information about the dreamer. Our main predictions were confirmed. Goslings are falling (...)
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  12. The Dream of the Three Orcas: An Experiment that Tests an Interpretation.Maxson J. McDowell & E. Roberts Joenine - manuscript
    In an online, participatory class, we interpreted 'The Dream of the Three Orcas' knowing nothing of the dreamer beyond age and gender, and having none of the dreamer’s associations. -/- Our interpretation included nine predictions about the dreamer. When it was complete, we asked the bringer of the dream (who had not been present before our interpretation was complete) to give us more information about the dreamer. Later the dreamer also gave us more information. Our predictions were mostly confirmed. The (...)
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  13. Experimental Evidence for the Meaning of Saturn who Devoured his Children.Maxson J. McDowell, E. Roberts, Joenine & Alexandra Roth - manuscript
    This paper integrates symbolic thought and experimental research. We hypothesized that symbolic narratives provide homeostasis for the complex adaptive system that is personality. Our interpretation of a dream was based, in part, on this hypothesis. We found that the dream retold the myth of Saturn. When, by direct experiment, we tried to falsify our interpretation, our results supported our interpretation and thereby supported our hypothesis. Previously, evidence for this hypothesis had been only anecdotal. __________________________________________ For an audio-record of entire class: (...)
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  14. Autism’s Direct Cause? Failure of Infant-Mother Eye Contact in a Complex Adaptive System.Maxson J. McDowell - 2010 - Biological Theory 5 (4):344-356.
    This article attempts to show why an experimental hypothesis is plausible and merits testing; in brief, the hypothesis is that autism begins with a failure in early learning and that changing the environment of early learning would dramatically change its incidence. Strong statistical evidence supporting this hypothesis has been published by Waldman et al., but to date this evidence has largely been ignored, perhaps because it challenges prevalent beliefs about autism. This article also suggests that the current epidemic of autism (...)
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  15. Eye-contact and complex dynamic systems: an hypothesis on autism's direct cause and a clinical study addressing prevention.Maxson J. McDowell - manuscript
    (This version was submitted to Behavioral and Brain Science. A revised version was published by Biological Theory) Estimates of autism’s incidence increased 5-10 fold in ten years, an increase which cannot be genetic. Though many mutations are associated with autism, no mutation seems directly to cause autism. We need to find the direct cause. Complexity science provides a new paradigm - confirmed in biology by extensive hard data. Both the body and the personality are complex dynamic systems which spontaneously self-organize (...)
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  16. Pictorial Space throughout Art History: Cezanne and Hofmann. How it models Winnicott's interior space and Jung's individuation.Maxson J. McDowell - manuscript
    Since the stone age humankind has created masterworks which possess a mysterious quality of solidity and grandeur or monumentality. A Paleolithic Venus and a still life by Cezanne both share this monumentality. Michelangelo likened monumentality to sculptural relief, Braque called monumentality 'space', and Hans Hoffman, himself one of the masters, called monumentality 'pictorial depth.' The masters agreed on the import of monumentality, but none of them left a clear explanation of it. In 1943 Earl Loran published his classic book on (...)
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  17. Women's Ancient Stories: Archetype and Meaning.Maxson J. McDowell - manuscript
    The author interprets three stories from recently Neolithic cultures (Melanesian, African Bushman, and Inuit) and a fourth story from an oral tradition of Haitian women. All four are about women and perhaps, judging by their content, composed by women. The author trained with Edward Whitmont and developed his interpretation technique in decades of practice with dreams as a Jungian analyst. He adds a new tool, the use of repetition, in which the same point is made by a series of different (...)
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