Self Requisite For Causation? Part I

Self Requisite For Causation? Part I

Hey folks, in this piece we will look at some issues that may help people in beginning an investigation. It seems the most natural assumption that the actions we take are as a result of us willing them.  In terms of cause and effect, we like to think that we are the cause of our actions. So what we need...

The Individual versus Society

The Individual versus Society

One of the consequences of discovering the traditional notions of self-hood within the Cartesian picture are incoherent, is that it does challenge our conception of the individual in society. The Cartesian picture is based on the simple object-subject relations that we use to frame the world around us.  When...

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part VIII (conclusion)

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part VIII (conclusion)

Part I of the series here Conclusion Having outlined the notion of personality traits here, it seems that many new questions are raised. One of the first ones that may appear is why I've gone to the trouble of highlighting Eyesenck's flawed personality trait studies.  Surely I could be accused...

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part VII

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part VII

Part I of the series here F.A.E - The Fundamental Attribution Error In rating people we have a propensity to commit the 'fundamental attribution error' which is where we overvalue the effect of human agency, and underestimate the effect of the present situation in explaining behaviour (Butt, 2004). To...

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part VI

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part VI

Part I of the series here The Eye of the Beholder Having outlined the idea of trait theory and why it does not seem to work, we will look to Personal Construct Theory (PCT), which suggests that we construct peoples personalities. To explain this we might look towards one of the common paradoxes...

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part V

The Myth of the Enduring Personality - Part V

Part I of the series here Neurotransmitters At this point, a trait theory might like to invoke the concept of neurotransmitters. Implicit in trait theory is the need to point to neurotransmitters as being the cause of behaviour. It may seem so far that I have ignored the idea of neurotransmitters being...