bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Advocating an Ad Hoc Forum for Business and Human Rights Disputes
Authors: Simma Bruno , Sangiuolo Giorgia
Published: January 2022

The chapter examines the added potential of the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration (Hague Rules) to solve disputes on compliance by businesses with human rights obligations compared to certain international judicial and arbitral institutions that have dealt with such disputes. Despite commendable efforts, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), investor-state arbitral tribunals, and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) all suffer from deficiencies that stand in the way of their delivering a genuinely ‘effective’ adjudication of BHR disputes under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Combining the flexibility and transnational nature of arbitration with an ad hoc structure and mandate, injected with human rights and BHR-specific values and principles, the Hague Rules represent one effective avenue to prevent and redress violations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations committed by businesses.
Teaching Human Rights
Authors: Tobin John
Published: January 2022

Although the availability of courses and teaching materials on international human rights law continues to expand, the pedagogy of human rights has been largely ignored. The chapter is an attempt to ignite a conversation about this issue. It offers some reflections on the role of an academic when teaching human rights. It draws on the work of John Hattie and his model of Visible Learning to first suggest that teachers must focus on being activators who engage in deliberate interventions to promote cognitive change in their students. It then applies Hattie’s idea of learning intentions to a human rights curriculum and outlines a model that focuses on the development of the key capabilities of students across four domains—technical, critical, strategic, and reflective.
Towards ASEAN Human Rights Law
Authors: Muntarbhorn Vitit
Published: January 2022

The chapter traces the link between ASEAN and the development of human rights mechanisms, treaties, declarations, and other documents related thereto. There is now the presence of the ASEAN Charter, with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission and various sectoral bodies. There is the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, accompanied by various declarations and plans/programmes of action on women and children, migrant workers, and persons with disabilities, as well as the ASEAN treaty against human trafficking. Yet there is a need to build stronger subregional and national systems for effective human rights protection, such as through accessible courts, human rights commissions, and people’s participation.
Human Rights 2030
Authors: Rodríguez-Garavito César
Published: January 2022

This chapter proposes disruptive interventions in human rights practice that address the existential challenges to the field: a more collaborative mode of operation, greater sense of time (both long term and short term), and heightened attention to narratives, emotions, and frames capable of connecting with larger constituencies and other social justice movements. The traditional paradigm of human rights is inadequate to deal with the simultaneity, speed, and depth of the ecological, technological, geopolitical, and socio-economic challenges of the 2020s. Against the despair of critics who announce the ‘endtimes’ of human rights and the defensiveness of traditional advocates who double down on conventional tactics, this chapter proposes ideas and strategies for the next decade that draw on lessons from other fields of knowledge and practice.
Praxis and the Critical International Human Rights Law Scholar
Authors: Okafor Obiora Chinedu
Published: January 2022

The chapter reflects on the role of critical international human rights law scholars in socio-economic and political praxis outside the academe; focusing on our role as scholars in advancing struggles in favour of the subaltern within or in concert with international institutions and various ‘on-the-ground’ activist groups (such as social movements and NGOs). The chapter begins by examining the very idea of praxis; then focuses, as examples, on an analysis of some of the experiences that the author has had as a critical international human rights law scholar who has also been closely engaged in praxis; and offers a reflection on the promise and perils of such close engagement with praxis. The chapter ends with some concluding remarks.
Aristotle and the Uses of Logic
Authors: Striker Gisela
Published: January 2022

This chapter argues that although Aristotle was clearly interested in logical theory, he did not consider his syllogistic as a science in its own right. He saw it as part of a general theory of argument, optimistically expecting it to cover the entire field of valid deductive argument. Such a theory would provide not only scientists, but also speakers in political debates or in court as well as philosophers, with methods of constructing proofs, refuting arguments, and discovering fallacies. This is illustrated by passages from the Prior Analytics beyond the exposition of the formal system of syllogistic.
Panaetius Peri tou kathēkontos in Cicero’s De Officiis
Authors: Striker Gisela
Published: January 2022

This chapter presents a study of Panaetius’s best-known innovation in Stoic ethics—the notion of decorum in both a wider and a narrower sense. In its wider sense, decorum appears on a list of four natural human starting points for virtue. Based on the uniquely human sense of beauty and the analogy between visible beauty and beauty of mind, it is the outer manifestation of virtue that leads humans to recognize virtue as a good and to strive to become virtuous. In the narrower sense, it includes moderation, the traditional fourth cardinal virtue, but also, motivated by the human desire to win the approval of others, socially pleasant behaviour. Decorum in this sense goes beyond morally correct conduct; it may be a social virtue, but not a moral one.
Introduction
Authors: King Matt , May Josh
Published: January 2022

Our understanding of mental disorders is undergoing a paradigm shift. Historically, many patients thought to be afflicted with mental illness were placed at the margins of society, if not entirely excluded, based on the assumption that they are incompetent or lack full autonomy. A richer understanding of mental disorder, however, has generated alternative perspectives. Some theorists have argued that only certain patients have limited forms of autonomy (e.g., ...
Quality of Will and (Some) Unusual Behavior
Authors: Arpaly Nomy
Published: January 2022

This chapter explores how far one can go accounting for the moral responsibility implications of several unusual mental conditions using a parsimonious quality-of-will account that relies on the way we talk about moral responsibility in more mundane situations. By contrasting situations involving epistemic irrationality versus cognitive impairment, it becomes clear that the presence of those often (but not always) excuses actions performed by unusual agents. The discussion turns to situations involving unusual motivational states, which are more problematic for quality-of-will accounts, and sketches a way for quality-of-will accounts to approach them. Of some of these mental conditions, there is no particular reason to think that they excuse, once we ignore whether the condition is currently regarded as a disorder by psychiatrists.
Taking Control with Mechanisms of Psychotherapy
Authors: Waller Robyn Repko
Published: January 2022

This chapter examines the control capacities of individuals with certain mental disorders and how, specifically, their reasons-responsiveness improves with treatment. Successful talk therapy, in particular, can bring individuals with disorders of agency closer to full-blown agency. The discussion focuses, first, on Agoraphobia and Exposure Therapy and, second, on Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. We can see effective techniques of talk therapy, such as gradual exposure or radical acceptance exercises, as operating on the ability of patients to respond appropriately to reasons. In this way, reasons-responsiveness is a lens through which to better appreciate the flourishing of patients, via improved control in both moral and nonmoral contexts. The chapter bridges philosophical concepts of reasons-responsiveness with key psychiatric constructs, such as distress tolerance and experiential avoidance.
The Thread of Energy
Authors: Pasqualetti Martin J.
Published: January 2022

The Thread of Energy simplifies the world’s complexity by recognizing energy as the single most important influence on human behavior. It exposes how fundamental is energy on our lives, our security, and our relationships with others in an ever-shrinking and complicated world. It examines the typical inspiration energy has on all activities, ways of life, ambitions, and costs while illustrating its central role in explaining how the world works and how it will influence the future we are creating. It reduces the myriad interlocking and inscrutable effects on human security and happiness while preparing us—in lay language—for the coming energy transition. In sum, the book weaves a tapestry of all human activities by describing how energy drives human actions, decisions, barriers, and opportunities. Acknowledging and acting upon this accumulated awareness is the first step in illuminating the path to the solutions we must identify to survive. Once we do so, we will have accepted that energy is a social issue with a technical component rather than the other way around.
Transitions
Authors: Pasqualetti Martin J.
Published: January 2022

Chapter 2 compares the changes in lifestyle that accompanied each energy transition, from early hunting and gathering to present uses such as rockets and robots. It explains how human control of fire affected the rise of civilization and compares energy sources in terms of their increasing energy density. It describes the differences in personal energy security that accompanied energy transitions, itemizing each energy transition from the earliest days to the present. It explains the importance of plant and animal domestication in facilitating a sedentary lifestyle and compares fossil fuels to nuclear fission in electricity generation. It shows how, until relatively recently, people were poor but often self-reliant in terms of energy, relying on plants and animals for food and warmth. All that changed for most people with the widespread use of more concentrated forms of energy.
Cities
Authors: Pasqualetti Martin J.
Published: January 2022

Chapter 9 emphasizes that because cities are where most people live, their form, function, operation, and development play a dominant role in energy demand. The increasing demand for energy in urban areas results from their swelling population and also their form; horizontal cities are inherently less energy efficient than vertical cities. Will future cities be different from current ones? Can we adjust them in a way that helps decrease per-capita energy consumption? Or will they be spread out and require massive investment in transportation infrastructure? Can they be made more efficient through clever design and technological improvements? Because the urban use of energy will have growing knock-on effects everywhere on the planet, our welfare demands that we pay attention to how it is used there. Highways, railroads, pipelines, transmission lines, and airplane routes are like spokes on a bicycle wheel converging on concentrated urban hubs. The hubs are where the energy is needed, and it must come without fail. That is a tall order, fulfilling it is our challenge.
Justice
Authors: Pasqualetti Martin J.
Published: January 2022

The purpose of Chapter 10 is to stretch our understanding of the role energy plays in matters fundamental to how we live our lives and interact with others. It identifies the relationships between access to energy and human well-being, recognizing that energy access is a leading determinant influencing the life we will lead. It stresses the importance of energy to human health, safety, and even injustice. It evaluates the relative human burdens of fuel poverty in the industrialized places like United Kingdom and energy poverty in agrarian sub-Saharan Africa. It identifies concerns about energy justice when using nuclear fuels, assessing whether these concerns should caution us against the future development of nuclear power for commercial purposes. Will the increased use of renewable energy resources increase energy democracy and energy justice, or will it have little effect? Rather than letting others make energy decisions that can rule our lives, could we design more equitable energy systems that would allow more people (or even all people) to lead peaceful lives?
Wittgenstein’s Lion
Authors: Beneke Jürgen
Published: January 2022

This chapter points out the misunderstandings that will often arise in interactions between members of different cultures, how the challenges inherent in such communication are more subtle than most people realise, and how intellectual laziness and sloppy thinking (as well as intolerance) generally govern our dealings with the Other. A superficially adequate command of the language of communication cannot substitute for familiarity with cultural deep-structures. Although this chapter’s remit is to investigate communication problems between such national (cultural) groups as Americans and Japanese, the Other can also be someone of a different generation, gender, social class or ethnic group. His findings therefore have massive relevance for dealings with the intra-cultural, too (especially in a nation that is as diverse as India)―dealings that are made more complicated by prejudice and discursive falsification.
The Makapansgat Hominid
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

Absences are present from the beginning of art—which may predate Homo sapiens. Gestalt switches catch the eye of early hominids. Pictorial depiction makes the absent present through a look-alike. The viewer understands without reliance on a common language. Interpretation does rely on some conventions of depiction that are no longer accessible. The earliest representations of nothing picture absences. More speculatively, cave painters distinguish between representations of absences and the absence of representation. Some early art appears to cross the threshold from representing absences to representing the absence of everything. Some artists appear to depict dreams. There is ambiguity between whether the dream depicts an alternative reality or a false representation of the waking world. This ambiguity may have been deliberate.
Lao-tzu
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

The lineage of nonexistent philosophers continues with Lao-tzu. Whereas Confucius answers “What should be done?” the sages writing under the pen name Lao-tzu answer “What should be omitted?” They focus on the hazards of intervention, anticipating themes from laissez-faire economics and anarchist critiques of the state. What is natural, in the sense of being uninterrupted, becomes valorized as normal. Negative thinking develops in methodological principles such as null hypothesis testing. Taoism develops a religious branch that elevates absences into objects of reverence. Shadows have one foot in the realm of being and another foot in nonbeing. These amphibians are frequent ambassadors.
Nagarjuna
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

Buddha’s austere dualism of mental atoms and physical atoms is not austere enough for idealist disciples. They ground all of reality on ideas. The budget is further cut by Nagarjuna, who questions the presupposition that there is a fundamental level of being. He sees no inconsistency in a universe that is divisible without limit. Instead of asserting that the universe is atomless, Nagarjuna just supposes it. He pioneers an epistemology of nothing in which one suspends judgment instead of taking philosophical sides. A philosopher should not write a book What I Believe because he is only trained to draw connections between beliefs. Speaking as a professional, he beliefs nothing. Nagarjuna attains a higher level of detachment than Buddha.
Aristotle
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

Aristotle reverses Plato’s top-down theory of how forms relate to particulars. Instead, pyramidhood is an abstraction from pyramids. If there were no pyramids, there would be no pyramidhood. An object’s form does govern its developmental trajectory. In addition to being what you are, you are what you were and what you could have been. A captain who omits to steer his boat is responsible for it running aground. His mother is not responsible even though she also did nothing. Aristotle minimizes the postulation of omissions just as he minimizes the postulation of positive things. The destruction of the rudder deprives the ship of maneuverability. Aristotle attacks Leucippus’s atomism partly by attacking atoms. But his deepest criticisms attack the possibility of a vacuum.
Saint Katherine of Alexandria
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

Women break into the male-dominated realm of nonexistent philosophers. They arrive as Christian counterweights to the pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria. Hypatia was killed by a Christian mob. The lack of response to her murder by Christian leaders made her a secular martyr. After centuries of silence, the Christians invented Katherine, who matches Hypatia’s accomplishments while also having superior spiritual credentials.
Augustine
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

If God exists, evil does not exist. What appears to be evil is actually a privation of good. Privations are absences. Absences do not exist. Evil is an illusion.
Fridugisus
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

Fridugisus reifies nothing into something that can be anything. Creation from nothing is thereby explained and defended. The reality of shadows is established by divine revelation. Although scripture does not address the question “What is the nature of shadows?” it does imply that shadows are in space, can move through space, and are accessible to the senses beyond vision. Fridugisus derives his theory of shadows from scripture rather than observation. The shadow mentioned in a biblical verse is evidence, but not the reader’s shadow that falls upon that verse. This methodology of relying on a canonical text is repeated by philosophers who substitute science books for holy books.
Bradwardine
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

God is totally free. So there is no freedom leftover for human beings—except the option ratifying God’s judgments. God is free to annihilate any object in space without replacing it with another object. So a vacuum can be located anywhere—and everywhere. Indeed, God is free to create a hole in space itself. Aristotle’s physics needs to be replaced with a physics that allows for vacuums and holes in space. If space were merely potentially infinite, then God would be some finite size. So contrary to Aristotle, space is infinite. Bradwardine’s replacement of Aristotle’s theory of space later becomes a resource for physicists.
Newton
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

British physicists realize that the only physics that takes the vacuum seriously is Epicurus’s atomism, as described by the Lucretius’s rediscovered poem. The hitch is that atomism is associated with hedonism and atheism. History is rewritten so that the atomism was discovered by the prophets. Newton takes himself to be rediscovering the atomistic physics of Moses. This partly explains Newton’s confidence that Gottfried Leibniz plagiarized calculus. Newton comes close to identifying God with space. He characterizes space as God’s sensorium. Everybody keeps immediately in touch with God.
Bergson
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory was taken as scientific vindication of Schopenhauer’s pessimism and nihilism. Bergson popularizes a progressive interpretation of evolution. Where Schopenhauer sees pointless chaos, Bergson sees creative self-development. Action takes precedence over contemplation. Bergson agrees with the American pragmatists except he cautions against mistaking utility as truth. Bergson systematically affirms the doctrine that reality is positive. Metacognitively, negative discourse is analyzed as cautions against false judgments rather than a description of facts. Emotionally, negative discourse expresses surprise, especially disappointment with a failure to meet a norm.
Bertrand Russell
Authors: Sorensen Roy
Published: January 2022

The logician Russell returns to Parmenides’s problem of negative existentials—how can ‘Vulcan does not exist’ be true given the absence of Vulcan? Russell’s theory of description provides the most influential and comprehensive answers to the questions that have been asked in this book. Previous theories pictured names as tagging their bearers. So the absence of a bearer rendered the name meaningless. Russell analyzes names as disguised descriptions of reality. Negative existentials are general descriptions of positive reality. This precisely explains how we can have true beliefs about what is not the case without endangering the law of the excluded middle. Future theories will be compared to Russell’s for centuries.
Contextualizing the Study of Music Performance
Authors: McPherson Gary E.
Published: January 2022

The eighty scholars from thirteen countries who prepared the fifty-four chapters in this handbook are leaders in the fields of music psychology, performance science, musicology, psychology, education, music medicine, science, and music education. They include academics who hold prominent positions in music institutions worldwide, emerging early-career researchers who have begun to make their mark through publications of international stature, and leaders outside the field of music whose work deserves to be adapted and applied within the field of music performance. Chapters provide a broad coverage of the area, with considerable expansion of the topics that most would normally expect to be covered in a resource of this type. In this way, the range and scope of the content is much wider than other publications by virtue of the inclusion of chapters from related disciplines such as performance science (e.g., optimizing performance, mental techniques, talent development in non-music areas) and education (e.g., human development, motivation, learning and teaching styles), as well as the attention given to emerging critical issues in the field (e.g., wellbeing, technology, gender, diversity, inclusion, identity, resilience and buoyancy, diseases, and physical and mental disabilities). The two-volume handbook is designed around eight distinct parts: Development and Learning, Proficiencies, Performance Practices, Psychology, Enhancements, Health and Wellbeing, Science, and Innovations.
Playing by Ear
Authors: Haston Warren , McPherson Gary E.
Published: January 2022

There are significant and long-lasting benefits when beginning instrumentalists are exposed to a sound-before-sign approach. Likewise, refinement of play-by-ear skills by experienced, proficient musicians can enrich their musicality and lead to benefits for other performance skills including playing by ear, playing from memory, sight-reading, and improvising. Improving play-by-ear skills improves all forms of performing, as musicians use inner hearing to build an aural database through the use of mental and aural imagery while playing by ear. A mental warehouse of aural templates and mental tools allows for more efficient processing of music visually, aurally, and kinesthetically. We support an integrated model of instrumental performance that is significantly enhanced by developing one’s abilities to play by ear. This approach fosters connections between eyes, ears, and fingers and allows musicians to advance their skills more efficiently and effectively to become more responsive performers. A versatile twenty-first-century musician is able to meet the demands of performing varied musics in varied contexts. We make specific recommendations for implementing playing by ear as a technique for contemporary practice.
Diversity, Inclusion, and Access
Authors: Smith Tawnya D. , Hendricks Karin S.
Published: January 2022

This chapter addresses diversity, inclusion, and access through four perspectives: (a) historical trends; (b) social cognition; (c) social constructionism; and (d) critical and postmodern philosophies. This multi-lens approach is intended to elucidate systemic challenges and possibilities that exist for individuals who value performance in the Western classical tradition. The chapter intentionally avoids taking a “deficit” perspective regarding any social identities, focusing instead on creating a space for dialogue about differences and potentials within every individual. Our intention is to provide a catalyst for multi-dimensional understandings of power, marginalization, inclusiveness, and access, thereby providing a way for classical music stakeholders (e.g., performers, arts administrators, educators, audience members, donors) to envision new possibilities for music learning and performance.
Buoyancy, Resilience, and Adaptability
Authors: Martin Andrew J. , Evans Paul
Published: January 2022

It is self-evident that the ability to deal with adversity and change is an important life skill. This is also true of music performers, whose education and careers are characterized by personal challenges, everyday difficulties and setbacks, major professional events, seismic shifts in the progression of a career, and changes in the artistic landscape. Three personal traits have been identified to deal with these concerns: buoyancy is the ability to deal with everyday setbacks; resilience is the ability to respond to major adversity; and adaptability is the ability to deal with novelty, uncertainty, and change. While studies on musicians are limited, the research around these traits suggests that musicians who develop the ability to deal with minor setbacks are better equipped when faced with major adversity, and that musicians who are open and adaptable to change fare much better than if they are resistant or inflexible. This chapter explores the consequences of these personal traits, including the need to consider social and professional circumstances that give rise to the need for buoyancy, resilience, and adaptability, as well as the ways in which people can increase their own abilities to respond to adversity and change.
Musical Potential, Giftedness, and Talent Development
Authors: McPherson Gary E. , Blackwell Jennifer , Hallam Susan
Published: January 2022

Abstract: This chapter surveys research dealing with musical potential, musical giftedness, and musical talent to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions about the nature and scope of musical development. It addresses the issue of whether we are all born musical, before exploring ways of how to define and explain musical potential, giftedness, and talent. Attention is given to debates about the extent to which there are individual differences in musical potential, and the complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors that can help explain this concept. Environmental, intrapersonal, and developmental processes acting on the realization of musical talent are each discussed separately, with a final section rounding this explanation off to provide a framework for understanding talent development in music. The chapter shows that music is a universal feature of our human design and that virtually everyone can successfully engage with music, if they so choose. For musicians who wish to take their talent development to a much higher level, the topics covered provide greater awareness of what exactly is taking place on the road to developing expertise, from the earliest stages of learning right through to the types of transformational achievement that distinguishes the world’s leading musicians.
Embodiment and Containment: Flexible Pathways to Flourishing in Theatre
Authors: Goldstein Thalia R. , Hayes Kristen
Published: January 2022

Theorists and practitioners have long proposed that theatre directly causes human flourishing. Yet as with any proposal of far transfer (especially from an art form to an unrelated psychological outcome), evidence is mixed or absent, and multiple questions remain: What kind of theatre, and what kind of flourishing? Under what circumstances and for whom? In this chapter, the authors propose that regardless of type of theatre or other contextual variables, the act of embodiment, of physicalizing emotions, mental states, and situations that are different from oneself, and the safe containment of those emotions and mental states for actor and audience, can lead to higher well-being. Flexibly—across professional and amateur theatre, for actors and audience, drama, comedy, and musical—it is this embodying and containment that may be mechanistically responsible for theorized and found links between theatrical engagement and flourishing outcomes such as empathy, sense of community, and emotional control.
Flourishing Effects of Integrating the Arts and Humanities in STEM Education: A Review of Past Studies and an Agenda for Future Research
Authors: Vaziri Hoda , Bradburn Norman M.
Published: January 2022

With growing interest and emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) within society, scholars and educators have proposed the inclusion of the arts and humanities into STEM education (i.e., STEAM) with the premise that such an interdisciplinary approach to education would further enhance students’ retention, learning, and flourishing. While the literature on student retention and learning outcomes is fruitful, less attention has been paid to the flourishing effects of STEAM education. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to provide a systematic review of the literature on STEAM education and flourishing outcomes (i.e., subjective and psychological well-being, character and virtue, and creativity). The authors find that the research on the topic is scarce and more research is needed to further understanding of the topic. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research.
Flow in the Arts and Humanities: On Cultivating Human Complexity
Authors: Vrooman Katherine , Procter Finley Kelsey , Nakamura Jeanne , Csikszentmihalyi Mihaly
Published: January 2022

The authors’ review of relevant literature revealed the following: (1) flow, an optimal experience, can occur during participation in the arts and humanities; (2) flow is a vehicle to flourishing; and (3) the arts and humanities are abundant sources of wisdom that can aid in the understanding of oneself and the world. These points together suggest that flow experiences in the arts and humanities offer a special opportunity for growth, and the authors conclude this chapter by proposing three avenues for this development: (1) because flow is an intrinsically rewarding experience, the experience itself encourages people to engage with the benefits of the arts and humanities; (2) flow breaks down the barrier between conscious and subconscious thought to facilitate creative and contemplative pursuits; and (3) recurring flow experiences in the arts and humanities lead to the cyclical development of challenge and skill, cultivating mastery and wisdom.
Awe, Approached
Authors: Valdesolo Piercarlo
Published: January 2022

Experiences of states like awe, wonder, inspiration and curiosity have been empirically linked with both human flourishing as well as with engagement in the arts and humanities. Recent research in affective science investigating the structure of these emotions has begun to shed light on exactly why. This chapter argues for two ways in which these disciplines may promote human flourishing via their capacity to trigger such states in observers. It begins by laying out a conceptual framework for awe and its relation to other similar states. It will then survey existing research on awe’s relationship to two domains of well-being: the self-transcendent and the epistemic.
Music and Flourishing
Authors: Lamont Alexandra
Published: January 2022

This chapter draws on theory and a range of recent research literature to explain how music contributes to human flourishing. It first treats music listening and music-making as separate domains, and then brings them together to consider the world of the musician across a range of contexts. Parallels are drawn between theories of well-being and theories of emotion in music. It also includes a developmental perspective on how music is associated with well-being at different stages in life, and how culture and society work together to foster this. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the purposes and goals of engaging with music for well-being and flourishing.
Practical Wisdom: What Philosophy and Literature Can Add to Psychology
Authors: Schwartz Barry
Published: January 2022

In the course of studying the cognitive and affective components of wise judgment, psychology has largely neglected the moral dimensions of wisdom. In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle places moral will at the center of his discussion, and points out how skill divorced from will—divorced from virtue and character—can create knavish individuals who will mold institutions that corrupt human character. In this chapter, the author discusses the central role that moral will must play in a complete discussion of wisdom. Understanding moral will requires understanding the proper telos of human activities and practices, as well as the virtues of character that people need in order to remain true to the telos of those practices. Discussion of these essential topics is avoided by psychologists, but embraced by philosophers. Thus, philosophy has a central role to play in developing a proper understanding of practical wisdom. Moreover, for Aristotle, wise practice typically involves finding the “mean” between extremes. But the mean is not formulaic; it is context specific. This means that wise judgment must give priority to the particular, which, in turn, means that judgment must be understood as embedded in narrative. Thus, an understanding of narrative, best embodied by literary studies, has much to contribute to a complete understanding of wisdom. In sum, a complete account of practical wisdom requires psychology, philosophy, and literary studies acting as partners.
Stories for Good: Transportation into Narrative Worlds
Authors: Fitzgerald Kaitlin , Green Melanie C.
Published: January 2022

Narratives and literary works have delighted and enchanted audiences for centuries. This chapter explores how stepping into a narrative world can contribute to human flourishing. Engaging in stories can provide an escape from the mundane into a realm where one can safely discover new and otherwise inaccessible experiences; stories can also help create meaning and provide a framework for interpreting events in one’s world. The authors review research on narrative transportation: the experience of “losing oneself” in the world of story. They describe the antecedents and consequences of this state, and the ways in which transporting narratives may change attitudes and beliefs. They also examine the link between narratives and empathy, including research suggesting that reading fiction or literature may be associated with better social skills. Finally, they discuss the potential benefits of restorative narratives, a type of story focused on recovery and resilience.
Toward a Contextual Model of Arts and Humanities Engagement and Human Flourishing
Authors: Shim Yerin
Published: January 2022

Whether engagement with the arts and humanities leads to human flourishing remains a compelling yet undertested question in the extant literature. This chapter argues that people commonly engage with the arts and humanities across various life domains, such as education, work, leisure, and health; and that there are multiple moderated pathways through which these engagements with the arts and humanities may or may not lead to flourishing outcomes in individuals, based on a variety of individual and sociocultural contextual factors. Thus, this chapter makes a case for the need of a contextual model of arts and humanities engagement and human flourishing that considers the impact of personal characteristics, as well as immediate and broader sociocultural contexts. Relevant existing empirical research, current gaps in the literature, and avenues for future research are explored.
Understanding and Improving Emotion Regulation: Lessons from Psychological Science and the Humanities
Authors: Ciarrochi Joseph , Hayes Louise , Sahdra Baljinder
Published: January 2022

Most psychology researchers define emotion regulation as manipulating the quality, duration, of intensity of emotions. This definition often assumes that the goal of life is to maximize positive emotions and minimize negative ones (hedonism). To understand the limitations of this definition, and the possibility of other definitions of emotion regulation, one must look to the humanities. Philosophy and research can be used to discuss the paradox of hedonism: direct attempts to feel good often lead to feeling bad. Rather than emotion regulation being about feeling good, the authors suggest it can be about doing good. They discuss how people can use the study of the humanities to improve five emotion-regulation skills: (1) the ability to guide behavior based on value and virtue (ethics, moral philosophy); (2) the use of reasoning (e.g., philosophy, logic) in emotional situations, and the ability to recognize the limits of reasoning and to let go of it (e.g., Eastern philosophy focused on mindfulness and paradox); (3) awareness of emotions; (4) the ability to broaden and build one’s emotional responses; and (5) the ability to take perspective of the self and others, a skill that can be improved by reading history and literature. The authors briefly discuss the dangers of a feel-good approach to emotion regulation for society. The humanities allow one to see that most acts of prejudice, discrimination, and indifference to suffering stem from a desire to feel good (safe, guilt free, powerful, prestigious) at the expense of others.
Contributions of Reading Fiction to Well-Being: Positive, Negative, and Ambiguous Consequences of Engaging with Fiction
Authors: Kidd David
Published: January 2022

From the child considering whether the pigeon should drive the bus to the literature professor pondering the thematic threads in Toni Morrison’s novels, people are transfixed by stories. Yet, they know relatively little about how engaging with stories might shape who they become. This chapter explores recent research investigating the effects of reading fiction on cognitive and intellectual development, personal development, and social development. In each domain, attention is given to how qualities of texts and readers may interact to yield seemingly contradictory effects. The chapter concludes with examples of practical applications of reading programs and suggestions for addressing key limitations and gaps in the research literature.
Cultivating Psychological Well-Being through Arts-Based Interventions
Authors: Darewych Olena Helen
Published: January 2022

Historically, humans across many different cultures have used the arts as healing practices and forms of self-expression. In recent decades, the arts have become suitable creative interventions in clinical practices for improving the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being of individuals. This chapter provides an overview of the creative arts therapies and presents arts-based interventions that have the potential to cultivate psychological well-being in individuals of all ages. Specifically, the following arts-based interventions, grounded in Ryff’s (1989) multidimensional psychological well-being model, are described in detail: Living in the Present, Eco Sculpt, Bridge Drawing with Path (BDP), Island of Connectivity, Sources of Meaning, and Nesting Doll. Case examples illustrate how these arts-based interventions have been integrated within clinical, educational, research, and supervisory contexts. The chapter concludes with some reflections in relation to incorporating these arts-based interventions in research with well-being self-report questionnaires.
Hearing Loss and Young Children’s Development of Emotional Competence
Authors: Ketelaar Lizet , Lambie John , Li Boya , Eichengreen Adva , Zaidman-Zait Anat , Rieffe Carolien
Published: January 2022

Hearing loss can have a significant impact on children’s development. It can diminish children’s ability to perceive and produce spoken language, which has been studied extensively. However, hearing loss can also negatively affect children’s socioemotional development because it limits access to the social environment. Interestingly, there is little research on this. In this chapter, the authors begin by discussing the development of four aspects of emotional competence (emotion awareness, empathy, Theory of Mind, and the ability to express moral emotions) and their link to young children’s hearing loss. Parents are a huge part of young children’s social environment and therefore play an important role in the development of emotional competence in their children. The second part of the chapter discusses challenges that parents of children with hearing loss may encounter, for example with regard to parent–child interaction and parenting stress. The chapter ends with a discussion of clinical implications.
Evolved to Learn
Authors: Holbrook Colin , Hahn-Holbrook Jennifer
Published: January 2022

Emotion adaptations have evolved in response to eons of selection pressures characteristic of social and physical life over the history of our lineage. Cues relevant to these distinct selection pressures should reliably elicit relevant emotions and motivate efficacious behavioral responses. Selection favors the strategic calibration of emotional processes to key contextual factors, such as fitness-relevant individual, situational, and/or cultural differences. This chapter provides an overview of empirical and theoretical work on processes by which emotion adaptations may attune to particularities of self, situation, and culture, integrating neuroscientific, anthropological, and psychological approaches. Finally, developmental processes are discussed as themselves potential adaptations, including a broad outline of how developmental affective scientists might test such hypotheses.
Comparative Perspectives of Empathy Development
Authors: Clay Zanna , Webb Christine E. , Romero Teresa , de Waal Frans B. M.
Published: January 2022

Empathy—the sharing and understanding of others’ emotions and thoughts—is considered a defining feature of what it means to be human. Although empathy underpins many of our social interactions and is thought to be evolutionarily ancient, its origins remain relatively obscure. Here, this chapter presents research investigating socioemotional development in our closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (P. paniscus), to identify the origins of empathy, across ontogenetic and evolutionary timescales. Research on consolation, a form of comforting behavior, indicate that sensitivity to others’ emotional states is present early in great ape life, and that individuals consistently differ from one another in this trait. Mirroring effects shown for human infants, orphan juvenile apes show more disordered socioemotional functioning and reduced empathy as compared to mother-reared peers. These findings suggest a deep evolutionary and ontogenetic basis of empathy and some striking similarities in socioemotional development between humans and great apes.
Emotional Frontiers
Authors: Olsen Stephanie , Vallgårda Karen
Published: January 2022

This chapter focuses on the historical contingency and cross-cultural plurality in codes of “emotional development,” a value-laden and culturally embedded concept. What counts as healthy or virtuous emotional experience, comportment, or growth among children and youth (and in other stages in the life cycle) varies significantly over time and place. The plurality of emotional codes also means that an individual might experience either unfamiliarity with the codes of emotional behavior in a given context, or sometimes become aware of conflicting sets of emotion rules. While “formation” designates the culturally specific codes of affective comportment and expression, and the process through which the individual child incorporates and embodies these codes, this chapter introduces the concept of “emotional frontiers” to describe the affective experience of encountering a boundary between different affective formations or divergences within the same formation. A frontier may be encountered in various ways—from a little misunderstanding to a violent confrontation.
Development of Achievement Emotions
Authors: Pekrun Reinhard
Published: January 2022

Children and adolescents frequently experience emotions such as enjoyment, hope, pride, anger, anxiety, shame, or boredom in school. Similarly, achievement situations at work or in sports during adulthood can evoke intense emotions. Using Pekrun’s (2006, 2021) control-value theory of achievement emotions as a theoretical framework, this chapter reviews developmental research on these emotions. The findings show that achievement emotions develop early and continue to unfold during childhood and adolescence. This development is shaped by success and failure on achievement tasks, related cognitive appraisals, and social environments in school, at work, and in the family. Achievement emotions, in turn, influence individuals’ attention, motivation, use of strategies, self-regulation when performing tasks, and long-term achievement outcomes. The chapter also discusses how achievement emotions, their outcomes, and their antecedents are linked by reciprocal causation over time, how they can be regulated, and to what extent they are universal. In closing, directions for future research are outlined.