Eugene M DeRobertis
I have a B.A. in philosophy from St. Peter’s University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Duquesne University. I have worked as a guidance counselor, a psychotherapist, and an addictions counselor. However, I have found teaching and writing to be more personally fulfilling.
As an author in the field of psychology, I think of myself as existential-phenomenological, humanistic, hermeneutic, personalistic, dialogal, ecopsychological, and somewhat neo-Thomistic. All of these terms ring of anthropological holism to me and that is why I favor them.
The decision to devote my graduate studies to psychology was in large part due to what I perceived to be a widespread preference for reductionism in the field. Too much time is wasted looking for how the brain “creates” mental processes or worse, where the mind resides in the brain, despite the fact that these kinds of ideas disintegrate under the scrutiny of philosophic analysis. It seems to me that human beings are increasingly interpreting their lives in reductionistic terms as psychology grows in popularity. I frequently find that my students tend not to take the risk of speaking of their own minds in favor of speaking about “the” brain. I find that psychology has repeatedly fallen prey to a case of mistaken identity when it comes to human beings. As a result, it unwittingly hurts mankind in spite of all it does to assist in the development of our species. Questions of truth are answered with skepticism. Questions of life’s meaning or purpose are answered with nihilism. Questions of ethics are answered with moral subjectivism.
I believe that psychology ought to be conscientious and mindful of the consequences of its assertions. I am suspicious of the popularity of reductionism (partially due to it being a product of mind/body dualism) though I am aware its value as an interpretive device. I hope that my writings reflect this. Highly reductionistic perspectives such as strict behaviorism or traditional biological psychology have made enormous contributions to the betterment of mankind. What I oppose is the refusal to acknowledge that there is more to being human than what is accounted for in these kinds of interpretive frameworks. Moreover, acknowledging that human existence is too multifarious and intricate to be “explained away” via the methods of natural science does not mean that psychology cannot be a science at all. It can become a truly human science if we are brave enough to face the sheer complexity of human reality.
Some of my writing reflects a global concern for the dehumanization of human beings. In other writings I search for a more humanistic approach to issues pertaining to child maltreatment and child developmental theory. All in all, my academic concern is for the increasing legitimization of holistic perspectives in psychology.
Phone: 732-224-2401
Address: Eugene M. DeRobertis, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Brookdale College, MAN 126c
765 Newman Springs Road
Lincroft, NJ 07738-1543
As an author in the field of psychology, I think of myself as existential-phenomenological, humanistic, hermeneutic, personalistic, dialogal, ecopsychological, and somewhat neo-Thomistic. All of these terms ring of anthropological holism to me and that is why I favor them.
The decision to devote my graduate studies to psychology was in large part due to what I perceived to be a widespread preference for reductionism in the field. Too much time is wasted looking for how the brain “creates” mental processes or worse, where the mind resides in the brain, despite the fact that these kinds of ideas disintegrate under the scrutiny of philosophic analysis. It seems to me that human beings are increasingly interpreting their lives in reductionistic terms as psychology grows in popularity. I frequently find that my students tend not to take the risk of speaking of their own minds in favor of speaking about “the” brain. I find that psychology has repeatedly fallen prey to a case of mistaken identity when it comes to human beings. As a result, it unwittingly hurts mankind in spite of all it does to assist in the development of our species. Questions of truth are answered with skepticism. Questions of life’s meaning or purpose are answered with nihilism. Questions of ethics are answered with moral subjectivism.
I believe that psychology ought to be conscientious and mindful of the consequences of its assertions. I am suspicious of the popularity of reductionism (partially due to it being a product of mind/body dualism) though I am aware its value as an interpretive device. I hope that my writings reflect this. Highly reductionistic perspectives such as strict behaviorism or traditional biological psychology have made enormous contributions to the betterment of mankind. What I oppose is the refusal to acknowledge that there is more to being human than what is accounted for in these kinds of interpretive frameworks. Moreover, acknowledging that human existence is too multifarious and intricate to be “explained away” via the methods of natural science does not mean that psychology cannot be a science at all. It can become a truly human science if we are brave enough to face the sheer complexity of human reality.
Some of my writing reflects a global concern for the dehumanization of human beings. In other writings I search for a more humanistic approach to issues pertaining to child maltreatment and child developmental theory. All in all, my academic concern is for the increasing legitimization of holistic perspectives in psychology.
Phone: 732-224-2401
Address: Eugene M. DeRobertis, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Brookdale College, MAN 126c
765 Newman Springs Road
Lincroft, NJ 07738-1543
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Books by Eugene M DeRobertis
The first chapter discusses the need for the text, its theoretical orientation, and the structure of the book. In the next three chapters, theories of self development are derived from the works of Carl Rogers, Karen Horney, D. W. Winnicott, Heinz Kohut, and Charlotte Bühler. Chapters Five and Six introduce the reader to existing self-development theories created by Richard Knowles and Daniel Stern. Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine explore major aspects of childhood experience (i.e., perception, affect, time, space, and maternal relations) from a phenomenological perspective. The final chapter provides an overarching theoretical viewpoint that can be used to put developmental issues into perspective. The perspective offered there is holistic and open to dialogue between various schools of thought, such as American humanism, postmodern psychology, existential-phenomenology, psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, neo-analytic and psychodynamic theories, Vygotskian theory, and ecological psychology.
Papers by Eugene M DeRobertis
becomes a full-fledged student within an interpersonal field characterized by community feeling.
quality. In addition to explicating the qualitative meanings that structure the experience of happiness, Strasser identified 6 manifestations of the phenomenon: contentment, good fortune, harmony, rapture, release, and transcending anticipation. Moreover, happiness is distinguished from several phenomena that are closely related to happiness, but do not share its eidos: pleasure, enjoyment, joy, and serenity.
The first chapter discusses the need for the text, its theoretical orientation, and the structure of the book. In the next three chapters, theories of self development are derived from the works of Carl Rogers, Karen Horney, D. W. Winnicott, Heinz Kohut, and Charlotte Bühler. Chapters Five and Six introduce the reader to existing self-development theories created by Richard Knowles and Daniel Stern. Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine explore major aspects of childhood experience (i.e., perception, affect, time, space, and maternal relations) from a phenomenological perspective. The final chapter provides an overarching theoretical viewpoint that can be used to put developmental issues into perspective. The perspective offered there is holistic and open to dialogue between various schools of thought, such as American humanism, postmodern psychology, existential-phenomenology, psychoanalysis, Gestalt psychology, neo-analytic and psychodynamic theories, Vygotskian theory, and ecological psychology.
becomes a full-fledged student within an interpersonal field characterized by community feeling.
quality. In addition to explicating the qualitative meanings that structure the experience of happiness, Strasser identified 6 manifestations of the phenomenon: contentment, good fortune, harmony, rapture, release, and transcending anticipation. Moreover, happiness is distinguished from several phenomena that are closely related to happiness, but do not share its eidos: pleasure, enjoyment, joy, and serenity.
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https://www.amazon.com/Phenomenology-Learning-Becoming-Enthusiasm-Self-Development/dp/1349952036/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489673867&sr=8-1&keywords=eugene+derobertis
It is Chapter Three in "The Whole Child: Selected Papers on Existential-Humanistic Child Psychology" (ISBN-13: 978-1477635759)
It is the third chapter in "The Radically Human World: Essays in Honor and Memory of Fr. David Smith, C.S.Sp." released by Duquesne University's Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center.