Loneliness

Review of Loneliness by Ben Mijuskovic

We are appreciative for Kerrin A. Jacobs’s complementary review of Loneliness for Metapsychology Online Reviews:

In summary, Loneliness in Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature is a memorable book which certainly appeals a philosophically inclined audience. Ben Lazare Mijuskovic thoughtfully and stringently develops his hypotheses, which are very often remarkably clear, presented against a delicately rich and complex theoretical background. Mijuskovic rewards the reader with thought-provoking moments and invites one to further reflect the critical potential and actuality of his theory in the light of the most recent theories of an embodied, embedded, enacted and extended mind.

Click here to read the full review.

Loneliness 2nd Edition is now available

Dr. Mijuskovic’s interdisciplinary work Loneliness is now available in a second edition. You can find it on Alibris, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Parker E. Lichtenstein provides a helpful synopsis in The Psychological Record:

“The author has employed an interdisciplinary approach to the problem of loneliness. While psychologists have touched upon the problem, they have not done justice to it. Mijuskovic sees loneliness not simply as a frequent human condition but rather an aspect of man’s ontological being. In his words, man is ‘intrinsically alone and irredeemably lost’ and is ‘continually struggling to escape the solipsistic prison of his frightening solitude.’ This basic thesis is supported through philosophical analysis and wide-ranging examination of relevant literature…. [T]he author has presented a challenging picture of much human behavior as a flight from loneliness. On the whole this is an intriguing book which should be of particular interest to psychologists of a humanistic persuasion.”

Theories of Consciousness, Therapy and Loneliness

Over twenty years later Mijuskovic picks up where he left off with the last chapter of Contingent Immaterialism, in an article for the International Journal of Philosophical Practice – a journal of the American Society for Philosophy, Counseling and Psychotherapy – entitled “Theories of Consciousness, Therapy, and Loneliness,” he discusses the clinical or therapeutic ramifications of the therapist’s philosophy of mind. A materialist philosophy typically leads the therapist to use chemical or medicinal solutions; whereas, an immaterialist philosophy focuses upon counseling and treating the patient’s mental state before resulting to medicinal treatment. This article is a beautiful look at the interplay between the philosophical and practical sides of the simplicity argument. Individual lives have been drastically affected by the materialistic philosophy of mind held by the majority of psychiatrists and psychologists. Mijuskovic advocates more holistic approaches in addition to medicine to provide a more well-rounded practice in our clinics.

The entire work is available for download here.