Eric L. Dodson, Ph. D.
"In sum, the heart of humanistic psychology is a matter of
personal
involvement in the struggle to fathom the meaning of being a human being...
It's ultimately about coming to live more powerfully, more poetically...
with a greater cognizance of our lot as human beings... It's about hearing the
poetry in things, as well as learning to speak the poetry in things. It's
about allowing our thinking and sense of discovery to stir us to the very
core and marrow, and in that moment to step into the strange, tragic ecstasy
of a deeply passionate world-relatedness." -- Eric Dodson
"Those thinkers in whom all stars move in cyclic orbits are
not
the most profound. Whoever looks into himself as into vast space and carries
galaxies within himself, also knows how irregular all galaxies are; they
lead into the chaos and labyrinth of existence..." -- Friedrich Nietzsche
Eric received his B.S. in computer science from the Pennsylvania State
University, his M.S. in computer science from the University of Delaware,
and his M.A. and Ph. D. in phenomenological psychology from Duquesne
University. His primary interests currently lie in (1) exploring the psychology
of teaching from a phenomenological standpoint, (2) rethinking the meaning of
academic intellectuality in humanistic terms, and (3) exploring the
psychological significance of living in a postmodern, telematic,
technological world. His previous research focuses upon students' and teachers' experiences of
inspiration, and his current research examines people's psychological relations to technology.
His additional interests include existential psychology, Lacanian psychoanalysis, postmodern thought, and
reinventing humanistic psychology for the 2000's and beyond. In addition, Eric is the founder of the
local "Dionysian Readings" group, the founder of "The Crucible" newsletter,
co-leader of the local weekly philo-cafe, founder of Underground University,
and faculty advisor for the West Georgia Chess Club.
Click one of these to learn more about Eric's view of
life, the universe and everything.
Hobbies:
- Chess
- Music (playing guitar, bass, etc.)
- Physical fitness (weight-training, long-distance running)
- Ancient languages & etymology (Classical Greek & Latin)
- Computer programming
- Poetry, Shakespeare
Influential books & authors:
- Simulation and Simulacra, Jean Baudrillard
- I and Thou, Martin Buber
- Journey to Ixtlan, Carlos Castaneda
- My 60 Memorable Games, Bobby Fischer
- Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
- Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Sigmund Freud
- Being & Time, Martin Heidegger
- Poetry, Language, Thought, Martin Heidegger
- Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse
- Godel, Escher, Bach, Douglas Hoffstadter
- Ideas, Edmund Husserl
- Psychology and Postmodernism, Steiner Kvale
- Collected Translated Works, Jacques Lacan
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of
Crowds, Charles Mackay
- The Discovery of Being, Rollo May
- Love and Will, Rollo May
- The Further Reaches of Human Nature, Abraham Maslow
- The Phenomenology of Perception, Maurice Merleau-Ponty
- Collected Translated Works, Friedrich Nietzsche
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence, Robert Pirsig
- Collected Translated Works, Rainer Maria Rilke
- Feedom to Learn, Carl Rogers
- On Becoming a Person, Carl Rogers
- Being & Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre
- Collected Works, William Shakespeare
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