Robert M. Young (academic)
Encyclopedia
For other people with this name, see Robert Young (disambiguation)
----
Robert Maxwell Young, usually known as Robert M. Young or Bob Young (born September 26, 1935 in Highland Park, a suburb of Dallas, Texas
), is a historian of science
specialising in the 19th century and particularly Darwinian
thought, a philosopher of the biological and human sciences, and a Kleinian
psychotherapist
.
, at Yale University
and the University of Rochester
Medical School, but in 1960 he moved to the University of Cambridge
for his PhD
on the history of ideas of mind and brain. The resulting monograph, Mind, Brain and Adaptation, has been called 'a modern classic' by Peter Gay. From 1964 to 1976 he was a Fellow
and Graduate Tutor of King's College, Cambridge
and became Director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine. From 1976 to 1983 he was a full-time writer. In this period much of his political activities and writing involved radical critiques of science, technology and medicine. His contribution in this area has been compared by Gary Werskey with that of J. D. Bernal
in an earlier generation.
humanities - science
society - science
culture - nature
qualitative - quantitative
value - fact
purpose - mechanism
subject - object
internal - external
secondary- primary (qualities)
thought - extension
mind - body
character - behaviour
In order to foster such unified deliberations he set up the publishing house Free Association Books
which (while he directed it) published in the areas of cultural theory, critiques of expertise, and psychoanalysis, broadly conceived. The press has been called, inter alia, 'the most important influence on the culture of psychoanalysis since the war' (by Andrew Samuels). He also trained as a Kleinian psychoanalytic psychotherapist and began writing on psychoanalysis, but he continued writing and editing in the areas of social theory, the philosophy of science and Darwinian thought and its impact on culture. He then became the first professor of Psychoanalytic Studies and of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, posts he held at the Centre for Psychotherapeitic Studies at the University of Sheffield until his retirement, after which he has worked in private practice in London. He is a retired registrant of the British Psychoanalytic Council
.
The unifying thread in his research, political activities, writing and clinical practice has been the understanding of human nature and the alleviation of suffering and inequality. His work has largely been interdiciplinary, seeking to promote unity in how we think about nature, human nature and culture.
In addition to his books, listed below, he has written numerous scholarly and popular articles, as well as making a number of television
documentaries in the series Crucible: Science in Society. He also founded (usually with others) Free Association Books
, Process Press, Radical Science Journal, Science as Culture, Free Associations and Kleinian Studies, as well as a number of email forums and egroups in his areas of interest and the web sites http://www.human-nature.com (co-edited with Ian Pitchford) and http://www.psychoanalysis-and-therapy.com (where most of his writings are on-line).
There are assessments of his work and influence at
http://www.psychoanalysis-and-therapy.com/rmyoung/pubs.html
and http://human-nature.com/science-as-culture/werskey.html
----
Robert Maxwell Young, usually known as Robert M. Young or Bob Young (born September 26, 1935 in Highland Park, a suburb of Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
), is a historian of science
History of science
The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
specialising in the 19th century and particularly Darwinian
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
thought, a philosopher of the biological and human sciences, and a Kleinian
Melanie Klein
Melanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
psychotherapist
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
.
Career
Young's initial education was in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
Medical School, but in 1960 he moved to the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
for his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
on the history of ideas of mind and brain. The resulting monograph, Mind, Brain and Adaptation, has been called 'a modern classic' by Peter Gay. From 1964 to 1976 he was a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
and Graduate Tutor of King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
and became Director of the Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine. From 1976 to 1983 he was a full-time writer. In this period much of his political activities and writing involved radical critiques of science, technology and medicine. His contribution in this area has been compared by Gary Werskey with that of J. D. Bernal
J. D. Bernal
John Desmond Bernal FRS was one of Britain’s best known and most controversial scientists, called "Sage" by his friends, and known for pioneering X-ray crystallography in molecular biology.-Origin and education:His family was Irish, of mixed Italian and Spanish/Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin...
in an earlier generation.
Thought
In various books and papers he has argued that science, technology and medicine—far from being value-neutral—are the embodiment of values in theories, things and therapies, in facts and artefacts, in procedures and programs. Succinctly put, all facts are theory-laden, all theories are value-laden, and all values occur within an ideology or world view. Scientists and technologists pursue agendas; they have philosophies of nature, world views, usually tacitly held. In studies extending across a broad spectrum of disciplines he has argued that our culture is disastrously riven. It is characterised by sharp dichotomies, each and every one of which is a false (or, at least, overdrawn) dichotomy, but our beliefs in them preclude unified deliberations about the scientific and the moral:humanities - science
society - science
culture - nature
qualitative - quantitative
value - fact
purpose - mechanism
subject - object
internal - external
secondary- primary (qualities)
thought - extension
mind - body
character - behaviour
In order to foster such unified deliberations he set up the publishing house Free Association Books
Free Association Books
Free Association Books is an innovative project started in 1980s London. It arose as the brainchild of Bob Young and colleagues, who, disillusioned by the decline of the liberatory movement, began a search using psychoanalysis to understand the problems of liberation...
which (while he directed it) published in the areas of cultural theory, critiques of expertise, and psychoanalysis, broadly conceived. The press has been called, inter alia, 'the most important influence on the culture of psychoanalysis since the war' (by Andrew Samuels). He also trained as a Kleinian psychoanalytic psychotherapist and began writing on psychoanalysis, but he continued writing and editing in the areas of social theory, the philosophy of science and Darwinian thought and its impact on culture. He then became the first professor of Psychoanalytic Studies and of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, posts he held at the Centre for Psychotherapeitic Studies at the University of Sheffield until his retirement, after which he has worked in private practice in London. He is a retired registrant of the British Psychoanalytic Council
British Psychoanalytic Council
The British Psychoanalytic Council is an association of training institutions, professional associations and accrediting bodies which have their roots in established psychoanalysis and analytical psychology...
.
The unifying thread in his research, political activities, writing and clinical practice has been the understanding of human nature and the alleviation of suffering and inequality. His work has largely been interdiciplinary, seeking to promote unity in how we think about nature, human nature and culture.
In addition to his books, listed below, he has written numerous scholarly and popular articles, as well as making a number of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
documentaries in the series Crucible: Science in Society. He also founded (usually with others) Free Association Books
Free Association Books
Free Association Books is an innovative project started in 1980s London. It arose as the brainchild of Bob Young and colleagues, who, disillusioned by the decline of the liberatory movement, began a search using psychoanalysis to understand the problems of liberation...
, Process Press, Radical Science Journal, Science as Culture, Free Associations and Kleinian Studies, as well as a number of email forums and egroups in his areas of interest and the web sites http://www.human-nature.com (co-edited with Ian Pitchford) and http://www.psychoanalysis-and-therapy.com (where most of his writings are on-line).
There are assessments of his work and influence at
http://www.psychoanalysis-and-therapy.com/rmyoung/pubs.html
and http://human-nature.com/science-as-culture/werskey.html