Bennett Simon

Ritual is usually understood as pointing to some essence beyond the ritual act itself. This ambitious interdisciplinary study offers a convincing challenge to this understanding. The authors begin by seeking to explain how the conventional idea arose in the first place. They locate its origin in a post-Protestant and post-Enlightenment vision of ritual action that emphasizes rituals as merely external signs of interior states. This approach, say the authors, is part of a far larger way of relating to the self and to the world, which they label "sincerity." But ritual, they say, is the very opposite of sincerity because it consists of stylized, repetitive interactions that construct an "as if" world, a world of role, propriety, play, and even fantasy, rather than pointing to the world as it actually is. In fact, that is ritual's great contribution. Ritual modes of behavior make a shared social world possible by helping to navigate between diverse people and groups, rather than attempting to transcend and efface boundaries. After setting forth this argument, the authors go on to build on it by showing how sincerity and ritual are stand-ins for two very different ways of being in the world. Although both modes are always present to some degree, modernity has deeply privileged sincerity and authenticity. And, they say, we are now paying a heavy price for this extreme and often totalizing projection of personality in contemporary political life.

UML has established itself as the industry standard for modeling software systems. Schaum's Outline of UML, Second Edition, provides you with a step-by-step guide to the notation and use of UML, with a focus on the new UML 2.0 software. The book features: Complete explanations of UML modeling technique An exploration of the new UML 2.0 infrastructure Examples and exercises Two extended cases studies New review questions And more

There are numerous psychological studies of pilots and piloting, but little has been done in the way of sociological examination. Commercial aviation is one of the world's biggest industries, yet there are few studies of pilots as social beings and of their place of work, the flight-deck. Developing a sociological understanding of front-line staff and of pilots' working environments is an important step to developing a more detailed understanding of this increasingly important sector. This book performs such a function and also adds to our understanding of pilots in general, from those who work for flag carriers to those who fly for regional or corporate jet operators. The readership includes the general public, industry legislators, regulators, managements, employees, trainers, journalists, academics and students of sociology, psychology, organisation theory and business management.

This fascinating book, which presents an early psychoanalyst’s session-by-session notes on a case of hysteria caused by severe sexual trauma and incest, offers a vivid portrait of psychoanalytic practice in the second decade of the twentieth century. Accompanying these notes are insightful commentaries by Elizabeth Lunbeck and Bennett Simon that situate the case historically and throw light on the many difficulties that both analyst and patient encountered in the treatment. The book will be of great interest to students of the history of psychoanalysis and other psychological therapies, to those interested in the history of women and gender, and to clinicians struggling with the treatment of severely traumatized patients today.

Written from the inside, a dark and funny new play about burgulars and burgulary.

One of the most important characteristics of tragic drama—as of psychoanalysis— is the focus on the family. Dr. Bennett Simon here provides a psychoanalytic reading of Aeschylus' Oresteia, Euripedes' Medea, Shakespeare's King Lear and Macbeth, O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, and Beckett's Endgame, six plays from ancient to modern times which involve a particular form of intrafamily warfare: the killing of children or of the possibility of children.