The Objectification Spectrum: Understanding and Transcending Our Diminishment and Dehumanization of Others

289 Pages·2014·2.146 MB·English

by  John M. Rector

The Objectification Spectrum

The Objectification

Spectrum
Understanding and Transcending Our
Diminishment and Dehumanization
of Others
John M. Rector
1
1

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rector, John (John M.)
The objectification spectrum : understanding and transcending our diminishment and
dehumanization of others / John M. Rector.
pages cm
ISBN 978–0–19–935541–9 (hardback)
1. Prejudices—Psychological aspects. 2. Other (Philosophy) 3. Social psychology. I. Title.
HM1091.R43 2014
302—dc23
2014000964
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To Ethan, Christian, and Garrett
and most of all, to Kirsten

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Leaving Plato’s Cave—Our Only Hope 1
PART ONE: Shadows on the Cave Wall: The Many Faces
of Objectification
1. Preliminaries 9
2. Objectification: “A Slippery, Multiple Concept” 14
3. Objectification Revisited: A Spectrum of Misapprehension 21
PART TWO: The Human Situation: Limitations and Possibilities
4. Three Observations from Antiquity: Philosophia Perennis 47
5. Unity Consciousness: Reality at the Deepest Level 53
PART THREE: What We Are: Dispositional Factors Contributing
to Objectification
6. The Paradoxical Nature of Language and Other Boundaries 61
7. Boundaries of Self 78
8. Narcissism 93
9. The Ego (Part One): Its Nature and Manifestations 101
10. The Ego (Part Two): Having versus Being 120
11. Problems Stemming from Death Denial 137
PART FOUR: Who We Are: Situational Factors Contributing
to Objectification
12. Rising Awareness of Situational Power 153
13. Situationally Induced Objectification: Three Relevant
Classic Examples 161
14. Situationally Induced Heroism: Momentary Transcendence
of Objectification 180
PART FIVE: Pathways toward Transformation: Trails Leading Out
of Plato’s Cave
15. The Problem of Enlightenment 189
16. Theistic and Nontheistic Approaches to Transcending
Objectification 195
17. Objectification’s Antidote: The Enlightenment Spectrum 225
Appendix 245
References 249
Index 267
[viii] Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Various individuals have played an indispensable role in making this book
possible. First, I want to thank Dana Bliss, Senior Editor at Oxford University
Press, for plucking this manuscript out of obscurity and giving it a chance
with OUP. Second, I want to thank those who willingly took time out of their
busy lives to read early drafts of the manuscript, providing invaluable feed-
back and encouragement along the way. These generous individuals include
Jon Ivers, Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at BYU-I; Gwena Couliard,
fellow psychologist and practitioner of mindfulness approaches to psychologi-
cal health; Mike Farnworth, golfing buddy and courageous purveyor of deeper
truths in the face of prevailing conventional wisdom; and my sister-in-law Lisa
Mallory Rector, an ongoing influence for growth in the lives of her counseling
clients in spite of the deep personal loses she has experienced over the years.
A special thank you goes to my collegiate son Ethan, whose close, painstaking
reading of my revised manuscript can only be considered to be a labor of love,
and whose thoughtfulness regarding ultimate matters became evident as he
offered his clear, idealistic perspective on the problem of evil and the possibility
of enlightenment. Finally, I wish to thank my wife Kirsten, my earliest and most
devoted source of support, for providing countless hours of meticulous editing
assistance and helping me communicate my ideas more clearly and effectively.
I owe my ability to conceive of and finish such a project to you, my dear.