This chapter explores the idea that the concept of dynamical gestalt, defined across a heterogeneous collection of interacting variables/factors/processes (including biopsychosocial factors) and distributed across different scales, can provide a level-free explanation of psychiatric disorders. In this view, all relevant factors are defined by their causal interaction, albeit at different temporal and spatial scales. Accordingly, there is no reason to think that social factors are on a higher level than neuronal processes, or that neural processes are more basic than social factors in the etiology of psychiatric disorders. In combination with the model of interventionist causality, this approach allows for the development of a productive way of explaining psychiatric disorders and for insight into therapeutic practices.

A 60-year-old man, with a history of lung cancer in remission, presents to the neurology clinic with complaints of 6 months of progressive intermittent bilateral leg weakness and fatigue. He reports he initially thought he was developing arthritis, because he felt “stiff” and would feel better after he “warmed up.” A month later he noticed his shoulders felt much weaker than usual, and 1 month ago he started noticing intermittent double vision and constant dry mouth. When he is particularly weak, he notices it is difficult to swallow solid foods. He denies any back or neck pain or muscle tenderness.

This chapter critiques the limitations of liberalism as a guiding political philosophy for social work and social justice. While Rawlsian liberalism frames justice in terms of fairness and distributive equality, its emphasis on individual rights often obscures the racialized foundations of US democracy and fails to account for structural oppression. Liberalism’s language of equality and freedom has historically coexisted with racial domination – from slavery and Jim Crow to contemporary attacks on affirmative action and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, interest convergence, and historical analysis, this chapter argues that liberalism is not simply flawed in practice but fundamentally implicated in sustaining racial hierarchies. It highlights how appeals to fairness can be mobilized to both expand and restrict rights, often reinforcing white supremacy. Moving beyond liberalism, the chapter introduces race-conscious frameworks such as Nussbaum’s capabilities approach, sociopolitical development, and deep canvassing as tools for reimagining political institutions. It concludes by advocating for political social work to center human dignity, collective well-being, and structural change, rather than abstract rights, as the foundation for advancing racial and social justice in the United States.

The Descent of Man sparked many scientific revolutions, but none were more intellectually profound or ethically challenging than the exposure of human behavior to the bright light of natural science. Before Darwin, people could still hold out some hope that we were separated from the rest of nature by our souls, our creation in the image of God. Human behavior had always been in the domain of theology, or, among skeptics, philosophy; “behavioral science” didn’t exist. After Darwin, scientifically clear-eyed people had to recognize that behavior – personality, intellect, family, culture – evolved just as surely as our bipedal posture. No one was more attuned to this revolution than Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton. Galton made the application of Darwin’s new science to human behavior, in all its diversity, his life’s work. Human anatomy had been naturalized once scientific dissection of cadavers was permitted; the psychologist Wilhelm Wundt was already naturalizing human perception; Galton possessed unwavering confidence that the rest of human behavior was not far behind.

Art brings joy, happiness, and wellbeing. This chapter aims to show how the arts contribute to living a flourishing life. Of course, they do so by encouraging deep thinking, honing cognitive skills, and making life more interesting and rich with experiences. But they also make our lives happier and healthier, both physically and cognitively. The chapter begins by examining the question of what it could mean to “live a good life,” before turning to various strands of evidence showing the arts as expansive sources of wellbeing in our lives.

In their chapter, Federica Russo and Dingmar van Eck offer a novel approach to the network theory of mental disorders. According to the network theory, a syndrome such as depression occurs when the symptoms of depression become organized into an integrated causal network that remains stable over time. Rather than explaining the occurrence of depression with respect to hidden, underlying causes, the network theory emphasizes direct casual relationships between the symptoms themselves. According to this view, symptoms are not manifestations of an underlying common cause, but parts of the disorder. The organizational structure of the symptoms, therefore, constitutes the disorder. Russo and van Eck also suggest that as an alternative to the underlying cause model, the explanatory resources of the network model are underdeveloped. The purpose of their chapter is to expand on the explanatory potential of network models.

The chapter provides a brief description of theory of superconductors and Josephson effect and of the design and operation of basic superconducting qubits (charge, flux, phase and phase slip) using up-to-date experimental results. The Lagrangian approach to the description of electric circuits (classical and quantum) is introduced.

This chapter examines experiences of racial discrimination faced by Asian American families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grounded in historical and sociopolitical contexts, it explores how the pandemic served as a flashpoint that intensified anti-Asian racism through structural, interpersonal, and digital channels. The authors present an integrated developmental and intersectional framework to analyze how racism impacted youth identity, mental health, family dynamics, and academic outcomes. Emphasis is placed on vicarious and direct discrimination, collective racism, and internalized bias, as well as coping strategies and resilience factors such as ethnic and racial socialization and civic engagement. The role of key microsystems – families, schools, neighborhoods, and digital spaces – is discussed. The chapter highlights ethnic, generational, and socioeconomic diversity within Asian American communities and the differential effects of racism across these lines. It concludes by identifying gaps in current research, calling for longitudinal, context-sensitive studies, and offering policy and intervention recommendations to support the well-being of Asian American youth.

Using phenomenology to develop Plantinga’s analogy of God and other minds, and in dialogue with Feuerbach’s critique of the God–world difference, this chapter articulates how the order inherent in a work makes manifest the cause of that work even when it remains unknown just how the cause brought about the order. To see the world as created amounts to seeing the world as an ordered work indicating its author amounts to seeing it as created; the world can serve as a kind of protreptic but one that is only understood by those who read it carefully. “That hidden other, whose agency causes the world and me to be, is ‘God’.”