Affiliation:
1. King's College, University of Western Ontario
Abstract
According to Rosenbaum, newly predominant beliefs prompt the repression of an individual's previously held beliefs as intact “cognitive residues.” The proliferation of residues, combined with the conflict which their conscious expression poses for predominant beliefs, leads to his proposition that residues meet their needs for expression through fantasy and/or hallucinogenic drug use. In a critical analysis of Rosenbaum's explanation of residual reification, it is contended that the attribution of autonomous motivations to residues is an appeal to “homunculi,” and that the integrity of the basic model (regarding structural changes in beliefs during development) is better preserved by redefinition of the component motivational processes proposed in the theory.