Brave New Mind: A Thoughtful Inquiry into the Nature and Meaning of Mental Life

by Peter Dodwell

Overview

How was the standard model of the mind developed? Is it adequate? And is there a place in this model for the creative genius of artists, scientists, and mathematicians? This book looks at how scientists investigate the nature of the mind and the brain, providing answers to these important questions. It opens with a description of the historical roots of cognitive science and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the standard model of the mind, including its inability to account for the many dramatic features of human achievement. The final chapter develops the notion that human creativity and the unfolding of human consciousness demand two things: that we acknowledge the central role that ideals play in human knowledge and conduct and that such ideals have no role in the standard model. Brave New Mind proposes a new image of humankind that accommodates the place of ideals and creativity in cognition and life, without abandoning the scientific ideals of empirical soundness and theoretical rigor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195358391
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	06/08/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	638 KB

About the Author

Peter Dodwell is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Queens University at Kingston in Ontario, Canada.

Table of Contents

1. The Scope of Cognitive Science
2. The Psychological Underpinnings of Cognitive Science
3. Other Paths in Cognitive Science
4. The Science of Mind
5. Brain and Mind, a Many-Layered Enigma
6. New Perspectives on Representation and Reality
7. Mathematics and the Mind
8. Explanation in Cognitive Science
9. The Sacred River
Notes
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Dodwell enthusiastically leads the reader through the history of thinking on cognition. But be warned: that thinking can be hard going. Dodwell is an experimental psychologist at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and he speaks with authority. Though the name was unfamiliar to me, I trusted him almost immediately. Maybe it's the way he cockily dismisses from the outset many of the 1990s' media sweethearts ... Dodwell argues that cognitive scientists have taken too restricted a view of the mind. He accuses them of concentrating too much on the brain's routines—perception, memory, problem-solving. ... Not enough attention is paid to the 'highlights', he says. What of creativity? What of ideals and imagination and inspiration? To really understand the human mind, these elements must be explored."—New Scientist

From the Publisher