Between Mind and Nature

by Smith, Roger

• ISBN13: 9781780230986
• ISBN10: 1780230982
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-03-15
• Publisher: Reaktion Books

Summary

From William James to Ivan Pavlov, John Dewey to Sigmund Freud, the Würzburg School to the Chicago school, psychology has spanned centuries and continents. Today, the word is an all-encompassing name for a bewildering range of beliefs about what psychologists know and do, and this intrinsic interest in knowing how our own and other's minds work has a story as fascinating and complex as humankind itself. In Between Mind and Nature, Roger Smith explores the history of psychology and its relation to religion, politics, the arts, social life, the natural sciences, and technology. Considering the big questions bound up in the history of psychology, Smith investigates what human nature is, if psychology can provide answers to human problems, and if the notion of being an individual depends on social and historical conditions. He also asks if a method of rational thinking exists outside the realm of natural science. Posing important questions about the value and direction of psychology today, Between Mind and Natureis a cogently written book for those wishing to know more about the quest for knowledge of the mind.