Name: Ecology of the Brain By Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)
SKU: 9780199646883
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Ecology of the Brain Summary

Ecology of the Brain: The phenomenology and biology of the embodied mind by Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Present day neuroscience places the brain at the centre of study. But what if researchers viewed the brain not as the foundation of life, rather as a mediating organ? Ecology of the Brain addresses this very question. It considers the human body as a collective, a living being which uses the brain to mediate interactions. Those interactions may be both within the human body and between the human body and its environment. Within this framework, the mind is seen not as a product of the brain but as an activity of the living being; an activity which integrates the brain within the everyday functions of the human body. Going further, Fuchs reformulates the traditional mind-brain problem, presenting it as a dual aspect of the living being: the lived body and the subjective body - the living body and the objective body. The processes of living and experiencing life, Fuchs argues, are in fact inextricably linked; it is not the brain, but the human being who feels, thinks and acts. For students and academics, Ecology of the Brain will be of interest to those studying or researching theory of mind, social and cultural interaction, psychiatry, and psychotherapy.

Ecology of the Brain Reviews

Thomas Fuchs' Ecology of the Brain has taken up the challenge by pulling together under one cover a circular causality framework, an increasingly detailed description of what an embodied subjectivity implies, and in doing so, the possibility to apply these perspectives to different disciplinary fields and to inspire further research and conceptual scrutiny. * Ximena A. Gonzalez-Grandon, Philosophia *
Ecology of the Brain is a far-reaching book that touches on multiple topics and can be taken from many different directions ... a valuable contribution to the field of psychological medicine. * Susana Ramirez-Vizcaya, The Journal of Mind and Behavior *
Thomas Fuchs ... presents a brilliant review of literature integrating phenomenological philosophy, biology, and complex systems theory to argue for an ecological view of the mind and brain as being embedded in the relation of the living organism and its environment. ... Dr. Fuchs' work is astute, incisive, integrative, and provocative. * Susan Gordon, The Humanistic Psychologist *
Thomas Fuchs's work Ecology of the Brain is a unique, critically sharp contribution. It is marked with fascinating and paradigmatic interdisciplinary integration of philosophical reflexion and impressive range of neuroscientific knowledge, exceeding the often narrow, reductive and mono-perspective - exact - scientific thinking, to represent a phenomenological approach for the future interdisciplinary studies on brain and mind. * Luka Janes, Synthesis Philosophica *
This volume will not only be relevant to researchers interested in the philosophy of mind and the role to be played by the human sciences in this domain, but it will also be a valuable addition to any psychiatric training program. * Anya Daly, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences *
[we] owe a debt of gratitude to Fuchs, and to Merleau-Ponty, for so compellingly restoring a solid foundation for continued phenomenological research, and compassionate care, in the face of increasing efforts to reconceptualize both the self and subjectivity as empty illusions. * Larry Davidson, Journal of Phenomenological Psychology *
Ecology of the brain supports a clear shift from a naturalistic to a personalistic concept of the human being in neuroscience especially. This requires a cultural biology, as Fuchs puts it, and opens up new opportunities for the study of how we enact life in a shared social world. * Alfonsina Scarinzi, Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology *
Ecology of the brain is a recommended reading not only for everyone interested in psychology, neurosciences, psychopathology and so forth, but also for anyone interested in theoretical philosophy today. * Diego DAngelo, Universitat Koblenz-Landau, Phenomenlogical Reviews *

About Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Thomas Fuchs, MD, PhD, is Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry at Heidelberg University, Germany. His main areas of expertise include phenomenological philosophy and psychopathology as well as embodied and enactive cognitive science, with a particular emphasis on non-representational, interactive concepts of social cognition. He was Coordinator and Principal Investigator of several large national and international grants, among them the European Research Training Network Towards an Embodied Science of Intersubjectivity (TESIS, 2011-2016). He has authored over 300 journal articles, book chapters and several books. He is also co-editor of Psychopathology and editorial board member of 4 scientific journals.

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1: Criticism of neurobiological reductionism 1 Cosmos in the head? 1.1 The idealistic legacy of brain research 1.2 First criticism: embodied perception 1.2.1 Perception and motion 1.2.2 The coextension of lived body and physical body 1.3 Second criticism: The objectivity of the phenomenal world 1.3.1 The space of perception 1.3.2 The objectivising achievement of perception 1.4 Third criticism: the reality of colours 1.5 Summary 2 The brain as the subjects heir? 2.1 First critique: the irreducibility of subjectivity 2.1.1 Phenomenal consciousness 2.1.2 Intentionality 2.1.2.1 Intentionality and phenomenal consciousness 2.1.2.2 Intentionality and representation 2.2 Second criticism: category mistakes 2.2.1 The mereological fallacy 2.2.2 The localisation fallacy 2.3 Third criticism: the powerless subject? 2.3.1 The unity of action 2.3.2 The role of consciousness 2.4 Summary: the primacy of the lifeworld Part 2: Body, person, and the brain 3 Foundations: subjectivity and life 3.1 Embodied subjectivity 3.1.1 The body as subject 3.1.2 The dual aspect of subjective and physical body 3.1.3 The dual aspect of life 3.2 Ecological and enactive biology 3.2.1 Self-organisation and autonomy 3.2.2 Dependency and exchange between organism and environment 3.2.3 Subjectivity 3.2.4 Summary 3.3 The circular and integral causality of living beings 3.3.1 Vertical circular causality 3.3.2 Horizontal circular causality 3.3.3 Integral causality and its basis in capacities 3.3.4 The formation of capacities through body memory 3.3.5 Summary 4 The brain as organ of the living being 4.1 The brain in the context of the organism 4.1.1 The inner milieu 4.1.2 The feeling of being alive 4.1.3 Higher levels of consciousness 4.1.4 Embodied affectivity 4.1.4 Summary 4.2 The unity of brain, organism and environment 4.2.1 Linear versus circular organism-environment-relations 4.2.2 Consciousness as integral 4.2.3 Neuroplasticity and the incorporation of experience 4.2.4 Transformation and transparency: the brain as resonance organ 4.2.5 Information, representation and resonance 4.2.5.1 Information 4.2.5.2 Representation 4.2.5.3 Patterns and resonance 4.2.6 Conclusion: mediated immediacy 5 The brain as organ of the person 5.1 Primary intersubjectivity 5.1.1 Prenatal development 5.1.2 Intercorporeality and interaffectivity 5.1.3 Intercorporeal memory 5.2 Neurobiological foundations 5.2.1 The attachment system 5.2.2 The social resonance system (mirror neurons) 5.2.2.1 Foundations 5.2.2.2 Simulation or resonance? 5.3 Secondary intersubjectivity 5.3.1 The nine-month revolution 5.3.2 The embodied development of language 5.3.2.1 Language as social practice 5.3.2.2 Neurobiological foundations 5.3.3 Outlook: language, thought and perspective-taking 5.4 Summary: brain and culture 6 The concept of dual aspectivity 6.1 Mental, physical and life attributes 6.2 Differentiation from identity theories 6.3 Emergence 219 6.3.1 The primacy of function 219 6.3.2 Downward causality and dual aspectivity 6.4 Consequences for psychophysical relations 6.4.1 Intentional and psychological determination of physiological processes 6.4.2 Embodied freedom 6.4.2.1 A phenomenology of decision-making 6.4.2.2 Free will and integral causality 6.4.3 Psychosomatic and somatopsychic interrelations 6.5 Summary 7 Implications for psychiatry and psychological medicine 7.1 Neurobiological reductionism in psychiatry 7.2 Mental disorders as circular processes 7.2.1 Vertical circularity 7.2.2 Horizontal circularity 7.2.3 Synopsis 7.3 Circular causality in pathogenesis 7.3.1 Etiology of depression 7.3.2 The development of vulnerability 7.3.3 Summary 7.4 Circular processes in therapy 7.4.1 Somatic therapy 7.4.2 Psychotherapy 7.4.3 Comparison of therapeutic approaches 7.5 Summary: the role of subjectivity 8 Conclusion 8.1 Brain and person 8.2 The scope of neurobiological research 8.3 Naturalistic versus personalistic concept of the human being References Register

Additional information

Sku

GOR013610605

ISBN 13

9780199646883

ISBN 10

0199646880

Title

Ecology of the Brain: The phenomenology and biology of the embodied mind by Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Author

Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Series

International Perspectives In Philosophy & Psychiatry

Condition

Used - Very Good

Binding type

Paperback

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Year published

2017-12-14

Number of pages

368

Prizes

N/A

Cover note

Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.

Note

This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Ecology of the Brain Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Ecology of the Brain by Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Summary

Ecology of the Brain Summary

Ecology of the Brain: The phenomenology and biology of the embodied mind by Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Ecology of the Brain Reviews

About Thomas Fuchs (Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Psychiatric Clinic, University of Heidelberg, Karl Jaspers Professor of Philosophical Foundations of Psychiatry)

Table of Contents

Additional information

Customer Reviews - Ecology of the Brain