This lucidly argued volume covers the key philosophical revolutions that are shaping contemporary psychology. Harr[ac]e and Gillett herald a new paradigm in psychology, dissolving the Cartesian distinction between mind and body in favour of the discursive turn in psychological theory. The authors explore the discursive origins of the self, the problem of agency and social understanding of personality. In the process, they elevate the emotions to a significant place in our understanding of mind, action and being. The theoretical breadth of the book is matched by its treatment of a wide range of subjects, including: consciousness; the brain; perception; thought; personality; and the emotions.

Cognitive Modeling

Cognitive modeling

Models in Natural Science and in Psychology

In the last chapter we found ourselves making use of the notion of a “model,” either in quotations from others or in explaining some finding from cognitive science. The essential ambiguity of models (in that they are capable of interpretation, either as ways of understanding or as pictures of things we cannot observe) is a matter of considerable importance. To understand the role of models, one must examine them on home territory, so to speak, in the physical sciences. It is now generally agreed that the heart of any scientific treatment of a field of phenomena is a central model. Model-making is one of those activities to which natural scientists are so accustomed that they rarely ...

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