The Cultural Psychology of Self: Place, Morality and Art in Human Worlds

ISBN-13: 9780415089043 / Angielski / Twarda / 2000 / 280 str.

Ciaran Benson

Opis

Philosophers and psychologists both investigate the self, but often in isolation from one another. The Cultural Psychology of the Self brings together these two areas in an exploration of the self and its function. How do we position ourselves in the worlds we inhabit? And how do we find our way around them? Ciaran Benson argues that the skills in navigating human worlds are primary requirements for being a successful human being, and that the main function of our psychological system is to position ourselves in relation to others. Who I am is a function of where I am: Benson suggests that we can better understand ourselves as locative systems. He investigates the way we orient ourselves in the world and the language we use to describe our position, whether it may be in space or time.

Recenzje

'A book rich in insight, deep in significance ... - The Cultural Psychology of Self is the work of a tutored and passionate mind.' -

'Ciaran Benson offers in this book a definition of self from the standpoint of cultural psychology ... [and] situates cultural psychology within current modern psychology.' - Journal of Consciousness Studies

'One of the most ambitious and impressive philosophical works to come out of Ireland in recent years.' - Irish Times

Spis treści

Part I: The Centrality of Place for Selfhood 1. Selves and the Need to Navigate Human Worlds: A Cultural Psychological Approach 2. The Brain's Work in Locating Selves 3. Placing Oneself in Personal Time: The Narrative Structure of Self 4. Moral Identity and Cultural-Historical Locations for Selves 5. Self-Creation as Self-Location 6. Pronouns Placing Selves: 'I' and its Associates Part II: Location, Dislocation and Relocation: Responsibility, Caring, Art and Changing Prospects 7. Emotions as Self's Pathfinders 8. Childhood, Responsibility and Acquiring Powers to Place Oneself as a Moral Agent 9. Pitilessness and Compassion: Caring Where Others Are 10. Suffering , Radical Dislocation and the Limits of Moral Responsibility 11. Being Moved: Art, Self and Positive Absorption 12. Points of View and None: Visual Art and the Location of Self 13. Individual and National Identity: Analogy, Symbiosis and Artistic Process 14. Psychologies of Maturity: Development or Destination? Conclusion: Navigating Human Worlds Bibliography Index

O autorze

Ciaran Benson is Professor of Psychology at University College Dublin, Ireland.