tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142700352411148728.post5015792737152578946..comments2015-02-23T10:00:07.270-08:00Comments on Psychotherapeutic Naturalism: Trials and Themes – What Makes Humans Tick?Eoin Stephenshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10411355363083049551noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142700352411148728.post-14021847778322144312011-05-19T06:23:06.017-07:002011-05-19T06:23:06.017-07:00Thanks Eoin.Thanks Eoin.Barnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17725146083441006924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142700352411148728.post-57716963545545866492011-05-19T04:21:38.602-07:002011-05-19T04:21:38.602-07:00Hi Bernard
Thanks for the feedback, and participa...Hi Bernard<br /><br />Thanks for the feedback, and participation.<br /><br />With regard to to your questions, I can't really respond to the Freudian/Kleinian one, as it is not really my area.<br /><br />The answer to your other question is pretty clear, though - the reality of the "self" that we experience as a unitary whole has definitely been challenged by Evolutionary Psychology, as well as by neuroscientific findings, and what is sometimes called "neurophilosophy". Rather like what happens on our computer screen, our mental operations might seem to be transparent and unified, but this is an illusion, and many separate modules are actually working away outside of conscious awareness to achieve this effect.<br /><br />There are some fascinating books about this, for instance:<br /><br />Damasio, A. (2010) Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain. Pantheon.<br /><br />Dennett, D.C. (1992) Consciousness Explained. Back Bay Books.<br /><br />Metzinger, T. (2010) The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self. Basic Books.<br /><br /><br />I particularly recommend the last one.<br /><br /><br />EoinEoin Stephenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10411355363083049551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6142700352411148728.post-64892911870029345992011-05-19T02:17:11.856-07:002011-05-19T02:17:11.856-07:00Hi Eoin,
I was at the talk last night and enjoye...Hi Eoin, <br /><br />I was at the talk last night and enjoyed it a lot. Particularly excited by the very real and encouraging efforts being made to close the ties between psychotherapy and the biological sciences. Maybe we're a lot closer than many would care to admit.<br /><br />In regard to the proposed modular aspect to our drives and experiences, in what sense if any could this relate to the Freudian/Kleinian operation of splitting, where as I understand it, we have many and various experiences, each of which are at various stages of integration or disintegration from the whole?<br /><br />Has the issue of the "self" as a unitary whole been challenged? And how does that relate to our everyday experience of feeling "whole" as a person as opposed to feeling or experiencing life as a series of separate units/drives of a single modular collective?<br /><br />Much appreciated,<br />Bernard McGuinnessBarnohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17725146083441006924noreply@blogger.com