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Building on contemporary research in embodied cognition, enactivism, and the extended mind, this book explores how social institutions in contemporary neoliberal nation-states systematically affect our thoughts, feelings, and agency. Human beings are, necessarily, social animals who create and belong to social institutions. But social institutions take on a life of their own, and literally shape the minds of all those who belong to them, for better or worse, usually without their being self-consciously aware of it. Indeed, in contemporary neoliberal societies, it is generally for the worse. In The Mind-Body Politic, Michelle Maiese and Robert Hanna work out a new critique of contemporary social institutions by deploying the special standpoint of the philosophy of mind-in particular, the special standpoint of the philosophy of what they call essentially embodied minds-and make a set of concrete, positive proposals for radically changing both these social institutions and also our essentially embodied lives for the better.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction: Political Philosophy of Mind.- Chapter 2. Three Theses Unpacked: Mind-Shaping, Collective Sociopathy, and Collective Wisdom.- Chapter 3. What is a Destructive, Deforming Institution?.- Chapter 4. Case-Study I: Higher Education in Neoliberal Nation-States.- Chapter 5. Case-Study II: Mental Health Treatment in Neoliberal Nation-States.- Chapter 6. What is a Constructive, Enabling Institution?.- Chapter 7. How To Design a Constructive, Enabling Institution.- Chapter 8. Conclusion: Cognitive Walls, Cognitive-Affective Revolution, and Real-World Utopias.
About the author
Michelle Maiese is Professor of Philosophy at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is the author of Embodiment, Emotion, and Cognition (2011), Embodied Selves and Embodied Minds (2015), and many articles on topics in philosophy of mind and psychiatry.
Robert Hanna is an independent philosopher who has held research or teaching positions at universities in Brazil, Canada, Luxembourg, the UK, and the USA. He is a philosophical generalist and the author or co-author of eleven books, including Rationality and Logic (2006), Embodied Minds in Action (co-authored with Michelle Maiese, 2009) and the five-volume book series, The Rational Human Condition (2015-2018).
Summary
Building on contemporary research in embodied cognition, enactivism, and the extended mind, this book explores how social institutions in contemporary neoliberal nation-states systematically affect our thoughts, feelings, and agency. Human beings are, necessarily, social animals who create and belong to social institutions. But social institutions take on a life of their own, and literally shape the minds of all those who belong to them, for better or worse, usually without their being self-consciously aware of it. Indeed, in contemporary neoliberal societies, it is generally for the worse. In The Mind-Body Politic, Michelle Maiese and Robert Hanna work out a new critique of contemporary social institutions by deploying the special standpoint of the philosophy of mind—in particular, the special standpoint of the philosophy of what they call essentially embodiedminds—and make a set of concrete, positive proposals for radically changing both these social institutions and also our essentially embodied lives for the better.
Additional text
“The Mind–Body Politic is a book about the pervasiveness of neoliberal, capitalist ideology and the harmful ways in which we are affected by it, even outside of our own awareness. ... The Mind–Body Politic is a philosophical essay that at times reads more as a call to arms. ... most of the time, theoretically sound and argumentatively strong. ... it will undoubtedly be illuminating at least to the politically involved philosopher of mind … . ” (Josephine Pascoe, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 23 (1), 2024)
“The book is not only an exposition of political discourse but concurrently an analysis of form, a rich and ambitious undertaking.” (Isobel Armstrong, Modern Philology, Vol. 117 (1), May, 2019)
Report
"The Mind-Body Politic is a book about the pervasiveness of neoliberal, capitalist ideology and the harmful ways in which we are affected by it, even outside of our own awareness. ... The Mind-Body Politic is a philosophical essay that at times reads more as a call to arms. ... most of the time, theoretically sound and argumentatively strong. ... it will undoubtedly be illuminating at least to the politically involved philosopher of mind ... . " (Josephine Pascoe, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 23 (1), 2024)
"The book is not only an exposition of political discourse but concurrently an analysis of form, a rich and ambitious undertaking." (Isobel Armstrong, Modern Philology, Vol. 117 (1), May, 2019)
