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In The Buddha Was a Psychologist: A Rational Approach to Buddhist Teachings, Arnold Kozak argues for a secular and psychological interpretation of the Buddha's wisdom, with a particular focus on his mind model and use of metaphor. Kozak closely examines the Buddha's hagiography, analyzing Buddhist dharma through the contexts of neuroscience, cognitive linguistics, and evolutionary psychology.
List of contents
Part I: Reclaiming the Buddha from Buddhism
Chapter 1: The Legend of the Buddha: History, Myth, and Hagiography
Chapter 2: The Hermeneutical Buddha: What He Taught, What He Thought (Maybe)
Part II: The Buddha's Pedagogical Project: The Ennobling Praxes (aka Four Noble Truths)
Chapter 3: The First Ennobling Praxis: What is the Problem?
Chapter 4: The Second Ennobling Praxis: Getting to the Root of the Problem
Chapter 5: The Third Ennobling Praxis: Can the Problem Be Resolved?
Chapter 6: The Fourth Ennobling Praxis: Resolving the Problem
Part III: Mind on Fire: The Buddha's Psychological Map
Chapter 7: Form: Brain Architecture and the Neuroplastic Forest of Self
Chapter 8: Perception: Categorization
Chapter 9: Feeling: Pain and Pleasure Drive Evolution's Primary Agendas (And Give Rise to a Sense of the One Having Pleasure and Pain)
Chapter 10: Mental Fabrication and the Modular Self
Chapter 11: Consciousness: Apparently Ubiquitous, Certainly Overestimated
About the author
Arnold Kozak is clinical assistant professor in psychiatry at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.
Summary
In The Buddha Was a Psychologist: A Rational Approach to Buddhist Teachings, Arnold Kozak argues for a secular, psychological, interpretation of the Buddha’s teachings.
