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This Brief presents the argument for the need to re-establish the theoretical focus of general psychology in contemporary psychological research. It begins with a detailed account of the current "crisis" of psychology and our modern disconnect from general psychology. Chapters present the works of Aristotle and A.N. Leontiev, using their ideas to outline a long wanted general psychology. The general psychology delineates the four corner posts of the domain of psychology: Sentience, Intentionality, Mind, and Human Consciousness, and explains why they are all necessary but not the same. Besides a historical discussion, which aims to demonstrate how Marxism got it right, and then not, this Brief presents a new radical theory of human evolution, which credits the Adam-and-Eve story with a vital link hitherto missed by Marxism, Darwinism, and paleoanthropology. In addition, it argues why a new understanding is important in the Anthropocene Age.
Catching Up with Aristotle will be of interest to psychologists, undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers.
List of contents
Part I: Within Circles of History.- Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. The Heritage.- Chapter 3. The Marxist Legacy and General Psychology.- Part II: General Psychology - The Four Corners of the Puzzle.- Chapter 4. Sentience.- Chapter 5. Intentionality.- Chapter 6. Mind.- Chapter 7. The Problem of the Human Being.- Chapter 8. The Marxist Legacy.- Chapter 9. The Overlooked Dimension.- Chapter 10. The Secret of the Human Being.- Chapter 11. The Creative Double Negation and the Non-Non-Cascade.- Chapter 12. Looking Towards the Future.- Chapter 13. General Psychology at Journey's End.- A Tale of Two Cities: Author's Postscript.- Commentary 1.- Commentary 2.
About the author
Niels Engelsted, retired from teaching in 2012. Prior to his retirement, he served as the head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen. Dr. Engelsted received his doctorate from the University of Copenhagen and his postdoctorate from the University of Aarhus. He is the author of many publications, including Evolution, Sleep, and Depression from Copenhagen Academic Press. He has also published articles in many journals, including the Bulletin of Anthropological Psychology, Journal of Anthropological Psychology, Current Science, and Mind, Culture, and Activity.
Summary
This Brief presents the argument for the need to re-establish the theoretical focus of general psychology in contemporary psychological research. It begins with a detailed account of the current “crisis” of psychology and our modern disconnect from general psychology. Chapters present the works of Aristotle and A.N. Leontiev, using their ideas to outline a long wanted general psychology. The general psychology delineates the four corner posts of the domain of psychology: Sentience, Intentionality, Mind, and Human Consciousness, and explains why they are all necessary but not the same. Besides a historical discussion, which aims to demonstrate how Marxism got it right, and then not, this Brief presents a new radical theory of human evolution, which credits the Adam-and-Eve story with a vital link hitherto missed by Marxism, Darwinism, and paleoanthropology. In addition, it argues why a new understanding is important in the Anthropocene Age.
Catching Up with Aristotle will be of interest to psychologists, undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers.
