Until very recently, the dominant - indeed, almost exclusive - paradigm in cognitive psychology has been the representational computational view of mind. In this brilliant and wide-ranging book, Benny Shanon presents an original critique of this portrayal of cognition, an analysis of the conceptual foundations of cognitive science, and a proposal for a new picture of mind. Through a survey of language, memory and knowledge of the world, perception and motor activity, motivation and effect, thought processes and creativity, he argues that the representational account is seriously lacking: far from serving as the basis of cognitive activity, representations are the products of such activity. Shanon's alternative, and elegantly constructed, model of the mind is illustrated by a consideration of the dynamic interplay between the 'representational' and the 'presentational'. His book offers a fresh new outlook on the phenomenon of consciousness and presents a new and exciting conceptualizatlon of psychological theory.

The Representational and the Presentational: An Essay on Cognition and the Study of Mind

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Shanon, Benny

Psychology & Counseling

Harvester/Wheatsheaf

This is a pioneering cognitive psychological study of Ayahuasca, a plant-based Amazonian psychotropic brew. Benny Shanon presents a comprehensive charting of the various facets of the special state of mind induced by Ayahuasca, and analyzes them from a cognitive psychological perspective. He also presents some philosophical reflections. Empirically, the research presented in this book is based on the systematic recording of the author's extensive experiences with the brew and on the interviewing of a large number of informants: indigenous people, shamans, members of different religious sects using Ayahuasca, and travellers. In addition to its being the most thorough study of the Ayahuasca experience to date, the book lays the theoretical foundations for the psychological study of non-ordinary states of consciousness in general.

The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience

Religion & Spirituality

Oxford University Press

Mental Health

In this wide-ranging book the author presents his critique of the contemporary portrayal of cognition, an analysis of the conceptual foundations of cognitive science and a proposal for a new concept of the mind. Shanon argues that the representational account is seriously lacking and that far from serving as a basis of cognitive activity, representations are the products of such activity. He proposes an alternative view of the mind in which the basic capability of the cognitive system is not the manipulation of symbols but rather action in the world. His book offers a different outlook on the phenomenon of consciousness and presents a new conception of psychological theory and explanation. This revised second edition includes a new Postscript.

Representational and the Presentational: An Essay on Cognition and the Study of Mind

Reference

Imprint Academic

L'expérience de l'invisible - Psychologie de l'Ayahuasca: Psychologie de l'Ayahuasca

New Age & Spirituality

INTEREDITIONS

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Books by Shanon, Benny