The Global Origins of Psychology (A New History of Western Psychology)

This book offers a historical introduction to the remote origins of psychology, and is the first book in a series on the history of the subject. Combining a deep history approach with the study of ancient civilisations, it places psychology in a historical and global context using rigorous academic research. This book begins by separating the Greek components of psychology – psyche and logos – in order to trace their histories, separate and together, through the global Neolithic and Bronze Ages. The author develops a toolkit by deconstructing the writing of history, modern psychology, and analysis of culture, and by introducing theories from neuroscience and cultural psychology that can be tested against the data. He then takes readers on a journey back in time, from the borders of our current climatic envelope (the Holocene) towards the present, through Ancient Iraq, Egypt, Israel, and China. Each chapter deepens the reader’s understanding of psychology in its global context outside the boundaries of Western culture. In so doing, the book initiates a post-colonial re-narration showing that the story of psychology is wider and deeper than many contemporary origin stories suggest. Presented in an accessible manner, this is an excellent resource for students of psychology, philosophy, history, linguistics, archaeology, and anthropology, as well as general readers who want to learn more about the origins of this fascinating subject. The Global Origins of Psychology Contents 10 Further Information Online 11 Acknowledgements 12 Preface 14 Introduction 16 1 A safe space 16 2 A mental ‘map’ (see Chapter 2 for more details) 17 3 A map of the world (see 1.5, then the first section of each chapter) 18 4 The limits of time travel (see Chapter 1, especially 1.3) 19 5 The role of philosophy (see Chapter 2 for more details) 22 6 Language and concepts in psychology 23 7 Learning scientific methods (see Chapters 2 and 3) 24 8 Linking psychology to related subjects (see Chapter 2) 25 9 Linking psychology to everyday life (see section 2.3 and Chapter 3) 26 Part 1 30 1 History 32 1.1 Parallel learning journeys 32 1.2 Dating apps: What the numbers mean 33 1.3 Stretching the timeline 35 1.4 Ages and stages of ancient history 37 1.5 The geography of ancient history 40 1.6 Dynamics of history: From ‘Where?’ to ‘How?’ 43 1.7 Turning the ship of history writing: From ‘How?’ to ‘Who?’ 44 1.8 Sampling previous history: Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 45 1.9 Exorcising Hegel’s Geist 47 1.10 Sampling previous histories: George Sidney Brett 49 2 Psychology 55 2.1 The spectrum of psyche: Levels of explanation 55 2.2 Bridges to the past (a) Natural sciences: Anatomy, genetics, neurology 61 2.3 Bridges to the past (b) Cognitive sciences: Tools, equipment, artefacts 63 2.4 Bridges to the past (c) Linguistics 68 2.5 Bridges to the past (d) Anthropology 69 2.6 Bridges to the past (e) Grammatology 74 2.7 Conclusion 75 3 Culture 82 3.1 Applying the second psychology 82 3.2 Patterns of culture 83 3.3 Worldviews 86 3.4 Correspondences 87 3.5 Dialectic 89 3.6 Deconstruction 91 3.7 Neurology and culture 93 3.8 Theory One (T1): The bicameral mind 95 3.9 Theory Two (T2): The divided brain 98 Part 2 108 4 New stones, new cosmos 110 4.1 Orientation: The new world 110 4.2 Göbekli Tepe: A premonition 113 4.3 Inside the Neolithic mind: Psyche and cosmos 115 4.4 Inside the Neolithic mind: Modelling the cosmos 117 4.5 Neolithic society: Macrocosm and myth 121 4.6 The neolithic psychologist 124 4.7 Review of Theory One (T1) 127 4.8 Review of Theory Two (T2) 131 4.9 T2 and the role of the mother 134 5 Ancient Iraq 142 5.1 Orientation: The land between the rivers 142 5.2 The Sumerian writing system 143 5.3 Scribal training: The é-dubba 145 5.4 A day at the é-dubba 148 5.5 Sumerian psyche (1) The tablet of destinies 149 5.6 A warm evening in uruk 151 5.7 Sumerian psyche (2) Myth as mirror 152 5.8 Review of Theory One 154 5.9 Review of Theory Two 156 5.10 T2 and the impact of the city 159 6 Ancient Egypt 165 6.1 Orientation: The gift of the Nile 165 6.2 Sacred marks: Egyptian writing systems as media 169 6.3 Introducing the Egyptian lexicon of psychological terms 173 6.4 Children of Imhotep: The Egyptian renaissance 176 6.5 Egyptian medicine and the åb 178 6.6 The living åb: Cognition, phenomenology and conscience 182 6.7 The ka and social psychology 187 6.8 The ba and the art of dying well 190 6.9 Views of a future state: akh and eternal destiny 192 6.11 Review of Theory One 198 6.12 Review of Theory Two 200 7 Ancient Israel 211 7.1 Orientation: Voices from the margins 211 7.2 The voice of the prophet 213 7.3 Foundations of Hebrew anthropology 216 7.4 Commentary in Bereshith: first shoots of a Hebrew psyche 223 7.5 Commentary in Tanakh: First fruits of Hebrew psyche 225 7.6 The principle of correspondence 228 7.7 Hebrew logos as law 230 7.8 Summary and legacy 231 7.9 Review of Theory One 234 7.10 Review of Theory Two 235 8 Ancient China 242 8.1 Orientation 242 8.2 Building the Chinese worldview 243 8.3 Chinese logos on the right: wen 245 8.4 Chinese logos on the left: Yi Jing 247 8.5 Origins of a binary logic 249 8.6 Intimations of Chinese psyche 252 8.7 Review of T1 254 8.8 Review of T2 256 Bibliography 265 Subject/Author Index 274 Nation Index 280 interdisciplinary;,Ancient,Egypt;,psyche;,Bronze,Age;,Ancient,Iraq;,prehistory;,global;,archaeology;,philosophical,foundations,of,psychology;,Indo-Europeans;,China;,international,psychology;,ancient;,Ancient,Israel;,psychology,foundations; interdisciplinary,Ancient Egypt,psyche,Bronze Age,Ancient Iraq,prehistory,global,archaeology,philosophical foundations of psychology,Indo-Europeans,China,international psychology,ancient,Ancient Israel,psychology foundations