The making of the modern mind : [the surfacing of consciousness in social thought

This text traces the emergence of consciousness in social thought from the 17th century to the 21st century. It explores the contemporary debates around consciousness and identity, setting the analysis within its social and historical context. The Making of the Modern Mind traces the of emergence "consciousness" in social thought from the 17th century to the 21st. Against the classical notions of consciousness and self, alternative agendas began to be developed in the 19th century by figures as diverse as Marx and Nietzsche. The struggles between classical conceptions of consciousness and these alternatives -- which promised more radical and emancipatory interpretations -- continued into the 20th century.From the start, the concept of "consciousness" connected with a range of other notions. Questions of the self and of identity were widely disputed in the Enlightenment whilst the 20th century contributed new concerns, chiefly the philosophical issues of being and acting and the problematic status of reality for a theory of mind. Today, consciousness is viewed much more as a public and linguistic world rather than a private and mentalistic one.The Making of the Modern Mind explores the contemporary debates around consciousness and identity, crucially setting the analysis within its social and historical context. Written in a clear and engaging style, the book will be of interest to students in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. The Making of the Modern Mind traces the emergence of "consciousness" in social thought from the 17th Century to the 21st. Against the classical notions of consciousness and self, alternative agendas began to be developed in the 19th Century by figures as diverse as Marx and Nietzsche. The struggles between classical conceptions of consciousness and these alternatives--which promised more radical and emancipatory interpretations--continued into the 20th Century.From the start, the concept of "consciousness" connected with a range of other notions. Questions of the self and of identity were widely disputed in the Enlightenment whilst the 20th Century contributed new concerns, chiefly the philosophical issues of being and acting and the problematic status of reality for a theory of mind. Today, consciousness is viewed much more as a public and linguistic world rather than a private and mentalistic one.The Making of the Modern Mind explores the contemporary debates around consciousness and identity, crucially setting the analysis within its social and historical context. Written in a clear and engaging style, the book will be of interest to students in Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology. The Making of the Modern Mind traces the emergence of consciousness in social thought from the 17th Century to the 21st. Against the classical notions of consciousness and self, alternative agendas began to be developed in the 19th Century by figures as diverse as Marx and Nietzsche. The struggles between classical conceptions of consciousness and these alternatives-which promised more radical and emancipatory interpretations-continued into the 20th Century. From the start, the concept of consciousness connected with a range of other notions. Questions of the self and of identity were widely disputed in the Enlightenment whilst the 20th Century contributed new concerns, chiefly the philosophical issues of being and acting and the problematic status of reality for a theory of mind. Today, consciousness is viewed much more as a public and linguistic world rather than a private and mentalistic one. The Making of the Modern Mind explores the contemporary debates around consciousness and identity, crucially setting the analysis within its social and historical context. Written in a clear and engaging style, the book will be of interest to students in Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology. What comes after "postmodernism"? A buzzword which began as an energising, radical critique became, by the 20th Century's end, a byword for fracture, eclecticism, political apathy and intellectual exhaustion. The last few years have seen growing interest in critical realism as a possible, alternative way of moving forward. The virtues of critical realism lie in its successful provision of a philosophical grounding for the social sciences and humanities and of a methodology applicable to many different fields of analysis. After Postmodernism brings together some of the best-known names in the field to present the first truly interdisciplinary introduction to critical realism. The book presents the reader with a compendium of accessible essays illustrating the connections between meta-theory, theory and substantive research across Sociology, Philosophy, Literary Studies, Politics, Media Studies, Psychology and Science Studies. The flexibility of critical realism is illustrated in the range of topics discussed - ranging from quantum mechanics to cyberspace, to literary theory, nature, smoking, the future of Marx, the unconscious and, of course, postmodernism and the future of theory itself