1st Edition
The Global Origins of Psychology Neurology, Language and Culture in the Ancient World
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.
Introduction
Part 1: Toolkit
1. History
2. Psychology
3. Culture
Part 2: Workshop
4. New stones, new cosmos
5. Ancient Iraq
6. Ancient Egypt
7. Ancient Israel
8. Ancient China
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Richard Valentine is a researcher and cultural consultant for the induction of international students into UK universities, and has extensive experience leading multimedia online education platforms. He has published essays, articles, and policy pieces for higher education in physics, psychology and religious studies. He is a member of the British Psychological Society as an occupational consultant with experience in developing and applying intelligence and personality profiling products. Before moving into psychology, his academic background was in philosophy and the natural sciences.
"Spellbinding, unique, and original, The Global Origins of Psychology stuns me with this fresh look into the ancient study of psyche. What is true of psyche is also true of logos: word, reason, argument, language, theory, the laws to be discovered, the human capacity for accessing experience and penetrating to its underlying laws – all the senses of logos – predate Greek philosophy. The journey of logos through the Fertile Crescent, Ancient Iraq, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel, and Ancient China delineates a new world map so that we understand how we reason in our mind in different areas of the world, historically, and cross-culturally."
Ruyu Hung, Distinguished Professor, National Chiayi University, Taiwan.
"Valentine provides a readable, fascinating review of the psyche through time, a sweeping tapestry of cultural and historic shifts in understanding the laterality of the brain. He brings forward ancient views of the mind and offers a thought provoking and insightful perspective on the challenges humanity has encountered and still faces."
Darcia Narvaez, University of Notre Dame, USA, and author of Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom.
