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Delivery rates and Return policy Gods, Voices, and the Bicameral Mind: The Theories of Julian Jaynes Paperback – 5 May 2019
by
Marcel Kuijsten
(Editor, Author)
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Does consciousness inevitably arise in any sufficiently complex brain? Although widely accepted, this view inherited from Darwin's theory of evolution is supported by surprisingly little evidence. Offering an alternate view of the history of the human mind, Julian Jaynes's ideas challenge our preconceptions of not only the origin of the modern mind, but the origin of gods and religion, the nature of mental illness, and the future potential of consciousness. The tremendous explanatory power of Jaynes's ideas force us to reevaluate much of what we thought we knew about human history.
Gods, Voices, and the Bicameral Mind both explains Julian Jaynes's theory and explores a wide range of related topics such as the ancient Dark Age, the nature of dreams and the birth of Greek tragedy, poetic inspiration, the significance of hearing voices in both the ancient and modern world, the development of consciousness in children, vestiges of bicameralism and the transition to consciousness in early Tibet, the relationship of consciousness and metaphorical language, and how Jaynes's ideas compare to those of other thinkers.
- Print length322 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication date5 May 2019
- ISBN-100979074436
- ISBN-13978-0979074431
Product description
About the Author
Marcel Kuijsten is Founder and Executive Director of the Julian Jaynes Society. He has designed, edited, and published four books: "Conversations on Consciousness and the Bicameral Mind"; "Gods, Voices, and the Bicameral Mind"; "The Julian Jaynes Collection"; and "Reflections on the Dawn of Consciousness", and is co-editor of "The Jaynesian," the newsletter of the Julian Jaynes Society.
Product details
- Language : English
- Paperback : 322 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0979074436
- ISBN-13 : 978-0979074431
- Customer reviews:
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4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
35 global ratings
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RB
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 7 December 2017Verified Purchase
Great!
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Michael R D James
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Origin of Consciousness and the voices of bicameral man
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 10 June 2017Verified Purchase
Julian Jaynes's hypotheses about the origin of consciousness are as broad and deep in scope as culture itself, making his ideas so difficult to categorize. It is only too easy from a scientific view to say that these types of theories are not scientific or from a physicalist philosophical position to dismiss them as not being Philosophical, leaving such theories in a limbo from which Kuijsten attempts to rescue it.
The broad sweep of the evidence marshaled for the thesis, that the structure and function of our brains at a particular point in time, was responsible for the experience of man blindly following the voices of Gods is indeed impressive. Many phenomena for which we no longer seek explanations, such as the power of hypnotism, schizophrena, the tradition of oracles, the hierarchical structure of theocracies, the influence of writing on the function of the brain loom into view like an armada appearing on the horizon. Kuijsten is not afraid of the accumulated prejudices of generations of scholars and bravely follows in the footsteps of Jaynes in reviewing new evidence for the theory presented ca 40 years ago.
We are taken back in time over three thousand years and a picture of our life perfectly consonant with the theory of evolution and the ancient writings of the Bible emerges. The picture also provides explanation for many philosophical phenomena such as the importance of the emergence of Philosophy in the classical Greece of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The inner "voice" or daimon which Socrates listened to when in difficult situations also falls neatly into tapestry of evidence.
The implications of Kant's philosophy that God was an idea in mans mind and not some external force guiding and directing the process of mans cultural evolution is given further support from the presentation of external evidence. The process of secularization started with the Philosophical argument of Kant is given further support and justification. The voices of the Gods are no longer "merely hallucinations" but placed in a cultural context which gives them a role and substance in our cultural development. The old Aristotelian idea that the divine in us is the thinking process has always metaphysically suggested that God was an important idea and should be correctly understood. This ancient spirit is resurrected with Jaynes's theories and Kuijsten's defense of them.
This work also attempts to continue the work of Jaynes in broadening the horizon of Psychology into social and cultural dimensions which in turn links up with the heritage of humanism we acquired via the Classical Greek Philosophers, the Enlightenment Philosophy of Kant and the Philosophy of the later Wittgenstein.
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The broad sweep of the evidence marshaled for the thesis, that the structure and function of our brains at a particular point in time, was responsible for the experience of man blindly following the voices of Gods is indeed impressive. Many phenomena for which we no longer seek explanations, such as the power of hypnotism, schizophrena, the tradition of oracles, the hierarchical structure of theocracies, the influence of writing on the function of the brain loom into view like an armada appearing on the horizon. Kuijsten is not afraid of the accumulated prejudices of generations of scholars and bravely follows in the footsteps of Jaynes in reviewing new evidence for the theory presented ca 40 years ago.
We are taken back in time over three thousand years and a picture of our life perfectly consonant with the theory of evolution and the ancient writings of the Bible emerges. The picture also provides explanation for many philosophical phenomena such as the importance of the emergence of Philosophy in the classical Greece of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The inner "voice" or daimon which Socrates listened to when in difficult situations also falls neatly into tapestry of evidence.
The implications of Kant's philosophy that God was an idea in mans mind and not some external force guiding and directing the process of mans cultural evolution is given further support from the presentation of external evidence. The process of secularization started with the Philosophical argument of Kant is given further support and justification. The voices of the Gods are no longer "merely hallucinations" but placed in a cultural context which gives them a role and substance in our cultural development. The old Aristotelian idea that the divine in us is the thinking process has always metaphysically suggested that God was an important idea and should be correctly understood. This ancient spirit is resurrected with Jaynes's theories and Kuijsten's defense of them.
This work also attempts to continue the work of Jaynes in broadening the horizon of Psychology into social and cultural dimensions which in turn links up with the heritage of humanism we acquired via the Classical Greek Philosophers, the Enlightenment Philosophy of Kant and the Philosophy of the later Wittgenstein.
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20 people found this helpful
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R. A. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Should be in the library of anyone generally curious, not to speak of scholars of the mind.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 22 September 2022Verified Purchase
Terrific review of the history and current status of a once-famous, still fascinating hypothesis about the nature and origin of hallucinations.
2 people found this helpful
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Deut
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good collection on Jaynesian discussions
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 24 March 2017Verified Purchase
Not exactly the latest developments related to Jaynes' theories. Some of the articles are from the 1980s. But considering how little Jaynesian literature there is, Kuijsten's collection of various writers' takes on child development, modern poetry, other philosophers, and historical eras, among other subjects, is much appreciated.
Would have preferred a properly formatted Kindle version.
Would have preferred a properly formatted Kindle version.
11 people found this helpful
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Barton Funk
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 21 July 2020Verified Purchase
As advertised. Not much new here that you don't likely already have in your collection, but a good literary companion nonetheless.
2 people found this helpful
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