Brave New Mind: A Thoughtful Inquiry into the Nature and Meaning of Mental Life

How was the standard model of the mind developed? Is it adequate? And is there a place in this model for the creative genius of artists, scientists, and mathematicians? This book looks at how scientists investigate the nature of the mind and the brain, providing answers to these important questions. It opens with a description of the historical roots of cognitive science and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the standard model of the mind, including its inability to account for the many dramatic features of human achievement. The final chapter develops the notion that human creativity and the unfolding of human consciousness demand two things: that we acknowledge the central role that ideals play in human knowledge and conduct and that such ideals have no role in the standard model. Brave New Mind proposes a new image of humankind that accommodates the place of ideals and creativity in cognition and life, without abandoning the scientific ideals of empirical soundness and theoretical rigor.

Peter Dodwell is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Queens University at Kingston in Ontario, Canada.