Imagination and the Meaningful Brain (Philosophical Psychopathology)

Rating:
Summary: Paradigm-shifting, thought-provoking, brilliant
Review: Anyone familiar with Dr. Modell's books knows that to take on the task of reviewing one of them requires chutzpah, or at least a lot of confidence in oneself. Dr. Modell is clearly a learned man who likes a challenge. "Imagination and the Meaningful Brain" is a book that I have returned to again and again over the past few months -- it's intense, it's deep, it's provocative, it's paradigm-shifting, and it requires thoughtful reading.

Who is the intended audience for this book? Psychoanalysts? Sure. Neuroscientists? Yes. Linguists? Perhaps. Cognitive Psychologists? Most definitely. Philosophers? Indeed. In short, individuals from a variety of fields and those simply interested in the human mind. (Check out the bibliography - as a mere sampling, you've got Aquinas, Aristotle, Bollas, Castoriadis, Changeux, Coleridge, Corballis, Damasio, Darwin, Descartes, Deutch, and I'm only up to the letter "D"!)

So what's the book about? To put it simply, it's about nothing less than what it MEANS to be human. Tapping current research from various disciplines, including theory of mind research, Dr. Modell has created a new syllabus for the study of the human mind. The breadth of knowledge presented in this book is unique and refreshing.

My one complaint: I wasn't thrilled with Modell's use of Freud's libido theory in the chapter, "The Corporeal Imagination," although Modell himself does point out that this theory is antiquated. Quoting Freud, "...When a child, unwillingly enough, comes to realize that there are human creatures who do not possess a penis, that organ appears to him as something detachable from the body and becomes unmistakably analogous to the excrement..."(p. 85). Please, I can't stand it, enough already! (This is an automatic, visceral reaction on my part, which I'm sure to share with other readers!)

Incorporation of research on touch or attachment theory would have been nice.

To ignore this book is to remain stuck in prevailing paradigms that are not sufficient for understanding individuals and their idiosyncrasies! "The ulimate goal of neurobiology is to discover how the mind works." Is that an understatement or what?! "When meaning is constructed, a transformation takes place in the brain that is experienced by the mind...." And the journey begins...