Description
Book SynopsisClassical scholarship on psychology originates with Plato, Marcus Aurelius and St Augustine, and these thinkers can help unravel many problems in contemporary psychology. This book re-introduces scholarly psychology to readers today, and demonstrates its potential for dealing with the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Trade Review'Anyone who can link the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius with Abraham Maslow, Plato with Chomsky and Hume with Seligman is on to something! The approach is stunning in its creativity and accessibility.' Alex Forsythe, University of Liverpool
'This highly innovative and engaging work is an attempt to supply what [Alexander and Shelton] believe is missing … The selective treatment of authors and issues is one of the features that distinguish this book from other current texts on the history of psychology, which often sacrifice depth of understanding in an effort to achieve comprehensiveness of coverage.' William E. Smythe, PsycCRITIQUES
Table of Contents1. Introduction: two histories of Western psychology; 2. Rationalism: Plato and the 'just' person; 3. Stoicism: Marcus Aurelius and the sufficient self; 4. Christianity: St Augustine and the incomplete soul; 5. Materialism: Thomas Hobbes and the human machine; 6. Empiricism: John Locke, David Hume, and experience as reality; 7. Evolution: Charles Darwin and Homo sapiens as a work in progress; 8. Medicine: Sigmund Freud and the world of neurotics; 9. Re-imagining psychology.
