ENGLISH

The Mimetic Brain

By Jean-Michel Oughourlian

Book information

Publisher
Michigan State University Press
Year
2016
ISBN
9781611861891, 9781609174767, 9781628952476, 9781628962475, 2015022381
Google Books ID
wAWbjgEACAAJ
Language
english
Format
EPUB
Filesize
675 kB (690912 bytes)
Pages
\0
Time added
2023-10-24 07:45:17

Description

The discovery of mirror neurons in the 1990s led to an explosion of research and debate about the imitative capacities of the human brain. Some herald a paradigm shift on the order of DNA in biology, while others remain skeptical. In this revolutionary volume Jean- Michel Oughourlian shows how the hypotheses of René Girard can be combined with the insights of neuroscientists to shed new light on the “mimetic brain.” Offering up clinical studies and a complete reevaluation of classical psychiatry, Oughourlian explores the interaction among reason, emotions, and imitation and reveals that rivalry—the blind spot in contemporary neuroscientific understandings of imitation—is a misunderstood driving force behind mental illness. Oughourlian’s analyses shake the very foundations of psychiatry as we know it and open up new avenues for both theoretical research and clinical practice.

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