Early Psychological Thought: Ancient Accounts of Mind and Soul

(Hardback)

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The modern view of the mind is the result of thousands of years of thought, discussion, and experimentation. This volume examines how the foundations of this concept were laid in the ancient world, focusing on the role of ^Ipsyche^R in the thought of the most influential philosophers, poets, and physicians from archaic Greece to the fall of Rome. The authors show how the various processes we now group together under the general rubric psychologysuch as thought, emotion, desire, and willbegan as relatively disparate parts of the Greek conceptual scheme, only converging gradually over the course of centuries into what we now call mind. By reconstructing what the ancient Greeks and Romans understood by terms such as ^Ipsyche^R, ^Iphrenes^R, and ^Inous^R, this survey of the early development of psychological thought highlights the legacies of their accounts, which can still be found embedded in modern psychological assumptions.

Reviews

[a] valuable contribution to the history of psychological thought, and should definitely be read by any psychologist who wants to know more about the vast variety of speculative thought that flourished in Greek and Roman times.-Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
[a]n interesting, well-written volume, with an engaging mix of historical circumstance and philosophical ideas about mind and soul. The book is accessible to general readers and informative about a key period in Western history. Its relevance to those interested in Greek and Roman issues rather than psychology per se strengthens its case and leads this reviewer to recommend it in those disciplines.... recommended for ancient studies. All levels.-Choice
"a valuable contribution to the history of psychological thought, and should definitely be read by any psychologist who wants to know more about the vast variety of speculative thought that flourished in Greek and Roman times."-Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
"an interesting, well-written volume, with an engaging mix of historical circumstance and philosophical ideas about mind and soul. The book is accessible to general readers and informative about a key period in Western history. Its relevance to those interested in Greek and Roman issues rather than psychology per se strengthens its case and leads this reviewer to recommend it in those disciplines.... recommended for ancient studies. All levels."-Choice
"[a] valuable contribution to the history of psychological thought, and should definitely be read by any psychologist who wants to know more about the vast variety of speculative thought that flourished in Greek and Roman times."-Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
"[a]n interesting, well-written volume, with an engaging mix of historical circumstance and philosophical ideas about mind and soul. The book is accessible to general readers and informative about a key period in Western history. Its relevance to those interested in Greek and Roman issues rather than psychology per se strengthens its case and leads this reviewer to recommend it in those disciplines.... recommended for ancient studies. All levels."-Choice

Author Bio

CHRISTOPHER D. GREEN is Associate Professor of the History and Theory of Psychology at York University in Toronto. PHILIP R. GROFF is the Manager of Research Development and Evaluation at SMARTRISK. He has taught in the psychology departments of the University of Toronto, York University, and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.