| Title & Author | Abstract | |
|---|---|---|
| 5(08) | THE ROOTS OF THINKING
[Temple University Press 1990, 15 chapters, 389 pages] Precis of Sheets-Johnstone on Evolution-Thinking Maxine Sheets-Johnstone Department of Philosophy University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 MSJ@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU |
Abstract:
This interdisciplinary book addresses the question of
conceptual origins. Its thesis is that there is an indissoluble
bond between hominid thinking and hominid evolution, a bond
cemented by the living body. The thesis is illustrated in detail in
eight paleoanthropological case studies ranging from tool-using/
tool-making to counting, sexuality, representation, language,
death, and cave art. In each case, evidence is brought forward that
shows how thinking is modeled on the body; specifically, how
concepts such as the concept of number, of death, of drawing, and
of oneself as a sound-maker are generated by animate form and
tactile-kinesthetic experience. The two major forms of opposition
to the thesis--cultural relativism and metaphysical dualism--are in
turn critically examined and put to rest. Methodological issues
are also critically examined and the expanded paleoanthropological
methodology that informs the paleoanthropological case studies is
fully spelled out.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(27) | HOMINID SENSORY MODALITIES AND PALAEOLITHIC DATA
Book Review of Sheets-Johnstone on Evolution-Thinking James Steele Department of Archaeology University of Southampton Highfield, Southampton SO9 5NH United Kingdom tjms@southampton.ac.uk |
Abstract:
In "The Roots of Thinking," Sheets-Johnstone (1990)
suggests that human conceptual thinking originates in universals of
sensory experience. She contrasts the tactile-kinaesthetic sense
with "static" visual cognition, favoring the former. In contrast,
archaeologists have often interpreted the data on early conceptual
thinking as reflecting the dominance of the visual modality. This
is illustrated in the origins of figurative art. Deciding between
these competing accounts of sensory "dominance" may require more
input from disciplines in which behaviour is directly manipulated
and observed.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(28) | TAKING EXPERIENCES SERIOUSLY
Book Review of Sheets-Johnstone on Evolution-Thinking Ronald Lemmen School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences The University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9QH England ronaldl@cogs.susx.ac.uk |
Abstract:
In showing how meaning and human thinking and practices
are rooted in the tactile-kinesthetic body, "The Roots of Thinking"
provides an interesting and welcome new perspective on cognition.
Maxine Sheets-Johnstone (1990) leaves no room to doubt the need for
a thorough "corporeal turn" in cognitive science.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(31) | SENSORY MODALITIES AND CONCEPT FORMATION
Commentary on Sheets-Johnstone on Evolution-Thinking David S. Webster Department of Psychology University of Durham Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom D.S.Webster@durham.ac.uk |
Abstract:
Sheets-Johnstone (1994) propounds the view that tactile-
kinaesthetic sense is more fundamental to the construction of
concepts than of visual perception. The present commentary calls
attention to the experience of teaching infants/children deaf (and
therefore dumb) and blind from birth.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(52) | PALEOLITHIC CAVE ART:
THE TACTILE-KINESTHETIC VS. THE VISUAL MODALITY Reply to Steele on Evolution-Thinking Maxine Sheets-Johnstone Department of Philosophy University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 MSJ@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU |
Abstract:
This is a Reply to Steele's (1994) reformulation of the
problem of the origin of paleolithic cave art as the problem of
determining modality dominance. It raises critical questions
regarding visual provenience, points out the importance of
attending to corporeal matters of fact, and shows how and why a
corporeal turn points us rightfully in the direction of
understanding developmental intermodalities rather than modality
dominance.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(53) | CORPOREAL REPRESENTATION AND CORPOREAL SENSE-MAKING
Reply to Webster on Evolution-Thinking Maxine Sheets-Johnstone Department of Philosophy University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 MSJ@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU |
Abstract:
This Reply takes issue with two points in Webster's
(1994) extrapolation of corporeal representation to the realm of
concept formation in highly disadvantaged infants: his argument
from the pathological to the normal and his claim that cognition is
socially constructed. A normal infant's everyday
tactile-kinesthetic experience is both cognitively rich in and of
itself and other-independent, that is, a personal affair.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(54) | COGNITIVE IMPLICATIONS OF TACTILE-KINESTHETIC
EXPERIENCE AND INVARIANTS Reply to Lemmen on Evolution-Thinking Maxine Sheets-Johnstone Department of Philosophy University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 MSJ@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU |
Abstract:
Three major questions raised in Lemmen's (1994) review
are addressed: the question of experience -- what is necessary for
it and which creatures have it; the question of analogical
apperception and transfer of sense -- how it is achieved, as in our
understanding of others, for example; and the relationship between
corporeal representation and natural meanings.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(55) | ENIGMAS OF THE BODY, SENSE MODALITIES AND SPACE PERCEPTION
Book Review of Sheets-Johnstone on Evolution-Thinking Peter G. Grossenbacher Department of Experimental Psychology University of Cambridge Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB ENGLAND pgg1001@cus.cam.ac.uk |
Abstract:
In The Roots of Thinking (1990), Sheets-Johnstone argues
that several concepts fundamental to human thought first originated
from bodily experience in pre-humans. Relatively few cognitive or
neurobiological findings appear in the primarily philosophical and
anthropological text. As the book discusses several intriguing
ideas for which disappointingly few laboratory findings pertain,
this review advocates experimental research on three such topics.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |
| 5(72) | METHODOLOGY AND TACTILE-KINESTHETIC EXPERIENCE
Reply to Grossenbacher on Evolution-Thinking Maxine Sheets-Johnstone Department of Philosophy University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403 MSJ@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU |
Abstract:
This article focuses on methodology. With respect to the
body in particular, bridging the interdisciplinary gap requires an
examination and expansion of viable methodological options. Neglect
of movement is a byproduct of a methodological problem: how to take
tactile-kinesthetic experience into account.
Keywords: analogical thinking, animate form, concepts, evolution, tactile-kinesthetic body. |