Shamanism and Psychology in Ancient Greece and India : The Evolution of Psyche

by: Valentine, R.

Shamanism and Psychology in Ancient Greece and India
The Evolution of Psyche

By Richard Valentine

Description

This book offers a historical introduction to psychology. It investigates the evolutionary origins of our capacity to practice psychology, including the necessary social conditions and the specialised language involved. It then turns to two cultural containers in which it first emerged, those of ancient Greece and ancient India. This is the second book in a new series, which presents the emergence of Western psychology in a global context.

The author begins by building a bridge between evolutionary psychology and the history of psychology. From one side, this bridge is an evolutionary account of human culture. From the other, it is a narrative of human evolution using the latest fossil and genetic evidence. Finally, linguistics and anthropology link the appearance of our species with the emergence of ancient psychologies. Central to this is the role of the shaman-figure in all ancient cultures, which is connected to the origins of psychological language. The key words ?psyche? (mind, conscious and unconscious) and ?logos? (talk, discourse, reason) will find their permanent meanings in Greece before they are combined to form ?psychology? in Plato. Parallel terms in India such as ?atman? (the universal self) and ?manas? (mind) also find their range of meanings. Ancient Europe and ancient India, two wings of the Indo-European world, are introduced as distinct cultures related by language, each developing distinct psychological traditions. Descriptions and explanations of mental phenomena are traced from Homer to Plato, and in India from the Vedas to the Upanishads. In each case these are related to the competing ?psychologies? of religious cults as manifestations of shamanism, leading to the birth of world psychologies. Presented in an accessible manner, this is an excellent resource for students and teachers of psychology, philosophy, history, linguistics, archaeology, and anthropology, as well as general readers who want to learn more about the origins of psychology on a global stage.

This title follows on from The Global Origins of Psychology: Neurology, Language and Culture in the Ancient World. It applies the same framework to the Indo-European world.

Table of Contents
Part 1: Evolution and Psychology

1. Evolution and Culture

1.1. The contents of this book

1.2. Squaring the circle with evolution

1.3. The mechanisms of evolution

1.4. Memes, minds and cultural habitats

1.5. Discussion Question

1.6. Recommended Reading

2. Cultural Ecologies

2.1. The principle of homeostasis

2.2. Cultural homeostasis

2.3. Reviewing the evidence from Book 1

2.4. Improving our theory of culture

2.5. A larger world: psychologies in oral media

2.6. Discussion Question

2.7. Recommended Reading

3. Becoming Human

3.1. Out of Africa

3.2. The first Eurasians

3.3. Going global

3.4. A meeting of minds

3.5. Pooling psyche

3.6. Footprints of the Neanderthals

3.7. Discussion Question

3.8. Recommended Reading

4. Tools for Global Psychologies

4.1. Language, culture and community

4.2. The example of Australia

4.3. The grammar of shamanism

4.4. Discussion Question

4.5. Recommended Reading

Part 2: Origins of Greek Psychology

5. Ancient Europe

5.1. The gateway to Europe

5.2. Seeking the Western logos

5.3. The Indo-European logos

5.4. The horse, the wheel and the Western logos

5.5. Reconstructing PIE, its homeland and culture

5.6. The Mobile Crescent

5.7. Putting the Western logos on the map

5.8. Discussion Question

5.9. Recommended Reading

6. Mythos and Logos in Homer

6.1. Why Homer?

6.2. Homer?s mythos

6.3. Homer?s heroes: thanatoid

6.4. Homer?s Olympians: athanatoi

6.5. Homer and the epic tradition

6.6. Discussion Question

6.7. Recommended Reading

7. Psyche in Homer

7.1. Word study: psyche in the Iliad

7.2. Word study: psyche in the Odyssey

7.3. Homer?s lexicon

7.4. Bruno Snell

7.5. Homer?s phenomenology

7.6. Human agency and the nature of myth

7.7. Discussion Question

7.8. Recommended Reading

8. The Fate of Psyche

8.1. Closing the gap

8.2. Plato?s use of psyche

8.3. Slices from the banquet of Homer

8.4. Psyche in the songs of Greece

8.5. The turning of the tide

8.6. Discussion Question

8.7. Recommended Reading

9. Shamanism in Ancient Greece

9.1. Setting the stage

9.2. The cult of Dionysos

9.3. The cult of Orpheus

9.4. Orpheus and psyche

9.5. Two worldviews, two psychologies

9.6. Discussion Question

9.7. Recommended Reading

Part 3: Origins of Indian Psychology

10. India, Ancient and Modern

10.1. Indian logos

10.2. Indian psyche

10.3. Sources of Indian civilisation

10.4. Discussion Question

10.5. Recommended Reading

11. Sources of Indian Psychology

11.1. Indian logos revisited

11.2. Brahmins: extended logos

11.3. Indian psyche: Yoga

11.4. Indian psyche: Samkhya

11.5. Indian psyche: Jaina

11.6. Conclusion: psyche before logos

11.7. Discussion Question

11.8. Recommended Reading

12. Vedic Psychology

12.1. Vedic logos

12.2. Vedic collective psyche: veda, dharma, purusha

12.3. Vedic individual psyche: atman, manas

12.4. Vedanta: the turn inward

12.5. The hidden planet

12.6. Discussion Question

12.7. Recommended Reading

Bibliography

Subject / Author Index

Nation Index

Justinian I. und seine Zeit : Geschichte und Kultur des Byzantinischen Reiches im 6. Jahrhundert

by: Mazal, O.

• ISBN-13: 9783412025014 / 978-3-412-02501-4
• ISBN-03: 3412025011 / 3-412-02501-1
• Bohlau Verlag, Koln, 2001

Price: 125,00 EURO

1 copy in stock

Shamanism and Psychology in Ancient Greece and India : The Evolution of Psyche

by: Valentine, R.

• ISBN-13: 9781041021094 / 978-1-041-02109-4
• ISBN-03: 1041021097 / 1-04-102109-7
• Routledge, London, 2025