by Colin Renfrew (Author), Lambros Malafouris (Author), Colin Renfrew (Author), Lambros Malafouris (Author)
An account of the different ways in which things have become cognitive extensions of the human body, from prehistory to the present. An increasingly influential school of thought in cognitive science views the mind as embodied, extended, and distributed rather than brain-bound or all in the head. This shift in perspective raises important questions about the relationship between cognition and material culture, posing major challenges for philosophy, cognitive science, archaeology, and anthropology. In How Things Shape the Mind, Lambros Malafouris proposes a cross-disciplinary analytical framework for investigating the ways in which things have become cognitive extensions of the human body. Using a variety of examples and case studies, he considers how those ways might have changed from earliest prehistory to the present. Malafouris's Material Engagement Theory definitively adds materiality-the world of things, artifacts, and material signs-into the cognitive equation. His account not only questions conventional intuitions about the boundaries and location of the human mind but also suggests that we rethink classical archaeological assumptions about human cognitive evolution.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 19 Feb 2016
ISBN 10: 0262528924
ISBN 13: 9780262528924
Book Overview: In this beautifully written and cogently argued book, Lambros Malafouris draws on recent developments in cognitive science and philosophy of mind to construct Material Engagement Theory (MET), a framework that sees action as a form of cognition. He shows how this theory has surprising implications not just for cognitive archaeology, but for the rest of cognitive science as well. This is a 'must read' book for everyone who is interested in how the particularly human way of thinking came into existence. -- Edwin Hutchins, Professor of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego In this book, Malafouris engages critically with a broad sweep of contemporary theories regarding material culture, evolution, and mind. He takes a radical view of human being, in which mind is continuous with the material world with which it is engaged. This is a viewpoint that gives archaeology a solid role within the social and human sciences, and that challenges many of our everyday assumptions about how we think our minds work. -- Ian Hodder, Dunlevie Family Professor, Department of Anthropology, Stanford University Lambros Malafouris has conjured up a gripping detective story, piecing together evidence to unravel the workings of today's human mind. He reveals how it has been manipulated and affected by the world around it from prehistory to the modern day. As well as its historical importance in cognitive archaeology, How Things Shape the Mind alerts our attention to the mind's future evolution. -- Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics, University of Reading