Bodies and minds, heaps and syllables

Goodwyn, Erik D.

doi:10.1007/s11229-021-03184-7

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Philosophy itself began to see a rising interest in panpsychism and other non-dualistic ontologies, attacking the disembodied view of the dualistic paradigm directly as well as its cousin, the physicalist paradigm [15]. Finally, perhaps the most devastating blow to the above disembodied view of mental contents came from the growing literature on embodied cognition, starting with Lakoff and Johnson's famous work on cognitive metaphor theory [16].…”

Section: The Embodied Nature Of the Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Spontaneous Symbolism in Psychotherapy Using Embodied Thought

Goodwyn

2024

Behavioral Sciences

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Spontaneous, unwilled subjective imagery and symbols (including dreams) often emerge in psychotherapy that can appear baffling and confound interpretation. Early psychoanalytic theories seemed to diverge as often as they agreed on the meaning of such content. Nevertheless, after reviewing key findings in the empirical science of spontaneous thought as well as insights gleaned from neuroscience and especially embodied cognition, it is now possible to construct a more coherent theory of interpretation that is clinically useful. Given that thought is so thoroughly embodied, it is possible to demonstrate that universalities in human physiology yield universalities in thought. Such universalities can then be demonstrated to form a kind of biologically directed universal “code” for understanding spontaneous symbolic expressions that emerge in psychotherapy. An example is given that illustrates how this can be applied to clinical encounters.

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Section: The Embodied Nature Of the Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Spontaneous Symbolism in Psychotherapy Using Embodied Thought

Goodwyn

2024

Behavioral Sciences

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“…Rather than view all cognition as disembodied sign manipulations, cognitive linguists challenged the classic paradigm. They did so using a number of crucial observations of realworld, everyday language (reviewed in Lakoff, 2012; see also Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999and Khatin-Zadeh et al, 2023, for example, the way basic level categories and spatial relations across many languages require universal primitives that reference the human body (Langacker, 2008).…”

Section: Embodied Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Psychopharmacology exploded, again piercing the mind‐body “barrier” within psychiatry. Philosophy itself began to see a rising interest in panpsychism and other non‐dualistic ontologies, (Chalmers, 1997; see also Goodwyn, 2021). Somatic therapies (e.g., Goergen & Hernández, 2023; van der Kolk, 2015; Levine, 2010) recognized that the body had its own kind of intentionality, perception and mental capacity—just as we saw with the old feeling‐toned complex experiments of the early psychoanalysts.…”

Section: The Fate Of the Archetypementioning

confidence: 99%

The Human Body is the Collective Unconscious: Archetypal Images as Innate Embodied Metaphors

Goodwyn

2024

J Analytical Psychology

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For a significant part of its history, archetype theory has been undermined by criticisms containing unexamined Cartesian assumptions. Such assumptions treat all cognition as disembodied, consisting of mere manipulation of abstract, inherently meaningless signs mimicked from verbal instruction or cultural learning. Since the 1980s, due to the results of many independent disciplines, however, this view is being replaced with one of embodied cognition. This shift has important consequences for archetype theory, allowing us to provide a non‐reductive biological anchor that explains many characteristics of the archetypal image.

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“…I recognize that there are other definitions of archetype, such as the metaphysical one, which has been recently updated by Atmanspacher and Rickles (2022), for example. In other works, I have also tackled the metaphysical definition of archetype (Goodwyn 2019, 2022a), which I based on philosophy of mind considerations (see Goodwyn 2021). I have also developed this framework further in collaboration with philosopher and psychoanalyst Jon Mills (Mills & Goodwyn 2023).…”

Section: Definitional Chaosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I have no such ambitions. In my other writings (Goodwyn 2019, 2021, 2022a), I work through all the philosophical problems with bio‐reductionism and thoroughly refute such a position. Roesler might appreciate these works more, as therein I argue that consciousness must be ontologically prior to matter.…”

Section: Against Bioreductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome and psyche: a response to Christian Roesler’s critique

Goodwyn

2023

J Analytical Psychology

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Definitional chaosMany thanks to Dr. Roesler for engaging with me in this discussion of the biological dimensions of archetypes. I agree that the archetype as a concept has a serious definition problem. As Roesler points out, even Jung himself was inconsistent, vague, and perhaps even contradictory with respect to the term. And over the years, the term has become mystified, stretched and expanded to the point that it's hard to know what exactly the referent of the term 'archetype' is any more.To say I am not aware of this problem of definition, however, is to overstate. I recognize that there are other definitions of archetype, such as the metaphysical one, which has been recently updated by Atmanspacher and Rickles (2022), for example. In other works, I have also tackled the metaphysical definition of archetype (Goodwyn 2019, 2022a), which I based on philosophy of mind considerations (see Goodwyn 2021). I have also developed this framework further in collaboration with philosopher and psychoanalyst Jon Mills (Mills & Goodwyn 2023). But in any case, one can easily find a discussion of this issue of definition in most of my writings on archetype theory.I am also aware of the disagreements regarding the idea of 'instinct', which is why I asked what we, in the field of depth psychology, would like to do with it, if anything. I even offered a possible definition for discussion. In any case, I am developing a practical, updated, and clinically-focused definition for the archetype, which includes the links to biology. I am developing a way of determining to what degree a given spontaneous clinical expression can be defined as 'archetypal' or not, since it bears on the issue of interpretation (more on this later). Thus, I am not simply repeating Jung. I am trying to update the term using more precise terminology, giving it a sharper clinical scope and criteria, while staying true to the spirit of what Jung was intuiting. To this I add the latest updates from neuroethology, evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, anthropology, comparative mythology, and genetics. My

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Bodies and minds, heaps and syllables

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

Understanding Spontaneous Symbolism in Psychotherapy Using Embodied Thought

Understanding Spontaneous Symbolism in Psychotherapy Using Embodied Thought

The Human Body is the Collective Unconscious: Archetypal Images as Innate Embodied Metaphors

Genome and psyche: a response to Christian Roesler’s critique

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