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Perspectivism and Visual Metaphor (Picturing the Mind)
Picturing the Mind (1) is an iconotextual book of reflections on the concept of consciousness, the inner gaze, and the relationship between mind and body. Simona Ginsburg (2), Eva Jablonka (3) and Anna Zeligowski (4) describe a text and a visual metaphor for each theme. They present the views of scientists, philosophers, psychologists, poets, and writers, both past and present.
This interprofessional work, explained through the relationship between science and art, is divided into five sections: historical reflection on the concept of consciousness, speculations on consciousness in different living organisms, the evolution from non-consciousness to consciousness, the uniqueness of human consciousness, and new ways of approaching the concept of consciousness with Artificial Intelligence.
References
Texts
- 1. Ginsburg, S; Jablonka, E; Zeligowski, A. (2022) Picturing the mind. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The MIT Press.
- 2. “Simona Ginsburg is Associate Professor at the Open University of Isreal, where she developed and headed the MA Program in Biological Thought” (Picturing the Mind) (1)
- 3. “Eva Jablonka3 is at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University. Ginsburg and Jablonka are coauthors of The evolution of the Sensitive Soul: Learning and the Origins of Consciousness (MIT Press) ” (Picturing the Mind) (1)
- 4. “Anna Zeligowski is an artist and physician. Her illustrations have appeared in numerous books and articles on scientific subjects” (Picturing the Mind) (1)
Images
- Ginsburg, S; Jablonka, E; Zeligowski, A. (2022) Picturing the mind. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The MIT Press . Book cover.
The book's cover is the drawing of the view of point 1.4 Dualism. This chapter discusses, among others, the Cartesian dualism of René Descartes (1596–1650)
- Ginsburg, S; Jablonka, E; Zeligowski, A. (2022) Picturing the mind. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The MIT Press. P. 9.
Drawing of point 1.3 The Butterfly. This theme reflects the butterfly metaphor to define the mind, especially that of the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou (369-288 BC)
- Ginsburg, S; Jablonka, E; Zeligowski, A. (2022) Picturing the mind. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The MIT Press. P. 213.
Drawing of point 5.10 Virtual and cyborg Realities. This section raises questions about human consciousness and robots, and about cyborgs that incorporate mechanical and electronic devices into the biological body.