當代神經科學大師Antonio Damasio解析文化出現與發展的緣由
文化──人類世界最複雜而迷人的秩序──如何出現?常見的解釋可能會主張是來自人類超凡的智能、複雜而特別的語言能力,或者是因為人類特殊的社群性,甚至是基因演化產生的選擇。然而Damasio提出了一個嶄新的視角,提醒我們文化的關鍵特質──Affect情感,作為文化行為中的促因、警示及媒介的角色。
Damasio教授是當代神經科學領域的重要研究者,而他的關注持續在於情感(Affect、Feelings、Emotions etc.)之於人的重要性。例如在代表作《The Feeling of What Happens》,強調情緒感受與身體之間的關聯,將情緒、意識往往被視為純粹心靈層面的活動,賦予了對映神經、生理的連結。為古老哲學中的身心難題Mind-Body Problem帶來重大的思想貢獻。更開啟了後續各領域的研究。
這本最新作,可以視為是Damasio將其畢生對情感的理論興趣,發展至「文化」這個全新的領域。以革命性的思維,將神經、生物學與社會科學結合,重新省思文化的深刻含意。書中Damasio運用了「動態平衡homeostasis」的概念──一種生物精細的平衡機制,面對外在變動時保持內在恆定,維繫我們生物的存有──而他主張人類的情感Affect,正是動態平衡在心靈層面的表現方式。將我們認為飄忽難捉摸的心靈、文化,找到了生物層面的根,幫助我們重新想像文化的意義,以及人類在漫長的演化歷史上,如何找到秩序與自身的位置。(文/博客來編譯)
From one of our preeminent neuroscientists: a landmark reflection that spans the biological and social sciences, offering a new way of understanding the origins of life, feeling, and culture.
The Strange Order of Things is a pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition of that regulates human physiology within the range that makes possible not only the survival but also the flourishing of life. Antonio Damasio makes clear that we descend biologically, psychologically, and even socially from a long lineage that begins with single living cells; that our minds and cultures are linked by an invisible thread to the ways and means of ancient unicellular life and other primitive life-forms; and that inherent in our very chemistry is a powerful force, a striving toward life maintenance that governs life in all its guises, including the development of genes that help regulate and transmit life.In The Strange Order of Things, Damasio gives us a new way of comprehending the world and our place in it.
www.antoniodamasio.com