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Description of  The Mimetic Brain (Studies in Violence, Mimesis & Culture)

1611861896 epub The discovery of mirror neurons in the 1990s led to an explosion of research and debate about the imitative capacities of the human brain. Some herald a paradigm shift on the order of DNA in biology, while others remain skeptical. In this revolutionary volume Jean- Michel Oughourlian shows how the hypotheses of Ren Girard can be combined with the insights of neuroscientists to shed new light on the mimetic brain. Offering up clinical studies and a complete reevaluation of classical psychiatry, Oughourlian explores the interaction among reason, emotions, and imitation and reveals that rivalrythe blind spot in contemporary neuroscientific understandings of imitationis a misunderstood driving force behind mental illness. Oughourlians analyses shake the very foundations of psychiatry as we know it and open up new avenues for both theoretical research and clinical practice. Read more