by Ostenfeld
Modern Psychology Was Built on Greek Ideas—but It Needs Hebraic …Erik Nis Ostenfeld’s Ancient Greek Psychology and the Modern Mind-Body Debate (2nd ed. 2018) explores the relationship between ancient Greek, particularly Platonic-Aristotelian, views on the soul and contemporary mind-body problems. The book argues that the Greek, functionalist, and holistic, approach to the soul as a dynamic, goal-directed aspect of the organism offers a relevant alternative to modern, dualistic, or purely reductionist perspectives.
Key Takeaways and Themes:
Alternative Framework: Ostenfeld suggests that modern, often skeptical, approaches to the mind-body problem can be refreshed by examining the ancient Greek, holistic, and, arguably, more integrated perspective on the soul.
Soul as Function/Form: Instead of focusing purely on consciousness, the study highlights how ancient thinkers, specifically Plato and Aristotle, viewed the soul as a form of the living body,, a “dynamic-telic” (goal-directed) aspect of the human organism rather than a separate, “ghost-in-the-machine” entity.
Contrast with Modernity: The book contrasts this with the modern, 17th-century distinction between subjective/qualitative and objective/quantitative, proposing that ancient Greek thought offers a way out of the rigid dualism that plagues contemporary psychology.
Context: The work is a critical analysis in the field of ancient philosophy and its relevance to contemporary psychological debate.
现代心理学建立在希腊思想的基础之上，但还需要希伯来思想……埃里克•尼斯•奥斯特恩费尔德的《古代希腊心理学与现代身心之争》（第2版，2018年）探讨了古代希腊，特别是柏拉图-亚里士多德学派关于灵魂的观点与当代身心问题之间的关系。
该书认为, 古希腊对灵魂的功能主义和整体性理解——将其视为有机体中一种动态的、目标导向的方面——为现代二元论或纯粹还原论视角提供了一个相关的重要替代方案。
核心要点与主题：
替代框架：奥斯特恩费尔德提出，通过审视古代希腊对灵魂的整体性及更具整合性的视角，可以为现代对身心问题常常持怀疑态度的方法注入新的活力。
灵魂作为功能/形式：该研究强调，古代思想家，特别是柏拉图和亚里士多德，并非仅仅关注意识，而是将灵魂视为生命体的一种“形式”，是人类有机体中一种“动态-目的论”（目标导向）的方面，而非一个独立的“机器中的幽灵”实体。
与现代性的对比：该书将此与现代17世纪主客观、定性定量的区分进行对比，认为古代希腊思想为当代心理学所陷入的僵化二元论提供了一条出路。
背景：这项工作是对古代哲学及其在当代心理学术语辩论中相关性的批判性分析。
Abstract
Ancient Greek Psychology and the Modern Mind-Body Debate offers an overview of Platonic-Aristotelian thought on man with a view to considering what its alternative conceptual framework may contribute to the modern debate which is dominated by the scepticism confronting modern reductionism. The mind-body problem is central to the modern philosophical and cultural debate because we cannot understand what man is until we understand what consciousness is and how it interacts with the body. Although many suggestions have been offered, no convincing account has as yet appeared. Perhaps it was all mistaken ideology from the start? A crucial (and fatal?) distinction was made by modern natural science in the 17th century between the subjective/qualitative and the objective/quantitative. The ancient Greeks, notably Plato and Aristotle, focused not on consciousness and experience, but on goal-directed reason/form, and the contrast was not mechanical matter, but the particular. The latter owed its intelligibility and being to reason and form and did not, therefore, constitute a realm of its own. Hence the ancient picture of man did not fall apart either: the soul is conceived of as a dynamic-telic aspect of the human organism. Considering the problems and consequent scepticism that confronts modern reductionism and the recent appearance of holistic ideology in many areas it is suggested that we take a fresh look at the alternative conceptual framework of our ancient Greek ancestors.
摘要
《古希腊心理学与现代身心之争》概述了柏拉图-亚里士多德关于人的思想，旨在探讨其替代概念框架可能为现代辩论做出的贡献，该辩论目前主要受到对现代还原论的怀疑主义的挑战。身心问题是现代哲学和文化辩论的核心，因为我们只有在理解意识是什么以及它如何与身体相互作用之后，才能理解人是什么。尽管已提出许多建议，但迄今为止尚无令人信服的解释。或许从一开始这所有的一切都只是错误的意识形态？17世纪现代自然科学做出了一项关键的（或许是致命的？）区分，即主观/质性与客观/量性的区分。古希腊人，尤其是柏拉图和亚里士多德，关注的并非意识和经验，而是具有目标导向性的理性/形式，而对比的并非机械物质，而是“个别事物”。后者其可理解性和存在归功于理性和形式，因此并未构成一个独立的领域。因此，古希腊人对人的构想并未分崩离析：灵魂被构想为人类有机体的一个动态-目的性方面。考虑到现代还原论所面临的诸多问题和由此产生的怀疑主义，以及近年来整体论意识形态在多个领域的兴起，本文建议我们重新审视我们古希腊祖先的替代概念框架。