Catching Up With Aristotle

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

   PDF

2. Within Circles of History

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Introduction

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 3-6

   3. The Heritage

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 7-21

   4. Marxism and General Psychology

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 23-32

3. General Psychology—The Four Corners of the Puzzle

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 33-33

      PDF

   2. Sentience

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 35-39

   3. Intentionality

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 41-48

   4. Mind

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 49-57

   5. The Problem of the Human Being

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 59-65

   6. The Marxist Legacy

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 67-78

   7. The Overlooked Dimension

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 79-88

   8. The Secret of the Human Being

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 89-93

   9. The Creative Double Negation and the Non-Non-Cascade

      • Niels Engelsted

      Pages 95-111

   10. Looking Toward the Future

       • Niels Engelsted

       Pages 113-116

   11. General Psychology at Journey’s End

       • Niels Engelsted

       Pages 117-120

4. Back Matter

   Pages 121-157

   PDF

This Brief presents the argument for the need to re-establish the theoretical focus of general psychology in contemporary psychological research. It begins with a detailed account of the current “crisis” of psychology and our modern disconnect from general psychology. Chapters present the works of Aristotle and A.N. Leontiev, using their ideas to outline a long wanted general psychology. The general psychology delineates the four corner posts of the domain of psychology: Sentience, Intentionality, Mind, and Human Consciousness, and explains why they are all necessary but not the same. Besides a historical discussion, which aims to demonstrate how Marxism got it right, and then not, this Brief presents a new radical theory of human evolution, which credits the Adam-and-Eve story with a vital link hitherto missed by Marxism, Darwinism, and paleoanthropology. In addition, it argues why a new understanding is important in the Anthropocene Age. 


Catching Up with Aristotle will be of interest to psychologists, undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers. 

• Theoretical psychology
• Activity Theory
• Crisis of psychology
• Vygotsky
• A.N. Leontiev
• General Psychology
• Mind
• Intentionality
• Human consciousness
• History of Psychology
• Classical philosophy
• Aristotle
• Kant
• Hegel
• Enlightenment
• Classical Anthropogenesis
• Lamarck and Darwin
• Human evolution
• Paleoanthropology
• Marx and Engels

“A classic in Psychology has been born! Among other things this small book will have major consequences for economic theory as it defines and discusses the concept of self-interest and ‘other-interest.’ If you are the slightest interested in psychology, this book is short, clear, and very easy to read.” ( Jesper Döpping, Mahidol University International College, Thailand)

“This book—different from many written in psychology—is a masterful exposure of basic ideas that have lingered on for two millennia. The reader can have the pleasure of thinking together with the author. It is a rare treat of honest intellectual sharing.” ( Jaan Valsiner, Aalborg University, Denmark)

• Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen Department of Psychology, Copenhagen, Denmark

  Niels Engelsted

Niels Engelsted, retired from teaching in 2012. Prior to his retirement, he served as the head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen. Dr. Engelsted received his doctorate from the University of Copenhagen and his postdoctorate from the University of Aarhus. He is the author of many publications, including Evolution, Sleep, and Depression from Copenhagen Academic Press. He has also published articles in many journals, including the Bulletin of Anthropological Psychology, Journal of Anthropological Psychology, Current Science, and Mind, Culture, and Activity. 

Policies and ethics