Sketches the history of the belief that human beings are essentially their brains, and documents and critically discusses its contemporary forms across a range of contexts, including mental health, the human sciences, and literature and film.
Fernando Vidal explores the intricate relationships between culture, identity, and technology in his work. He delves into the impact of digital advancements on human interaction and self-perception, offering a thought-provoking analysis of contemporary society. Through a blend of personal anecdotes and scholarly insights, he invites readers to reflect on how the digital age shapes our lives and connections. Vidal's writing is both engaging and intellectually stimulating, making complex ideas accessible to a broad audience.
Exploring the complexities of modern perceptions and practices surrounding the body, this book delves into the interplay between corporeality and medical technologies. It examines how contemporary culture grapples with contradictions in understanding bodily existence, health, and identity, offering insights into the evolving relationship between humans and medical advancements. Through critical analysis, it challenges readers to reconsider their views on the physical self in the context of today's technological landscape.
Neurocultures offers «glimpses» into an expanding universe of knowledge, beliefs and practices characterized by the conviction that human activity is governed by the structure and functioning of the brain. The 1990s were the Decade of the Brain, and the first hundred years of the new millennium have been proclaimed its Century. Described as the most complex of all organs, the brain has become a major icon of contemporary culture. Brain imaging technologies are used in a large number of disciplines, and are increasingly applied in settings of potential social and legal relevance. It is often proclaimed that the neurosciences will bring about major transformations in notions and practices of the human in areas as diverse as spirituality and self-help, marketing, the law, education, or the classification and treatment of mental disease. Neurocultures explores these expectations, their history, their contexts, and the debates they raise, in a broad range of fields, including enhancement, meditation, neuroethics, the «social brain», psychedelic research, psychoanalysis, psychiatric and neurological conditions, and cinema and literature.