A brilliant book by Nobel Prize winner Eric R. Kandel, The
Age of Insight takes us to Vienna 1900, where leaders in
science, medicine, and art began a revolution that changed
forever how we think about the human mind—our conscious and
unconscious thoughts and emotions—and how mind and brain
relate to art.
At the turn of the century, Vienna was the cultural capital
of Europe. Artists and scientists met in glittering salons,
where they freely exchanged ideas that led to revolutionary
breakthroughs in psychology, brain science, literature, and
art. Kandel takes us into the world of Vienna to trace, in
rich and rewarding detail, the ideas and advances made then,
and their enduring influence today.
The Vienna School of Medicine led the way with its
realization that truth lies hidden beneath the surface. That
principle infused Viennese culture and strongly influenced
the other pioneers of Vienna 1900. Sigmund Freud shocked the
world with his insights into how our everyday unconscious
aggressive and erotic desires are repressed and disguised in
symbols, dreams, and behavior. Arthur Schnitzler revealed
women’s unconscious sexuality in his novels through his
innovative use of the interior monologue. Gustav Klimt,
Oscar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele created startlingly
evocative and honest portraits that expressed unconscious
lust, desire, anxiety, and the fear of death.
Kandel tells the story of how these pioneers—Freud,
Schnitzler, Klimt, Kokoschka, and Schiele—inspired by the
Vienna School of Medicine, in turn influenced the founders
of the Vienna School of Art History to ask pivotal questions
such as What does the viewer bring to a work of art? How
does the beholder respond to it? These questions prompted
new and ongoing discoveries in psychology and brain biology,
leading to revelations about how we see and perceive, how we
think and feel, and how we respond to and create works of
art. Kandel, one of the leading scientific thinkers of our
time, places these five innovators in the context of today’s
cutting-edge science and gives us a new understanding of the
modernist art of Klimt, Kokoschka, and Schiele, as well as
the school of thought of Freud and Schnitzler.
Reinvigorating the intellectual enquiry that began in Vienna
1900, The Age of Insight is a wonderfully written, superbly
researched, and beautifully illustrated book that also
provides a foundation for future work in neuroscience and
the humanities. It is an extraordinary book from an
international leader in neuroscience and intellectual history.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy