Perception, Learning and the Self: Essays in the Philosophy of Psychology

First published in 1983, Perception, Learning and the Self is a collection of essays demonstrating the incompleteness of the information-processing model in cognitive psychology and the connection between epistemic factors and social conditions in the making of the self. It is suggested that any framework employed to view cognition must be an essentially social one, in which knowers are seen as selves who are agents with feelings and attitudes. Professor Hamlyn argues that, by failing to acknowledge this social element, the information-processing model presents an overly simplistic view of the systems that underlie cognition, and thus is liable to distort what is at stake. Professor Hamlyn considers the contributions of a number of major psychologists to this area of study, including James Gibson, Jean Piaget and Sigmund Freud. This book will be of interest to students of philosophy and psychology.