Open Minded: Working Out the Logic of the Soul - Hardcover

"It is through his consistent challenging of our taken-for-granted views of the world that Lear holds true to his book's title. In our explorations of consciousness, how easy is it to fall prey to the assumptions of knowingness that subtly preclude open mindedness? How often are we willing to challenge our fundamental assumptions in order to be open to the possibility of learning something truly unknown to us? Lear shows us how being open minded can lead to asking new questions that open up new possibilities for understanding."--Jonathan Reams "Journal of Consciousness Studies

Freud is discredited, so we do not have to think about the darker strains of unconcious motivation anymore. We know what moves our political leaders, so we don't have to look closely at their thinking either. In fact, the author argues, everywhere we look in contemporary culture, knowingness has taken the place of thought. This book is an assault on that "deadening trend", especially as it affects our deepest attempts to understand the human psyche - in philosophy and psychoanalysis. It explodes the widespread notion that we already know the problems and proper methods in these fields and so no longer need to ask crucial questions about the structure of human subjectivity.