Distributed Cognition in Medieval and Renaissance Culture

This original book should command the attention of scholars far beyond the set who subscribe to the ‘distributed cognition’ philosophy. It stimulates questions about analogous ideas of a dynamic mind-brain-body-world relation in the medieval and Renaissance periods – in philosophy, literature, drama, and medicine – and about ways in which thinking was constrained and enabled by tools. * David d'Avray, University College London *
This volume is part of a larger and extraordinarily rich project that involves applying principles of distributed cognition to areas of the humanities. It’s an excellent example of how one can use distributed cognition as a method to provide nuanced insights into issues that have remained obscure or dark from other perspectives. Can 21st-century science of the mind throw light on medieval and Renaissance minds? Can medieval and Renaissance texts, artworks, performances and practices contribute a deeper understanding of mind more generally as it manifests across material and epistemic environments, social relations and cultural institutions? This volume answers in the affirmative and in detail and it promises to push the arts and sciences of mind to new highs. * Shaun Gallagher, The University of Memphis *