ABSTRACT

The rise cognitive science has been one of the most important intellectual developments of recent years, stimulating new approaches to everything from philosophy to film studies. This is an introduction to what cognitive science has to offer the humanities and particularly the study of literature. Hogan suggests how the human brain works and makes us feel in response to literature. He walks the reader through all of the major theories of cognitive science that are important for the humanities in order to understand the production and reception of literature.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction: The Dustheap of History

Why Cognitive Science Now?

chapter 1|22 pages

“My Favorite Things”

Thinking Jazz

chapter 2|30 pages

Is It Cognitive Science Yet?

Some Basic Principles

chapter 3|28 pages

The Author

Maestros and Geniuses

chapter 4|28 pages

The Text (I)

Where the Metaphors Are

chapter 5|25 pages

The Text (II)

Narrative, or Getting the Story Straight

chapter 6|26 pages

The Reader

How Literature Makes Us Feel

chapter 7|25 pages

From Mind to Matter

Art, Empathy, and the Brain

chapter 8|27 pages

The Evolutionary Turn

Blindness and Insight in the Explanation of Art and Mind