ABSTRACT
The term “psyche” in ancient Greece referred to an “image” of the consistency of smoke and shadows that, with the last breath, left the body at the moment of death. Subsequently, the human psyche was placed in relation with the world of ideas (Plato), with the ability to experience sensations, imagine, elaborate rational thought (Aristotle), with a perfect and uncreated substance, the res cogitans (Descartes). In the modern age, Johann G. Fichte proposed to interpret the psyche as action, establishing the primacy of acting over knowing, a concept that has influenced many contemporary philosophers. Important reflections on the concept of intentionality and on the nature of consciousness have been elaborated by Franz Brentano and William James. In the second half of the twentieth century, cognitive neuroscience was formed by the convergence of numerous disciplines interested in the study of the mind. According to the cognitivist perspective, the psyche is a symbolic system characterized: (i) by processes of “translation” of the physical elements (matter and energy) into symbols (information) (ii) from systems involved in the “processing” of information in order to create models of the organism and external reality (iii) by devices for the “retranslation” of symbols into actions (iv) and by feedback systems involved in the evaluation of errors (negative feedback). The most recent cognitive neuroscience studies indicate that mental activity is the result of the encounter between the activity generated internally (internal dynamic states, predictive processing) and sensory and motor information.
