Subjectivity as internal life and as physiological raction. History of a concept

Abstract

Analyses the historical antecedents of theconcept of subjectivity since the time of the old Ionians. Fot Tales of Miletus, soul was a moving force, whereas for Anaximenes, breath and air were the same thing: breathing air was what moved man. In the Orpheans, the basic separation between a soul and a body was raised; the soics began to filll the interior world of forms that in some cases imitated external objects and judeochristianism underlined even more internal life when soul became a spiritual entity. During the pre-rennaisance period, the "imago" was conceptualized, what led to the development of imagining and from this to mind. In its begginings as a science, psychology was based on introspection, the observation of the internal world, but soon it found the difficulty of measuring, quantifying what led to the necessity to study acts. Recent findings of electrophysiological changes accompaning covert processers, .like dreaming, and the social influence in the perception of emotions, lead to the conclusion that the subjective is a social constuct.