From Etiology of Mind to Epistemology (States of Mind between West and East)
Chapter from the book:
Baltacı,
Ö.
(ed.)
2023.
Educational Sciences Research II.
Synopsis
The aim of this study is to reveal the historical etiology and epistemology of the mind with its concepts. It helps people to know, judge and determine their own behavior; The mind, which is defined as the ability to distinguish the good from the bad, the right from the wrong, the truth from the lie, makes humans different and superior to other living things. However, it has attracted the attention of people in every period of history and features such as what the mind means, how it emerged and how it works have been investigated. In this context, philosophy, religion, medicine and psychology have been interested in different dimensions of the mind in different periods of history. In order to define mental health, the concepts of mind and health were evaluated one by one, and by looking at the meaning that two parts add to the whole, how the parts form the whole and how the whole differs from the parts are discussed. In the study, first of all, the concepts of normal and abnormal were mentioned, and then the concept of mind was tried to be explained by researching it in the fields of philosophy and religious sciences. In this context, it has been discussed whether we can talk about the normal mind. In addition, after the definition of the mind, the mind in individuals; It was evaluated with the abilities of distinguishing right from wrong, making choices, taking responsibility and taking action. From a philosophical point of view, the mind has dealt with the aspects that exist with human beings and develop and mature as they live. With regard to the mind, religious men have accepted it as a tool that enables people to reach the Creator by evaluating the events going on in the universe. The science of psychology did not deal with the definition and characteristics of the mind, but focused on the treatment of mental illnesses. On the other hand, we think that the developments in modern medicine, especially the effects of many mental-related psychological diseases on the functions of the brain should be investigated. In this study, it is aimed to examine the history of mind and its etymology in the historical process.