Emotion and Memory: The “Second Cognitive Revolution”

This thematic section aims to present discursive psychology. The introductory essay of Peter Bodor is followed by an article of Rom Harré who defines discursive psychology as the reviver of present-day academic, cognitive psychology. Harré wishes to provide a synthetic framework for psychology in which humans can be represented both as social and active beings. Harré’s article is criticized by Imre Orthmayr, who scrutinizes Harré’s efforts in discursive psychology from the angle of philosophy, comparing it to some works of Ryle and Winch. He intends to show that on the basis of its formulae, discursive psychology failed to produce a successful synthesis between psychology, linguistics, and sociology. In the last paper of the section, Zoltán Kövecses replies to Harré’s ideas about emotions. Affiliated with a current in cognitive linguistics worked out, basically, by G. Lakoff, Kövecses debates with Harré at certain points, reproaching him for ignoring the metaphorical and metonimical use of language.