Towards a Theory of Thinking

Thinking is one of the most fascinating and characteristic abilities of human beings. To advance our understanding of this distinctive feature that makes us human is not only an exciting scientific challenge but also of great relevance in terms of coping with more and more complex challenges of the world we live in and in terms of becoming the core value creation process in an increasingly knowledge-based economy. The present book is the second volume of the Parmenides book series On Thinking dedicated to explore current approaches and contributions towards a fuller understanding of human thought processes. It focuses on assembling building blocks for a conceptual framework that might - after several iterations - contribute to a future theory of thinking. It brings together an international group of leading scientists coming from the different fields upon which a theory of thinking must build: brain and cognitive sciences, experimental and developmental psychology, evolutionary anthropology and biology, linguistics, transcultural neuroimaging, modeling and philosophy.