A Postmodern Public Man and His Mental-Cultural Markers

Abstract The article aims to describe the fundamental principles of the postmodern concepts of public life viewed from the perspective of neuroscience and cognitive science. Considering the fact that both systems of theories are focused on the psychobiological aspects of human mind and body, and in consequence they both endeavor to understand and explain the relations between brain, mind, and social environment (sphere), I decided to use this particular assumption as a starting point to analyse categories such as: public man, public sphere, space of life, modern and postmodern normative patterns, and heuristic paradigms of relationships between Nature, Society, and Culture. As a leading cognitive and interpretative approach I selected the theory of mental and cultural markers, based on somatic marker hypothesis presented by Antonio R. Damasio and the first-person ontology developed by John R. Searle. Ultimately, both concepts support a more extensive and complex approach in explaining direction of contemporary public debate and associated with it expectations to reorganize people’s life in terms of their physical and spiritual needs. The crucial role of the aforementioned changes has the embodied self – a source of unique and everyday experiences that stimulate the thoughts and emotions of men.