I'm trying to construct a valid account of Western philosophy's history for a book I'm writing, and your analysis of the chapter Perception of Perception: History in the Theorizing of Reason, Mind, Matter and Soul could be exceedingly helpful in putting all this information together.

To give a brief primer, I start by talking about the origins of a civilized psyche and culture, then proceed to discuss the first concepts of matter, addressing the progression from pre-Socratic naive materialism to more metaphysical concepts of essence, followed by Plato's pioneering attempts at a synthesis of matter with ideas of soul and form, then Aristotle's transposing of Plato's essentialist paradigm back into nature as hylomorphically unified matter and form within which the cosmos' rationale and corresponding human reasoning have material properties and formal principles to be investigated in a fundamentally empirical approach.

Ideas of soul and matter begin to dissociate philosophically into Neoplatonism and a patchwork of technological commitments as Aristotle's works are lost to Europe. Once Aristotle is reintroduced from Islamic civilization, Medieval Scholasticism synthesizes his theories into the mainstream of academia. The Ockhamist movement develops a nominalist account of the relationship between objects, concepts and words that sets the stage for scientific modeling.

After the Reformation, innovative materialism becomes tolerated once again by European political institutions. Renaissance artistry and observation combine more advanced technological concepts with renewed study of material form and a heightened interest in sense-perceptual perspective to produce the idea that the complex of physical cosmos and human thought is capable of being made more intelligible by questing for mechanistic principles.

I discuss Early Modern analysis of epistemology, human nature and politics. Enlightenment theory of reason with emphasis on cultural and political ramifications. Romantic period philosophy of spontaneously formative will, the first philosophies of history and their integration into empiricism as theories of biological and cultural evolution with developmental impact on mainstream belief in the context of social systems such as capitalism. Modern materialism in a scientifically empirical milieu and theory of the unconscious, how these are refined into methods for controlling cognition, attitude, behavior and practice on a mass scale, and the current status of culture and human values subsequent to these outcomes.

If you can indicate whether you find my arguments convincing or notice any details to correct, anything at all that you think is in error or worth some debate at this forum, I'd be interested to get your contributions.