The Metaphysics of Mind

The Metaphysics of Mind PDF Author: Anthony Kenny
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192830708
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Brings together in a systematic way Anthony Kenny's work in the philosopy of mind. It is intended as a sustained attack on a false view of the mind, the Cartesian view, and a demonstration that clarity is impossible without good metaphysics

The Metaphysics of Mind

The Metaphysics of Mind PDF Author: Anthony Kenny
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192830708
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book

Book Description
Brings together in a systematic way Anthony Kenny's work in the philosopy of mind. It is intended as a sustained attack on a false view of the mind, the Cartesian view, and a demonstration that clarity is impossible without good metaphysics

Controversies and the Metaphysics of Mind

Controversies and the Metaphysics of Mind PDF Author: Yaron M. Senderowicz
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9027287910
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Since ancient times, metaphysical theories have been shaped by the dialectical relations between metaphysical positions. The present book offers a new account of the role of controversies in the evolution of ideas in current metaphysics of mind. Part One develops a pragmatic theory of metaphysical controversies that combines Kantian themes and themes from current argumentation theory. The theory developed in this book underscores the role of a unique type of dialectical arguments which establish metaphysical positions as controversial relevant alternatives in the evolution of chains of debates in metaphysics. In Part Two and Part Three, this theory is applied to chains of debates in present day metaphysics of mind which address the problems of consciousness and personal identity. One of the contentions defended in this book is that the intellectual history of metaphysics is not a process in which positions are replaced by opposite positions, but rather, a history of their status as relevant alternatives. The book analyzes in detail and demonstrates how progress in contemporary metaphysics of mind consists in a dialectical process through which challenges to extant positions lead to innovative alternatives that are intrinsically relevant to advancing the understanding of the issues under discussion.

Having Thought

Having Thought PDF Author: John Haugeland
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674004159
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
The unifying theme of these thirteen essays is understanding. Haugeland addresses mind and intelligence; intelligibility; analog and digital systems and supervenience; presuppositions about the foundational notions of intentionality and representation; and the essential character of understanding in relation to what is understood.

Philosophy of Mind

Philosophy of Mind PDF Author: Jaegwon Kim
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429974485
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This book explores a range of issues in the philosophy of mind, with the mind-body problem as the main focus. It serves as a stimulus to the reader to engage with the problems of the mind and try to come to terms with them, and examines Descartes's mind-body dualism.

The Metaphysical Mind

The Metaphysical Mind PDF Author: Andrew B. Newberg
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781494396749
Category : Brain
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
How are philosophical and theological concepts conceived in the mind? Why are certain topics of greater importance to philosophers and theologians? Why do people think about these issues in the first place? These are the questions that are explored in the ground breaking book, "The Metaphysical Mind". Philosophy and theology usually considers various fundamental concepts such as those related to being, reality, causality, logic, or phenomenology. But the philosophical approach to these topics often leaves out one of the most important things - the human brain. After all, it is the brain that is actually thinking about these ideas in the first place. "The Metaphysical Mind" explores the relationship between the brain and philosophical thought and helps us to understand how the brain enables and restricts our ability to think about these metaphysical concepts. One of the major developments of contemporary thought has been the field of hermeneutics. Hermeneutics considers the environmental, linguistic, and cultural factors that influence a given philosopher in order to determine how particular ideas or texts may have been shaped. However, no one has ever examined philosophical and theological thought specifically from the hermeneutical perspective of the neurobiological and genetic substrate that underlies such thinking. This "neuroscientific hermeneutic" or "neurohermeneutic" refers specifically to the functions of the brain and how they are related to various thought processes which have been at the cornerstone of philosophical and theological thought throughout history. Additionally, this neurohermeneutic helps to better interpret how and why such thoughts develop. Neurohermeneutics is based upon a synthesis of information from multiple fields including anthropology, neurophysiology, cognitive neuroscience, genetics, theology, and philosophy. Many of the major milestones in the history of philosophical and theological thought from pre-Socratic thinkers to the present day can be considered from the perspective of the functioning of the human mind and its multimodal interaction with the social, cultural, intellectual, and physical environment. In particular, the development of some of the most dramatic concepts in philosophy and theology can be considered in relation to certain brain functions and how those functions enable human beings to interpret meaning in the world. Similarly, contemplative/meditative traditions can be considered to be associated with certain brain functions in order to explore how such experiences are perceived and interpreted. This book will also consider the issue of the experience of reality from a neurophysiological perspective. This leads to fascinating conclusions regarding the nature and degrees of reality and how the brain experiences that reality. Although not all philosophical and theological concepts will be examined, many of the major movements will be considered in order to extrapolate to the notion that a neurobiological hermeneutic may provide a basis and fundamental bias for all philosophical thinking - a "metaphilosophy" (or "metatheology" in the specific context of religion). Ultimately, this approach might even lead to a "megaphilosophy" containing universal concepts that could be conceived of from any philosophical or theological perspective. The result of this analysis leads to a description of the "metaphysical mind" which is necessarily driven to pursue philosophical and theological questions, but also shapes how the answers to such questions arise. Thus, the brain itself is "designed" to function in a philosophical or metaphysical manner. This revolutionary approach to philosophical and theological thought will provide readers something to think about for the millennium to come.

Structure and the Metaphysics of Mind

Structure and the Metaphysics of Mind PDF Author: William Jaworski
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198749562
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
William Jaworski provides an elegant solution to the question of how mental phenomena fit into the physical world by defending an original account of hylomorphism: the idea that structure is a basic ontological and explanatory principle. On his view, mental phenomena are structural phenomena, and are uncontroversially part of the physical world.

The Metaphysics of Mind

The Metaphysics of Mind PDF Author: Janet Levin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108944205
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
The Metaphysics of Mind presents and discusses the major contemporary theories of the nature of mind, including Dualism, Physicalism, Role-Functionalism, Russellian Monism, Panpsychism, and Eliminativism. Its primary goal is to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the theories in question, including their prospects for explaining the special qualitative character of sensations and perceptual experiences, the special outer-directedness of beliefs, desires, and other intentional states, and—more generally—the place of mind in the world of nature, and the relation between mental states and the behaviors that they (seem to) cause. It also discusses, briefly, some further questions about the metaphysics of mind, namely, whether groups of individuals, or entire communities, can possess mental states that cannot be reduced to the mental states of the individuals in those communities, and whether the boundaries between mind and world are as sharp as they may seem.

Personal Agency

Personal Agency PDF Author: E. J. Lowe
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191550906
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Personal Agency consists of two parts. In Part II, a radically libertarian theory of action is defended which combines aspects of agent causalism and volitionism. This theory accords to volitions the status of basic mental actions, maintaining that these are spontaneous exercises of the will—a 'two-way' power which rational agents can freely exercise in the light of reason. Lowe contends that substances, not events, are the causal source of all change in the world—with rational, free agents like ourselves having a special place in the causal order as unmoved movers, or initiators of new causal chains. And he defends a thoroughgoing externalism regarding reasons for action, holding these to be mind-independent worldly entities rather than the beliefs and desires of agents. Part I prepares the ground for this theory by undermining the threat presented to it by physicalism. It does this by challenging the causal closure argument for physicalism in all of its forms and by showing that a dualistic philosophy of mind—one which holds that human mental states and their subjects cannot be identified with bodily states and human bodies respectively—is both metaphysically coherent and entirely consistent with known empirical facts.

Essays in the Metaphysics of Mind

Essays in the Metaphysics of Mind PDF Author: Jaegwon Kim
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019162506X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Jaegwon Kim presents a selection of his essays from the last two decades. The volume includes three new essays, on an agent-centered first-person account of action explanation, the concepts of realization and their bearings on the mind-body problem, and the nonexistence of laws in the special sciences. Among other topics covered are emergence and emergentism, the nature of explanation and of theories of explanation, reduction and reductive explanation, mental causation and explanatory exclusion. Kim tackles questions such as: How should we understand the concept of "emergence", and what are the prospects of emergentism as a doctrine about the status of minds? What does an agent-centered, first-person account of explanation of human actions look like? Why aren't there strict laws in the special sciences - sciences like biology, psychology, and sociology? The essays will be accessible to attentive readers without an extensive philosophical background.

The Philosophy of Mind

The Philosophy of Mind PDF Author: Dale Jacquette
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0826499171
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A clear and accessible introduction to the philosophy of mind, ideal for use on undergraduate courses.