A Brief Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind

225 Pages·2005·1.5 MB·English

by  Neil Campbell

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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO B R O A D V I E W G U I D E S T O A A B R I E F I N T R O D U C T I O N T O
THE PHILOSOPHY P H I L O S O P H Y M THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
P
OF MIND B
E
L This electronic material is under
L copyright protection and is
N E I L C A M P B E L L “NeilCampbell'slatestbookisaterrificintroductiontocontemporaryphilosophicalapproaches
provided to a single recipient
tothemind-bodyproblem.Heclearlymapsoutthelandscapeofontologicaltheoriesand
for review purposes only.
conciselyexplainsthecentralargumentsforandagainsteachposition.Campbellgoesoutof
hiswaytointroducecorephilosophicalnotionsandtechniquesofgeneralapplication,sothat
evenreaderswithalimitedbackgroundinphilosophycanunderstandhisexplanations.”
ThomasW.Polger,UniversityofCinncinati
“Thisbookoffersanexceptionallylucidsurveyofthecentralpositionsonthemind-body
TA
problemandthechallengeseachofthemfaceswithrespecttotheproblemsofmentalcausation, H
phenomenalconsciousness,andintentionalcontent.Complexconceptsandissuesareexplained EB
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inaconciseandincisivewaywithoutsacrificeofaccuracy,andconflictingpositionsaregiven
PI
evenlysympathetictreatment.Allinallthisisanexcellentintroductiontothephilosophyofmind.” HE
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AusonioMarras,UniversityofWesternOntario I
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ON
“Inthisrefreshinglynon-polemicalsurveyofthemajortheoriesofmind,Campbellmanages
ST
toberigorouswithoutbeingoverlytechnical.Whilemovingswiftlythroughthetopics,he OR
alsoshowsexcellentjudgmentinknowingexactlywhentopausetogointomoredetail. O
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Thephilosophicaltermsarehelpfullyandcarefullydefinedthroughout,andthereisalways HD
anexamplejustwhereoneisneeded.” YU
AmyKind,ClaremontMcKennaCollege C
O
T
FI
O
One of the most profound philosophical problems is the nature of mind and its relationship to MN
the body. A Brief Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind provides an introduction, written in I
NT
clearlanguage,tothevarioustheoriesofthemind-bodyrelationship,aswellasahostofrelated DO
philosophicaldiscussionsaboutmindandconsciousness.
Thecentraltheories,suchasCartesianDualism,parallelism,epiphenomenalism,andsupervenience
amongothers,arepresentedinhistoricalorder.Theirclaims,theirstrengthsandweaknesses,and
how they ultimately relate to one another and to other philosophical questions are explored
objectively,allowingreaderstodecideforthemselveswhichtheoriesarebest.
NNeeiill CCaammppbbeellll is an Associate Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo. He has published
numerous articles in philosophy of mind, is the editor of Freedom, Determinism, and Responsibility:
Readings in Metaphysics(Prentice Hall, 2003) and Mental Causation
and the Metaphysics of Mind (Broadview Press, 2003).
ISBN 1-55111-617-0
BROADVIEW GUIDES TO b
PHILOSOPHY ro N E I L C A M P B E L L
Cover: painting by Milo Dlouhy, design by Lisa Brawn. a
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A B I
RIEF NTRODUCTION
P M
TO THE HILOSOPHY OF IND
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A B R I E F I N T RO D U C T I O N
TO T H E PH I LO S O PH Y O F M I N D
by
NEIL CAMPBELL
broadview guides to philosophy
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© Neil Campbell
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Campbell,Neil,–
A briefintroduction to the philosophy ofmind / by Neil Campbell.
(Broadview guides to philosophy)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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To my mother,Janis Hoogstraten,
whose love and support has made
all the difference in the world.
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C
ONTENTS
Preface...............................................................................
Introduction.....................................................................
Chapter : Dualism........................................................
Chapter : Behaviourism...............................................
Chapter : Type Identity Theory...................................
Chapter : Functionalism..............................................
Chapter : Anomalous Monism..................................
Chapter : Eliminative Materialism............................
Chapter : Supervenience............................................
Chapter : Mental Content..........................................
Chapter : The Problem ofQualia..............................
Index.............................................................................
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P
REFACE
This text is designed for use in introductory courses in the
philosophy ofmind.It can be used either as the primary
text or,ideally,as a companion to a collection of readings.
Philosophy of mind is an intriguing part of philosophy,but
the central works are often dense and philosophically
advanced,for they were not written with the typical under-
graduate student in mind.Thus,there is a genuine need for a
text that can guide students through the philosophical terrain
and offer clear explanations of the central theories and
debates that make up this fascinating topic.My hope is that
this text will fill this need.Since the central mind-body theo-
ries are covered,this book should be a fine complement to
virtually any anthology or custom-made collection of read-
ings.I hope you have as much fun reading this book as I had
writing it.
I would like to express my gratitude to the fine people who
work at Broadview Press for making the production of this
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