Description

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The book is intended as a reader-friendly introduction to issues in the philosophy of mind, including mental-physical causal interaction, computational models of thought, the relation minds bear to brains, and assorted -isms: behaviorism, dualism, eliminativism, emergentism, functionalism, materialism, neutral monism, and panpsychism. The Fourth Edition reintroduces a chapter on Donald Davidson and a discussion of 'Non-Cartesian Dualism', along with a wholly new chapter on emergence and panpsychism. A concluding chapter draws together material in earlier chapters and offers what the author regards as a plausible account of the mind's place in nature. Suggested readings at the conclusion of each chapter have been updated, with a focus on accessible, non-technical material.

Key Features of the Fourth Edition

Includes a new chapter, 'Emergence and Panpsychism' (Chapter 13), reflecting growing interest in these areas

Reintroduces and updates a chapter on Donald Davidson, 'Radical Interpretation' (Chapter 8), which was excised from the previous edition

Updates 'Descartes' Legacy' (Chapter 3) to include a discussion of E. J. Lowe's arresting 'Non-Cartesian Dualism', also removed from the previous edition

Includes a highly revised final chapter, which draws together much of the previous material and sketches a plausible account of the mind's place in nature

Updated 'Suggested Reading' lists at the end of each chapter

About the Author

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John Heil is Professor of Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis and Durham University, and an Honorary Research Associate at Monash University. His recent publications include Appearance in Reality (forthcoming), The Universe As We Find It (2012), and From an Ontological Point of View (2003).