The problem of mind and self remains central to both philosophy and cognitive science. Ranging with ease and facility from the dualisms of Plato and Descartes to the phenomenology of Brentano and Husserl, Priest examines seven concepts of mind as they emerge from various treatments of the mind-body problem. In an argument similar to that in Amelie Oksenberg Rorty's Mind in Action ( LJ 11/1/88), he tries to dissolve the mind-body dichotomy by conceiving mind as that which has the capacity to think. Defining ``thinking'' as an activity of the brain, he circumvents logical and ontological problems related to mind-body interface. A lucid and persuasive argument, this book offers a valuable corrective to the materialism of Daniel Dennett's Consciousness Explained (Little, Brown, 1991) . Recommended for lay readers as well as scholars.-- T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |