Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction

by John Heil

Book Overview

When first published, John Heil's introduction quickly became a widely used guide for students with little or no background in philosophy to central issues of philosophy of mind.　 Heil provided an introduction free of formalisms, technical trappings, and specialized terminology.　 He offered clear arguments and explanations, focusing on the ontological basis of mentality and its place in the material world.　 The book concluded...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415891752
• ISBN13: 9780415891752
• Release Date: January 2013
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

It Usually Begins With Descartes

PHILOSOPHY OF MIND is one of Routledge's "Contemporary Introduction to Philosophy" series. Although there are other similar series, this is my favorite because the contributions are particularly comprehensive.Professor Heil's work is no exception. This book takes as its point of departure (like most such works it seems) Descartes' approach to the mind/body problem. Prof. Heil then discusses important philosophical and psychological approaches (Watson and Skinner, for example) to the philosophy of mind.The work discusses some of the questions that are often left out of introductory works on the topic, such as artificial intelligence and biological evolution. This book can be used by someone who is a beginner, or someone who is familiar with the basic issues in philosophy but wishes to get a better understanding of the issues. I've just finished reading Stanley Jaki's BRAIN, MIND AND COMPUTERS which discusses many of these issue from a broader theological and philosophical perspective. I think the books complement each other quite well.