The Mind-Body Problem and Its Solution (Paperback)

~ (Author) "You wake up to the sound of the alarm clock..." (more)
Key Phrases: Special Relativity, The Matrix

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Over the last century scientists have made tremendous strides in understanding the physical nature of the universe and the biochemical nature of life. Yet the most salient feature of individual lives--our day-to-day consciousness and experience of the world, or "sentience"--remains stubbornly immune to scientific explanation. This divide is called the "mind-body problem," and it is centuries old. In this book, author Carey Carlson performs two valuable tasks. First, he lays out the mind-body problem in crystalline common-sense prose. Second, he proposes an intriguing solution based on the work of early-twentieth-century philosophers Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead. This book will be of interest both to general readers of science and philosophy and to those steeped in the literature.

About the Author

Carey R. Carlson is a writer based in Minneapolis. He studied the philosophy of science under Grover Maxwell.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Syren Book Company (February 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 092963635X
• ISBN-13: 978-0929636351
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #372,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Russell and Whitehead Solved the Problem, May 13, 2008

By	Stephen Esser "steve_esser" (Villanova, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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I was struck by these opening lines in the preface to this book:

"The mind-body problem demands a description of how the mental and physical parts of the world go together to make up the whole. The problem was solved around 1927 by Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead."

Since I think Russell's stance on the mind-body problem is superior to the traditional options of dualism and materialism and also think Whitehead's speculative process metaphysics was far ahead of its time, I was excited to see this passage and curious as to how well Carlson would back it up over the course of a short book. After reading the book I can say I think he did an excellent job in showing how the ideas from these thinkers can be put together into a compelling argument for a more coherent view of the world: that of a causal network of events which share a character which naturally underpins what we characterize as the mental and physical.

Both Russell and Whitehead explained why you cannot identify the world with our mathematical descriptions of it: you leave out the intrinsic qualitative character of the world we know via experience. Both philosophers showed, in somewhat different ways, that what we think of as mental events and physical events can both fit into a picture of a causal network, whereas our usual intuition of the world as a spatial container holding static objects or substance won't work - whether one posits one kind of object or two.

Carlson's outstanding contribution is to carefully describe what this ontology of causal relations can do: it can describe space-time and all that's in it while also accommodating mental events. He then shows how scientific theory really is an elucidation of a causal web and how it must actually fit into our network of experiences in order to be formulated. This leads to the final postulate that all nature has a sentient character, and that this best explains how mind and world are unified. While I was already sold on this idea, I think Carlson's book may convince other readers of the merits of a panexperientialist solution to the mind-body problem inspired by sound philosophy of science.

All in all, this book does credit to its ambitious title. Along the way, it is also a fine exposition of some of the work of two of our greatest twentieth century thinkers.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book could have changed my life, October 10, 2006

By	James Thompson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a fascinating book in which esoteric material is presented with clarity and even humor. If I had read this book when I was a Philosophy major in college, I would not have dropped Philosophy as a major. It's that good."
--Jim Thompson, College Philosophy Dropout