Past, Space, and Self (Representation and Mind) [Paperback]

John Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0262531313 | ISBN-13: 978-0262531313

Humans were thought to be unique among the species in having minds, but recent results showing the richness and diversity in animal psychology makes this view untenable. Yet there remains the question of whether we can map the features of a particularly human psychology that are responsible for its overall structure. In this book John Campbell shows that the general structural features of human thought can be seen as having their source in the distinctive ways in which we think about space and time. He describes the contrasts between animal representations of space and time and distinctively human ways of thinking about them. In particular, he shows what is special about the human ability of to think about the past.Campbell looks at how self-consciousness exploits these particular abilities in thinking about space and the past. He discusses at length the relation between self-consciousness and the first person and how fundamental the first person is in ordinary thought. Campbell shows that the structured character of ordinary thinking can be explained by reference to the demands of first-person thinking and the way in which first-person thiinking exploits distinctively human respresentations of space and time. Finally, he considers the metaphysical implications of this approach, in particular, how ordinary self-consciousness relies on a realist view of the past.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Campbell is interested in mapping some of the very generalstructural features of human thought. In particular, he isinterested in discovering what is distinctive about the kindof self-consciousness that we humans have.... His maininstrument is an exceptional talent for the kind of subtleself-examination the project demands. The book is an acutelyobserved study of a territory too close at hand for mostof us to see, and deserves to be read by psychologists as wellas philosophers." Huw Price, Times Literary Supplement

About the Author

John Campbell is Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at New College, Oxford University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: A Bradford Book (August 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262531313
• ISBN-13: 978-0262531313
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,078,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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