Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy) [Paperback]

John Heil (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415130603 | ISBN-13: 978-0415130608 | Publication Date: June 28, 1998 | Edition: 1

This comprehensive textbook, written by a leading author in the field, provides a survey of mainstream conceptions of the nature of mind accessible to readers with little or no background in philosophy. Included are the dualist, behaviourist, and functionalist accounts of the nature of mind, along with a critical assessment of recent trends in the subject. The problem of consciousness, widely thought to be the chief roadblock to our understanding of the mind, is addressed throughout the book and there is also material to interest those with a professional interest in the topic - philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists - as well as the general reader. Unique features of Philosophy of Mind:
* provides a comprehensive survey of basic concepts and major theories
* contains many lucid examples to support ideas
* cites key literature in annotated suggested reading and a full bibliography
* contains a full index including the location of key terms and concepts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"John Heil's book would be useful for almost any undergraduate course in the philosophy of mind ." -- Fred Dretske, Stanford University

About the Author

John Heil is Professor of Philosophy at Davidson College. He is the author of First-Order Logic (1994) and The Nature of Minds (1992).

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (June 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415130603
• ISBN-13: 978-0415130608
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,456,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It Usually Begins With Descartes, May 10, 2004

By 

Steve Jackson "stevejackson100atyahoocom" (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy) (Paperback)

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.