Customer Reviews

The Science of the Mind (Bradford Books)

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I call this a primer because Flanagan structures this work on a chronology from Descartes to E. O. Wilson's sociobiology. This is a fairly comprehensive work. It is a deep, well rounded tome which covers, with a minimal amount of ceremony, 350 years of research into the human mind. A more direct approach to current cognitive studies might be through Edelman, Damasio, et al, but I thoroughly enjoyed Flanagan's intelligent retracements of the likes of James, Freud, Skinner, and Piaget, crossfading into the threshold of the modern cognitive sciences. Flanagan's thesis, antithesis, and synthesis style of evaluating and critiquing his subjects is broadly informative. His terse, pedantic tone lent the air of the university lecture hall to this historical and at the same time contemporary work of philosophy and science. This may seem an unflattering assessment in some contexts, but this is not a literary work; it is a dry, serious attempt on the still somewhat (this book was 1st published in 1984, 17 years ago) mysterious phenomenon of consciousness. It may be somewhat dated today but still offers a credible repertoire of neural case histories and cognitive facts, as well as an excellent historical perusal of some of the best consciousness studies history has to offer. It's a challenging read, but the kind that makes you feel rewarded after having done so.

This remains one of my favorite references on the background of modern approaches to studying the mind. If you've ever wondered why so many people seem convinced that the brain is "like a computer" and why this idea has gained so much traction over alternative theories in recent decades, this book will fascinate you. It gives a deep insight into the evolution of the sciences of the mind.

Science of the Mind is superb in its treatment of its subjects both historically and conceptually. Flanagan is also not afraid to take a stand on each of the theories he recounts, from Cartesian dualism to sociobiology and computational mind theories and to do so in an even-handed yet persuasive way.

The result is that you learn an incredible amount from each of the theories, whether they are currently in fashion or not. This is one of those rare volumes that can legitimately be said to be a kind of education (about a single cluster of topics) in a single book.

Highly recommended.