Philosophy of Mind: A Beginner’s Guide (Beginner’s Guides) by Edward Feser (PDF)

Description

In this lively and entertaining introduction to the philosophy of mind, Edward Feser explores the questions central to the discipline; such as ‘do computers think’, and ‘what is consciousness’; and gives an account of all the most important and significant attempts that have been made to answer them.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The best introductory book on the Philosophy of mind I have ever read. This book gives a good concise summary of all the basic puzzles concerning the mind-body and related subjects and the arguments attempting to solve them from an admirably comprehensive source of perspectives, while still succeeding in remaining relatively succinct. Furthermore, it is just possibly the only unbiased book on the philosophy of mind that has been written in a very long time, including positions that are left out of most anthologies, no less introductory books, because of the strong dogmatic tendencies in our culture toward materialism. This does not mean that the book is written from an alternative perspective from the usual analytical one, e.g. “dualist”, it means that the book is written in an impartial way, showing all the arguments, including less than popular ones like those of the dualist, in their strongest possible light and actually implements the principle of charity that analytical philosophers so often mention and so seldom employ. I figure that this has to be pointed out since there are so few books written in philosophy that are actually impartial.Some of the people who would benefit the most from this book are the following:1.) The nonprofessional who wants to read about the philosophy of mind for their own knowledge or enjoyment but who want to read one book not a thousand. This book is actually much more comprehensive then I ever expected it to be.2.) The scholar who studies philosophy but who is unsure of whether to pursue it professionally, as well as … people who consider themselves philosophers but who are not sure if they are, or if they want to be “analytical” philosophers and those who are analytical philosophers but who are unsure of whether they want to study the philosophy of mind side of Analytical philosophy.3.) The student who is currently studying philosophy on the graduate or undergraduate level and needs a book that will map out the basic positions, in order to help him or her decide which areas to concentrate on. This book presents the basic arguments in an economical way so as to make it easy to decide what positions one agrees and disagrees with, are interested in studying further, and which are not worth the bother, hence saving one countless hours reading books and articles that are ultimately useless for their own personal philosophical purposes.For this final category, this book is also superb for pointing in the right direction for further research in various individual areas.The only thing one who intends to use the book for professional purposes should keep in mind is that this book is written in a manner that is more designed for the layman than for the seasoned professional and hence may not be as detailed or as nuanced in its language as may be necessary for some professional purposes. Nevertheless, it has many benefits even for professionals.

⭐If you read some old-school “introductory” philosophy books, you find that the authors are unafraid to assert (and argue for) their own opinions on the various problems they are introducing. Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy comes to mind as an example of the genre.On the other hand, if you read an introduction from the last decade or two, published by one of the major academic textbook publishing houses, you’ll find something very different: a workmanlike run-through of the major problems, the most influential solutions, and the most cited authors. Typically, you finish these types of introductory texts without having the slightest idea what the author’s own *personal* positions are on the problems discussed.There’s something to be said for the old-school, more openly-opinionated type of introductory books. They certainly have more character. They can be more entertaining. On the other hand, one might argue that they unfairly bias their neophyte readers toward particular viewpoints. The modern books may be more objective, but they may also make for much drier reading.Feser’s Philosophy of Mind: A Beginner’s Guide is a wonderfully readable book. However, if you are considering reading it, you should know that it has more of a flavor of those old school, opinionated “introductory” books. If that is your preference, you will probably love it. It’s commendable that Feser is–as far as I can tell, given my limited expertise in the topic–perfectly fair to other perspectives than his own. However, he does also like to take every opportunity to defend his own view of mind-body dualism (which, as he admits readily, is a minority view in the field today).If that sounds to you like a good way to introduce yourself to the field, this might be the book for you. However, if you want an introductory book that strives more for that elusive notion of “objectivity,” then one of the standard Intro Philosophy of Mind books from a major textbook publisher may be more up your alley.If I could do it again, I would read a more “standard” introductory book first, and then Feser’s book as a follow-up. As it is, I now feel like I need to read another, more standard intro book to give myself a more balanced view of the state of the field.

⭐Excellent introduction to this fundamental topic. In parts it is technical and heavy going. But the author always tries to explain terminology and indicate the point of his discussion. Anyone who has intuited that the mind must be somehow more than material will find here beautifully reasoned arguments for why this is a perfectly respectable opinion.

⭐Fantastic book that clearly explains the contemporary Philosophy of Mind debate. I really appreciate the historical depth that Feser brings into the discussion. My University philosophy department did not do so and fell into many of the materialistic presumptions that Feser describes so well.

⭐Feser probes many modern theories of mind from Cartesian dualism to eliminative materialism and shows what their strengths and weaknesses are. His conclusion, based on a classical approach, may not satisfy everyone, but he makes it hard to resist.

⭐Good overview of the subject.

⭐Edward Feser é um neotomista, ou hilemorfista e possui um amplo conhecimento da filosofia contemporânea! Você não será surpreendido com uma súbita necessidade de aprender latim!Como um livro que nos apresenta essa discussão não faltaram desvelamente do exi dualismo-materialismo, porém acho que o mais original da obra é a apresentação do pensamento do filósofo Bertrand Russell, onde o autor nos mostra a originalidade além dos prós e contra!Há uma visível tendência em favor do dualismo, mas não sem mostrar criticas materialista!O autor traz uma boa quantidade de posições e seus principais defensores!No penúltimo capítulo somos apresentado brevemente ao hilemorfismo e seus diferenciais ao dualismo ( Cartesiano )Compre a edição mais recente, pois houve o acréscimo!Sumário1 Percepção2 Dualismo3 Materialismo4 Qualia5 Consciência6 Thought7 Intencionalidade8 Identidade9 Postscript ( discorre um pouco mais sobre perspectivas não materialista em especial o Funcionalismo e Hilemorfismo )

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