What is it about?
It is assumed by many philosophers that the mind/body problem, that is the question of what the relation is between mental phenomena, especially states of consciousness, and physical phenomena, is something that philosophers can shed light on. This paper argues that philosophers cannot really make progress with the problem, and it should be thought of as a scientific one.
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Why is it important?
The issue dealt with is important because the only way to make progress with understanding the general nature of mental phenomena is to employ the correct and appropriate tools. If philosophy does not possess those tools then a vast intellectual industry, which is philosophical discussion of the problem, is misplaced.
Perspectives
My own discipline is philosophy, and a large part of my own thinking has been about the mind/body problem. Over time it has struck me that my own conclusions have tended to be negative ones - that a certain type of argument is unpersuasive - and so I came to think that the discipline is not, perhaps, the appropriate place to conduct the debate. The article tries to support this scepticism.
Paul Snowdon
University College London
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Philosophy and the Mind/Body Problem, Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, May 2015, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1358246115000120.
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