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| A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind: Readings with Commentary | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter A. Morton
Publisher: Broadview Press
Category: Book
List Price: $52.95
Buy New: $38.64
You Save: $14.31 (27%)
Buy New/Used from $32.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (1 reviews)
Sales Rank: 826629
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 516
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 1551110873
Dewey Decimal Number: 149
EAN: 9781551110875
ASIN: 1551110873
Publication Date: December 23, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
A Historical Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind is designed both to provide a selection of core readings on the subject and to make those readings accessible by providing commentaries to guide the reader through initially intimidating material. Each commentary explains technical concepts and provides background on obscure arguments as they arise, setting them in the historical and intellectual milieu from which they emerged. The readings concentrate on providing the student with a solid grounding in the theories of representative figures of the major philosophical movements, from Plato and Aristotle to important recent figures such as Fodor and Dennett. A glossary of key terms is also included.
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| Customer Reviews:
textbook, or teach yourself May 1, 2001
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book could serve as either a textbook for a philosophy of mind class or as a tool with which one can teach oneself these concepts. The basic setup of the book is quite helpful and informative. Morton begins each section with a lengthy commentary on the readings that will follow; these typically involve a discussion of the historical background of a particular philosophy, key terms, and a detailed discussion of the excerpt or essay contained in the section. The book includes a glossary but suffers from a lack of an index; the process of locating a term mentioned in an introduction, for example, tends to be quite complicated. The text "begins at the beginning" with Plato, Aristotle, Galileo, and a great deal of information and readings about and by Descartes. The actual philosophies it covers are: dualism, monism (materialism and idealism), logical behaviorism, linguistic philosophy, mind-brain identity theory, artificial intelligence, functionalism, and eliminative materialism. Each of these typically has 2-3 thinkers represented in terms of essays and excerpts, and the sections vary from about 20 to 40 pages apiece. Morton almost always provides a large and well-excerpted chunk of reading, which, coupled with the detail he provides in his commentary, will help in making a person able to discuss and understand the positions detailed here. The book concludes with a lengthy section on consciousness (featuring Nagel's famous essay "What Is It Like to Be a Bat?" plus three other readings) and a somewhat confusing section on Intentionality (perhaps the most confusing section of the book). Morton's commentary, overall, is clear and helpful; the philosophies covered here are quite complex, but his writing and careful choosing of reading material makes them easier to grasp.
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