Mind in a Physical World: An Essay on the Mind-Body Problem and Mental Causation

Title: Mind in a Physical World: An Essay on the Mind-Body Problem and Mental Causation
Author: Jaegwon Kim
ISBN: 9780262112345
Publisher: Mit Pr
Published: 1998
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
Edition: 1
Number of Pages: 146
Section: Philosophy | Mind & Body
Publisher Description: "This is a wonderful book: ingenious, penetrating, illuminating."
-- Ned Block, New York University

"This elegant work is filled with philosophical wisdom and insight. . . . It articulates beautifully what the mind-body problem is for us today."
-- Brian P. McLaughlin, Rutgers University This book, based on Jaegwon Kim's 1996 Townsend Lectures, presents the philosopher's current views on a variety of issues in the metaphysics of the mind--in particular, the mind-body problem, mental causation, and reductionism. Kim construes the mind-body problem as that of finding a place for the mind in a world that is fundamentally physical. Among other points, he redefines the roles of supervenience and emergence in the discussion of the mind-body problem. Arguing that various contemporary accounts of mental causation are inadequate, he offers his own partially reductionist solution on the basis of a novel model of reduction. Retaining the informal tone of the lecture format, the book is clear yet sophisticated.