The Nature of True Minds

The Nature of True Minds PDF Author: John Heil
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521413370
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
This work proposes a way to a naturalistic synthesis, one that accords the mental a place in the physical world alongside the non-mental.

The Nature of True Minds

The Nature of True Minds PDF Author: John Heil
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521413370
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
This work proposes a way to a naturalistic synthesis, one that accords the mental a place in the physical world alongside the non-mental.

Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction

Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction PDF Author: John Heil
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134791399
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
This comprehensive textbook, written by a leading author in the field, provides a survey of mainstream conceptions of the nature of mind accessible to readers with little or no background in philosophy. Included are the dualist, behaviourist, and functionalist accounts of the nature of mind, along with a critical assessment of recent trends in the subject. The problem of consciousness, widely thought to be the chief roadblock to our understanding of the mind, is addressed throughout the book and there is also material to interest those with a professional interest in the topic - philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists - as well as the general reader. Unique features of Philosophy of Mind: * provides a comprehensive survey of basic concepts and major theories * contains many lucid examples to support ideas * cites key literature in annotated suggested reading and a full bibliography * contains a full index including the location of key terms and concepts.

Philosophy of Mind

Philosophy of Mind PDF Author: John Heil
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 0415283558
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This comprehensive textbook, written by a leading author in the field, provides a survey of mainstream conceptions of the nature of mind accessible to readers with little or no background in philosophy.

Natural Minds

Natural Minds PDF Author: Thomas W. Polger
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262264167
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
In Natural Minds Thomas Polger advocates, and defends, the philosophical theory that mind equals brain—that sensations are brain processes—and in doing so brings the mind-brain identity theory back into the philosophical debate about consciousness. The version of identity theory that Polger advocates holds that conscious processes, events, states, or properties are type- identical to biological processes, events, states, or properties—a "tough-minded" account that maintains that minds are necessarily identical to brains, a position held by few current identity theorists. Polger's approach to what William James called the "great blooming buzzing confusion" of consciousness begins with the idea that we need to know more about brains in order to understand consciousness fully, but recognizes that biology alone cannot provide the entire explanation. Natural Minds takes on issues from philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, and metaphysics, moving freely among them in its discussion. Polger begins by answering two major objections to identity theory—Hilary Putnam's argument from multiple realizability (which discounts identity theory because creatures with brains unlike ours could also have mental states) and Saul Kripke's modal argument against mind-brain identity (based on the apparent contingency of the identity statement). He then offers a detailed account of functionalism and functional realization, which offer the most serious obstacle to consideration of identity theory. Polger argues that identity theory can itself satisfy the kind of explanatory demands that are often believed to favor functionalism.

Reason and the Nature of Texts

Reason and the Nature of Texts PDF Author: James L. Battersby
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 1512809365
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Many of today's most prominent critics and teachers of literature insist on the endless deferral of textual meaning and on the social construction of meaning and thought. Against these markers of current critical theory, James L. Battersby argues for the authorial construction of determinate textual meaning, insisting that to think about anything at all we must be able to refer to it, and that such references are, necessarily, the semantic consequences of an author's deliberate, intentional acts. Propelling Battersby's argument is his use of principles and arguments drawn from current philosophical literature on language and mind. Battersby reveals the philosophical shortcomings and argumentative weaknesses of some of the most prominent and influential doctrines in critical theory today—especially, and principally, those that inform and define postmodernism in both its linguistic and historicist/materialist modes. As he argues for a fresh conception of our understanding of language, mind, and meaning, Battersby probes the critical positions of, among others, Stanley Fish, Mikhail Bakhtin, Paul de Man, and Jacques Derrida. Making room for an alternative and, Battersby asserts, more intellectually appealing framework requires a skeptical dissection of the linguistic and historicist tenets that form the foundation of poststructuralism. The striking outcome of his effort is a book as lively, erudite, theoretically informed—and provocative—as his earlier Paradigms Regained.

Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos

Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos PDF Author: Ogi Ogas
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1324006587
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
Two neuroscientists reveal why consciousness exists and how it works by examining eighteen increasingly intelligent minds, from microbes to humankind—and beyond. Why do you exist? How did atoms and molecules transform into sentient creatures that experience longing, regret, compassion, and even marvel at their own existence? What does it truly mean to have a mind—to think? Science has offered few answers to these existential questions until now. Journey of the Mind is the first book to offer a unified account of the mind that explains how consciousness, language, self-awareness, and civilization arose incrementally out of chaos. The journey begins three billion years ago with the emergence of the universe’s simplest possible mind. From there, the book explores the nanoscopic archaeon, whose thinking machinery consists of a handful of molecules, then advances through amoebas, worms, frogs, birds, monkeys, and humans, explaining what each “new” mind could do that previous minds could not. Though they admire the triumph of human consciousness, Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam argue that humans are hardly the most sophisticated minds on the planet. The same physical principles that produce human self-awareness are leading cities and nation-states to develop “superminds,” and perhaps planting the seeds for even higher forms of consciousness. Written in lively, accessible language accompanied by vivid illustrations, Journey of the Mind is a mind-bending work of popular science, the first general book to share the cutting-edge mathematical basis for consciousness, language, and the self. It shows how a “unified theory of the mind” can explain the mind’s greatest mysteries—and offer clues about the ultimate fate of all minds in the universe.

Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction

Philosophy of Mind: A Contemporary Introduction PDF Author: John Heil
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134791399
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
This comprehensive textbook, written by a leading author in the field, provides a survey of mainstream conceptions of the nature of mind accessible to readers with little or no background in philosophy. Included are the dualist, behaviourist, and functionalist accounts of the nature of mind, along with a critical assessment of recent trends in the subject. The problem of consciousness, widely thought to be the chief roadblock to our understanding of the mind, is addressed throughout the book and there is also material to interest those with a professional interest in the topic - philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists - as well as the general reader. Unique features of Philosophy of Mind: * provides a comprehensive survey of basic concepts and major theories * contains many lucid examples to support ideas * cites key literature in annotated suggested reading and a full bibliography * contains a full index including the location of key terms and concepts.

The Caldron of Consciousness

The Caldron of Consciousness PDF Author: Ralph D. Ellis
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
ISBN: 9789027251367
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
These new studies by prominent neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers work toward a coherent framework for understanding emotion and its contribution to the functioning of consciousness in general, as an aspect of self-organizing, embodied subjects. Distinguishing consciousness from unconscious information processing hinges on the role of motivating emotions in all conscious modalities, and how emotional brain processes interact with those traditionally associated with cognitive function. Computationally registering/processing sensory signals (e.g. in the occipital lobe or area V4) by itself does not result in perceptual consciousness, which requires subcortical structures such as amygdala, hypothalamus, and brain stem. This interdisciplinary anthology attempts to understand the complexity of emotional intentionality; why the role of motivation in self-organizing processes is crucial in distinguishing conscious from unconscious processes; how emotions account for 'agency'; and how an adequate approach to emotion-motivation can address the traditional mind-body problem through a holistic understanding of the conscious, behaving organism. (Series B)

The Book of Not Knowing

The Book of Not Knowing PDF Author: Peter Ralston
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1556438575
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 601

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Book Description
For fans of Eckhart Tolle—a guide to mastering self-awareness through direct experience rather than old presumptions or harmful thought patterns Through decades of martial arts and meditation practice, Peter Ralston discovered a curious and paradoxical fact: that true awareness arises from a state of not-knowing. Even the most sincere investigation of self and spirit, he says, is often sabotaged by our tendency to grab too quickly for answers and ideas as we retreat to the safety of the known. This "Hitchhiker’s Guide to Awareness" provides helpful guideposts along an experiential journey for those Western minds predisposed to wandering off to old habits, cherished presumptions, and a stubbornly solid sense of self. With ease and clarity, Ralston teaches readers how to become aware of the background patterns that they are usually too busy, stressed, or distracted to notice. The Book of Not Knowing points out the ways people get stuck in their lives and offers readers a way to make fresh choices about every aspect of their lives—from a place of awareness instead of autopilot.

English poetry UP State (NEP) B.A Second Semester

English poetry UP State (NEP) B.A Second Semester PDF Author: Dr. Shiva Kant Tripathi
Publisher: Thakur Publication Private Limited
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Presenting the engrossing poetry book in English meant especially for the second semester of B.A. studies at UP State (NEP). Discover the depths of human emotions, subtle cultural differences, and lyrical expressions in this carefully chosen collection, which will allow you to fully immerse yourself in the vast world of literary talent. This extensive poetry collection has been painstakingly designed to correspond with the B.A. syllabus.English literature for a second semester in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) that Uttar Pradesh State has put into place. It provides a smooth learning experience and deepens appreciation for the beauty of poem, making it a valuable tool for educators, students, and poetry lovers alike. The book is appropriate for Purvanchal University Jaunpur students and is produced by Thakur Publications Pvt. Ltd.