Author

Publication

2004 - Clarendon, Oxford, England

Language

English

Word Count

64,000 words, Guess

Page Count

256 pages

Identifiers

  • Internet Archiveconsciousnessits00mcgi
  • ISBN-10019926760X
  • ISBN-139780199267606
  • LibraryThing976506
  • Goodreads3550192
and 3 more

Classifications

  • DDC126
  • LCCB808.9 .M34 2004

Description

Publisher description: Colin McGinn presents his latest work on consciousness in ten interlinked papers, four of them previously unpublished. He extends and deepens his controversial solution to the mind-body problem, defending the view that consciousness is both ontologically unproblematic and epistemologically impenetrable. He also investigates the basis of our knowledge that there is a mind-body problem, and the bearing of this on attempted solutions. McGinn goes on to discuss the status of first-person authority, the possibility of atomism with respect to consciousness, extreme dualism, and the role of non-existent objects in constituting intentionality. He argues that traditional claims about our knowledge of our own mind and of the external world can be inverted; that atomism about the conscious mind might turn out to be true; that dualism is more credible the more extreme it is; and that all intentionality involves non-existent objects. These are all surprising positions, but he contends that what the philosophy of mind needs now is 'methodological radicalism' - a willingness to consider new and seemingly extravagant ideas.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • Consciousness and its objectsClarendon2004-01-01

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