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Matter and Mind

A Philosophical Inquiry

  • Book
  • © 2010
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Overview

Authors:
  1. Mario Bunge

    1. , Dept. of Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

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  • It offers a clear presentation of the current scientific views on matter and on mind, as well as their relevance to philosophy.
  • It embeds the problems of matter and mind in a broad philosophical context.
  • It adopts an inclusive materialist philosophy that avoids naturalist reductionism and makes room for spirituality and free will.
  • It extols the role of philosophy in scientific research.
  • It is clearly written, with plenty of examples, and mention of historical roots

Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (BSPS, volume 287)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
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  4. Appendices

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 265-265
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    2. Appendix A: Objects

      • Mario Bunge
      Pages 267-275
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    3. Appendix B: Truths

      • Mario Bunge
      Pages 277-285
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  5. Back Matter

    Pages 287-319
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Keywords

About this book

This book discusses two of the oldest and hardest problems in both science and philosophy: What is matter?, and What is mind? A reason for tackling both problems in a single book is that two of the most influential views in modern philosophy are that the universe is mental (idealism), and that the everything real is material (materialism). Most of the thinkers who espouse a materialist view of mind have obsolete ideas about matter, whereas those who claim that science supports idealism have not explained how the universe could have existed before humans emerged. Besides, both groups tend to ignore the other levels of existence—chemical, biological, social, and technological. If such levels and the concomitant emergence processes are ignored, the physicalism/spiritualism dilemma remains unsolved, whereas if they are included, the alleged mysteries are shown to be problems that science is treating successfully.

Reviews

From the reviews:

“Bunge provides a masterful survey of key ideas in physics and conceptions of matter including theories of relativity, quantum physics and thermodynamics, inter alia. Every page is an encyclopaedic survey of concepts, theories and their history and, therefore, the book defies easy summary. … Bunge’s belligerent, take-no-hostage style is a welcome change from the usual passionless treatises on these subjects. Bunge’s no-nonsense approach is to be commended … . the book is precisely because it engages deeply with most interesting intellectual issues.”­­­ (Peter Slezak, Science & Education, November, 2011)

Authors and Affiliations

  • , Dept. of Philosophy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    Mario Bunge

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