Matter and Consciousness - 9780262519588

In Matter and Consciousness, Paul Churchland presents a conciseand contemporary overview of the philosophical issues surrounding the mind and explains the maintheories and philosophical positions that have been proposed to solve them. Making the case for therelevance of theoretical and experimental results in neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificialintelligence for the philosophy of mind, Churchland reviews current developments in the cognitivesciences and offers a clear and accessible account of the connections to philosophy ofmind.

For this third edition, the text has been updated and revised throughout.The changes range from references to the iPhone's "Siri" to expanded discussions of thework of such contemporary philosophers as David Chalmers, John Searle, and Thomas Nagel. Churchlanddescribes new research in evolution, genetics, and visual neuroscience, among other areas, arguingthat the philosophical significance of these new findings lies in the support they tend to give tothe reductive and eliminative versions of materialism.

Matter andConsciousness, written by the most distinguished theorist and commentator in the field,offers an authoritative summary and sourcebook for issues in philosophy of mind. It is suitable foruse as an introductory undergraduate text.