· 2022
A Materialist Theory of the Mind
- 368citations
- 2022year
Short summary
D. M. Armstrong's seminal work defends the view that mental states are identical to physical states of the brain, arguing they play a causally intermediate role between stimuli and behavior.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Mental states are identical to physical states of the brain (physicalism).
- Mental states act as causal intermediaries between stimuli, other mental states, and behavior.
- The book explores diverse topics such as perception, sensation, and introspection.
- It is considered a landmark that initiated the physicalist revolution in philosophy of mind.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
D. M. Armstrong's A Materialist Theory of the Mind is widely known as one of the most important defences of the view that mental states are nothing but physical states of the brain. A landmark of twentieth-century philosophy of mind, it launched the physicalist revolution in approaches to the mind and has been engaged with, debated and puzzled over ever since its first publication over fifty years ago. Ranging over a remarkable number of topics, from behaviourism, the will and knowledge to perception, bodily sensation and introspection, Armstrong argues that mental states play a causally intermediate role between stimuli, other mental states and behavioural responses. He uses several illuminating examples to illustrate this, such as the classic case of pain. This Routledge Classics edition includes a new Foreword by Peter Anstey, placing Armstrong's book in helpful philosophical and historical context.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source., 2022 · DOI ↗
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Field: General Psychology
General PsychologyPsychology