Boundaries of the Mind
The Individual in the Fragile Sciences - Cognition

This 2004 book provides the foundations for the view that the mind extends beyond the boundary of the individual.

Robert A. Wilson (Author)

9780521836456, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 July 2004

390 pages, 15 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.74 kg

"Philosophy is a difficult subject, and philosophical prose is typically dense. It is often easy for a reader to lose the woods for the trees. Wilson's work is absolutely exemplary in helping the reader see the wood and the trees at the same time. Indeed, I have never read clearer philosophical prose." Kim Sterelny, Australian National University

Where does the mind begin and end? Most philosophers and cognitive scientists take the view that the mind is bounded by the skull or skin of the individual. Robert Wilson, in this provocative and challenging 2004 book, provides the foundations for the view that the mind extends beyond the boundary of the individual. The approach adopted offers a unique blend of traditional philosophical analysis, cognitive science, and the history of psychology and the human sciences. A forthcoming companion volume Genes and the Agents of Life will explore the theme in the biological sciences. Written with verve and clarity, this ambitious book will appeal to a broad swathe of professionals and students in philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and the history of the behavioural and human sciences.

Part I. Disciplining the Individual and the Mind: 1. The individual in the fragile sciences
2. Individuals, psychology and the mind
3. Nativism on my mind
Part II. Individualism and Externalism in the Philosophy of Mind and the Cognitive Sciences: 4. Individualism: philosophical foundations
5. Metaphysics, mind and science: two views of realization
6. Context-sensitive realizations
7. Representation, computation and cognitive science
Part III. Thinking through and beyond the Body: 8. The embedded mind and cognition
9. Expanding consciousness
10. Intentionality and phenomenology
Part IV. The Cognitive Metaphor in the Biological and Social Sciences: 11. Group minds in historical perspective
12. The group mind hypothesis in contemporary biology and social science
Notes
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Cognitivism, cognitive theory [JMAQ], Philosophy of mind [HPM], Analytical philosophy & Logical Positivism [HPCF5]