Mind World
Essays in Phenomenology and Ontology

This collection explores the structure of consciousness and its place in the world.

David Woodruff Smith (Author)

9780521539739, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 March 2004

328 pages, 1 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.437 kg

This collection explores the structure of consciousness and its place in the world, or inversely the structure of the world and the place of consciousness in it. Amongst the topics covered are: the phenomenological aspects of experience (inner awareness, self-awareness), dependencies between experience and the world (the role of the body in experience, the role of culturally formed background ideas) and the basic ontological categories found in the world at large (unity, state-of-affairs, connectedness, dependence and intentionality). Developing ideas drawn from historical figures such as Descartes, Husserl, Aristotle, and Whitehead, the essays together demonstrate the interdependence of ontology and phenomenology and its significance for the philosophy of mind.

Prolegomena: the terroir of consciousness and the world
Overview: a story line
1. Three facets of consciousness
2. The cogito circa AD 2000
3. Return to consciousness
4. Consciousness in action
5. Background ideas
6. Intentionality naturalized? 7. Consciousness and actuality
8. Basic categories
Coda: the beetle in the box.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of mind [HPM], Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology [HPJ], Phenomenology & Existentialism [HPCF3]