
In this book, Hodgson presents a clear and compelling case against today's orthodox mechanistic view of the brain-mind, and in favor of the view that "the mind matters." In the course of the argument he ranges over such topics as consciousness, informal reasoning, computers, evolution, and quantum indeterminancy and non-locality. Although written from a philosophical viewpoint, the book has important implications for the sciences concerned with the brain-mind problem. At the same time, it is largely non-technical, and thus accessible to the non-specialist reader.
Does the human mind possess genuine agency, or is it merely a byproduct of mechanistic brain processes governed by deterministic laws? David Hodgson, a legal scholar and philosopher, challenges the prevailing reductionist view of the mind by arguing that consciousness and free will are real, non-reducible phenomena. He utilizes principles from quantum mechanics, specifically indeterminacy and non-locality, to propose a framework where the mind exerts a causal influence on physical reality, thereby asserting that the mind truly matters in the operation of the universe.
What You Will Find
Experts and readers alike note that Hodgson successfully bridges the gap between complex physical theories and philosophical inquiry without relying on overly dense technical jargon. The text is frequently cited as a thoughtful, accessible entry point for non-specialists interested in the intersection of quantum physics and the philosophy of mind.
Page Count:
456
Publication Date:
1991-09-12
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0198242921
ISBN-13:
9780198242925
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