
Descartes's philosophy has had a considerable influence on the modern conception of the mind, but many think that this influence has been largely negative. The main project of The Subject's Point of View is to argue that discarding certain elements of the Cartesian conception would be much more difficult than critics seem to allow, since it is tied to our understanding of basic notions, including the criteria for what makes someone a person, or one of us. The crucial feature of the Cartesian view defended here is not dualism - which is not adopted - but internalism. Internalism is opposed to the widely accepted externalist thesis, which states that some mental features constitutively depend on certain features of our physical and social environment. In contrast, this book defends the minority internalist view, which holds that the mind is autonomous, and though it is obviously affected by the environment, this influence is merely contingent and does not delimit what is thinkable in principle. Defenders of the externalist view often present their theory as the most thoroughgoing criticism of the Cartesian conception of the mind; Katalin Farkas offers a defence of an uncompromising internalist Cartesian conception.
This book investigates whether the Cartesian conception of the mind remains essential to our understanding of personhood despite widespread contemporary criticism. Katalin Farkas, a scholar in the field of philosophy, examines the persistent influence of Cartesian thought on modern mental concepts. She argues that internalism—the view that the mind is autonomous and not constitutively dependent on the environment—is a necessary component of our understanding of the subject, even when dualism is rejected.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Experts recognize this work as a sophisticated contribution to the ongoing debate between internalist and externalist theories of mind. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which requires a strong background in analytic philosophy to fully grasp the nuances of the argument.
Page Count:
252
Publication Date:
2010-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
019161551X
ISBN-13:
9780191615511
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