01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Who this book is for
For students meeting the mind–body problem for the first time. It can accompany an introductory philosophy course or serve as a focused starting point before advanced work on consciousness. Readers interested in psychology can use it to clarify the conceptual assumptions behind explanations of behavior without treating philosophical positions as laboratory findings.
Prerequisites
No neuroscience or advanced mathematics is required. Be ready to distinguish a claim about what the mind is from a claim about how we know mental states, and to reconstruct a short philosophical argument.
What it covers
Chapters introduce substance dualism, materialist and behaviorist approaches, functionalism and property dualism. Further discussions concern qualia, consciousness, concepts, mental content and free will. The sequence encourages comparison between accounts of mental states, their relation to physical processes and the explanatory problems each account leaves unresolved.
How to use it
Choose one mental state, such as pain or seeing a color, and describe how two theories would explain it. Write each theory’s strongest argument before listing an objection. With thought experiments, identify the proposed possibility and the conclusion drawn from it; do not assume an imaginable story establishes the conclusion. Return to the same example as theories change, and record whether a disagreement concerns evidence, concepts or metaphysical assumptions.
Edition and sources
Rebus Community published the volume in September 2019. Heather Salazar is the book editor and Christina Hendricks the series editor. The selected print ISBN is 9781989014127. The complete official text is freely available with a CC BY 4.0 notice for original content and separately identified exceptions. Publisher or author record.
