Moral Foundations of Philosophy of Mind

This volume brings together a collection of essays that explore in a new way how unacknowledged moral concerns are integral to debates in the philosophy of mind.The radical suggestion of the book is that we can make sense of the internal dynamics and cultural significance of these debates only when we understand the moral forces that shape them.

Drawing inspiration from a variety of traditions including Wittgenstein, Lacan, phenomenology and analytic philosophy, the authors address a wide range of topics including the mind/body-problem, the problem of other minds, subjectivity and objectivity, the debates on mindreading, naturalism, reductive physicalism, representationalism and the 'E-turn'; Dennett's heterophenomenology, McDowell's neo-Kantianism, Wittgenstein's 'private language' considerations and his notion of an 'attitude towards a soul'; repression, love, conscience, the difficulties of self-understanding, and the methods and aims of philosophy.

Through a combination of detailed, immanent criticism and bold constructive work, the authors move the discussion to a new level, beyond humanistic or conservative critiques of naturalism and scientism.

Challenges the consensus that moral questions are separate to the study of the mind With 12 diverse chapters drawing inspiration from a wide variety of traditions including Wittgenstein, Freud, Lacan, phenomenology and analytic philosophy Presents a sustained and forceful critique of the central tenets of reductive, scientifically-minded naturalism

Auteur

Joel Backström is a lecturer at the University of Helsinki, Finland and has published articles on moral philosophy, Wittgenstein and the philosophical significance of Freud.

Hannes Nykänen is a lecturer at the University of Helsinki, Finland and has published articles on conscience, repression, collectivity and the ethical centrality of the I-you perspective. Niklas Toivakainen is a researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland and has published articles on moral philosophy, Wittgenstein, and on the philosophy of technology. Thomas Wallgren is Director of The Von Wright and Wittgenstein Archives and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Contenu

1. 'Introduction', Joel Backström, Hannes Nykänen, Niklas Toivakainen, Thomas Wallgren.- Part I: Questioning Philosophy of Mind.- 2. 'Mind and moral matter', Thomas Wallgren.- 3. 'The Jaspers case and the paradox of the 'human sciences'', Frederico Leoni.- Part II: Ethical Critiques of Reductive Naturalism.- 4. 'The missing 'E': Radical embodied cognitive science, ecological psychology and the place of ethics in our responsiveness to the lifeworld', Phil Hutchinson.- 5. 'All souls: Wittgenstein and eine Einstellung zur Seele', David R. Cerbone.- 6. 'An attitude towards a soul: Wittgenstein, other minds, and the mind', Edmund Dain.- 7. 'Wittgenstein, psychological self-ascriptions and the moral dimensions of our inner lives', Anne-Marie Søndergaard Christensen.- 8. 'Speak to us of love: Some difficulties in the philosophical and scientific study of love', Camilla Kronqvist.- Part III: The Second Person and the Hidden Moral Dynamics of Philosoph.- 9. 'Philosophy of mind and/as the repression of interpersonal understanding', Joel Backström.- 10. 'So much fuss about nothing : The moral dynamics of the mind-body problem', Niklas Toivakainen.- 11. 'Who wants to be understood? On self-understanding, social affirmation, and love', Fredrik Westerlund.- 12. 'This thing with philosophy', Hannes Nykänen.- 13. ''Private language' and the 2nd person: Wittgenstein and Løgstrup 'versus' Levinas?', Rupert Reed.